I knew that she’d get around to my own story at some point, so I stood up, checked the brownies, and pulled them from the stove. “These are done. Do you want some now?”

“Do you have ice cream?”

“Oh man, you found out my one weakness. Mint chocolate chip ice cream. Sorry, but it’s all I have. Do you want some?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I do! That’s my favorite too!” She looked pleased, and I felt my pulse race. I could find other ways to get that look on her face. Much more pleasurable ways. Well, mint chocolate chip ice cream was pretty heady stuff.

“One final question, Sasha, then I won’t ask you any more.” I waited for her to nod her head and then continued. “Was he alive when you left him?”

“I don’t know. I was afraid to touch him. In movies, you always see dumb people going up and poking the killer. I ran, I didn’t have time to worry about whether he was going to get back up and stab me again. I just ran.”

“You did the right thing. You’re safe here, no matter what happens. I doubt he’d be able to find the place anyway. We aren’t exactly on the beaten path.” I couldn’t tell her we’d only be found by humans that needed us. A man bent on murder would never find his way here.

“Good. I’d hate to have to stab him again.” I wanted to think she was joking, but her face said otherwise. I can’t say that I blame her. She’d been through hell. “What’s to stop him from finding it? I did.”

“You were stumbling around in a lot of pain and barely able to stay conscious, Sasha. I’d say that’s why you found us, by accident.” It wasn’t a lie, but not exactly the truth. She’d found us because she needed us.

She thought it over, and must have decided it was a plausible explanation. “True.”

Her face fell a little then, and I saw the sheen of tears in her eyes.

“Do you want a hug, Sasha?” It was odd to ask, I know, but after all she’d been through, I knew she wouldn’t like to be touched without warning.

“I’d love a hug, Fell. I really would.” She gave me a watery smile. “I’m just afraid that if I take it, I won’t let go. I’ll be too busy flooding the world with tears.”

“Oh, baby girl, if that’s what you need to do, that’s what you need to do. Come here.” I pulled at her hand and she melted into my arms. Her face pressed into my neck as her body slid into place against mine. We fit together like a key into a lock, perfect and matched.

I wanted to touch her, to feel every single inch of her with my fingers, but I held still. I barely even breathed as she settled into my shape like paint flooding into an embossed design on glass. She gave a sigh of relief at our contact, and I still didn’t move. I didn’t want to frighten her, or make her think I was some kind of pervert.

“You feel so good, Fell. Like you were made for me.” I let my hand fall to her hair, a light red that sometimes looked blond and sometimes looked like rusted gold. It ran down her back in a silky wave that my fingers followed with glee.

I couldn’t tell her I was made for her, not yet. She was still far too fragile for that part of me.

“Human contact can be a good thing.” I said, and didn’t realize that I’d made a mistake.

“Then why do you live up here on your own, away from everybody?” Her fingers danced along the buttons of my flannel shirt, as if she hadn’t just asked a question that always made my world tilt.

“Because once upon a time...” I started but paused. It was my own turn to hesitate over my words, to think carefully before I answered. “Once upon a time, I was selfish, and it cost a lot of people their lives.”

“What?” She pushed back a little to look at my face. “What do you mean?”

“I was in love, I thought. Not far from here, a farmer had a daughter that I thought loved me. I was told to leave her alone, that she wasn’t my, ahem, that she wasn’t meant for me, but I wouldn’t listen. I thought I knew better. I talked some friends into going out for a, uh, walk, and it didn’t go exactly as I’d planned. I thought we’d be alright, I only wanted some friends with me when I asked her to marry me, to come and live with me.”

This was hard to do with someone from my own clan, attempting to tell someone not of my world without giving away vital information was even harder. I danced around truths, around admissions I could not yet make. It wasn’t an easy story to tell anyway, trying to keep parts hidden from her just made it worse by a thousand-fold.

“What happened?”

“The farmer thought we were there to cause problems.” That was the best way to explain it without the whole truth. The man had thought a herd of bears had invaded his property, of course he’d shoot at us all. “He panicked, shot a bunch of people. A lot died.”

“That’s terrible!” She gasped out. “What happened to him?”

“Not a lot. He called the law when he realized what he’d done, and then he went into his house and shot himself.” I had to stop, to let the shame and guilt wash away before I could continue. “He killed Quinn, Travis, and Sabina’s parents, among others. We lost quite a few people that night. Because I knew better, or thought I did.”

“You can’t blame yourself, Fell! The farmer got confused. He thought you were there to make trouble, which I think is just stupid, but whatever. It’s sad, the whole tale is just sad. What happened to the woman?”

Her fingers stroked my cheek, just above my beard, and I couldn’t think for a minute. All I could see was her eyes, those mesmerizing brown eyes of hers. She exhaled sharply, and my attention went to those peach colored lips. She was so beautiful. My mate. I stroked her lips with my fingertip, shaped the outline and the ridge of the apex of her top lip. So full, so kissable.

“Fell?” She asked, as if in a dream. I heard her voice, but wasn’t really aware.

“Yeah, Sasha?” My eyes flicked back to hers, but my fingers were still on lips I wanted to taste.

“What happened to the woman?”

“She moved away, I don’t know what happened after that. She wouldn’t return my calls and just left. I got one letter from her. It was only one sentence.” I sat back, the spell broken for a moment. The words still haunted me. “Leave me alone. That’s all it said in big letters across the page. Leave me alone.”

“It must have been very hard for all of you.” Her fingers traced my lips this time. “It wasn’t anyone’s fault, but all of you carry the blame.”

“We do.” The spell was cast once more and I felt a pulse of need burn through me. Was she the one that would make it all disappear, that would make me feel like I had a right to live again?

“And you feel like you have to seclude yourself from the world now? That you don’t deserve to be a part of the living with all of your friends dead?” She said it bluntly, the words I’d hidden in my own head for so long, never spoken, but always there.

“It’s why I heal those that come to my door now. I can never make up for what I did, but I can make sure those in need get what they deserve. A little help.”

“That’s why you took me in?” She held her breath, our eyes dancing together, our finger tips touching lips.

“Of course. But, you’re also special. You’re mine.” The words slipped out, I couldn’t take them back.

A scarlet eyebrow lifted and her eyes went round. “Am I?”

“Since you were carried onto my porch, Sasha. I don’t know how to explain it, but one day I will. I knew the moment I saw you.”

Her breath stopped and she leaned in a little bit closer. Our lips weren’t close enough to touch, but if she breathed deep enough, or spoke they would be.

“Then I’m yours, I suppose, Mr. Mountain Man.” Her lips brushed against mine at last and I was as hard as rock. She teased me, her eyes on fire, as she rubbed her soft mouth against mine, not a kiss, but a promise.

“You are.” Was she ready? Was it now?

Her right hand buried in my beard and she pulled my face those last centimeters, until our lips were fused. “Fell...”

Her lips whispered against mine. I shut her up with a swipe of my tongue. Her mouth opened, and I found heat, wet heat that was pure heaven. I sank into her mouth as I pulled her against me, carefully, but tight to me. She gave a helpless moan as I ran my tongue along her teeth.

Her hands came up, not shy at all, and pulled buttons out of their holes. She worked quickly and pulled away long enough to drop the robe and let her nightgown pool around her waist. Then, those glorious breasts she’d revealed were pressed against my skin.

Smooth skin against the light patch of hair on my chest and we both groaned as our lips found their way back together. Her fingers dug into my ribs and she moved. Desire flared between us, intense and hot, and we both stopped the game of pretend. We knew what we wanted, what we needed.

The oil in the lanterns started to burn out as she straddled me, until there was only one left. Like magic the cabin went dark save for the light of one last lamp. Long red hair snaked down her back, and I wanted to trace it, but I knew she still had pain in her back and her ribs. I’d let her take the lead.

“You sure about this, baby girl?” The words rumbled out of my chest against her breasts. I felt her nipples go tight against my skin and clenched my fingers on her hips. She had to feel how much I wanted her.

“I want you, Fell. I want you to make me feel like the world is alright again.” She looked uncertain for a moment and sat up. She was barely a weight on me, but enough that my dick knew exactly where she was. In the right place.

“What’s wrong?” I traced a finger down her neck, along her collar bone, and then down. It traced the swell of her breast before it came to her nipple, a tight little bud that became darker as my finger stroked over it.

“I thought there was a spark in your eyes for a minute. This is all so odd. I don’t normally...”

“Fuck men you barely know?” The way her cheeks flamed gave her away. “It’s alright, Sasha. I think we both need this, don’t you?”

“I do need it, Fell. I need you.”

“Then worry about the rest some other time. For now, I’m yours and I’d be the last person to judge you, ever.”

I saw a spark in her own eyes then, a spark of gratitude. She answered by way of another kiss, one that quickly turned hot. For a moment, her frenzied response, the way she inhaled sharply at every touch of my fingers, told me she wanted me to just take her, to make her forget everything, but then she slowed down, pulled away.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, my body followed hers automatically as she walked away.

“Nothing, I just want to fuck you on a bed, not a futon that may or may not collapse beneath us. Because I don’t want some gentle little sigh of a fuck from you, Fell. I want the full experience. Of all of you.” Something about her words told me she knew there was a dark edge to my passion, an edge she felt in return.

I followed her to the doorway, and watched as she climbed up on the bed. A candle on a table lit the darkness, but barely. She settled on her knees, her gown gone completely, her naked body on full display. Taut breasts, a flat stomach that was more from the poor diet her brother had fed her, a bandage over the stitches in her abdomen, a narrow waist, flared hips just right for my hands. Sasha in all of her imperfect perfection.

She was just right and all mine. Her hand came up, reached for me, and I took it. I traced a finger down her right side, looked her over with heavy lidded eyes. “You sure?”

“I wouldn’t be naked otherwise, Fell.” The intensity of her eyes told me she knew exactly what she was going to get and wanted it.

My fingers wound in her hair, pulled her head back roughly, and she gasped. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, Fell!” Her eyes begged me.

So, I gave her what she wanted. My lips found her mouth as my fingers found the hidden core of her. Slick and hot, she was already ready for me, but not quite yet. I wanted to hear more of her pleas, I wanted her voice to drown out the memory of screams.

“Right there, Fell. Fuck.” She groaned out the last part as my fingers danced up to her clit, to the part of her that throbbed for more.

“Harder.” She panted out the word and her hips twisted in time with the circle of my fingers.

“More?” I asked, a smile on my face as I began to trace the path of her neck. She had a long, beautiful neck, and I lingered. I kissed both sides until I found the spot that made her breath hitch.

“There.” It was a breath, a command, and I listened. I sank my teeth gently into the spot and felt the shiver that made her skin react. I listened, I watched, I inhaled every one of her responses until I knew how she wanted to be touched.

My left hand cupped a breast, teased it until her hips stopped and she quit breathing. I wanted to look into her face, but I didn’t want to let this spot on her neck go. My need to watch her explode drove me to look up, and I breathed in her pleasure. Her body rocked, it twisted, and she cried out my name as pleasure shot through her like lightning.

For a moment, my little refugee, my mate, felt nothing but pleasure. I drank it in, every last drop of it, until she sank down on her knees. Her hair hung over her face, her shoulders slumped, but she wasn’t defeated. Just lost in the aftermath of it.

Then she looked up at me, and the world tilted. I’d never seen that look of wonder on her face. It was all I ever wanted to see again. If I went blind now, I’d go happily.