The Protector (Game of Chance, #1)(61)

They lay together in lazy satisfaction for several minutes before Carlise propped her chin on his chest and looked up at him.

“What?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.

“I just . . . I don’t ever want to leave here. I want to live in this happy bubble forever.”

“Now you see why I like to come up here.”

“Yeah. It’s so quiet and peaceful.”

“As much as I want to keep you right here, in my bed, so I can make love to you every day, we can’t stay here forever,” he said gently.

“I know,” she said. “You have a life and a job you have to do in town. I just . . . I don’t want the real world to intrude on how happy I am right this second.”

“It won’t,” Chappy said firmly.

Carlise sighed. “As soon as you turn on my phone, it will.”

But he shook his head. “Nope. I’m gonna take care of that for you. No one’s gonna touch you, if I have anything to say about it.”

“You can’t promise that,” she said soberly. “I’m a pragmatic person. I can’t be with you every second of every day, no matter how much I might enjoy just that. Bad stuff happens. I’ve seen and lived it firsthand. But just knowing you want to keep me safe means the world to me.”

Chappy knew she was right. When he was leading groups on the AT, he was away from home for several days and nights at a time. And he could be on a tree job for hours. But luckily, this wasn’t the time of year when he had any trail hikes. He had time to figure out who the hell was stalking her and make sure they knew she was off limits from here on out. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders. When things got too intense, you got yourself out of the situation,” he said after a moment.

“You mean I ran,” she said dryly.

“Yes. And put space between you and whoever was harassing you. It was the smart thing to do, Carlise. I mean that.”

She sighed. “I hope so. I hoped if he couldn’t find me, he’d lose interest.”

“Well, we’ll see if it worked in a little while. But first, I want to lie here and revel in the mellowness I’m feeling right now.”

“Two orgasms will do that to you,” she said, the satisfaction and pride easy to hear in her tone.

Chappy chuckled. “Yup. And for the record . . . that’s never happened before.”

“What? You having an orgasm?” she sassed.

He dug his fingers into her waist, tickling her, loving how she squealed and squirmed against him. Feeling her nipples against his bare skin, the brush of her pubic hair against his thigh . . . It was so intimate, and he couldn’t love her any more than he did right at that moment.

“No, smartass,” he said when they’d both settled again. “Me coming twice within such a short period of time. I’m addicted to you. Maybe in a year—or five or ten—I’ll have had you enough times to not feel so desperate that I have an immediate urge to come.”

She giggled against him. “Honestly, Riggs, it’s a compliment. I’ve never felt as sexy as I did with you kneeling over me, unable to hold back and having to come right then and there.”

“You are sexy,” he reassured her.

“I love you,” she whispered against his skin. “I know people aren’t going to understand how or why things between us have moved so fast, and I can’t explain it either. I just know that I was meant to be yours.”

Her words made Chappy’s eyes close in relief. And gratitude. “Same, sweetheart. Same.”

He started to roll on top of her again when something made him stop. He felt as if he was being watched. It wasn’t a feeling he’d ever discount, not after his military training and all that he’d been through.

Turning his head—he blinked.

Baxter was sitting next to the bed, staring at him with huge brown eyes.

“Crap,” Chappy swore.

“What? What’s wrong?” Carlise asked, sounding a little worried.

“Don’t panic. Nothing’s wrong. But your dog is staring at us.”

Carlise turned her head to look to the side of the bed, and he felt her chuckle against him. “Oh, so he’s my dog when he wants out?” she sassed.

“Nope. He’s always been your dog. He found you walking on that road, led you in the right direction, came and got me, and led me to you. He’s your dog, lock, stock, and barrel.”

“You think he wants out? Or is he some kind of voyeur?” she asked with a grin.

“I’m thinking out,” Chappy said with a chuckle.

“Well, I’m not ready to get out of this warm bed yet.”

Chappy leaned over and kissed her. “I wasn’t going to ask you to. I’m just getting up the energy and nerve to pry myself away from your delectable body, out from under the warm covers, get dressed, put a log or two on the fire, take him out, then start up the generator so we can have a hot shower, coffee, and a warm breakfast.”

“I’ll get up while you’re outside and do the coffee thing,” she offered.

But Chappy shook his head. “No. Stay put. I want to see you lying in my bed, naked and happy, when I come back. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve fantasized about just that in the last few days.”