Page 17 of Guarded By the Vodnik

It was a large, posh living room with a sprawling couch, a big TV occupying a wall opposite it, and really nice furniture including a couple bookcases and comfortable armchairs. There was also a pull-up bar affixed to a wall and what looked like a slim walking pad. I narrowed my eyes at something that suspiciously resembled a minibar when Vodyan pointed at a door to the left.

“This is your room. Everything inside is at your disposal. You can change.”

I’d barely nodded when he headed for the door opposite mine. It closed behind him with a soft click.

I stared without comprehension, my teeth chattering. He didn’t come out. The safehouse was perfectly quiet.

“Wow,” I muttered under my breath, annoyance shooting through me with a pang. “Incredible.”

More like incredibly rude, but I didn’t say it out loud. I knew myself enough to realize my irritation stemmed from the combo of the cold, hunger, and all the pent-up anxiety coiled in my gut. It would be unfair to take it out on my introverted bodyguard who had been forced to carry me around for hours while fighting water snakes and threatening to cut off their tails.

I shuddered violently at the memory, which only added to my discomfort. So I took a shaky breath to calm myself down and trudged to my room, undoing my suit on the way. The first thing I did was take off my mask and unhook my air tank the way Agent Beck taught me.

Peeling off the suit was a challenge, though my skin was dry underneath. I took in my new living quarters while I wrestled with the tight fabric that clung to my naked body. My room was spacious and pleasant, with warm lighting, light gray walls, and a bed large enough to roll around all over the mattress. Once my suit fell on the floor with a wet slap, I swayed into the en-suite bathroom, praying for hot water.

My prayers were heard by whatever genius had designed this secret bunker in the bottom of the lake. I stumbled under the spray with a moan of gratitude and swore I wouldn’t come out until my skin was all wrinkly.

Hot and clear, this was the kind of water I loved.

Chapter 7

Vodyan

As soon as the door closed behind me, I slumped, burying my face in my hands. Fuck, I was exhausted. It wasn’t a physical or mental strain, yet I felt raw all over, my nerves overstimulated and aching. My chest was heavy and tender, my throat was still tense, and my heart beat in a sickly, unpleasant rhythm.

If I hadn’t known better, I would have suspected I was ill. But that wasn’t it.

Touching Zoe made me so shaky.

I didn’t fully understand why, and I still didn’t have names for some of the emotions that flooded the pit of my stomach. Whenever I’d brought Lord Kannui, who was my last protection detail assignment eight years ago, to this safehouse, I never felt like such a wreck afterward.

He had felt like cargo when I hauled him around until we reached this hideout at the bottom of the lake. So why didn’t Zoe feel the same way?

Was it a temperature thing? Did she run hotter than he had? Or maybe the suit technology had changed, which was why she had seemed so scalding in my arms? I had no idea, and the more I thought about it, the more the tumultuous whirlpool inside me roiled until I had to force myself to snap out of it.

I had to stay alert.

The security network giving a full view around the safehouse was already on, the screens glowing on the wall of my room. I moved to a dark pool sunken into the floor opposite the screens, where I would work and sleep. If everything went according to plan, I wouldn’t have to even talk to Zoe from now on. I’d just stay here and, hopefully, my condition would go away, whatever it was.

I scanned the screens, predictably seeing nothing out of the ordinary, and reached for the tap to fill my pool with cool lake water. A sound traveling through the pipes made me freeze, a shiver going down my spine.

Soft and very female, it was a moan. I closed my eyes, shaking harder, even as another followed. And then, a low groan. For a moment, I wondered if she was in pain—honestly hoped those sounds were caused by pain—but then her words, distorted yet clear enough to understand, floated through the pipe system.

“Fuck, yes. God. Finally.”

A full-body shiver rolled through me, from my head down to the twitching tips of my tentacles. Heat bloomed in my gut, shocking and unwelcome just like the warmth of her, and it tightened when another moan of pleasure resounded from the wall.

I closed my eyes and exhaled with helpless fury. I’d forgotten about this unfortunate feature of the safehouse’s acoustics, probably because I didn’t want to remember it. Lord Kannui masturbated in the shower often and was very vocal during the act. I’d quickly learned to ignore it, just like I ignored his propensity to watch porn at full volume in the living room.

But the sounds of his pleasure never made me feel as helpless as Zoe’s moans.

I clenched my jaw and tightened my muscles to the point of pain, hoping that would help me get myself under control. But the added sensation only made me vibrate harder with whatever it was I felt. It wasn’t lust, at least, because that would have been incredibly awkward.

But I knew what lust felt like. It was pleasant and easily controllable, a bit like feeling the first pangs of hunger and knowing a meal would come soon. It was easy to wait without much discomfort.

This thing that I felt now was wildly unpleasant. It stirred in my gut like a monster tearing through my insides to find a way out. A parasite.

It fucking hurt.

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