Page 12 of Chased By the Mountain Man

Trent leans toward me, his eyes burning with interest. “But you changed your mind?”

“Not exactly.” I sigh, shame rising in my chest, making my skin prickle uncomfortably. “I had it all figured out. I was going to get a master’s degree after I graduated, but I lost my nerve.”

I feel like Trent’s eyes are piercing my soul as he asks, “What do you mean?”

“I just didn’t have the courage to go through with it,” I say sadly. “I started thinking about what would happen if I failed. If I was a bad counselor and couldn’t help people the way I wanted to. I’ve always been kind of anxious, and I started asking myself who the heck would want an anxious counselor. How am I going to help other people with their problems if I can’t even fix my own?” My words are running away from me, but I can’t seem to stop rambling now that I’ve started. “I decided that it was better to just forget about it. So I got a job at the bank instead. A boring, crappy job that I hate, but at least with data entry, I know I’m not going to…to ruin someone’s life by giving them the wrong advice or…or fail to help them when they need it most…or get so anxious that I don’t even know how to help them or what to do…” A tear slides down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away, feeling like an idiot. “God, I’m sorry, I can’t believe I’m crying about something so stupid after everything you just told me.”

“Jasmine.” Trent’s voice is firm. “It’s not stupid. Not at all. And for the record, I think you’d make a great counselor.”

I look at him. “You do?”

“Yes. All that shit I just told you? I’ve never talked about that stuff with anyone before, but you made me feel like I could open up to you.” He cocks his head. “And getting anxious, well, that just means you’ll be more understanding of people who have the same issues. You have experience that you can use to help. You don’t have to be a robot to be a good counselor. You’re human, and that will make you more relatable to your future clients.”

He says it with so much certainty, as if he knows for sure I’ll have future clients. I can’t help but smile. It reminds me of the way he told me he believed my story about Danny. The way he said it…it was like he’d never heard anything more convincing.

“Thank you, Trent.” I sigh, looking down at his hand which is still wrapped around mine. “I wish I could be brave like you. Then I wouldn’t be so scared. I’d be able to just go for it and do what I’ve always wanted to do.”

“You’re braver than you think, Jasmine.”

“I don’t feel it.”

“Well, you are.” Trent’s thumb gently brushes against the skin of my hand as he says, “But until you feel it, I can be brave enough for the both of us.”

It was easy to lose ourselves in conversation when we were talking about our deepest thoughts and feelings. But with the soft intimacy of Trent’s words, I’m suddenly more aware than ever that we’re alone in his room together, in bed, in his cabin up in the mountains with nobody around for miles but me and this handsome veteran. After everything he’s told me, I feel more connected to him than ever. I feel like he’s shown me his heart and soul, the deepest parts of himself, and it only makes me want him more.

My breath catches as I meet his gaze, and instantly it’s like the air has been sucked out of the room. He’s so unbearably handsome, so rugged and sexy with his thick beard and dark eyes. Desire is throbbing between my thighs, making me shiver. Then Trent starts to lean in, and my heart thumps so hard that I swear he must be able to hear it. His face is so close that I can count the flecks of gold in his brown eyes, and I swallow hard as I breathe in his musky, masculine scent. I look down at his mouth, anticipation swirling in my belly.

“You’re so damn beautiful, Jasmine,” he says, his voice deep and quiet, reverberating inside my brain, dancing up my spine.

He rests a hand on the back of my head, tangling his fingers in my hair. Then with a groan of surrender, he kisses me. His mouth is soft but firm, his beard rough against my chin as he dips his tongue between my lips. It’s desperate. Urgent. Our teeth clash, tongues sliding together as I lose myself in Trent’s raw taste, moaning as he claims my mouth. My whole body buzzes with energy as my sexy mountain man pulls me on top of him, never once breaking our kiss as he wraps his arms around me tight. Our bodies press together, his muscles hard against my softness.

“Oh!” I gasp against his mouth. I can feel his cock. It’s thick and swollen, pressing against me through the fabric of my panties. It makes me shiver to know I’m having this effect on him, and I moan against his lips, squirming with need as his hungry tongue fills my mouth. Instinctively, I start to grind myself against his hard length, desperate to relieve the tension between my thighs.

“Fuck,” Trent grunts, his hands reaching down to grab my ass as he helps me move back and forth. It feels so good. I can feel my panties slicken with arousal as I urgently rub myself on his cock, giving myself over to the horny animal urges pulsing through my body.

I need to come. I need it so bad.

My moans are frantic against Trent’s lips as he sucks on my tongue, and I feel my pussy start to flutter.

“Oh!”

I tremble as pleasure throbs between my legs, my orgasm zipping through me. Trent holds me tight as I come, kissing my neck as I whine, “Trent! Oh, yes!”

He doesn’t give me time to recover. A moment later, he rolls me onto my back, his eyes burning as he looks down at me. There’s so much lust in his gaze, so much need, that I swear my panties are melting.

“I’m gonna make you say my name again,” he says firmly, one of his hands gliding down my body. “But this time, you’re gonna scream it.”

6

Trent

Holy shit.

Tonight is turning into one hell of a rollercoaster.

When I woke up to Jasmine peering over me looking scared out of her mind, I felt awful. Night terrors have haunted me ever since I took my first bullet in Iraq, but after Syria, they got a whole lot worse. I never intended to open up to Jasmine about all that shit, but she’s so damn sweet, so gentle, that I started telling her everything without even realizing it. She saw the ugly parts of me, the dark scarred parts that I’m always trying to hide, and she didn’t run. She didn’t leave. Instead, she told me I was brave and even opened up about her own problems.

It felt right, sharing parts of myself with Jasmine…it felt good…even if it doesn’t change the fact that I’m a broken old veteran who doesn’t deserve her. I know it, but dammit, I still can’t resist. Seeing this curvy angel sitting on my bed just inches away from me, looking so adorable in my t-shirt…fuck, I had to kiss her. And even though the logical part of me knows I shouldn’t be giving into these desires, I’m too far gone. I need to see Jasmine come undone for me again. I need to taste her pussy until she screams for me.

---