Master of the Mountain

His bushy tail swayed back and forth. Wasn't it odd how every time she met him, he had more personality? His mouth seemed to turn up into a smile when he was happy. His ears came forward when he was curious and went down when Logan scolded him. Even his tail had different positions like doggy sign language.

Feeling absurdly brave, she knelt beside him and ruffled the fur on his neck.

With a low whine, he shoved his head into her lap, knocking her onto her rear.

A breath of fear quaked through her, and then she laughed. “Bully.” Sitting up, she wrapped an arm over his back. He licked her cheek and leaned in. God, he was sweet.

“So, my friend,” she asked him and watched his ears prick up. “Shall we draw Ashley with a really big nose to match her tits? And plump her lips up to the size of dinner plates?”

* * * * *

Logan stood in the shadows of the forest, waiting for his brother and watching Thor cozy up to the city girl. He saw her stifle her fear-brave little sub-then laugh and hug the dog. She'd come a long way in just a day, hadn't she?

Damned if she didn't pull at him like a riptide off the coast. An assertive city girl whose vulnerability over her looks could break a man's heart. That stubborn courage that let her pet Thor. Her soft mouth and obstinate chin and willingness to share her passion even when he shocked her. The woman would never be boring, would she?

Jake walked out the back door and almost tripped over the two. Regaining his balance, he said a couple of words, making Becca smile. He walked across the clearing to join Logan, and they headed up Jackass Trail.

“Pretty little redhead there,” Jake said casually.

“Uh-huh.” Logan ducked under a low-hanging branch.

“Looks well used. Must have had a good night.” A second's pause. “I noticed her wrists were bruised.”

“Uh-huh.” A low bark sounded behind them, and a few seconds later, Thor appeared on the trail, trotting to catch up.

“She's wearing your flannel shirt.”

Logan knew that when an idea stuck in Jake's head, he held on more relentlessly than a damned bulldog. “You got a point to make here?”

Jake reached down to scratch Thor's head. “I thought we agreed not to fuck women in the swinger groups.”

Logan stopped. Hell. They'd made that rule before opening the place, and neither of them had broken it. Until now. “She's no swinger. In fact, she almost froze to death on the porch to avoid becoming one. I put her in my bed then and…” Their father'd always said only weaklings use excuses. “Stand up for what you did.” Logan turned to face his brother and nodded. “Yes, I broke the rule.”

“She's submissive?”

Logan sighed. They were both dominants, and Jake would see her appeal. “Yep.”

Jake leaned a shoulder against an incense cedar, and a grin appeared on his face. “'Bout time. You going to keep her?”

“You're sure a nosy bastard.” Logan scrubbed his face, feeling the stubble. He'd forgotten to shave again. “She's a city girl. She belongs there, not here.”

“That's a shame. She looks good in the shirt-better than you do.”

Logan grinned. She did look good.

“Why don't you keep her?” As Jake turned to scratch his back against the tree trunk, the dappled sunlight illumined his face. Hard and lean and tanned, like Logan's. But Logan's face lacked the long scar across his forehead, because he hadn't been attacked by his brother in the middle of the night and almost killed.

Logan forced his eyes away from Jake's scar, feeling the heavy weight of guilt in his gut where it never left. And neither would the memory of being trapped in a building, bullets ricocheting off the walls, fighting off a berserk insurgent. He'd awakened from the familiar dream that night with real blood covering his hands and a real knife at his feet. Across the bedroom, Jake had struggled to his feet, blood streaming down his face. “Wake up, Logan, dammit.”

Logan's voice came out harsh. “And when I have a nightmare and try to strangle little Becca, will she still be pretty then?” The lines around Jake's mouth deepened, and Logan turned away before he could see pity in his brother's eyes.

“You tell her about them?” Jake asked.

“That I have a tendency to try to kill people when I wake up on the wrong side of hell? Get real.” Jesus, wouldn't that be a pleasant discussion? “I don't talk about my nightmares. Ever.”

“You going to stay alone forever?”

“Damn right.” God knew Wendy couldn't handle the stress. His wife had bailed out long before Logan had attacked Jake. “It doesn't matter anyway. Becca will go home on Wednesday, knowing more about herself. A win- win experience.”

“Yeah? And what have you learned about yourself, bro?”

That being with a little rebel makes the loneliness worse. That guilt can't erase the desire for her soft body in his bed.

And that, no matter what, he wouldn't take the chance. “We have work to do,” Logan answered and headed up the trail to where they had a fallen tree to move.

Chapter Nine

Jake left after they'd moved the heaviest sections of the tree. Logan found a shady spot and caught two hours of sleep before returning to the job of cleaning up the trail. He dragged the remainder of the debris off, shored up a section with rebar and wood braces, and cleaned out a dammed-up stream.

Wiping sweat from his brow, he scowled back down the trail. All that work, and only two miles or so accomplished. A flash of emerald green caught his eyes, and he frowned. Another flash. A hiker on the trail. One of the guests?

As he listened, he tossed more rocks into a muddy hole. Eventually he heard the soft crunch of dry pine needles. Incoming. He turned and saw Rebecca.

Pleasure shot through him at the sight of her, and he scowled in reaction. After leaving Jake, he'd decided to stay completely away from the city girl. She didn't need a damaged soldier, and he didn't need the heartbreak, because, dammit, she could easily break his heart. Another night of fun, and they'd both be hurting.

He glanced at the trail behind her and saw no one. “What are you doing hiking alone?”

A shaft of sunlight turned her eyes a clear green, and her hair glinted red and gold as she pushed back loose strands. “Everyone else went to some meadow, and I hate sitting around all day. I didn't realize you were up this trail. Sorry.”

Ignoring his rules by hiking alone. Would have avoided him if she could. Two strikes. Anger stirred within him. Would she fail the third? He stepped closer.

Her eyes widened, and then he took her lips. She didn't pull away but offered her mouth, soft and open.

Threading his fingers through her hair, he tilted her head to give him complete access. When he stepped back, her face was flushed with arousal, and his anger disappeared under his own stirring lust. Dammit, she could tempt a priest to sin.

She broke the rules. Concentrate on that, not sex. He fisted the hand in her hair. “The rules of the lodge are no hiking alone. Did you forget?”

“Uh.” She huffed out a breath. “No. I just wanted to hike and didn't have anyone to go with me.”

Deliberate disobedience, but honest at least. He slid his hand down to cover her throat and grip her neck gently. “Rebecca. Don't do it again. Am I clear?”

“Clear,” she said softly.

Under his fingers, her pulse increased, the compelling response of a submissive under control. He hardened.