Page 4 of Big Bodyguard
She has no idea how the world works. No idea how many predators watched her tonight, just like I did. The difference isthat I watch to protect her, while others are waiting for a chance to use her as a pawn in the power games they’re playing with her father.
“No,” I say flatly. “You’re coming with me.”
“What? Who are you?” she asks, her eyes flashing with confusion and a hint of suspicion. “Why should I go anywhere with you?”
I let out an exasperated sigh. “Trust me. It’s for your safety.”
“Trust you?” she says with a perplexed laugh. “I don’t even know you.” She crosses her arms over her chest, tilting her chin up to look me dead in the eyes. “Thanks, but I can take care of myself.”
I step closer, letting her feel the wall of my body, the weight of my stare. “You really think you can, princess? Because two minutes ago, you were choking on panic while that asshole had his hands all over you. You think he was just some random man? Think he just wanted you for a good time? Because I saw him watching you all night. He made a plan and carried it out. Can you think of any reason someone would want to kidnap you?”
Her cheeks flush. She opens her mouth, ready with another protest, but I’ve had enough of her stubbornness. Before she can take a step back, I wrap my hand around her wrist, pinning her body to mine. She gasps and starts to push against me, her small fists thumping uselessly at my chest.
“Stop fighting me,” I growl, lowering my mouth close to her ear. “I’m not your enemy. But I will do whatever the hell it takes to keep you alive.”
Giving in to my possessive urges, I pick her up, throw her over my shoulder, and start toward my car. She lets out a surprised yelp that sounds more like a breathless gasp, and then starts to rain blows on my shoulders and back. I barely feel her fists,because I’m gripping the warm skin of her thighs where her dress has ridden up, and I’m trying hard not to think about moving my hands up to her ass.
“You can’t just— Put me down!”
“Not happening,” I mutter as I deposit her into the passenger seat, slamming the door.
By the time I drop into the driver’s side, her chest is rising fast, eyes flashing with fire, but she hasn’t tried to open the door, hasn’t tried to run. She looks like she wants to claw me alive, but her cheeks are flushed with something other than fear or anger.
I’ve never wanted a woman more.
“You won’t get away with this,” she snaps, twisting in her seat to glare at me. I stare at her mouth, wondering for a moment what those shimmering lips would feel like around my fingers, or better still my cock—
Keep it together, Steele.
“Do you even know who I am?” she asks, jerking my mind out of its treacherous thoughts.
I bite back a laugh. Of course I know who she is.
But I don’t say anything. Because then I’d have to explain that my client, Senator George Freeman, contracted me to shadow and protect his daughter on her little runaway escapade.
Charlie thinks her father is overprotective, but that just shows how oblivious she is to the ways of the world. The senator has plenty of enemies, foreign and domestic. Any one of them would gladly use his daughter to send a message.
“Have you suddenly gone mute?” she asks, her voice ringing with exasperation. “If you’re going to kidnap me, can you at least tell me where you’re taking me?”
I glance at her, keeping my expression neutral. “And why would I do that?”
Her mouth falls open, eyes flashing. “You’re insufferable.”
“You’re insolent,” I add, just to needle her.
Her nostrils flare, and she huffs, crossing her arms defiantly. She glares at me, and if looks could kill I’d be six feet under the ground.
I shouldn’t enjoy it. But damn, I do.
I’ve seen her in pictures, stiff and polished in designer dresses, a doll on display for the cameras. I never imagined she had this kind of fire in her…a fire that makes my body burn with a forbidden desire. A fire that makes me want to do things to her that I shouldn’t be thinking about.
I don’t mix business with pleasure. Never have. Never will. But Charlotte Freeman is proving to be the exception to every rule I’ve ever lived by.
Her stomach growls loud enough to cut through the silence.
I glance over. “When’s the last time you ate?”
She stiffens, turning to me with a pointed glare. “That’s none of your business.”
