STONE GUARDIAN EXCERPT
Jade retrieved her suitcase from beneath the bed and began to
pack her clothes inside. She ignored the man leaning against the
window sill where she'd been staring out much of the morning. He
hadn't said anything, so she assumed he wouldn't stop her.
"I've changed my mind," she announced when her packing was
done. "I'm leaving today. If you will arrange for someone to
drive me to wherever I can find an inn, then I will stay there
until I can get a flight home. Thank you again for everything
you've done for me."
Finally, he shoved away from the window and approached her
leisurely. "I'm sorry, Jade. You can't leave."
The tears erupted from her eyes and the months of waiting and
wondering drove her to throw a tantrum. She slammed her suitcase
on the floor and stomped her feet childishly, "You have no right
to keep me here! You have no right!"
She sobbed uncontrollably as he took her gently in his arms.
Even in her misery, Jade felt the attraction that made her press
closer to his muscled form. She sought his warmth, despite
herself and yielded immediately when Saint John covered her
mouth with his own.
His kiss along her throat burned her skin, lighting her
entire being. He lifted her against him, so that her feet
dangled momentarily in the air. Jade wantonly wrapped her
jeans-encased legs around him and felt his arousal pressed
between her legs. It wasn't until she'd abandoned common sense
and greedily stuck her tongue inside his mouth that caution
reasserted itself. This trusting of a handsome man had gotten
her into trouble at the airport. She was not so foolish to fall
into that trap again.
Jade struggled in his arms to free herself. "Please put me
down."
He grinned, revealing perfectly white teeth, "But we're
having so much fun."
"I need to go."
"Still?"
"Yes, please."
Slowly, Saint John allowed her to descend upon his body. Of
course he'd know the hard planes of his flesh would drive up her
cravings. She resisted with the little strength remaining within
her.
"Jade, you must know—"
"Don't call me Jade." She bent to pick up her suitcase and
headed toward the door. "My name is Tina. You may have taken my
face, but you won't take my name."
He followed her into the hall and took the case from her to
assist her down the long winding staircase to the first floor.
"I won't force you to stay, J-- I will only say that you risk
your life by leaving my protection."
"What does that mean?"
"It means there are those who wish to harm you. I have kept
you here to keep you alive."
She stopped on the last step and turned to face him. "Look, I
remember what happened to me. I remember someone put a…bomb in
my pocket. It went off. I don't know how I survived, but I
remember the man who must have done it to me and to the others
who were killed in the explosion. I will hunt him down and make
him pay. It's as simple as that."
"Jade."
She glared at him.
He continued without using her name, "You are right. Someone
planted that bomb on you, but it was not some terrorist act as
you might suppose."
"Then what was it?"
"I cannot say. Only know that I have already taken care of
'George.'"
She crossed her arms in front of her. She doubted his
sincerity. Who's to say he wasn't behind this whole thing? "Yes,
just like you cannot say what your name is. I'm not interested
in you any more. I've got to go."
He grinned suddenly, the dark eyes flashing. "Somehow I think
you are interested in me."
"That's beside the point!" Embarrassment made her yell at
him.
"Ok, I will be honest with you if you cannot be with me." He
sat down her suitcase beside them and reached to grasp her
hands. She trembled at his touch. "Now, my name is Saint John
Kane. You may call me John, if you like. I own this house."
"More like castle," she interrupted.
A look silenced her.
"I brought you here to keep you safe. The bomb was meant for
you and you alone."
She gaped, terror twisting her insides.
"I…I'm nobody special."
"No? Tell me, Jade. How did you know so quickly that the
device in your pocket was a bomb?"
"I—" How could he know that she'd recognized it, the bomb her
father had designed ten years before? He wasn't there, was he?
"Yes," he nodded as if he'd read her mind. "Your father."
"I just don't understand," she whispered as she sat down on
the stairs. "It malfunctioned. It is designed to be undetectable
by the scanners, even casting an illusion when x-rayed."
John sat beside her and drew her into his arms again. "I made
sure that Lana would not share this with you, since there is
something I need to tell you myself."
She turned wet eyes up to him, "What is it?"
"It's your father."
She dropped her head against his chest and held on to him.
She knew what he would say before he said it, had known all
along. It was the only logical explanation why someone other
than her father had access to the device he'd created and
supposedly destroyed.
"My father's dead, isn't he?"
"I'm sorry, Jade. Yes he is."
.
