Coal Miner

JAKOB

I didn’t deserve her, but I desired her regardless. I saw her and wanted her innocence as my own, to mark her so every other man knew she belonged to me. And even though I knew better than to go after her, I wouldn’t stay away.

I couldn’t.

She’d be mine no matter what. Screw the repercussions it might have. Forget the fact I would be corrupting her. Poppy was all I wanted. I was never a patient man when it came to the things I desired.

And Poppy was at the top of that list.

POPPY

I saw the way Jakob looked at me: possessive, needy, territorial. I wanted to be his despite the fact we’d never spoken. He was older than me, had a job that only real men can handle, and still I longed to see him every day when I went to the mines.

I knew that one of these days I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from making it known that he was all I wanted. I was nervous, innocent in all the ways that count to a man like Jakob. But for him—with him—I wanted to try it all.

I wanted to experience what it’s like to get really dirty.