Chapter 13
Thorn
I have never wanted to protect someone more. Everything that Ensley had said to me about Ryan had made me angry. I didn’t want to think about the things she must have gone through with him. He was physically and verbally abusive to her. He had given her a black eye. She was afraid for her life. I could feel the rage pumping through my veins.
But now, she had suggested paying the club and me to protect her. That wasn’t something I had thought about before. I was willing to offer her protection for free. I had landed up here, in the middle of the night because I wanted her to be safe. The fact that she might be willing to pay for that safety hadn’t occurred to me.
“I’m sorry, Thorn, I didn’t mean to offend you,” I heard her say. Her voice had snapped me out of my thoughts.
Ensley was standing in front of me now, in a pair of pink silk pajamas that hung smoothly from her slender body. She had tied her golden hair up in a messy bun on the top of her head. From the moment I’d walked into her apartment; I’d noticed that she had no makeup on and somehow, she looked even more beautiful now than she had at the bar.
There was something so natural and honestly beautiful about her. It wanted me to keep her safe even more.
“You haven’t offended me. I’m just thinking about your offer,” I told her. She had her expectant blue eyes turned towards me, and I saw them soften a little now. She was worried that I was going to say no.
“That’s okay. I’m sure you all are busy men, and keeping guard over me isn’t exactly on the top of your priority list,” she said, and a small, weak laugh escaped her lips. I watched as she turned away from me and stepped back to the couch. She settled down in one corner of it again, and she looked angelic as she sat there like that.
“That’s not what I’m thinking. I just have to offer the idea to my brothers and see what they think of it. We have never done anything like this before, and I don’t know if they’ll be up for it,” I said, in all honesty.
This was a good idea. Offering bodyguard services to an upcoming actress in LA was exactly the kind of legit gig that we were looking for. It was what the club needed. This wasn’t something that the cops or anybody else could point fingers at us for. However, it was the kind of work that none of my brothers had expected to get involved in. Protecting a damsel in distress? It wasn’t our ideal job.
Ensley caught me thinking, and she forced a smile on her face.
“I get it. It’s okay if your brothers don’t agree to this,” she said. I looked at her and nodded my head in thought.
“I’m going to put it to the vote first thing tomorrow morning and get back to you,” I said, and she forced that weak smile on her face again.
I turned from her, and picking the helmet off the floor, I walked to her door.
“I’m glad you’re okay, Ensley. I just wanted to come over and check on you,” I said. She remained sitting on the couch. Her face had suddenly turned deathly pale. I got the feeling that she almost didn’t want me to go. But what was there for me to do now?
I’d come over and checked on her. There were no signs of her being watched right now, and I was worried that I had already overstayed my welcome. It was obvious that she thought of me as more of a business prospect than a man in her bed.
“Thank you for doing this, Thorn, you didn’t have to,” she said in a meek voice. As I stared at her, I could see that there were tears welling up in her eyes again. I couldn’t stand the thought of her crying.
I decided to let go of all my pride. It was my pride that had made me walk away from her at the bar earlier, and I didn’t want to do it again.
“I’ll stay if you want me to,” I said, and her eyes lit up.
“Stay,” she said before I had even finished the sentence.
I placed the helmet down on the floor again and walked towards the couch. She tucked her feet underneath her legs as she settled on the couch. Her eyes were still bloodshot, even though she looked happier now that I had suggested staying, she still seemed upset.
I sat down beside her on the couch.
“Don’t worry, I’m not going to assume you’re working for me now. I’ll give you a chance to talk to your club first,” she said, in a small quivering voice. The tears were filling up in her eyes. I could see that she was miserable with fear and I wanted to do everything in my power to make her stop feeling so scared.
“I don’t want you to worry either. If they vote against it tomorrow, I’ll do it myself,” I said.
Ensley’s brows furrowed, adding a girlish more innocent look to her face.
“What do you mean?” she asked, and a grin tugged the corners of my mouth.
“I’ll be by your side, protecting you, till you start feeling more confident about your safety again. I’m going to sniff that asshole out and make him stop threatening you,” I said, and without warning, Ensley threw her arms around my neck, pulling herself to me.
It was like the wind had knocked out of me. Holding someone in my arms had never felt like this before. She looked up at me, deep into my eyes, and the tears were gone. Her face was flushed, and her blue eyes were bright again.
“Thank you, Thorn. You have no idea how this makes me feel. How grateful I am to you. I wasn’t sure how I could ever leave the house tomorrow knowing that Ryan was out there, probably watching me from somewhere,” she said, and I kept holding her tightly in my arms.
Having her like that, with our bodies so close together, felt natural somehow. I could feel a movement in my pants again. The touch of her silk pajamas against my skin sent a shock down my spine. No woman had made me feel this weak before.
My gaze traveled down to her lips as she spoke, then back up at her sparkling eyes again.
“You don’t need to keep thanking me, Ensley. I want to do this. That is why I’m here,” I said, and I watched as she tenderly licked her lips.
She was watching me too. Her eyes were roaming over my face, while I drank in the shape of her luscious pink lips, the curve of her slender throat. The front of her pajama blouse stretched over her breasts, and I could see the pebbling of her nipples. She wasn’t wearing a bra.
It was too much for me. Ever since I first saw this woman, all I wanted was her body, and now she was in my arms. It would be stupid of me to not just take her.
I would make her feel safe.
My hand rose up to the back of her head, and my other hand remained on the small of her back. Ensley knew exactly what I was about to do and she parted her lips in invitation.
I leaned my head forward, covering her lips with mine as my tongue parted her mouth roughly.
A moan escaped her lips as I kissed her hard. I groaned too, tasting her for the first time. She was sweet, just like I’d predicted and she pressed herself against me. I could feel her slim hips jutting into my stomach as we both tried to kiss each other harder.
My hands were in her hair, untangling her loose bun and she held me even tighter. Both our bodies rose together as we faced each other, tumbling back down on the couch together while we kissed. It was like there were explosions going off in the sky. From the moment my lips touched hers, I knew that she was going to be a dangerous part of my life. This woman had some kind of grasp on me that I didn’t know was possible.
My tongue thrust in and out of her mouth and Ensley moaned and writhed in my arms. This was more than just a kiss. It was a trailer for what was to come. Now that I had tasted her, just a kiss wasn’t going to be enough and Ensley was just as ready for the rest as I was.