“A bodyguard falling for his ward. Pretty rampant in The Guard.” He sliced a grin at Ross.
He’d heard a rumor or two.
Shaking his head at his words, Ross turned back to the door, preparing himself for what he had to do.
What he should have done long before he let Pippa get to him.
Quietly, he closed the door and secured the locks. She sat up, covers clutched against her nudity and her hair tumbling down. Her eyes so bright from the aftershocks of her release.
He swiped his tongue over his bottom lip, tasting her.
“What’s happening?” she asked.
“We’re going to get cleaned up and on the road again. But we’re taking another route in hopes of losing anyone else who might be after you.”
Disappointment hit her eyes, and she dropped her stare to her lap. Then she climbed off the bed, dragging the quilt with her. She paused to grab her bag he’d brought in. When she bent, the quilt edges parted, giving him a glimpse of a long, bare, honeyed thigh.
She’d be sticky wet between them. Fuck, the drive to bury his cock in her and keep her in bed for a week flared across his senses.
He shouldn’t have gone this far with her. He’d never look at her again without tasting her…feeling her tense for him…feeling her pulse for him.
She closed the bathroom door and he issued a groan. He clenched his fists against the urge to whip open that door and pick up where they left off.
But he couldn’t.
He grabbed his shirt and pulled it on. Then he swiped his fingers through his disheveled hair and located his phone. After he found the closest restaurant for takeout and ordered two burgers and fries for pickup in half an hour, he texted Boone.
Shit’s going sideways.
I heard. Need me to drop the governor and come help sooner?
For a moment, he considered Boone leaving his post earlier than planned.
No, see it through and come to Seattle as planned.
Is Pippa okay? Josiah filled me in on what happened.
The bathroom door was closed. Ross heard nothing. If she was in there crying, he’d feel worse than ever.
Compressing his lips, he texted a reply. She’s fine.
Wait—what? She tastes fine?
He blinked at the screen. Had he just texted what was in his mind?
Christ on a piece of toast, he had.
I mean she IS fine. Autocorrect.
Uh-huh.
Dick. Get back to your post.
Boone sent some laughing emojis.
Ross tossed his phone onto the bed and rammed his hat down. Then he adjusted his still swollen cock. He could end his torment by busting down that door, grabbing Pippa and pinning her to the wall.
He replayed that scenario in his mind several times. Things could go two ways—she responded with all the fervor she had minutes before. Or she could pull out her aikido and chop him in the balls. He deserved no less.
He texted Roman, letting him know where they’d stop for food and when, though he could just open the door and speak to him. After his reply, Ross flipped through emails. He was just reading the details about one of Pippa’s exes and shaking his head at all the letters of his degrees following his name, when the bathroom door opened.
She stepped out, limping only slightly.
Avoiding his stare, she dropped the bag and put on her boots. Her hair was damp but not wet, drawn off her face in a ponytail. Her glasses slipped down her nose as she bent to zip her ankle boots.
An awkward silence hung between them, gathering by the second like storm clouds on the horizon of their relationship. To think they’d only experienced a ray of sun before he ruined it.
Why had he stopped?
When she straightened, he stared at her hips. Birthing hips his ass. They were just right. And the treasure between them was sweet honey.
He mentally linked her with the photo of the man in his email. Had that guy gotten a taste of Pippa? He had a cocky look most graduates of Ivy League schools did, which gave Ross the impression his own pleasure would come before his lover’s.
“Your leg okay?” he asked.
“Yeah,” she said breezily, picking up her computer bag and looping the strap across her body. The leather cut in between her breasts, outlining them against the simple black button-up shirt she wore.
He lowered his gaze to the rest of her, clad in slim-fitting black jeans that made her legs look a hundred miles long. While Corrine had chosen her clothes, she nailed it perfectly. Pippa had no need for flashy clothes or makeup or teased hair to be the most stunning woman in the room.
“I’m ready.” She interrupted his thoughts.
“I need a minute.” If he didn’t wash her off his fingers and lips, he’d only make it five steps—to grab her and take her to bed.
Minutes later with Roman tailing them in a rental vehicle, Ross grabbed their food from the restaurant. When he dropped the bag into Pippa’s lap, her face lit up. His heart thumped at the sight of her happy expression, and he couldn’t look away while she unwrapped the burger and took the first bite.
He always preached to his employees that the ward required more than just a bodyguard. Sometimes, they needed soothing. To be made to feel human during the scariest times of their lives.
I gave her a burger, large fries and an orgasm. He’d say he fulfilled his duty. Too bad he hadn’t taken a moment in the bathroom to pound his cock through his fist and ease his own throbbing balls.
“Here.”
He pulled his attention from the road to the burger Pippa had partially unwrapped and held out to him.
Her shoulders still set with a tenseness that wasn’t there before he crossed boundaries, but at least she wasn’t giving him the silent treatment.
“Thanks for the burger,” she said farther down the road.
“No thanks needed, Pip.”
Her chest heaved once, and then she pulled the blanket over herself.
Miles passed. They hit a patch of freezing drizzle, which he commented on but she refused to respond to him.
His chest burned, and a heavy concrete weight settled there.
Until she began to ignore him, he didn’t realize how much he wanted to hear her voice.
* * * * *
“Josiah, I need you to run an Idaho plate. Mike Kilo Papa niner seven two.”
Pippa roused from her deep thoughts about Ross and shifted in her seat to look at their surroundings. They’d been on the road for hours, and this road trip was longer and more stressful than sharing a back seat in her parents’ Subaru with her annoying little sister.
She spotted the vehicle with the license plate Ross recited to Josiah. The plain white SUV wasn’t giving her any bad vibes, but then again, she wasn’t trained to scope out danger.
“Do you think that SUV is suspicious?” Her voice sounded clearer after resting it some. Her throaty moans back in the motel probably hadn’t helped it.
“Dunno, but we’ve been playing road tag for about ten miles now.”
The SUV dropped speed, which meant they caught up to it. But Ross let off the gas to stay a few car lengths behind.
She glanced in the side mirror to see Roman following them in a black SUV. They’d driven out of the freezing drizzle, but snow stuck to the road and drifted in the open places.
“Leave it to me to choose the worst time for travel,” she said.
“We’ll leave the snow and ice behind once we hit the coast.”
Seattle. Her family. A warmth washed over her at the thought of being with them all again. Right now, she could really use a hug from her parents and sister.