Kept By The Mountain Man (Montana Mountain Men Book 3)

by Gemma Weir

  “What about her family?” Bonnie asks.

  “Mom and step-dad live in Missouri, sister lives in west Virginia, hasn’t seen her dad since she was a kid, I get the impression they aren’t close. I think she’s all alone.”

  “Oh no,” Cora says, her eyes welling with tears.

  “Calm down, Peaches, she’s not alone anymore,” Huck coos, pulling her into his lap and wrapping his arms around her. Since Cora got pregnant, she has been an emotional mess, all films and shows have been banned from the living room tv unless they’re comedies, because everything else makes her cry… and every time she cries, Huck loses his shit.

  “You need to woo her,” Cora says, her voice full of emotion.

  “I’m a fucking man, Cora, I don’t woo,” I say.

  “Well, the caveman bullshit your brothers used on us won’t work on someone who will barely look at you,” Bonnie says pointedly. “Try using that Mine crap on her and watch her run as quick as she can away from you.”

  “Where’s she going to go?” I ask arrogantly. “We’re halfway up a fucking mountain and she’s got no car and no way of leaving. She’s mine and I won’t let her go.”

  “Kidnap isn’t okay,” Cora and Bonnie say in unison.

  “Worked for me,” Huck mutters beneath his breath.

  Cora’s eyes turn glacial and she slowly turns to glare at her fiancé. “Kidnapping is not okay. You’re lucky that I was already in love with you at that point else I’d have stabbed you in your sleep and then had you arrested when I called the cops.”

  Instead of looking even remotely concerned, my brother grabs his woman’s chin with his fingers and snarls, “Mine,” before kissing her roughly.

  Rolling my eyes, I ignore the PDA and look to Beau and his wife. “It’s not kidnapping if she’s here already.”

  “Why don’t you try spending some time with her, get to know her,” Bonnie suggests.

  “Claim her, she’ll be putty in your hands, that’s why we only fall for one woman, so when we do they’re unable to resist, because we’re all in from moment one. Alice will be the same, just show her how much she’s already yours,” Beau tells me, his low, confident voice making complete sense to the caveman that apparently lives inside of me.

  My eyes go to the door behind my siblings and the almost overwhelming need to go to her, to touch her, to claim her, to own her; hits me like a freight train. Having her here but not being able to touch her feels like torture, but as much as what Beau said feels right, if Alice freaks out and runs, I might never see her again. Unlike Bonnie and Cora, Alice has no ties to Rockhead point, she’s only passing through and if she leaves, I don’t even have a direction to chase her in.

  Somehow, I need to find a way to satisfy my baser urges to claim her while not scaring the hell out of her, but also not letting her leave.

  Huck and Cora come up for air, and start making suggestions that range between me barging my way into the room she’s staying in and making her come until she’s unable to live without the orgasms I give her, and leaving her alone tonight to give her a chance to get used to being here and feeling comfortable.

  Honestly, I prefer the orgasm idea, but considering I’m a complete stranger, I’m not sure Alice would be as onboard. Throughout the entire conversation, my eyes stay fixed on her door that’s still closed and I imagine what she’s doing in there. It’s been over half an hour now, more than enough time for her to unpack and freshen up, but she’s still in there.

  A wave of panic washes over me when I wonder if she’s run, if she’s climbed out the window and ran away, until I remember that it’s cold and we live in the middle of nowhere. Fleeing isn’t an option even if she wanted to.

  The front door opens and Cody and Teddy walk in looking windswept, both of them in workwear. “Hey,” I call, “Come sit down, I need to talk to you guys.”

  Cody takes one look at me and starts to laugh. “Oh fuck, you too?”

  Teddy smiles, but manages not to laugh as they both drop down onto the couch. “So, who is she? Is she at least legal? Cora and Bonnie are practically babies. Let me guess, yours is a senior in high school,” Cody mocks.

  “Shut up, asshole. Her name’s Alice and she’s twenty-three. She’s here, in Mama’s old room, she’s gonna be staying with us.”

  Cody’s eyes widen and his mouth falls open. “Do we know her? Is she from town?”

  “No, you don’t know her and no she’s not from town,” I say tersely, not sure why his questions are pissing me off when I’d be asking the exact same thing if he were in my position.

  “She was on her way to Big Mountain for work when her RV broke down today, Granger stopped to help, she’s his, so she’s here,” Beau says succinctly.

  “Fuck,” Teddy laughs. “That’s fast work, even for one of us. You only met her today and she’s moved in already,” he laughs, whistling.

  “It’s not like that… yet,” I snarl, forcing the words from my lips and hating that it’s true when all I want is to own her completely.

  “Oh,” Teddy says, his expression turning serious. “So…?”

  “So don’t do anything to fuck this up, I just need to make her understand. She’s skittish, a real flight risk until I get things straightened out with her,” I confess.

  “So, what you’re saying is that she has no fucking clue that she’s here because you plan to marry her?” Cody laughs, still clearly amused despite how serious everyone else has become.

  “She’s mine, she won’t be leaving. She just doesn’t know it yet,” I tell him, meaning every single word.

  5

  Alice

  I walk to the door, pause, then turn around and scurry back to sit on the bed again, it’s the fifth time I’ve done the same thing but somehow, I can’t convince myself to actually open the door and leave this room. Granger’s on the other side and I feel this need to be close to him, even though the more time I spend with him, the sooner he’ll be sick of me. A part of me must be a closet masochist because I still want to go to him even knowing I’ll see that look in his eyes, the same look I’ve seen a million times in my life.

  He’s gorgeous and nice and I don’t know what to do with that. I’m not a virgin, I let a guy take me out on a date and then take my virginity in the back seat of his car when I was a junior in high school. Back then, I thought that maybe giving him what he wanted would make him like me for longer than it usually takes for people to realize how toxic I am, but sex actually had the opposite affect and I’d barely pulled my panties back on before he was driving me home and telling me he didn’t think we were gonna work out. The second time I picked a guy to have sex with worked out the same way. I even tried a woman once, but despite her kisses being nice, I couldn’t get sexually aroused enough to make it fun. Turns out, not being able to get wet makes women hate you almost as quickly as having actual sex with a guy.

  No, my dating track record is pitiful and it’s been nearly two years since I’ve even bothered to look at a guy. Being celibate doesn’t really bother me, and generally I’m happier alone. Constantly trying to make people like me is exhausting, especially when it never, ever works.

  Getting up from the bed, I cross to the door and press my ear to the wood. I can hear the muffled sounds of voices, but not clearly enough to be able to make out what they’re saying. This time I don’t rush back to the bed, I slowly retreat, knowing that more than likely they’re discussing how to get rid of the stranger in their home. Cora is probably telling them how awful I am, and questioning Granger as to why he insisted on bringing me home.

  A knock on the door makes me jump and I grip the comforter I’m sitting on tightly beneath my fingers. For a second, I contemplate lying down on the bed and pretending to be asleep, but before I can move, the door inches open and Granger’s handsome face peers around the edge.

  “Hey,” he says when he sees me sitting on the bed.

  “Hi.”

  “Is everything okay? Do you need anything? Is the
room okay?”

  “The room’s beautiful,” I say quietly, focusing my attention on my hands on the bed and not on him.

  “I thought I said to come back out once you were settled?” His words are a statement disguised as a question. We both know he told me to come out to the living room, and now he’s found me just sitting here, we both know that I’ve ignored his suggestion and stayed hidden, but I’m hoping he’s too polite to call me out on my cowardice.

  “Come on, most of my family apart from Bay and Penn, who you’ve already met, are home, they’re excited to meet you,” he says, suddenly sounding much closer and when I look up, he’s standing beside me, really close as his hand lifts mine from the comforter and he entwines our fingers together, tugging me gently up from the bed.

  “I—”

  “I swear they’re not all like Cora,” he laughs, deflecting my attempt at arguing as he tows me effortlessly from the room, his thumb rubbing circles on my hand like he’s trying to reassure me.

  He opens the door for us and I turn my head and stare wistfully behind me at the sanctuary the beautiful room had afforded me, as he leads me into the living space and toward the group of people on the sofa, all watching me expectantly.

  Granger tows me around a huge corner couch and drags me to sit right next to him on the other side, facing the five unfamiliar faces that are staring back at me. In normal circumstances, I’d be concerned about the fact that Granger is sitting so close I’m practically pressed into him from my hip to my knee, our hands still tightly held together resting on his thigh, but for this moment it’s reassuring being next to him when there’s so many strangers staring at me.

  “Okay so you know Cora, next to her is Huck, then Beau and his wife Bonnie, and this is Cody and Teddy,” he says, pointing to each person in turn. “Everyone, this is Alice,” he says magnanimously.

  All six faces are smiling back at me and I try to return the gesture, fighting the internal survival instinct I’ve built up; the one that tells me to nod politely then leave any situation where I’m forced to be around groups of friends. “Hi,” I say dumbly.

  The two younger guys both smirk at me and I feel myself shrink back a little, only to find Granger’s huge body blocking my retreat.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Alice,” the other woman, Bonnie says, her expression open and honest, and unlike most women my age when I meet them.

  “You too,” I say politely. “Thank you all for offering me a place to stay, I really would have been fine in my RV but Granger kind of insisted,” I say on a rush.

  “There’s no way we’d have let you stay alone in your RV with no power or heat,” the big guy sitting with Bonnie growls menacingly.

  “Hopefully my RV will be fixed soon and I’ll be out of your hair. I’ve been considering upgrading to something newer for a while now, so it might be time to get something more reliable anyway,” I mutter to no one in particular.

  “So you live alone?” one of the guys asks.

  “Yes.”

  “Is that safe?” someone else asks.

  I shrug. “As safe as living anywhere alone, I imagine.”

  “Don’t you get lonely?” Cora questions.

  “No,” I say, shrugging. “I’ve been living alone for the last five years, I prefer it,” I lie. I don’t prefer it, but it’s better than forcing yourself on people who don’t like you and feel obliged to tolerate you.

  “Wow, I couldn’t imagine living alone, I lived in a house with three other people in college and I hated it because it was too quiet,” the youngest looking brother laughs.

  One of the other brothers jumps up from the couch and heads to the refrigerator. “Beer, Alice? Or we have fruity wine cooler things, soda, juice and water.”

  “A beer is great, thanks,” I say politely. He grabs bottles out and quickly returns to the couch, handing a bottle of juice to Cora, then beers to me and Bonnie, before he throws bottles to his brothers and settles back into his spot again.

  I try to pull my hand free from Granger’s, but instead of releasing me, he takes my bottle from me, opens it with one hand then hands it back to me with a wink.

  “So, Granger tells us you were on your way up to Big Mountain for a job? What do you normally do up there?” The big guy beside Bonnie asks, his tone gruff as he pulls Bonnie onto his lap and she immediately snuggles into him.

  I shrug again. “The resorts normally take on seasonal staff during ski season, waitresses, maids, sometimes reception staff. I’ll do whatever, I’m not picky, work is work.”

  “You ever done any office stuff, answering the phone, filing, that kind of thing?” he asks.

  “Yeah,” I say elongating the word, unsure where he’s going with this.

  “Well, the woman who does all my paperwork quit last week so she could go on tour with her waste of space husband, and I was gonna advertise her job but this works out perfectly,” big guy says.

  “What works out?” I ask stupidly.

  “You’re looking for a job, I have a job available.”

  “Oh, Beau, that’s such a good idea,” Bonnie says happily. “He was trying to get me to quit my job and go work for him, but now you’re here I don’t have to,” she laughs, slapping the guy who I now know is Beau on the chest playfully.

  “You’re quitting that job the moment my baby’s in your belly,” he tells her, pulling her into him even closer and kissing her.

  “Err, thank you for the offer, but I’m going to be leaving as soon as my RV’s fixed, or as soon as I can buy a new one if mine’s not fixable. I won’t be here, so you’d be better looking for someone permanent.”

  “How long were you planning on staying in Big Mountain?” Beau asks.

  “Probably till the end of February, maybe March if there’s a lot of snow,” I say, glancing at all the others who are watching me intently as Granger sits stiffly behind me.

  “So stay here and work for me till then. By that point, Marlene will probably have realized her husband is a waste of space and will have come back without him,” Beau offers.

  I’m shaking my head before my lips manage to form words. “I appreciate the offer but—”

  “Thanks, Beau, that’d be great,” Granger answers from behind me, his fingers gripping mine tightly in some kind of silent gesture that I don’t understand in the least. “Alice can stay here with us for the winter, got to be better than staying in an RV at a trailer park on your own.”

  “Wait,” I blurt, twisting around to glare at Granger.

  As if sensing my anger, the guy who got the beers jumps up from the couch again. “I should get dinner started. Alice, you’re not a vegan or a vegetarian or anything, are you? Any allergies or things you just hate?”

  “You don’t have to make me dinner,” I argue.

  “Nonsense, you live here, you eat here, house rules. And I’m Cody by the way, I know you had a lot of names fired at you earlier,” he smiles. “So, veggie?”

  “Err no, I’m not a picky eater,” I say weakly.

  With a wink he strides toward the kitchen area, and I wonder what he’s making that would need him to start cooking now when it’s barely four in the afternoon.

  Cora yawns loudly and Huck scoops her off the couch. “Nap time, Peaches,” he announces, as he carries her toward one of the doors that lead off the main living space, and just as quickly, Bonnie announces she wants to go check on her horse and she and Beau leave.

  Again, I try to yank my hand free of Granger’s hold, but instead of releasing me, he gets up from the couch and pulls me up with him.

  “Granger,” I say, planting my feet and trying to hold my ground.

  “You obviously have something you want to say to me, I’d rather do that in private,” he growls, his voice low.

  I nod, because I do need to ask him why he thinks it’s okay to accept a job on my behalf. I rarely get mad, but he’s right, I’d rather do it in private than in front of his family, who so far have all been very nice to me.
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br />   Instead of leading me back to the room I’m staying in, he opens a different door and I find myself being led into a different bedroom, this one is masculine and almost rustic in appearance. A big bed dominates the space that looks like it’s been carved out of the trunk of a tree. A gorgeous dresser is set against a wall that’s painted a rich navy blue, while the other walls are a stark white that only seems to accentuate the beautiful grains in the wooden furniture.

  “Is this your room?” I ask.

  Nodding, he pulls me further into the room and closes the door behind us, until it’s just me, him, and the huge bed. Swallowing thickly, I try to step back, but his hold on me stops me and instead he reels me in closer until barely an inch separates us.

  This close, he seems even taller and I have to tip my head back to look up into his beautifully handsome face.

  “You’re going to take that job,” he says suddenly, shocking me.

  “No, I’m not.”

  “Yes, you are. I want to get to know you and I can’t do that if you’re hours away in Big Mountain. You’re going to take the job for my brother, you’re going to stay here in this house and you’re going to be mine,” he tells me a moment before his lips close over mine.

  Shocked, for the longest second I do nothing, just stand there as his lips devour mine, his tongue pushing his way into my mouth as his arms surround me, holding my body tight against his. When I’m finally released from my shock induced stupor, I slap at his chest, closing my mouth and denying his kiss.

  “Alice,” he growls, his hand cupping my cheek and tilting me to how he wants me as he attacks my mouth again.

  “No,” I cry against his lips shoving at him again. “No.”

  He stops and reluctantly pulls back, not letting me go, but no longer trying to kiss me.

  “What are you doing?” I demand.

  “Kissing you,” he smirks.

  “Why?”

  “Because I wanted to.”

  “That’s not a good enough reason.”