My Mountain Man Muse Read online

  “Or,” he continues, “you can rest your leg at my place and I’ll fix you up a bowl of hot soup.”

  That sounds a little more appetizing…

  “Just one question,” I say, sticking my finger in his face. He raises an eyebrow. “Are you an ax murdering lunatic?”

  “Is that a serious question?” He looks indignant.

  “No,” I say, laughing nervously. “Of course not!”

  My laughing slowly stops. “But are you?”

  He shakes his head as he looks at me with a slight grin on his amused face. “It seems to me that you’re the only one who’s actively trying to kill you.”

  I think back to my awkward rolling down the hill and nod. “Fair enough.”

  He turns around and starts carrying me back to the road.

  “Uh, where are we going?”

  “I’m taking you to my place.”

  His voice is firm, gruff, like there will be no discussion.

  No big deal.

  It’s going to be fine.

  God, I’m so sweaty.

  I’m just heading to my new friend’s house to hang out.

  My new muscular, reclusive, possibly psychopathic mountain man friend’s house.

  Nothing to worry about.

  Gulp.

  I’m so screwed.

  Chapter Three

  Lily

  For a kill cabin, it’s pretty damn cute.

  But that’s how ax murderers usually get you. One minute, you’re admiring the adorable little birdhouse on the wooden porch and the next minute, they’re creeping up behind you about to remove your head from your body. I won’t fall for that!

  “Are you okay?” he asks when I whip my head around. “Are you always this jumpy?”

  I want to play it cool and I don’t want him to think that he’s making me nervous so I nod. “Yes. I usually am.”

  He exhales long and hard and then walks into his cabin leaving the door open for me. I take one last look around for any mutilated limbs sticking out of the snow, but there’s nothing out of the ordinary.

  In fact, it looks just like a normal cute cottage nestled in the mountains. It’s made of mostly logs and you can tell that he takes good care of it. It has a fresh coat of paint on the shudders and the walkway and porch are well shoveled. It looks really cozy with snow on the roof and a stream of smoke coming out of the chimney. There’s an old light blue pickup truck parked on the side that looks like it could have belonged to my grandfather, but still looks to be in working order.

  I look up to the heavens and take a deep breath. “You wouldn’t do this to me, would ya?” I mumble to whoever is up there.

  When there’s no answer, I take a leap of faith and limp my way in.

  It’s a little log cabin with a stone fireplace that looks perfect to snuggle up in front of while reading a book. My eye is drawn to an old antique typewriter on the mantel. Wow. That’s cool.

  “Take a seat,” he says as he walks into the room. His hat and jacket are off and he’s looking pretty hot in an old tight gray t-shirt. “I’ll make some hot coffee for you.”

  “Hot coffee sounds great.” I’ve only had six cups today, I almost add, but then keep my mouth shut instead.

  I slip off my snow-covered hat and gloves, and then pull off my wet coat. My snow pants are a little trickier with my ankle thumping the way it is. I bend over and tug on my boot, and a loud involuntary scream shoots out of my mouth.

  He’s over in a second, gently lowering my body to the floor as he supports my ankle with his hand.

  “I better do it,” he mutters under his breath as he starts to unlace my boot.

  His hands are so big, but his fingers are quick and nimble. My heart is pumping as he gently slides my foot out without so much as a yelp from me.

  This is a good sign. Isn’t it?

  An ax murderer wouldn’t go through the bother of making sure I’m comfortable, would he? He’d probably just chop off my foot with his ax and save himself the trouble.

  “Okay, now stand up,” he says when both of my boots are off, “and put your hand on my shoulder.”

  I get a fluttering in my chest as I rest my palm on his round muscular shoulder.

  “Now, don’t move.”

  He tugs down my snow pants and my breath starts to quicken. My heart is pounding as he pulls them down past my hips.

  Shit! Why did I wear my dancing pug pajama bottoms?!?

  He lets out a chuckle under his breath as he slides my snow pants past my knees.

  “Laundry day,” I say as my cheeks start to heat up.

  “Mm-hm,” he grunts with a grin on his face.

  Every nerve ending in my body seems to be tingling as he slowly guides my ankles out of the snow pants.

  “Thanks,” I say as I release my sweaty palm from his shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I can walk to the—”

  I take one step and my stupid ankle folds like a house of cards. I drop down faster than my pulse is racing, but he’s quick and his strong sexy arms catch me before I hit the floor. He picks me up as if I’m weightless and carries me to the couch.

  All right. If this is what getting murdered is going to be like, sign me up.

  He gently lays me down as if I’m the most precious thing in the world and props my swollen ankle up on a pillow. It’s the first time I’ve seen it since the fall and it looks horrific.

  My ankle is no longer an ankle. It looks more like a bowling ball.

  “You’ll stay here until you heal up.”

  “Really?” I say, staring at him in shock. “But we don’t even know each other.”

  “I’m Jayden,” he says in a raspy voice. “What’s your name?”

  “Katie. I mean Lily.”

  I’m so distracted by his beautiful brown eyes that I forget my own damn name.

  “Which one is it?” he asks while he looks at me funny.

  I swallow hard. “Lily.”

  “All right, Lily. Now we know each other. I’ll go make the coffee.”

  My unblinking eyes widen as I watch him walk to the fireplace and throw a couple of logs in before he goes into the kitchen.

  Once he’s gone, my eyes dart back to the old typewriter on the mantel. I wonder if it works…

  There doesn’t seem to be a television in here and I would bet my life that he’s never even heard of a computer, let alone WiFi.

  Maybe I’ll ask him to bring the typewriter down so I can try it out.

  He returns a few minutes later with two steaming mugs of coffee and a bag of frozen peas under his arm. He hands me a cup and then places the frozen peas on my swollen ankle.

  “So, do you like… live up here all the time?” I ask.

  Maybe he’s a rich CEO who lives in the city and comes up here to unwind, or maybe he’s a famous actor who comes up here to get away from his adoring fans.

  “This is my home.”

  I should have known better. He looks like he was made to live up here.

  “I like it.”

  “It’s not for everybody, but it suits me.”

  “So, you live all alone like this? Do you have a girlfriend or a wife?”

  He shakes his head as he looks down at the coffee in his cup. “It never happened for me. I waited, but…”

  I’m leaning so far toward him that I’m about to fall off the couch before I catch myself. “Yes?”

  “It just didn’t happen,” he answers, looking like he’s going to expand on the topic but doesn’t, which is too bad because I’m insanely curious about it.

  I resist the urge to ask if he doesn’t have a girlfriend because he murdered her (I’m still not entirely unconvinced that he’s an ax murderer).

  “I’m running low on firewood and I have to finish collecting the logs. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?”

  I nod as I watch him stand up.

  “Can I get you anything?”

  I glance behind him at the typewriter. “Does that work?”

 
He turns and smiles when he sees what I’m looking at. “That was my mother’s. It still works.”

  My fingers are itching to get to work as he brings it down, dusts it off, and puts on a fresh ribbon of ink. He gets a stack of white paper out of the cupboard and places it on the coffee table in front of me.

  Once he leaves, my fingers start flying across the keys and my story comes to life.

  Katie was having the worst day ever. Until a hot hunk of burning man named Evan came to her rescue. He was big and muscular and had a big juicy coc

  Too soon for that, Lily. Too soon.

  and he had beautiful brown eyes that were the shade of an old leather horse saddle.

  Katie was trapped on a pirate’s ship and had nowhere to escape to, but luckily Evan was there to keep her safe and warm.

  I grin like a madwoman as my fingers fly across the keys, filling up page after page as my novel starts coming alive.

  Chapter Four

  Jayden

  Each step through the snow away from her is painful.

  My chest is so tight that it hurts to breathe. I can’t get the feeling of her in my arms out of my head. Those soft curves… they’re going to ruin me.

  I stop and look up at the sky, trying to control the raging emotions that are ripping through my body. The fat flakes of snow are floating down between the tall trees, covering everything, including me. A snowflake sails into my eye and I keep walking as it melts and runs down my cheek.

  How am I going to live up here now that I know she’s in the world?

  It was easy before. Other women never did much for me. They had no appeal. But with Lily, I don’t know… everything has changed with Lily. I don’t know how I got this far without her, but now that I have her, I’m not going to let her go.

  She’s fucking gorgeous. Beautiful brown hair, blue eyes that are bursting with life, dancing pug pajamas… I chuckle as I remember how ridiculous they looked, but then my pulse starts racing when I remember how soft her curves felt underneath them. Her curvy hips made my mouth water and it took everything I had not to rip those pajama bottoms off her and take what she had hiding underneath.

  Fuck. I continue through the snow, feeling a decade of pent-up arousal coursing through me.

  I’ve been up here for ten years on my own. Never wanting anything but freedom.

  But now… fuck, now everything has changed.

  I want her.

  Badly.

  I hope she wants me too, because she’s going to get me.

  At first, I was annoyed when I heard her, stomping through the snow like all of those loud city folk who are always trespassing on my mountain. The Miller’s may own a cabin, but this is my mountain. I know every inch of it.

  I walked over to give them a warning to stay off my property, but then I saw her.

  I’ve never had a reaction to a girl like that before.

  My breath quickened, my chest fluttered, my head went all light and airy. I almost dropped the log I had balancing on my shoulder as I stared in awe.

  There was just something about the way she was talking to herself so passionately, waving her hands around like a damn maniac. It got to me. I could tell she was full of life. Full of passion. Full of something special, and whatever it was, I wanted it in my life too.

  I wanted her.

  The sight of her all bundled up like a Christmas present ready to unwrap—ready to undress—to discover all of the sweet warm treasures hidden underneath had my cock hardening in my pants.

  After she hurt herself, it just amplified the emotion.

  Seeing her so helpless, so vulnerable, sparked something deep and dark in me. I just had to take her.

  I’ll take care of her. I will. But I want something in return. I want her in my bed with her swollen ankle behind her head.

  My breath is still huffing as I return to the spot where we first met. I remember her looking up at me with those sexy doe-like eyes. They staggered me, but then she opened her mouth and started screaming as loud as she could.

  I grin as I remember it. She’s just the kind of girl I’ve been waiting for. No, the girl I’ve been waiting for.

  She’s too innocent for me. She’s too pure for what I have planned.

  The thoughts circulating in my head on repeat are all too primal and barbaric for her. They’re too dirty.

  I reach into my pants to adjust my hard throbbing cock and then end up stroking it instead as I think about what I want to do to those curves.

  My hand stops and my breath catches in my chest when I see a glint of silver sticking out of the snow. It’s right where she was rolling around like a maniac as she tried to get away from me.

  I walk over with my heart pounding, reach down, and take it. The key to her cabin.

  I’m not giving it to her. She might want to leave me. She might want to return home and I’ll never see her again.

  I can’t have that. I would die knowing she’s out there where anyone can just take her if they wanted to. No, she’s staying with me.

  I slide the key into the inside pocket of my coat and zip it up.

  She’s all mine.

  With a grin on my lips, I walk over to the log I was carrying before I had her beautiful body in my arms and kneel down. It’s huge and just what I need to work off some of this edginess she’s got me feeling.

  I slide my arm under it and with a grunt, I heave it up and onto my shoulder. Chopping wood always relaxes me, but this time I’m not sure if it’s going to cut it.

  I feel like the only thing that will take the shakiness out of my body is going to be climbing onto Lily’s eager and willing body and sinking my hard cock deep inside her.

  “Fuck,” I grunt as I start carrying the massive log up the hill. I hope she wants that too.

  I take my time, walking and thinking and lingering about. I’ve been gone a while and it’s getting dark when I finally get back. I drop the log beside my chopping block with a grunt of relief and turn to look at the cabin.

  She’s in there.

  My heart starts fluttering a little faster. I still can’t believe there’s a woman in my place, let alone a woman as spectacular and intriguing as Lily.

  I quietly walk into the cabin and feel my heart do a little flip when I see her sleeping on the couch. My woolen blanket is pulled up to her chin, hiding her breathtaking body.

  That’s okay. Her gorgeous delicate face is enough for me.

  I stand there for a few minutes, awe-struck as I memorize every stunning feature. She looks so peaceful as she sleeps there and I feel a wave of gratitude rush through me.

  She could have rented any cabin in the state, but she rented the Millers’. I could have been anywhere on this giant mountain, but I was near her when she fell.

  It was meant to be. We were meant to be.

  I just hope she understands that. I just hope I can show her that.

  My fingers are tingling and my nerve endings are on fire as I go to her and carefully slide my arms under her delicate body.

  She moans and shifts as I pick her up, holding her to my chest like she’s the most precious thing in the world because to me, she is.

  Her eyes stay closed, but a smile lights up her face as she turns her head toward me. My heart feels like it’s going to explode as I look down at her happy peaceful face.

  I can’t remember the last time I’ve felt like this before.

  How can I let this girl go? I can’t. I have to have her. All of her.

  Fuck, I’m already becoming obsessed. I can feel it growing within me, taking me over one cell at a time.

  With her intoxicating smell tickling my nostrils, I bring her into my room and carefully lay her onto my bed. She lets out a moan as I slowly pull out my arms from under her.

  I’m not going to touch her until she’s asking me to, until she’s begging me to, but I can’t resist touching her skin just once.

  I slowly lean down and press my lips to her forehead. I give her a gentle kiss and when I
stand back up, she’s got a big smile on her face.

  And just like that, I’m already in love.

  Chapter Five

  Lily

  My ankle feels worse than ever when I wake up in the morning. Every movement is excruciating as I push myself up to a seated position.

  I gasp and my eyes fly open when I realize that I’m laying in Jayden’s bed. That explains the dirty dreams I had all night.

  I glance at the open door and then stealthy bring his sheets up to my nose and breathe in his rich masculine scent. Oh yeah. It’s like breathing in a big fat bowl of happiness.

  I’m already wet when I wake up. My pussy is burning.

  I stare at the door as my hand slides down my stomach. I need some relief so badly. Just as I reach my throbbing clit, a loud crack rips through the room and I jerk my hand back up with a gasp.

  What the hell, Lily?!? You weren’t just about to do that in a strange man’s bed, were you?

  What has gotten into me?

  Another loud crack hits the room and then it’s constant, one coming from outside every twenty seconds or so like a gunshot ringing through the forest. At first, it has me on edge until I remember that Jayden said he needed firewood and he’s probably making it right now.

  With a grunt, I swing my swollen ankle off of the bed and slowly get up to my feet. I lean on the wall, taking as much weight off of it as I can, and awkwardly shimmy my way into the kitchen. I smell something delicious that he cooked. Sausage and bacon maybe?

  Holy….

  I forget all about the breakfast when I see Jayden in the back chopping firewood. Shirtless.

  My mouth falls open in disbelief, in delight, in desire, when I see him standing in the snow swinging the ax over his head. He brings it down hard on the log, splitting it as every hard muscle in his gorgeous body flexes.

  “What a view,” I mutter to myself as I ignore the spectacular mountains behind him in the distance. My lust-filled eyes roam over his massive chest and sculpted arms. His abs are shredded and seem to continue down forever into his jogging pants that are hanging ridiculously low on his hips. His hard pelvis is showing and if I crane my head to the side just far enough, I can see the tip of his pubic hair.