Page 14 of Guarding the Rock Star
“There’s a picture of you in the building, reading in bed. It looks like it was taken through your bedroom window.”
“What?” I yelped.
My home was my sanctuary, the one place I could have total peace. I felt ill that someone had violated it, even with a camera. For the first time since this whole thing started, I felt terrified. Just like the stalker wanted.
“It was probably a drone shot, or someone who has access to your fire escape. I’m going to get my team here to sweep for cameras recording devices just in case though,” she said. “The team has stronger equipment than my mobile tester. I’m going to call this into my boss.”
“Okay.”
I could feel Wanda watching me as I stared at my lap, feeling shaky. She dropped to her knees in front of me, her hands coming to my thighs. I was still wearing shorts from my workout earlier, and the skin of my thighs seemed to sizzle underneath her palms.
“Tasha,” she said softly.
I looked up at her face. For once she wasn’t wearing that neutral mask. She looked softer somehow, her expression concerned.
“I won’t let anyone hurt you, I promise,” she vowed.
When I didn’t respond she pulled me into her arms, hugging me against her. I laid my head on her shoulder, breathing in her scent, taking comfort from the hug until I felt myself begin to calm again. As the panic dissipated, it was replaced with something else: desire.
I pulled back just enough to meet Wanda’s eyes again then, acting on instinct, I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. I expected her to pull away, but instead she cupped the back of my head with one hand and deepened the kiss.
Wanda licked at the seam of my lips and I sighed, eagerly opening my mouth for her questing tongue. The kiss was almost sweet. Comforting rather than passionate. Her mouth tasted like coffee and copper, probably from the cup of blood she had with breakfast. It should have grossed me out, but it didn’t.
Instead, my arms slid around her waist and I widened my legs, allowing her to slip between my thighs. The kiss turned hotter, rougher, and I could feel the tips of Wanda’s fangs brushing against my mouth. It didn’t hurt at all, it just added to the sensations coursing through my body.
As the kiss went on and on, everything inside me seemed to settle. Everything was forgotten. The stress of fame. The trauma of my childhood. The fear of whoever was after me. All of my focus was on this woman and the feeling of my body pressed against hers as if we were both made for the sole purpose of fitting together like this.
I wasn’t one prone to hyperbole, but this kiss was life changing. I could feel it in my bones.
When Wanda finally pulled back, I could see regret on her face. I pressed my finger against her lips, forestalling whatever she was going to say. I could see the tips of her fangs, white against the dark red of her lips, and I suddenly wondered what it would feel like to have her bite me. Then I pushed that thought away and placed my hand on Wanda’s shoulder, giving her an affectionate squeeze.
“I’m not often attracted to people, and when I am attracted to someone, it comes on slowly and gradually,” I told her. “For a long time, I assumed I was asexual, and maybe I am, that stuff is always on a spectrum. But when I’m with you, I feel something I’ve never felt before in my life. Passion. Red hot passion. I can tell by the way your body responded that you feel it too.”
She nodded slightly but didn’t say anything.
“I know you have a job to do Wanda, and I appreciate that today more than ever,” I continued. “I’m not a person who likes to be in relationships and I’m not looking for forever, but when this is all settled, I want you to promise me that we can spend some time together and explore whatever is happening between us.”
Something dark flared in her eyes, and when she opened her mouth to respond, I repeated, “Promise me.”
“I promise,” she said softly.
She studied me curiously, the tiny frown between her eyebrows that was her tell when she was confused, and I wondered which part of what I said hadn’t set right with her. Before I could ask, Wanda pushed to her feet with a grace and speed that made it obvious she wasn’t a full human.
“Let’s call my team and make sure we’re still safe here.”
Wanda
I never meant to kiss her. Tasha had just looked so sad, so vulnerable, and it was such a big change from her usual bold, brash self, I couldn’t help but hug her. I intended to offer her comfort, honestly I did, but when she was in my arms, I forgot all about stalkers and dead rats and threatening notes. When she initiated the kiss, I’d been helpless to resist her.
If I’d had even the slightest doubt about her being my mate, it disappeared the instant our lips touched. It was just like all the stories I’d heard from other supes. We’d kissed and I’d felt completely at peace, while simultaneously battling an intense desire to mark her. I wanted to bring her to my lair and hide her from the world while I made love to her over and over again, which was weird, because I didn’t have a lair, I just had a tiny one-bedroom apartment furnished with thrift store finds. My inner demon didn’t care about details like that.
As the kiss went on and on, it had taken every ounce of self-control to keep from biting her. Marking her as mine. My fangs had started to drop, and it had been the wake-up call I needed to pull away.
As glad as I was that Tasha was feeling the mate bond at least a little, there was no way either of us was ready for a lifetime commitment. Especially not with the stalker ramping things up. That picture was a message. They were done waiting for her to do what they wanted. With a sigh, I dialed into the office. Lois needed to know what was happening, and I needed to get someone in here to sweep for recording devices.
Thirty minutes later Lois arrived with Angie and Martha in tow. Tasha and I waited for them in the foyer. By unspoken agreement, we were both pretending like the kiss hadn’t happened even though every time I closed my eyes I could feel her soft lips against mine.
The elevator dinged, and my coworkers entered the penthouse, all of them practically bursting with excitement.
