Protected by Shelley Michaels

me. 
    ‘Yeah?’ I regard him with my finest come
and get me look through my eyelashes.
    ‘Yeah!’ His voice is deep and smooth melting
my insides. 
    ‘Fuck, you are hot,’ I whisper,
longingly.
    ‘Yeah?’ his lips twitch. ‘Guess it’s an
improvement on pretty !’
    I smile, ‘it’s a shame I’m merely a job to
you, isn’t it?’ I tease, impishly, ‘I imagine it would have been fun to explore
things further.’
    He narrows his eyes as he stares down, ‘I
don’t think you believe that Sophie Parker,’ he whispers.  ‘But whether
you chose to believe it or not, there’s no doubting something is sizzling
between us here.  Believe me when I tell you, we’ll explore.’ Removing his
hands from the top of my butt, he takes one of mine and pulls us out into the
fresh air.
    When we enter the hotel, all is
quiet.  There is a woman sat behind the reception desk, who greets us
warmly, her eyes lifting at surprise of our clasped hands.
    ‘It’s okay,’ I whisper, ‘I’ll fall if he
doesn’t hold me up.’
    She grins, and I snort with
laughter.  Nate growls, ‘what the fuck, woman,’ before tugging me into the
lift.  His face is comical, and I can’t help but giggle at the expression
of disbelief that sits on his serious face.  Incredulity, I imagine, that
he finds himself in the company of a giggly, drunk woman who has too much to
say for herself.
    ‘You,’ I poke him again, ‘are a very
serious, sexy man, Detective Austin,’ I torment him.
    He pushes me back against the wall of the
lift, but the doors open before he has a chance to continue with whatever it
was he was intending on doing.
    ‘Oops, saved by the doors,’ I
giggle.  I watch Nate’s lips twitch as he drags me into the corridor and
to my door.
    ‘Key card,’ he holds out his hand.
    ‘So masterful,’ I sigh, as I dig in deep
inside my handbag and locate it.
    Pushing the door of number seventeen
open, he pulls me inside and shuts the door firmly behind us.  He steps forward,
and I step back, a grin on my face.  I feel exhilarated at the excitement
building inside me.  His lips stretch across his even teeth, ‘wanna play?’
his voice rumbles through me, leaving goose bumps on the surface of my skin.
    ‘Why not?’ Adrenaline rushes through my
veins like a drug.
    ‘Jesus fuck,’ he growls, ‘you are so
unbelievably beautiful,’ my back reaches the wall.  It takes one more of
his strides until he is plastered up against me, my breathing hitches, my body
burns in anticipation of his touch.
    Snaking one hand around to rest on the
bottom of my spine, he moves the other up my arm, over my shoulder and curves it
around my nape.  I feel giddy, not from the alcohol I consumed but from
the heady intensity of his eyes. His thumb strokes across my bottom lip before
his fingers grasp my jaw, lifting me to his descending mouth. 
    The minute our lips touch, I gasp and his
tongue plunges inside, eager to taste, to explore as it tangles against
mine.  The kiss rapidly heats as we lick and nibble, with a thirst that refuses
to quench.  I moan, pushing against his hard body, and he sucks in the
moan as I move my hands around him, running them up and down his muscled back,
craving more.  I feel his hand move to stroke across my backside sending
my insides molten.
    ‘Jesus, fuck,’ he groans against my
lips. 
    ‘Don’t stop,’ I pant, begging for more.
    ‘Don’t wanna,’ he pushes his evident
erection against my abdomen, ‘you’re drunk, can’t take advantage,’ he groans
against my neck. 
    ‘Fuck that!’ I mutter, ‘I promise I’ll
respect you in the morning,’ I whimper, desperately.  He chuckles. 
‘Don’t stop, Nate,’ I beg, seriously, sensing his detachment.
    ‘Sophie,’ he moves his forehead to
mine.  ‘Sorry babe, can’t do it.  You wake up and regret it; that
brings me all kinds of trouble.  When I take you and rest assured it’s gonna
happen, I want you fully conscious and aware of the