by Zoey Parker
Irritation gripped me. How could one person be this full of themselves? Lifting myself up from the chair and ignoring the discomfort of my jeans, I snarled at her, “Damn right it is. Imagine getting stuck with some second-rate so-called star. Your movies are enough to make me want to gouge out my own eyes.”
Not true; I hadn’t seen a single one of her movies. But that really wasn’t the point. I was willing to play dirty and strike her where it hurt if that was what it was going to take. Which, apparently it was.
She whirled around to face me, a scandalized look on her face. For that look alone the lie was worth it. For a second she was speechless. Her mouth opened and closed several times, like she was trying to suck in air and having a hard time of it, the result being them forming a small o. It made me notice her full, sultry lips.
My mind dipped once more to the gutter, imagining what those lips might look like, what they might do. I imagined the way they would look wrapped around my thick cock, sliding up and down, maybe popping the head out before swallowing it again. Maybe they’d even leave a ring of that glossy cherry red lipstick she was wearing around the last inch of my cock, the part that she probably wouldn’t be able to take in without gagging.
I let out a shuddering breath, stepping closer to her, closer than I really meant to. She left her mouth parted as she looked up at me beneath thick, dark lashes.
“Close that mouth,” I whispered to her in a voice thick with desire, “before I find something long and thick to fill it with.”
Her bright blue eyes widened slightly at my words. I was sure she was going to get pissed off, be thoroughly offended and scandalized by my lewd suggestion. She wasn’t. Instead, I saw her eyes darken slightly with desire as her cheeks flushed a deeper shade of crimson. I saw her lower lip tremble slightly and her whole body shake as she sucked in a heaving breath that made her breasts rise and fall heavily.
And that was when I knew for sure: She wants me, too.
The knowledge kicked my already intense desire into overdrive. Despite all my drowning need for her, I had written her off as inaccessible not merely because she was Caleb’s niece, but because she wouldn’t be interested in a guy like me. I was most definitely not her type and she had made that very clear from the moment we met. Not that it stopped my mouth from letting suggestive things slip out. Now that I knew that she wanted me, the urge to throw her down on the white-carpeted floor and spread her legs was almost irresistible.
She’d let me fuck her, I knew it.
I felt myself leaning toward her without even realizing it, but she must have, because a second later she jerked back away from me, nearly tripping. At the last second, she steadied herself.
I watched as she pulled a mask of composure over her features, working hard to control her breathing. When she straightened herself up and turned toward me, she said, “I can assure you that I don’t want whatever you have to offer. No matter how long and thick it is.” Her eyes darted down to my pants where my cock strained against my zipper. Her cheeks reddened.
My eyebrows quirked in surprise and a grin slipped onto my lips, though I didn’t mean for it to. My look must have said something to her, because that lovely little flush of hers traveled down her neck and speckled the tops of her breasts. It was adorable and sultry all at once.
“Whatever you say, princess,” I murmured.
Silence spread between us suddenly, heavy laden with a tension that was sexual for me and probably for her as well. Despite what her mouth said, her body seemed to be responding to me in all the right ways.
Depends on your definition of right, came a little voice from the back of my mind. Probably the place where reason was still trying to work.
Focusing on that part of my brain, the one where I could still be reasonable, I tried to calm down. I wasn’t going to fuck her. That wasn’t an option. Which meant that if I didn’t want to endure this torture for too long, I was going to have to get myself the hell out of her life as quickly as possible. Her words from earlier—you have to stay in this big mansion and watch me—rang through me a second time as their underlying meaning hit me.
I had to stay with her. I was her shadow. From now until Caleb called me off.
It wasn’t a bad thing, all things considered. I got to watch her body and her pouty lips, and I’d already proved to myself that I could tune most of what she said out, so the spoiled little princess crap wouldn’t drive me just completely insane. Hopefully, I could get her to just hang out here at the mansion so I wouldn’t have to worry about the potential dangers outside.
Maybe she’d spend most of that time at the pool.
No, where the problem came in was that I had intended to go out tonight and pick up the horniest, prettiest blonde I could find and fuck her into oblivion. And when I recovered—regardless of whether she had—I’d do it again. I’d just put that on repeat until I was exhausted and hopefully sated enough that when I came back I wouldn’t feel the unrelenting need to be inside blonde bombshell Abby Woodard.
All of which had been a really good plan. Until I just now realized that I wouldn’t be able to leave her side. I would be sleeping here tonight in some guest room upstairs. Probably right next to hers. Picturing her naked and hot, maybe bothered, maybe needy, maybe even touching herself, slipping her fingers between moist lower lips.
How was I supposed to handle that?
Jerk yourself off, my mind answered me.
Unwillingly I admitted that that was exactly what was going to have to happen. I was going to have to pump my own cock until I came just so that I wouldn’t lose my fucking mind in this damn house.
Sighing, I decided that I was going to have to expedite this particular job. Finding the asshole who went after her last night seemed unlikely and I certainly wouldn’t be doing anything with that aspect anyway. That was on Caleb and the Destroyers. Unfortunate, because I would have been much more comfortable dealing with that.
Thinking it over, I decided that there wasn’t a lot I could do on my end except for protect her. Which was all well and good, but maybe if I could make her feel safe again…maybe then she wouldn’t need a bodyguard. After all, there was a chance that this was a one-time incident.
“Look, I think we’ve gotten off on the wrong foot,” I said, forcing my voice to be even. “I’m here by orders that neither of us have a say in, right?”
She gave me a glance out of the corner of her eye, but nodded.
“So we should make the most of it.” I saw her eyebrows lift at that and realized how that might have come off given my previous comments. Don’t think about sex, don’t think about sex, I tried to convince myself, which of course wasn’t working. “What I mean is that I’m here. I’m here to protect you and I promise you that I won’t let anything happen to you so long as I am here. You’re safe with me.”
For a second she looked like the little girl that Caleb spoke of, a child who needed protecting. Her blue eyes had grown large and shiny, her light blonde hair and soft curls making her look angelic. If I didn’t look down at the lovely curves that had my body raging, I could see the vulnerable girl who was scared of the bad things out there that were after her.
It made me want to reach for her for the first time not in lust, but in comfort. Then the spell was broken.
Her eyes steeled and narrowed at me. She tossed her hair over her shoulder expertly and put her hands on her hips. “I don’t need you here,” she told me haughtily, like she was the goddamned Queen of England. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself, thank you.”
Anger flared in me and I snarled before I could think better of it, “Oh? Like you did last night, right?”
Her whole body tensed and instantly I regretted the words, but then she spun on her heel and headed toward a flight of stairs. Frustrated, I followed after her, considering apologizing for my harsh reminder of what must have been terrifying for her the night before. Then she spoke again.
“It’s hardly my fault that people
adore me,” she told me over her shoulder as she moved to the first step of the large, spiraling staircase. “After all, most civilized people have good taste.”
I snapped again. “Keep telling yourself that, princess.”
The look she sent over her shoulder at me was a harsh glare that told me I had definitely struck a nerve earlier with that crappy movie comment. It sent a rush of satisfaction through me to know that I’d gotten to her, petty as it was.
Huffing slightly, she told me, “I need to get ready. Unlike some people, I have places to be and things to do. Don’t disturb me.”
Before she could take another step toward the second floor, I reached out and grabbed her, jerking her forcibly back to me. The tug was harder than I had intended and had her stumbling as she swiveled to face me. Her body was off balance as it collided with mine, my arms instinctively going to her all but bare hips in an effort to steady her. Her hands pressed against my shoulders for more stability, and I found her chest pressed against mine, her breasts trying to flatten themselves against my hard muscles. Her lips were mere inches from my mouth and I had the intense urge to devour them, to see if they really tasted like cherries.
“Get ready for what?” I ground out, because I needed to remind myself that I was her bodyguard, I was here to protect her. I needed to know these things, I needed to know what was going on or I couldn’t do my job. But damn did her body feel good pressed against mine, heat transferring quickly between us.
She licked her lips, her eyes hazy with lust again. “I…” She swallowed, making me want to run my hand along the long column of her neck. “A party…” She was breathless as she spoke and I thought maybe the hammering I felt against my chest was her heart.
The urge to close those last couple of inches between our mouths was so intense that I nearly did it.
Then she jerked back away from me, regaining her balance and putting on her haughty face again. She cleared her throat and said, “I’m not going to let this whole,” she gestured wildly with one delicate hand, “thing change my life. I’m going to the party.”
Shuddering, I took a moment, then bit out, “Fine. But I’m going with you. That’s my job and I’m going to do it right.”
She paused then, and without looking back at me said, “If you insist. But you’re going to have to change, too, then. I have a reputation to keep and I refuse to be seen in public with someone dressed like that.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. There was no way in hell I was going to wear some damn monkey suit for her or anyone else.
“Don’t worry,” she told me as she continued up the staircase. “I think I have something in your size.”
I watched her ass the entire way up the stairs, desire burning within me right along with the indignant anger, as I imagined what those perfectly-rounded cheeks would feel like being spanked by my rough palms.
This is going to be hell, I thought, and reluctantly stalked up the stairs.
Chapter Five
Abby
I made him drive my car.
We went round and round about how that was not part of his job description, that he was a bodyguard not a chauffeur, but really, what did I care? He was the same thing in my book—an employee was an employee. It didn’t matter if he was hired by me or by Uncle Caleb. The point was he was being paid to do a service, and at that moment, the service I required of him was to drive me to the damn party.
In the end, I’d won through will and some sly logic spinning.
“Well, I just fired my last driver,” I informed him, thinking of the young man from the previous night.
Kade had rolled his eyes at me. He’d been on edge since his arrival, which, okay, was probably my fault, but that couldn’t be helped. I didn’t want him to be here for a multitude of reasons, and the fact that my uncle refused to have him replaced with an alternative bodyguard was making me dislike him even more.
And by dislike, I meant lusting after him at every turn. The man was gorgeous, as proven when I wrangled him into a white button-down shirt and a pair of dark black jeans. He refused to lose the steel-toed boots, but I gave him that concession because it gave him a renegade look and sexy overall appearance.
None of which I told him.
“I don’t care,” he told me gruffly, fidgeting with the sleeves of his silky button-down shirt. I had been right; my male model ex had been a perfect fit. The shoulders, the muscular arms, the sculpted abs…it was kind of crazy how good a shape Kade was in. “Can’t you just hire some new guy?”
I made a face. Yes, technically I could hire a new driver. In fact, it would be really easy since the company I usually found my employees through had already picked out someone new for me. They’d sent over his information and qualifications—along with a picture that showed a young, pleasant-looking man, if not smoking hot—for me to review and make my decision. If I vetoed him, they’d have a list of several other choices.
But now that I had Mr. Super Sexy Bodyguard at my disposal, I had decided to make good use of him.
It wasn’t that I was hesitant to spend the money. I was rich; splurge whenever was my motto. Instead, I wanted to make his job more difficult, because then maybe he would ask to leave. If he asked to get the hell out of here, then Uncle Caleb wouldn’t make him stay, right?
That was my hope, anyway. So when I learned that he was opposed to wearing something fancy for the party, I insisted that he do so. And when I figured out that he didn’t want to be my chauffer, I was determined to make him just that. Hell, I’d find a stupid little hat for him to wear if I thought I could actually get him to do it.
“You want me to hire a new guy tonight?” I’d asked him, putting on my best shocked expression. Sometimes it really paid to be an actress. “His first trial run being right after I’ve just been attacked? How can you be so callous?”
He’d narrowed his eyes at me then, just as dark and alluring as they’d ever been. There was absolutely no doubt in my mind that he was irritated with me, which just made a flush of satisfaction wash through me.
“What’s the problem, exactly, with a new guy?” he asked me gruffly.
A shiver of pleasure ran through me at the sound of his deep voice. I was finding myself increasingly attracted to that tone. It was suddenly all I wanted to hear. In fact, I wanted it whispered in my ear—dirty, lewd things coated in it.
I couldn’t say why my body craved him so, but I had already decided that I wouldn’t give in. I didn’t care how suggestive he got or how solid his body was or how intense his eyes were. Screw him. Just not literally.
“A new guy can’t be trusted,” I told him sweetly as though this were the most obvious thing in the world. As soon as I said it, it actually occurred to me that I had a very valid point. It made me feel a little better and gave me the extra push to keep going. “I have no idea who did this to me. He could be anyone. What if they send someone over and it turns out to be him?”
I hadn’t meant to be quite that convincing. I just wanted to play with him and convince him to do what I wanted, but now that I’d actually voiced that thought, I realized that it was a fear that rang true for me. I was actually concerned that my stalker could be a new driver. It could be anyone. Someone at the party I was going to tonight. Someone who trimmed my hedges. Someone who cleaned my pool.
I didn’t know the first thing about my assailant and that was such a terrifying notion that I suddenly didn’t want to go to the party anymore. I just wanted to wad myself up into a tiny ball and hide under the covers in my bed, waiting for the rest of the world to go away.
There must have been something showing on my face because I watched as Kade’s expression softened. There was something almost tender about the way he was suddenly looking at me. Like he felt sorry for me.
It bolstered my anger toward him and helped tamp down some of that lust.
“It’s pretty unlikely that that’ll happen,” he told me softly, his voice surprisingly sweet for being so low. “They look prett
y far into people’s background before hiring them for jobs like that.”
I felt the sting of tears prick behind my eyes because I was still scared, and he was comforting me and it made me want to crawl into his arms instead of my bed just to let him hold me. Which was ridiculous and I wished my body and mind could figure out what the hell they wanted.
Fighting back my tears, I folded my arms beneath my chest, pushing my breasts together. I was wearing a liquid midnight blue dress that went to my knees. It dipped low in the front, a halter dress that left my back exposed and my breasts trying their hardest to once again burst free. The material was silky and shimmery without being overly flashy like the one last night. It clung to me light a second skin, my curves feeling almost exposed by the thin, sheer fabric.
“But it could be him,” I whispered, wishing I was still acting and that the fear wasn’t real.
