Guarding His Body

by A. C. Arthur

  While he completely understood her parents’ need to protect her—because he felt it within himself—he also realized how stifling this situation must have been throughout her entire life. He wasn’t the youngest of the Bennett clan, but he was the youngest son and at times it seemed there was great emphasis put on him and what he wasn’t doing to uphold the family name.

  That part of him completely sympathized with Sabrina and for the first time he realized just what her independence meant to her. Throughout dessert he thought of his pledge to make her happy, to prove to her that she could trust him. But her declaration that they were simply lovers still irked him. If he wanted a lover he could have had his pick, but lately he’d begun to realize that he needed something more. Something stable and nourishing. He needed a woman that would encourage him, as well as kick his ass when he was wrong. Sabrina fit that description to a tee.

  She’d scrutinized and argued with the choices for the Breathless Passion collection, as well as being instrumental in the final placement in the gallery. He suspected that had been the straw to break Yolanda’s back, but he’d indulged Sabrina because he was amazed at how enthused she’d been about his work. Nobody had ever cared that much about his gallery or his pieces. She seemed to see the same vision he did. And that had warmed him.

  “I’m trusting you with something very valuable, son. Don’t make me regret it.” Lucien had cornered Renny in the hallway just as he, his wife and his son were leaving for the night.

  Renny gripped the older man’s hand, having found some common ground with him over the course of dinner, and gave a curt nod. “You can depend on me, sir.”

  “I hope so.” Lucien released his hand and turned to his wife. “Come on, Mama. We’d better get going.”

  Marie Desdune came to stand in front of Renny after shooing her husband away. She lifted a hand and cupped Renny’s cheek. “Something tells me you’re good for my Bree.”

  If that was her blessing, Renny was elated, but before he could speak Sabrina had made her way between them.

  “Stop touching him, Mama, he’ll think you’re twisted or something. You’ve been ogling him all night as it is.”

  Marie looked down at her daughter and gave a knowing smile. “Nonsense, Bree. I just know a good thing when I see it.”

  Renny smiled. “Good night, Mrs. Desdune. It was a pleasure to meet you.” He’d placed a protective hand on Sabrina’s shoulder mostly because he hadn’t touched her in the past few hours and he itched to do so.

  “Likewise, Lorenzo. I enjoyed spending the evening with you.” She looked at Bree again. “And I’m happy to know my daughter is in good hands.”

  Bree frowned. “Ah, I’m the bodyguard, which means he’s in my good hands, Mama.” She felt like a complete idiot saying that since he loomed over her, grasping her shoulder like he was ready to jump in front of a speeding train to save her. When had the tables turned? Her mind whirled as she felt like she was losing the one thing she’d called her own—her career, her skills—they were quickly becoming overshadowed by Harold and his stupidity and Renny and his dominance. Men—she was beginning to hate them! Except as Renny massaged her shoulder she felt her bones melting, her body giving over to the feel of his touch once more.

  Before they’d gone to the gallery he’d stopped at a drugstore and purchased three boxes of condoms. That should hold him for a week or so, he thought, smiling to himself.

  Bree entered the room finally. She’d stalled long enough in the bathroom. Actually she’d stayed in there until the thought of hiding had almost made her sick. There was nothing to hide from. She was a woman and he was a man. She had a job to do and he had a gallery to open. They were attracted to each other and pretty damn good in bed. Those were the facts and she could work with them. Anything else was irrelevant and she wouldn’t bother thinking about it.

  He was stretched out on the bed, his lean body oiled until he looked like one of his bronze sculptures. She took a steadying breath before removing her robe and sitting on the opposite side of the bed. Before she could speak, his hands were on her shoulders, massaging gently. Thankfully, she relaxed against his movements, letting her head loll back as she did.

  “You have a nice family,” Renny murmured. He didn’t want her falling asleep on him and he knew from the sounds she was making and the way her breathing was slowing down that at any minute, she’d be out.

  “They’re great as long as you don’t have an opinion of your own.” He was close, his knees at her sides as his hands moved to her neck, his thumbs applying pressure at her nape.

  Renny grinned. “They love you.”

  She expelled a breath. “I know. And I love them, but sometimes they can be a bit overbearing.”

  He agreed and sympathized. “I know the feeling.”

  “Your family didn’t seem that way.” He was back at her shoulders, moving to her biceps, soothing the tired muscles there.

  “My mom’s generally not overbearing. Not with the boys at least. She gives my sisters hell, though.” He chuckled. “No, for me it’s my dad.”

  Bree lifted her arms as he massaged her hands and her fingers and moved down to massage the small of her back. She felt him shifting again behind her, but didn’t bother to open her eyes or question him. She was thoroughly enjoying this massage and was quite content to lie there until his fingers lulled her into a blissful sleep.

  Renny knew the moment he had her completely relaxed, knew the precise second that she was all his. “You said we were lovers, Sabrina?”

  “Mmm-hmm,” she agreed.

  “For the record, I’m a very selfish lover.” He pushed her nightshirt up until her bikini-clad bottom was on display and traced a finger beneath the band of soft material. “I don’t like to share.”

  Bree felt the jolt, recognized the shift from medicinal strokes to tempting touches. Yet she was still unable to move. Unable or unwilling? “Then we’re in agreement. We’ll be exclusive lovers.”

  Renny pulled her panties down and off her legs. “Exclusivity it is.” His hands molded each of the heavenly mounds as his thumbs came close to entering her crease. “I require something else from my lovers, though.”

  Bree turned her head from one side to the other, acutely aware of her vulnerable state and loving it just the same. “And what’s that?”

  Renny spread her legs and traced a finger from her smoldering center up to where her buttocks met her back. She gasped and he licked his lips in anticipation. “Everything,” he whispered, then stroked his already condom-clad erection and centered himself above her.

  “Everything?” She couldn’t think straight, erotic thoughts becoming jumbled with coherent ones, and she struggled to maintain her focus. “What does that mean?”

  “It means that while we’re lovers there is nothing you will deny me.” He slipped his hands beneath her and angled her for his entrance. “Everything that you are, every thought you have, every word you utter becomes a part of me and I you.” He rotated his hips while holding hers still. He watched as she gripped the sheets beneath her and struggled to speak.

  “I can’t…give you…everything,” she moaned.

  He stilled above her, pulled almost completely out of her until only the tip rested at her entrance. She bucked and tried to push back to bring him inside her again. He shook his head even though he doubted she could see him. “I want it all, Sabrina. While we are lovers I want all of you. I won’t settle for anything less.”

  Her insides were quivering, her juices pooling at her center as his manhood teased her. She came up completely on her knees, looked at him over her shoulder and saw that he was deadly calm and more serious than she’d ever seen him before. “Renny,” she whispered.

  “No, Sabrina.” He shook his head. “Not now. Now it’s just you and me and I want all that you have, all that you are. Right now. Tell me I can have all of you.”

  Bree shook her head, unable to stop the building sensations inside or control the warning bells and
simple whispers in her mind. She wanted him so completely, so why shouldn’t she give herself the same way? Because it wasn’t safe. Even as she answered her own question he leaned forward and grabbed her breast, squeezing her nipple through the cotton of her nightshirt.

  “Tell me, Sabrina. Or I can’t do this anymore.”

  There it was, the ultimatum. She hated an ultimatum—hated being tempted by one. But her walls contracted as she pushed her bottom back only to have him move just out of her reach again. And she realized she hated that more. “We’re lovers,” she breathed airily.

  “And?” He now guided his erection up and down her center, passing her opening and grazing her clit.

  She shook, heat racing through her with abandoned fierceness. If she grabbed those sheets any tighter she’d surely rip them. “And while we’re lovers,” she paused. He was spreading her juices everywhere, up the back, down to the front, his fingers dipping inside her, and she moaned as he rubbed her now aching walls. “While we’re lovers,” she gasped, “I will give you—”

  He was near to bursting himself, so she really needed to hurry this up. His fingers moved faster inside her and he heard the hitch in her breath. “You’ll give me what, Sabrina?” He heaved with longing for her. “Dammit, tell me!”

  “Everything,” she sighed as the orgasm took her and she began to rock against his hand. “I will give you everything,” she repeated and repeated until her legs had finally stopped shaking.

  Renny didn’t even wait for her to recover before pushing her down onto the bed and thrusting completely inside her. “Yes, baby,” he whispered in her ear as her walls gripped him and he stroked her with urgency. “Everything. You’ll give me everything. Yes.” He was sinking, falling faster and harder than he ever had before and he didn’t care.

  There was nothing that could stop what was happening between them and nothing he would allow to get in his way. This was where he belonged. They were a perfect fit and as she began to move with him he knew she’d felt the same thing.

  She was giving him everything; with every stroke she matched, every wicked promise he’d spoken in her ear and she’d answered, she was giving him all that she had and he loved it. He absolutely loved it all.

  And when he was empty and still lying warmly inside her, it hit him that he loved her. He loved Sabrina Desdune. He loved his bodyguard.

  “Military backgrounds are almost impossible to dig in to.” Sam paced the floor in Lynn’s living room. “I can’t find out much except that he was dishonorably discharged and divorced earlier this year.”

  Renny sat, his legs spread wide, his elbows propped up, his fingers steepled at his chin. “So he was married?”

  “Yeah. The terms of the divorce were irreconcilable differences. The ex-wife, Joanne Richmond, now resides in Florida with a healthy alimony check coming each month.”

  “So what was Sabrina’s involvement?”

  Sam shrugged. “You haven’t been able to get it from her, either, I see.”

  “No.” Renny shook his head. Admittedly, he hadn’t really brought the subject up. At night when he and Sabrina were together there was no one but them. Another man didn’t dare enter the picture. He relished his alone time with her, felt her slowly occupying a bigger space in his heart, his life, with each passing day. Another reason why putting an end to this threat against her was so imperative.

  “Outside of this dilemma we’ve also decided to beef up security tomorrow night at the gallery. There was a note taped to the door at your condo. It was one of the invitations to the opening with a red x marking the yes in the RSVP area.”

  That caught Renny’s full attention and he stood to face Sam. “When?”

  “I found it this morning. I assigned another guard to Alex so I could work this thing with Bree, too. But you said the moving guys were coming, so I didn’t want them to be there alone. Luckily, I got there before them and confiscated the note.”

  “So it’ll be tomorrow then.” His jaw clenched but he found himself looking forward to the confrontation. All this hiding and looking over his shoulder was becoming a royal pain. He wanted Sabrina as his woman, not as his bodyguard. And he definitely didn’t like thinking of her dodging bullets or any other dangerous pastime, no matter how much she seemed to thrive on the adventure. In the past weeks he’d begun to suspect that her love of danger came from an embedded need to rebel against her family. Whatever they thought she couldn’t do she seemed hell-bent on doing. Well, he was hell-bent on stopping her. He’d just go about it another way. The direct approach of denying her would not fly; she’d only push harder. Her family hadn’t seemed to notice that yet.

  “I’m not sure. It could be a smoke screen. Make us think the hit is tomorrow, we lower our guard when it isn’t and then they attack. The gallery’s taken on most of the publicity in the last few weeks, leaving the merger in the business section. But until that’s over and done with the threat is still alive and viable.”

  “You’re right. So everybody’s got to be on guard. Watching everything incoming and outgoing. Protecting what’s mine is vital at this point.” Renny had moved to the window and was looking out at the night sky wondering who lurked in the dark.

  Sam had been trying to find a way to ask his next question calmly, but figured it was just going to come out and Renny would take it however he wanted. “Does my sister fall into the category of what’s yours?”

  Renny turned slowly. He’d wondered when Sam was going to get around to asking his intentions toward Sabrina. From the closeness of their family, he was sure Cole or even Mr. Desdune had told him something about the two of them. Not to mention the fact that it was probably obvious, at least that’s what Renny’s siblings thought. “Just ask your question, Desdune.” He would give a truthful answer.

  Sam nodded. “Are you sleeping with my sister?”

  “Yes.”

  Sam’s jaw clenched. “And where is that headed? Will she be the next headline in the papers?”

  Renny shook his head. “I’m in love with her.”

  “That doesn’t mean she won’t become a headline.”

  “I won’t allow that to happen.”

  “And how do you plan on stopping it?” Sam began to pace. He wasn’t sure how he felt about Renny being in love with Bree. He’d almost conditioned himself to believe it was a fling. What if Bree loved him, too? This wasn’t good at all. “She’s not like those other women you date, Renny. She shouldn’t be dragged through the mud. She’s fragile. If you break her heart, it’ll kill her.” He stopped abruptly in the middle of the room, his hands fisted at his sides. “Then I’ll have to kill you.”

  Renny took the man’s words and knew he was as serious as Renny would be if it were one of his sisters. But all he could offer him was the truth, what he felt in his heart. “I don’t give a damn about the press. I live my life for me. Sabrina is very important to me and I won’t let anyone hurt her.”

  Sam swore. “You don’t even know her. You don’t know what she’s been through or what she needs.”

  “I know that she’s a strong woman with a good head on her shoulders. I know that her family doesn’t give her half as much credit as she deserves. I realize that something happened to her in North Carolina and believe me I’m going to get to the bottom of it. But I also realize that she’s an independent woman who has been sheltered all her life and just wants to prove that she can make it on her own. I’m willing to give her that. I haven’t fired her as my bodyguard because of that. But don’t for one instant think that I’ll let her get hurt on my account.”

  “I know she’s strong,” Sam almost whispered. “I’ve always known it. But she’s the baby. It’s our job to protect her.”

  “No. That’s my job now. You just need to love and respect her.”

  Sam saw the determination in Renny’s eyes and realized that the man was totally serious about this. He must really love Bree. “Don’t let my dad hear you say that.” He grinned and extended his hand.

>   Renny relaxed a bit and took that outstretched hand. “I hear you on that one.”

  They shook hands.

  “But if you hurt her…” Sam started.

  “Don’t worry, she’s safe with me.”

  Chapter 11

  The red gown molded against every curve and juncture of Bree’s body, the material gliding across her skin like fresh rose petals. As she examined herself in the full-length mirror on the back of the closet door she noticed that the lightweight outer layer sparkled subtly as she turned this way and that. The draped neckline was a modest length while the back took a deep plunge to the point that underwear was not possible.

  Her stomach was still doing flip-flops over that fact and she prayed nobody else noticed. Especially her mother. Renny had invited her entire family to the opening. Why, she had no idea. Even though in the past couple of weeks they’d all grown pretty close and at dinner last night you would have thought they were either all related or had known each other for years and years.

  She slipped on the strappy pumps that Adriana had insisted on then surveyed the makeup that Lynn had applied for her only a half hour earlier. Her lips shimmered with cherry gloss amazingly looked plumper, more voluptuous. Her eyes had been heavily lined with copper shadows. Her cheeks appeared higher as a result of the blush, while borrowed diamond and ruby studs twinkled at her ears. Lynn had also taken the liberty to brush her hair until it hung down her bare back like a dark mane. Studded clips held the mass away from her face even as wispy tendrils were left loose and dangling precariously at each ear.

  Nervous fingers went to the matching diamond necklace as she stared in amazement at the woman in the mirror. She’d never looked so…so glamorous before. Her hands ran the span of the soft billowing material of the dress and she felt a shiver of anticipation. What would Renny think when he saw her?

  He’d been barred from the room, forced to dress in the tiny guest bathroom. On a ragged oath Renny swore as he bumped his knee for the billionth time on the sink pedestal. He’d already decided that when this mess was over he wasn’t returning to his condo; instead he’d spoken to a developer about building him a house. A home that he could hopefully start his family in. That might take a few months yet, so he was still looking for an apartment until that time. But staying with Lynn, no matter how welcoming she was or how happy Jeremy was to see him when he came home in the evenings, was not an option.