Protector of the Mountain - Frankie Love Page 0,3
bone, and will need to warm up.
“Where are we going?”
“To my secret hiding place.”
She lifts her eyebrows. “Should I be scared?”
“You’re the one who left the bar with a stranger.”
“You friend and the bartender didn’t seem worried for my safety,” she says.
“You read people pretty well then, huh?” I smirk, running a hand through my wet hair.
She says, “When you live with a club like I do… it’s part of survival.”
The truck is climbing up the mountain and I turn to look at her out of the corner of my eye. “Are you safe there? With them?”
She nods. “I’m safe. They’re just protective.”
“That’s not a bad thing,” I say. “Better than careless.”
“I’ve never been pressured to date any of the guys, or do anything I don’t want to do. They respect me.”
“That’s good,” I say. “I respect you too. For saying what you want. But I gotta warn you, Rainey. I’m not Prince Charming.”
She laughs softly. “Are you more of a beast?”
“I’m not used to company.” I pause, looking for the right words. “I’m loyal to a fault, have a little too much hair, and protect what is mine.”
“You sound like a Golden Retriever.”
I chuckle. “Well damn, that’s not what I’m going for.”
“No?” she asks, a lilt in her voice as I turn on the blinker, headed to my private road. “What are you going for, Reed?”
I put the car in park, turn to her. “I’m trying to figure out how in the hell I can make a move without scaring you away.”
“And why would I be scared?” she asks, her voice catching, her eyes wide.
“Because once I start, Rainey, I won’t want to stop.”
“Maybe you’re more like a beast than you know.” She licks her lips, and my cock is damn near ready. I’ve been waiting for this girl my whole fucking life.
“No,” I say, leaning in, growling in her ear. “I’m your mountain man.”
I kiss her, in the truck that smells like home, in the woods that feel like heaven. I kiss her lips, soft pillows of perfection, and I want so much more. She does too. I feel it; when she parts her mouth, her tongue finding mine. A kiss meant for more than just one night. A kiss that means forever.
“We gotta dance before this rain stops,” I say into her ear and I feel her smile against me. I get out of the truck, then open her door, taking her hand as the rain falls.
“You sure this is what you want?”
She laughs. “Yes. It’s like a scene from a book.”
I take her hand and lead her down the steps behind my cabin, toward a secluded spot on my property. On the slate patio, I shrug off my coat and she sets down her purse, and I pull her close. There is no music, only the beat of our hearts, and fuck, when I draw this sweet thing to my chest, I can more than hear it… I feel it. She does too.
Slow dancing in the rain, our clothes get soaked through. She is small against me, her body fitting perfectly against mine. She rests her head on my chest and I rest my hand on her back.
“Can you sing?” I ask.
She laughs again, that soft kind of laughter that is both happy and sad. Hopeful. “Terribly.”
“Me too. But I feel like we need a song. Our song, for our first dance.”
She starts humming, and it’s a melody I know.
“Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter,” I sing, poorly.
She looks up at me and we sing Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. We can’t remember all the words, but we know enough to have us laughing and smiling, the rain on our faces and our shoulders, drenching us.
“There’s no sun right now, though,” I say as we finish our off-key rendition.
“I know,” she laughs, wrapping her arms around my neck. I pull her closer, both my arms holding onto her. “But that’s what comes after the rain.”
“I don’t want the rain to go anywhere. Don’t want you to go anywhere.”
She closes her eyes. “It’s not midnight yet,” she says.
I kiss her again, harder now, with need. Then I lift her up, into my arms, and open the door to the dry sauna that was built next to the patio.
“Oh wow, this is unexpected,” she says. I set her down and watch as her eyes take in the tile floor, the hooks on the wall, the bench where you can change before you enter