Saved by the Montana Hero

by Vella Munn

“Don’t think that. You weren’t responsible for his thoughts or actions.”

  “I know that, now.” She faced him. Shadow had leaned against him and he was rubbing between the dog’s ears. The gesture looked so natural. “Finally, thank goodness, the shock of him dying lifted. It stopped messing with my mind and making myself crazy.”

  “Believe me, I know what that’s like. The times I wondered if I could have done more for my folks…”

  “I’m sorry you had to go through that. I’ve never told anyone about what things were like between Brian and me right before he died.”

  “And you’re the only person who knows about Mom’s last days.”

  He stood with his attention divided between Shadow and her, his eyes bright, head up, body balanced on legs capable of climbing to the top of Mount Lynx. His nerves speaking to hers and hers listening. Wanting.

  “Don’t leave, please,” she said.

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes.”

  “I don’t want to. Not now that I’ve been so open.”

  “We both have.”

  He held out his hands. Feeling weightless, she joined him and linked her fingers with his. Maybe Shadow understood that what was happening between his people didn’t involve him because he limped over to the closest chair and curled up in it.

  Terron was waiting for her to make the next move but, except for Brian, she’d always shied from romantic relationships. Men deserved a woman who knew how to share themselves.

  She was learning, had already taken several giant steps. Pleased with how much she’d accomplished, she wrapped her good arm around Terron’s neck, rose onto her toes, and touched her mouth to his. His arms engulfed her, and his fingers splayed over her back. He was so warm, so strong. So there.

  When his grip tightened, she pressed her lips against his, felt warmer and more alive. Turned needy.

  The kiss lasted a long time yet wasn’t enough. The more he gave of himself, the more she craved. She settled back onto the balls of her feet but continued to strain upward. He folded himself around her and cradled her in his embrace. This was peace but not contentment, belonging for these moments, the woman in her stirring. Mouth opening, tongue reaching. Finding his. Tasting him. Testing herself.

  Shadow yawned, loudly.

  “I think,” Terron said with his mouth still on hers, “he wants to be left alone so he can sleep.”

  The world returned in jagged pieces that swirled around what remained of her brain. Something was expected of her, a decision to be made.

  “Indoors,” she said as she forced a little distance between them. “I need him to spend the night in here.”

  “Where do you want me?”

  “Here. In my bed.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Terron carried Kolina into the bedroom and deposited her on the bed. The sun had set, but a little light from the moon slipped through the window. Whoever was in the adjacent unit had the TV on to a game show and someone in the parking lot kept opening and closing doors.

  He didn’t care. Those things weren’t part of what was happening between Kolina and him.

  “Imagine it’s a summer night and we’re camping in the wilderness,” he said as someone wearing what sounded like combat boots clomped up nearby stairs. “We’re listening to owls.”

  “What else is out there while we’re on this fictional wilderness trek?”

  She was watching him, making him acutely aware of his body when he wanted to focus on hers.

  “A herd of bears, a gaggle of deer, two itinerant pumas, and a wolf convention.”

  She laughed. “Are you sure there’s room for us?”

  “There’ll always be room for us.”

  When her expression sobered he wondered if she’d keyed into the word always. They’d deal with that later, maybe tomorrow, maybe next week just before she left for her new job, a job maybe she needed for her sense of self. Now there was only tonight. Them.

  Her steady gaze reached beneath his clothes. He felt self-conscious as he removed his shoes, socks, shirt, and jeans while she stared barely blinking. Did she truly want to make love? When she licked her lips and reached for the buttons on her top, he had his answer.

  Tonight. Us.

  “Stop, please.” He drew her hand away from her shirt. “I want to do that.”

  “I—want you to.”

  So, she was nervous. That made two of them. He was already erect and had been since she’d admitted she wanted him to spend the night. Despite his impatience, he fought his body as he dispensed with her clothes. Her slippers came first, his fingers brushing the band aids on her heels. She helped him deal with her jeans by lifting her buttocks off the bed. The task behind him, he closed his fingers around her shirt’s buttons. Had he taken time with her jeans or rushed? She’d want him to draw out the rest of the disrobing, wouldn’t she? Maybe she was eager to be naked so they could get to the main act.

  Main act? Couldn’t he do better than that?

  Too much to think about, too much of his brain missing and his body inflamed.

  His hands took over. Fortunately his fingers knew how to handle the complex task he’d given them. Deep shadows settled over her nude body and drew his attention to her smallish breasts once he’d removed her bra. She kept moving about and her hands fluttered.

  He started to take off his shorts. “Protection?” she whispered.

  Given how his life had been until a few months ago, condoms had seemed like an unnecessary expense, but his father had given him a supply for his eighteenth birthday, and the message had stuck. Now as he retrieved his jeans and reached for his wallet, he silently thanked the conservative yet practical man. Maybe he should ask Kolina if she was on birth control, but it was easier to remind himself that he could and would do that later.

  Another night.

  If they were still together.

  Pushing away the thought, he finished with his shorts and sheathed himself. She’d stopped moving. He was nervous and yet he wasn’t; a potent mix of emotions dominated by how much he needed to become part of her.

  “It’s been a long time for me.” She extended a hand toward him.

  “For me, too, but I think I remember how it’s done.”

  She chuckled and lightly raked his hip. Goosebumps exploded as he sat on the edge of the bed, leaned over her, and tongued her breasts. When she moaned and seized his hair, he wondered if the sounds they were about to make would carry beyond these walls.

  Then she separated her legs and he no longer cared.

  *

  Kolina was aware of what she was doing, barely. Had control of her body, just. Despite her ever-growing need and freely-offered body, she was relieved he wasn’t rushing. As she saw it, they both needed the journey called foreplay. While he used his tongue, lips, and fingers on her body, she dealt with her growing arousal with urgent kisses and by digging her toes into the bedspread then against his legs.

  She didn’t hesitate to touch him, saw all of him as her playground. One moment he was sitting next to her, the next he was stretched out beside her and she was breathing in his scent, his essence. When he straddled her and ran his erection over her belly, she clawed his shoulders. She whimpered and moaned, cared nothing about her shoulder, was beyond being aware of anything except the two of them.

  So good, so real, primitive man caressing her everywhere, going fast and slow, her arching off the bed and pressing her breasts against him. Both of them on the move, him stealing her sanity and turning her animal-like.

  “Ready.” She mouthed against his throat. “I’m so, so ready. Terron, please.”

  He bent her knees and opened her fully to him. That done, he planted his arms on either side of her and momentarily held himself over her. Then he descended. Entered her. Became part of her.

  She clung to him, the grip in her left hand stronger than her right, helping him, helping herself. Hissing and groaning. Moving more and more wildly until her strength nearly matched his
. He repeatedly came at her. Sweat coated his back, and they made inhuman sounds. Attacked. Retreated. Attacked again.

  “Now.” He sucked in a breath. “I’m—now.”

  “Yes. Oh, yes.”

  She knew when he was gone, trapped in the wonderful, all-powerful whirlpool that was his release. Moments later she shuddered. Spasmed.

  “Terron.” She shuddered. “Oh, Terron. You—”

  *

  They made love twice more before morning. By the time she crawled out of bed and went into the shower, she couldn’t think of anything except how much her life had changed in a single night. She was looser, softer, no longer alone. Content in ways she hadn’t known were possible.

  Still confused.

  Terron, who had taken the first shower, was returning from walking Shadow when she emerged from the bedroom. He’d started coffee brewing, and the scent filled the small space. They stared at each other. Her body hummed. He was in her place. Part of her world.

  For today at least.

  “I let him off the leash once we were away from the parking lot,” Terron said as he removed his jacket. He continued studying her. “He didn’t go very far and kept his attention on me while he took care of business.”

  “Maybe what he went through traumatized him.”

  “Is that it?” He patted Shadow. “You learned your lesson, big boy? From now on you’re going to stick close to the humans in your life?”

  The humans in your life. The words swirled around her as she filled Shadow’s bowls and Terron poured coffee for both of them. Not sure where her thinking was taking her, she perched on one of the stools and looked out the window. Terron sat inches away. She clutched her coffee mug in both hands as last night played out in her heart.

  Terron was her lover, her man, knower of her body and privy to so much about what made her who she was.

  “I called Rey,” he said. “Told him I’d be late.”

  “I love it here. In ways I never expected.”

  “It speaks to me, too.”

  “I don’t want to leave.”

  He placed his mug on the counter and swiveled both stools so their knees touched then settled his hands on her thighs. Shaking, she put her mug next to his and covered his hands with hers. Last night she hadn’t been able to touch him without wanting to make love. They’d spent hours exploring each other’s bodies but saying almost nothing.

  “Why not?” he asked. “You don’t belong to me any more than I belong to you, but maybe us means something to you.”

  Us. Her mouth sagged, and tears she swore she’d never reveal to another human being slid down her cheeks. He drew her to her feet and led the way into the living area. He sat in the chair Shadow had claimed last night and pulled her onto his lap. A little numb, she leaned against his chest and wrapped her good arm around his neck.

  “You feel so good,” he whispered. “Like tomorrow.”

  Tomorrow.

  “I want,” she whispered in turn, “to explore us.”

  “To always be honest? Is that what you’re saying?”

  Thinking he was referring to what they’d both revealed yesterday, she nodded. “We had so many things bottled up inside us. I hope we’ve gotten beyond that.”

  “So do I. Otherwise we won’t last.”

  She leaned back so she could study him. She’d been living in the present for so many years. Now she wanted to focus on her future—with Terron. If possible. She’d come to Lake Serene with little in the way of goals beyond earning enough money to be able to buy a new set of wheels and getting reacquainted with Echo. Hopefully she’d see a lot of the area’s wildlife and make decent tips. Her roof wouldn’t leak; she’d get along with her coworkers, take pictures, and maybe have time off so she could spend a few days in the Rockies.

  At the end of her Lake Serene employment, she’d head on down the road in a different vehicle. Anticipate her next adventure.

  “I can’t leave,” she said.

  “Don’t want to or can’t?”

  “Both.”

  “You need to do what’s right for you.”

  “That’s not what I mean.”

  “Then what—”

  Say it! “I want to do what’s right for us.”

  He kissed her. Hard. “I needed to hear that but don’t make a decision right now. You’ve been given a hell of a job offer.”

  “I know.”

  He got to his feet, bringing her with him. Arm in arm they went outside and leaned against the railing. What she could see of the lake was achingly clear and the crisp breeze carried the intoxicating scent of evergreens.

  “You and I are just starting a relationship,” he said.

  “Yes, we are.”

  “It feels right to me but I’m not going to stand in your way.”

  Not stand in her way. Not try to sway her as Brian had done. She rested her head on his shoulder. “I have to call Alisha.”

  “And tell her what?”

  “That I won’t be accepting the job.” She sighed. “I can hardly believe I’m saying what I am. An offer like that has never come my way.”

  “They’re pretty rare. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

  “I appreciate that. I tried to convince myself I could adapt to living somewhere else, but Lake Serene feels—permanent.”

  “That’s how it feels for me but it’s more complicated for you. I’m the one with gainful employment at least through the winter.”

  “Don’t remind me.” Wanting to lighten things, she chuckled. “I need a job.”

  “Just not what you were doing.”

  He hadn’t said anything about him financially supporting her for which she was grateful because as much as she wanted to become part of his life, she was determined to carry her own weight.

  “I’ve been thinking about that,” she admitted.

  “When?”

  She laughed. “Maybe since the night you gave me a massage.”

  “Seriously? You didn’t say anything.”

  “Back then I wasn’t sure what I was feeling about you. I also hadn’t completely done in my shoulder.”

  “Yeah, that.”

  “I have some possibilities such as housekeeping as long as it isn’t too strenuous. Becoming a cook, if they need another one.” She wrapped her good arm around his neck. His hands settled against the small of her back. More in tune with another human being than maybe she’d ever been, she continued. “The thing is I don’t see myself being content long-term making beds or flipping burgers.”

  “You need a job that takes you outdoors as much as possible.”

  “Yes.” Between his impact on her heart and mind and needing to pull her thoughts together, she wasn’t sure of anything. “Listen to me, please. Help me think this through.”

  “Of course.”

  “When I’m done breaking the news to Alisha, I’m going to call Echo and ask her how to get in touch with the board of directors at Nature One.”

  “Nature One?”

  “The environmental group she’s been working with to increase their support of the educational center. They’ve been hesitant to do more because a federal agency is behind the project.”

  “What are you thinking?”

  “That their stand might change once they fully understand the project. What if the request comes from me, a civilian? I have to try. I want to.”

  “It sounds like you’ve given this considerable thought.”

  “I guess I have. Talking to a group makes me nervous just thinking about it.”

  “Maybe I can help. What’s at the top of your wish list?”

  “Good question. I don’t see how the center can be truly effective if we have to rely on volunteers to man it. There needs to be a paid position, a director.”

  He kissed her. “And you want to be that person.”

  “I didn’t say—”

  “You don’t have to.”

  “I don’t have the qualifications.”


  “Are you kidding? Look at the research you’ve been doing. You’re becoming an expert about all things Lake Serene.”

  “I don’t have a college degree.”

  “That shouldn’t be the determining factor.”

  She longed to believe him. At the same time she knew better than to let a dream get in the way of reality. “I guess the only thing I can do is make my pitch.”

  “You’ll be prepared. I’ll help if you want.”

  “Of course I do.”

  Much as she hated having to do so she voiced what else was on her mind. “If that doesn’t work out, Melinda told me she intends to move closer to her grandchildren.”

  He frowned. “Her position includes such things as supervising the kitchen staff and ordering supplies? You could do it but—”

  “I want to stay here. The job would make it possible.” Thinking and talking about her uncertain future was giving her a headache when she longed to concentrate on what was happening between Terron and her.

  “One step at a time.” He kissed her again. “My trailer and the others like it are set to be pulled out and replaced as soon as Shaw finds someone he trusts to do the hauling. With your trucking background, you’re that someone.”

  “It isn’t that difficult with the right equipment and proper preparation. If you don’t mind me using your truck, I can haul the old units wherever Shaw and his uncle want.”

  “My truck?”

  “It’s heavy-duty and four-wheel drive. Do you trust me?”

  “Of course. I’d love to watch you.”

  “Watch away.” She became serious again. “The moving will probably pay well but not for long.”

  “Probably not. Something for you to think about. The new trailers will all be double-wides. Room for two.”

  “You’re…”

  “Asking you to consider moving in with me? I think I am.”

  The intensity of what she was feeling stole her breath. So much was happening in an unbelievably short amount of time. There was no way she would let him let him assume responsibility for her bills while she waited for something permanent here to come through. His parents had depended on him. In contrast, she’d always stood on her own. That would never change.

  “I don’t know what to say.”