Page 19 of Saved By the Mountain Man

Her fighting had never been so deliberate… and she’d never been that fucking hot.

God, it seemed the angrier she became, the more beautiful she was—a creature made of hellfire.

I’d taken her on because how could I not? How could I send her away when she’d had so much to work through?

This time, though, it had been me. I was the reason she was so angry.

It had stirred up something deeper, something I wasn’t ready to face.

I shook my head, trying to clear the tangle of my thoughts. I was supposed to be suspicious of her, supposed to keep my distance. I didn’t know why she was here or what she wanted. Why the hell she’d ended up on my property yesterday.

But every time I tried to stay away from her, I found myself thinking about her more, drawing closer when I saw her.

Kissing her.

Nearly fucking her.

Jesus, that had been a close call.

The way she looked at me, the fire in her eyes, the vulnerability she tried so hard to hide… It was like she had a direct line to my heart, a heart I thought I had closed off years ago when I left Seattle.

My axe fell forgotten on the ground as I sank down onto a fallen log. Memories of Rae and me in Seattle flooded back—late-night talks, shared dreams, the way she’d fit perfectly in my arms. Our home—small but perfect because she was in it. Photos I’d posed for even though I shouldn’t have allowed her to take any.

I hadn’t let myself think about those times since I left. It was too painful, too raw. But now, with her back in my life, it was like a dam wall had broken, and all those memories rushed back like stormwater, demanding to be acknowledged.

I picked up a piece of bark and started carving it with my knife, the repetitive motion giving my restless hands something to do.

How could I reconcile the love I still felt for Rae with the fear that she might be here to drag me back into the darkness I had fled?

The crunch of leaves underfoot broke through my thoughts, and I froze.

Bear appeared from behind a tree. He hadn’t tried to hide his coming—if he had, I wouldn’t have heard him until he was on top of me.

Or, if he wanted, until after I was already dead.

His tall frame cut an imposing figure among the trees. He carried himself with pride, upright and tall, but his movements were silent. He’d been trained by the best. I didn’t know the best ofwhat.

His thick beard had been trimmed, but his brown hair, gray at the temples, was a mess. It only made him look more rugged, moremountain.

“Thought I’d find you out here,” Bear said, his voice deep.

I offered a half-hearted smile. “Needed to clear my head. Should be stocking up for winter.” I nodded at the axe on the floor.

Bear nodded, dropping down onto the log beside me. “Winter’s coming quick. Unless you want to spend the winter in town this year.”

I snorted. That wasn’t happening. Ineverstayed in town unless I was forced to, and Bear knew that. He was just fucking with me.

He took out a piece of dried meat, wrapped in a paper bag, and used a knife similar to mine to cut off half of it. He offered it to me.

He cut another piece and stuck it between his teeth, chewing.

“Wanna talk about it?” he asked around the meat in his cheek.

I’d cut a smaller piece off and I was chewing on the smoky game meat, too.

“Nothing to say.”

Bear side-eyed me and cut off another piece.

---