Cabin Fever: A Mountain Man Romance

by Rye Hart

  Whitney was staying and that was the only thing I wanted.

  “I just have one request,” she said.

  “Anything.”

  “I need a place to stay tonight,” she said. “I don’t have the cabin at the resort anymore.”

  “Not a problem. You’re coming to my cabin. With me.”

  We finished our coffee before I dragged her outside and I whisked her away to the cabin. I held her hand the entire way and I could feel it shaking with excitement. Her eyes seemed brighter and her skin seemed to glow a little more and it was all so surreal. I couldn’t wait to get her inside and simply hold her close to me.

  But Whitney had a much better idea.

  The moment I closed the cabin door behind us, her lips were on mine. They slowly pulsed against me, coaxing my tongue from my lips while her hands slid my coat off my shoulders. My hands began to dance around her body, relieving her of the fabrics that lay between my fingertips and her skin.

  I slowly backed us into my room before we both collapsed naked onto my bed.

  I let my beard tickle along her skin while I showered her with attention. I rolled her pebbled nipples between my lips and sucked them to tight little peaks. I felt the heat of her pussy drenching my skin while I slowly caressed down her body, watching as goosebumps ricocheted across her skin.

  Every single inch of her was beautiful and I simply couldn’t get enough.

  “Please,” Whitney said. “I need you.”

  Those three little words lit a fire in my gut that burned only for her. I crashed my lips back down onto hers before I slid between her legs, lining myself up with her entrance. Inch by inch, I filled her to the brim, feeling her shake and writhe beneath my body. My hands came up and planted next to her head just as our lips pulled apart and I gazed into her eyes so I could take her all in.

  I rocked into her, feeling her pussy grip at every part of me while her hands grabbed onto my back. I felt her nails digging into my skin as I held her gaze, losing myself in the sea of her eyes like I did in my dream. In a flash, I could see the whole of my future underneath me. Coming to life while the red tint of lust cascaded across her skin. She was beautiful—a gem among rocks— and I would spend the rest of my life convincing her that she was important to me.

  Our hips met in tandem with one another while her juices coated my cock. I could feel her dripping down my balls as her legs ran up the backs of mine and, soon, she was hooked around my waist. I pressed into her deeper than I’d ever been before as the hair of my pelvis grazed her swollen clit. Her body jumped and her breathing came in short pants. Her nails dug in deeper and her eyes began to flutter closed. I reached my lips down to cover hers one last time before I picked up my pace, pounding into her and feeling her body jump against mine.

  We came together in a glorious symphony of groans and whimpers while my dick filled the caverns of her body with the love I felt for this woman. She was heaving for air and pulling my body down onto hers and I allowed myself to fall into her. She kept her legs around me, wanting me deep inside of her while she tried to gain her composure.

  I panted into the crook of her neck before I pressed kiss after kiss into her soft, supple skin.

  There would never be a moment where I would ever make her regret the decision she’d just made and I knew I would spend the rest of my life fighting to have her at my side. Whitney might’ve thought I saved her life that day but the truth of the matter was she had saved mine. She showed me what it meant to find redemption and she showed me what it meant to be seen in a nonjudgmental light. She accepted me for who I was, for the brokenness I still had, and for the memories that would forever plague me. And instead of running away from me, she came running toward me.

  I held her close to my body as I slowly tipped us over, then pulled the covers over our bodies before I finally slid from between her legs.

  I finally knew what it felt like to be forgiven and I finally knew what it felt like to be home. This was what I had been fighting for behind enemy lines.

  Her.

  My own little slice of paradise.

  EPILOGUE

  LIAM

  ONE YEAR LATER

  “Coming!” I called out.

  There was a knock at the door but I knew exactly who it was. I whipped it open and drew Paxton into my arms, slapping his back before I ushered him into the cabin.

  “Come in, come in,” I said.

  “You look good, Canter.”

  “Thanks, I feel good,” I said. “What brings you around? When did you get back from your deployment?”

  “About a month ago. I’m sorry I didn’t come by sooner, just been tossing around some things.”

  “Like what?” I asked.

  “Well, I’ve got five more years until I can retire, so I’m trying to stick it out. But they’re wanting to station me somewhere else for the last five years and I’m just not sure if I’m up for something like that.”

  “Where do they wanna put you?” I asked. “Any clue?”

  “It’s a toss-up between Okinawa and Pearl Harbor-Hickam.”

  “If you can deal with the travel, Okinawa’s beautiful,” I said. “But there’s nothing wrong with a little bit of Hawaii.”

  “Anyway, enough about me. I know it’s a big night for you, so I wanted to stop in and see how you were doing with everything. How’s the practice coming along?”

  “I’ve gotten a good bit of progress done on it,” I said. “I’m just glad to be done with that residency rotation. That shit kicked my ass.”

  “What specialization did you end up going into?” he asked.

  “Pediatrics,” I said. “There aren’t many in this area and I figured, with it being a high tourist area that attracts families, having an emergency pediatrician in the area would do this town some good.”

  “Nice! Way to go, man. I knew you’d finally come around to the whole doctor thing again. You were too good at it in the Navy. How’s Whitney doing with her stuff?”

  “Well, she decided to stay with her original specialization and it paid off. Apparently, a lot of the tourist attractions around here couldn’t afford the regular salary for an in-house lawyer. But because I got the buildings at such a good price, Whitney was able to really bottom out her rates and still turn a profit with basic hourly work. She marketed her services to some of the tourist attractions in town and she’s got most of them on her roster.”

  “Yes,” he said. “That’s some fucking awesome shit right there. She’s not, like, in an office on the grounds or something, right?”

  “No, no. She’s at her office in the building next to mine. If they need her, she travels to them. She’s not completely in-house counsel because they don’t employ her full-time. But when they need something, she bills them hours and she gets it done. I’m really proud of her.”

  “She settling into the cabin nicely?” he asked.

  “For a little while there, we were talking about moving, but the cabin’s enough for us for now,” I said.

  “It won’t be if you guys wanna have kids.”

  “Let’s get through tonight and see how that goes,” I said, grinning. “Got any advice for me?”

  “Hell no, man. I’ve never done this shit before. I just wanted to come hug your neck and check in on you before you try to pull this off tonight.”

  “You think it’ll go okay?” I asked.

  “I think the two of you have been through enough this past year. If she can tolerate you that long, you don’t have a problem.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  I clapped Paxton on the back one last time and held him a little longer than I’d intended. He was the best friend I’d ever known and, the moment I knew I wanted to do this, he was the first person I contacted. It took me traveling into town during all sorts of odd hours to get a video call out to him on the ship he had been stationed on, but I knew I couldn’t do this without his approval.

  “Go get her,” he said.

  “I will.�
��

  “Call me when she says yes,” he said. “So, I can tell you that I told you so.”

  “You’re a dick,” I said, chuckling.

  “And you’re gonna be amazing tonight.”

  I saw Paxton out, then began setting everything out for tonight. I cooked up a wonderful dinner she could come home to because I knew it would be a long day for her today. Even though the winter months were the slowest for tourism, there was always paperwork to be done with some of the smaller businesses she’d taken on. She ran a full schedule Monday through Friday and, while I knew she could get overwhelmed at times, I knew she loved every second of it.

  I set the sizzling filet mignon onto the table along with a bottle of wine. Then I lit the candles and waited for her to get home.

  When she pulled up into the driveway, I was waiting on the doorstep with her glass of wine in my hand. She took it from me and kissed me, allowing her taste to linger on the tip of my tongue. I could feel her melting into me, which was always her reaction after she’d put in long hours at her office.

  I ushered her in with my arm around her and carried her over to the table.

  “It smells wonderful in here,” she said.

  “I made us dinner. Filet mignon, medium rare, with garlic green beans and buttered mashed potatoes. There’s also a cherry pie I got from the store because I can’t bake.”

  “And glorious red wine to wash it all down with,” she said. “These candles smell phenomenal. Sweetheart, you really outdid yourself tonight.”

  “Just you wait,” I said. “There’s another surprise coming.”

  I pulled out her chair so she could sit down but I didn’t make my way back to my seat. She closed her eyes and downed her first glass of wine so I filled it up before I placed the bottle back on the table.

  Then, I got down on one knee and took her hand in mine.

  “Liam, what are you doing?” she asked.

  “I’ve been waiting for you all day and I can’t stand it any longer,” I said.

  I rummaged around in my pocket for the ring I’d picked out for her months ago. I held it up for her to see as a gasp fell from her lips. Her eyes glazed over with tears and I could see her body beginning to tremble. All at once, the words came tumbling from my lips.

  “Whitney, you came into my life tumbling down a hill and practically breaking your ankle. You were clumsy, you were talkative, and you knew just how to press all the right buttons.”

  She giggled breathlessly as her watery eyes met my stare.

  “You found me when I was broken and battered. I’d convinced myself that the world was better off without me. I convinced myself that I had betrayed my country and somehow done wrong by those I swore to protect and defend, but you changed all that. With your smile and your touch and your honesty. You blew into my life on the outskirts of a winter storm and, by the time the storm was finished, I didn’t want you to leave. And now you’ve built this incredible business and I’ve finally finished my last year of rotation. We’ve accomplished so much together and it’s been an honor standing by your side through it all.”

  “Oh, Liam,” she whispered.

  “I was trying to figure out how in the hell I was going to show you how much I loved you. I racked my brain trying to come up with a way to prove to you that I was in this for the long haul. And as I was walking by a jewelry store three months ago, this ring was staring back at me and I knew. I knew then and there that I wanted to ask you to be my wife.”

  Tears were streaming down her face and I had to admit that I was trying to control mine as well.

  “Whitney Hollis, professional businesswoman and love of my life, will you do me the honor of allowing me to bask in the light of your life for the rest of mine?”

  Throwing her arms around me, she tackled me to the ground. Her lips pressed kiss after kiss into mine, her arms threading around my neck as I slowly sat us up. I smiled into her skin and she plucked the ring from my fingers, sliding it onto her hand while it glistened in the wintry sun.

  “Yes,” she said. “It would be an honor to marry you, Liam Canter.”

  I wrapped my arms around her and smiled into her skin. I planted kisses into the crook of her neck while her silken tresses covered my face. I breathed in the scent of her, taking in the moment that would be forever etched in my memory.

  “I love you so much, Liam,” she said.

  “And I love you, Whitney.”

  The End

  IT’S NOT OVER YET....THE PARTY HAS JUST STARTED!

  As a thank you, this book includes an EXCLUSIVE NEVER BEFORE RELEASED ROMANCE: Dom’s Secret Baby, which can be accessed on the following pages...

  I need a true submissive,

  Someone who's willing to learn.

  Someone like… Josie.

  Innocent. Sweet. Submissive. Virginal.

  A good girl for all my bad needs.

  I can corrupt her, pleasure her, and make her beg.

  I’ll make certain she’ll experience pleasure like no other.

  But, when I find out about a secret she’s been keeping…

  I’m left to question my one and only rule: Never fall for a submissive.

  EXCLUSIVE: SECRET BABY ROMANCE

  Chapter One

  Josie

  The steady soft beeping sound of my mother's heart monitor was the only thing keeping me awake. My Fundamentals of Nursing book was splayed out on the table in front of me, about as useless as I felt in that moment. I hadn't been able to read a single paragraph from it in the last forty-five minutes. Maybe longer.

  My poor mom was fast asleep, drugged with some magic concoction they only give to the dying. Something to ease the pain and “make them comfortable” as they like to say. I guess being unconscious was about as comfortable as she was going to get.

  Letting out a long, frustrated breath, I closed my book and packed it away into my backpack, giving up all hope of studying for my midterm. Thankfully, Spring Break was coming up, and I'd be able to get some rest then. There was still a lot going on, though, so I had no pretenses that it would be a week of complete rest and relaxation.

  My mom's last round of chemo was scheduled for that week and while doctors remained hopeful and expressed optimism that this round would get rid of the remaining cancer cells lingering in her body, I had to prepare myself for the worst. I had to be prepared for them to deliver bad news like the surgery and chemo hadn't eradicated all the cancer, and that it had already spread to her lymph nodes or liver. Studying nursing and medical procedures while watching a loved one undergo cancer treatment could be helpful in understanding what it was they were talking about, but it also made me realize all the potential for problems as well.

  This only increased my anxiety. Sometimes knowing too much was the most horrible thing of all.

  After packing up my bag, I leaned over and gently kissed my mom's forehead. Even in her sleep, she gripped my grandma's rosary, the well-worn beads slipping between her almost skeletal fingers, pooling on her frail, sunken chest.

  “Good night, Mama,” I whispered.

  The woman lying in the bed didn't even look like my mother, to be honest. She was a skeleton. Nothing but skin clinging to bones. Her skin was pale, there were deep, dark circles beneath her eyes, and her gray hair was patchy, yet she still refused to shave it off. Even in her current state, she still clung to her belief that women were supposed to be feminine and have long hair—not shaved heads like men. Although we'd tried to convince her, telling her that a smooth scalp would look more feminine than a head missing large patches of hair, nothing my sister or I could say would sway her.

  I gave her a final look and then turned away, fighting back the tears in my eyes. As soon as I stepped out of the hospital room, I checked my phone. I always kept it on silent when I was visiting out of respect. Glancing at the screen, I noticed a missed call from my best friend, Lila, along with a text message telling me to call her back, ASAP.

  I had a sinking feeling in
my stomach, fearing that something was wrong. I waited until I was outside and in my car before I punched in her number. As if waiting for my call, only increasing my anxiety, Lila answered on the first ring.

  “Josie, we have to talk about your birthday sooner or later,” she teased. “You can't keep avoiding me.”

  I sighed. And there I thought it was going to be something dire or life-threatening. At least something earth-shaking. But no, it was just something I'd been trying to avoid for weeks. Something that honestly, with everything else going on, I couldn't care less about.

  “My birthday is the least of my concerns right about now, Lila,” I said.

  “C'mon, you only turn twenty-three once,” Lila said.

  “Yeah, well, after your twenty-first birthday, nothing that comes after it matters anyway,” I said. “Except the twenty-fifth, because then your car insurance goes down. Or something like that.”

  “No, you're not going to do this, Josie,” Lila said. “I'm not going to let you skip another birthday. Not this time. Not on my watch, baby.”

  “My mom has cancer, Lila,” I said. “I honestly have more important things on my mind than my birthday.”

  “I understand that,” she countered, her voice softening a bit. “But, you still need to take care of yourself, Josie. You still deserve to have a life too.”

  “Fine, we'll get some wine and hang out. Watch some Orange is the New Black. That sounds like a great way to spend my birthday,” I said. “Happy now?”

  “Nope. Not even close,” she said, a hint of amusement in her voice. “Because I've got something better planned.”

  She practically sang the last part of that statement and it made my stomach drop. Lila had something big planned, and whenever Lila did something big, she tended to go all out. She had the luxury of having rich parents, which made it easy for her to do some crazy, extravagant things.