Singe (Guardian Protection #1)

With her burning gaze giving me all the permission I needed, I drove in hard, eliciting a blessed curse from both of us.

Our bodies rolled together, a fluid rhythm the likes of waves joining in the sea. My every push, she met with a pull. And, each time I’d slide out, she’d welcome me back in. Her breasts pillowed between us as she held me tight, her hands mercifully staying out of my hair as though she knew I couldn’t take it.

Not while I was inside her.

Not while a wildfire blazed in my chest.

When my knees began to ache, I climbed off her, standing at the edge of the table, and continued to fuck her.

Hard but gentle.

Slow but desperate.

Punishing but apologetic.

A sheen of sweat covered us both by the time she came on a reverent, “Jude.”

As she milked me, my release slammed into me. I wasn’t done with her—not even close. But there was no way to prevent it any more than I could have stopped the massive amount of pressure draining from my chest for the first time in four years.

“Butterfly,” I rasped as my release leveled me.

I fell forward and rested my forehead on her shoulder as shockwaves coursed through me. I was vaguely aware of her toying with the ends of my hair as I jerked and twitched inside her.

When I got my breathing under control, I hazarded a glance up.

I was nowhere near ready for the emotion shining in her eyes, but I’ll be damned if it didn’t do some warm things to my soul.

And when she smiled? Forget about it. That was a blast of heat to my entire fucking system.

“Hey,” she whispered like she was seeing me for the first time all day.

I touched my lips to hers. “Hey.”

She began tracing the ridges of muscle at my sides. “So. Bad news. Your bed isn’t here yet.”

“That certainly is bad news. You got any good news to follow that with?”

She patted her hand on the wood. “You have a very sturdy dining room table.”

I chuckled and kissed her again. “I gotta clean up. Any chance you can put that food in the oven?”

“After that workout, I’m sure you’re ravenous.”

I pushed up onto my hands and walked them down the table until I was hovering above her breasts. She gasped when I darted my tongue out to circle her nipple.

“It’s you who’s gonna need the sustenance, Rhion. We didn’t get to the part on Friday night when you were straddling me.”

A loud, life-changing giggle escaped her mouth, which was followed by a groan as I pulled out of her and an, “Oh. My. God,” as I felt her ogle my ass while I sauntered to the bathroom.





“Find it, Rhion,” I ordered, giving her nipples a tug.

We were in my bed, which had thankfully been delivered while we’d been eating her grade-A chicken pot pie. After that, I’d shown her all twelve hundred square feet of my sprawling apartment. She oohed and aahed appropriately. She’d even managed to fake interest as I’d explained the finer points of IKEA furniture. The woman had probably never owned anything that wasn’t custom built specifically to meet her decorating needs. Though, as she listened to me intently, she wasn’t judging. Rhion wasn’t like that. Yes, her shoes clearly cost a fortune, probably her jeans too, but she didn’t wear them in a way that screamed for people to take notice. I’d lived with April long enough to know exactly what that looked like. But that was not Rhion Park.

She was simple.

Understated.

Stunning.

For the rest of the evening, we lay on the couch, alternating between making out and laughing. On that worn-out sectional, there was nothing but two people getting to know each other. We didn’t talk about the fire. Or her family. I didn’t bring up Friday night again. In those moments, with her staring up at me like I was the most amazing man she’d ever seen and me staring down at her knowing she was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, everything else became inconsequential.

When the clock hit midnight, I offered to take her home. I’d never forget as long as I lived the way her lips twisted adorably as she said, “And miss breaking in the new mattress? No way.”

I laughed.

And then I’d carted her off to bed, where we had officially broken the new mattress in.

And, now, at five a.m. the next morning, Rhion was riding my cock like she’d been born to do it. I was perilously close to coming, and she still hadn’t gotten off yet. But, if she didn’t speed it up, I was going to be late for work.

Gripping her hips, I thrust up hard.

“Jude!” she cried, but it wasn’t in ecstasy. It was in admonishment.

I’d been inside her exactly three times, and I already knew that my Butterfly liked her control. She liked riding me. Working me over until I was gasping for air.

And, truth be told, I liked all of that too.

I also like keeping my job, and that entailed my being on time.

After licking my thumb, I dropped it to her clit and rubbed a tight circle.

“Jude!” she cried. This time, it was in ecstasy.

I bucked beneath her again.

Her hands flew to my shoulders, where she balanced herself. “Wait!”

“Babe, trust me when I say I am in no rush to have you climb off my cock. But we have to leave in fifteen minutes. And I still have to shower and get dressed.” I couldn’t stifle the chuckle when disappointment hit her eyes. Using her hips, I ground into her and finished with, “That does not include the extra few minutes it’s gonna take for me to pack a bag to stay at your place tonight.”

Her eyes lit, and my lips curled up in a smile.

However, just as quickly, my lips fell because Rhion got busy.





Half an hour later, she was exiting my Jeep in the Guardian parking garage. I could tell she was nervous, but it was nothing like it had been the night before. She was smiling, and she didn’t even wait for me to come around to open her door before she climbed out.

“What time do you think you’ll be off tonight?” she asked, looping her arm around my hips as we fell into stride toward the elevator.

I was tossing my arm over her shoulders when I tagged a man lingering in the shadows of the stairwell. I quickly stepped in front of her, and she bumped into my back.

“What the…” she cursed.

The man slowly emerged, but recognizing him didn’t quell the unease ricocheting in my veins.

His gaze was dark, and he looked downright malevolent.

“Levitt,” Johnson greeted as he strode toward us.

“Oh, hey, Aidan,” Rhion chirped behind me.

I allowed her to step out around me, but I kept her close. Something felt off. And, if I’d learned anything in my years working security, it was to trust my gut.

He scanned her from head to toe and then back again before asking, “Did your phone break?”

She shook her head. “No. Why?”

He took an angry step toward her and seethed, “Because I’m positive there has to be a reason you didn’t call me and let me know you were shacking up with Jude last night.”

I didn’t have time to process it before I slammed my hand against his chest. “Back the fuck up!”

His gaze didn’t flip to mine; it stayed leveled on Rhion.

“Oh shit,” she breathed.