Protector of the Mountain (The Mountain Men of Fox Hollow Book 2) Read online

  Slow dancing in the rain, our clothes get soaked through. She is small against me, her body fitting perfectly against mine. She rests her head on my chest and I rest my hand on her back.

  “Can you sing?” I ask.

  She laughs again, that soft kind of laughter that is both happy and sad. Hopeful. “Terribly.”

  “Me too. But I feel like we need a song. Our song, for our first dance.”

  She starts humming, and it’s a melody I know.

  “Little darling, it's been a long cold lonely winter,” I sing, poorly.

  She looks up at me and we sing Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles. We can’t remember all the words, but we know enough to have us laughing and smiling, the rain on our faces and our shoulders, drenching us.

  “There’s no sun right now, though,” I say as we finish our off-key rendition.

  “I know,” she laughs, wrapping her arms around my neck. I pull her closer, both my arms holding onto her. “But that’s what comes after the rain.”

  “I don’t want the rain to go anywhere. Don’t want you to go anywhere.”

  She closes her eyes. “It’s not midnight yet,” she says.

  I kiss her again, harder now, with need. Then I lift her up, into my arms, and open the door to the dry sauna that was built next to the patio.

  “Oh wow, this is unexpected,” she says. I set her down and watch as her eyes take in the tile floor, the hooks on the wall, the bench where you can change before you enter the sauna.

  “I’ve never shared this space with someone,” I admit to her. “My grandparents were from Finland. They had a sauna at their place and I always loved it as a kid. I told myself when I was grown, I’d build one too.”

  “Do they live around here?”

  “They did. Passed away from old age. My ma, she was sick while I was growing up, and she died when I was finishing school. Never knew my dad. I’m all that’s left of my family now.” I run a hand over my jaw. “What about you?”

  “Just Tim and me. We were foster kids growing up. It’s never been easy. Now we live off the grid. No one could find us if they tried.”

  “Who would try?” I ask, frowning as I flip on a switch so I can warm the sauna up.

  “Uh, no one,” she says, but her eyes darken. I don’t press.

  I show her the bathroom where there’s a shower, and plenty of towels.

  “Here you go,” I say, handing her one.

  She takes it from me. “He says the club is family, but if that’s what family feels like… I don’t know if I want that forever.”

  “What do you want?” I pull off my flannel shirt, step from my leather boots. My fingers on the button of my jeans.

  “I want to be settled. Safe.” She looks me over. The lighting in here is low, but I see her soft cheekbones, her delicate collarbone. “You’d think riding motorcycles would feel like freedom, but it doesn’t to me. It feels like I could end up anywhere.”

  I step toward her. “And you don’t want that?”

  She shakes her head as I set my hands on her hips. “No,” she says, looking up into my eyes and damn, it feels like the whole world changes right then, right there. She is mine. “I want to be grounded,” she tells me, her voice a whisper. But I hear her. “I want to know right where I belong.”

  “Princess,” I say, cupping her cheek with my calloused hand. “You belong right here. With me.”

  Rainey

  He kisses me softly, gently and with devotion. Like right here, holding me in his arms, is the one and only place he wants to be. It’s where I want to be too. I step closer, my mouth open, his tongue pressed against mine. I whimper with desire. I feel him, need him. Those novels I read have nothing on this moment, right here.

  “Come here,” he says, opening the door to the sauna. It’s warm, but not roasting. We stand, embracing, kissing, and heating up head to toe.

  I run my hand over his bare, chiseled chest, feeling protected in a way I’ve never felt before. His hand cups my bottom, and I close my eyes.

  “You okay?” he asks, his breath hot in my ear.

  I nod, lifting the hem of my dress up over my head. I’m in panties, but no bra. My tits aren’t huge, but when he looks at me, I feel beautiful. His eyes are filled with more than longing.

  For a moment, my heart hitches in my throat because I swear what I see is love.

  I blink the impossible thought away. He just met me. And I just met him.

  But still. Here we are. I’m offering myself to him, giving him all of me.

  I have one night. I won’t waste it.

  “God, you are beautiful,” he tells me, taking my breasts in his hand, caressing me like I am the most lovely thing he has ever held. I blink back the onslaught of emotion I wasn’t expecting. “Rainey, you’re shaking.”

  “It’s just… when you look at me… I feel like you see me, Reed.” I shake my head. “Which is ridiculous. I mean…”

  He smiles, pulling me closer. “I see you.”

  I exhale, relieved. Nervous and excited. Ready. “I’m a virgin,” I tell him.

  He runs his thumb over my cheek, the air thick. He lifts my chin so our eyes meet. “So am I.”

  “Oh.” My eyes search his in wonder. This man, this strong and rugged alpha of a man is a virgin? “Why? A man like you could have anyone…”

  “I didn’t want anyone.”

  A smile blossoms on my face and grows in my heart. “Am I what you want, Reed?”

  He groans. “Rainey, you are all I want.”

  I close my eyes, smiling so hard it hurts. When I open my eyes, he has taken off his jeans and boxers and his cock is thick, hanging between his legs.

  He’s huge, and my pussy whimpers with longing. God, I want this man to consume me, make me his princess. More. I want this night to last forever, but I know I have only a handful of hours. I won’t waste them.

  Shimming my panties past my hips, I lick my lips.

  “You’re perfection,” he says, kneeling on the wood planked floor. The heat of the sauna wraps around us in the most dizzyingly delicious way.

  He kisses my breasts, my belly, my pussy.

  “Sit here,” he tells me. “Let me see all of you.”

  Heat crawls to my cheeks, but not in an embarrassed way — it’s with excitement.

  “I want to take our time… since we’ve both waited so long,” he says. “Tell me what you like… how you like it…”

  “Honestly, I have no idea what I like, Reed. But I touch myself when I read books sometimes.”

  “What kind of books?”

  I smile, sitting on the bench. He kneels before me, massaging my breasts gently, my nipples growing hard. “Books where the hero saves the love of his life.”

  “And that makes you want to touch yourself?” he asks with a smile. His thick beard makes him look so manly, so in control, so ridiculously handsome that I want to run my fingers through it.

  “Not exactly… it’s what they do together that turns me on.”

  He pushes my knees apart, looking at all of me. “I want to turn you on, Rainey.”

  I moan as his mouth presses against my mound, my heart racing as this sexy man kisses me like I am a gift to be treasured. I’ve never felt so good in my entire life.

  He looks up at me. “I want you to feel safe, Rainey. Tell me if this is too much.”

  “It’s not too much. I want more.”

  He smiles. “Good, baby, because so do I.”

  His tongue runs up and down my slit and I whimper as it circles my clit, heat rising from my core as he sucks me gently, lapping up my wet releases as he takes me to the edge.

  It doesn’t take much. “When I get off… I come a lot,” I tell him, knowing how I’ve worked myself up to a frenzy, all alone at night.

  “God, you taste so good,” he says, licking me in a way that has me running my hands through his thick hair. Making me squeeze my eyes shut as the anticipation climbs. Ready to crash.

  “Oh, God, R
eed… I’m so close… I’m… Oh…” He sucks my clit until I’m gasping, back arching and body lit up from the inside out. He relentlessly pleasures me, his tongue circling me so fast that I’m moaning, my knees wide open and my pussy his to devour.

  My juicy release flows as he licks me up and down. My body shakes as the orgasm peaks, as my body lets go of everything it’s held onto all my life.

  “Happy birthday, baby,” he says, patting my pussy as he sits next to me on the bench.

  I laugh, the pure joy I feel coursing through me from his tongue alone. “I don’t know how you did that… but it was heavenly.”

  He pulls me closer, into his lap, and I love the thickness of his cock between us. “My goddamn pleasure.”

  “Can I make you come too?” I ask him. “Make you feel the way you made me feel?”

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want, Rainey,” he says.

  “I want this. I want to taste you, too.” I kiss him, tasting myself on his lips before sliding down to the floor. Kneeling before him the way he knelt before me. “I don’t want to mess up. I want to make you feel good. Because you made me feel… like a princess.”

  “You can’t mess this up, I promise.”

  On my knees, I take his cock in my hand. “You’re so big,” I sigh, licking my lips.

  He chuckles, running his hand through my hair, and I look up at him. Feeling so beautiful on my knees, naked and openhearted, his. He is such a man, saved himself for me, and that alone makes me feel like he will do anything to keep me safe.

  The thought turns me on, and I open my mouth, running my tongue up and down his ridged shaft. He groans as I take him, bobbing my head as I suck his thick cock.

  His balls are tight, and I run my hands over them, loving the weight of them as I take as much of him as I can in my mouth. My eyes lift, seeing his eyes closed, pure pleasure on his face. My pussy drips at the sight of him enjoying himself. It pleases me to satisfy him. My pussy is so hot as I suck him, as I run my tongue up and down his velvety ridges.

  “Fuck, I’m close, love,” he groans as I move faster, sucking him with a tight suction, wanting him to come in my mouth, my nipples hard and my clit on fire as he comes to the edge. I stroke him as I suck, then run my fingers over my slick cunt, lubricating his cock with my juice.

  “God, fuck,” he groans as he comes, hard. Ribbons of come fill my mouth; I don’t stop. I suck him hard, the way he licked me, and I smile as I do, loving the way his pure maleness erupts in my mouth, his salty seed sliding down my throat.

  When he finishes, I pull his cock from my mouth, stroking his gently as I crawl back up to the wide bench.

  “What next?” I ask, biting my lip, eyes bright.

  Reed

  As I lay a towel down on the bench, then guide Rainey onto her back, her eyes shine bright.

  “I heard someone say, once, that rain is just confetti from the sky,” I tell her, taking in her perfect curves, her innocent body. Untouched by any other man. She is mine.

  “So my name is like a little party,” she says.

  “Makes sense considering it’s your birthday.” I kiss her, climbing on top of her. “But I don’t think it’s very fair that you’re giving me the best present of my life. It’s you who should be getting all the gifts today.”

  “This is better than I ever imagined. You’re different, Reed,” she says as I ease myself inside her sweet hole.

  “A good different, I hope?”

  She smiles, her hand reaching to my cock, and together we guide my rod home. “The perfect kind of different. You aren’t like any man I’ve ever met.”

  “And you’re not like any woman.”

  She is more than beautiful; she’s gentle and funny and being in her presence relaxes me. Makes me see a future that is more than me on my own, here in the woods. I see a future with Rainey.

  “I don’t want to hurt you,” I say.

  “It’s okay.” She winces as I fill her and I kiss her softly, wanting to ease the pain. “Good thing you got me so damn wet,” she says with a soft laugh that fills the heated sauna with a warmth it’s never felt before.

  “There we go,” I murmur in her ear. “That’s better.” I fill her as slow as I can, and as she relaxes into the moment, I feel her shoulders fall, her belly expand. She makes space for me, and God, do I fill it.

  “Oh Reed,” she moans as I take her to the edge with a few gentle thrusts.

  We make love the way I always dreamt about, slow, kissing, our bodies melting together. The temperature of the sauna is set to low, and so it’s the perfect heat after the rainy night. Coupled with our intensity, the warmth builds as our desire grows.

  “Fuck,” I groan, lacing my fingers with hers as we move faster, her legs wrapping around me as we do more than get off. We grow closer. Closer. One.

  “I don’t want this night to end,” she whispers as the pleasure mounts. She gasps as I thrust inside her, her pussy slick as I take her deeper, kissing her perky tits, memorizing her every curve.

  “Oh Rainey, you’re mine,” I say as my seed fills her up, as our hearts unite. She comes against me hard, tears streaking her cheeks as the power of this union dawns on us both. There is no going back. Ever.

  I will protect her, whatever the cost.

  There is a roar of engines outside, and we both still, listening to the sound. “What is that?” she asks.

  I shake my head. “Not sure. Let me see.” There’s a flash of fear in her eyes. “It’s okay, I got you.”

  She bites her bottom lip as I pull on my jeans. There is shouting, and I hear her name being called.

  “Rainey, you here?” a man says.

  “Tim.” She looks at her watch. “Shit. We lost track of time.”

  “Fuck. It’s okay, though. Don’t worry. I can explain.”

  She laughs tightly. “Reed, you don’t get it.”

  “Get what?”

  She pulls on her dress. Her shoes. Grabs her jean jacket and purse.

  I run outside, ahead of her. She’s right, the bikers she came to the bar with are here on my property.

  “How did you know where I live?” I call to them.

  Tim stalks toward me. “You fuck my sister?”

  I clench my teeth. “That’s none of your fucking business.”

  “Where is she?” he asks. “She isn’t yours to have, you understand?”

  “She can do what she wants. She’s a grown woman.”

  “No, she fucking can’t.” Tim looks past me. Rainey is running up the steps.

  “I’m sorry Tim, I didn’t realize how late it was.”

  Tim glares at her. “Good thing the drunks at the bar are loose-lipped. Told me where this fucker lives.” Tim spits, looking around my place.

  “Rainey can stay here,” I say, not wanting to start anything with these men, but also not wanting Rainey to leave with them.

  “Oh can she?” Tim snorts. “What did you tell your little lover boy?”

  Rainey’s eyes darken. “It doesn’t matter. Let’s go.”

  “What?” I step toward Rainey, confused. “Where are you going? You can stay here. With me. We can—”

  She cuts me off. “I told you I had one night. One night. I don’t have more.”

  “We have all the time in the world.”

  She shakes her head. “I’m sorry, Reed. I didn’t mean to hurt you. But I have to go.” Tears fill her eyes, but she wipes them away, stepping toward her brother, getting on his bike. “And for the record,” she says as the engine starts. “I think you’re more of a Prince Charming than you give yourself credit for.”

  And then, just as quickly as they came, the bikes roar to life, and ride off. Away.

  She leaves of her own free will, without looking back.

  Whoever I thought Rainey was, I was wrong.

  Who knows if anything she said was true?

  But fuck — everything I said, felt, believed — there wasn’t a single lie in that.

&n
bsp; She’s gone as quickly as she came. Out of my life, but dammit, not out of my mind.

  Rainey

  I didn’t mean to lie by omission. But what was I supposed to tell the man of my freaking dreams?

  Oh, by the way, Reed, I have to do anything my brother says because if I don’t, I could go to jail.

  Because yes, I was a virgin, and yes I love to read… but this club my brother runs is more of a drug ring than anything else.

  And my hands are dirty.

  So, so dirty.

  I go where Tim goes because without his protection, whose do I have?

  Reed wasn’t a one-night stand — that was one night where I dreamed of a bigger, better life.

  But I could never stay. Reed is a good, honest, honorable man. He can’t seriously think we could work out. I’m too much of a mess for his true grit. Too much of a liability for his love.

  But God, it hurts to leave. To walk away without looking back.

  When we get to a motel, Tim asks if running off like a little slut was worth it.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” I tell him, walking past him to the bathroom, closing the door. His girlfriend Carly-Anne is in there, peeing in the toilet, and I don’t even look at her. I take off my clothes and turn on the shower, wanting heat. Warmth. To stand under the water until it runs cold, memorizing every detail from the night.

  “He’s pissed,” Carly-Anne says, pulling open the shower curtain to talk to me where no one else can hear. “When he realized you left the bar, he went apeshit. Beat some people up to find out where that guy lives. Now I have to deal with his bad mood. So thanks for nothing.”

  “I didn’t mean to piss him off. But I’m sick of running. Aren’t you?”

  Carly-Anne shrugs. “I don’t mind. Better than being homeless.”

  “We live in motels,” I say, squeezing the mini bottle of shampoo in my hand. “When will we ever get to stop?”