Mountain Man Snatch

by Quinn Peachwood

  We drive in silence for a while, both staring straight ahead out the windscreen.

  “Is that what this is about?” Loulou finally asks. “You’re mad because I said normal people don’t live like this.”

  “I guess. Not that you said it but that you think my lifestyle is wrong. Like I’m a danger to society, some freak sending parcel bombs to innocent folks and plotting the end of civilization.”

  She laughs wistfully and shakes her head.

  “I’ve been thinking about what I said, after I said it and no I don’t think you’re a Unabomber type. I can hardly call my lifestyle normal, so I don’t have the right to critique yours.”

  I’m relieved she’s starting to come around to my beliefs - that we each should be allowed to choose our lifestyle and not be judged on some imposed norm.

  “Tell me about you and Denver.” She says, then adds; “If you want to.”

  “There isn’t much to tell.” I say, which isn’t true but like I mentioned, I’m out of practice with chit chat. To make her understand though, I decide to push through my walls.

  “What about that remark that you ‘owe him’. What happened on tour that you owe hm for?”

  “He saved my life. Pulled me out of a burning Humvee. He risked his life but I was the one got the Purple Heart.”

  “Hero, huh?”

  “Yeah that’s me - the big hero.” Even I’m perturbed by the bitterness in my voice.

  “You must have gone through a lot.” She says.

  “Same as the others. It’s weird coming back after all they make you do over there. Hard to make sense of life in the ‘burbs after what you see over there.”

  “So you build a hut and hide out?”

  “There you go with the judgmental shit again.” I bark, more ferocious than I meant but that’s how post trauma gets you. That’s one reason to live away from the questions coming form those that will never understand.

  “Denver had built that hut as a summer place for him and his fiancee.” I tell her. “But she sent him a ‘Dear John’ while we were out there. He got it the day we were blown up. His emotional state is worse than mine. I came back with the physical injuries that win you medals. Some post trauma too but nothing like Den’s. Seems like being abandoned on a bad day does something weird to your head. Shit, that’s more words than I’ve said in the last three years put together.”

  “Thank you for sharing that with me.” She says. “And I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so judgmental earlier.” Her fingers entwine into mine resting on the gear shift, sending flames of light up my arm from her touch.

  “It’s worth it.” I tell her. And I mean it. If Loulou gets to understand me a little better then having to talk about all the shit that’s been locked away is worth the effort.

  I pull into a strip mall and park the truck.

  “I’m gonna grab some supplies while we’re here.”

  I figure I’ll get a few things girls like - tea and cookies and such. Maybe some cleaning products too.

  “I’m going to grab coffee.” Loulou says.

  I reach for her wrist, reluctant to let her out of my sight.

  “It’s okay. I’ll be right there in the diner. Can I order us a club sandwich as well?”

  “Sure.” I say, still unwilling to let her go but I can tell she wants me to trust her.

  I peel off a twenty and hand it to her.

  I keep looking back over my shoulder, to watch her walk away from me. Marveling at her fantastic round ass in the tight leggings and how that ass now belongs to me.

  We’ve got a few things to sort out, that’s for sure, but little by little she and I are going to work out.

  I bring the jug of hooch into the store. I needed to replace one that Denver clumsily dropped while unloading the truck yesterday.

  I swear he’s getting older and losing it right in front of my eyes and it ain’t a pretty sight.

  The owner, Harold, nods at me and opens up a side door where I’ll drop off the jug as credit payment for the shit I buy. I grab the essentials in the minimart and a two-four. A cold beer will make a change from the hardcore fruit alcohol we brew up on the mountain.

  I toss the stuff in back of the truck and look toward the diner. Loulou isn’t headed this way so I start to amble over there to meet her. She’s probably gorging a piece of pie or something - neither of us had breakfast and I realize my stomach is growling.

  I push through the door into the restaurant and look around for Loulou.

  She isn’t at the cash waiting for takeout, nor is she sitting at the counter with that pie. Blood surges in my veins as I look all around the place and find she isn’t seated at any of the booths.

  “Excuse me Ma’am, have you seen a girl with red hair, in the washroom maybe?” I ask the older waitress.

  “Oh, she left - they took the coffees but she didn’t stick around for her sandwich. Didn’t pay for the coffees either.”

  My heart pounds a drumbeat against my chest. I reach for my bills to pay the waitress. Only one word echoes in my eardrums like approaching thunder.

  “You said ‘They took the coffee’.” I hand the woman enough to cover the tab and a nice tip. “She wasn’t alone?”

  “No she left with a man. A thin man without hair - just about the exact opposite of you.” She says, eyeing my torso.

  The surge of blood in me is painful. Loulou left with a guy - someone she knows from town? Someone she’s sleeping with? I’ll fucking kill him. As soon as I find them.

  “Did you see which way they went? What kind of car?”

  “No. By the time I realized they were gone, it was too late to go out for them and get my money. Thank you for picking it up.”

  I head for the door and the waitress runs after me.

  “Hey, you forgot your sandwich too.”

  “Thanks.” I take it even though I lost my appetite.

  “Good luck.”

  I can’t believe I lost Loulou the first five minutes I let her out of my sight. What an asshole I am. Rage pummels at my skin lining just thinking how she’s played me. Maybe she begged some dude to rescue her from my abnormal fucking existence.

  Maybe she’s in the Sheriff’s office right now filing a complaint about me.

  Like a fucking idiot I didn't even blindfold her for the drive. She knows exactly how to locate my lair. And I have no doubt she saw the distillery tanks in the yard.

  I start driving to town without purposeful direction. I have no idea where Loulou was living and I doubt I’m going to get lucky and pick her up on the side of the road a second time. I’ve lost her and it feels like fucking devastation.

  She was the one bright star on the horizon of my pointless existence and without her I’m wandering in the desert again.

  It’s not even noon but I pop a can of beer and down it in one. I don’t even care that I could get pulled over. No traffic cop is going to ticket a Vet and honestly I don’t care what happens right now.

  All I want is to get Loulou back.

  But why? She’s already made it very plain that she hates my existence and even hates me.

  Although that last part could have gone through a recent change, if I think about the passion we shared this morning and especially how she threaded her fingers into mine as we drove down here. The sexual tension may be a heat of the moment thing but the finger connection was heartfelt real.

  Hours have passed and I’ve driven every last street in this shitty upstart town, looking down every alley, into every condo building.

  She’s lost to me. But I won’t give up.

  If I have to drive around for the rest of my fucking days, odds dictate sooner or later I have to see her. She can’t hide out in her place indefinitely.

  It’s after ten which means I’ve been driving around for almost twelve hours without eating or even stopping for much beyond relieving myself and filling the gas tank. I’ve checked every store or cafe, even the touristy shit I’m sure she wouldn’t bothe
r with.

  Nothing. It’s like she’s vanished in a puff of smoke.

  Wait.

  She wouldn’t go back to that would she? Not when she just got out of rehab and seemed proud of getting clean. That thought preys on my mind, drawing it closer as I pull into the lot in front of a dive bar.

  I’ve downed more than half my beer by the time I see her. At first I think I must be hallucinating - that my urgent need to find her brought her swimming up in front of me like a dream.

  Is it really her?

  9

  Loulou

  I only see him standing at the bar when it comes time to leave. We get what we came here for - some dude hands over the money he owes. I have no idea how long Grayn’s been here, watching me.

  How come he hasn’t come to claim me, or speak to me at least, question why I ghosted on him?

  He’s just standing there, holding the condensation-covered glass in his left hand, his eyes fixed on me as I walk the length of the bar room heading for the exit.

  There’s no way out except to pass him. Nor can I go to him while I’m held captive.

  “Evening Lou.” He mutters when I’m about five feet away. “Long day?”

  “Grayn.” I whisper and don’t dare utter another word for the metal digging into my spine.

  “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend, Sweetie?” I feel the tension in the man at my side but I see it plain as pumpkin on Grayn’s face.

  “Grayn, this is…” I splutter but get no further.

  Saying his name makes my throat choke off with emotion.

  Seeing him again makes me realize that the strength of how much I needed him all day wasn’t only due to wishing and praying he’d come snatch me again.

  I missed him.

  His hand guiding my back, his wry grin, even his silences.

  Not to mention his incredible body and how he felt buried inside me as his hands covered every inch of me. Even his hillbilly shack up there at the tree line seems like paradise in comparison to what I’ve endured today. And it’s only going to get worse.

  Jared Splinky has guaranteed me that.

  “Jared.” He holds out a hand to Grayn then withdraws it when Grayn ignores it. “I’m taking Lou back home, Bro. It’s time, isn’t it Babe?”

  “That what you want, Loulou?” Grayn asks me.

  I look at him and plead silently for him to return my gaze. But he keeps his glance averted, although not enough that I fail to detect an intense pain in his eyes.

  I’d like to think that’s caused by my betrayal, but it’s more likely to be from whatever he’s hiding from, living out there on the mountain.

  “Of course that’s what she wants.” Jared answers for me.

  “I asked Loulou.” Grayn cuts him off.

  I can’t speak.

  Jared will kill me.

  I can only communicate with my gaze and I recall how Grayn said he’d read everything I wanted in my eyes through the truck’s window. If only he’d look at me now. More than anything I don’t want him to be hurt by my actions.

  “Tell him, Lou.” Jared commands.

  I see the hairs literally rise on the back of Grayn’s neck as he hears another man tell me what to do for him. I can see the conflicted emotions battle their way through every limb. But he won’t look directly at me.

  And Jared jabs his weapon harder in my back so I have no choice.

  “Yes.”

  “Yes what, Bae.”

  “Yes I want to go with you.”

  As I speak the words Grayn lifts his beautiful deep eyes to me. How did I never notice what thick long lashes he has? With my gaze drilling into him, I pile all the emphasis on the one word; you.

  It all happens instantaneously.

  Grayn jabs his fist up into Jared’s throat then with his other hand, grabs the arm holding the gun and twists it into a lock making Jared scream like a stuck beast. He frogmarches Jared out of the bar past a bunch of gaping patrons and I follow along behind.

  Once outside, Grayn holds Jared firm and asks me again.

  “Am I wrong in reading you again, and this piece of shit really is who you want to spend your life with?”

  “You.” I tell him. “Only you.”

  “Good. So I didn’t misread you this time.”

  “You’ve never misread me.” I reply.

  His eyes bat to mine and a huge grin sweeps across his delectable mouth.

  “I will fucking kill you for this, Lou.” Jared starts squealing.

  His threats are silenced when Grayn punches him in the mouth with three sharp thrusts. Jared goes thumping down to the ground and Grayn stands over him, intimidating him into staying down with his impressive stature.

  I used to think Jared’s biceps were something special but he looks like a wimp next to Grayn.

  “You are in no position to make threats. Not to my woman or any woman. You feel me, Bro?” Grayn says ominously. He looks at me. “What do you want me to do with this asswipe?”

  Part of me would like to see Jared kicked into pulp but I don’t want Grayn to get into any trouble.

  “Leave him.” I say. “Let’s just go home.”

  “You sure?”

  Grayn seems doubtful, like he’d prefer to do the pulping thing.

  “Yes. I’m sure.” I say. “He’s not that important.”

  “Stay down if you know what’s good for you.” Grayn hisses at Jared.

  He picks up his gun, holsters it in the back of his jeans then takes my hand and leads me to his truck.

  He puts the key in the door of the passenger side but before opening it for me, his thick fingers thread into my hair to scoop up the back of my head. His head tips down and his lips find mine.

  I seize him with a passion even stronger than I felt this morning.

  “I want you right now. Here and now.” I murmur into his firm lips.

  “Insatiable.”

  “Addict.” I correct.

  “Ex-addict.” He corrects me.

  He lifts me into the cab seat and heads around to his side before asking for the address of my apartment.

  “As you can see I don’t exactly have GPS so you’ll have to give me directions.”

  Grayn shakes his head with an ironic smile when we pull into the place less than a mile down the street.

  “I must have driven by this place a hundred times today looking for you.”

  “You’ve been looking for me all day?” I’m amazed he didn’t give me up as a bad job.

  “Of course. I wouldn’t let a woman like you go without you telling me to my face that’s what you wanted. Seems like I’m not the only one feels that way about you.”

  “Jared didn’t come for me exactly. He only wanted to get his mule back under control.”

  Grayn parks and leaps down from his side to come around to mine and help me out. I slide down his body, feeling every inch of his hardness, until our mouths meet.

  The kiss starts off intense and only ramps up in heat until we’re groping and tugging at each other with a hunger that almost eclipses this morning’s. His body cages me against the side of the truck and I reach for his cock, longing to feel the spectacular solid width.

  “I could fuck you right here but your neighbors might get twitchy.” He rasps.

  I laugh and take his hand to lead him to my condo.

  “I was thinking.” He says, almost shyly. “If you hate my house so much, we could always stay together at yours. If you want that.”

  “You would do that?” I say, turning the key in the lock. “For me? What about hating human beings and their….”

  I push open the door and a cry escapes my mouth.

  “Holy fucking bastard. I should go back there and give him what he deserves.”

  Every single stick of furniture and all my belongings are not only overturned but shredded. My clothes, make up, books. Every closet emptied, the kitchen destroyed. I guess my security deposit is a goner.

  “It looks
like a bomb detonated in here.” I whine.

  Then I see Grayn’s expression and slap myself. How could I bring up that reminder of what he went through? This is nothing compared to an actual bomb going off.

  “It’s just stuff babe.” Grayn takes my hand. “We can get you more of what’s important. What’s really important is that we have each other.”

  “Well your place is starting to look like a palace compared to this.” I whine.

  The walls are filthy, as though they’ve had buckets of swamp water thrown at them. I try to make light of it but I’m shattered. I feel invaded. Grayn senses this and wraps me under his wide wingspan and clasps me into his side, a place I know I’m safe.

  I tip my face up and meet his mouth coming down over mine. He lips crush into me and his tongue roams around my mouth, exploring into every crevice. The kiss deepens as we press our bodies together, lining each other, wanting total connection.

  “Loulou I need you.” He moans against my lips, licking and nipping at me as his hands go under my tee, hiking it up so my breasts fall free.

  “I need you too.” I whimper. “My bed is kinda trashed though.”

  “I don’t need a bed.” He says, as he backwards walks me to the wall, hooking his fingers into the band of my leggings as we go.

  It’s been twelve hours give or take but I’ve missed his touch and his cock inside me more than I missed that feeling the entire month I went without in rehab.

  He yanks the fabric down with my underwear together and slides his fingers across my swollen clit.

  “You’re wet for me already.” He rasps.

  “I think I’m always going to be wet for you. You seem to have that effect on me.” I pant as I yank his zipper down, difficult with the hard bulge forcing against the teeth and my eager clumsiness.

  At last I free his cock and feel the same sense of satisfaction that his gorgeous steel is all mine. Grayn edges his thigh against mine to shove it up the wall until I’m spread open for him like he likes me.