Chapter Two
Ethan
When I set out on my usual afternoon hike, the last thing I was expecting was to find a woman just off the trail. I’ve walked this same trail route nearly every day for the last decade and never once have I seen someone by the wood pile out there. As I watched her circling her wrist, wincing with every turn, I knew I had to step in and offer a hand. It’s how I was raised, how my military training taught me to be.
So, I offered my help to the woman with blonde hair so pale it almost looked like moonlight. Imagine my surprise when she said her name was Luna.
Now, walking back to her cabin, I can’t help but admire her curves as she leads the way. She is stunning. The walk only takes a few minutes and when she turns to hold the door open, I catch a glimpse of her navy blue eyes and nearly trip on the step. She gives me a small smile as she holds the door open with her foot, still cradling her wrist in her good hand.
She guides me to the stand beside the small fireplace and I layer the wood for her, certain she can’t do it on her own with her clearly hurt wrist. I dust my hands off on my cargo pants and turn to where she is standing beside the sofa.
I clear my throat. “I can take a look at your wrist, I was in the Navy and have medical training. I don’t want you to have to suffer.”
She looks down at her wrist. “That would be great, Ethan, thank you. And thank you so much for helping with the wood, there’s no way I could have carried that back on my own.” I nod, smiling back at her.
I gesture for her to sit on the couch before taking a seat next to her. I take her hurt wrist in my hands, turning it over to make sure no bones are broken.
“You still have full movement,” I say, flexing her wrist as she grimaces in response.
“It hurts, though,” she says, and I can see tears welling in her eyes. Without thinking, I reach out and brush one that has fallen down her cheek. She gasps at my touch and I can’t help but feel electricity in my fingertips. God, she is so beautiful, like a winter princess.
“I know, Luna, I’m sorry this happened on your first day here. You should’ve had a better welcome to Whiskey Mountain.”
“Par for the course of my life right now,” she says with a mix between a laugh and a sob. I place her wrist gently on her lap.
“Looks like you just need some ice and maybe a brace for a few days to keep from further straining it. I have a brace that should work for you at home, I can go grab it if you want?”
She hesitates, and I can tell she is a bit wary of spending more time with a stranger. Honestly, I get it. I usually don’t go out of my way like this to help people, but there’s something about her that is making me want to keep spending time with her.
Another few seconds pass before she quietly says, “That would be great, Ethan, thank you so much.”
“Do you know if you have any ice here?” I ask, thinking we should get something cool on it as soon as we can.
“I’m not sure, actually, I haven’t even looked in the freezer yet.” With that, I rise and head to the freezer, the open concept of the cabin means I can still talk to her as I open the freezer and spot nothing but empty ice trays and a few bags of frozen veggies the previous renter must’ve left behind. “Looks like peas will have to do,” I say, grabbing one of the bags and a kitchen towel that was on the stove door.
Wrapping the peas in the towel, I gently place the pack on her wrist. She makes a face at the cold, but seems to quickly adjust.
“I’ll be back in about an hour. I can grab us some food if you want? Do you like burgers?” I ask, still standing in front of her on the couch.
“Yes,” she says, “but I don’t want you to have to spend money on me. We just met and you’re already being so helpful.”
I smile as her cheeks redden. Her shyness is making me want to be around her even more, making me feel like she doesn’t open herself up to a lot of people, I feel like I should be grateful she’s even let me in this far.
“I won’t be. I own the brewery, so the burgers are on the house,” I say with a wink. She lets out what looks to be a sigh of relief at that, and that makes me want to spoil her. I ask her what she likes on her burger (grilled onions and cheddar) and, without really thinking, bend to kiss her cheek before I head out the door.
She looks back at me, blue eyes swimming with surprise. “Be back soon,” I say.
I head back the way we walked back from the trail, hooking into it and taking the mile back to my cabin at a slow jog. I walk in, grab some ice packs from my freezer, my brace from the first aid kit in the bathroom, and hop in my truck. On the way to the brewery, I call Scott, my co-owner, and tell him to have our burger order waiting for me when I get there.
I pull up to the brewery a few minutes later and Scott is standing at the bar bagging up my order.
“What’s this all about?” he asks as he places the last container in the bag.
“Met a girl on my trail walk this afternoon, no time to explain, have to get back to her.” I snag the bag off the bar and shout “Thanks!” back to Scott. His deep laugh follows me out the door. I nearly sprint to my truck, eager to get back to the mysterious girl with the moonlight hair.
***
When I get back to Luna’s cabin, I knock, wanting her to know it’s me before I enter. I hear a muffled “come in” and open the door to see Luna curled up on the couch, back of peas still resting on her wrist and a book in her other hand. I’m glad to see she has ways to entertain herself out here, the thought of her having nothing to do in the woods all alone fills me with sadness.
“Food’s here, but first, let’s get your wrist wrapped up.” I kneel next to her on the couch, balancing my elbows on her thighs as a I gently set aside her makeshift icepack and remove the brace from the first aid kit. I swear, I can hear her heart racing as I get closer to wrap her wrist. She’s warm, despite the ice I just removed. Her breath hitches as I tighten the wrap and I can’t help but place a kiss on the inside of her wrist before setting it down.
I’ve never felt this instant attraction before. Sure, I’ve had flings, been with women for the night and nothing more, but with Luna it’s more than lust. It’s this overwhelming feeling that she’s it for me. Which is crazy because we’ve only known each other for a few hours. I just need to be around her.
I rise and grab some plates from the sparse cabinets in the kitchen before unboxing our takeout. I bring out plates back to the couch and pull the coffee table a bit closer before taking a seat beside Luna.
“This looks delicious. Thank you for going to get it, I don’t know what I would’ve done for dinner tonight without you,” she says before taking a bite of her burger and letting a moan that sends all the blood in my body rushing to my dick. That sound will be playing on repeat in all of my future fantasies.
“My god,” she says, “this is amazing . This is from the brewery you own?”
I tear my eyes from her mouth and take a bite of my own burger as I nod. “Yep. I bought it with my buddy Scott after we got out of the military. We had seen some… pretty messed up stuff when we were deployed. We needed a new focus, something to take our minds off the past. Between figure out how to even brew beer and opening up the restaurant, we were able to cope with what we went through and start something that has been really wonderful for both of us.”
“That’s great. I’m glad you were both able to find healthy ways to cope. Do you mind if I ask what you did in the Navy?”
“You can ask me anything,” I say without a second thought. I realize it’s true, I would answer anything she asked me, no matter the pain it may bring me.
“I was a medical pilot, I can’t really go into much more detail than that. But I saw a lot and came back just desperate to move on. I’m grateful for the friends I made, but I have no desire to go back to that phase of my life,” I finish and quickly take another bite of my burger, hoping I didn’t just scare her away.
“I totally get it,” she says. “We all have our secrets.” She breaks eye contact, leaning to grab some curly fries with her good hand, clearly not wanting to talk about her own. But I can’t help my curiosity.
“How long are you planning on staying in town?”
She swallows her fries, thinking on it for a moment. “I… I’m not sure, actually. Hopefully just until some stuff clears up back home.”
I nod, content with her answer for now. We keep eating and I spend some time telling her about the town, letting her know where the grocery store is, and mentioning that I could show her the lake one day when she’s feeling up to it.
Our conversation dulls and I start sensing my queue to leave, but I don’t want to just yet.
“Do you have everything you need for tonight? I put some ice packs in your freezer, so they should be ready to go when you need to ice again. I’ll leave the first aid kit here, it has painkillers in case you need them. I can come back—”
“Would you mind staying?” she says sheepishly, and I can tell that she has never asked someone this before. “I just… really don’t want to be alone tonight. I know we just met and it might be weird, but I think the company would be good for me.”
Spending the night with her is all I want in the world. But I know it’s a mistake. I don’t know how I’ll be able to resist her, her curves and her big blue eyes that pin me down like she can see everything about me.
All of these thoughts race in my head. But instead of listening to any of them, I follow my heart.
“Of course,” I say. She gleams in return.
Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea after all.
Chapter Three
Luna
I can’t believe I actually asked Ethan to stay.
I’ve never spent this much time with a man before, let alone had one spend the night with me. To him, it’s probably no big deal, but to me, it’s a huge step.
Since my parents died and everything happened with the mobsters I have been alone. Like completely alone. I pushed all of my friends away after none of them seemed to understand what I was going through without my parents and then I saw the crime and I couldn’t tell them anything without putting them at risk, too.
So, for the better part of the last year I have been cripplingly, pathetically lonely. Ethan if the first person I’ve felt safe with in so long that I just couldn’t bear the idea of him leaving tonight. Now that he is actually staying though, I am not sure what to do next. Where is he going to sleep? Would it be weird to share the bed?
“Let me get this cleaned up,” he says, breaking my thought spiral. He picks up our plates, dumps the few fries I left on my plate in the garbage and heads to the sink to wash the plates. God, he is so nice, just doing what needs to be done and helping me all day long.
I’m glad I came to Whiskey Mountain. It’s the first time I’ve felt that running away to this small town was the right decision. I feel safe and maybe for the first time in a long time, a little bit happy.
Ethan places the clean plates on the drying rack next to the sink and turns back to me. I realize right then I have been ogling his, admittedly very nice, backside for the last few minutes. I immediately blush as he grins at me, having fully caught me in the act.
“What were you reading earlier?” he asks as he makes his way back to the couch, taking a seat much closer to me than he was before he got up.
“Oh, it was a… fantasy novel,” I say, a bit embarrassed, worried he will think less of me as I explain a bit of the plot. He just looks at me with wide, interested eyes and makes me feel secure enough to keep describing the series to him.
“I love reading, but I’ve never tried fantasy before. You’ve piqued my curiosity,” he says, before reaching around my shoulders to where the book sits on the armrest of the couch. He flips to the back cover while keeping his arm locked around me. Smooth .
“Can I read this when you’re done?”
“Oh, yeah. Of course,” I say and he places the book back on the armrest, but doesn’t move his arm. He smiles down at me.
“I’m glad I was walking by at the right time today, I feel like I was meant to meet you, Luna.”
I don’t even know how to reply to that, how to articulate how comfortable I am feeling around him and how lucky it was that he was there at the right time. I think I would’ve had a full on breakdown if he hadn’t been there to help me this afternoon, to feed me and keep me company this evening.
“Me too,” I whisper eventually. We sit there talking for a few minutes before I feel my eyelids begin to droop.
“We should get you to bed,” Ethan says after he catches me trying to stifle a yawn. Before I know it, he’s standing and lifting me into his arms. He carries me to the small bed cove on the other side of the room. Holding me in one arm, he uses the other to pull back the cottage-core blue and white floral quilt. He’s so strong.
He places me in the bed and walks away, returning a moment later with a glass of water and some painkillers. “So you don’t wake up from the pain in the middle of the night,” he says, handing them to me. I pop them on my tongue and swallow the pills.
Ethan is still standing beside the bed, but as I lay back on the pillows, he removes his shoes and plops down beside me, laying on top of the comforter. He turns to me and begins stroking my hair, I nearly purr at the feeling of his touch. He’s so easily affectionate, it makes me feel like he wants me, despite us just meeting a few hours ago.
“You… you can get under the covers. If you want. You don’t have to, I just know it’s kind of chilly in here and—”
“Luna, don’t make this weird,” he says with a laugh, cutting off my rambling. “I like you. I think you like me. I just didn’t want to assume anything.” He finishes speaking and rises, pulling back the covers and pulling me close to him, careful not to twist my wrapped up wrist.
I know he said he was in the military, but he has been so gentle with me, I’m having a hard time believing it.
He turns us both on our sides so we’re facing each other, our faces only inches apart.
“I’m going to kiss you now, Luna,” he says, pressing his lips to mine before I can answer. I like that he is taking charge, that he shows how much he wants me. It’s so different from anything I’ve dreamed of. He is the first man I’ve ever kissed, and he might be the first man I’ve ever wanted to do more with.
After a few seconds, he pulls away and goes back to stroking my hair. I think he can sense my restraint because he quickly asks me if I’m okay.
“Yes. It’s just, I’ve never… been intimate with anyone before.” I close my eyes, scared to see his reaction, but as with everything today, he takes it in stride. He tilts my chin up so I have no choice but to look gazes with his emerald eyes.
“Don’t be embarrassed, not with me, Luna. We can take this as slow or as fast as we want, but just know I will be there for all of it.” His assertiveness should scare me, but in the wake of this last year, it makes me want him more. Makes me feel like he could be the protector I have been missing for so long.
“Thank you,” I say, a tear running down my cheek as I process my feelings.
“Hey, let me make you feel better. Show you how good we can be,” Ethan says, swiping away the tear and then plunging his mouth to mine once again. This kiss is deeper, more intense than the one we shared just moments ago.
I open myself to him, letting out tongues tangle and learning what I like in a kiss. When he swirls his tongue with mine, it sends shocks to my core. We continue exploring each other and I get lost in his scent, in his taste and for the first time in months, my mind doesn’t feel weighed down with the past. I am totally, wholly present and it’s all thanks to Ethan.
He breaks the kiss for just a moment as he rolls me to my back before hovering over me, careful to rest my wrist on a pillow before resuming the kiss. It grows, becoming sloppier as our tongues mingle together. He pulls away, kissing my neck in a way that makes me tingle before coming back to my mouth. He lowers himself slightly and I can feel his hardness against me.
“Oh!” I let out as his cock hits my core in just the right spot.
“Like what you feel?” he says with a smirk.
I can’t hide my blush. I’ve never felt this turned on before, I know I am dripping beneath my sweatpants. Before I know it, he is dipping a hand beneath the waist band. He lets out a surprised chuckle when he finds no underwear standing in his way. After he left to get the food, I just wanted to be ready for bed so I didn’t bother putting on another pair of panties.
“Oh, Luna you’re soaked ,” he says, his voice deepening to a near growl. “Is this all for me?” he asks as he continues sliding his finger through my folds.
“Y-yes. You’re the first person whose ever made me this way, I have never felt like this before.” He gives me another smirk before lowering his mouth to mine once again.
“Well, let me do something about it, since it is my fault,” he says as he breaks the kiss. He pushes off of me, removing his hand from between my legs before settling his body between my legs. On his knees, he pulls my pants off and tosses them to the floor.
“Can I taste you, Luna? I need to taste you.” He’s staring down at my core, looking like a man starved.
I nod, meeting his eyes when he looks up.
“Thank god.”
He folds forward and before I know it, his tongue is on my clit. He gently laps at me and I begin to squirm. His strokes turn circular and I feel a tightening in my spine.
“God, you’re delicious. You’re doing so good for me, letting me eat you up.” His praise nearly sends me to the edge and he holds me down with one arm across my hips while he dips a finger form his other hand inside me. He looks up at me to confirm it’s okay, and when he senses no objection, he curls his finger inside me as he sucks on my clit.
The sensation is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before. It’s so much . His finger hits just the right spot as he swirls his tongue around me in a way that makes me scream. I come apart in an instant, in shock at both how quickly and how decisively he made me fall apart.
With a final kiss to my pussy, he moves to lay beside me again.
“I told you I’d make you feel better,” he says with a wink. I can’t help but laugh. He’s so confident, so sure of himself and what we’re doing that it makes me feel the same way, too.
“That was amazing, Ethan. I had no idea I could feel that way. And it made me completely forget about this,” I say, lifting my wrist off the pillow he rested it on, “and everything else I have going on.”
I can tell he wants to ask more, but instead of probing he just says, “The pleasure was all mine.” He reaches down to the floor and grabs my pants before slowly pushing them back up my legs. Once he secures them, he places a deep, but gentle kiss on my mouth. I taste myself on his tongue and I don’t even mind. It’s proof of how good he made me feel.
He settles next to me before pulling me back in his arms. “Get some sleep, Lu, you’ll need it to make that wrist feel better.” I smile at his easy use of the nickname and curl deeper into his side, slowly drifting off in the first semblance of comfort I’ve felt all year.