Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Maverick
L ast night was the longest night of my life but somehow I managed to get through it without murdering anyone. Watching Madi talk to every fucking man in town who approached her was torture. She had no idea how delectable she was either. Every time someone made a joke, she tossed her dark curls over her shoulder and giggled in a way that made me want to kill the man who’d managed to elicit the sound from her sweet throat.
Finally, my brothers forced me back to the kitchen to keep from chasing off any more of the clientele.
I don’t even know this girl, but she has some sort of strange hold on me, and waiting for her to appear this morning so we can get going on our backcountry adventure is making me anxious.
I’m never anxious.
Of course, I’ve never taken an innocent woman into the woods to find wolves before . The whole thing is insane. Everyone knows that if you leave the wolves alone, they leave you alone.
“Good morning!”
Her melodic voice bursts through my thoughts, and I turn to see Madi looking even sexier than she did the day before. She’s braided her dark curls into two braids that fall on either side of her plump cheeks, making her look even younger than she is. Although it occurs to me that I have no idea how old she is.
She’s wearing shorts, hiking boots, and a tight tank top that’s stretched over her round tits by the massive backpack she’s already wearing.
“Is it?” I grunt and instantly regret it, but she doesn’t seem fazed.
“It sure is.” Her smile is so bright that I can’t help but soften a little when she aims it in my direction. “We’re going hiking today, and I love hiking.”
“It’s a long one.” I pick up my own pack. With all my own gear up the mountain, I made a late-night stop at the search and rescue headquarters and supplied myself. My brothers and I are the primary volunteers at Rock Creek Search and Rescue, and we have more than enough gear for me to borrow. “I hope you’re up for it.” I swing my pack onto my back. It’s heavier than I normally pack. I have no idea how prepared Madi really is for this hike, so I made sure to pack extra supplies.
“Don’t worry, Maverick.” She walks past me with a wiggle in her hips that causes my dick to twitch to life. “I’m up for a lot more than you might think.” She looks over her shoulder and winks at me with a sly smile before disappearing out the door.
The moment she’s gone, I blow out a breath and swallow back my building desire. I need to focus because my girl has no idea what she’s about to get herself into.
Madison
“Look at that!” I run ahead and crouch down with my big pack to get a closer look at the pink wildflowers.
“Fairy slipper,” Maverick grunts without me asking. “It’s everywhere this time of year.”
“It’s beautiful.”
He grunts again and keeps walking, but I’m not deterred. I jump up and follow him up the trail.
We’ve been hiking for a few hours already, and it’s a lot steeper than I expected. It’s a tougher trail than I’m used to hiking, too. But I’m not going to tell Maverick that. It’s obvious he already thinks I’m a giant pain in the ass.
He’s barely spoken to me at all, even though I’ve asked him about a million questions. When it becomes clear he doesn’t plan to answer with much more than grunts and groans, I just start talking about everything that pops into my head.
“Do you dream, Maverick? I do.” I don’t wait for an answer. “Last night I dreamed about sitting in a mountain meadow surrounded by wildflowers. Some of them were those pretty ones we just saw. Fairy slippers, you called them?”
He grunts, which is as close to an answer as I expect.
“Anyway, I was laying in the field with—” I stop myself because there is no way I can tell him that I wasn’t alone in the field in my dream. And there’s really no way I’m going to tell him that he was there with me, touching me and kissing me.
My face flushes red, and I’m glad I’m walking behind him so he can’t see my embarrassment. I can’t believe I almost told him that I had a dream about him.
“With who?”
His question takes me off guard. It’s the first question he’s asked me all day. “What?”
“Who were you with? In your dream?”
“Oh. I…I was by myself,” I lie easily. “And then I closed my eyes and when I opened them again, the most beautiful wolf was watching me.” This part of the dream is all true. “But she didn’t scare me,” I continue. “And she wasn’t scared of me. It was almost as if we were meant to find each other.”
Maverick’s quiet for a moment, and I’m pretty sure he’s already gone back to his silent treatment. But then he says, “That actually sounds nice.”
I can’t stop the smile that slides over my face. “It was.”
Maverick
I have never heard so many words come out of one woman in my entire life. The girl never stops talking. Usually, I prefer to hike in silence and let the sounds and sights of nature wash over me, so it catches me by surprise to find that I not only don’t mind her incessant chatter, but I enjoy it and I’m a little disappointed when I recognize the campsite I’ve picked out, just up ahead.
For a split second, I think about pressing on just to hear her talk a little more, but from behind me, she says, “This looks like a great place to camp.”
“It is.”
I let Madi pick the spot for her tent. I stay out of her way while she sets up her gear and collect some firewood for her.
She keeps up her stream of chatter, laughing at her own jokes while she gets her tent up. I have to look away when she unrolls her sleeping bag and flops down on it for a moment because the image of her inside that tent, naked in the moonlight later tonight, is making my cock throb with a need I have no business feeling.
“It’s so comfy in here!” Madi calls from inside her tent.
There is no way I can stay out here with her. Not without driving myself crazy. I turn and pace the length of the campsite, looking for any traces of wildlife, before moving along the perimeter of the camp.
My doll has surprised me with how capable she really is. I wouldn’t have guessed that she was a skilled hiker, with her soft, round body and tiny legs, but she’d handled the vigorous hike with ease. I’d been so sure she’d need help getting her tent set up, but again, she’d handled the situation without any trouble.
She’ll be fine out here on her own.
At least, that’s what I keep telling myself. By the time I finish walking around the camp, she’s emerged from her tent and is digging through her pack. “It looks like you have everything handled here.” I regret the words the second they come out of my mouth, but I can’t go back now. “I’m going to go?—”
“You’re leaving?”
She looks so disappointed, I almost take it back. But, ultimately, I know my limits and this doll of a woman is testing all of them. And I won’t go far. I purposely chose this route because it’s close to my cabin. She may be a capable young woman, but she was still a woman alone in the woods.
Never mind the fact that she’s actively looking for wolves.
“My cabin isn’t far,” I tell her. “I need to go check on a few things. And like you said before, you’re perfectly capable. You don’t need?—”
“Okay.” She shrugs and turns her back, dismissing me. “Maybe I’ll see you later.”
“I’ll be back before the sun sets.” It’s a split-second decision to return. But I know it’s the right one. As much as my brain is telling me to stay away from her, every other part of me knows I can’t.
I don’t wait for her reply before I start the quick hike to my cabin.
I push and make it in record time. Every second I spend away from my girl is like a stab in my gut.
Usually, my cabin brings me peace, but being here now, all I feel is restless. It’s too quiet. Despite myself, in only a few short hours I grew used to her incessant chatter and now I miss the sweet sound of her voice.
Luna appears as I set out a larger-than-usual bowl of food for her. I already know that if Madi’s going to be on the mountain, I won’t leave her again. Another trip home will be an unwelcome distraction.
“Hey, girl.” I scratch her under the chin, and she nuzzles in close. I know she’s missed me, and I feel bad leaving her again. “I’m going camping for a few days.” She tilts her head in question, and I laugh. “Okay,” I relent easily. “You can come, too. But you’re in charge of catching your own food.”
She howls her agreement and without wasting any more time, I hurry through the last few chores I need to take care of, grab some extra food, and set off back toward the camp.
And my doll.