Page 24 of Snowed in with My Protector

I kiss her forehead as I stand her up in front of the safe room door. “I’m going to be fine,” I assure her.

Her delicate fingers grip my shoulders, her voice low and shaky but fierce, “You fucking better be, Hutch.”

I grin even though I’m sure she can’t see me. I hear my phone buzzing against the nightstand where I set it in our room and know that whoever is approaching has reached the second perimeter circle. The need to move, to go out there and ensure that no one can get closer, is riding me hard.

But I have to make sure she’s going to be okay first.

“You go in there and activate the room. You remember how?” She nods and I can feel the tension in her body as she starts to shake. I want to wrap myself around her, but I can’t. Not yet. “I will be coming back for you,” my voice is firm and allows no room for argument or for the outcome to be any other way. “Defend yourself if you need to, but it won’t come to that.”

“Hutch,” her voice is small and shaky.

My soul knows what she’s going to say, but now is not the time. I don’t want a declaration of love out of fear. Not with this woman. Never with her.

I press my lips against hers softly and shake my head. “No, you tell me when I’ve ensured your safe and you’re back in my arms.”

She exhales a shaky breath against my lips before straightening her spine and nodding. “Then you better hurry up.”

I chuckle under my breath at the fire in my woman and wait until she’s backed into the safe room and closed the door. I hear the lock engage and then I’m on the move. I pull clothes on in record time, the need to keep Fallon safe riding me hard and sharpening my movements.

She’s everything and I’ll do whatever it takes for her. Always.

Because intel is always required, I take the time to look over the footage that the cams have caught. The three men, who I can only hope are the same men who broke into Fallon’s home because I desperately want their blood on my hands for scaring her, are moving toward the cabin slowly. While they’re using cation, they clearly don’t know about the cams.

I slide my weapons case from underneath my bed before pulling out two handguns and ammo along with four blades. It takes moments for me to strap everything in place before pulling a black beanie over my head.

The snow is both a blessing and a curse out there. If I were going in blind it would be a complete nightmare since it’s coming down hard enough to cover any tracks quickly. Thankfully, with the way they’ve tripped my perimeter sensor, I know right where they are and how their training is dictating the way they’re approaching my cabin.

My cabin. Where my woman should be safe.

Anger churns in my gut as I move through the closet attached to our bedroom. When I hit the hidden switch, a door opens, and I step into the small vestibule. I pull my phone out and shoot off a message to Higgins before checking the cameras again.

Slipping out of the cabin through the hidden door, I take a deep breath and let the cold seep into me. My footsteps are silent as I move toward the tree line and move toward the north sidewhere the men are. I slip behind where they should be and start to see the remnants of tracks in the snow.

It’s slow going as I work my way closer to my cabin. Movement ahead of me as adrenaline coursing through me and I crouch down and take a moment to listen. A twig snapping has me moving closer to the first man in my sights.

My movements are swift as I pull a blade from its sheath, my hand wraps around the man’s head and braces against his forehead as I slice his throat. The gurgling sound that comes from him wouldn’t normally give me a sense of satisfaction, but it does now.

Because this means one less person is out to get what is mine. And Fallon is mine.

I brace his body as I take him down to the ground, not wanting to draw attention of the other two men out here trying to get to my woman. I step backwards and slip back into the shadows.

Taking out the second man goes just as smoothly as the first. The fact that he doesn’t seem to care about stealth helps immensely. As I take him out, I do consider maiming him and leaving him alive but knowing that he’s here for Fallon doesn’t allow me to let him leave even if questioning him would be helpful.

As I lay him out on the ground, his blood starts to stain the snow below him.

I slip away and then make my way far closer to my cabin than I would like. It feels like it takes me far too much time to locate the third man. When I do, I find him crouched down in a copse of trees.

His attention snaps toward me when the snow crunches under my boot. I have just enough time to brace myself as he launches himself in my direction. The punch he lands has me huffing out a breath as pain explodes from my stomach, but I know it wasn’t as powerful as it could have been since he’s still holding his handgun in his dominant hand.

I grin at him, glad to have a fight on my hands to try and quell the adrenaline flowing through me. With one strike, I knock his gun from his grip. He tries to land a blow, but I don’t allow him to get another hit in.

My attack is relentless, and I don’t allow him a single moment of reprieve. When he falls back into the snow, clipping a tree on his way down, I pull one of my guns and shoot him between the eyes on instinct.

The quiet of the night filters into my consciousness and I take a deep breath. Before I relax fully, I pull my phone out and check that there aren’t any more hits on the cams or alerts about the perimeter being tripped. Seeing that everything is clear has me relaxing slightly, but I also know my night isn’t done yet.

Everything in me wants to go to Fallon and make sure she’s okay, but I know no one else got by me and that she’ll be fine in the panic room for a little while longer. Yes, she’ll be worried, and I desperately want to hear what I told her to save until I came back to her, but I can’t lose sight of what needs to happen to ensure her safety.

I work fast and efficiently to gather the three bodies on my property and move them to a small shed on the edge of the clearing around my cabin. I snap pictures of each man knowing Duncan will be able to identify them. Once that’s done, I’ll take them out into the woods and let the predators and elements take care of them.

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