Mountain Devil (7 page)

When a thunderstorm rolled in shortly after lunch, they decided to spend the afternoon in the bedroom. As if they needed an excuse! Ed was very much in charge in that department, dominant to the bone. He enjoyed spanking Ella until she squirmed and taking her frantically from behind. Other times, he captured her wrists above her head in one hand and lightly slapped her breasts before raising her hips to claim her roughly.

Ella loved it. Sex with Brandon had always felt like a chore, something she did to keep his insults at bay. But she
wanted
to have sex with Ed, and she would burn up if he went too long without touching her. She craved his touch, both gentle and rough. All it took was a certain look from Ed to turn her legs to jelly and her set her desires aflame.

In the evening, they sat on the front porch steps with glasses of wine. The night was alive with chirping crickets and shouting locusts. The lingering storm clouds had finally blown over the mountain, so the stars twinkled bright and lovely around the high crescent moon.

Ed seemed pensive, but Ella didn’t dare ask what bothered him. She was too worried about what would happen when the seven days ended, too worried about facing reality after saying good-bye to this temporary, perfect world. Perhaps Ed was brooding over the very same problem. It hurt her deeply that Ed might still return her for the reward money, and she kept pushing the thought into the back of her mind with every other unpleasant thought she tirelessly worked to avoid.

Maybe I should tell him how I feel, she thought, resting her head against his shoulder as they shared their first moment of awkward silence. But how did she feel? She cared for Ed, but did she love him?

Could she love someone after only knowing him a few days?

Ella’s heart fluttered when Ed pulled her closer.

He kissed the top of her head and softly ran his fingers through her long locks. She listened to the beating of his heart for what seemed like hours. That night in bed, for the first time since they’d begun their unusual relationship, Ed made love to her slow and gentle, silently holding her eyes in his magnetic gaze for the duration until his climax. It was the closest she’d ever felt to anyone, though no words were spoken.

As Ella drifted to sleep, she prayed for the courage to confess her feelings to Ed. Prayed that he cared for her. Though he hadn’t said I love you, she at least thought he harbored tender feelings for her. Oh God, she begged. Please let this work out somehow.

Please don’t let this end badly.

Ella awoke several times that night, her mind too restless to sleep for more than a few minutes at a time.

She watched the steady rise and fall of Ed’s broad chest, and a sudden thought riddled her with fear. He was in his forties and had never married. Maybe he didn’t want a lasting relationship with anyone.

Maybe she was a fool and he was using her. Maybe she shouldn’t trust him.

Uncertainty ate at her until her mind was spinning like a whirlwind. She decided against confessing her true feelings to Ed, even if she managed to find the courage to do so. Brandon had made a fool of her far too many times, and there was no way in hell Ella would allow another man to make a fool of her. If Ed didn’t reciprocate her spoken endearments, the role of the fool would be hers again.

No, she would wait for Ed to share his feelings with her first, and only then would Ella open her heart up all the way and speak aloud the three little words on the tip of her tongue.

She hoped Ed wouldn’t sense her worries over the next few days. She pushed her troubles away for the thousandth time, vowing not to allow Ed to notice her lapse in happiness.

If he really cared for her, he’d tell her before returning her to her family. Satisfied with her logic, Ella managed to catch two uninterrupted hours of sleep, though her dreams were haunted by images of her worried family. She saw her mother and father crying, but when she spoke to them, they disappeared into thin air.

As the specifics of the dream faded, fingers of sunlight stretched across the bedroom. Ella snuggled against Ed and remained at his side until he awoke.

The day passed just as wonderfully as the preceding days, but neither of them spoke any endearments aloud.

The clock was ticking.

Ed pulled the covers over Ella and kissed her forehead. She was already sound asleep in his bed.

And it was only 9:30 p.m. He smiled. Some night owl.

Their evening walk around the lake had exhausted her…along with a few
other activities
afterward
in bed.

As he walked around the house, checking the windows and doors before setting the alarm, the phone rang. It was Randy. Ed hadn’t heard from the whiz kid in four days.

“The reward just shot up to $50,000, boss,” Randy said breathlessly. “I can’t believe it! Fifty big ones!

Five, zero, zero, zero, zero!”

Ed’s gut twisted. The deal, the reward money, the impending trade. He felt rotten just thinking about it.

Ella couldn’t leave. She just couldn’t.

Ed ended the phone call with Randy politely enough, and holed up in his study with a glass of whiskey.

During the four days since Ella’s attempted escape, they hadn’t discussed the deal
in any detail at all. Unspoken, the topic seemed taboo. An ugly problem lurking in the shadows of their temporary bliss.

Of course, their deal had been for Ella to remain with Ed for seven days. She would escape marriage to Brandon Andrews as Ed waited for the reward to increase. And increase it had. Fifty thousand dollars was a lot of money, but Ed didn’t want one penny of it. Not even if Ella wished to honor the deal and see it through to the end.

At the time, five days ago, the deal had seemed like a good idea. An easy way to make money and help a stranger out at the same time.
At the time.

Ed downed the rest of the whiskey in one huge swallow and poured himself another glass. A renegotiation was in order. The deal as it stood now was void as far as Ed was concerned. He finished the second glass of whiskey and headed to bed.

Tomorrow he would broach the subject with Ella.

And if the past few days were any indication, she would be receptive. They’d made love countless times. They’d gone on walks, watched movies, cooked together, and spend hours talking about anything and everything.

Ella was a wonderful girl, kind and sweet beyond measure. She wasn’t the spoiled brat he’d initially taken her for, although she had her moments, moments he knew how to handle over his knee. He’d punished her a third time for cursing just this morning, although it hadn’t been as harsh a spanking as the first two times.

But despite her shortcomings—the propensity to use foul language and a short temper—she was the perfect woman for him.

Sure, she was a little young, but age was only a number—a number that meant little in the grand scheme of things. Love was love. And Ed Peters loved Ella Emerson, truly and completely.

He just hadn’t told her yet. I love you seemed like such a silly thing to say out loud, especially considering the short time they’d known each other.

At least to Ed. And a difficult thing to say as well. Not once in his life had he spoken these words to any woman, nor had he felt so intensely about another woman before. Tomorrow, he thought, and joined the woman he loved in bed. Tomorrow.

* * *

The next morning, Ed awoke to the rich smell of pancakes. He found Ella in the kitchen, humming happily and cooking away. His spirits soared at the sight.

“Should I call the fire company ahead of time?” he joked, hugging her from behind.

“I helped my college roommate make pancakes a few times.
This
I know how to do.” She kissed his cheek.

“You’re full surprises,” he commented, patting her bottom before taking a seat in the breakfast nook.

The meal was as pleasant as the conversation. Ella told Ed a few crazy stories about the same college roommate, and Ed insisted he wanted to meet her friend. A hint of a shadow crossed Ella’s face at his mention of meeting her friends, but Ed ignored it.

Today, today.

“Let’s take a walk around the lake,” Ed said once the kitchen was cleaned up. “There’s something I want to talk to you about.” Today.

Ella bit her lip and looked worried. “Have I done something wrong?” she asked, fidgeting in place the way she always did before a punishment.

“I don’t know,” he teased. “Do you have a guilty conscience about something?” But the words escaped Ed’s lips before he’d thought them over. What a stupid thing to say.

“No,
nothing
at all!” she said, storming toward the guestroom. Her family and friends were probably worried sick over her mysterious absence. Of course she had a guilty conscience.

Damn me for reminding her. “Ella!” he called, and marched after her. To his surprise, the bedroom door wouldn’t open. There was no lock on the inside, and Ed knew she’d blocked the door with the dresser.

“Ella, open this door right now!”

To his surprise, she obeyed a few seconds later.

The faint sound of wood scratching against wood came through the walls. The door opened, and Ella stood with tears streaming down her face, wearing the same clothing and hiking boots she’d been wearing three days ago on the mountain. She held her backpack between her hands.

“I have to go home now,” she said. “I know it hasn’t been seven days yet, and I don’t know if the reward has increased, but I can’t let my family suffer for my selfishness.” She looked at her feet.

Ed’s heart broke. She didn’t want to stay. If she had wanted to stay, despite her guilt, she would’ve said so.

“All right,” Ed finally said. “We can leave as soon as you’re ready.”

Five minutes later, Ed was speeding down the long gravel driveway. Ella sat in the passenger seat, staring sullenly out the window. There was no need to blindfold her this time. So what if she knew where he lived? Obviously, her mind to leave was made up.

Pride kept Ed silent, kept him from confessing his true feelings. Confessing such feelings would only paint him a fool when Ella evidently didn’t share them.

And Ed Peters was no one’s fool. So he pressed the gas pedal to the floor, and his heart hardened and hardened as Ella’s house drew nearer. By the time they pulled into her driveway a few hours later, he felt cold and numb. A hardened heart cannot break.

“Good-bye, Ella,” he said, staring straight ahead.

She paused with her hand on the door. “Aren’t you coming in?” she asked. “The reward…”

“…doesn’t appeal to me,” he finished, still staring straight ahead. “Go back to your family, Ella. Just tell them you got lost in the woods. Or you know what, I don’t care what you tell them.”

“Fine,” she muttered, and slammed the door so hard the SUV shuddered.

Ed backed out of the driveway before Ella reached the front door of the brick mansion. He had no desire to watch her family pull her inside with tears and kisses. Solitude was his only desire, so he drove back the way he’d come, cursing the name
Ella
Emerson
all the way.

If only they’d met under different circumstances.

If only…

* * *

Ella couldn’t remember having ever cried so much in her life. Her mother wouldn’t let her out of eyesight. Relatives and friends called every five minutes to welcome her home. Each conversation left her an emotional wreck.

There was so much guilt—guilt upon guilt stacked up heavy on her chest.

Not only had she run away to avoid marrying Brandon Andrews, but she’d lied about it as well.

She’d done just as Ed had suggested in anger—

declaring she had gotten lost in the woods during an early morning hike on the morning of her wedding.

Lying hadn’t been her first intention, but the words had come rushing out before she’d found courage to speak the truth.

So as far as Brandon and everyone else knew, getting lost on her wedding day was pure accident.

And staying lost was pure accident as well. Ella claimed she’d survived on granola bars and bottled water, and that a fellow hiker gave her a lift home.

Just as she hung up on her aunt, Ella’s father burst into the living room. “Ella, sweetheart, I need the name and number of that hiker.” She panicked. Ed Peters was a name she soon hoped to forget. “Why?” she asked, fearing the worst.

“Your mother and I wish to pay the reward out to him, even if he didn’t know about it.” Ella’s stomach twisted. The last time Ed had mentioned the reward, it had been $10,000. Why he’d refused the money, she wasn’t sure. Obviously, she’d angered him enough to not want the money. Men and their stupid pride.

“I told him to come in, but he refused.” She wasn’t sure what else to say. Admitting her knowledge of the reward would be stupid. It would only get her caught in the midst of a great lie.

Her father sunk into his favorite chair. “It’s a $50,000 reward, Ella. It’s been all over the news. And when the news of your return breaks, reporters will be clamoring to find out who your rescuer was.” Rescuer. Ella cringed. Ed Peters had been no rescuer. If her father found out about their deal, she would be shamed beyond imagination. And if anyone found out about the five passionate days she’d spent with Ed Peters, she would be shamed beyond imagination. He was a virtual stranger, yet she’d fallen hard and fast for the handsome older man.

The last thing Ella needed, besides a fiancé she despised, was a bounty hunter who was twice her age. Ed was mysterious, stern, quick to anger, and…

…the one person she couldn’t stop thinking about.

And he’d walked away from a $50,000 reward but why?

She did not love. Not at all
.

But the guilt from such a lie reverberated in her chest, right beside her many sins. Lying to herself seemed less dangerous than lying to other people, but it hurt equally as bad. The days would pass, she knew, and maybe the severity of her sins would fade as they grew older.

Ella’s mother emerged from the hallway, all smiles and red lipstick. “Brandon’s here,” she said, beaming and pulling her father from the room.

Sure enough, Brandon Andrews strode in with a dozen red roses. Ella accepted them, smiling. “Thank you,” she said as he pulled her close. He smelled strange. He felt strange. He looked strange.