thebodyguardsprincess M47 annmayburn 2 (16 page)

Diana ran past her and screamed as Kent carried Blondie up the stairs, her wig askew and blood staining the front of her sparkly top. "Raymond!" Diana screamed and pulled back Blondie's shirt, examining the wound with shaking hands.

Kent was dressed from head to toe in black, and looked like hell. Deep purple circles stood out beneath his eyes, but the relief on his face when he saw her made her chest grow tight. Lalita ran to him, trying not to jostle Blondie but covering his shoulder and hands in kisses.

"Are you okay?" Kent's voice broke on the last word.

Together, they laid Blondie down on the ground, and she groaned while pressing on her gunshot wound. "I don't think they hit anything major."

"Move back," a man behind them ordered. Another man came up the stairs and pulled down the emergency medical kit attached to the wall.

Kent guided Lalita over to the side, wrapping her in his arms and crushing her to his chest. "You're bleeding, and why do you stink?"

Sobbing, she buried her face in his chest and tried to speak. "I get sick at the sight of my blood."

"Why are you bleeding?" Kent said and continued to run his hands over her body.

"Blondie," she hiccupped, "cut me so we would have rough sex."

"What?" Kent shook his head. "Never mind. Nothing matters except that you're safe." His chest heaved and his voice broke again. "We are so sorry. It's our fault that you were taken. It's--"

"Kent," she whispered against his lips. "I love you." With a low moan, he carried them down to the ground and held her while he cried. He tried to speak again and she placed her hand over his mouth. "Later." Nodding, he held her and rocked her in his arms while organized chaos overtook the yacht.

In the distance, no fireworks lit the sky and Lalita felt a relief--a gratitude so profound it humbled her.

* * * *

Clean, dressed in a pair of borrowed sweat pants and a hospital gift shop T-shirt, Lalita held Kent's hand and smiled at Asher. It was nine hours after the attempted attack and they had finally made it to the hospital after talking with the authorities. The Sanjit was the first person to meet them on the shore, and Lalita had a very tearful reunion with her father.

"Hey there." Asher's handsome face filled with a tired smile. He was still heavily medicated on painkillers and his dark eyes held a glassy sheen. "I missed you."

Feeling more tired and drained than she ever had in her life, Lalita couldn't help but return his smile. "I missed you too."

Kent gently took Asher's hand, careful of the IV, and placed a kiss on his knuckles. "I told you I'd get her back."

Asher tried to sit and they both pushed him back down. She gently stroked the side of his cheek, her fingers rasping over his stubble. "I was so worried about you."

Shaking his head, Asher let go of Kent's hand to pat hers. "You're kidnapped by anarchists and you were worried about me?" Tears filled his eyes. "We almost lost our minds."

Darting a quick glance at the closed door and drawn curtains, she lowered the side rail of his bed and laid her head on his chest. The steady sound of his heartbeat soothed her. "I'm okay. The Sanjit stopped by earlier." His heartbeat sped up a bit. "I heard how close you came to being seriously hurt, both of you."

Her voice came out choked as she breathed in the scent of Asher's skin. "Blondie--err Raymond got shot in the chest. One of his lungs got nicked but they expect him to make a full recovery. He killed Nurse Nancy but Rashid and David are still alive and in custody."

Kent gave her back a soothing stroke. "Hazmat teams are all over the barge. If what they told Lalita was true, our Princess saved the lives of tens of thousands of people."

Tears filled her eyes as her heart ached at the thought of all the things that could have gone wrong. "I could never ever have done it without both of you." She grabbed the edge of Asher's hospital blanket and wiped her eyes. "You have no idea how much you both mean to me and I never want to come that close to losing you again. I love you so much, but if either of you ever treat me like anything other than an equal again, I'm going to kick your asses." She gave Asher a watery smile. "Blondie said she would help me chain you up on a Saint Andrew's cross and flog you until you begged forgiveness."

Asher laughed, then groaned and hit the little button that controlled his pain medication. "The Sanjit said something similar." He smiled at her shocked look. "Not the flogging part, though now that you mention it, I can't wait to turn that sweet ass pink." Kent gave her bottom a soft slap, and she glowered at him before turning back to Asher. "The Sanjit told me that as soon as I'm on my feet he wants me back at your side where Kent will be waiting for me."

She felt the heat of a blush fill her cheeks. "He--uh, knows about us."

"All three of us?"

"Yep." She squirmed with embarrassment at the memory of her conversation with her father. "Seems that the surveillance footage from Blondie's showed the three of us kissing in the car before we went in."

Asher groaned and Kent patted his hand. "He told me that if we break her heart he'll still have his dogs eat our balls." His tone turned serious. "Besides, we're going to be key witnesses at the anarchist's trial. And we found out who the insider was that helped hypnotize her."

Asher's voice turned deadly and he managed to radiate menace despite all the wires and IVs attached to him. "Who?"

"Mrs. Yazuka," Lalita said and gripped her hands into fists. "That bitch was using our 'meditation time' to turn me into their little puppet."

"And the housekeeper," Kent added with a grim look. "Though we’re sure she was hypnotized as well. The 'vase' suggestion worked on her and she answered the lock and key question in a trance state."

"Un-fucking believable," Asher said in a stunned voice. "We never would have suspected a thing. Hell, the housekeeper would have passed any polygraph because she didn't even consciously know that she was being used." Asher stared at the ceiling.

"Well, at least we're aware of it now. It would explain how the anarchists managed to attract all these people that we would never expect to be a part of their organization. If all they have to do is find people that are easily hypnotized, who knows what kind of damage they can do. Our Princess is going to need us close to keep her safe."

"Hey!" She sat up and gave both men a mock glower to break the tension. "What about me keeping you safe?"

Asher gently pulled her head back down till it rested on his chest. "You have our hearts. We trust you to keep them safe."

She rubbed her cheek against his chest and smiled at him. In all of her wildest dreams she never would have imagined the depth of love that she felt for her men. "Well, I guess that's fair." She turned her head and gave Kent a nod with a significant look before turning back to Asher.

Kent leaned over her and kissed Asher's forehead. "Lalita and I had a talk while we were waiting for you to wake up."

His heart sped beneath her cheek and she smoothed her hand over his gown covered chest. "Don't worry. It was a good talk."

Leaning back, she let Kent hold her and stroked the soft hair on his arms. "We wanted to ask you a question."

"What's that?" Asher's eyes filled with a crushing vulnerability as Kent rubbed his chin on top of her head.

She looked to Kent and he nodded. Taking a deep breath, she got down on one knee next to the hospital bed and Kent followed suit. "Will you marry us?"

"What?" The look of apprehension fled his eyes, replaced first with disbelief, then joy.

Kent stood and took his hand again. "Well, it won't be really legal--"

"But who needs a piece of paper to make it real?" Lalita felt nervous waiting for Asher's answer. He watched them together and said nothing, his face closing down into that unreadable bodyguard expression. "We'll take it one day at a time. I know it won't be easy--"

"Nothing worth having is easy," Kent added.

"But we both love you too much to lose you."

The heart monitor slowed as Asher's heartbeat returned to a normal rhythm. "What about your father?"

Blushing, she looked down at his hand and traced the paleness of his nails against his dark skin. "He doesn't want to know the details, but he's okay with it."

Asher's hand stirred beneath hers and his fingers lightly entwined with hers. "Do you have a ring?"

Startled, she looked at him and blushed. "Uh, no."

"Some proposal this is," Asher huffed. His eyes sparkled and he groaned as he tried to sit up again.

Kent moved over to the other side of the bed and they both pushed him back down. Asher reached out with both hands and cupped the back of their heads, bringing their faces down to him. With their cheeks pressed together, he moved his lips across theirs in a soft kiss. "Yes, I would love to be your husband."

Elation filled Lalita’s heart, turning to a soft whisper of desire as they shared a kiss together that had Asher's monitor beeping. The door opened behind them and a startled female voice said, "Oh! Oh, uh--stop upsetting … heart rate … oh my."

Kent broke the kiss ,and Lalita felt her face heat with a blush as she blinked at the staring gray-haired nurse. "Sorry about that. We asked him to marry us."

Lalita didn't believe the nurse's face could get any redder than her own. She was wrong. The nurse played with her stethoscope and said in a faint voice, "Did he accept?"

"Yes," Asher said from between them with a wide grin.

"Well … congratulations. Who's going to be the … never mind." Trying to scrape herself together, the nurse backed out of the doorway. "Try to keep calm. You need your rest. Yes--rest."

The door clicked shut, and they all began to chuckle, then laugh until Lalita and Kent had to lean on the bed. Feeling blessed beyond all words, she hugged her men to her and looked forward to a future filled with unimaginable love.

About the Author

Ann is Queen of the Castle to her wonderful husband and three sons in the mountains of West Virginia. In her past lives she’s been an Import Broker, a Communications Specialist, a US Navy Civilian Contractor, a Bartender/Waitress, and an actor at the Michigan Renaissance Festival. She also spent a summer touring with the Grateful Dead-though she will deny to her children that it ever happened.

From a young age she’s been fascinated by myths and fairytales, and the romance that often was the center of the story. As Ann grew older and her hormones kicked in, she discovered trashy romance novels. Great at first, but she soon grew tired of the endless stories with a big wonderful emotional buildup to really short and crappy sex. Never a big fan of purple prose, throbbing spears of fleshy pleasure and wet honey pots make her giggle, she sought out books that gave the sex scenes in the story just as much detail and plot as everything else-without using cringe worthy euphemisms. This led her to the wonderful world of Erotic Romance, and she’s never looked back.

With over thirty published books, Ann now spends her days trying to tune out cartoons playing in the background to get into her “sexy space” and has learned to type one handed while soothing a cranky child.

Ann
loves
to hear from her readers and you can find out more about Ann at:

http://www.annmayburn.com