Page 31 of Naughty With The Mountain Man
I want to make fires and breakfasts and memories in this place that used to be nothing but wood and walls to him. I want to decorate the house every year. I want to kiss him under mistletoe even when it's not Christmas.
I wantforever.
But first, I need to survive the next few days.
That thought snaps me out of the dreamy fog and back into the real world, where someone isstillafter me. Where a man with a fake name is working at my youth center and packages keep showing up like ticking time bombs wrapped in ribbons.
Carefully, I slide out of Micah’s embrace, trying not to wake him. I pull on one of his flannel shirts and pad into the living room, hugging myself against the morning chill. The fire’s out, and frost clings to the corners of the windows.
Ranger, his dog, lifts his head from the rug, ears twitching.
“Morning,” I whisper, scratching behind his ear. “Thanks for watching over us.”
I heat water for tea and stare out the window, heart heavy. I just want this messdone. I want to stop looking over my shoulder. I want the teens at the center to be safe. I want my life back.
No—notback. I don’t want the old version of my life.
I want anewlife.
One with roots and warmth and Micah.
But my gut is uneasy.
Something feels… off.
I glance toward the window again. No movement, no cars. Just snow-dusted pines and stillness. The kind that doesn’t feel peaceful—butwaiting.
A creak from the bedroom pulls my gaze. Micah walks out, shirtless, hair tousled, eyes still dark with sleep. He pauses when he sees me.
“You okay?”
“I’m just thinking.”
He walks over and pulls me into his arms, pressing a kiss to the top of my head. “Don’t overthink. We’re almost there. We’re close.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
But before I can answer, a sound cuts through the room.
CRACK.
It’s sharp. Loud. Wood against wood.
Micah’s already moving—grabbing his gun from the mantle, muscles tensed like a coiled storm.
“Stay inside,” he snaps, voice all command again. “Don’t open the door unless it’s me.”
“Micah—”
But he’s gone, door swinging shut behind him before I can finish.
Panic flutters in my chest. I rush to the window and watch him disappear into the tree line, Ranger right behind him.
And then?—
The power cuts out.
