The gentle tap of an ax against wood reverberated through the trees. Her stomach knotted. She brought the flowers close to her chest as Simon came into view. His body tensed with each swing of the ax. He didn’t hold back the rage evident in his jerky movements and the way he attacked the base of the tree.
“There he is.” Garrett waved toward Simon. “You’ll be fine from here. I’ve got to get back to Beth before she sticks her beautiful nose into something she’s not supposed to.”
“Thank you,” Carrie said, and waited for Garrett to disappear back down the trail before facing Simon.
He’d shifted his stance, and turned his back toward her. Did he truly not know she was near, or had he chosen to ignore her presence? In only a few shallow breaths, she walked close enough to see the notch he’d chiseled in the trunk. She didn’t know much about felling a tree, but she did know she was in no danger of being crushed by the giant mass at this point in his progress. But nearby a large pine that must have been his first victim lay prone on the ground—the branches not yet settled and tool marks fresh. “You don’t seem to have gotten far on that tree.”
Simon turned with a jerk, his brows drawn together and blue eyes as dark as a stormy winter’s day. “What the devil are you doing out here, woman?” He searched behind her.
Inside she sighed. He hadn’t seen her, which meant at least he was approachable. Perhaps he wouldn’t bare his pointed teeth this time around. “I brought your knife. Don’t worry. Garrett brought me up, but he left. I didn’t chance the mountain alone, and I wasn’t in any danger.”
She held the knife out, and he took it, sheathing it behind his back.
“Up here you’re always in danger.” The anger in his eyes changed to a glare of accusation, but he shifted his weight to one foot and leaned against the ax. A flick of his gaze toward the pocket of his discarded jacket made her follow his line of sight. The top of a flask peeked from the corner of the pocket. She tried not to rush to the offending object, yank it from the cloth, and toss it into Seeley Lake. He snatched the jacket up from the ground. “It’s empty.”
“I didn’t ask.”
“You did with your eyes.” He tossed the coat onto a nearby log. “I don’t want to be caught in the sights of a cougar without my wits.”
Carrie frowned at the memory of his wounds the year before. While she didn’t judge a man based on the way he partook of the devil’s juice, she didn’t condone it either. But he was right. Out here, you needed to be aware of the dangers surrounding you.
Simon stretched his neck to the side, then straightened with a smug smile. “Did your new love’s annoying voice make you run back to me?”
“What a petty thing to say. You know darned well that Bonner boy isn’t my love. And what do you care? It’s not like I haven’t had beaus before. You’ve never had an issue with them.”
“I don’t care.”
“Then I assume you’re afraid of losing the one person on earth who can tolerate your surly disposition. Even Aunt June kicked you out of her camp.”
He tilted his head and glared. “Now who’s being petty?”
“I find it’s the only way to battle with you.”
“Ah, yes, your feisty personality.” He dropped his ax and stalked toward her with a predator’s stare, causing her heart to beat so fast she could feel it in her throat. He reached up and ran a finger down the side of her neck. “Do any of your suitors make you weak?”
She shivered. He wanted to make her step back. To herd her like men were apt to do—like he’d done before—but she wasn’t going to give in. No matter how much her feet wanted to form a mind of their own and obey his unspoken command. She refused to budge. “That’s none of your concern.”
He stopped with only an inch between them. His hot breath tickled the sensitive curves of her neck when he bent down to her ear. “I’ll bet you’ve never felt that fiery ache in your stomach.” She gasped when he reached out and placed one warm palm on the flat part of her stomach just above her womanhood. “The one feeling that can only be satiated by the touch of a man. The one that makes women forget all recourse, and give in to the temptations of a well-stocked man. A mistake powerful enough to bring down nations, and turn friends into enemies.”
The sensation of his warmth over her womb caused her breath to fail as an ache began beneath his palm as promised and stretched to even the most sensitive of places on her body. She struggled to gain control of her lungs as her mind fogged, with only the sight of his face, inches above hers, visible to her as he drew back to look deep into her eyes. She had to get control of herself. Simon was a wolf. A predator like the one who haunted his every thought. One well versed in making women swoon. What he did now aimed to scare her. Distract her. Perhaps even punish her.
Carrie swallowed hard to help bring her mind to focus and took a step back. Simon dropped his hand from her stomach as she slammed the flowers against his chest.
He straightened to his normal height and stretched his mouth in a victorious grin.
She lifted her chin. She had to show him he couldn’t scare her. “I brought you these, but I don’t know if you deserve them.”
“Forget-me-nots? Are you trying to say something with these?” He clasped his palm around the back of her hand and bouquet, anchoring her fist to his chest. Tingles shot down her arm as he released her hand and took the bouquet.
How much longer could she take this sort of torture?
Her parents had been reluctant to let her come this year. She had to prove to them that she was capable of going out in the world without being ruined forever, but the one person who could destroy her chance was the man before her. “You can’t scare me. No matter how hard you try.”
“Is that a challenge, my love?” A smirk formed on his perfect lips.
“I’m not your love.” Frankly she was damned tired of his smug looks. Maybe she could slap it off, but then he’d only take her outburst as a challenge to tame her or some such nonsense. Incorrigible blowhard. “And no. It is not a challenge.”
“I think it is. I accept.”
Blasted! She held back the urge to growl. The man was infuriating. “No you don’t. I didn’t challenge you.”
“I think you did. You’ll find I can be a better lover than any fool you’ve courted thus far. Even with all my…faults.”
“I’ve never had a lover, and I won’t take one now. I’m not one of your strumpets.”
He reached out and wrapped his hands around her waist, tugging her hard toward him. “No one said you were a strumpet, but by the end of the season you will be ruined for all men but me.”
“You’re a monster.” She tilted her head to the side and silently challenged him to argue.
He glowered, the glare in his eyes tempered with rage, and with one hand shoved the flowers in the inner pocket of his jacket. With the other he pushed her away and turned to snatch up his ax.
Her heartbeat returned to normal, but a different sort of ache took residence in her stomach, and her body grew cold where they’d touched mere moments before. She’d hurt him with her words, albeit unintentionally. “I didn’t mean it the way you think.”
He ignored her and chopped the tree. The sound echoed the beat of her heart, quick but steady. “Simon, please? I didn’t mean to call you a monster.”
He stopped, grasped the ax near the head, and turned. “It’s what I am. I just never thought I’d hear you say it.”
“That’s not true. You’re Simon Sanders. A little free with your love of women, but a good man.”
He chopped once more, turning his back on her. “I’ll never be who I was, Carrie. The world won’t let me. You need to accept that.”
“Missoula social circuit, perhaps not, but this world.” She motioned toward the tops of the trees surrounding them. “This world, and all of us down there at camp need you. Violent moods and
everything.”
He continued with his work. His gaze focused on only the tree.
After a few moments of silence, she shuffled her feet. “I suppose I should get back. Aunt June wants me to return before dark. She wanted me to tell you that she’ll have your favorite breakfast ready at sunup.” Carrie pivoted and located the trail.
“Wait.”
She stopped and turned to him, only a few feet farther than she’d been. “Yes.”
“Stay.” He motioned toward the trail with a flick of his hand. “I’ll take you to camp once I finish this tree.”
The tree towered above her, a notch weakening the base. She grasped her fingers with her opposite hand and blinked a few times. “Is it safe? I don’t want to die out here.”
“You’re safe with me. Always will be.”
“All right.” She settled on a nearby log to watch. She doubted his words were true. In matters of the heart, he was the most dangerous man on the earth. She smiled as he placed his palm over the pocket holding the flowers as if checking for them, then turned back to his task.
They didn’t speak, didn’t need to. She waited as he took out what remained of his aggression on the base of the towering pine. If he didn’t make good on his promise of lustful bliss, they would be fine. She didn’t know what she’d do if he seduced her. As tempting as it was to fall into the arms of a rogue like Simon Sanders, she couldn’t give in to his spell, else she’d lose everything she’d worked hard for as a single woman in a wild mountain town.
Chapter 5
Simon stood behind the men and watched as the Devil May Care boys challenged each other in their seasonal pecking order games. In years past he’d have been right there in the thick of it. Perhaps even throwing a few punches himself, just for fun. Not today. While the good-natured row did lighten his mood a bit, his mind wandered elsewhere. Lost somewhere between thoughts of making Carrie pay for her deception with sensual moans and boarding the first train off the mountain. But regardless of her lies and deceit, she was right. This place, with its towering pines and mist-filled mornings, did something inside his soul. It anchored him to the land and the world created within.
A cheer rose up among the men and drew his attention back to the games. As expected, Wall had beat everyone on both the log run and fisticuffs, and the only thing left was finding out who would take the position as his right-hand man. So far, Blue was in lead.
The competition ended with good-natured slaps to Blue’s back and a few coins exchanged from bets placed, but work called. Simon caught Wall’s eye and raised his head to beckon him closer.
Wall trotted up to him, and Simon motioned toward the rowdy crowd of men. “Looks like you got a fine team this year. Good men to ride the river with.”
“If we get to ride the river.” Wall turned his gaze to the mountain peaks, barely covered with what remained of the light snowfall the winter before. “The spring runoff is nearly over and we’ve only just begun with the warm season. If the rivers aren’t deep enough we can’t get the logs down that way.”
“There’s always the rails.” Simon didn’t mean to sound brash, but he couldn’t help it. Not that it was Wall’s fault Victoria had taken away half of his job, but he’d still been usurped by the leader of the Devil May Cares.
Wall studied his men busy chatting with their comrades. He took a step closer. “I’m going to have to go down the river with the boys and check out the water flow. Maybe clear a few blockages.”
“Won’t that leave the railroad loggers without a leader?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and stared at the ground. “Yeah, about that, I told Victoria you were more than capable of handling the timber beasts without me, but she insisted.”
“I appreciate the confidence.”
“You’re a good timber beast,” Wall said. “Everyone knows it, but there’s a little more going on than you need to worry about. Just focus on the job.”
Simon nodded. “As long as we’re on the same page.”
“We are. Victoria is back down at the mill. Aside from me bothering you to keep up appearances for her sake, once I get back I won’t bother the beasts as far as work goes at the Rails or the Grove. You can have that. I will be around enough to keep Victoria happy, though.”
“Whatever you need to do to please the boss lady.”
“And protect Great Mountain.”
Simon tilted his head. “Is there something going on I should be aware of?”
“Not anything Victoria and I can’t handle.”
“If you need me—”
“You’ve got your own problems. Starting with Miz Carrie, from everything I’ve seen the last few days.”
Simon chuckled. “You’re right about that. She’s a handful.”
“But well worth the effort from what I’ve seen. You seem to have something between you. Anyone who can put up with Elizabeth’s antics, and be brave enough to drug you and drag you up here, must have guts of lead. You can’t go wrong falling for a woman like that.”
“Or a head full of oats, and there’s nothing between us.”
“So you say.” Wall chuckled. “Either way, she’s Beth’s kindred spirit.”
“I always was a glutton for punishment when it came to women.”
“A glutton for something, but I don’t think I’d describe your vices for women as punishment,” Wall said.
Simon was about to respond when a flash on the hillside caught his attention. Every fiber of his body tensed when flames shot from beneath a log barreling down the new chute. “Sonofabitch! Teddy’s done it again.” He cupped his hand beside his mouth. “Oy, Teddy, grease the damn chute!”
The chute monkey didn’t respond.
Simon shook his head and adjusted his footing. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go up there. I swear the blasted man is hell-bent on starting a forest fire by not greasing the damned chutes.”
“Do what you need,” Wall responded and, with a wave, returned to his men as Simon headed toward the Grove.
What was Teddy thinking? Wall might be spouting fables of the past when it came to Simon’s love of women—and relationship with Carrie—but he was right about one thing: the spring runoff was lower than usual. A dry winter meant a dry summer, and they now sat in a tinderbox of scorched, overgrown vegetation. If they weren’t careful this year, the whole forest could go up in flames.
* * * *
Carrie dipped the bucket into the lake and heaved it up. The wooden panels groaned with the weight of the water as she adjusted her grip while searching her surroundings for a glimpse of Simon, but with no luck. He’d busied himself with work, and she was glad for it. Glad for a start to the rebirth of Simon Sanders, timber beast.
The rhythmic chop of the men busy at work sounded from somewhere deep in the trees on the hill. Closer still, the grate of a log against the chute demanded all who heard watch as a log barreled down the slide and landed with a loud splash into the lake.
Since she’d first entered camp the year before, she’d grown to love the simplicity of life here. There was no one to impress. While men were as prevalent as a worker bee in a hive, they didn’t vie for her attention. Demand she have eyes only for them, or even attempt to court her. At least they hadn’t last year. She had thought she and Simon had had a spark, but he’d never approached her with anything more than friendship. She’d realized then her feelings were a result of their circumstance and nothing more. It was for the best. And up here she was allowed to do as she wished. To live as she’d always wanted. Free. Single. And simple. Now if only Simon could find himself, she might get over the guilt she felt whenever she watched his soul mourn. She’d been the one to nurse him back to health. If she’d done a better job, perhaps she could have helped him ease into his new life with his injuries. But she’d failed him.
“Miz Carrie,” a man’s voice sounded behi
nd her.
Water splashed from the bucket as she turned. “Good Lord, Thomas, you frightened me. I didn’t know anyone was down here.”
“We’re taking a break, and came down to fill up our water pouches.” He pointed at the man she recognized as Jake from Aunt June’s blunderous dinner.
Carrie responded with a nod.
“Can I carry that for you?”
“It’s not heavy.” She adjusted it in her arms to hug the barrel. After her fight for independence, she didn’t need a logger treating her as though she were a helpless, weak female.
“What sort of man would I be if I let you carry that all the way to camp?” Without giving her a chance to argue, he plucked the bucket from her arms as if it weighed close to nothing. He motioned toward the trail leading to Aunt June’s cabin and cook fire.
Jake stood with a smile and watched her as though he’d never look away. She turned slowly to follow and hugged her light jacket closer to her body as a shiver ran down her arms. A quick glance behind showed Jake followed, still focused on her as they walked. He adjusted his knife and sheath along his back, and she snapped her head forward.
“Those were some good vittles you made the other day,” Thomas said.
“I can’t take all the credit. Aunt June is the cook at our camp. I merely help.”
“Our cook isn’t nearly as good as you.”
“Aunt June did most of the work. Really.” Carrie gave a forced smile. What was his aim giving her the compliments for something she didn’t do?
“I’d like to see what else you women got cookin’ over at the Missoula camp,” he said.
Wild Passion Page 6
