Kade
I knew that there should have been a greater sense that I’d done something wrong, but as I lay with Abby in my arms, idly stroking at her golden hair, I couldn’t honestly make myself feel that way. It was wrong only because my boss, her uncle, had mandated that I not touch her. And while I respected his authority, in the end it was pretty meaningless when I knew through and through that she wanted me just as badly as I wanted her.
Last night was pure enough evidence of that.
Abby’s warm body was molded against mine, her soft, full breasts pressing against my side, vibrating softly with the steady, gentle beat of her heart. She looked in sleep just as she did in waking: beautiful. So beautiful that it was almost painful to lay there with her. It was hard not to think that I didn’t deserve to be here, that I wasn’t the kind of man that belonged in her bed, wrapped up in her soft nakedness, settled against the thick, soft pillows. If I didn’t want her as badly as I did, I might have even felt and obeyed the compulsion to slip out of bed, get dressed, and sneak out of the house before she awoke.
Of course, things weren’t that simple anyway. Even if I had wanted to slip out before her long lashes fluttered against her cheeks and she fixed me with that bright blue eyed stare, I wouldn’t have been able to.
As her bodyguard, it was my job to protect her. There wasn’t any getting around that—and I definitely didn’t want to. Despite our rocky start, I’d grown to learn that I wanted to be the one to protect her, to save her. I wanted to be there when it all went wrong so that I could scoop her up into my arms and carry her to safety.
Like you’re a knight in shining armor, I thought to myself derisively.
I wasn’t any hero and I knew it, but Abby made me feel like one and that, I decided, was priceless.
“Mmm.” Abby’s soft murmur brought me to the here and now, dragging my focus down to her, with her breasts pressing into my side and one arm thrown across my bare waist, her head resting against my shoulder. “Good morning,” she whispered, sounding dreamy with lingering sleep.
I smiled down at her and brushed back a thick strand of her liquid soft hair. “Morning. Did you sleep well?”
She laughed at my question, the sound a soft, sweet rumble that shook her breasts and warmed my skin. I felt my cock half harden at the sound, the vibration, but tried to quell my desire. “Didn’t do a lot of that, did we?” she teased, and I grinned back at her.
“No, I guess we didn’t.”
Her eyes studied my face for a moment, tracing along my eyes, my lips, my chin. Finally, she asked, “Well?”
My eyebrows rose. “Well, what?”
“Aren’t you going to kiss me?”
Not needing any further prompting than that, I leaned down, shifting out bodies so that she found herself sliding beneath me as I loomed over her. My face was so close that we were nearly touching when I whispered hoarsely against her mouth, “I’ve been waiting all morning to kiss you.”
Her breath caught, and then I closed the distance, crushing my lips to hers. They were just as soft as they had been last night, inviting, pulling me closer. And when I slid my tongue against them, they parted, offering me admittance to the warm cavity of her mouth. Our tongues fought and I drank in the taste of her.
I’d been half hard only moments ago, but Abby snaked a hand down between our bodies and as soon as her fingers slipped along my shaft, I sprang to attention, desire tearing through me. I ached for her, breaking the kiss to groan as her small, delicate hand stroked me.
“Again?” she asked, though it was almost a plea, her eyes hooded, her whole body seeming to lean toward me in want. “Please?”
Even if I wanted to, I didn’t think I could deny such a sweet, pleading request. And I definitely didn’t want to deny it. I balanced my weight on one arm, freeing up the other so that I could slide it down and hook it beneath her long, smooth leg. I caught her knee as I pulled her leg up so that it settled higher than my hip, opening her up to me. I aligned myself with her core and pressed against her until her lower lips parted and the head of my cock slipped between them, entering her.
I groaned and she gasped. I gave her only a second longer to adjust to the head of me before I pushed myself home. She cried out in pleasure as I buried myself inside her.
“Yes,” she breathed, her body arching beneath me. “Yes, Kade, please. Take me.”
And I did. I took her until she was screaming and I was losing myself within her warm, wet folds. And then I touched her until she found her own release. When we were both a mess, we went to the shower and repeated the whole thing until the water ran cold, and Abby was little more than a limp body in my arms.
***
We were in the kitchen later that morning. Abby had thrown on a large t-shirt that was clearly for comfort—and to drive me absolutely nuts. It barely covered her glorious ass and had me thinking about where I should take her in the kitchen between cups of coffee, but I tried to stay on track.
Yes, I wanted to fuck her again. Yes, she probably wanted me to, too. But there was still a stalker out there who was determined to make her life hell. And despite my cock arguing otherwise, that was the most important thing to take care of.
I poured us both another cup of coffee, setting one of the mugs in front of her. She smiled in thanks, her full, pouty lips making me wonder if she’d be willing to go down on me or not. I decided that later, when we cleared up some of this trouble, I would ask her.
The worst she could say was no.
“I don’t want to bring this up,” I told her, leaning against the counter on the opposite side of her. “But I think we need to talk about your…pen pal.”
Abby shuddered, but didn’t argue. Instead, she nodded her head and said, “Okay. You’re right.”
I was surprised by how little resistance she was giving me this morning. She’d been nothing but argumentative before last night, keeping secrets, ignoring her safety to go to awards shows and parties. Which, granted, I respected in a way, but it had made my job far more difficult than it had to be.
I should fuck every stubborn woman senseless, I thought wickedly. I took a sip of coffee to hide an inappropriate smile.
Setting my mug down, I asked, “Do you remember anything about the guy? You’ve seen him twice now—were there any characteristics that stood out to you?”
Instantly, Abby was shaking her head—an automatic response it seemed. She was saying, “No, I don’t—” but suddenly broke off. Her eyes grew wide as she thought for a moment, almost like a quick memory was flashing through her mind. “No, wait. I do remember something.”
My eyebrows shot up and hope sprang into my heart. If she could remember something about the asshole, then maybe we could use it to find him. Maybe we could catch him before he got the chance to do something terrible again—and managed to succeed.
“What do you remember?” I asked eagerly, hoping that this was it, the link we needed.
She shook her head. “It’s not a lot, but when I pulled off his baseball hat the last time, he had bright, ginger red hair.”
My heart sank a little at that. Yes, a physical descriptor like that was incredibly useful. And with him being a redhead it would definitely help us narrow it down. But I supposed I’d been hoping for some kind of a silver bullet, like his name tattooed across his forehead.
I admonished myself for being so ridiculous and put on a large smile. Reaching across the counter, I took her hand in mine. “That’s really good, Abby. That’s very helpful.”
She smiled weakly at me in return. “Do you think you’ll find him?”
I saw the fear in her eyes, the worry. I saw how broken up she’d been when her friend had been attacked. I saw how much this was all affecting her and I vowed that no matter what else happened, I would find this son of a bitch and make sure that he never hurt her again.
I nodded my head. “We will. I promise you, we will.” I squeezed her hand tightly, then let it go. “I need to call your uncle and give him the information. He needs to know who they’re looking for.”
She gave me a weak okay, but put on a brave smile. I told her to wait in the kitchen and finish her coffee while I stepped into the other room to call Caleb who picked up with a gruff, “What the hell were you thinking letting her go to that damn awards show?”
I winced a little at that. The awards show had actually gone smoothly, but it had been a stressful night for me. Abby on stage, in a huge crowd with people I didn’t know or trust, a bunch of crazy fans on the sidelines, all of them reaching out to touch her. No, it had not been my favorite sort of venue. But there had been security and cameras everywhere, not to mention that so many people were watching her it would have been incredibly hard to get out of there with her.
But that hadn’t made me feel better when Abby used it as her argument. I hadn’t cared, because in the end if that guy decided she was better off dead than his, it would only take a single bullet and a good shot to get to her.
The thought left my blood running cold and the urge to protect her stronger than ever.
I cleared my throat. “She was going no matter what I did. Was I supposed to tie her down or something?”
Actually, I wasn’t wholly opposed to tying her down. I didn’t necessarily like getting really kinky—I didn’t need a dominatrix with a studded collar, a whip, and a love of electricity—but I enjoyed getting a little creative in the bedroom. And as my mind flashed to an image of her naked on her bed, spread eagle, her pussy quivering with lust and dripping with need, her hands and legs both tied to the four posts—well, it was hard to argue with an image like that.
Shaking my head, I forced the image out, reminding myself that I was on the phone with my boss and her uncle and that if he knew anything was going on between us, I was a dead man.
Caleb grunted. “I know, I know. She’s strong willed. It’s a good thing, usually, but right now it’s dangerous. You need to keep her in line, Kade.”
I nodded. “Yes, sir. I’ll do my best.”
“Right. Now, what were you calling about? What did you find?”
“Abby said she remembered something about the guy.” I didn’t dwell on the attack or how she’d discovered this tidbit of information, because it made me angry and was sure it would do the same to Caleb. “She said that his hair was a ginger red, really bright and noticeable.”
“That’s good. Did she remember anything else?”
I glanced to the kitchen toward her, noting that her shirt had ridden up since she had her elbows on the counter and I could see the very bottom of her rear hanging out over the edge of the stool. It was the perfect shape and I couldn’t help but stare.
Looking away, I said, “No, nothing else, sir.”
“Alright, good. I’ll remind Brody when he checks out the hotel you found, the one on the stationary.”
I winced. “You’re sending Brody?”
Caleb made an unhappy sound that sounded exasperated. “He’s the cleanest of them, you know? Got that angel-looking face. People want to open up to him. Besides, I trust him better than the others.”
I snorted. “Sure, to be loyal, but not to be bright.”
“Look, it’s either him or you. I’ll leave it to your discretion, but you’re the one who has to tell Abby.”
I agreed, understanding his unwillingness to do so. Abby wouldn’t be happy with me leaving her again, and I definitely wasn’t going to bring her with me. Still, as much as I liked Brody, he was a knucklehead and I didn’t think he was subtle enough to get that information. Ultimately, I decided that as much as I wanted to stay and protect Abby, the best way to do that was to catch the guy. And doing that meant leaving her in Brody’s somewhat capable hands for a couple of hours while I checked out the lead.
Abby wasn’t thrilled—in fact she was scared and worried—but I kissed her like fire and told her I would come back, I would protect her, she would be safe. In the end, she left me go only because I swore it wouldn’t be more than a couple of hours.
I kept my promise. The hotel wasn’t too busy at that time of day, so I lucked out and was able to question the staff. They refused to give me a name because I wasn’t the police and didn’t have a badge, much less a warrant, but they confirmed that a few redheaded guys had stayed there in the last month. And when the manager of the hotel bustled off to take care of something, I was able to ask some of the guests, too. Most said they didn’t know anything or hadn’t seen anything, but before I left, a young woman—blonde, pretty, and a little similar to the way Abby looked—said that she’d had a redheaded man hit on her at the hotel bar.
“He was nice enough, I guess,” she told me, fidgeting slightly. “But there was just something about him. I felt awkward and uncomfortable the whole time. You know how some people just make you feel like that?”
I nodded, sensing that this had to be the same man. This woman looked very similar to Abby and it was possible that he was trying to use her as some temporary fill-in for Abby until he could actually get to her. If that was the case, I had to tell the woman it might be best to avoid redheads for a time, but it was good for me. It meant I was getting closer.
“Did you happen to get a name?”
She shrugged, thinking hard about it. “It was James something. His last name was like a city name or something.”
“Angeles? Niguel? Pasadena?”
But she shook her head, frowning a little. “No, no, nothing like that. Like—oh, I remember! Texas! His name was James Austin.”
I thanked her and gave her a gentle warning that there was someone unsavory around who liked pretty blondes like herself. She seemed flattered by the compliment and slipped me her number. She told me that a decent, sexy man like me was more than welcome to chat her ear off.
Though I wasn’t going to use the number, I shoved it in my pocket so she wouldn’t think I was being a complete ass and waved as she left. Then I pulled out my cell phone.
“Caleb, it’s Kade. I got a name: James Austin.”