Guarding His Heart Read online

  “No way. I’m going to a private residence. You can’t just come with me,” Christian complained.

  At first, Mark thought that Christian was just being a brat again. Teasing him, like he had when he’d told Mark that he wasn’t bad to look at. But when he thought about it, he realized that wasn’t the case.

  Christian was just completely unused to having a bodyguard.

  Mark had always worked with professionals before. The first year, it had been a bunch of short term contracts, but they had all been with people who knew the drill. Who knew what to expect. People who had no problem ignoring him as they went about their business. And the politician that he’d guarded for the second year of his career had been the same.

  Christian might be a professional musician, but he wasn’t used to everything that entailed. No wonder everyone was worried about the kid. He could easily get himself into trouble, just through not realizing just how much danger he was in.

  Just like with the car. Christian had seen the light change, and he’d stepped into the street without looking. Most of the time, that would be fine, of course, but now that Christian was famous, he was going to have to get used to looking. Or, at least, he was going to have to get used to people looking on his behalf.

  Poor kid.

  “Look, call your agent,” Mark suggested. “He’ll tell you this is legit. I have to be with you. It’s my job.”

  Now that the agency Mark worked for was involved, there was no chance of them letting Christian come to any harm. Nothing was going to ruin their perfect record. That was just how it was. Christian himself, unfortunately, didn’t have a lot to say in the matter.

  Mark could sympathize, and he did. It wasn’t easy to live your life under public scrutiny.

  “I don’t want a babysitter. I don’t even really want a bodyguard, but … I’m already tired of you standing around being creepy. Just act normal.”

  Despite the fact that the words were potentially incredibly rude, that’s not how it actually came off to Mark. Poor Christian was desperate for normalcy. There were good things about being rich and famous, but Mark knew, for himself, anyway, that he wouldn’t choose fame for anything.

  “Close your eyes. Just for a second,” Mark suggested. He definitely knew how to keep a low profile, and maybe it was time to prove that to Christian. He would give the younger man the choices that he could. It wasn’t up to Christian if Mark was around or not, but it was up to him if he knew Mark was around. Maybe that would help him, at least a little.

  Mark didn’t want to make this difficult for the guy. He just had a job to do, and that’s all it came down to.

  Christian frowned, and then rolled his eyes.

  “Fine,” he said, in that very arrogant, rude way that only a very young person could pull off with full success. But he did close his eyes, and the moment he did, Mark hid.

  Oh, he was a big guy, no doubt about it. And he could make his presence felt, when he wanted to. What was harder, though, was not doing so. Was making it almost like he wasn’t there at all, as far as his client was concerned.

  If this was what Christian wanted, then Mark would do it. It was fine with him, if it meant that he could keep an eye on the guy.

  “Open them,” Mark said, and he watched from his hidden place as Christian did just that, then looked around, obviously almost in a panic, trying to find him.

  “Oh, hell no! No way. This is even worse. Even more creepy,” Christian said, and even though his eyes slid over Mark multiple times, he didn’t see him. “Can’t you just act like a person? Hang out with me? Why does it have to be this super serious thing?”

  For Mark, that was like asking why one couldn’t just strip down bareass naked and run through Times Square. It was just not the sort of thing that was done. Mark knew how to do his job, and he was going to do it that way.

  “Look, if you don’t want me to be here, I can make it easy for you to pretend I’m not. I’m not here to try to make things hard on you,” Mark said, his voice earnest. But there were changes to Christian’s life that the kid was just going to need to get used to.

  “Stop it! I’d rather know where you are,” Christian said firmly. Mark shrugged and stepped out of a space between a bookshelf and a wall that looked far too small for his bulk to fit into.

  Just in this room alone, there were numerous places that Mark could be completely unseen, if he wanted to. It was part of his training. But it seemed to make things worse for Christian, so he would have to figure something else out.

  There was always an adjustment period with a new client, but Mark had the feeling that this one was going to be particularly bad. Maybe he should put in a request to only be put with clients who knew what they were doing.

  It was a brief, uncharitable thought, and Mark shook his head at himself for it. The truth was, Christian was actually sort of endearing, even if he did seem determined to make Mark’s life difficult.

  “Okay,” Mark said, and then stood, waiting. Either Christian was going to go out, or he wasn’t. It wasn’t really up to Mark, but either way, he would be there.

  Eventually, Christian sighed and walked back over to the couch, flopping down onto it. Mark was at work, so he didn’t admire the artless beauty of it. Much. It wasn’t his job to notice things like that about his client.

  It seemed that Christian was going to stay after all, so Mark got started on the second part of his job, which was getting this house secure. Once the place wasn’t basically like Swiss cheese in terms of how easy it would be to get in, then everyone could relax. At least a little.

  * * *

  Christian wasn’t happy, and Mark knew it.

  That was a problem, and Mark found himself thinking about it after Christian finally went to bed, when Mark had some time to himself. Oh, he was on call, of course. At any time, if something went wrong, he would be expected to be ready to jump up and take care of it.

  And there was still plenty that could go wrong. Mark was going to be very aware of any sounds, because they could mean someone was breaking in. But it was a bit of a rest, anyway, and his body took it while it could.

  His mind, though, hummed along restlessly. Christian wasn’t happy. And Mark knew very well that Christian being unhappy was his fault, and it was his job to prevent.

  The fact was, though, that Mark, for once in his life, had no idea what to do. Christian was unhappy simply because he didn’t want a bodyguard. And he needed one.

  It was Mark’s job, part of it, to keep Christian happy, but the young man couldn’t be happy while Mark was around. So what was he to do? Quit? There was no way that was going to happen. Mark didn’t have it in him, and even if he did, someone else would just take over the job and Christian wouldn’t be any better off.

  So really, all he could do was hold tight and hope that Christian got used to having him around. It was strange, having a client be really aware that he was there. Mark was good at fitting in, at being still and quiet until they forgot that he was there. But not Christian. He noticed everything.

  It was a bad situation, no doubt about it. But Mark wasn’t a quitter. That word, quit, it wasn’t something that he even understood, much less knew how to do. He hadn’t gotten where he was today by backing off when things got a little bit challenging.

  So he would wait, and try to figure out how to make his endearing, frustrating, beautiful client forget that he even existed.

  Thinking about Christian, it made things a bit more complicated, though, when he realized that his cock was starting to swell. It had been a long time since he’d been around someone as gorgeous as the young musician, and while he hadn’t allowed himself to think about it during the day, alone at night, bored and exhausted, Mark found that he couldn’t help himself.

  Damn it, it had been a long time since he’d last been with anyone. Even his own hand. That had been on his to do list when he’d had his days off, getting laid, but those had been pretty abruptly cut off.

  Groaning
softly, he slid his hand over his own chest, then down over his flat stomach. His cock, ignored for too long, was telling him in no uncertain terms that he needed some release.

  And that’s all it was. Simple physical release. The fact that he’d been thinking about Christian when he’d started to harden didn’t matter. His body was so desperate, he would latch onto anything.

  As he stroked, he closed his eyes, imagining Christian, thinking of his face, his tight, strong body. Thinking about what he would look like without his clothes on.

  At first, he tried to change his mind to think of something else. Anything else. Not his client! But Christian stubbornly came back into his mind every single time he relaxed his guard for even a second.

  But even his own hand on his straining, aching, eager erection was too good for him to even be able to consider stopping.

  The guilt from it made it even more deeply erotic. He was fantasizing about his client while he jerked off, and while there was no doubt that it wasn’t the first time a bodyguard had done that, it was definitely the first time that Mark had. The line between a bodyguard and a client was not one that should be crossed, he’d always thought. Not even in imagination.

  But Christian.

  What would it feel like to touch him? To play with that soft, golden hair? To take off his clothes and see what was underneath?

  To push that pretty blond head down and feel those full, soft, lips wrap around his cock?

  Just like that, Mark came. There was very little warning, and the orgasm was probably the most intense that he’d ever experienced, at least with his own hand.

  Not that it was anything special. It wasn’t. It was just a way to get off.

  But he couldn’t deny, even when he tried to, that it had been better, more explosive, more intense and perfect, when he thought of Christian’s pretty face as he came.

  * * *

  It was just jerking off, he told himself the next morning, when he got the text that Christian was awake and that he needed to go be his bodyguard again. There was nothing to feel guilty about. Everyone did it.

  The thing was, the kid had no idea. He pretty much radiated straightness. So it felt taboo and wrong to even think about him that way. He would need to watch his own thoughts.

  The solution was obvious. Never do it again, and make sure that it absolutely didn’t bleed over into the way he treated Christian.

  The truth was, with most people, he wouldn’t even worry that much about it. Most of his clients didn’t even notice he was around. But Christian was different. Christian wanted to talk to him.

  It was actually damn inconvenient, considering that Mark couldn’t deny that he had a pretty intense attraction to the kid. An attraction that he wasn’t actually completely sure how to deal with.

  So he would have to work harder at removing himself. At not getting involved with talking to Christian, or hanging out with him, or whatever other ridiculous thing Christian wanted from him.

  It would be far too easy for him to let himself try to pick the young man up, if not for all the many reasons that that was a terrible idea. Even the fact that Christian seemed to be straight probably wouldn’t stop him from flirting, at least a little, very cautiously.

  Hey, Mark had been wrong before. He’d thought he was dealing with a straight guy and he’d ended up in bed with that person. Even a gay man didn’t necessarily have a completely accurate gaydar.

  But with Christian, Mark was just going to have to accept that he would never know. And that had to be okay, because Mark wasn’t the sort of person who would ever cross that line.

  Christian, though, made him question that. What would he do if the young man ever hit on him? Came on to him in any serious way? It would be very hard, in more ways than one, to resist him.

  Luckily, that was not likely to happen, and Mark would just have to trust his discretion when it came to his own arousal, his own fascination with the young man.

  In the end, though, Mark knew that Christian was just another pretty celebrity. He wasn’t the first person that Mark had guarded, and he wouldn’t be the last. Mark had found his clients beautiful before, and he’d never done anything about it.

  Mark had excellent control over himself. It was one of the things he prided himself on, and one of the things that made him excellent at his job. No pretty face was going to put that in jeopardy.

  So when Mark saw Christian, he was fully prepared. He was steeled against the sight of him, against how hard he’d come while thinking of him. He was ready to do his job, and to do his job as well as he demanded of himself at all times.

  Damn. The man was wearing nothing but a pair of pajama pants that clung to his hips in the most distracting way. His chest was bare and gorgeous, stronger and more toned than Mark would have expected.

  Slender hips, broad shoulders, and a firm, tight ass. That’s what those pants showed off, and Mark took a deep breath and forced his gaze to be professional, his face impassive.

  Damn it. He’d done this for years. Controlling his desires was the sort of thing that had become almost second nature to him. He saved it all up for an appropriate outlet, and then he could let himself go.

  His body, though, seemed to think that this boy, his client, was an appropriate outlet. Which just wasn’t true, and never would be.

  Christian looked up with a smile of welcome, his hair still sexily disheveled with sleep. His smile was lazy and impossibly hot.

  “Mornin’,” he greeted, and it was all that Mark could do to make himself not smile back. Not to react to the sexual invitation that he was definitely imagining was in the other man’s eyes.

  He’d seen his clients in various states of undress before, of course. He had lived with them, and they had been, as Christian was, comfortable enough in their own homes to be relaxed.

  Somehow, this was different. Christian was different. The truth of the matter was, Mark was getting a little annoyed at how much this kept escalating. How he wanted to try things that he had never even seriously considered with anyone else that he’d been protecting.

  He put a lot into his work. He’d never had a family, or even a serious relationship. His whole world had been his work, and he’d been fine with that, because he knew he was damn good at it. Flawless, even.

  Until now.

  What was it about Christian that made Mark so tempted to risk everything for? He had no idea, and it didn’t make any sense at all.

  All he could do was hope that Christian didn’t have the slightest idea how Mark felt. Anything else couldn’t be anything but a disaster, because whether Christian could ever possibly be interested in him or not, there was no way that it could go well.

  So he kept this in mind as he nodded back, responding without words to the other man’s greeting. He saw that Christian was annoyed by how impassive he was, but that was just how it had to be.

  Anything else was unthinkable.

  Chapter Four

  Christian

  When Christian woke up that morning, Mark was the first thing to come into his mind.

  Of course, it was just that Christian wasn’t used to having to deal with a bodyguard. He was still annoyed by how aloof Mark was. Christian knew that he was decent at making friends, making conversation, making people like him.

  Mark refused to be swayed, though. He insisted on hovering, on making a nuisance of himself, of refusing to even talk to Christian. He wasn’t even polite enough to greet him back with words, but instead just nodded.

  Damn it. That was rude!

  Maybe that was what made Mark so fascinating to Christian. He was completely enigmatic to him. If he had been a complete robot, completely unemotional, that would have been something that Christian could just roll his eyes and ignore. He could treat Mark like the furniture, if that were the case.

  But that wasn’t it. Every now and then, Mark showed some sign of emotion. He smirked, he smiled, his dark eyes lit up. It wasn’t very often, but enough that Christian knew he wasn’
t imagining things.

  And, for some reason, Christian hadn’t been able to stop thinking about him pretty much from the moment that he’d met him. Maybe with any other bodyguard, he would have been able to shrug it off, decide it was more about the other person than about him, but not in this case.

  He wanted to see Mark loosen up, for once.

  Christian just couldn’t let go. Something about Mark …

  “Hey, I said good morning!” he said, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking as he approached the other man. Damn, he was even bigger than Christian remembered. He had a very definite look, and it was an attractive one. He was a solid wall of muscle, and the suit he always wore only accentuated that.

  Not that Christian was into that sort of thing. He could just recognize when another man was visually appealing, that was all. Not appealing to him, just in general.

  Though it was odd, because he’d never spent a lot of time thinking about whether any other men were attractive or not. Just Mark.

  He walked over to the other man, though, and looked at him, gazing up challengingly into his eyes. Somehow, he was going to break through this remoteness, this reserve. Whatever it took.

  Mark, for some reason, seemed to tense up as Christian approached. Maybe he just wasn’t used to people being so friendly with him, but if that was the case, he was going to have to learn because that’s just how Christian worked.

  “Good morning,” Mark said, his voice clearly reluctant. Either Christian smelled bad or something, or Mark really just didn’t want to talk to people he was supposed to be protecting.

  Christian didn’t get it. He just didn’t understand how anyone could be in such close quarters to someone else and not try to make friends.

  “Look, can you just relax?” he asked, frustrated, not really sure what to do. He would go crazy if he had to be around this all the time. Mark had said that his clients usually just ignored him, but Christian didn’t even see how that was possible. “Just hang out with me.”