Page 25 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha
I sent him an image of my middle finger and reinforced my mental walls.I can make her happy.Don’t need you.
The air temperature was dropping as the afternoon shadows lengthened. My body heat was keeping my mate warm, but we needed someplace with a roof. And a bed.
There had been few signs of civilisation since I’d burst through the doors of the bunker where we’d been held. No roads. No smoke from chimneys. Just snow and trees. The lonely sounds of birds on the wind. It suited my purpose to have my mate alone. No-one would report an ogre to the authorities, bringing my brother and his security team down on us. But unless I found a building soon, I’d be forced to turn back.
My eyes searched the horizon continuously. My sight far superior to a human’s, the gathering shadows were no impediment.
There!
Tucked into a hillside, snow obscuring the roofline was a hunting cottage or hikers’ hut. The building was dark, no welcoming lights shone through the windows.
A den.
Chapter 31
Electra
Bastien had been running steadily for at least half an hour, with no sign of being winded, even carrying my weight. I’d lifted my head from his chest to see that daylight had started to wane and the shadows were getting longer. We were among trees, which sheltered us from the wind, but the deep blue sky was clear and the night was going to be cold.
Shit. We weren’t prepared for these conditions. Right now, the warmth pumping from his body was the only thing stopping me from suffering the effects of the winter air. We had no tent or means to make a fire. Even Bastien might not be warm enough out here come nighttime, and I was certainly going to suffer from exposure unless we found shelter soon. Maybe we needed a change of plan. If we turned around now, we could still get back to the bunker before dark. As much as I didn’t want to return there, it was better than spending a night in the snow.
I opened my mouth to say that we should turn back, when Bastien changed direction abruptly.
Warm soon. He sent me an image of a room with a crackling fire in a hearth and a bed. A bed that was occupied by the two of us. With his naked body curled over mine.
No. Wasn’t going to happen. Couldn’t happen. It didn’t matter that the image made my heart race and I had to clench my thighs together. Ice. I was ice.
Five minutes later, I could see the building that Bastien must have spotted when he was running. Snow lay in heavy drifts around the structure. From the looks of it, no-one had occupied it any time recently. But the roof and windows were still intact and there was a chimney poking through the layer of snow. Bastien slowed as we approached. He took the porch steps carefully, making sure they took our weight, before stopping in front of the door.
Putting you down now. Bastien began to lower me to the ground, then paused.
“What?”
You need to let me go, sweetheart.
Oh. My face heated. I hadn’t realised that my arms were still tightly clasped around his neck. Hurriedly, I dropped them to my sides and he carefully deposited me on my feet. Dizzy with dehydration and hunger, I staggered and would have fallen if his arm hadn’t been there ready to catch me. Pushing him away, knowing I was being rude, but unable to stop myself, I took a step away from him. I was the fucking bodyguard, dammit. It was my job to protect him, and since the moment when I’d been unable to sense the waiter in the Palace, I had failed him. And now I was being clingy. Literally.
This was all my fault. Because of me, Bastien had been tortured. Because of me, he’d allowed his Beast to have control. I didn’t know what would happen to a Shifter who couldn’t find balance, but it couldn’t be good. If the Council found out, there would be consequences.
My fault, my fault, my fault.
I stumbled, my back coming against the cottage wall, body flushing with uncomfortable heat. My throat tightened. I couldn’t get enough air.
Focussed on the sensations coursing through my body, on the guilt that pressed on me like a dark cloud, I barely registered the bang as Bastien kicked in the door. Vaguely I noted him enter the building, the loss of his presence like the loss of the sun.
But then he was back and I was in his arms. He moved quickly across the room and then we were lying down. A sense of calm pulsed down the bond. Like a warm blanket or the soothing taste of hot cocoa, it slowed the frantic beat of my heart. He lay on the bed underneath me, his arms wrapped around me, making me feel secure. Safe. I should move, but right now I couldn’t.
Chapter 32
Bastien
Fuck! What was that?
One moment I could smell my mate’s arousal in response to the mental image I’d sent her, of us on a bed, my body above hers, rutting her, pleasuring her.
Then her heartbeat accelerated, her mind splintering in panic.
What the actual fuck?
