Nash: A Rough Romance Piper Stone (ebook reader for comics txt) 📖

seconds, pretending I had my life back, one where I’d made entirely different decisions. I was such a fool, a stupid girl who’d fallen into one trap after another. As exhaustion mixed with absolute terror, I rubbed my eyes, my body swaying.

“You should sit down,” he said with utter authority.

“I’m fine. The fire feels good.” I knew my words were little more than whispers. I didn’t have the strength to talk at this point.

“I said. Sit. Down.”

I shot him a hateful look before moving toward the single chair, easing onto the edge and darting a glance toward the door. I kept my eyes on him as he rolled his, taking several gulps of his drink.

“Do you hear the howling wind?” he asked after a few seconds.

“Yes.”

“That means you don’t have a chance in hell of surviving the storm. That is, if you’re thinking about attempting to escape.” The mystery man said the words so casually, as if he could read my mind.

The awkward silence settling between us created a lump in my throat as well as goosebumps cresting on my arms.

“Why did you feel you had to spank me?” I blurted out.

“Because you deserved it. And that’s the cowboy way.”

I studied his face as he took a gulp of his drink, noticing the scar on the side of his face for the first time. The mark gave him the aura of a fighter or maybe…

A killer.

“The cowboy way? You’re a cowboy?”

He chuckled and leaned forward, studying the fire. “I was once a long time ago.”

“Now you’re just some murderous mountain man?” I could tell my words startled him. He bristled, his nostrils flaring. I had no idea why I’d said something so harsh, especially when he could pull out his gun and shoot me.

“This is my cabin. A place of refuge and you are the intruder.”

He was right, although I wasn’t ready to admit it yet. I remained quiet, nursing the drink. I had nothing to say to him.

“What’s your name?” he asked a few seconds later.

“What’s yours?”

“Are you always this combative, sweetheart?”

“I’m not your sweetheart. I’m not anybody’s sweetheart. Okay?” I heard the exasperation in my voice and shook my head. What the hell did it matter if he knew my name? If he was one of Dante’s soldiers, he already knew everything about me anyway. “My name is Mitch. Okay?”

“Mitch. That’s a guy’s name.”

“Yeah, well, it would appear my father really wanted to have a boy instead of being stuck with a lowly girl, so Mitch is what he called me since I was little. It stuck. Now, what’s yours?” I could tell he was a man of few words, what little I’d seen of his cabin indicating he was out here all alone.

He swallowed another gulp of his drink before shifting his gaze in my direction. Even in the shadowed light, I could see such animosity in his dark brown eyes, the kind of anger that hadn’t accumulated from a single incident but from years of being pushed. “Reaper.”

I could have sworn the single word echoed. After a few seconds, I swallowed hard then managed to gulp down half the glass, coughing until several drops spewed from both sides of my mouth. “You are kidding me?”

“Not kidding you. Nope. Not something I’d kid about.”

“But you have a real name. Please tell me your parents wouldn’t do that to you.”

“Doesn’t everyone, sweetheart? I mean Mitch?”

“Fine. Reaper. It suits you.”

“So ya want to tell me why I found you in my woodshed or are we going to have to go through that same shit all over again?”

I calculated my answer, chewing on my bottom lip before managing to say the words. “I was trying to get to a friend’s cabin, and I guess I missed the turn.”

“Nice try, but there are very few cabins this far up the mountain. The majority are still shut down for the winter.”

“Well, I’m not lying to you. I don’t know the area. Okay? Satisfied, Reaper?”

He chuckled then got off the couch, sauntering into another room. When he returned, he carried the bottle of liquor with him, walking closer until he was able to fill my glass then refresh his. “All right. We’ll go with that for now. I assume you weren’t walking.” When I remained quiet, he gave me another authoritative look.

“No, okay? I had a truck. I ran off the road. I think I bent an axle.” Why was I telling him any of this? I should have made up some crazy story. Yeah, as if he’d believe me.

“A woman who knows cars?”

“You’d be surprised what I know,” I huffed, trying to be just as arrogant as he was being, even though he certainly didn’t deserve my nasty side.

Yet.

“Fair enough. Nothing I can do about that at this point,” he said quietly, turning his attention toward the fire.

“Is there really a storm coming in?” I could hear the howling wind as well as something hitting the side of the house. Evening was rolling in, the light waning outside the frosted window.

“Yep. There is. You’re hunkered in with me for the time being. And I assure you, Mitch, I don’t like visitors. As a matter of fact, I don’t like people. So, you are going to follow my rules. It’s my house and I rule with absolute authority.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“That means, sweetheart, that if you cross the line, I have no problem spanking that pretty little ass of yours again. And I have plenty of rope to help me keep you in line. If that doesn’t work, then I’ll resort to other measures. You got it?”

Other measures. My blood boiled from his audacity. I would find his keys and get the fuck out of here, storm or no storm. I smiled sweetly. “Why, yes. Sir.”

Asshole.

Jerk.

Bastard.

Sexy.

Dangerous…

Hunk.

Chapter 3

Reaper

A beautiful, bratty handful as well as a woman in distress.

I’d come close to fucking her like some savage. I still ached to do so, sliding my cock into her pretty pink pussy.