Page 32 of Trapped by the Mountain Man

He loops an arm around me, gripping my shoulder and pulling me in.

My nose squashes against his warm chest, a sense of peace and joy flooding my insides. I’m sitting here with the best friend I’ve ever had, never wanting to leave. But it’s become so much more than that – it’s become theneedto stay here forever.

It’s something I’ve never felt before. My life back home was always so planned out, right down to my dinner every single night. The microwave meals I purchased from the store were always the same, just peel off the plastic and shove it in the microwave.

It’s nothing like letting the trickle of freshwater move around your ankles, dipping your hands in while your back aches for that fucking fish to come.

It’s a life I never knew I’d love.

And now Colt is holding me, I can’t help but feel like this is a man, a big burly, brunt of a man at that… But a man that I never thought I would fall so fucking in love with.

“I don’t want to leave,” I say, my breath teasing the hairs on his broad chest. “I want to stay here forever.”

His arms clench. Like he’s holding me to my words or something.

“I want that, too.” Colt holds me tighter again. “We can stay the night. I can prepare the land.” He lets go of me and drops to his knees. His blue eyes match the glacial blue of the thermal springs in front of us, the backdrop of rocky ground like the gravel of his thickening beard. “You say the word and I’ll do it.”

My shoulders slump. “It sounds amazing, but we aren’t prepared, Colt. We’ll freeze.”

Like I’ve just challenged him, Colt bursts upright, his nostrils flaring, a big, brawny chest pumped full with mountain air.

“I’m always prepared, baby girl.”

He stomps away, leaving me to tend to the fire. I watch as he slices through some branches, stomping them and splitting some into shape. A few more minutes pass and I chuckle at the way he rips giant leaves off a thick fern shrubbery nearby and begins carrying them over to our resting place.

“What are you doing?” I ask, frowning at the growing heap of shredded forest in front of me.

He grunts, a scowl deep across his brow. “You’ll see.”

My body tingles at the way his face has hardened. His cheeks are tight, long hair being whipped from side to side as he works. He’s turned full on bear. Pure muscle sculpted across every perfect inch of his manly body. He rips through the thick leaves, biceps ridged with pulsing veins as he begins bashing some thick branches into the soft forest floor. He twists some kind of green string he’s plucked from somewhere behind us, wrapping it around two sticks so they hold together.

Before I can ask what the hell he’s doing, he’s tying up the final piece of the structure and laying the long leaves over it.Holy shit.He’s built a tent made from forest material in a matter of minutes. It’s not much, but if it rains or snows tonight, it will be enough to keep us dry.

He steps back, chest puffed out. He presses his big hands to his hips a serious smile spreads over his face. “Shelter.”

I laugh. “Thank you, Mr. Caveman. What’s next?”

He points to the ground where the bones of the salmon remain. “Food. Gone. Me. Get more.”

My chest bounces, the grunting of Colt making my belly rumble with bouncy laughter. “Very funny. But I wouldn’t recommend going full caveman… You know they had small peckers, right?”

Colt’s eyes go wide, and he peers down his trousers. “No. Me. Big.”

He stumbles over and lays beside me. We lay there, laughing uncontrollably as night falls above us. The fire remains bright as we lay in each other arms, eventually moving to the warmth of the thermal springs to make love under the stars one final time before Colt holds me all night long.

He cuddles me to sleep under the shelter.

I’ve never slept better.

***

We reach the cabin early the next morning and Colt’s hand slides from mine so he can tend to his chickens before coming inside. I step up the timber steps of the cabin, the shine glaring off the rental vehicle in the driveway catching my eye.

It’s a bright sunny morning, and the moisture hanging in the air catches in my throat. Despite the long walk back down the mountain, I can still feel Colt’s thick stubble tickling the back of my neck. I can still feel his hands around my soft belly, holding me as he snored into my back, his breath hot on my body all night.

I’ve never slept in the forest before. The noises that you hear can be frightening. The cracking of sticks beneath an unknown weight. The thump of the ground nearby, a hidden figure roaming in the shadows of the night. The gentle splashing in the springs when you peer into pitch black darkness.

It should have been enough to keep me up all night.

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