Lover Uncloaked (Stealth Guardians #1) - By Unknown Page 0,29
afraid for anybody else. Never feared losing anybody like he feared losing her. Even though he had no right to possess her in the first place.
But he’d needed that kiss. Needed it to make sure she was unharmed. Like a release, he’d craved it, and when she’d given in, he’d nearly come in his pants like a green teenager. The way she’d held him so tight and her tongue had played with his as if it were meant to be, had wiped every sane thought from his mind. Even now, he could still taste her like she’d imprinted her scent on him for eternity.
Gripping the steering wheel as if his life depended on it, he addressed her without looking at her, “I promise you, everything will be fine. Nobody will hurt you. I’ll kill anybody who tries.”
His words seemed to jolt her, because she lifted her head and turned it to look at him. When he glanced at her, he saw fear dominate her eyes.
“Please let me go. I’ll do what you want. I won’t fight you. But then please just let me go. My family . . . ”
He barely listened to the rest of her words, because he wasn’t quite sure he’d heard correctly. She would do what he wanted? Did it mean what he thought it meant?
“You really think I came to your apartment to rape you?”
And why wouldn’t she think that? He’d broken in, for lack of a better word, and when she’d first laid eyes on him, he’d had a hard-on the size of a baseball bat. Of course, she’d jump to that conclusion.
When she said nothing, but only looked at him with fearful eyes, he reached his hand to stroke hers but pulled back instantly when he realized what he was doing. Shit, he should keep his distance. Touching her would make things even worse.
“Leila, I’m your bodyguard. I’m charged to protect you. I was in your place to watch over you.”
He ran his hand through his hair. How would he explain to her why she’d found him in an aroused state?
“My bodyguard? I would know if I’d hired a bodyguard.”
He expelled a tense breath, uncomfortable that he had to reveal who he was. It was only done in the direst of circumstances, which this situation probably counted as.
“I’m not the kind of bodyguard you can hire. I get assigned. I don’t ask questions, I do my duty.” Most of the time. With Leila, he’d done a little more than just his duty. Watching her masturbate and kissing her after he’d rescued her wasn’t part of the Stealth Guardian’s code of conduct. Nor his own personal code.
“I don’t believe you.”
That was to be expected. He nodded. “Do you remember that you locked your bedroom door after you ran into me in the hallway?”
“Yes.” She thrust her chin up in a sign of defiance. Strangely enough, he liked that gesture. She was no pushover.
“A moment later, I stood in your bedroom. You saw how I entered.”
She shook her head. “No. I was still half asleep. I was dreaming. It couldn’t be.”
Aiden focused on a strand of hair he wanted to push out of her face. She looked so much more feminine with her hair down rather than tied in a ponytail. “You weren’t dreaming. You weren’t even asleep yet.”
She gasped, her eyes widening in horror.
Oh shit!
He hadn’t wanted to let her know that he’d been in her bedroom earlier, that he’d watched her. It had simply slipped out.
Leila’s mouth opened in disbelief as she scrambled toward the door to get as far away from him as possible. “You were in my bedroom?”
“Leila, I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to . . . I . . . I’m sorry.”
“Oh, God, no. How could you?”
He’d asked himself the same question, yet he still had no answer for it. He’d violated her privacy, and there was no excuse for it.
He turned his head and looked out into the darkness. Did she find the thought so utterly disgusting? “I didn’t mean to . . . I . . . ”
“You watched me? The entire time? All the while as I was . . . ” She pressed her eyes shut. “You had no right to watch me!”
“No, I didn’t,” he said, sobering. “I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. I have no excuses.” And he wouldn’t make any up now. He alone was to blame. He and his uncontrollable lust that even now was coursing