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

Fucking pain in the ass, stubborn fucking woman.

Rage and anger and annoyance are my companions as I stomp across town to where our garage is situated. Bay is bent over, his head inside the engine of a Honda, not bothering to look up at me as I kick an empty oil pan out of the way. Picking up the tools from the bench beside the car I was working on earlier, I throw them back into my rolling tool case, seething with anger.

“Nice lunch?” my asshole brother asks. At some point during my tantrum, he’s moved across the workshop and is now beside me, a smirk twitching at his lips.

“I swear, that fucking woman. Why was I so excited to find her? She’s a pain in the ass.”

“Would she be the right one for you if she just instantly submitted to whatever you wanted?”

His words make me freeze and I slowly turn my head and look at him.

“You don’t want an easy lay. This town is full of them. Full of women prepared to jump in your bed and spread their legs for you. Be honest. When you think about your future, do you see some little mouse always saying yes, or do you imagine Lulu, fighting and snarling?”

Fuck, he’s right. Even pissed at her, I love her fire and the way the flames only dull to a smolder, never going out completely even when she gives in to me. When her body melts at my touch she’s gifting me her submission and that makes it a million times more valuable. I hate it when my brothers are right, the smug assholes.

“My work here is done,” Bay says with a smirk, throwing his arms wide as he turns and saunters back to the car he’s repairing.

I sit and stew in my anger and annoyance for another hour. I know everything he’s said is right. Lulu is perfect for me in every fucking way. I doubt my dick would even twitch for anyone else now it knows she exists, but I’m still pissed that she took her fucking panties off at work. I’m furious that she refused to even acknowledge my presence at lunch and I hate that she wouldn’t kiss me back when I dropped her off at her office.

She’s mine and she needs to start fucking acting like it.

It’s thirty minutes later before I pull my cell out and send her a text.

Me: Send me a picture of your panties.

The tick flashes up beside the message and I know she’s seen it, but she doesn’t reply.

Me: It’s either send me a picture or I come down there and check they’re still where they’re supposed to be.

The tick appears again, but no reply. I don’t know why I’m smiling, but I am, a low laugh bursting from my lips when she still doesn’t reply.

Me: be there in five

The tick and then the three dots appear, letting me know that she’s typing.

Lulu: **Picture**

The picture she’s sent is a view up her skirt, showing her panties and her hand with her middle finger saluting me. I laugh again, my smile widening.

Me: Good girl. I’ll be there to pick you up at 5.30.

Lulu: I’d rather get a cab

Me: There you go thinking I was offering you a choice again. I’ll be there to pick you up at 5.30, you WILL be there waiting for me.

A few minutes later, a new message pings through and I’m surprised to find it’s from Lulu. It’s a link to a you tube video. Clicking it, I burst out laughing when a music video starts playing. It’s called “Fuck you” by Lilly Allen. I watch the entire video, listening as the singer boldly sings “fuck you” pronouncing her hatred for whoever she wrote the song for. My kitten has claws and there’s no point in pretending I don’t like it.

Over the rest of the afternoon, Lulu sends me several more links to music videos with fuck in the title or as the theme of the song. I’m kind of impressed, because honestly I had no idea there were so many angry songs out there. Each song makes me laugh a little louder and by the time 5.15pm rolls around, I’m not even that pissed at her anymore. I still want to bend her over and spank her ass until she promises to do what she’s told forever more; but honestly, I’ve wanted to do that since the moment I set eyes on her.

I’m almost jovial as I wave goodbye to my brother and climb into my car, driving the short distance around to her office and parking my car in the lot at the back of the building. Pushing through the door, I wave to Annette, who is on the phone, and then drop my ass into the couch in the waiting area.

It’s 5.45pm before Lulu and Dave appear in the corridor, he’s talking to her, making her smile and I’m glad I know he’s happily married to a man, else I’d have a serious fucking problem with the way he has his hands on my woman. Despite knowing he’s gay, I still hate the way she’s smiling at him. I hate it more that her smile dims when she sees me, it’s like being kicked in the balls. I don’t like that she’s pissed at me, I want her to light up when she sees me, not wilt like a fucking depressed flower. I thought she’d gotten over her anger with all the fuck you song links, but apparently not.

Standing, I move toward her, smiling widely at Dave as I push my way between them, separating them and dropping my arm around her shoulders, pulling her tight into my side.

“Hi Penn, you and your brothers all still straight?” he asks.

“Last time I checked. You still married?”

“I am, but Brian and I already agree that if any of you boys decided to dip your toes in the gay pool, you’re all both of our hall passes,” he laughs flirtily.

“Well, I’m firmly in camp pussy, but if any of the others ever change their minds, I’ll let them know about your and Brian’s deal.”

“You do that,” Dave purrs, turning and winking at Lulu before he heads for the door.

“You ready, Kitten?” I ask, letting my palm slide down her back to rest just above her ass.

“Ready to get a cab? Yes. Ready to go anywhere with you? Not particularly.”

“There you go thinking you had a choice again,” I smile, adding a little pressure to her back and encouraging her to move forward.

“Asshole.”

“Night Annette,” I call, ignoring Lulu’s insult as I hold open the door and urge her outside.

“Night Penn, night Lulu,” Annette calls, her amusement clear in her tone and a soft chuckle follows us outside.

“I really don’t like you. You know that don’t you?” Lulu hisses, walking faster in an obvious attempt to get away from me.

“You liked me well enough this morning when you were coming on my fingers.” I smile.

“Sex has nothing to do with like. I don’t have to like my vibrator to let it give me an orgasm.”

“That’s true, but no plastic cock can make you come the way I do.” I sound smug, but I can be because I know it’s the truth. I’m good at sex, I know how to make a woman come and I can almost guarantee that Lulu has come harder on my fingers than she ever has on another man’s dick or any fucking plastic cock. “Kitten, you can ride a dildo like a cowgirl and it still won’t make you feel the way I can with two fingers.”

“So full of yourself,” she mutters under her breath as I open her car door and help her inside.

Quickly moving to the driver’s side, I climb in and turn to look at her. “Not as full as you’re going to be when I fill you up with my cock. I can’t wait to hear you beg for it… and you will beg. Mindless and cum drunk, you’ll beg and plead, you’ll worship my dick because you’ll know you’re ruined for anything else but me.”

“Your cock isn’t going anywhere near me,” she snarls, her lips pressed into an angry line. Turning away from me, she shakes her head as she stares out of the window, ignoring me.

“Want to make a bet?”

“No.”

“You chicken? I bet I can make you beg for my cock in less than ten minutes and if you’re a good kitten, I might even give it to you.”

“I might have enjoyed the orgasms you’ve given me, but I’ll never beg for your dick,” she sneers.

“Then you’ll win.”

Stilling, she slowly turns to look at me. “What do I get if I win?”

“I’ll leave you alone.” For at least an hour or two, I say silently.

“What?” her brow furrows and I can see the skepticism on her face.

“If you win, I’ll leave you alone.”

“Let me get this right. You get ten minutes to try to get me to beg for your dick and if I don’t—which I won’t—you’ll leave me alone.”

“Yep,” I nod, smiling widely.

“Okay, fine, pull over, I’ll set a ten-minute timer on my cell.”

“Not in the car. I want you on a bed.”

“Poppy.”

“I know, we’ll go to Chloe’s, get Poppy bathed and into bed, then I’ll take you to my place and you can set all the timers you want there.”

“Your place?”

“Yes, my place. I’m not going to be able to make you scream when Princess is ten feet away from us. Plus I want you to see my home, meet the rest of my family, tell me what Poppy will need for her room so we can get it all set-up for her.”

“Poppy’s room?” her confusion is fucking adorable.

“Princess is going to need her own room and I want it to be perfect for her, so you’ll check it out and let me know what I need to get.”

“Why the fuck would my daughter need a room at your house?” she snarls.

“For when you move in, Kitten,” I reply cockily.

“I’m not moving in with you.”

“Sure you are, I could even take the weekend off and we could decorate and get it ready for you to move in next week,” I shrug, traversing the roads to Chloe’s house with ease and pulling into the driveway while Lulu is still staring at me incredulously.

“I don’t…” she stops talking, shakes her head and then sighs. “I don’t even know how to respond to that. I’m really starting to think you are actually completely insane. I mean, who suggests moving in together after they’ve known each other for two days?”

“People who know without a shadow of a doubt that the person they’re asking is theirs and will always be theirs.”

“And psychos.”

“And possibly psychos.” I shrug, smiling widely.

Before she has a chance to say anything else I open my door and climb out, rounding the car and opening her door while she just sits looking stupefied.

“Come on, Kitten, Princess is waiting.” At my reminder that Poppy is inside waiting for her mama, Lulu sobers, ignoring my hand and climbs out of the car. I can’t help but smile as she barges past me and storms straight up to the front door. Following behind her, I let myself into the house and find Lulu cuddling Poppy tightly, talking to her in a cooing tone on the couch, while Chloe pulls a bottle of wine from the refrigerator.

Deciding to give Lulu a moment, I saunter into the kitchen area and smile at Chloe. “How was your day with Princess?”

Chloe’s eyes soften and she smiles. “Every day with her is a pleasure, she’s the happiest baby I’ve ever known. I’m so glad they’re both here.”

Turning, I rest my butt next to hers against the counter and sigh as I watch my woman with her daughter. I want some claim on them both, but right now Lulu is fighting me as much as she’s letting me take control. I need her to understand I don’t just want her; I need her like I need air to breathe.

“What are you doing with her?”

Chloe’s voice pulls me from my daydream and I turn my head to look at her. “They’re mine.”

“Both of them? Because they’re a package deal. What Lulu’s been through for that little girl—”

“Both of them,” I interrupt. “Lulu’s my woman, knew it the moment I laid eyes on her. Poppy’s mine too, that little girl had me twisted around her little finger the second I saw her in Lulu’s arms. I want to be her daddy and Lulu’s man. I’ve just got to make Lulu understand what it means to be mine. She’s pissed at me, but I think I have a way of fixing things. Do you have plans tonight? I want to take her back to my place for a while, we’ll get Princess all sorted and into bed before we go.”

“If you hurt either of them, I’ll castrate you myself, Penn Barnett,” Chloe warns.

“If I hurt them, I’ll deserve it,” I agree, making sure to look her in the eye so she can see how serious I am.

Chloe nods, then smiles again. “I like you, Penn, always have. I’ll watch Poppy tonight, I wasn’t planning on going anywhere anyway. Are you going to steal my girls from me?”

“As soon as I can convince them to move in, yeah, but that’s okay, you’ll just have to start coming to dinner a few times a week like Hal does.”

“Deal. And I’ll even give you a pointer. Actions speak louder than words with Lulu. She’s been let down a lot the last year or so, lots of people have tried to sell her with pretty promises and zero follow through. She’s not just going to roll over and accept you at your word, you’re going to need to show her.”

Nodding solemnly, I bite my tongue so I don’t ask who’s hurt my girls. I don’t want to hear the story from Chloe, I need Lulu to tell me and to get her to do that, I need her to trust me. As much as I wish I could just kidnap her and Poppy and stop them from leaving, that won’t work. Lulu needs to see that what I’m saying is true, and I have no problem backing that up with my actions.

Picking up the glass of wine from the counter, I press a kiss to Chloe’s cheek and make my way over to the couch. Lulu is on the floor, helping Poppy to build a tower out of pink bricks. The moment the fourth brick goes on the top, Poppy knocks them all down and giggles, clapping her pudgy hands together in glee.

Instead of sitting on the couch, I get down onto the floor, handing Lulu her wine.

“Hey princess, have you had a good day?” I ask Poppy, smiling at the beautiful little girl when she turns her huge blue eyes at me.

She makes an adorable cooing noise, then slaps at the bricks that are on the floor between her legs.

“What are we building? Are Mama’s towers no good?”

Poppy slaps at the bricks again.

“What about a castle for the pretty princess?” I ask her, then start to build the bricks up into a sort of castle shape while Poppy watches me. Working quickly, I place the last brick on the top and watch as Poppy giggles, then slaps the bricks, sending them skittering across the floor. “Oh no,” I gasp, slapping my hands to my cheeks in mock shock. “A giant knocked the princess’s castle over.”

Poppy giggles, slapping at the bricks as a line of drool falls from the corner of her parted lips.

“I should go get her bath started,” Lulu says quietly from beside me.

“Say, no Mama, I want to make more castles,” I coo, booping Poppy on the nose and using the triangle fabric thing around her neck that’s already wet with drool to wipe the spittle away.

Poppy claps and even though I can’t see it, I can feel the soft smile on Lulu’s lips. It’s the same one I’ve seen her give her daughter whenever she looks at her. “One more castle to smash and then it’s bath time.”

“Yay,” I cheer, lifting Poppy’s chubby arms into the air and waving them around.

We play for another thirty minutes, then I push up from the floor. “I’ll go run her bath, you keep playing and I’ll shout you when it’s ready. Any particular jammies for tonight?”

“I can do it,” Lulu argues, moving to stand up.

“I’ve got it, Kitten,” I assure her, squeezing her shoulder lightly. “You stay and play with princess.”

Warm, grateful eyes lift to mine and my dick twitches with the way she’s looking at me. It’s not at all sexual, but the gratitude and thanks in her expression mean more than she could understand. Lulu is fighting my need to look after my girls and I fucking love it, but I’ll do whatever it takes for her to understand that her and Poppy are the most important things in my world. Running our princess a bath so her mama can spend ten more minutes playing with her is just one tiny way I’ll show her how happily I take care of what’s mine.

I head upstairs and set the tub to fill, then go into Lulu and Poppy’s room to find jammies, a diaper and everything else I remember her pulling out last night. Taking a moment to look around, I hate that this room doesn’t feel like theirs. Their stuff is here, but it’s obviously a spare room that they’re using rather than home. Boxes are stacked up against one wall and furniture has been moved out of the way to make room for Poppy’s crib and changing table.

This feels temporary, which maybe it is. That thought unsettles me even more. I still don’t know why Lulu is here and what happened to make her move from Chicago. She mentioned that childcare in the city was expensive and that she didn’t want Poppy to be around strangers all day, but surely she has parents, maybe even siblings? Where are they? Why has she moved clear across the country?

The unknown answers to all of those questions consume me as I turn off the taps and lean over to check the temperature of the water. It’s a little hot so I add some cold water, securing Poppy’s bath chair in place and adding some bubble bath to the water, swishing it around until the surface is covered with a layer of fluffy bubbles.

Setting out a cloth, shampoo and baby soap, I head back downstairs and find Poppy in Lulu’s lap on the floor while she sings quietly to her. Poppy’s eyelids are heavy and she’s sucking on her finger, her head resting against Lulu’s breasts.

Crouching down, I brush my finger across the apple of Poppy’s cheek. “You ready for your bath, little one?”

Tired eyes look up at me and I melt, I fucking melt. Carefully lifting her from her mama’s lap, she nestles into my shoulder as I hold out a hand for Lulu. I’m expecting her to reject my offer of help, but instead she gently places her hand in mine and lets me help her up from the floor, her expression soft as she watches me hold her daughter.

We bath Poppy and I blow bubbles at both mama and baby while Lulu does the actual bathing part. Then I tidy up the bathroom and make Poppy’s bottle with a little assistance from Chloe while Lulu gets her dried and ready for bed. This time when she settles onto the bed to feed her, I lie down behind her, wrapping my arm around both Lulu and Poppy as Lulu whispers a story about a princess living in a castle and a giant and a knight in shining armor.

The sense of contentment I feel just lying here with my girls shocks me, but makes complete sense at the same time; and I’m almost reluctant to release them when Lulu pulls the bottle from Poppy’s mouth and starts to move.

“Stay, don’t put her down yet.”

Lulu stills for a minute, then sighs and relaxes back into me, her finger tips stroking the soft swell of Poppy’s lips.

“She’s so perfect,” Lulu whispers.

“Just like her mama.”

Scoffing lightly, she tenses when I press a kiss to her shoulder. “Perfect,” I whisper.

Reluctantly, I let her get up and lay Poppy down in her crib, then I take her hand in mine and lead her downstairs.

“I can cook dinner here, or we can grab something at mine.”

She opens her mouth to argue, but I silence her with a kiss. “I already spoke to Chloe, she doesn’t have any plans tonight and doesn’t mind watching the baby monitor while we go to mine for a while.”

“It’s not fair for me to expect Chloe to watch her all day, then again on the night,” Lulu protests.

“I agree and normally I wouldn’t have asked, but it’s only for a couple of hours and it’s a one off. Once Poppy’s room is set up at my place, we’ll just take her with us.”

She starts to argue again and I press my lips to hers, enjoying this way of keeping her compliant. When she kisses me back I slide an arm around her hip and hold her to me, grinding my hard dick against her stomach as I slowly dominate her mouth.

“Get a room,” Chloe calls from the living room, then cackles loudly.

“We’ve got two but one’s got a baby in it, the other’s thirty minutes from here,” I call back, smiling against Lulu lips as I turn her, walking her toward the couch with my arm wrapped around her waist. “Go sit, I’ll see what I can rustle up for dinner.”

The refrigerator is full, so I pull out the stuff for a stir fry, eager to eat and get her to my place as quickly as possible now we’re on a time limit. As much as I want her in my bed all night, Lulu’s right, it’s not fair to expect Chloe to do extra babysitting or for Lulu to spend even more time away from her kid just because I want her all to myself in a room with a bed and no baby.

The ladies watch tv, while I pull out a pan, chicken, veggies and make a quick sauce and throw them together, cooking the fresh ingredients hot and fast. I’m a good cook, my mama made sure all of us boys knew how to take care of ourselves and our women when we found them. But it’s more than just a life skill, I enjoy cooking, I find it weirdly calming. I even enjoy the days when it’s my turn to cook for the family, and cooking for Lulu feels even better.

I want to provide everything for her, including food, a home and money. My woman and kid will have everything they’ve ever desired and I’ll do whatever it takes to make that happen. Ten minutes later, I divide the food onto three plates and lay the table, grabbing the wine bottle from the refrigerator and a bottle of water for me. “Dinner’s ready, ladies,” I call.

Lulu gets to the table first and I hold out her chair for her, like the gentleman my mama tried to make me, pressing a kiss to her cheek as I place the plate of food in front of her.

“You cook?” she says breathily.

“I do.”

“I don’t,” she laughs.

“That’s okay, I’ll look after you.” I wink, sliding into my chair beside her as Chloe disappears into the hallway, returning a moment later with a frown on her face.

“You okay?” Lulu asks.

“Yeah, just my god damn daughter being a pain in the ass again,” she sighs.

“Oh,” Lulu says, not asking anything further as she grabs her fork and stabs some chicken and noodles from the plate.

“Apparently I’m a terrible mother because I won’t give her five thousand dollars to bail her waste of space boyfriend out of jail,” Chloe hisses. Opening the bottle of wine, she fills her glass all the way to the top, lifts it to her lips and take a healthy drink, before slamming it back down to the table hard enough to make some of the liquid spill out the side. “I mean five thousand dollars that I’ll never see again to get that idiot out of jail, when the best place he could be is locked up and away from my daughter.”

“Who’s she seeing?” I ask cautiously.

“Dirk. I mean, really, who the hell calls their child Dirk? She met him at a bar in the city, I’ve not even met him, all I know is that she’s saying they’re engaged and I need to give her money for a fancy city wedding and a ten thousand dollar dress and a honeymoon to the fucking Seychelles.” Chloe is full on ranting now, and when I glance at Lulu, her face is pale, her expression grim as she stoically eats.

“I’m sorry, Chloe, you know this is because I’m here.”

“It’s not your fault, Lulu. She’s a selfish brat. You’re family, but she’s always been jealous of you and she’s acting out like a child. She hasn’t lived here for years and it’s not like you and Poppy are even in her bedroom, you’re in James’ and he couldn’t be happier knowing you’re here.” Chloe shakes her head and angrily stabs her fork into a baby corn, snapping the end off with her teeth and ruthlessly crunching down on it. “Oh Penn, I’m sorry, this is delicious. Thank you for cooking.”

“It’s no problem. Is there anything we can do to help with Roxanne?” I’m really hoping she says no. It took me months and several really nasty and uncomfortable conversations with Roxy for her to understand that my dick had zero interest in her anymore. Even after I’d spelled my disinterest out to her a dozen times, she still told me she’d be waiting for me to apologize and beg her to come back to me the last time I saw her. I’m not sure how a woman hears that she was just a wet, willing hole and spins that to her being the great love of my life. But the more I pushed Roxy away, the more she thought I was interested.

“God no, the best thing you and Lulu can do is stay as far away from Roxanne as possible. There is no point her screaming at everyone. I’m her mother, it must be at least partially my fault she is the way she is, so I’ll take the brunt of her drama,” Chloe laughs weakly.

The rest of dinner passes in a tense haze. I know I need to tell Lulu about the fuck buddy situation I had with Roxanne, but I need to get things solid with her before I throw any unnecessary drama into the mix.

When we’ve all finished eating, I wash the dishes, while Lulu disappears upstairs to shower and change. I’d rather we go and she can shower at my place, but I bite my tongue and instead make myself useful cleaning up while she’s gone.

“Okay, I’m ready,” she announces from the doorway.

Turning to look at her, I almost swallow my tongue when I spy her standing in the doorway, in a pair of skin-tight jeans and a knit sweater that hangs off one shoulder, revealing a tantalizing glimpse of skin that I want to lick and suck. I can’t see a bra strap and I’m really, really hoping she’s not wearing one, even though her tits are probably too big for her to go without.

Dropping the cloth I’m holding, I wipe my hands and close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around her and pulling her until she’s close enough for me to kiss. “Fuck, Kitten, I’m not sure how I’m even going to last the ride home without touching you.”

“See you in a couple of hours,” Chloe calls, reminding us that she’s sitting on the couch and can probably hear everything I just said.

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” Lulu asks, unease lacing her beautiful face.

“No, it’s fine, go, go. Poppy rarely wakes up in the night,” Chloe waves away her concern before turning back to the show she’s watching on the tv.

“Come on, Kitten, we won’t be too long, and I’ve got a bet to win.” Winking at her, I take her hand in mine and pull her out through the door.