Page 49 of Saved By the Mountain Man

I shook my head and squeezed my eyes shut. “Fuck.”

When I looked at him again, he blinked at me, confused that I swore. “What?”

“You’re the opposite of everything I’ve had the past couple of years,” I said.

In vino veritas,right? I was saying a lot more than I should.

“What does that mean?”

“You’re so willing to stand back and let me be. Let me believe, let me leave.”

“I can’t control you.”

“That’s not what everyone believes. Jethro thought he could control me like a puppet, pulling strings to make me do just what he wanted.”

Shit, I was saying too much.

Tanner’s eyes darkened, but he remained silent, waiting for me to continue.

“At first, I didn’t see it,” I continued with a sigh, the wine loosening my tongue, my mind too slow to catch up. “He was charming, attentive. After you, I just wanted someone tochooseme. You know?”

Tanner watched me, his expression stoic.

“But slowly, he started to take over every aspect of my life. He decided who I could see, where I could go, what I could do.”

I saw Tanner’s jaw tighten, his hand clenching into a fist around the stem of the wine glass, and I thought it would snap.

“I didn’t realize who he really was until it was too late,” I continued, the words tumbling out. “But I guess that’s how it is, huh?”

“What?” Tanner asked, finally speaking.

I looked up at him. “You never know until it’s too late.”

He knew I was talking about him now, about us. He shook his head and looked away.

“You don’t know everything,” he said.

“Then tell me.”

“As if you’re tellingmeeverything!”

I bristled. “Damn it, Tanner.” I pursed my lips. “Why are you the death of me, and the air I breathe, at the same time?”

I blinked. I realized what I’d just said.

He stood and took my hand. He led me to the couch, sitting down with me. He held onto me, and I fit against his body perfectly, like we were made for each other.

“I’m sorry, Rae,” Tanner said, his voice deep and quiet. “I’m so fucking sorry.”

Then he kissed me.

The next morning, the sun woke me, falling through the window, casting a warm glow into the room, but it was filtered through a flurry of snowflakes.

The first snow was falling.

I snuggled deeper under the thick furs, the weight of Tanner’s arm draped over my waist grounding me.

We hadn’t gotten around to drawing the thick light-blocking curtains. One thing had led to another. Tanner’s kisses always melted me, and when he’d pulled me on top of him, his muscular body writhing beneath me, hard for me, I’d given myself to him.

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