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They moved together as if they’d been making love for years. As if they knew each other’s body’s intimately. Knew every place to touch. Every place to stroke. She wrapped her legs around him and brought his face down to hers. Gasped into his mouth as she began to come again.
He followed her over with a groan and slid his arms around her. Held her tightly until they both shuddered. Collapsed on the bed.
Moments later, he rolled over, taking her with him. “Don’t want to crush you,” he murmured into her ear.
She lay on top of him, her face buried in his neck, as her breath sawed in and out. Finally, after they’d both stopped panting, he brushed the hair away from her face. Lifted her head and pressed a kiss to her mouth. “I like you telling me what to do,” he murmured. “Do you have any other ideas?”
“I have a million of them,” she whispered. “But I think it’s your turn to tell me what to do.”
“Is that how this works?” he asked. Beneath her, he stirred.
“This works any way we want it to work,” she answered. “Next time you get to call the shots.”
“You didn’t let me go slow this time. Next time, I’m going to go so slow that you’ll be begging.”
“You really want me to beg, don’t you?” She twined her arms around him and tucked her head into his neck again.
“I want to give you more pleasure than you’ve ever had. And slow is the key.”
She shifted on top of him and felt him hard beneath her. “Really? Already?”
“You underestimate how much I want you,” he said into her ear, his breath making her shiver. “How much I’ve thought about this for the past week. I’m going to start at your head and work my way down your body. Then back up again.”
* * *
Hours later, Nico tightened his arm around Jules, who was draped across his chest, sound asleep. Pressing his mouth to her hair, he drank in her scent. Held it in his lungs and memorized every nuance of it. He wanted to be able to remember it when he had to leave her.
Because he would leave her. She had a life here, and his was in Montana. Or wherever Mel and Devlin sent him.
He shouldn’t have made love to her. The first time, against the wall, was all flash and fear and fire. Impulse and reaction. But after that? It had been a choice they’d both made.
There was a reason why bodyguards weren’t supposed to sleep with their protectees. It was unprofessional. Dangerous. While he and Julia were making love, he’d been completely oblivious to their surroundings. Focused on Julia and nothing else.
He’d paid no attention to where they were or what might be going on outside the bedroom. He’d made Julia more vulnerable. Himself less effective.
Rule number one for a bodyguard was keep your distance. That had been pounded into him during his Delta Force training. No emotional involvement. Focus on the job.
He’d wanted her too much. Knowing she’d wanted him back just as badly? That was like throwing gasoline on a fire. The explosion was inevitable. And just as he’d known it would, their lovemaking had rocked his world.
But making love with Julia wasn’t his job. Protecting her was. And he had to get back on track.
He’d start by getting out of her damn bed.
Easing away from her, he slid onto the cold floor, then straightened the sheet and quilt and pulled them over her. She frowned in her sleep, as if missing him already.
Or at least that’s what he told himself.
He leaned closer to give her one last kiss, but drew back before he touched her. No. It stopped now. They’d had their night, and it had been magical. Unbelievable. The best damn night of his life.
Now it was over. He was no longer her lover. He was her bodyguard, and that’s what he had to focus on.
Gathering his clothes, he walked naked into the other bedroom and dropped them into his dirty clothes pile. The sun hadn’t come up, but instead of darkness, the sky was a pale bruised color. Julia would probably sleep a few more hours.
Nico grabbed a quick shower, then got dressed. To keep his mind off Julia, asleep in the other room, he ran down to the basement and tossed his clothes into the washing machine.
They didn’t have to work today -- the restaurant was closed on Monday. So they’d focus on something besides Madeline’s.
Julia wouldn’t like it. But it had to be done. He had to dig deeper. Figure out where the threat was coming from. Maybe it was still at Madeline’s. But he had to think about other sources. Wonder if there was something wrong in another part of her life.
Today, they’d focus on the other parts of Julia’s life. Including her past.
She wouldn’t like it, but it didn’t matter. He had to finish this job and get far, far away from Julia.
Even when he left, he’d leave a piece of his heart behind. Every day he stayed with her, he’d lose another little piece.
If he didn’t finish this job and get away soon, his whole heart would be in her hands.
What would that give him? An empty hole in his chest for the rest of his life.
