Page 14 of Big Forbidden Blacksmith

Bear softly pads into the kitchen and rubs against my legs, purring and chirping at me. The despair leaves me in a rush, leaving nothing but trembling rage instead.

The woman—mywoman—left me. Or maybe she was taken from me, but that’s not what it seems like. Either she doesn’t have the feelings I thought she might have, or she doesn’t think I’ve got strong enough feelings for her. I haven’t shown her that I can take care of her, that my feelings are real, big, and only meant for her.

She’s mine, but I belong to her same as she belongs to me.

There is no word to describe the rage that begins to build in my body. Within twenty-four hours, I’ve managed to find and then lose one of the most important things I have ever had stumble into my life.

I push up from my seat and whirl around, ramming my fist into the wall. The plaster breaks and crumbles, clattering to the floor, but the show of strength does nothing to quell the anger boiling inside me.

Fuck. I need to go beat something in my shop before I destroy something I can’t fix.

I take long steps to my workshop, slamming the door behind me and picking up the hammer. But when I look around, there’s nothing that looks like it needs to really be hammered out, nothing that looks like it can take the full extent of my anger at the moment.

The space where we fucked earlier is still empty, the things that were on the table before that are still scattered on the ground. My chest goes tight as the memories come flooding back. I drop the hammer, letting it thud to the ground as I walk to the spot.

And that’s when I notice the little flash of delicate fabric on the ground. I lean down to pick it up. Right. Her panties. I’d practically torn them off in my desperation earlier. I didn’t realize she’d never put them back on.

I raise the garment to my nose and deeply inhale. The scent of her arousal, still fragrant and heady on the fabric, make my head swim. Immediately, I feel myself grow hard, my erection pulsing to life as if she’s right here, stoking my arousal to life.

I can’t help that every single cell in my body needs her, craves her like a starved man craves food. I’m an animal, made wild by the fact that she stumbled into my life and changed it instantly.

My hands drop to my fly before I can think better of it, drawing my cock from the tight confines of my jeans. With my nose buried in her scent, I start to run my hand along my shaft, wishing it was her wet, warm cunt instead. Need rocks up my spine as my hips buck into my fist.

My little girl would probably cringe in horror if she saw me doing this, my face buried in her panties as I fuck my cock into my hand. Maybe she’d stop me if she were here, bend over and let me fuck that pretty little pussy of hers while I spanked her for leaving me.

“Fuck, baby,” I groan as I pump my cock into my closed fist, imagining it was Lara instead. I pant into her underwear. Her scent, so close to real and yet not quite there, is a drug I didn’t know I could get addicted to.

Sweat starts to drip down my forehead, trailing down my neck, as I fuck my hand. My release sneaks up on me. I burst all over the workbench. As my heart rate begins to slow, the anger I felt before cools to a simmer.

It’s not fair that Lara’s gone and that she’s taken my whole heart with her. I need to find her, to show her that we’re made for each other. I need to get her back. Make her mine for real.

Fuck fate or whatever. If I have to uproot my life out here to make her happy, then so be it. I’ll do anything for her. I see that now.

After zipping my pants back up, I tuck her panties into my pocket and walk back to the house. The beeline I make to computer is a blur, as is locating and dialing the number I saved long ago just in case I needed it. I take a deep breath and make the call. It’s been over five years since I’ve had to resort to this.

“Ethan Gubar speaking,” says a voice after two rings.

“Ethan, it’s Knox.”

There is a long silence at the end of the line before the voice starts to cackle.

“Fucking hell, it really is you!” the voice exclaims. “We thought you died, man. Last I heard, you’d moved to the country to live off the land or whatever.”

“Blacksmithing,” I clarify for my former colleague. We’d served together for two years before I had to leave special services for my father’s funeral. I ended up never going back. I didn’t feel the need to even reach out until now.

“Wow, I can’t believe you’re still around. I was sorry to hear about your pops, but it’s great to hear from you.”

Guilt floods me. I should have been better at keeping touch, but that’s not the kind of relationship we all had with each other. They’ll understand that I’m reaching out for a favor. It’s the sort of thing we do for our brothers when we need it.

It’s not like I regret what I’ve done with my life, after all. I wouldn’t have met Lara if I hadn’t traded the military for my life in the middle of nowhere. And it’s this connection here that will get her back in my life.

“I need your help with something,” I say. “Do you still work in Intelligence?”

“Yeah, but you’re not calling to ask for secrets or some shit, are you?”

“No, I need your help tracking someone ASAP.”

There is a long pause before he speaks. “Is he dangerous?”

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