Kept by the Woodsman: An ex-MMA Fighter Mountain Man Romance

by Ambrielle Kirk

  I swallowed and took a step back. “Tyra,” I called out her name quietly.

  She didn’t budge, so I grabbed a blanket from the linen closet and covered her with it. Then, I picked up her bowl and carried it off to the kitchen. I warmed up my stew, sat down at the kitchen table, and ate in total silence.

  Many things roamed through my mind as I sat and ate. The longer Tyra stayed in my home, in my woods, and on this mountain, the harder it would be for me to resist her.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Tyra

  When I woke up the next morning, I was experiencing that weird, prickles-on-the-back-of-my-neck unease. The sensation made me weary. The blanket was warm and cozy. My arms and legs were nestled under the softness and the cushion sagged leniently under my weight, conforming delicately to my shape.

  My muscles were paralyzed beneath the comfort. I was frozen. I couldn’t move because I had that intense suspicion that someone was standing over me. I slid my shoulders around and laid on my back. I peeled open one eye, and then the other. Sure enough, just as I expected, Saul was standing over me. His brow was furrowed with curiosity. He looked like he’d been staring at me for a while.

  “Hello,” he said flatly.

  I cleared my throat and wiped my groggy eyes. “Hello.” My voice sounded like a grizzly bear, the only kind of neighbors Saul had up here in this mountain cabin. He was holding something in his hand that I soon figured out to be a dry, clean pair of clothes. They were my clothes.

  “I washed these overnight for you.” He gently placed them on my lap. “Go ahead and get dressed.”

  He was wearing brown cargo shorts and a black t-shirt that was tight fitting and made his muscles bulge sexily. I wondered if he’d grown all those muscles while performing as an MMA fighter or working out here in the mountains.

  “Thank you,” I said and sat up, being careful to keep the blanket wrapped tightly around me to conceal my nakedness. The towel that I wrapped around me yesterday evening had come undone sometime in the night. “It’s already morning? I must have fallen asleep..” I said, looking toward the window, shocked at how long I’d been asleep.

  “You must have been pretty tired. I came back in after freeing a tree branch from the gutter and you were knocked out. I tried to wake you, but you didn’t budge.”

  “I’m a heavy sleeper, and I don’t think I’ve ever walked that far in my life. On top of that, I could barely keep my eyes open after you fed me that delicious bowl of stew.”

  “Plus, the terrains are a lot rougher. You were basically walking on an uphill slope the whole time,” he said, looking down at my leg. “How’s your knee?”

  “Sore, but I’ll live.” I needed a hot tub and a glass of wine. Too bad I was miles away from the hotel. “Um…do you mind if I use your bathroom to clean up a bit?”

  “Oh sure, go ahead. I keep extra toothbrushes and stuff like that in the cabinet over the sink. Take your pick. If you use the shower or anything, you might have to wait a few minutes for the water to heat up.”

  “Okay.”

  “The bathroom’s that way.” He pointed to a small area sectioned off in the back of the cabin. “When you’re ready, come out and eat breakfast.”

  Saul spun around to leave. I stared at his back as he left the room. After re-wrapping the towel around me, I gathered up my clothes and walked to the bathroom to take a quick shower.

  A clawfoot tub and a handheld shower filled the small interior of the bathroom. Just like he said, the water took a couple minutes to warm up. I kept my shower to a minimum, brushed my teeth, and finger-combed my hair up into a ponytail.

  I dressed, and when I was presentable, I made my way into the kitchen where Saul was standing over the stove. At that moment I realized that I'd never seen a man stand up at the stove and cook before. My dad didn't count, obviously. I'd been dating off and on for the past year, and not one of those men had bothered to cook me a meal. There was a world of difference between what I was used to and what I was experiencing now.

  “Do you always cook like this?” I asked, standing near the counter as he flipped some sausages around in a cast-iron skillet.

  “Most of the time. I eat breakfast and dinner. I rarely have time for lunch.”

  “What do you do during the day?” I asked.

  “Lot’s of things. I’ve always got a couple projects going on. I built a shed for my tools last month. I guess I was getting tired of looking at them laying about in the backyard. I’m working on the floor plan for a new back deck. I should have it completed by the time fall rolls around.”

  “I could see it now…you laying out on your daybed enjoying the cooler temperatures.”

  “Yup, I might even make a deck big enough to drop a hot tub right in,” he said. “I’d hook up a nice big screen tv and mount it on the wall. I wouldn’t even think about going into town to watch the big games.”

  I smiled. “Sounds like a personal mountain-side oasis. You’ve got everything right here, so why would you need to go anywhere else?”

  “Well, not everything,” he mumbled.

  Before I could push for further explanation, he gathered up a platter with all the breakfast food piled on top and plopped it down in the center of the table.

  “So, let’s eat and then we’ll head out and get your car out of the mud,” he said.

  “And so I guess this means that’s all…? We’re done here?”

  He threw a quick glance in my direction. “Depends…”

  “On what?”

  “A few things.” He pulled out my chair. “Have a seat.”

  He didn’t elaborate further on what our fate depended on. I figured that once he dragged my car out of the mud, he’d send me on my merry way. The clock was ticking, and I was getting nervous that I wasn’t going to complete my assignment on time.

  So many things had derailed my progress, including the fact that I’d somehow become attached to Saul. I wasn’t interested in learning more about him because of some prior commitment I made. I was genuinely curious. I wanted to know him. I also wanted his big, strong hands back on my body kneading away whatever ailment I suffered. Maybe if the rain caught us one more time, he’d have to dry me again—every inch. Only this time, I’d let him play out his little fantasy on me.

  I looked up at him from across the table. This time he kept his gaze low as he sectioned off the food on each plate. We ate our sausage, eggs, and potatoes, but not in complete silence. If there was anything that people remembered about me, it was that I could talk a grown man to death.

  “You worked in sports before you moved out here. MMA, right? Isn’t that a little violent? Did you like it?”

  “Did I like beating the shit out of men in the ring? Sure I did,” he said, with a straight face.

  “Okay…”

  “Here’s the truth, sweetheart. MMA isn’t just about beating people to a bloody pulp. There’s strategy involved. Speed. Agility. It’s not just about who can throw the hardest punch. You have to use your body and your brains.”

  “I see. Where exactly did you fight?”

  He glanced up. “Does it matter?”

  “No.”

  “I fought in multiple cities. Mostly underground. No big headline fights,” he said.

  I put my fork down on my plate. "So you retired and then what? You just decided to come to live up here."

  “Not exactly like that.” He fiddled with bits of eggs on his plate. “Just wanted a better life, you know? I’d visited Arrow Lake once before, so once I left the city, that’s where I went. I had a bag of money. My truck. That’s just about it. When I got here, I stayed in hotels. Sometimes I shared a cabin with other travelers, but that got pretty darn expensive. If I stayed that course, I would’ve run out of money a long time ago. It wasn’t just about a vacation and time away from home…I wanted this to become a lifestyle.”

  “So your savings was running out?”

  “Yes, pretty much. I worked odd jobs here and there to reple
nish my stash, but I knew I’d have to settle down and find something permanent if I wanted to make it out here.”

  I leaned forward. “What did you do?”

  “I went back to what I knew. I have some skills in construction, mostly fencing. I got a few contracts to do some jobs and made a good bit of change from that. One of the guys I built a fence for owned this cabin.”

  I felt my eyes widen. “This one?” I’d already known that from my research, but I didn’t have all the missing pieces.

  "Yup. He's an older guy. In his sixties now. We got to know each other, and eventually, he offered me room and board for help around the house. The cabin's fifty years old, so it needed quite a bit of work."

  I glanced around. “So, this is where you stayed while you helped him?”

  He chuckled. “I know it’s small, but believe it or not, Jack was hardly home. He preferred outdoor living. Climbing. Camping. He’d go out for a week and then come back on the weekends to re-up and collect more supplies. He would also check my work too and then give me a list of other things to repair or construct. I needed a place to stay, so I did everything he asked happily. I learned some things along the way. I screwed shit up a lot too, but he helped me correct them.”

  I smiled. “Would you say that he was like a father figure?”

  “Yes.” He swallowed visibly. “Like the father I never had.”

  “So, you renovated this place?”

  He nodded. “Yup. But Jack’s gone now, obviously.”

  “What happened to him?” I asked, fearing the worse.

  "He reconnected with his daughter. She was getting married and had already had three kids. They're out in Montana. He wanted to see his grandkids grow up, so he bought a cabin in the woods out there so he can visit them whenever he wants. I remembered them coming out here once, and they hated it." He laughed. "I couldn't blame him for wanting to reconcile his relationship with his daughter though. I learned a lot from him, but she's his true family, really."

  “Right. Family is everything.”

  “I’ve been living out here ever since.”

  "If you didn't have any money, how'd you buy this cabin and the land. There's a lot of land, according to the deed," I said before I could stop myself.

  His gaze narrowed. “You looked up the deed?”

  “Um…it’s just part of my research. Was there an inheritance or something?”

  He sat back in his chair and rubbed his trimmed beard. “I had money, just not enough to buy a cabin, or the land, or any house for that matter.”

  “Then how…?”

  “Labor, Tyra, that’s how. I worked my ass off renovating this place. Of course, I was paid in cash as well for my skills, but most of it was labor in exchange for a place to stay. Jack knew before I ever stepped foot on the property that he would sell it and move away. But he didn’t tell me his real plans until the home was completely renovated. I had already packed my bags and was ready to go because I knew the moment that Jack put this place up for sale that someone would jump at the opportunity to buy it no matter the price. Heck, I even went into town and found me a little apartment to rent out so I wouldn’t be homeless once he did. One morning he handed me the keys and the deed to the house, free and clear. No stipulations, games, tricks, or gimmicks whatsoever. I was a bit confused, but then he told me that giving the property to me was his intentions once he got to know me. He wouldn’t sell it to anyone else because he believed they wouldn’t care for it like I would. The sale had to be official and all that for the records, so I paid him what I had in cash even though he insisted on much less.”

  “That’s when you signed your real name on the deed…?”

  “Yes, Tyra.” His eyebrows furrowed. “I thought long and hard about that, but I didn’t have the means to buy the property anonymously.”

  “So, uh…you had a house but no money? Is that when you started befriending folks living in the homestead community?”

  “Exactly. I had already made friends with most of them anyway, so it wasn’t that hard. I visit the trading post about once a month too where most of them sell their products. Like I said, some of these families have been living out here for decades. They stick to themselves, but once you get to know them, you can tell that they’re nice people.”

  “Nice. I wish I could visit this trading post. I’d love to take pictures for my blog.”

  “It’s not too far. A few miles maybe. Further up the mountain, of course. I wouldn’t go there now in this weather though,” he said.

  “I’ll be here a few more days and then I can always extend my visit too, so I have time.”

  There was something about the bright smile he returned that warmed my heart.

  “MMA fighter turned mountain man…” I folded my arms and rested them on the edge of the table. “Would you ever go back?”

  "No, I wouldn't go back. The money's great, but it's not everything. I'm content with living off the land for the rest of my life, just as Jack taught me. I know how to barter and trade, fish, hunt, and set traps. He taught me all that. The big money comes in when I outsource my work as a fencing constructor. Sometimes I consult, but I'm mostly doing the building. The money comes in, and then my banker does the rest. He re-invests the money I don't use. Like I said, I barter down at the farmer's market, so my expenses out here are pretty low."

  “Makes sense.”

  "That's why I was a bit surprised that you chose me for your story on mountain living. Some people have been living out here since they drew their first breath," he said.

  It dawned on me that I hadn’t even taken notes for reference later, but something told me that I’d remember Saul’s story even if I wanted to forget. I frowned. I’d been wrong about Saul. He wasn’t just some conflicted mountain man wannabe living alone running from his responsibilities. He was just a regular guy living his life. He didn’t want games, tricks, or gimmicks.

  “You’re all quiet now,” he chimed in when I didn’t say anything. “Was that all you needed for your story?”

  I sighed and sat back in my chair. “I just…I was just thinking.”

  “About what?”

  “You mentioned your real birth father…was he—”

  “I don’t want to talk about him.” Saul rose from the chair, collected up our empty plates and walked over to the sink.

  I took that as my cue that it wasn’t a really good time to bring that up, but I felt my time with Saul was coming to an end. I had found my guy. There was no doubt about it. I had what I needed for the most part, but I wanted more. My true reason for being here had just been put on the back burner.

  “Have you got your car keys?” he asked, after cleaning up the kitchen a bit.

  “They’re in my purse by the chair.”

  “Well, get them, because we’re heading out.” He turned around. “You ready?”

  “I guess.”

  “Sounds like you’re having second thoughts about something.”

  “I am,” I replied.

  He leaned against the counter. “Then would you like to start talking about you instead of me?”

  I took in the way his dark eyebrows drew together as he waited on my story. His shirt was taut against his torso. I admired the perfectly formed muscles on his body. His arms were bare and his muscles were huge. I imagined that it would take both of my hands to wrap around its thickness. If the bulge behind his fly and the way he walked was any indication of how much manhood he was packing, I was pretty damn sure that there was a whole lot of truth behind his claim to a nine-inch cock. Aroused by the images, I dropped my attention to the wood grain pattern on the table.

  “Maybe later,” I mumbled, feeling the heat of his stare on me.

  “Then let's go, sweetheart, because if you stay here any longer, I guarantee you that I’ll make good on that promise I made you yesterday,” he said.

  I rose from the chair, grabbed my purse, and followed him outside.

  Chapter Sixteen

  T
yra

  I followed Saul out to the backyard and we approached a big barn. There was a stream right behind the barn. I could hear the water trickling through the stones from where we stood. He unlatched a bolt and pushed open the double-doors of the barn. Inside were various tools, equipment, construction supplies, and a host of other objects I didn’t know the name of.

  “What’s this?”

  “It’s where I keep my construction supplies. And my ATV.” He motioned toward a shiny off-road vehicle. “Excuse the mess. I went out mud-racing last month.”

  “Sounds like fun.”

  “It is. I’m pretty sure there’s one going on right now with the way the rain came through last night.”

  “Well, I’m sorry to keep you from all the fun.”

  “I can have all the fun I want later. Let’s just get you safely down this mountain, alright?”

  He pulled out an ATV and cranked the engine.

  “So, I’m going to ride on that, with you?”

  He chuckled. “I can’t risk my truck down there. She probably won’t make it. This is the best thing to get us around, and if we need to pull your car out, this little girl will do the job.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Let me guess? You’re the type of man who names your cars?”

  “My truck…that’s Donna.” He chucked his thumb behind him in the direction of the pick-up truck. “This here ATV is Gemmie girl. I’ve got a boat hooked up on the dock for when I go fishing, and her name’s Kimmie.”

  I giggled. “Alright then. Are you sure they won’t be jealous?”

  He grinned, raking his gaze up and down the entire length of my body. “They should be.” He straddled the bike and then held out his hand.

  “Wait,” I called out before climbing onto the back of the ATV.