Her Guardian Angel 4-Her Angel Series (10 page)

And damn
she tasted just as good as she had the first time.

And damn
he needed more.

She
moaned when he backed her into the wall beside the door, pressing
the hard length of his body against hers, and grabbed his
shoulders. For a moment, he thought she would push him away, and
then she dragged him closer still and wrapped her arms around his
neck, burying her fingers into his hair.

Part of
him was vaguely aware that alcohol was responsible for his current
situation and that he was going to regret it come the morning but
the rest of him didn’t care. He had wanted to release his
inhibitions and he had. He just hadn’t expected that this would be
the result, and right now he didn’t care that he was on the verge
of doing exactly as his superior had ordered.

All he
cared about was satisfying his hunger to taste Amelia.

The part
of him that was chanting about deception wouldn’t shut up and the
more he listened to it, the more he felt like a demon.

Marcus
stepped back, leaving Amelia sagged against the wall, panting so
hard that her breasts rose and fell with each breath, presenting
him with a glorious view that had him reconsidering what he was
about to say.

She
slowly opened her grey eyes and smiled shyly before raking her gaze
over him. It lingered on his groin and her eyes widened, pupils
dilating until her irises turned dark with desire. There was a
wicked edge to her eyes when they met his again and she inclined
her head, her pouty come hither look almost luring him in. Desire
wasn’t the only thing written plainly across her face. There was
expectation there too, and that alone pushed him into saying what
he needed to.

“I think
this is a bad idea.”

Her
sultry temptress look immediately dissipated, leaving the Amelia he
was familiar with standing before him.

“You
really don’t like me,” she whispered and the hurt in her heart beat
within his.

He wasn’t
saying anything of the sort. But what could he tell her? He was
halfway to drunk and not only did he need to get his head on
straight so he was certain that he wasn’t doing this because he was
subconsciously following orders but he was hardly going to produce
the stellar performance she expected of him.

He had
been celibate this entire lifetime.

And he
was damned if his first time was going to be under
orders.

If
something was going to happen between them, it was going to happen
naturally. He wasn’t going to seduce her and use her feelings
against her.

“I do…
but… I think the wine has gone to my head and I think it might have
gone to yours too.”

“And
that’s a bad thing?” She glanced at the empty bottle and his
half-full glass on the table.

“It is.”
Marcus ventured a step towards her and brushed the backs of his
fingers against her cheek, sweeping her straight dark hair from her
face. Her skin was as smooth as he had imagined it would be and the
way she closed her eyes, slowly inhaling at the same time,
empowered him. He opened his hand and cupped her face, resting his
fingers along her jaw and bringing his thumb close to her mouth.
Such soft lips. He wanted to dip his head and kiss her again but he
wasn’t sure he would be able to stop at just kissing if he did. “It
is all a little quick and I don’t want you waking tomorrow feeling
like crap because of what we did tonight.”

“I doubt
I would feel crappy.” There it was again. Blatant expectation. Why?
Because he was handsome to her? That instantly made him
Casanova?

No
pressure then.

“Amelia…
how about we take it slow and steady?”

Her eyes
lit up and he realised there could be another meaning in his words
but he didn’t bother to correct her because he wasn’t about to let
things get that far. His final task was coming. Everything that had
happened tonight would satisfy his superior and his orders to gain
her trust. He would date her a few times, keeping a suitable
distance, and once his mission was over he would leave.

She
nodded, tiptoed and kissed him.

Resisting
was impossible.

He swept
his lips over hers, tasting her again and savouring this brief
contact between them. When she broke away this time, he led her
back to the couch and settled there with her, his thoughts weighing
him down. He watched her again, fascinated by the amusement she got
from the movie and how she curled up next to him, her bare knees
brushing his thigh. A deep ache to slide his arm around her
shoulders and draw her closer still beat in his bones but he
resisted.

He
couldn’t use her feelings against her.

Not when
he was starting to feel something for her too.

***

Chapter 6

Amelia
ambled along the hot pavement, her head already home in her flat
or, more precisely, next door to it with Marcus. He had been a
gentleman last night when she had wanted to take things further,
and while it had irritated her at the time and made her doubt his
attraction towards her again, it had taken on a certain appeal as
her day had progressed. In the morning when she had gone jogging,
she had done so out of frustration at how the night had ended on
what could only be described as a very chaste kiss. By the time she
had made it to lunch with her friends, she had been replaying their
more passionate kisses in her head, so much so that her friends had
commented on her unusual silence. She had made her excuses and not
mentioned Marcus. Her friends would think she was
rebounding.

Did
Marcus think that?

She
didn’t want him to see himself as just a rebound guy. He was more
than that. She couldn’t put her finger on it but there was
something different about him. Something that set him apart from
the average man.

Amelia
had never had a man treat her in such a gentlemanly fashion and
wasn’t sure what to make of it. All of her previous boyfriends had
been as passionate as she was and at times she wondered if that was
part of their appeal. Because of her attraction to Marcus, she had
expected him to be similar to the previous men in her life in that
respect. That expectation couldn’t have been more wrong.

The
moment he had said that he wanted to take things slowly, she had
realised that Marcus really was nothing like her exes, and was
everything like the man she had always hoped to meet.

Maybe he
was right and they should take their time, if only so she could
prove to Marcus that he was more than a rebound to her. She really
did like him. Her mind had been stuck on him since the night she
had paused to take a good look at him and even now she was itching
to see him again. She wasn’t good at going slow. Once something
seized hold of her, she generally forgot everything else in a
passionate pursuit of what she wanted.

In this
case, Marcus naked and pressed against her.

He had
been hesitant and strangely polite to her after their kiss, and his
sweet goodnight played on her mind, filling her head with
doubts.

He had
kissed her though.

And it
had felt good.

Really
good.

She could
do the softly-softly thing with him any day of the week. She
wouldn’t care how slow things went between them if he just kept
kissing her like that.

Amelia
was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t realise that she had
gone the wrong way until she heard three men addressing her. She
quickly scanned her surroundings, eyes darting around for an avenue
of escape in case things took a turn for the worse.

“Lost?”
The innocent expression on the face of the man in the middle didn’t
fool Amelia.

It wasn’t
dark yet but the sun had already set and she had wandered into the
quiet side streets behind the apartment buildings. She looked
around again, hoping to spot someone other than the three men, but
she was alone.

“Not
really.” Amelia turned to walk the other way but another man was
there.

No, not
another man.

The same
man. His dark hair hung in messy threads across his eyes, obscuring
his face enough that she wouldn’t be able to describe him well to
the police if it came down to that. God, she hoped it didn’t. She
hurried to get a good look at the other two men. Both around the
same height as the first, tall and with slim figures, and both
sporting dark jeans and jackets, clothing that seemed far too warm
for such a hot summer evening. She was sweltering in her small pale
blue dress.

“I don’t
want any trouble.” She clutched her leather handbag closer to her,
holding it in front of her stomach. Could she use it as a weapon?
She kept so much junk in it that it was probably heavy enough to
knock someone out if she swung it hard at their head.

Her heart
accelerated at the thought of actually trying to fend off these
three men. They didn’t look strong, but they had the advantage of
numbers and she couldn’t tell from their clothing just how built
they were. For all she knew, they could be like Marcus. His build
didn’t show when he wore loose clothing like these men
were.

She did
have one weapon she could use without too much fear and it might be
enough to deter them.

Amelia
shoved her hand into her black bag, pulled out her mobile phone and
flashed it around so all three men got a good look at
it.

“I’ll
call the police.” Not a tremble touched her voice. Brave Amelia.
She held the phone out, standing her ground, unwilling to let these
men get the better of her and see her scared.

The two
lighter haired men smiled at her, as though her words were more
amusing than threatening.

She
flipped the slim black phone open and quickly punched 999 but
before she could bring the phone up to her ear, she dropped
it.

No. Not
dropped. It had shot out of her hand and clattered along the ground
to the first man, the one she presumed was the gang’s
leader.

What the
hell?

The dark
haired man casually bent down and picked it up. He brought it to
his ear, raised an eyebrow, and then snapped the phone in two as
though it was made of tinder wood.

Double
what the hell?

Amelia
spun on the spot when one of the men behind her grabbed her bag.
She swung her fist on instinct, smashing it hard into his temple,
but he didn’t let go. He didn’t even flinch. Shit. This wasn’t
going to go well. She opened her mouth to scream but the sound died
when the man who had grabbed her suddenly levitated before her wide
eyes.

Not
levitating, she realised as she saw the fingers tightly grasping
the man’s neck with such bruising force that they dug hard into his
flesh. Her heart missed a beat when the man’s attacker threw him to
one side.

Marcus
stood before her, fury darkening his handsome face and rage burning
in his blue eyes.

The man
hit the wall with a startling bang and Marcus grabbed her hand and
ran. She only had a moment to look back, but it was all she needed
in order to see that the two remaining men were coming after them,
and that the third lay on the tarmac just below a crater in the
bricks of the building at his back.

Amelia
stumbled and Marcus dragged her up, bringing her attention back to
him and his fierce grip on her. How strong was Marcus? Could a
human throw a man into a wall and create a dent like that? Was it
the anger she had seen in his eyes that had given him the strength
to do such a thing? She was being ridiculous. The buildings were
old around here. Maybe it was just weak brickwork.

Or maybe
there really was something different about Marcus.

“Focus,”
he snapped and her mind instantly cleared, her attention shooting
to her feet and to running as fast as she could.

The men
were still in pursuit and she didn’t want to be responsible for
Marcus having to take both of them on.

Everything else drifted to the back of her mind as she ran,
her breathing loud in her ears, following Marcus as he wove through
the back streets. She didn’t dare look over her shoulder to see if
the men were still coming after them. Marcus kept glancing back,
his silver-blue eyes either lighting on her or the path behind
them. She presumed the men were still there since he kept running.
Her legs were beginning to tire and her feet were aching. How much
further did they have to go? Why hadn’t Marcus made a break for the
busy main street where they would be safe rather than pounding
through the alleys and side roads?

Amelia
frowned. She had left her bag back in the alley. It had come off
her shoulder when Marcus had torn the man away from her. She could
remember seeing it next to him where he lay crumpled on the floor.
Dead? She hoped not. She didn’t want to be linked to the man and if
he were dead that would make Marcus a murderer. She glanced up at
his profile. It wobbled in her vision as they ran but she didn’t
miss the steely look of determination etched on his
profile.

“We
should go right,” she said, out of breath and desperate to reach
the main roads and growing afraid that the men would catch up and
Marcus would be forced to fight again.