Mara

I’d fallen asleep almost immediately last night, but this morning, as I stretched and breathed in deep, Rocky’s musky scent seemed to wrap around me and hold me close. Something about that scent called to me. As I’d studied him in the firelight last night, I’d noticed he was rather sexy for an older man. He had to be close to my dad’s age, or how old my dad would have been if he were still alive. The rage I’d seen on his face should have scared me, but for some odd reason, I felt safe with him. Maybe because he pulled me from the wreckage like a hero saving a damsel in distress? Or maybe it was because he’d known my dad. Whatever the case, I didn’t think Rocky would hurt me. Not intentionally anyway.

As much as I would have loved to wallow in the bed a while longer, I could hear Rocky moving around downstairs. I kicked off the covers and shivered as the cool air ghosted over me. The fire had died out at some point last night, and the room now held a chill. Frost covered the windows, and the floor was icy under my bare feet. I quickly walked into the adjoining bathroom and started the shower. Pushing the door shut, in hopes of trapping the steamy air, I stripped out of the T-shirt I’d stolen from his dresser last night to sleep in, stepped out of my panties, and entered the standing shower. No tub for my mountain man.

My mountain man? Get a grip, Mara. The man rescued you. It doesn’t make him yours.

I sniffed at Rocky’s shower gel and shampoo, smiling when I recognized the scents that clung to his sheets. It seemed I was going to smell like him today. I shampooed my hair, wincing as my fingers pulled through tangles. I hoped he had a brush I could borrow, or my hair was going to look like Molly Grue’s. As much as I loved The Last Unicorn -- and yes, at nineteen I still watched it at least once a month -- I really didn’t want my hair sticking up like hers. Especially not with Mr. Sexy Mountain Man trapped in this cabin with me.

I’d never thought I had a type when it came to guys. I hadn’t really dated much, had never truly been interested in anyone, but then I’d never met a guy like Rocky before. He was just so… commanding. And it wasn’t just his massive size. Yeah, the guy was packed with muscle and was tall as a damn tree, but it was the way he carried himself, the way he spoke. It was possible that some of that just came from being older than me, but I’d been around plenty of people my parents’ age before and I’d never felt anything like I did when Rocky was around. When he spoke, I wanted to listen. If he said to do something, part of me wanted to obey without question. It made me wonder if he was like that in the bedroom too.

I lathered my hands and started washing my body. My nipples were hard and sensitive from the cold air in the bedroom. Just the slight touch of my fingers as I washed felt amazing. After the day I had yesterday, what I needed was some stress relief. Even though I’d made myself come yesterday, after last night’s revelations, I was wound up tight again. I pulled on my nipples, pinching and tugging. My breasts felt heavy, and I wished Rocky was in the shower with me, his big hands molding to my curves. I trailed a hand down my belly and spread my thighs a little. Leaning against the shower wall, I stroked my clit while my other hand played with my nipple.

Need burned in my veins, my body throbbing and aching. As I pleasured myself, I closed my eyes and pictured Rocky kneeling at my feet. He’d spread me open and use those full lips of his to taste and tease me. His beard would tickle my thighs as he feasted on me, taking me higher and higher, until I shattered under his masterful mouth. My body jerked as I came, a cry slipping out before I could stop it. My heart pounded in my chest as I buried my fingers in my pussy, stroking them in and out, fast and hard. Even though I came, I still wanted more. I wanted to know what it was like to be with a man, to have someone claim me, make my body his in every way. I knew I wasn’t going to come again, not by my own hand anyway, so I finished my shower and got out.

As I dried off, I realized I’d left my bag of clothes in the other room. I wrapped the towel around me, but it didn’t quite cover my ass, and there was a definite gap in the front. How such a big man could have tiny towels I didn’t understand. Opening the bathroom door, I darted into the freezing bedroom and froze halfway across the floor.

My eyes widened as I stared at the man kneeling in front of the fireplace, a blaze going once more. His eyes darkened as he scanned me from head to toe, lingering a while on my mostly exposed pussy. I knew I should cover up, at least pretend to be modest, but the truth was that I liked the way he looked at me. The hunger in his eyes called to me. He rose to his feet, and the bulge in his jeans was unmistakable. His cock was thick and hard, the denim of his pants pressing it to his thigh. He stared at me for so long, not coming any closer, yet never looking away.

My chest rose and fell with labored breaths, and the towel worked its way loose, falling to the floor. The raw need on his face was nearly my undoing. He was a stranger, some random man who had pulled me from my car. I shouldn’t want him the way I did. It was crazy to feel this all-consuming need for a man I hadn’t known before yesterday. With Sebastian looking for me, I should be worried about getting far from here. Crawling into bed with the man in front of me shouldn’t even be a thought in my head, and yet it was there.

“You’re playing with fire, little girl,” he said, his voice deep and gruff with arousal.

“Maybe I’m hoping to get burned.”

His gaze locked on mine. I took a step toward him, but he shook his head, rooting me to the spot. I knew he wanted me, but I didn’t know how to make him act on his desire. My nipples were hard and my body trembled, but it wasn’t from the cold. That dark gaze of his swept down my body again, lingering on my breasts and pussy, as if he were memorizing me. I wanted him, more than I’d ever wanted anything before.

“Please,” I said softly.

“I’m not good for you, little girl. Too damn old for one thing.”

“You’re not old. And I’m not a little girl. I’m a grown-ass woman.”

His gaze caressed my curves again, but he shuttered the heat I saw in his eyes.

“I’ve done a lot of bad things in my life, Mara. There’s blood on my hands. You deserve a guy who won’t bring death and destruction home with him.” He stared at my breasts again. “And I’m going to tell you right now. If I got my hands on you, had a taste of that honey I see between your thighs, I wouldn’t let you go. You’d be mine.”

His words sent a shiver down my spine, but if he was trying to scare me away, he was failing miserably. What would it be like to be owned by a man like him? To be claimed so thoroughly, knowing another man would never touch me? Before I could say anything else to try and sway him, he stalked past me and out the door. I heard his booted steps clunk down the stairs. After a moment, the front door opened and shut, and I knew I was alone.

I didn’t care what he said. I wasn’t a little girl, and even though he thought he was all wrong for me, I was thinking maybe he was just right. I’d sometimes wondered if there was something wrong with me. I’d never once been tempted to have sex with anyone. I wasn’t a virgin because I’d held onto it on purpose, I’d just never found someone who made me feel anything. But Rocky… I wanted to feel his arms around me, wanted his cock to fill me.

After pulling on the warmest clothes I’d packed, I dried my hair, then went downstairs. My boots were sitting by the door, and I pulled them on before throwing open the cabin door. A good fifteen to twenty minutes had passed since Rocky left, but the snow had stopped falling and I could clearly see his tracks. I knew it was idiotic to wander off, but I wasn’t going to let him run from me. I’d always done what everyone told me to do, but for once, I wanted something badly enough to fight for it. And if that meant trudging through the snow after the stupid man, then that’s what I’d do.

The tracks led into the forest. My legs were aching by the time I reached the clearing. A frozen lake dominated the area, but there was a hole in the ice not far from a pile of familiar clothes. What the hell? Barefoot prints trailed from the clothing to the ice-covered lake. The man wasn’t really dumb enough to go swimming right now, was he? What happened if he drowned? Or died of hypothermia?

Rocky rose from the lake, water cascading down his body. He braced his hands on the ice and lifted himself out of the hole. He stalked forward, a glare aimed my way. Even soaked with water that had to be way below freezing, his cock was still hard. I couldn’t help but look. It was even bigger than I’d thought, and my thighs clenched at the thought of him sliding it inside me.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked.

“You ran off.”

“I left for a reason.”

I licked my lips and tried to drag my gaze back up to his face, but I stopped along the way to admire his eight-pack abs and a chest that was so broad and heavily muscled that I longed to run my hands over it. I’d already been wet from the looks he’d given me in the bedroom, but now my panties were soaked.

“I’m not a child, Rocky. I know you’re older, but there’s nothing wrong with us being together.”

He began pulling on his clothes, and I was a little dismayed that he was covering all that perfection. When he was finished dressing, he grabbed my hand and began dragging me back toward the cabin. I stumbled along in his wake, but he either didn’t notice, or was too angry with me to care. I didn’t know how much time had passed before we reached the cabin. My face was numb from the cold as he pulled me up the porch steps and shoved me into the cabin. The door slammed shut, and I heard the bolt slide into place.

“You really want me?” he asked. There was a hard edge to his voice I hadn’t heard before. “You want me to fuck you?”

I swallowed hard and slowly nodded.

He moved closer, his hand gripping my hair and pulling my head back. “Want me to force you to your knees and fuck that sassy mouth with my big cock? Thrust it down your throat until you gag?”

A whimper slipped through my lips.

Rocky leaned in closer. “Want me to bathe that pretty mouth with my cum, then flip you over and fuck that pussy of yours long and hard?”

Oh God. No one had ever talked to me that way before. His roughness should have scared me, but if anything, it just made me want him more. All the filthy things coming out of his mouth made my pussy clench.

“How many cocks have been in that sweet pussy, Mara? One? Three? How many lovers have you had?”

I stared at him.

“Answer me.”

“None,” I said softly.

He froze and his eyes dilated a little. “None?”

I bit my lip.

His other hand slid between my legs, cupping me. “Are you telling me this is a tight little virgin pussy?”

“Yes.”

He growled and abruptly released me. “Fuck,” he roared.

I stumbled back a step and stared at him wide-eyed. Rocky stood facing the fireplace, his fists clenched at his sides. I didn’t understand why he was so upset that I was a virgin. Just because I’d never been with anyone didn’t mean that I didn’t know what I wanted. And I wanted him.

“We need off this mountain,” he said. “If we stay here one more day, I won’t be able to stay away. I will fuck you, hard and deep, and more than once. I will take you every way I can, fill you with my cum over and over. I will claim that pussy of yours thoroughly, and no other cock will ever be inside you again.”

His shoulders rose and fell with the force of his labored breathing.

“You don’t want that, little girl. I would want to possess every inch of you, and I’d end up breaking you. I’m not a gentle man, I don’t have a soft touch.”

I didn’t recall asking him to be gentle. When he turned to face me, I saw that his mind was made up. No matter how much I begged, he wasn’t going to touch me. And if getting away from me -- from temptation -- meant driving down a treacherous mountain in fresh snow, then that’s what he was going to do. I only hoped he didn’t kill us in the process.

“Get your things,” he said gruffly.

I stared at him a moment longer, then hurried up the stairs. I stuffed my clothes from yesterday into my bag, then carried it downstairs. Rocky pointed at the couch, and I sat while he disappeared from the room. I heard him stomping around in his bedroom. He’d already banked the fire down here, but the room was still warm. When he came down a while later, with a canvas duffle slung over his shoulder, and a fierce expression on his face, I noticed he’d buzzed his hair short and trimmed his beard.

“You slept in my shirt?” he asked.

I slowly nodded, wondering if it would make him angry.

He closed his eyes, his nose flaring with every breath. When he opened his eyes again, he looked to be back in control. He stomped through the living room and flung open the door. I hastily followed after him, my breath frosting the air as I stepped onto the porch. Rocky locked up the cabin, gave it a lingering look, then led the way around back. I hated that he felt the need to leave before he was truly ready. He hadn’t asked for any of this, for an unwanted guest. But he’d saved me, and seemed intent on keeping me safe. There was a garage set back away from the cabin. He entered a code on the panel by the door, and the door lifted.

I peered around him and saw a huge black truck parked inside, along with a snowmobile. The tires on the truck already had snow chains on them, and it was lifted. I didn’t think getting through the snow would be an issue with the monstrous vehicle. Rocky unlocked the truck, then helped me inside. His hands lingered at my waist a moment, almost as if he were reluctant to let me go, then he clicked my seat belt into place. He rounded the truck and opened the door. He tossed our bags into the back seat before sliding into the driver’s seat.

The truck engine rumbled when he turned it on. Rocky carefully backed out of the garage onto the snow-covered drive, pushed a button to close the garage door, then began slowly making his way down the mountain. I knew we were creeping along because of how deep the snow was, but the truck didn’t slip once. The winding road down the mountain hadn’t been cleared yet, and I worried for our safety, but Rocky seemed to have everything under control.

I found myself checking the side-view mirror every few minutes. I knew it wasn’t likely that Sebastian would be behind us, but it didn’t stop me from looking. It didn’t take long for Rocky to catch on. He reached over and placed his hand on my thigh, giving it a squeeze. My head whipped around in his direction, but his gaze was fastened on the road in front of us. That single touch was enough to make me tingle, despite my fear that we were being followed.

“Only someone who lives around here and knows how to handle weather like this will even attempt to drive on these roads,” he said. “The Rossi family isn’t going to be coming after you just yet.”

“But you think they will eventually, don’t you?”

He shrugged and removed his hand. “Truthfully, from what I know of Sebastian Rossi, he’s a spoiled shit who thinks he can have whatever he wants. If he wants you, he’s going to come for you. Or send someone.”

“You said you’re taking me out of state. Won’t it be hard for him to find me once we leave this area?” I asked.

He glanced my way. “You have a cell phone?”

“In my bag.”

He held out his hand. I unbuckled my seat belt long enough to scrounge my phone out of the bag in the back seat. I plopped back down on my butt, handed him the phone, then buckled back up. Rocky turned the phone on, then turned it toward me.

“Unlock it.”

I placed my thumb on it and the screen opened for him. He grunted as he scrolled through heaven only knew what, then before I realized what he was doing, he’d rolled down his window, popped out the SIM card, and chucked the phone out onto the mountain road. I shrieked and lunged in his direction, but he threw his massive arm across me, pinning me to the back of the seat.

“Why did you do that?” I demanded.

“Your phone has GPS. And if the Rossi family paid for that phone, I’d be willing to bet they have other ways to track it. There are apps where you can track someone, not to mention the phone company would give them information if you’re on the Rossi account.”

My shoulders slumped. I hadn’t even thought of that. I apparently sucked at this running away thing. What would have happened to me if I hadn’t crashed and found Rocky? Would Sebastian have caught up to me quickly and made me pay for what I’d done to him? I wouldn’t have stood a chance.

“They may find your car wrecked on the mountain, assuming it’s not buried, but the snow covered our tracks back to the cabin. They won’t know for sure what happened to you. When they track the phone to this road, they’ll assume you got a lift down the mountain,” he said. “But they won’t know where you’re going from there.”

“So I’m safe once we leave Colorado?”

“Should be. Unless they have some other way to find you.”

“Like what?” I asked.

“Trackers can be placed pretty much anywhere. You can have one in your shoes, somewhere in your bag or the hem of your clothes. I’d imagine they had one on your car.”

My eyes widened and my jaw dropped. “Who the hell does stuff like that?”

“Besides the government? Pretty much any crime family worldwide.”

That didn’t make me feel better. What if they’d planted those tracker things in my clothes or shoes? What if… I drew in a sharp breath.

“I’d know if they’d microchipped me like a puppy, wouldn’t I?” I asked.

His gaze slid my way before returning to the road. “Not necessarily.”

I felt my face pale. That seemed a bit extreme, but what if they really had done that to me? What the hell had my mother gotten me into? I’d known from the beginning that the Rossi family was bad news, but it hadn’t really hit home until now just how much trouble I was really in. Would Sebastian go so far as to kill me if he found me? If he was capable of raping his stepsister, I wouldn’t put it past him to cross that line too. It was obvious to me that he was a monster.

“Where exactly are we going?” I asked. Not that it really mattered. Anywhere but here sounded good to me.

“I’m part of the Dixie Reapers MC. My home base is in Alabama. If anyone can help me protect you, it’s my brothers. Anyone other than your family going to miss you right now?” he asked.

I shook my head. “I’ve never been very good at making friends.”

Rocky was quiet for a few minutes. I wasn’t sure if he was just concentrating on the road, or thinking things over. The last thing I wanted to do was distract him while he was driving down this treacherous highway winding around the mountain. We’d been on the road for a while when my stomach began to rumble. I bit my lip and stayed silent, not wanting to be more of a burden than I already was, but Rocky must have heard it and pulled over at the next little town.

We drove down the main strip, and I admired the stores along the way. It seemed like a quaint place, the type you’d see on a greeting card, or on one of those Hallmark Christmas movies. The streets had been cleared, as well as the sidewalks. It amazed me that we’d been on the road for so long, and yet were still at a high enough elevation for there to be snow on the ground. It was still early in the year for snow, but Colorado seemed to be getting more than its fair share already. I wondered what the weather was like in Alabama. I’d never been down south before.

Rocky pulled to a stop in front of a diner. I remembered how far down the ground was and waited for him to come around and help me out of the truck. His hands went around my waist, and I placed my palms on his massive shoulders as he lifted me off the seat and set me down on my feet. He was so close I could feel the heat coming off his body, but all too soon, he moved away. After shutting the door and hitting the locks, he took my hand and led me inside.

A waitress waved at us. “Sit anywhere you’d like.”

Rocky led me to a booth in the back corner, then he claimed the seat along the wall, where he could see the entire diner. I eased onto the seat across from him. He scanned the area inside and outside before his gaze rested on mine.

“I’ll have to take off the snow chains before we leave. Roads should be pretty clear from this point on. We’ll eat, then you can sit and enjoy some coffee or something while I take care of it. No sense in you freezing while you wait for me.”

I nodded. I’d never dealt with snow chains and didn’t have a clue how they went on or came off. I hadn’t even realized he’d have to take them off partway down the mountain. Even though the Rossi family spent most of their time in New York, my mother and I had stayed in their Beverly Hills mansion once she’d married Carl Rossi. There were times, after I’d gotten older, that she’d go with him to New York and other places, but I’d remained in California. It was only during occasional family trips, like this one, that I’d gone anywhere with them.

The waitress came over and dropped off two menus, some rolled silverware, and two glasses of water. “I’ll be back in a few minutes, after you’ve had time to look at the menu. Just holler if you need anything.”

Rocky opened his, and I reached for mine. I was starving, so of course everything looked good. I could have ordered one of everything, but my thighs were chunky enough already. A salad wasn’t going to cut it, though. I really did need to diet and exercise more, but I honestly just loved food too much. All kinds of food. I had a healthy appetite, always had. Even when I was little, I’d been a little fatter than most of the kids in my class. I’d been teased a lot, and even now received some snide comments when I went out places.

Our waitress came back over, her pad in hand. “Do you know what you want or do you need more time?”

“Mara?” Rocky asked.

“Um, I think I’ll have the meatloaf with mashed potatoes and carrots, and can I get some corn bread with that? Oh, and a Coke if you have it.”

The waitress smiled, nodded her head, and wrote down my order, then turned to Rocky.

“I’ll have two of your deluxe cheeseburgers, fries and onion rings, and a glass of sweet tea.”

I had no idea where he was putting all that food. I mean, yeah, the guy was freakin’ huge, but he was also solid muscle. How could he eat like that and still look that good? My expression must have said as much because he grinned and winked at me.

“I’m a growing boy,” he said.

I snorted. “If you grow much more, they’ll have to reconstruct the buildings so you can get in and out of them.”

He shrugged. “I already duck for most doorways.”

I leaned back in the booth. I’d known he was a lot taller than me, but just how tall was he? Not that it took much to dwarf me. I was barely over five feet. I’d gotten my height from my mom, but little else, thank goodness. I really didn’t want to be anything like that woman. And if I found out she’d known what would happen to my dad, or had a hand in it, I just might kill her with my bare hands.

“It’s about twenty hours from here to where we’re going,” Rocky said. “I want to get as far from this area as we can, and then we’ll pull over for the night. You only have winter clothes with you?”

I nodded.

“You’ll want something a little cooler to go with your jeans once we start out down through the southern states. Once we get to Kansas, I’ll stop at a Wal-Mart or something, let you pick up a few shirts and anything else you might need. You can’t have much in that bag of yours.”

“I have the outfit I wore yesterday, and one more. That’s pretty much it. I didn’t really have much of a plan other than to get away. I didn’t care where I went, as long as it was far from Sebastian. If I’d gone home, he’d have followed me there.”

“So you were just going to drive until you found a place that looked good?” he asked.

“I guess.”

He leaned his forearms on the table, crossing them in front of him. “Are you wanting to completely disappear? Start over?”

“The thought did cross my mind, but I don’t have those kinds of resources.”

“With the Rossi connections, even if you changed your name, they would eventually find you. We’ll talk to Torch when get to the Dixie Reapers compound. He’s ex-military, and I’m pretty sure he’s done off the books work for the government over the years. If anyone can figure this shit out, it’s him. In the meantime, I have Wire working on unraveling the fucked-up mission that killed your dad.”

“Thank you,” I said softly. “For taking me in, and for helping me.”

“Anything for Thomas O’Malley’s kid.”

Well, that certainly put me in my place. I knew he found me attractive, but if he insisted on seeing me as Thomas’ kid, then he’d never act on those feelings. And I wanted him to, so badly. I’d never been tempted to lose my virginity until now. I wanted Rocky to be my first. There was something about him that pulled me in, made me feel safe, and I just knew that it would be perfect if I were to give myself to him. If it was really going to take twenty hours to reach our destination, then I had some time to work on him. He’d either give in, or tell me to fuck off. At least I’d know for sure where I stood with him.