by Brianna West
Holding me underneath my arms, Bernard lifted me into the air with another shout of joy. “Aren’t you just the prettiest gal at the ball!”
He said I was pretty! He actually said it!
Rigid and unable to get my body to react more than it currently was with my hands painfully clutching his shoulders, I gasped and then forgot how to breathe altogether. I was put down before I could get my brain to work properly, swooped up underneath the knees and carried out into the hallway without a breath in between.
Red suffused my body like I’d been immersed in sweltering heat, blushing a violent strawberry color. Finally, I was able to deliver a swift, unforgiving hit to the overstepping Guardian. The damaging blow my fist dealt to his stomach took Bernard straight to his knees. And a swift second later, my dagger was at his throat when his knees hit the floor.
I kept a weapon on my person always. Even in my cute, frilly dress.
“What right do you have—” I started in a low growl.
Bernard leaned forward, coming within inches of my face and startling me as he pushed his throat into the blade. I instantly retracted my arm so that the dagger didn’t cut into his skin. And when my eyes flicked back up to his face, Bernard was grinning mischievously.
It was downright illicit the look he gave me. It made my heart start up inside my chest and my uneven, quickening pulse begin to thud loudly in my ears as I hesitated with the dagger still gripped firmly in one hand. Bernard took hold of the wrist that held the weapon, caressing the skin he touched with his thumb. Immediately, I dropped the dagger to the floor, the loud clatter echoing off the walls.
“You are mighty pretty in that dress, miss,” he said in a soft, whispery voice. One I hadn’t been prepared to hear from him.
Electricity shot down my spine and my heart skipped a beat. “What…?”
“You’re not being very nice to this lovesick cowboy,” Bernard continued, grasping my wrist tenderly and taking us to our feet.
But after a few breaths, he still hadn’t pulled away and I couldn’t move; only listen as his deep, enchanting baritone continued to murmur to me as only a lover would, making my cheeks incredibly hot with each uttered word.
It was mesmerizing to hear the things he was saying. To be this close to him after wishing desperately for it in secret, but also hoping just as desperately that it would never happen again. I shouldn’t give in, but I couldn’t help myself. He was so bloody alluring.
I wanted to hear him say I was pretty, just one last time. Just once more and I’d be satisfied.
“Does things to a man when a lady as pretty as you puts on a dress like this,” Bernard said, smiling with his gaze slowly tracing down my body.
And I felt that slow, deliberate gaze like it was his hands and not his eyes that flowed over my body, memorizing the curves and lines of the dress I wore. All the while, Bernard smiled at me, as if he couldn’t help himself.
But his eyes weren’t smiling. Actually, the very nature of them was unfamiliar and reminded me of the few times I’d seen the Guardian looking unexpectedly serious. It was infinitesimal enough to be missed by most, but I had seen it enough times to catch the fire erupting in amber eyes. I wasn’t quite sure what it might mean, but it meant something significant, that much I did know.
And in face of it, I couldn’t speak. Couldn’t move. Didn’t even breathe for the seconds it took place. Not until Bernard lifted his hand and touched my cheek with his knuckles, smile intensifying as he stepped back from me with a wink.
I wasn’t sure what had changed between us in those few minutes, but there was something entirely different about the way he looked at me. It made me unintentionally quiver. It gave me an urge to follow him, as if beckoned by the very sight of his entrancing smile. It made me desire things I shouldn’t even be allowed to desire.
I was captured.
Bernard cleared his throat and fixed his hat, sighing. “Ah, it ain’t no fair! I want you all to myself,” he said, kicking his foot into the wall with a sideways smile at me before offering his hand. “I’ll escort you, princess. It’ll be my pleasure.”
Stunned and unable to move, I just stared at the Guardian. It was as if my body couldn’t comprehend the emotion fluttering relentlessly inside my stomach and the slow burn occupying my chest. Everything was on fire and chaotic inside of me, and for the life of me, I couldn’t control any of it.
Why couldn’t I control myself? Had he paralyzed me somehow with his stare? But for what purpose would he?
I bit my lower lip, at a loss for what to do. Words fled me as I grew desperate in the minutes that followed to retaliate his forwardness with wit and punishment. Like I had always done before. But nothing came, not one possible response, and I was growing more desperate with each passing second to call forth my usual rebuttal.
What was happening to me?
Bernard’s smile change as he walked forward, diminishing the space separating us with each sure stride. His eyes were fixed solely on me, as if he meant to hold me there with his stare. My heart palpitated and my breathing shuttered, then ceased all together the moment the Guardian growled low in his chest and took hold of my chin, lifting my eyes to his.
“I was planning to let you off, princess,” he said, his rich voice deep and unexpectedly powerful, sounding ironically beast-like in tone, “But why did you have to go and look at me like that? That’s not playing fair.”
What could he possibly mean?
I tried to pull away from his strong hold, confused with how weak I felt inside his commanding presence, but he quickly leaned forward and captured my fleeing form with an arm around my waist. A shock ran through me, hands coming up to push against the broad chest dangerously close to mine.
It was my intention to push him away with all of my strength, but there was absolutely no strength to be found when I actually attempted to. And then instead of pushing like my head told me to do over and over again, I clutched the fabric of his shirt, drawing him towards me.
Oh god, oh god. This couldn’t be happening! What the bloody hell was I doing?!
Amber eyes glinted sharply before Bernard removed his hat and sighed deeply, as though the action had resigned him to his fate. He dropped the hat to the floor, drawing my stare to its descent as it bounced on the hardwood. Scratching the back of his head, Bernard groaned loudly, hand grasping around my neck as his gaze captured mine once more, confusingly apologetic.
“Sorry, princess, but even this cowboy doesn’t have that kind of willpower to say no to an expression like yours.”
An expression like mine?
As if hearing my internal question, Bernard’s lips slid up for a second before he bent all the way down, startling a gasp from my throat when something hot and firm pressed against my mouth. Electric heat swept down my body from the unexpected kiss, throwing my mind into chaos and scattering coherent thought.
Nothing in my life could have ever prepared me for the shocking pleasure of this man’s mouth pressed into mine. And for the seconds I was held hostage to Bernard’s kiss, I was frozen and incapable of movement, except for the unintentional tightening of the hold I had on his shirt.
The hand holding my neck drew me harder into our kiss, another gasp fleeing my mouth in response to the unexpectedly pleasurable friction. But as soon as the gasp left my throat, the Guardian was pulling away and putting a few steps between us, ruffling his hair with a hand and hitching up his shoulders as though he were preparing for an attack. I stared blankly at him, mouth gaping as he cowered that way for a minute or two before peeking my direction from one eye.
“You can hit me now, princess. I deserve it,” he said sheepishly, closing his eyes tightly again, “Go on now. Give me a good one.”
What?
I opened my mouth, ready to lay into him for stealing my first kiss inside some random safe house hallway on a whim, but nothing left my mouth. Instead, my cheeks flamed violently and my body trembled with the residual sensation of his lips against mi
ne.
Bernard opened his eyes, confusion etching into his features, but then my foot was connecting with his face in a brutal blow that sent him violently flying backwards and into the far hallway wall with a sickening crack. He broke straight through the plaster and wood holding the wall together, becoming awkwardly positioned inside the hole he had created with the impact.
How bloody dare he! What sort of woman did he take me for?!
I huffed a shaky breath, stomping past his slumped form into the receiving room. “You bloody bastard,” I hissed over my shoulder in passing, quivering uncontrollably as I picked up my sword and rested it on my bare shoulder.
Pivoting, I watched the clearly injured Guardian stumble and crawl over the ground, finally managing to get to his feet while leaving bits of white wall and dust falling from his body in the upwards ascent. Faltering forward, Bernard’s shoulder hit the wall as he tried to walk into the room I had fled to, causing the giant man to take precarious steps to the side before he was bolting towards the floor and colliding into it with another heavy thump.
I lifted my chin, keeping my emotions from surfacing onto my face as my heart raced inside my chest. “How dare you,” I reiterated angrily, seething outwardly to keep from flushing, “Not only did you touch me intimately without my consent, but you did so knowing I was betrothed to another.”
I didn’t know whether I was fuming from him taking my first kiss and doing so without even the slightest bit of consent, or from the very real possibility that he had done so on a whim and without any real meaning behind it. There was an achy feeling in my chest and a heaviness inside my stomach that was making my throat feel unbearably tight. My eyes burned, but for what reason I couldn’t even begin to fathom.
Bernard coughed, shoving his hat back on with an apologetic smile as he walked forward. Eyeing my sword with a faltering glance as it shifted on my shoulder with my mounting agitation, the Guardian kept his shoulders slumped and eyes to the ground.
“You’re right, princess. It was mighty wrong of me to do that,” he agreed, causing my chest to tighten further with the statement.
He hadn’t meant to do it. He had done it on a whim. Oh god.
Closing my eyes, I sucked air in through my nose and let it out in a small, shuddering exhale. “What’s done is done,” I said judiciously through the constriction of my throat, the lump inside it almost debilitatingly painful, “Let us go wherever we must to find Vlad and never utter a word about this again.”
I couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t think. Everything inside of me was cold but somehow on fire.
Bernard’s amber eyes found mine before I turned and faced away from him, heading for the door and keeping my head held high in spite of the sinking sensation in my stomach over the revelation that if the Guardian felt any attraction for me at all, it was undoubtedly superficial and fleeting. And like a bloody imbecile, I had given into him so easily, letting him take what he wanted.
I was a bloody idiot.
I heard the clamoring footsteps behind me from the Guardian as he attempted to catch up. Gathering myself, I took hold of the door and swung it open, nearly taking it off its hinges with my frustration. But what I found there wasn’t something I’d felt coming, the blast of red power hitting me dead-on before I could respond.
The hit catapulted my body backwards into the arms of my Guardian as he caught me deftly and landed with heavy force on the hardwood floor. My body convulsed as fire burned its way through every space, holding me inside the attack’s painful torment for long seconds before it waned slightly.
The Guardian embraced me briefly before setting me on my feet and touching my face for a second. “Are you okay, darling?”
“Never better,” came my tight reply as I breathed out.
“Guess we’ll need to set aside our tiff for the moment, hmm, princess?” Bernard’s voice had dropped several octaves, insinuating the anger I was already feeling in his body as it grew rigid.
Nodding, I shot a look to the open doorway. Wispy, vibrant blue and smoky gray magic wafted from below me before encircling us, wavering slightly with the powerful wind blowing in through the door and around the figure that loomed there, red eyes aglow with the power he obviously harbored.
“Well, if it isn’t the one and only princess and her little Guardian protector,” a silky voice greeted, venom dripping from every word he spoke.
The black hair glowed, glossy in the white light of the moon, and his milky skin was luminescent as he stood confidently at the doorway. I knew from the intention in red eyes that he had come here for me. His body moved without caution, suggesting he didn’t think we were much of a threat. And by my guess of his power as it echoed inside of my body, he wasn’t wrong for that sort of confidence. As dishonorable as it was, I wouldn’t get away without using everything I had to defeat such an opponent.
“Oh, pardon me,” the demon said, gaze flickering between the two of us as Bernard’s face grew stiff and his mouth lost its signature smile, “I have yet to introduce myself.”
The wind blew his hair out ahead of him, covering parts of his face as he walked forward casually. “You may call me Master.”
My hand grew painfully tight around the handle of my sword. Thankfully, I’d managed to hold onto it with the sudden attack. My essence dithered around my body, throbbing with the threat. Catching the slow movement at my side, glowing orange-red eyes met my stare as gold and orange power hummed from the strong Guardian beside me, pulsating beautifully in the face of danger.
No matter what had previously transpired, we fought this threat together.
“I’m really not into that sort of play. Sorry, buddy,” Bernard said lightly, but his tone was violent. One I’d only heard on him once or twice before.
The demon chuckled, his red and black magic snaking up his body quickly. “You’re dead anyway, Guardian. It’s the princess I came for.”
I detected the abrupt shift in the air, recognizing it and constructing a barrier around us when red lashed out across the space and was immediately deflected by my blue and gray magic. The demon’s eyes glowed brilliantly, the side of his lip sliding up with intrigue.
“Oh, this should be quite fun, I think,” he hissed excitedly.
Bernard unsheathed a dagger on his belt, deftly spinning it in one hand as orange and gold encased the blade. I readied my sword, spreading my feet appropriately apart and calling upon my own power as it flowed out of my body and pooled around our feet. I couldn’t use the one power that might essentially end this battle in one move, but I could use everything else that I was capable of using. A blast of gold and red met between us, bathing the room in clashing colors as I flitted forward and swung down my sword at the demon.
Red power struck my chest before I could land the blow, however, slicing through my lungs and burning steadily as I was captured before I hit the floor. Bernard’s tiger eyes gazed at me for a second, concerned, but then they were rapidly shooting off to the right as red power flew at our combined form. Gold and orange glowed in a tight circle around us, shielding our bodies from the attack.
But just barely.
“I’m sorry, princess,” I heard the Guardian say, “I won’t risk your safety.”
What was he talking about?
The gold around us throbbed and pulsed as Bernard rose to his feet, staring across the space before taking a step outside of the barrier and smiling valiantly over his shoulder at me. Shakily, I tried to get to my feet as the previous attack wreaked havoc on my body and stole the air and strength right from me. Still, I managed to fight through the pain and stand. But the barrier he had put around me I didn’t manage to break through as I watched the Guardian stand confidently opposite of the high-demon, who was clearly much more powerful than Bernard was.
“Bernard!” I shouted, striking my sword onto the barrier that imprisoned me, barely managing to hold onto my weapon as it was rebuffed violently by the charge. “Let me out of here! I fight beside you. It is me he
desires, you bloody imbecile!”
This damnable fool!
Chuckling, Bernard dared a look over his shoulder as gold and orange appeared around his body in short pulses. “No, no, princess. You’re supposed to tell me that I’m worthy of your favor and tie some sort of handkerchief or token of your affection to my dagger. Not call me a fool.”
This imbecile was going to get himself killed.
Red blasted through the room, sending the Guardian lofting up and behind me. My eyes barely followed the movement as the barrier around me shuddered with Bernard’s impact. I peered across the space at the smirking demon as he walked forward, red vines lunging across the space separating the two and wrapping around Bernard’s wilted form tightly.
“Bernard!” I called out, watching in horror as the Guardian was levitated through the air and drawn back towards the high-demon.
Biting my lip, I raged internally, causing my power to explode out of me in all directions and subsequently break through the barrier that held me. Weightlessness took hold of my form and blue vortexed around my body as I lifted my sword and then slammed it down onto the ground. The floor broke apart, disintegrating beneath us as the high-demon was hit with the force of my power and thrown through a wall. Bernard was released from the red prison, falling quickly towards the floor before he caught himself with his magic.
Instantly, he stood in front of me, smirking. “My hero! Okay, but really, time to go,” he said, body pulsing orange and gold, “Don’t know if this will work, since Pavel said I was hopeless at doing this sort of thing, but we don’t have much choice.”
What sort of thing?
Bernard wrapped his arms around me, pinning me to his body as gold burst from him into the air. Orange magic encased our forms, then the world shifted and moved, startling me with the sensation that took hold of my body.
