Free Her Secretive Protector (Her Protector Alpha Male Military Romance Book 4) by Michaela Strong Page A

sensual thing that she had ever eaten. She had to close her eyes. She was not an adventurous eater but this was really good. She wanted to reach out and touch his hand while she experienced it. "What is it smoked with?"
    "Tea."
    "It's really good. Thank you for sharing it with me, Rory." She tapped the table to make the silverware jingle. She looked at him and he knew what she was thinking.
    "No."
    "Why not? We are stuck here together, unless you're off to work."
    "No I am not going anywhere."
    "Come on. It's not my fault this all happened while I met you. I am human. I am sorry if I say things and do things right now that aren't perfect…"
    Rory cut her off. "Exactly. The time is not right."
    "Then don't feed me things like smoked duck," she got up from the table.
    "Where are you going?" he demanded.
    "I'm done. I'll go back to the apartment and get my own food. I have stuff there. Not as fun as this but I'll deal. But I don't need to stay here with you despising me. Thanks for breakfast."
    "Dana," he said.
    "No. You're not the only one who can pout."
    Rory's eyes flared and his jaws dropped. "I do not pout."
    "Yes you do! And while I am at it," Dana took the hem of his shirt and lifted it above her breasts. She flashed him.
    "Stop it now!" he said in a voice that Dana triumphantly recognized as the sweet agonizing tone he took before he orgasmed.
    "If you're going to be here with me, Rory, you're going to have to deal."
    "This is my house," he said perplexedly.
    "And you're making me stay here. I am not going to pretend that we didn't have stupendous wall-shaking, earth shattering sex."
    "We don't even know each other. We rushed into something. It wasn't a good idea."
    "It was a great idea and people do this sort of thing all the time."
    "They do not."
    "They do too and it lasts a life time. I have a great idea since you and I are shut in, let's play arranged marriage."
    "Stop," he said starting to clear the table.
    "Come on," she said, baiting him. "The fireplace could be the stage coach and you can be the cowboy who ordered me."
    "I said stop," he said again.
    "Or it could be like a Far East thing. You're the sexy sultan, I'm the new, shy harem girl."
    Rory grabbed her wristed firmly, clearly pushed pashed his limits. "I said stop."
    Dana was hoping he would at some point start laughing but it didn't work out that way. She had just rubbed him raw. He may have had tears in his eyes but she was fighting back her own she couldn't quite tell.
    "Ok, ok. You know if you have a washing machine I can run some clothes through a cycle and give you your shirt back. Or if you've got a snowsuit I can wear, the sight of my bare skin won't offend you anymore."
    "Dana?" he said with warning.
    "Ok I got it." She took a couple of casual steps from him and once she got down the short hallway to her room, she accelerated, pushing herself through the door, locking it behind her. She flung herself on her bed and sobbed.
    Every awful thing that had happened at the end of her last relationship came back to the surface and Dana felt good and sorry for herself. It was not fair. It just wasn't fair. She had moments where she thought it was a good thing she found out that her ex-boyfriend was such a creep because it lessened the probability of the truth of the cruel things he told her. But now she was back in that part of the cycle where she did feel like a loser, as he would call her. Rory made her feel so hot and now, she was back to feeling like the fool Sean had always said she was. And now because of that bastard she was under house arrest with another who didn't want her anymore and she wanted to time warp and forget she had ever met either man.
    Fine. She would just stay in the charming little guest room for a day or whatever it was until they did what they needed to do with Sean Logan and then she would make a point to forget them both.
    Rory knocked on the door, interrupting her fuming.
    "What," she said sharply. He tried the door. "I