The Protector of Ambra (Mercenaries of Fortune, #5) by Lyn Brittan Page B

goes unchallenged.”
    “You’ll have to give me lessons someday.”
    “Yeah, right.”
    “I mean it,” he said, glancing from his phone to the bumpy road ahead. “I’m that guy who parks at the end of the lot and it’s not because I’m worried about my paint job.”
    “Something you’re not good at? And you’re admitting it? Save the date.” More like he was lying to make her feel better. It worked, until she realized that it shouldn’t work. That wormed around until she ended up with the craziest damned question. What was the worst that could happen if she let it work?
    He caught her staring and winked. “You okay?”
    “I’ll teach you. Even if you’re just lying to make me feel better.”
    “The tightest of spaces?”
    “Gross. Just stop,” but her admonishments drowned in a wave of soft chuckles. “You’ll get one free parallel parking lesson—” 
    “Free?”
    “Wait, wait. I’ll need to assess where you are before I put my life and property on the line.”
    Pierce’s lips dropped and the phone fell from his hand. His fingers didn’t stop wiggling until she laced her own through his. “I will not put you in danger, Melody. And if by some strange circumstance, you go driving into danger – not referencing anything in particular, I’m just saying – I will always get you out of it.”
    “Always is a long time. Especially between strangers.”
    He bobbed his head from side to side and slowed the car to a stop. “We shared DNA. Not in the traditional way that some people do, but we swapped it with that unusually chaste kiss. So, there’s that. And the stitches. Even if you’re only using me for my superior ass-kicking skills, you’re still my patient. If for no other reason than that, I’ll always make sure you’re safe.”
    His hand was like fire around hers. It was no less burning when he cupped her chin, leaving a trail of lava and starting blazes all over her body.
    It was an impulsive move, but then again, he’d been impulsive from the second they’d met. For the moment, as her toes curled in her super sexy Birkenstocks, she was grateful as hell. She couldn’t move her gaze away from his lips. She just sat there, taking in the fullness of him. His mouth was sex on tap.
    The jeep groaned. It didn’t like standing idle. Neither did her hands. They needed to feel him and the next thing she knew, her arms were latched around his back.
    Everything stopped around the two of them. Nothing else existed aside from the honeyed taste of his mouth. She was fourteen again, having her world rocked on the lockers outside of homeroom.
    He pulled away too damned fast for her liking. “Was I out of line?”
    “Well...” she wiped at the corner of her lips. “Don’t think this means I’ll go easier on you during parking tutoring.”
    “Oh, no. I like rough, mistress.”
    And whether he did or didn’t, it was said with all the heat of an Easy Bake Oven. This was him, playful and at peace. Relaxing her in a whole new way and again making her wish for something more cheerful out of life.
    Not that she had any say. She was his patient after all. For the first time in her life, she wasn’t in control and it really didn’t suck.

Chapter Ten
    I t was close to noon before they neared the town of Camerra, thick in cacao tree-growing territory. Pierce’s mind had been occupied by two things the whole trip up here: Melody and work.
    Three things – Melody, work and how Melody was impacting his work.
    He should be on a plane flying somewhere over Kansas by now. He’d been busted. Maybe. Ava had sounded too frantic to be angry. With her closest friend on a mission in Macedonia, Pierce had to be in the far back section of her mind. Or, possibly Ava was quietly plotting his demise.
    He wouldn’t know until he got back to the base.
    While Melody chatted on about different types of chocolate, he was coming up with a plausible...truth. Lying to his boss wasn’t an option. If even lightly