The Broken Protector: A Small Town Enemies to Lovers Romance by Nicole Snow

Author:Nicole Snow [Snow, Nicole]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ice Lips Press
Published: 2023-06-19T23:00:00+00:00

13

Red Meat, Dead Meat (Delilah)

I don’t remember falling asleep.

Lucas left me that worn out.

By the time I came down from my high in a boneless mess, I barely had enough sense to snuggle up to him and pass out.

But God do I remember how he felt.

All wrapped around this big protective beast until he formed a wall between me and a world that’s just getting scarier.

His warmth stays with me, the memory of his powerful arms cradling me while he sprawled out with ease, sheltering me.

Sheltering us both.

It was like an unspoken message.

Like he was telling me, hush and sleep easy, Miss Lilah. Long as I’m around, nothing’s gonna get you.

Every last fiber of my soul believed him.

There’s just one drawback to having a bear of a cop as your personal protector.

When I wake up in the pale pink-gold light of dawn still draped over him, the late summer swelter just about smothers me in a sweaty layer doubled by his body heat.

I shove lightly at the massive sleeping lump in my bed.

He doesn’t even twitch, just snorts and holds me even tighter.

If the heat wasn’t killing me, I’d laugh.

I might as well be a squirming kitten shoving at a bulldog.

After a few more lame attempts to jostle him awake, I reach up and pat his face, loving the sharp scratch of his morning stubble against my fingers.

“Rise and shine, dude. Wake up. Lucas.” Snickering, I smack his face harder. “You’re going to give me heatstroke.”

A drowsy groan rumbles out of him, and though he never opens his eyes, a slurred, half-asleep mumble comes out.

“Then how’re you talking...”

“Magic. Now let go, big boy. I’m sweating half to death.”

His grip finally relaxes and he cracks one green eye open.

“Do I have to?” he whispers. “You feel damn good.”

Oh, God.

That shouldn’t melt me so much.

But I can’t pretend he doesn’t feel amazing, too.

I wouldn’t have been able to stay here last night without him, much less sleep through the night. With Lucas still curled around me, the danger feels more abstract, less real.

I soften, curling my hands against his chest.

“At least let me get the covers off. I’m about to pass out.”

“Mmph.” Lucas shifts his weight.

My breath catches as his lips graze my throat, finding my pulse. He traces the tender marks where he bit me last night—until suddenly he blows a raspberry against my neck.

“Hey!” I burst out laughing, squirming and shoving him again. “You overgrown baby!”

“Don’t think a baby could do the shit I did to you last night,” he teases, loosening his grip on me and shoving the covers back, letting air rush over us, the taste of morning on every breath.

It’s a crazy thing.

The minute I’m free, I want his suffocating warmth back. It’s the perfect counterpoint to the cooling wetness misting my skin.

We’re both naked now, shimmying out of our clothes after our first round.

We settle against each other, enjoying the morning stillness and a few happy birds chirping outside.

I lay my head on his shoulder, cheek on his chest, just listening to his heartbeat drumming away.

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