Maelstrom

Chapter 54: A Different Bodyguard

His lips were so close I could feel his hot breath in my ear. "You and Ivan acting like a couple of oversexed teenagers playing house is going to get somebody hurt. Badly." He punctuated that final word with an extra squeeze of his meaty arm around my throat.

"Mateo, that's enough, man," Marshall said. He took a step onto the mat to intervene in what could really no longer be called a fight.

"Back off, Marsh," Mateo spat. Marshall hesitated a moment before obeying the order.

I kept tapping his arm as I struggled for breath.

"Maybe you're the one who gets hurt," the bodyguard whispered menacingly. "Maybe it's Marsh. Maybe it's me. But most likely, it's Ivan, and that can't happen."

I knew that Mateo probably didn't mean to hurt me – just scare the shit out of me – but the fact was, his anger was clouding his judgment. My blood was trapped in my face, my vision was starting to contract, and I knew I had to make a move or risk passing out.

I tightened my hands on either side of the granite elbow pressed against my trachea and crouched suddenly, bringing Mateo with me. Lightning quick, I moved my hips to one side and released my left arm to slash behind me, between his legs, nailing him hard as I could in the balls. The explosion of breath on my face and a grunt in my ear told me I'd connected, but the massive arm, though momentarily looser, was still around my neck.

With my fingers folded in half rather than rigid and extended as they would be for a real attacker, I jabbed my hands over my shoulder, knuckling Mateo painfully in the eyes. His grip loosened further, and I used that tiny window of opportunity to twist in his grasp, seizing his elbow and forearm and using my momentum to extra-rotate his shoulder, throwing him off balance and sending him crashing to the floor. With his arm now fully extended in my hands, I would have smashed a mugger or rapist in the back of the elbow, potentially breaking the arm but certainly injuring the joint, but I reined it in at the last second, following through by slamming my knee once into the side of his head to daze him and jumping clear, ready to get the hell out of there before he recovered.

Marshall was at my side in an instant. "Holy shit," he said, looking down at where Mateo still writhed on the floor. "Are you okay?"

From the lowered volume of his voice, I knew he was asking me, not his partner. I nodded, still unable to speak. I sucked in huge gulps of air, willing my heart to stop its frantic pounding as I watched Mateo slowly push himself up onto an elbow.

Marshall was helping the battered giant to stand when the bedroom door opened, and Ivan reentered the room.

His scowl got darker and angrier as he assessed the tableau before him. His face was thunderous by the time he reached my side.

"What's going on here?" he asked no one in particular.

I fielded the question as though it had been meant for me alone. "The guys offered to help me brush up on my self-defense training, maybe show me some new tricks." I took a deep breath and blew it out with a laugh. "I'm a lot rustier than I thought! I can barely catch my breath!"

Ivan turned skeptically to his bodyguards. "And what's the matter with you? Are you also 'rusty'?" he asked Mateo.

I answered before Mateo could open his mouth. "I got a little carried away and punched him in the nuts," I said matter-of-factly.

Ivan winced and shot the Cuban behemoth a sympathetic look. "Are you going to be okay?"

Marshall left his partner to stand upright on his own and walked over to the kitchen. "Nothing a bag of frozen peas and a couple hours of Halo won't cure. Right, man?"

"Right," Mateo mumbled. He hobbled over to the kitchen table and lowered himself gingerly into a chair. He rested his crew-cut head in his hands and covered his aching eyes.

"Then I guess we'll leave before Lex can do any more damage," Ivan said. Standing behind me, he wrapped his arm around my upper chest and shoulders and pulled me to rest against him, cradling me against his hard bulk. "We'll be in all afternoon – I need to do some research – so get some rest."

Mateo twitched his fingers in a sulky farewell, and we started to head out. My bare foot touched the cool hardwood floor and I stopped.

"Hold on, just a second," I said. I sprang over to the easy chair and grabbed the borrowed socks I'd left balled on the floor. "Okay, ready," I smiled as I returned to Ivan's side.

"Thanks for the tips, Marsh," I said. "And I'm sorry, Mateo. I hope you feel better soon."

Marshall lifted an open hand in a silent goodbye; Mateo did not acknowledge me at all.

As Ivan opened the door to the hallway, I noticed some kind of camera mounted to the inside of the slab, right where the peephole would be. So that was how they were sure no one had left Ivan's apartment since Saturday night. The camera probably had a motion-detector in it, and it broadcasted video footage wirelessly to the laptops and tablets I'd seen lying around; the bodyguards were alerted instantly to view any unscheduled departures or visitations. It was probably even linked to their phones, so they could keep an eye on the place when they were out in case anyone but the three of them made it past the doorman and the elevator's keyed panel.

Ivan managed not to laugh until we were safely inside his apartment. He pulled me against him and kissed me firmly on my temple, my cheekbone, the corner of my jaw, pushing my head gently to the side with each fierce peck. I grinned and wrapped my hands around his waist.

"You must stop beating up my bodyguards," he admonished me. "I need them, you know. Or are you after their job, perhaps?"

I considered that with a lifted brow. "That's an intriguing idea," I said. "I wouldn't mind spending all day guarding your body."

He smiled wickedly. "And what would you guard my body from?"

"Oh, you know ... bad guys." I leaned in and traced his carotid artery with my tongue, savoring the salty tang of his dried sweat.

"Mmm-hmm," he agreed, his eyes closed.

"And aggressive waitresses, of course." I slid my hands lower, reaching under the waistband of his shorts to caress his sculpted ass.

"Of course."

"And boredom."

He looked down at me, meeting my twinkling eyes with his; his lips twitched. "You would guard my body from boredom?" he asked.

"Mmm-hmm."

"And just how would you do that?"

I pulled my hands out of his pants and slipped them under his shirt, pulling it off swiftly over his head. I ran my nails lightly over his chiseled chest. My god, this man was fine! "Why don't we get into the shower, and I'll demonstrate."