Page 10 of The Bodyguard

Chapter Five

Sophia

I’m irreparably mad. I feel as if I’m going to be mad for the rest of my life.

“You—” But my teeth clatter so badly I can’t get past that one word. Without waiting for me to continue, he scoops me up and tosses me over his shoulder yet again. It’s as if he doesn’t know I’m an imperial figure. A princess, for crying out loud.

While I make every attempt to remain rigid over his shoulder, his clean, dry, and manly warmth melts me, and I want to burrow my whole body under his clothes and feed off his heat. This has to be the worst thought I have ever had in my whole life.

He steps into the cabin as if I weigh nothing and sets me down before a fire that has just started to burn with passion. I inch closer and hug myself, but I have words to say to him, and I won’t be silenced by the chill in my bones.

“You… you left me out there,” I accuse him full on. I’m still trembling like a flimsy leaf on a breezy day, wondering when the warmth was going to penetrate my ice-layered skin. I’m sure I was turning blue.

He pours steamy coffee into a cup, adds three cubes of sugar, stirs it, and hands it to me.

“You should take off your wet clothes,” he adds.

“Don’t tell me what to do,” I snap, almost grabbing the mug from his hand. I take a begrudging sip of the sweet coffee.

I allow myself a quick glance around the cabin and decide it’s not as shabby as I imagined. It actually looks clean and cozy, inviting and warm, and no rats scurry about my heels. Being inside reminds me of what could have happened outside, and with a little warmth returning to my extremities, my anger gets fired up as well.

“I could have died out there. You are the absolute worst bodyguard I've ever met. You know that? When I get back, I’m going to make sure you’re fired. If I'd gotten lost forever or was eaten alive, how would you explain yourself to my father?”

He says nothing to defend himself.

I stamp my feet, annoyed at myself. At my father. At everyone in the world.

At him.

Kayne Langley is turning me into a lunatic. I completely understand my argument is flawed. I’m not stupid. I know I chose to run away, and now I’m blaming him for not coming to my rescue earlier.

And where is my profound affinity for diplomacy, for fairness? All my strong points seem to fly out the window at the sight of him, and sadly, it makes me even angrier because I can’t elicit a single line of expression on his impassive, handsome face.

“I’ll always find you, Princess,” he says so softly, it startles me, and I forget what I was going to say next. His words throw me off my game.

A flood of heat envelops me, and it’s not because of the fire. My nipples harden, and it’s not because I’m still cold. I’m also acutely aware now of the wetness between my legs that I can’t explain.

I find I need to physically shake off the hazy sensations clouding my mind and body before I succumb. Succumb to what, I don’t know yet.

“Your room is the first door on the left.” His practical words add another layer of frustration to my list of aggravations. Maybe because his “words” do a good job of cutting through the flames he ignited just moments ago.

“For all you know, I could be stashing a… a… twelve-inch… thing… a vibrator in my bag. Goodbye virginity. Then what?” I say as I cross over toward the short passageway. Blood seeps into my cheeks. What am I saying?

“It doesn’t work that way,” he murmurs.

I enter the room and slam the door shut. Of course it doesn’t work that way. It’s always going to require a man.

Alone, I breathe a sigh of relief. Aware that being in Kayne’s company has taken so much out of me, I’m now gulping down air.

I look around me. The room is as tidy as the lounge area. The bedding looks clean and still has a freshly laundered smell.

I look down at my clothes. I’m still wearing the obscenely short red leather miniskirt, which has had a better life before meeting me.

I drop to my knees and open the trunk embossed with my family crest, stacked against one side of the wall.

I have no idea what Rachelle, my lady-in-waiting has packed for me, but I’m hoping I can find something warm and thick enough to bury my misery. My attempt to escape was ruined by a freak rainstorm that lasted all of ten minutes and cost me my freedom.

It takes everything I've got not to start screaming, with no intention of stopping.

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