His to Protect: Book 1 in the Bound to Him Series

by Sandra Antoni

  I felt the sigh escape me as I watched a little girl in pigtails reach for her mother’s hand. She had a huge smile on her face and was obviously excited for this adventure. Her mother smiled down at her lovingly. Someday, maybe I would have a family of my own, but I kind of needed a man for that, and I was definitely not looking for a man.

  I had always wanted children. My adoptive parents couldn’t have any children and that was why they had adopted me. I had always wondered why they had not adopted more children after me, but any time I had brought up the topic, they never wanted to talk about it. I had finally given up asking them.

  Siblings would have been nice. A sister to giggle with and share secrets with. Even a brother would have been okay with me. Maybe I wouldn’t be feeling so alone right now. However, Jessica had pretty much been the sister that I never had.

  When I heard the announcement on the overhead speaker, I realized that I had fallen asleep during the flight. The altitude always did that to me, and I was grateful. I definitely had not been interested in talking with the stranger beside me.

  I stayed in my seat as the other passengers made their way off the plane, just observing the scenery out the window. There was really no reason for me to hurry off the plane. No one was waiting for me in Tucson.

  When I finally stood from my seat, I stretched my arms and legs then grabbed my carry-on from the storage compartment over the row of seats. Then I made my way to the front of the plane.

  Once I reached the baggage claim inside the airport, I realized that I had missed all the “welcome home’s” that many of the other passengers had received from family and friends, and I was grateful. It would have just made me feel more alone.

  My suitcase was already on the luggage carousel when I approached, and I waited for it to come back around. Grabbing it, I attached my backpack to it and made my way to the rental car agency. I had already arranged for a car to be waiting.

  An hour later, I was pulling up to the resort entrance. I looked around me as I drove up the long drive. This was way different than Kansas City, that’s for sure, but I actually loved the rugged desert look. Well, I mean, it practically was the desert, but the mountains in the distance caught my attention.

  I would love to take a hike in the mountains and get lost for a few hours. Good thing I had brought my hiking boots. Once I had decided to come to Tucson, I had done my research. There were numerous places that I wanted to check out while I was here, and I could not wait to immerse myself in nature.

  After checking in at the main building, I made my way to the villa and to the room that would be home for the next two weeks. Each villa held four suites, and the villas were each separate buildings that dotted the landscape. This place was beautiful, and the smile never left my face as I approached my room.

  When I opened the door, my jaw dropped in wonder. The room itself was a suite with a kitchen and living room area, and it was open and airy with a vaulted ceiling. But the room was set up so that when I first walked in, my eyes immediately went to the glass patio doors and the view beyond them.

  Forgetting the rest of the room, I walked to the patio and threw the doors open and stepped outside. The view was incredible, and I studied the mountains in awe. There weren’t exactly any mountains anywhere near Kansas City, and I definitely did not get out of town often, but this was amazing. I could get used to this view.

  Sitting down in one of the patio chairs, I could not bring myself to tear my gaze away from the mountains and the rustic and rugged landscape around me. Unpacking could wait a while longer.

  I must have sat on the patio for over an hour before I finally made my way back inside. There was a large, stone fireplace along one wall, and I could imagine myself curled up on the couch in front of it this evening once the temperature outside got cooler.

  The vaulted ceiling made the space look even bigger. There was a full kitchen to the left and a bar separated it from the living room. A door on the right led into the bedroom, and the bathroom was attached. Looking around the room once again, it suddenly made me feel lonely. I pushed that feeling aside.

  With another glance around the room, I found the room service menu on a long, narrow table set against the wall next to the fireplace and decided to just order in for dinner. My budget would not allow for a lot of the expensive prices too often, but I was exhausted after the flight and wanted to watch the sun set.

  Settling for just a salad, I made the call and began unpacking my suitcase in the bedroom, putting most of my clothes in the dresser, and hanging the few dresses that I had brought in the closet. I had brought mostly jeans and t-shirts, with a few pajama and yoga pants to wear around the room to be comfortable.

  When I finished putting my clothes away, I found the pamphlets that told about the hotel amenities. If I decided to hike in the mountains, the spa would definitely be where I wanted to end up. A massage would be just the thing after a vigorous hike, and I took my hiking seriously.

  I decided right then that tomorrow I would take a hike, and I called the spa to make a reservation for tomorrow afternoon. I was pretty sure that my muscles were going to be sore.

  Hiking was something that I had always loved, but I had not had much chance for it over the last few years, and I knew that hiking in the mountains would be way more intense than anything I could find near Kansas City.

  My job required me to sit behind a desk, and there was definitely not anything aerobic about it. I worked at a computer. That was the only thing that I did not like about my job. For eight hours of the day, I just sat.

  Since beginning my career in marketing, I had not really done much for myself other than work. I did manage to get a run in several mornings a week but running on city sidewalks was not the same as being immersed in nature. It definitely had me excited for what tomorrow would bring, and I was excited for my upcoming hike through the mountains.

  When I heard the knock on the door, I knew that it was room service. After giving the employee a bigger than usual tip, I took my dinner to the patio. It was definitely cooling off outside, and I grabbed my sweatshirt off the couch where I had thrown it when I was unpacking.

  Managing to slide open the patio door with my elbow, I set the tray down on the table and went back to close the door. Then I put on my sweatshirt. It was cool out here, but it was invigorating.

  The view from the patio made me feel like I was already immersed in nature. It felt like all I had to do was take a few steps off the cement and I would be surrounded by the rugged terrain and then the mountains. Tomorrow could not come soon enough.

  While I ate, I made a couple calls. I knew that Jessica would want to know that I had made it here safely, and also my parents. I called Jessica first. It would be a much easier conversation with her. I really was not looking forward to the call with my parents.

  “Before you ask…no. There were not any hot and sexy guys on the plane, and I was stuck next to a couple of grandparents. Also, I am alone in my room. All I have done so far is unpack my suitcase and order room service, and now I’m calling you. It was just too long of a day already, and I’m looking forward to crawling into bed tonight,” I told her as soon as she answered. Her response was a chuckle.

  “Girl, I don’t even work that fast, but you still have two weeks ahead of you. And I expect to hear that you have left your room more than once in that amount of time,” she replied, and I could not help laughing.

  Jessica always seemed to have a man on her arm. She could walk into a room single and walk out with a date. But for some reason, she never seemed to have serious relationships. To each their own. I guess she would settle down when she found the right guy.

  “I already have plans to go hiking in the mountains tomorrow, and no, I am not going to have a hunk guide. The hiking I plan to do alone. But I have scheduled a massage at the spa for when I return,” I told her.

  “Ooh, the spa! Maybe you will have a hot masseuse! He can work you over and then he can really work you over,�
� she said with a voice that sounded like reverence.

  I chuckled again. There was no way that I was hooking up with a resort employee. It kind of creeped me out to think about it, but I was definitely looking forward to that massage.

  “Well, hey, Jessica. I have to go. Still have to call mom and dad,” I told her. I heard her sigh and that made me smile.

  “I’m surprised they even let you go unchaperoned. How did you managed to get by them?” she asked with a certain amount of awe in her voice.

  My parents had always been quite unnaturally protective of me, and Jessica had even commented on it several times in the years that I had known her. They knew when I had tried to find my birth parents, and they had been supportive, but they had managed every step of my progress. They had pretty much managed every aspect of my life from the day they had adopted me.

  After college, when I told them that I was going to move out and get my own place, it had also become an argument. They would have been fine with me remaining at home with them for the rest of my life. However, I had needed a chance to become an adult.

  Don’t get me wrong. They were wonderful parents, and I knew they loved me as if I were their own, but they were definitely overbearing. It seemed like they needed to be, and it was something that I never understood.

  They had never tried to hide the fact that I had been adopted, but they could never quite let me go, even after graduating college. That was why I still lived in Kansas City. I just didn’t have it in me to move away from them. They seemed to need me close, and I gave them at least that much.

  The worry I had seen on my mother’s face when I told her about my vacation, that was a familiar expression. I had seen it many times over the years. My father had done a better job of hiding his concern, but they were both uncomfortable with the idea of me going away by myself.

  I had no idea why they were like that, but this vacation had been a long time coming for me, and I was determined to have a good time. Not even my daily call to them could put a damper on my excitement.

  After saying goodbye to Jessica, I made the call to my mother’s cell. She answered after the first ring, and I knew that she had been anxiously waiting for my call.

  “Chelsea, are you okay?” she asked, and I could hear the worry in her voice. I sighed deeply and closed my eyes.

  “Mom, I’m fine. I just wanted to let you and dad know that I made it here safely. I’m in my room, and the resort is amazing. I know it’s going to be fun,” I told her, trying to sound as excited as possible.

  Unfortunately, my mother was too good at reading me, and I didn’t want her to hear the loneliness in my voice. I put on my happy face and tried to sound animated while I continued the conversation, hoping that she would not read through it.

  “Well, dad is here too, and we are both glad to know that you made it there safely. You will call us every day, right?” she asked anxiously. I grinned at that, knowing that I did not really have a choice. They would be on the first flight to Tucson if they thought something was wrong.

  “Of course, mom. I love you both, but it has been a long day, and I actually plan to go to bed early tonight. You know flying takes it out of me. I just ordered room service, so I am going to eat dinner and then go to bed. I will call you guys tomorrow. Promise,” I told her.

  After “I love you’s” from both of them, I hung up the call and finished my dinner. By the time I made it back inside, I was shaking from the cold. The night had turned even cooler than I had expected. Checking the thermostat in the room, I headed to the bathroom for a hot shower. That would warm me up quickly.

  After pulling on some flannel pajama pants and a tank top, I crawled into the bed with my phone. My charger was already plugged in on the table next to the bed and ready for me to plug up my phone. I checked social media and then some emails from work. I didn’t even remember falling asleep.

  Chapter 2

  The next morning, I dragged myself from the bed. Surprisingly, the bed in the room was quite comfortable, and I had slept like a baby. I was fairly sure that I woke up in the same position that I had fallen asleep in.

  Unfortunately, I had not charged my cellphone last night, and fell asleep with it lying beside me on the bed. The battery was just under 15%. I plugged it into the charger as soon as I realized, knowing that I did not want to leave the resort without it.

  Luckily, the hotel supplied a couple packets of coffee, and I headed to the kitchen. I was going to have to take a trip to a grocery store before the day was out. Or maybe I would do it tomorrow. My day today was pretty full, and how many vacations did I take after all? I could afford another evening of room service.

  Once the coffee was going, I went back to the bedroom to get dressed. A pair of jeans and a t-shirt would be perfect for hiking. I put on a pair of thick socks and grabbed my hiking boots and my sweatshirt. I made sure to also pack an extra t-shirt in my backpack and an extra pair of socks just in case my socks got wet. I definitely did not want any blisters.

  When the backpack was packed, I headed back to the kitchen for coffee. I was excited for both today’s adventure and for the massage that would come later. After two cups of coffee, I grabbed my sweatshirt and backpack and headed to my car.

  Although I had skipped breakfast, I wasn’t about to skip lunch completely, so I stopped at a gas station and grabbed some granola bars and a couple bottles of water. The donut was an impulse buy, and I took a bite as I made my way back to my rental car. Then I headed towards the mountains.

  I had a map of the local trails, and I knew that I would be fine with the map. Besides, the view from the mountain would help me keep my direction. The city of Tucson was hard to miss, and I grinned as I stepped out of the car. I was ready for nothing but nature to surround me.

  Slipping my arms in the small backpack that held my snacks, water, shirt, socks, sweatshirt, and cellphone, I started towards the trail in front of me. This was an adventure that I was ready for, and my breath hitched in excitement as I began my upwards climb along the path.

  I had purposely chosen one of the more rugged trails, ready for the exertion and exercise. This was nothing like the stair-stepper machines that had been at the gym that I had not had much time to go to. This was a real-live mountain that I was ascending, and I loved the burn I felt in my thighs. I craved this adrenaline.

  It was over two hours later that I sat down on a fallen tree trunk. The vertical climb had been crazy, but the grin on my face showed exactly how much I was enjoying it. Not that there was anyone around to see it, but that was okay. I felt happy.

  Opening a bottle of water, I chugged half of it. Then I looked around me. It was beautiful up here. Peaceful. There was nothing but trees and rock, and the sounds of the leaves overhead fluttering in the wind. It was comforting.

  I was not sure why, but being alone in these mountains like this, it made me feel less alone. This was why I had taken this vacation. It wasn’t something that I could have explained to anyone. I just knew that it called to me. It was like something inside of me craved the open spaces, and I had never felt more free than when I was alone like this.

  This feeling didn’t happen very often, but when it did, it felt like coming home. There was no way that I could have described it. Definitely not to my parents. They would never understand. It was like I was at peace, and I craved more of it. That craving had me back on my feet and pushing farther up the mountain.

  I wasn’t sure when I lost the trail. Sometime over the next two hours, I had stopped looking at the map and followed my intuition. That was what got me lost. Sure, I knew the general direction of Tucson, but the path was gone. I sighed in exasperation. That was just like me to get lost when it was impossible for me to get lost.

  Sitting down on the ground, I reached into my backpack for a granola bar. No point in going hungry, but this was my last one. Finishing off the bottle of water that I had opened earlier, I took a look around me.

  I was still amazed by my surroundings.
There was nothing like this in Kansas City, and I still felt the peace that had called to me. It was like nothing that I had ever felt before, but it made me feel like I belonged here. Like I belonged right here on the side of this mountain.

  Once I felt rested, I resumed my hike, this time heading back down the mountain even though I had no path to follow. I came to several impassable ledges, and I had to work alongside the mountain to find a better place to descend.

  The ground was rough and rugged terrain, and I was feeling the strain on my muscles in my legs, but the thought of the massage that I had scheduled kept me progressing downward. It was definitely going to feel like heaven.

  It was little more than an hour later that I approached an area where there was a lot of rubble from where rock had fallen from a cliff. I had no way of knowing where I had parked the rental car from here, and I had a feeling that when I made it off the mountain, I would have quite a bit of walking to find the car. I sighed again in exasperation and kept moving.

  There was nothing I could do when the ground began to shift beneath me. I felt my arms go out to the side as my body was propelled down the steep decline of the mountain. My feet flew out from under me, and suddenly, I was rolling down the rocky slope. It seemed like hours, even though I knew it was just a matter of seconds before everything was finally still.

  I laid on the ground for a long few moments, just doing an internal assessment of my body. Man, that massage this afternoon was going to be amazing after all these aches and pains. I had ended up lying on my side, and I pushed myself up so that I was sitting on the rough rocks beneath me.

  My hands and arms were scratched from rolling along the jagged rocks, and there was a hole in my jeans. Looking through the hole, I saw a pretty good gash in my leg, and I knew that was going to hurt on my way back to the car, but it was not bleeding too badly.

  Other than that, my arms and legs felt fine. The jeans had pretty much protected my legs, although, my ribs felt a little bruised. I hugged myself with my arms and took a deep breath.