Guarded by the Hybrid (Kindred Tales)

I gasped, and tried to keep my composure, though I could feel the blood draining from my face. So big, he was so big. Nearly eight feet tall, I thought and he wasn’t thin and gangly the way some tall men are. No, the new bodyguard was muscular with shoulders fully twice as wide as my own. He practically had to turn sideways as he walked through the door to my bedchamber suite.

He had a kind of pearly gray skin that made him look like a marble statue come to life, short black hair, and black eyes. His features were sharp and well defined—a strong jaw, a straight nose, and surprisingly long lashes for a man—and he was dressed all in black leather with a vest that showed his massive arms. But this was all beside the point—at that moment I simply couldn’t get over his size. I judged that were I to stand right next to him, my head would barely make it to the middle of his muscular upper arm.

Truly, Baslik had chosen well, I thought bitterly. There was no way I could fight this giant—he would do as he pleased with me. And since Baslik had told me he had given him permission to “massage” every bit of me, I knew what kind of abuse I could expect.

“This is Mr. Sark,” my husband said, motioning to the enormous bodyguard. “He is a Kindred warrior and he will be here with you in your suite day and night, my dear. To ensure your safety, of course.”

The giant Kindred frowned.

“I’m fine with standing just outside the door. A lady needs her privacy.”

“I think not,” Baslik snapped, frowning up at him. “I’m paying you for constant round the clock surveillance of my wife. You will eat, sleep, and live in her rooms with her.”

The giant looked around, frowning.

“And where in the Seven Hells am I supposed to sleep? And don’t say in your wife’s bed—that’s her space and I’m not about to intrude on it.”

Nice that he would draw a line at sleeping in my bed when he was going to be touching my naked body every night without my permission, I thought bitterly.

“We’ll have a cot brought in.” Baslik eyed the giant Kindred. “Er, a very large and sturdy cot,” he added. “But I want you here with her every waking and sleeping moment and I’ll know if you break your contract—these rooms are under surveillance,” he added.

The giant Kindred’s face went dark as a thunderstorm.

“I’ve never needed to be watched in order to do my job,” he rumbled. “I’ll fulfill the contract I signed—there’s no need to threaten me.”

He didn’t look like a man anyone could threaten, I thought—he looked more like the one who would be doing the threatening.

“Yes, well, er…” Baslik cleared his throat, looking at the mercenary he had hired uncertainly. “Perhaps I’d better leave the two of you to get better acquainted. We have a few days before our trip to Fenushia Alpha, so please take the time to familiarize yourself with my wife,” he said to the giant.

At the words, “familiarize yourself with my wife,” I couldn’t help shuddering. The giant Kindred might be better looking than Baslik, but he was a huge frightening stranger and all I could see when I looked at him were his enormous hands—hands that would soon be all over my body whether I wanted them there or not.

I should have gone to sell myself at a House of Ill Repute, I thought bitterly. That’s what this comes down to—letting some strange man fondle me—how is that different from what I would have faced if I had chosen another path in life?

The giant, for his part, just stared at Baslik silently until my husband appeared to get uncomfortable.

“Er, well…” He cleared his throat. “I’d best be going. I have much to do to get ready for our trip. Goodbye, my dear,” he said to me. “I do hope you’ll enjoy your new companion.”

I said nothing but only waited until he left, shutting the door to my suite behind him. That left the Kindred giant and me just staring at each other.

He was standing across the room from me but his reach was long due to his massive size. I eyed the door to my bathing chamber, wondering if I could make it before he lunged for me.

He seemed to see me sizing him up and eyeing the door of the bathing chamber because he said,

“Do what you want, my lady. I’m not coming after you.”

Did he mean it? There was only one way to find out. I ran for the bathing chamber, heart pounding in my throat for I was certain he would be following me. Yet when I dared to look over my shoulder, the giant Kindred was still just standing there, arms crossed over his broad chest as he watched me with a disarmingly mild gaze.