Bernie (Guardians In Love Book 3)

by Brianna West

  I was the weak link if we failed.

  Swallowing, there was a heat in my chest as I turned to look over at the strolling high-demon. Finally in full view, I took in the sight of flowing black hair and red eyes. Pale, porcelain-white skin beamed beneath dark clothing. The high-demon was identifiably strong in his body, the sway of his limbs fluid as they shifted without wasted movement.

  He didn’t carry a weapon on his person, but from what I’d been told by Brother of high-demons, they very rarely did. They relied solely on their magic for most of their attacks. Demonic, poisoned weaponry was only used when they were intending to prolong a fight and ‘play with their food,’ as Big Brother had once described it. And for that very reason, I’d be forced to use my magic just to even the odds.

  But even more so than the clear strength of his body, his presence was a powerful one, as it undoubtedly influenced the fluctuation in the air that gave me pause. He would break through the barrier, that much I was certain. However, I couldn’t quite calculate with how much effort since I didn’t know the extent of the magic infused into this sort of barrier.

  “Carl,” I found myself beseeching the clever, inherently well-spoken brother with an abnormally soft voice.

  It caused the Guardian to stare intensely at me, his mouth upturning and making Bernard instantly pout. “I’ll be okay, Nyla.”

  Bernard whined, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and getting an elbow to the stomach that caused his offending arm to immediately disappear with a sharp grunt. “Don’t worry about Carl. I’m your knight in shining armor, princess. Worry about me.”

  Carl smirked devilishly. “Yeah, worry about that sorry excuse for a Guardian. I’ve got everything handled here.”

  Tugging my arm, Bernard smiled roguishly at me. “Come on, darling. Let this stuck-up brother of mine have his fifteen minutes of fame. You and I have a plane to catch.”

  Unsure of what he meant, I let Bernard lead me back inside the massive dwelling. He quickly retrieved my luggage, lifting it with one arm while escorting me with the other. His smile embodied that of a child eager to steal away for some much-needed fun. And despite the direness of our situation, I found myself enjoying the escape alongside the enthusiastic Guardian. I followed him out onto the veranda, watching him closely when he finally released me.

  Bernard looked over his shoulder, elation etched in the lines of his face as he snapped his fingers. Gold magic exploded out of his hand and flowed over the railing, sweeping across the ground like a body of sparkling mist as something emerged from beneath the training yard that I’d spent the last five days using. An oddly shaped contraption with wings surfaced, spreading out the entire length of the training field.

  Whistling, Bernard offered me his hand again, tossing my surprised form a quick wink and grin. “Let’s fly away, princess.”

  He swiftly stole my hesitant hand as I lifted it, pulling me into his body, and jumped the railing with me held tightly against him. I was so startled by it all that I barely reacted to his untoward touch. Actually, my heart raced and my body thrummed with an excitement I hadn’t felt in a very long time.

  I felt like some sort of deviant princess, stealing away in the middle of the night with my Guardian protector. It was exhilarating!

  And it was all so new as we ran across the grass to the weirdly winged contraption that had emerged from beneath. Bernard jerked open a small door, ushering me inside the tiny space after helping me maneuver my massive weapon into it, and followed me inside shortly afterwards. He helped me take my seat as he took his own, where he started to hit switches along a panel that stretched around and under a large circle of glass. Placing an odd device over my ears, Bernard laughed gleefully as I touched the round apparatus covering my ears.

  His voice came through the device. “Headphones. They’ll let you hear me easier. It can get a little loud in this plane, darling.”

  I peered out the window, seeing the barrier’s translucent skin shudder. “How will you get past the barrier?”

  “Easy!” Bernard shouted happily, the supposed plane jolting to life and starting forward with a sputter.

  I held onto whatever I could grab, unprepared for the sudden locomotion. Bernard was laughing again in my ears, hollering as he navigated the plane around a shallow embankment that led to a long mile of barren earth where no vegetation grew.

  “Yee-haw! Good thing I sort of know how to fly this thing or we’d be in real trouble, princess,” he said, garnering a mortified glance from me. He chuckled happily, shrugging. “Just kidding!”

  I had absolutely no idea what he was on about.

  Shoving down his hat with his tongue peeking out of the side of his mouth, Bernard’s eyes sparkled as the winged contraption shuddered forward, gaining speed quickly. And at the very last moment, when I thought we would be lost into a forest of trees, Bernard moved the wheel he held and we soared straight into the air, causing my eyes to widen briefly before staring out of the window in silent awe.

  Oh my god, we were flying! It felt exactly like we were riding on a dragon!

  “Is this modeled after a dragon?” I asked softly, flabbergasted as the earth below grew smaller and we left Carl way below, heading off in the direction where the sun was sinking into the mountains.

  Light was bleeding from the sky, darkness taking over most of the world as the plane veered to the right. My arm shot out, taking hold of Bernard abruptly as I fought against the sudden shift in gravity. His husky laughter filled my ears as I leaned to the left, his amber eyes glowing my direction as he nodded.

  “Something like that, but it was actually the humans that created it.”

  “Humans did?” I marveled out loud, “What clever creatures they are.”

  Bloody mouth. I didn’t mean to say that out loud.

  “Sure are,” Bernard agreed, touching my hand where I still clung to him and instantly making me recoil when it registered how unseemly it was of a princess of my ability to hold onto to a man like him. “Don’t worry, princess, Carl will be fine. Always gets out in the nick of time, that brother of mine.”

  I breathed a soft sigh, forgetting that Bernard would hear it. “Where do you intend to take me? Will this high-demon not find me wherever we go?”

  “Maybe,” Bernard said, shrugging as the plane leveled out, “Not to worry though, darling. Your Bernie will protect you! And we might even get some time to deal with my friend, Danny.”

  Oh right, he had agreed to fight the were-tiger leader.

  “I may be under your guidance here, Bernard, but I am not in need of your protection,” I uttered coolly, glancing back at my massive weapon, which I was forced to leave in the back of the plane.

  Bernard nodded eagerly, the side of his mouth quirking upwards. “There’s no shame in letting this strong, masculine, roguishly handsome cowboy be your savior, princess. I’ll sweep you off your feet and carry you into the sunrise!”

  Sometimes I wondered if instead of having thoughts, Bernard simply said everything he envisioned or thought out loud. Half of what he mentioned verbally made little to no logical sense.

  But my lips were twitching with the desperation to laugh at his hunched posture inside the small space we sat. He was just too bloody adorable when his cocky grin was about.

  “My brother must be found,” I said shortly, sobering the conversation, “He’s gotten into something he can’t get himself out of without my help, and I was only given a short period of time to…he must be found, Bernard.”

  I ignored the smile playing on Bernard’s lips at the small slip into casual speech and instead peered out the window at the darkening horizon.

  Bernard touched my hand, making me look at him with a narrow stare. He put up the hand that he had dared to touch me with and grinned unapologetically. “We’ll find him, princess. And then we’ll corner him, rope him up tightly, and get him to where you need him.”

  Vlad might enjoy that a little too much, especially if Bernard shared a similar
affection for men.

  I watched Bernard with a raised eyebrow, chastising him with the look. I couldn’t exactly punish him while he controlled our fate in this human-made flying contraption. His responding amusement to my silent reprimand made my body warm, realizing belatedly how intimate a setting this was to be sharing such close quarters. Even more so, we would be alone when we reached the place he intended to take us. I was instantly uncomfortable.

  I’d never been alone with anyone other than family or Anric. Even with my warriors, I was constantly in the company of at least three or more when we trained. Something about being alone with Bernard made my pulse throb loudly in my ears and body quiver.

  I couldn’t quite identify the sensation that took hold of me, but I stifled what I could of it and kept my eyes pinned to the outside landscape, looking anywhere but the Guardian humming beside me.

  Chapter Seven

  ~***~

  “Princess?”

  I jolted awake, hand slicing out and catching my offender in the throat, sending him clamoring back as I postured for a fight. But as soon as I looked around, I realized I was in a room I didn’t recognize and on top of a bed that hadn’t been there when I’d fallen asleep.

  Oh my god, where the bloody hell was I?

  “Holy smokes! You’re deadly even when you’re asleep, princess,” a throaty, pain-infused voice cut through the quiet, jerking my gaze towards the wilted form of a man before he was fumbling to his feet and rubbing his throat where my hand had caught him. “I’m so in love, it’s ridiculous.”

  “Where are we? What happened?” I demanded, my voice unnaturally pitched as I peered around the dark room, twisting the bedding as I tried to gather my bearings.

  I finally recognized the man as Bernard. He shook his head back and forth, rubbing his hair briefly before shoving his hat back onto his head. Coughing a laugh into his hand, he stood arrogantly with his feet spread apart and his hands securely holding his hips, giving me the abrupt desire to hit him again.

  “You fell asleep during the flight and were completely passed out when I tried to wake you, darling. I carried you inside after I was sure you wouldn’t beat me in your sleep. And, my oh my, aren’t you just the sweetest thing when you sleep, princess.”

  His words were playful as he took a seat beside me, watching my expression with a wide smile as I adjusted my top and regained my composure after the slip in my usual aloof facade.

  “I hardly believe you attempted to wake me, Bernard. I very rarely sleep deeply. It was an integrated part of my training to learn to slumber lightly,” I imparted to the smiling man matter-of-factly, tone no longer affected by surprise.

  He actually carried me inside!

  Internally, I was swooning. I’d never been carried by anyone other than Anric and family. It felt different to know it was someone as handsome as Bernard. My pulse was thrumming in spite of my emotionless face.

  It was evidently still nighttime by the moonlight breaking through the glass-paned window beside the bed. Much of the glowing white light hit the man beside me, creating intense shadow on some areas of his body, while glowing radiance on others.

  For once, he wore a simple white tank top that hugged his strong torso with nothing to obstruct the view of powerful muscle aside from the thin fabric layer. I was enamored with the sight he made in the moonlight as he relaxed his weight onto one arm, the muscle strained taut the length of it and drawing my eyes slowly upwards until they found his luminous amber eyes. I faltered, eyes shooting away as I licked my lips and slipped into a more appropriate posture to mask my momentary interest in his physique.

  “Any news of the high-demon or your brother?” I kept my eyes pinned to the window beside the bed, watching the twinkling lights along the horizon.

  The bed shifted, causing my eyes to flit to the man now taking liberties as he scooted a bit closer to me. “Guess he was really after you in the end. Carl says he disappeared the minute we left. It’s important that we hang tight until we find out who he is, princess.”

  “Here?” I inquired in surprise, unable to keep my voice from pitching slightly again.

  Alone with the one man who made my heart flutter and pulse race? I was barely keeping it together, feeling as though I’d been backed into a corner with nowhere to run at the very idea of staying with Bernard without anything or anyone to distract my interest away from him.

  Bernard’s eyes sparkled. “Yep, just you and me, darling. Two strangers turned friends…soon to be lovers. It’s awfully romantic, ain’t it?”

  He opened his mouth to say something more to that effect, but I had already struck him down, pinning him bodily to the floor. Which was very unlike me because I hadn’t especially thought through how the new position might unintentionally worsen things. But Bernard’s words had me reacting instantaneously the minute he said something that caused my cheeks to flame. I was responsive to his every word, his every look and action. So much so that it was starting to become a real problem. Improper of any royal, let alone a princess.

  Unfortunately, I wasn’t at liberty to distance myself from the Guardian or regain any semblance of my proper, well-bred self, as Bernard was currently my only guide in the mortal world. No matter what I did, I was losing hold of my projected demeanor. Little by little, piece by piece, Bernard was stripping it away—all the barriers I’d built—and there wasn’t a bloody thing I could do to stop it. No matter what I tried, every interaction was leaving another piece of my outside façade weakened.

  The Guardian’s breath whooshed out of him, hands flying to my hips and grasping me firmly. I shuddered at the sudden intimacy of his touch, reveling internally with the sensation of it. Then, just as quickly, I chastised the momentary hot rush I felt, knowing it was just another step in the wrong direction.

  Oh god, it felt so good.

  Jolting out of my internal squealing, I attempted to rise, but the hands holding my hips tightened and thwarted my escape. A gasp left my mouth, making the muscle I currently straddled to suddenly tauten. And for a very brief moment, the heat in my lower half made me yearn for something more. More so, Bernard’s hold was surprisingly strong as his hands kept me trapped down onto his waist, holding me captive to the startling sensations electrifying my thighs. The very sensations that made my breath shutter inside my chest.

  I knew what this was, but I refused to acknowledge that I was feeling it for not only a man I knew very little about, but someone that I wouldn’t be able to pursue any sort of relationship with beyond what we currently shared.

  It was wrong. So very wrong.

  Bernard’s amber eyes glimmered up at me as his mouth slowly slid upwards. “I think this is my win, right, princess?” he asked, his husky voice rich with confidence.

  Oh bloody hell, he was totally winning.

  My internal voice was squealing and shrieking like a mad woman, creating havoc in my normally controlled brain as I attempted to dredge up some sort of response. Anything to convince him that I wasn’t won; that I was still very much in control of myself.

  But nothing came. All I could think was how truly beautiful he was from this close up. How my entire life I’d never seen a man so beautiful or as mesmerizing as he was. How I wanted nothing more than to touch him without hesitation and discard the façade I worked tirelessly to keep together for every single breath I had taken since my birth into royalty.

  My body was hot and quivering against the assault of both voice and body as Bernard leaned upwards at the waist, pressing into me further and keeping my stiff form prisoner against his. I watched him, unable to move or find my usual strength to deliver a much-deserved punishment to the brazen Guardian.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, but I was frozen, immobilized by an amber gaze, as Bernard came within centimeters of my face. I was powerless against the pleasure of each new, sure sensation the friction of our bodies created. It was unseemly and indecent, but it was forefront and commanding my ability to do anything more than look
at him, silent.

  His strong face was softened by humor, but along the line of his jaw and through the muscle corded into his shoulders and chest, he was tense, practically stone-like. I peered into his eyes, surrendering to them for a moment before Bernard’s laughter jerked me back to reality and the indecency of our current situation.

  Holy mother, what was I doing?!

  I slid sideways, pushing him back down brutally, a loud thump echoing and disturbing the quiet before I was standing up and escaping through the bedroom door. Fleeing down the hallway, I pressed a hand to my chest and hoped to calm the rapid beat of my heart as I fled as far as I could get from the laughing man.

  Bernard was obviously used to such things, seeing how he quickly fell in and out of it without emotion as though it were a normal occurrence, and I was desperate to be the same. I shouldn’t let it affect me so strongly. I shouldn’t have given in, even for just a moment. It was obvious that this was some sort of game or personality trait signature to Bernard and meant nothing at all to the self-proclaimed cowboy. Still, I’d reacted without fail—like a bloody naïve child, not yet introduced to intimacy because of how little of the world she truly knew and how it worked.

  Sex wasn’t something my kind shirked away from. It was something to be used; a way to gain leverage and move through society. Of course, in the five families, it was reserved solely for one’s betrothed. However, I knew of its existence outside of betrothal. At one time, it had sickened me to hear of it.

  Yaniv spoke of it in such a blasé sort of way that I grew up hearing of his conquests and never thinking much of them. But in my heart, I was hopelessly optimistic that sex shared between two people would be a result of love and devotion, and not the latter. It was what I strived for, even with knowing that my future was with Anric—a man whom I cared for greatly, but not in the way that would naturally lead to sex. And though I deeply respected Big Brother, I knew he didn’t quite agree with my viewpoint concerning intimacy between two people. Because, as progressive as he was, he had been raised by our father just as much as the rest of us had been. And to Father, sex had always just been another tool to be used.