by Frankie Love
Has this girl been crying for six week straight?
“Harper?” I move toward her and we meet at the steps to my cabin.
“Hey Jaxon … I hope it’s okay that I’m here?”
“You okay?” I ask, shaking my head. She’s wearing a long top over a pair of leggings, boots on her feet. Her long blond hair is braided over her shoulder.
She’s effortless.
“I’ve been better. I didn’t know where to go.”
“Uh, okay, is it your family? That bastard Luke? Did someone hurt you?” I have a million questions for her. Flashes of our time together fill my mind.
Her bare skin, soft and milky. The warm space between her legs. Her wonder, excitement, willingness at the night we shared.
And she’s back. I want to pull her in my cabin, lock the door. Never let her go.
But she doesn’t look alive with the hunger of desire.
Harper looks motherfucking exhausted.
“I don’t even know how to say it,” she says.
“Uh, you hungry? Thirsty?” I ask, trying to remember how to be polite to guests. No woman’s been up here since our time together.
“No, I’m fine.”
“Okay….” This is kind of awkward. I want to kiss her or fuck her, but she came here to talk.
“Can we take a walk?” she asks.
“You drove three hours to take a walk with me in the woods?”
“No,” Harper says, sighing deeply, like this is all too hard. What has her so worked up? “But maybe if we walk it will calm my nerves.”
I bury my ax in a stump and nod toward the path I usually walk on when I want to move my legs.
We walk past my piles of hewn logs, many covered with tarps but others still in the process of being stripped before I send them to the sawmill. Not that I have any motherfucking plan for all this wood.
“You cut trees?” she asks. “Like, is that your job?”
“Sorta.” I shrug.
“Why don’t you use a chainsaw?” she asks, curiosity dancing over her blue eyes. “Wouldn’t that be a lot easier?”
“Easier, yeah, but the point isn’t to do something easy.”
“What is the point, then?” she asks. Her arms are crossed over the jacket she’s now zipped up to her chin.
“The point is to simplify. Cut out all the crap, the bullshit.”
“You want things simple?”
“Yeah,” I say, not sure where she got confused. I’m being pretty damn clear, for a man. “I don’t want drama. I want things easy.”
“Oh.” Harper stops on the path. We haven’t even walked ten yards and already she needs a breather. “You know, Jaxon, maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe I should go.”
“What are you doing to me, woman?”
Her eyes fill with tears. I swear there is nothing, no one, more fragile than Harper. It’s like she can’t stand on her own two feet.
“I’m sorry, Jaxon. I just … I can’t. This is too hard. Too much. I should go.”
“You aren’t going anywhere and we both know it.”
She swallows, looking up. As she does, she gasps, points to something behind me.
I turn and see a deer family. A twelve-point buck, a beautiful mama beside him, a small baby deer between them.
“That’s beautiful,” Harper says.
“Sure is,” I agree, knowing if anything is gonna calm Harper down, seeing these creatures will. Our eyes are still on the family, and we don’t dare move, not wanting to scare them off.
I swear I can hear Harper’s heart beating from where I stand. This girl is so worked up. I take her hand in mine, want her to feel safe. I mean, I’m not the poster child for security but, fuck, this girl came all the way out here to find me, didn’t feel like there was anyone else she could turn to. Might as well not be an ass about it.
“Can you tell me what you’re doing out here?” I ask her, as quiet as possible so as not to disturb the deer.
“It’s bad, Jaxon.” Her words are so delicate they nearly disappear in the air before they reach my ears.
“Nothing can be bad when we’re looking at this,” I say. The deer family stares us at, with the same curiosity we show them.
Her hand shakes in mine. I squeeze it, trying to calm her. It must work, because she opens her mouth in a whisper and says the words I never wanted to hear.
HARPER
This morning I already know the truth before I confirm it. I tell my mother that someone has called in sick at the Food Bank and that I needed to go help, right away. I lie right to her face and get in my car.
I drive three hours. Three hours where my mind is numb and my heart is numb and all I know is that I could never Keep Calm and Carry On. Not now.
Everything has changed.
I drive to Jaxon’s cabin, praying to a God who seems to have left me a long time ago, left me to the devices of a church family who will never accept me.
Where else am I supposed to go?
Jaxon is right where I left him.
I park my car, my whole body on fire the moment I see him in the distance. His arms swing, axe in hand, as a massive tree falls to the ground. The heaviness of the trunk swooshing through the air takes my breath away.
It is so final, so swift.
It took so many years to grow that tree, and then in a few hours it is chopped down to nothing. A fallen log with no life.
The same thing has happened to me, and the realization sends tears to my eyes. I spent twenty-one years working hard to grow into something beautiful and good and strong and sure.
And then one night, one choice, caused my life to crash to the forest floor, just like this tree.
Timber.
Jaxon’s chest is bare, his beard a bit longer than I remember. The second I see him, I want to run my hands all over his skin. I want to fall into his arm, smell his earthy scent—the pine needles and wood stove smell of a man. I want him to carry me away from the nightmare that is my life.
It’s as if when I came here before I entered a dream, and when I left I floated into a nightmare.
I want to go to sleep with Jaxon, in his bed, wrapped in his arms.
When I was with him, everything made sense, even though it was the opposite of everything I valued. Jaxon made me feel safe in a way no one else ever has.
But these thoughts shame me.
Have I learned nothing this month?
My actions have consequences. My family still shuns me half the time, shake their heads in disapproval. The entire congregation knows about my lost virginity.
I am a used woman.
And now, the moment I see Jaxon, all I think is that I want to be used again. Over and over.
But I won’t have what I want.
I owe him the truth.
He must be surprised to see me, but he doesn’t show it. He looks worried, and I scan myself self-consciously, wondering if I look so different now than I did before, when I was undressed and offering myself to him.
I can’t go in that cabin. I don’t trust myself in there, so when he offers me something to eat or drink I shake my head. I suggest a walk in the woods.
We walk into the trees, and as we do it’s as if we are sheltered by their branches, covered by their limbs.
I feel safe out here, with Jaxon, but I’m too scared to speak.
The family of deer calms my nerves, but the real thing that soothes my anxiety is Jaxon’s hand on mine. He squeezes it tight, and I remember to breathe.
No one has touched me in six weeks, not since that first hug from my mother when I walked in the door.
It’s a part of my lesson, my father says.
I must tell Jaxon the truth.
I open my mouth.
My words hit the air with a force that scares the deer away; they startle, and run as fast as they can. Jax turns in shock, startled by my words, too.
“Jaxon,” I say. “I’m pregnant with your baby.”
Chapter Twelve
&nb
sp; JAX
I stare at Harper. Her pale blue eyes are filled with tears, and I hate to see her this way.
I’ll admit, hearing that she’s pregnant gets me hard. It turns me on, knowing my powerful seed filled her. I remember her dripping pussy; I remember how desperate she was for my massive wood. A slow smile spreads across my face, remembering our time together.
But her wounded eyes bring me back to reality. I may have knocked her up, but this is a hell of a lot more complicated than two people in love making a baby and living happily fucking ever after. Harper and I are strangers, and the last thing I need is a woman hanging around for longer than one night—let alone her kid.
“Fuck, Harper. I did not see that coming.”
“I know, Jaxon, it’s too much. I can’t even think straight yet ... but I thought you deserved to know.”
I run a hand over my beard, trying to think of anything besides the fact that her jacket does nothing to hide her perfect tits, that her skintight leggings show me every curve on her body. That all I want to do is hold her against a tree and take her again, like we did in my cabin.
I want to take her all day and all night.
But she doesn’t appear to be filled with the same sort of desire. She mostly looks fucking terrified.
“What are you thinking, Jaxon?” Harper asks. “I’ve been agonizing over this the entire drive here. Thinking about what we should do ... how this might work. My head hurts. I can’t figure this out on my own.”
“Well, shit, I don’t want your head to hurt, Harp.” I step toward her, cupping her cheeks with both my hands. Touching her stills my wild heart for a moment, but what I really want is to growl filthy words in her ear, devour her pouty lips and push my fingers in her opening until she screams my name.
What I really want is to pretend she didn’t come here today to tell me I’m her baby-daddy, and instead act like she came out here ready to be taken hard and fast.
Her breath catches as I lean in to kiss her, but she doesn’t push me away.
Her lips are sweet and I press my tongue in her mouth, tasting her as I run my hands through her hair, pulling her closer to me.
She looks up, into my eyes. “Shouldn’t we talk?”
“You wanna talk right now?”
She shakes her head, her eyes close, and I can imagine this woman has had a fucking long six weeks, what with her screwed-up family and freaky fiancé. I’ll make her forget all those worries for a while.
I unzip her jacket and tug it off. Lifting the hem of her shirt I raise it over her head, without saying a motherfucking word.
“Out here? Will someone see?” Harper is so fucking on edge, I’m taking it as my responsibility to get her to loosen up.
“Honey, no one’s out here. Now let me fuck you. I know that’s what you want. What you need.”
She nods her head, ekes out the slightest moan, and I toss her shirt to the forest floor.
Her tits are as perfect as I remembered, but fuck me now, they seem to have doubled in size since I saw her last.
“They’re swollen ... because of the ... well, because. Be soft?” Harper’s inflection sends a chill down my spine. She’s not like any woman I’ve ever met—she’s more tender, more pure. She fucking needs a man to take control, and I will.
“Oh. I’ll be soft with your tits, but nothing else.” I pull down the lace of her white bra and then bring her perfect hard nipple into my mouth, suck it slowly, before moving to the other one. Harper’s body is so primed for this moment. Her back arches in response; her legs spread subconsciously. “I bet you’ve been thinking of my massive cock for six weeks straight.”
She doesn’t answer, just bites her lip, hiding a smile. And I know she has been dreaming of it. Of me.
“You touch yourself at night?” I ask. “Remembering my wood, how it filled you up and made you drip?”
“I did, Jaxon,” she moans as I press my hand down the front of her pants, under her soaked panties, fingering her soft folds. Oh, Harper has been thinking about my cock all right. Her pussy is fucking swollen with desire.
“Good, because I’ve been thinking of your pussy—how good you taste, how hard you got me—every day, too.”
“I thought you had lots of women out here?”
“Naw,” I say, shaking my head as I rub her clit until her head falls back in delight. “I don’t bring women out here. I left that behind in the city. Out here, I’ve only had you. I prefer to play by my own fucking rules, be my own man. And most women don’t understand that.”
She wraps her arms around my neck, pulls herself closer to me, grinding into my stiff wood. “Fuck me, Jaxon. Out here, in the wild. I like you out here, untamed.”
Her words fill me with confidence, not like I motherfucking need it. I know how well I fuck, but I like taking Harper. She likes to compliment, to tell me what kind of man I am.
Her hands squeeze my bare back; my solid chest is against hers. Stepping back, I unbuckle my jeans, tug them down, and reveal my hardness for her. She sucks in air, the same way she did before, and shakes her head as if she can’t believe it.
“Oh, Jaxon, just looking at it makes me so ... so ….”
“Wet?”
“Exactly.” She steps out of her shoes, pulls off her leggings and panties—and she must have known today would end in a good fucking, because her pussy is nice and trimmed, ready for me to lick her clean.
Her feet step gingerly on the grassy bank, but I won’t let her get dirty. I lift her up at the waist, her legs wrapping around me. Massive pine trees surround us, the forest is full of birds chirping and water flowing in the creek. The deer family is long gone, but I am sure some critters are around here watching us. I fucking hope they are. They can watch and learn.
I press my cock into her opening. I know we got here fast, but it’s chilly out here, and this woman is fucking pregnant. I’ll take it nice and slow later, but right now what Harper needs is to be fucked silly, until all the stress and worry of her life at home are gone. Until her mind is filled with one thing, and one thing only.
My wood.
HARPER
Oh, my heart. My legs are wrapped around him, and his thickness fills me again. I think I might burst.
For the past six weeks I’ve tried to remember what it felt like to have Jaxon inside me. I even tried to recreate the sensation with my own hand ... but that was ridiculous. Because, I mean, I don’t even know what I could use to actually recreate the size and force of Jaxon inside of me.
I sit on his cock, and he thrusts into me deep, then deeper. His hands stroke my ass as I bounce on top of him.
“Fuck me, Jaxon,” I say, letting the forbidden words escape my lips deliciously. I have thought of this moment—me being with him again—so many times it made me dizzy. And now I have him inside me once more. I know I’m playing with fire, but right now I want to burn.
“You like that, Harp?” he asks, and I squeak out a yes, because that is the best I can do. The walls of my pussy are blazing hot—scorching really. It’s an all-consuming moment as he pushes deeper into me once again.
And then I’m moaning as he fills me with his come, and I feel my own juice pour out, slick on his base as he slams me down on his hard cock a final time.
His insanely large biceps lift me off him, setting me on the ground. Holding me up as we fucked didn’t even seem to faze him. He’s so strong and capable. I’m out of breath, but he just grins like a beast—a man made to have sex in the woods. His bare chest and bare ass, his long beard and piercing eyes. He is an animal and I want him to take me like I am his prey.
“You want to come inside my cabin now, or are ya still scared of what I might do to you?” Jaxon asks, pulling up his pants. I reach down to put on my own clothing, blushing as I do.
“I’m not scared of you,” I say, adjusting my tender breasts in my bra, then straightening my top. I tell him I’m not scared, but I am completely terrified. I have no idea what I should do next—I just hope
Jaxon will be willing to help me figure it out. You know, before I hyperventilate in fear of the unknown future.
“Good, then come in,” he says. “Let’s talk.”
Jaxon opens the door, holds it for me.
I look around the cabin and see it for what it is. I didn’t remember what it was like in the daylight. When Luke came here to find me, to drag me home, the morning was so dramatic, I wept as I left.
Now I can see the tiny cabin in the light of day. It’s a complete bachelor pad. It isn’t dirty or skeevy or anything like that, but it’s definitely Jaxon’s. I realize, not for the first time, that I don’t really know anything about him, what he does out here besides chop wood like a lumberjack. I don’t know what I’m expecting from him ... I mean, besides fixing all my problems.
I sit down on a chair by the fireplace, and rock nervously. The bearskin rug is still on the floor, and I’m reminded of how I fell asleep there, curled up, feeling so safe and warm. Looking around now, though, I’m not so sure if this place offers the same comfort I hoped it would.
Jax’s big, loveable dog Jameson pouts at his feet until he relents and tosses him a bone from the cupboard.
“You hungry too?” he asks me, pulling the tap on his kegerator and filling a frosty glass with beer.
“Actually yeah. I’m starving.” Which is true, but also the first time I’ve had an appetite in weeks. Looks like what I needed to get me hungry was for Jaxon to take me in the woods. “Let me help, though,” I say standing.
Walking around the cabin, toward him, I reassess. Maybe I’m hungry here because I feel comfortable with Jaxon in the woods. Not sick. Not ill, like I do at home. Maybe this is the place I should be. I mean, would it be so bad?
The cabin might be small, but I could have this baby here. The three of us could be cozy in the loft, make a fire and stay warm, together.
Jaxon pulls a loaf of bread from the cupboard and then opens the fridge. He grabs a bunch of sandwich fixings and sets them on the counter. Taking a knife from the drawer, he starts putting a sandwich together. I watch him, not wanting to be bossy, but I can’t help myself.
