At All Cost: A Mountain Man Romance

by Katerina Winters

  "I don't plan on doing much today," sitting back up, he tossed his hair back and began gathering it in his hands as his hairband dangled between his pressed lips.

  Alessia found herself having to look away as he continued.

  “I just need to finish cutting that lumber and storing it on the porch. Before it decides to rain.”

  "Well, if you don't mind, I can cook us something." She offered, taking an immense interest in her coffee.

  Not hearing anything, she looked up to see him staring at her. His hair was pulled in his signature bun at his nape and today he was wearing a simple black T-shirt. He was looking at her as if he had been waiting for her to look back at him.

  “I wouldn’t mind,” he replied evenly, his black eyes unreadable.

  Mixing the ingredients in the bowl, Alessia rolled her neck from side to side. She was happy he let her rest today, her body was sore from all the work. Putting the dish to the side, she pulled out the ingredients for the crust. The relationship between them was still a little stiff despite the week of working all day together. She blamed it on his horrible sarcastic personality. The man never had a reply that wasn’t embedded in dry sarcasm at her expense, making it impossible for her to bridge the gap between them.

  Pounding her fist into the dough, she glared out the window at him as he stopped and sat down his chainsaw. Taking off his jacket, Alessia’s eyes widened slightly as she watched the hard bulge of his bicep curl as he moved.

  “Stupid, weird man,” she grumbled, forcing herself to look from the window, hitting the dough even harder.

  She told herself she shouldn't care about trying to do anything about the relationship between them. Their agreement was simple, she stayed here, and he got free labor hard, back aching labor, she groused.

  Although she thought with a lift of her brow, she did inadvertently find out a little about the man. For the past two nights, she used the opportunity while Jax showered to explore the loft she slept in a little more. There were two big clear bins pushed all the way to the back, far beyond the reach of the living room's light. As stealthy as possible, she had crawled closer, using her phone as a light to look through the dim plastic to see the contents on the other side: folded military clothing, various equipment, a few neatly stacked bundles of documents, and pictures. The fervent curiosity felt wrong as she strained to see the photos. Jax dressed in all his gear, holding a large gun while smiling with two other men at the camera. For some reason, the stolen bit of information didn't shock her at all. His precise, no-nonsense attitude made sense now. Never daring to go so further with her snooping actually to open the bins, Alessia turned and inspected every outside inch of the bins, peering in as far as she could see, gleaning any information she could. She went to bed each night, staring at the bins in the corner and wondered what could have happened that would make a man as indomitable as Jax spend his life deep in the forest.

  Dinner that night was quiet.

  Alessia realized this was the first time they both actually sat down at the small round wooden table together and ate. Usually, their meals were taken in turns. A sandwich or bowl of reheated soup placed on the table waiting for either one of them to return from the shower. The food Jax shared with her was always simple but good, she could only hope he liked her homemade chicken-pot-pie as well. Doing her best to seem casual, Alessia glanced up from her plate to see his reaction or at the very least, to see how much he had eaten.

  Dark watchful eyes met hers directly.

  A heat of nervous embarrassment streaked through her heart, causing it to skip one whole beat. Slowly, as if time suddenly slowed down, she watched as one of his wickedly arched eyebrows raised in speculative curiosity and his mouth began to part to speak.

  “How do you like it?” She blurted out.

  She didn't even know why she did that. There was a pounding percussion of suspense inside of her as she watched him get ready to speak and everything inside her screamed to beat him to the punch. The corner of his mouth tugged slightly in a ghost of a smirk. Waving his hand dramatically over his empty plate, he gave her a pointed look.

  “I plan on getting seconds and thirds here in a minute if that’s any indication.”

  Smiling, she nodded, happy he didn't have anything negative to say about it.

  Silence surrounded them again, this time much more oppressive than before. The sound of his chair sliding back across the wooden floorboards practically echoed in the stillness of the room. With his back to her as he got up and served himself more food, it gave Alessia a few precious seconds to think of something to alleviate the near painful awkwardness.

  “So, umm, what’s past the second door next to the bathroom?” Alessia nearly winced at the sound of her own forced tone.

  Walking with his plate back to the table, Jax sat heavily in his chair, causing his slightly damp hair to sway around his shoulders. Alessia had to steel herself to keep from inhaling the scent of his recently shampooed hair that wafted in the air. Using the edge of his spoon, Jax cut into the section of the chicken-pot-pie on his plate and held the steaming bite to his mouth.

  “It’s my bedroom,” he answered simply.

  Confused, Alessia turned and looked to the far side of the cabin at the large king-size bed pushed into the corner of the room and the nightstand next to it. Turning back to him, she gave him a questioning expression.

  Chewing and swallowing that bite, he cut and scooped up another large bite before meeting her gaze again with a bored half-lidded look.

  “It’s unfinished right now. I sleep in here because it’s warmer and it uses less wood to heat just one room.”

  That made sense. When she was able to see the back of the house, she always thought that section where that extra door was, was some sort of shed he had pressed against the house. The whole structure was covered in various blue tarps, so she was never quite certain.

  “But that isn’t really what you wanted to ask me, is it?" Leaning back in his chair, Alessia could hear and feel his long legs stretch out on either side of the small table.

  “What do you mean?” She hedged.

  Somehow his deadpan stare deepened towards her.

  "Just go ahead and ask me," taking the last bite from his plate, he sat down the spoon. "It's annoying watching you look away guiltily every time I catch you staring."

  “I don’t stare at you,” she retorted, indignant now.

  “Mmm, sure, so you are saying there isn’t anything you have been wanting to ask me?”

  Damn this man, he knew full well what he was doing. Biting her bottom lip, Alessia stared at him as she weighed her options. Slowly, a devilish smile spread across his lips. Alessia would be lying if she didn’t admit that the scruffiness of his beard and his curling long brown hair framing his face didn’t make her heart race a bit.

  “Oh, come on Alessia just ask. You know you want to.”

  Why did her name sound so weird coming from his lips? Annoyed but still very curious, she opened her mouth to ask her first question.

  “I will, however, answer anything except questions about my past and why I am living out here in the woods."

  Alessia froze. Closing her mouth with a snap. She pushed loudly from the table and snatched her plate up and spun on her heel towards the sink. Jax’s laughter was deep and booming, filling the small cabin up to the rafters.

  She hated him.

  Chapter 8

  It had been nearly three hours, and Jax had hardly moved from his spot. Today he was working on the electrical panel to his solar grid. Wires, soldering equipment, tiny computer screens and a bunch of cursing occupied the dining table. The hard look he gave her when she handed him his coffee that morning told her without words to leave him be.

  Sitting on the porch, Alessia rested her chin on her hands and stared at the thick tree line surrounding the property. Her chores were done; breakfast was made and quietly consumed. All the books she had digital and print were read twice over now.

&nbs
p; By the heavens and stars, she was bored out of her skull.

  Rocking back and forth in her seat, she let her gaze settle on the break in the woods. Just a large enough break for a truck to pass through. Turning, Alessia stared at the cabin’s door as she let her mind wander.

  Screw it.

  Making sure her phone was tucked in her pocket, she zipped up her thick coat against the wind and headed towards the road. With every step she took away from the cabin, Alessia felt the war of her conflicting emotions rage higher and higher. On the one hand, it felt positively wonderful for a change of scenery. For weeks she had been working night and day with that curmudgeon, she needed to get out on her own for a bit, hell, she deserved it really. Although, at the same time, there was a knot of dread in her stomach about leaving unannounced. Hundreds of "what if’s” flooded her thoughts. What if he needed her help and he called for her and she wasn’t there? What if he gets angry and kicks her out because she left without telling him?

  Fear and shame coalesced at that last possibility. She honestly had no clue as to what she would do if Jax decided he was done “sheltering" her. She was supposed to be coming up with a long-term plan on what to do next. Besides trying again at her hand at camping, the only other option was to take Jax's suggestion about the church foundation he mentioned before. A sick feeling settled in her stomach just at the thought of another shelter.

  Picking up the pace down the path, Alessia shoved the depressing thoughts aside to be dealt with another time. She had three blog posts to upload, and she refused to put it off any longer. Reaching the road, Alessia shielded herself behind a tree as a car drove past. Pulling out her phone, she smiled as she watched the signal bars slowly fill up.

  With her blog posts uploaded and finally being able to check the donation account, Alessia felt a little of the weight from her issues lifted. Nearly two hundred dollars have been deposited into her account, accompanied by a ton of comments about her new woodland living situation. Shock, outrage, they varied all over the place but nearly all of them supportive and wishing her the best. It felt good to have people wish her well, even if they were faceless internet friends. The image of Jax's hard gaze popped into her mind suddenly without warning. He was there, a real live breathing person helping her every single day. Alessia couldn't help but smile. Yes, he was rude and took enjoyment at her expense, but Jax was her savior right now. He offered her something that no one else would, safety.

  Stopping along the path, she turned and looked to her left. Her old camping spot would be directly ahead. Last time she was there, she was so distraught seeing her tent destroyed she just left it. She should at least throw the mangled plastic away properly.

  Making sure to walk straight and not veer off too far, Alessia was proud of herself when she spotted the bright green material. Heaving the branch off, she untangled the material from the metal spokes and gathered it all into her arms.

  With her arms full, she walked in the direction of the path to the cabin before pausing. Her hunting knife was still lodged into a tree from the day Jax tackled her. Ignoring the sting of her pride at that memory, Alessia readjusted the awkward bundle under her arms and made her way in the direction of the incident. After a few minutes, she finally spotted the gold and brown hilt sticking out of the bark. Grabbing it with her free hand, she tugged, nothing. Again, she tried this time, adding her body weight. The knife was nearly embedded to the hilt.

  “Ugg what a jerk,” she groaned under her breath as she glared at the knife.

  About to try it one more time, a loud guttural sound suddenly echoed across the forest. Alessia's whole body inside and out froze at once. Glancing in every direction, Alessia didn't see anything. She wasn't going to wait around to see it either. Clutching the tent and spokes tighter, Alessia sprinted for the path.

  Again, the deep animalistic sound vibrated the air. Her blood ran cold and she ran faster.

  “Alessia!!” She heard Jax’s angry yell first before she caught sight of him standing at the beginning of the path where it met the small clearing to his property.

  Relief crashed through her so hard she dropped the mangled tent in her arms when his shocked eyes met hers. In seconds she was flinging herself into his chest.

  “Where the fuck…” he began to ask, his hands instinctively clutching at her shoulders.

  “My God, Jax, I think there is a bear chasing me,” her words came out practically on top of each other in a near scream interrupting the beginning of his angry tirade.

  The brief wonderful feeling of his strong arms wrapped around her shoulders disappeared immediately. In a blink, Alessia found herself partially drug to the porch and the screen door slamming shut behind them. Alessia stood there, still shaken as Jax grabbed his rifle by the door and turned to her with the most lethal look she had ever seen.

  "Go inside. We will talk when I get back."

  Stepping down the steps, Jax walked towards the driven path she came from with his rifle in hand. With his thick hair down and falling around his shoulders, his head turned slowly, scanning his surroundings as he walked deeper and deeper into the woods as Alessia stood motionless on the porch despite his command, watching. When she lost sight of him down the path, Alessia felt her breathing practically stop. With each second that passed by, her body felt heavier and heavier. It felt like hours had passed when she finally watched his figure reemerge from the woods. Though she was sure, it'd probably only been a few minutes, the time spent while he was gone felt like a missing gap. All she knew was that he was back now, and she could breathe again.

  Passing his dark gaze over the perimeter one last time, Jax’s eyes found hers through the screen netting of the porch with sizzling fury. Alessia stiffened. Following him inside, Alessia stood nervously by the couch as he carefully set his rifle back by the door.

  "So, are you going to tell me why the hell you went back out there?" There was a waiting quality to his anger that lit his eyes. He stood with his hands in his coat pockets but could see from his rigid stance there was nothing at all casual about his mood.

  “I wasn’t trying to leave,” she admitted softly.

  A flash of some nameless emotion passed over his dark eyes so fast Alessia wasn’t sure if she actually saw it or not before his usual arrogant smirk settled into place.

  “I can honestly say I would enjoy watching you make a go at it with that mangled ass tent,” he sneered.

  His stinging words only served to remind her of her epic failure at trying to live out there herself. Looking away, she focused her line of sight at the dying embers in the woodstove.

  A few beats of silence passed before he spoke again, his voice gentler this time. “Why did you go out there?”

  “I just wanted to update my blog and I can only get service by the road,” she replied, lifting her eyes back to him.

  Rubbing his beard in agitation, Jax grumbled something under his breath before giving her a sharp look. “Alessia, why didn’t you just tell me? I have internet here, it’s satellite meaning it slow as fuck, but I have it nonetheless.”

  “I didn’t know that,” she defended.

  “Did you ask?”

  “Did you offer?” She snapped back.

  Alessia didn’t expect him to smile so suddenly in the middle of their back-and-forth.

  Shaking his head, he shifted on his feet, running a tired hand through his long hair. "If you want to update your blog, just use my internet instead of traipsing unarmed through the forest."

  “Thank y…”

  "And," he began again, and evil gleam returning to his eyes. "If you are wanting to go back to camping and get yourself eaten, let me know so I can make a prepared statement to the authorities when they come knocking."

  Alessia could tell by his arrogant smirk he was no longer angry at her, so she had no problem arguing back at him. Turning to watch him walk past her to the kitchen table, Alessia crossed her arms. “Why are you such a jerk? I only grabbed the tent because I felt bad abou
t littering.”

  Jax just made a noncommittal noise in reply as he sat back down in front of his electronics. Hesitantly, Alessia pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down, careful not to touch any of the equipment.

  “So, does that mean just taking a walk to the lake or something like that is out of the question?”

  He didn’t look up from what he was doing when he answered. “You could, but I prefer you to be armed.”

  “The only weapon I had was a knife you lodged so deeply into a tree I can’t get it out.”

  He smirked but still didn't lookup. "Where did you get that shit knife anyway?"

  For some reason, the question mentally stumbled her. Gary's face popped into her head and Alessia had to shut her eyes at the waves of anxiety that hit her. Opening her eyes, she stared at the table. "Gary's toolshed."