Mountain Lumberjack

by Sienna Chance

  I rolled my eyes at him. “Okay, Logan.”

  “What is wrong with you?” he asked.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Why do you insist on being belligerent?” he asked.

  I took a deep breath. “I just think you and I aren’t going to get along,” I said. I was surprised when he laughed.

  “It doesn’t have to be like that. We get along fine. We enjoy each other’s company. You can’t pretend you don’t, Lilian,” he said. “I’ve seen it in your eyes. I’ve felt it when you kissed me.”

  I bit my lip, knowing that it was all true. He was right about everything—I did enjoy his company, had loved the time we’d spent together on the mountain. He saw the change in my expression and took it as an opportunity to move closer to me, and before I knew it, he was right in front of me.

  “We can be friends, Lilian,” he said, taking my hand. “We should get along. I don’t want to fight with you for as long as you’re staying here.”

  “Friends,” I said, my voice trembling slightly, my body shaking with how close he was. I looked up into his eyes, staring at him, wishing that we could mold together in every way. “Just friends.”

  “Of course,” he said, though he reached up as he said it, brushing his fingers over my cheek to push a strand of hair away. I pulled back from him so that he couldn’t touch me anymore, though I wished that I didn’t have to do so.

  “So we have a lot of time to spend together,” Logan said. “What do friends do to pass the time?”

  I stared at him, unable to really speak. All I could think about was all the ways I wished we could pass the time together, hot and dirty in his bed. I looked at his mouth, over his face, down at his body.

  “Lily,” he said in a low voice.

  “I want to go lie down,” I told him. “I—I need to go.”

  “That’s not what you need, baby,” he said softly, taking my arm as I turned to leave him behind. I didn’t resist when he turned me around to face him, his arm slipping around my waist, pulling me against his body. I accepted his kiss eagerly, tasting his mouth, wrapping my arms around him without hesitation. All at once I felt desire and fear, frustration and anger welling up inside of me.

  “Logan,” I said. “I don’t want to do this.”

  He sighed against my lips, sucking on the bottom one, his hands hot on my hips.

  “God, that is such a shame,” he said, pulling away with a regretful look. He didn’t look disappointed, more amused, and I knew he could read the lie all over my face. I was irritated at my own desire and at his reaction to it. I could have kissed him all day, truthfully, allowed him to undress me and fill me with that big cock I’d felt, hard against my belly. I wonder if he could do that for as long as he’d spent with his mouth between my legs, and the thought of it made me flush with an even hotter desire.

  “I’m going to bed,” I said to him, turning to go, and this time he didn’t stop me.

  “Goodnight, Lily,” he said to me.

  “It’s Lilian,” I corrected him, though it was for a different reason than it had been with Michael. For some reason, hearing Logan call me Lily sent a thrill through me, made me squirm almost as much as his kiss.

  He chuckled without answering and I disappeared into my room, lying on my bed and trying not to think about Logan. I found that the alternative was no better—every time I closed my eyes, I pictured Michael’s broken body on the ground behind the piano, the shocked look on his face as his body had fully tipped over the railing. I shuddered just thinking about it—it was the face of a man who knew he was about to die, full of fear and a desperate plea for me to help.

  I managed to fall into a restless sleep and only woke up a few hours later when I woke to the sound of an alarm howling through the building. Red lights flashed all around the room, and I didn’t even have time to sit up before the sprinklers above me turned on and soaked me within seconds. I got up hurriedly and saw Logan out in the suite, on his way to get me.

  “What’s going on?”

  “No idea,” he said through gritted teeth.

  He took my hand and we hurried out of the suite and down the stairs to see that the staircase was crowded with people, many of whom I knew from the convention so far. We hurried downstairs as quick as we could and Logan turned to me.

  “Go outside,” he said. “I need to figure out what’s going on.”

  “I’m not leaving you in here, Logan,” I said to him, but he shook his head, already turning me around to go in the same direction as the crowd.

  He disappeared, wading through the bodies of people and into the lobby. The air was getting thick and heavy, and while at first I thought that it was because everybody from the retreat was pressed together, I realized when I sniffed the air that the room was filling with smoke. Other people started to realize it at the same time and the crowd started to panic, pushing against each other to get out of the door. I looked back over my shoulder to see smoke pouring out of the room closest to the lobby, and a massive shadow disappearing into the room.

  “Logan!” I called out, but was swept outside before I could do it again. There were people milling a few feet away from the building, staring up at it. My heart was racing in my chest as I scanned the faces of those exiting the building among the smoke, searching desperately for Logan, praying he would come out.

  10

  Logan

  I coughed, covering my mouth and my nose with my shirt, squinting as I made my way through the smoke. I went into each room on the first floor, pulling people out as I needed to. At first, I couldn’t tell where the smoke was coming from—it seemed to be surrounding me, coming from all directions, poisoning the very air I was breathing. It wasn’t until I saw Martha pointing adamantly at the lounge area on the first floor that I understood. I rushed in without hesitating, knowing it was often packed with people, and wasn’t surprised when I saw there were a few who hadn’t vacated the room in time before one of the massive shelves had fallen in front of the door. I had to step over it delicately, trying not to touch the burning wood.

  I only vaguely heard the sound of the fire trucks as I started to help people out of the room, my eyes watering, carrying them over the growing pile that was starting to barricade the door. If I hadn’t been so tall, there was no way that I would have been able to get through so many times, but my legs were long enough to step over it as many times as I had to in order to get everybody out. I was coughing, dragging myself through the opposite wing of the hallway, though the smoke wasn’t as heavy as it had been. Still, my body felt overwhelmed, and I had almost lost the ability to move any further when somebody wrapped their arm around my waist and turned me around. I looked to see that it was a fireman and allowed him to lead me out of the building. I emerged into the fresh air, coughing and sputtering, letting the fresh air fill my lungs.

  “Is everybody out?” I asked Martha when I found her.

  She was standing near the edge of the parking lot, staring up at the building. It didn’t look like much had been damaged from the outside, and smoke was only coming through the cracks in the windows on the first floor.

  “All of the customers are accounted for,” Martha said. “I counted them just a few minutes ago.”

  “Please, count them again,” I said to her. I couldn’t risk having lost somebody in the retreat center, couldn’t even imagine that happening. I looked around the crowd, scanning each of the faces. Some people looked afraid, others annoyed, and others simply curious. They milled about, holding themselves tightly in the cold. Most people hadn’t gotten the chance to change or put on coats before they’d left the building, and now they were soaking wet and freezing. I cursed under my breath, shaking my head as I made my way back toward the building to check on the progress of the fire. I went over to find the fire marshal surrounded by his guys.

  “You who we’re supposed to be talking to?” he asked.

  “What happened?” I asked them. The fire marshal held somethin
g up for me to look at. “A cigarette?” I asked.

  “Fire started at the curtains. Somebody must have accidentally set it while they were smoking.”

  “We don’t allow smoking in the building,” I said.

  The man shrugged.

  “Was anybody hurt?” I asked them.

  “No,” the marshal said, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I didn’t need another death or injury on my hands, not after what had happened with Michael. “But you were lucky. A few more minutes and this whole place would have been up in flames.”

  “How bad is the damage?”

  “You’ll have to get an inspector out here before anybody can stay in that wing. You’re going to have to close it off immediately. I can’t tell you how bad it is,” the man said. “We’re going to give it a couple of hours before we’ll let people go inside.”

  “No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m sorry, but the sprinklers went off—look at these people. They’re going to catch hypothermia. I have to get them in faster than that.”

  “I’m sorry—”

  “I’m going to have to put them in the other wing. All of them. But I can’t leave them out here,” I said. “Please.”

  The fire marshal looked at me for a moment, then nodded.

  “I’ll send these guys in to clear the other wing just to be sure. It might take them a few minutes,” the man said.

  “As quickly as possible,” I said to him, looking around at the miserable people surrounding me. I hurried off to greet them, making my way through the crowd, checking on my staff and keeping an eye out for Lily. I didn’t see her anywhere, but I knew Martha had led some people into the pool house at the back of the retreat center.

  I shivered, my jaw trembling from the cold. The marshal came out and told me that the east wing was clear for people to go inside. Luckily, the sprinklers were made to only be set off in the wing where the alarm had been sounded, so the beds and floors weren’t wet. I led people inside, relieved when I felt the warmth around me. The electricity had surprisingly remained intact, despite the lounge area and the hallway extending into the west wing being burnt and black. The scent of smoke was thick but welcoming compared to the cold air outside.

  I directed my staff to lead everybody into new rooms. Most of them were full, and people grumbled when they realized they would have to double-up for the night. I hated what the reviews were going to be after this weekend—another dismal experience at the haunted, cursed retreat. I took a deep breath, and after everything was settled, my body felt weary and exhausted. I was still freezing, and when I looked down at my hands I saw that even my fingers were a pale blue. I buried them in my pockets to warm them, making my way up the elevator and to the suite. I prayed Lily was in there—I hadn’t seen her since the fire started and would have been worried sick if Martha hadn’t assured me that every customer had been accounted for more than once.

  I unlocked the door, my hand trembling as I struggled to fit the key in. When I opened it, I barely had time to step inside before somebody rushed at me. I found myself thrown back against the wall by the force of Lily throwing her body against mine, despite her being considerably smaller than I was in every way.

  “Logan,” she said, her hands on my cheeks, looking up into my eyes.

  She gazed up at me for a moment before her eyes narrowed and she turned around, stomping through the suite and into her room. I stared after her, completely bewildered, and ran my hand through my hair as I went inside. I shut the door behind me and started to strip out of my wet clothes in the living room, desperate to get them off. I was naked, heading into my room to take a shower when Lily appeared again in her doorway. She froze when she saw me.

  “Sorry,” she said, blushing deeply. She was shivering, too, still in her wet clothes. I wondered how long she’d been there waiting for me, refusing to go into her room for even a moment to change.

  “Are you cold?” I asked her. She nodded. I held my hand out to her. “Come on,” I said.

  She gave me a hesitant look, regarding me warily for a moment. Then she came to me, slipping her cold hand into mine as I led her into my room and then into the bathroom. I was so happy to see her. Her skin was streaked black with ash as mine was, colored grey from the smoke. I watched her as I turned on the shower, taking her hand and holding it underneath the water.

  “That good?” I asked her, staring at her face, her lips, her soaking wet body.

  She nodded, barely breathing as I started to strip her shaking body of her wet clothes, peeling them off her while she stood quietly in front of me. I didn’t try to touch her skin other than where I needed to in order to undress her. I pulled her under the water then, letting the stream fall over her body, rinsing away some of the black marks on her skin. I wanted to wash her clean of them but I didn’t, instead looked into her eyes as I took hold of her hair and arched her gently back so that the water flowed through it.

  “You’re an idiot,” she said as I stroked her hair.

  I laughed. “Why am I an idiot?”

  “Because you ran back into a burning building,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I tried to run in after you—”

  “I’m glad somebody stopped you,” I said sharply.

  She stared at me, then put her hands to my chest and started to wash the ash from my body with her hands, touching me softly all over. It made my cock ache but I didn’t touch her, not even when her soft, wet hands stroked the lines of the muscles then ran down between my legs, making my breath catch in my throat. She stopped short of actually touching me there, instead skipping it, leaving it hard and throbbing.

  “How can you even be turned on at a time like this?” she asked with a playful look in her eye. “This is serious business. This place almost burned down.”

  I kissed her instead of answering, smiling against her lips. She kissed me back but then pulled herself away, picking up the soap and beginning to wash her own body. I could tell by the way her hands lingered on her breasts that she was having trouble keeping herself under control and wished that I could watch her make herself come again as I had when she’d been in the bathtub before. I remembered how that had turned out, though, how upset she’d been, and knew better than to ask her for anything like that again. Still, it was hard to just stand there as she spent a little longer than necessary soaping between her legs, rubbing her fingers up and down her slit before finally letting go. I watched the soap run over her body as she rinsed off.

  “Can I wash your hair?” I asked her.

  She nodded, turning around so her back was to me. I couldn’t help but look down at her perfect little ass, how tight it was, and I remembered her back in the yoga studio. I regretted the way I’d acted with Anna in front of her the moment she’d left and hadn’t really stopped kicking myself since. It had been petty and immature, something I normally wouldn’t have done, but something about Lily made me lose my senses.

  I took my time soaping up Lily’s long blonde hair, running my fingers through it, massaging her scalp with my hands. Then I rinsed it for her before combing the conditioner through, luxuriating in the feel of her soft hair against my fingers. I wanted to keep touching her, could have stroked her hair forever, but eventually she turned around and smiled at me before turning off the water. We both got out, wrapped in towels, and she gave me a shy look.

  “Do you—are you going to bed?” she asked.

  “I don’t think I could sleep,” I said. “Are you?”

  “Me neither,” she said. “Um, we can—we can hang out in the living room.”

  I smiled at her. It was hard not to kiss her in that moment. I was incredibly charmed by her sweet shyness, her innocence, her desire to distance herself from me and how impossible it was sometimes.

  “Sure, baby,” I said to her.

  She shot me a look and I gave her an apologetic smile, which she rolled her eyes at before disappearing from my room. I didn’t mind the eye roll—I was just glad that she was willing to talk to me, ev
en if it had nothing to do with how we felt about each other.

  I got dressed quickly, going into the living room to find Lily sitting on the couch, wearing a robe. I raised my eyebrows at her and she looked down at her body, frowning.

  “I literally have no clothes,” she said, biting her lip.

  “I’m sorry, Lily,” I said. “I meant to get you some. I’ll go—”

  “No,” she said quickly. “You can go tomorrow.”

  “Okay,” I said, but didn’t approach the couch. I had no idea how close she wanted to get to me, so I was glad when she gestured me over. I sat beside her, a few inches away, and couldn’t help but note the sliver of her breast that was showing between the robe, the inner curves that I wanted to bury my face in.

  “Do you know what happened with the fire?” she asked.

  “Not really. The marshal said that the fire was lit by a cigarette. It started with the curtains.”

  “So somebody was smoking inside, being an idiot, and accidentally lit the curtains on fire?” Lilian asked.

  “I doubt somebody was just sitting there smoking, no. Somebody lit the cigarette in order to light the curtains. Somebody did this on purpose,” I said. I knew the moment I said it that it was true. With everything that had been going on lately, I knew that this was deliberate—whoever had been leaving the messages at the worksite had come to the retreat, and they weren’t playing games anymore.

  Lilian stared at me. “I guess it wasn’t Michael.”

  “No,” I said. “It wasn’t Michael. At least, that wasn’t. I have no doubt that he broke into your room.”

  “So who could it have been?” she asked.

  “Maybe it’s the fucking ghost,” I said, rubbing my hand over my mouth. I was frustrated just thinking about it. “The curse on this place.”

  “A curse?”

  “Yeah,” I said dryly. “There’s a legend that this place was cursed because it was built on evil land. That’s how the men explain the power going out. That’s how they explain everything that happens.”