I had been with Erik for too many days to count. I wasn’t going to lie, I was having fun with him. He took me over and over, fucking me as if it were his last day on earth. I didn’t mind it. I loved the sensuality between us.

All good things came to an end, eventually. I knew that I couldn’t stay here in his cabin forever. I had a life and a job back home. People would soon come looking for me if I was gone any longer. And I would be out on the streets if I didn’t show up at my apartment with my rent money in a few days.

I glanced over at Erik as we were eating a breakfast of sausage and eggs together. The atmosphere was peaceful and serene.

I cleared my throat to get his attention. He glanced up at me from where he had been looking at a newspaper.

“What is it, my dear?” He asked, calling me by an affectionate pet name that caught me off guard at first.

“Um…” I faltered.

He chuckled with innocence. “What is it?”

“Nothing,” I blushed. “I think I’m going to get in the shower now.”

“Okay,” he shrugged and glanced back down at the newspaper again.

At first, I was surprised that he didn’t want to join me or at least ask if he could fuck me while we were sudsy and wet like he did last night.

I stood up and then realized that I might never see him again after my time in Arrow Lake came to an end.

“Do you want to join me?” I blurted out. I didn’t want to mention that it might be the last time, because I didn’t want to make him sad.

“Sure,” he said with excitement as his lips curled into a grin full of mischief. “I’d love to.”

He was a typical guy after all, but I wanted to come with him again. I knew I would miss him when I left. I had done what he wanted me to do. I had allowed him to fuck me over and over, but the best part had been that I had enjoyed myself too.

We got in the shower together. The warm water hit my back with penetrating bliss. I was already getting wet as Erik began to finger me. I grabbed his cock and began to pump my fist up and down on it, giving him a nice, soapy hand job. He groaned and gripped one side of the shower wall while he used his other hand to swirl his fingers around on my clit.

It felt so good, being naked, wet and wild with him in the shower. I was coming into my own, sexually speaking. It was like a fine art, chasing each orgasm. I knew that it wouldn’t be long before he made me come.

I spread my legs allowing him better access as I continued to work my hand up and down on his manhood. I gasped as I came and gripped the walls, shaking uncontrollably in the magic of the pleasure that consumed me.

“You are so sexy when you moan like that,” Erik grinned.

I had a wildly naughty thought at that moment. “I want to suck your cock,” I whispered as I got down on my knees.

He groaned as I wrapped my lips around his cock and began to suck with passion and enthusiasm. I sucked him like my favorite treat, finding pleasure in making him lose control. A few minutes later, he came. His cum slid down my throat and I swallowed every last drop, sensually licking my lips after.

“Christ, that was amazing,” Erik told me as we dried off together.

I grinned, happy to take his compliment. “I like to keep it interesting.”

We got dressed, and then Erik’s expression faded into sadness. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I have your belt bag,” he confessed. He walked into the bedroom and emerged a few seconds later with it. “Here.” He handed it to me with a grave expression.

"Oh," I took it and rifled through the contents. "Did you have this the whole time?"

He nodded, a shameful expression on his face. “I um…you knew earlier that I didn’t want you to leave me.”

“I know that, Erik.” I swallowed as raw sorrow rose in my throat.

I didn't want our last day to be a sad one, so I rose on my tiptoes and kissed him passionately. He gripped me about the hips with his strong hands and deepened the kiss. I would miss this.

He parted from me. “Anyway…uh…just make yourself at home,” he said, before heading toward the back door.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To chop some wood,” he told me and then was gone.

I stared at my bag. I knew I had to leave, but it would be too hard to say goodbye to Erik face to face. I hated to just quietly slip away, but maybe it would be for the best. I dug to the bottom and retrieved the map I took for the tourist shop when I arrived in Arrow Lake.

It was now or never.

I walked to the kitchen and found a pen and a pad to write on. I left him a note, thanking him for everything. I tried the front door. Erik must have forgotten to lock it, or maybe I wasn’t his prisoner any longer. I glanced behind me one last time, then closed the door as I walked away. This time, I didn’t run. I just walked. The further away I got from the cottage, the more my heart filled with dread.

Alexis didn’t realize I had been watching her the whole time as she left, walking back into the wilderness and away from my heart forever. I had been outside chopping wood. Part of me wondered whether she would take her things and leave without a goodbye after I gave her the bag back.

It had been a risk, but it had been one that I was willing to take. I wasn't really surprised when I watched her fade into the distance. I drew the ax up over my head and grunted as I slammed it into a pine tree, shattering it in half in an instant.

I would stand here hacking away at wood for as long as it took for the pain to expel from my body. Part of me had wished she would have chosen to stay, but I knew it was a shot in the dark.

She had a life to return to and a job. She didn’t have to be on the run anymore, because I had killed off the one threat she had left in the world. She was a free woman. She had complied with my wishes and I had to let her go.

I shook my head and threw the ax into the ground. I wiped the sweat from my brow only to replace it with dirt and grime from my fingers. I sighed roughly. I was a mountain man. I would stay here until I grew old and died. It wouldn't do me any good to chase after her. It was my dream to have her. I wanted to marry her, but the deal was over, and she didn't want the same things.

I didn't belong out there in the real world, living with the rest of society. I'd done evil things in my past, and I deserved to stay right where I was, an outcast living in the woods, off the grid. The only friends I had were the wildlife—the birds, the wolves, and bears—surrounding me.

I would continue to do what I always did. I pressed on, day after day. Talked to the trees and made knives and cleaned my guns to keep my hands busy. It was the life I had chosen. I was in hiding by my own accord.

If Alexis had loved me the way I loved her, she would have stayed.

I walked back inside my cottage and took a swig of my water. I found the note she wrote me on top of the flannel shirt she'd worn while she was here. The fabric still smelled liked her. Everything around me smelled of her.

But it wasn't meant to be, and it was time for me to move on. I was tough and durable. I had been through worse. I probably deserved the suffering anyway, because my dark past would always lurk in the shadows.