Page 15 of My Mountain Man Stalker
Hale
I step outside and suck in a breath like it’ll purge the heat she left in me. It doesn’t.
The night air bites. Mountain cold. Pine and frost and smoke. But none of it’s enough to douse the fire raging under my skin. My heart’s still hammering like I just walked out of a war zone.
I almost kissed her.
I almost lost control.
And Jesus, what would’ve happened if I had? If I’d let my hands roam down her back, slipped my fingers into her hair, tasted her mouth like I’ve dreamed of doing foryears?
She would’ve let me. Hell, she wanted it. I saw it in her eyes, in the way she leaned in like I was gravity and she couldn’t help but fall. And God help me, I wanted to fall with her.
But I can’t.
Iwon’t.
Not until this is over. Not until she’s safe. Not until I’m damn sure I’m not just another man using her trust against her.
I pace along the porch, jaw clenched, fists balled at my sides. The stars are bright overhead, the moon a pale sliver cutting through the trees. Everything’s still.
Too still.
Snap.
My head jerks toward the sound. A twig breaking—distant, but not distantenough.
I freeze.
My body reacts before my mind catches up, falling into old instincts. I scan the tree line. No movement. No light. Just shadows pressing in from every direction. I step off the porch, silent, smooth, listening for anything else.
Nothing.
But that sound wasn’t natural.
It wasn’t an animal.
And it sure as hell wasn’t the wind.
I spin back toward the cabin and move fast, two long strides to the door. I swing it open and find Wren still standing in the living room, eyes wide.
“Bedroom. Now,” I bark.
She jumps but doesn’t argue. “What is it?”
“Just go,” I say, already crossing to the gun cabinet. I grab my rifle, check the magazine, slam it shut. “Lock the door.”
She hurries down the hall, disappearing into my room. I hear the lock click a second later.
I shoulder the rifle and step back outside.
This time, Idon’tjust listen.
Ihunt.
I move through the trees like I was born in them, every step calculated, slow, deliberate. My eyes adjust fast, my ears tuned to every small shift in the air. Branches. Wind. Animals.
But no voices. No scent of smoke. No second snap.
