"Heading up the mountain again?" Adeline, wearing a fitted floral dress, called out to Damon Barlow as he headed toward the back hills. She was about five-three, slim, with light makeup.  Her lips were full and striking, painted a vivid red.  She was the most fashionable woman in the village.  She was around thirty-five, but she didn't look her age. "Of course." Damon glanced back at her and grinned. "Adeline, off to snare yourself another man?" "You," she shot back, rolling her eyes at him.  The look itself was downright flirty. Young men had gotten scarce in the village.  Most of the able-bodied had left for the cities to make money.  The ones left were, as people put it, not much to look at.  Damon was the exception.  Not only was he good-looking, but one glance told you he had a solid, powerful build. He wore a T-shirt with a big thumbs-up printed on it, light green military trousers, and a pair of matching army shoes.  The outfit looked rustic, but his bare arms were nicely proportioned, with lean, well-defined muscles.  Even if he was a country boy, he was a very handsome one. He also had a way of swaggering around, teasing and flirting wherever he went, which had kept Adeline's eyes on him for a while now. "Save it," he said, running his eyes over her from head to toe.  "With that small frame, how could you ever keep up with me?" Adeline stepped in close and let out a little huff. "Don't get cocky. Come by my place tonight." "No." Damon shook his head right away. "What for?"  He turned to leave as soon as he said it. "You know what for." She caught up and chuckled.  "Don't tell me you're scared. Afraid I'll eat you alive?" "I am. I'm scared." Damon shrugged.  "If you keep talking like this, Griffin's gonna get crazy jealous and try to poison me the first chance he gets." "That useless man? Why bring him up?" Adeline snorted again. "Fine, I'll come to you tonight." "Don't. Seriously, don't." Damon tossed over his shoulder.  "I'm not interested in Griffin's woman. You'd better have yourself a nice night with Griffin."  He let out a low, dirty chuckle and took off at a run. Adeline stamped her foot, fuming. "What a buzzkill! He flirts with other women every day but won't lay a finger on me?" ... Damon continued walking into the hills. Handsome men attracted trouble, and sometimes the trouble walked right up to Damon's door. But Adeline was a hard pass. Griffin had looked out for Damon back in the day. Griffin had finally, at his age, managed to get married. Damon didn't even want to think about how many times Adeline had cheated on Griffin. He shook his head and sighed.  Adeline was notorious in the village.  She shamelessly went after men from out of town.  Lately, she had set her sights on Damon and would come by to tease him whenever she was bored.  It was a pity, in a way. Damon might look reckless on the surface, but he had boundaries he wouldn't cross. He followed the stream deeper into the mountains, planning to see what wild game or fruit he could bring back to sell.  The month was ending soon, and he had to chip in for his sister, Ailee Barlow's, household expenses.  Staying in the village meant living off the land when you needed cash. He had been to the city and even done a few short stints behind bars for brawling.  Ailee had forbidden him to go back to the city to look for work again. She was afraid he'd return to the thug life and had threatened to quit school if he did.  Damon had no choice but to promise her he would stay.  Since then, he'd lived off the land or picked up odd jobs, enough to cover their expenses for the year. Today, the mountain air smelled sweet.  He crouched by the stream, cupped water in his hands, and took a sip. The water tasted faintly sweet, too. That surprised him.  Maybe the day would bring a haul.  With weather like this, he might even bag a big wild boar. He had set two boar traps deep in the mountains the previous day.  He needed to check whether they had caught anything.  Boar meat was selling for about four bucks a pound.  If he landed one that ran a hundred-some pounds, he could sell it for at least four hundred dollars.  The thought made his pulse race. He quickened his pace along the creek.  As he rounded a bend, he heard a sudden commotion on the water ahead. Beyond the bend lay a deep pond, maybe only twenty-odd feet across at the surface, but very deep, over thirty feet at the center.  The villagers called it Nail Pond because it sank into the earth like a long nail.  Above it rose a rock wall, about twenty-five feet high.  Water ran down the stone, passed Nail Pond, then flowed toward other directions.  Fish swimming upstream could only make it as far as Nail Pond. Anything higher was too steep. No fish could get past it. That splash had sounded like a big fish moving.  Damon crept forward, excitement prickling his skin.  Then, he heard the sound of something heavy moving through the water. Judging by the sound, that had to be a fish at least twenty pounds, which was a hefty one.  He could sell one for thirty bucks. Damon couldn't wait to catch the big fish.  He needed to be careful, though. Big fish were wary and bolted at the slightest disturbance.  He moved on tiptoe, light as a cat. He slid in behind a jutting rock at the edge of Nail Pond and peered around it.  Ripples shivered across the surface. His gaze shifted toward their center. A pale, gleaming shape surfaced in the middle. He thought it was a big white fish, but it was a woman swimming in the pond. Her skin almost seemed to glow, like polished white jade.  Then Damon saw her face.  The woman was incredibly gorgeous. When had a stunner like this come to the mountains? And to bathe here, of all places.  "So that's why the water tasted sweet. It's her bathwater," Damon murmured. His heartbeat leaped. The woman cleaved the water with graceful strokes.  She glanced in his direction, and the corner of her mouth curled.  Heat rushed through him at once.  This woman would be the death of him. "Ah!" The woman's cry carried across the pool.  She flailed, splashing, and started to sink. "Watch out!" Damon shouted, and dove. Splash! He jumped into the pond and grabbed her.  Her body slipped in his hands like a fish, slick and cool.  Heat flashed through him so fast it was dizzying.  The woman clung to him like an octopus, arms and legs wrapped tight, her body writhing faintly as she held on.  Her full breasts pressed straight into his face.