"Eat!" he barked suddenly, and I picked up the quiche again before abandoning it just as fast. I was almost certain that I wasn't going to be able to eat any of this.
"I'm too stressed to eat," I said shortly. "If you make me, I'll barf my guts up again."
Dylan's feet slammed on the floor as he was once again in my face. I'd had enough, though, so I got to my feet to stare him down. "Stop this fucking macho shit," I seethed. "I get enough of it at home, and since there I'm a prisoner of circumstances, I've made my peace with that. But I don't need to deal with it from you as well. If you're not going to help me, then get out of my way, Dylan."
He was on his feet now too, and that move was much more impressive with his height. Huge hands wrapped around my biceps, holding me in place. "You haven't asked me for help, little bird."
Fuck. Great. He had taken my last statement literally, but since I was about to ask for his protection, I couldn't really insist I was a dinos—pterosaur. Asshole.
"Jonnie, my brother's spy, has been a little more forceful than usual," I said—softly, since it was clear that half the hall was looking at us. Maybe they had been the entire time, and I hadn't noticed since Dylan had all of my attention. "I'm not sure staying in the cabin by myself is a great idea. Can you arrange for Matthew or maybe even Ben to stay with me?"
I had no idea why, in the last second, I’d changed my mind from wanting to share his cabin to getting one of the other guides to share mine. But I had the sense that I couldn't handle nights near this man if we weren't having sex, and that was, no doubt, a bad idea when everything was this messy. In my life... and between us.
"Not a fucking chance."
I jumped, unsure why he was so pissed. "Come on, Dylan. I know you have all these rules here, but I'm not safe. It's your freaking job to make sure I am."
Before I could say another word, he leaned forward and all but threw me over his shoulder.The fuck...?
"What are you doing?" I shouted, slapping his shoulder and no longer caring that the entire hall was staring and snickering. No doubt they thought I was about to get my ass tossed into the mud outside. And maybe I was.
Dylan didn't answer me as his long legs ate up the distance between the dining hall and my cabin. When he stomped up onto the porch, he kicked the door in, snapping the flimsy lock that clearly wouldn't have kept a swift breeze out. "Get your shit together," he said tonelessly, not an ounce of what he was feeling creeping out in his words.
I was set on my feet, and he stood at the door, arms crossed like a damn sentinel. "You're kicking me out?"
Dylan didn't answer, just stared me down, and I was hit with an odd wave of fury that had me stomping as I got my bag and threw all my shit into it. I was angry at life in general, my emotions a hot mess, as I acted completely out of control. Over the years I’d become an expert at hiding myself, dulling my fire, whittling away at my pterosaur until I was a fucking boring-ass bird. So this need to rage was... weird.
Maybe I had just finally reached my breaking point.
When my two bags were filled again, I dragged them over to Dylan, who easily hauled them up and over his shoulders. "Keep up," he said.
I flipped him off, and yeah, he didn't see it, but I felt better. Hurrying along, I focused on not tripping over the many loose rocks, twigs, and general pockets of wilderness scattered among the campgrounds. Dylan led me past the cabin the guides were in, the one that Jonnie had been sent to, and I briefly worried he was about to dump my ass out in the wilderness to prove a point, especially as the buildings disappeared and there was nothing but dirty snow and trees around us.
Then I saw it. The cabin, hidden in the trees.
Unlike my cabin, this one looked like the sort you'd see in a romantic movie, with wide wraparound porches, heavy, dark wood walls, and an inviting warmth. Dylan stepped up onto the porch, almost skipping over the three steps in his long-legged stride. When he opened the door, heat encased us, and I noticed a fire was simmering low in the huge fireplace.
"Wow," I breathed, stepping inside because I just had to see it all.
It was all open-plan, with one wall dominated by the fireplace, a red-brick feature stretching all the way from the floor to the ceiling. On either side were built-in shelves filled to the brim with books.
My footsteps barely made a sound as I stepped across the wood floors, loving it all. There were high ceilings with a mass of dark wood beams and splashes of white—skylight windows covered in snow. The kitchen was state-of-the-art, with a huge island and timber cabinets. They were white, lightening up a lot of the dark features, and it was...
"Perfect," I breathed. "This is... unbelievably perfect." I turned to Dylan. "This is your cabin?"
He had dropped my bags while I was gawking at the place and was already at his fire, adjusting the kindling and adding more to keep the warmth consistent. "It is, and no one is allowed here. Ever," he said, his back to me as he bent toward the brick hearth.
"Then... Why am I here?"
He straightened, facing me. "Until we deal with this Jonnie situation, I will be the one to keep you safe."
They felt possessive, his words, but once again, it was probably about the reputation of this place. Or something like that. To think anything else would be a massive mistake.
A mistake ending in heartbreak.
12
The next few days were beyond awkward. Despite making me move into his cabin—hisone-bedroomcabin—Dylan all but ignored me. He made himself a bed on the couch and basically acted like I didn't exist… except for the fact that he wasconstantlywatching me. It was making me anxious as hell, but not anxious enough to confront him over it. For now, I was happy to take the protection—and luxury—his cabin provided.
