Page 32 of Guarded By the Phantom

When I turned back, I was met with her angriest glare yet. A frisson of excitement went down my spine, pink tinting my vision.

“I can’t believe you destroyed a library book!” she hissed so sharply, my butt cheeks quivered with excitement. “And now you’re trying to steal it! It’s a crime!”

I ran my tongue over the sharp edges of my inner teeth, doing my best not to enjoy it too obviously. Man, what was it about this girl’s anger? Why did it do it for me?

“It’s barely a misdemeanor. Come on. I’m the one doing the bad shit, so don’t get your knickers in a twist. Your conscience is clear, doll.”

“But I should report you!” she exploded in a stage whisper, digging her heels in when I pulled her away from the table. “I should be good and tell someone!”

I stopped and regarded her. My vision was so fucking pink, I could barely concentrate. Any minute now, I would start seeing tiny hearts floating around her face.

“Well, do you want to report me?” I asked, genuinely curious about her answer. “Do you want to be good?”

She froze, her eyes widening. Slowly, a tentative smile spread on her face, turning up the pink polluting my vision by one hundred per cent.

“No. But… I don’t know. I don’t like stealing from alibrary.”

“I’ll make a note to steal from somewhere else next time,” I said impatiently. “Can we go now?”

Her stomach rumbled the third time. She bit her lip, obviously conflicted, and I shrugged, picked her up, and threw her over my shoulder.

“Oh my God! Stop this! Put me down this second!”

I ignored her hushed demands, crossing the reading room in purposeful strides. To her credit, Barbara didn’t raise her voice, probably because that good girl instinct reminded her she was supposed to be quiet. I rolled my eyes.

No wonder that fucker got her. She was way too easy to kidnap, for one. Too afraid of breaking the rules.

“Good day. Wonderful weather, ay? Enjoy your book.”

I nodded politely at every person we passed, all of them sitting at small tables and equally paralyzed by their manners as Barbara was. Some gasped, some gave me spooked looks, but when I spoke to them politely as if nothing was wrong, they completely ignored the feebly struggling woman whose gorgeous ass now decorated my shoulder.

By the time we reached the entrance hall, she was subdued, huffing and groaning quietly, but not struggling. As we passed the help desk, she knocked on my back with her fist.

“I need to give back the magnetic card,” she hissed.

“Sure.”

I reached into the pocket on her ass, where she kept the card, doing my best to cop a really good feel without arousing suspicion. When I had the card—and the memory of her warm, soft curves that I wished to feel again without armor on—I sent it flying as if it was a throwing star. As luck would have it, thecard stuck into a tiny gap between the panels of the desk top. The librarian manning the desk looked up with wide eyes, the color draining from his face when he recognized me.

“Good day to you!” I said cheerfully, carrying my furious prize out of the building.

I only let her down when we were by my bike. As soon as she was on the ground, Barbara gave me a furious look and kicked my shin with all her might.

“Aaaaah! Fuck! It hurts!” she screamed, hopping in place on one leg.

Well, it was her own damn fault. If I had expected any violence from the meek little lamb, I would have avoided her kick to spare her foot, but she chose to be sneaky about it.

“Poor baby,” I said with exaggerated sympathy. “You should never kick an abomination. Here, stop jumping around. I’ll see if your foot is okay. ”

“Fuck you,” she whined, hugging her knee to her chest, fingers wrapped around her sneaker. “Why are you so stupidly hard?”

“Well, that’s what happens when a man is strongly attracted to someone,” I said mildly. “Didn’t you have sex ed in school?”

She groaned, shot me a filthy look, and hopped away to a low wall. She sat down and took off her shoe, hissing from pain. I followed, struggling to keep my laughter in check. Damn, she really was fun to play with.

“And? How is it?” I asked after she gently checked her toes, wincing.

“I don’t know. I don’t think I broke anything,” she said with a sigh. “But I won’t dance for a few days, at least.”

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