Page 38 of Protective Heroes

Another mile of nothing but white later, Gabriel turned off the road and bumped down unpaved roads filled with overgrown pines ladened with heavy snow. This was so far removed from the manicured hotels I was used to. It had a wild, untended feel that made me uneasy.

Gabriel slowed down at a faded and peeling “Snowbound Hotel Suites” sign. Someone propped the fallen sign up against a holly bush. Gabriel turned in the narrow driveway. A row of small neglected cottages nestled among pines greeted us.

He slowed to a stop and killed the engine, taking the keys with him when he stepped from the warm truck cabin.

I shivered, trying to cross my arms over my chest, but the damn cuffs make it hard.

“Your clothes are in the back. Get something warm on, sweetheart. I’ll be right back.”

I turned to find all of my luggage thrown in the back, and my eye immediately landed on the toiletry case. Crap. I blushed furiously at what I know I left in the bathroom this morning. The other half of my plans for this trip.

“Warm? Something warm?”

I lunged myself over the seat and started digging.

Leaving my bathing suit in place, I pulled on a pair of comfy but thick sweatpants, some Uggs, and a fluffy coat I only managed to wrangle around my bare shoulders since, hello, cuffs.

I didn’t exactly pack for a winter vacation thinking I would be spending all of my days by the heated pool or in my room basking in silence and cheesy Christmas movies.

The door swung open and I got the first real look at my new ‘home’ for the evening.

“Let’s go. It’s only going to get colder.”

“Here, take your jacket.” He slipped it on as he helped me from the SUV and my feet sank into two feet of snow. Great.

He was right. This was no weather to be caught out in and I couldn’t imagine it would be any warmer inside.

“You’ve got to be kidding,” I called after him, but he walked faster than I could keep up with.

This looked like a setting for a horror movie—an isolated dumpy motel during a snowstorm. If we didn’t get murdered in our sleep, my father was so going to hear about this.

Bitter cold wind tore through the trees, raining fresh snow over our heads. A small cabin came into view with a shaky porch roof that looked like it would come down any second. He reached a hand out and I clamped onto it—either that or the snow would swallow me whole.

He pulled and I fell into his arms as we both stumbled into the rundown cabin. Not the kind of door I pictured us falling into, but the warm body and the strong arms were definitely welcomed.

Darkness greeted us.

A single window graced the front of the cabin, and Gabriel yanked open the curtains, flooding the musty place with the remaining light of the day.

He turned around, took off his suit jacket and tossed it on the table at my back.

I was right. The thin walls did little to hold back the cold.

Still, he slowly rolled up the sleeves of his form-fitting white shirt, paying close attention to folding each sleeve back the same amount. He took slow steady breaths and closed the distance between us with even slower steps.

I swallowed. Hard.

He leaned in, placing one hand on the wall beside me and the other on the table. He filled the entire space in front of me and what felt like the whole cabin. I leaned away so my back was pressed against the hard wall.

Not that he scared me, but I feared what I would do to get warm again.

“Let’s get a few things straight, Ice Princess. One, I never kid about anything. Two, the sight of you in those handcuffs and snow in your hair brings to mind at least six ways I’d love to fuck you into submission.” He paused to close his eyes, took a deep breath and I swore I could feel the heat of his gaze on my body the second he opened them again.

I blinked up at him, mouth closed. I can see from that damn smirk on his face that was half the point.

And apparently, he wasn’t done dropping some truth bombs on me. “I know I probably just scared the shit out of you, but I promise, you’ll be completely safe with me while we’re staying here because I’m a professional. And I don’t fuck jailbait. Now sit here and be good,” he barked in a tone that let me know he was annoyed.

That made two of us.

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