Page 18 of Protected By the Mountain Man

I’m so eager that I can’t wait for his patient guidance. Cupping his bearded face in my palms, I crash my mouth to his, I taste him for the first time.

He is heat.

He is velvet strength.

He is everything I’d ever dreamed of.

I tangle my tongue with his, abandoning myself to the moment, praying that I’m not making a huge mistake.

Ace

It’s Mariah echoing my use of the wordsafethat turns me hard. I start to wonder if that makes me a bad person, then decide I don’t care.

She’s here in my arms, looking up at me with eyes somehow so full of trust after everything she’s been through, and there’s no way in hell I’m walking away from this moment.

Away from her.

When I kiss Mariah, everything changes.

Our lips touch, and it’s like a notch is marked in the span of my life: there’s before this moment, and there will be after, but nothing will remain the same.

I don’t say anything, but my kisses on her lips, her face, and her tender neck are my declaration that I am hers and she is mine from this moment on.

Even if this is the only time we’re ever lovers, I belong to this woman. I count myself as family, as a protector, as whatever she needs me to be.

I fell in love when I was deployed in the Middle East too, with a woman named Kelly. It felt just like this: my heart captured by an exquisite infantrywoman with an unfortunate man in her past, a kiss shared, one moment in time that changed everything.

But then morning came and Kelly told me to leave, that our tryst was just for the night. I was crushed, young fool that I was, but I did as I was told.

I left.

I thought I was doing right by her, respecting her wishes. And maybe I was.

But that doesn’t change the fact that, when Kelly’s abusive ex found out about our night together, he made her pay for it. He beat her within an inch of her life, and then nature did the rest.

I know it’s not my fault that she died. Not technically. But I feel responsible nonetheless.

I shouldn’t have left.

I should have obeyed the feeling in my gut that, come what may, I was bonded to that woman.

Maybe if I’d stayed, Kelly would still be alive.

But she’s not, and even though her ex was court marshaled, dishonorably discharged, and eventually sentenced to prison, it doesn’t feel like justice was done. Not to me.

Now, miracle of miracles, I’ve found another woman that ignites me in the same way Kelly did.

I don’t know where this thing with Mariah is leading, but one thing is certain: I won’t make the same mistake twice. I will never abandon her to whatever pain her ex is intent on inflicting.

I refuse.

Not until I know that he’s been neutralized and that she and Billy are safe.

I guess that’s up to Graham. But while Mariah’s brother is working on the legal end, I’ll be here making sure this woman and her child remain unharmed.

Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t ache for more.

Mariah’s hands travel from the back of my neck, down my broad shoulders, and land at the small of my back. She pulls me close, grinding her hips against my hardness.

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