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  Adam

  Kings of Guardian

  Book 3

  By

  Kris Michaels

  Dr. Adam Cassidy knew two things: life isn’t easy and fate’s a bitch.

  Adam's last mission cost him an eye, his memory, and any chance of staying with his military brothers-in-arms on Guardian's Alpha Team. He'd scraped together the remnants of his life. He’d refined, rebuilt and pushed on alone, while every night, sleep tortured him with the fleeting memory of the warm, welcome press of the soft breasts and lips of a faceless, nameless woman.

  Keelee Marshall knew all about loss. She couldn't forget their brief nights of passion—but Adam had. The man she loved beyond reason had disappeared on the battlefields of Afghanistan. It seemed she would have to win his love all over again, and in Adam's ignorance, he was pushing her into the arms of a man she didn’t want and a future devoid of romance.

  Love can trump the cards fate has dealt both of them. But only if the man holding the cards is a Guardian.

  www.trollriverpub.com

  ADAM

  Kings of Guardian (Book 3)

  Copyright © 2015 Kris Michaels

  ISBN: 978-1-939564-74-0

  Cover Design: Angie

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted, with the exception of a reviewer who may quote passages in a review, without written prior permission from the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, events, incidents and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

  WARNING: The author and publisher would solemnly advise you not to attempt any of the sexual or non-sexual actions of any of the characters in this book. Any damage physical, mental or emotional is the sole responsibility of the person/persons attempting such actions. Please be aware that this is a work of fiction and you are responsible for yourself and the consequences caused thereof.

  Dear Reader,

  Kris has worked very hard on this particular piece of entertainment. This book was brought to you by hard labor and love. Please respect an artist’s work for the enrichment we try to bring you. I humbly ask that you don’t outright steal this child born on paper and brought to you by love. If you come by this book by nefarious means, and you are simply unable to give the change in your pocket for the purchase price, then take it with my blessing. But if you can purchase it and would like Kris to continue to bring you great books, please purchase a copy to support her.

  Thank you,

  Troll River Publications

  Join the fun with Author Kris Michaels for giveaways, updates and new release opportunities at: http://eepurl.com/7OXdr

  Dedication

  My first acknowledgement will always be to my husband and best friend, the cop. Thank you, babe, you make my dreams possible.

  To my girls: Elizabeth and Marilyn. Thank you for talking me down from the emotional water towers I found myself perched upon. I’m blessed to have you in my life.

  Patricia, my dear mentor, editor and sister in thought, Adam and Keelee’s story wouldn’t exist if you hadn’t convinced me not to kill off Adam in the first book. Thank you for falling in love with him.

  Rebecca B., I dedicate Adam and Keelee’s story to you.

  To my readers

  Adam’s story begins in the past. If you have not read The Kings of Guardian, Book One – Jacob, or The Kings of Guardian, Book Two – Joseph, do not worry, you’ll be caught up. For those that have, there are insights that did not come out in either book. Adam’s story timeline is interwoven between the threads of G1 and G2.

  Chapter One

  Heaven on earth existed and its epicenter was the Rocking M Ranch. Keelee Marshall knew nothing but this life and that was just fine. Cresting the ridge about two miles from home, she stopped her horse and waited for her ranch hand to catch up. The double hanging doors of the barn had been pushed back, spilling pale yellow light into the darkness of the crisp October evening. The soft illumination cascading from the barn stood as a beacon against the dark shadows of the majestic northern Black Hills. Her legs extended further on either side of her horse as the gelding filled its lungs and whinnied. Her mount’s ears twitched at a faint answering cry from the stable. Evenings like this cemented her love for her family’s ranch. Beautiful. Quiet. Serene. To the left of the barn, set back in the giant cottonwood trees, the glow from the house windows sparkled like little stars. This was home. The comforting cocoon of familiarity she found in the ebb and flow of the ranch operations wrapped itself around her DNA. Ranching wasn’t easy, but she’d never wanted anything else.

  “What in the heck is going on at the barn?” Danny’s stuffy nose made his question sound cartoonish.

  A small laugh bubbled up at his nasal misery, but she suppressed it. She had to give it to him. He had tried to suck it up and put in his time, because, unfortunately, work didn’t stop when someone got the sniffles. Today they had ridden the southern pasture fence line to ensure the snow barriers would hold through the winter. The kid had struggled. He was definitely sick. For the last few miles he’d been almost asleep in his saddle, but the lights ahead had pulled his attention. The violence of his thick wet cough startled her mount.

  “You okay, Danny? You almost came off your horse with that cough.”

  “Yeah. I’m hanging in.”

  She watched him dubiously but urged her horse to continue down the hill. There was no way Danny could make the ride up into the higher pastures to bring down the herd tomorrow. Keelee needed to arrange for another hand to replace him. Working the rocky breaks without four people was a fruitless effort. Cattle were cagey animals. They could scatter or ghost into the breaks formed by the Black Hills. Without enough people gathering the herd could take forever.

  She glanced towards the barn when she was sure Danny wasn’t going to end up on the ground. The flurry of activity was undoubtedly her dad and sister. Tori was due home today from her jaunt to D.C. Jaunt to D.C. Like that was a common thing, jet setting around the world. Well granted, in Tori’s world it seemed to be common. Keelee had never gone further than Denver, so the notion of flying halfway across the country was definitely on the ‘oh, I don’t think so’ side of the fence as far as she was concerned. According to her father, Tori flew there to meet a man. Someone special.

  “Probably Tori and Dad sorting and stacking equipment for the morning. She was supposed to be back this afternoon.”

  Danny grunted. Keelee smiled; the longer the young man worked for her dad, the more of his mannerisms he picked up. Grunting had become an elaborate form of communication on the Marshall Ranch. Rounding the corner to the barn, Keelee stopped her mount in disbelief and watched as three-string bales of alfalfa hay flew into the air. Each bale weighed a good seventy-five, eighty pounds.

  Two massive men were moving hay from a flatbed semi-trailer to the barn’s loft. Surprised and amazed, she watched a tall blond man resembling a Norse god easily carry four bales of hay at a time. Thor incarnate carried over three hundred pounds—or more. Those damn bales of alfalfa were doubles. It would have taken her three-quarters of an hour to do what the men she watched accomplished in mere minutes.

  Danny coughed again breaking Keelee out of her reverie. “Danny, go on in. Get yourself to bed. You shouldn’t have come out today.”

  The young man surveyed the strange men at work in the barn. “Who are they?”

  Keelee watched as the tall blond pitched bales up to a huge dark-haired man in the loft. “I guess those are friends of Tori’s. According to Dad, they’re staying on for a couple months. I didn’t know they were all showing up today though.” Keelee grabbed his reins. “Hey, on the bright side, if they keep helping out like this you can take time
off and get some rest without feeling too guilty.”

  Keelee dismounted. “I’ll tend to Biscuit. Go on. Get up to the house. Aunt Betty will make you a tray.”

  The boy coughed into his sleeve and slid down off his horse. “Okay. Night, Keelee.”

  She grinned at him. Poor kid. “Night, brat.” He gave a weak smile and walked with slow determination up to the house.

  Keelee loosened the cinch on her saddle, walked around the bay that Danny rode and repeated the process. She led the horses towards the barn and into the brightness that spilled from the interior.

  The tall blond threw a seventy-five pound bale up two stories to the loft where the man of obvious Native American ancestry caught it like it weighed no more than a piece of paper. Thor hoisted another bale to repeat the motion. He saw Keelee leading the horses into the barn and froze in mid-swing. He did a double take. Thor recovered his composure with a quick smile and pitched the bale up to the loft. The bale didn’t follow the other’s trajectory and the big Indian in the loft ended up with a chest full of hay that sat him on his ass. Hard.

  Keelee’s eyes followed the bale now on top of the seated giant in the loft. The string of cuss words the man let loose surprised her. She would never think to put those particular words together. Interesting how the F-bomb could be used as a noun, verb, adverb, adjective, subject and predicate and exclamation—all in one sentence. Keelee’s eyes widened and she tried desperately to suppress the laughter the torrent of cuss words initiated. She watched the man who pitched the load. Absolutely gorgeous. God had certainly known what he was doing. Tall, with muscles and thick blond hair that fell over his forehead. He had sky blue eyes, high cheekbones and a pair of killer dimples when he smiled. Dimples, nah, make that slashes and oh my God, they are so cute. And those dimples were on display front and center as he smiled at her.

  “Hi, I’m Keelee, Tori’s sister.”

  The man took off the leather gloves he wore and held out his hand. “That fact would be impossible to miss. Adam Cassidy, but everyone calls me Doc.”

  Keelee shook his hand. “Alright, Doc, nice to meet you. I take it you’re Tori’s man?”

  Doc gave a bark of laughter and shook his head. “No, ma’am. Jacob is Tori’s man. But we’re his team. If you adopt one, you adopt us all.”

  He whistled and the man above peered over the ledge. “Yo?”

  “Chief, this is Keelee, Tori’s sister and yes, she heard your tirade.”

  The Indian brushed off hay from his shirt. His face reddened before he nodded at her and turned away going back to work.

  Two mirror image Greek gods walked up from the far end of the barn with empty feed buckets. Strawberry blond hair, blue eyes and muscles that just didn’t end, all these men were cut from the same cloth. When did I die and go to superhero heaven?

  Doc nodded to the men. “That’s Dixon and the other one’s Drake.”

  Drake gave him a smile. “Damn Doc, we’ve been together five years and you can’t tell us apart yet?”

  Doc snarled. “Bullshit! I put that stitch right where I can see it above your eyebrow. You can’t pull that shit on me any longer.”

  The doctor grimaced and gave her a sheepish grin. “Sorry ma’am, as you can tell we are not used to being around ladies.”

  Keelee laughed. “Yeah? Me either!”

  “Let us take the horses back for you.” One of the twins reached for the reins.

  Keelee raised an eyebrow, not moving to relinquish the leather. “Do you know how to unsaddle and curry a horse?”

  Dixon elbowed Drake in the ribs and smiled. “Yes Ma’am, we grew up in Lexington, Kentucky. We both worked for stables before we joined the Corps.”

  Keelee pulled her Winchester out of the rifle boot on her saddle. “This is Comanche. He goes into the empty stall on the right.” She tossed the bay’s reins to Dixon… or was it Drake? Whatever, or actually, whoever. “Biscuit here goes in the stall at the end. Watch out for Comanche. He kicks and bites.” The remaining twin grabbed the reins directly under the bridle, squeezing slightly. The horse wouldn’t be able to bite him and with such a short rein he couldn’t swing around to kick. Keelee nodded her head. The men could handle horseflesh.

  She turned as more bales flew into the air. “Wow.”

  Keelee jumped when her father’s gruff voice sounded beside her. “Yep, my sentiments exactly.”

  “Where is Tori’s man?” Keelee stood mesmerized.

  “The big one? He’s up at the house with your sister.” Her dad’s words brought her head around to him.

  “Big one? These guys are the size of a Mack truck!”

  “Yeah? Tori’s man is a truck and trailer.” Frank gave a loud, sharp, whistle. “Dinner in thirty minutes at the house. You will all be there.”

  Adam threw a bale and spoke over his shoulder. “Roger that, sir.”

  Her dad turned toward the house and she fell in beside him.

  “Well, I’ll be damned. They can work.”

  “Stop cussing. You sound like a ranch hand.”

  “I am a ranch hand.”

  “Don’t matter. You’re still my daughter.”

  “Girls cuss.”

  “Not in my house.”

  “I’m not in the house.”

  “Stop being a smartass.”

  “But I’m so good at it.”

  “That you are, honey. That you are.” Her dad chuckled. “Get yourself washed up. Don’t make me wait for dinner. I’m hungry enough to eat the table.”

  “Yes, sir.” Keelee left her dad at the foyer and headed up to her bedroom. The blond doctor’s smile and vivid blue eyes fixed in her mind’s eye. You’re a fool. Stop thinking about him. He’s here for a short time. Not like he’d be interested in you. Keelee scrunched her nose at herself in the mirror. She washed up quickly and glanced at her reflection. In a sudden decision, she pulled her hair out of the long braid she usually wore and brushed it out and up into a high ponytail, leaving the full dark-blonde wave past her shoulder. She changed her clothes. Twice. Oh, just stop! Get downstairs and eat before dinner is done.

  Keelee blushed when she took her seat. Her father and sister’s raised eyebrows only made the heat in her face more obvious to everyone else. The conversation at the table was lighthearted, the men teasing each other with comfortable familiarity. Keelee found herself stealing glances down the table at Adam. The man’s pull was disconcerting. With an effort, she focused on the conversation between her father and Jacob. Tori had picked well. The man was beyond handsome. Dark where Keelee preferred fair, but he commanded the table and was definitely a powerful and dynamic person. Keelee gave herself a mental shake, tuning in for once to the conversation happening at the table.

  “Tori says you work international issues. You ever work with her?” At her dad’s question, her sister and Jacob’s men tensed. It wasn’t her imagination. For some reason, this wasn’t a topic they wanted to talk about.

  “Indirectly, yes. That’s how we met.” Jacob’s answer didn’t eliminate the eerie quiet that settled over the table.

  Keelee spoke for the first time since sitting down. “Your company deals with computer security issues?”

  Jacob replied, “My company is Guardian Security. We are the world’s largest private security agency. We are employed by federal agencies and private concerns in our country and by nations around the world. Our missions deal with everything from computer security to privately funded military operations in hostile areas—the latter is my specialty.”

  Wait, hostile areas? Keelee glanced across the table at her sister. It appeared Tori wanted to slip under the table and hide. I’m missing something here.

  “You said you met Tori when you worked together. Was she in a hostile area?”

  Her dad snorted. “Yeah, if I know your sister, she was smack dab in the middle of one hell of a mess.” At her dad’s quip, Tori and all the men around the table laughed at the same time and resumed eating.

  Why didn’
t she tell me? I’ve been the one to wake her from her nightmares for the last year. Nightmares Keelee had been told were from a traffic accident that left her sister severely injured. Hostile area? The realization there may never have been a traffic accident slammed home. Why the lies? Why couldn’t Tori tell her? She was her sister, for heaven’s sake. She felt betrayed.

  “Really? It would seem I’m the last to know anything around here. But when it concerns Tori that’s nothing unusual, now is it?” She pinned Tori to her seat with a stare that showed all the hurt she felt and stood up. “I guess I’ll make myself useful and go get dessert.” She picked up her plate and escaped to the kitchen.

  Aunt Betty hummed an old waltz tune as she took a huge apple cobbler out of the oven. “Hi, sweetheart! You’re just in time to take this out to the table for me.”

  Keelee attempted a smile and grabbed two pot holders. “Aunt Betty, this crowd is going to be a lot of extra work for you. Do you need me to help out?”

  The thin woman turned and beamed at Keelee. With a repetitive push she lifted her gray hair back from her face. She smiled at the expansive modern kitchen. “Are you kidding me? No, sweetheart, I’m loving this! Cooking for a bunch of hungry hands is what I love. Now you go on and take that out but come back for the ice cream.”

  Keelee picked up the casserole filled with bubbling cobbler and headed towards the door as Doc walked in balancing an armload of empty dishes. He headed straight to the sink and unloaded as he smiled and spoke over his shoulder. “You are an excellent cook, ma’am.”

  Keelee stood transfixed. The man drew her attention like fire to kerosene. He quickly settled the dishes on the counter, then walked past Keelee and bent down to give Aunt Betty a kiss on her cheek. “That was a delicious meal. If you keep feeding us that way, we may never leave.”

  Betty’s face flushed deep red as she laughed like a schoolgirl. “Enough with you! Take that ice cream bucket and follow Keelee out of here. Men don’t belong in my kitchen even when they come in to kiss up!”