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I may have untied her from those ropes, but that doesn’t mean I have any intention of letting her go.
I grip the handle, steady myself, and make the first blow.
Chapter Five
Emma
I raceto the balcony so I can watch Adrian in all of his glory.
He doesn’t belong here. He belongs in the pages of a magazine. A cover story. New York’s rising stars in the medical field. He would be on the cover, pulling on a pair of surgical gloves the same deep green color as his eyes. Maybe he has a stethoscope slung around his shoulders and he’s giving a panty-wetting, open-lipped smile with a little crinkle in his brow.
But my God, he looks so gorgeous. Hedoesbelong here. Behind the sexy, thick-framed glasses and the sharp dress shirts, he’s a true rugged, hot-as-hell mountain man.
I watch in awe as he lifts the axe high in the air, gripping it with white-knuckled fists.
My heart is fluttering as I watch him cleave the tree trunk with the sharpened edge of the blade. The sky is red and orange beyond the trees. The axe seems to be shining from every direction, blazing.
This man is chopping down a tree for me. Just to satisfy my romantic notion of cuddling up on the sofa with a gorgeous man in front of a crackling fire.
Then it hits me. He isn’t cutting down just any old tree. He’s cutting down the exact same tree that I was tied to. I can’t even believe he found it among all the others, but now that I see it, I know it’s the one.
A tear stings the corner of my eye. I’ve never felt more protected. More safe.
The tree begins to wobble as he strikes the mark he made with the first few swings. He swings, and the blade makes contact, making some of the gnarly bark fall to the ground. He puts his foot at the bottom of the trunk and pulls his blade free, then wipes his forehead with the back of his hand.
He shields the red-hot setting sun from his eyes and searches though the trees to see me. His eyes connect with mine, and I feel a jolt of energy electrify my heart.
He smiles and drops the axe, peeling off his shirt and letting it fall to the ground, among the rubble and ash of the fire he extinguished to save me—body and soul.
My heart is pounding as my core starts to thicken. I’m feeling lightheaded and woozy because all of the blood in me is rushing away from my brain and heading right between my legs.
He wipes his forehead again in slow motion, allowing me—nay, encouraging me—to openly ogle him. My body is vibrating with the nonstop thrumming of my beating heart. It’s working overtime to get blood to all of my organs.
If this guy really is an axe-murderer instead of a doctor, he could rip my heart out and it would have his name stamped on it.
The trunk is nearly split in two, exposed and splintered, as I witness its swift and righteous destruction.
The air has a chill to it, but I’m totally burning up. My hair tangles through a breeze, and I brush it over my shoulders so I can keep witnessing the battle between nature and man.
His forearms flex with the images of faded tattoos, lines more powerful than the rings of the tree, veins on his neck articulating themselves in slow motion like the veins on the underside of a red and orange leaf. A sheen of sweat gathers at his brow, slicker with each chop, until the tree is split and falls through the air with a swish and then onto the dry forest ground with a defeated thump.
And my wild mountain man stands there, feet askance, arms hulking, chest exposed, his eyes set securely on mine as a group of crows streaks across the sky.
He sets his sights once more on the fallen tree, carving a slash through the stump and chipping away at the last remnants of its life.
He cuts away pieces of the trunk and drops them on his dirt-matted shirt, scooping them into the center and then tossing the parcel over his shoulder with his thick, masculine hands.
Is this man the reason I’ve been a virgin for nineteen years? The reason I’ve waited? Is he the man I’ve been waiting for?
I was the only nineteen-year-old virgin they could find back at the dorm. Is this some strange twist of fate? Is he the man I’ve been saving myself for? Was I brought out here for a bigger reason? For some higher purpose?
I look around. I’ve never felt more perfect, more complete.
Adrian bounds up the stairs with the lumber wrapped in his dirty shirt, slung over his shoulder, making him the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Hot sex on two legs with a rugged chest that’s beaming with slick perspiration.
My body glows with intensity, the heat between my legs unbearable and the wobble in my knees about to take me down.
Adrian looks me dead in the eyes and drops the parcel of wood at my feet.
