Free TIMBER: The Bad Boy's Baby by Frankie Love Page A

want to run my hands all over his skin. I want to fall into his arm, smell his earthy scent—the pine needles and wood stove smell of a man. I want him to carry me away from the nightmare that is my life.
    It’s as if when I came here before I entered a dream, and when I left I floated into a nightmare.
    I want to go to sleep with Jaxon, in his bed, wrapped in his arms.
    When I was with him, everything made sense, even though it was the opposite of everything I valued. Jaxon made me feel safe in a way no one else ever has.
    But these thoughts shame me.
    Have I learned nothing this month?
    My actions have consequences. My family still shuns me half the time, shake their heads in disapproval. The entire congregation knows about my lost virginity.
    I am a used woman.
    And now, the moment I see Jaxon, all I think is that I want to be used again. Over and over.
    But I won’t have what I want.
    I owe him the truth.
    He must be surprised to see me, but he doesn’t show it. He looks worried, and I scan myself self-consciously, wondering if I look so different now than I did before, when I was undressed and offering myself to him.
    I can’t go in that cabin. I don’t trust myself in there, so when he offers me something to eat or drink I shake my head. I suggest a walk in the woods.
    We walk into the trees, and as we do it’s as if we are sheltered by their branches, covered by their limbs.
    I feel safe out here, with Jaxon, but I’m too scared to speak.
    The family of deer calms my nerves, but the real thing that soothes my anxiety is Jaxon’s hand on mine. He squeezes it tight, and I remember to breathe.
    No one has touched me in six weeks, not since that first hug from my mother when I walked in the door.
    It’s a part of my lesson, my father says.
    I must tell Jaxon the truth.
    I open my mouth.
    My words hit the air with a force that scares the deer away; they startle, and run as fast as they can. Jax turns in shock, startled by my words, too.
    “Jaxon,” I say. “I’m pregnant with your baby.”

12
    JAX
    I stare at Harper . Her pale blue eyes are filled with tears, and I hate to see her this way.
    I’ll admit, hearing that she’s pregnant gets me hard. It turns me on, knowing my powerful seed filled her. I remember her dripping pussy; I remember how desperate she was for my massive wood. A slow smile spreads across my face, remembering our time together.
    But her wounded eyes bring me back to reality. I may have knocked her up, but this is a hell of a lot more complicated than two people in love making a baby and living happily fucking ever after. Harper and I are strangers, and the last thing I need is a woman hanging around for longer than one night—let alone her kid.
    “Fuck, Harper. I did not see that coming.”
    “I know, Jaxon, it’s too much. I can’t even think straight yet ... but I thought you deserved to know.”
    I run a hand over my beard, trying to think of anything besides the fact that her jacket does nothing to hide her perfect tits, that her skintight leggings show me every curve on her body. That all I want to do is hold her against a tree and take her again, like we did in my cabin.
    I want to take her all day and all night.
    But she doesn’t appear to be filled with the same sort of desire. She mostly looks fucking terrified.
    “What are you thinking, Jaxon?” Harper asks. “I’ve been agonizing over this the entire drive here. Thinking about what we should do ... how this might work. My head hurts. I can’t figure this out on my own.”
    “Well, shit, I don’t want your head to hurt, Harp.” I step toward her, cupping her cheeks with both my hands. Touching her stills my wild heart for a moment, but what I really want is to growl filthy words in her ear, devour her pouty lips and push my fingers in her opening until she screams my name.
    What I really want is to pretend she didn’t come here today to tell me I’m her baby-daddy, and instead act like she came out here ready to