Page 59 of My Secret to Protect

Isuckinabreath and sit up, taking in the dark room and needing more than a minute to figure out where I am. I’m in the cabin, in my room, and it’s quiet. Reaching for the burner cell on the nightstand because he made me leave my phone in Forest Falls, I check the time. Two seventeen am. The middle of the fucking night, and I’m awake once more. I realize that I don’t know what time I came to bed, and come to think of it, I don’t remember coming to bed at all. Throwing back the sheets, I see I’m still wearing my clothes and socks, but my chucks are placed neatly on the floor beside my bed.

I was by the fire. I asked Arlo to talk to me, and now I’m here. He carried me to bed. He must have, and that realization hits me in the gut. Even though we never had sex back then, we did a lot of other stuff. We did a hell of a lot of kissing, got handsy as fuck, and, well, friction was our friend, but we were never in a bedroom together—never near a bed. The idea of him carrying me in here and putting me to bed last night makes me miss him so much, and he’s just next door.

A noise outside the window makes me jump and suck in a breath. My heart races as I bring my feet to the floor and push up to stand, making my way over to the window nervously and looking out. I look out of windows multiple times, day and night, and my heart races every time, expecting to see him standing there, waiting in the shadows, watching. Tears prick my eyes as I try to force myself to look, and then I do. I pull back the drape the tiniest bit, an exhale passing my lips at the sight of Arlo in the moonlight, putting out the fire, the smoke rising up behind him as he and Beans make their way toward the cabin. I watch as he heads inside, and I press my back against the wall to catch my breath.

Listening as his footsteps—surprisingly light given his size—move across the wooden floors toward his room next to mine, I gasp when the knob on my door turns, and it opens slowly.

‘Fuck,’ he exclaims when he spots me standing there, ‘you scared the shit out of me.’

‘You’re the one sneaking into my room.’

‘I was just checking on you. I was hoping you were still sleeping.’ He holds my gaze for a moment in the dimly lit room. ‘You should try to go back to sleep, Bree.’

‘Did you carry me to bed?’ I call out, stopping him in his tracks as he backs out of the room, but he doesn’t say anything. ‘Thank you, Arlo.’

‘You got it, short stuff.’ He nods once. ‘Try to sleep.’

I’ll try. I always try.

I’msittingdrinkingcoffeeon the deck with Beans by my side and my gun on the table next to me when Arlo steps out. I’m in a bad mood. I didn’t get back to sleep after Arlo came into my room last night. Every time I started to drift off, I dreamed of Nolan creeping into my room, Nolan standing outside the cabin window, Nolan leaning over my body while I slept. I gave up trying around four-thirty and have been over-caffeinated ever since.

‘What are you doing?’ he snaps, and I point to the coffee pot on the table and the empty mug waiting for him.

‘Drinking coffee, want some?’

‘Bree, you can’t sit out here exposed like this before I’m up.’

He steps in front of me, his hands on his hips, and if I wasn’t so wiped out, I would be stunned by the sight of him. He has on boots that are mostly open and jeans that hang low on his hips but hug tight to his muscular thighs, with a black T-shirt that stretches across his broad chest. His hair hangs forward over his forehead, and the fierce look in his eyes is a kind of sexy that, under normal circumstances, would put me on my knees, but this morning, it just pisses me off.

‘Sure thing,’ I say, my voice devoid of any emotion as I return my attention to the cup in my hands.

‘Bree, this is not a fucking joke. You need to understand that I can’t keep you safe if I don’t know where you fucking are.’

‘Yes,daddy.’ I look up at him now, in time to see his nostrils flare as he rushes forward, his hands coming to the arms of my chair as he leans in close to my face.

‘You can fucking sass me all you want, give me attitude, stomp your feet like a fucking toddler, act like a bratty kid, but do not act like a fucking idiot, Breanne. You’re smarter than this. You’re a sitting duck out here, and you fucking know it, so lose the attitude.’

‘Lose the attitude?You’retellingmeto lose the attitude?’ I snap and he smirks, then responds, his voice even lower than it already was.

‘Yes, Bree, lose the fucking attitude. You want to act like a child, then I am more than happy to put you over my knee and spank the shit out of you.’ I suck in a breath and swallow hard as he pulls back. ‘I don’t care how you do it, pills, hot baths, or that enormous fucking dildo that pinked up your cheeks real nice, but you need to get some sleep soon, and you need to stick to the rules of this game before you lose. Get it together, chief.’

Breathing hard and fast, I watch as he steps down from the cabin deck, Beans trotting from my side to follow him to the water’s edge, and I suck in a shuddering breath, then push up from my seat and head inside. I need a shower, ideally a cold one, because even in my tired state, I have a nagging urge to keep up the bratty act and push him to punish me.

His Dangerous Ain’t Got Nothing on Mine

Arlo

Fuck.Fuck.

I lost my shit. I didn’t mean to. I hate that I did, but waking up to see her door open with no sign of her inside the cabin scared the shit out of me, and that look on her face, the resolve, the defeat, it pissed me off. She looked like she was almost hoping he would step out of the trees so this could all be over.

She had her gun, she had Beans, and I know he would have let me know real fast if there was a threat, but it’s not the point. I have a job to do here, and she’s making that hard, real fucking hard.

And now the thought of her spread across my knees is playing on a loop in my mind. Jesus.

Turning back to the cabin, I see that she’s gone inside, the door is closed, and without a bath or any sleeping pills available in there, I can’t help wondering if she chose option number three to help her get some sleep, and fuck, now it all just got harder.

I’msittingonthedeck reading one of the books I found inside the cabin when the door opens, and Bree steps out.

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