Page 10

Chapter Ten

brYNN

I wake up feeling like I’m in a dream. But the soreness in muscles I didn’t even know I had confirms every delicious moment of what happened. So does the hairy chest I rest my cheek against, the strong heartbeat beneath my ear, and the cypress and sandalwood smell of my mountain man stalker.

Closing my eyes again, my mind roves over the events of early morning. The ecstasy he made me feel with his fingers, tongue, and cock. My cheeks burn as I remember how he led me into his massive bathroom after we had sex, tenderly cleaning me with a warm washcloth at the sink.

Even then, my need for him felt insatiable as I turned towards the sink gripping it and raising my ass invitingly towards him. To my surprise, he dropped to his knees, eating me out from behind as I watched ecstasy overtake my face in the mirror, yelling his name as I came again.

Standing, he gripped my hips hungrily, pounding into me without hesitation. The uncomfortable stretch of the first encounter giving way to unadulterated pleasure as his tip slammed into my G-spot over and over again. Seizing my hand, he sucked my thumb before spitting on it and instructing me to rub my clit.

Returning his hands to the tops of my hips, he stroked me long and hard as I obeyed, rubbing myself and savoring every inch of him until I unwound around him, milking his dick and climaxing hard. With one more deep thrust, waves of hot release filled me as his muscular core shuddered over me. I thought for sure his neighbors would call the cops with all the noise. But he reassured me the closest homeowners were ten miles away.

I swallow loudly, my cheeks flushed at the remembrance of my demanding lover and how he transformed into a total gentleman afterwards. Cleaning me again before sweeping me up in his robust arms and carrying me to bed. Encouraging me to rest my head on his firm chest, he whispered in raw tones, “Promise you’ll never leave me, Butterfly. No matter what.”

And for the first time in my entire life, I made that unthinkable promise because I need Beau more than I need my plans, my career, my ambitions…

A loud vibration makes me jump, and I scrub my eyes, looking at the phone next to me on the nightstand. I pick it up unthinkingly, assuming it’s mine since I have a black case.

Eyeing the screen, I see a message from a bank confirming a transfer of money from H. Lovelace for twenty-five hundred dollars. The case feels all wrong in my hand. Too big and bulky. And I’ve never had a banking account with this entity. My brows knit together.

H. Lovelace? Why in the hell is my dad wiring money to Beau? My heart races, and I scrub my eyes again before looking at the phone one more time. There it is. Plain as day and no fucking coincidence.

I sit up stock straight in bed. Whack! Turning toward Beau, I smack his large, muscular shoulder.

“Ahh,” he moans. “What in the fuck?”

Whack! I hit him again, doing far more damage to my own hand than I could ever do to him.

“Ouch!” I exclaim, shaking my stinging hand in the air as he lazily rolls over, eyeing me.

“If this is your idea of foreplay, it’s a little damn early, Butterfly.” He smiles drowsily, running his hand over his face and beard. “Good morning, lover.”

“To hell with your good morning!” I scream, pulling back the covers and disentangling my body from his.

The giant of a man stretches next to me, his face twitching. “What’s wrong?” he asks, a new apprehension coloring his voice.

“What’s wrong? Why in the hell are you accepting money transfers from my dad?” My voice rises at the end, rage stiffening my frame as I realize the only thing I can put on is his oversized sweatshirt. My own clothes are still folded in a pile on his guest bedroom dresser. I slide it on angrily, trying to put distance between us.

“What?” he asks, sitting up. Even in my angry state, my eyes wander uncontrollably to his sexy, prominent abs and the tease of black hair leading below the sheets to his sexy-as-hell pleasure stick.

I shake my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Don’t what me. I saw it on your phone. A wire transfer from my dad to your bank account.”

“I was going to tell you about that, Brynn. But I kind of got distracted last night.”

“Kind of got distracted?” I repeat, my head spinning.

Suddenly, it hits me like a ton of bricks. The stalking, the warning at the lake, following me back to the trailhead and glaring at me. Dad paid Beau to put the fear of God in me. To control me yet again. My skin crawls at the thought even as my heart shatters, sliver by sliver.

“I thought you were following me because you wanted me, Beau. I thought you couldn’t stay away because of your feelings for me. But instead, you were doing my dad’s bidding all along? Trying to scare me away from the HRT?” I shake my head, hot tears splattering my cheeks.

“Brynn,” Beau says, jumping out of bed naked. He strides towards me, reaching out to grab me. But a flash of anger runs the length of my body.

“No,” I hiss, unhinged by anger. “Don’t touch me.”

“Butterfly—”

“And don’t call me that again. I can’t even right now,” I rage, pacing back and forth. I rub my hands over my face, unable to process anything. “Twenty-five hundred dollars? Was that what it took to stomach watching me all week? And last night? Was that just a pity fuck—stretch marks, dimples, and all?”

Beau’s face disintegrates for one heartbreaking moment before going unreadable. He steps towards me again, reaching out.

But I back up, too angry to let him touch me.

“How can you talk like that? I should have been straightforward about why I started following you. But your dad was motivated by the need to protect you with everything going on in Vengeance County, and I don’t blame him. You shouldn’t be here, hiking these trails under these circumstances. But I’m glad you are because I love you, Brynn. That will never change.” He steps towards me again, backing me into the doorway.

Raising my palms, heart racing and emotions swirling, I can’t take anymore. I need a quiet place to reflect on everything. Try to sort out my thoughts and figure out what the hell has happened. “I have to go, Beau. Please don’t try to stop me.”

He furrows his brows, his face clouding.

And to think I gave you my virginity . The phrase sits on the tip of my tongue. But even as angry as I am, I can’t bring myself to pronounce the words.

“Please let me explain myself, be?—”

“No,” I shake my head resolutely. “I need time to think. Clear my head away from you.” From the temptation of you.

“Where will you go?” he asks, tightening his jaw.

“I don’t know.”

“I’ll call in a request to the Paradise Inn.”

“But I told you last night, they’re booked out.”

“Trust me,” he says quietly.

“And I don’t have the money.”

“I have it covered. Just promise me you won’t leave Murrieta. Not like this. Not until we talk things out calmly.”

“I can’t promise you anything,” I say, feeling my heart melt inside my chest.

“Okay,” he scowls. “I would never force you to be where you don’t want to be. But you gave me your virginity, and I gave you my heart, Brynn. Whether or not you want to hear it right now, we have to find a way to work this out.” He steps forward, palming my cheeks before I can pull away and swiping away my tears with his thumbs.

Resting his forehead on mine for a long time, he closes his eyes. Despite the anger still flaring inside me, I can’t deny the intensity of the chemistry incinerating the space between us. “I’ll give you your time and space. But please,” he says, his voice raw. “Don’t make me wait too long.”

Every part of me longs to wrap my arms around him and kiss away the sorrow etched in his features. But I need time to think even more.

Voice trembling and stomach knotted, I whisper, “Please, Beau. I need to go.”

“Let me put my number in your phone first. So that when you’re ready, you know how to reach me.”

“Okay,” I answer, my voice sounding distant and far away as my mind continues to race.

Beau scowls, furrowing his brows. “Maybe your dad went about things the wrong way. But he wants to make sure you’re safe, Brynn. That’s all.”

“He wants to control me,” I counter coldly.

“Maybe. But I also know he’s a law enforcement man, and some of these crime scenes we work.” Beau shakes his head, looking down at his bare feet. “I, for one, would do any fucking thing to protect you from that kind of fate. Even sell my soul. So, try not to be too hard on the old man.” He presses his lips firmly together, but his eyes pierce me as if he’s silently asking me not to be too hard on him, either.

I nod, looking down before my anger gives way completely, and I stay with my mountain man stalker. A question hits me out of nowhere. One I have to know the answer to before I leave. “Were you working for my dad this entire week?” I knit my brows, hoping somehow he’ll give me an answer I feel better about.

Swallowing hard, he replies in flat tones. “I worked for your father until the lake.”

“And so finding me in the 4Runner… Making me come here?”

He clenches his jaw, staring past me. “That was all me.”

* * *

“Welcome to Murrieta, home of the Southern Heart Ridge Trail Portal!” Ten miles past Beau’s house, the civic sign for Murrieta greets me, and I second-guess every decision I’ve made since seeing the wire notification on Beau’s phone. It doesn’t help that he’s called and texted so many times that I blocked his number. I’ll undo it later, but I need time to think and not be swayed by his rugged sexiness.

Did I overreact about the whole thing? Should I have shown more understanding? On the one hand, I’m tired of feeling suffocated by my dad. I’m a grown woman fully capable of caring for myself. On the other hand, Beau’s got a point about law enforcement and the horrific things they see firsthand. I can only imagine based on recent headlines.

I want to turn around, fly back into the arms of my mountain man stalker, when out of nowhere, I spy a figure by the side of the road. It’s Ralph with his thumb out, hitching a ride. He looks exhausted and frumpy in his Nike tennis shoes, denim shorts, drab beige T-shirt, and navy-blue, paisley handkerchief rolled and tied around his head like a sweatband worn by a nineteen-eighties aerobics instructor.

I pull over in the closest spot possible, looking in my rearview mirror as he runs up to the passenger door, hopping in. Pungent body odor instantly hits me, as if he’s been hiking for hours, and his face and T-shirt are drenched in sweat. I turn up the AC, rolling down my windows to diffuse the smell.

“What happened?” I ask, side-eyeing him as I pull back out.

“My van wouldn’t start, and I feel like shit because I promised the crew I’d pick them up from the Silver Ridge trailhead. I’ve tried to call them over and over again, but no one’s picking up, So, I thought I’d try thumbing that way.”

“Hitchhiking to the trailhead? Haven’t you heard of Uber?”

“Uber in a town this size? Ha. But I figured somebody kind-hearted would come along, and here you are.”

“I’m glad I saw you. I wouldn’t be hitchhiking these days, especially with a murderer running around. You have to be careful, Ralph.”

He nods, shrugging. “I don’t want to let anyone down, especially not my hiking besties.”

I smile reassuringly. “What time are you supposed to meet up with them? And why were you doing shuttle service today instead of going with them?”

He shrugs. “My plantar fasciitis is acting up again. My broken down van and all this walking haven’t helped it one bit.”

“Why didn’t you tell the rangers about what happened so they could pick up the crew?”

He lowers his voice in a mock tone of authority. “Because, as they put it, ‘We’re not a shuttle service for wayward hikers. And you shouldn’t be out here anyway with the murder investigation going on.’” He runs his hand through his light brown hair, ungluing it from the crown of his head. “I swear, they’re going to shut down the whole Southern Portal if they keep this shit up.”

“Have you heard anything more about what happened to the hikers?”

Ralph shrugs. “Unless the ghost of Ted Wesley Craven has returned, the sheriff’s department has no clue.”

“Now, that’s a scary thought.”

He nods.

“Can you pull up Silver Ridge on maps? I’m not sure how to get there.”

Ralph shrugs. “It’s easy. I’ll give you directions.”