Trapped With the Mountain Man

  Trapped with the Mountain Man

  By Aislinn Kearns

  Trapped with the Mountain Man

  Copyright © 2018 by Aislinn Kearns

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  http://www.aislinnkearns.com

  Cover by Amanda Walker

  Editing by Nikki Rose

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  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter One

  Sara peered through the decaying light, searching for the turnoff. It was here somewhere. But in the months since she’d last visited Aaron’s place, the trees had shifted and changed, like they tended to on the mountains, and the roads had worsened considerably.

  Heavy rains and snowfall had widened potholes, and it would be a long time before anyone got off their ass to fix them. Not when so few people used the roads this high into the mountains.

  Sara shifted forward in her seat and switched on her high beams. The light caught on a large boulder she recognized from her previous trips and she breathed a sigh of relief. Nearly there.

  Dark clouds hung low on the mountain range beyond the rise. Snow. She better find Aaron’s place soon, or she might be trapped there overnight. Not that she’d complain. Well, not if he made a move. If she was stuck there, in the same house overnight, and not sharing his bed? Yeah, that wouldn’t be so great. Her nightly longings were bad enough when she was in her own home, let alone only a few feet away from him.

  Not that he would make a move. He’d had almost six years to do so and hadn’t seemed inclined, but Sara couldn’t help the kernel of hope that nestled in her heart.

  The looming trees on either side of her cast the road in shadow. Most were evergreen, but the occasional skeletal bough or branch lurked in the darkness, dusted with white snow to increase the bone-like effect.

  Sara turned a tight corner and a truck appeared ahead, pulled to the side of the narrow road. It was an unusual enough sight to surprise her from her thoughts. The ground to the left of the road slanted up, and the driver had parked the truck at an angle to give other cars enough space to pass. Just.

  The bed of the truck was full of hunting gear—guns, tents, even a bow and arrows—and was muddy from use.

  Sara slowed her truck and switched her high beams down, bracing a steadying hand against the warm pan of vegetarian lasagna in the passenger seat she was bringing to Aaron. The lasagna she hoped would be so delicious he’d be unable to stop himself from tearing her clothes off and ravishing her.

  Sadly, her cooking was good, but not that good. Aaron seemed to like it well enough, since he was in her diner almost every day, but it had never inspired him to take her up on her unspoken invitations and have his mind-melting way with her.

  Alas.

  Sara drew even with the truck. Despite the cold, two men stood near the hood instead of warming themselves in the cab. She slowed further, hesitating. The neighborly thing to do would be to ask if they needed help, of course. But she was a woman alone on a back road with two strange men, and she wasn’t the type to take chances. Her shotgun was back at the diner, where it was no help to her, though she hadn’t fired it since her dad taught her to shoot as a teen. She mostly used it to threaten people who got out of hand, as rare as that was.

  She assessed the men as her truck crawled past. Both white, with the kind of rugged faces that told her they spent a lot of time outdoors. Each wore bulky jackets, the left was olive green, the other plaid. One wore a red ball cap, and his lank hair stuck out at odd angles from beneath.

  It was their eyes that sent a chill down her spine. Though she couldn’t see the color from this distance in the thick gloom, they narrowed on her in a speculation that sent her empty stomach churning.

  Rather than stop to offer assistance, Sara pressed her foot on the gas and her truck leaped forward. Better to be rude than…well, whatever they might be speculating about. Sara had no desire to find out.

  She glanced in the rearview mirror as her truck sped away. They were still watching her, and unease pooled in her gut.

  The one in the red cap lifted something small and black. Her first instinct was a gun and her heart clutched violently as she shrank lower in her seat. After Aaron’s story about what happened to him in the mountains almost a year ago, she was even less trusting of strangers, but the half-expected burst of gunfire never came. Instead, he brought the black box to his mouth. A radio of some kind.

  She exhaled in relief even as confusion washed through her. Who would he radio—and why? Was it a coincidence, or was he reporting on her?

  Tied up in her thoughts, Sara almost missed the turnoff when it finally appeared a minute later. She swung the wheel as she stomped on the brake, the rear of the truck fishtailing slightly as she made the turn. Wresting control back before the back of the vehicle bumped one of the close-packed trees on either side of the drive, she aimed the truck into the darkness beneath the canopy.

  Normally, the thick cluster of trees didn’t bother her, but she was still uneasy from her not-quite-encounter with the men on the road. Why did Aaron have to live so isolated? The man liked his privacy a little too much.

  True darkness descended, which made Sara feel like she traveled through a shrinking tunnel, the air slowly being squeezed from the space. She took a deep breath, but the creeping along her spine continued. She must be more rattled by the encounter with the men on the road than she’d thought.

  As she crawled along the slim patch of uneven road, Sara saw a flash of color through the trees. Another car? Maybe Aaron was having a party. It would explain why she hadn’t seen him the last few days. But who would he have invited? Surely, if it was Gia and Elijah—their friends who lived nearby with their new baby—someone would have told her.

  Aaron might have mentioned a sister once, but the woman had never visited to Sara’s knowledge. And surely he must have friends off the mountain, from before he moved here. Maybe they’d gathered for some kind of weekend thing?

  Though it was a Wednesday, so maybe more of a week-long thing.

  She shouldn’t have come. It had been an impulsive decision, since she’d been worried about him. The last few days had been the longest she’d gone without seeing him since he inadvertently acted as a guide to her friend Gia’s abusive, now-dead husband so many months ago.

  Now that she knew he had guests she felt ridiculous. She wasn’t his keeper, or his girlfriend. She had no right to his time. And yet here she was, checking up on him like a lovesick fool. The reminder of when he’d been injured had eaten at her, when she’d been the only one around to take care of him. What would happen if he was hurt and couldn’t call for help? The mountains could be dangerous. Deadly, even.

  And the thought of him being hurt—again—and her not knowing it, not being there if he needed her, had made her gut churn with worry. Images of him injured and dying hadn’t left her mind, until she’d gra
bbed the leftover food, locked up the diner at the end of the day, and had been halfway to his house before she’d even realized it.

  Her cheeks heated. She almost turned around, but the house was in view. She’d look even more ridiculous if he’d seen her car and she left now, particularly since she had to pull up to the house to have room to turn around.

  Well, if he had guests, she’d simply drop the lasagna and leave. She wouldn’t get in the way.

  Or, maybe he’d invite her in to meet his friends, and she could get more of an insight into his life. Despite the fact that they’d known each other for years—and she’d had a crush on him that entire time—she didn’t know a whole lot about him. When Aaron came into her diner, he never spoke much, or he asked her questions about herself and rarely answered hers in return. Somedays he came in, ate, and left without ever saying a single word.

  She considered him a friend, but she had no idea if he thought the same about her. She assumed so, since he’d let her come over every day or two in the weeks after he left the hospital from his gunshot wound. But, then, there hadn’t been anyone else local to help him. And the instant he was back on his feet, he’d told her not to come, so soon after the surgery Sara worried about his ability to take care of himself. He’d still clearly been in immense pain, but hadn’t wanted her around longer than strictly necessary.

  Sara pulled out of the narrow path and parked in the middle of the clearing outside the cabin. A light dusting of snow still lay over the ground. The cabin itself was everything a mountain house should be. Constructed of wood and local stone, it had two bedrooms and a rustic aesthetic. Smoke drifted from the chimney above and warm firelight spilled through the edges of the curtained window, giving much-needed light to the clearing.

  Aaron lived completely off the grid. He’d explained to her the process of his geothermal heat pumps and solar panels and so on, but it had all gone over her head. Particularly because he got this certain light in his eyes when he talked about it, born of excitement and passion, and Sara’s mind always drifted to wishing he’d look like that when he talked about her.

  It was both distracting and infuriating.

  Two unfamiliar trucks were already parked, one on either side of the house. These were the flash of color she’d seen through the trees, since one was a rusty red and the other was more yellow. Aaron’s own truck was in the lean-to where it was usually parked, but one of the other vehicles blocked it.

  She studied them, thinking of the men on the road, but dismissed it. Surely the two weren’t related.

  Sara hopped out of the truck and smoothed her hair. The freezing air burrowed beneath her coat and she pulled it tighter over her fitted flannel shirt and jeans. She’d debated dressing up a little before coming over—maybe even putting on some makeup—but had decided it would be too obvious. She wanted him to know she was available, but she didn’t want to weird about it.

  She was glad for that now.

  A horrible thought occurred to her as she slammed the truck door closed. Maybe he had a woman in there, one he wasn’t related to. A girlfriend, even. Aaron had never dated that she knew of in the almost-six years they’d been friends, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. Maybe he’d been dating all along and had kept it to himself, knowing about her crush and not wanting to hurt her feelings. Maybe that’s why he’d never made a move on her.

  Oh, God, how mortifying. She’d never wanted to consider the possibility of Aaron dating, but he was a healthy, attractive man. He’d have no shortage of offers if he wanted them. Now that she considered it, wouldn’t him not dating be more unusual?

  But, no, if he had a girlfriend, there would only be one truck, right? Unless he was having some kind of wild orgy...

  Good Lord, her mind was getting away from her. She needed to drop this lasagna off and disappear before she spun out of control.

  She rounded the truck and pulled out the rapidly-cooling pan of lasagna and her bag. As she made her way to the front door, the back of her neck prickled and her unease returned. She slid her gaze toward one of the trucks, the one that blocked Aaron’s vehicle in the lean-to.

  A man watched her from the driver’s seat. Young, in his twenties by the smooth cheeks, he also wore a red cap, pulled low over his face. But there was no doubt he was watching her.

  She glanced to her left, to see another man in his forties leaning against the back of his truck. His hand dangled behind the gate of the truck, tensed as if he was holding something. He adjusted the brim of his ball cap with his free hand and sent her a slow smirk that ran a chill down her spine.

  “Hi?” she said.

  He raised an eyebrow. “Hi, there. You visiting?” His voice held the faint trace of a regional accent, one she couldn’t place.

  “Yes,” Sara replied, drawing the word out until it was nearly a question.

  “That’s excellent news,” he said, a spark of excitement in his eyes.

  “Okay.” Sara shuddered at the strange reply. What the hell was going on here? If these men were Aaron’s guests, why were they outside? Hopefully Aaron would have an explanation.

  Ignoring the two men as best she could, she strode up the steps to his covered porch and raised her hand to knock. Before her knuckles could touch the wood, the door swung open and a hand gripped her arm, yanking her inside.

  Sara let out a squeak of alarm.

  The door slammed shut behind her before she had a chance to catch her breath.

  “Why did they let you in?” Aaron demanded.

  Sara stared up at him in the dim light of the hall. The cold fear that had filled her since she’d seen the men on the road ratcheted up to fever pitch until she could barely breathe. She’d thought Aaron would have an explanation to calm her. Instead, he looked crazed, his blue eyes wild. His beard had grown out, his russet hair longer than normal. His normally tanned skin was pale, as if he’d spent too long indoors.

  His clothes were clean, at least. Jeans and a Henley that clung to his broad shoulders, the open collar revealing a hint of chest hair.

  How was he still so attractive to her even through her fear? Even when he looked like an uncivilized wild man?

  This wasn’t him. Aaron was usually so calm, so still. In control. It was one of the things she liked best about him. What had happened that would create such a dramatic change in a few short days?

  “Why did they let you in?” Aaron repeated, putting his hands on her shoulders as if he was tempted to shake the answers out of her.

  Sara clutched the lasagna pan closer to her chest. “I have no idea. Who the hell are those men?”

  “Hunters,” he snarled. “Beyond that, I don’t know.”

  “What are they doing here?”

  “I wish I knew.” He tore his gaze from her and stepped away.

  Sara studied him in the darkened hallway. She shivered. It wasn’t only dark in Aaron’s house, it was cold.

  When she’d been here previously, it had always been warm and welcoming, due to the geothermal heat pump and solar energy. Had he lost power?

  “Aaron, what the hell is going on?”

  His gaze dropped to the lasagna pan. “Come in,” he said, then stalked down the hall.

  Sara followed, wary. She found Aaron in the kitchen, leaning back against the counter, legs crossed at the ankles. Here, too, was dim and cold, but he didn’t seem to notice.

  Sara narrowed her eyes. Enough of this cryptic shit, she needed to know what the hell was happening.

  She set the glass lasagna tray down with a thunk. “Tell me what’s happening.” She didn’t take off her coat, since it was cold and Aaron was being particularly unwelcoming, but she wouldn’t leave until she knew what was going on.

  He shrugged. “I would if I could.”

  “Who are those men?”

  “Hunters, that’s genuinely all I know. I was on a hike and stumbled on their camp. They were hunting illegally out here and I told them to stop or I’d call the authorities. They didn’t take
too kindly to that, so they followed me home. They’ve been waiting out there ever since.”

  “But why? They wouldn’t do something like this without a reason.”

  His jaw hardened. “I don’t know. They aren’t exactly forthcoming with information.”

  “Right,” she murmured, as if she understood. But she didn’t, not even a little.

  His gaze shot to hers, and her breath caught at the intensity of his expression. “You shouldn’t have come,” he ground out.

  Sara’s stomach dropped as a chill ran over her skin. That rejection was clear enough. At least now she knew what he thought of her, even if it hadn’t been the answer she’d wanted.

  Tears pricked her eyes, and she turned away so he wouldn’t see them. “Fine. Enjoy the lasagna.”

  She turned and hurried towards the door. His footsteps sounded behind her, but she ignored him, determined to leave before she embarrassed herself further.

  She wrenched open the door. An arm locked around her from behind, picking her up and dragging her back. Sara twisted, trying to get out of Aaron’s grip, but the shock of him manhandling her like this made her slow.

  Then, the wall burst open right where her head had been while a report sounded outside.

  Sara screamed and kicked out her legs as shards of wood landed on her. Aaron’s grip was like a vice around her waist.

  A second report. And then her mind caught up with reality.

  Not an explosion. Gunfire.

  Someone had shot at her, and Aaron had saved her life.

  Chapter Two

  Aaron slammed the door shut and eased Sara to the ground. “Are you hit?”

  She didn’t reply, and Aaron’s already racing heart jacked up to an almost painful level.

  “Are you hit?” he growled. He crouched over her, patting her down, searching for the wound. Her head looked unharmed, thank god, but he didn’t know where the second bullet had gone.