By Sheena.

“Sleeping with her bodyguard- who happened to be her older brother’s best friend- was a recipe for disaster.  It was something she might have tried when she was nineteen and still in the middle of her wild and crazy days. Now, she knew better…or she was supposed to.”

(Quote from Protecting Fate (Serve #6) by Katee Roberts)

There is something about the sensuality and sexual tension that exists between a sexy, alpha bodyguard and his charge.  He is uber straight laced and professional- his pent up passions bursting at the seams. The danger- imminent and feeds the tension that stokes the flames of their barely leashed desires.  The heroine- she varies.  She can be your garden variety damsel in distress, your vulnerable female next door or a ball busting independent woman pissed she needs protection in the first place.  The result- an illicit affair between the two when their mutual lust powers through any sense of propriety and they feast upon one another, getting their fill until danger comes to call.

I’ve done some thinking as to why there is such fascination with the bodyguard/distressed damsel and the answer I kept coming back to was that it is popular sexy kink to indulge in a fantasy regarding an inappropriate romance between parties with imbalanced power.  It is also swoon inducing to know you have your own personal Batman at your back for protection or your very own Superman capable to taking speeding bullets aimed in your direction- umm hmm- cue the warm and fuzzies of security and the dark shivers of want. The Bodyguard is a hunk for hire and is a universal symbol for power and security.  In romance land he also symbolizes absolute possession and control.

“Her body is his to protect…and to own…”- says every bodyguard ever who has the hots for his charge.

“There was something about him that made her want to poke at him, to see how good his control really was.”- says every woman EVERYWHERE!!

A little research led me to a quotes  from celebrity bodyguard, Doug Collins and psychologist, Kevin Grold.

“We all have a need to be protected—in fact, the idea of protection can become an aphrodisiac.”  “For many women who have never [had] one, a bodyguard is an irresistible fantasy.”- Kevin Grold, People Magazine.

Doug Collins who has guarded Barbra Streisand and Tom Cruise, concedes, “We’re all human.” If the bodyguard is male and the client female, the enforced intimacy almost always creates an atmosphere of sexual tension. Unless, of course, you’ve already taken the fantasy to its logical conclusion.- People Magazine.

Ah- and there’s the rub.  These liaisons are notoriously short term and end in emotional wreckage.  The danger has past and the sexual tension abates.  It is time for the, now safe, woman to go back to her cushy life and the bodyguard bundles up all of his emotions and moves on to the next job. It wasn’t meant to last.

Well this is romantic fiction, fuck that! There is always an HEA for our endangered gals!  In our world the bodyguard opens his own security business, sends other hot hunks for hires out into the field and sticks around in the forever kind of way with the heroine.  Doomed love that made it after-all.  That’s bodyguard romance for you.

Adding another dimension to this tantalizing taboo, the book I chose to read targets those with BDSM inclinations; the bodyguard romance taboo in Protecting Fate  is like catnip to a very particular appetite. Domination and submission.  If you were to find yourself thrust into clear and looming danger, sequestered with  a bodyguard that pushes all the right naughty buttons, and your one job is to listen to him, follow him, learn from him, and…obey him- how out of sorts would you feel when you found yourself eager to do so?  When submitting rails against everything you stand for, yet your body wants you on your knees before him, at his feet, waiting to “serve.”  Hell.  You might even find yourself calling him…Sir.

What do you think of the taboo that exists between a Bodyguard and his charge?  Is it even really still a taboo, especially with so many bodyguard romances becoming legitimate relationships these days (think Heidi Klum).  There are hundreds of novels that explores bodyguards of all types- rugged and urban to ex-military to boardroom billionaire bodyguards.  like ice-cream- they come in endless flavors. What’s your favorite?