Page 33 of Guarded By the Phantom

She shook her head and looked up, her expression sheepish. “Sorry I kicked you,” she mumbled. “I guess I should have learned long ago. That’s what happens when I cross the line.”

I dropped to a crouch in front of her and retracted the armor covering my palms. The plates clicked gently, sliding and stacking on top of each other to mimic the lines of bones in my palms. Barbara’s breath hitched, and she watched it closely, intrigued.

“May I?” I asked, gesturing with my naked, dark-gray-skinned palm at her foot.

“I guess,” she said, wrapping her arms around herself.

I gently held her ankle, doing my best to hide the shiver that shot down my spine when I felt her naked skin against mine. My cock twitched, and I bit back a curse. Really, I should have touched people without armor more often. As it was, I only did it in sexual situations. I conditioned myself to respond this way.

I moved her foot left and right, sliding my fingers along her ankle. “Does it hurt?”

“No.”

I checked her delicate bones next, carefully passing my fingertips over each. I looked around from time to time, making sure we were safe and alone, and Barbara shivered, digging her nails into her arms.

“This pain wasn’t a punishment for kicking me, just a simple consequence of making a stupid decision,” I said softly as I took her smallest toe between two fingers and moved it with care.

She gasped, but the bones were intact. I moved on to the next. “You need to be smart when you break the rules. Bend the world to your will. Karma and the law only work if you believe in them, doll. I don’t. That’s how I get away with almost everything.”

She laughed softly. “But you don’t. Your boss threatened to give you a job you hate if you don’t behave.”

I looked up, grinning, and almost recoiled when another wave of pink infused my vision. “She won’t do anything unless you give me away. So don’t. Okay?”

“Okay.”

She sighed, looking down with a small frown, and damn, but I didn’t know if she was pink because of my freaking eyes or because she was blushing.

Her foot was warm in my hand, but callused and strong, too. A dancer’s foot.

“Nothing is broken,” I said after a lengthy examination. “But you should stay off it to be safe. Put on just your sock and let’s go.”

She gave me a long look, her mouth curving in a small smile. “Really? You’re going to carry me like a sack of potatoes again?”

I grinned back, shaking my head. “No. This time you’re coming willingly, so I’ll carry you like a princess.”

When she shook her head in amusement, laughing under her breath, I cringed internally.Like a princess?What was fucking wrong with me? The words themselves weren’t even that lame, since it was a joke. Yet, I knew I meant them wholeheartedly. That was what made me want to howl from embarrassment.

I picked up her shoe and put my armor back on my hands, because if I felt her soft warmth again, I would just embarrass myself even more. Then I picked her up, bridal style. She gasped and put her arms around my neck. She avoided looking at my face, though, which was a blessing. I just knew my eyes glowed like fucking lightbulbs.

“Hop on,” I said, sitting her on my bike. God, the way her thighs hugged the seat. “Now, what do you want to eat?”

She fidgeted, clearing her throat. “Well, we should probably get back home. Since we have the book. There will be lunch.”

I heard the disappointment in her voice, and that was enough to make me push. I was determined to get to the root of the problem.

“I didn’t ask what weshoulddo, doll. I asked what youwantto do. Now, be straight with me.”

She sighed heavily, nodded to herself, and looked up with a determined expression. “Well, I… I really shouldn’t, but I want to try one of those coffee places where they make coffee into desserts. You know, with flavored syrups, whipped cream, cookies…”

She trailed off and looked away, her jaw working. I stared for a moment longer, assessing her. She said she wanted totryone of those places. Did she mean she never did it before?

Shit. My poor little doll.

“All right,” I said, adjusting the helmet to put it on her. “I’ll take you to the Fabulous Coffee Club. They have sprinkles and everything.”

When she looked up, I had to lock my legs to control my reaction. Her face was completely unguarded, her eyes full of stars, and her smile was so bright, pink exploded in my head like a firework.

She was bright light and pure joy. I stood there, dumbfounded, just staring at her, until she looked away with a soft laugh that pierced my black, shriveled heart like a knife.

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