Page 18 of Tempted By the Mountain man

I come apart first.

It’s not a gentle build of pleasure.

It’s a fucking tsunami wave of annihilation.

It’s a level of savage euphoria I never knew existed.

River grunts loudly, finally stilling as he empties himself inside me.

The overwhelming sense of love surrounds me, leaving me more confused than ever. Because what just happened here was supposed to be raw passion. Sex for the sake of satisfying a lustful urge.

So why do I know deep in my soul that I love this man I hardly even know?

And what the hell am I supposed to do about that now?

11

RIVER

I knew thirty seconds in when I watched Jade Sweeny’s interview video that I was a fucked man.

But after last night, I know there’s no turning back.

There is no life before Jade.

After I fucked her in the kitchen, I took her to my bed where we proceeded to not sleep most of the night. Every time I considered coming clean about what I knew of her appraiser qualifications, she’d do something so thoroughly distracting—like put her mouth on my cock—that I’d forget the entire English language.

Today.

I need to tell her today.

Jade has a return ticket to Indiana booked for tomorrow morning. But if I have anything to say about it, she won’t board.

At least, not right away.

I don’t know how to convince her that giving up a teaching job she loves is worth it, even if a similar position is now open in Wildwood. I caught her staring at the listing on the Sugar Moon Bakery’s bulletin board yesterday. But when I tried to say something about it, she quickly moved on.

I toss another bag of garbage into the dumpster and catch movement out of the corner of my eye.

Natasha is pacing outside the guest cabin, as though deep in thought.

It’s probably some weird writer quirk from what Jade’s told me. But I decide to risk interrupting her critical thought process because it’s important.

“River, hey,” Natasha says. “Where’s Jade?”

“Inside.”

“You look like a man who has a lot to say.”

I do. But I settle with, “I love her.”

“You’re just now figuring that out?” Natasha laughs.

I don’t mean to confess the whole plot to Jade’s best friend, but the words spill out of my mouth anyway. I don’t hold back. I tell her everything.

“Wow, so you knew she was the one from a fake interview video? One, you can credit that video to my homemade Sangria. Two, I need you to understand this is absolutely going in one of my next books. And three?”

I just stare, waiting.