Page 70 of Mountain Protector

“Oh?” His brows lift. “What’s that?”

“Well, you wouldrescueme, and carry me to the bedroom, all growly and protective.”

He grins. “I can do that.” Settling me onto the couch, he says, “Later, we can definitely try that. But now… I want to finish our date. Watch that movie. Feed you dessert. And give you the present I’ve been hanging onto all night.”

Knox grabs his suit jacket off the chair and reaches into the inside pocket. When he gets back to the couch, he sits beside me and unfurls his hand. Resting on his palm is a tiny golden bird hanging from a delicate necklace.

“It’s a lark,” he explains. “I know it’s hard to tell since it’s all in gold. But it has those little horns. Not real horns, of course. But when I looked them up, I thought it was kind of cool. Distinctive.”

“It’s so pretty.” As I finger the bird, Knox adds, “I wanted to get you something special. But this also… well, if you don’t like it, I can have a new one made.”

“What wouldn’t I like?”

“There’s a tracker in it. So if anything ever happened—not that I think it will—but I could find you. All the guys at Blade and Arrow have them, their partners, too. And we had rings made for our team that work the same way.” He points to a tiny raised dot on the tail of the bird. “You can press it and we’ll be alerted. So we’ll know you’re in trouble. And I—well, me and my team—will get to you right away.”

“Oh, wow.” I lift the necklace up to inspect it more closely. “That’s amazing.”

“I would never check on your location unless you were in trouble, Lark.” Tiny lines of worry etch across his forehead. “I wouldn’t invade your privacy like that. I just thought… you might feel safer with it. And selfishly, I would, too.”

Holding the necklace out to Knox, I say, “I know you wouldn’t. And I think it’s a great idea. Can you put it on for me?”

“Of course.”

Once the necklace is fastened, I look down at the tiny bird—lark—resting on my collarbone. Then I raise my head to meet Knox’s gaze. “I love it. And I’ll feel much safer. Knowing you’ll be there to protect me.”

“Songbird.” His features soften. “I promise. I willalwaysprotect you.”

CHAPTER 16

KNOX

“This is even prettier than any of the towns in the Hallmark movies.”

Lark turns to me, her face lit up with one of the biggest smiles I’ve seen. Her cheeks are pink from the cold and her eyes are sparkling and the look she gives me makes my heart slam hard in my chest. “I thought it would be nice,” she continues, “but this is just?—”

“Perfect.” As my heart swells close to bursting, I hug her close to my side and press a soft kiss to the top of her head. “It’s perfect.”

But it’s not downtown Bliss during the Winter Wonderland Walk that I’m talking about, although it does look like it’s been plucked straight from a Hallmark Christmas movie. It’s the woman walking next to me. The woman who captured me when I was least expecting it. Who broke down my defenses and showed me just how wonderful love could be.

Man. Now I sound like one of those small-town guys in the movies.

A small laugh slips out, and Lark’s eyebrows go up. “What are you laughing about?”

Quickly sidestepping to avoid a couple with two very excited dogs coming in our direction, I pull Lark toward the display window for Decadent Delights. Inside, there’s an elaborate winter scene made completely of chocolate, with tiny dark chocolate houses and milk chocolate trees and even white chocolate shavings made to look like snow.

“I was thinking about how I sound like those guys in the movies.” At her confused look, I explain, “Saying things about how they never knew what love really meant before.”

“But you didn’t say that.”

“No.” Cupping her cheek, I lean down to capture her lips, teasing them open and dipping inside. As she responds, making a tiny hum of pleasure in the back of her throat, I feel myself hardening, the barely-tamped desire surging to the forefront.

But with most of Bliss and several neighboring towns out for the yearly event, it’s probably not the best time to ravish my girlfriend where anyone can see us. Drawing back, I explain, “I was thinking it. How much I love you. And how perfect you are.”

“Knox.”Lark makes a little aww face at me. “I love you, too.”

I can’t resist kissing her again, loving the feel of her in my arms and her soft lips against mine. It’s almost impossible to describe how complete I feel when I’m with her. Like all the old hurts and lingering memoriesI’d rather forget aren’t important anymore. Like all the fractured parts of me are healed.

A low whistle cuts through the fog of desire, followed by an amused, “Hey, this is a family event, you know.”

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