by April Zyon
Opening the door, she looked at the men and overheard something about having the guard disarmed in two seconds. “I’m sure that should you try to disarm the guard, you likely could. I would hope that you wouldn’t,” she said. “Who are you all and what are you doing here?”
“We’re your new security team,” one man said, stepping forward. He had short reddish-brown hair, warm green eyes, and a slight smile on his lips. “Your aunt may have mentioned we’d be coming around today.”
“Oh, yes. I remember. You were at my parents’ funeral as well. The graveside service.” She moved to the side to let them in. “Please, come in.” Kasper might be trusting them for now, but she did also have a gun tucked in the waistband of her pants. “Or you can all stay out here and try to find the gardener, who is a useless piece of crap that I fired but didn’t have the foresight to have removed from the property as I should have.”
“Well, that answers one question,” someone muttered.
As a group, they all headed toward her, filing up the stairs and inside. Except for the blond with the cold eyes. He followed up the rear and stopped next to her. “I’ll take the piece you have tucked at the small of your back,” he said, holding out a hand. “With us here, you won’t need that weapon. We will protect you.”
Cocking her head to the side, she looked at him. “I feel as if I know you. Do I?” He looked so familiar, but she couldn’t place him. “And I’m keeping my weapon. With all the attempts on my life, I think you’ll have to get over it.”
“We’ve never met prior to this moment. Excluding the cemetery, of course, where we didn’t even speak. My condolences on your parents’ passing,” he said quietly. A moment later, he tucked his hands behind his back. “If you’re keeping it, then you’re going to walk in front of me. I don’t allow anyone with a weapon at my back that I do not know.”
“I’m able to live with that,” she told him with a nod. “And thank you. Their loss weighs on us all.” She had to sniff to keep from crying. And here Kasper thought she had cried herself out. “Will you please close the door behind you?” She began to walk to the living room, hoping the man would follow her. She knew that her security guard was already headed back out to work on the cameras again. They had to fix all of them since the gardener had sabotaged them when he’d left her employment. Now if only they could find the little fucker and ensure he stayed off the grounds.
The door shut with a soft sound, followed by the slightly louder noise of the lock turning. No footsteps sounded behind her, but she knew he’d followed. Entering the living room, she saw the others all waiting. They stood at parade rest, but some straightened up even more as she walked in.
“So, you are my new protection detail?” Kasper sat and leaned back in her seat. “You all know who I am, you likely know everything that there is to know about me, so if you wouldn’t mind telling me a bit about all of you?” She wanted to get to know all of them; it was something that her father had taught her. Learn everything that you can about those that you surround yourself with so you can learn more about the inner core of your personal being as well. Her father had known every single man he’d trained, every single employee of St. Johns Enterprises, and she planned to do the same. She strived to be just as decent, as good, as her parents had been. Kasper especially wanted to learn more about the two men that she couldn’t seem to take her eyes off for very long.
“The one standing behind you is Mikhail Rossov. I’m Gareth Gruffyd,” the redhead said. He went around the room introducing the men. Once Gareth got to James and Victor, though, she couldn’t say she heard the names after them. “As to getting to know us, I’m sure you can get some to talk with you while we’re here. Our main goal is to see to your safety and stay out of your way as much as possible. I know it won’t always be easy, but we’re not going to interfere with your life any more than necessary.”
“I appreciate that. Thank you for putting your lives on hold to come here and watch over me. I’m sorry you’ve had to be called in, but I’m thankful that people that my aunt trusts are here for me.”
“We’re going to do a full walkthrough of the house, and then go over the grounds,” Gareth told her. “We don’t want to intrude, so we’ll only do a quick check of the rooms above stairs. If there is any place you don’t want us to go, it might be a good idea to go and shut the door. We’ll respect your privacy, since we have a fairly good idea the interior isn’t going to need the bulk of our expertise, security-wise.”
“I have nothing to hide,” she said simply. “Feel free to check any room of the house. Just be careful in my room, because I do have a panic room and I don’t want you to accidentally lock yourself into it. Once the door is engaged, it won’t open for twenty-four hours, minimum. It sucks, but it’s sadly the life that I’ve had to adjust to.” And she hated it.
“Dieter, Owen, James, Wyatt, and Nolan, you start at the top and work down. The rest of us will start on this floor and meet you on the second,” Gareth said. The men all snapped their heels together and then went on their way. Some shot her grins, others gave her a nod, but the two who had her attention gave her crooked half-smiles before departing the room. Gareth tipped his head her way and headed for the door as well, with Mikhail on his heels, though the man kept an eye on her until he was around the doorframe.
Kasper slumped a bit and closed her eyes. She let out a small sigh and felt the headache trying to take over again. She massaged her temples while waiting on the men to check over her house. She could have taken precautions to make sure they were telling the truth, like calling her aunt, but she had no need to: Kasper had touched one of them in passing and knew they were who they said they were. She was willing to take a chance with them.
What was the worst that could happen, after all? Aside from a second attempt on her life, that was.
Chapter Four
The men had been quick in their scouting of the interior. Kasper knew for a fact that things had gone to hell on the grounds because of the firing of her gardener and the sabotage he’d inflicted upon the cameras her father had installed around the perimeter, so they would be a while yet. The dinner hour was approaching, and she did have to consider feeding the lot of them. And none of them were exactly small.
One turned toward the house like he’d felt her staring. It was James, eyeing up the window she stood behind. She knew was far back enough he couldn’t possibly see her. But even at that distance, she swore she could see his lips curl into a grin before his head snapped around toward someone waving him over. He sent another look in her direction before he jogged off out of sight through some trees.
“We should have a list of what needs to be done in a couple hours.” Mikhail’s voice came from behind her suddenly.
Kasper jumped a little and turned. “Thank you.” She took a deep breath. “I should order food in. I would cook, but to be honest, I don’t think that I have enough food here to keep all of you satisfied. How about I order enough pizzas for us all?” she asked with a smile. “What sorts of pizzas do you all like? Meats, veggies, cheese?” Kasper couldn’t figure out why this man didn’t like her, but she felt it. He didn’t like her at all.
“We’re all carnivores,” he said. “But you needn’t order any food in. We brought a large amount with us, since we knew you likely wouldn’t be prepared. Nolan and Owen are in the kitchen already starting on the meal. No clue what they’re making, but it should all be ready by the time we finish out there. We did want to ask about the lack of cameras, though, and their poor placement. We saw some extra mountings but no cameras, so we were wondering if there were more at one point.”
She frowned. “There should be fifteen cameras along the walls, four around the gate, and twenty in various places on the grounds.” She rose and walked toward a room off the living room. “This is the control room.” She studied one of the screens, taking inventory of the feeds still active. “I know the gardener moved a shitload of the perimeter cameras, but I didn’t think he r
emoved them all. I also thought he had only just done it recently, as in since I fired him.”
“I’m thinking your gardener was a very busy boy from the evidence we’ve found. There’s only one on the gate, one on the driveway, and two pointed at the area behind the house. There are no others. The wires have been capped and the mounting plates look rusted, except for a couple.”
“I knew my uncle had him under his thumb, but I never realized that he wanted me hurt.” Apparently, she was wrong. And it was clear that she hadn’t been paying as much attention to her home as she should have been. Kasper had been consumed with grief and before that with work so she hadn’t been as observant as she should have been, as she had been trained to be. “Okay.” She took a deep breath and looked at the man. “So, we fix this. Do you need to order more cameras? And if you find that lowlife piece of crap, please see him out with a boot up his ass.”
“We’ve already put a requisition in for cameras,” he said. “We’ll be mounting them in a different manner so that there are some obvious ones, and then a bunch that only those who need to will know about. I have someone looking for your gardener, but that’s not top priority. We need to know about the gentleman who greeted us today. Who is he, what’s his purpose, and how long has he been in your employ?”
“He was one of my father’s first trainees. He came here of his own volition. My father saved his life, and he says that it’s a debt that he owes to me now. He’s a good man, just a little on the odd side. He’s very quiet, but I think that he’s seen things. Far too many things,” she said softly.
“Anyone that has served has seen things that can never be unseen, especially if they’ve ever had overseas postings.” Mikhail stared at her, almost like he was looking right through her, before his gaze refocused. “Might be a better idea to get him some help instead of having him in a situation that could potentially create more trouble for him down the road. Talk to Gareth, he has a number for a group that assists members of the military with transitioning back into civilian life, as well as finding them job placements.”
“Thank you. I will. Hopefully, he’ll listen this time.” Kasper smiled and decided to change the subject. “So, your men protect and cook? What can’t they do?” She had never met a man who could cook. It was odd, to say the least. She liked it, though, that these men could take care of themselves if they so chose.
“Not a hell of a lot,” he said. She heard what sounded like an angry bee. Pressing a finger to his ear, Mikhail growled. “I’ll be there in a minute. Keep your damn panties on, Gareth.” Dropping his hand, he tipped his chin before spinning on a heel and marching off up the hall. “Dinner will be ready at seven-thirty,” he called over his shoulder.
“Thanks.” She shook her head. “I wonder why that man hates me so much.” The man seriously did not like her, and she had no idea why. She hadn’t done anything to him, but that was beside the point. The point was to find out who was trying to kill her.
*****
Knocking on the Kasper’s bedroom door, James frowned when he didn’t hear anything from inside. Easing the door open, he gave another knock. “Ms. St. John, it’s James. The boys sent me up to let you know that dinner is ready. Ma’am?” He didn’t feel right just walking in, but she hadn’t woken yet. Maybe he should leave her to sleep, but that felt wrong, since her house was being invaded. Huffing out a breath, he moved toward the bed to gently shake her foot. “Ms. St. John, dinner’s ready.”
“Kasper or Kas. Mom was Ms. St. John.” Her voice sounded husky and sleep filled. He watched her shift atop the mattress. “Thank you for coming to wake me. James, right?” He could hear the confusion in her voice as she rose and pulled on a light jacket.
“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “To both questions, actually. They’re just getting everything dished up now, so you have a couple of moments if you need them. I’ll get out of your hair.” James had to yank his eyes up when she started to turn—no way in hell was he going to let her catch him watching her ass.
“And if you call me ma’am or miss again, I might have to tickle you.” He could see her smile and knew he had been caught when she added, “Especially since you’re looking at my ass like it’s a treat on a hot summer day. Not that I mind. I’ve never had anyone look at me like that, and I like it, to be honest.”
“Well, I’m not ticklish, ma’am,” he said with a grin. “And you have a damn fine ass that just begs to be eyed up.”
She fanned herself and looked at him with a grin. “Well, if you aren’t ticklish, I’ll have to figure some other way to torture you, now won’t I?” She approached him and put a hand on his chest, letting her fingers brush over the material of his shirt. “So, no more with the ma’ams, please? Kasper. My name is Kasper. You should at least be able to say my name. Right?”
Grinning, he shot a look over his shoulder before looking down at her. She’d already met him flirt for flirt, and her hand was still on his chest, so he went for broke. “When I have you naked under me with my cock firmly planted into your tight little body, then I’ll use your given name. Until then, keeping things professional is likely for the best. Ma’am.”
He could see how his words affected her by how flushed her cheeks were becoming, how her breasts rose and fell with her quickened breathing. “I’ve never met someone that’s wanted to do that to me. You know that would mean skin-to-skin contact. Right?” He could see the indecision on her face, trying to decide if she wanted to share her secret. He had to wonder how many people she had allowed to get that close to her.
“You’d know if I was telling you the truth,” he said. “I’m fine with that, since everything I’ve said since I arrived has been nothing but. But I do have to ask, given your unique ability, have you ever been intimate with anyone?”
“You know…” she started to say, but her tongue darted out to lick her lower lip in a way that made him want to trace it with his own. “No. Wait, I take that back. I did get a couple of groping sessions in when I was a teen, but when you can tell every single person’s truths by the touch of their skin, then you don’t do things that expose you to that if you can help it. Especially since I seem to draw intense assholes and deviants. You aren’t one, are you?”
“Definitely not an asshole, most of the time. I can be if someone gets up in my face, but it’s pretty rare. As to being a deviant, I guess that would completely depend on your meaning of the word. So give me your definition, and we’ll go from there.”
“Someone who wants to hurt, not for pleasure, but hurt to make themselves feel better. That, or someone who wants children instead of adults. Someone who wants to, well.” He saw her hesitation. “Someone who prefers bathroom play over anything else. Jesus, why am I even telling you this?”
“Uh, yeah none of that shit, for sure.” James shuddered at the mere thought of what she’d said. “Spanking, dual penetration, and that sort of thing. But none of that nasty and illegal shit. Good God, that is so wrong. Hell, if you want to know right now…” He lifted a hand and kept it hovering near her shoulder. “And you’re telling me because you’re feeling the same thing for me as I’m feeling toward you right now.”
He saw how his words affected her. The tint of her skin as she blushed, the way her breathing sped up. “Be sure,” she told him. “Be very sure that you want me to know all of your secrets before you touch me.” Again, her tongue was licking her lower lip. “Dual penetration? Spankings?” Her breathing increased even more, and he knew
He could see that she was just as into the thought of being taken the way he was explaining as he was. It was fate at work and he knew it. It was the bond between the Descendant and the Scions and he knew it. He would have to explain it to her, or maybe she would see it if she touched him.
“Damn straight I’m sure. And yes, there will be spankings, there will be oral sex, there might even be some bondage involved. So, grab hold and learn all there is to learn about James Ashton. Oh, but you can ignore that one time in high school behind t
he gym, if you wouldn’t mind, of course.” He knew that this was sudden, knew that he was moving on her fast, but that was the way that it was when fate was involved. Their connection reached out and grabbed them and made them want to be together in every way possible.
She nodded. James watched as she lowered her cheek to nuzzle against his hand. He watched her pupils dilate and heard her gasp of air. She whimpered, a sound he liked. “That looks amazing,” she told him through her gasps. “Do you both always share the same women?” She had seen that then, huh? So, that was how her ability worked? She could see into his past? “What’s his name again? I’m afraid I had a bit of a headache when you all introduced yourselves, but I should know the name of the man that you fully intend for me to be screaming the name of along with yours, right?”
“On occasion we have, and his name’s Victor.” Rubbing his thumb to her soft skin, James leaned in closer to press his lips to her cheek. “We’ll take our time with you, though. Learn everything you like, find what makes you beg and what makes you scream for more. I think you’ll quite enjoy having us both.” James knew the moment that Victor stepped into the room behind them but didn’t release her; he held onto her instead.
“From what I’ve seen, I think so, too.” He saw the moment she couldn’t believe she had said that aloud. Once more, she leaned into his touch. He thought of her like a kitten seeking comfort. “And what about him? How do you know that’s what he wants?”
“We can ask him right now.” James shifted enough for her to see past him to where the other man leaned against the doorframe. An amused look covered Victor’s face as he watched her.