Page 12 of Broken Mountain Man

And I wanted to be the one to help her find that woman. The real Brittany, fierce and passionate and unafraid.

And me? I was the broken mountain man who was beginning to heal.

All because of this woman. A woman the universe had sent me to rescue, when in fact, she had rescue me from the solitude I’d worn around myself like armor.

“Good,” I said, pulling her closer. “Because we’re just getting started.”

She smiled, wicked and confident in a way it hadn’t been before. “What else did you have in mind?”

“Well,” I drawled, already hardening again at the thought of taking her again. “There’s the shower. The kitchen counter. That chair by the window.” I rolled her beneath me again, settling between her thighs. “I plan to have you everywhere in this cabin before you leave.”

Heat flared in her eyes. “That sounds... thorough.”

“I’m a thorough man, sweetheart.” I kissed her neck, tasting salt and satisfaction. “And I meant what I said about just getting started.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Brittany

I slipped out of bed before dawn, careful not to wake Elias, and padded to the bathroom on shaking legs. Every muscle in my body ached in the most delicious way, and I was pretty sure I had beard burn in places that would make me blush for a week.

But lying there in his bed, wrapped in sheets that smelled like him and sex, I’d felt more like myself than I had in years. Maybe ever. This wasn’t the Brittany who apologized for taking up space, who made herself smaller to fit into other people’s expectations. This was someone new. Someone who took what she wanted and didn’t apologize for it.

I stared at myself in his bathroom mirror—hair wild, lips swollen, marks on my neck and shoulders where he’d been less than gentle. The woman looking back at me didn’t look ashamed or embarrassed.

She looked satisfied. Confident.

She looked like someone who’d finally figured out who she was supposed to be.

The contrast was stark—this confident, satisfied woman versus the anxious people-pleaser I’d been just days ago. The Brittany who’d gotten lost in the woods had been running from her life. This Brittany looked ready to claim one.

But what kind of life? And where?

I splashed water on my face, trying to get my thoughts in order. Because reality was creeping in around the edges of this perfect bubble we’d created, and I needed to figure out what the hell I was going to do.

My life, such as it was, was waiting for me in the city. My job expected me back on Monday. The thought of walking back into that soul-crushing place made my skin crawl. Sitting in my beige cubicle under those fluorescent lights, processing insurance claims for people I’d never meet, pretending to care about coverage limits and deductibles…

How had I convinced myself that was living? How had I settled for so little for so long?

And my apartment—that tiny studio with its view of nothing, where I ate takeout alone and watched movies or the newest sitcom until I fell asleep on my lumpy couch. Where the most exciting thing that happened was when the upstairs neighbor had loud sex on Tuesday nights. Where I’d lived like a ghost haunting my own life.

The thought of going back to my beige existence, made my chest tight with panic.

The thought of leaving Elias made my whole body shake.

I’d found something here. Someone.

This cabin had become more of a home in two days than my apartment had been in three years. Everything here felt real—the worn wooden floors under my bare feet, the smell of coffee and freshly chopped wood, the way the light filtered through the trees like a green kaleidoscope. Even the silence felt different here. Not empty and lonely like it was in the city, but full of possibility.

And Elias. Elias. He looked at me like I was something worth fighting for. Like I was enough exactly as I was. When was the last time anyone had looked at me like that? When had anyone made me feel like I was worth taking a risk for?

I got dressed in yesterday’s clothes and made my way to the kitchen. I started a pot of coffee and stepped out onto the front porch.

The morning was perfect. Crisp air, a hint of fog rolling over the mountains that stretched endlessly in every direction. I settled on the wooden steps, trying to sort through the chaos in my head.

Two days. I’d known this man for two days, and I was considering throwing away my entire life for him.

The smart thing would be to go back. Thank him for the incredible night, exchange numbers, maybe visit sometime. Keep my job, my apartment, my safe little life that never asked too much of me.

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