Chapter 5
T onya
I woke to gray Vermont morning light and the weight of Kevin's arm across my waist. For a split second, instinct told me to panic—but my body knew the difference before my mind caught up. This wasn't the same. He wasn't the same.
I turned carefully, not wanting to wake him yet. Needing a moment to just look.
Asleep, Kevin was less intimidating but no less powerful. Dark stubble covered his jaw. His hair stuck up at odd angles from where I'd grabbed it last night. One massive arm was tucked under his pillow, the other kept me pinned against his side like he was afraid I'd disappear.
My body ached in unfamiliar places. Good aches. The kind that reminded me exactly what we'd done and how thoroughly he'd claimed me.
I should probably be freaking out. Should be second-guessing everything, analyzing whether I was rebounding or making another mistake. But lying here in his bed, wearing nothing but the scent of his skin, I couldn't make myself care about should.
Last night had been... I didn't have words for what last night had been.
I'd never made sounds like that before. Never felt that desperate, that uninhibited. Never trusted someone enough to just let go and feel. Kevin had coaxed things from me I didn't know existed—pleasure so intense it bordered on pain, need that made me beg, release that left me boneless and shaking.
And then he'd held me after like I was something precious instead of used up.
That was the part that kept catching in my chest. The gentleness underneath all that raw power. The way he'd checked in with me, praised me, made sure I was okay even when he was clearly fighting for control.
I'd spent two years having my body criticized and my pleasure treated like an inconvenience. In one night, Kevin had undone all of that damage. Made me feel powerful in my own skin again.
"You're thinking too loud," Kevin's rough voice made me jump. His eyes opened, dark and immediately alert. "Morning."
"Morning," I said, suddenly aware of my nakedness in the growing daylight.
His arm tightened, pulling me flush against him. "How do you feel?"
Sore. Confused. More alive than I'd been in years. "Okay," I said. "Different."
"Different how?" His hand slid down my spine, settling possessively on my hip.
"I don't know yet." I traced the line of muscle down his chest, feeling him tense under my touch. "I'm still figuring it out."
"Figure it out loud."
I met his eyes, saw genuine concern there mixed with something darker. Want. Need. The same hunger that had driven him last night.
"I've never felt like that," I admitted. "During... during sex. I didn't know I could."
His expression turned fierce. "You can. You did. And you will again."
"Kevin—"
"No." He rolled, pinning me beneath him with easy strength that made my breath catch. "Listen to me. Whatever that bastard made you believe about yourself, about your body, about what you deserve—it was lies. All of it."
I opened my mouth to argue, but he kept going.
"You're not too much. You're not high maintenance. Your needs aren't inconvenient." His hand cupped my face, thumb stroking across my cheekbone. "And your pleasure? That's everything to me. Hearing you moan, watching you come, feeling you shake—that's what I want. Always."
"Why?" The question came out smaller than I intended. "Why do you care so much?"
"Because you're mine." He said it simply, like it explained everything. Maybe it did. "I take care of what's mine."
It should have felt suffocating. Instead, it felt like breathing for the first time in years.
"I love you," I said, then froze. Too fast. Too soon. Too everything.
"I love you too." No hesitation. Like it was fact, not feeling.
"We barely know each other."
"I know enough." His forehead pressed against mine. "I know you're stronger than you think. Braver than you believe. And exactly where you're supposed to be."
"In your bed?"
"In my life." He kissed me softly, different from last night's hunger. "But yeah, in my bed too. Preferably naked."
I laughed despite the emotion clogging my throat. "You're impossible."
"I'm yours." He pulled back to meet my eyes. "If you want me."
Did I want him? This gruff mountain man who'd saved me from a storm and somehow saved me from myself? Who made me feel capable instead of helpless, powerful instead of weak?
"I want you," I said, meaning it. "I'm scared, but I want you."
"Good." His smile was pure satisfaction. "Because you're not leaving this mountain. I don't care what papers that bastard waves around or what threats he makes. You're mine now, and I protect what's mine."
This time when he kissed me, I stopped overthinking. Stopped analyzing. Just felt—his weight, his warmth, his absolute certainty that this was right.
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe we were moving too fast, feeling too much too soon. Maybe I'd wake up tomorrow and regret everything.
But right now, wrapped in his arms with morning light turning his eyes almost bronze, I couldn't make myself care about maybe.
Right now was enough. I snuggled back into his arms and fell back asleep.
Much later I woke to the scent of coffee and bacon, and the sound of deep voices rumbling from downstairs.
Kevin's side of the bed was empty but still warm, and I could hear him talking with someone—multiple someones, actually.
After pulling on one of his flannel shirts over my own clothes, I went downstairs to find all three of Kevin's foster brothers sitting around his kitchen table.
They'd clearly arrived early, their mud-caked boots by the door and steaming coffee mugs in their hands.
"Morning," Neil said, his greeting warm but assessing. "Hope we didn't wake you."
"Not at all." I accepted the coffee mug Kevin handed me, noting how his fingers lingered on mine—a small claim in front of his brothers. "Is everything okay?" He must have rallied the troops this morning while I was sleeping in.
"We came to help with the cottage," Shane said. "Figured you could use some extra hands on weekends and our days off. I've got vacation time saved up, and Sam's guide season doesn't start for another month. Neil can swing Saturdays once his logging contracts wrap up."
I looked between the four men, seeing the family bond that went deeper than blood. They'd dropped everything to help rebuild a stranger's cottage because Kevin had asked them to.
"I can’t pay you," I said.
“You don’t need to,” Kevin said.
"Family helps family," Sam said with a shrug. "And you're Kevin's woman now, which makes you ours to protect too."
The casual way he said it— Kevin's woman —sent heat spiraling through me. There was no question in any of their minds about where I belonged now. Apparently, Kevin had told them about last night or they had guessed. Either way, I should have been embarrassed but I wasn’t.
I was proud to be included and proud to be Kevin’s woman.
And yeah, maybe things were moving a little too quickly and I still had to get Michael out of my life, but it was nice to know I wasn’t alone.
Even if I was destitute and homeless until my grandmother’s cottage could be rebuilt.
"Besides," Neil added with a grin, “We've been looking for an excuse to play with power tools."
“I’m thinking of starting up a marketing business online. I could make you all websites,” I said.
They looked at each other. “We could stand to come into the twenty first century.”
I nodded. There. I wasn’t a charity case anymore. We were trading services.
An hour later, we were heading for the cottage with a truck bed full of tools and building supplies. The brothers had brought everything from circular saws to nail guns, lumber and supplies. I’ll say one thing about the Burke Mountain crew, they came prepared.
The cottage looked even more damaged than it had before, but Kevin's confidence was infectious as he outlined the renovation plan.
"Roof first," he said, walking the perimeter. "New shingles, replace any damaged rafters. Then windows, insulation, electrical if we can swing it."
"Plumbing?" Shane asked.
"Basic. Well water's good, septic system just needs some work." Kevin looked at me. "Question is, how modern do you want to go?"
The fact that he was asking my opinion, treating this as my project instead of just helping me out, made me feel ten feet tall.
"Functional but simple," I said. "I don't need luxury. Just... livable."
"Livable we can do," Sam said. "Give us some time and you'll have a place that'll last another century."
Working alongside Kevin's brothers and using my new skills made me feel proud, even though I was still making mistakes and probably was more of a hindrance than a help.
They treated me as an equal, though, not some delicate city girl who needed coddling.
When I proved capable with a hammer, Sam gave me an approving nod that felt like a medal.
I found myself actually enjoying the physical work—the satisfying thunk of hammer on nail, the way my muscles burned in a good way, the visible progress we were making.
"She's a natural," Neil commented to Kevin, loud enough for me to hear. "Better than Sam was when we started working in construction."
"Hey!" Sam protested, but he was grinning.
Kevin's eyes followed my every movement with barely concealed pride and possessiveness. When I bent to pick up materials, I could feel his gaze on me like a physical touch. The attention should have made me self-conscious, but instead it made me feel powerful. Desired.
We worked until sunset, making impressive progress. The cottage was starting to look less like a ruin and more like a home.
"We should head back," Neil said, gathering tools as darkness fell. "Early start tomorrow if we want to finish the roof."
"Actually," I said, catching Kevin’s eye across the work site, "I think we'll stay here tonight."
Three sets of eyebrows rose in unison.
"Stay here?" Sam looked around at the half-finished cottage. "It's not exactly habitable yet."