Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Devon closed his door and knocked his head against it. “What the fuck were you thinking?”
Okay, he had not been thinking. That was exactly the problem.
He’d put his hands all over her. His boss’s sister. Exactly what Devon had promised Bennett he would never do.
But she’d smelled so good, felt so good in his arms. For those few fleeting seconds, he’d lost control.
That kiss had been pure fire, burning him up from the inside out.
He’d wanted to rip off her clothes, bend her over that countertop, plunge himself inside her, and fuck until they were both spent.
Shit, he was getting hard again.
Thank god he’d come to his senses before anything else—anything unforgivable—had happened with her.
Then he remembered the hurt look on her face right before he left, and his whole body clenched with guilt and regret. His erection disappeared. She thought that he looked down on her, which couldn’t be further from the truth.
He really liked this girl. Why couldn’t he have met her some other way? Why couldn’t she have some other brother?
He had to go back over there, right now. Nothing inappropriate could happen again. He wouldn’t let it. But he at least could come up with a better explanation for why. Something that wouldn’t hurt her so much.
He put his hand on the doorknob, and then his phone rang in his back pocket. He dug it out.
His boss was calling. Shit.
“Lana told me what happened,” Bennett barked from the phone. “Is Aurora okay?
“Yes, I just left her place. I followed her when she went out earlier, caught up with her. But she’s fine now.”
“Did you see this man that she mentioned? The one who she thinks was following her?”
“No, sir. I didn’t.”
“That’s unfortunate.” His disapproval came through, loud and clear.
Devon gave Bennett an update on everything else that had been happening, though he obviously left out a few details. But his boss wasn’t going to let him off that easily.
“I saw on the camera that you were over in her apartment for a while. I thought we talked about you keeping your distance. What exactly were you doing?”
Devon’s pulse spiked. Immediately, his head filled with images of Aurora. Her soft kisses. Her lips, whispering that she wanted to ride him.
“She was pretty upset. She didn’t want to be alone. I wanted to make sure she was settled before I left.”
Bennett was quiet. But then he said, “All right. I appreciate that. I’m working with Lana on tracking down this man that Aurora saw, but in the meantime, I don’t want her leaving that building. Keep me posted on any developments. I need to go. We’ve got a situation here ourselves.”
Devon was about to say more, but Bennett had already hung up.
The arm holding his phone dropped to his side. He looked down at his shirt. He was still covered in powdered sugar, and his skin felt sticky with it.
He headed towards the bathroom, stripping off clothes as he went. He had to get cleaned up quick, and then he was going to figure out what the heck he was supposed to do.
The shower switched on with a hiss.
Devon turned up the volume on his security app, so he would hear if the team watching the cameras back at the office contacted him. He stepped into the spray.
The water ran over his head, down his shoulders and stomach. Washing away his tension along with the sticky sugar.
Devon pushed back the shower door and glanced out at his phone. All quiet. Everything was fine. Maybe he could spend an extra minute or two in here, getting his thoughts in order.
His mind started to wander again to the girl next door. Aurora.
She wasn’t the spoiled brat he’d expected.
Not by a long shot. She’d been through more in her childhood than most soldiers he knew.
And yet, she managed to be brave and funny and sweet all at the same time.
He smiled, remembering how she’d waved around that giant green vibrator the first night they’d met.
The girl was shameless in the very best way.
And sexy. So very sexy. He recalled her soft mouth on his, the little purring sound she’d made.
His cock stirred. His smile vanished as the image in his mind shifted. Now she was on her back, sliding her sex toy in and out of herself. Moaning as it hummed inside of her.
Holy fuck, he was hard. And he couldn’t stop the flood of dirty thoughts.
Aurora, fucking her tight, wet opening with her vibrator.
Aurora on her knees in her kitchen, unzipping his jeans.
In his imagination, her tongue flicked out to lick his cockhead, right before she took him into her mouth. That mouth, hot and eager around him.
Devon groaned aloud, his voice rising over the patter of the water against the tiles.
He could never have her. But if he jerked himself off thinking about her, nobody would know. Certainly not his boss.
He closed his eyes and fisted his shaft.
Water pounded against his back. His fingers squeezed and tugged at his length, his other hand reaching down to cup his balls.
His movements sped up. His mind pictured Aurora naked on his lap, sliding up and down on his cock as she cried out with pleasure. Riding him, just like she’d wanted.
“Oh, fuck.” And just like that, his orgasm thundered through him.
With every last stroke, he moaned her name and thought of how he’d make her shake as she came. Then he’d kiss her and hold her after, until every bad thing disappeared from her mind.
But by the time he’d washed himself off and gone into the bedroom, he was already getting hard again. One look at the bed, and he pictured Aurora lying on it. Somehow, he only wanted her more. Probably because his hand was a poor comparison to the real thing.
Not good.
“Get your head together. You’re stronger than this.”
Devon went to the computer and sat down. He pulled up a new notepad file and placed his fingers over the keyboard.
After Kellen died, Devon had gone through a few days where he’d hated the world, hated everyone who’d kept on living when his brother was gone, including himself.
He ran for miles, pushing himself to his limits, screaming at anyone for the slightest infraction.
His whole existence meant shit without his brother in it.
He’d thought losing his father was bad. But this? It was indescribable. Intolerable.
Then his mother had asked him to come back home, and a deadly quiet had settled over him instead. Days went by in a blink, days he couldn’t remember.
Finally, he’d shoved his heartbreak aside, sat down on his bunk, and made a list.
He wrote down everything that still mattered: his duty to his family, his duty to his country. Friends he had made in the army and the fellow officers that he respected. His ambitions for his career.
And seeing it all on the paper, he’d known exactly what he had to do. His own feelings and desires meant nothing compared to family or country. But right in that moment, those two duties couldn’t co-exist, either.
When he’d enlisted, he intended to give all of himself to his country.
He’d lived by the Ranger Creed: move further, faster, and fight harder than any other soldier.
But his mom and sister had lost too much already.
He couldn’t put his own world back together without his brother.
That was impossible. But at least he could try to heal theirs.
So, he made the only choice he could. He’d asked for a discharge. And then, he’d worked his ass off for the army for the next year until his request was finally granted.
Sometimes, he still thought of what might’ve been. But he knew in his gut that he’d done the right thing.
Once again, Devon felt like he was at a crossroads. He couldn’t figure out what to do. He needed to lay everything out again, and he’d see the right path.
He started to type. Words appeared on the computer screen before him.
Taking care of Mom, Ruby, and Haley, he wrote. His family still had to be a top priority. That much hadn’t changed.
Next, he added, Bennett Security. Because he had a duty to his boss and his coworkers as well. They were counting on him.
But then he hit “enter” several times and typed the name Aurora at the very top.
Even above his family, above everything else.
Because no matter what, even if Bennett somehow fired him right now, Devon would still stick around until he knew that Aurora was out of danger.
Or at least until he knew some other trustworthy person had taken his place.
Nor did he want to hurt her himself. He couldn’t bear the thought that she was over in her apartment upset because of him.
Devon could almost see his brother shaking his head. What about you, man? Kellen would say. You can’t be the perfect employee and perfect son for your entire life. When are you finally going to acknowledge what you want? Because if you don’t, it’s going to catch up with you.
“I want our family to be secure. I want Bennett to think his faith in me has been well placed. And I want Aurora to be safe and happy. That’s what I want.” Any other feelings on his part would stay out of the picture.
Could he manage to do all those things? He was going to try.
But the only way was to tell her the truth—the real truth. About who he really was, and who’d hired him. Bennett might be angry at first. Aurora definitely would be. But with the truth in the open, Devon would be far more effective as a bodyguard. Eventually, everyone would see that.
A notification dinged, jarring him back to the immediate present. Aurora had just left her apartment. The camera feed from the hallway showed her going for the stairs to the rooftop terrace. He exhaled in relief. She’d be fine up there.
Maybe he should go up and explain things to her right now.
No, he decided. They both needed space. Tomorrow, he’d give Max Bennett a heads-up, and then he’d tell Aurora everything.
He knew the remote team had their eyes on the building’s cameras, but Devon needed something to do with his nervous energy. On his computer, he double-checked the various security points. A West Oaks PD squad car sat out front, yards away from the entrance. Just as it should be.
Next, he pulled up the camera feed at the building’s back door.
He sat forward, his nerves instantly on guard.
There was someone leaning into the driver’s side window, chatting with the officer inside. He checked the time. The next police shift change was supposed to be in one hour, not now.
Were they just shooting the shit? It wasn’t protocol. Was it another officer? Maybe plainclothes?
I should call headquarters, he thought. See if they know what’s up. Maybe he was overthinking it.
But before he could hit dial, the camera feed cut out. The overhead lights flickered at the same moment.
Devon shot to his feet. “Fuck.” He didn’t know what was happening, but it wasn’t anything good.
He hit a key on his computer that would send an emergency SOS to the Bennett Security office.
Aurora. He had to get to her. Now.