Hotel security was scrambling, trying to push the paparazzi back as someone slid up beside her. She turned her head and came face-to-face with Taz.

Only she’d never seen this side of him.

There was a hard look in his eyes as he glanced over her shoulder at the reporters. They instantly shut up, and she didn’t blame them.

Taz looked ready to kill.

His black eyes were like obsidian, his expression tight, and she realized the little zip she’d heard was a set of ultralight nunchaku. He flipped them a few times in the air as he pushed her back behind him.

“We’d better get inside,” he said softly, his English heavily accented. “I promised my mother I’d try not to get arrested again. Breaking my promise within twenty-four hours would be a little too hard to explain my way out of. She’d slap my ears good.”

The hotel staff was swarming now, but they stayed well away from Taz. He guided her back into the hotel before he pulled a cell phone from his pocket and held it up to his ear.

“Got her.”

Once they were in the elevator, he transformed back into the happy-go-lucky guy she’d come to know him as.

“Aw…” was all she got out.

He shrugged. “Told you I was a bad guy.” He swung the nunchaku through the air before they reached the top floor.

More like badass.

“You sort of freaked everyone out. I think Syon is going to kill Cid for letting you out of sight, today of all days. Why didn’t you take your phone?”

“What? I just went for a walk.”

Taz swung the nunchaku through the air again. “And how’d that work out?”

She suddenly recalled Syon’s warning to her the first time the tour bus had stopped.

Fans can get a little crazy…

“I guess I didn’t really think about it.”

The elevator doors slid open, and she heard Syon’s voice bouncing between the walls of the hallway.

“Security is your job, Cid. I don’t want excuses.”

Syon turned toward her, giving her a glimpse of Cid’s furious face before she was swept inside one of the presidential suites.

“You’re overreacting, Syon.”

He slid his hands down her arms and captured her wrists. What made her gasp was the gentleness of his grip. He’d never hurt her before, he knew his strength, but now, he was handling her like glass stemware.

He pulled her into the bedroom and in front of the full-length mirror.

“Overreacting?” His voice was raspy with outrage. “Look at yourself, Kate. I want to put you in a fucking bubble!”

“Oh, please.”

She turned on him and ripped his shirt open. “What’s that?” She pointed at a three-inch area that was scratched and bruised. “Or that?” On his lower abs was a dark spot the size of a quarter.

He pulled back out of her reach. “I play rough.”

“So do I.”

He shook his head. “It’s not the same thing.”

“Bull crap.”

She was shaking her head, but he flattened his hands on either side of her face, backing her up against the wall to control her.

It pissed her off, but it also sent a shiver down her spine.

“Someone tried to hurt you, Kate. That isn’t the same thing. And it happened right under my fucking nose.”

His tone froze her temper. She reached for him, smoothing her hands along his jawline. “You were on stage.”

“But I told you to be there…for me.”

His voice was full of self-loathing. He pulled away, looking like he was ripping himself apart.

“Don’t you dare,” she hissed.

He started to cross his arms over his chest, but she launched herself toward him and grabbed his wrist, pulling on it.

“Don’t you dare pull away from me.” She pushed right into his embrace. “You’re my boyfriend, and you’re not taking it back.”

“Damn it, Kate.” He picked her up by her biceps, driving home just how strong he was. “This is serious.”

“It sure as hell is. You are not pushing me out of your life over a guilt trip.”

Her feet touched the ground, but he held her away from him. His expression was raw. It ripped at her, stabbing into her with white-hot pain.

“It’s fear,” he said at last, his grip losing its strength. She pushed through his hands and was back against his chest as he shuddered. “A fucking lot worse than guilt. Worse than being jealous.” He gripped her head, his fingers twisting in her hair as he fell back against the wall for support. “The only other person I’ve ever felt like that about is Ramsey.”

Kate dug her fingers into his shirt, the thumping of his heart beneath her fingertips making her tremble. He was so close and yet still an eternity away.

He raised her head, locking gazes with her. “It’s eating me alive, Kate. This thing between us.”

“I know the feeling.” They were finally close enough. Both of them laid bare, their feelings in the open.

“Maybe we should let it.” Her voice was a raw whisper. She knew without a doubt she couldn’t take rejection from him now. It would literally kill her. Forget crash and burn. This would be a soul-deep event.

She stretched up and kissed him. Words were just too hard to deal with. She wanted to feel. In the insane, intense way that only Syon made her feel.

He cupped her face, holding her back as he struggled to decide if he wanted to join her in sensory overload or continue trying to sort what they felt into logical thoughts.

“Maybe we have to see this through to the end. Boyfriend.”

His lips thinned. “I don’t want Rams to see you naked again.”

It might have been a strange admission, unless she factored in everything she knew about him. Once she did that, it fit so amazingly well. He was pulling her closer, deeper into the private world where he hid his personal feelings, that fortress that kept him sane when the world around him demanded every last bit of his personality.

He fitted his mouth against hers, kissing her with a deep, hard motion. The way he moved his lips against hers sent her senses reeling. The touch of his tongue tipped the scales completely, so nothing remained but the need to fling herself into the swirling vortex.

She pulled at his clothing, unwilling to have anything between them. There was a rip as she tugged too hard. Syon pulled away from their kiss long enough for her to pull off his shirt, and before he got a chance to kiss her again, she was working on the fly of his pants.

“Oh yeah…” His cock sprang free. Hard. Hot. Ready.

But she wanted him to be on the edge. She sank down onto her knees as she stroked his length, enjoying the smooth texture of his skin and the hardness it covered.

“Why are you doing that, Kate?”

She cupped his balls and looked up, enjoying the sight of his bare body. Every ripple and ridge of hard male. His eyes were alive with a need that seared her.

“Because I want you to know who you need.” She closed her hand around his cock, pumping up and down. “I’m going to suck you off.”

And enjoy every second.

She leaned forward and took him inside her mouth. He arched forward, sucking air through his gritted teeth.

“I’m going to show you…why you can’t stop thinking about me…”

He caught her head, threading his fingers through her hair as she worked her mouth up and down on his cock.

“Suck me… Oh yeah, use your tongue too…”

His words drove her crazy, pushing the heat up another few degrees. She pumped her hand along his length, moving her head forward and back as she sucked. His breathing became rough as he bowed back. His hips were thrusting toward her, his excitement peaking. She opened as wide as she could, enjoying the moment of having him on the edge while she was still able to think. Every sound coming from him delighted her, because she was pushing him past every limit, every polite boundary, and into that place where only instinct ruled.

“Kate…”

His voice was strained, and she clamped her mouth around his cock, rubbing the underside of the head with her tongue. He groaned and started giving up his load. It was thick and hot. He pumped against her mouth as he came. She sucked it down, and he let out a hoarse cry.