Lumberjack (A Real Man, 1) (3 page)

Would I rather face what’s in that cabin or what is roaming these woods at night?

Stealing myself and forcing my feet to start moving again, I kept a tight, almost painful hold on the straps of my backpack and took the porch steps one at a time. Once I was in front of the door, I held my breath, hearing my heart thundering.

Maybe a family lived here and I was just freaking myself out for nothing?

I heard the sound of twigs snapping in the distance, or maybe that was just my over reactive imagination? Either way I wasn’t staying out here any longer. Without thinking about it anymore, I lifted my knuckles against on the door, and prayed whoever answered wasn’t a psycho.

Jake

T
he sound of someone knocking on my door surprised me. I rarely got any visitors, and when I did, it was usually someone from work.

But that was rare.

I got off the couch, set my book on the coffee table, and walked toward the door. I took my ax off the hook by the door, and reached out for the handle. If it were someone who had no business being here, they’d find out pretty damn quickly what I could do with an ax.

I pulled the door open and immediately lowered my gaze to the disheveled as fuck woman standing on the other side. Maybe I was a sick fucking bastard, but my cock instantly got rock hard when I saw her.

She was gorgeous.

Her hair was a wreck, with debris from the woods stuck in the fire colored strands.

Red, my fucking favorite.

I realized neither of us had said anything for long moments, and I noticed her focus was on the ax I held.

“Um,” she said in a low, very feminine voice.

I looked between her and my ax, and then set it aside.

“I’m out in the middle of nowhere. I don’t get a lot of company,” I said, explaining why I was holding an ax so she wouldn’t be so freaked out. I didn’t say anything after that, just waited to hear what she had to say, and why she was standing on my doorstep looking like she’d been rolling down a hill.

“I was hiking, but I’m lost,” she finally said, licking her lips after the words were out.

She might be dirty as fuck from hiking, scared because she was lost and standing on a stranger’s doorstep, but despite all of that, I was fucking rock hard for her. I was a bastard for the filthy images playing through my head, but I couldn’t help my body’s reaction to a gorgeous woman.

I hadn’t been with a woman in five fucking years.

“Well, come in,” I said and stepped aside. She was hesitant, and took a few seconds before she stepped over the threshold. I shut the door and looked her up and down. The jeans she wore formed to her tight ass, and I ran my hand over my cheeks, feeling the beard covering my flesh.

“Am I close to town?” she asked, her voice soft, tight. She turned around and faced me, and I stared into her light blue eyes.

“You’re hours away from town.” I heard her exhale, and I could see she was nervous and frustrated, as well as tired.

Just then the sound of thunder booming outside sounded.

“Of course it’s about to storm,” she said under her breath.

“You don’t get out much, do you?” I asked in all seriousness.

She didn’t answer me verbally, just shook he head.

“It storms often.”

“I’m lost and in a strange man’s house.” She looked at me. “No offense. And it’s about to storm.”

“I’m Jake Braxton.” I tried to keep my voice calm as I spoke, but my body wanted nothing more than to push everything aside and just take her right here. I wanted to hear her scream my name out as she came all over my cock.

I cleared my throat and got my thoughts in order. I certainly didn’t want to come off as some asshole.

“I’m a lumberjack and have been living out here for the last five years.” I told her the stats and saw the surprised look on her face. What exactly was she surprised about? Because I was an ax wielding man, who wore the stereotypical flannel shirts every day, and lived in the middle of nowhere?

“Now we aren’t so much strangers anymore.” I waited for her to give me something to go by, maybe even just her name, but she didn’t say anything. She also looked tense as hell.

“You’re a lumberjack? Seriously?”

I nodded.

She nodded. “Okay. I’m Vivian Clarke,” she finally said, and started looking around the cabin again.

“Want a drink?” I asked.

She didn’t answer right away, but did give me this ‘are you fucking serious look’. I shrugged and went into the kitchen. “I figured after the day you’ve clearly had, you might want something to drink because you’re either thirsty as fuck, or you need something stronger.” I looked at her over my shoulder and saw she’d turned her head away from me quickly.

I couldn’t help but feel this spark of lust slam into me at the thought that she might be staying the night due to the weather. But I wasn’t bringing that up right now, not when I’d just barely let her in the house, and she was clearly nervous.

The chances of me getting my dick wet in her sweet little body were pretty slim to none, but hell, I hadn’t been this close to a woman in far too long.

“I have water ... or liquor. That’s about it.”

I checked her out a little more, and now that she wasn’t looking, I adjusted my raging hard-on. Yeah, the fucker hadn’t seen anything this sweet in a very long time. Finally, she turned back around and looked at the whiskey bottle I held.

“Liquor.”

Yeah, I figured she’d need something a little harder after the night she was having.

Vivian

I
was in a strange man’s cabin—a lumberjack of all things—and didn’t know what in the hell to do. I didn’t even know they actually called themselves lumberjacks, but it fit him pretty damn well.

I looked around again, seeing a big bed in one corner, a door that led to the bathroom across from that, and the large room that made up the kitchen and living room. Aside from a few pieces of furniture, the cabin was pretty sparse. There was a bookshelf, which was filled with books, though. Seeing as he didn’t have a TV, I assumed that was how he spent his free time.

I took the glass from him and moved back a step. He went over to the fire and stoked it, and I couldn’t help but stare at him.

He was huge, like the biggest man I’d ever seen. He had to be at least six and a half feet tall, and the muscles stacked upon muscles that covered his entire frame were a little intimidating. I didn’t want to stare and seem creepy, but then again, he had to be used to it.

“What were you doing hiking all the way out here?” he asked without turning and facing me.

I didn’t answer right away, mainly because I was too focused on the way the muscles on his back flexed as he pushed a piece of wood around. Embers seemed to float up from the flames, and when he finally faced me, I realized I still hadn’t answered him.

“I’m staying in a cabin, and wanted to get out in the fresh air for a hike. I got lost.” I turned and looked out the living window. “But I couldn’t even tell you what direction my cabin’s even in.” I exhaled roughly.

He braced his arm on the mantle of the fireplace and just stared at me. He had shorter blond hair, and a full-on beard. With him living out here in the middle of nowhere, being as massive as he was, and clearly able to use an ax—and as a weapon when need be— I could image him as the perfect Mountain Man.

“You’re from the city?”

I nodded, realizing I still hadn’t had any of the whiskey. I ended up sucking the entire thing down in one go. It might only be a shot worth, but damn did it burn going down.

There was no expression on his face as I coughed and sputtered after swallowing the liquid fire, and I wondered if he saw me as some silly little girl that wanted to experience the wildlife.

As he watched me, he grabbed his glass off the mantle and downed the shot himself. He wore only a pair of jeans that were unbuttoned, the denim loose, yet they fit him pretty damn well. He had tattoos covering his arms and part of his chest, and although he had the Grizzly Adams thing going on, the ink looked good on him.

“How long have you been out here?” I asked, and he gestured for me to take a seat.

“Five years.”

He left me in the living room, and I watched him go into the only other room in the house ... the bathroom. A second later he came out with a dark robe draped over his arm. He stopped a foot from me and held it out.

“What’s this for?” I asked although I had a pretty good idea why he’d want me to put it on.

“Seeing as a storm is going to be rolling in, I figured you’d want to get cleaned up.” He tipped his chin toward the bathroom. “There’s a shower in that room.”

I didn’t speak for a second.

“The roads will get bogged down with mud from the weather, and there’s no way you can get back to your cabin, or even town tonight.”

I stared at him, not answering, because I knew what else he was going to say.

“You’ll have to stay the night.”

My heart thundered after he spoke.

“The robe is for after you shower, unless you want to wear your dirty clothes again?” He cocked an eyebrow.

I swallowed, my throat tight and dry. “And the roads will be too flooded to even attempt to go back to town, or to my cabin?” I asked, not even sure how to get back to my cabin from his place, even if he could have taken me back tonight.

He nodded.

I swallowed and thought about my options ... which were none as I wasn’t prepared for what he said.

“Do you have a phone?” The look he gave me told me that was a big hell no. I didn’t know whom I’d call anyway. If he couldn’t get down the mountain, no one would be able to come up it.

“No landline and there isn’t any cell service up here.”

I stared into his green eyes.

“But I wouldn’t have either anyway. I moved out here to get away from all that shit.”

Of course he wouldn’t have any form of communication living out here. My cabin was closer to town, and it had a landline, but his cabin was literally out in the middle of nowhere. I guess I’d had my hopes up that if it turned out he was a maniac, I’d have a way of contacting someone.

I had a cell phone, which was in my backpack, but it stopped working as soon as the mountains surrounded me.

“You’re more than welcome to stay the night. The storm should pass by morning, and then I can take you into town, or back to wherever you’re staying.”

We stared at each other for long seconds.

“You normally just offer your house up to a strange woman?”

He crossed his big arms over his muscular chest and just looked at me. “I’m sure I’ll be okay.”

I couldn’t help but check him out. I was a woman, and he was definitely all man.

“Or, you can brave the storm and the darkness, and try and find your way back.” He was unmoving as he stood there.

“Maybe I’ll be lucky and it’ll pass.”

“This storm has been coming since yesterday. It won’t pass,” he said with certainty.

He didn’t look like he was concerned at whatever I decided to do.

I’d always had pretty good intuition when it came to these kinds of things, and I wasn’t getting any fucked up signals from him. There was no fear or worry, and I relaxed a little more.

But then again I hadn’t gotten any of those ‘run and never look back’ feelings when it came to that asshole Russ.

“Look, I’m not a psycho; I have no plans to keep you chained up in my cabin.”

I had to snort at that, although maybe the smart thing to do would have been to be afraid he’d even said it out loud.

“I have food if you’re hungry, something to drink if you’re thirsty.” He gestured to the liquor I held. “And I can give you shelter from the storm.” He uncrossed his arms and ran a hand over his beard.

I’d never really found facial hair on a man attractive, maybe because I’d worked in corporate America for so long, but damn did his beard look good on him.

“You can take a shower and clean up, but if you plan on doing that you need to get it done before the storm comes.”

I looked at the robe again, not sure how I felt about taking a shower in this stranger’s house. But I also couldn’t lie and say cleaning up, and the idea of hot water washing the day away, didn’t sound like a very good idea.