Page 10 of Chased By the Mountain Man

The sound of a scream makes my eyes snap open, my heart pounding with dread. I blink at the unfamiliar room, still disoriented from sleep, and it takes me a minute to remember where I am.

Trent’s cabin. Snowfall Ridge.

I lie still for a moment, shaken, trying to breathe slowly.

I must have been dreaming. Somebody screamed in my dream and it woke me up.

But then I hear it again, even louder than before.

“AHHH! NO!”

On the other side of the wall, I can hear the sound of movement. Springs squeaking. Like somebody thrashing around on a mattress.

“Trent,” I gasp, leaping out of bed.

Oh God. Please let him be okay.

I dart out of the guest room and fling the door to Trent’s room wide open, flicking on the light. My stomach churns with fear. Trent is covered in sweat, shouting out words I can’t understand, clawing at the sheets. But his eyes are shut. He’s asleep.

“FALL BACK!” he grunts, writhing around like he’s in pain. “FALL BACK!”

“Trent!” I cry, rushing to his side and resting my hands on his shoulders, trying to gently shake him awake. “Trent, it’s okay! It’s alright.”

With a guttural cry, his eyes snap open. He’s panting hard like he just ran a marathon, and for a while he stares blankly up at the ceiling. Then he starts to blink, his body relaxing, his face melting into a look of confusion. His gaze finds me.

“Jasmine?”

Relief floods through me as he seems to come back to himself. “You were having a nightmare, Trent. You were…you were screaming.”

My heart is still banging against my chest, my breath coming out in panicked gasps, and immediately Trent’s face fills with concern.

“Fuck, I’m sorry. That must have scared the shit out of you.”

I shake my head. “It’s not your fault. Don’t worry about me. Are you okay?”

Trent pushes himself up into a sitting position, and the covers fall away from his chest. I get a glimpse of his thick muscles and black tattoos, along with more scars. There’s a puckered mark beneath his collarbone that looks like it came from a bullet wound, and my heart twinges at the sight of it. When Trent told me he was a veteran, I could tell it was a sensitive subject for him. Now I can see why. It looks like being in the military literally tore this man to shreds.

“I’m okay,” Trent says, frowning like he’s annoyed with himself. “Sorry for scaring you. I should have warned you this might happen.”

“Does it happen a lot?” I ask gently, sitting down on the bed.

He shrugs. “Couple of times a week. It’s better than it was.”

Something tells me Trent would hate for me to feel sorry for him, but I can’t help it. My giant mountain man rescuer is the biggest, strongest man I’ve ever seen, but that’s only half the story. He’s clearly suffered a lot, and I wish I could save him the way he saved me.

“It must be really scary for you,” I tell him, absent-mindedly reaching out to touch his arm. My fingertips tingle at the contact, but I don’t pull away. “I guess you’re dreaming about the things you saw in the military?”

Trent’s jaw tightens but he nods.

“It might make you feel better to talk about it,” I say softly. “I know it can’t be easy, but things usually feel less scary once you get them out in the open.”

Trent sighs. “I’m not gonna make you sit here and listen to all my shit, Jasmine.”

“You’re not making me do anything. I want to listen.” I look at him defiantly. “You listened to my story and you helped me. Let me do the same for you.”

He considers me for a moment, those intense brown eyes rooting me to the spot, and I can tell he’s having some kind of internal battle with himself.

“Alright,” he says eventually. “What do you want to know?”

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