Royal Line (Tattered Royals #1) - Carrie Ann Ryan Page 0,30
anything lower.
Because I had felt the hard, thick line of his erection against me.
And I knew that it was probably going to fill my dreams until the end of my days.
Damn, Kannon.
“You don’t have to help me. I can get Olly or someone on my team to do it.”
I shook my head. “No, this is my fault. I’ll help.” I took a step forward and took the bandages from his hand. “I’ve got this.”
He pinched my chin and forced my gaze to his. “It’s not your fault I was shot at.”
“You sort of blamed me earlier,” I muttered.
“That was me being a dick. I was frustrated and pissed off, and I shouldn’t have taken that out on you.” And then without another sound, he twisted the chair from the desk backwards to straddle it, giving me his back.
“Antiseptic’s on the desk. Come on.” He swallowed. “I could use the help. And something tells me your touch will be gentler than Olly’s.”
Then in silence, I cleaned his back. He didn’t make a sound, didn’t even tighten a muscle, though I knew it had to burn. It was a small cut, something I didn’t think would need stitches, but it still had to be painful. Yet every time I touched him, he didn’t even flinch. Didn’t even let out a breath. I, on the other hand, was all nerves and shaking hands.
What had happened to him that something like this wouldn’t hurt?
And why did I want to know more?
Because you’re a masochist.
I pressed the bandage over the cut and sealed it and then cleared my throat. “Okay, you’re good to go.”
“Thanks,” he said, softly. Then he stood, and I staggered back. His body and his presence took up so much space. “New plan. We’re heading out in the morning. Get settled for the night.”
I looked at him and nodded, at a loss for words and hating myself for it. “Oh. Okay. Um…thank you.”
“You don’t need to thank me for doing my job, princess.”
And with that last shot, he stalked off, leaving me standing there like an idiot.
His job.
Got it.
That’s what I was to him. A job. Nothing less and nothing more. And that’s exactly what I wanted.
Chapter 8
Kannon
It was only supposed to be a job.
Just a simple job, they said. It’ll be easy, they said.
But that simple job of watching a debutante had led me to the far-from-simple princess. Why in the name of God had I kissed her? Worse, why had I told her she was just a job? That wasn’t the way I ran Kannon Security at all.
I scrubbed my hand down my face as I chugged down my coffee. The faster I ate, the less likely I’d be to linger over breakfast with her.
The only saving grace was that Sparrow wasn’t around to give me shit. Marcus either. The two of them were the biggest shit talkers on the team. Or more like they never let me get away with shit. Marcus had been on escort duty for Little Miss Debutante who was safely back home in Los Angeles now. I’d assigned him to deal with our case load while I handled this job.
I figured between Olly, Sparrow, and me we could provide accurate coverage until we knew who was trying to hurt her. The two of them were mapping out escape routes and weapons. I had Sparrow kitting out a safe house just in case. It paid to be prepared.
The good news was that London hadn’t said another word about our kiss.
More like mistake.
That morning she’d woken up and headed straight for the shower, where she’d taken goddamn forever. Not that I was paying more attention than necessary.
When she came out with a towel wrapped around her head wearing a T-shirt and a pair of pajama bottoms I’d given her, she looked…good enough to eat.
That’s not helpful, man.
No, it wasn’t helpful. Especially since I kept thinking about how soft her lips felt against mine. Her shocked gasp. The way she’d melted into the kiss and the surge of electricity I’d felt throughout my whole body. Like I’d been zapped.
None of that shit was helpful. I tried to stick to the important things. “Listen, I had some room service brought up. There’s coffee, some juice, and pastries.”
She practically moaned as she ran over to the tray. “Oh my God, I could eat a horse.” She jammed a strawberry into her mouth and the juice trickled down her chin. I wanted to lick it.