Page 84 of Protecting Maggie
Then he proceeded to do just that. He made love to her gently and reverently. Maggie had never felt so cherished.
He’d coaxed two orgasms out of her before she urged him to take his own pleasure. Even in the midst of his orgasm, he didn’t pound into her. He simply planted himself deep inside her body and came long and hard.
Then he rolled over and held her tight, covering them both with the comforter.
Maggie sighed against him. His arms around her felt amazing. She’d gone so long without human touch that this felt like a miracle.Hermiracle.
Tomorrow, the shit might hit the fan, but for now, she was content to soak in Shawn’s love. She felt his lips on her forehead and she sighed with contentment.
“Sleep, Maggie.”
“Do we need to set an alarm?” she asked sleepily.
“I already did.”
“Did you call Kevlar?”
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry.”
Don’t worry. When was the last time she’d been carefree enough not to worry? Before she’d met Roman, for sure. Dating him had been…stressful. Maggie always felt as if she had to live up to what he’d thought was his greatness. That she was somehow falling short whenever she was around him. With what she wore, how she acted, what she said. But with Shawn, she could just be herself.
Maggie was still trying to figure out who she was, as being incarcerated had changed her. She was more wary, less trusting, less willing to take people at face value. But somehow with this man, his friends, she was coming into her own.
“I need to call Julie,” she mumbled.
“We’ll do it tomorrow. Go to sleep, Maggie. You’re exhausted, and frankly, so am I. Tomorrow is soon enough to worry about the real world.”
“Okay,” she slurred.
“Love you,” Shawn said.
“Love you back,” Maggie said with a small smile. Then she fell into a deep sleep, trusting the man whose arms were around her to keep her safe.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Preacher took a deep breath and tried to relax. It was fifteen minutes after ten and the team was gathered at Safe’s house to discuss the situation with Robertson. Josie was at MacGyver’s house with the kids. Maggie was sitting nervously at the table just off the kitchen. Kevlar had picked up a few things for her before the meeting, then called Dude and Benny to go with Wren and Remi to Maggie’s apartment to pack up more of her stuff. She’d agreed that morning to temporarily move in with Preacher until things with Robertson were resolved.
He should be ecstatic that she’d be in his space for the foreseeable future, but he was also concerned that she felt as if she had no choice. It wasn’t lost on Preacher that Maggie had no real home. She’d been staying with Adina after being paroled because she had nowhere else to go. And now she was being shuffled to his place because ofcircumstances beyond her control once again. The last thing he wanted was her agreeing to move in with him because she felt cornered. He wanted her there becauseshewanted to be. She’d told him that morning that she was happy to stay with him, but he still worried.
Then there was Robertson. The man was a threat. A big one. Not only to Maggie, but to his SEAL team, other women, and even other Navy personnel. There was no telling what he’d do in order to evade justice. He’d already proven he had no problem setting up others to take the blame for his actions.
“I’ve been talking to Tex this morning, and what he’s been able to dig up so far…it’s not good,” Kevlar said.
“This morning?” MacGyver asked. “Thought he was joining us via phone for this meeting?” His teammate had dark circles under his eyes, and Preacher wondered if he’d gotten any sleep at all. He was obviously stressed about Artem, Borysko, and Yana, but he was here, which meant the world to him.
“Yeah, he is. But I was up early, and I didn’t want to wait to update him. The thought of Robertson messing with not only our careers, but other SEAL teams, is so fucking wrong it’s not even funny.”
Preacher nodded, as did all the other men. Nothing about the rear admiral using his power inappropriately sat well with any of them.
“He’s not going to do anything himself,” Flash said. “He’s a coward. If he’s going to come after Maggie again, he’ll send one of his flunkies.”
“I agree. Which is why Tex has been trying to figure out who Robertson has doing his dirty work. So far he’s found a few enlisted sailors, as well as a convicted drug dealer or two.”
“Really?” Maggie asked.
“And he thinks that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Kevlar said with a nod. “Tex has a couple of his hacker friends working on this too. A woman out of Texas, another in New Mexico. And also Rex, who we all know…the leader of the Mountain Mercenaries. It’s their top priority at the moment. They’re looking especially hard at the cold case of his missing wife. Including combing through reports of unidentified remains that have been found in the area where he lived, to see if any of them can be traced back to the wife, and thus to Robertson.”
Maggie looked down at her lap, and Preacher realized she was trying not to cry. He went to her side and pulled out the chair next to her. He took her hand in his and put it on his thigh.
