Page 4 of Snowed In with her Mountain Men

JAXON

The roads in town were bad to begin with, but with the plows still fueling up, they only got worse the higher I went. My truck was decent in storms like this. Nowhere near as good as the Marauder of course, but it got me most places without a hitch.

What I didn’t count on was stomping through the woods once I finally got home.

The prints were still fresh, so I hadn’t wasted any time.

Grabbing the Maglite from under my seat, I plunged straight through the scrub brush and into the pines, zigzagging in whatever direction my quarry took me.

For the better part of two hours I fought the storm, squinting into the darkness, until freshly fallen powder swallowed the last of the tracks, ending the chase.

I fought my way back through the drifts, swearing furiously as I followed my own bootprints. I was cold, wet, and tired. Struggling with the bitter taste of defeat. It also didn’t help that I was hungry enough to eat a horse, saddle and everything.

When the house came into view again, I was already in a foul mood. Throwing open the door, the last thing I expected was a five-foot blonde standing in front of me, blocking my way to the kitchen.

“Who the hell is this?”

The petite stranger looked taken aback by my question, at least for a moment. An instant later however, her body language shifted in the direction of grim defiance.

“Who am I?” she shot back. “I’m Camryn. Who the hell are you?”

I scoffed. “I’m the guy that lives here, that’s who I am.”

Defiance didn’t even begin to cover the smirk on her face. I almost admired it.

“Well at least you came of your own free will,” she shot back. “I was practically abducted.”

For the first time in a long while, I was at a complete loss. I looked to Oakley.

“We didn’t abduct her,” he explained with a sigh, “but we did carry her back here. It was either that or leave her to freeze to death.”

“What the hell are you talking about?”

“You know that little cabin?” Ryder spoke up. “The one at the turn with the blown out tree?”

I knew it well. A bolt of lightning had obliterated that tree during a spectacular storm, the summer before last.

“Yeah? So?”

“So she was in trouble,” Ryder continued carefully. “She needed some help, so we gave it.”

I frowned at him. I knew Ryder long enough to know when he was holding something back. Luckily, the blonde had no problem speaking up.

“I was being attacked when they showed up,” she explained. “They burst in. I was lucky.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Wolves?”

“Worse,” offered Oakley. “Some shithead landlord.”

My eyes flitted over her again, this time with a bit more in the way of consideration. To her credit, she didn’t look away. Setting her hands on what looked to be a pair of very shapely hips, her pretty blue eyes remained locked on mine.

“Look, you don’t want me here. And that’s okay.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to,” she replied shortly. “It’s written all over your face.”

Just then an errant piece of snow found its way down my back, no doubt fallen from some overhead branch. As it melted uncomfortably against my skin, I fought back the urge to frown again.

“I don’t want to be here either,” she finished. “So if you’ll just take me home…”

“No one’s going anywhere,” I said, jerking my thumb backwards. “Not in that.”

“But—”

“Why didn’t you drop her off in town?” I demanded of the others. “She could’ve gotten a room, or—”

“Did you see her hand?” offered Oakley. “And her face?”

Forlornly, she held up a paw of white gauze. There was a laceration on her face too. Nothing too deep, but the line there was long, angry, and red. I felt a flash of rage at whoever had done it.

“What’s the big deal anyway?” prodded Ryder. “The storm was coming, and she was totally out of it. You should’ve seen her. Besides, it’s not like we don’t have the room.”

“That doesn’t matter.”

“It doesn’t?” my friend scoffed. “And exactly why doesn’t—”

“Because when I pulled up, I saw more tracks.”

That silenced them. Their expressions grew abruptly serious as they looked at each other.

“I left early, because of the storm,” I continued on. “The shop was empty anyway. Soon as I pulled up, there they were.”

Oakley scratched at his chin. “Is that why you’re so covered in snow?”

“Yes,” I nodded. “I followed them into the woods. They went south this time, in an entirely different direction. I lost them when the snow piled up.”

“What kind of tracks?”

All three of us whirled on the lilting, feminine voice. It seemed way too soft and totally alien for the big cabin.

“What?”

“What kind of tracks were you following?” the blonde asked again. “Out in the storm?”

Was she challenging me? I wasn’t sure.

“Deer,” I lied.

“Oh. Are you hunters, or—”

“Look, I’m hungry. I’m tired. It’s going to snow all night, and we’ll need to get up early and shovel.”

I stomped past her, but not without running my eyes over her one last time. Shit, she was so tiny; barely even five-foot two. Soft skin kissed by the sun, and not this sun for sure. Wicked curves, though. Curves for days.

What the fuck are you doing?

The voice at the back of my mind was like a slap to the back of the head. It jarred me from my brief daydream, and brought me back to the moment.

“She can take the couch for tonight,” I declared, inhaling a hint of vanilla as I slipped past her.

“Bullshit,” Ryder fired back. “She can take Sarge’s room.”

“No.”

“It’s not like he’s using it,” Oakley pressed. “C’mon Jaxon, don’t be unreasonable. Why waste a good bed?”

“We’re not wasting anything,” I grunted. “Take a look at her. She’s tiny. The couch will work fine.”

“But—”

“He’s right.”

Once more, her soft, female voice turned our heads in unison.

“No need to fight about it, I’ll take the couch,” she said, definitively.

She gave a lingering, rebellious look that told me half of everything I’d need to know about her. The other half remained hidden, somewhere behind those defiant, sapphire eyes.

“I’d rather sleep down here, anyway. In front of the fire.”