a bracelet with a tracking device. Your story will be that the Facility hired out protection on you when you leave the grounds.”
“I’m your protection, minx.” Griff winks.
“Okay.” I reach for Griff and he closes the distance, hugging me tight to his side.
“As your protection detail, we require our clients to wear tracking devices. You’ll be outfitted with a bracelet and an earring. We anticipate those will be removed, and that’s where it should stop.”
“Should stop?”
“There’s always a chance they’ll do a sweep of your body.” Griff gives a little pinch to my arm. “That’s why there’s a diversion embedded in your arm.”
“But won’t they find the one behind my ear?”
“That one doesn’t transmit.” Skye hands me a second plastic packet. “This one is activated by touch, specifically by tapping SOS over the device. That ensures it’s not accidentally activated by touch.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Detectors can only sense devices that are actively transmitting. The one behind your ear does not transmit. You have to activate it. The bracelet and earring transmit steadily, as does the tracker we’re going to put in your arm.”
“I thought I was just going to get one thing shoved under my skin. Now it’s two?”
“You’re not going out there unless I’m one hundred percent positive we can find you if—when you’re taken.”
“I’m not on the mission yet.”
Griff exchanges a look with Skye.
“Little minx, what do you think I’ve been doing these past few days?”
“I don’t know. Guardian stuff?”
“Guardian stuff is mission planning. As much as I don’t like it, you’re a go for the mission. Max signed off on it yesterday.”
“Yesterday? Why didn’t you tell me?” My brows pinch together.
“I was otherwise occupied.” His brows lift, reminding me what we did last night. It was the first night we experimented with rope and can I say… Mind blown!
My face heats as I remember last night. Skye’s lips curl into a smile and she turns her back as Griff and I share a private moment.
My heart swells with the love he holds for me. Heat and passion simmer in his eyes—last night was epic—but it’s more than that. We’ve lowered our walls, shown our vulnerabilities, and grow closer each and every day.
He showed me a new side of himself last night and I can’t wait for more. I squirm on the table, suddenly needing a bit of alone time with my man, but first, Skye needs to shoot me up with tracking devices.
Then it hits. “It’s a go?”
“It is.” His deep voice sends delicious licks of pleasure shooting down my spine. Protective undertones, tempered by his dominance, flare in what he doesn’t say. He’s not happy putting me at risk, but he’s done everything in his power to make certain I’m ready to face whatever comes next.
“I’m scared.”
What I love most about Griff is that I can express my fears freely. He’s not here to rule my life, or control it, but he’s committed to standing by my side and fighting my battles with me, rather than for me. That goes against every protective instinct he has. He does it because men have controlled me before, dictating every facet of my existence. He’s a stronger, bigger, deadly partner, but a partner, nonetheless.
My partner.
My Guardian.
I’m not fooling myself about my abilities. Granted, I’ve been training in self-defense for over a year, but it’s only been these last two weeks that I’ve studied with such intensity. That doesn’t make my skills equal to his. Far from it.
There’s no way I can compete against decades of the intensive and brutal physical training he endured as a SEAL, a Delta operative, and now as a Guardian. The one thing he’s impressed upon me are the limits of what I can do.
“You can always back out.”
He’d love for me to back out. He spent the last few weeks making my life a living hell, specifically to test my resolve.
“Are you okay with this?”
“I’m not. Putting you out there goes against everything I believe.” His shoulders roll back. “But I accept this is something you need to do, and it meets Guardian objectives. I’ll do what I can to keep you safe.”
“Do you really think they’ll try to make another attempt to kidnap me?”
“We think someone is sniffing around Guardian operations, and from what Mitzy’s been able to determine, they have one very irate buyer. They’re being pressured to deliver.”
“Me.” I gulp as the word slips out of my mouth.
“And that’s when I’m no longer able to protect you. You’ll be on your