Vulnerable: (McIntyre Security Bodyguard Series - Book 1) (22 page)

‘Oh, God, I’m fine. Please.”

Shane began a relentless campaign against her clitoris, stroking and rubbing her flesh, driving her higher and higher. He could hear her panting in the dark, her breaths coming fast and shallow, and the small sounds she made deep in her throat. When he felt her muscles tense, he knew she was near. He angled his cock just so.

When her climax hit, Beth cried out loudly. Pleasure battered her body, radiating from her core outward like jolts of lightning. She shivered in his arms, and he held her close as the tremors coursed through her body.

His own body took its cue from hers and he followed her, his body exploding in a hot rush as his hips bucked urgently against her body. His guttural cry was hoarse in her hair as he emptied himself into her.

“My God, Beth,” he said.

She could feel his hot breath on the nape of her neck as he tried to catch his breath.

He pulled gently out of her clinging sex and rolled her to her back so he could see her face. “Are you all right?” he said, brushing back her hair.

She nodded, a little short of breath herself. She was more than just fine, as she reveled in the residual tremors of her orgasm.

He stroked her face, brushing the pad of his thumb along her cheekbone. Looking at her gave him such pleasure. He could lie there and stare at her for hours. He certainly wanted to, but he had a condom to dispose of. Once that was taken care of, he brought back another warm washcloth and cleaned her up. Then he slipped back into bed with her and spooned against her limp body.

“Go back to sleep, sweetheart,” he said, kissing the nape of her neck.

They fell back to sleep, satiated and comforted by the warmth of each other’s body.

Beth came awake slowly and realized she wasn’t in her own bed. Then it all came rushing back – she’d spent the night in Shane’s bed. And after that first disastrous attempt, they’d had sex – twice! The relief she felt was staggering.

She was lying on her side, and Shane was pressed up against her back, his arm hooked around her waist. She could feel his erection prodding her bottom.

“Good morning,” Shane said, kissing a spot on her shoulder. “Looks like I gave you a hickey last night. I’m sorry.”

“I’m not sorry,” she said, turning to face at him. “Good morning.”

“What’s on the agenda today? Breakfast? A shower?”

“I’d like to take a shower first, if you don’t mind,” she said. “And then breakfast. I’m starving.”

“That sounds like an excellent plan.” He gave her a hopeful look. “Can I join you in the shower?”

Shane led her by the hand to the walk-in shower. With one push of a button, hot water sprayed out from multiple shower heads.

“Come on in,” he said, pulling her into the water. “The water’s fine.”

Beth leaned her head back in bliss, letting the warm water rush over her skin. “Your shower is decadent,” she said, pushing her hair back from her face as she wetted it under the warm spray.

Shane poured some shampoo into his hands and massaged the lather into her hair.

She groaned when his fingers began massaging her scalp. “That smells good,” she said, inhaling the strong minty scent.

“It’s my sister’s. She uses this shower when she stays here.”

“I don’t blame her,” she said, groaning with pleasure. “Which sister?”

“Lia, the youngest. She’s stays here a lot,” he said. “Lia works for McIntyre Security,” he said, taking the opening. He had it in his mind that Lia would be the perfect bodyguard for Beth. “She’s an operative.”

“An operative? That sounds very cloak-and-dagger.”

“You’re not far off,” he said. “Lia often works undercover.”

“Do your other sisters work for you?”

“No, just Lia. Sophie’s an interior designer here in the city, and Hannah’s a student at University of Chicago. Lia’s the only one crazy enough to work for me.”

Shane positioned Beth’s head under the warm spray to rinse away the suds. Then he reached for a bottle of body wash and lathered up his hands.

“This is a full-service spa,” Beth said, when he laid his soapy hands on her shoulders and began to work his way down her arms.

“I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing than running my hands all over your wet, naked body.”

“You’re waxing very poetically this morning,” she said, smiling in bliss as his soapy hands massaged her body.

“Co-ed showers make me poetic, what can I say?” His hands came around her torso to cup her breasts, his thumbs swirling soap gently over her nipples. “I’m in a shower with a gorgeous woman who is naked and wet.” He shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a simple man.”

She chuckled. “You’re easy to please.”

He leaned down and kissed the side of neck. “No, I’m easily pleased by
you.
All you have to do is crook your little finger and you’ve got my attention. No other woman has ever had that effect on me.”

Shane’s hands traveled down her back and to her waist and hips. He soaped her buttocks, then his hands moved around to her front, where he soaped her belly and thighs.

When she was rinsed off, Beth turned in Shane’s arms and reached for his shampoo bottle. “Now, it’s my turn,” she said.

* * *

Shane stood with a towel wrapped around his hips as he towel dried his hair. “There’s an event next weekend I have to attend,” he said. He stood next to Beth, who was brushing her teeth at the bathroom sink. “It’s a fundraiser for the Children’s Hospital Foundation. I’m on the Board of Directors, so I have to be there. Will you come with me, as my date?”

Beth froze and looked at him. Hospital fundraiser? That sounded like a very crowded event, and she didn’t fare well with crowds. But still, she couldn’t pass up an opportunity to do something like this with him. “I’d love to,” she said.

“It’s a black-tie event,” he warned. “And there’s lots of schmoozing. It could be really boring.”

“I don’t mind,” she said. Then she made a face. “But I’m pretty sure I don’t have anything suitable to wear to a black-tie event.”

“Why don’t we go shopping then, after breakfast? I’d love to buy you a dress.”

She made an effort to keep it cool. “I thought guys hate shopping.”

“Well, as a general rule, I do,” he said. “But if I get to watch you model sexy dresses, then I’m good.”

Beth swatted his shoulder. “Okay. But you don’t have to buy my dress. It’s nice of you to offer, but I can pay for it myself.”

Chapter 20

After dressing, they went in search of food. Beth followed Shane to the kitchen, where they found Cooper standing in front of a double-door refrigerator peering through the glass doors at the contents inside. Cooper was dressed in jeans and a t-shirt and scuffed up boots. The air was filled with the rich aroma of freshly brewed coffee.

“There are plenty of leftovers from last night,” Shane said to Cooper. “We can have those, or we can make breakfast.”

“
We
can make breakfast?” Cooper said, raising a sardonic eyebrow at Shane.

“Yes,
we
. I’ll help.”

“Shane, you’re good at a lot of things, but cooking isn’t one of them.” Cooper smiled at Beth. “Don’t let him fool you, Beth. He’s just trying to impress you with his nonexistent kitchen skills.”

Shane led Beth to a seat at the breakfast bar and kissed her. “What would you like to drink? Coffee? Tea? OJ?”

“I’ll have some of that coffee,” she said. “It smells divine.”

Shane poured two cups of coffee and handed one to Beth. Then he brought her sugar, creamer, and a spoon, which he set on the granite counter in front of her.

Cooper turned to Beth, his arms crossed over his lean, muscled chest. “What would the young lady like for breakfast?” There was a smile on his face, and he seemed genuinely pleased to see her.

Beth smiled back. “Anything’s fine, really,” she said. “I can make it.”

Shane put his hands on Beth’s shoulders, giving her a light squeeze. “You relax and drink your coffee. Cooper and I know our way around a kitchen.”

“Let’s try this again,” Cooper said. “What would you like for breakfast, Beth? Eggs? Pancakes? Waffles? French toast?”

Her face lit up at the mention of French toast.

“French toast it is,” Cooper said. He opened one of the fridge doors and pulled out a carton of eggs. “And what you would you like with your French toast? Eggs? Bacon? Sausage? Hash browns?”

“Please don’t go to any more trouble,” she said. “The French toast is fine.”

Cooper frowned. “French toast alone is not a sufficient breakfast, is it, Shane?”

“No, it’s not,” Shane said, sipping his coffee. He was leaning against one of the kitchen counters, watching the interplay between Beth and Cooper with an indulgent smile on his face.

“So, what’ll it be, kid?” Cooper said.

“Bacon then, please?” she said, shrugging apologetically. “If it’s not too much trouble?”

Cooper nodded, apparently satisfied. “And hash browns,” he added. “Coming right up.”

Beth watched in fascination as Shane and Cooper set about making breakfast. While Cooper cracked a half-dozen eggs into a shallow dish, Shane loaded a large griddle pan with enough bacon to feed a small army. The two men worked side-by-side, smoothly and efficiently.

“I thought you said you didn’t know how to cook,” Beth said to Shane, watching him fuss with the bacon.

“I don’t,” Shane said. “But I still remember how to follow orders. Cooper was my commanding officer in the military. Old habits die hard.”

Cooper gave Shane a suffering glance. “Like you ever listen to a thing I say now.”

“I do,” Shane said, and he smiled at Beth.

While the bacon cooked, Cooper prepared the French toast and cooked the hash browns.

Beth couldn’t help smiling as she watched the two men work. It was obvious they had a history of working together, as well as a deep mutual affection.

“She’s not hard to please, is she?” Cooper said to Shane, as he used a spatula to turn the bread in the skillet.

“It doesn’t seem so,” Shane said, checking the bacon.

“She’s easy to please and not very demanding,” Cooper mused aloud. “Honestly, I think she would’ve been happy with dry toast. She has very nice manners, and on top of all that, she’s drop dead gorgeous. Damn, Shane, where did you find her? Does she have an older sister who’s single? A
much
older sister?”

Beth snickered as the two men discussed her as if she weren’t hearing every word they said.

“Are we amusing you, young lady?” Shane said, glancing back at her.

She grinned. “Yes. I don’t have a sister, but my mom is single. And people have mistaken us for being sisters before. She’s really nice. You’d like her.”

Cooper delivered a plate of perfectly cooked French toast with butter and maple syrup, bacon, and hash browns to her place at the breakfast bar. Shane refilled her coffee cup.

“Need anything else, young lady?” Cooper asked, as he stood at the counter.

“No, thank you. This is wonderful.”

Shane and Cooper filled their own plates and joined her at the counter, one on each side of her.

“This is delicious, Cooper,” Beth said, spearing a forkful of French toast. “Thank you.”

“My pleasure, Beth,” Cooper said, just before he shoveled a forkful of food into his own mouth.

When everyone had finished eating, Cooper cleared the dirty plates from the breakfast bar. “So, what’re your plans today?” he asked.

“We’re going shopping for a dress,” Shane said.

Cooper raised a skeptical eyebrow. “Really?”

“Beth agreed to be my date to the hospital benefit next weekend, so we’re going dress shopping. And then we’ll grab some lunch downtown.”

Cooper nodded. “I’ll drive you. Give me a heads up when you’re ready to leave, and I’ll bring the car around front.”

When Beth excused herself to freshen up, Shane hung back in the kitchen with Cooper.

“What’s the word on Kline?” Shane said, once Beth was out of earshot.

“He was quiet last night, mostly watching television and surfing the Internet. Besides watching a lot of really bad porn, he found a video interview with Beth on the Kingston website that he watched repeatedly. He’s obsessing over her, Shane.”

Shane frowned, his expression tight. Then he pulled out his phone and located a name on his contact list. “Hi, Suzanne. It’s Shane McIntyre. I need a favor. There’s a video on your library’s website featuring an interview with one of your employees, Beth Jamison. I need you to pull that video immediately. In fact, pull all media that contains any image or reference to Beth from the library website. Thanks. I appreciate it, and I owe you.”

Shane hung up and looked at Cooper.

“Will you be armed on this little outing downtown?” Cooper said.

Shane shook his head. “No. It would be too easy for Beth to spot the gun, and I don’t want to try to explain that right now.”

Cooper nodded. “I’ll shadow you then.”

“Thanks.”

* * *

“You knew Cooper in the military?” Beth said, as they stepped into the elevator.

“We were in the same unit,” Shane said. “When I was discharged, I asked Cooper to come with me to start up a new venture. He was eligible to retire, so he agreed.”

“You two seem very close.”

“We are. Besides my brothers, he’s my best friend.”

The elevator doors opened to the front lobby, and they stepped out into a spacious, sunlit space. The exterior walls of the two-story lobby were all glass, which made for a bright and sunny space. There were numerous trees planted inside the lobby, and a tiered water fountain stood in the center of the room. As they approached the double glass doors that led to the front of the building, an older man dressed in a black suit and tie greeted Shane.

“Good day, Mr. McIntyre,” the man said, smiling broadly at Shane.

“Hey, Charlie,” Shane said, reaching out to shake the man’s hand. “Charlie, this is Miss Jamison.”

“How do you do, ma’am?” Charlie said, nodding his head at her.