Page 27 of Idaho

She blinked up at me and I couldn't stand the tears filling her eyes. "I still don't understand. Why would you do this for someone you don't know?"

She was having a hard time trusting this, trusting me. I couldn't blame her. I'd be suspicious, too. I brushed away the tears that spilled over onto her cheeks with my thumbs. "I told you. I don't like assholes who try to hurt women. And I happen to like you."

She took a deep breath and stepped back. She was still wearing the clothes she'd worn to bed and it was fucking distracting. Her shirt barely covered the bottom of her tits—it kept shifting and showing peeks of her lacy bra—and her pants were so tight I knew she wasn't wearing panties. There were no lines. Gritting my teeth, I tried to get my hard-on under control. The fact that I'd jerked off in the shower earlier was the only reason I was able to maintain my restraint.

"My name is Tatiana Evangeline Desmet."

The silence filled the room between us. Finally, I responded, "Okay." The name didn't mean anything to me offhand.

She smiled, nibbled her bottom lip, then continued. "My father is Louis Reginald Desmet the Third...The Grand Duke of Luxembourg."

More silence. I stared at her in shock and a slow grin began to form. "You're seriously a fucking duchess?" I asked with a laugh. "Jesus. I only called you that because you're so formal and prissy."

She glared at me. "I'm not prissy. Or a brat," she added.

I chuckled. "You're absolutely both," I corrected. She wasn't really, I just liked teasing her. I'd started last night to help get that haunted look out of her eyes, but now I just like seeing her get mad. Her cheeks got all rosy and her eyes deepened to a beautiful jade green.

She sighed, irritated with me, but continued speaking. "I'm also not a duchess. My title would only be Lady Desmet. I'm not my father's heir."

"Your father's a duke?" The humor faded pretty quickly. This was a goddamn mess. It was one thing to protect a girl who was rich as fuck, but this was on an entirely different level. The amount of enemies she had were likely triple what some business tycoon's daughter would. It made my job that much more difficult. Nowadays a duke wasn't just a title, her father would have every type of connection that I had, plus the connections of a government official. A hybrid position.

"Yes."

"And you're here with only one bodyguard?" I asked, finally putting together who Thomas was to her.

"My father agreed to let me come here to attend University if I brought Thomas with me. He's been my bodyguard for years."

I snorted and shook my head. "He didn't do a very good job last night."

Her eyes flashed with anger. "That wasn't his fault. He wasn't even there."

"How is it not?" I shot back, anger ripping through me.

She blinked, lost for words for a moment. I caught her by surprise. "We didn't know anyone was targeting me," she said, finding her voice once more. "I wanted..." She grimaced, but then squared her shoulders and met my gaze. "I wanted more of the college experience. So, I moved in with Jo and Brittney and I only call Thomas if I need him. He didn't even know we were going out last night."

My eyes narrowed. "That was not only reckless, it was just fucking stupid."

A pout formed on her lips, but there was resignation in her eyes. "I'm sure I'll be hearing that particular lecture from both Thomas and Father. I don't need it from you as well."

"You're twenty-nine years old," I reminded her. "If you're going to do something so deliberately stupid, you deserve to be scolded for it."

Her lips parted on a gasp and her hands went to her hips. "Perhaps, but you don't get the honor of doing so," she snapped, anger flashing in the captivating green depths of her eyes.

"No?"

"No!"

"That's where you're wrong, Duchess. If I'm going to be the one protecting you, I'm damn well going to be giving you orders. And you're going to fucking follow them, or there will be consequences."

Her chin jutted out in a display of stubbornness. "Well, I never agreed to let you help me. So you can just..." My brows lifted while she battled with herself. Finally, she spit out the rest of the sentence, "Fuck right off."

I had to fight the grin. It was obvious she wasn't used to cussing. She looked like a tiny little kitten who'd been drenched with water and was spitting mad. "We'll see about that," I said, voice low as I took a step toward her. She didn't move back, but I could see the way her body tensed up. She was ready to fight or flee, depending on what happened next.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Duchess," I told her as I reached out and stroked my fingers down the side of her cheek. Her skin was so soft and warm. My dick was throbbing in time with my heartbeat. I wanted her. Badly. But this wasn't the right moment. Not yet. "But if you're going to be staying here, there will need to be some ground rules."

She glared up at me, then turned away and stalked over to the bed. She sat down and folded her arms across her chest. "I'm listening."

"You don't leave this building without me," I began. "If me or one of my brothers can't go somewhere with you, you call Thomas."