Wicked Attraction (The Protector) Read online

“I didn’t even get to tell her about you,” Nina said, eyes closed, face pressed to the warmth of him through his shirt. “I wanted to.”

  “Ping her back. Agree to meet her,” Ewan said. “What could it hurt?”

  She pulled away to look him in the face. “My feelings.”

  “They’re already hurt,” he told her.

  That was true. Still, Nina hesitated, thinking carefully of how to reply without sounding heartless. “Your sister passed away, and the two of you never really reconciled.”

  Ewan nodded and brushed a kiss over her hair. “Yes. And I regret it. I don’t want to see the same thing happen to you.”

  “But that assumes you would have.”

  “I like to think we would have,” Ewan said after a pause to consider her words.

  Nina nestled against him. “But you don’t know. You can’t. What if you’d spent the rest of your lives at odds with each other? Or simply tolerating each other, but never really . . . you know. Liking each other.”

  “Tolerating each other is better than hating each other,” Ewan said.

  “I don’t hate my sister. I don’t know if she really hates me or not, even though she acts like she does.” Nina frowned and stepped back from him. “Just because someone’s family, Ewan, that doesn’t mean you automatically like them. Sometimes you just don’t get along and it’s better for everyone if you agree to maintain your distance.”

  “Your sister hurt you a lot, I can see that. And when you’re ready to tell me everything that happened, I’ll be ready to listen. Until then, I’ll respect whatever you decide, baby.”

  She kissed him. “Thanks. I guess the whole thing unsettled me a little bit, that’s all. I get run over by a buzzcycle, there’s weirdness at the hospital, I come home and Patrice pings me . . . it’s all weird and too coincidental. I’m going to take a nap.”

  “That sounds like a great idea,” Ewan said and let her go so she could head for the doorway.

  She paused there to look over her shoulder and crook a finger at him. “You could join me.”

  “I’m not sure I can sleep,” Ewan said with a slowly widening grin, even as he started toward her.

  “That’s a good thing, because neither am I.”

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Because Nina was no longer contracted to protect him, she wasn’t required to go with him when he went to meetings. Ewan had asked her to go along, though, because Udo Villanova was exactly the sort of man whose support could make big changes in legislation. Getting him to vote their way would be a huge advantage.

  “I’m very aware that I should be sort of offended,” Nina said now as the transpo eased away from the rail system and onto the final bit of road that would take them to Udo’s estate. She gave him a sideways smile. “You know. That I’ve been reduced to a pretty face without a voice.”

  Ewan winced. “You will always have a voice with me.”

  “I know.” She’d been staring out the window. In profile, lit with the glow coming in through the glass, she had an ethereal quality that set his heart thumping. As if she’d noticed—random hells, she probably had—she looked at him now. “This guy has a lot of power, huh?”

  “Yeah. Big pull. He’s one of the last remaining life-term senators,” Ewan said.

  Nina nodded, her expression thoughtful. “So his vote matters. I guess I can simper a little bit, if it helps.”

  “You don’t have to simper,” Ewan said and took her hand to kiss the back of it. “Just be honest. Be yourself.”

  She laughed at that and touched a hesitant hand to her hairline, where a few black threads still remained. “According to Katrinka, nobody wants to see me as myself. Especially with all these leftover stitches.”

  “You look beautiful, and you chose your own clothes. You’ll impress Udo because of what you have to say, not your shoes.” Ewan glanced at her feet, then back to her face. “Although, I have to say, those shoes could give a guy a heart attack.”

  Nina giggled and stretched out a leg, pointing her toes. The pretty gray high heels embellished with inset lights shone in the transpo’s interior. Ewan would never pretend to understand the trends of women’s fashion, but he was all about Nina’s feet in those shoes.

  “I passed Katrinka’s quiz,” she said after a second, her smile fading. Her look serious, she added, “Clearly, Katrinka thinks I am kind of a moron.”

  Ewan laughed, because he could understand why Nina would think so. “She can be a little intense. But she knows her stuff. What was on the quiz?”

  “Etiquette. Whose hands to shake first, which fork to use. That sort of thing. I’m her Eliza Doolittle project.” Again, Nina lifted her toes to show off the shoes. “I like the wardrobe. The rest of it, not so much. She asked to see my speech.”

  Nina hadn’t even shown it to Ewan. “Did she like it?”

  “I didn’t show it to her,” Nina said. “I’m not a schoolkid. Or her apprentice. I’ve given speeches before. She suggested I let her hire someone to write it for me, when I wouldn’t share.”

  Ewan kissed the back of her hand and twisted their fingers together. “Let me guess, you turned down the idea.”

  “I want my words to be mine. My experiences are mine. If she wants me to be the pretty face to this campaign, that’s one thing. But nobody’s going to be persuaded if I’m not convinced, myself.” With a sigh, she slid across the seat to rest her head on his shoulder. Their linked hands rested on his thigh. She put her free hand over them both. “Tell me he’s going to have dinner, at least.”

  “Udo sets a very fine table. I’m sure you won’t go away hungry.”

  Nina glanced up at him through the fringe of her long lashes, darkened by cosmetics and tipped with tiny bits of glitter. “Hmm. Depends on what I’m hungry for.”

  Oh, how she loved how quickly Ewan reacted to her. As soon as Nina made the innuendo, Ewan was already pulling her close to kiss her, his hands moving over the soft fabric of her dress to cup her breasts. They’d planned it horribly though, because before they had the chance to do more than wiggle around together for a few minutes, the transpo was pulling up in front of Udo Villanova’s house.

  Ewan had been right about the food, there was that. And the elderly bro himself, surprisingly charming. He’d listened carefully to Nina’s answers to his thoughtful questions, nodding and occasionally writing notes on an old-fashioned pad that he handed off to a secretary. She and Ewan had taken their leave when Udo started nodding off in his chair.

  “He seemed to care and understand,” she said now as she watched Ewan shucking out of his briefs. “Wait. Don’t get in yet.”

  He’d been about to step into the in-ground hot tub, a treat they’d both agreed would be delightful in the summer’s nighttime chill. “What’s wrong?”

  “Admiring the view.”

  Ewan chuckled at that, though in a low, gritty tone that told her he was flattered. Turned on. He twisted, showing off his body, until Nina’s pulse throbbed faster. “Like this?”

  “I could stare at you forever,” Nina said. “For an infinity.”

  “Take off your clothes,” Ewan urged.

  She did, stripping slowly out of the outfit that had felt like a costume. Eyes locked on his, she stood naked in front of him and rejoiced in the way he took all of her in with his gaze. She offered herself to him without words, and he accepted everything she gave him.

  In the steaming, swirling water, they embraced. His kiss drifted across her lips, tickling and teasing, and Nina let him because she wanted to savor him for as long as she could. Ewan pulled her onto his lap. He was already hard, his erection rubbing her belly as he pulled her closer.

  “Want you,” Nina murmured into his mouth and caught his offered tongue between her teeth. “Right now.”

  He was inside her within seconds, both of them shuddering at that first delicious connection. The water buoyed her so that Ewan could slide his hands beneath the backs of her thighs and move her up and down as he thrust.