Using the wall, I pull myself back to my feet and look to the ground where Cole and Cecil are struggling for power. They roll around in the dirt and Cole slams his fist into Cecil’s face.
Blood explodes from his nose, pouring everywhere but it doesn’t stop Cecil from fighting like a rangy wolf. He twists and turns, managing to break free from Cole’s mount and before I can blink, he pulls a gun from a holster inside his jacket.
Cole doesn’t move, he stays perfectly still on his back and raises his hands up. “Listen, we can work this out. You can put that away,” his tone is firm yet somehow calm.
“Work it out? Like how you snuck up on me and knocked me out? You left me to die, you think I give a fuck if I kill you? I’ll probably get a medal.” Cecil waves his gun at Cole menacingly, “Not to mention a million bucks.”
“Cecil don’t!” I cry out and he twists toward the sound of my voice and points the gun straight at me. “I should kill both of you. Murderer and his slut,” he glares at me and I shiver.
Cole lunges up from the ground and knocks Cecil over, but the gun doesn’t fall from his hand. Cole holds down his arm and struggles to keep him from firing it as he punches him again. Cecil flings his head to the side like a rookie boxer who just got knocked out by a world champ. He goes limp and Cole stands up and looks over at me.
“Are you okay?”
“I am now,” I tremble and Cole walks toward me. I need to feel his thick arms wrapped around me. I need to...
BANG!
Cole drops to his knees and blood spreads over his shirt and down his arm as Cecil struggles to get to his feet.
“No!” I screech.
Blood is pouring from Cole onto the dirt. The only thing that moves on his burly frame is the spurting river of red gushing from his wound.
Cecil teeters on his feet like a newborn calf and I let out a deep scream of losing yet another person I loved as I bolt at him. I have no real plan as I plow into his gut like a linebacker, throwing him off balance and forcing him to stumble backward to the edge of the cliff. Cecil sways back and grabs onto me, twisting his hand in my shirt and dragging me forward as he tries to anchor himself to me. My body weight is no match for his and I slide forward. My feet reach the edge and rocks kick loose under his feet as he begins to fall over. My toes are over the side and I can see the fall that is about to kill me. I’m going to plunge to my death with him.
My arms are suddenly yanked back roughly and I’m pulled away from the cliff and topple on Cole as Cecil shrieks loudly and then stops when his body hits with a sickening thud below.
I turn over and roll off Cole. I know I almost died, but I can’t hide my elation. I’m so happy he’s alive!
“Oh my god! Cole, can you get up?” My eyes fall to the blood still spilling from his shoulder and I strip my shirt off, I couldn’t care less about my exposed body as I press the fabric to his wound to try to stop the bleeding.
Cole grabs my fingertips that are pressing against the shirt. “I love you Abbie,” his voice is hoarse and he tightly presses the shirt to his wound and sits up.
“I love you too,” I blink back tears, surprised at how much I needed to hear those words from him. “You saved my life,” I murmur, like I’m explaining what just happened to myself.
“We saved each other,” he answers. “You’re a lot tougher than you let on, Abbie. Not a lot of girls would do what you just did.”
“It’s like you said, sometimes the only option is to kill,” I echo back his words and try to throw his good arm over my shoulder and help him to the cabin.
“What are we going to do?” My mind reels at the reality of Cole’s wound and a dead man at the bottom of the mountain.
“We’ll figure it all out, together,” Cole answers through grit teeth and I guide him inside not knowing how we’ll fix any of this but confident that with Cole I can do anything.
34
Cole
I keep Abbie’s shirt pressed tight against my shoulder, trying to clot the bleeding. I slump down into a chair and grit my teeth as Abbie watches me with wide eyes and wrings her hands.
“What are we going to do? We have to get you to a hospital,” the reality of this situation seems to be taking root in her mind and tears I expected a while ago finally well up in her green eyes.
“No hospital. No doctor. I’ll go to jail. That’ll be the end. I need you to listen to me, got it? You’re going to help me through this. We can do this together, but you need to calm down and follow my instructions, okay?” I try to keep my own voice cool and collected, but struggle with every breath that brings searing pain to my shoulder.
“Yes,” she wipes away her tears. “You’re right, what do I do?”
“First thing you can do to help,” I start.
“Yes,” she watches me intently.
“Is go put on another shirt. I can’t think with your beautiful tits in my face,” I try to smile, but it comes out more as a grimace.
Abbie looks down at her exposed torso like she completely forgot she removed her clothes. “Oh, uh, of course,” she covers her breasts with her arms and rushes across the room, pulling a plaid, button up shirt from my clean clothes. I’ve gotta say, I prefer how it looks on her, clinging to her curves.
“Now, boil some water Abbie. And while you’re over there, take a look through my military duffel bag for my old sewing kit. I need you to grab the smallest needle in there and some thread, okay?”
Abbie nods dutifully and lights the stove, placing a small pot of water on top. I focus on my breathing as she scrounges through my belongings until she finds the old army green sewing kit and plucks the supplies from inside.
“Abbie?”
“Yeah?” She whirls around and stares at me, waiting for instructions.
“Go grab the last of the whiskey, will ya?”
“Sure, just a sec,” she doesn’t question me, she just rummages in the cupboard until she finds the quarter bottle of booze.
“Give it here,” I hold out my good hand and Abbie opens the top and places the bottle in my palm. “Okay, grab a clean cloth and bring the pot over here with the sewing kit,” I gruffly command her and take a long swig of the booze as she does as she’s told.
Abbie brings the stuff over to the table and I finish off the whiskey in one long gulp.
“I’m gonna need your help getting this shirt off,” I plunk the empty bottle of booze onto the table and Abbie nods.
Together we manage to get the bloody shirt free from my body.
“Did it go through?” I try to turn my head, but the pain is too much.
“What do you mean?”
“Take a look at the back of the wound, is there a hole back there too? Did the bullet go through?” I wince as I lean forward in my chair and Abbie peeks at my back.
“It did. You’re bleeding down your back too,” her chin quivers and I hold up my good hand.
“You gotta keep it together. You’re doing amazing right now, just a bit of stitching and it’ll all be taken care of,” I try to soothe her.
“You want me to give you stitches?” She gasps.
“You have to. I need to close this wound up and I can’t stitch myself very well.”
Abbie nods slowly, like she’s trying to understand words in a different language. “Okay,” she finally answers, “tell me how to do this.”
“First, I need you to clean the wound up. Get the cloth dripping wet and clean both sides,” I push my good hand against the wall for support as Abbie prepares the cloth. She places it over the bullet hole and I sharply breathe in over my teeth and shut my eyes. “Keep going,” I encourage her shaky hands. “You gotta clean both sides.”
She listens to my instructions well, gently flushing out the hole in my shoulder with the hot water.
“Now what?” I open my eyes and see her fear has been replaced by determination. She juts her jaw out and looks at me.
“Do you know how to sew?” I ask, hopeful.
“So
rt of, it’s been a while,” she answers sheepishly.
“Great, it’s like riding a bike, you never forget. So, thread the needle, got it?” I watch as she laces the thread through the eye. “Perfect, now I need you to hold the skin together as close as possible and stitch it up, make a knot after every stitch, okay?”
“I’ll do my best,” she answers, but her hand hovers in the air, shaking. Her eyebrows knit together and she freezes to the spot.
“Abbie,” I interrupt her thoughts, “you already saved my life today, I know you can do this too. You can do anything,” I encourage her softly.
Abbie takes a deep breath and her breasts push up and out. She leans over me and I can feel the needle press through my flesh, but it doesn’t hurt. “Good girl, you got this. You’re a badass, you know that?” I smile.
“I’m really not,” she protests, but keeps her fingers busy as she ties a knot then slides the needle back into my skin for another stitch.
“Well, you took care of that piece of shit like a badass, that’s for sure. I’m proud of you,” I tell her honestly.
Abbie ties another knot and makes another stitch, “What are we going to do about him?”
“What do you mean?” I wince as I feel her pull the thread tight and the wound closes up. Abbie keeps sewing, not answering me.
“I mean, someone is going to find him. They’re going to know he was killed when they find this place. They’re going to find out I murdered him,” her voice creaks and tears stream down her face.
“Hey, shhh, come here,” I pull her in with my good arm and kiss her on the forehead. “Listen, you can still go back to Whitehorse. I mean, if the bears don’t eat him first and someone really does find him down there, they’ll think it was me, not you. If they ever find me, I’ll say it was me, okay?” I soothe her.
“No!” She yells and jumps back.
“What? What are you talking about?” I search her face for an answer, but her tears leave me no clues.
“I don’t want to go, Cole. I don’t want to go back to Whitehorse, or the US or anywhere that isn’t right here with you. And not because of Cecil. Not because I lost my Mom, or any of that. I don’t want to go because I’d be walking away from the only man I’ve ever loved. I can’t. Please don’t make me go,” she sobs into her hands, her body shaking.
I’ve been hoping she would give me some kind of sign that she didn’t want to go. For days now, every time I’ve brought it up, I’ve been holding my breath, hoping she would tell me she wanted to stay. However, each time, she always agreed with me that it was time to leave.
“Come here,” I demand, holding out my hand to her.
Abbie wipes her sleeve over her face and steps back into my arm looking down at me hopefully.
“You don’t have to go anywhere, Abbie. You think I want to watch you leave? You’re mine, remember, I don’t want to spend the rest of my life remembering the short time I had with the perfect woman. I want to live with her, fill her belly with babies, live each day with her until we’re old and wrinkled up. I never wanted you to go, I just didn’t want to make you stay.” My voice is thick and full of emotion as my heart beats rapid fire in my chest.
“Really?” She smiles down at me and I’m pretty sure my heart skipped a beat.
“Really,” I reassure her. “Don’t go. Let’s move together. I’ll build us a better house, one with a loft and a bath house. One with skylights and enough room for children. Come with me,” I feel like I’m proposing. I guess I am. I might not be down on one knee, and I might not have a ring, but I’m asking this amazing woman to spend the rest of her days with me.
“I will.” She answers and I laugh as pure joy overtakes me.
I pull her into me, drawing her into my mouth and kiss her deep. When Abbie stands up, she looks as awestruck as I feel.
“Just one thing, though,” I interrupt the moment.
“What’s that?” She looks down at me dreamily.
“I still need you to sew up the front of this wound,” I jerk my head toward my bad shoulder and laugh again as Abbie’s eyes grow two sizes bigger.
“Oh! I’m sorry!” She scurries over to the other side of me and grabs the needle dangling down my back, tying off that wound.
“Don’t be. You’ve made me the happiest man alive, Abbie. You never have a single thing to be sorry for.”
As she smiles down at me, I feel a weight I didn’t realize I was dragging around lift from my soul. I know that things won’t always be perfect, but this is about as close as it gets with the perfect woman by my side, life is pretty sweet.
35
Abbie
“Let’s get you out of these dirty pants,” I tug on Cole’s hand and he reluctantly stands up. Although, I’ve gotta say, he seems to perk up a bit as I unbutton them and tug the zipper down for him. He kicks off his boots and gives a shake, letting his pants pool around his ankles and steps out of them.
I shamelessly let my eyes travel over his frame, but am left frowning at all the tiny scrapes and cuts covering him from the fight.
“What’s wrong?” Cole peers down at me, but I don’t answer. I purse my lips together and lead him over to the bed.
“Come lie down,” I’m the one giving him orders now, and I’m surprised when he listens. “I’m going to wipe you down and get you cleaned up.”
He must be able to tell that I’m not about to take no for an answer, or maybe he wants me to take care of him for once, because he doesn’t protest.
I pick up the dirty pot of water and toss it outside the door, I rinse it out and fill it back up with fresh, clean water before putting it on the stove just until I can see tiny bubbles form at the bottom of the pot. I’m not using this for sterilizing anything, so I don’t need to wait for it to come to a full boil this time. I pull the water from the stove with a clean cloth thrown on top and place it down carefully on the small table Cole carved from a tree stump beside the bed.
“You don’t have to do this,” Cole murmurs.
“I want to,” I quiet him, submerging the cloth in the warm water I wring it out and begin wiping down his scrapes carefully.
The backs of his arms are covered in what my mother used to call ’road rash’ when I came home with tears streaked down my dusty face and this pattern on my knees after wiping out on my rollerblades.
If it’s hurting Cole for me to clean him up, he’s hiding it well. Then again, I’d expect nothing less from him. I’ve never met a tougher man in my life.
The rest of his torso is fine, but he managed to get a cut along his hip during his scuffle on the ground. I tenderly clean it out with the cloth, being careful not to tear any of the skin. When I’m finally finished, I look at Cole and he’s watching me so closely.
“What?” I can’t help but smile. The way he’s looking at me would make any woman blush.
“Nothing, I’m just, I’m so lucky to have you,” he doesn’t blink as he looks into my eyes earnestly.
“I feel the same way,” I admit.
Then I see it. His heart isn’t the only thing full of gratitude for me. His cock is growing taller and fuller by the second. I can’t help but stare as it transforms like an inflatable Christmas tree, pumping up and becoming straight and thick. The only difference is, no one usually gets this excited for the tree.
“You know, I’m feeling awfully exposed here with you staring at my cock like that. How about you put that pot away and join me?” Cole’s voice is deep and rumbling with desire.
I nod, licking my lips. I quickly dispose of my sponge bath and don’t hesitate to strip off my clothes and hop into the bed with him.
“Get the fuck over here,” Cole pulls me on top of him, sitting up in the bed until I’m straddling him. “You see what you fucking do to me?” He grabs the base of his cock and pokes the tip against my clit. I can’t help the moan that escapes my lips any more than I can help the way my hips jaggedly grind toward him. It’s instinct. Pure and simple.
Cole pu
lls me toward him and I’m conscious not to put any weight or pressure on his wound as I comply, letting my tits fall in his face. His mouth hungrily surrounds my nipple, and I sit up on my knees more to keep pressing my clit against his cock as he swirls his tongue over it.
I jolt upright as a pain bolts through my sensitive nipple. “Oww!” I cry out as Cole looks up at me. “That hurt.” I pretend to pout at the little nip he just gave me.
“I guess I’ll have to kiss it better, huh?” His eyes twinkle mischievously and he twirls his cockhead on my clit making me forget what it was I was pretending to sulk over.
His mouth travels between my pert breasts as he drags his tongue down one side the mountain of my flesh and up the other side until he teases my other nipple the same way.
Rocking my hips so I can feel his cock rub against me, I close my eyes and moan loudly, finally not afraid of my own pleasure, or the sounds that come with it.
Cole scoots underneath me, lying back in the bed and my cheeks flush as I wonder if letting myself go like that is what did it.
I’m flustered and unsure of myself, waiting for Cole to tell me why he suddenly decided to lie down.
“Turn around and straddle my face, if you’re gonna get loud, it’s gonna be because you’re cumming in my mouth,” he tells me huskily.
I feel a little self-conscious as I twist myself around and open my legs over his mouth. Is he looking in my ass? Am I doing any of this right? Before I can get too squirmy, Cole’s mouth is on my pussy, his tongue is thrusting inside my lips and with his good arm, he’s guiding me down, down, down to his cock.
I flatten my body against his, my pussy flush with his mouth and my lips hovering over his twitching cock. I can’t believe how much I enjoy sucking on it. It makes me wonder if every girl feels this way about blowjobs, or if it takes the right guy to bring out your inner cock hungry slut.
Virgin for the Woodsman Page 12
