The Bodyguard's Baby (Billionaire Bodyguard Series) (9 page)

The thought of him making love to her sent nervousness rushing through her body, chased by thrills knowing she didn’t have to deny herself the pleasure of him or the end result of a baby. The best of both words, right?

On the way home, he kept one hand fastened on her thigh, as though if he let go she’d fly out the window or something. Then without warning he slammed on the brake, pulled off to the side of the road, and made out with her for five hot and heavy minutes. Their mouths displayed desperate passion. His fingers alternated between tangling in her hair and cupping her breasts greedily. She welcomed his touch.

Coming to his senses after a series of car horns honked at them, he pulled back in his seat, firmed his grip on the steering wheel, and shifted his truck into drive. He punched the gas pedal to the floor. They made it home in record time, lucky they weren’t pulled over for a speeding ticket.

“Upstairs,” he ordered like a drill sergeant. “My bed.”

Yes, sir.
She nearly tripped up the steps in her haste. Fitting his hands around her hips, he guided her directly to his room. Like she had plans to go anywhere else?

Inside his bedroom, he kicked off his boots and prowled toward her. As if she was his own personal mission he intended to conquer thoroughly.

His gray eyes smoldered. “Take off your clothes, sweetheart. If you let me do it, I’ll rip them to shreds to get to you.” He undressed with the same restless speed as she did. “God, I want to feel your naked body under me,” he snarled softly.

Fully nude, she managed to slide under the covers before he pounced. Lips against her throat, he growled like a ravenous wolf, kissing hungrily along her jaw as he settled his hips between her open thighs.

“I want you so bad, it hurts to touch you.” The outline of his huge erection burned against her inner thigh. “But it hurts worse not touching you.”

A giggle escaped her lips, a response to his bristle tickling her neck and his outright ravishing of her.

He nipped her earlobe. “What?”

“When you put your mind to something, you go full force, all in.”

He grinned. “Is there any other way?”

“Apparently not for you.”

His smile faded. “I’m going to try like hell, but if I don’t last long this first time, I’ll spend the rest of the night making it up to you. I swear. Any way you want it.”

“I’m not worried,” she said on a sigh as he moved lower.

He cupped and kissed her breasts, nuzzling into her cleavage. “You have the most amazing body.”

“No, I don’t.” Definitely not compared to him, and she knew it. He was hard and muscular and perfect. She was too soft, too curvy, nothing slim or flat to be found.

Arching an eyebrow, he glanced up at her. “You’re insane.” He shook his head. “You have no clue what you do to me.”

“Show me?” she whispered.

“All night,” he said. His tongue flicked one nipple. “And tomorrow morning.” He moved to her other breast, delivering a light stinging bite. “And tomorrow night.” He blew a cool stream of air and her nipple hardened. “So get comfortable. Because you’re pretty much never leaving my bed.”

His tongue made lapping sweeps along the outer and inner plumpness like he intended to stay there all day.

“What if I want to change it up and go to my bedroom?” she asked.

Pretending to give it serious consideration, he tensed his features. “I’ll think about it.” Then he grinned. “Only if we can do it front of the fire, too. And on the kitchen counter.”

Sexual excitement coursed in her veins. “What about the dining room table?”

“Right. Hope you cleared your calendar. I plan to keep you very busy.”

She ran her fingers through his hair. “Don’t forget we’re trying to make a baby.”

A dimple appeared in his cheek. “This is my first try at that. It’s going to take a lot of practice. And I mean
a lot.
”

She laughed, then sank her teeth into her bottom lip as he resumed his downward path. “Mmm, you’re off to a good start.”

When he shifted his torso down her body, her knees dropped open to accommodate his big shoulders. His tongue drew lazy circles around her navel. Then he glided his hand from her inner thigh to her center, teasing her opening. He eased one finger inside, and her slickness coated his back-and-forth caress.

“Damn, you’re so wet.”

“Then what are you waiting for?”

“Do you know how long I’ve wanted to bury my face between your thighs?”

Oh, my God.
She grabbed the sheets in anticipation.

“Some things can’t be rushed.”

True to his word, he took his sweet time during his first taste of her. His face disappeared up to his nose. The first brush of his tongue made her hips buck. He curved his large hands around her thighs, pressing down on her hip bones to keep her still for his devouring. Using his thumbs he parted the soft lips, revealing the swollen vulnerable peak. He sucked and lapped and stroked her with his tongue.

Writhing, she didn’t know where to focus her attention. On the sexy movements of his muscles as he pleasured her, or his fingers playing inside her, or his mouth licking her toward her first orgasm in ages?

Giving up, she lay back and let the tides of pleasure build and build toward the final crash. Lights glittered behind her closed lids like the sparkling bubbles in champagne. Lighter, higher, floating up, up, up… Then they all burst at once.

“Slone!” she screamed.

The swelling, shattering, swelling, shattering friction shook her until she begged him to stop, too sensitive to take any more.

Lifting his head, he sent her a lazy grin. “I like the sound of my name on your lips when you come.”

“I want you inside me so bad I’m going to scream again,” she half-gasped, half-sobbed.

“Your enthusiasm is appreciated, sweetheart. I’ll make sure I earn it.”

A devilish glint in his gray eyes, he moved his sexy body up to cover her, muscles rippling as he went.

With terrifying urgency, her body craved him. The brush of his skin against hers, rocking above her as he made love to her. She needed to be consumed by him more than she needed air.

“Why did we wait so long to do this?” she asked, still surrounded by the weightless haze of bliss.

“I would’ve volunteered on day one. And you would’ve told me to go to hell.”

“I’m an idiot.”

He gave a light laugh. “No, just self-preserving. You had it all figured out, and I didn’t fit into your equation.”

“You fit now.”

He tossed her a sexy grin. “We’re about to find out.”

It seemed strange not using a condom, since she always had before. Tightness ringed her throat. Once they did this, there was no going back. She flattened her palms against his shoulders. “Are you sure?”

Bracing himself on his forearms, he pressed his arousal against her opening. “Absolutely. You?”

When she glanced up at him, her first instinct was to look away from his penetrating gaze. Incomprehensible desire lingered in the depths, so intimate, so intense.

“Yes,” she whispered.

He lowered his head and pressed a soft, tender kiss to her lips. In contrast his hips lunged forward in a powerful thrust, embedding himself fully inside her.

Heavy. Hot. Hard.

Claiming her completely.

Leaving no doubt their lives were forever entwined from this moment on.

Her lungs squeezed at the finality of it, and she gasped for breath.

“You okay?”

“So good,” she murmured.

Nothing
felt more right. She couldn’t imagine ever looking back and regretting her choice to make a baby with this man.

Crossing her fingers and wishing on stars, she closed her eyes, letting the mysterious pull of sensual ecstasy sweep her away. Except the reality of Slone’s body cascading against hers, gliding inside, became too potent to disregard.

Their bodies synced instantly, and she welcomed him with each tilt of her hips, beckoning
him to give her more. She lifted herself to meet his thrusts. Their joining, pulling away, joining again created an intense friction they both responded to, his groans matching her moans.

The sounds of their lovemaking echoed in the quiet room. Nothing else existed but them, together, pushing, pulling. He dragged his mouth along her skin. She raked her nails across his back. And his muscles were highly responsive to her every touch.

She’d never made love in broad daylight with the curtains open and the shades up. A self-conscious predicament for her, but it came with a glorious view of him.

When he rose up above her, rocking his hips against hers, she ran her hands up his arms. They were hard and chiseled with raw power. Her palms coasted around the heavy curves of his shoulders, gliding across the trimmed hair on his chest, meeting at the center and trailing down his washboard abs that contracted with each plunge.

Using one hand, he grabbed her wrists and pinned them above her head. “Keep touching me, and this won’t last much longer.”

“I can’t help it.” She sighed. “You’re too gorgeous to keep my hands to myself. Besides it doesn’t have to last. We have all day—and all night.”

“Yeah, but we only have one first time. I want to leave a good impression.” He winked. “So you’re confident in my abilities.”

“Oh, you exceeded my expectations in the first thirty seconds.”

He grinned. “Good to know. But I can’t come until after you do.”

“I never have except when I’m on top.”

He arched an eyebrow, and she couldn’t decide if his expression held arrogance or confidence. “There’s a first time for everything, sweetheart.”

Then she decided she didn’t care if it was both, as long as he didn’t stop the amazing sensations he delivered with every firm stroke. He lowered onto her, tucking his hands behind her spine to cup her backside. His fingers gripped the curves and pressed her tight to him. The thick base of his shaft embedded deep, stretched her to the point of pleasure-pain.

“You’re so tight, honey.”

She drew a shuddering breath. “It’s been awhile.”

He smiled against her neck. “Lucky me.”

Their bodies molded to each other, striving in perfect rhythm. She had no idea sex could be this great the first time with a man.

Despite her best efforts she couldn’t stop herself from touching him. She scraped her nails along his broad back, around the bobbing globes of his well-shaped butt cheeks. God, he was divine.

As he increased his tempo to shorter, harder drives, she at first dismissed the trembling in her core. Then the sensation intensified, rippling along his shaft.

Shocked, she blurted out, “Oh, my God.”

“You going to come for me, baby?”

“I think so.” She gasped.
Oh, wow.
Grasping his shoulders, she curled her legs up alongside his torso. “Feels so good…”

“Uh-huh.” His breath struck her skin in rapid bursts of steam. “Oh, yeah. That’s it. God, I can feel you coming.”
His body turned as hard as an ice sculpture, hotter than desert sand.

“Yes.” She tensed all over, seized by racking shudders as she climaxed. “Yes!”

Slone wondered if he’d self-destruct when he came inside her.

But the more he pushed and receded, the more he needed her. Goddamn it, he needed her more than life itself. “Lindsey,” he said, her name searing his throat.

“Yes,” she encouraged, digging her nails into his ass.

He bellowed a curse. Bucked his hips. And came inside her.

He released a long, low groan and collapsed in her arms.

They lay together for a long time, catching their breath, indulging in the sated pleasure of uncontrollable attraction.

“That was really good,” she said, as he lifted his head and stared down at her with an unfocused gaze.

“Next time, it’ll be really, really good.”

Her eyes rounded. “I’m not sure it can get any better.”

He sent her a wicked grin. “You know I love a challenge.”

Already, he was growing hard inside her.

“A-again?” she stammered.

“Honey, I’m just warming up.”

Their lips sealed in a sizzling kiss, a promise of the hours of sensual bliss that lay in store.

As Lindsey talked to him about her upcoming job at the school, and dipped the colorful bell peppers she’d sliced into ranch dip, he stood at the stove. In one pan, he turned two seasoned chicken breasts, in the other he moved around chunks of tofu into vegetable stir fry. Yet he couldn’t think of one smartass comment about her choice of a main dish. He was too distracted by the sight of her out of the corner of his eye, sitting on the kitchen counter wearing his shirt that reached her thighs, while she swung her legs casually. Thinking he’d like to scoot her to the edge of the counter and take her again right there.

So he did.

He snapped off the gas to both burners, spun around, and wedged himself between her legs. “Stop talking,” he said against her lips. “I want you again.”

She gave an exaggerated sigh. “I can’t believe you’re not enthralled in me comparing the advantages versus disadvantages of SmartBoards in the classroom.”

With a swift tug he brought her juncture flush against his hips. Her bare legs twined around his waist. Her mouth tantalized him. “The only thing I’m interested in is you.”

Kissing a path along her jaw, he nibbled and sucked her neck, drawing on her skin. He wanted her taste far more than dinner.

She dropped her head back. “What about our food?”

“It can wait,” he said, sliding a finger inside her, finding her wet and ready.

Lifting her in one arm, he used his free hand to yank up the shirt. He positioned himself and pushed into her swollen heat.

“Oh!” she gasped, digging her nails into his shoulders.

No doubt she was sore, because it took him four passes before he buried himself in her gripping tightness. The sensation of being sheathed inside her shivers down his back. Again. He couldn’t get enough of her.

She gripped his shoulders. “Slower. Please?”

“Whatever you need, honey.” He cupped her face in one hand, staring into her luminous eyes.

The height of the countertop prohibited him from entering her fully. Determined to change that, he lifted her up off the counter. She hooked her ankles at his lower spine. She slid all the way down his erection and he groaned.

He moved her hips up and down on him, so deep, so tight. “You feel so good, baby.”

She gently bit his neck. “More,” she insisted.

For added stability, he shifted and turned to the left until her back met the fridge. Instantly her nipples hardened beneath the shirt. Lifting the fabric, he dropped his head to capture one, then the other in his mouth, obsessed with the beaded texture on his tongue, and the incredible fullness of her breasts bouncing up and down against his chest.

It was like she’d been made for him—and him alone.

If he’d created a list describing his perfect woman, Lindsey is what she’d look and feel like. Lush and beautiful, proportioned just the way he craved.

His long, slow strokes caused her back to smudge against the stainless steel. Folding his arms around her, he shielded her from the impact of his lunges.

When she came she shook in his arms. He followed right behind her with rapid bursts of release shooting deep into her core. She sagged against him, resting her cheek on his shoulder.

As their breathing normalized, and he held her securely, a sharp sense of duty took hold.

They’d been so caught up in satisfying their intense lust for each other, they hadn’t discussed the more complex details of this arrangement. He needed her to understand he’d take full responsibility and stand by her side through everything. Appointments, ultrasounds, the delivery. And after the baby came, there would be late night feedings, diaper changing and complete exhaustion, followed by her gradual physical recovery. He’d help her through that, too.

Returning her to the countertop, he eased her legs from around his waist where they dangled limply. He loved that he did that to her, reduced her to a dreamy-eyed, sexually satisfied female.

An elated sigh left her lips and made him want to give it to her again. He restrained himself, zipped up his fly, then ignited the two burners on the stove again. She returned to munching on red peppers.

He swore his cheeks were frozen in a permanent grin. One that just might never fade, as long as she was in his life. A strange sensation—good, really good, but foreign to him.

“I’m curious,” she mused aloud. “Is it necessary to have sex this often to get pregnant? I’ve read on several online chat sites that some doctors recommend every other day.”

“I say, the more often, the better your chances.”

Grinning, she rolled her eyes. “You’re a guy. Of course you’d say that.”

“What does it matter, as long as it gets the job done?” When she fell suspiciously silent, he replayed the words back in his mind and realized his tactical error. Not that making love to you is a job or a chore. Believe it, it’s not. More like pure hedonism with a purpose.”

She snorted, her mood appearing to lighten, which relieved him. “I have to admit,” she said, “this is ten thousand times better than the turkey
baster method.”

“Damn I hope so. I’d better be.”

Hopping off the counter, she wrapped her arms around his bare waist and rested her cheek between his shoulder blades where scar tissue twisted and matted like ropes. “You are, Mr. Insatiable.”

Her touch did dangerous things to him. Made him want to offer her what he’d never offered to any woman—his heart in his hands.

But that wasn’t part of the arrangement…at least, not yet.

“Can you grab some plates, babe?” he asked.

“Sure. It’s the least I can do for my resident chef.” She set two square plates beside the stove. “Especially since you lowered yourself to the miserable depths of cooking tofu for me.”

“You’re lucky I like you.”

“I know,” she said with instant certainty that bemused him.

Anymore, when it came to Lindsey, the word “no” didn’t exist in his vocabulary.

After plating their dinners, he took them to the two-seater kitchen table. He sat across from her, watching her enjoy her tofu stir fry as if he’d created some delicacy. The texture of that stuff gave him hives and triggered his gag reflex if he thought too much about it.

Starved after expending countless calories during a glorious day of constant sex, he inhaled his two chicken breasts and side of broccoli before he came up for air. Setting down his silverware, he contemplated his next words.

“I need you to know something,” he said, examining her features to gauge her reaction. “You’re not in this by yourself. I’ll be here for you in any capacity you need. And for me, that goes way beyond sex.”

Appearing startled, she blinked. “It does?”

He nodded. “Like you said yourself, I don’t do anything halfway. Whatever our personal situation is between us after the baby is born, you can count on me for child support.”

Her fork clattered to her plate. “You’re not serious.”

“Completely.”

“But, Slone…I’d expected to do this all on my own. I don’t want your money.”

“Doesn’t matter,” he said in a quiet, serious tone. “Like hell I’ll bring a kid into this world and let you two fend for yourselves. I’m going to make sure you’re both well taken care of.”

Her lips parted but no words came out for a long moment. “You don’t have to do that.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But I’m going to, so I wanted you to know.”

“I’m not sure what to say,” she whispered, her eyes wide blue pools of emotion.

“Nothing to say.” He shrugged. “Everything will be taken care of—you’ll be taken care of, and so will the baby. That’s how I want this to go down, so don’t argue with me. I already made up my mind.”

“You reserve the right to walk away any time. I won’t hold you to anything.” She swallowed hard. “You aren’t obligated.”

“I won’t abandon you. That’s all I’m saying.”

She nodded. Her lashes drifted down, a trace of wetness clinging to the tips.

Fear or relief? Maybe both. She looked like she wasn’t sure if she should believe him.

Seeing her vulnerability in its full light, Slone decided to make some serious adjustments. In civilian life he’d never had this before, someone—potentially two someones—counting on him for the most fundamental asset. Security. He needed to provide that for Lindsey and the baby, starting with the physical demands and financial aspects of his job.

When it mattered most, he took care of his own.

Always.

No longer was it okay for him to pick up and take off without a second thought, to perform protective detail on some person halfway across the country who meant nothing more than a paycheck to him. Stability, concerning his consistent presence here in Denver, rose to the top of his priorities.

He needed to step up. Take a different career path.

So after calculated consideration, he went to Adam Soren.

“Hey man, you got a minute?” Slone asked, knocking on the boss’s open door.

Adam’s stripped-down and bare-basics space made a person at any level of the company feel comfortable. Unlike Trey’s or Cade’s offices with their cushy trappings, Adam’s didn’t resemble a typical office at all—probably because he was rarely in it—offering a no-bullshit zone Slone appreciated.

In fact, he counted on it.

“Yeah, c’mon in.” Adam narrowed his eyes at the laptop on his desk. He stood before it like he wanted to take a hammer to the keyboard. “I hate this thing. I need an assistant just to interpret all this techy crap for me. Anyway, what’s up?”

“I want to talk to you about something,” Slone said, getting right to the point.

Adam never required the
how-you-doing
small talk a lot of bosses expected. “Shoot.”

“I want to change positions in the company.”

“Okay.”

Slone crossed his arms. “Bring me on as a high-level consultant.”

“What are you consulting?”

“You,” Slone said.

Adam smirked. “Why do I need
your
help?”

“Because I have
twelve years of experience in the military. Former Navy SEAL commander, oh-five rank. I know how to delegate people. I want to help you assign your bodyguard crews. I can convince your guys to take assignments they normally wouldn’t take, because I’m that good.”

“Are you?” Adam walked a circle around Slone, his heavy steel-toed biker boots thumping the floor. “That’s a lot of shit you’re talking. Care to back that up?”

“Give me a chance.” Slone shrugged.
“I’ll prove myself on day one.”

A hard smile twisted Adam’s lips. “You have the motherfucking gall to come up to me on the sixth floor, stand in my office, and tell me what I need.”

“Yep. I can do what you’re doing in my sleep,
only better.”

Adam cracked up laughing, his green eyes sharp with the intelligence a man earns on the street or out in the field, not in a classroom. “I like you, Rowan. You speak my language. Are you any good with electronics, email, all that detail crap?”

Slone nodded.

“Good.” Adam picked up his laptop and shoved it into Slone’s hands with enough force to pop the cord out of the socket. “All yours.”

“Where do you want me to start?”

Adam waved at the computer. “Just get that thing out of my face. I never want to have to read or respond to another email again.”

“Done.”

Eyeing him, Adam sized him up and appeared relieved. “This could be the beginning of a beautiful thing.”

“Sorry, man. You’re not really my type.”

Adam snorted. “What if I buy you dinner first?”

“Sure, what the hell? But I’m not a cheap date.”

“What kind of figure are you thinking?” Adam asked, growing serious as the topic returned to the job Slone wanted.

“A hundred-and-thirty grand a year, to start.”

“Damn.” Adam let out a low whistle. “You better be worth it. Because you know I’ll have you by the shorthairs. When I tell you to bend over, you nod and take it.”

Instantly, Slone felt at home as Adam’s right hand. Adam talked to him with the same gritty irreverence the same way that he and his guys used to bullshit on their missions. “Yeah, I get it. You say jump, I say how high.”

“Nothing gets by you,” Adam muttered. He pointed at the laptop like the thing caused him endless
grief. “There’s a backlog of fifteen-hundred emails that need an answer by the end of the day. Pull up a seat.” He patted the back of a leather chair near his desk. “Let’s get to work.”

*

Slone’s first week working with Adam required he stay glued to his company laptop for twelve to fourteen hours a day. Not what he’d signed on for, but it kept him available in his protective role for Lindsey, as well as keeping his thoughts wholly occupied so he didn’t have time to think much about when or whether Lindsey became pregnant.