You don’t get to have a fairy tale.
I have to keep reminding myself of that.
That I don’t get the white knight who rides in on his steed and saves me.
I don’t get to have a happy ending.
Not with what I’ve done.
I might get a few days, or maybe if I’m actually lucky for once in my life, a week or two here with this man, and then I’m either going to have to leave, or the shit’s going to hit the fan, dragging him into it with me.
He parks the truck on the side of the cabin, turns it off, then slides out and comes around to open my door, offering me his hand. I accept it and slide out with a still waking Giz tucked under my other arm, scanning the wilderness around us that seems to suck me into it the moment I close the door behind me.
The faint light provided by a single bulb over the front porch can’t block out the vast number of stars overhead or the inky blackness that surrounds us.
“It really is remote up here, huh?”
He squeezes my hand and grins. “We’re the only people who live on the mountain itself.”
“Really?”
His head bobs, and he swings his free hand outward toward the forest. “As far as you can see, as far as either of us could yell, it’s just us.” He offers a half grin as he tugs me up against him. “And my brothers.”
I set Gizmo on the ground, and he groggily starts sniffing around, exploring his new environment.
Liam’s hand shifts up into my hair, holding my head in place firmly, forcing me to meet his gaze. “Nothing can get to you up here, Bluebell. I promise.”
“Bluebell?”
Those sinfully tempting lips of his curve. “That’s what your hair reminds me of—the bluebells that grow here on the mountain. They’ve always been my favorite.”
He crashes his mouth to mine and just like before, at my place, I sink into him, wrapping my arms around his neck to cling to him. We kiss for so long that I lose all sense of time and space, forgetting why he had to bring me up here in the first place.
Liam groans into my mouth, then pulls away reluctantly, dropping another quick kiss on my lips before he takes my hand in his and leads me toward the cabin.
“Let me show you the inside.”
LIAM
I don’t know why what she thinks matters so much to me, but I hold my breath as I close the door behind us and Lucky takes in the interior of my cabin.
So much hard work went into this place—designing it, finding the right trees to fell for the main structure and interior beams, milling them for the flooring, cabinets, and everything else required to make this place a true home.
And no one but us has ever seen it.
Killian, Connor, Willow are the only ones who have ever set foot here, besides me. There hasn’t ever been anyone I wanted to bring home. Never any reason to allow someone into my inner sanctum.
This has always been my space. Where I come after a long, hard day of work or simply to get away from Killian and Connor when I need a break from…all that comes with older brothers.
It’s always been quiet. Peaceful. The kind of space where the rest of the world can disappear for however long I let it, but now, a realization suddenly clicks into place.
I love this cabin, but something has always been missing from it.
Something important.
Someone to share it with…
Having Lucky and Giz here fills that void I hadn’t even noticed was there.
