StrategicLust (3 page)

“The problem is that I’m not free to act as your lover, Josh,”
Kate insisted. Fully clothed, she still somehow managed to feel laid bare,
naked as she tried to explain herself to Joshua. She saw the moment her words
hit home with him, though. Joshua’s entire body stiffened, his amber gaze
snapping back to her. Shocked by the intensity of his reaction, she quickly
mentally re-listened to her own words and understood how he might have
misinterpreted them.

“I mean I’m your Guardian, Josh,” Kate explained softly as
she caught his gaze again. She was speaking the honest truth and she wanted him
to see that in her face and eyes. “I’m here to protect you, to watch out for
you and keep you safe. If possible I’m also supposed to verify who is after you
and let my superiors know. I’m not here to hold hands with you, be intimate
with you. That is what I mean by saying I’m not free to act as your lover.”

As she spoke, Joshua’s body loosened slightly, though she
had the strong suspicion that he still didn’t enjoy hearing her speaking the
reality of their situation. Her thoughts were confirmed when he replied.

“Why can’t you be both? I know it’s the cardinal rule—never
get emotionally involved, certainly never sleep with your client—but honestly,
what harm can it cause?”

Kate smiled, though there was not much pleasure in it.

“Oh Josh. What if we went out to a lovely dinner together? Good
food, candlelight, intimate surroundings… I’d be focused on you, not our backs—I’d
be completely reneging on my contract. A whole army could swarm the restaurant
and I’d need to resort to killing many people—possibly even some innocents by
accident—to protect you. If I’m not fully focused on keeping you safe and aware
of the millions of things around us, then I am not performing my duty. Can you
see that?” Kate finished a little forlornly.

Joshua appeared to think it over for a few moments but
finally nodded, his face clear as he seemed to come to understand her point.
Crossing toward her, he wrapped Kate in a warm embrace. After a moment of
standing stock-still, Kate allowed herself to lean in to her lover and soak up
the heat from his body.

The air had cooled slightly after the heated intensity of
their erotic encounter and Kate was beginning to feel the chill. Recalling that
they were supposed to be following closely behind Kiera and Hayden, Kate jerked
back with a slight wince.

“Oh shit—Kiera is going to think we’ve been run off the road
or something,” Kate blurted out. Josh sighed but began to step into his
clothes. Kate threw her ruined outfit onto the bed she had been using and
grabbed fresh clothes at random.

“I only need a two-minute shower and to get into a clean
outfit,” she threw over her shoulder as she raced into the bathroom. Leaving
the door half open so she could hear Josh if he called out, Kate hastily turned
on the faucets.

“There’s no rush,” Josh shouted so she could hear him above
the spray. “I don’t mind if you smell of me.”

“
I
mind,” Kate insisted as she quickly rinsed her
body with shower gel. “It’s incredibly unprofessional of me. Not to mention a
poor first impression to make on Kiera and Hayden’s friends. I’ll only be a few
seconds. I promise.”

“Take your time,” Josh replied lazily. Kate turned her head,
her hands instinctively covering her breasts. She snorted as she saw Josh
watching her with evident satisfaction and she flipped him the bird and quickly
continued to wash herself. Josh ran a wash cloth under the faucet in the sink
and began to clean himself of their mingled juices.

“You, sir, are going to get me into a barrelful of trouble,
aren’t you?” Kate mused softly, her words muffled by the spray.

“What was that?” Josh asked as he stepped closer, his eyes
devouring her body. Kate laughed softly and shook her head.

“Nothing. Just…nothing.”

* * * * *

Josh watched Kate drive with a fierce focus he’d rarely seen
anyone else use when negotiating the streets of Chicago. Joshua had given Kate
simple directions to the Café and they had fallen into an easy silence. Even
though a number of the turns she took were sharp and the constant weaving among
lanes made Josh feel faintly queasy, the trip was made in fairly short order.

Kate grinned with satisfaction, evidently pleased with the
counter-measures she had taken to ensure they weren’t tailed. A number of times
they had made sudden turns, doubled back and failed to indicate their movements.

She radiated beauty, this witch. Josh felt his breath catch
yet again as she turned to face him, clearly proud of herself. Her creamy
complexion was delicately flushed, giving Josh a genuine insight into the
description “peaches and cream” he had heard bandied about among his friends.
Her vivid red hair fell in subtle waves to her shoulders.

Even as he watched, Kate lifted her hands to her head,
finger-combed the strands into a ponytail, pulled an elastic band from around
her wrist and tied the tendrils neatly back. Looking far more professional now
than she had twenty minutes before—naked, sweating and panting post-climax—she
nevertheless made Josh’s heart thump in his chest.

Part of him could hardly believe this amazing witch had so
much diversity to her character. Naked, wanton and wicked one moment and then
professional, calm and deadly the next. The differences were astounding, even
after having observed them himself. Oddly, this seemingly complete segregation
of different aspects of her character merely whetted his appetite for more.
Joshua found himself wanting to know what other facets of her personality there
would prove to be. Sex kitten? Lusty submissive?

Josh’s brain nearly melted with the highly sensual, erotic
pictures he entertained himself with. The picture of her round, pert ass over
his lap as he spanked her cheeks had his cock hardening in his pants and Josh
groaned. Instantly Kate’s hand grasped his shoulder and she began to push him
down further into the seat as she looked wildly around.

“No, no, Kate—it’s all right,” Josh hastily reassured her,
loving the scent of honey and cinnamon that had enveloped him as she moved
closer to protect him. “I was just…distracted. Nothing’s wrong.”

Kate thumped him in what Josh assumed was meant to be a
gentle manner, though her fist connecting with his upper chest rather hurt.

“I’m working and you’re thinking dirty thoughts?” she
replied huffily. “We’ve already had this discussion.”

“I know you don’t think you can be both my Guardian and my lover,”
Josh said. “But you manage to have this way of switching off.”

Getting into his theory, Joshua turned in his seat to more
fully face Kate and pitch his idea.

“How about we try this. While we’re outside—traveling, in
public and when you need to…ah…
work
—why don’t you be Guardian Kate. But
behind closed doors, when there’s no call for you to analyze the wind ratios
and the projections of oncoming people or whatever, we can just be ourselves
and…explore this. That’d be a good compromise, right?”

Kate shot him a look. Her gorgeous blue-green eyes told him she
wasn’t really upset, but he wasn’t sure she was sold either. He grinned a
little lopsidedly and resisted the urge to rub at the spot where she had hit
him. Damn, the witch packed a punch. No girlie slaps or hits there. The control
he usually held over his heart slipped another notch.

Kate was silent as she parked. She didn’t answer him,
neither confirming nor denying. Josh tried to be patient but the entire
situation was so different and bizarre to him that he needed her either to verbally
slap him down or to acknowledge his suggestion in some way.

“Kate?” he prodded.

“I’m working, Josh. I’m willing to entertain your theory,
but…I have serious reservations about this. Can’t we wait until it’s all over?”

“Who knows how long that will be?” Josh insisted. He lowered
his tone, cajoled her and had to resist the impulse to lay his hand on her
thigh. “Let’s give it a couple of days. Just give it a try. If it’s not working
or is truly interfering with your ability to focus…I’ll try to give you more
time. Please?”

“I’ll think about it,” she finally conceded. Josh grinned,
watched as Kate let the engine idle a for moment as she turned her head,
scanning their surroundings carefully three times before finally removing her seat
belt and eventually turning off the engine.

“Let’s go.”

Part of Joshua had hoped for—maybe even expected—a kiss, or
at the very least a smile. He swallowed hard and undid his seatbelt.

Her complexities
—
the paradox between warrior and
sensual, lush witch. Kate isn’t your usual style and there are bound to be
difficulties, compromises and small let-downs. But she’s worth it, right?

Josh grinned. Oh yeah, this potent witch was more than worth
a change in his pace. No question. His ego might smart and there’d surely be
hiccups and maybe even a few spirited arguments along the way. But a few small
compromises and a bit of work would pay off massively for the effort he made.

Kate opened her door and climbed out of the car. Having been
fully and thoroughly briefed on this particular procedure earlier, Josh waited
as Kate came around to his side, her head turning as her eyes scanned the
entire area surrounding them. Only when she was convinced no one would jump out
to assault them did she open his door.

Josh climbed out feeling faintly stupid but refusing to let
it get to him.

Chalk it up to one more novel experience and a small
compromise to get the bigger picture.
As a Strategist, Joshua was
well-enamored of the big picture. All too often he felt others focused on the
small slights, the quick return. By keeping his focus on the main goal, tiny
issues like having his witch open his car door could be allowed to fade into
the background, where they belonged.

Besides, the more he thought about the delicious differences
between Guardian Kate and sexy, rumpled-in-bed Kate, the easier it was to
swallow. Joshua determined there and then to be charmed by the serious,
take-no-prisoners nature of her professional side. It would make the removing
of her clothes and the sweet, decadent cries he could wring from those lush
lips later on in bed all the more precious.

They were only half a block away from the Round Tree Café.
Close enough to walk—or run—promptly, but far enough away that no one should be
able to make their car and record their details.

As they fell into step together on the sidewalk, Josh found
himself resisting the urge to take Kate’s hand.

What the hell is wrong with me?
he wondered idly.
Normally
I can’t run away fast enough—half the time I don’t even bother to shower before
I leave a witch’s bed. So what is it about this witch that has me wanting to
hold her hand? I never want to hold hands, just as I never want to make small
talk, tell jokes to make her smile or all sorts of other bizarre things I want
to experience with Kate.

Joshua walked silently, pensively going over everything in
his mind. Before he could consider the question of how deep his feelings for
Kate genuinely went, they were coming into view of the café and Josh felt his
stomach unclench and the weighty thoughts he had been entertaining dissipate.

“There you are!” Kiera called as she pushed her way toward
them. One hand gently touched Josh’s shoulder as she looked him up and down
then cast a faintly puzzled glance at Kate.

“You were both taking so long I started to worry,” Kiera
began in a rush as she unconsciously tugged a curl of dark-brown hair behind
her ear. “Did you run into trouble? If you think we should move this to
somewhere else, then—”

“No.” Kate cut her off with hardly a blink. “Sorry if we
held you up. Do we have a table near the back? You really shouldn’t have been
waiting out here. You and Hayden really are in danger.”

“I know,” Kiera replied, chastised. “And I promised Hayden
I’d only wait a moment before returning. Let’s go to the table and I’ll
introduce you to everyone.”

Pleased he hadn’t needed to say a word—or worse, lie to his
best friend—Josh followed Kiera when Kate motioned for him him to walk ahead of
her. Even without turning around to watch his lover, he knew she would be
scanning faces, looking swiftly over the largely human population of the café
to see whether anything stood out or put her on guard.

When they reached two tables pushed together near the rear
of the café without Kate speaking a word, Josh felt confident that nothing in
the café had unsettled his lover. Kiera instantly slid into the seat next to
Hayden and they automatically held hands as if they had been together forever
instead of barely a week.

Used to the witch sitting first, it took a moment for Josh
to realize that Kate was waiting for him to be seated before she would consider
taking her own chair.

“Oh, right,” he half apologized as he scooted into the farther
away of the two empty seats. Kate followed him, effectively putting her slim
body as a barrier between Joshua and the room at large.

It didn’t sit especially well with him, this reversal of
traditional roles, but he kept his mouth shut. Josh had never thought himself
particularly strait-laced or chivalrous. Had he been asked, he would have
insisted he behaved in a polite, well-mannered and appreciative way with a
genuine respect for all a witch symbolized, yes. Having said that, if a witch
reached for the door he would not rush to beat her,
insisting
it was his
given right as a male to open it for her and prove his worthiness.

Josh had worked in the Enforcers for long enough to know a
witch could be just as powerful as any wizard, and frequently they were even
more independent than any male he knew. A witch did not necessarily need to be
taken care of. Though he truly believed witches could be just as fierce as any
wizard it was only now, when he was forced into the role of being protected,
that he began to understand that simple matters such as waiting for a woman he was
eating a meal with to sit first were deeply ingrained in him.