Page 2 of Forsaken Mountain Man
Yep, I could sleep now. And I didn’t have to battle a bear. Win-win really, because I'd achieved my aim.
I’d found Bode Hunter.
CHAPTER TWO
BODE
I stared at the slip of a woman who looked like she’d been through hell to get up my mountain. After the first sentence I spat at her, words failed me. Not uncommon; I wasn’t used to talking, period. Part of the reason I came out here in the first place was that I didn’t like the company of others.
Which still begged the question, what was she doing on my front lawn.
If my lawn was full of dust, granite, and she was dressed in clothes that looked like she’d been caught in a cloudburst then slept in them for the past few days between Red Hart to here, however long that took her.
Hell, considering the tiny backpack she carried, they probablywerethe same clothes she started out in.
Not a stupid strategy, as long as that was what she expected. The way she stared back at me, thirty percent exasperation and seventy percent curiosity from the safety of my arms as she came around after half tumbling to the ground from what looked like either pure exhaustion, sunstroke, or a mix of both, maybe it was. But when she dropped in front of me, her thin legs beneathbottle green cargos covered in patches of grit, I tossed aside the barriers I’d erected as a last-ditch effort to keep the world out, and launched forward in a display of the training banged into me so long ago.
Because once, I’d worn a uniform and served. But that was a different life, back when there’d been someone worth coming home to. Someone worth returning from deploymentfor, before that same someone took every inch of my trust and shattered it.
And here we were.
A different girl I didn’t know curled in my arms, staring up at me like I was a fascination she couldn’t decipher.
Right back atcha, sprite.
“You are not what I expected, Bode Hunter.” She said my first name in a stilted way, pronouncing it Bow-d, without the extended ‘eee’ sound at the end.
Whatever. I’d forgive her for mangling my name in a second, if I could stare into those deep brown eyes that matched her dark chocolate hair a while longer.
Then the penny dropped.
“What the fuck.”
I placed my not-random hiker who knew my name gently back on her feet, hoping she would stay upright on her own. Still cursing and muttering on a fast rasping throat, I grabbed for my rifle, glad the damn thing hadn’t discharged when I threw it before, and backed the hell up.
This was no random incursion, and no random girl.
“You’re not what I expected for an artist,” she offered, a soft smile gentling her already pretty face.
I raked trembling fingers through my hair. “Christ, no one’s supposed to come out here.” I coughed on the excess chatter, already choking on the thought of small talk. I didn't want anyone in my yard, let alone this stunning woman. She looked like she needed medical attention then a firm hand to turn hertidy behind about and get her off my mountain. “Get inside and have some water. Then you’re going back where you came from.”
“Mmm.” She made a quiet sound that might have been agreement or discontent.
Either way, that hum went straight to my cock.
Shaking my head, I led her out of the heat and under the porch. “Leave your things there.” I pointed to the utilitarian bench that dipped at one end that I used each morning and evening to get my boots on. “Come in and clean up. Then you’re gone again. Understand?”
She didn’t make a sound.
I swung about to check she hadn’t passed out on me again, and found her right behind me. Her shoes were off in the place where mine usually sat, but her bag was clutched tight in her arms. At least it was off her back.
“Where it goes, I go.” She stared up at me defiantly. A dare behind her eyes challenged me to defy her.
I didn’t have the energy to play combat games right now. “Sure, sprite. Make yourself at home.” To my surprise, the corner of my mouth quirked upward as I motioned her in front of me through the open door.
She murmured her thanks and that same instant arousal spike hit me a second time.
She’s gotta go.
