Page 7 of My Bodyguard’s The Boss

I’d let you fuck me, he had said. I’d let you do whatever you want to me. Hold me down. Fold me in half. Anything you want, as long as you don’t want me to be in control.

Dominic hadn’t considered it. Not seriously. Austin couldn’t even stand up without wobbling. But later—after he left Austin sad and alone in bed, curling into himself in a way that made Dominic feel like dirt—he let himself think on it.

He’d thought about it a lot since that night. He wasn’t even sure Austin remembered it. But now, watching Austin bite his lip, he suspected he might.

The gala was still in full swing. People were everywhere. Dominic should have been paying attention. But he couldn’t focus on anything that wasn’t Austin standing there with his tough guy mask slipping into something shy and vulnerable.

Dominic swallowed. Quit or fuck him.

He didn’t even know which one he had decided on when he opened his mouth.

“Austin,” he started.

A shot rang out.

Dominic moved before he had a chance to think, grabbing Austin and hurrying him toward the exit. Several other bodyguards were following suit, shoving through the crowd to get to their charge.

“Okay, that was a gun,” Austin said sharply. “Dominic?”

Dominic shushed him, mind whirring. It sounded like a handgun. It was muffled, definitely nothing from this room. With all these people here, the chances that they were aiming for Austin were low, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get caught in the chaos.

Dominic pushed Austin toward the other guy in his security team, Brent, who was jogging toward them.

“Get him in the car,” he ordered. He turned toward the rest of the room, where several of the venue security guys were heading toward the source of the noise to secure the situation. He had to know what they were dealing with.

Austin caught his arm. “Dominic! Going toward the gunshot? What happened to protecting your charge? I’m right here.”

“You have Brent with you,” Dominic said, ignoring every instinct screaming at him to follow Austin into the car and not let anyone else touch him.

Austin frowned. “But⁠—”

Dominic stepped in close and took his chin. It was more than he’d ever let himself touch Austin before, but it worked. Austin stuttered to a stop, his mouth going slack as he stared up at Dominic.

“Go with Brent,” Dominic said slowly. “Get in the car. If there’s any more commotion, tell the driver to take you out of here.”

Austin’s eyelashes fluttered. He looked like he would jump off a building if Dominic told him to. Every inch of his tough guy persona was gone, the real Austin in its place: a sweet, uncertain guy who wanted someone to tell him what to do.

“Okay,” Austin said, dazed.

Dominic barely resisted the urge to squeeze his face. He leaned in, making sure his voice was so low Brent wouldn’t hear it.

“Good boy,” he murmured.

Then he strode off, forcing himself fully into security mode. Even as he pushed any thoughts of Austin’s slack mouth from his mind, he knew he had made his decision.

And he sure as hell wasn’t going to quit.

CHAPTER 3

Austin sat in the backseat, stupefied and horny.

Did that really just happen?

He raised his hand to touch his chin where Dominic had held it. Nobody had ever done that to him before. Even when he was on set, everybody touched him like they were expecting him to take a swing at them. Dominic touched him like⁠—

Austin shivered. Dominic touched him like he knew Austin would obey him. As if he saw through all his muscles and tattoos and the gruff demeanor he’d been using for so long, he didn’t know how to let go of it, and saw the desperate boy underneath. The one that was so eager to please he didn’t even make a smart remark, just walked to the car so fast the other security guards had to jog to keep up.

The other security guard—Brent, the new guy who joined not long after Dominic did—turned around from the front passenger seat. “Are you sure you don’t want me back there, Mr. Wayne? Protocol dictates⁠—”