Guarding Their Valentine
PENELOPE WYLDE
Copyright © 2019 by Author Penelope Wylde. All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, email to [email protected]
http:/www.penelopewylde.com
Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
Edited by Em Petrova
Cover Designer: Bookin’ It Designs
Contents
Guarding Their Valentine
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Epilogue
Unwrapping His Christmas Virgin
Chapter 1
Books by Penelope Wylde
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About Penelope
Two bodyguards were hired to protect me, not take me into their bed for hot Valentine's Day hookup sex.
But that's how it all began. Me falling into their arms and ended with an all-night kiss and them popping my ménage cherry.
Not that we ever made it to the bedroom.
These men aren’t bodyguards—they are nothing short of hungry wolves and aim to fulfill all my filthy fantasies. All I can focus on is their dark promises in my ear. Between these two men I know their brand of fire will be nothing short of all-consuming and all they want from me is one night to prove it.
Author's naughty note: Grab the chocolates and the champagne! Guarding Their Valentines is a quick, dirty read with two obsessed, dominant bodyguards on a mission to claim their Valentine. If you want an over-the-top Valentine's romance that's focused all on her pleasure, then this one is just for you! This is a m/f/m romance and as always with a Penelope Wylde book, this one is safe with a HEA & NO CHEATING!
Chapter One
Valentina
With a pen perched between my lips, I toe my stilettoes off and lean into the plush leather of my father’s office chair.
Since kindergarten and my color-by-number days, I always considered this spot magical and right now I can use all the mojo, juju, woo woo—whatever—I can get.
Growing up, my father would pass hours in this very chair, fingers steepled in front of him as he searched and worked to resolve one issue or another. Come to think of it, I’m certain I am the cause behind a lot of time he spends here to this day. Raising a daughter while building and operating a multi-million-dollar security company couldn’t have been easy.
For years I was convinced this chair gave him magical powers to see into the future.
I would do close to anything right this minute for that childhood fantasy to be true.
I eyeball my laptop’s screen, which is filled with the source code for the security software I’ve created.
I waffle on that idea. Better stated will have created if I can ever finish.
Hence the need for some additional brain power.
The final layer of heuristics should have been finished long before now and I’m starting to believe I’ll never resolve the issues. Which can’t happen. Black hat hackers will have a field day with the single back door and the flood of viruses they can fill the software with if I can’t sew up the last bits and pieces of code that is giving me fits.
I measure out a hearty handful of Tic-Tacs and toss back the tiny mints all at once and consider my next steps.
Once I lock down the coding the simulations tests across multiple mobile devices can happen and that’s just the beginning. I only hope I’ve been able to code the operating system in a language that can be understood across the sphere of devices it’s meant for in the end.
A problem for another day.
“What’s the point of security software if it’s hackable?” I mumble to myself and scribble a new line of coding on a sheet of paper. I don’t want to make any changes before I can test my last changes, so I take notes.
If I manage what I set out to do with the original idea my brother created before he died, this software will be the next big thing in the tech world. Everyone from banks to automotive companies to the freaking Pentagon will want it as part of their arsenal as an impenetrable shield of protection against every shade of hacker looking to create havoc.
This software is capable of generating millions for the right people and, in turn, me.
Because while my father has money, he didn’t have the kind of monetary backing I needed.
And when the day comes to finally sell the rights to this program, I will have kept my promise.
Before the usual unbidden thoughts of my brother can take over my mind a small window pops up on my screen blocking my work, and the familiar smiling face of my best friend beams back at me.
I hold in my groan at the intrusion of being discovered.
“Holy shit, Valentina, you look hot.”
Piper, my best friend since childhood and confidant in all things, presses her face close to the screen and gives a low wolf whistle in appreciation to the way my dress hugs the contours of my full hips and bust.
“You mean I look like a hooker. An expensive one but still…a hooker. Like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman if she had her dad’s black credit card from the beginning.”
Piper snorts at my comparison. “Funning all aside, you’re doing that rapid talk thing you do when you get nervous. Take a breather. It’s just a gala. Now let me see!”
I stand and do a three-sixty for her benefit since she helped me pick out the dress.
Piper leans in. “Damn, there won’t be a limp dick or dry pussy in that ballroom, tonight. And besides, it’s not like you have to fuck anyone. Well, unless you want to, that is. There are plenty of places in that mansion to get busy. And don’t give me that ‘I have no time for sex and men’ look. Everyone needs a dick now and again. You’re a hot mamacita.” Piper teases, “If I were into chicks, I’d do you in a heartbeat.”
My mouth hangs open. “Piper!”
The woman never did hold back her thoughts. Probably why we were friends from day one.
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly feeling my shoulders relax a little. I smile for my friend’s sake despite the urge to run and change from the red number I’m wearing for my mother’s Valentine’s Day gala. I’d much rather hold up in my father’s office and work than plaster on a fake smile for the sake of my parent’s equally fake friends.
“Why aren’t you out there flaunting your curves on that dance floor and getting all those rich dinosaurs’ money into your mom’s charity? That’s what tonight is all about, right? All those rich ladies will probably chuck in a few grand more for getting their husbands excited for them.” Piper wiggles her brows and laughs wickedly.
“You truly are the devil,” I toss back and reclaim my position in the chair, laptop balanced on the fat arm.
“Is it terribly childish of me that I feel like stomping my feet and refusing?” I pout and stick my lower lip out for the full effect.
Piper’s lithe form jostles on screen as she flops on her bed and stretc
hes across the fluffy comforter. “That hasn’t worked on anyone for years. You need to relax, take a break and have a little fun.”
Piper pulls the screen close. “Read my lips—your code isn’t going anywhere. You, on the other hand, are. You’re a bombshell, sweetie. Use it.”
I shoot her a look as my brow arches.
Piper’s words cause me to be self-conscious and I stroke my palms down the length of my gown and the thought of squeezing my feet back into the heels I kicked off under the desk makes me wish I had five more minutes to convince myself it’s worth all the pain to my arches.
“Technically I do, but everyone is still arriving so I have time,” I lie. The party had been in full swing for an hour or so and we both know it. But still, I try for one of my charming smiles. The one that weasels me out of a lot of explaining when I flash it at my doting father, but it has the opposite effect on my friend.
Another half an hour and everyone would be sufficiently boozed enough and happily hand over their checkbooks without a whole lot of conversation.
A little shady of me, but billionaires loved to spend and I might as well help them do just that.
Piper purses her lips that smartass way she does when she gets annoyed with my hermit tendencies. “You can’t hole up in your father’s office all evening again, Valentina. Your mom organized a spectacular Valentine’s Day fundraising gala in your brother’s memory, remember? You worried over it with her for months and missed a week’s worth of classes because of it and now you’re spending it locked away like Cinderella in the tower. Only you have the sexy red dress and fancy makeup. You do not belong in a dark room. Thomas wouldn’t want that.”
I shove aside the urge to fall into deep thought about my brother we lost to leukemia only seven months prior. “It’s not completely dark. There’s a cozy fire in the hearth,” I try to counter but fail when she gives me a pinched look of disproval.
“Okay. Fine,” I state coolly, thinking better of sharing my shady thoughts about letting the guests get a little tipsy before I make my appearance.
“Will you put that down for a minute and listen to me? I swear you’re going to die with that damn laptop glued to your fingertips. We both know why you’re not tending to your guests.”
I could be deaf and still hear the irritation in Piper’s voice.
I stare at the strand of coding on my paper as my friend speaks and I nod. She understands me better than anyone and knows when I’m dodging something, or in this case, someone.
“And that’s a bad thing?” I ask sardonically, riling her up just a little more.
“You know you had no choice but to invite him. You want his money, he wants your code. He’s willing to play the game. You need to be too.”
“It’s not going to work like that. I’m no one’s pawn.”
“I know, you know, but he doesn’t. And that’s to your benefit. Go down, make nice, get him and everyone else to give some money over to your mom’s charity and then call it a night if that makes you feel better.” Piper’s heavy brown curls bounce around her shoulders as she emphasizes her points with wild hand gestures.
I scrunch my nose at her words. “Annnd we’re back to the hooker scenario. Do you hear what you're saying?”
“Well, I guess in a way you are. You want money and the goods you’re teasing their purse strings open with is nothing short of orgasmic. And I’m not referring to the software, baby girl.”
Just like that my mood turns somber.
He refers to Spencer Thatch, a tech billionaire and the U.S.’s most eligible bachelor who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer.
Handsome on the outside and rotten to the soul on the inside.
I’m pretty sure he’s the one behind the nasty emails and threatening text messages I’ve received since it became public knowledge I’m moving ahead with my brother’s project. I forwarded them to my father who believes in the old adage of keeping your friends close but your enemies closer.
It’s hard to take out a restraining order against an anonymous sender.
He wants my software more than he does me and doesn’t worry about hiding the fact either.
I liked the word slimy to sum up his character. He’s one of the richest and most successful in the United States and fifth worldwide. A truth he rebukes and despises at every turn.
He wants to be number one or nothing. He wants my software to get there and as number one he thinks the woman at his side should reflect his social status. There’s only one person who fits that bill and simply stated in his words, that person is me.
I guess I should be flattered, but I refuse to be anyone’s flitty arm candy and be used for my tech. My mother always said my pride would be my downfall, but in this case, she is wrong.
No matter how much I try I can’t dismiss the way he makes my skin crawl. At three times my age, the man is considered a silver fox and a catch for any woman at any age.
“You know what?” Piper snaps her fingers in a way that has my pen pausing mid-stroke. Her big green eyes glitter with amusement and I’m instantly curious.
I narrow my eyes at the screen and lean in. “Do tell,” I somewhat cautiously encourage my friend as I dare scribble another note in longhand.
“Tell me goodbye, close this computer and go find some cute rich-ass man you can spend Valentine’s with. Tonight is not made for being alone. It’s obvious you’re doing this whole Valentines thing all wrong,” Piper insisted. “It’s about flirting, having some fun and then getting laid. Have a little too much whiskey or champagne or whatever your poison is, and find someone to pry that laptop from your fingers long enough to do the dirty and then he can serve you chocolate-dipped strawberries—”
I hold up a hand. Given enough time, the woman could go on forever once she got started. “Chocolate-dipped strawberry breakfasts sound divine and all, but I have work to do, Piper.”
I reach for my stash of Tic-Tacs again and fill my mouth before I can say how I would love nothing more than to have fun hookup sex only no one has caught my eye. Another glaring fact is that anyone I allow close enough only ends up wanting to use me for my family’s money or connections.
And that just pisses me the hell off.
So instead, I maintain my walls, surround myself with thick armor and stick to what I know. Coding and mathematics. The two constants I know won’t let me down or hurt me.
Or leave.
I guess that didn’t mean I couldn’t have fun, but I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl. Well, there was that one time and the sole reason I’ve sworn off doing the walk of shame ever again, but still.
I shrug. “Valentine’s Day is nothing more than a cheesy day almost all men expect to get laid on. Too predictable. No thanks.”
“And this is why your mom sighs all the time and spends an extra fifteen minutes in confession every week.”
I cover my face with my hands and laugh sheepishly. “I know, I know, but…”
“But nothing, tell me goodbye, close this damn computer and go socialize with real people. Who knows, you might like it.”
I lick my lips. Doubtful, but she did have a point.
We say our goodbyes as I tuck my notes into my cleavage and power off the laptop before securing it under lock and key.
Begrudgingly I slip my shoes on and make my way out of my father’s office and immediately notice the absence of my guard detail standing outside.
I purse my lips and pause at the top of a long curving staircase that spills into the massive ballroom.
Below me, the music carries over the smartly dressed guests and a crowd of graceful, rhythmic dancers sway across the expansive marble in unison.
For a moment I’m caught up in the delightful hypnotic sight.
That is when I feel it.
I stifle a quiet gasp.
It is slight at first. Like a feather against the skin.
Warm and teasing.
A gentle caress yet not. It’s hard to explain, but true
all the same. Before now I didn’t know you could actually feel another person’s eyes on you in such a way that makes your body tingle. Not in a creepy way like when you’re walking into a dark room and can’t find the light switch fast enough for fear of something lurking in the shadows.
No, this is different. Welcomed.
I take a deep breath as I turn my head and scan the large gathering.
When my gaze finds theirs on the opposite side of the ballroom, my heart stutters.
There were two of them.
Nothing in the world can prepare me for how utterly fast my life changes in that one instant.
Chapter Two
Valentina
In hindsight it is no stretch of the imagination when I say trouble found me the second I stepped from the landing and I made my slow descent.
I guess I could have ended up alone, tilling away at my code for the rest of the evening. But then again, I would have never met them and had the best night of my life.
From the wild look in their eyes to the predatory gracefulness, these beasts of men seem as dark as they are deadly.
They are gorgeous to watch and I find myself staring.
From the way their dark brown eyes scan every nuance of the room, for I assume might be danger, to the way they carry their large frames in unison through the crowd like panthers on the hunt. Sleek in movement yet lethal.
It is intoxicating to watch how in sync they are with one another. Similar in facial features and build, I wonder if they are twins and my heart pangs with a touch of sadness.
Both raise their eyes to mine over the heads of the other guests and I lose the ability to breathe altogether.
So powerful, the simple action gives me full-body chills.
Holy shit.
I take a moment to drink in their intensity.
Their dark gazes roam over me and it is as possessive as it is claiming.
One by one my fingers curl around the polished wood of the stairs railing and for the first time in my twenty years I feel the need to learn how to submit to a man.
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