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I was lifted into Jerrik’s arms. Still pretending to sleep, I caught a glimpse of the other huntsmen over Jerrik’s shoulder. Their heads bent in serious discussion…planning…all for my protection.
Jerrik cradled me in his arms and carried me up the stairs as if I weighed absolutely nothing. His effortless motions as he held me tight offered me a bit of comfort even though absolute panic was setting in.
She was coming after me.
My stepmother was coming, and the huntsmen knew my life was in danger. I could hear it in each one of their voices. Such powerful, domineering, brutes of men, but I could hear the fear for me in the way they spoke. I was supposed to be dead and had been living on borrowed time without even knowing it. The huntsmen—my captors—had been protecting me all along. This cabin was not my prison as I had once believed it to be. Unbeknownst to me, this home of theirs had been my sanctuary, my own protected castle guarded by my seven beasts.
When we reached Jerrik’s room, I opened my eyes and looked around, noticing it was similar to all the others I had been in. Though the big difference in this room… this time… was that I had no fear of this man. I did not fear what would happen to me by being alone with him. I did not scan the room looking for an escape route or a possible weapon. In fact, I had never felt safer as I rested in his arms entering his small and cozy quarters.
Being far more gentle than I thought it possible for any of the huntsmen to be, Jerrik laid me down on his quilt-covered bed with nothing but warmth in his deep brown eyes. He removed the blanket that I had been wrapped in but didn’t seem too focused on my complete nudity. As he pulled the blankets up over me but remained standing, it dawned on me that he wasn’t planning on joining me in the bed.
I took hold of his forearm. “Don’t leave me.”
He leaned down and kissed my forehead. “Don’t worry. You’ll be all right. We are all going to be downstairs talking.”
“No, not you. Please,” I pleaded like a scared little girl who had just woken from a terrible nightmare.
Except my nightmare was reality. There was a crazed woman on a mission to see me killed. There were no sweet, loving dreams in my life. Only dark, evil, deathly nightmares.
“Snow, we aren’t going to allow anything to happen to you. We have kept you safe for this long, and we intend to keep it that way.”
“Why?” I asked softly, still clinging to his arm. “Why would you keep me safe?”
With a smile, he sat down on the edge of the bed and placed his rough, callused hand on mine. “Because you have managed to accomplish the impossible. You have tamed the wild beasts in this house. We were all nothing but ruthless creatures who only cared for ourselves. But when you came, things changed. I have seen it in each one of my fellow huntsmen. Even the ones who may refuse to admit it. You have captured all our hearts far more than we have ever captured you.”
“How can that be?”
With a small chuckle, Jerrik bent down, pressed his lips to mine, and gave me a soft and gentle kiss. “You have done the impossible just by being who you are. There isn’t a man downstairs who wouldn’t die for you. I don’t have to be down there myself to know that they are all preparing a plan, and acknowledging the fact that your life is worth theirs to save.”
“My stepmother is a powerful woman. She has armies.”
Jerrik nodded. “We know.”
“I don’t want any of you to die for me.”
He patted my arm again. “That is for us to worry about. Not you. I can see that you are tired, and you need your rest.” He stood, breaking free of my grip.
I sat up, feeling a surge of panic attacking the heart that he had just warmed with his tender words. “Please, Jerrik. Lie with me until I fall asleep. I don’t want to be alone.”
He leaned down and softly kissed my forehead once again. I looked up and smiled as our eyes connected. Jerrik didn’t pull away, and his lips were so close to mine that I could almost taste his breath… his passion and desire for more.
As if under a spell, I raised my head just enough so our lips touched in the softest of kisses. Jerrik didn’t move back or resist, quite the opposite. He pressed his lips harder to mine and conquered my mouth with his—fully kissing me as a man would a woman. When his tongue danced with mine, I let out a gasp, breaking the spell we were under.
