Page 23 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Electra

Fuck. I hated crying. I didn’t do it. I had never been the sort of girl who would burst into tears when she was angry. Not me. I channelled it. I used it. And gods know, I’d had enough opportunity. But, apparently, if one particular Shifter made me angry enough, I was a crier.

I thought my head might blow off with the fury that burned through me when Bastien just took off, so fast that I had no hope of catching him.

When he put himself in danger. I mean, alright, it became clear that he was more than good enough to deal with the fight he’d raced into.

He obliterated the ten men in the corridor without apparently breaking a sweat—did he even sweat in this form?

—but that wasn’t the point. He’d gone in like a berserker, with no care for his own safety.

And by the time I’d pulled myself out of my shocked stupor to follow him, the fight was over.

He’d left me behind like I was a fragile damsel.

He could have taken off my manacles to give me access to my magic, but no.

He’d left behind the most powerful Witch alive, the one who’d fucking saved his life multiple times, and charged in by himself.

My body vibrated with anger as I stalked towards him.

He turned to face me, eyebrows going up in surprise.

And then he took off his clothes! Stripped everything off.

He stood waiting as I approached, legs apart, showing me his ridiculously sexy body.

His monster cock. Of course he was proud of himself.

He was clearly a top predator. But he was such a jerk!

I didn’t plan the slap. I mean, come on, I knew it wasn’t smart to slap an eight-foot tall ogre who’d just killed ten people. My hand just flew to his chest without my conscious control. But then the big idiot just laughed. It was a sexy rumble of sound from deep in his chest.

And I lost it. I was hurt and confused. I’d been kidnapped and threatened. I was fucking hangry. Everything that I’d bottled up inside me since the Summit just came out of my body in a torrent of emotion.

Bastien froze, his mouth comically agape.

At any other time, I would have found it funny, how this big Beast was so obviously at a loss.

Now it just made me cry harder. I wanted him to pick me up and cradle me against that absurdly muscled chest. I wanted him to call me baby and tell me that everything would be alright.

I wanted him to hold me like I was precious.

To promise me that he cared. But I wasn’t even sure that Bastien could speak in this form.

He hadn’t said a word to me since he’d shifted.

And even if he could, why would he? I wanted the impossible.

The fantasy that I was important to him rather than just as his bodyguard.

The Witch whose talents made her indispensable, but who he’d never pursued past that first rejected invitation. The one he’d called Ice Queen.

This was his fault. His behaviour in our cell had put me off-balance.

His request for me to stay close when we slept.

While I hadn’t questioned it at the time, I realised later that he couldn’t have been cold.

He was a Shifter. So why had he pretended?

Had he just been trying to make me feel better?

I threw my hands in the air as the tears dripped down my cheeks, breath harsh in my aching chest. Bastien was a superb politician, adept at reading body language.

Good at manipulating people to his will.

Was that all it had been? He’d seen the fear I’d been trying to hide and he’d found a way to make me feel safe?

But why had he called me pet names? Why had he kissed me?

I was angry at him for putting himself in danger, and I was just so fucking confused.

I understood our usual interactions. I could cope with seeing his stupid sexy body and listening to his deep voice that stroked my nerve endings every day when I knew the rules.

But now. I was lost.

Everything since the morning before we’d been captured made no sense.

I was crying so hard that I couldn’t see past the tears that spilled from my eyes and down my cheeks.

My legs wobbled from the sudden adrenaline letdown and I crumpled to the floor, wrapping my arms around my legs and rocking myself.

I realised it now. I’d been an idiot. I’d allowed myself to hope.

That was the biggest mistake of all. I couldn’t afford to hope.

After the Summit I was done. I was going to get as far away from him as I possibly could and I was going to find a man who wanted me. Why had he chosen now to show interest?

It wasn’t until I felt myself being lifted onto hard thighs, that I realised Bastien had sat down beside me. He pulled me against his chest, a purr rumbling against my ear.

No, I couldn’t do this, whatever it was.

I tried to push him away. I needed space to regain my equilibrium.

To pull the ruins of my emotional armour back over my bruised heart.

But his arms tightened around me. I was trapped.

And my body didn’t want me to leave. My body wanted him to hold me tight.

I wanted him to kiss me, the way he had before.

As if nothing was more important than me.

I wanted more. I wanted it all.