Page 11 of Protected

Time stopped, and there was only Hail and me.

Less than an hour I had spent with this man, and yet it felt like I had known him my whole life.

“I’ve been waiting two months for this moment, babe,” he whispered. “Tried to let you go every day, but every night, I was back wanting just a glimpse of you.” He inched close, and I took a deep breath, trying to calm the butterflies floating around my stomach. “I can’t wait any longer.”

Our lips met in a searing, electrifying kiss.

His arms pulled me tight against him, and his hands traveled over my body.

I held onto him as if he was the only thing grounding me to the earth.

I didn’t want to let him go.

His lips moved over mine, and he pressed me against the door. My heart raced, and it felt like time stood still.

I couldn’t wrap my head around how this had happened or how I got so lucky, but I wasn’t going to question it too much.

“Hail,” I gasped when we finally came up for air.

“I can’t resist you any longer, Mary Jay.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

He chuckled low and pressed a soft kiss to my lips. “Go inside and lock your door.”

“Huh? I kind of like it out here.” That kiss was just a taste, and I wanted more. A whole lot more. We had just been kissing, and now I was just supposed to go inside. Without him?

“I waited two months for this; I can wait a little bit longer until I truly make you mine.”

My eyes widened, and a gasp escaped my lips.

“I wasn’t joking last night when I said I was going to call you mine, Mary Jay.” He reached down and twisted open the door.

I stumbled backward and looked up at him, dazed.

“I’ll see you tonight, Mary Jay.” He reached for the door and shut it in my face. I listened to his footsteps fade down the steps and laid my hand against the door.

Well, that was not at all how I expected my night to go, but I didn’t know what I was going to do if they all didn’t end that way from now on.

Hail had kissed me.

Kissed. Me.

I wanted more. So much more.

Chapter Five

Hail

“This is new, but not.”

“Go back in the bar, Tiger,” I drawled.

“I don’t think I have ever seen you this hot and bothered over a woman before,” he pondered out loud. “She got a golden snatch or something? Like Harry Potter?” He tipped his head to the side. “Or was that a golden snitch?”

“You’re an idiot, Tiger.”

He plopped down on the bench outside the bar and kicked his feet out in front of him. “You’re right, but I do tend to keep things interesting around here.”

---