Page 81 of Ten Mountain Men

I glance down and smirk, knowing I can’t be the only one in this state. Hunter’s hand is between her thighs, and whatever he’s doing has her hips bucking off the sleeping bag.

“Guys,” she gasps, “I…as much as I loved fucking both of you, I think my, um, ladybits are going to need a day or two before we go all the way again. I’m already limping ’cause my ankle, and now I’m gonna be bowlegged too.”

I hesitate and I guess Hunter does too, because she hastily adds, “But please, um, keep up what you’re doing.”

I latch onto her again, suckling on the sweetness of her.

“You really are fond of mountains, huh?” she teases, and I smile against her skin, and she doesn’t say anything else because after he laughs, Hunter silences her with a kiss.

We fool around for a few more minutes and that’s all it takes to get her to come for us again.

“Dear Lord,” she says. Her chest is heaving. She starts to say something more, but then just shakes her head and grins.

We all lie there, breathing heavy but otherwise quiet, until she asks, her voice tentative, “What now?”

“Well—” I prop myself up on an elbow, staring down at my gorgeous snapdragon. I stroke her cheek with the back of my knuckles and lean down to whisper in her ear, “Do you still want us all, baby?”

Her eyes flood with desire as she licks her lips and answers with a breathy yes. My flower wants us all to make her bloom. And I’ll be damned if I’m not going to make sure she gets whatever her heart—and other parts—desire.

“Well, all right then,” I say, unable to stop myself from licking my own lips. Then I look up at Hunter who is gazing at us, curious. I loop him in. “She wants us all.”

“I mean,” Goldie says, quickly, “not in an, um, happily ever after kind of way. I mean. Eventually…I do have a life, off the mountain. I can’t stay with you all forever. I don’t belong here in a permanent way.”

I push away the sadness that tugs at my heartstrings. I don’t want to think about her leaving. I know she’s only telling the truth, and I accept that. But I strongly disagree that her staying with us would be, how did she put it? A big disastrous mess.

“Well—” I clear my throat. “My offer still stands. When it’s time for you to go.”

Does she flinch a little, or is it my imagination? I sure hope I didn’t scare her.

“No pressure, though,” I add hastily.

“What offer is that?” Hunter asks.

“I told Gold I’d go back to Los Angeles with her. Maybe try to pursue a career in music.”

Hunter thinks on it for a minute, then nods. “We’d all support you in that, if it’s what you wanted.” He hesitates. “Well, you know. Most of us would.”

I sigh. I’d never get Luke’s blessing.

“Let me guess. The holdout would be Luke?” Goldie asks. “He wouldn’t support you going after your dreams?”

It’s more complicated than that.

“It’s more complicated than that,” Hunter says, as if he’s read my damned mind. “If Brooks would go and get famous, that would shine a lot of attention on who he is and where he came from. Folks’d be curious about his upbringing and his roots.”

“His roots which are up here on this mountain,” Goldie fills in. We nod.

Gold sighs. “Yeah, you’re right about that, I’m afraid. If you become a celebrity…privacy is tough, and all of your adoring fans will definitely want to know where you grew up, about your family, etc.”

“And that, my dear sunshine, would freak Luke the fuck out. Any reason for people to come nosing around up here again.”

She bites her lip, glancing from Hunter to me and back again. I don’t want to be out of line, but part of me wants to ask if maybe we can shelve this conversation for later and just mess around some more. It makes me wish that I hadn’t brought up going to Los Angeles at all.

“Have…have you all really been exploited that much?” she asks, her voice soft and gentle like she truly cares. “Do a lot of people come poking around?”

Hunter and I exchange a look. It’s him that speaks up.

“It’s been a while since we’ve had much attention, and we like it that way. A ways back, it was a pretty regular thing. Some rich guy put up a big reward for a photograph of a Sasquatch and drummed up a lot of interest. Then there was an accident and that drummed up even more interest.”

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