Free Desire Protected by S.J. Maylee

Chapter One
     
    Nadia swept through her kitchen. She
long ago stopped feeling guilty about all the money Ethan had
poured into it. The room was simply a dream. Too bad the reason
behind her new kitchen was a nightmare. A man had almost died where
she was standing. Shivering all over, she scurried over the spot to
the fridge to grab the yogurt and milk.
    The only thing better was Ethan’s
kitchen at his place. If they ever actually got married, it would
be hers as well. Until then, this kitchen would do just fine. She
skimmed her fingers over the sparkle in the light granite and
admired the deep sink on her way to the island. After tossing a
banana and a cup of blueberries in her blender along with the
yogurt and milk, she set it all to whirl.
    “ Good morning, beautiful.”
Ethan strolled in, wrapped his arms around her from behind and
kissed her cheek.
    She stopped the blender. “Good
morning, sweetheart. You’re looking fine today.” Maybe she should
ask him about their wedding plans, their nonexistent plans. She
wanted nothing elaborate but she wanted to plan it with
him.
    “ You’re looking good
enough to eat.” He swept her hair from her shoulder and sucked on
her neck.
    The warm moist heat of his mouth and
his firm hand rubbing her ass had her forgetting entirely what she
was doing. “It’s good I don’t work for you anymore.”
    “ We’d never get anything
done.” He let her go and turned to the shelf behind them, probably
to fetch a coffee mug.
    She rubbed her forehead and focused on
the blender in front of her. “What was I doing? Oh right,
smoothies.” She pulled her to-go cups from the shelves. “I made
enough for you this morning.”
    “ No more stealing from
you. Well then,” he smacked her ass, “I will have to find something
else to steal.”
    She turned and wrapped her arms around
him. “You’ve got my attention.”
    “ I could push my morning
meetings back.” He lifted the edge of her skirt.
    “ I shouldn’t.” She leaned
into him. “Today is Sam’s first full day and he’s meeting me at my
office.” She moaned as she kissed his chin. Sam was her first
security hire since stepping into her new job as Human Resources
Manager for Aidan Clery. He was an assassin just like Ethan but the
boys had it all worked out. Their business didn’t touch Nadia. The
office where she and the general staff worked was separate from his
security office. Her staff knew the bare minimum about his clients.
It was a don’t ask, don’t tell situation, making it the perfect
arrangement.
    “ Can’t Aidan handle it?”
He reached between her legs and stroked her panties. “It’s been too
long since we went AWOL.” He sucked on her earlobe.
    “ I know. That reminds me.”
She tugged on his chin. “You promised to take me
dancing.”
    “ Yes.” He nipped her
bottom lip. “Same club where I found you playing hooky?”
    “ Oh yeah.” All thoughts
regarding her responsibilities flew out the window. He’d lit a fuse
within her. Now, she’d probably think of nothing but him all
day.
    His phone buzzed signaling a new text
message, taking them out of the moment. After a quick check of his
phone, he stepped back. “I need to deal with this.” He kissed her
sweetly, and then walked out of the kitchen. He put his phone to
his ear and said, “You want me to do what?”
    She tried not to think about what
Ethan did for a living. His work was important and so damn
dangerous. It helped to think about the people he saved from
horrendous situations. His last client had lived through countless
death threats and repeated beatings from her husband. Luckily, they
no longer had to worry about that in the future. The abuser was
long gone from this world, he may not have died in her kitchen but
he did shortly after, and the client was alive and
healing.
    Nadia poured the smoothie into the
cups and set about cleaning up her mess.
    “ I have to go.” Ethan
shuffled into the kitchen. His gaze bounced from one