Seducing the Bodyguard (14 page)

He couldn’t have that kind of training. He couldn’t have that kind of life. She had never had a normal childhood because she had been trained since birth to be lethal. He just wanted to take her in his arms and hold her, make things better and keep her safe from the world she belonged to. Perhaps it was his uneasiness that prompted her mother to take him on a tour of the gardens. She assured him the training would go on for several hours. She had been right. They had trained well into the late evening until Valencia surfaced with a, “tomorrow, same place same time,” statement that had Harrison’s gut clenching tight.

“Two days in a row?”

“It’s not really all that unusual, Harrison. This is my world.”

And he had asked for a glimpse inside that world so he shouldn’t complain because he was getting it now. He wasn’t complaining—much. He just wished she didn’t have to live this way. He was going to take her away from all of it. She could take on a job in D.C. if she just wanted to work, but with his money she didn’t need to. Not that he thought she was in dire need of money. Her family was clearly well off. People didn’t get marble halls and elaborate crystal chandeliers without having money.

“Are you aching?”

“I’ll live,” she said on their drive home. Sure, she would live. She had gone through this a thousand times, if not more, and she probably got used to pain.

“Tonight I’ll give you a massage to ease the soreness,” he rubbed his hand along her shoulder.

“Harrison, that’s not necessary. I’m used to this. Trust me; I’ve had worse.”

He was sure she had. He felt his jaw clinching and his hands threatening to ball into tight fists of anger. “I want to,” he said. “Please let me do this?”

She smiled. “Okay. But I shower first. Seven hours of training and trust me; I need a shower. Normally I shower there before I leave, but I figured you were ready to head back.”

He smiled. The words, “I can shower with you,” were on the tip of his tongue, but he declined to let them leave it. He could shower in his own shower while she showered in hers. Then he would give her his Harrison Sinclair famous massage. He had great hands, and he planned to show her just how great they were.

“It’s killing you isn’t it?” She grinned.

“What?”

“You want to shower with me,” she looked at him with a slight glint in her eyes. How could she be this knowledgeable as to what people were thinking?

“We’ll get there,” she told him. The assurance in her voice sounded genuine. She meant what she said and because he knew that, he could resolve himself to wait for them to get there. He wouldn’t rush this. This relationship was like composing a fine opera. He just couldn’t rush perfection. He would be patient. But once they did get there he planned to devour every inch of her, licking her body in all the right places; tasting her sweet nectar. He would touch her, taste her, feel her, love her. She was going to be his completely. He just had to wait for her to resolve that she wanted him as much as he wanted her.

A quick shower of his own and he was ready to set up to give Valencia the massage of her life. He had everything ready. The plush soft blanket was spread on the floor with a few pillows to make sure she could make herself comfortable without needing to continuously get up once he got started. He had raided her lotions to find one that he was sure to soften the mood and help get the tension out of her body. When she came down the stairs wearing a deep blue satin robe his breath just froze. She was beautiful, with her hair flowing down across her shoulders and landing softly over her breasts. Her slender curves were inviting. He just wanted to reach out and touch her, stroke her body and feel the softness of it beneath his fingertips.

“You want me here?”

Good Lord that was a loaded question. He wanted her everywhere. Where she stood would be just fine, but he knew that’s not what she meant. “Um…yeah,” he cleared his throat. This had never happened to him before. He had never found it hard to communicate with a woman, but he was finding it hard now. He worried about saying the wrong thing, about screwing it up. This was novice to him and he wasn’t sure he liked the feeling much at all.

He watched her disrobe. Beneath the smooth fabric she wore royal purple lace panties and a matching silky camisole. She looked at him before motioning with her finger for him to turn around. He didn’t want to turn around. He wanted to keep looking at her, drinking in her heavenly body. It took all his strength to make his body move.

He heard her sliding the camisole from her body. His senses were on high alert and what he heard made him anticipate what he would see when he was able to turn around. He exhaled slowly, willing himself not to turn around and look at her.

“I’m ready,” she said. When he turned around he could see her lying on her stomach, propped up on her elbows and watching him over her shoulder. Her hair fell softly on her back.

“Let’s get started,” his voice was low and laced with his desire. She rested her head on the back of her hands. He pushed her hair from her back and gracefully draped it over her shoulder watching the dark strands fall against the smooth skin of her arm and onto the blanket. She had covered her lower half with the extra sheet he had brought out and so he left it there even though he wanted to remove it and take all of her in. He would afford her with the courtesy of keeping her covered until he needed to work on that area of her body.

His heavenly moment came when he straddled her body and begin to spread the smooth cream onto her skin. His hands glided up and down her back, stroking her, caressing her, eliciting a soft moan from deep in her throat. That moan nearly undid his reserve. Everything in him wanted to forget the massage and just go to work on exploring her body with his tongue, but that was not to be had—not tonight. Tonight was about the massage he promised. Tonight was about relieving her sore muscles that she seemed to be accustomed to allowing herself to live with. He smiled. While he wished she wasn’t going to be training again tomorrow he couldn’t deny that he was thankful another day of training would give him the chance for another night of getting this up close and personal with Valencia’s body.

“I could make it feel better,” the words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them. There was no mistaking the sexual nature in his tone or in his words.

“I don’t doubt that,” she said in an equally sex laden voice.

He leaned his body against hers and whispered against her ear. “I’ll wait for you, Valencia, but only if you want me to.” And he hoped her answer would be yes. She had hinted around, but he needed assurance. He needed to know he had a shot at making this work with her.

She eased up, causing him to move back and she leaned on her elbow as she turned her upper body slightly sideways. He could see the side curve of her breast and it made him hard just thinking of his mouth on that soft curve. She smiled at him, eased up a little more and then placed her free hand on the back of his head, brining his head down so their lips could meet. In one smooth movement she captured his lips, softly kissing him and slipping her tongue out to part his lips before delving deep inside his mouth.

He felt emotions within him waging a war. He wanted to push her onto her back and find a nice home between her legs. He wanted to feel his body connected to hers, driving into her and connecting to her deeper than this kiss could ever take them. His hand slid up the curve of her waist; his fingers digging into her flesh and squeezing. He growled his appreciation, his satisfaction, his lust and desire and need escaping in that one passion driven response to the hot body beneath him.

Her tongue dueled with his, her lips devoured him and took him to the brink of insanity and nearly pushed him over before she pulled back and looked deep into his eyes.

“Yeah, but that was for show. This is for real.” He winked at her. “Now, I have a massage to finish so get back on your belly woman.”

She laughed. “Yes, sir.”

He liked the humor in her tone. He hadn’t seen a humorous side to Valencia much, except for when she was around Leo. She seemed to relax with her family in general, but Leo was the only one he had seen her relax enough with to display a hint of silly with. He liked that side of Valencia, he liked it a lot. He also liked the feel of her sexy body beneath his, and he liked knowing she was no longer on the market emotionally for any other man. Valencia was his. And for some reason that thought alone made him want to reach out and lick the smooth skin he felt underneath the palms of his hand.

Her soft, involuntary moans as he stroked and caressed her body were setting him on fire. She was making these passionate sounds and all he was doing was giving her a massage. He imagined the sounds she would make when he found his place deep inside her. At that moment he realized this massage was more torture for him than he had ever imagined it would be. God help him, he liked every second of it.

Chapter Ten

O
ne uncontrollable diva had cut their retreat to paradise short and Harrison was not happy about that. He was planning a long night of pleasure with Valencia. It was the first day where she wasn’t training for seven hours and he wanted to take advantage of their time together. A little sightseeing for him, because she already knew the islands, but she didn’t have a problem showing him around, showing him the best parts, the worst parts, and the reason even with the high cost of living, she still thought this paradise was worth the price. They were going to shoot for an early dinner and then they were going home, back to her home anyway, and there he planned to enjoy an intimate night of pleasure with her.

His plans were not soon to be realized. When he got the call that their star was throwing another tantrum he almost lost his control. If he could fire her he would, but they were so far into the show. Black alto opera singers weren’t exactly a dime a dozen. There was just no way he could replace her. There was the understudy, but she was the understudy for a reason. Dahlia Grossman just wasn’t lead material. No; he couldn’t replace the diva from hell. Even if he could, there were only a few more cities left on the list. The price of tearing up her contract wouldn’t be worth the headache. But when the call came in he almost said to hell with all of it. Litigation, bad press, and cancelled shows would all be worth it to get Chastity Clarence out of his show. He was sick of dealing with the diva.

When he approved the hire it was because she was a complete one eighty from what she was now. She was sweet, willing to work hard, and cooperative. Over the past several showings he found himself being called out of business meetings to settle her tantrums more frequently than not. He could barely go do what he needed to do to market and do interviews because he constantly had to go to the set to straighten out problems centered around Chastity’s tantrums. After a while he just decided traveling with the show was a necessity. He usually followed the show to each city, but he never really stayed the entire length of the production. He not only had promotions, but he had business meetings and he still needed to work on his next baby. His family had money, but he liked making his own. He got paid when he worked, not when he served as therapist for one temper tantrum throwing star.

“I’m sorry about this,” he said as he fastened his seatbelt. The flight attendants were preparing for takeoff and the only thing he could think about was the fact that he had abruptly cut their time together short. Valencia was never completely relaxed. She was always working, always alert, but when she was at her parents place and in her home she let her hair down and relaxed at least a little. He liked seeing that side of her, the real life person and not the trained assassin turned bodyguard side, because it reminded him of her humanity.

“It’s okay. You have responsibilities and obligations.”

“Yeah, but I was enjoying Hawaii with you and I wish I didn’t have to end it so soon.”

She smiled at him. “I’m glad you had a chance to meet my family, to see my world. I’m glad you know who I am, what I am, and you still want more than just sex with me.”

He stroked a finger over her cheek. “Oh, I want sex too,” he grinned. “But you’re right; I want a lot more than that. Your family is nice. Your home is beautiful. It was good getting a glimpse into the world of Valencia Dugan-Mishoto. Thank you for sharing it with me.”

“You’re welcome,” she gazed deep into his eyes. He was certain she didn’t share her world with just anybody and that knowledge alone made him feel a sense of pride, as if he should climb the Empire State building and beat his fists against his chest.

Chastity had better hope he settled down before reaching the theater because if he didn’t he was in danger of giving her a tongue lashing in front of the entire production team. She had just singlehandedly ruined what was turning out to be the perfect getaway. “Maybe we can come back after the show wraps. When I’m not needed to do any hand holding.”