The Reluctant Wife: Chapter 7

Softness, so soft. And sweet enough to make me feel I’ve dived headlong into cotton candy. And her scent. Jesus. Honeysuckle and vanilla. She smells like freshly baked shortbread. Like the first bite of a sun-ripened strawberry I long to indulge in. I allow her to brush her lips against mine once, twice. Fire ignites in my belly. My shoulder muscles coil, but I manage to not respond.

I curl my fingers into fists, tighten my muscles and will myself to stay still. A sound of frustration emerges from her throat. She bites down on my lower lip, and my cock instantly stiffens. A bolt of lust shoots through my veins. I’ve managed to hold onto my control, but fucking hell, when she presses her curves into my chest, and I feel the outline of her beaded nipples, something coiled inside of me snaps. I clasp my palm around the nape of her neck and take control. With my free hand I cup her cheek to hold her in place, then I tilt my head and lick into her mouth. With a moan, she parts her lips.

Instantly, I sweep my tongue over hers. I deepen the kiss, draw on her breath, and the taste of her fills my senses. She squirms in her seat, and I tighten my hold on the nape of her neck. I release her face, only to cup her hip. I squeeze, and she shudders. I pull her closer, swipe my tongue over her teeth, and a whine spills from her lips. Her little sounds of need go straight to my head. My thigh muscles harden, and I wrap my arm about her and pull her into my lap. I continue to kiss her until it feels like our breaths are one, and our lips are melded together, and she’s melting into me.

Then, the vehicle brakes, and it’s like someone has thrown cold water on me.

Shock clears my mind of all thoughts. Immediately, I release my hold on her. Chest heaving, I stare down into her flushed features. Her auburn hair is tumbled about her shoulders, her lips are swollen, and the chain around her neck is askew. She looks like she’s been thoroughly kissed. Satisfaction squeezes my chest, followed by anger. At myself. I stepped over the line. A few more seconds, and I might not have been able to stop myself from fucking her right here.

The only other time I’ve lost control with a woman was last night… With her. No one has made me forget my values, my principles, my standards like this before. No one has imprinted their presence in my life quite so deeply, so quickly. No one before has burrowed their way under my skin, causing me to lose my mind when I’m on a job. Not even Jane. Not one. Except this woman. I need to remember she’s a job. This is a job, and she is my principal. I need to get a grip on myself.

‘I’m sorry.’ I grip her hips, then place her back in her seat. I move away, closer to the window, ensuring there’s enough space between us.

‘You’re sorry?’ More color flushes her cheeks. Her eyes spark.

‘I shouldn’t have done that.’ I manage to infuse enough hardness into my tone that she flinches.

Then she gathers herself and tosses her hair over her shoulder. “Oh, lighten up, it was just a kiss.’

‘It shouldn’t have happened.’ I tighten my jaw. It wasn’t just a kiss. It was a slap-me-across-the-face and punch-me-in-the-guts, stomach-twisting-like-when-you-jump-off-a-helo kind of a kiss.

‘Besides, it was I who kissed you, so—’ She pops a shoulder.

‘I responded to it,’ I say through gritted teeth.

‘I’m aware.’ Her lips twitch. ‘We didn’t do anything wrong, by the way.’

Maybe not her, but I sure did. While becoming a personal protective detail does not require you swear an oath, I take it no less seriously. My ability to block everything else out and focus on the task at hand is what makes me good at what I do. By kissing her again, I confirmed that the touch of her, the taste, the smell, the little whimpers that escaped her as she tried to burrow into me are every bit as soul-shattering as I remember.

I shake my head to clear it. ‘Everything about this was wrong,’ I growl.

‘What do you mean?’ She furrows her forehead. ‘Surely, you’ve noticed that there’s chemistry between us?’ She waves a hand in the air. ‘It was a normal response. Besides, I was getting tired of your dos and don’ts. It was the only way to shut you up.’

I glare at her, half angry, half turned on by her ability to stand up to me. She doesn’t seem put off by my forbidding persona, one I perfected over the years to ensure I’d be obeyed without question. Of course, then I discovered the bossiness I used with my troops was also how I preferred to treat my partners in bed. I like to be in control. I like to dominate. I like my women to be subservient, to offer themselves up to me, to trust me to give them what they need. Power exchange is what gets me off. The kind this spoiled princess would never dream of.

‘Don’t do it again.’ I pull my phone from my pocket and peruse the messages which have come in from the rest of the team.

‘What the—’ She sputters. ‘You… You… Dare tell me what I can and can’t do?’

‘You’re under my protection. Which means, you follow my directions.’

She freezes. I sense the shock radiating off of her. Guess no one’s ever spoken with such authority to her. She listened to her father’s command earlier, but I got the sense that was only because he issued it in the role of King. On a personal level, it’s clear she’s run rings around him and, likely, everyone else who she’s worked with over the years. But that stops now.

I need to keep the princess safe. The danger she’s in is too real. I need my wits about me to protect her. I cannot allow myself to give in to my attraction for her, as that will only compromise my judgement and endanger her. Besides, I don’t trust these feelings the princess elicits in me. I’ve never had them before, and damn, if that doesn’t make me feel… Guilty? Confused? Frustrated? I don’t even know. It’s just so… Unfamiliar.

I’m not someone to be taken in by big blue eyes, creamy skin, and lush curves that make her resemble a Rubenesque painting. As long as I don’t touch her again, don’t kiss her, don’t allow myself to be taken in by this electricity that sparks when we’re near each other, things should be okay.

I’ll be okay. I resist the urge to run my finger under the constricting collar of my button-down shirt; a uniform I was instructed to don to fit in with the rest of her detail, which I hate.

I’m not surprised when she scoffs, ‘Don’t forget, you work for me.’

‘I work for your father, actually.’ I turn to her. ‘And if I were to tell him I need to curtail your comings and goings until this threat has been neutralized, what do you think he’d say?’

She glowers at me. That little fold between her eyebrows is back, and it’s so fucking adorable. My fingers tingle to reach out and smooth it, so I shove my phone and my fingers into my pocket.

‘Look, I don’t mean to come off all heavy-handed. It’s why I would have preferred to have a discussion with you, before jumping straight into being your detail, but your father insisted it was urgent.’

‘It doesn’t matter.’ She turns away and glances out the window, giving me a view of the column of her throat. Creamy unmarked skin which, I can confirm, feels as smooth as butter. And were I to push my nose into the hollow of her neck, would her scent be more intense there? My already erect cock extends further in anticipation. Fucking hell, I need to find my center, my composure. I need to push all thoughts of her out of my mind and get myself back in the game.

I roll my shoulders, draw in a few deep breaths, and when I feel more composed, I turn to her. ‘Please accept my apologies, Princess.’

She turns slowly; there’s surprise on her features. ‘In my experience, most alpha males who admit they’re in the wrong—if they admit they’re in the wrong—don’t mean it. But apparently”—she looks into my eyes—“you do.’

She thinks I’m an alpha male? Good. That means she knows what my expectations are when it comes to my woman. Not that she’s my woman. Jane was my woman… Or so I thought, until she betrayed me. Aura though… She’s my principal. A job. Someone I need to protect.

‘The day I begin to believe I’m infallible is when it’ll cost me my life.’

She blinks slowly. ‘You mean⁠—’

‘My sole focus is to keep you safe. And I can do that better if I have your cooperation. It’s going to be much trickier if we’re constantly at loggerheads. And if that means⁠—’

‘—if you have to apologize, you’ll do it to help you do your job well?’ That glower in her eyes is back.

Damn, I’m botching this up again. I roll my shoulders. ‘I mean, I am sorry. I didn’t take the time to explain my approach and discuss the parameters with you, only⁠—’

‘—I kissed you.’ She half laughs, then rubs at her temple. ‘I’m sorry, too. I didn’t mean for things to get awkward between us.’

‘They’re not.’

She surveys my features. ‘You mean it,’ she finally remarks in surprise.

‘I’m aware of what it’s like to be constantly under pressure. Living in an environment where you’re in the public eye, having to maintain an image while trying to be true to yourself, while also living up to your father’s expectations is not easy.’

She shakes her head. ‘You surprise me.’

‘Because I have enough emotional intelligence to understand what it’s like to spend most of your life under the microscope of public scrutiny.’

She regards me with a quizzical expression. ‘I guess, I had you pegged as just muscle, but maybe, there’s more to you.’

‘I’m sure there’s more to you than meets the eye, Princess.’ Our gazes meet. The air between us spikes with heat. Her irises dilate. I have no doubt, if I were to touch her between her legs, she’d be damp and melting, and waiting for my cock. And if I licked her there, she’d be every bit as sweet, as evocative, as mysterious as the taste of her mouth promised.

Once more, my thigh muscles harden, my pants feel too fucking tight.

She leans in closer, but this time, I manage to pull my mind back to the task at hand. I hold out my palm. ‘Your phone.’

‘What?’ She blinks.

‘Give me your phone.’

She must be more shaken than normal, for she digs it out of her purse, unlocks it, and hands it to me without hesitation. I slide the protective cover off, disable the built-in tracking app on it, then slip a bug between the cover and the phone.

‘You have me under surveillance,’ she says in a resigned voice.

‘You don’t sound surprised.’

She shrugs. ‘I often wondered why the previous team didn’t insist on it, but hey, I figured I could enjoy my freedom for a little longer.’

It’s my turn to be taken aback. ‘So, you’re not going to fight this?’

She looks at me with resignation. “Would it make any difference if I did?”

I shake my head.

“That’s what I thought.” She looks away. ‘Anyway, thanks for leveling with me.’ Her voice is remote.

But underneath, I hear the note of frustration and fear. For all her bravado, she’s concerned about the threat, but she’s trying not to show it.

It makes me want to reassure her. And take care of her. A fierce sense of protection overwhelms me, and I don’t question it. She’s my asset. It’s my job to ensure she feels safe.

‘Nothing will happen to you as long as I’m your bodyguard,” I promise.

‘Thought you preferred protective detail?’

I hear the chuckle in her voice and I’m glad it’s helped lighten her mood, even if it’s only temporary.

‘I do. But in this case, bodyguard fits the role I’ve adopted for you, as long as I’m leading your security detail. The rest is semantics.”

She nods. ‘I understand why my father trusts you… You’re quite thorough.’

‘Experience. I’ve been in too many situations where going that extra mile with safety measures has made the difference between life and death.”

She shivers. ‘You can be quite grim, you know that?’

‘Best to be grim now if it means it’ll help to ward off danger. If we keep things tight and have enough visible security around you, it will, hopefully, put off those behind this threat.’

“You think whoever is behind it poses a real risk?”

I choose my words carefully. “Until my team and I track down and neutralize those behind it, we have to assume whoever is behind the threat wants to hurt you in some way.”

‘And you want it to seem difficult for them to get away with anything.” She turns to me. Her features are composed. “You’re hoping this will serve as a deterrent.”

‘I intend to ensure that it’s almost impossible for them to get to you, but every protocol has a gap that, try as one might, cannot be plugged. Which is why additional precautions like this’—I hand the phone over to her—’work, even if the phone is switched off. Wherever you are, we can track you.’

‘Thanks.’ Our fingers brush, and she draws in a sharp breath.

Heat shoots up my arm, and I pull it back. This woman’s dangerous. I need to ensure there is no other opportunity for us to be in such proximity.

‘We’re here.’ The driver’s voice emerges from the intercom set in the partition. Like a fucking coward, I use the excuse to push my door open and slowly walk around to grip the handle on her side. I glance around, ensuring the team who have piled out of the cars in front and behind us have formed a cordon around us.

I wait a few minutes, scanning the area, until I think she’s righted her appearance. Then I open her door.