Undercover Seduction

UNDERCOVER SEDUCTION HAWKEYE PROTECTORS: FIRSTS COLLECTION SIERRA CARTWRIGHT CONTENTS Come to Me Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Epilogue Initiation Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Stay with Me Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 About the Author Also by Sierra Cartwright COME TO ME HAWKEYE PROTECTORS, BOOK ONE CHAPTER ONE Shit. Nate Davidson opened his eyes and tried to shake away the stars that had exploded in his head and stolen his vision. It took several tries before the image of strong, tall, dark, and dangerous Wolf Stone blinked into focus. And when it did, Nate was certain he’d never seen anything better. It’d been a long time. Too damn long. “You’re lucky I didn’t tear your fool head off.” Nate flexed his jaw to make sure it still worked. “Feels to me like you did.” “What the fuck are you doing here?” Stone’s voice was deep and ragged, cut glass on velvet. “You’re not glad to see me? I thought you’d start looking for a fattened calf.” Nate knew what real danger was. It had nothing to do with his battered body or the nasty storm snarling its way over the Rocky Mountains. Danger was Wolf Stone. And Nate was in the bigger, stronger man’s sights. Nate struggled to get his elbows behind him. Damn mountains were made of rock, not the best pillow under any circumstances. Downright painful when you’d had your clock cleaned by a tank of a man. “Mind if I sit up?” “Stay where you are.” Lying on the ground, looking well over six feet up into Stone’s cold blue eyes left Nate at a disadvantage—or, rather, at a greater disadvantage than he usually was around Stone. “Hospitable as always, aren’t you, boss?” “All trespassers get the same treatment.” No matter how hard either of them tried to pretend otherwise, they both knew Nate was no ordinary trespasser. And Stone was no ordinary property owner. He’d commanded several missions that Nate had been assigned to. Every person selected had to meet rigorous physical standards. By any measure, Nate was a good-size man, an inch over six feet, two hundred seven pounds of lean muscle. Still, Stone had him by two inches and at least twenty pounds. Even now, recouping from injuries, Stone had effortlessly brought Nate down. Well, that was an understatement. Stone had tossed Nate like an old magazine. “Still waiting for an answer to my question, Davidson.” Sometimes, only the truth would do. “When you refused protection, Hawkeye sent me.” “You’re here,” Stone demanded incredulously, “to protect me?” He raised a dark eyebrow in a way that made grown men cower. Nate had seen it happen, and he refused to admit to himself that it made him cower as well. “Who’d have imagined?” Ludicrous. Stone sheathed his knife. The weapon was overkill. He only needed his hands in order to tear a strip out of someone’s hide. “Tell Hawkeye I said thanks, but no thanks. You can find your own way off the ranch.” Stone turned. If he hadn’t been looking for it, Nate might not have noticed Stone’s slight limp. Stubborn man. The threat against his life was real and imminent. He was the only eyewitness to the hit that had taken out Elliott and Lisa Mulgrew. Word on the street was that some lucky bastard would get a cool million dollars if Stone didn’t make it to court to testify against Michael Huffman, the murderer. While Stone was holed up in his fortress, he was safe enough. But once he left Cold Creek Ranch, he’d need the backup. “So,” Nate called out when Stone got about ten paces away, “you’re not interested in knowing how I breached the perimeter?” “You got exactly nowhere before your ass was mine.” He continued on without looking back. “Storm’s brewing, man!” “You’ll get wet.” Well, hell. Nate collapsed back onto the unforgiving ground. That’d gone well. Stone disappeared over a ridge, vanishing into thick Ponderosa pines. In a nearby tree, a hairy woodpecker—nasty little bastard—beat out a staccato that matched the throbbing headache in Nate’s temples. Under any circumstances, he deferred to Stone. The man exuded a palpable loyalty-inspiring authority. Even now, when Stone didn’t want assistance, didn’t want to be protected, Nate had no intention of leaving. Stone was as determined as the mountains were rugged. Then again, so was Nate. Hawkeye hadn’t recruited Nate for this job. He, plus the helicopter pilot and copilot, had volunteered. It had taken days of planning, and he refused to admit failure. Half a dozen raindrops pelted his cheeks. Even in the past few minutes, the storm had gathered clouds and whipped them together with wind to descend the eastern slope of the Continental Divide. Could this get any worse? Lightning slashed through the swollen gray sky, igniting a path of cloud-to-cloud strikes. Yeah. It had gotten worse. * * * Wolf Stone, no matter how drop-dead gorgeous he was, was out of his freaking mind. And an asshole to boot. “You left Nate out there?” Kayla Fagan demanded. “Have you seen the weather?” “He’s not made of sugar.” “Meaning he won’t melt?” “Exactly.” “If this is how you treat your fellow operatives, what do you do to your enemies?” He shrugged. “None of them left alive to tell.” He smiled, and it did nothing to soften his features. The quick curve was more wicked than anything, making his eyes darken, reminding her of those few moments of twilight before the sky devoured the sun. He strode from the kitchen, and she followed. “Mr. Stone—” “Wolf, or just Stone.” He didn’t slow down. “And I’m not worried about how I’ll sleep tonight.” He crouched in front of the hearth, tossing kindling into the empty fireplace grate. When she first heard he was