Cabin Fever: A Mountain Man Romance

by Rye Hart

  I felt Liam’s hand come up to my waist but I stepped out from underneath his touch and took the bowls to the small kitchen table.

  “Could you grab us some glasses of tea?” I asked breathlessly.

  “Sure,” he said.

  I could feel his eyes on me and I suddenly felt exposed. I was worried about what he would think of me now. Would he look at me with pity? This wasn’t how today was supposed to go. This was my last day with him and all I’d wanted was to be in his presence and drink him up as much as I could.

  Before I had to leave and let him go.

  I sat down at the table while Liam brought our glasses and it wasn’t until he sat in front of me that I felt like I could continue.

  “My father finally got a call back from a job and started the interview process. My mother was so excited for him. But it was a world away. The Dakotas, to be exact. And it made me angry.”

  I drew in a deep breath before my mouth began to run away from me.

  “It spurred all these yelling matches. Dad took the job and Mom was calling me ungrateful. I kept telling them I wanted to stay with my friends. That I didn’t want to move with them. The arguments got ugly and we all said things I knew we’d regret. In the end, Gwen’s parents suggested I stay with them and finish out my high school years. I was practically bouncing off the walls with happiness. At first, my parents turned it down but, eventually, they caved and I lived with Gwen and her family until we graduated.”

  “What happened to your family, Whitney?”

  I closed my eyes and drew in a shaky breath before I grabbed my spoon and started playing with my food.

  “I don’t know. I just… never heard from them. I was so wrapped up in high school and being a teenager and hanging out with my best friend that it never really occurred to me that they never called. I heard from them when they arrived safely and that was it.”

  “They just… didn’t contact you?” Liam asked

  “It’s insane, right? I didn’t even realize how insane it was until I began law school. The only thing I can really come up with is that they felt guilty.”

  “For what?” he asked.

  “For not being able to provide for me the life they felt Gwen’s family could. Maybe they didn’t come soaring back into my life because they felt Gwen’s family could somehow give me something they couldn’t. Like a mother giving her child up for adoption because she knows she can’t take care of it or something like that.”

  I finally took a small bite of the food in front of me but, somehow, it didn’t quite taste right. I felt like every single one of my senses were dulling. Liam’s voice seemed far away and it felt like my feet were floating off the floor. We sat in silence as I choked back my tears and, eventually, Liam was the one that broke the silence.

  “I’m so sorry, Whitney.”

  “It is what it is,” I said.

  “I couldn’t imagine doing that to my own child,” he said. “I never would.”

  “I just keep telling myself it’s what they thought was best for whatever reason. Have you ever done something fucked up because you thought it was for all the right reasons?”

  I watched him freeze and I immediately regretted my words.

  We ate in silence for a little while longer and, soon, my bowl was empty. I was swallowing down the last sip of my tea while Liam picked up my bowl, taking it to the sink with his and dumping them in their rightful place.

  “What are you going to do tomorrow?” he asked.

  I saw him hunch over the sink, propping his hands up on the edge while he bowed his head.

  “Go back to the resort, I guess. Get out of your hair.”

  I watched him shake his head.

  “Get out of my hair,” he said.

  “You don’t want me to leave?” I asked.

  But all I got in return was silence.

  “Liam?” I asked.

  “Yes?”

  “Would you like to come spend a couple of nights with me at the resort?”

  I watched him slowly turn around until his eyes connected with mine.

  “With you,” he said.

  “With me. The cabin’s a studio cabin, sort of like this one. But I stocked it with food before I went on my fun little ankle-breaking adventure. There’s only one bed but I figured, based on last night, that might not be an issue for us.”

  I watched a small grin creep across his cheeks as the tension in the room alleviated. It didn’t matter that he wasn’t going to open up to me and it didn’t matter that I had the capability of leaving tomorrow. All I knew was that I felt better telling someone else about what happened to me and I wasn’t ready to let Liam go.

  Not if I was still going to be in the area for at least two more weeks.

  “I think I’d like that,” he said.

  “So, you’ll come back with me?” I asked.

  “I’ll even pack clothes so I don’t have to wear yours,” he said, grinning.

  “You know you like me in your clothes,” I said.

  There was an expression that rolled across his face before he turned back to the sink.

  “Thank you for opening up to me,” he said.

  “Thank you for listening.”

  I felt much better about going back tomorrow now. I’d be able to spend a little more time with him, and maybe I could finally get him to open up to me. It felt good, talking to him about what happened. He didn’t try to offer any advice and he didn’t try to ease my mind about the situation. He merely sat, listened, and took everything in.

  It was refreshing and I wanted the ability to give him the same in return.

  “When you pack,” I said as I stood from the table. “Pack a bathing suit.”

  “A bathing suit?” he asked.

  “Yep,” I said. “There’s a clubhouse on the grounds with multiple hot tubs. Figured we could use one of them sometime.”

  I smiled at him as he craned his head back to look at me and I could’ve sworn I saw a glint of mischief in his eyes.

  “You’re bad, Miss Whitney,” he said.

  “Hollis,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Miss Hollis. My name is Whitney Hollis.”

  He turned around fully and raked his eyes down my body before he nodded his head.

  “Liam Canter,” he said.

  “I think we’re doing this a bit backward but we’re getting there,” I said.

  The chuckle that fell from his lips curled my toes as I stood in the kitchen and watched him take care of the dishes. I watched his muscles twitch with movement underneath his clothes as his large hands dried the dishes he’d soaked in soapy water. His skin glistened with the water running up his forearm and I snuck a peek at his pert ass as he stood at the sink and cleaned up.

  Oh, yes. I was really going to enjoy tomorrow now.

  CHAPTER 21

  LIAM

  “You know, I’ve never been to a resort before,” I said.

  “Really?” Whitney asked.

  “Yeah. My family and I couldn’t afford vacations like that. There was one vacation where my father borrowed a tent from a friend of his and we all packed up like we were going camping. Only we walked a mile back into the woods and found a clearing before we set up.”

  “That actually doesn’t sound so bad,” she said.

  “It was so much fun as a kid. We watched the stars and ran around. There was a creek not too far away that I’d swim in and throw rocks into.”

  “Is that where you get your love of the outdoors?” she asked.

  “Yep. Because we were so poor, I spent all my time outside. My father was a farmer and my mother raised the animals on our farm, but it wasn’t anything that raked in any good money. We had enough to keep rice and biscuits in the house. Then, we ate the produce we couldn’t sell. Any of the animals we couldn’t unload, my mother butchered for meat and, at any given moment, something was being shut off in our house. We only ever had enough money to keep one thing on at a time.”
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br />   I could feel Whitney’s gaze on me while we slowly diverted onto the back road that would drive us right up to the resort.

  Right up to the stop sign where I’d first seen her crossing the road.

  “It’s odd that I still enjoy the outdoors, honestly,” I said.

  “Why’s that?” she asked.

  “On one of our vacations, I fell out of a tree and hurt myself pretty bad. Dislocated my shoulder and had one of the limbs of the tree drive right through my side.”

  “Oh my gosh, Liam.”

  “It would have been a lot worse had it not been for the doctor that was on call that night,” I said. “Our town didn’t even have a hospital but our regular doctor was out of town for some conference and he had a friend of his filling in whose expertise was actually in trauma. He was able to get me stable in the doctor’s office until an ambulance could get to us.”

  “I can’t believe you still want to be surrounded by trees,” she said.

  “That’s actually the memory that came to my mind when I was enlisting in the Navy. When they first asked me if being a medic was something I was interested in, I laughed at them. Until I remembered that doctor. That man saved my life that night. He helped me in ways I didn’t understand at the time and that’s all I wanted to do. I wanted to help people.”

  I drew in a deep breath before I flicked my gaze over to Whitney, who was smiling brightly and studying my face closely.

  “What?” I asked.

  “I know I haven’t known you for long,” she said. “But I’ve never seen you light up like that.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That little moment there when you were talking about becoming a medic and all of that stuff. Your eyes were just sparkling. Were you even aware that you were smiling?”

  I furrowed my brow and turned my sights back to the road.

  “Have you ever considered getting back into the practice now that you’re no longer in the military?” she asked.

  “I won’t,” I said.

  “Why not?” she asked. “It’s obviously something you’re passionate about. Why not continue to help people on the other side?”

  The other side. The other side. I felt my hands grip the steering wheel tightly as we slowly approached the stop sign. I rolled to a stop before I got onto the freshly-plowed roads of the resort but I could feel Whitney’s stare, hard on the side of my face.

  That was what I’d done in the fucking Navy. Helped the other damn side.

  I was a traitor and she had no fucking clue.

  “Where should I go from here?” I asked.

  I heard her sigh before she turned her gaze out toward the road in front of us.

  “Keep going straight,” she said. “We need to get to the main lodge so we can get you a parking pass.”

  All I could do was take in the sights around me. This place was unlike anything I’d ever seen before. The cabins were luxurious and the main lodge was massive. I studied the chandelier hanging from the ceiling as I walked in with Whitney. Then she took my hand as we walked up to the front desk.

  “Miss Hollis, we are so glad you are okay,” the front desk woman said.

  “That’s very kind of you to say, thank you,” she said.

  “That employee should’ve never let you go out with that impending storm looming over our heads. She should’ve directed you straight back to your cabin.”

  “Trust me, you wouldn’t have been able to control what she did,” I said.

  Whitney snickered and shook her head while the front desk woman continued to look at us with worried looks.

  “Nonetheless, please accept our complimentary upgrade in your stay,” the woman said. “We took the liberty of moving all of your food and your suitcases into your new cabin suite.”

  “I promise you, that’s not necessary,” Whitney said.

  “Plus, there will be a complimentary dinner waiting for you this evening in our five-star restaurant, right here in the main lodge. Please accept our deepest apologies.”

  I watched Whitney take the two dinner vouchers, as well as the new key to her cabin before she threw me a surprised smile. I could tell she was trying to stifle a bit of laughter as the woman continued to rattle off things about the new cabin, but neither of us was listening.

  “Do you have any questions?” the woman asked.

  “Nope,” I said. “I think we’re all set.”

  “Wonderful. We hope you enjoy your stay, Miss Hollis.”

  We walked back out to my truck and Whitney couldn’t stop giggling. She was holding my hand tight within hers and all I could focus on was the warmth radiating from her body. Now, she was in her element and she was visibly relaxing. There was a sparkle of joy in her eyes while we climbed into the truck.

  “They actually thought they could’ve stopped me from hiking,” she said

  “I almost laughed out loud,” I said.

  “Come on,” she said. “I’ll show you where to go from here as best as I know how.”

  There were massive two-and-three story lodges that were dotted all around the sprawling countryside. We wound our way through them all as we continued back into the resort property and I was absolutely stunned. The trees that lined this little valley were blanketed with snow and all of the chimneys were pouring smoke into the sky. I’d only ever seen this resort once and only from the outside.

  Never in my life could I have imagined the beauty that existed within it.

  We wound through cobblestoned streets until we finally found the cabin number we were looking for. It was a ranch-style cabin with a beautiful darkened finish on the outside. I pulled my truck up to it before Whitney got out and, the moment we stepped into the place, it took our breath away.

  The decadent furniture was all handmade. The cushions were soft and the fireplace was already prepared for starting a fire. Crystal glasses and posh china sat on the kitchen table and, as Whitney looked around the room, I could see her eyes sparkling.

  Her entire existence lit up when she was in her element.

  We ventured down the hallway and pushed open all the doors. The bathroom was extravagant, with a massive walk-in shower, as well as a jet bathtub. There were two separate bedrooms, each boasting a king-sized four-poster bed. Whitney walked into one of the rooms and pulled the curtains back, squealing as she took in the view from the room she’d picked out for us.

  I walked up behind her and took in the forest while the snow glistened underneath the sunlight in the sky.

  “This is beautiful,” she said. “Look at this view. I can’t imagine how much this would’ve cost someone otherwise.”

  I took in the landscape out the window as Whitney turned to face me. She craned her neck back while my eyes danced along the hillside, taking in the rolling, snowy hills of the resort. It was picturesque, like something you’d find on a postcard in a gift shop.

  But I was ripped from the view when Whitney placed her hands on my chest and pushed me back toward the bed.

  CHAPTER 22

  WHITNEY

  There was something about watching the shock roll over his face that ignited a fire in my gut. The way he was gawking at everything and taking it all in for the first time. I wanted this to be a moment he would never forget. I wanted this time together to be used to its fullest extent.

  I pressed him back onto the bed before I slid off his body. His eyes were heating underneath my gaze as a flush overtook his skin. Slowly, I removed every single layer of my clothing while he watched, his fingertips trembling as he removed his own. I held his gaze as his cock grew thick against his pants but, the moment he discarded he shirt, I couldn’t wait any longer.

  I threw myself at his body and we fell back onto the bed.

  His chest was broad and strong. My tits pressed into it as our lips collided in a sensual kiss. Our tongues lapped at one another’s like flames licking up a chimney and, instantly, his hands were all over me, digging into the thickness of my body and caressing the dip in my w
aist.

  But the moment I broke the kiss and placed my knees on either side of his head, I grinned down at him.

  His hands slid up my ass before he pulled my pelvis down to his lips. His beard tickled the insides of my legs while his hands kneaded the excess of my ass. I rode upon his lips, bucking and writhing as I massaged my tits. His tongue felt so good between my legs and his beard stroked me in ways I had never felt.

  He hummed in excitement and I shivered with delight. His lips puckered around my clit and I lost control of my body, bucking harder into him as I chased my own ecstasy. I rode his lips and silenced his grin while my hands rushed down my body. Then, I wrapped them in his hair as I felt my pleasure crash over me. Lobbing my head back, I called out into the room, moaning and groaning as my hips shook upon his face.

  He flipped me over onto my back before he kept going.

  “Liam. Please. No, it’s too much. Oh.”

  His hands bent my knees back to my chest as my entire pussy opened up for him. His tongue took long, strong strokes up my slit. I could hear him drinking my arousal down, swallowing deeply before he began flicking my clit once more.

  It was all too much and it was all so wonderful.

  Instantly, I began to climb that hill again. He rendered my body immobile while his lips devoured my essence. Winding my hands into the sheets of the bed, he finally let my legs go, and I wrapped them around his face and bucked wildly into his lips.

  It gave him just enough time to get his pants off before I reached my second climax.

  “Liam! Fuck! Yes, shit!”

  He rushed up my body and slammed his lips down onto mine. Without one word or sigh exchanged between the two of us, he plunged his cock deep into my body. I arched into him, feeling the electricity ignite on the tip of my tongue. I pulled his entire body down onto mine as he bucked relentlessly, pounding his hips with mine as his cock grew against my dripping wet walls.

  The way he groaned into my mouth made me smile and, soon, my name was dripping from his lips.

  “Whitney. Yes. Holy fuck, you’re incredible.”

  My hands rushed up and down his body as his cock dove in and out of my depths. I peppered his neck with kisses and raked my fingernails down the bulging muscles of his back. It was intoxicating, the way he felt against my skin. It was addicting, the way his breath fell perfectly into the crook of my neck. It was astounding how good his cock felt sloshing around in my depths.