Page 16 of Her Mountain Rescuer

I nod, taking a sip of my own. It’s palatable. Barely. “I’ve been paying attention, Hailey. How could I not?” I pass her one of the protein bars. “It’s not much, but it should hold us over until we get back to town.”

She smiles and blows steam away from the rim of her mug. “It’s perfect. Thank you.”

We eat in comfortable silence, sneaking glances at each other like two smitten teenagers. I can’t stop looking at her. I’m rapt at the way the morning sun picks up the threads of gold in her hair. At the way she looks lit from within. Ethereal, almost. Fuck, I want her again. I want to pull her into my lap and kiss her until neither of us can breathe. But I don’t. We need to get moving.

When we’re done, I gather up everything and re-pack my bag, hauling it onto my shoulders. “Are you okay to carry yours, or do you want me to take it?”

She shakes her head. “I can do it. I was only planning on being out for a couple of hours, so there isn’t much in it.” Then she stands, wincing when she puts weight on her ankle.

“Okay?” I ask, ready to scoop her into my arms. I don’t want her in any pain, ever.

She takes a breath and then nods. “It’s not great, but I’ll manage.”

“We’ll go as slow as you need,” I say, unintentionally echoing my words from last night. Our gazes meet and heat shimmers between us.

“Are you sore?” I ask, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. From the way she blushes, she knows I’m not talking about her ankle.

“Yeah, a little. But…” she looks away, her cheeks the sweetest shade of pink. “I like it.”

I kiss her, soft and slow. “Maybe tonight you need a little princess treatment.”

She arches an eyebrow at me. “Go on.”

“I’m thinking a massage, a warm bath, lots of sweet Daddy kisses to make your sore little pussy feel better.”

Her face goes red and she sighs. “Yes, please.”

My cock throbs in response. Just the thought of taking care of her has me half-hard.

She swings her pack onto her back and then shoots me a tentative smile. “I’m ready. I just wish we could stay in our little bubble.” She glances around the cabin and sighs. “I…don’t know how I’m going to tell my dad about this. About us.”

I take her hand, weaving my fingers with hers and giving her a reassuring squeeze. “We’ll figure it out together, Hails. I meant what I said last night. I’m in this, no matter what. We’re together.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “I love you, and nothing that happens can change that.”

She smiles softly, relaxing. “I love you, too.”

“We’ll figure out how to keep this. No matter what.”

“Even after my dad finds out?” I can see the worry written across her pretty face. Truth be told, I’m worried too. Logan’s going to freak out. I can’t see a scenario where he finds out and doesn’t. He’s always been protective of Hailey.

“Especially then. You’re mine, Hailey. Nothing changes that.”

She nods. “Maybe until we…we figure out how to tell him, we keep this to ourselves. Not indefinitely, obviously. But…for a little while.” She looks up at me, biting her lip. “Is it selfish that I don’t want to share this with him yet? Because I know he’ll be mad and it’ll be…” She shakes her head. “I just want to enjoy the fact that I’m actually getting to live out my one and only fantasy. That I’m living in a wish come true.”

“I get that, and I don’t think it’s selfish. We’ll figure out how to tell him, together. When the time’s right.”

“When the time’s right,” she repeats, looking less worried than she was a moment ago.

I drop a quick kiss on the top of her head. “Let’s get you home.”

Six

Hailey

It’s been a week since I went on the hike that changed my life, and to say that I don’t recognize my day to day life anymore is probably an understatement. Beau and I have spent every single minute that we haven’t been at work or busy with other obligations together. He comes to my place and we cook dinner, watch a movie and then fuck until we can’t move. We go for long drives in his Jeep, taking in the fall colours as we talk and talk, and then find a place to park and make out like teenagers. If we didn’t spend the night together, he stops by my place in the morning with coffee from my favourite coffee shop. We relax on his gorgeous back deck, drinking wine around the fire, talking about anything and everything before he carries me up to his gigantic bed and makes me come my brains out.

Being with Beau is everything I could’ve ever wanted and so much more. He’s my home. My safe haven. My protector. My Daddy. My everything. We’re perfect together. Absolutely perfect.

We still haven’t told my dad though. It’s not that we’re deliberately trying to hide anything. We’re just…waiting. For the right time. And we’re enjoying having our relationship all to ourselves. It’s a delicious little secret that no one knows about except us, and I have to admit, it makes everything we do that much hotter.

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