Christa Wick - Tempted Beyond Reason: An Alpha Hero & Curvy Heroine Standalone: Wake & Lacey (Far Too Tempting Book 1)

Copyright 2019 by Christa Wick

I left the car idling, prepared to shift into reverse at a second's notice, as I used my iPhone to swipe through all the feeds from the extra security cameras Id had set up around the perimeter of the estate.

The guesthouse was situated at the back and the acreage was completely fenced in, patrolled by three mature bull mastiffs weighing over a hundred pounds each and two adolescents that were almost as large. Perimeter cameras monitored by the gatehouse guards gave a full view of the fences and the exterior of every building on the property.

Given all the safeguards in place, the probability of an attacker or kidnapper lurking inside any of the buildings on the estate was as close to zero as possible, absent an insider coerced or paid into betraying my employer.

Still, I couldnt stop being paranoid.

Billionaire Austin Long had hired me as a bodyguard months ago, a relatively straightforward job, given my training. But the job had proven to be anything but simple, given that the soft, lush body I was being paid to guard belonged to his far too sweetand legally blindyounger cousin Lacey Addams Long.

Even with the small percentage of sight available to her in each eye, Lacey couldn't run from danger. For her, a van with a driver ready to yank her inside presented the same shadowy profile as a large boulder or garden shed, and any man who could be standing right in front of her with a rifle wasn't distinguishable from an ornamental tree. And forget her being able to spot anything on the ground that would trip her up.

Or worse.

I swiped through each of the view screens one last time then quickly made my way back to the garage. Watching my rearview and side mirrors the entire time, I waited for the garage door to shut behind me before turning off my vehicle and letting my guard down a fraction.

Even in this veritable fortress though, my fingers itched with the need to take one more trip through the camera views.

But a quiet sigh from the young woman in the passenger seat stopped me before I could.

"Is all this really necessary?" she asked, facing me fully. "It seems like the precautions grow more excessive with each new day."

It was true, over the last two weeks, the time it took me to ensure the premises were safe enough to let Lacey out of the car and secured in the house had grown considerably.

The probability of an attack against her was a constant variable that kept me on high alert at all times. While Lacey was financially dependent on her billionaire cousin, she was also one of his heirs. That made her a prime target for kidnappers and crazies.

And the crazies were coming out in force lately.

"Austin thinks its necessary," I answered, avoiding giving her my own opinions and explanations on the subject of her safety, especially since my personal opinion was quickly becoming less professional each day.

Simply put, the near constant, isolated care of Lacey Addams Long was turning me into a lust-struck idiot.

How else could I think of myself when I grew hard in a heartbeat the second I was alone with the sweet, utterly innocent young beauty next to me?

Shifting restlessly in her seat, Lacey fixed her worried blue gaze in my general direction, between the top of my head and my shoulders, around where my eyes would likely be by her estimation. "Is something wrong? I mean Austin has never been this careful with my visits before."

"There's just been a lot of news coverage lately..." I evaded, looking for any rationale that would justify my overly-cautious routine without scaring her. "Some of the trashier papers and gossip websites have been going crazy about a billionaire, white oilman from a deeply southern family stepping out with a poor, black, tree-hugging hottie with a law degree. That raises the security profile of Austin and everyone around him because it catches the attention of the paparazzi, crazies and professional criminals."

She didn't need to know about the death threats from the far ends of both sides of the political spectrum.

A wry smile pulled the corners of her mouth downward. "So, I'm some kind of collateral damage risk?"

"Not when I'm protecting you," I answered, my voice dropping low to squeeze at my balls as my eyes locked on those voluptuous lips of hers.

Feeling the too-familiar hardening of my cock, which always happened when I didnt keep my thoughts in check around her, I flung my door open without another word and quickly stepped out of the vehicle.

I circled the car and opened her door, my hand touching lightly at her shoulder to signal that I was ready to assist her, per our established protocol. Watching over Lacey had more routines than my usual protection details because of her lack of sight. And this particular one, which entailed having her skin touch mine the entire time as I guided her, was one of the ones that put the most strain on my sense of duty, not to mention the fit of my jeans.