Chapter 5

5

GARRETT

W ith those big green eyes of hers, Snow watches me. I'd imagined they were green in my mind. I think most would have guessed blue, but I get the sense that my little snowflake is always full of surprises. What I didn't expect was that they'd be filled with such innocence. I can't remember seeing that in many years. It makes a protectiveness rise up inside of me.

Her eyes follow me as I double-check the front door. After grabbing the bag she dropped, I made sure to lock it, but my mind was slightly scattered. I’m not used to that. In fact, the world could blow up around me, and I could still always stay on target. Not having that control is filling me with a sense of uneasiness.

I take out my phone, check that all my alarms are turned on, and also activate the ones outside. I installed them a few years ago but kept them off for the most part. Animals could trip them up, and I wasn't worried about someone trying to sneak up on me out here. Now I am. If this snow angel was my fiancée, I’d do whatever I needed to get her back. So I need to take every precaution I can to protect her.

When I see everything is secure, I grab the girl's bag next to the door. I carry it over to the coffee table and dump it out.

“Hey!” She scrambles to grab some of the things as they land on the table.

“Stop.” I snag her around the wrist with a gentle but quick hold. When she reels back as if I’m going to strike her, I release my hold on her and hold my hands palms up. “Shit, Snow, I’d never hit you.”

She clutches whatever it was she grabbed off the coffee table to her chest. I can see she’s unsure. Her expression is like a hot blade slicing through me. I kneel in front of her so that I don't tower over her. The last thing I want her to be is scared of me. The thought alone is enough to fucking kill me.

“Hey.” I try to gentle my tone. I’m not sure if I did it right. I've never tried that before, but I'll do whatever it takes right now to put her at ease. The last thing I want is for her to run away from me. I don’t want to imagine how that might go. Not with some of the shit that’s been swirling in my mind since I found her, watching her sleep for the past few hours. “Has someone laid hands on you before?”

“Laid hands?” Her nose scrunches.

“Hit you.” Her teeth sink into her bottom lip, answering the question without words. “I swear on my life, Snow, I’ll never strike you.”

“Ever?” she whispers the one word with uncertainty. I want to rage, but I shove that shit all the way the fuck down. God help whatever motherfucker touched her. I’ll kill them with my bare hands when the opportunity arises.

“Ever. Even if you hit me.”

“I wouldn't hit you.” She looks at me like I’ve lost my mind for even suggesting it.

“Maybe you should learn.”

“To hit you?”

“To defend yourself if someone ever does try to hurt you.”

“I could do that?” Her body starts to relax again. I feel myself starting to do the same.

“You can do anything you want.” I extend my hand toward her. She doesn’t flinch away. Slowly, I cup her soft, round cheek in my hand. Snow leans into my touch. “Now what do you have in your hand?”

Her cheeks begin to flush a scarlet color. With her fair skin, I bet my girl blushes all the way down her chest to her perky pink nipples. I know I shouldn’t be thinking of this shit right now, but I can’t help myself.

“Why are you dumping my bag out?” Her bottom lip puffs out, and it takes everything in me not to lean in and suck it right into my mouth.

"I want to make sure there's nothing in there that could track you."

“Track me?” Her brows pull together in confusion.

“Like a phone or maybe some kind of tag.”

“I don’t have a phone.”

“Like you left it behind?”

She shakes her head adamantly as if it's insane that she would have a phone. “I’ve never had one. It’s not allowed.”

I stare at her for a long moment.

Her innocence, her clothing, her reaction to me cursing and all the other small things begin clicking into place in my mind. How the fuck did I not think of this before? Probably because I’d only ever heard of it and never ventured near where I heard they resided.

It all makes so much more sense. Her not seeming to understand everything I say. Even some of her behavior.

“You’re a part of Heaven’s Temple?” Her eyes drop, and she pulls back from my touch. I let my hand fall away. She doesn't want to admit it. She has no reason to be embarrassed. I'm sure she was born into the group. “You’re running from them?” Snow nods her head.

Good girl.

“But I have to go back.” Her words invoke a level of protectiveness I never knew existed inside of me to come rushing forth.

“Fuck no, you’re not. You’re staying right here until I know you’re not in danger.” I don’t know a ton about the group. I’ve overheard the people in town speak about them. They called them a cult. I need to dig deeper into them and learn everything I can. I’ll need to know every single detail if I’m going to protect my girl.

“I have to.” Snow springs to her feet, but her legs give out on her. Before she falls, I wrap my arm around her, pulling her into me. Her hands came to my chest. She doesn’t push away from me. In fact, her body seamlessly molds into mine, as if she has always been mine.

She has been.

“I can’t let you go back to a fucking cult, Snow.” I can’t get the edge out of my voice. It's a miracle she made it out and to me, the one person in this town that could keep her safe from them. I'm confident that they will come looking for her soon. When the storm dies down. And when they do, I’ll be ready and waiting.

I wouldn't wait for the storm to die down, but I'm a different kind of man.

“My sister. I told her I’d come back for her.” A sister. Fuck. I think of having to leave my brother behind. I wouldn't be able to do it. I get the sense she won't be able to either. Even if it’ll put her back in danger and what I'm guessing in an arranged marriage. My hold on her tightens at the thought of her getting married to someone else.

Over my dead fucking body.

“All right, I’ll get your sister for you.”

She opens and closes her mouth. “Really?”

“If it keeps you from going back there. Yeah.”

“You’d really do that for me?”

I think I might do anything for her…. Except let her go.