Page 12 of Tension with the Mountain Man
My heart restarts. "Sally—"
"I know it's fast. I know we've only known each other a week. But I've never felt like this before. Like I found something I didn't even know I was looking for."
I set our bowls aside and pull her fully into my lap. "Tell me you're staying."
"I'm staying." She frames my face with her hands. "If you want me to."
"If I want—" I cut myself off with a kiss, pouring everything I feel into it. "Sally, I want you here more than I've wanted anything in my life."
"Good," she whispers against my lips. "Because I already decided. I'm telling them no on Monday."
After, we play chess. She's gotten better at anticipating my strategies, and tonight she actually beats me with a clever bishop sacrifice I didn't see coming.
"Rematch," I demand, already resetting the board.
"Tomorrow." She yawns, curling deeper into my side. "I'm too tired to think anymore."
"Want me to go so you can sleep?"
"No." Her hand tightens on my shirt. "Stay. Please."
We move to her bedroom, and I hold her while she falls asleep, her breathing evening out against my chest.
This has become my favorite part of our nights together—not just the sex, though that's incredible, but this quiet intimacy. The trust she shows by sleeping in my arms.
The next evening, she comes to my cabin. I've made stew again—it really is the extent of my cooking abilities—but Sally doesn't seem to mind.
"I can't stop thinking about what you said last night," I tell her over dinner. "About staying."
"Are you having second thoughts? Want me to take the job?"
"God, no." I reach across the table to take her hand. "I'm just... I keep waiting to wake up. To find out this is all a dream."
"It's not a dream." She squeezes my hand. "I'm here. I'm staying. We're doing this."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
I'm around the table before she finishes speaking, pulling her up into my arms.
"Show me," she whispers. "Show me why I'm staying."
Instead of words, I show her. I carry her to my bedroom and worship every inch of her body, taking my time until she's begging, until she's promising me anything if I'll just let her come. When I finally slide inside her, I nearly lose it.
"This," I say, moving slowly, deeply. "This is why you're staying."
"Tucker," she gasps, her nails digging into my shoulders.
"Say it again. Say you're staying."
"I'm staying," she cries out as she comes apart beneath me. "I'm staying, I'm yours, I'm, ah!"
I swallow the rest with a kiss as I follow her over the edge.
Afterward, as we lie tangled together, she traces her fingers over my chest.
"I meant it," she says quietly. "About staying."
