Page 18 of Let Me Protect You

Elias stops moving and looks down into my eyes. Heat lingers there, swirling in the dark brown depths. I can’t look away. He’s snared me in a trap, and no matter how much I want to free myself, I can’t.

His chest rumbles against me as he says, “I’m not uncomfortable.”

Against my better judgment, I snuggle back into him. This time, I wrap my arms around his torso, my hands over his shirt. Even through the material, I can feel how taught his muscles are. His warmth envelops me, but I avoid his wound as I rub my hands up and down the perfect ridges of a sixpack.

I’m only doing it to warm myself up. Sure, you can keep telling yourself that, you little sex-deprived hoe.

Clearing my throat, I turn my attention back to Elias, and ask, “Then, uh, why did you react the way you did?”

His throat works as he swallows. Then he moves again, heading to the back door, and says nothing for a moment. The night air is silent, charged with sexual tension and our unresolved issues from the past. Maybe I pushed him too far with my question. Or perhaps he could read my earlier thoughts. My cheeks burn.

I look up to meet his gaze again, and he says, “Because I’ve dreamed of your hands on me for four and a half years.”

Chapter 10

Elias

After Serenity stitched me back up—I swear with a less gentle hand than last time—and Harmony packed her old clothes and changed into her pink fluffy pajamas, we left a still fuming Serenity. She acts as if this is all part of my malicious plan to get her sister alone with me. But that’s the last thing I want. Does she really think we can fuck when I have a wound that just broke open again?

I turn into my driveway with Harmony in my passenger seat, and I tighten my grip on the steering wheel as we bump down the long gravel driveway. My headlights jump with the movement of the car. She’s barely said anything since my earlier stupid words. But with the way she looked at me like she was ready to tear my clothes off, I had to say something to scare her away.

You say that and yet the words were true.

And the way she ran her fingers over my stomach and back … She almost had me on my knees begging. Fuck. I have to get a hold of myself before I say anything else she’ll use against me later.

I never imagined she’d be here with me, about to live in my house for the foreseeable future, but it’s the smartest choice. Even if she lived alone, it wouldn’t be safe there. That will be the first place someone will check if they are after her. If she were a wealthier client, we could stay at a hotel so it would be even harder to find us.

My log cabin pops into view. It’s nestled in a cluster of thick snow-covered pine trees on the edge of Granite Falls, affording me privacy. Everyone in town always has to be in each other’s business, so the farther out I am, the less likely they’ll come looking for me.

John’s work truck is backed up to my front porch. My best friend carries a box out the door and starts down the stairs. A small figure moves behind him.

“I guess John hasn’t finished moving out yet.”

Harmony’s eyes widen. “Did you kick him out?”

I open the car door to get out but pause. “He can’t be here if someone finds out where you live. Don’t worry. He was only here for a few weeks until he finished building his house.”

The place is going to be a mansion by the time he’s done with it.

Harmony doesn’t respond. Instead, she climbs out of the passenger seat and starts toward him.

John’s gray eyes light up when he spots my ex. “Is that you, Harmony?”

“Yes.” She pauses when Sophie comes out from behind John. Harmony turns to me, and her eyebrows pull together. I only shrug in response. She looks back to Sophie and asks, “And who is this pretty girl?”

“I’m Sophie. What’s your name?”

Harmony moves closer. “Hello, Sophie. My name is Harmony.”

“Are you my daddy’s friend?”

John laughs. “Yes, baby. We’ve known each other for years, but she’s been out of town for a long time.”

The little girl’s eyebrows scrunch together. “Was she out of town like Mommy?”

I meet John’s suddenly shuttered eyes. He always avoids the topic of his late wife, but whenever Sophie asks questions, he tries to answer them for her.

He clears his throat. “No. Harmony went to school, and now she’s back because she graduated.”