My heart is still racing as I pull my t-shirt on over my head and rush towards the front door. God, there was someone at my window. I pull the front door open and quickly round the side of the house towards the bedroom window. I only saw the guy for a few seconds, our eyes connecting for longer than they should have before I realised what had happened. The stranger had looked as freaked out as I had felt, but since he was the one who was watching me while I stripped, I think he shouldn’t have been that shocked.

The area in front of my bedroom window is empty, but I hadn’t truthfully expected the guy to hang around and wait for me to find him. Part of me relaxes when I see that once again I'm alone, but the hairs on the back of my neck raise as I imagine him in the trees watching me. That’s where he must have disappeared, and there is no chance I am going in there after him. I try to make myself feel better about not giving chase by telling myself that he could have gone in any direction, and getting myself lost won’t help anyone. The truth is I’m not a fighter ,so if he had still been here when I came around the corner, I'm not sure what I would have done. So what the hell am I doing out here?

Even as I ask myself that question, I know the answer. It’s a six-foot-three, tattooed hottie that I feel the need to protect even when he doesn’t need it. Niko is my everything, and the thought of someone being here to harm him makes me want to find the stranger before he can hurt Niko. Our life hasn’t been exactly been the romantic dream since we met, but I would give up my life to make sure he is safe. He risked everything for me, and I will never be able to repay him for that. When Niko had come to my room in the compound and told me that we were leaving, I’d been so confused. No letter had ever left the compound, and I had been scared I was going to become one of the missing. The fear almost made me stay, but when Niko had taken my hand I’d felt safe, and I knew that he wouldn’t let anything happen to me.

I can’t stop the smile from forming on my lips when I think about Niko. When I think about everything he's done to keep me safe since we met, I can’t help but love him. Niko went against every rule he was meant to follow, even when risking his own life, yet he did what he needed to make sure I was happy. He’s my hero, and I wouldn’t be here today if it wasn’t for him. I’m under no illusion that most people would see him as the villain, as the guy who killed people for money and control, but I will never see him like that. He just did what he needed to do in a shitty situation. I'm sure he will spend his life protecting the people he loves, and I'm at the top of that list.

That’s why I'm walking around the back of the house when I should be running towards my car. I could be at the end of the drive and closer to town in a matter of minutes, but I can’t do that. Not when the face at the window could be a danger to us. Yes, there is a chance it could merely be a hiker who got lost and was seeing if anyone was home. Even someone innocent would get a fright when caught spying on me. That’s probably why he ran away the way he did. That’s what I keep trying to convince myself as I reach the back of the cabin.

Fuck, I need to calm down because if I turn this corner and see someone, there’s a good chance I'm going to have a heart attack. I pull my mobile out my pocket and look at it, feeling tempted to call Niko and ask him to come home. I let out a sigh because I refuse to do that. I push my phone back into my pocket and wipe my sweaty hands on my jeans. A nervous giggle escapes me, and I reach up and cover my mouth with my hand. Get a fucking grip, Corey. The guy is probably miles away by now, and if he isn’t, standing giggling like a fool isn’t going to protect me. I press my back against the wall behind me and look at the woods surrounding me. The tree line is about fifty yards in front of me, but I can only make out the first few feet. The sun is so bright today, and it's creating dark shadows after the first row of trees. I still scan the trees, convinced that someone will appear at any moment because I can’t shake the feeling that I'm being watched.

Finally satisfied that someone isn’t about to run at me from the trees, or as satisfied as I'm ever going to get with my below par surveillance skills, I edge my way to the rear of the cabin with my back still pressed firmly to the wall as I turn the corner. I instantly scan the area, and when I see nothing suspicious, I relax a bit more. Every moment that I don’t see evidence of my visitor, I feel surer that he's left. I step away from the wall as my confidence grows, but my eyes never leave the trees, not even for a second. I might be sure he's gone, but I still keep a reasonable distance away from the edge of the grass so I can run if someone does happen to appear. The thought has my nerves ramping up slightly, and I nearly jump out of my skin when I hear a rustling sound to my left. My head whips around as a deer walks out of the shadows and into the sun.

It stops just outside the cover of the trees and looks around warily. I'm obviously not the only thing in the garden today that’s feeling nervous. I keep as still as possible so I don’t scare it away, but it must hear something because its ears twitch and it looks in my direction. As soon as it sees me, it startles and bolts back into the trees. I watch as it vanishes from sight, a little sad that I scared it. I take a step back, turning towards the cabin again so I can finish my search and go back inside. I think it’s safe to say that the guy is long gone, and I want to go back inside for the shower I had been going to have before. I still scan the area as I head back to the front door, but I don’t feel as tense as I did five minutes ago.

I walk to the front of the cabin and rush around the corner to reach the front door and let out a scream when I connect with a large body. My fists instantly fly up, and I start lashing out to protect myself. I can’t believe I was stupid enough to relax when there was still the chance of a stranger being here.

“Whoa, sexy. It’s me.” The instant I hear Niko’s voice, relief floods through me, and I nearly collapse onto the grass. To save myself from that embarrassment, I wrap my arms around Niko and bury my face in his neck. I tighten my arms tightly but Niko doesn’t complain. Instead, he just cocoons me in his strong arms and holds me until I get control of myself. Niko has been my safe place since I met him and he’s still the only thing that makes me feel protected. I remember the day he followed a pissed-off-looking Craig into the room where all the letters stayed. Our eyes connected for less than a second, but that second was enough to have me infatuated with him. From that moment on I tried to get his attention whenever I could.

“What's wrong?”

No matter how much I had hoped that Niko wouldn’t notice that I was having a mini freak-out, there was no way for him to miss it. I wonder if I can put it down to just missing him? I'm not sure I’ll be able to convince him of that, so I keep my face buried in his neck to avoid having to answer him. It doesn’t stop him though, and he puts his hands on my shoulder and eases me back from his body. I keep my eyes pinned to the grass, wanting to buy some time to compose myself. I’ve never managed to master Niko’s skill of blocking all emotions from his eyes. It’s like he can build a way around everything and you can’t see anything in his face. He says he loves the fact he can read me so clearly, but at times like this, it sucks.

“Corey.” Niko’s voice has an edge to it, and even though I find it as sexy as hell, now isn’t the time to push him.

I look up at him through my lashes, and I can see the look of concern on his face. His forehead is scrunched up, and I really don’t want to tell him what happened. When he raises his eyebrow, I know my time for stalling is up. “There was someone at the bedroom window. A man. He was looking in. I don’t know if he was watching me or not. It was maybe nothing.”

I try to make it sound like no big deal, but it’s clear I've failed when Niko goes instantly on high alert, his body tightening like a bow ready to be released. “Get in the house.”

I try to get closer, to get my arms around him so I can feel protected again, but he keeps me at arm's length as his eyes start to scan the area around us. Gone is the relaxed feeling from minutes ago. Instead, the atmosphere is thrumming with tension. It’s like it’s seeping out of Niko into the air around us.

“Niko?”

Niko doesn’t look at me. His focus is one hundred percent on the trees around us. He looks dangerous when he's this intent on something, but it doesn’t stop him from leaning down and kissing me on the head. “Go inside. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

I want to argue with him and tell him that I would be safer staying with him, that he should just come inside with me, but I don’t. He needs to concentrate, and he won’t be able to do that if he needs to keep an eye on me. Reluctantly I turn away from Niko, and before I'm even a few steps closer to the front door, he has vanished into the trees. I try to see him through the shadows but it’s like they swallowed him whole. I hug my arms around myself as I stare after him, suddenly realising how vulnerable I am standing here. It’s funny how I had myself convinced that the guy was long gone, but now that Niko has come home, I’m feeling watched again. I know all it would take would be one yell and Niko would be at my side, but the thought of coming face-to-face with the stranger again has me turning and racing to the front of the house. I don’t stop running until I slam the front door behind me. I lean back against it, loving the chill of the wood seeping through the back of my t-shirt. I close my eyes as my heated body starts to cool.

A loud rumble has me jumping, and a small squeak escapes before I realise that it’s the old boiler system kicking in. I let out a nervous laugh, hating that I'm so uptight that I'm acting like a scared kid. I've lived here for nearly four months now so the noise shouldn’t be a surprise anymore, but everything that’s happened in the last hour has my nerves shattered. I don’t even know why I'm worried. I'm not the one that’s roaming around outside on their own. No, that’s the brave man that I'm in love with. “Shit.”

I push off the door and head towards the kitchen. It’s the only room that sees a large portion of the rear of the property, and right now I need to look for Niko. I spend far too long searching for him, my heart beating a frantic rhythm in my chest. I keep expecting him to appear through the trees, and when he doesn’t, I start to imagine all sorts of shit. In an attempt not to drive myself crazy, I go to the sink and start washing the few dishes left over from breakfast to try to distract myself. There isn’t much, but hopefully it will be enough to distract me until Niko comes back. I scrub the plates more than they need and I don’t stop when I hear the front door close and heavy footfalls heading towards me. I recognise the familiar sound of Niko’s boots, the scuff of his left heel when he doesn’t lift that foot properly. He comes to a stop behind me but he doesn’t touch me.

“I couldn’t see anything. No tracks or proof that someone was here. Core, are you sure you saw someone?”

A simple question and all the fear I felt is suddenly replaced with anger. I might have been through a lot in my life, but it doesn’t mean I imagined the whole thing. “I'm not fucking stupid, Niko. I know what a man looking in my window looks like. Stop treating me like I'm fucking crazy. I swear …” My rant is interrupted by a possessive kiss, and as angry as I am, I melt into Niko’s embrace. His lips control mine, and I moan when his tongue slips into my mouth.

I chase Niko’s lips when he grips my face and separates us. I want him to keep kissing me like he was, but he holds me in place, staying quiet until I open my eyes and look at him. I blink a few times to focus, the pleasure from his mouth making my head feel light.

“I never called you crazy, Core. It was a simple question and one that didn’t mean anything. We have been through a lot since we left the compound, and there’s so much still going on. I've needed to leave you when I never planned to. I should be here to protect you. I'm just worried about you being alone so much.”

I close my eyes and feel bad for reacting so badly to his simple question. He’s always told me the only important thing to him is to keep me safe, and here I am treating him bad after everything he’s done. “I'm sorry.” My voice is quiet, and I wish he would let me go so I can hide away.

“Don’t you dare do that,” Niko growls and I look up at him, not surprised to see the anger hasn’t reached his eyes. It never does. “Don’t you hide from me. I got you out of that place so you would never have to hide again, and I refuse to let you do it now.” He leans in and kisses me gently on the lips. It’s barely a brush over the lips, but I can feel it through my entire body. “I'm the one who should be sorry, Core. There’s someone out there threatening us and I can’t find the bastard. I need to know who wants to hurt you. I can’t risk losing you.”

When we moved to Scotland, we’d barely settled into our first house when the first letter arrived. It was addressed to me, but it shouldn’t have been. We hadn’t used our names for anything since we escaped the compound. Ryden had arranged new identities for us before he had called the police, so the day we ran was the last time we existed. We kept our original first names but everything else about us had been changed. As far as any official channel was concerned Niko Reeves and Corey Rickson are dead and buried. That’s why we took the letter as a threat, especially since it contained a copy of my old driving license. Someone knows about our former lives, and they want something. We just need to find out what that something is. It took Niko less than an hour to pack up our stuff and get us on the road again. There was no way we could stay where we were when someone knew our secret. That’s how we ended up here in this cabin, hundreds of miles away from our first home.

“You won’t lose me, and you need to stop trying to shoulder all this on your own. I'm a grown man, Niko, I can help if you let me.” I'm not a hundred percent sure what I can actually do to help, but I refuse to make Niko deal with all this by himself. I can’t do all the scary shit that Niko can, but I'm sure there is something I can manage. Google something or make him coffee.

“You are doing exactly what I need you to do, you’re staying safe. I hate having to leave you here, especially when someone knows who we are, but it’s better than taking you with me.” He leans in and presses his forehead against mine. “I just need you safe.”

I take the lead this time, claiming the kiss that I've been waiting days to get. It feels like I haven’t seen him for weeks, and I want him to know that I've missed him. “Let's not fight. You're home now, and I need you.” I reach up and run my fingers through his hair, using my grip to pull his mouth down to mine. I love that he’s so much taller than me. It makes me feel small and fragile in his hands. Before I met Niko I hated being smaller and treated like I was weak, but with Niko, it makes my dick hard. He is controlling and aggressive, but he’s never once made me feel unsafe or nervous around him. I've seen the damage he can do to others. His fists should be registered as lethal weapons, but he’s never touched me in any way other than loving. Even in the bedroom when his fingers dig into my skin hard enough to leave marks, I moan like a bitch in heat. Passion, pain, ecstasy, he gives me it all and I love every fucking second of it.

“Anything you need, Core. Absolutely fucking anything.” With those final words, he pushes me backwards until my back thuds against something behind me. He holds my head so I don’t hit it, but the rest of my body jolts with the impact and my dick hardens instantly. This is exactly what I need, and he knows it.