Page 19 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
When it was over, I was covered in gore and none of the humans remained alive.Luc’s gonna be pissed.He would have wanted one of them left alive to question.
Yeah, yeah, I told the human half who whispered in my mind.What would you have done?That shut him up. I chuckled darkly.
The sound of footsteps behind me made me spin around. I knew who it was. I would recognise her steps anywhere, even if I hadn’t already scented her unique perfume. Sudden dread gripped me, squeezing my heart, rapidly dispersing themadness. What would she think of the scene behind me? The carnage? I didn’t want her to be afraid of me but there was no way I could have stopped myself from taking out these men. A stray bullet could have killed my mate. And that was unacceptable.
I risked a glance at her beautiful face. Her plump lips were pressed tightly together, brows drawn down. Hmm. Not good. My gaze travelled further down her body to where her arms were rigid, hands balled into fists. Uh oh.
This isn’t good.
No shit, Sherlock.How badly had I fucked up?What does her expression mean?
Wait, why was I asking my human half? I didn’t need him to understand my mate. I’d been trapped for so long inside this body, unable to use my full abilities, that I was forgetting to use the power at my disposal.
Her scent was sharp, hot almost. Fear would smell differently. It would be sour. This was… anger.
My mate was angry at me. Was it because I was covered in blood? Was I too gross? I shrugged off the ruins of my clothes, wiping off the worst of the mess.
When I finished, I stood proudly, showing off my body, watching as she advanced on me. Her strides were wide, her expression fierce. She was magnificent. A goddess. But I didn’t want her angry. I wanted her sweet. I wanted the sugary scent of her arousal in my nostrils, the slickness of her cunt on my fingers and my cock.
And just like that I was hard. My fangs ached, ready to bite and claim.
Not now you idiot!
I ignored the gnat.So tiresome. Against the wall, or under me on the floor? Both? Once when I claimed her and then a second time. I would spend hours inside her. I had waited so long.
Suddenly my mate was right in front of me. I had lost concentration. Again. Her green eyes flashed and her cheeks were beautifully flushed.Oh baby you look good.
The slap, when it came, was a surprise. I rumbled a laugh. So feisty.
“You think this is funny?”
I laughed again, capturing her small hand in mind when she swung her arm again, stepping close. She could hit me any time. I just wanted her touch. Any way I could get it.
And then she… burst into tears.
Chapter 21
Electra
Fuck. I hated crying. I didn’t do it. I had never been the sort of girl who would burst into tears when she was angry. Not me. I channelled it. I used it. And gods know, I’d had enough opportunity. But, apparently, if one particular Shifter made me angry enough, I was a crier.
I thought my head might blow off with the fury that burned through me when Bastien just took off, so fast that I had no hope of catching him. When he put himself in danger. I mean, alright, it became clear that he was more than good enough to deal with the fight he’d raced into. Heobliteratedthe ten men in the corridor without apparently breaking a sweat—did he even sweat in this form?—but that wasn’t the point. He’d gone in like a berserker, with no care for his own safety.
And by the time I’d pulled myself out of my shocked stupor to follow him, the fight was over. He’d left me behind like I was a fragile damsel. He could have taken off my manacles to give me access to my magic, but no. He’d left behind the most powerful Witch alive, the one who’d fucking saved his life multiple times, and charged in by himself.
My body vibrated with anger as I stalked towards him. He turned to face me, eyebrows going up in surprise. And thenhe took off his clothes! Stripped everything off. He stood waiting as I approached, legs apart, showing me his ridiculously sexy body. His monster cock. Of course he was proud of himself. He was clearly a top predator. But he was such a jerk!
I didn’t plan the slap. I mean, come on, I knew it wasn’t smart to slap an eight-foot tall ogre who’d just killed ten people. My hand just flew to his chest without my conscious control. But then the big idiot just laughed. It was a sexy rumble of sound from deep in his chest.
And I lost it. I was hurt and confused. I’d been kidnapped and threatened. I was fucking hangry. Everything that I’d bottled up inside me since the Summit just came out of my body in a torrent of emotion.
Bastien froze, his mouth comically agape. At any other time, I would have found it funny, how this big Beast was so obviously at a loss. Now it just made me cry harder. I wanted him to pick me up and cradle me against that absurdly muscled chest. I wanted him to call mebabyand tell me that everything would be alright. I wanted him to hold me like I was precious. To promise me that he cared. But I wasn’t even sure that Bastien could speak in this form. He hadn’t said a word to me since he’d shifted. And even if he could, why would he? I wanted the impossible. The fantasy that I was important to him rather than just as his bodyguard. The Witch whose talents made her indispensable, but who he’d never pursued past that first rejected invitation. The one he’d called Ice Queen.
This was his fault. His behaviour in our cell had put me off-balance. His request for me to stay close when we slept. While I hadn’t questioned it at the time, I realised later that he couldn’t have been cold. He was a Shifter. So why had he pretended? Had he just been trying to make me feel better? I threw my hands in the air as the tears dripped down my cheeks,breath harsh in my aching chest. Bastien was a superb politician, adept at reading body language. Good at manipulating people to his will. Was that all it had been? He’d seen the fear I’d been trying to hide and he’d found a way to make me feel safe? But why had he called me pet names? Why had he kissed me? I was angry at him for putting himself in danger, and I was just so fucking confused.
I understood our usual interactions. I could cope with seeing his stupid sexy body and listening to his deep voice that stroked my nerve endings every day when I knew the rules.
But now. I was lost.
