Atonement (The Protectors 6)

Once Jeff was out of hearing, I said, “Any chance you have a mute button?” I noticed that Dante’s eyes would connect with mine only for a few seconds at a time before shifting back to the area around us.

Because he was still watching out for us…me.

“Yeah, but I don’t think you’d like where it’s located.” His eyes landed on mine. “You know, with your aversion to all things dick.”

I actually had to fist my hands to keep myself from reaching for the dick in question. I highly doubted the man remained silent while getting off. I couldn’t help but wonder at all the sounds that would fall from his beautiful lips as I explored him.

Fuck, I needed to get a grip.

I forced myself to step back and bit out, “Let’s go,” and pushed past him towards the elevator. Thank God I’d worn jeans today instead of the normal khakis I’d always worn as part of the uniform. Though, if I’d stood there any longer with the heat rolling off of Dante’s body and the sounds of his pleasure shooting through my brain, it wouldn’t have mattered what kind of pants I’d been wearing because nothing short of a suit of armor would have kept my cock in check.

As we made our way up to the office, a few people who’d been pegged to work on the New Year’s holiday began recognizing me and extending their greetings. I kept one eye on Dante the entire time, expecting him to react like he had in the parking garage, but he kept it cool and was surprisingly polite when I introduced him to those who seemed curious about him, though I did leave out the bodyguard part. He remained on alert the entire time and I began noticing that he only tensed up around certain people. Curiously, they were the same people I’d always had an off feeling about…the kind of people you just instinctually knew not to spend a lot of time interacting with.

And that was when I remembered the common theme I’d heard about Dante besides his need to fuck anything with two legs and a pulse.

Kid’s got great instincts…

I’d clearly been wrong on that front because Dante was damn good at sensing things about others.

But all that realization did was make me wonder what exactly Dante sensed about me that maybe I didn’t.

Fuck, this was bad.

Chapter Five

Dante

I’d never been around so many cops in my entire fucking life, not that there were even that many considering it was a holiday. And of course, the men and women walking past me looked nothing like any cops I’d ever seen. The lightly colored khaki pants were okay, I figured, but it was the damn hats that were throwing me. Big ass cowboy hats that I would have expected to see in some western flick, not on the top of the head of every badge-wearing, gun-toting person around me. And if the hats weren’t on their head, they were carefully placed on pegs along the wall or hangers next to desks. Hell, I wondered if these guys cared more for their hats than their guns. And then there were the boots. Yep, boots…cowboy boots. In every texture imaginable and all spiffed up and shiny. I was half expecting a line dance to break out at any moment.

But that thought was quickly followed by the realization that Magnus had probably dressed like this when he’d been on the job. I swallowed hard as my cock jumped at the thought of Magnus in one of the ridiculous hats and spiffy boots. Somehow I knew Magnus could pull the look off, even if those were the only articles of clothing he was wearing.

Shit, I needed to get a grip.

My eyes shifted back to the office where I could see Magnus through the small section of the door that was glass. We’d ended up compromising when he’d told me he needed to talk to his boss alone. I’d immediately told him I wasn’t letting him out of my sight to which he’d hardened his jaw like he usually did before snagging a chair from beside the desk outside the office – presumably where the boss’s assistant worked – and plunking it down so it was angled in a way so I could still see him while he was inside the office. He’d given me a stern warning to stay out of trouble before going in to greet his boss, shutting the door behind him. That had been half an hour ago. I’d spent much of the time watching him talk, admiring the way his corded throat moved as he spoke. Every once in a while, his big hands would gesture emphatically and I even saw him crack a smile or two.

I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand to attention and immediately did another scan of the room. I found the source of the disturbance – that prick Jeff was watching me from a desk in the corner of the large space near the exit leading to the stairs. I’d enjoyed toying with the fucker after he’d spoken to me like I was some low-life criminal, but I would have enjoyed taking him down a few notches even more. If I hadn’t been responsible for Magnus’s safety, I would have found a way to rile up the man so he’d take a swing at me, his status as a law enforcement professional be damned.