Page 28 of Guarded By the Vodnik

With a resigned sigh, I set the walking pad in front of the TV and put on a movie. At least that way, exercise wouldn’t bore me to tears.

When Vodyan came out after his meal, he joined me without a word, and we watched the movie together in companionable silence. It was another action flick, this time with motorcycles instead of cars. I spent a ridiculously large part of the movie forcing my eyes to stay on the screen instead of glancing at him every ten seconds or so.

He was so oddly magnetic, and I didn’t understand why.

Overall, that day was a very welcome breakthrough. After that, we hung out every day. Two weeks passed, and I found them surprisingly perfect compared to the first one, because now I had company.

While each of us had some alone time, we spent most of every day together. Vodyan mostly listened while I talked to him, telling him about my job, my family, my neighbors, and anything that came to mind, really.

I told him all my funny stories. About how I got a potted plant as a present and watered it religiously for a full year before I realized it was fake. Or how I told my friend a lewd joke on the phone in the bathroom at my first job, and after I was done, my boss came out of the adjacent stall, having heard it all.

She gave me that arch, unimpressed look, and when my eyes widened in panic, she burst out laughing. We became friends after that.

I talked about my cat, who passed away, and friends I drifted apart from, because so many of them were now paired off and raising kids while I was single.

One night, I cracked the mini-bar open and had some supposedly luxurious whiskey that burned like shit and went down really badly, but I drank it, anyway. I only stopped when my hands jerked in my lap with the need to grab fistfuls of Vodyan’s tentacles and press them to my face.

That urge was ridiculous and something I fought almost constantly. It was like his boundary made me crave his touch—forbidden fruit and all that. But I held back, because I wasn’t about to make him uncomfortable, no matter how much I wanted to glide my fingers down his muscular shoulders and feel him tense, then relax, under my touch.

I fantasized about touching him when I was alone. It was really embarrassing, even though it was also pretty innocent. I just wanted a hug and maybe some friendly caresses.

When we talked, I avoided sensitive topics, so I barely mentioned my volunteer work. And even though Vodyan was an attentive listener, and I loved to talk for hours on end, I was infinitely curious about him, so I did my best to pry him open with questions.

What was his favorite food? Did he like his job? What other things did he do before he became a bodyguard? Which superpower would he choose, invisibility or flying? Did he have a favorite insect? Coffee mug? Brand of tinned tuna?

After a few of my questions coaxed brief smiles out of him, I got hooked. I came up with more and more ridiculous ones, and it was like a game. I awarded myself points: two for a brief smile, five for a big one, and ten for a full-on laugh.

He hadn’t laughed yet, though. But I was determined.

“Would you rather date a Sagittarius or a Gemini?” I asked before popping a handful of peanuts in my mouth.

We were in the living room, and I lounged on the couch while Vodyan sprawled on the floor, his tentacles spread wide all around him as he leaned back against an armchair. His eyes were hooded, expression soft, and I had to make myself look away every now and then to not stare like a creep.

It was a stupid question, and I cringed internally, because obviously, I was a Gemini. I felt a bit like a teenager fishing for proof that their crush liked them back. And fine, maybe I did have a bit of a crush on my bodyguard, but that was all there was.

And it was caused by the touching ban, I was sure of it. I wouldn’t have developed this unhealthy obsession if he wasn’t forbidden.

“I have no idea what those mean,” he said, swallowing a piece of sushi that he made from canned fish. “But regardless, I don’t date.”

My brows furrowed in surprise. “You don’t? Not at all? But you’re so breathtakingly hot, so why…”

I pressed my hand to my mouth, hiccupping when I realized what just fell out of my mouth. Vodyan sat up straighter, shooting me a piercing look. We stared at each other, and I just knew my face was all red.

That was the downside of having a mouth that chose the worst possible moments to disconnect from my brain.

He frowned, parting his lips to say something, but then his frown deepened, and he pressed them together. I closed my eyes in embarrassment, and when I opened them, Vodyan was closer, his gaze roaming my face.

“Zoe, I…”

He didn’t finish that thought, though, because a booming alarm blared through the safehouse, making me shriek from shock. Vodyan shot to his room without a backward glance, and I was left on the couch all alone, peanuts scattered all over me.

A moment later, he was out, his mouth set in a grim line.

“We’re under attack. If I don’t come back in an hour, hit the big red button in my room.”

And then, he was gone, the door of the lock hissing shut behind him. I sat motionless for a terror-filled moment before I scrambled to my feet and ran to look at the security screens.

Chapter 11

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