Necessary Risk (Bodyguard)

by Tara Wyatt

  She stepped out of the shower and toweled off, pulling on a T-shirt and yoga pants. She twisted her wet hair up into a messy bun as she walked.

  While she’d been in the shower using up the entire building’s hot water supply, Sean had changed into worn jeans and a blue T-shirt and had made them each a grilled cheese sandwich with bacon. Two plates sat beside the stove.

  “That smells so good. Have you got any ketchup?” she asked, opening his fridge, which was pretty bare.

  “You want ketchup for your sandwich?”

  “Yup.” She saw a bottle of Heinz at the back and snagged it. When she turned to face him, he was staring at her with one eyebrow cocked. She pointed at him with the bottle. “Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it.” She squirted a little mound of ketchup on her plate and put the bottle back in the fridge. “Like this,” she said, picking up half her sandwich and dunking the point of it in the ketchup. She took a bite and closed her eyes. “So good,” she mumbled around the big mouthful she’d taken.

  Still eyeing her skeptically, he picked up his own sandwich and tentatively dunked a tiny part of it in her ketchup. He took a bite and chewed, his eyebrows shooting up. “That actually is pretty good,” he mumbled, dunking his sandwich again and taking another bite. He set his sandwich down and picked up both plates, heading into the living room. They settled next to each other on the sectional, plates in their laps.

  “Stick with me, I’ll show you all kinds of things,” she teased, dunking and biting again. That earned her a hot, intrigued look.

  “I don’t doubt it.” He winked and dunked his own sandwich in her ketchup again, taking another bite. He grabbed the remote from the coffee table. “You mind if I put the news on?”

  “No, go ahead. I want to see too.”

  He turned the TV on and flipped to CNN, which was covering the bombing with a blaring “breaking news” headline. A reporter was on the scene summarizing what had happened.

  “The bombing of the Choices gala here at the Ritz-Carlton happened about three hours ago. A total of seven bombs were detonated inside the ballroom and in its vicinity. There have been no reports of any deaths so far, but dozens of people are injured, some critically. The hotel has been evacuated while the LAPD bomb squad investigates. There is a heavy police presence downtown tonight, but there have not been any reports of additional threats.

  “The attacks are being attributed to radical right-wing protest group Sacrosanct, who posted a video online just moments ago taking credit for the bombing. Police are investigating and are asking anyone with information to please come forward. Police are also asking the public to stay away from the downtown district as a precaution.”

  Sean turned the volume down as the reporter continued to talk, giving background information about Sacrosanct and Choices and speculating about the bombings. Sierra stared at the screen, feeling numb.

  “We were so lucky.” She swallowed the last of her sandwich, forcing it down.

  Sean took her plate and set it on the coffee table with his. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

  “You could’ve been hurt.” The idea that he could’ve been seriously injured—or worse—was almost too much. Her chest knotted tightly and she reached for him. She kissed him, softly at first, but it quickly turned into something deep and hungry. He pulled her into his lap, and she straddled his hips.

  “I’m OK,” he whispered, stroking a hand up and down her back.

  “I hate how much danger this puts you in.” Fear threatened to swallow her whole. Not fear of Sacrosanct, but the fear of losing Sean. Yes, he was strong and smart and capable, but awful things happened every single day. And she knew she couldn’t handle losing him. Not when she’d just found him. When they’d just found each other. And although what was happening between them was new, she knew it was different. Special. Rare.

  She was falling in love with him.

  “I want to see your back. Take your shirt off.” She climbed off his lap to make it easier for him, sitting on her knees beside him. After hesitating a second, he complied, sitting forward and reaching behind him with one hand, yanking his T-shirt off. He turned, and she sucked in a breath. Already a nasty bruise was coming through on the upper left-hand side of his back. Mottled angry red and blue, it was bigger than her hand. “Oh, Sean. I’m sorry.”

  He tossed his shirt on the floor and pulled her back into his lap. “I got it protecting you. Worth it.” He cradled her face and kissed her again, his lips soft but firm against hers. Sierra didn’t have any words for the emotions tumbling around inside her, so she kissed him back with everything she had. Sean’s hands left her face and skated down over her arms, the sides of her breasts, her ribs. He pulled her T-shirt up over her head, tossing it on the floor beside his. “I will do whatever it takes, Sierra. I will protect you, no matter what.” He unhooked her bra and added it to the growing pile of clothing.

  She kissed him again, harder and deeper, their tongues sliding together, and his hands cupped her breasts, his thumbs playing across her already peaked nipples. She melted into his touch and deepened the kiss even further, thrilling at the sensation of his hands on her bare breasts for the first time. He groaned, the sound washing over her like warm water, and she traced her hands down over his torso, touching and exploring, reveling in each muscled ridge, in each crisp hair beneath her fingertips.

  He broke the kiss and trailed his lips down her neck and across her collarbone. “I need to be inside you again.”

  “I need that too.” He trailed one large, warm hand over her breast and down into her yoga pants. With one hand spanning her back, he held her and closed his mouth over her nipple. He stroked her through the cotton of her panties and she writhed against him, the touch maddeningly gentle. “More,” she breathed, and he slipped his hand under the cotton. He kissed his way from one breast to the other, circling her nipple with his tongue before scraping over it with a delicate bite. With deft movements he slid a finger between her folds, circling around her clit. She bit her lip and whimpered, her eyes fluttering closed as she ground against his hand.

  He made a low sound, an approving growl. “You’re so wet already.” He began to torment her, circling and stroking, his mouth hot and wet over her nipple.

  “For you,” she managed to rasp out. He must’ve liked her answer because he gave her more of what she needed, sliding two fingers into her and stroking his thumb against her throbbing clit. He caught her mouth with his, kissing her with a raw intensity that turned her on even more. His fingers caressed her, creating an exquisite pressure that already was pushing her to the point of eruption. Her hands gripped his arms, fingers flexing and digging in as she tried to anchor herself somehow. He stretched and pressed from the inside while stroking her on the outside, making her feel as if she were melting into his hand.

  “Fuck, Sierra. I want to bury myself inside you, you’re so hot and sweet.” His voice was low and rough. Her hips bucked as she came on Sean’s hand, hot, throbbing pleasure radiating outward from her core. He held her as her muscles shook, tightening his free arm around her waist. She sat like that for several seconds, letting her orgasm wash over her while she caught her breath, his fingers still inside her. A gorgeously sexy smile played across his lips, and then he dipped his head and sucked her earlobe into his mouth. He slipped his fingers free and wrapped his arms around her.

  And then he stood effortlessly, despite the fact that he was holding her against him. She slipped her legs around his waist and he headed down the hallway toward his bedroom.

  * * *

  Sean focused on making it to his bedroom and the king-size bed waiting for him and Sierra. If he didn’t, he might just drag her to the floor and sink his painfully swollen cock into her. Squeezing her ass, he held her tight against him as he walked. He marveled at how perfectly she fit around him, despite how small she was.

  “I fantasized about you, you know.” She pressed her lips to his neck as he made his way down t
he hall.

  “Really?” A jolt of pure happiness rang through him.

  “Mmm-hmm.” She nuzzled the answer into him, her lips and tongue setting fire to the skin under his ear.

  He bumped open the bedroom door with his shoulder. “Did you touch yourself when you fantasized about me?” He reached the edge of the bed, but didn’t set her down.

  “Yes. I made myself come, thinking about you.” She kissed his ear, teasing his earlobe with her tongue.

  He eased her down onto the bed on her back, but didn’t go down with her. “Show me how you touch yourself when you think about me.”

  “Only if you take your pants off. I want to see you.” She rose up on her elbows, a playful smile on her gorgeous, flushed face as she shoved her yoga pants and panties down over her hips, kicking them off.

  He returned her smile and opened the button on his jeans. She lay back on the bed and bent her knees. He eased the zipper of his fly down, and his jeans sagged around his hips. Slowly she spread her legs, revealing the soft, pink flesh there, swollen and wet. She dipped a hand between her legs and began to tease herself, her other hand palming her breast. She pushed a finger inside herself and moaned.

  “Tell me what you fantasized about.” He hoped she didn’t hear the slight tremor in his voice as he barely held himself together. He pushed his jeans down and stepped out of them. He hadn’t bothered with any underwear when he’d changed. She moaned again, and he watched, enraptured, as she massaged her swollen pussy. She looked up and met his gaze, her eyes hot and dark.

  “How good you’d look with your face between my legs.”

  He let out a low, gruff groan, fire licking up his spine. She stroked herself faster, in a circular motion. Her muscles began to tremble and her breathing became rough and shallow.

  “Doesn’t have to be a fantasy anymore,” he ground out, and then fell to his knees in front of the bed and hooked his arms under her splayed legs, tugging her toward him. She arched her back off the bed and cried out as his mouth closed over the tender flesh between her legs.

  “Christ, you taste good.” He moved his lips against her as he spoke, her hips writhing as a shuddering moan escaped her throat. He licked her slowly, pressing his tongue against her, circling around her clit before licking back down. He took his time, savoring her as he discovered what she liked, paying attention to her little trembles, to her breathing, to the way her hips jerked when he swirled his tongue over her clit in a lazy circle. Fuck, he could do this all night.

  She thrust her hands into his hair. “Oh, God, Sean. Your mouth feels so good, I can’t—” He sucked her clit into his mouth and swirled his tongue over and around it, and her hips jerked off the bed as she moaned loudly. She came again, pulsing and throbbing against his tongue, every muscle in her body taut.

  Feeling like a goddamn king, he trailed light kisses along the insides of her thighs as she slowly came down, her fingers still clenched in his hair.

  “That was incredible.” She propped herself up on one elbow to look at him with heavy-lidded eyes, raking her fingers through his hair and sending tingles racing across his scalp. He climbed up on the bed beside her, kissing his way up her body, lingering over her breasts, wanting to taste every inch of this woman. His woman. He hissed out a breath as her small hand closed around his throbbing cock. She traced her index finger over his swollen head, massaging the bead of pre-come into the tip before pumping her fist up and down.

  He basked in her touch, closing his eyes as she stroked him. It felt so good that he didn’t want to tell her to stop, but he knew he had to. Gently he pushed her hand away and kissed her, hotly and deeply, pulling her against him. His chest swelled almost painfully at the sensation of her naked body against his. Everything was colliding. His need to protect her. How much he liked everything about her. Lust.

  Love.

  They were all swirling together until they were connected, each one feeding into the other. Indistinguishable. All that mattered was Sierra. Her name hummed through his veins as he lost himself in her.

  In that moment he needed to connect with her. To be inside her, to feel her body around his. Joined. Whole.

  Reaching over, he yanked open the nightstand drawer, grabbed a condom, tore open the package, and rolled it on. He guided her up to the head of the bed and eased his weight down carefully on top of her. Hungrily he closed his mouth over hers, the throbbing pressure in his balls becoming almost unbearable.

  She wrapped her legs around his hips and kissed him, pressing herself into him. “Now, Sean. I need you.” Her entire body shook, her voice trembling, and he knew she needed the connection just as badly as he did.

  Unable to wait a second longer, he eased into her, her flesh hot and wet and deliciously tight around him. Skin to skin and fully connected with her, he kissed her, sweetly, tenderly, slowly. He didn’t want to move, didn’t want to stop kissing her. He didn’t want to let this moment go.

  He brushed a lock of her hair out of her eyes, and what he saw nearly undid him. They were full of lust, and passion, and something deep and true that both thrilled and awed him.

  Something a hell of a lot like what he was feeling. “My beautiful Sierra,” he murmured, stroking in and out of her once.

  “Call me that again.”

  “You’re beautiful.” He kissed her again, unable to get enough of her delicious mouth.

  “No. The other part. Yours.” She shuddered out a sigh as he thrust again.

  “My Sierra.” He withdrew almost all the way before sliding back into her, his breathing heavy.

  “Your Sierra. I like that.”

  He teased in and out of her, wanting release but not wanting this to be over. “That’s what you are. You’re mine.” He kissed her again.

  Her eyes shone in the dim light of his room, bright with emotion, and she held him tighter. His release began to burn through him, narrowing his vision. Pressing his face into her neck, he pumped into her, hard and deep, her hips rising to meet him.

  “Oh, God, you feel so good. Fuck me, Sean.” Her voice was high, almost a whimper, as she moaned into his ear.

  He felt the first pulse of his orgasm and thrust into her deeper, harder, grinding into her. Her muscles tightened around him with her own orgasm, and she nipped at his shoulder as his cock pulsed deep inside her. He held himself above her, and she bit at his bicep.

  “Oh my God, Sean.” She whispered the words as she looked up at him, her cheeks rosy, and he pressed his forehead to hers.

  “I know. Do you have any idea how happy I am that you came to my office that day?”

  “Hopefully, as happy as I am.”

  A euphoric weakness overtook him, and he pulled out of her and rolled onto his back, pulling her into his side. She laid her head on his chest and wrapped herself around him, flinging her free arm and top leg over him. He stroked a hand up and down her back while she trailed her fingers back and forth across his chest. The moment was both heavy and light, their connection filling up the room and negating the need to say anything. They belonged to each other now.

  She nestled into him, and he felt a tremor vibrate through her.

  “Are you cold?”

  She laughed softly. “Hardly. You’re like a furnace.”

  “You’re trembling.”

  She lifted her head, her eyes locking with his. “I know.”

  A happy thrill shot through him, as if he were sitting in the front car of the world’s tallest, fastest roller coaster, about to rocket down that first drop. He rolled so that she was once again beneath him, and he pinned her arms above her head, tracing his tongue around her nipple. She squirmed happily, and he exhaled, blowing across her skin and teasing her pebbled nibble to an even harder peak. She moaned, arching her back up, pressing her small breasts into his face. He closed his mouth over the opposite breast, sucking her nipple into his mouth and swirling his tongue over her. She cried out as he closed his teeth around her nipple and tugged gently. They’d just finished, and
he wanted her again. Needed her. Couldn’t stop touching her, kissing her, tasting her. It was need, yes, but something more. It was comfort. It was joy.

  It was everything.

  She tensed at the sharp staccato of someone knocking on his front door. Immediately he was on his feet. “Stay here. I’ll be right back.” As fast as he could, he disposed of the condom, yanked on jeans and a T-shirt, retrieved his Glock from its holster and shoved it into his waistband.

  Chapter 21

  Sean peered through the peephole and stood back, flipping the dead bolt and opening the door for his dad. “How’d you get in here?” Sean had brought Sierra to his condo because it was secure. Only residents could access the underground parking, and a doorman was stationed in the lobby twenty-four hours a day.

  Patrick held up a white key card. “You gave me this.”

  Right. He had. So long ago that he’d completely forgotten.

  Surprising him completely, his dad threw his arms around him and pulled him in for a hug. Sean couldn’t remember the last time his father had hugged him. Years ago, for sure. Before…everything.

  “Thank God you’re all right,” he said, letting him go. “I saw the news about the bomb on TV, and then I couldn’t get ahold of you on your phone.”

  “Oh, shit. Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” His phone had likely been buzzing with his dad’s missed calls while he’d been in bed with Sierra.

  “Zack filled me in. I knew you were alive, but I wanted to see for myself. He told me about what happened at Ms. Blake’s too.” He shook his head. “Sick sons of bitches.”

  Sean nodded in agreement. “You said it.”

  “And she’s here?”

  “Yeah. Sleeping.” He tipped his head toward his bedroom. God, he felt like shit lying to his dad this way, but they’d be dealing with a second explosion tonight if Patrick found out Sean was sleeping with a client.

  A tense silence hung between them, filling the space. Sean turned and headed for the fridge, and Patrick followed him into the kitchen.