"Are you on birth control?" he asks urgently, already thinking of our future together. In that moment, I know that he sees me as his own, and I’m overwhelmed with emotion at the thought of being his everything.
"Yes," I rasp, my voice barely above a whisper. “Well, I was until Cyrus brought me up here, then my prescription lapsed. I was only on it to regulate my cycle anyway, I—I’ve never had sex…until now.”
His arms wrap around my neck, his lips pressing against the skin behind my ear, claiming ownership of my body. I can't help but feel a sense of surrender and longing. “Good, because I want a family with you, and I want to startnow.”
His words wash over me, washing away any doubts or hesitations. With each kiss on my stomach, between my breasts, and along my neck, I feel myself melting into him. And when hefinally enters me, I know that this is where I belong. He promises to fill me with his seed and make me his forever, and I can't deny the thrill that shoots through me at the thought. As he claims me as his own, I realize that I never want to be anything else.
I want to be his, every inch of me, inside and out.
"I'm yours, Hunter,” I whisper in response to his possessive declaration. And as we lose ourselves in each other's bodies, I know that we are meant to be together forever.
An hour later, we’ve packed up and are walking the trail again, and I know with every bone in my body that this man means what he says and that I’m starting to fall for him.Hard.
As the leaves glisten in the morning light, I try to focus on the path ahead, on the physical exertion, but my thoughts keep circling back to Hunter—his touch, his kiss, the way he looks at me like I’m something precious.
He made me feel—alive, free, wanted for the first time in my life. It’s a dangerous feeling, one I’m not sure I can afford.
As we keep moving, the silence between us comforting and natural. The sun climbs higher, the heat building, and I can feel the sweat trickling down my back. We finally stop for a break near a small creek, and I drop down onto a fallen log, my legs trembling with exhaustion. Hunter watches me, his eyes guarded, as if he’s waiting for me to break.
“You’re stronger than I thought,” he says quietly, his voice soft.
I glance at him. “You don’t know the half of it, Mountain Man.” His eyes darken with my nickname for him. “You make me want things I didn’t know I wanted, make me feel things I didn’t know I could.”
His grin deepens and he pulls me into his arms. “Good, because there will never be a day I don’t want you at my side Little Bird.”
Chapter Seven
Hunter
“Are we close?” Lark’s voice is soft.
I quicken my pace, closing the distance between us. “Another mile or two.”
She nods but doesn’t look back, her ponytail swishing sharply as she picks up speed. I let out a low sigh, feeling the weight of everything I can’t put into words pressing down on me.
We keep moving, the terrain getting rougher as the path narrows, rocks jutting up from the ground and roots snaking underfoot. It’s the kind of trail that demands focus, and for a while, it’s enough to keep us silent. But I can’t stop thinking about the way Lark looked at me this morning—with love and honesty and promise.
She stumbles on a loose rock, and I’m there in an instant, my hand catching her elbow to steady her. The jolt of contact sends a familiar surge of heat through me.
“I’ve got it,” she murmurs.
“I’m just trying to protect you,” I say.
Lark smiles softly. “That’s kind of you—you’ve been kinder than anyone has ever been to me, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop. You can’t really be this…niceall the time, can you?”
Her word hits harder than I’d like to admit. “Lark—all I can think about is protecting you.”
The trail narrows even more, forcing us to walk side by side, our shoulders nearly brushing.
“I don’t want you to worry about protecting me,” she finally replies. “I just want you. I just want a normal life where happiness and love feels natural. Instead I feel like a needy, undeserving child.”
The words are like a punch to the gut, a mix of desire and fear that twists inside me. I want to grab her, kiss her until she forgets every reason she has to feel unworthy. I want to love her pain away, and then kill the mother fuckers that made her feel so unwanted and unworthy. “Lark—I’d kill anyone that ever tried to hurt you.”
She doesn’t reply, only nodding and wiping at emotion in her eyes. The silence stretches, filled with everything we’re not saying. I want to tell her that I’m not worth the risk, that I’ve got too much darkness in me to be good for anyone, least of all her. I’ve seen too much death and destruction, connecting with a woman as soft and sweet as her feels like a thousand mortars going off in my chest. But I don’t say anything, because maybe Iamthe right man for her. Maybe she needs someone that’s touched darkness to know light when he sees it, to show her she’s worth the world and I’d carry it on my shoulders for eternity if that’s what it took to show her the love she deserves.
Suddenly, Lark’s foot slips again, and she stumbles sideways. Instinct kicks in, and I catch her around the waist, pulling her close before she can hit the ground. The impact sends a shock of heat through me, and for a moment, neither of us moves. Her body is pressed against mine, her breathing rapid, her eyes wide.
“So pretty and so clumsy,” I tease.
