Claimed by the Mountain Man (Montana Mountain Men Book 4)

What the actual hell was that? When I woke up this morning I was determined to set him straight, to tell him I couldn’t deal with whatever this thing between us is anymore. Then I came downstairs and he was feeding Poppy. This huge beast of a man was leaning over my tiny baby girl, feeding her oatmeal from a pink bowl like she was the most precious thing in the world to him.

I swear my ovaries burst and I ovulated right then and there from the sight. The way he touched me last night, and the things he texted me meant my dreams were plagued with thoughts of him. I woke up hot and needy to the sounds of Poppy awake and ready for her day to start.

Perhaps if I’d had time to take care of myself I wouldn’t be so susceptible to him, but somehow I doubt that’s true. The moment his hands are on me, or he uses that voice that makes goosebumps come to life across my skin, he’s impossible to resist.

Heat fills my cheeks as I wave a quick hello to Annette then rush to my office. I just let him finger fuck me in his car on the way to work. My panties are damp and half up my butt from where he pushed them to the side so he could fill me with his fingers. I’m a mess and my brain is only functioning at half capacity because the orgasm he gave me has addled my mind.

I want him. If he’d have whipped his dick out on the side of the road I’ve have jumped right on and ridden him to orgasm town without an ounce of reservation because he makes me irrational. It isn’t until I’m out of his orbit that my I get all of my faculties back and I realize I’ve let him affect me again.

Pushing my purse below my desk, I bring my computer to life and sign in, opening my email. Groaning quietly, I eye the impossibly long list of tasks Janet has already sent me, starting at 5.30am this morning. I wonder how long she’s going to spend testing me before she accepts I’m really good at my job and starts to actually utilize my skills. I get the feeling it’s going to take a while.

Exhaling, I stand and head for the bathroom. I pee, remove my wet underwear—there’s nothing fun about sitting in wet panties all day—and then wash my hands and head back to my office. Stashing my panties in the bottom of my purse, I set the coffee pot I never used yesterday to brew and get to work.

My cell buzzes a while later and I fish it out, checking the time and realizing it’s after 1.00pm and I haven’t moved anywhere except to the coffee pot and back all morning. I offered Janet coffee earlier, but she just nodded her head in the direction of her own coffee pot and went back to working without saying a word.

She’s not exactly communicative and I wonder how well she deals with clients. It seems unusual that she’s not left the office at all so far in the last two days to meet with anyone, but perhaps she has certain days for meetings and has the rest of her time set aside for the paperwork side of the law.

Looking back down at my cell, I have five texts. One from Chloe and four from Penn. I open the one from Chloe first and find a selfie of her and Poppy at the park. My baby girl’s bright eyes are smiling widely and her lips are parted in a toothless grin. She’s so beautiful it actually makes my heart hurt just knowing that I made her. She’s my greatest achievement.

I reply quickly.

Me: Love this pic, hope you’re having fun.

Chloe texts back with another picture, this time it’s of Poppy, fast asleep on the couch, her pacifier in her mouth, her long eyelashes resting against her lids.

Chloe: I wore her out at the park, she crashed after lunch.

Me: **Heart Emoji**

A pang of jealousy hits me so quickly my eyes fill with tears. I love Chloe and how she so graciously opened her home for me and Poppy, happily agreeing to look after my daughter so she wouldn’t have to go to day care with strangers. But now I’m working, I hate that I’m missing out on these moments with her. I want to take her to the park, to spend my days with her making memories, I don’t want to miss anything, but I needed to support myself and as a single parent that means working a full-time job.

Eventually I want to get my own place, somewhere that’s ours, just mine and Poppy’s and to be able to do that, I need to work. At least it’s Chloe looking after her and taking a thousand pictures so I can be there in spirit if not in reality.

Sighing wistfully, I click out of Chloe’s texts and into the ones from Penn.

Penn: My dick is so fucking hard for you. I can still smell your pussy on me.

Penn: How’s work?

Penn: I’m really hoping you’re busy and not just ignoring me.

Penn: On my way to pick you up for lunch.

The last message was from only a few minutes ago and I exhale slowly as I try to build some walls to protect myself from his addictive presence. He disarms me so easily that I probably need a safe room to save myself from him, but I have to try no matter what.

Standing, I take a moment to stretch, my muscles tight from being bent over my laptop all morning. Making my way to Janet’s office, I knock on the door then wait.

“Come.”

Pushing open the door, I peer around it. “I’m going for lunch; did you want me to grab you anything?”

“No thank you,” she replies curtly, not bothering to look at me again.

“Okay, see you in an hour.” I close her office door before she can ignore me again and grab my purse. I pop into Dave and Taylor’s office and ask them if they need anything, but again Dave tells me they both bought lunch from home.

Stepping into reception I part my lips to ask Annette, but Penn appears from nowhere and presses his lips to mine before I can make a sound. He kisses me like we’re reuniting after a decade of missing each other, like I’m his one and only, like he won’t survive without it.

When he pulls back, his fingers still tangled in my hair, we’re both panting and I’m sure my lips are kiss swollen and puffy. “I missed you,” he whispers.

“It’s been five hours.”

“Exactly. Bay had to threaten to tie my ass to a chair to stop me from coming to get you all morning.”

“Bay?”

“My brother.”

“Oh,” I nod.

“Come on, I’m starving, let’s go to Grannie Annie’s.”

Dazed, I allow him to take my hand and tow me toward the door before I remember Annette, whose cheeks are tinged pink, a coy smile etched across her lips. “Annette, did you want me to grab anything for you?”

“No thank you, sweetie, enjoy your lunch. Bye Penn.”

“See you later, Annette,” he calls over his shoulder, not even pausing in his single-minded intent to get me out of the building.

“Hey, slow down,” I protest as he pulls me so fast I almost stumble out of the door.

“Sorry, Kitten,” he purrs, releasing my hand and dropping an arm over my shoulder instead.

“How far is this place?”

“Just around the corner,” he smiles, bending down and stealing a quick kiss before straightening again, a smug smile stretching his mouth “We’re having a proper lunch today, no eating at your desk.

“What if I’m too busy to eat out?” I ask, being deliberately combative. I hate eating at my desk and I need a break from all the mindlessly pointless tasks Janet has me doing, but his kiss has destroyed all the walls I’ve rebuilt this morning and right now being a bitch to him is the only defense I have.

“Tough,” he chirps, guiding me across the street and toward a mom-and-pop style diner complete with the red and white gingham drapes at the windows.

The diner is packed, but Penn waves at an elderly woman behind the counter who points to an empty booth at the back. He guides me to the table, then slides in next to me, instead of opposite, his thigh touching mine.

“You’d have more room over there,” I point at the empty bench set across from us.

“My brother and his wife are joining us.”

“Oh, err, okay,” I stumble over my words, surprised that he’s introducing me to more members of his family.

“Don’t worry, you’ll like them,” he says, his hand landing on my thigh, slowly pushing the fabric upwards.

“Stop,” I chide, slapping my hand over his in an attempt to stop his movement.

“No one can see. I bet your pussy is missing me, I bet she wants to be petted.” Ignoring my attempts to stop him, he continues his movement toward my core, stilling the moment he finds bare flesh and not cotton. “Where the fuck are your panties?” he growls.

“In my purse.”

“Why?” he demands, swiveling around in his seat, heat blazing in his angry eyes.

“Because they were wet,” I say barely above a whisper, my eyes moving from side to side to make sure no one is listening to our conversation.

“I don’t give a fuck. There’s men in your office, you need to be wearing fucking underwear.” His hand forces my thighs apart and he spears me with two fingers, shoving them roughly inside of me. “This is mine. I don’t fucking share. I don’t give a fuck if your panties are dripping with cum, you’ll wear them and keep my fucking pussy covered. You get me?”

He’s angry. Really fucking angry, his eyes not leaving mine, even as two people arrive at our table and slide into the booth opposite us. Turning his head for a second he acknowledges their presence only long enough to snarl. “We’ll be right back.” Then he pulls his fingers out of me, grabs my hand and drags me out of the booth and toward the back of the diner.

Opening the door to a large bathroom, he pulls me inside, closing and locking the door behind us. “Lift up your dress.”

“No,” I cry, yanking my hand free from his hold.

He’s holding my purse, I hadn’t even noticed he’d grabbed it. He takes his eyes off mine and starts to root through my bag, dropping it to the floor with a thud when he finds my balled-up panties, gripping them in his hand.

“Pull up your fucking dress or I’ll bend you over and fuck you for the first time right here in this fucking bathroom.”

When I don’t move, he closes the distance between us in a single stride. Grabbing the sides of my dress I lift it up, revealing my bare pussy to his furious gaze. The hand with my panties in wraps around my throat, while the other forces it’s way between my thighs.

Two fingers shove inside of me and I grunt from the pain, which quickly morphs into pleasure as he ruthlessly fingers my pussy.

“Take out my cock,” he orders and I do as he says, fumbling with his zipper.

His dick pops free and I swallow thickly at the sight of it. He wasn’t lying about the size or girth of it. He’s blessed in the cock department, it’s long and thick and intimidating as hell. Even after having a baby, I’m not entirely sure that thing’s not going to rip me apart if he tries to get it inside of me.

“Jack me.”

His words are an order and I instantly comply, wrapping my hand around him, noting that my fingers don’t touch as he fucks me with his hand. His movements are rough, angry and possessed as he forces an orgasm on me, my body barely having chance to recognize it’s coming before it barrels through me, making my knees weak and a startled cry fall from my lips.

He rips his fingers from inside me and wraps his hand over mine on his dick, increasing the speed of my glides up and down, forcing me to hold him tighter. His grip on my throat tightens and he tenses as he comes, spilling his seed over my pussy, coating my bare skin in his release as he aims his cum to cover as much of me as he can.

When his dick stops twitching, he slowly releases his grip on my hand and loosens his hold on my throat as his eyes focus on the mess he’s made on me.

“Can you pass me the tissue?” I ask quietly.

“No,” he snarls. Releasing my neck, he bends down and holds out my panties for me.

“I need to clean up first.”

“No,” he snaps again, gripping my calf and forcing my foot off the floor. “You’ll wear your fucking panties, you won’t wipe me off you.”

“Penn,” I gasp, outraged.

“Put them on. Now. Or I swear to fucking god, I’ll redden your ass with my hand, then force them onto you.”

Shocked to silence I don’t protest as he manhandles me into my underwear, pulling them up and pressing the fabric down over my pussy, forcing his cum to absorb into the cotton. The instant feeling of wetness pressed against my skin is disquieting. “I can’t sit in cum soaked panties all day,” I protest.

“You can and you fucking will. I’m not having my woman sat at her desk with my pussy out on display. You’re either in wet panties, or impaled on my dick for the rest of the day, your choice.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“No, Kitten, I’m a fucking Barnett. You belong to me and you’ll behave like it.”

“And if I don’t?” I don’t know why I’m provoking him. It’s clear he’s really fucking unhinged.

“Then you won’t be going back to work until you do.”

“You can’t control my job,” I shout, outraged.

“Watch me. I’ve known Taylor my whole fucking life. Nothing and no one will get in the way of me and you, including you learning to do as you’re told.”

“I hate you.”

“No, you just wish you did.”

Reaching out, he smooths down my skirt, unlocks the door and picks up my purse before grabbing my hand in a grip so tight I’m sure my fingers are going white and drags me back to the table, herding me back into my seat as he takes the one beside me, blocking me from leaving.

“Sorry about that, just had to sort a couple of things out,” Penn says to his brother, smiling like it’s an average, normal day.

“That’s okay,” the guy says. It’s obvious that he and Penn are related, they share similarities, like the dark hair and strong bone structure, but where Penn is half mountain, this guy is slimmer, less muscular. Even his demeanor is less threatening than Penn’s.

“Granger, Alice, this is Lulu,” Penn says. “Lulu, this is my brother and his lovely wife.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Lulu,” Granger says, holding his hand out to shake.

“Nice to meet you too,” I say as cordially as I can muster, considering how angry I am with the asshole sitting beside me.

“Hi Lulu, welcome to the family. We need to exchange phone numbers, because from the way you look like you’re ready to stab Penn with your butter knife, I can see that you’re going need to talk to Bonnie, Cora and me. Trust me, if anyone is going to get exactly how you feel right now, it’s going to be us.” She’s so softly spoken that I’m shocked by her words and the warm knowing smile that’s gracing her lips.

“Any tips on how to get rid of him?” I ask.

Her giggle is melodic. “Not any that work, the others might though.” She winks conspiratorially and I can’t help but smile back.

The waitress appears at the side of the table and I notice the menus and full water glasses in front of us. I quickly scan the selection while the others are ordering, then ask for a grilled cheese and tomato soup, with a coke.

Nodding, she collects the menus from us and leaves. Penn tries his best to get my attention, sliding his hand beneath my dress and fondling me over my very wet panties, but I pointedly ignore him, not even glancing in his direction while we wait for our food.

Granger looks between me and Penn, smiling knowingly as he fills the silence. “So you’ve just moved to town?”

“Yeah, I got here a week ago, it’s a bit of a change from Chicago.”

“You’re a big city girl then?”

“Yep, born and raised, but childcare in the city is expensive and I didn’t want my daughter to be with strangers all day. Here, she can stay with family and it’s free,” I smile.

“How old’s your daughter?” Alice asks.

“Almost six months.” I grab my cell from my bag and quickly pull up a picture, turning it toward them like the cliché proud mama that I am.

“Oh she’s beautiful,” Alice smiles.

“You guys don’t have any kids?”

Alice shakes her head, a faint blush filling her cheeks. “Not yet.”

“We’re working on it,” Granger says, pressing a kiss to Alice’s temple as he pulls her closer to him.

“So what do you guys do?”

“We own a bespoke furniture company,” Granger says proudly.

Alice rolls her eyes. “Granger owns a bespoke furniture company, I just do the paperwork, because he’s too messy to know where anything is.”

“It’s our company, we work together, I make the furniture, she keeps me organized, runs the showroom and does all the book work,” Granger says, arching an eyebrow at his wife and conveying a silent message that has her squirming in her seat. Maybe he is as threatening as Penn, just in a different way.

I’m grateful when the food arrives, noting the time on my cell and realizing I only have twenty minutes left of my lunch break. There’s some small talk as we eat, but I don’t really engage, just wanting to eat my food and get away from the domineering asshole beside me, no matter how nice his wife and sister-in-law are.

By the time I’ve finished, I have ten minutes left to pay and get back to my desk. “I’m so sorry to eat and run, but I only get an hour for lunch and I have to be back at my desk and working in ten minutes.”

I push up to standing, dropping some money to cover my lunch on the table, but Penn doesn’t move. “Excuse me,” I say stiffly, still refusing to meet his eye.

“Put your money back in your purse.”

Not wanting to argue over less than twenty dollars, I pick up the cash. “I need to go,” I say stiffly.

“I’ll walk you.”

“I’d rather you didn’t.”

“I wasn’t offering you a choice,” he snarls, slowly pushing up from the table and edging his way out of the booth.

“Here’s my number,” Alice says quietly, her brow furrowed as she slides a business card with a cell number hand written across the back. “Call me later.”

“Okay,” I nod, not really meaning it.

A small, soft hand lands on my wrist. “Please call me.”

Turning, I look at her, a knowing look is staring back at me and I wonder if maybe the spouses of the rest of the Barnett brothers are perhaps the only ones who can help me get rid of this infuriatingly, sexy man. “I will, I promise.”

She nods, lifting her hand and leaning back into her husband.

“It was lovely to meet you. I promise my baby brother isn’t always as much of an asshole as I’m sure he’s proved to be today,” Granger says winking at me, a smirk twitching at the corners of his lips.

“Nice to meet you both,” I say politely.

Shuffling out of the booth, I try to push past Penn, but he grabs my arm, stopping me as he puts some cash on the table and then says goodbye to his family.

“Let me go, I’m going to be late,” I hiss from behind gritted teeth.

He doesn’t release me, but he does start moving, guiding me forward with his unrelenting hold on my wrist. I go with him, hoping to escape him the moment we’re out of the busy diner, only instead of letting me go, his grip just tightens once we’re out on the sidewalk.

“I’m not going to apologize.” His voice is low and steely.

“Whatever, I’d rather you just didn’t speak at all.”

I’m grateful that Rockhead Point is so small when we get to my office building moments later, yanking at my arm to free myself. “My lunch break is over.”

“Come kiss me and you can go,” he drawls, the confidence in his tone instantly pissing me off.

“I don’t want to kiss you.”

“I don’t give a fuck, get your ass over here and kiss me, you won’t be going in until you do.”

“Fuck you.”

His scoff is low and lethal. “That’s another.”

“Fuck,” I drag the word out until it sounds like it’s twenty syllables. “You.”

Yanking my arm so hard I worry it might come out of the socket, he pulls me toward him so violently, I bounce against his rock-hard chest as he holds me to him with a death like grip on the back on my neck. “Kiss me,” he demands.

“No.” I’m not sure why I’m arguing, he’s showing me that he can use his size to overpower me, but if he wants a kiss he’ll have to take it, I won’t offer it to him.

“Kiss me or I’ll finger fuck you to an orgasm right here on the street.”

“You wouldn’t,” I gasp.

“Test me,” he taunts, grabbing my ass and pulling my dress up as he gropes me.

Seething, I breath in and out through my nose, so angry I can see the black haze closing in from the sides of my vision. “I hate you,” I hiss, before I press my lips to his.

He doesn’t let me get away with a dry peck, he forces his tongue past my lips, devouring me like a caveman. The only rebellion I can offer is to not kiss him back. I don’t fight him, but I don’t offer him anything in return staying a passive, unwilling participant.

Growling, he releases me. “Go to work. Keep those fucking panties on, don’t test me on this, Lulu.” Then he turns and strides away, his palpable fury following him like a cloud.