Chapter Seven
Stone ushered Soph into their room and shut and locked the door behind them. She hadn’t spoken a word since they were on the Ferris wheel and he was beginning to worry. He pulled her into his arms and drew her as close as he could—held her tight.
“It’s okay. I won’t let him near you,” he promised for the hundredth time since he’d coaxed her off the ride.
She trembled in his arms and Stone had the urge to smash something. Preferably Hagar’s face. He hated that the man could frighten her into muteness. In the last few days he’d discovered an animated, happy woman who enjoyed life to the fullest and didn’t deserve to have her world disrupted by a deranged man.
His phone rang and as much as he didn’t want to let her go, he knew he had to. “That’ll be Jack. I need to answer it.”
Soph nodded and pulled out of his embrace, her head lowered so he couldn’t see her eyes. Wanting her close, disappointment shot through him when she walked to the bed and lay down, curled into a ball and tucked her hands beneath her chin. She looked so vulnerable—broken.
The desire to punch Hagar’s face morphed into a dangerous need to render harm to every inch of the man. Slowly. Over and over again.
Yanking his phone from his pocket, he hit accept and put the device to his ear. “Tell me you found the fucker,” he growled in greeting.
“Not a sign of him. Is she sure it was him?”
“You saw her, man, there’s no way a possible sighting could instill that much fear.”
“Yeah. I know. It’s just…” Jack’s frustration echoed Stone’s. “I didn’t like this prick before. I really don’t like him now.”
“Get in line.”
“How is she?”
“Hard to say. Not a word yet.”
“We need her to tell us what he looked like. What he was wearing. Anything.”
“I don’t want to push her right now. Give me some time. Let her process it and realize she’s safe. It had to be a shock to see him watching her. I have no doubt he placed himself right in her line of sight. Wanted her to know he was there. God knows how long he was watching us.”
“Fuck. Okay. I’ll do another sweep of the square then I’ll head your way and scout around. Are you sure he’s not at the B&B?”
“Positive. No one followed us here and the place is empty. I searched before coming up to our room.”
“I don’t like it. There’re too many variables with all those people renting rooms.”
“No one matches Hagar and they all checked out when Chip did his thing.”
“Still not happy about your location but for now it’ll have to do. I’ll let you know when I’m onsite.”
“I’m locking down for the night.”
“I’ve got your back.”
“Thanks.”
They disconnected and Stone dropped his phone on the foot of the bed as he made his way to Soph’s side. Crouching down, he brushed her hair back at her temple. “Hey. How you doing?”
“Okay.”
Her croaky reply took him by surprise. He smiled. “Found your voice I see.”
She flashed him a wobbly smile.
“What do you need?”
“A gun.”
Stone grinned. “You’re not getting your hands on my gun.”
“Bloody hell.” There was no strength in her words, none of her normal spirit. It was as though her usual vitality had been sucked right out of her.
“C’mon. Let’s get you in a bath.” Hopefully the heat would relax her, make it easier for her to find her spark again. Stone didn’t like seeing her defeated. He wanted her to fight back now that she wasn’t quivering in fear.
She let him help her sit up. “Will you wash my back?” she asked.
His gaze met hers, her twinkly eyes lifting a load of tension from his body.
Smiling, he said, “If you want me to.”
“I want your hands on me. I want to feel something other than numb. I need it. I don’t want him to take more than he already has.”
“Okay.” He helped her to her feet. “But no sex.”
She eyed him with a narrowed gaze—a deep frown.
“It’s not that I don’t want you.” The hard-on in his pants was proof he did.
Her eyelids fluttered closed and she drew in a deep breath. Eyes popping open again, she stared at him with those brutally honest green orbs that took his legs out from under him. She was so open. No shields. No hiding.
“It’s okay. I get it. You think you’d be taking advantage of me.”
“No. That’s not it.”
“It’s not?”
“I can’t protect you.” He shrugged. “I only had one condom with me.”
“Oh.” She took a step, pressed her front to his and sent a shudder of desire rushing though him. “We can do other things besides sex though, right?”
Stone sucked in a breath when she wiggled so her breasts rubbed against his chest. “You’re dangerous when you want something, you know that?”
She grinned with some of the sparkle he’d grown to love. “It’s you. You bring out the best in me,” she drawled in a sexy whisper.
He chuckled. “I’m sure others would say it’s the worst. You have an image that doesn’t include having sex with your bodyguard.”
“I’ve never worried about what other people think.”
Tilting his head to the side, he asked, “So you don’t care what I think?”
“You aren’t other people.”
“I’m not?”
“No.”
“Then what am I?”
“The guy I’m falling for.”
God. She slayed him. Her honesty. Her refusal to hide an ounce of herself from him. Every fucking thing about her brought him to his knees and he had no defense against the emotions she inspired. He didn’t want any.
But he wasn’t stupid. He knew the situation could be responsible for their chemistry.
Stone understood himself well and knew what he felt was real—solid—but Soph, for all her honesty, remained an unknown, and while he believed she felt something for him, he wasn’t convinced it would last beyond their forced time together.
And right there was another reason he shouldn’t touch her again. With or without protection, sex or no sex, he should keep his hands to himself and do his job—only his job.
“Soph—”
“Don’t say it.” She put her hand over his mouth. “I don’t want to hear anything that isn’t going to give me what I want—what I need—and right now I want to have that bath you offered. With you.”
Stone closed his eyes and tried to do the right thing but she did that wiggling move again and any restraint he might have held on to dissolved like ice on a hot tin roof. He heard his control snap like a crack of lightning.
Opening his eyes, he grabbed her hand. “C’mon.”
“Yes!”
He snorted. “And you think you’re the easy one,” he muttered.
She had him wrapped around her little finger. He was man enough to accept that…but not reckless enough to admit it out loud.
***
Sophie laid back and swirled her hands in the warm water, skimming over Stone’s thighs with her fingertips. His arms rested lazily around her waist, his chest supporting her spine and his legs bracketing hers. They’d been relaxing in the tub for about twenty minutes and she was done thinking. Her thoughts were only going in circles now anyway.
“I’m tired of waiting for him to do something.” The quiet words echoed off the tile walls as though she’d shouted.
He stirred against her and drew in a breath.
“I want to go back to the festival tomorrow. See if we can flush him out in the open again. Maybe you could leave me alone for a few minutes—”
“No.”
There was no point arguing. Stone’s word lived up to his name. Rock hard without a soft spot to be found. There’d be no changing his mind on that point but she had to convince him they needed—she needed—to face this guy. If she showed Hagar she wasn’t frightened, that he didn’t scare her, he might leave her alone. “I’m not staying locked away. I can’t.”
“I’m not leaving you alone.”
“Okay.”
“That was too easy.” He pushed her up and gripped her waist. Lifting her, he said, “Turn around. I want to see your face while we have this conversation.”
Bloody hell. He’d proven he could read her every thought already. She didn’t stand a chance of keeping anything from him if he was looking her in the eye. Sighing, she got up and spun around, her knees sliding down to rest on the bottom of the tub on either side of his hips.
“Now tell me exactly what you’re thinking,” he demanded.
“I don’t want to live in fear anymore. I’ve always gone after what I want, and I want my life back. I’m tired of looking over my shoulder, of waiting for the other shoe to drop. I gave this Hagar person control by allowing him to get to me, by letting him dictate my actions.”
“He’s dangerous.”
“We don’t know that.”
“I know his type.”
“Maybe. But you can’t be sure, and I’m done hiding out. I want this over. Now.”
She watched him fight an internal battle that tightened his jaw and put worry wrinkles in his forehead. He sat up. “We need a plan. I’ll call Jack—”
“Not now. Tomorrow.”
“I thought you wanted this over with?”
“I do but it makes sense to do it in daylight and we’re running out of that today.” She could see the sky darkening through the small high window above the bath.
Stone sighed. “You’re right. I’ll call Jack first thing tomorrow.” He pulled her down against him and slid his arms around her, pressed a kiss to the top of her head.
They lay there, each in their own thoughts, until the water cooled to an uncomfortable temperature and Sophie started to shiver.
“Time to get out.” Stone rose to his feet, Sophie cradled in his arms as though she were an extension of his body and not an extra burden to lift.
She wrapped her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck and held on as he stepped over the side of the tub. “Are we going to bed now?” she asked hopefully.
He looked down at her for a moment then shook his head. “We said no sex.”
“You said that, and I’m pretty sure your cock has other ideas.”
“Ignore it. I am.”
Sophie laughed. Hard to ignore the thick shaft trapped between their bodies.
He’d been hard from the minute they’d taken their clothes off, and while he’d done an admirable job of ignoring it—as had she—it was one more thing she was tired of. Putting her desire for Stone aside hadn’t been working anyway, no point continuing the futile effort.
Now that she’d come to a decision about her stalker she wanted to fix other things in her life. Namely the pulse of desire that always thrummed in her veins when Stone was around.
“I’m on the pill.”
Stone’s stride stuttered, his hands clenching on her ass where he held her tight against him. “What?” he croaked.
“You heard me.”
His eyes closed on a long breath. “Soph.”
“I want you. Nothing between us. Just tonight. I don’t need more than that.”
“You should.” His eyes opened, his fiery gaze locked on hers. “You deserve more.”
“Yes. I should, I do, but I’ll take tonight. Tomorrow isn’t here yet. I’ll worry about it when it is.” She didn’t want to beg him to sleep with her. There were other ways she could persuade him. Except she hoped he wanted her as badly as she wanted him and wouldn’t need convincing.
Eyelids dropping to half-mast, Stone stared at her with molten eyes. “I can’t seem to say no to you.”
“Then don’t.”
He remained quiet for so long she couldn’t curb the urge to fill the silence.
“Don’t be my bodyguard. Don’t be the guy hired to protect me. Be Stone Mason, the man. What does he want? What would he do right now?”
“He’d have you in bed already.”
“Then take me there. Just you and me. Stone and Sophie. Forget everything else.”
“God. You take me to my knees.”
“I’d rather be on mine.” Images of being at his feet flashed through her mind. Memories flooded her with heat and want and the need to taste him again.
“Fuck, woman.”
“Yes. Fuck your woman.”
His eyes flashed, his nostrils flared and with a growl, he took her mouth with his.
He sucked the breath right out of her. Shot her from simmering arousal to boiling need with a few strokes of his tongue.
Tearing his mouth from hers, he panted, “Bed. Now.”
Sophie laughed. “You’re the one with your feet on the floor.”