Excerpt from Guarding Nadia © Lainey Reese
Two hours later, Nadia was frumped out in baggy sweats and a
ratty tee, with fluffy socks on her feet that were- unbelievably- resting in
Jonas' lap. When she'd come down from
her bath, the men had the popcorn popped and a selection of candy and drinks
spread out that she knew didn't come from her kitchen. She'd smiled and gratitude filled her when
she realized that one of them had made a run to the store. It was a small thing to most people, but for
her the gesture was huge. They were here
to protect her from harm, not to coddle and entertain her. She knew that this was a rare occurrence on
their part, and she was touched deeply by it and them. The contract that she'd signed in their
office two days ago had outlined in minute detail what services they provided,
gummy bears and foot rubs had not been on that list.
"I still can't believe you picked Die Hard to
watch,"
Jonas commented as he
dug his thumbs into the arches of her feet with deliriously wonderful
results. She moaned and replied;
"Hey. Just because I'm a girl
doesn't mean I have to watch chick flicks.
I love action movies. Die Hard is
a classic and Bruce Willis is a freaking stud."
"I agree with the classic part." Caleb said.
"No comment on the stud part.
He's not my type." Nadia
chuckled and cranked her head to look up at him.
When she first sat down tonight, she'd been seated between
them like a proper lady, with both feet on the floor and her back resting
against the cushions behind her. Before
the first preview had even finished, Caleb and Jonas pounced. Jonas had grabbed her feet and tugged them
into his lap, while Caleb took her by the shoulders and adjusted her until she
was reclining against him with her head comfortably nestled on his chest. His elbow was on the couch back, and his
fingers had been playing in her curls nonstop.
There was something in his expression as she gazed up at him
that was different. If she didn't know
any better, she would call that look he was giving her 'intent'. Part of her said she was being fanciful, and
it was just the wishful thinking of her long neglected hormones running away
with her. The other part of her said she
was right on track.
They had her spread out between them, and had been touching
her nonstop since she'd sat down. Yes, they were here on a job. However, the familiarity of their touch had
left the realm of professionalism the moment she'd clung to Caleb and cried
earlier. She'd made the first move. Breached the lines and took things beyond
professional. Could they be acting on
that, and letting her know in a not so subtle way that they were open to being
more than just her bodyguards?
Considering who she was and what she did for a living, the
erotic images that immediately sprang to life in her brain had her muscles
loosening and her pulse rabbiting. Then
reality smacked her in the head. Stuff
like that only happened in books. No way
could this be anything more than what it was.
She was deluding herself if she thought that anything even remotely
close to what she was fantasizing about would happen. Threesomes were things that only reckless and
drunk college students did. People in
the real world, with careers and families didn't have wild sexcapades on the
job. Or off for that matter. This was just stress and loneliness making
more out of their kindness than what was there, and she needed to get a hold of
herself before she ended up looking like an idiot.
Caleb touched his finger between her brows. "What's caused this?"
"What do you mean?" She asked him.
"You were smiling a minute ago and now there's a frown
here. What thought caused
that?" His finger was still on her
brows, gently tracing them and it was doing amazing things to her insides, even
as his question caused her to flush uncomfortably. She ducked her chin and broke eye contact as
she tried to think of something to say.
"Hey."
Jonas squeezed at the foot he was rubbing and she looked at him. "Honest answers only between us. No half truths or dodging either." His expression grew intense. "On any subject. No matter what it is."
Nadia felt as if she were in an alternate universe. Everything felt unreal, as though she were in one of her books after all. Could it be that these two unbelievably sexy
and intense men were thinking the same thoughts that she was? Did she dare tell them the truth that they
demanded? What if she did and then she
had to suffer through the humiliating let down speech?
What if she did and they took her up on it?
All Nadia's life she'd lived as a responsible, sensible
young lady. She never smoked or partied
as a teen. Never snuck out of the house
at night to meet up with friends or a boy.
She didn't have her first drink until her twenty-first birthday. On top of that, despite what she wrote, sex
for her had always been one on one. In
the dark. Boring. No fuss, no frills, no kink...no fun.
Nadia had always believed that was the reason she wrote what
she did. There was so much pent up
inside of her that it had to have an outlet somewhere or she'd combust.
As she tore her gaze from Jonas and looked back up at Caleb,
she thought to herself that they might say no,
but, they might just say yes. God help her but she didn't want to miss
out on what would happen if they wanted her, and if there was even a small
chance that they did, it was worth the risk.
"I was thinking that this was very intimate and sexy at
first. Like something out of one of my
books right before things get wild and kinky.
Then I told myself to snap out of it.
This wasn't a book, and that wild and kinky didn't happen in the real
world." She swallowed before
adding; "At least not to me."
"Bruce."
Caleb said.
"What?" She
was confused. His look was back to being
intense, and she would swear he was about to kiss her, so she had no clue why
he would say something like that.
"Bruce." He repeated. "That's your safe word. Say, yes sir, if you understand and
agree. If not say, Bruce and we stop
here and now."
"Holy shit."
Nadia was dumbstruck.
"That wasn't one of your options,
sweetheart." Jonas' chuckle was as
seductive as a caress.
Three Dirty Secrets by Nikki Sloane
