Page 21 of My Mountain Man Valentine
Carefully I lift Ethan’s arm and slide out of bed. He stirs, then rolls over and goes back to sleep. I’m not the only one exhausted from the night’s activities.
My ankle doesn’t hurt as much as it did yesterday, and I manage to hobble around the hut to find my clothes. I snap my bra on, but my panties are in shreds. Last night Ethan produced a trash bag from his backpack for our garbage and I bury the remnants of my underwear deep in the bag.
My leggings are dry, and I pull them on and button my shirt up to the collar.
I find a hair tie in the pocket of my coat and pull my hair back into a tight bun. My glasses are on the table where I left them last night, and I polish the lenses on my shirt and then put them on.
I take a calming breath and look around the hut.
There’s no evidence of what he did here last night. I smooth my shirt down and take a slow breath. I’m back to being plain Lucy the sensible schoolteacher.
Whoever I was last night fades with the dawn light. I got what I wanted. Then why does it feel hollow?
Ethan sleeps soundly, and I watch him for a while. His weathered features are peaceful with sleep. Stubble coats his chin and I squeeze my thighs together, remembering the burn on my thighs.
A lock of his hair falls over his forehead and I long to put it back into place, to run my fingers over his face. But any claim I had on Ethan fades with the approaching day. He was mine for the night. One night only. That’s all I asked for, and that’s all he was prepared to give.
I didn’t know a one night stand would feel this painful, naive girl that I am.
I long for him to wake up, to take me in his arms and tell me he wants more. But that’s a silly girl’s fantasy.
He doesn’t want more. He told me himself. He’s been married once already; he doesn’t want to do it again. Besides, he’s ten years older than me. Why would he want to be with someone young and inexperienced? And we live in different towns. Ethan lives in Hope at the base of Wild Heart Mountain. I live in Winter Town, an hour’s drive away.
It’s not an impossible distance, my heart whispers.
I stand up abruptly. This line of thinking will lead to heartache. It doesn’t matter what I think or what I want. I’m not going to be here when he wakes up, mooning over him like a lovesick girl. I knew what I was getting myself into. I need to take it like a grown-ass woman.
With one last look at the sleeping Ethan, I hobble to the door and pull it open. The fresh morning air sends a shiver down my spine, and I hobble out of the hut.
The place where we had our Valentine’s picnic has been cleared away. There’s no signs of where we lay on the ground, where he gave me my first orgasm.
I hop over to the rocky outcrop and ease myself onto a boulder. A breeze whips cold morning air around me, and I hug my arms around my body and shiver. The sky is an angry purple smudge as the sun tries to break through the lingering clouds.
The air is fresh, but I won’t go back inside. I don’t want to be there when Ethan wakes up. I want to show him that I’m woman enough to handle the morning after. That I’m not a lovesick naive girl.
So I sit in the cold and watch the sunrise alone.
12
ETHAN
Iwake with a smile on my lips and an ache in my loins. The love making sessions we had last night was beyond anything I’ve ever experienced in my life. Lucy was insatiable, taking everything I had to give her and begging for more. Yet I still wake up hard for her.
The intensity of our love making opened something deep inside me that I thought was long buried. I never thought I’d love again after my marriage ended, but with Lucy, that’s changed.
I want to see her again. I want to be with her. I want to do whatever it takes to make this work.
I’m facing the wall and I roll over, hoping she’s up for another session before breakfast. But her side of the bed is empty.
“Lucy?” She’s not in the hut, and uneasiness stirs in my gut. I pull back the covers and cold air hits my bare skin, making me shiver.
Her clothes are gone, and the cabin is neat. She’s tidied up, removing all trace of last night’s activities.
I stride to the door and pull it open, not caring that I’m buck naked.
Lucy’s sitting on a boulder looking out at the treetops. She’s fully dressed with her luscious hair tucked away in a bun.
She turns at the sound of the door, and instead of a warm smile there’s something cold in her expression. From this distance I can’t see her eyes behind the glasses, and I need to see her. I need to know that this wasn’t just a one night thing for her. That the contract we had is void.
