Jacie and the Alien Bodyguard (Intergalactic Brides 6) by Jessica Coulter Smith Page B

with the council, but he hadn’t been thinking clearly at the time. Maybe he could arrange for the restaurant to deliver a meal to Jacie several times a day and then he could take her out at least once.
    She shifted in his arms and rubbed against his hard cock, making it pulse in his pants. If she woke, and found him in this condition… He needed to think of something other than how soft she felt, or how tempting her curves were as she pressed against him. Barimere found Jacie far too tempting, even pregnant with four babies. He wanted her just as much now as he had the moment he’d laid eyes on her at the shuttle station.
    The bed dipped and he looked over Jacie to find her demented furball on the bed with them. Sugarbutt looked at him as if to ask, “What are you doing with my human?” Barimere narrowed his eyes at the creature, but Sugarbutt merely stuck his nose in the air, rubbed himself along Jacie’s back, and then curled up by their feet. That weird rumbling sound the cat made filled the air and the bed vibrated slightly. He’d never understand her fascination with the cat, but he supposed the beast wasn’t too horrible.
    Jacie murmured something in her sleep and burrowed even further into Barimere. He wasn’t sure what to do with her. His body ached to make her his in every way possible, but thankfully his brain was still ruling his body, telling him no, that he should leave her alone. Not that he was exactly leaving her alone right now, not with her curled in his arms like she was.
    “I’m offering comfort,” he muttered, not sure if he was able to quite convince himself of that.
    Jacie stretched and slowly opened her eyes. They were red-rimmed from her crying and he longed to ask what had brought her such sorrow. She’d been locked in her room, but it was always possible someone had contacted her through the Vid-comm. She didn’t have to necessarily leave her room to receive bad news. But was it his place to ask? He was her bodyguard and nothing more.
    She didn’t say anything, but reached up and cupped his scarred cheek in her hand. Her gaze fastened on his as she slowly leaned forward and her lips brushed his, oh, so softly. His lips tingled and craved more. Barimere slid his hand into her hair, cradling her head, as he angled his mouth across hers again. She moaned and opened to him, letting him inside. His tongue flicked out to taste her, then delved deeper. As Jacie’s body molded to his, Barimere fought for control. It would be all too easy to strip her bare and take everything she was offering, but it would also be wrong.
    He slowly pulled away. “We need to stop, Jacie. This isn’t right.”
    “Please.” Her voice broke. “Don’t leave me, Barimere. I need you. I need to feel something right now, something other than pain and confusion. Being with you feels right. Don’t pull away.”
    He watched as tears gathered in her eyes and he felt a piece of his heart break. How could he deny her anything? If she needed his comfort, he would give it to her, no matter how wrong it might be. Barimere knew once he had a taste of her, he’d want more. This might be a one-time occurrence for Jacie, something to ease her mind, but for him, it was so much more.
    Barimere shifted and a yowl rent the air as Sugarbutt arched his back and puffed up. Jacie giggled a little and he wondered what was so amusing about the situation.
    “You’ll have to put him out and close the door,” she said.
    Barimere extracted himself from Jacie’s embrace, gathered the pissed off ball of fluff from the bed, deposited him outside the bedroom door and slammed it shut before the creature could dart back inside. There was an awful yowl from the other side and some scratching at the door, but he turned his back on it and returned to Jacie.
    “Is he always like that?” Barimere asked.
    “He just wanted to be where we are. Sugarbutt doesn’t like to be alone.”
    “And yet I didn’t see him when I came in