Page 12 of Mountain Man Grinch
I don’t deserve the feeling that shoots through me because of it, but I take it anyway.
A shadow passes the window, just a blur in the blowing snow, but wrong.
Too tall.
Too still.
I lower my mouth beside her ear.
“Down,” I murmur.
She sinks with me behind the counter as I crouch, gun raised, eyes on the only angle they could approach from. Gus struggles in her arms, body tense, but she manages to keep the pooch silent.
Outside, the footsteps stop. Silence stretches.
Electric.
Cold.
Agonizing.
Then, a distant engine rumbles. Low. Leaving. Or circling.
I don’t relax.
Not for a second.
Arielle grips my arm now, nails biting through my shirt. “Are they?—?”
“I don’t know.” My voice is gravel. “But they found this mountain once. They can find it again.”
A shudder runs through her. I feel it all the way down.
I pull her back to her feet.
The storm presses against the cabin walls, wind knifing down the chimney. But inside, the danger feels hotter, closer, tighter.
Arielle looks up at me, cheeks flushed, pupils blown wide with fear and something else.
Something I shouldn’t name. Something I want anyway.
“Davin,” she whispers, “what if?—”
“I won’t let anyone touch you.”
The words fire out of me before I can stop them.
I step closer, crowding her gently back against the counter.
“Ever.”
Her lips part, soft, trembling.
“Why?” she breathes.
The truth hits me so hard I almost choke on it.
Because you’re in my flannel. Because you cried on me. Because you’re brave and too damn soft for this world, and I’m already losing the battle to keep you at arm’s length.
