Page 14 of Shielded Hearts

Clenched.

Aspen had set a candle on a rickety wood table next to the bed. She was huddled under the covers, with the shabby blanket pulled up to her chin. And she was shivering.

Dammit.

His inner protector couldn’t let that go on for long. He climbed into bed fully clothed and stretched out on his back, shifting his body close to Aspen, just short of touching, in hopes that she could share some of his body heat.

Before long, he heard her breathing change, relaxing into a slow, easy rhythm. This was typically the hour when most people replayed their day, thinking about work, family or going over worries. It took him all of a week of being a SEAL before Colt realized he wasn’t built like everyone else.

He blanked his mind and fell into what he hoped was a dreamless sleep.

As soon as his eyes popped open, he knew where he was, what time of day…and was well aware of a small, curvy woman plastered against his side.

Aspen.

Not moving a muscle, he let his senses take over. From one deep breath, he picked up the sweet scent of her perfume, its notes enhanced by her body heat. Thanks to him.

Oh hell. Now he was extremely aware of his not-so-small problem…of waking up with morning wood.

His stiff cock was mere inches from a female. She was pretty. No ring was on her finger, and if there were, it would be a fat diamond worth three months’ salary.

And his cock surged with plans of giving this old bed a run for its money.

He had to put those thoughts out of his head.

Focusing on anything but his erection, he studied the low ceiling, water-stained and strung with old cobwebs.

It wasn’t a nightmare—this place was even worse in the daylight.

A laugh rumbled through his chest.

The princess was not going to be impressed.

Speaking of princess, Aspen jolted awake. At the same time, she grew aware that she was curled up against him and rolled away.

She scrubbed a hand over her face. “What’s funny?”

Damn, that husky quality of her voice wasn’t shutting down his hard-on. If anything, it encouraged the situation.

“This is a coyote ugly place.”

“What does that mean?”

“Coyotes will chew off a limb if they’re caught in a trap. It means you’d chew off your arm to leave.”

She groaned, rolled onto her face and didn’t move again.

He stifled another laugh at her response and swung his legs over the side of the bed.

The place was chilly. The fire had gone out during the night. In the front of the cabin, he changed out of his wedding clothes—finally. Then he went outside for another load of wood and set about relighting the fire.

When he finished, Aspen still hadn’t emerged from the bedroom. “What’s for breakfast?” she called to him.

He moved over to the tiny kitchen that looked like the first wagon train brought the materials to build it.

The pantry consisted of a space between two rickety old cupboards with three shelves stacked with a few cans of food.

Crouching before the shelves, he began sifting through the cans, sorting them into expired and not expired.

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