Page 37 of The Bodyguard and the Alpha (Witch Twins #2)

Electra

Finally, Bastien led me out of the house, towards a barn at the back of the property that I hadn’t seen when we arrived last night.

Around us, the world was blanketed in snow and quiet, as if we were the only living beings in the vicinity.

The early morning sky was clear, with the promise of a fine day, but right now the air was cold enough to make my face hurt.

If Bastien hadn’t insisted I grab my shoes and a coat from the cottage I would have been shivering.

Not that I would give him the satisfaction of telling him he was right.

He’d turned way too bossy already and I had no plans to encourage the domineering behaviour.

Even if I secretly enjoyed the fact that he was so solicitous of my comfort.

Despite the cold that bit at my skin, he still only wore shorts and the rest of his fine body was bare to the elements.

Even his feet. How could he not be freezing?

Not that I minded the view. Not at all. My eyes roved over his broad shoulders, his muscled back, down to his trim waist. The thick thighs.

I remembered how good it felt to rock my body on one of those legs, and my body flushed.

I could help you with that . His mental voice was warm and amused.

“With what?”

You desire my body. It is yours.

“How?” I cleared my throat, trying to rein in my embarrassment. I was an adult. I could have a rational conversation about sex. “How can you tell?”

I’d be a bad mate if I couldn’t tell when you were needy .

Needy. That was a suitable description. My clit had begun to throb and my hard nipples pressed against the soft fabric of the t-shirt he’d found for me.

No. I couldn’t let myself get distracted. A distracted bodyguard got their principal killed. Shit. Ignoring him was proving harder than I had expected. “What I need is for these manacles to come off.”

Agreed. It will make it easier for you to pull my hair when my head is between your knees.

And that visual didn’t help. “Don’t you ever give up?” My lips twitched in a smile, no matter how hard I tried to resist. His persistence was all too attractive.

Never.

The word sounded like a vow and I shivered. We didn’t have forever. That wasn’t in our cards.

Ahead of me, Bastien pulled open the barn door.

He waited on the doorstep a moment, his large body still, alert, before he decided it was safe.

I narrowed my eyes at him, glaring at his back.

That was my job. Once the manacles were off, and I had my powers back, he and I were going to have a conversation about the role switch that had been happening since he shifted. That shit wasn’t going to fly anymore.

He switched on a light and stepped aside for me to enter.

It was a large space. Up high, the ceiling was crossed with beams. At ground level, the building was cluttered with the vague shapes of machinery under protective cloths.

I had some idea what they might be used for.

Not because of my upbringing—I was raised a city girl, through and through.

After our father left, there had been no spare money for holidays in the country.

Then, once my powers came in, the hectic level of activities my mother had forced onto me left little time for leisure.

In fact, the first few times I remember going out of the city were when Bastien took a vacation and I went with him as part of his security entourage.

Even though I had been working on all of those trips, I was grateful to have had the opportunity to visit those places. Pristine beaches. Luxury ski resorts.

Caly and I had been planning to go on a trip together, but between my work schedule and her hours in the bookshop, we hadn’t managed to find a time to go.

Now, she would probably go with her new mate.

I didn’t begrudge her a moment of happiness with him.

As much as I would have liked to spend time with her, I knew that she wanted to go to the Bahamas.

I’d been there once. Didn’t need to go again.

Working for Bastien had opened my eyes up to the wonders of travel, but many of the fancy places we stayed didn’t suit me at all.

I’d discovered that I craved isolation. Quiet.

They were what I needed when I didn’t work.

Time to just be myself. I hadn’t told my sister, not wanting to disappoint her, but when I took vacation time, I usually rented a cottage on a big farm.

I’d been to the same place now for three years in a row.

During the day, I did whatever I felt like.

No schedule. No pressure. If I was in the mood, I cooked —complicated recipes that took me hours to prepare.

I made pasta from scratch. If I didn’t want to talk to anyone I didn’t have to.

Some visits, I didn’t go outside for days on end.

I gleefully skipped my daily run, read books and ate far too much.

At night, I watched the stars or stayed inside by the fire and knitted socks for preemie babies that I sent to the hospital.

But at least once a trip I walked across the paddocks to visit Callum, the farmer who owned the property with his wife Anna.

Anna fed me cake in their big farm kitchen and Callum showed me how to work wood.

Thanks to Callum, I had an idea of the types of tools and machines that would be stored in a barn like this.

It was weird. I knew it was weird. But it helped me remember who I really was. The person I truly was, inside, wasn’t a badass. Inside, I was the opposite. I wanted a quiet life, with a man who adored me and children. I wanted to keep chickens and stay at home.

I looked around. If it was anything like the barn I was familiar with, there would be tools and a workbench in the corner. And, there it was, the tool I needed: a small vise. Callum had shown me how it operated.

Striding over to the bench, I spoke over my shoulder. “Let’s get this done.”

I squeaked in surprise when large hands gripped my waist and settled me onto the bench beside the vise. Okay then .

Bastien stepped immediately into my space, his body between my thighs, his torso looming over me.

Just his presence in front of me made my heart gallop.

The scent of soap and male filled my nostrils and I wanted to lean into him.

Let him take care of me. The desire to let go, to give in, was so intense that I had to force myself not to sway forward.

I had to stay strong. I had to resist him.

“Step back, please,” I said, my voice tight from the emotions clashing inside me. “You’ll need some room to work.”

As you wish .

Bastien took a step backwards, giving me the space I needed.

So why did my heart hurt when he did what I asked? Had I expected that he would fight me on this? That he would step even closer? That he would take up all the space between us until my breasts brushed against his solid torso?

Apparently, my inner cavewoman had hoped that he would do just that. The way he had lifted me onto the bench as if I weighed nothing. Taking over my personal space. She had taken it all as a sign that something more was going to happen. And now that it hadn’t… I didn’t know what to think.

Ruthlessly, I pushed the confusion, the hurt, away. Thrusting one hand out, I kept my expression calm. This was what I had to do. For both our sakes. Getting some distance was a good thing.

I kept my head down as Bastien moved away to get some tools.

I put my wrist into the vise, ready for him to tighten the tool around the manacle.

His hand on my wrist was gentle when he turned the cuff to expose the rivet that held the two ends of the metal together.

One large finger tapped the weak spot. I will hit here.

Have to be careful. Keep your hand still so I don’t hurt you.

I gave him a nod.

The first manacle fell off, landing on the concrete floor with a clang. Bastien loosened the vise and I pulled my arm out, inspecting the damage. My wrist throbbed, the skin red and broken. Small price to pay to get my power back. One down, one to go.

“Do the next one,” I said, shoving my arm into the vise. Now that I was so close to getting my magic back, impatience surged under my skin. “Hurry.”

Slowly. Could hurt you .

“Don’t care.” The physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional storm in my chest.

I care, baby .

Oh gods. He was still doing it. No matter how hard I had tried to push him away, he kept being sweet. Except for when he was being demanding. My traitorous nipples hardened.

Shut it down Electra . I had years of practice in denying myself the things that I wanted. I could do this. Ice. I was ice.

The sound of the chisel against the metal around my wrist filled the air in the barn. I gritted my teeth against the pain as the manacle bit into my skin.

Almost there .

His mental voice was soothing. Bastien repositioned the chisel and lifted the mallet. Bang. The sound seemed louder than before.