Page 24 of Savage Protector

Chapter Ten

Izzy

I had to admit, the morning after my first one-night stand with a stranger had started out better than I could have imagined. I peeked out the hotel window to see the sun had come up and blanketed Seattle in an achingly beautiful warm glow. Summer was supposed to be long gone by now and the gray days of Fall settling in. Mother Nature obviously had something else on her mind today and even the most pessimistic among us couldn’t ignore. I was grateful for it.

My body ached from the previous night’s activity, but it was so worth it. Houston Reed, my motorcycle riding badass I’d found on a pier, had skills even I couldn’t have dreamt of. What that man could do with his hands, his tongue and his giant cock were so far out there they should be considered criminal.

There was also no walk of shame.

Although if I was to get technical, that was only because I had no home to walk back to.

My name is Isabella and I’m a runaway bride.

I giggled as the image of my veil being ripped from my head by the wind as I made my dramatic mad dash from the church to a cab swept through my mind.

While it sounded glamorous for like half a second, I knew all too well it was not.

My father might be sitting at the breakfast table with his standard fresh fruit, scrambled eggs and two pieces of rye unbuttered toast this morning, but underneath that civilized veneer he would be seething.

I’d screwed up. Big time. And the great criminal mastermind, Frank Mazzeo, would not let that go unpunished. He had standards and rules for every person in his life and that included the daughter he seemed to hate.

Houston walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, tucking my head under his chin. “Morning again, Princess.”

“Why do you keep calling me that?”

“Because that’s what I thought of the first time I saw you in that white gown. Wish you could have seen how it looked when you appeared out of the mist and fog on that pier. Big flowing dress, long silky dark hair framing your face. The way you moved and searched the area. I thought I’d tripped and fallen into a movie set.”

His honesty shocked me and warmed my core. But he’d seen someone who wasn’t me. A charade my father’s team put together to parade out in public when it suited his fancy. I turned in his arms and tipped my head back to meet his gaze.

“And now? What do you see? I don’t have a fancy dress anymore or a hairdresser to blow out my frizzy hair. Hell, right now I don’t even have makeup.”

Houston smiled, sifting his fingers through the massive length of curls I called hair. I knew what I looked like now. Plain. But maybe a little wild too. I could get on board with that and I hoped he would too.

“I like you better this way. Your hair is gorgeous like this, especially when it falls across your naked ass. I think it's been made pretty clear how much I love your fantastic body.” He grabbed my hips and settled his hand into the indents of my waist. “I could give a fuck about make up. Your skin is too gorgeous to hide with that crap. But this, this is my kind of perfection.”

I smiled, reveling in his tight grip on my body. “So hair and ass. Good to know I’ve got what you like.”

He smirked and pinched my nipple through his shirt. “I like it all, babe. You’re going to always be a princess to me whether you’re in a fancy gown or a pair of tight jeans on the back of my bike. Makes no difference to me. As long as I got you like this too.”

My stomach flip-flopped. He made it sound like there was more to this than just a day or two in his hotel room. God it would be so easy to get attached. Except I was currently homeless with little direction of what came next. Not to mention my plan was to get as far away from Seattle as I could. The longer I stayed the more likely I’d be found.

“Tell me more about this Sultan, Washington. Where exactly is it?”

He grinned. “Have you really never been to Stevens Pass in the Cascades? Or Leavenworth? To get to either of those from Seattle you go right through the heart of tiny Sultan.”

I shook my head. “I don’t travel. Although I do sort of remember that Stevens Pass from my required Washington history class when I was being homeschooled. Something to do with the Northern Railroad in the 1800s, right?”

“Yep. Sounds like you and I need to take a day trip. You can’t appreciate Highway 2 from a book like you can the back of my bike.”

Again, he referred to us spending more time together after today. I wanted to harden my heart from his kindness, but it was impossible. I closed my eyes, preserving this very moment in vivid detail. I had a feeling one day soon I would need the memory. Although I wholeheartedly believed I would never forget him and his kindness.

He was making a mark.

“I would love to make that trip with you.” Even if I never believed it would happen.

“How about today? Do you have time?” He wrapped one of my curls around his finger as he looked at me with those startling blue eyes.

“I don’t have any clothes with me remember?”

---