Her Secret Santa: A Christmas Protector Romance (Perfect Kisses Book 3)

by Miley Maine

  Tony licked his lips and ran a hand through his hair. “So, why is he so obsessed with you, now?”

  “Well, I got him sent to prison to begin with. All of this mess he blames me on. And he wants me because I fought back, because I fought against him and he has to punish me. He doesn’t actually want me.”

  “He will never lay a hand on you,” Tony said. There was silence for a moment before he continued. “What about your parents? How do you know they are safe?”

  “I don’t. I mean, he pretends to have scruples that he wouldn’t dare go after them, but I don’t trust that. My parents have their house listed in a friend’s name. They get their mail from a P. O. box and they don’t have their phones listed either. They do what they can to play it safe. So, I think they are fine for now. But I do worry about them.”

  “I can have someone watch them for you,” Tony said. “I’ve spoken with them at length the past few months. They are great people. It took some doing, but I finally got them to let me into their little world. They told me about you and the whole situation. And I’ve become pretty friendly with them recently. I think they like me.”

  “I’m sure they adore you, just as I do,” I said.

  He smiled. “We can expedite the time frame on this if you want. We can set a trap to lure Saul here, get a message out to the underground that is sure to get to him somehow. And then when he comes for you, we can lock him up. But doing that is all dependent upon you and how you feel, and what you want.”

  I didn’t answer right away. This was heavy. The very idea of doing this terrified me. “I’d be using myself as bait basically.”

  “Yes, but you’d never actually be in any real danger. And besides, you’d have a weapon on you at all times. And then he would be ours. We lure him here, he tries to abduct you or hurt you and we have him. It’s nothing he can get out of and he will be sent to prison for life for kidnapping in Alaska. Alaskan prisons are no joke. He would be crying for his mom within a week.”

  I laughed at the thought of Saul broken down and crying. That would be so gratifying. But I didn’t know if I could go through with it. “What if something goes wrong? Things always go wrong, don’t they?”

  “You have a pessimistic way of looking at life.”

  “I do. I guess I always have. It is a lot to do with what happened to me. I guess I learned that bad things are going to happen to you and there is little that you can do to protect yourself.”

  “I think you are half right. Bad things will happen. They happen to everyone, but you have to be prepared to deal with them. And no, you can’t be prepared for every single thing or every imagined scenario, but you have to at least try. And you can’t let it color how you see the world around you.”

  He held my hand in his. I loved his warm touch and his words. They seeped into me and imprinted themselves in my brain. It felt really good and reassuring. God, I’d missed him so much.

  “I see what you mean,” I said. “But right now, I just can’t put myself out there. I can’t take the chance of facing him. It’s too scary. I’m sorry. I want this over so badly, but I’m not taking that risk. He has too big of a hold on me. It’s like I am still trapped under his thumb and I can’t escape it no matter what I do.”

  “This is the only way. You have to face him head on. But I know that it is hard. And ultimately it is up to you to decide when the time is right. Only you can decide that. I’m not going to try to do it for you and I’m not going to try to force you.”

  “Thanks,” I replied.

  “Now, what about dessert?” he asked with a big smile on his face.

  “What? I’m stuffed. I couldn’t eat another bite.”

  He held up his finger and smiled as he walked into the house. He came back with a French silk pie. It looked and smelled like Heaven. I wasn’t able to resist as he cut into it and put down a slab of it on his plate. “Fine, I’ll try some.”

  He cut me a piece and then put it down on the plate for me. I bit into it and practically melted into the chocolate goodness. “Ah, this is wonderful. You know I’m going to get fat if you keep feeding me this way,” I teased.

  “More of you to love,” he said. “That’s fine with me.”

  “How do you stay so ripped when I see you eating this crazy food?”

  He laughed. “It’s a secret of the Gods,” he said.

  15

  Tony

  Two Months Later

  “Why are we out here?” Julie asked with a giggle.

  I could tell she was uncomfortable.

  “Why? Are you cold?” I teased her.

  “I’m freezing.”

  “Yeah, you’ve got to get used to those Alaskan evenings. The days are pretty mild this time of year though. Be thankful. This winter it is frigid all the time. And the winter starts early. By October it feels like you are on another planet.”

  “Why did you buy a mansion up here?” Julie asked.

  I shrugged. “It is really far from everything. It’s peaceful. I love the outdoors, nature, and I like to vary my surroundings. I love the desert. That’s why Southern California is such a great place to be, but I also love the wild of Alaska, the trees, the nature, and the weather makes it a wonderful place to live. I think it would be an ideal place to raise a family.”

  I saw a twinkle in her eye at the mention of family. “You think about having a family one day.”

  I wanted to be careful how I answered the question, but I also wanted to be honest. “Yes. I really do. I think about it quite often. But at the same time, I am not one to rush into things. I believe all things have their own time frame. And when I have kids one day, I know it will be the time in my life when I’m supposed to have them. Do you want kids?”

  “I do. I absolutely do,” Julie answered quickly. I smiled as I looked over at her, those beautiful eyes flickering in the flame of the campfire.

  I’d decided to bring Julie out in the woods a bit so we could do some camping. She said she’d never actually been camping, so I thought this would be the perfect time to do it. It was good to get away from the modern world for a bit and commune with nature. It helped me get in touch with my roots. I loved to come out here in the wild and sit for a while and meditate. The most serene thoughts entered my brain at a time like that and I found myself just so thankful for everything in my life.

  And now I had an even bigger reason to do that. The past few months had been hard but wonderful. I knew that Julie was becoming increasingly isolated and more afraid to venture out. She was of the mind that everywhere she went she was going to run into Saul. I tried to reason with her and get her calmed down on this issue, but she was not hearing any of it. She just wanted to stay isolated in the mansion and lately she hardly ever wanted to venture out among people at all.

  I hoped that a bit of fresh air and nature might help that. It was a thought anyway. So far, she did not seem to be enjoying herself.

  “I see us together in a long, wonderful future,” I said. “I’ve seen us that way since shortly after we met. I realize it took you a bit longer, but when you see these children of the future, do you see me?”

  “Yes. Of course.” I could see it in her eyes that she really meant it. This put me at ease. It was something I’d been wondering lately. Julie didn’t communicate her feelings nearly as well as I wished that she did sometimes. “I see you. I’ve seen you there for a long time now. I want to spend my life with you.”

  “I want that, too,” I said. I leaned in and kissed her and then I pulled her closely against me. She felt so good in my arms.

  We relaxed together a few moments, both of us just enjoying being there with each other and staring up at the stars and the bright moon ahead of us. The air was cool and crisp, and with the breeze I could smell the winter that was coming in the next few months. I could tell it was going to be a doozy. Coming up here for so many years had really fine-tuned my senses for such things. I wondered if it was something that I could teach Julie. I thought about it
and then dismissed it from my mind. I think you had to really experience it for it to become something that ingrained within you. I hoped that Julie would get there in time.

  But I wanted to get her out of here and back to her normal life. I wanted to find Saul and bury him right where he stood. I wanted that bastard to be under my shoe begging for mercy before I killed him. I gritted my teeth silently and tried to control the shudder of anger in me. I hoped I would never have to kill that man, or any man for that matter, but I had no problems doing it if I was really pressed. And nothing would press me harder than to protect the woman I loved. Nothing.

  I rubbed Julie’s hair and let the soft strands coat my palm and rub against my body as I held her close to me. I was tired, but at peace. Lately we’d been working so hard trying to get her prepared for any kind of physical conflict. It was time for a good break.

  That morning, I woke her up early and took her to the gym inside the mansion where we did some rounds with the heavy bag. I showed her the basic punches and then we went through a couple easy grappling holds and judo throws. The martial arts were coming fairly easily to Julie. She was a fast learner. She was nimbler and more athletic than I expected. She was tough, a natural fighter. All of this turned me on a great deal about her. She was fast, strong, and when she really pushed herself, she could be quite the formidable opponent.

  And now we were relaxing after a good dinner by the campfire. I figured we would maybe roast some marshmallows later, tell ghost stories—all that goofy kid stuff. And at some point, we might end up doing something very naked together. I’d been ready and turned on since earlier when she was helping me put the tent up. Watching Julie’s wonderful ass writhing in my face was enough to make me grab her and take her right then and there. I didn’t need a reason, right?

  I smile at the thought of taking her right then and there. I could easily pull her pants down, then the panties, and enjoy some easy access to the goods. And what goods they were. We’d been making love almost every single night since I’d found her, and each night just got better and better. I wasn’t sure how either one of us was still standing.

  “So, you never talk much about your mother,” Julie said. “Is she still around?”

  I smiled. “Oh, she is around, but she spends most of her time travelling. Right now, I think she is in Paris. She’s been there at her villa for a few months now. She gets settled in somewhere for a while and then she is off again to check out something knew. She was like that when I was growing up, too.”

  “That doesn’t sound very stable. What did you do, then? Were you just a student?”

  “Yeah, I was in school and just staying home with dad, but he was gone all the time working. So mostly, I was raised by some of the staff. They basically took care of me and made sure I went to bed on time. It was a strange existence hardly ever seeing my parents, but I would see my dad sometimes when he was at home. And when we had parties and so forth, which were essentially events designed for butt kissing and for raising money.”

  “That’s a sad way to grow up,” she said.

  “It was just what it was,” I said. “So, I figured out at an early age that I had to do for myself. I didn’t want to be that kind of person who cried that the world was unfair. I saw that the world could be what I made it. This made me tough. It made me hard. And I think it is part of the reason why I’ve always dreamt of having my own family.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “I know you will be a great father.”

  I rubbed her shoulder lightly and snuggled against her. “Thank you, baby. How many kids were you thinking? Maybe five? Ten?”

  She laughed. “No. I was thinking maybe two or three.”

  “Ok, we can start with that,” I said.

  “So, I find it so hard to believe that you haven’t been married before, or have been in any really serious relationships. I know you were engaged in the past, you talked to me briefly about it. Is that why you stayed single for so long?”

  I was quiet for a moment. I didn’t want to talk about this. I had mentioned it once in passing, and Julie had no doubt heard the rumors about this sort of thing. She was curious. And she wanted to know who I loved more. That was an impossible question to answer, but she did deserve some explanation.

  “Yes, it is why I stayed single. I never thought I could love again. I wasn’t sure I ever wanted to. But then you came into my life. I know that sounds cheesy, but when I met you something clicked and I started to feel again, I started to want again. You took the hurt away and you replaced it with joy. The pain didn’t return until I lost you.”

  She kissed me and nuzzled her nose against mine as our lips touched. I felt her joy beaming through her sweet lips into mine. Oh, she felt so damn good. I held her there like that for several seconds kissing her, feeling her body against mine and wondering how I’d been so lucky as to find her.

  I heard a low rumbling noise just then.

  I pulled back slowly from the kiss and glanced to my right. What was that? It sounded like… a growl…?

  “Did you hear that?” Julie asked me. I could see the fear in her wide eyes as she followed my gaze to her left.

  “Yeah…” I spoke. “Listen.”

  We both listened for several seconds. We heard nothing. Julie was about to say something when I held my finger to her lips to keep her quiet. This was not nothing. There was something there.

  The growling came again. This time it was closer, louder. It sounded big. Some sort of a big animal. And it was right outside of our camp, just in the woods out of the light. It was hiding in the darkness, stalking us, waiting for us to make a move or a mistake. It wasn’t challenging us. No, it knew that it could beat us easily if it wanted to. It was toying with us, trying to scare us, and doing its best to keep us right where we were.

  “What is that?” Julie whispered, her mouth quivering.

  I felt the fear building up inside of my chest. The guns were in the bag about ten feet from us. I’d left them out there when we were putting the tent up. Shit. Why didn’t I bring them closer? Did I forget this was the wilderness? Bears, wolves, mountain lions, etc. were everywhere. I saw them regularly. This was just stupid for me to forget to grab a gun. I wondered if I could make it in time. The animal would surely strike at me and I would probably take a hit or more. And one hit could be enough to down me depending on what it was and what animal delivered it. Fuck.

  I tried to stay calm. The last thing I needed to do was freak out or cause Julie to freak out. We had to stay relaxed. The animal would feed on our fear. That would kick in the predatory instinct and blow it into high gear.

  “Ok,” I whispered. “I’m going to try to get to the bag and get a gun. Don’t move.”

  She nodded slowly. I took a deep breath, and I began to move slowly towards the bag. I had to move inch by inch so that the animal didn’t realize I was really moving that much. Animals perceived everything a bit differently.

  I just had to pretend to be very still, to move slowly and deliberately. The growing grew louder. I wasn’t sure if this was working, but I didn’t really have time to think about it. I couldn’t do anything, and I was almost there. I just had to go a bit farther… just a little bit farther… was almost there… almost.

  I reached the bag and I turned ever so slightly to reach into it. I had to fight the impulse to quickly grab the gun and fire it in air to scare the animal, which I still couldn’t see.

  Fuck… where was it…?

  I could almost feel the gun in my hand. That was when I felt the animal leaping out from its hiding place. It was a large, gray wolf. Its face was twisted in an evil snarl, it was growling like crazy, and I saw nothing but murder in its eyes. And it was on top of me before I could even react to it.

  The wolf’s mouth clamped tightly around my calf and bit hard. The sharp, rigid teeth cut through me so hard right then. I thought the bite was going straight to the bone. The pain was immense, and I could feel the flesh tearing as the wolf’s head twisted fr
om side to side.

  “Tony!” Julie screamed.

  “Stay back!” I yelled. My voice felt weak under the onslaught of the pain coursing through my leg.

  The bag fell from my hand as the wolf jerked me powerfully closer to the woods. Was it trying to drag me off? Shit. I used my other foot to press against the animal, kicking it and pushing its face, but it was all futile. Being engaged in the fight seemed to do nothing but make it worse.

  Then my worst nightmare came true. The only thing that would make this situation worse.

  This wolf was not alone.

  I reached for the bag, this time leaping my body away from the wolf. The animal clamped its jaws down tighter and jerked my body back, but I had the bag, and I was reaching inside to get the gun.

  That was when another wolf ran and bit my forearm hard. My fingers opened up and the bag dropped from my hand. I was now being attacked by two of these vicious creatures. They were driven wild with hunger and an all-consuming rage that I couldn’t begin to understand. I was losing this fight. I was not able to win them over.

  “The bag!” I yelled. “Julie! The gun!”

  My screams awakened Julie. She instantly burst into action and picked up the bag off the ground. She jerked the pistol free and pointed it at the wolf attacking my arm. She was only about three feet away. She fired on the animal and it flew backwards going limp instantly.

  Then she turned on the other wolf. She didn’t hesitate. Julie fired a round right into its side. The animal sank down in front of me in pain. Within seconds, it was limping as well.

  Two majestic creatures gone in an instant. I hated to see that. I’ve always been an animal lover, but when you have no other choice to survive, then you have to do what makes it work. Survive or die. I just wished these animals had not put us in this position.