Forgotten Bodyguard Box Set: A Forbidden Fruit Series

by Ali Parker

  I moaned and rocked against him, quickly losing the fight. We were on the side of the road near the beach. Anyone who drove by would see us.

  "Pull into a parking garage or something, Ian." I reached in between us, slipping the tops of my fingers into his slacks. The thick head of his cock pulsed against my fingers, leaving me with the desire to dive into the depravity he offered.

  "No." He reached down and unbuttoned his slacks. "Stop being worried about someone seeing us."

  "There's a lookout just up the road." Panic raced through me. I wasn't nearly the bad girl I wanted to be.

  He chuckled. "You're scared, aren't you?"

  The real emotion on his handsome face melted me. "Yeah. I don't want anyone to interrupt us. I need you too bad right now."

  He stared at me for a few minutes as if trying to discern the truth in my words.

  "Please?" I whispered and leaned forward to wrap myself around him in a warm hug.

  "Anything for you." He kissed the side of my neck and gripped me tightly with one arm as he pulled back onto the road.

  I clung to him, breathing in the delicious scent of his skin and wishing we had a different life. The one he'd been dragged into the middle of was unfair to him. I was stuck, but he didn't have to be.

  "You know that you don't have to do this." I brushed my lips by his ear.

  "Are you kidding me? I'm lost to you, Chloe. How you did it, I'm not sure, but what's done is done, baby girl." He slid his hand down my back and tugged my dress up enough to press his fingers into the side of my panties.

  I groaned and undulated my hips as he patted my sex and ran his fingers through my folds.

  "You could leave tonight. Get out of this shit and save yourself." I moved back and pressed down on his fingers as he groaned and hit the gas harder.

  "And leave you to deal with this shit? Never. Lay down so I can see."

  "I wish you would just get the fuck out of here." I pressed myself to his chest as he forced his finger deeper inside of me. Pleasure danced along my center as the ache of knowing that he would stay until everything fell apart burrowed deep in my heart.

  "I'm not going anywhere without you." He licked the side of my throat and pulled his hand from my panties.

  I glanced behind me, realizing that we were on the lookout underneath the cover of a cluster of trees.

  "I'm not worth all of this." I touched the side of his face as he pushed at my skirt and smiled, stealing parts of me that I thought were long gone. Hope was buried with my mother and pure love with Pauly.

  Did Ian have the power to help me find both again?

  "Make love to me." He ran his fingers down the side of my face. "Find comfort right here with me and fucking forgive me for acting like an asshole back there."

  I reached down between us and freed him from his slacks. The soft sigh that left him caused chill bumps to break out on my skin.

  "I don't have a condom. I'll hold back. I just need to feel you wrapped around me." He gripped my hips as I lifted up and dug my nails into his shoulders.

  I reached down and took him in my hand, stroking him a few times as my pulse spiked. I wanted so much more than a quick fuck from him, but that would have to come in the future. We had a battle ahead of us and I had no clue where we were headed.

  Tugging my panties to the side, I leaned forward and pressed down on him slowly.

  "Fuck," he groaned and pulled me flush against him. "I'm in love with you, Chloe. We're going to figure this out, baby."

  "I know," I whispered and tucked my face against his neck as I rocked against him, welcoming him deep inside my body and letting him take hold of my heart again.

  He touched every part of me as we shook the fancy car my father let us borrow. The sound of our moans shook me to the core and forced me to face the fact that he was my future. He was what I wanted more than my freedom. Whatever that meant, I was in.

  "I'm gonna come if you keep moaning like a needy little bitch." He smiled against my lips as he gripped my ass tightly, using his hold on me to work his body deeper inside of me.

  I moaned loudly as my orgasm hit. "Come."

  He gritted his teeth and forced me to fuck him faster as his breathing got off kilter. "No, baby. I'm not putting us through that too. I can hold off."

  "Please don't." I wrapped my arms around his neck and leaned down to brush my lips by his.

  "Chloe," he mumbled and worked me through the rest of my orgasm.

  "I love you too," I whispered and rested against him. "I know why you lied about Pauly, I just hate that you did it."

  "He threatened your life." He kissed the side of my face as his cock pulsed with the beginning of his orgasm. He clenched his teeth and dropped his head back as his muscles clenched tightly.

  "Is that how he kept Pauly beside him all these years, Ian?" I lifted up and pressed back down as he gripped my hips and gave me a stern look.

  "Stop. I'm serious."

  "Is that how he did it?" I ran my fingers over his and rocked forward as Ian's eyes fluttered closed.

  "Yes," he whispered and tried to pull me up off of him.

  I forced my way back down as he grunted loudly. "Goddamn it, Chloe. I'm gonna come, baby."

  "Come." I gripped his shoulders and bounced in his lap, giving him the last push over the edge. It was unfair of me, but if he loved me and I loved him, then sharing our bodies fully with each other was the only thing left to do. I had no doubt that if we made it out of the bullshit with my father that we would be together forever.

  "Wicked bitch." He fucked me fast and hard from beneath, forcing the air from my lungs and pushing me over the edge of orgasm again.

  "I like wicked," I mumbled and rode the swell of pleasure he provided.

  He finished and pulled me down for a long kiss. There was comfort to be found in the strength in his arms as they tightened around me, and I reveled in it.

  "I'm sorry I had to lie about Pauly." Ian brushed his nose by mine. "He loved you. I know he did. Your father has a lot of fucking secrets, and he's got me by the balls right now."

  "Because he's threatening to hurt me?" The idea of my father actually hurting me should have caused more of a gut reaction, but it didn't. He was a heartless bastard, and somehow I'd been hiding that truth from myself since my mother died.

  "Yes." He brushed my hair back. "Nothing matters more than you right now. He knew where to hit Pauly to keep him obedient, and the fucker is doing the same thing to me. We have to let this ride out until Jeremy comes forward and-"

  "Jeremy was involved in all of it." I lifted off of him and moved back in my seat before pulling my dress down and letting out a soft sigh. Nothing felt better than opening myself up to him. He was raw, sensual power. He was mine.

  "No." Ian tucked his cock back in his slacks and glanced over toward me. "No, baby. Jeremy isn't involved. I think your dad set him up like he set us up."

  "Pauly told me that Jeremy was involved in killing Brant Thomas' family all those years ago. Pauly was there with them."

  "Them?" He started the car again and rolled down the window. "Pauly and your father?"

  "Yes. My dad said he was tricked into coming, but that Jeremy was there because he wanted to help my father get ahead."

  "And Pauly?" Ian snorted. "Why the hell was he there?"

  "I guess for the same reason." I brushed my hair back. "My dad said that Pauly was Jeremy's dad."

  "He lied. That's not true." He put the car in reverse and glanced over his shoulder.

  "How do you know that? Did you ask Pauly?"

  "No, your father told me he lied to you. The bastard seems to think he's got me under his thumb. Sadly enough, to some degree, he does."

  "I'm sorry." I reached out and ran my hand over his shoulder. "You can get out of this you know."

  He chuckled. "We already had that talk, baby. I'm not the right guy for a beautiful woman like you, but I'm just enough of an asshole to hang around in hope that you won't notice."
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br />   "That's not fair."

  "No?" He took my hand and gripped it tightly as we drove back toward the water.

  "No. You wouldn't let me run back at the beach house when I planned on leaving you. You didn't give up on me. Don't expect me to give up on you."

  "That's true." He lifted my fingers to his lips. "We're going to have to play by your father's rules until we get what we need to bring him down. I might have it in the zip drives I took from his safe. I need to review them and make sure they're what I think they are."

  "And if they're not?" I lay back, pressing my head to the seat and shifting a little so I could see him better.

  His dark hair lay over his forehead, playing along the top of his eyebrows as the wind blew through the open window.

  "Then we'll figure out something else. I think it's key for us to figure out who the fuck Jeremy is in all of this."

  "Agreed. Maybe I can talk to him."

  "No." Ian's voice hardened. "That's the last thing I would want to happen."

  "Sneak in my room tonight and hold me. I don't want to sleep without you." I was asking for too much and I knew it. It was the childish part of me that wanted what she wanted, period.

  "I can't, Chloe. Just hold tight, baby. We'll work through this. I promise."

  I nodded. It would have to be enough to trust him to work things out from his angle. I knew he'd be upset with me, but if I got the chance to dig a little deeper from my position, I was going all in.

  It was my father pulling the strings. Maybe I could get close enough to snip them free one string at a time.

  The first would be his hold on Ian.

  Chapter 9

  Four Days Later

  Ian

  "You know the drill." I glanced over at Daniel and two other stiff-necked guards as I moved along the edge of the crowd. The gathering in Maryland was a success from what I could tell, and Mitch seemed to be in a rather good mood, which made life easier. The old bastard must have been more concerned about me spending any additional time with Chloe. He'd pulled me to guard him specifically on Monday morning. Somehow I wouldn't have been surprised to hear that he was more than aware of our rendezvous in his pretty black Lexus on Sunday night. He had eyes everywhere.

  As long as he didn't have ears... I'd be all right.

  I shook my head and moved to stand at the back of the crowd, clasping my hands in front of my waist and watching quietly.

  How Chloe had managed to pull the information out of me about Pauly was a mystery. I'd cared about Mandy, and even loved her, but I could hold a lie for days, weeks, fuck, years. One minute in front of Chloe while she was pleading for the truth and I was toast. It was almost comical.

  Too bad the information I gave her was the kind that could get us both killed.

  I wanted Cole beside me or better yet, behind me. I was unprotected and swimming in a sea of sharks.

  "Give a big hand for California Senator, and your next president, Mitch Moore!" The speaker from the stage lifted his hands and bounced up and down on the balls of his feet as Mitch, Daniel and Chloe walked up on stage.

  She looked like a sweet college girl with the ambition to be a lawyer someday. The glasses perched on her cute little button nose were a ruse, just part of the gig he'd forced her into. It was almost comical, and yet, not at all.

  I couldn't help but want her to scan the room to find me, but she was locked deeply into playing the part handed to her. The crowd was bouncing around and shouting like they were at a rock concert. It caused nervousness to run through me.

  I lifted my wrist toward my lips and glanced toward the edge of the stage. "Everyone in position? All eyes on the crowd?"

  I got back the responses I expected and turned my attention back to the crowd as I walked back and forth while Mitch gave his speech. His promises were far and wide, and I had no doubt that he'd come through on all of them. A man capable of killing his best friend in cold blood would have no qualms about delivering a few things from the heart of Washington D.C.

  Him being so incredibly different than I imagined forced me to think through what else I'd missed in the last few months. Just a few days earlier, I was still pinning everything on Jeremy. I couldn't help but wonder if Mitch was involved in far more than just Pauly's death.

  Could the bastard have killed his own wife?

  The thought caused my stomach to turn. Chloe wouldn't emotionally survive the idea of her father being involved in her mother's death. But I could almost bet that he was. The story she'd told from her childhood was chilling. The only one screaming and losing his shit at the funeral was Pauly, not Mitch. Why?

  I forced the thoughts out of my head and pulled my focus back on the crowd. Someone patted my back, and I turned as the sound of Tristan's cocky voice caught my attention.

  "This is all a crock of shit." He smiled.

  "Oh yeah?" I turned my face toward him, but kept my eyes moving along the people around us. "You seem like the kind of guy that would love this political stuff."

  "Me?" He snorted. "No, I'm just here for the girl."

  My back stiffened and my voice dropped a good octave or two. "What girl?"

  "Chloe." The guy didn't seem to notice that he was stepping on my dick. It was a good thing and a really, really bad one.

  "She's not up for grabs. She's got a lot going on right now. Try again later." I'd much rather grab him by the shirt, head-butt him and drop his ass to the floor, but that wasn't really an option.

  "What? No way. She's in the perfect place for someone to sweep in and take care of her." He snorted and turned toward the stage. "She doesn't even wear glasses. What the fuck is that?"

  "Her father made her." I glanced down and narrowed my eyes. "Did your momma make you wear that shirt, or did you really pick that thing out on your own?"

  He tilted his head to the side and studied me for a minute without uttering a word. "You have feelings for her."

  "Enjoy the event, Mr. Stanley." I walked around him before the better parts of my personality woke up and caused one hell of a scene. I didn't need Mr. Oxford analyzing my actions.

  I passed by the guard near the front of the stage as Mitch wrapped up his part of the speech and moved back to take his seat.

  "I'm going to check the outside perimeter one more time. Keep your eyes open." I pinned the guy with a stare that would scare more grown men.

  "Absolutely, boss." He nodded and turned back to scan the crowd.

  I ducked through the tent covering and walked out into the parking lot. It was beautiful in Maryland in the summer. The sun was set high in the sky, the clouds moving lazily and the breeze just enough to keep me from sweating.

  Running my fingers through my hair, I turned in a circle and stopped cold. Jeremy.

  "I know what you think." He lifted his hands and stopped a few feet from me.

  "No, you don't have a clue what I'm thinking." I moved toward him, ready to rip his head off his fucking shoulders. "Tell me why I shouldn't kill you for your part in all of this shit?"

  He backed up, his eyes wide, but funny enough, he didn't look ready to bolt. "Let me talk and then if you still believe that I'm the one to blame for all of this, you can drag me into the police station."

  "Talk, and make it quick."

  "How many zip drives did you take from the house?"

  "I said talk, not ask questions," I barked and took another step toward him.

  "I didn't do anything wrong, Ian. My whole life was stolen from me by that fucker in there. I served him and did what he told me to do and he still ruined my career all those years ago. What choice did I have but to take Chloe?"

  "Did Pauly help you take Chloe? Was he your father?" I already knew the answer, but needed to start with something simple.

  "What? No. I took Chloe on my own." He slipped his hands into his pockets. "Listen to me. Mitch is a monster and he's not going to stop until he gets into the White House. The only thing that's going to stop him is the video on those zip drives. Pl
ease tell me that he doesn't have all of them."

  "And what are you going to do with the information if I still have it? How the fuck am I supposed to trust you when you shot Chloe?" Just the thought of her being hurt left my blood pumping, my adrenaline spiked.

  "I'm going to get it to the FBI. The cops in San Diego and Santa Barbara are no good. Mitch somehow has them under his watch." Jeremy glanced around as if expecting to be caught any minute. The skinny fucker looked like hell. His skin was pasty white and the dark circles under his eyes said that he hadn't slept for a while. "There were four drives, Ian. Did he get all of them?"

  "No. He has one of them. I'm not giving up the other three."

  "Fine, then you get them to the FBI. Just don't hold on to them. He'll figure everything out, Ian. He always does. The bastard has half the state of California paid off."

  Where I wouldn't doubt that Mitch's reach was wide, I still wasn't convinced in the slightest that Jeremy would take the drives and do right by me.

  "I'll go to the media." Every part of me whispered for me to grab his ass and drag him back to the tent with me, but I knew that would do no good. Mitch was the mastermind behind most of the shit that had unraveled lately. Jeremy was nothing more than a puppet, if anything.

  "No. The FBI is the only way to go." He voice grew tight. "Look, give me the drives and I'll take them to the guys that can help us. You protect Chloe."

  "Now you care about Chloe?" I snorted.

  "I didn't mean to shoot her. She knows that. She fucking rushed me." He put his hands on his hips. "Do I look like the kind of guy that would hurt anyone?"

  "I'm starting to realize that looks can be deceiving around here." I pulled out my phone. "Give me your number and steer clear of Chloe until I decide what I believe and don't believe."

  "Fine, but we don't have much time. They're announcing the democratic nominee soon. If Mitch gets traction-"

  "Your number?" I didn't need to hear what Jeremy thought was headed our way. As far as I was concerned, he was just as connected to everything as Mitch was. I just wasn't sure how yet.