The Bodyguard's Bed (Seduction Series Book 2), page 9
I frowned at the way that Cammy was being ridiculous and she looked like she just won an all-out battle. “No!” Joy said. “We look perfectly fine. If you don’t want us on stage, then fine. I’m not going to bow down to you.” She huffed and then left through the backdoor.
Cammy turned to the others. “I dare you to follow her.”
Desiree shook her head. “You’ve proven your point. I’ll change. It’s just a stupid outfit.”
Sadie, on the other hand, seemed conflicted as she stood there. Then she spoke. “You’re being a doormat, Des. Don’t let her walk all over you.” Desiree turned to her and her eyes widened.
I couldn’t take the battle between words much longer. “What’s going on?” I quickly stated.
All eyes were on me. “Hey, babe,” Cammy said. She came over to me and planted a kiss on my lips. I noticed the look that Desiree gave us and it made me uncomfortable. “Just a friendly disagreement.”
“Right!” Sadie mumbled.
Desiree, then looked away and grabbed her bag. She soon disappeared behind a dressing room door. “A disagreement over clothes?” I asked her.
She laughed. “Well, we can’t have all people looking at them, can we?” She whispered the question because Sadie was within earshot.
“I’m outta here!” Sadie said.
I turned to her and Cammy just watched her go. “Who needs them? I am perfectly capable of singing without backup singers.” She turned back to me and wrapped her arms around my neck. She pulled me down into a kiss that was short-lived as I pulled back.
“What are you doing?” she asked, chuckling.
“I agree with them,” I said.
She dropped her arms and stared at me. “You agree with them? Have you, too, forgotten that it’s my name in lights. I’m the star and what I say goes?”
I cocked my head and stared at her. She was being completely serious. “I don’t think anyone is questioning the fact that you’re the star here, but why does it matter what they wear?”
“They can’t upstage me.” She shrugged and turned away from me.
“Are you that insecure?” I asked her.
Her jaw dropped. “I am not insecure. You don’t have to understand this, but it’s my decision…my show.” At that point, Desiree came out of the dressing room. She looked between us and then quickly dropped her things off and disappeared on stage.
I turned back to Cammy. “You have one backup singer and you have pushed everyone else away. Are you happy with that?”
Again, she shrugged. “Doesn’t really matter. Like I said, I don’t need them.”
I shook my head, disgusted by her nonchalant attitude over it. “Fine! Finish getting ready, because you still have a show to put on.” I turned away and headed through the curtain to the stage. I met Desiree’s stare and it was only briefly because she was practicing her vocals. I got down off the stage and left the room, spotting Michael in the lobby. “Hey, will you cover me tonight?” I asked.
“Everything alright?” he asked.
I nodded. “Yeah, but just feeling tired and want to take a sick day. Is that alright?”
“Of course man! Take care!” I went to the elevator and got on. As it closed, I fell back against the wall of the elevator. I had a lot of thinking to do and that meant that I needed some quiet time, away from Cammy and her drama.
I watched the clock to see when it would be eleven o’clock, typically the time she got back to her room and was standing there when she came in. I knew that it was a possibility that Desiree would see me there, too, but I didn’t worry about that. Cammy was there alone. She got off the elevator and her eyes went straight to me.
“There you are,” she said.
“I was kind of wondering where my security guard went.” She walked over to the door and opened it up, then held it open for me to go in.
I entered her room and she closed the door behind her. “We need to talk,” I said.
“Uh yeah…I’d say we do,” she said. She dropped her things and looked at me. “Starting with you telling me who the hell you think you are, undermining my authority?”
My jaw dropped. I couldn’t believe she was going down that road. It seemed awfully sketchy of her. “Wow! You are really mad at me for undermining your authority, when you were being rude and spiteful to those women back there. You aren’t their mother.”
She shrugged. “You’re right. I’m their boss and if I feel they need to change…then they need to change,” she said. “Simple as that.”
I shook my head. “There’s nothing simple here. You were being a spoiled brat and you know it.”
Her mouth dropped. “Seriously? You are going to call me spoiled, just because I feel that these girls should look up to me and not try to talk back. All I asked was for them to change their clothes. You would think I asked them to eat bugs or something. It was ridiculous.”
“Your behaviour was ridiculous,” I said. “This isn’t the first time you’ve ridiculed your bandmates. It’s any wonder that you still have anyone left. They should have a right to wear whatever they want.”
“Is this about me being rude to Joy, Sadie, and Desiree? Or, is it about me being rude to just Desiree? I don’t know what kind of hold she has on you, but you seem to have taken a liking to her.”
I backed away from her. “This has nothing to do with Desiree and I. She’s a friend and we’ve been down this road before. As long as it’s not hurting you, then I should be able to be friends with whomever I choose. End of story. The same goes for you. I don’t walk out there and judge your friends, so I would appreciate if you don’t judge mine.”
“I think we’re done here,” Cammy said.
I slowly nodded. I didn’t like the woman I was seeing in her. “I think we are done here. I don’t know who you are half the time. You don’t need to be this vindictive person to get what you want. I’m sorry that you feel that you have to stoop that low.” She opened her mouth, but I put up my hand to stop her. “You are a beautiful woman and I hope that one day you find someone that will be able to give you everything you want and everything you need. That person just isn’t me. We aren’t compatible because I wouldn’t treat people I work with like that. And if you don’t change your ways, then you could lose everything and I hope that doesn’t happen to you.” Without hearing her argument, I turned around to leave. I was tired of not knowing the Cammy I was going to see.
The first stop after leaving Cammy’s room was to check on Desiree. She was the one that needed me right now. I went to her room and knocked on her door, but she didn’t answer. I tried again, but still no answer.
I went to the elevator and got on and then took it to the lobby. I didn’t know why she would still be backstage, but I needed to talk to her. I went backstage and found that it was empty and the lights were out. My heart started beating faster and I quickly left the club.
I got back in the lobby and looked around and that’s when I spotted her outside. I took a deep breath of relief, with all my concerns vanished. I found her. Although, as I got closer, I saw she wasn’t alone. Standing in front of her was Wyatt and they were in a pretty heated discussion.
The closer I got, I could hear her. “Leave me alone, Wyatt. You’ve gotten your point across. You’ve scared me and that should account for something.”
“Oh my beautiful Desiree, you have this all wrong.” He reached out and touched her cheek. “I want us to be together. I’m not here to scare you.”
“You are crazy if you think that I’ll ever be with you again.” He grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back.
“You’re crazy if you think I’ll let you talk to me like that,” he said.
“Ouch, Wyatt! You’re hurting me!”
I couldn’t stand back and watch any longer. I headed towards the door and the doors opened. “Let her go!” I yelled.
Wyatt and Desiree stared at me. He held up his hand towards me. “Come closer and I’ll kill her,” he said. I backed up.
“You don’t want to do this,” I said. “Let her go and you can be free.”
He shook his head. “I’ll never be free.” He continued to hold up his hand, as he pulled Desiree behind him. I stopped moving and watched him as he moved further away from me. Desiree looked at me like she was a helpless woman. I could feel her pain. Wyatt and her disappeared in an alley and then I checked my pockets. I didn’t have my handcuffs or my gun. I was unprepared and I didn’t even care. I had to go after them.
I got to the alley and could hear them arguing again. I could barely make out the words, but I could tell that he was only shouting out abusive words that made him look small. He then pressed her up against the concrete side of the building and that’s when I made my move. I crept up behind him and grabbed onto him, pulling him off of her. He looked at me, dazed and confused.
“I told you to back off or she dies,” he yelled. I grabbed his shoulders and kneed him in the stomach and he went down.
“Not on my watch,” I said. I turned back to her and grabbed her hand, then motioned with my head for her to follow me. We went through a back door of the hotel and took the stairs as fast as we could go. I grabbed my phone and dialed up Michael. He answered immediately.
“Radio for help. Back alley of the hotel Wyatt is there, but he won’t be there much longer.” Michael had the description, so that was all I needed to say. “Go get him and let me know.”
I was out of breath by the time we made it to my room.
“Xander wait,” she said. She collapsed to her knees when we got to my hallway.
“We’re almost there.”
She shook her head. “I’m so tired of running.”
“It could be over soon,” I said. “We’re almost there.”
I helped her up and we hurried to my room. When we got inside, she collapsed on my bed. She took a few deep breaths and pulled herself up. She looked at me and she shook her head. “Do you ever get the feeling that it will never be over?” she asked.
I shook my head and sat down next to her. “I can’t have that feeling because I have to trust that this guy will stop bothering you. We have to believe that.”
She nodded and her eyes teared over. “I want to.” She swallowed hard and I looked at her.
“Besides this…how are you doing?” I asked. “I’m sorry about the fiasco before tonight’s performance.”
She laughed. “Well, it wasn’t the craziest thing to ever argue with Cammy over.” She shrugged. “I’m over it. Does it even matter? Look where we are right now?”
I was sullen. “I think we need to get the cops involved because there’s truly only so much I can do.”
She nodded slowly, contemplating it. “Let’s just see if they catch him. If they do, the cops will be involved, right?”
I nodded. “Definitely!”
I fought the urge to wrap my arm around her and pull her into a hug. As we sat there, I was reminded of the person I needed to ask her about though. “Does the name Meghan Parker ring a bell?” I asked.
She glanced at me, a light of recognition lit up her eyes and she nodded. “Um yeah…she’s a slut that was sleeping with Wyatt for many years and she was his agent. Why?” she asked.
I explained how a while ago I had met with her and she had talked with him and said that she couldn’t represent him anymore. I then said that it appeared that she was well aware that Wyatt had issues and might be able to help in getting him put behind bars for a very long time.
When I was finished, she looked skeptical. “I don’t know that I would trust much of what she says, though,” she said.
“Oh really, why?” I asked.
“Well, when he went to jail this last time, she was by his side the whole way. She tried to plead on his behalf, hoping the judge would show him some mercy. She was all about getting him a lesser time in jail. So, I’m not so sure that she would suddenly have a change of heart.”
She had a point there and it made me wonder what all I could believe from Meghan. “Okay! Well then, let’s just wait until we hear back from Michael and hopefully he’ll have some good news for us,” I said.
She nodded. “Hopefully so!”
She then surprised me by laying her head down on my shoulder. I wrapped my arm around hers and we remained in that position until the phone rang twenty minutes later. She pulled back and I reached for my phone and answered it.
“Hey, Michael,” I said.
“So…not great news. When we got to the alley, he was gone. I went back to Desiree’s room and there was no sign of him. It’s like this man has wings and can fly. I don’t get it, but we can keep looking.”
I looked over at her. She looked so hopeful and I didn’t want to dash that for her. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
“What do you want us to do?” he asked.
“Do what you said. That’s right. Okay. Talk to you later. Bye!” I disconnected the call and her face fell.
“They didn’t have any luck, did they?”
“Well they have a few more leads they have to follow,” I said, lying through my teeth. “They’re right on his tail.”
She smiled and I wondered if she truly believed that, but I couldn’t tell her anything else. I couldn’t cause her to worry, even though chances were, she would anyway. “We should probably try to get you some rest.”
She laughed. “Do you think that will be possible?” She asked.
I shrugged. “One can hope, can’t he?”
She nodded and then stood up. I reached over and grabbed the same t-shirt and lounge pants she had worn before, from the dresser drawer. I handed them to her. “You could probably just keep these.” I snickered and she shook her head.
“Nothing of this is funny, but thanks for keeping the humor alive.” She took them into the bathroom and got changed. When she came out, I was sure not to make any comment about how good she looked in the outfit, even though tonight I seemed to notice it in full force. She was looking amazing in my lounge pants and t-shirt. I pulled the bed covers back and she slid underneath the sheet. “Can you leave the light on for a little longer tonight?” she asked.
I nodded. “Of course!”
I walked over to the chair and sat down and watched her for a moment. Her eyes went to mine as she sunk down into the pillow, but there was no falling asleep. “Tell me some more about yourself, Xander.”
I smiled. “What do you want to know?”
She shrugged. “Anything…everything…preferably something that will take my mind off of what’s going on right here.”
I smiled and crossed my legs. “Well, I’ll tell you a funny story about my childhood. Will that work?”
She pulled herself up, no longer nestled against her pillow. I started the story. It was going to be a long night.
Chapter 9
Desiree and I wound up talking for nearly two hours before she seemed the least bit sleepy. She finally did fall asleep, but I didn’t. I sat there and watched her as she rested, with what seemed to be, rather uncomfortably. She tossed and turned and while I did try to get at least an hour of sleep, I woke up when I heard her screaming.
“Get off of me. Leave me alone!”
I jumped up and she was kicking and screaming, thrashing all over the bed. I hurried over to her. “Des…Des…you’re having a nightmare. Wake up!” I put an arm on her shoulder, trying to jiggle her awake.
“Ahhhhh!” She opened her eyes and sat up in bed. She was wide-eyed and breathing heavy. “Oh my God…that was so real,” she said. She clutched her chest and I sat down next to her in my bed. I wrapped my arms around her and just held her. The frightened woman I saw in that bed, was someone I never wanted to have to worry about seeing again.
“It’s going to be alright,” I said. “Shhhh…” I tried to hush her cries as she leaned against me.
“I don’t know what I’d do if you weren’t here,” she whispered.
“Well, you don’t have to find that out,” I said.
After a few moments of silence, she looked up into my eyes. There was a gentle and soft woman beneath her stare. I couldn’t fight the urge to kiss her. I brushed a thump along her cheek and then leaned in and kissed her. It felt even better than it did the first time we kissed, but this time there was nothing holding us back.
“What about Cammy?” she asked between kisses.
“We broke up,” I responded.
She pulled back from the kiss and she looked at me. “You did?” she asked.
I nodded. “She wasn’t the one for me. Now…can you just kiss me again?”
She laughed and leaned in. Her lips went to mine and we kissed with me slowly pressing her down to the bed. I didn’t want to think of all the reasons why we shouldn’t have sex at that moment. Instead, I wanted to focus on the reason that we should because I couldn’t stand the thought of not being with her.
I slowly slid my shirt up and over her head as she wiggled out of the lounge pants. I then suspended myself up above her and started to frantically work on undressing myself. She grabbed onto my pants and pulled them down as soon as I got them undone and then she ridded me of my boxer shorts.
When we were both undressed, I went back in for another kiss as she slid her arms around my body and clung to me with her every breath. My tongue crashed alongside hers and we savored every moment as I felt her wetness against my erection. She wanted this as much as I did. She spread open her legs and I dipped between her thighs. There was no foreplay before because we were both just so anxious to get onto the sex part.
I ran my hands down her back and latched onto her ass and lifted her up as I plunged into her, nestling my cock inside of her, burying myself balls deep. “Ah…” she whimpered between my lips and my tongue swooped back in and claimed the moan.
I pulled back and then thrust back into her, so hard that I bucked hard against her hips and then my plunges turned desperate as in and out I broke through her barriers. She lifted her legs up and wrapped them around me, pulling me in deeper and we rocked back and forth, my cock expanding to fit nicely inside of her sweetness.
