Page 15 of Nine of Swords
As my body shudders through this insanely powerful climax, his hips start to move more wildly, and soon, he follows me to his release, pounding into me some more as he explodes wicked heat deep inside me.
His movements slow down and he stretches my legs out, covering my body with his as we catch our breaths.
After a few minutes, he pulls from me and relaxes beside me, pulling off the condom. I look over at him drowsily as he inspects the used rubber, still filled with his seed. When he seems satisfied that it remained intact, he stretches his hand off the side of the bed, pulls out a tissue from the box on the night stand and wraps it inside.
“I’m not done with you for tonight,” he says as my eyes droop closed. “But I’ll let you rest for a bit before I make you scream the next time you come.”
“Okay,” I whisper, and feel his mouth press a warm kiss on my mouth before I drift off into sated oblivion.
He can use my body all over again, all night long.
* * *
I wakeup to the sound of arguing outside my bedroom door. Blade and I used each other’s bodies over and over until we fell back to sleep, exhausted.
But as my eyes open, he’s no longer in my bed. He’s out there talking to someone.
No, shouting.
Forcing the foggy dullness from my brain, I sit up and pull the covers over my bare torso as I try to catch up on what it’s about. It’s not a long wait because a minute later, I hear heavy footsteps approaching my open door.
“What’s going on?” I ask on seeing Blade at the doorway.
He pulls the door in behind him and clears his throat. “Listen. No matter what happens after this, I want you to know that it was not my choice. And you need to believe me when I tell you that what we just did… just know that it meant something to me. This isn’t a one-time thing. You mean something to me. Do you understand what I’m trying to tell you, Sydney?”
“I don’t know. I think so. What happened?
“Get dressed and come into the living room,” he says gruffly. “We’ll explain everything.”
Five minutes after sitting on the leather living room sofa in an oversized t-shirt and jeans, I’m in a blur.
Blade introduces me to his colleague, a blond guy named Aiden Stone. Then he announces that Aiden is his replacement. He’s being reassigned elsewhere.
“It’s management’s discretion,” he explains, but the words are empty, and less than fifteen minutes after that, I’m not just sore between my legs, I’m fucking confused.
Because now, I’m alone with another stranger tasked with watching my back.
13
Sydney
Three WeeksLater
I haven’t seenBlade for weeks.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t stay in touch.
After Aiden Stone informed me that he was instructed to replace Blade to be my bodyguard, I was ready to put up a fight. I’d spent more than half my life taking care of myself and could keep doing just as good a job on my own. But then Blade helped me escape a nine-to-one situation that I wouldn’t have survived. Then we crossed a hell of a lot of professional lines, causing this reassignment.
But knowing that he was still tangentially involved in watching my back, I felt safer somehow.
I gave Aiden Stone a chance, and am I ever glad I did.
The first thing he did when he showed up for his first day was show me his loyalty to Blade. He shook my hand, passed me an encrypted phone, and said to keep an eye out for Blade to contact me. He assured me Blade had no say in this reassignment, and that he fought tooth and nail to stay, but the decision was well above Blade’s level.
Then, one night while he camped out in my guest room to keep a close eye on me, he emerged into the living room, saw my deck of tarot cards on the coffee table, and asked for a reading. How can a tarot hobbyist like me turn down an offer like that? And third, on dropping me off at the elevator bays of my job, he pulled me over to a quiet corner, ran his hands through his thick blond hair, and asked me if my assistant Elise was single. Since that day I told him she’s single, he’s been taking his lunches in the reception area, keeping an eye on both of us, even though no one’s the least interested in ending Elise’s life.
I can respect a guy like that. He’s the kind of salt of the earth people who make damn good friends for life, and I have a feeling I’ll be seeing much more of him around the office—or rather, near Elise’s desk—long after his assignment is up.
