Rock the Bodyguard (10 page)

Whilst Cash paced, Mattie tossed
herself down on the couch and began murmuring profanity. When Miles asked her
to stop, she claimed to be working.

“This is my creative process,” she
explained. “It's how the good stuff comes out.”

Rolling his eyes, Miles pushed up
out of the chair and went to physically draw Cash away from the window, which
she was peeking out of yet again. When he put his hands on her shoulders, she
looked up at him with a winsome smile. It was all he could do not to bend down
and plant a kiss on her lips then and there.

“It's going to be alright,” he
murmured. “I promise.”

*
* * * *

Cash didn't know if it was going to
be alright. It was strange enough, being in a foreign country. But being in a
foreign country and being under attack from some psycho was almost too much to
bear. She knew she wouldn't have been able to handle it at all if it weren't
for Miles.

She leaned back against him,
letting his body take some of her weight. It was a small, casual intimacy, but
she felt much better for it. They stood there for a time, facing the closed
curtain, not moving or speaking. In the background, Mattie's muttered rhythmic
expletives punctuated the silence. Cash found a small smile creeping over her
face.

“Something amusing you, Miss
Raine?”

“Just Mattie,” Cash said. “She's
funny.”

“Hilarious,” Miles said dryly.
“Don't start following her lead. I can tell you right now I won't accept that
language from you.”

The murmured warning made Cash's
tummy tumble. She forgot her concern and smiled. “I'll keep that in mind.”

“See that you do.”

Miles smiled down at her and she
melted with a little giggle.

“Now that's better,” he said,
wrapping an arm around her waist. “I think it's time you ate,” he said. “You
too, Mattie.” He glanced over at the prone figure in the dark jeans.

Cash was touched by how Miles kept
an eye on Mattie. He wasn't being paid to watch her, and there was certainly no
romantic interest between them. He could have completely ignored her,
especially given how hostile she could be. But he didn't. He was a true
gentleman and he looked after both of them.

“You're sweet,” she said, smiling
up at him.

“I'm glad you think so,” he said,
looking pleased by the compliment. “Now, we need dinner.”

“Something fried,” Mattie
suggested. “They deep fry everything here. You can get deep fried candy bars.
Let's order some of those.”

Cash grinned and bounced onto the
couch with her. “That sounds gross.”

“Deliciously gross.”

Miles nixed the idea before it had
a sliver of a chance of getting off the ground. “We're going to have something
with some kind of nutritional value. And then we're going to bed. Kevin should
be ready to join us tomorrow.”

He spoke with certainty, addressing
them as a unit. It wasn't the first time that Cash had noticed he tended to
exert his authority over others as a group. When Miles decided that things were
going to happen a certain way, they happened a certain way. Even Mattie tended
to roll over and let him deal with the details.

That evening was no different.
Everybody ate well and turned in by ten o'clock. Miles didn't quite call lights
out, but as Cash curled up in her bed and watched Miles turned her light off
for her, she figured he might as well have done.

If anybody had told her just a
couple of months earlier she'd be letting some man send her to bed at ten
o'clock she would have laughed in their faces. She'd thought herself far too
independent for that. But there was a certain comfort in having Miles organize
things. She felt quite warm and snuggly and secure as she closed her eyes. She
was almost asleep when her door creaked open just a tad.

“Cash?”

It was Mattie.

“Cash are you awake?

Cash responded in the affirmative.
Mattie crept in, closed the door quietly behind her and padded over to the bed,
one hand kept surreptitiously behind her back.

“I can’t sleep,” she complained.
“Way too wired. And it is way too early. Muscles needs to set his clock back a
couple hours.”

Cash flicked on the bedside lamp
and nodded agreement.

“We should be partying,” Mattie
said. “This is the dullest tour ever. You think the Stones went to bed early
when they were in London?”

“I guess not,” Cash agreed. She
wasn't sure where Mattie was going with her complaints, but she sensed that
something was afoot. She was swiftly proven right.

“So I bought this.” Mattie pulled a
bottle of tequila out from behind her back. “You're legal here, Cash. You
should have a drink.” She set the bottle on the nightstand, then held up a
finger. “Wait here.”

Cash waited. And waited. And waited
a little longer. She was almost drifting to sleep when Mattie returned with a
couple of shot glasses, a saltshaker and some sliced lemon.

“You have no idea how hard it was
to get this shit without getting mobbed,” she whispered, laying her supplies
out on the nightstand.

“We're doing shots?” Cash eyed the
tequila doubtfully. She'd tasted alcohol before of course; in her line of work
people quite often gave her drinks. But she'd never done shots; she'd never
done a whole lot more than sip a cocktail.

“Yep.” Mattie grinned. “You want
to, right?”

“Sure,” Cash agreed. Curiosity was
getting the better of her and there was something deliciously naughty about
tasting forbidden liquids in the dark of night when she should have been
asleep. She watched as Mattie poured a shot then licked the side of her hand
and sprinkled a little salt on it. With a little grin she lapped the salt off
her hand, tossed the shot down her throat and followed it up by sucking on a
slice of lemon. Cash watched, fascinated by the ceremony of it all.

“Okay,” Mattie said, her voice a
little raw. “Now your turn.”

Cash did as Mattie had done and
salted her hand. Mattie poured the shot.

“Down it in one,” she said. “Don't
sip it.”

Cash nodded, licked the salt off
her hand, and fired the shot down her throat. It burned with a queer flame that
made her want to cough. The moment she opened her mouth, Mattie stuck the lemon
slice in. The harsh taste changed in an instant, it was almost nice. Licking
her lips, Cash grinned.

“Not bad.”

“Another?” Mattie quirked a brow.

“Don't mind if I do.”

Cash beamed as she presented her
glass for another shot. The alcohol was making her feel warm. And brave. She
wasn't nearly as worried about anything as she had been before shooting the
shot. Was that how you said it? Shoot a shot? She giggled to herself. That
didn't sound right at all.

“What are you two doing awake?”

The light flicked on. Miles stood
there, dressed in his pajamas and a quilted robe. His look of annoyance
transformed to a dark glare when he saw the salt and lemon slices. Mattie had
moved quickly enough to stash the tequila bottle under Cash's pillow, but he
was still suspicious. Cash's giggle grew to a high-pitched squeak as he stepped
into the room.

“What are you two doing?”

“Nothing.” Mattie beamed. “Just
talking.”

“With lemon and salt.”

Cash coughed, the harsh liquid
still burning down her throat into her stomach. She felt Miles' eyes slide over
to her.

“If you're adult enough to drink,
you're adult enough not to hide it, don't you think?”

Cash felt a little silly. She
pulled the bottle out from behind her pillow and put it on the nightstand.

“There you go.”

Miles smirked humorlessly. “The
hard stuff.”

Squirming where she sat, Cash
shrugged wordlessly. She knew she was in trouble. She could see it in his eyes.
But for once he wasn't threatening her with any form of discipline. He was just
looking at her.

“It's not so bad,” she said,
coughing a little more. “Sort of tasty.”

Miles ignored her assessment of
tequila and turned his attention back to Mattie. “I suppose this was a plan of
yours, Miss Dwyer.”

“This tour is boring,” Mattie said.
“All we do is sit inside and worry.”

“So now you're going to sit inside,
worry and drink. You are aware that alcohol is a depressant.”

“I'm allowed to drink here, Miles,”
Cash interjected. “It's not illegal.”

He nodded. “No, it's not.”

“So...” She gave him a hopeful
look. “It's okay?”

“It is most certainly not okay. You
are both supposed to be in bed.” His look of displeasure fell square on Mattie.
“Go to bed, young lady. Now.” He stood to the side, glowering at Mattie as she
sidled out of the room. In what seemed like seconds Cash was left alone with
the big, stern man. She licked her lips nervously, tasting salt and sour.

“You, young lady,” he said firmly.
“Are getting a spanking. Now.”

“You can't spank me for drinking.”
She mustered a measure of resistance, about a shot glass worth. It didn't help.

“I wasn't asking for permission,”
Miles said, sitting on the edge of her bed. She tried to squirm away, but he
caught her by the upper arm and pulled her close. “I can spank you for whatever
I like,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She squirmed as he plucked her out
from under the covers and wrangled her over his lap. He seemed expert at
working the female form over his thighs. No matter how Cash tried to wriggle
away, he had a counter move. She was soon pinned underneath his strong left arm
whilst his other hand made preparations to do the unthinkable.

“You knew you were being naughty,
drinking in secret when you were supposed to be sleeping.”

His voice was kind, but stern. It
made Cash squirm, the deep timbre of his tone resonating in her most private
areas. She felt her panties pull tight over her cheeks as he positioned her,
lifting his thigh so that her bottom was displayed prominently.

The bloom from the alcohol was
making her entire body hum with excitement. She spread her thighs almost
instinctively as he ran his hand along one leg, the tips of his fingers curling
around the sensitive inner skin. She gasped and grasped at the bed covers as
the edge of his hand butted up against her panty-clad mound.

“Naughty, Cash, very naughty,”
Miles purred, letting his hand rest at that sensitive junction.

“Naughty girls get spanked, don't
they?”

She could not help but move back
and forth, her hips dancing of their own accord. Her pulse was laying down the
beat and she was helpless to the rhythm. She thoroughly expected to be told
off, but instead he began softly stroking the crotch of her panties. Moaning,
she lifted her hips, wanting more. She was rewarded with more soft petting that
made her quite mad with desire.

“You're getting wet, Miss Raine.”

The rumbled observation only served
to further arouse her. She felt so wanton. Lust was burning through her veins,
becoming the only thing that mattered. His fingers passing along the length of
her panty-covered slit spurred her on but failed to satisfy.

When he extended a finger and
hooked it around the gusset of her underwear, pulling it away to expose the
moist flower beneath, she could hardly believe it. She held her breath as cool
air touched her bare pussy, then let it all out in a long moan as the warm pad
of his finger made contact.

He was touching her and she was in
heaven. When he gently parted the folds and dipped the tip of a finger inside
her, pushing into her body, she let out a squeal of excitement. He was in her.
Oh god he was in her and she wanted more. So much more.

Cash let out her breath in panting,
pouting gasps as Miles' finger slid in and out of her pussy. He seemed to have
forgotten about spanking her for the moment, he was far more interested in playing
with the delicate petals of her center.

“The problem with you, Cash,” he
said, his voice husky with desire. “Is that you're almost too sexy to spank.”

“So don't spank me,” she moaned.
“Fuck me.”

His finger stilled, then slid away.
He made a tutting sound as he stretched his palm across her bottom and dealt a
solid slap low to her cheeks.

“You really do have a mouth on you
at times, Miss Raine.”

Cash squeaked as his hand impacted
her bottom. She was so unspeakably aroused. She couldn't help it. Every instinct
she had was telling her to spread her legs for this strong, tender man who even
now was swatting her bottom with punitive intent.

“There is plenty of time for us to
be intimate, Miss Raine,” he said, reaching up to the waistband of her panties.
He began to slowly peel them down over her cheeks, baring her bottom little by
little. “Right now, I want you to focus on what I am doing to this backside of
yours.”