Page 11 of Shadowed By the Alien
“I didn’t plan to tell you this, not yet,” he says. “There are things you don’t know about me. Things which may alter your opinion.”
“I judge a person based on his or her actions.”
“Which is why I wish to spend this time with you, so you will come to know me and the rest will seem… inconsequential.”
That should set off a warning flag, shouldn’t it? Call me a fool, or maybe I’m just too damn impatient for my own good, but caution isn’t exactly my middle name. I sink my hands into his hair at the back of his head and hold him while I kiss him.
Without any prodding, his lips open to me, inviting me in. I don’t think he expected this, but he sure as hell isn’t pushing me away. Which is good, because I don’t plan on going anywhere. I need this man in my life, and I’m going to make that happen.
I lose myself in the kiss for several heartbeats, luxuriating in his tender touch as one hand settles on my lower back and another tangles in my hair, holding me steady. When someone shrieks in another part of the cemetery, I break the kiss only to realize it’s partiers having fun.
I release my hold on Ren. “Now we know one another a thousand times better than a few minutes ago. No more excuses and no more secrets. Tell me what has you on edge. I’m already at a disadvantage not being able to see a person’s expressions and body language. I depend on the people I care about being honest with me.”
“Honesty is important.”
“And yet you’re hesitating.”
“Fear.”
“Of me?”
“Of losing you.”
That stops me. I can’t guarantee I won’t walk away from him, not without knowing what this big secret of his is.
“My instincts tell me there’s nothing you could say that would scare me off. Lying though… That’s big, Ren. I need to trust the people I’m with.”
“I’m not from here,” he says, his voice full of trepidation.
“I’d already guessed that. Your accent isn’t one I’ve heard before.”
Silence. He’s struggling. Because I’m pressuring him. A relationship should evolve naturally.
A relationship… Am I in a relationship?
Butterflies in stomach? Check.
Touching and kissing at will? Check.
The need for more touching and kissing? Double Check.
And the coup d’état… a feeling that nothing he says will change my opinion of him? Check!
“I didn’t start following you at random, Raven. Your father hired me.”
A take a deep breath. “A bodyguard,” I say, not entirely surprised, though a little disappointed in my parents. I told them I wanted to be independent.Fullyindependent.
“Yes,” Ren says, tension rolling off him in waves.
“You’ve been watching me all these months. Seen me running through the house in a towel, arguing with my father, and being a brat at times?”
“I’ve only been in your house a few times, and never the upper levels. Your father’s office, to discuss your security, though I’ve seen you listening at his door when he was unaware.”
“And you never said anything?”Thatsurprises me. The people my father hires are one-thousand percent loyal to him and his interests. Not to me or mine.
“I was there to protect you, not interfere with your life. I had orders not to let you know I existed.”
“To fool me into believing I finally had my freedom?”
