Page 9 of Found by the Mountain Man (Darkmore Mountain Search and Rescue #4)

eight

Connor

The cabin feels like a tomb without her.

I've been sitting in my chair for the past two hours, staring at the couch where she slept, where we made love, where she challenged every assumption I've made about my life for the past five years.

The fire is dying, but I can't bring myself to add another log.

Can't bring myself to do anything but sit here and catalogue everything I've lost.

The coffee mug she used is still in the sink. Her scent lingers on the pillow. The impression of her body is still visible in the couch cushions, like a ghost of what could have been.

I'm forty-three years old, and I'm sitting in my cabin mourning a woman I've known for three days like she was the love of my life.

The hell of it is, she might have been.

My radio crackles from the kitchen counter, Jake's voice cutting through the silence. "Connor, you copy?"

I consider ignoring it. I'm officially off duty until tomorrow, and right now I don't trust myself to sound professional.

"Connor, come in. We've got a situation."

I grab the radio, forcing my voice to sound normal. "Copy, Jake. What's happening?"

"It's your photographer. She checked out of the lodge about twenty minutes ago, and said she was driving back to Calgary tonight to catch an early flight tomorrow."

My blood runs cold. "In this weather?"

"That's the problem. Weather service just issued another advisory. Snow's moving back in, heavier than predicted. Highway patrol is recommending against non-essential travel."

I'm already moving toward the window, looking out at the sky. Sure enough, the clouds are building again, and I can see the first fat snowflakes starting to fall.

"Where is she now?" I ask, grabbing my keys and jacket.

"Last we heard, she was heading up toward the pass. Connor, if she gets caught in this storm..."

He doesn't need to finish. I know those roads better than anyone. In good weather, they're challenging. In a sudden snowstorm, with a driver unfamiliar with mountain conditions? They're deadly.

"I'm going after her," I say, already heading for the door.

"Connor, wait. Let us coordinate a proper search."

"There's no time," I cut him off. "If she's already on the highway and this storm hits full force, she could end up stuck in a drift or worse. I know the route she'd take. I can find her."

I don't wait for his response. I'm out the door and starting my truck, my mind already calculating routes and timing. If she left twenty minutes ago and is driving carefully, she'd be about fifteen miles up the highway by now. If the storm hits as hard as Jake thinks it will...

I push the truck as hard as I dare on the snow-covered roads, my headlights cutting through the increasing snowfall. This is insane. Driving into a storm to chase after a woman who's probably better off getting as far away from me as possible.

But the thought of her stranded somewhere, cold and alone and possibly hurt, makes my stomach turn. I can survive her leaving. I can't survive losing her to these mountains.

The snow is coming down harder now, thick flakes that stick to my windshield faster than the wipers can clear them. I reach the highway and turn north, following the route toward Calgary, my eyes scanning for any sign of a small rental car.

Ten miles. Fifteen. My radio crackles with weather updates that get progressively worse. Visibility dropping. Roads becoming treacherous. All non-essential travel suspended.

Where the hell is she?

Twenty miles out, I spot taillights ahead, barely visible through the storm. A car pulled over on the shoulder, hazard lights blinking weakly through the snow. As I get closer, I can make out the shape of a small sedan, nearly buried in the rapidly accumulating drifts.

My heart stops. It's her.

I pull over behind her car and grab my emergency kit, fighting through the wind and snow to reach her driver's side window. She's inside, talking on her phone, and when she sees me approaching, her eyes go wide with shock.

She rolls down the window as I reach her. "Connor? What are you doing here?"

"What am I doing here?" I have to shout over the wind. "What the hell are you doing driving in this weather?"

"I checked the forecast," she shouts back. "It was supposed to be clear until midnight."

"Mountain weather changes fast. Didn't anyone tell you that?" I'm angrier than I should be, but it's better than acknowledging the terror that grabbed me when I thought I might lose her.

"I couldn't stay," she says, and even through the storm, I can hear the pain in her voice. "I couldn't pretend that nothing happened between us while you acted like I was just another rescue victim."

The air is pulled from my lungs. "Mavis."

"My car won't start," she continues, talking over me. "The engine turns over but won't catch. I've been sitting here for ten minutes trying to figure out what to do."

"Get your things," I tell her. "You're coming with me."

"Connor, I can't. I have a flight tomorrow morning. My editor is expecting me."

"Your editor can wait. This storm is going to get worse before it gets better. If you stay out here, you're going to end up like you did three days ago, only this time I might not find you in time."

Something in my voice must convince her, because she nods and starts gathering her belongings. I help her transfer her bags to my truck, noting how her hands shake as she locks her rental car.

The drive back is treacherous, with visibility down to maybe twenty feet. I keep one hand on the wheel and one on the radio, coordinating with Jake about road conditions and alternative routes. Beside me, Mavis sits in silence, her arms wrapped around herself.

It takes us an hour to cover the distance that should have been thirty minutes. By the time we reach my turnoff, the snow is coming down so hard I can barely make out my own driveway.

"We're going to my cabin," I tell her as I navigate the final stretch.

"Connor, I don't think that's a good idea."

"It's the only idea. The roads into town are completely blocked now. We're stuck."

I pull up to the cabin and cut the engine. In the sudden silence, with snow pelting the windshield and the wind howling around us, the weight of what just happened settles between us.

"You came after me," she says quietly.

"Of course I came after you."

"Why?"

The simple question hangs in the air, demanding an answer I'm not sure I'm ready to give. But sitting here in the dark, with the storm raging outside and Mavis looking at me with those dark eyes full of hope and hurt, I realize I'm tired of lying to myself.

"Because I couldn't let you go," I admit. "Because the thought of you driving away from here, away from me, felt like dying. Because I've been a coward and an idiot, and I almost lost the best thing that's ever happened to me because I was too scared to admit what I was feeling."

Her intake of breath is sharp, audible even over the storm. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying I love you." The words come out rough, like they've been dragged up from somewhere deep inside me.

"I'm saying I've loved you since the moment I pulled you out of that creek, and I've been fighting it because I thought I was too old, too set in my ways, too damaged to deserve someone like you. "

"Connor."

"I'm saying I was wrong." I turn to face her fully, needing her to see the truth in my eyes. "About everything. About us. About what we could have together. You were right when you said this place doesn't have to be empty. It just needed the right person to fill it."

Tears are streaming down her face now, catching the dim light from the dashboard. "Do you mean that?"

"I mean every word. I love you, Mavis Aldana. I love your passion and your courage and the way you see the world through that camera. I love how you made my cabin feel like a home just by being in it. I love how you challenge me and push me and make me want to be better than I am."

"I love you too," she whispers, the words barely audible over the storm. "I love you so much it scares me. When you acted like it didn't matter, like I didn't matter, it hurt."

“I’m sorry, Mavis.” I lean across the console and kiss her, cutting off her words. She tastes like tears and hope and everything I never knew I needed.

When we break apart, we're both breathing hard.

"Come inside," I say against her lips. "Let me show you how much you matter."

We grab her bags and run through the snow to the cabin, laughing despite everything as we fumble with the door and stumble inside, shaking snow from our hair and clothes.

The cabin is cold, the fire having died while I was gone, but I barely notice. All I can see is Mavis, looking at me like I'm everything she's ever wanted.

"Are you sure about this?" she asks, her voice soft but steady. "About us? About me staying?"

Instead of answering with words, I frame her face with my hands and kiss her again, pouring everything I feel into the contact. She melts against me, her arms coming up to circle my neck, and I know this is right. This is what I've been missing, what I've been afraid to want.

"I've never been more sure of anything," I tell her when we break apart. "Stay with me, Mavis. Not just tonight, but for good. Make this place a home. Make me whole."

"Yes," she breathes against my mouth. "Yes to all of it."

This time when I lift her into my arms, there's no hesitation, no professional boundaries to hide behind. Just love and need and the promise of forever stretching out before us.

I carry her to my bedroom, setting her down beside the bed with gentle hands. The room is cold, but we'll warm it together.

"I love you," I say again, because I can't say it enough as I undress her. "You're perfect," I tell her, running my hands over her bare shoulders, down her arms, memorizing every inch. "So fucking perfect."

"I'm yours," she says simply, and the words go straight to my heart and my cock. "I've been yours since that first night."

I lay her back on the bed, following her down, covering her body with mine. The feel of her beneath me, warm and willing and mine, is almost overwhelming.

"I need you," I growl against her neck, already hard and aching for her. "Need to bury my cock so deep inside you that you'll never forget who you belong to."

"I could never forget," she gasps as I kiss my way down her body, paying attention to all the spots that make her arch and moan. "I'm yours, Connor. Every part of me."

I worship her breasts with my mouth, sucking and biting at her nipples until she's writhing beneath me. "These perfect tits belong to me," I murmur against her skin. "This sweet body belongs to me."

"Yes," she moans, her hands fisting in my hair. "All yours. Everything is yours."

I kiss my way down her stomach, spreading her thighs wide as I settle between them. "And this pussy," I growl, looking up at her as I run my tongue through her slick folds. "This sweet little cunt is mine too."

"Oh God, Connor," she cries out as I feast on her, my tongue circling her clit before diving deep inside her. She tastes like heaven, like home, like everything I've ever wanted.

"So fucking wet for me," I murmur against her flesh. "My woman, so ready for my cock."

I work her with my mouth and fingers until she's trembling on the edge, then pull back, ignoring her whimper of protest.

"Not yet," I tell her, moving back up her body. "When you come, it's going to be with my cock buried deep inside this tight pussy."

I position myself at her entrance, the head of my cock sliding through her wetness. "Tell me you're mine," I demand, holding back even though every instinct is screaming at me to claim her.

"I'm yours," she gasps, trying to push down onto me. "Please, Connor. I need your cock inside me. I need you to fuck me."

"Need me to fill this hungry little pussy?" I push just the tip inside her, groaning at the tight heat. "Need me to stretch you open and make you mine?"

"Yes," she sobs with need. "Please, I need all of you. I need you to fuck me hard and deep and never stop."

I drive into her in one powerful thrust, both of us crying out at the sensation. She's so tight, so perfect around me, like she was made for my cock.

"Fuck, you feel incredible," I groan, starting to move with deep, powerful strokes. "This pussy was made for me, wasn't it? Made to take my cock."

"Yes," she gasps, her legs wrapping around my waist, pulling me deeper. "Made for you. Only you."

I fuck her with everything I have, claiming every inch of her as mine. The headboard slams against the wall with each thrust, the sound mixing with our moans and the wet sounds of our bodies joining.

"You're mine," I growl, reaching between us to rub her clit as I pound into her. "Say it. Tell me who owns this pussy."

"You do," she screams, her back arching off the bed. "You own me, Connor. All of me. I'm yours forever."

"That's right," I grunt, feeling my climax building.

"I'm going to come," she warns, her inner walls starting to flutter around my cock.

"Come for me," I command, pinching her clit as I drive deep. "Come all over my cock like the good girl you are."

She explodes beneath me with a scream that's pure pleasure, her pussy clenching around me so tight I nearly faint from the pleasure. The sensation pushes me over the edge, and I bury myself deep as I fill her with my cum.

"Take it all," I groan against her neck. "Take every drop of my cum. You're mine now."

We collapse together, breathing hard, our bodies still joined. I've never felt anything like this—this sense of complete possession and belonging.

I pull her up for another kiss, tasting forever on her lips. "I love you, Mavis Aldana."

"I love you too, Connor Hayes. Now and always."

Outside, the storm rages on, but we don't care. We have everything we need right here—each other, and all the time in the world to build something beautiful together.

When morning comes, we'll start planning our future. Tonight, we have love and promises and the rest of our lives stretching out before us like an unbroken trail through pristine snow.

It's more than enough. It's everything.