Protecting Cheyenne (SEAL of Protection Book 5) by Susan Stoker Read Free Book Online

thing. She wasn’t exactly free, but it was a start. He continued snipping around her on the tape until he’d gotten most of it cut.
    Finally Dude looked at Cheyenne and said, “I don’t want to hurt you, but taking this tape off your arms is going to hurt.”
    “I don’t care,” Cheyenne urged. “Just do it.”
    She flinched when he ripped off the tape on her left arm. Cheyenne knew that most of her arm hair had probably gone with the tape, but she was afraid to look. She scrunched her eyes closed as she heard Dude take a deep breath.
    “How bad is it?” Cheyenne asked him softly.
    Dude took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. He didn’t know what kind of adhesive was on the tape, but it’d been strong. There were places on her arms where some of her skin looked like it had been taken right off with the tape. It was red and blotchy, and extremely painful looking. You wouldn’t know it to look at Cheyenne though; she stood there stoically, waiting for his answer.
    “Well,” Dude started. “It’s not too bad. I tried to be careful, but it’s gonna be painful for a while. Please don’t make me do that again,” he said, referring to her other arm.
    Cheyenne sighed. How could she refuse him when he’d done so much for her already? What was left of the skin on her arm where the tape was removed hurt bad, but she figured pragmatically that it would’ve hurt a lot more if she’d been blown up into tiny pieces. “Okay, thank you for at least loosening it up.”
    They looked at each other for a moment, each lost in their thoughts. They’d just been through a pretty intense experience.
    Cheyenne looked at Faulkner and liked what she saw. She thought he was older than her, but not by much. He had dark hair, and dark eyes, which were looking at her as if she was the only other person on the planet. Cheyenne had always loved a man in uniform, and this man wore his well. She didn’t know what he was thinking, but she kind of liked the intense look in his eyes as he peered down at her.
    Dude looked down at the woman standing in front of him with respect. He didn’t like to admit it, but he was used to women being weak, his teammates’ women notwithstanding. The women he dated certainly were. Part of that was their submissive sexual desires, but it was more than that. Dude was used to taking charge and controlling those around him, but he hadn’t had to do much to take charge with Cheyenne. She was strong, and did what needed to be done, regardless of her feelings or what she wanted to do.
    Dude couldn’t have stopped his hand from moving up to her hair to smooth it away from her flushed face if his life depended on it. “You’re an amazing woman, Cheyenne Cotton.” Dude lingered a beat as he ran his mangled hand over her hair to her shoulder, then he said, with a touch of regret, “Let’s get out of here.”
    Dude carefully steered Cheyenne toward the front of the store. He put his hand on her lower back and they started walking to the front door. Cheyenne stopped when she saw the crowd that was outside the store. Of course there were police officers and military men around, but she also saw a lot of TV vans and cameras. She should’ve realized the media would be there, but she’d been worrying about other things…namely living through the last hour or so.
    Cheyenne took a deep breath and said quietly to the man standing patiently next to her, “I know it’s asking a lot…but…..” she paused, nibbling her lip, trying to work up the courage to ask a huge favor of the strong military man standing next to her..
    “Yes?” Dude prodded her gently.
    “Will you hold my hand as we go out there?” Cheyenne looked up at him. “I know it doesn’t mean anything, but I don’t think I can face all of that,” she gestured toward the front of the store with her head, “right now.” Cheyenne could feel her face flame. She was so embarrassed, but she’d never felt as alone as she did looking at the