HER BODYGUARD

She was left clutching the phone in the darkness. Lord, how far away was he? How long would it take him to get here? She wondered.

There was another noise from the front of the house, this time the sound of the patio door opening. With her pulse pounding in her throat, she jumped out of bed ran to the bedroom door and locked it. But how much good would that do her? The person could break down the door and she would be left at his or her mercy. She prayed for Asher to show up.

She was about to call the police when she heard footsteps coming down the hall. Heavy footsteps. A man’s footsteps. Then someone tried to turn the knob on the bedroom door and, after discovering it was locked, started kicking the door. Kimberly almost screamed.

She was dressed only in the long T-shirt she’d worn to bed. She opened her back door and ran to the balcony. She had nowhere to go. She couldn’t possibly jump down because she could break her leg or hands or maybe worse -her neck.

So she stayed where she was and prayed that Asher came for her. She still had her phone in her hand and remembered she hadn’t called the police. She was about to when she realized that the banging on the door had stopped.

She walked back slowly into the room but she didn’t dare open the door. She walked slowly to the door and then she heard another knock. She screamed and jumped back, dropping her phone in the process but then she heard Asher’s voice.

“It’s me, Kim. Open the door” he said.

She opened the door and almost jumped on him in relief.

“Where is he?” Asher asked.

“I don’t know. I think he left,” she said shakily.

“Did you call the cops?”

“Not yet.”Belongs to © n0velDrama.Org.

“Do it.” he said, then he began to leave the apartment again. Kimberly stopped him.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

“Wanna see if I can find him, he might not have gotten far. Might even be lurking around”

He rushed of apartment again, and Kimberly followed, but he was too fast for her. She had to call the cops but her phone was back inside, on the floor where she had dropped it. And she wasn’t about to go back to get it.

Wishing she had on more clothing, she ran down her neighbors door and banged on it. Ten seconds later, the door opened.

“What’s all that racket?” the man said.

“There was an intruder at my house,” she yelled out. “I think he ran off. Call 9-1-1.”

The man nodded. “Are you okay?” he asked.

“Yeah I’m fine” Katherine replied. “Just call” The door banged shut, and she didn’t know whether the guy was going to do the right thing or not. She didn’t care. Right now, she was worried about Asher.

Turning back toward her door, she finally brought herself to go inside. She wondered what to do now. Asher had disappeared, and she realized suddenly that he had put himself in danger -for her.

With her bottom lip between her teeth, she stood, staring at the front door as though that would give her insight into what was going on out there.

She could go out to find him. But it was likely that she wasn’t going to be much help. Maybe she’d even make things worse.

Still, she took a step closer to the door and then another.

She jumped back and screamed when the front door flew open and Asher appeared.

“Asher” Kimberly said with relief. “What happened?” she asked.

“I saw a guy moving suspiciously, followed him and he started to run. I tried to follow him but I didn’t have a light and tripped over a damn tree root, and the bastard got away.” he said. “Didn’t even get to see his face”

“Are you all right?” Kimberly asked, moving closer to him.

“Fine,” he snapped, striding back toward her room.

She followed, her legs still shook slightly.

When she’d stepped into the room, Asher closed the door, then turned to face her.

Days ago, she’d told him to know his place, that she didn’t care. She had been rude. Another man in the same position wouldn’t have felt compelled to rush over and rescue her, even if protecting her was his job.

“Why did you go after him?” she asked softly, taking a step toward him.”You didn’t have to do that. What if he hurt you… or worse”

He didn’t answer, only moved toward her, and they met in the middle of the bedroom. Reaching out, she clasped her arms around him. She wasn’t even sure why.

To comfort herself? To tell him how grateful she was? To let him know how relieved she was that nothing serious had happened to him? Even now that the danger was over, she was still shaking.

“You’re fine. Everything’s okay,” he murmured, his hands soothing over her back and shoulders.

When she lifted her face to his, staring up into his dark eyes, the emotions of the moment overwhelmed her. “He left after he heard me call you I guess,” she stammered. “Then you went after him. And I was scared for you.”

He looked down at her for a long moment. Then his eyes focused on her lips. She could have pulled back. But when he lowered his head toward hers, she raised up on tiptoes-meeting again halfway.

She’d always considered kissing him a pleasant activity. She would never have labeled this kiss as merely pleasant.

The first mouth-to-mouth contact was like a bolt of electricity, sizzling along her nerve endings, swamping her mind and body. Boy! Asher Adams knew how to kiss-with his lips, his tongue, his teeth. He was sensual and masterful, subtle and overwhelming by turns. And thoroughly absorbed in what he was doing, as though kissing were an end in itself.

She’d met a few men like that. Usually kissing was a prelude to sex. Or that’s what they wanted it to be. But every time she kissed Asher, she sensed that for him, it was an activity to be enjoyed for its own sake.