Irresistible Darkness: A Dark College Romance (Kings of Blackwater Book 4)

1. Kayla

Guarding a rich heiress who is studying business at a fancy university should be a really comfortable job. One of those gigs that most bodyguards dream of landing. Because what’s the worst that could happen? That they need to scare off some drunk frat boy who got a little too handsy at a party? That’s probably the case for most assignments like this. But unfortunately for my bodyguards, they didn’t get a normal client. They got me. And I have no intention of being guarded.

Music pulses out into the dark night from the open window above me. Holding on to the windowsill, I pull myself up until I can manage to swing one leg up onto the small ledge. I glance down at the bushes below. It’s not exactly the first time I’ve climbed into an upstairs window, but I would still like to avoid falling into those bushes if I can. They’re the scratchy kind. Not the soft kind.

Clenching my jaw, I heave myself up onto the windowsill.

“Uhm…” a guy says from inside the room. “Do you need some help with that?”

“I’m fine,” I reply as I straighten on the small ledge before shifting my attention to the inside of the room. “I just need to…” Trailing off, I glare down at the mass of potted plants that takes up the entire windowsill inside the room. I groan. “Oh, come on.”

A soft laugh sounds.

Looking up from the inconveniently placed plants, I find a guy standing just a step away. He has brown hair that has been slicked back in a stylish way, and gray eyes that glitter with both confusion and amusement as he watches me. He’s a bit on the slim side, but objectively still very attractive. I wink at him as I start trying to climb over the potted plants.

“You do know that there’s a front door downstairs, right?” the guys says, still watching me with a bemused smile on his lips.

I push aside a snake plant with my foot. “I’m aware.”

“You’re not a burglar, are you?”

“No.” I nod towards the rest of the room behind him. “Would be kind of stupid to try to rob a place in the middle of a party when there’s like a hundred witnesses, wouldn’t it?”

He glances over his shoulder.

This is some kind of entertainment room or something like that. There’s a large TV on the wall to my right, though it’s not turned on. The people occupying the massive gray couch in the corner are too busy making out to watch anything. On the other side of the large room, four people are playing beer pong on a table that looks to be meant for table tennis. Another group is standing by the wall closer to the door, red plastic cups in their hands as they drink and talk.

The guy in front of me returns his attention to me right as I step over a plant with yellow flowers. “True. But it could also be the greatest tactic in the world. Reverse psychology. No one would think to rob the place during a party, which is why it’s the best plan.”

I roll my eyes at him before I turn around and grip the window frame for support. “Nah. I’m just trying to escape someone who doesn’t understand the meaning of privacy.” After swinging my other leg over the army of plants, I release my grip on the window frame. “It’s?—”

My words are cut off by a hiss as my foot slips off the edge of the windowsill. Flailing my arms, I try to get my balance back. But it’s too late. My stomach lurches as I fall backwards into the room.

A huff sounds.

I brace myself for the impact. But I don’t hit the floorboards. Instead, I land on top of something soft. And hard.

Blinking, I sit up and scramble around so that I’m no longer facing the window and the disgruntled house plants that are still glaring at me from the windowsill.

Another huff sounds.

I finish spinning around. And come face to face with the brown-haired guy I was talking to. The guy that I collided with when I fell. The guy that I’m now straddling on the floor.

“Wow,” he says, and then chuckles as he raises an eyebrow at me. “At least buy me dinner first.”

Clearing my throat, I lift my hands from where I was bracing them on his chest and instead push my long red hair back behind my ears before flashing him a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

He laughs again. “You sure know how to make a memorable first impression at least.”

“That’s what they say.” I wink at him again before holding out my hand. “I’m Kayla.”

Since he’s still lying on the floor underneath me, it takes some maneuvering for him to reach up and take my hand. “Lionel.” He smiles and shakes my hand. “Henderson.”

“I’m—”

“Ms. Ashford,” a stern voice snaps from the doorway. “What have I said about sneaking off like that? I can’t do my job when you run off every chance you get.”

“Aw, crap,” I mutter.

“Ashford?” Lionel blinks at the burly man stalking towards us before meeting my gaze again. “As in the Ashford family?”

I grimace. “Yeah, I’m afraid so.” Scrambling off him, I shoot to my feet and give him an apologetic smile. “I really have to go, but I’ll see you around.” I wiggle my eyebrows. “And thanks for the assistance.”

Lionel sits up, looking very confused, and stares at me as I skirt around the room until my bodyguard, Max, is no longer blocking the door. Then I make a run for it.

“Ms. Ashford,” Max snaps as I dart across the floor and skid into the hallway on the other side of the door. “We’ve talked about this. You have to stop doing…”

The rest of his sentence is drowned out by the thumping music. But it can’t block out the sound of his feet stomping down the corridor after me. People leap out of the way as I hurry towards one of the rooms at the far end. Well, everyone except two blonde girls who are leaning against the wall opposite an open door, looking very suspicious.

“Is everything ready?” I ask as I reach them.

“Yeah,” Jenn replies.

Her younger sister, Aurora, nods towards the open doorway. “But make sure you don’t move the plastic sheet. If you ruin the floor, our housemates are going to kill us.”

“I won’t. I promise.” I blow them a kiss. “Thank you.”

But I don’t have time to wait for their reply. Darting into the deserted room beyond, I push the door almost all the way shut. Then I grab the bucket waiting for me on the floor and leap up onto the chair by the wall. With steady hands, I balance the bucket on top of the door. Once it’s in place, I jump back down and hurry over to the middle of the room.

I have just barely checked that the wide plastic sheet is still in place before the door is shoved open and Max storms across the threshold.

“Ms. Ashford,” he growls. “My patience is at an end. If you don’t?—”

The bucket falls from the top of the door and tips down over him.

Red paint splashes down over his head, his black suit, and the plastic sheet that covers the floor.

He stops.

For a while, nothing moves. From the middle of the room, I watch as Max simply stands there. Red paint slides down his skin and clothes and drips down on the floor. That muted dripping is the only sound in the room.

Slowly, he looks down at his ruined suit. Then he wipes paint from his face before dragging his furious gaze up to me.

I grin. “It could’ve been blood. But it’s not.”

He forces out a long, angry breath. “That’s it. I quit.”

Victory pulses through me.

Raising a red-smeared hand, he stabs a finger at me. “Good luck finding another bodyguard. I know everyone in the business, and I will warn them all to steer clear of you. No professional bodyguard within a hundred-mile radius will touch you with a ten-foot pole.”

Yanking his hand down, he flicks more paint onto the plastic sheet before whipping around and stalking out the door.

A wide smile spreads across my lips as I watch him leave while I finally reply, “That’s what I’m counting on.”

My entire life has been monitored. For almost as long as I can remember, I have had a bodyguard lurking over my shoulder and watching my every move. But that stops now. I want freedom. Independence. And now I will get it.

Over the years, I have scared off dozens of bodyguards, but my father has always found someone else to take the job. But no more. After the absolute hell I put Max through, word will spread to everyone in the business.

I’ve finally won.

Because no one will be crazy enough to come anywhere near me now.