A full body shudder rippled through her and she struggled to get air into her lungs. Without consciously meaning to, she rested her hand on his chest. For weeks she’d been wanting to experience the touch of his lips on hers again. Every now and then she caught Beck looking at her as if he wanted the same thing. But then it was like he remembered he had a job to do and he’d walk away.
Tonight she wanted to feel connected to a human again. For so long she’d been holding herself away from making close attachments because she didn’t want that person to get on her stalker’s radar. It was bad enough whoever it was threatened her family.
Samantha placed her other hand on Beck’s shoulder and lifted her head. Beck was looking down at her, his blue eyes smoldering with desire. Couldn’t they give up the pretense for the night?
One night.
One night to experience the most basic of emotions a man and woman could share together.
“Sam, what are you doing?” Beck’s voice dropped a few octaves and it was sexy as hell. She wanted him to talk to her in that tone all night.
“Living in the moment,” she whispered before going up on her tiptoes and fastening her lips to his. For a few seconds he held himself stiff then as if he couldn’t deny himself any longer he groaned and wrapped his arms around her, holding her close against him.
Her breasts were crushed against him and she could feel his hard length through his jeans against her belly. His mouth ravaged hers and she welcomed the onslaught. Her hands crept up until she thrust them through his hair. It was softer than she expected it to be.
Beck’s hands travelled beneath her t-shirt and she shivered when his callused fingers caressed her skin above the waistband of her jeans.
She wanted more.
She wanted them to be flesh and against flesh. She wanted Beck hovering over her, like in her fantasy. She wanted to stare into his eyes as he thrust into her for the first time.
Samantha pulled her lips away from him. “I want you, Beck. I need you now. Tonight.”
Indecision flitted across his blue eyes and she almost cried. After the way he kissed her, he wasn’t about to turn her down, was he? He wasn’t about to walk away.
He took a step away from her. Yes, he was. Humiliation washed over her. She’d thrown herself at him and he was about to reject her.
“Sam,” he whispered and gently cupped her cheek. “I want you too.”
Relief swept aside the humiliation, yet there was still something holding him back. “But?”
“But, I’m not a good bet. My injury has thrown my life in turmoil. I don’t know whether this is the career I want now. I’m going to go back to the East Coast when this job is over. It wouldn’t make sense to start anything now.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers for a moment. “No matter how much I may want to.”
“Do you think I’m looking for something long term? My career is just taking off. I don’t have time for a relationship either.” Sam plucked at his shirt, and looked up at him from beneath her lashes. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.”
His fingers closed over hers, reminding her of the first night they’d met when he’d done the same thing. “You don’t know how much I want to say fuck it, take you upstairs, and lose myself in you.”
“Then do it,” she blurted out before giving him a chance to rationalize with her why he couldn’t do it.
Two things happened at that moment, her phone buzzed with an incoming text message, and the internal phone connected to the guardhouse at the entrance to the estate rang loudly through the house, effectively shattering the bubble that had surrounded them.
“I need to get that,” Beck murmured but not stepping away from her.
Her phone buzzed again. “I should check to see who’s texting me, it could be important.” She made no move to remove her phone from her pocket. If she did, she was afraid that they’d never get this moment back again. Never be on the verge of finding out what it would be like to be possessed by Beck. Owned by him body and soul.
That thought was the impetus to make her step away from him. What she’d said had been true, she didn’t have time in her life to start a relationship and the last thing she wanted was to be owned body and soul by a man. What on earth was she thinking? “You’d better answer the phone. The guards will begin to worry.”
“Yeah.” Beck rubbed his hand down his face and in a flash he was back to being Beck the Bodyguard not Beck the guy who kissed her senseless.
While he answered the phone she unlocked her phone. Her heart dropping when she read the message.
Did you miss me? I was away for a few a little while. look who I came across in my travels. Your sister’s baby is so handsome and your sister is so pretty. I know you have a bodyguard. It would be a very bad idea to keep him. You need to fire him. Would be a shame if anything happened to your sister and her baby. Not to mention your handsome bodyguard.
Attached to the message was a picture of Rayne and her baby at a park. Rayne was with her best friend Mary. Sam’s eyes narrowed in on the bundle in the stroller.
Her nephew. He was so cute and her arms ached to pick the precious child up and inhale that sweet baby scent.
Would she ever get to see him? And what about Beck? He was included in the threat as well. God, how had this person known about Beck?
She couldn’t let anything happen to any of them. No way would she be able to live if anyone of them got hurt.
Her chest constricted tightly. It was getting harder to breath and her legs crumpled beneath her and she collapsed on the floor, a sob leaching out of her. The clatter of her phone hitting the ground didn’t register.
Why was this person after her? Why were they threatening her family?
Wrapping her arms around her knees she lowered her head and started to cry in earnest. God, how she missed her sister and brother. She hadn’t been able to see them much since she’d moved to Hollywood. The last time she’d seen her family had been when Rayne had been in hospital after her kidnapping. The only reason she hadn’t stayed with her until she was discharged was because she had an audition. It was an important one but she would’ve blown it off for her sister. Rayne had insisted she was fine and Sam should go and audition, that was her dream. The only reason she’d gone was because Mary and Chase had been there. Plus she’d met Ghost and his team and had known none of them would ever let anything happen to Rayne.
That particular audition had been the start of her journey to where she was today so she hadn’t been able to visit Rayne, but she’d spoken to her every day. It had been so hard to say she couldn’t make it to her wedding. But the messages had gotten more threatening and there was no way she was going to take the risk that anything would happen to spoil her sister’s day.
Samantha took her role as big sister and protector seriously, regardless that Rayne had a whole Delta team at her back. It was still her job to keep her siblings safe, something she’d taken on the moment their parents died. She believed her parents would’ve wanted her to step up look after Rayne and Chase.
She had no idea how long she’d been sobbing on the floor, but she was vaguely aware of arms closing around her, lifting her.
Beck.
She’d recognize his citrusy fresh scent anywhere. A sense of safety enveloped her and her sobs subsided. By the time Beck was sitting on the couch with her, she was only sniffing occasionally.
Only a half hour ago she was telling Beck she didn’t need him, and then she received that message. Now she needed him more than ever.
Beck kept his arms firmly around Sam, his mind whirling with the call he’d received from the guards and the sounds of Sam’s sobs. It was a sound he didn’t think he’d forget for a long time. Instinct had had him wanting to drop the phone and rush to her. But he couldn’t. There’d been a delivery for Sam. The guards were on their way to the guesthouse to bring the box to him.
Beck believed whoever was after Sam had just upped the game, and he didn�
�t like it at all. Before they arrived he needed to find out what had caused Sam to tip over the edge and sob the way she’d been doing.
“Are you okay, sweetheart? Can you tell me what happened?” Another shudder rippled through her. He pressed a soft kiss to her hair.
“I-I-I got a text,” she stammered, something he’d never heard her do.
“What did it say?” His body on high alert now. The timing of the delivery and the text wasn’t a coincidence in his mind. Whoever was targeting Sam had arranged for it to happen simultaneously.
A double hit for maximum effect and the way Sam had been sobbing whatever had been in the text had hit the mark. But what about the delivery? How had this person known Sam had moved onto Amberley’s parents’ property? They hadn’t told anyone on set, deliberately to keep it quiet.
Since his first day he’d mixed up the routes they’d taken to and from the studio. There were only so many ways to go but he’d been vigilant in making sure they weren’t being followed. And he was pretty confident they hadn’t been.
Sam still hadn’t answered him and he needed her to talk. Shock had her in its grasp. “Sam, sweetheart, what did the message say?”
“I can’t remember.”
The second she said that he could tell she was lying, but he wasn’t about to call her out on it. “Where’s your phone? I’ll read it then.”
“No,” she yelled and jumped out of his embrace. “No, you can’t read it.”
Fear now replaced the shock in Sam, her eyes were wide, darting all over the place, as if she was searching for something. His should go to her, to try and calm her but he worried that if he touched her she would break down again.
Where was her phone? He could see that it wasn’t in her hand and he certainly hadn’t felt it in her back pocket while she’d been sitting on him. He closed his eyes trying to picture her when he found her crumpled on the ground.
His eyes flicked open and he was off the couch striding back to where he’d found her in a second.
“No Beck. Don’t.” Sam called after him but he’d get to the phone before she did. Whatever or whoever had messaged her had freaked her out.
As he stepped into the hallway where they’d shared one of the hottest kisses he’d ever experienced, he spied her phone on the hardwood floor. He scooped it up. The phone was locked so he couldn’t read the message.
“Fuck,” he muttered. How the hell was he going to get Sam to unlock the phone? It was clear she didn’t want him to read the message.
“Give me back my phone.” Her words shook as she spoke and he spun around to see her standing with her arm outstretched. Her fingers trembled and she was giving the impression of being strong, but she couldn’t hide the fear he seen earlier in her eyes.
They stared at each other, neither one budging. He wasn’t going to give her the phone back until he’d read the message. Even in her shocked state, he could tell there was no way Sam was going to willingly unlock the phone for him.
The doorbell rang breaking the standoff between them.
“I’ve got to get that. Why don’t you go back to the living room?” He spoke quietly, and pocketed the phone.
Beck headed to the front door anxious to see what had been delivered to Sam. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be congratulatory chocolates for a job well done from Pascal. Not that the other man wasn’t appreciative of what Sam was doing on set, he told her every day how outstanding it was. Pascal just wasn’t the type of guy to send something on the spur of the moment.
Yanking open the door, with more force than necessary, the guard took a step back. Beck relaxed his stance. “Hey, thanks for dropping this off.”
“Not a problem, sir.” The young guard held out the box. “If you need anything from us, please let us know.”
Beck grabbed the box and nodded. “Will do. Thanks again.”
The young guard gave another nod before turning and walking the steps to get back into the golf cart he’d driven from the guardhouse.
Beck closed the door and examined the box in his hand. It was a long rectangle, the type that usually contained a dozen long stem red roses. Sam’s name and address were printed on the label. The fact that there was no company name listed on the label or box anywhere had him on high alert.
“Is that for me?”
Beck whirled around, the action pinching his ankle and he grimaced at the jab of pain. “Yeah, it’s for you.”
“Are you okay? Did you hurt your ankle again?” Sam asked and moved toward him. The dazed and shocked look in her eyes had dissipated a little, but it still lurked in their depths. He’d given anything to be able to wipe it all away. However, he had a feeling what he was about to find in the box was going to bring it back full force. What he didn’t like was the fact his body still reminded him he wasn’t one hundred percent fit and healthy.
“I’m fine.” He brushed past her and headed for the dining room, instead of the living room. He attempted to walk without a limp but wasn’t too sure he’d succeeded. Once in the room he placed the box on the table. Extracting the knife he always kept on him, he slid the sharp blade into the tape. He sensed more than saw Sam enter the room.
“If that parcel is for me, shouldn’t I open it?”
A little bit of fire and sass returned to her voice. He liked hearing it. “Under normal circumstances I’d say have at it. But considering the arrival of this package coincided with a text message that upset you. I think it would be best that I opened it.”
Sam rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. His dick twitched in his pants at the way the action pushed up her breasts. His body remembering how it had felt to hold her in his arms. To have her lips on his. He took a deep breath, willing the responses away. Now was not the time.
“Speaking of phones, can I have mine back?”
“Nope,” he said as folded the knife and popped it back in his pocket.
“Why not? It’s my phone. You have no right to keep it from me,” she demanded.
Beck ignored her as he lifted the flaps and looked at the contents. “What the fuck?”
“What is it?”
Beck closed the box before Sam could see what was inside. There was no way she needed to see the headless doll with the words your nephew written in red on the belly.
Shit just got real and he’d be calling Ash and Fort first thing in the morning. There was no doubt in his mind that the message Sam had received was a threat.
Whoever was targeting Sam had doubled down. They’d crossed a line and needed to be stopped.
6
The determined glint in Beck’s eyes and the tensing of his muscles as he rushed to close the box told Sam everything she needed to know—the contents of the box wasn’t a flower arrangement.
“Why is this happening?” she whispered. “Why are they targeting me? Will it always be like this? One minute I’m thinking they’ve gone away because it’s been months since I hear something and then out of the blue I start receiving messages again.”
“What do you mean they stop and start up again?” Beck demanded as he came over to stand beside her.
Defeat ate at her soul. As much as she wanted to deal with this by herself, she couldn’t. But if she showed Beck the message on the phone then his life could be in danger. None of this made sense. It wasn’t like she was a huge name actress and had made millions of dollars to give the person should they demand it. Sure her bank balance looked healthy now because of her fee for doing the film, but it hadn’t been that way when she first started getting the messages.
“Samantha, please, I need to know everything.” Beck’s hands closed around her and brought her against his chest. As much as she didn’t want to relax into him, her body overrode her mind and her arms closed around him. Her head rested on his chest and she breathed in the lemony fresh scent she was associating with Beck.
“I can’t tell you everything, though. It’s too risky.”
His body tensed beneath her and she wis
hed she could take the words back. Beck stepped away and she mourned the loss of his arms around her. Expecting him to walk away, surprise filled her when he took hold of her hand and lead her out of the dining room. Sam glanced over her shoulder at the box sitting in the center of the table. Whatever was in there she would find out, no matter how scary it was.
But what she couldn’t do any longer was push the messages aside. Fear was beginning to come her constant companion and she didn’t like it. She’d never lived her life like a victim, and she wasn’t about to start now. If a problem presented itself she always handled it and moved on. But this was one she couldn’t do alone, even if she thought she could. The time had come to let someone else in and take the burden from her.
Only once they were seated on the couch, Beck still gripping her hand, did he finally address her. “Sam, I know you think I can’t help you, but I can, if you’ll let me. The more you keep from me the more you’re not only putting yourself in danger, but everyone else around you. Sure things have been quiet since the light incident on set, but you have to admit a package arriving at the same time as you getting a message only tells you whoever is behind the threats is upping their game. We need all the information we can get to keep you safe.”
Nothing Beck said to her was a lie, telling him everything that had happened to her, was just too difficult. No, not difficult, scary. What if she told him and then something happened to him? She couldn’t live with herself knowing that it was her fault he got hurt. Or worse, died.
The guy had been a Navy SEAL. Had survived countless tours and other dangerous situations, only to die because of her. Images of her looking down at Beck’s lifeless body looking into eyes that stared vacantly at her, slammed her brain.
Tears formed and she blinked in a vague attempt to keep them from spilling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t stop them. “I’m scared to tell you,” she whispered. “I couldn’t bear if you got hurt because of me. Why do you think I haven’t told Rayne or Chase? Their lives are worth more than mine. I’ll do anything to keep my family safe.”
Rescuing Samantha Page 6
