Chapter 6
LEDGER
I'm driving Sadie to her vehicle in my old truck, both of us quiet.
Now that the storm has passed, everything feels different. The world looks sharper somehow, more vivid, like I'm seeing it for the first time in years.
She's wearing her uniform again—and she’s irresistible in it. I can’t believe I’m so attracted to her as an officer, but damnit, I am.
Her hand keeps finding mine on the gear shift, fingers tracing patterns that make it hard to concentrate on the rutted forest road. Each touch is a reminder of how those same fingers felt on my skin just hours ago.
Bear's in the truck bed, tail wagging like this is all perfectly normal. Like our entire world hasn't just shifted on its axis.
Part of me wants to turn around, take her back to the cabin, keep her there where this thing between us makes sense. But I know she has to go. She has a job, a life beyond my hidden world.
The question eating at me is what kind of part I’ll have in it.
I know she said she wants me, but it’s hard to know for sure.
We reach her ranger truck, still parked where she left it days ago. Pine needles cover the windshield, and there's a branch across the hood that I move aside while she checks that it starts.
The engine turns over on the first try, and we're left standing between our vehicles, neither of us knowing how to navigate this transition back to reality.
"I'll call tonight," she says, turning to face me.
I reach for her, unable to help myself, and she comes willingly into my arms.
The kiss starts soft—her mouth tentative, the starch of her collar rough under my palm. Then her teeth catch my lip, and for three heartbeats, it’s all tongue and hunger.
She pulls back, cheeks flushed, then leans back in for a gentle press of our mouths—tender but with promise, like we're sealing something between us.
She touches my face. "Tonight," she repeats.
I watch her drive away, Bear whining beside me, until her truck disappears around the bend.
The drive back feels wrong, like I'm going in the wrong direction. The cabin that's been my sanctuary for eight years suddenly feels too empty, too quiet.
I can't focus on anything. Not brewing, even though I should be preparing for the contest. Not reading, though I pick up three different books.
Not even dinner, which ends up being crackers and cheese eaten standing at the counter.
Because sitting at the table alone feels unbearable now that I know what it's like to share it with her.
I keep checking my phone, a device I barely used before, making sure it's working and that I haven't missed a call. I'm acting like a teenager waiting to hear from his high-school crush.
Bear keeps going to the door, tail wagging hopefully, then returning to slump at my feet when he realizes she's not there. "I know, boy," I tell him. "I miss her too."
It's insane how much I miss her after knowing her for three days. Three of the brightest days I’ve had in a long time.
What if she reconsiders once she's back in her real life? What if her family, her friends…or her fellow rangers talk her out of whatever this is? What if she realizes I'm just a sad ex-con hiding in the woods, not worth the complications I'd bring to her life?
Finally, the phone rings. Her voice immediately calms something in me that's been wound tight since she left.
"Hey," she says, and I can hear the smile in it.
"Hey yourself." I sink into my chair, tension leaving my shoulders. "How'd the reports go?"
"Fine. Dick Johnson is a model citizen who provided excellent shelter during the storm." She pauses. "But I’ve got better news. I've been researching permit processes."
"Sadie, you don't have to—"
"Shut up and listen." There's that authoritative ranger voice that shouldn’t make my cock hard it an instant, but it does. Especially, when it’s breathy with affection. "I can fast-track things. I know people in the department who understand traditional foraging rights."
She launches into details about documentation and applications, her professional prowess making my chest ache. She's not just offering to help; she's already started the paperwork.
"Why are you doing all this, again?" I interrupt her explanation of form numbers.
"Because you deserve to enter that contest. Your beer is outstanding. And—" She stops and takes a breath. "Because I've been thinking about you all day. About us."
"Yeah?" My voice turns rough.
"I had to change clothes when I got home because everything smelled like you and it was too distracting." Her voice drops lower. "I can still feel you, Ledger. Everywhere."
"Christ, Sadie." I grip the phone tighter. "You can't say things like that when you're not here."
"Pretend I am."
"What?"
"Pretend I’m there with you." She breathes. "Are you in bed?"
"Yep." My voice goes even lower.
"Me too. I just took a shower." There’s a pause. "And I’m naked.”
I groan, my body responding instantly to her words. "Sadie..."
"I wish I could touch you right now," she whispers. "I keep imagining what I'd do if I was there."
“You better tell me, woman.” The words come out strangled, as I fumble with my belt.
"I'd start by kissing you all over," she breathes, as I reach into my boxers. "Take my time until you're begging..."
“Damn,” I huff, stroking myself slowly.
“I’d make you watch as I licked the tip of your cock,” she whispers.
I gasp. “God, that’s nice.” I hear her voice catch. “You touching yourself, too, Sadie?”
“Mm-hmm,” she moans, and my fist tightens around myself. “Then I’d slide my mouth over your cock, swirling my tongue around as I move up and down.”
My head goes back on the headboard. “Oh…god,” I rasp, thumbing the head of my leaking cock. “My hand grabs your braid, pulling just enough to make you look up.”
“Ledger—” she moans.
“Those pretty lips wrapped around me.” I picture her tongue flat against the pulsing vein, the way her eyelashes flutter when she takes me deep. “Sucking like you need it to live.”
“Yes. God, yes.”
I pump faster, hips lifting, smelling the phantom musk of her arousal. “Tell me you’re close, baby. I’m not gonna last much longer.”
“I…” she gasps. “I’m…coming,” she says, and cries out.
“Yes, my girl. Yes…” I follow, my seed striping my stomach as the cabin spins. “Fuck…you made me come so hard.”
We lay there breathing hard, and by the time we say goodnight, I’m spent and grinning like an idiot.
I wake to my phone buzzing with multiple texts from Sadie, sent in the early morning.
Emergency temporary permit approved!
Full application expedited through my connections
You can legally harvest truffles for the contest!
I stare at the messages, throat tight. She did this. For me.
I text back: Thank you. This is all too much. I just don’t understand.
Three dots appear immediately. Then disappear. Then appear again.
I believe in you, Ledger. And also...
The phone rings.
"And also what?" I answer without preamble.
"I'm falling for you." Her voice is shaky. "I know it's fast. I know it's insane. But I woke up at four in the morning because I couldn't stop thinking about you, and I realized I needed to say it."
My heart stops. Then starts again, pounding so hard she must be able to hear it through the phone.
"You don't have to say anything. I just needed you to know—"
"I'm falling for you too." The words tumble out, the walls around me…crumbling. "Hell, who am I kidding? I'm already gone."
The relief in her voice when she laughs makes my chest ache. "Really?"
"Come back to the cabin," I say. "Or I'll come to you. I don't care which, I just need to see you."
"Stay put," she says, and I can hear her moving, keys jingling. "I'm already dressed."
Less than an hour later, there's a knock at my door. I open it to find Sadie in jeans and long-sleeved shirt, looking nervous, but so brave. Her hair is down and wild from the drive, the blond and copper strands catching the light.
Bear pushes past me, dancing around her legs, and she laughs as she pets him, but her eyes never leave mine.
No words are needed. She launches herself into my arms and we crash together. The kiss is desperate and deep, like we've been apart for weeks instead of hours.
I carry her inside. We barely make it to the bedroom, clothes scattered in our wake.
I lay her down on the bed and descend on her luscious body.
“Spread those pretty thighs, baby,” I order. “I’m hungry.”
I pin her legs open with my hands, kissing the insides of her thighs, from knee to the ticklish hollow next to her wet center. She’s giggling and squirming until I lap at her pussy like a man starved.
She arches off the mattress, but I don’t stop exploring those sensitive folds, her moans and jerks directing me to her most tender spots. Her taste—wildflower honey and musk—is addicting.
I can’t get enough.
Her muscles clench. “Ledger, that’s…oh fuck! You’re driving me…wild.”
I hum, burying my face in her, listening to her unravel.
When my tongue circles her clit, she starts begging, body trembling under me.
And just a few soft licks and some gentle suction has her moaning like a madwoman, until she detonates.
“Ledger!!” Her climax wracks her whole body, like a violent storm, and I ride it out, slowly easing off until she’s a whimpering mess.
I surge up before she’s stopped shaking, and sheath myself inside her in one firm thrust.
Her moans echo off the walls as she rakes her nails down my back, heels digging into my ass.
Our sweat-slicked bodies move together in a deep, forceful rhythm, moving toward another orgasm.
I almost can’t hold out before she comes again, but I just manage it, growling praise and filthy promises in her ear.
Afterward, as we lie in my bed recovering, Bear has somehow managed to claim the foot of the bed without us noticing.
The words come out without planning: "I love you, Sadie."
She looks up at me, eyes bright. "I love you too."
“We’re nuts,” I say, needing to acknowledge it. "Three days, Sadie. We've known each other three days."
"Four now," she corrects, running her fingers through the hair on my chest. "And I don't care. When you know, you know."
"I guess so," I admit, marveling at the simple truth of it.
Bear chooses that moment to army-crawl up the bed, wedging himself between us with a contented sigh. We both laugh, adjusting to accommodate him.
"Look at us," Sadie says, scratching Bear's ears. "A ready-made family."
Family. I’ve missed that. It feels good to have it back.
Later, she's wearing my shirt again as she helps me bottle beer for the contest, like we've been doing this together for years.
"You sure about all this?" I ask, watching her carefully cap another bottle. "Being with me? It won't be easy. People will talk. They might not understand."
She sets down the bottle and comes to stand in front of me. "I'm sure about you," she says simply. "Everything else will work itself out."
I pull her close, breathing in the scent of her hair. I thought my capacity for connection died in that prison cell. But here she is, proving me wrong with every smile, every touch, every moment she chooses to stay.
My self-imposed exile is ending, but not because of permits or contests. It's ending because I'm finally brave enough to want it, to believe I deserve this second chance.
"I love you," I tell her again, because I can and because it's true.
She smiles up at me, and in her eyes, I see my future.
"I love you too, mountain man."
Bear barks his approval, tail wagging, and we go back to bottling beer and building our new life together.