Page 9 of Rescued By the Guard

With a heavy breath, I lightly stroke the back of my fingers against her uninjured cheek. “I think you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”

A gasp escapes her, and she licks her lips. I watch her tongue stroke her lips a few times and watching them get wet for me has me aching to drop my head and meet her for one hell of a kiss.

I copy her and lick mine too, and her eyes dilate as she watches. She tilts her head backwards, accepting me if I want to kiss her.

The need to have her, to taste her, overcomes me and I drop an inch ready to consume her, but I drop my gaze to her neck and the bruising is a flashing warning sign. I can’t kiss her, not like this. I can’t confuse her or make things difficult for her if her memories come back, and she has somebody.

I can’t torture her or myself this way.

Instead, I lean my forehead against hers. “Bella, I’m dying to kiss you. It’s all I want, but we can’t. It’s not right, not until we know more. I don’t want to hurt you. I can’t hurt you.”

6

BELLA

Dale strokesmy cheek as he wakes me up. “Come on Bella, time to wake up. The storm has stopped.”

“Huh?” I’m groggy and I still have a headache, but it’s so nice and warm on the couch. I slowly open my eyes and frown as I realize Dale isn’t on the couch with me. He’s crouched next to me instead and I don’t like it.

It hurt when he wouldn’t kiss me last night, but I understand why he didn’t. He’s right. There are too many unanswered questions and we can’t go there, but my body screams at me that he’s the one. He’s the one for me, and I need to embrace him.

The only thing stopping me from pursuing it further is the pain and struggle in his eyes. He wants me as badly as I want him and him to be the strong one for my sake makes it so I don’t want to make things harder for him. More importantly, if I remember everything, I’m afraid of what I’ll find and how it can hurt him. He’s the last person in the world I want to hurt. I can’t do it. He’s too important. Too amazing. Too special.

“The storm has stopped, and I want to get an early start and see if I can move that tree. We need to get you to the hospital, okay?” His thumb strokes my forehead as his hand rests on thetop of my head on the pillow. He keeps his head cocked to the side as his eyes roam over my face like he’s taking in every inch of me. Like he’s snapping a mental picture, so he doesn’t lose any part of me.

It makes me warm and tingly in all the right places. The fantasy of his hands roams down my body as he gazes into my eyes and brings me pleasure, has me shivering and I bite back a moan.

Dale frowns as concern appears on his face. “What’s wrong? Are you hurting?” He drops his hand on my forehead. “You don’t have a fever. Shit, I should’ve tried to move the tree sooner.”

I grab hold of his wrist to stop him from fretting. “Dale, I’m okay. I promise. It’s smart to have waited. I’m just going to use the restroom real quick and then we can head out.”

Dale nods, stands, and helps me off the couch untangling the mountain of blankets wrapped around my legs. He watches me as I shuffle to the bathroom with a full bladder.

Dale picks me up at the front door and I gasp. “What are you doing? I can walk,” I protest, only to save face, though. I want him to continue to hold me, which is shocking. With my curves, I’ve never been one who likes to be held.

Hmmm…another new tidbit about myself.

“You only have socks on your feet, and you’ll be walking in snow. I’m not letting your feet freeze for any reason.”

I wrap my arms tighter around his neck and rest my head on his shoulder, enjoying the rare moments of his concern that might be the last moments we share.

The sorrow builds in my chest at the idea alone. I don’t want this to be the last of our time together, but I’m realistic enough to recognize this might very well be it.

Dale settles me into his truck and wraps a throw blanket he brought with us around me, even though the truck is toastywarm. It appears he came out earlier and warmed it up and cleared it of all the snow. He must’ve taken care of it while I was asleep. Another sign he’s caring and considerate.

He buckles me in and leans over to kiss the top of my head, but he stops himself. Clearing his throat, he ducks his head and shuts the door, and I slump against the seat. This restraint he has against me is admirable but extremely annoying.

Dale hops in and takes off at an insanely slow rate. I giggle. He glances at me. “What?”

“You can go a little faster, you know.”

He shakes his head. “Nope, I’m not familiar with this area, and I’m carrying precious cargo that needs to be at the hospital. I can’t have you getting even more hurt. Not on my watch.”

The butterflies in my stomach flutter around while I fight back a smile, as I’ve never been so cherished by a man before. I freeze as the recognition hits, and I gaze out the window over the snow-covered landscape— appreciating everything I have around me in the moment and hoping I can keep it forever.

The beach is radiant with the crashing waves and the snow edging the water. I swear the snow glistens like glitter as the sun shines on each particle. The world looks clean as there are no tracks and it makes me believe I’m inside a painting. A part of me wants to keep the rest of my memories at bay so I can be frozen here in time with Dale, just like this.

Dale brakes to a stop and I look ahead and a large tree lays in the road. Dale looks it over and says, “I don’t see a way to get around it right now, but I can drag it with my truck. It will just take us a little longer.”

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