He lifts me effortlessly, carrying me back to the bedroom. This time when he lays me on the bed, he undresses slowly, letting me see all of him in the daylight. His body is a map of hard work and survival—muscles built by necessity, not vanity, scars telling stories of a life lived roughly. His cock juts out, already hard and intimidating, but my body remembers the pleasure it gave me last night. I spread my legs in invitation, wanting him inside me again.
He covers me with his body, the weight of him pressing me into the mattress. Unlike last night's frantic coupling, he moves with deliberate slowness now, his eyes never leaving mine as he positions himself at my entrance.
"My little girl," he whispers, pushing inside me inch by inch. “Please don’t leave me, baby,” his voice breaks with something near desperation, and it cracks my heart wide open. “Know it’s crazy, but don’t think I can survive without you now. I’ll give you a good life. You’ll see. You’ll want for nothing, little girl.”
I gasp as he bottoms out inside me. The fullness is intense, borderline painful as my still-tender flesh stretches to accommodate him again. But the discomfort fades quickly, replaced by waves of pleasure as he begins to move, slow and deep, still making promises to me, begging me to stay.
"Thorne," I whimper, wrapping my legs around his waist. "Please."
"I've got you," he promises, his rhythm steady, inexorable. "Daddy's got his good girl."
The praise sends sparks shooting through me, my back arching off the bed. He's hitting something deep inside that makes my vision blur, makes my toes curl against his lower back.
"That's it," he encourages, one hand sliding between us to find my clit. "Come for me, little girl. Show Daddy how good it feels."
I shatter around him, my orgasm crashing over me in waves. He doesn't stop, doesn't even slow down, just keeps the same steady pace that sends me spiraling into another climax before the first one fades.
"So good for me," he praises, his own breathing becoming ragged. "So perfect. Gonna fill you up. Gonna breed you until you're mine forever."
His words push me over the edge a third time, my body convulsing around his cock as he finally lets himself go, pumping his release deep inside me with a guttural moan.
He collapses beside me, pulling me against his chest, one hand splayed possessively over my lower belly. Where his child might already be taking root.
"They'll keep looking," I say after our breathing returns to normal.
His arms tighten around me. "Let them. Won't find you unless I allow it."
I should be scared by that statement. Should be planning my escape from this possessive mountain man who's decided I belong to him. Instead, I nestle closer, feeling safer than I ever have.
"I don't want them to find me," I confess, surprising myself with how true it is. "I want to stay."
He kisses the top of my head, his body relaxing subtly at my words. "Good girl," he murmurs. "My good, perfect girl."
And for the first time in my life, I feel like I might be exactly that.
six
. . .
Thorne
I see the headlights first,twin beams cutting through the falling snow like searchlights hunting down an escaped prisoner. Which is exactly what they think she is—someone who needs rescuing, someone who needs to be returned to civilization. My hands clench into fists as I stand at the window, watching their approach. They can't have her. I'd rather burn this cabin to the ground, take her deeper into the wilderness where no one would ever find us. Five years I've lived with the crushing weight of loss. Five years I've existed in this purgatory of my own making. Now I've found something worth living for, and these fuckers think they can just drive up my mountain and take her away? Not happening. Not while I still breathe.
"Thorne?" Lila's voice comes from behind me, soft and questioning. "What's wrong?"
I turn to see her wrapped in my flannel shirt, the hem hitting mid-thigh, her hair still damp from our bath. She looks so small, so fucking perfect. Somine.
"Search party," I growl, stalking across the room to grab my coat. "Looking for you."
Her eyes widen, and I see a flash of something I can't identify. Fear? Uncertainty? It makes my gut clench.
"Go to the bedroom," I tell her, my voice leaving no room for argument. "Stay quiet. Don't come out until I say it's safe."
"But—"
"No." I grip her shoulders, gentler than I want to be when every instinct is screaming at me to lock her away where no one can find her. "No one comes near my little girl. Understand? No one takes what's mine."
She nods, her hazel eyes huge in her pale face. I kiss her hard, branding her with my mouth before I nudge her toward the hallway.
