I know I have to stop him, but I can’t reach the mental space that’ll let me do it.

My traitorous body is working against me, biology and chemistry enemies to the greater good, shutting down all logic.

The way James is devouring my mouth makes me hunger for more—for his cock to claim me just as greedily.

“Angel,” he sort of whispers when he finally releases my mouth.

Here’s my chance!

“We can’t,” I should say, but nothing comes out of my mouth.

This is wrong and stupid for so many reasons, but it also feels inevitable.

When James rips my shirt off then flings it away, I realize I’m doomed.

God, and my pussy—that frenemy bitch. She’s in full traitor mode, begging to be filled by this powerfully muscular dude who practically poured his heart out to me just minutes ago.

I feel like mush, ready for his molding.

I want him to do whatever he wants to me; I want to claim me hard, let out all his pent-up frustration.

I want him to own my pussy, fuck me with everything he’s got.

How the hell did this happen? How did we suddenly get here?

We were just talking about avoiding this and then…

His mouth on my neck obliterates all other thoughts.

I’m a panting, heaving mess in no time, and I only realize he loosened my bra when he flings that away too.

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful,” he says, his large hands moving to cup my breasts.

He fondles them for a moment more before lowering his mouth to one, taking it in his mouth, sucking and teasing it before moving to the other.

My eyes close as I lean my head back, enjoying his soft lips on my breasts, his tongue flickering over my hardening nipples.

Stop him, a weak voice says before getting choked out by pleasure.

He withdraws his mouth from my soft mounds, straightening up to a standing position, meeting my eyes with a stormy expression.

Then he surprises me by scooping me up in his arms, walking me to my bedroom.

Girl, this is it—stop him!

He lays me on the bed and starts working off my jeans.

Fear and desire are pulsing through me, my raging lust stronger than anything else. I’m way too needy and curious to stop this—I want to know what it feels like to have his lips brush my stomach, my...

He yanks my bottoms off, and I realize I’m now completely nude beneath him.

He pulls his shirt off, drawing my eyes to his sculpted torso, my hands itching to run over his hard chest and rippling ab muscles.

He works his pants off, and once his lengthy, engorged cock pops free, jutting out from his strong, masculine body, reality sets in, and a part of me starts to panic.

He quickly climbs over me, covering my mouth with his and distracting me.

I kiss him back hungrily, my chest starting to feel pried open a bit.

Then his hand finds my tingling pussy, and his fingers touch my folds and clit for a moment before one finger finds my wet hole and slips in.

He slides his finger in and out of my wet pussy, mimicking what his cock will be up to soon if I don’t stop him.

But I sure as hell don’t want to.

His finger is a torturous tease, and I want to plead with him to replace it with something, longer, harder, but my mouth is still occupied with his.

I moan my desperation and his finger slips out of me, making my horny pussy protest hard.

I’m on the verge of begging to be filled, but he lines up our parts, his smooth mushroom tip finding my slick folds and playing with me a few moments longer.

I’m a needy mess and I pull at him, moan my pleas.

“I’m not supposed to do this,” he says before shoving his cock inside me in one shocking go.

I gasp as his thick cock invades me, parting my walls relentlessly, diving deep inside my fleshy core with no mercy.

“James!” I cry, and I receive a rough kiss in reply, followed by a hard thrust as he pulls his cock out then plunges it back inside me, repeating the motion as he rocks against my cunt rhythmically.

He doesn’t slow down or ease—he fucks me relentlessly, grinding hard against my grateful pussy.

I don’t know what I expected, but this beautifully brutal fuck has caught me off guard, and I feel helpless to his raging lust, his rough claim.

I love every moment of it.

It makes me wetter, moan louder, hold on tighter to his sculpted frame.

“Fuck,” he says as he pounds my pussy.

I wrap my legs around him to take him deeper, if possible.

“You’re so fucking tight. You feel so fucking good, Angel… Fuck, I’m going to come inside you soon…”

Well, that gets my attention.

“You can’t,” I say in brief panic. I was so confident I’d stick with my celibacy for the next few months that I went off the pill.

He stares at me in what looks like disbelief.

You expect me to withdraw from this tight, slick warmth when I need it most?

“Okay,” he says, “I’ll pull out.”

And then he fucks me harder and something feels like it comes loose in my chest.

Next thing I know, I’m thrusting desperately, eager to get to the promised land.

The buildup is almost unbearable as my body tightens around his cock, and I crave the promised release his pounding will give me.

I start babbling as my climax gets closer, and when his lips unexpectedly find my neck as he thrust deep, orgasm rips through me and my body contracts.

“Please don’t pull out,” I beg as pleasure pulses through me, not thinking at all—just feeling a desperate need to see the act through till the end, seal our connection while recovering from my blinding, deafening climax.

“Fuck!” James roars as if in the grip of a powerful force, pounding my cunt a few more times before stilling above me.

He collapses on top of me and my arms automatically wrap around him, our chests thumping with racing heartbeats, our bodies flush and warm while his thick cock throbs inside me, shooting his release.

I’m now a mindless meat-sack, relaxed in pleasure as my senses slowly return to me.

“God, that was amazing. You’re amazing, Angel.”

“I know,” I say breathily, which makes him chuckle.

“You really are,” he says more intensely. He pumps his cock inside me with slow, shallow thrusts. “What made you change your mind about…?”

“I figured I could just get the ‘morning after,’” I say.

He smiles then caresses my cheek before leaning down to kiss me soundly.

When he pulls his lips away, he says, “This was a long time coming.”

* * *

I’m glad to be the first one to awaken in the morning because I can cover up my naked body and get some food going while dealing with my thoughts and feelings in the quiet.

I’m actually surprised James is still asleep, and that I got up this early—it’s 6 a.m.; I never get up this early!

I mean, what the hell happened last night? Did we switch bodies?

This is probably the latest he’s slept in for a while—I heard he’s one of those 5 a.m. early birds, one who starts the day with a ten-mile run.

I gaze at his pale, sculpted form for a bit, in disbelief that I finally ended up beneath him.

Not long after our first time becoming one came our second helping, and by the time we sated ourselves with each other, we had nothing left to do but travel to dreamland for recovery.

Speaking of which, I had a strange dream last night.

I can’t remember the details; all I remember is that it was unsettling and that it involved him somehow.

I take a breath and head to the kitchen.

I hope he likes French toast and scrambled eggs.

What do we do now? I wonder as I gather up the ingredients.

God, my mind is all over the place, and I know I’m not just unsettled because of the dream.

What James and I did wasn’t exactly unexpected, but it was goddamned stupid.

I knocked out my own bodyguard!

Worse than that, the lines are now more blurred than ever.

Also, I feel like my walls got fucked down.

I’m terrified all of a sudden—terrified James will say it was a mistake, terrified Kiara was wrong about how he feels and I was just a convenient lay after all. That he realized it was just lust consuming him, not… anything else. And now that his curiosity and his dick has been satisfied, he’s done with me, happy to keep things professional.

The thought crushes me.

I’ve only been on the verge of pathetic clinginess once, and that was with the guy before my ex—my first real relationship.

After that, I learned to keep my distance, and something easily stopped me from falling for Leonard completely; it was as if my gut didn’t trust him so my walls stayed up, no matter how much affection I might have had for him at one time.

Whatever that thing was that saved me from falling for him—instinct, common sense—isn’t putting up the same roadblocks here.

I feel sort of left out in the open with James, thrown out into the ocean without a lifeboat. It feels like there’s one other creature out there in the deep swimming near me, and I’m not sure if it’s a shark or a dolphin who’ll carry me safely to shore.

All of a sudden, I want something I was fine with putting off for a few more years.

Should I add turkey bacon?

My mind also flashes across what Kiara said as if desperately seeking confirmation. According to her summation, he’s into me and according to his own admittance, he has been for a while.

But what if his crush was actually obsession? What if he really is J after all?

What if I walked right into his carefully plotted trap, and this whole thing was his way of sending me right into his arms?

Did I really let the devil in through the front door?

If it walks like a duck…

I can’t tip him off to my suspicions, though. I can’t risk setting him off when he’s this close to me, this far in.

I wonder if he’d prefer an omelet?

Fucking hell—this whole thing has scrambled my brain.

“What a sight,” a deep, sleep-thickened voice says from behind me.

I don’t turn, feeling a bit guilty for my most recent thoughts.

Then again, maybe I should double check he’s not standing there with some rope and chloroform, ready to drag me away somewhere.

Although what could I really do if he was? He’s far stronger than me and has been officially trained in subduing.

I do have this hot-ass frying pan...

His arms close around my waist, banishing all thoughts.

“Good morning, Angel,” he says too close to my ear, the deep rumble of his voice making me tingle in places that shouldn’t be getting up this early with the rest of me.

“Good morning,” I finally answer, still not turning to him and loving the feel of being wrapped in his arms, too many emotions coursing through me at once.

He moves to my side and stares until I look at him.

“Is something wrong?”

I shrug, poking the food with the spatula. “Not really,” I say, my voice sounding too soft and raw. “I just... I don’t know...” Did last night mean anything to you?

“Angel, I care about you a lot—I wasn’t checking something off my bucket list,” he says, reading my worries just right. “And I know you wanted to keep things…professional, but I just couldn’t help myself; I feel too strongly for you. Which is why...” He stops and takes a deep breath, “…it’s probably best for me to find someone else to watch you.”

I flip the French toast roughly.

“I’m obviously compromised when it comes to you, and while the way I feel about you is beneficial for wanting to protect you, the emotional investment can be dangerous when it counts. I might get caught admiring the lines of your beautiful neck when I’m supposed to be watching faces around you. Fantasies of kissing you, being inside you might distract me from my duties at any given time.”

I start plating the food, my heart thumping.

“I’m not saying I’m staying away from you—that’s just not possible.”

I let out a breath I didn’t realize I’d been holding in.

“I’m still happy to go with you wherever you want during the day and be here with you at night. I’m just saying it’s probably a good idea to hire an additional pair of eyes.”

I stay silent for a while, moving my gaze from the food to his handsome face.

“Will they be okay with nutritional sustenance as pay too?” I say.

He laughs, and I relax a little more.

“I’ll take care of it,” he says. Then he pulls me to him, forcing me to look into his striking blue eyes up close. “I want to make sure I do everything I can to keep you safe, for your sake and mine. You’re important to me, Angel. I...” He suddenly releases me and turns to the food. “This looks pretty good,” he says in a completely different tone, suddenly light and casual as he takes his seat.

Clearly, we’ve both been scrambled.

“Yeah, I agree with you,” I find myself saying as I join him at the table. “About a new bodyguard; in fact, maybe we should spend a few days apart? Sort other things out while this stalker stuff gets handled?”

His face falls a bit. “Sure, whatever you want.” He stares at me for a few more seconds, his blue eyes unwavering. “How long are we talking?”

“Just a few days. I’m not saying what happened didn’t mean anything to me—the opposite, in fact. I just have to clear my mind. I didn’t expect anything to happen and I have to figure out how this whole thing...fits.”

I give him a bright smile and it seems to tease a small one out of him.

“You call me anytime, okay? Obviously, I’ll stick around until I find a replacement, but I’ll give you the necessary space. Just know I’m… I’m in, Angel. Fully.”

I nod. “Food’s getting cold, sucka. Let’s eat.”