Stranded: A Mountain Man Romance

by Piper Sullivan

  “You’re glad? Really?”

  I nodded and pulled him along. “Don’t make me take it back. Hungry pregnant women can be vindictive, or so I’ve heard.”

  “Well, come on then.” He flashed a smile I hadn’t seen before, it was boyish and charming and filled with light. I nearly missed the mischief shining in those blue depths as he leaned closer and scooped me in his arms and ran towards the tent.

  “Put me down you crazy person!” I buried my face in his neck, inhaling his grassy, leathery masculine scent. I wanted to press my lips to his neck, taste that tan strip of skin, but I didn’t. He bent at the knee and put me down, keeping me close.

  “There. Better?”

  The tent was…magnificent. Large and airy, there was a sideboard at the closed off end and a table for two near the opening. Flowers were placed all around. Wildflowers straight from the field. “This is amazing, Rex. What is all this?”

  Rex stepped forward, his big body dwarfing mine but I didn’t mind. I felt petite and feminine, and when his big hands cupped my face, treasured. “This is my grand gesture, sweetheart. Are you ready?” He didn’t give me a chance to answer before his lips were on mine, soft and slow at first, and then hot and hard, hungry. It was intoxicating and all encompassing and that scared the hell out of me.

  Hell, I didn’t know if I was ready. Was a girl ever really ready for a grand gesture? “Um, yeah?”

  “Great.” With my hand in his, he brought me to one of the chairs and pulled it out, pressing a kiss to either side of my neck as he slid the chair closer to the table. “Because I’m ready too. Ready for it all.”

  I swallowed the lump in my throat that had grown even larger and reached for the glass of water already on the table. I wanted to look up, but I couldn’t. Suddenly his appearance, his strange behavior and that damn smile, it had all taken on greater importance. It all seemed so big, so massive and life-changing that I felt my insides start to panic. “Ready for what, exactly?” But I had a feeling I already knew. Not only did I know, but I’d wished it on and off for years.

  “Forever. Duh.” His eyes twinkled, actually freakin’ twinkled. How was that fair? He reached for the glass pitcher and poured lemon ginger tea into each glass. “You were right, about the baby. But not how you think. I looked for you, when you left Cody.”

  “You what?” I blinked and leaned forward, certain I heard wrong.

  “You left so suddenly and when Marcus called about the alarm, I came down the mountain to find you gone. No one knew, or would say where you’d gone so I hired someone to find you.”

  “You did not!” I sat back, stunned, hand trembling around the icy cool tea.

  “I did.” He flashed that grin that made my heart beat a little faster, my pulse thump a little harder in my throat. “You were hard to track after you left New York, but I tried. Jared wouldn’t tell me shit and Marcus and Lulu just knew you’d taken a job in New York.”

  I couldn’t believe it. Rex had searched for me. I didn’t know why, but that felt significant. “I was only there for a couple weeks, working here and there as I made my way to New Mexico. Why did you look for me? You got what you wanted. I didn’t mean it…like that.”

  He grinned. “You’re right. I thought that’s what I wanted. In fact, I thought you leaving justified my decision. But when no one could find you, I got worried.”

  “Casey knew.”

  He laughed but there was no amusement in it. “Like I was going to risk Casey’s wrath.”

  I laughed, hard. Casey was tiny, just five foot three to my five foot one, but she had enough courage and confidence for a person with another twelve inches. “It’s a good thing you didn’t, she might have skinned you alive.”

  He grinned again, his expression wistful and hopeful. “I was still looking for you until I spotted you at Jared’s that first day. All I felt at first, was relief. Then anger at Jared for lying and at you, for leaving.”

  “What else was I supposed to do?”

  He sighed. “Exactly what you did. I can see that now, but in case you haven’t noticed, I’m not really a feelings kind of guy.”

  I laughed at that understatement. “I noticed.”

  He grinned. “But it all made sense once I sat back and really thought about it. Even through my drunken haze things all became pretty clear. Sleeping with you, searching for you and my inability to leave you alone. I figured it out sometime between my second and third bottle of Jack. My problem was that I’m crazy about you.”

  A smile came, unbidden, at his simply spoken words, filled with sincerity and emotion. “Rex. I’m pretty crazy about you too.”

  My words stopped his own and a soft, proud smile curved his lips. “I love to hear you say that.” Based on the look in his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth. “But it’s more than that, Lena. It’s everything. I know it’s soon and shit, I know we’ve done more fighting and more fucking than romancing and dating, but I’m all in. I love you and I want to make you mine.”

  That sounded like a special kind of heaven to me, waking up every morning in his arms and making love with him until we passed out, limp and sated. Taking care of a child with his big blue eyes and my blond hair. I couldn’t help but grin. “And what about you?”

  A frown appeared, causing the tiniest little wrinkle to form between his eyebrows. “What about me? I’m already yours, Lena.”

  The first tear rolled down my cheek. “Damn hormones,” I grumbled and his smile grew wider. “I’ve been yours for some time, Rex. Even when I wanted to punch you in the family jewels.”

  “Sweetheart, that is excellent news, because I have something to show you.” I braced myself, expecting a small velvet box with a pretty piece of compressed carbon. Instead he pulled out…papers.

  “Is this one of those sex contracts?”

  “If you want it to be,” he answered with a slow, lazy grin as he pushed the papers across the table.

  I scanned them quickly and nearly choked on nothing but air. “Rex, this is too much.”

  “It’s not nearly enough,” he shot back gruffly.

  My eyes bugged out. “Are you insane? This is what used to be the Crowe Ranch, it’s massive and I know how much it cost because I looked into buying it.” I would have had to use a huge chunk of my trust fund just to buy the damn thing. “And repairs are going to be sky high! Have you seen the state of that place?” I didn’t know what to feel, elated and terrified, grateful and worried. Confused.

  But Rex seemed content. Happy even, as he smiled. “I have and I think that land will be perfect. For us. All three of us, maybe more.”

  It took my brain a minute to catch to what he was saying. “This is going to be our home?”

  He nodded and pulled out a set of blueprints. “Our home, my workshop and your restaurant. What do you think?”

  I thought it was fantastic, but I also felt disappointed. This was all great, but this was the kind of commitment that couples made. Real couples with a long, bright future ahead of them. “I think it’s amazing. A lot, but amazing.”

  “Good. Because there’s more.”

  I shook my head and pushed away from the stable as I began to pace. “I don’t need you to give me more things, Rex. I know you have money and I don’t expect you to spend it all on me.” I kept pacing, stopping to graze on the platters of breakfast food on the sideboard so I wouldn’t get dizzy. Or sick.

  Rex’s chair scraped against the floor and he stood, closing the gap between us. “What else am I going to do with that money, Lena? Other than give my family everything they deserve?”

  “But-,”

  “Hush, sweetheart. No more buts, except maybe this one,” he said, leaning forward and brushing a soft kiss on my lips as he squeezed my ass. “A man works hard so that when he gets a wife and child, they can have the best life he can provide. I’ve been working hard for years with no visions of love and family and happy endings. At least not until a petite little firecracker showed up on my doorstep
and captured my heart and soul.” Dipping in his pocket, Rex pulled out a burgundy velvet bag, grinning when our eyes collided over the bag.

  I watched, heart in my throat, as his oversized hand slipped inside the bag and pulled out the most magnificent piece of jewelry I had ever laid eyes on. “Rex, oh my goodness!” I knew this moment was real because I felt my legs start to buckle, the blood rushed through my veins so loud it was all I could hear. “It’s stunning.”

  “Hell, Lena, this is nothing compared to you.” He held it up and I stared at the yellow and pink diamonds on the gold band, sparkling just like a Wyoming sunset. “The moment I saw this ring, I knew it belonged to you. Only at the time, I hadn’t realized it would make the perfect engagement ring.”

  I sucked in a breath and one of my hands went to his chest, the rapid thump-thump-thump of his heart beating under my hand. “Rex.”

  “I’m serious, Lena. I love you and you love me. We have a baby on the way, and I really don’t want to go the rest of my life without making love with you again. So, what do you say? Will you get this hermit off the mountain and be my wife, my partner and my lover until we’re old and gray and need a massage just to loosen up for old fogey sex?”

  I smiled but the laughter bubbled out of me. Leave it up to Rex to give a funny, heart-felt and totally perverted marriage proposal. “I’d say that was the craziest, most amazing proposal ever.” He looked at me expectantly and I worked hard to stop the giddy smile that was dying to get out. “And I’d say that I can’t wait to marry you.” My heart felt full to bursting, especially at the smile that lit up his handsome face. It was true happiness, and it was all because I agreed to marry him. That was a heady feeling and I couldn’t contain myself any longer, I threw myself into his arms and kissed his face all over. “Really can’t wait to marry you, Rex. But maybe we could eat now?”

  He grinned and shook his head. “Soon. I promise.” Then his lips were on mine and nothing else mattered. Not all the hell we’d been through, not the hunger gnawing its way through my belly and certainly not the idea of spending forever with this man. I got lost in his kiss, in his embrace and the feel of all that hard, masculine muscle pressed against my body. I groaned and he deepened the kiss, holding my close and tight, while he devoured my lips and brought me to the edge of ecstasy. “I love you so damn much, Lena. I can’t wait to make you my wife.”

  “Me either.”

  “Great. You know, the courthouse doesn’t close until five and there’s no waiting period.”

  I was ready to reject the idea outright, but it seemed like a great idea. No fuss, no muss and no year spent figuring out what color napkins I want or floral arrangements. “Counter offer. We eat because the baby is hungry which means I’m starving, and then call Jared and Casey to be our witnesses.”

  “Deal,” he said easily, dropping a kiss on my forehead that made me feel cherished. Loved.

  “Then I guess it’s settled. We’re getting married.” Another thought occurred to me. “We’ll probably have to let Dad and Lulu do a big party to make up for this.”

  “As long as you’re mine, I’m willing to celebrate that with a party every single day.”

  “Damn, I really love you Rex.”

  He grinned. “Of course you do, I’m amazing. And I love you too.”

  And that, was music to my ears.

  THE END

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  Safeguarded

  Keane

  “Those assholes set me up Keane. You were right, I never should have trusted the Red Shamrocks.” I watched my friend and leader pace frantically from side to side, his shock of black hair standing on edge. “Now I’ve got the Feds on my ass, chomping at the bit to finally have something on the mighty Seamus O’Malley.”

  I sat back in my chair, a glass of Jameson in my hand as my oldest friend’s world crumbled around him. “Do we have proof or do you need me to get it?” I couldn’t deny that I’d love nothing more than to take a few of those Red ‘Rock bastards to the basement of some building set for demolition and make them cry for their mamas. My role in Seamus’s organization, Cearul, was part confidant, part advisor and part hatchet man. The latter part of my job I enjoyed the most.

  “No.” Seamus stopped pacing and set dark blue eyes on me. “What I need from you is more important than those fuckers. Besides,” he smiled and poured himself a healthy amount of whiskey, “I plan to deal with them myself.”

  I didn’t know how I felt about Seamus going about this on his own. He was more than capable of handling the wet work if he needed to, but he didn’t need to. “What do you need me to do boss?”

  “I need you to take care of Fiona. Keep her safe because Callahan and his thugs will use her to get to me and I can’t let that happen.”

  Ah, shit. Fiona O’Malley. A gorgeous redhead with the kind of curves that made men forget to be gentlemen. The kind of mouth that begged to be kissed. And she was Seamus’ daughter. Completely fucking off limits. Had been since the day I met her, but back then she’d been a kid. Now that she was a grown woman with curves, lips and tits, it was much harder. Hell, everything was much harder when she was around. “You got it.” I stood. “Where is she?”

  Seamus checked his watch. “She should be on her way home from class now.” Yeah, she was also twenty-one fucking years old and nearly done with college. I’m an old man as far as she’s concerned but I wanted her. Fuck, I wanted her bad.

  “Right. And where will you be?”

  “I’ll figure it out Keane. You just keep my Fiona alive.” Guzzling his drink and slamming the glass down he frowned. “I never wanted any of this shit to touch her. Naïve I know, but I thought I could do it. Now I need you to do it Keane. You’re the only person I can trust to keep her safe”

  Grabbing the black leather coat that was my constant companion against the temperamental Boston weather, I nodded my agreement. “I’ll go get her now. Stay here until I get back with a bag for you.”

  “Keane goddammit, I don’t—,”

  “I’m not asking boss. You’re my best friend, hell my only friend and I’ll make sure you have what you need out there on your own.” I didn’t wait for Seamus to respond because he didn’t need to. We’d grown up together in this city, ran the streets when we should have been in school and learning shit. Instead we looked out for one another all our lives except the years Seamus got married and I went into the service. Hell, I should see Fiona as a daughter but I couldn’t. I didn’t. She wasn’t even my fucking type, all innocent and virginal looking but I knew passion hid beneath the surface because it called to me. I couldn’t explain it and I couldn’t act on it, so I’d kept my distance.

  Now I couldn’t. Thanks to the Red ‘Rocks.

  Slamming my foot on the gas, weaving through late afternoon traffic I felt an urgency coursing through me to get to Fiona and I followed it. Years as an army sniper had told me one thing, never fucking ignore my instincts and right now they screamed that Fi needed me. Because we’d made the mistake of doing business with the Red Shamrocks, a smaller gang looking to join the Cearul Network, I knew they would attack Fiona first.

  My ride came to a screeching halt outside her swanky Beacon Hill apartment building and my legs ate up the concrete. Inside the lobby I found the doorman on the floor. I crouched beside him checking for a pulse. Alive. Running on instinct and adrenaline, I pulled the emergency lever on the elevator and ducked into the stairwell. If someone was here to harm Fiona they wouldn’t escape without running into me first.

  Scanning the corridor, I noticed one man outside Fiona’s door. A red shamrock tattooed on his neck. He held a nine millimeter in his hand but the man wasn’t ready to use it, his posture was too relaxed and his grip too loose. I crept up on the asshole easily, he should have been keeping better watch. M
y good luck. I would have killed the bastard but I didn’t have time for a body dump, so I wrapped an arm around his neck and squeezed until his lights went out. I dropped him silently and pulled out my gun before heading inside Fiona’s place.

  “Get your paws off me you goon!” She was a sassy thing, with her father’s mouth. But I could hear the struggle in her voice, the fear, and I moved in to see what I was up against.

  “Don’t worry Red, me and my boys are going to have our paws all over you. Inside you.” I recognized the gravelly voice as one of Callahan’s men and I knew his reputation. He’d left more than a few working girls bruised, broken and unable to work.

  I would kill that bastard if he touched Fiona. And I would fucking enjoy it.

  “Probably the only way someone like you could get laid. But I guess rape is how you shamrock boys get down. Must be all that prison time,” she taunted.

  I had to smile. Despite her sheltered upbringing, Fiona wasn’t like the other mob princesses. She was down to earth. Smart. And that smart mouth would get her harmed.

  “It ain’t rape if you want it. And Red I know you’re dripping for me.” He laughed and grabbed her neck and that’s when I went in for the attack.

  “One of you will be dripping, but I doubt it’ll be her.” Two punches to the kidney and he was on the ground, my foot on his neck. He squirmed and I applied pressure. “you okay Fi?”

  “I am now. Thanks Keane.” She flashed that wholesome girl-next-door smile that made me want to kiss her until she was wet and trembling for me.

  Instead I winked. “Anytime. Pack a bag. No questions.”

  That lush pink mouth opened then snapped shut at my command.

  Obedient, nice. “Get up asshole.” I had plans for this guy. One last job before I dedicate myself to keeping Fiona safe and sound.

  Like I promised.