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

by Gemma Weir

  “Nah, I can just box it up as I sort.”

  “Okay, then just let me know once you’ve filled a box and we’ll start loading it into the truck.”

  “Sure,” I laugh.

  His brows furrow, but I just smile, taking the huge cardboard box Teddy has built for me and making my way toward my RV as Bay appears with the keys. Taking them from him, I unlock the door and the familiar smell of damp and the peach air fresheners I keep hung throughout the small space hits me.

  A wave of what feels a lot like melancholy washes over me and for the first time, I see how narrow my life has been for the last five years. Living in an RV doesn’t allow for clutter, but there’s not a single personal item out on display. The sides, cupboards and tiny shelves are empty and when I climb inside, I already know that if I leave Rockhead Point I’ll struggle to survive in the bubble of self-imposed isolation I’ve lived in since I left Missouri.

  Dragging the box in behind me, I place it on the floor and it fills all of the available floor space. There’s no way I can move around it, so I drop it to the ground outside and start to lift up the seats to where the only personal stuff I have resides. Taking out a small box, I lift the lid and glance down at the handful of photos and mementos inside. My sister’s smiling face stares back at me and I quickly close the lid, not wanting to deal with the rush of emotions that comes with anything to do with her and what I did to her.

  Placing the small box into the bigger box, I sort through each storage area one at a time, methodically moving from one side of the RV to the other, pulling out everything I want to keep. Turns out there’s less than I thought and by the time I’m done, the cardboard box is barely halfway full.

  “I’m done,” I announce, climbing out of the RV and finding Bay and Teddy leaning against the truck, both studying their cell phones.

  “Need another box?” Teddy asks.

  “No, I’m done, that’s it.” I look from side to side, wondering where Granger is. “Where’s Granger?” A sense of panic starts to rise up inside of me as my eyes frantically look from side to side, searching for his familiar face. When I don’t see him, my breaths become erratic, my chest feeling tight.

  “He went to get donuts,” Bay says, pushing his cell into his pocket and peering around me. “Where’s the rest of your stuff?”

  “That’s it.” I motion to the half full box. Placing my hand against my chest as I struggle to breathe, my ribs actually hurt as the air surrounding us seems to evaporate and my eyesight narrows, black appearing at the sides of my vision.

  “Granger is gonna be pissed if you don’t bring everything,” Teddy says, a hint of warning in his soft voice. “Hey, are you okay?”

  I don’t reply, I don’t have enough air in my lungs to form words. He left me, he told me to pack my belongings and then he left me. Is this it? Has he had enough of me now? He’s not here and that must mean that he doesn’t want me anymore. I should unpack, but I can’t move, my head getting fuzzy as it gets harder and harder to breathe.

  “Alice.” Someone’s calling my name, but I can’t see them, darkness invading my sight. I’m alone again. Two days was all I got with him, two days of him not hating me. It was blissful, but it was probably longer than I deserved and now he’s left me, and I can’t even blame him. But I also can’t breathe without him, he told me he wanted my problems, that I could rely on him, then he left. It’s a cruel trick, but I can’t really hate him for it, I’d leave me too.

  “Alice.” There’s someone in front of me, but it’s not Granger, because he’s gone. “Breathe, Alice, deep breaths, follow me, breathe in and then out.”

  I can hear more voices, snippets of conversation as I wheeze, all of the air almost gone from my burning lungs.

  “Panic attack.”

  “Teddy’s trying.”

  “Get back here.”

  Then there’s a thudding and suddenly I’m surrounded by him, his scent, his familiar touch. Granger.

  “Alice,” he snaps, his voice harsh, but clear. “Breathe. Listen to me. Breathe.”

  The order in his voice filters through the darkness and I do as he says, dragging in a painful, shallow breath, then another, my vision slowly clearing as he comes into focus.

  “Good girl, and another in and out, slow and steady. Come back to me, honey.”

  With each breath, his voice becomes a little clearer, louder, the feel of his arms around me, his palm pressed against my chest, feeling the slow, jagged rise and fall of my breaths.

  “She okay?” someone asks.

  “Yeah,” Granger tells them. “Just give us a minute, okay.”

  The fear and panic that had overwhelmed me starts to recede and I realize I’m in his lap, on the cold floor. “Alice.”

  Turning my head toward his voice, I look at him and find his jaw tense, his eyes wide.

  “Thank fuck,” he snarls, palming my cheek and pulling me to him, resting his forehead against mine. “Are you okay?”

  “You were gone,” I whisper.

  His face pales. “I went to get coffee and donuts.”

  “I thought you’d left me.”

  A wildness fills his expression, not solely angry, more feral and intense. “Never. Never.”

  “I’m sorry.” Tears fill my eyes and I look away, feeling stupid and hating that I’m being so needy.

  “No, I should have told you I was going to get food. I’m sorry, baby.”

  “You went for coffee and I lost my shit, no wonder people don’t stick around.”

  “This is on me. My fault. I should have told you, but you have to have some faith that I’m not just going to abandon you. New rule, we tell the other person where we’re going, even if it’s just for coffee,” he says, his voice hard and unyielding.

  I nod, still feeling like an idiot. “I can get up.”

  “No. Sit your ass down and just keep breathing, in and out, in and out.”

  I do as he says, but it’s still ten minutes later before he finally lets me pull myself out of his lap and stand up.

  “You okay?” Teddy asks, concern lacing his voice.

  I nod.

  “Panic attack?”

  I shrug, because honestly, I don’t really know, whatever it was I’ve never experienced it before, but then it’s been years since I’ve allowed myself to care about anything except where I was driving to next.

  “She’s okay now,” Granger assures them, his arm protectively around me. “Let’s finish packing.”

  “That’s it,” I say, nodding to the box on the floor.

  “I want all your stuff, honey.”

  “That is everything. I live in an RV, did you really think I was hiding a sixty inch tv and a hot tub in there?” I taunt, trying bravado to hide how stupid I feel over my meltdown.

  “But there’s not even half a box. Everyone has stuff,” Bay says, gesturing to the RV again.

  “That’s it,” I shrug.

  I look up to find Teddy staring at me curiously and I immediately look away from him.

  “That’s everything?” Granger asks, turning me to face him, looking at me intently, searching for a lie.

  “That’s everything. All that’s left is kitchen stuff which I really don’t need, most of it is old and came from thrift shops and dollar stores.”

  “That’s everything?” Granger, Bay and Teddy say in almost perfect unison.

  I shrug, uncomfortably, wishing I’d told him to just come pack this stuff up on his own.

  “The moment our wing is finished, we’re going shopping, I’m gonna buy you everything you didn’t know you wanted,” Granger snarls.

  “I don’t need a lot of stuff.”

  “I don’t care, Alice; I want to give you everything.” His lips smash against mine and I let him claim me, sensing how fervent his need is, even if I don’t really understand it.

  The tension in the air dilutes and I hear his brothers chuckle and move around as Granger reluctantly pulls away from my lips.

 
“Well fuck, it took us nearly the whole damn weekend just to move Cora’s clothes. Alice, you’re my new favourite sister,” Bay laughs, scooping the single box from the floor and loading it into the backseat of the truck just as the first snowflake falls from the sky.

  A blush fills my cheeks at Bay’s words. Sister? He called me his favourite sister, does that mean they all think I’m a permanent fixture now? Did Granger tell him to say that? Or was it a joke? Surely it had to be a joke, it’s been three days, no one can possibly believe that this thing between Granger and I could be that serious already.

  But Granger does, and truthfully, he’s kind of got me believing it too, so maybe to him and this family it’s perfectly normal to move a woman in and informally adopt her. I snigger lightly to myself at that thought, avoiding Granger’s quizzical expression and pushing down the surge of hope that maybe it is all possible and real and true. Because I want it to be.

  Taking my hands, Granger pulls me to my feet, glancing at the empty RV behind me and scowling slightly, before his expression neutrals and he smiles down at me. “Keys.”

  After handing him the small bunch of keys, he closes the door, and as he locks it, a sense of finality settles over me. It’s like a part of my life has ended and although there’s a hint of lingering sadness, I’m not as upset about leaving behind my fortress of solitude as I always assumed I would be. This run down, ancient, damp RV has been my home, my safe place for five years, but with Granger holding my hand and leading me toward something new, maybe it’s time to put the RV in my past.

  Opening my car door for me, he waits while I climb in, then leans over and plugs my seatbelt in for me, his rough fingers sliding along my jaw before he pulls away and closes me in his car. He settles into the driver’s seat and we pull away from the garage, leaving my RV behind without even a backward glance.

  16

  Granger

  To say I’m not sad to drive away from that fucking sad, depressing RV would be an understatement. One box, one fucking box. Apart from a small duffel of clothes, my woman has one box of possessions to her name. The idea infuriates me and if I didn’t want to get her home and as isolated from town as I can, I’d be taking her shopping and showering her with stuff.

  She was genuine when she said she didn’t need much, but I don’t fucking care, I want to give her the world. Exploring a new life with Alice is enlightening, I’m a fairly simple guy, I buy myself what I need, I’m not the type of person who needs fripperies and nik-naks. Though, seeing everything she has in that pathetic half-filled box, has shown me an urge to fill our lives with every kind of random shit that no one needs, but that fill a vapid want for a fleeting moment or two.

  This woman, my woman, deserves the finest of everything.

  She didn’t look back when we drove away from the garage and my heart is still racing from fear that she might truly be happy living as a nomad, but the fact that she chose to look at me, instead of the life I was taking her away from fills me with a joy I’ve never felt before.

  I sound like an asshole in my head, even thinking this bullshit, but that’s what she does to me. She’s turned me into a sappy caveman, not exactly two words you usually put together, I want to growl and possess her, while telling her what she means to me, how much I love her already, how excited I am to plan a life with her.

  The car ride back home is quiet, but it’s not stilted silence, more a peaceful lull. It’s Sunday, only three short days since I met her, yet the ring box in my pants pocket still feels like the most natural next step for us. As much as I wanted her to officially move in with me today, I had another motive for going into town. Bay has a fuck buddies arrangement with Wendy-Ann, whose family own Hutchinsons, the local jewelers, and at his request she had trays of engagement rings out waiting for me to pick one when I left Alice under the guise of getting coffee and donuts.

  Bay laughed his ass off when I asked him to give Wendy-Ann a call, but he still slapped me on the back and said he was excited to get a new sister. That’s why our family works, that’s why we all enjoy living together even though we’re grown ass men, far too old to be living at home. It’s because we are more than just brothers, we’re each other’s best friends and when your best friend meets the woman of his dreams you don’t tell them it’s too soon, you don’t tell them they’re rushing, you just slap them on the back and tell them you’re happy for them.

  I thought picking a ring for Alice would be hard, but it wasn’t. When I got to the jewelers, she’d pulled out all the trays of traditional diamond rings, then a single tray of more unusual rings with rubies, emeralds and colored diamonds. The moment I laid eyes on the princess cut yellow diamond, surrounded by smaller white diamonds, I knew it was the one. The yellow is the exactly color of Alice’s hair and I can’t wait to slide it onto her finger and know she’s completely mine.

  I’ve had to take a guess at her size because she doesn’t wear any jewelry I could take to compare, but we can get it sized once she says yes. And she will say yes, no isn’t even an option. I wasn’t lying when I told her I was obsessed, I am, completely, obsessively, obsessed.

  She thinks her anxious behaviors will drive me away, but she’s got no fucking clue the lengths I’ll go to make her stay. Huck lost his shit and kidnapped Cora when she tried to leave him, but when I think about Alice trying to run, kidnapping seems like child’s play in comparison to the things I’d do to keep her.

  Exhaling slowly, I push away the anger that always follows thoughts about her leaving me and turn to the woman beside me. Her face is serene, her full pouty lips curled up, her eyes clouded with peace. She’s not trying to look away, or at her feet, her gaze is straight ahead, her head held high and the urge to pull over and fuck her over the hood of my car almost has me stopping. Except it’s snowing and my brothers are in the truck behind us.

  “I want to fuck you so much right now.”

  Her lips tug up into a smile. “You do?”

  “So bad. My dick is aching for your tight, wet little pussy.”

  “Such a sweet talker,” she smiles.

  “Nothing sweeter than my cock filling you up, your cream dripping down my length, your fingers clinging to the smooth metal of my hood where I’ve got you bent over, your nipples rubbing against the paint.”

  Her teeth drag across her bottom lip, biting down on it as her hands move restlessly over the fabric of her pants. She changed out of the soft lounge pants I picked for her earlier and into tight fitted jeans before we left the house, and I want to take a bite out of her ass every time she moves.

  “I’d fuck you till you were on the verge of coming, then I’d eat you and play with your ass until you come all over my face, then I’d slam my cock back into you and fuck you until you scream my name and I fill your cunt with my cum.”

  She shudders, actually shudders, and I can’t help but reach over and shove my hands between her thighs, cupping her hot pussy over the fabric of her jeans.

  “Are you wet for me, honey?”

  “Yes,” she stutters, planting her hands against the seat, lifting her ass off the leather and pushing herself into my palm.

  “You want my fingers in your pussy?”

  “Yes,” she rasps.

  “You want me to fuck your wet cunt until you come all over my hand?”

  “Oh god, please.”

  “Has anyone else ever made you feel like this?” I rasp, trying to keep my eyes on the road even though I want to put all my attention on her.

  “No.”

  “No one ever will, only me.”

  “Only you,” she pants.

  Undoing the button on her jeans, I push my hand beneath the fabric, cupping her hot pussy over her panties, feeling the wetness waiting for me. “You’ll never leave me, will you?”

  Her breath hitches and her eyes close as she tips her head back and presses it against the back of the seat.

  Finding her clit beneath the fabric, I rub in slow, mocking circles that I know won’t
give her enough friction to come, only tease her until she’s writhing. “I’ll never let you go.”

  “Please,” she begs.

  “Are you going to try to run?”

  “No.” her voice is more rasp than anything and I smile to myself, pushing my thumb beneath the wet fabric of her panties and rubbing the pad up and down her wet folds.

  Her moan is pure pleasure and want, and I have to fight the urge to take my hand off the wheel completely and stroke my dick while I play with her pussy. “Tell me you’ll never leave me, and I’ll make you come.”

  “I’ll…”

  My thumb finds her clit, pushing back the hood and fully exposing the sensitive bundle of nerves.

  “Oh fuck.” Her hips lift even higher and I deliberately move the pad of my thumb away from her clit, circling it without touching to drive her mad.

  “Promise me you’ll never run from me, that you’re mine.”

  “I promise, I’m yours.”

  “Mine,” I growl as I find her clit, rubbing hard until her breathing turns ragged and she mewls as her muscles tense, then shake as she comes, gasping my name. “Oh fuck, Granger.”

  I play with her until we pull up in front of the house and slow to a stop, then I pull my hand free of her jeans and lick her arousal from my fingers while she stares at me with wild abandon. “You taste like perfection, honey.”

  Her cheeks turn pink and I laugh, dirty talk and playing with her pussy while I drive doesn’t embarrass her, but licking my fingers clean and telling her she tastes amazing pushes her over the edge. “Come on, let’s go unpack your box of stuff then we can decide what we want to do tonight.”

  Slightly dazed, she waits until I open her door, taking my hand when I offer it and letting me help her from the car. Her legs seem a little wobbly so I curl my arm possessively around her shoulders and lead her to the house while she nervously pulls her top down to cover her unfastened jeans.

  Bay and Teddy meet us at the door with her single solitary box and we walk inside together. “I can take that,” Alice says when she comes to her senses a little.