Killian (Dance with the Devil 3)

by Carole Mortimer

  The silence in the car was becoming more oppressive by the second. “I’m sorry,” Killian finally bit out when he couldn’t stand the quiet a moment longer. It was usually difficult to shut Natalia up, and this uncharacteristic silence was killing him.

  She didn’t even glance at him. “I’m not,” she answered flatly.

  Killian’s hands clenched on top of his thighs. “What the hell does that mean?”

  She continued to look out of the side window. “It means I don’t believe a bodyguard is capable of doing his job properly when he obviously has little or no respect or liking for the person he or she is guarding.”

  Killian jolted. “I have never said—”

  “You don’t need to say anything for me to be fully aware of the contempt you feel toward me.” Her eyes glittered in the darkness of the limo interior when she finally turned to look at him. “Perhaps it would be for the best if we don’t wait for my father to return from his honeymoon after all, and instead contact your cousins and ask one of them to replace you right now.” It was a statement, not a question, and made in that same authoritative tone her father used when he required someone to jump to his bidding.

  Killian wasn’t jumping anywhere or for anyone.

  Instead, he clenched his jaw so tightly, he was in danger of cracking a tooth. But it gave him the necessary minutes it took to get his temper under enough control to be able to answer her evenly. “That’s not happening,” he finally grated.

  Her brows rose. “I don’t recall making it a request.”

  “Still not happening.”

  She glared. “Don’t you understand I don’t want you to remain as my bodyguard for even another day?”

  “Tough, because you don’t get to decide that,” he bit out. “Your father is the one who employs me, and as such, he’s also the one who issues the instructions when it comes to whether or not I remain as your bodyguard. So, until he tells me otherwise, that’s exactly what I’m going to continue being.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Then I’ll make sure he tells you otherwise as soon as he gets back from his honeymoon.”

  He snorted. “Your father might like to indulge you in most things, but when it comes to the subject of your safety, he’s as immovable as I am.”

  “I’m sure one of your cousins would be just as efficient at guarding me as you are. Maybe more so,” she provoked. “Don’t worry, I’m sure my father won’t dismiss you,” she added mockingly. “You can simply go back to guarding him. Or possibly Carla.”

  Killian’s anger was replaced with a hollow feeling in his chest. “And I’ll refuse to do either of those things.”

  “And if my father insists?”

  “He won’t,” he stated with more certainty than he felt.

  All the Price men had ensured they were highly trained bodyguards, and any one of Killian’s cousins could do the job of guarding Natalia as efficiently as he did. Without the added complication of desiring Natalia. His cousins, perhaps more professionally than him, had shown no physical interest in Natalia. Not that Killian had discussed it with them. To do so would be to leave himself open to their questioning him on the same subject and then advising, as he was compromised, he remove himself from her protection detail.

  “Then I guess I’ll just have to make it impossible for you to want to continue being my bodyguard,” she taunted.

  His eyes narrowed with suspicion. Natalia could be a handful most days, but he dreaded to think how far she might take it if she decided to deliberately make his life difficult. “What does that mean?”

  She looked unconcerned by his obvious displeasure. “You may have caught me before I had a chance to leave the club earlier, but we both know I’m more than capable of giving you the slip if I should decide to do so.” And her tone said that right now, she really wanted to get away from him. “I might just decide to do that again very soon. At which time, my father, having already made his displeasure on that subject perfectly clear, will definitely have reason to question whether or not you should continue to be my bodyguard,” she added triumphantly.

  In the past, before Killian had realized he had to be prepared for her Houdini act, Natalia had taken great pleasure in evading him several times. But forewarned was forearmed, and it rarely happened nowadays. Even tonight, there had been no possibility of her getting away from him. As Natalia had guessed, as soon as she left the dance floor to go to the powder room, he had signaled Evan to go outside and guard the back of the club. Even if Natalia had made it outside, the other man would have prevented her from leaving until Killian was able to join them.

  “Then I’ll just have to ensure there’s no opportunity for you to disappear,” he dismissed.

  Natalia snorted. “How do you intend to do that?”

  “Simple.” He shrugged. “In future, where you go, I go.”

  She quirked a challenging brow. “Even to the ladies’ room?”

  His jaw tightened. “After your behavior tonight, yes.”

  She gave a taunting smile. “I need to wash away the grime of the club, so I’m thinking of having a long soak in a scented bubble bath when we get back to the hotel. Do you intend joining me in there too? I thought not,” she scorned in response to the impatient narrowing of his eyes. “You really need to take a leaf out of my father’s book,” she taunted. “He’s always told me never to make a threat you don’t have the balls to follow through on.”

  Considering her father was the Mafia boss of all Mafia bosses, when Leon made a threat, it had damn well better be listened to and taken seriously. Because, if not, it could and would lead to fatal consequences.

  The same life-ending consequences that would happen to Killian if anything should happen to Natalia when she was under his protection.

  Leon’s displeasure was far from the only reason for Killian’s vigilance where she was concerned, but it certainly came into play. Only a fool would ignore the powerful reach of a man like Leon Brunelli. Killian was far from being a fool.

  Killian knew he didn’t have anywhere near Leon’s sort of power at his fingertips, but neither was he about to let himself be bested by the other man’s stubborn and rebellious daughter. If Natalia wanted to challenge Killian to a game of chicken, then he couldn’t allow himself to be the one to blink first. He knew from past experience, if he did that, Natalia would see it as a victory for her and proceed to make his life even more difficult.

  He shrugged. “I’m not too worried about the safety of my balls.”

  “Then maybe you should be,” she stated in a hard voice. “Most especially when you’re asleep.”

  Killian couldn’t prevent himself from laughing. Natalia really was something else.

  Her eyes narrowed. “I wasn’t joking.”

  He didn’t think she was. The tightening and lifting of his balls, as if they wanted to disappear inside his body for protection, said they didn’t think so either.

  This situation was going downhill fast. One of them, and it would have to be Killian when Natalia was obviously too angry with him right now to be reasoned with, needed to stop this before it went too far.

  Which meant he had to retake control. “I’m happy to take a shower in your bathroom while you soak in the bath.”

  Her eyes widened, and her eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “You can’t be serious.”

  “Very,” he bit out firmly.

  “But it wasn’t an invitation.”

  Killian shrugged. “Sounded like one to me.”

  She scowled her irritation. “You know damn well it wasn’t.”

  He grinned. “I’m sure Leon would tell you that you should never issue a challenge either if you don’t have those same balls to see it through.”

  Natalia looked ready to explode. Her cheeks were flushed, eyes glittering, her red-glossed lips pressed tightly together. “We’ll soon see which one of us has the most balls,” she bit out vehemently. “And I don’t mean physically, because obviously only one of us has any of those,” she
added before once again turning to stare out of the window.

  Killian allowed his smile to fade once Natalia was no longer looking at him.

  Challenge issued.

  Challenge accepted.

  Now all he had to do was strip off his clothes and take a shower in the same bathroom where Natalia was lying naked in a bubble-filled and scented bath.

  All without falling on her naked body like a depraved ravenous beast starving for a taste of her.

  Because that’s exactly what he was most of the time.

  He might try to hide it, and he was pretty sure he succeeded most of the time, but he’d been attracted to Natalia’s voluptuous body and her snappy humor and intelligence for months now, if not years.

  He let his head drop back against the headrest, his eyes closing as he inwardly listed off the litany he knew by heart of all the reasons why it was a bad idea for him to want Natalia.

  She was the powerful Leonardo Brunelli’s daughter—Leon would take pleasure in cutting off his balls, literally, if Killian ever did anything to hurt Natalia.

  He was her paid bodyguard.

  He was fifteen years older than her.

  She’d been spoiled and indulged by her wealthy father all her life.

  Had attended the best private schools.

  Never worked a day in her pampered life, and probably never would.

  Killian had grown up poor as the only son of a now-deceased member of the Irish Mob. He’d left school at sixteen with only a useless Junior Certificate that wouldn’t have gotten him a job working in a bank. Not that it had ever been an option when everyone in Ireland knew he was the son of Jimmy Price and the nephew of Billy Price, known members of the Irish Mob before they were both shot and killed.

  Christ, was it any wonder he and his cousins had decided to leave their lives in Ireland far behind them and escape to America?

  Having now listed all the reasons why he shouldn’t want the daughter of Leon Brunelli, Killian also knew that being in the same bathroom with a naked Natalia might just make a nonsense of every one of those reasons and crush every last bit of the self-control he’d been able to hold in check for so long.

  “Do you intend joining me in bed tonight too?” Natalia taunted softly.

  Killian’s cock gave a painful throb merely thinking of being in bed with Natalia.

  Feck his life!

  Chapter Four

  Natalia hadn’t turned her head to look at Killian as he sat beside her in the car but she did glance sideways at him when he didn’t answer her mocking comment. His eyes were closed, but she very much doubted he was actually asleep.

  The hollows of his cheeks were visible beneath sharp cheekbones, his mouth unsmiling and grim-looking, and his jaw was clenched.

  There wasn’t an ounce of softness to him.

  She suddenly found herself the focus of those piercing green eyes and unable to look away when he raised his lids to look straight at her.

  “Well?” she heard herself challenge.

  He gave a shrug. “I would say that depends on how well you behave in the bathroom.”

  “How well I—! Fuck you, Killian. Just—just fuck you!” Her fingers tightly gripped her clutch bag instead of doing what she really wanted to do, which was slap his face.

  He gave another chuckle. “That one definitely sounds like an invitation to me.”

  “That’s because you’re delusional.”

  Killian sat up suddenly, his face now only inches away from her own. “Keep fecking saying that, and I’ll show you just how delusional I can be.”

  The way he said delusional implied something else entirely and conjured up a whole lot of images Natalia found highly arousing.

  The main one being Killian naked. All six feet and four sexy inches of him.

  “Let’s start with the shower and see how we go,” he added tauntingly.

  Natalia now had two choices. She could back down. Or continue to accept the challenge. And she refused to back down. Which left her with only the one choice, that of her stripping naked in front of Killian before climbing into a hot and scented bubble bath.

  He’d seen her in a bikini dozens of times beside the pool at the family estate or in one of the hotels they stayed in. Little scraps of colored material that barely covered her nipples, crotch, and ass.

  As she had seen him in black swim trunks that clung to his hips and outlined the length of his cock and the fullness of his balls beneath.

  Maybe so, but that had been under vastly different circumstances, the main one being they were outside with other people rather than alone together in the confines of her hotel bathroom.

  And tonight she wouldn’t even have those little pieces of material to protect her modesty.

  But Killian will also have to take off all his clothes before he steps into the shower.

  Yes, he would, and Natalia very much looked forward to seeing that.

  Enough that having to strip naked in front of him dulled by comparison?

  God, yes!

  Oh, she didn’t have the skinny figure of models like Amelie, but her breasts were firm, her waist slender, her hips and leg muscles toned from the hour or so a day she spent exercising on the treadmill. In other words, she had nothing to be ashamed of.

  Maybe not, but I’ve never been completely naked in front of a man either.

  But if she had to start somewhere, Killian—despite their ongoing argument—was definitely the man she would choose to be naked with.

  Okay. Fine. She could do this. No, not could, she would do this. The alternative was to open herself up to Killian’s curiosity as to why she wouldn’t. And she refused to give him the satisfaction of doing that, would show him she didn’t have a single “immature fantasy” in regard to him or the two of them being naked together.

  Which was how, half an hour later, Natalia found herself ensconced with him in the large and luxurious bathroom adjoining her bedroom in the hotel suite they were sharing.

  They hadn’t spoken a word since their snippy exchange earlier. Luke and Evan had joined them once they arrived back at the hotel, no one speaking as the four of them traveled up in the lift together to their floor, the other two men no doubt as aware as Natalia was of Killian’s oppressive displeasure. They left Luke on guard outside the hotel suite, Evan going to the room next door to sleep for a few hours before taking over.

  Killian hadn’t hesitated for even a second once they were inside their suite but had immediately followed Natalia down the hallway and into her private bathroom.

  Rather than protesting again, Natalia had chosen to once again ignore him. She heard the shower turn on but continued to keep her back turned toward him as she sat on the side of the bath, testing and adjusting the heat of the water coming out of the central tap. Once she was satisfied it was the right temperature, she spent a couple more minutes pouring in the scented bath oil and bubble mixture she liked until the water was at her preferred level.

  “It smells like you in here.”

  Her back stiffened, initially at hearing Killian’s voice again after such a long silence, but also once she’d taken in what he’d said. Because she was uncertain as to whether or not he was criticizing her choice of perfumes as being too heavily intrusive. Expensive didn’t necessary mean pleasant—

  “That’s a compliment, by the way,” he softly answered that question. “You always smell good.”

  Damn it, she really shouldn’t feel this warm inner glow just because Killian had said something nice to her.

  She stood and turned, with the intention of saying something sarcastic, and instead ended up with her mouth gaping as she stared at a naked Killian with a wide and fixed gaze.

  While she’d been concentrating on running the bathwater and filling it to the right level, Killian had used that same time to get completely and unashamedly naked.

  Not that he had anything to be ashamed of!

  His tanned shoulders were wide, arms and chest muscular, his abs so def
ined, they could have been chiseled and then smoothed out of marble. His hips were narrow, thighs and calves powerfully muscular.

  I skipped over an important part.

  Yes, she had. Because one look at Killian’s cock as it jutted up proudly from amongst groomed dark curls had made her mouth water. Drool was never a good look on anyone, and certainly not on a fully grown woman who otherwise had complete control of her faculties.

  Still, her gaze was drawn back to that aggressively erect cock.

  Could a cock look aggressive?

  Killian’s certainly did.

  Probably because it was so big. At least eight inches long, and probably four or five inches around, with a thick vein visibly throbbing along its length to just beneath the red and glistening mushroomed head. Even as Natalia stared, a bubble of pre-cum beaded from the slit at the top, adding to that visible viscosity.

  Aggressive, yes, but if cocks could also be called beautiful, then Killian’s was. Very much so.

  It was also completely aroused.

  At least, Natalia hoped it was fully engorged. Any more length or girth on that thing and it would become painful for any woman to take inside her, let alone a virgin—

  Stop right there.

  She wasn’t going to embarrass herself by even thinking about having Killian’s cock inside her after he’d made his feelings toward her clear with his remark about her “immature fantasy of every man desiring her.” He thought she was young and silly, and no doubt he would regard any physical reaction she might have toward him as being a part of that joke.

  “You’re still wearing all your clothes,” he reminded gruffly.

  “And you aren’t.”

  His mouth twisted. “I thought it might help if I stripped first.”

  Natalia’s spine stiffened. “Help with what?”

  He shrugged. “I’m finding all this a bit…”

  “Immature?” she prompted testily.

  His eyes darkened. “Awkward,” he corrected. “And I really am sorry for the things I said to you earlier.”