Mountain Man's Miracle Baby Daughters

by Lia Lee

  He pressed his hand to his chest, once again a little surprised by how nervous he was. Having been a chef and successful entrepreneur for the last twelve years, he had absolutely no reason to be worried.

  It wasn’t worry as much as it was the nagging desire to be around her. She was bored from what she said, and he’d jokingly offered to bring her to the restaurant to keep her busy.

  Maybe having her at the dinner would be a good thing. He put a call into her just after lunch, still not having heard back from her from his earlier texts.

  “Hey,” she answered in an upbeat tone.

  “Hi, beautiful. I missed seeing you next to me this morning. What could have been so important to pull you from the warmth of my bed?” He smiled as he closed his eyes, imagining her against him again.

  “Mediation with my ex-client. It went well though, and hopefully this shit is over.” She let out a long sigh.

  “That’s great news.” He sat up and smiled as relief flooded his system. “I wanted to see if you’d be willing to join me tonight. I have a few new dishes that I’m presenting to a few food critics and several investors in the restaurant. I want you there as my date.”

  “Oh.” Silence.

  “If you’re too busy, it’s no big deal at all. I just figured—”

  She cut him off. “No. I’ll be there. Text me the address, and let me know what the dress code is.”

  He smiled. “I’ll send it right over. It’s black tie, but I’ll have something pretty delivered to the house for you. You’re a size seven, right?”

  “How did you know that? Have you been checking out my clothes?” She laughed and he joined her.

  “No, baby. I had my hands around your perfect little waist last night. I know my way around the kitchen well, and when it’s time to fatten someone up. You’re perfect, hence the size seven.”

  She chuckled. “All right, but don’t make it too revealing. I’m not that type of girl.”

  “Only with me?” He smiled and stood up, reaching toward the ceiling with his free hand in a much needed stretch.

  “Exactly. Speaking of… I want more.”

  “Me too, baby. Come early, and I’ll show you how we stuff things around here.”

  She laughed and let out a cute little snort. “Oh Lord.”

  “Too much?” he asked.

  “Never. I’ll see you tonight, handsome. You’re going to be great. Something tells me you always are, no matter what you’re up to.”

  “Until then.” He moved the phone away from his ear and let out a satisfied sigh. She would be with him soon.

  ***

  Darren was rushing around an hour before the dinner, his heart beating out of his chest. There was no good reason at all for him to be so emotional over everyone coming to try out his dishes. He was a great chef and knew it. He worked hard at it.

  It had been a long twelve years of opening new places and introducing new fare. Having come to America for the first time on a business venture, he should have been concerned with his ability to reach a whole new type of people, but he wasn’t. He was thrilled with the possibilities it would present, both now and in the future. Having met Mariah while he was here was the crown jewel in his cap. Then realization dawned on him.

  It wasn’t about anyone being impressed but Mariah. Knowing that she would see him in action caused him to feel a twinge of inadequacy. What if she didn’t enjoy the dishes, or found him to be too much like the ass he was when she wasn’t around? She softened him, but in front of others, he was still very much a dominating, aggressive type of guy.

  He turned the corner from the kitchen and walked into the dining room as she caught his eye. The pretty black dress he’d picked up for her just after lunch fit her like a glove. Her long dark legs were the center show of the outfit and the stilettos that adorned her feet were beyond sexy.

  “Wow.” He walked toward her, pulling her into his arms and moving down to press a kiss to her pretty red lips.

  She pushed at his chest a little and broke his hold. “Hey. I just did my lipstick, you crazy man. I want to look pretty tonight.”

  “Fuck your lipstick. You always look pretty.” He pulled her back to him, not caring about his own suit getting messed up or wrinkled in their embrace.

  “Maybe not the lipstick, but I can think of something else I’d love to fuck,” she murmured against his mouth as he looked down into her beautiful face.

  “Watch it. We have an hour, and I’m not beyond taking you up on the offer.” He turned and took her hand in his. “Let me introduce you to everyone.”

  He moved with her through the kitchen, showing her off as his girlfriend, and not caring much for the surprise that registered on her pretty face the first time he said it. It was probably too soon, but she needed to get used to it. He wanted her as his own, and he wasn’t willing to back down until she was.

  She closed the door behind them in his office and locked it as he dropped down into his chair. The look in her dark eyes said he was headed toward a world of sensual hurt, but he couldn’t hope enough for that to be the outcome of her aggressive glare. Her soft red lips curled into a smile, and his stomach tightened painfully, forcing his heart to race in anticipation of whatever was headed his way.

  “What are you doing, bad girl?” He reached for her, but she playfully swatted him off before closing the blinds behind her. Reaching down, she wrapped her hand around his tie and tugged a little, forcing him to his feet.

  “You look stressed. I want to make you feel better.” She moved to sit down in his chair and glanced up at him as she started to work on his belt.

  “No, baby. We don’t have time for this.” He licked at his lips as his cock throbbed painfully in his slacks. He wasn’t one to come quickly with oral sex, and letting her take him would only leave him needy and unable to concentrate through the dinner.

  “Yes, we do.” She pushed at his hands and finished unfastening his slacks. They slid down his legs, and damn if she didn’t reach into the opening of his boxer briefs and pull his cock out. He watched her expression, a little worried that she would retract from him. He wasn’t a monster by any means, but he was hung, which got a mixed bag of reactions, mostly bad.

  “I love it,” she whispered and ran her cheek up the side of his length, worshiping him in a way that so few had done, and no one had pulled off well.

  “Oh fuck. Mariah, I’m serious. We only have forty minutes, and I—”

  “Shut up.” She glanced up at him, giving him a warning before tilting his cock toward her and lapping at the pre-cum that pooled at the edge. He groaned and pressed his hands to his own hips, not wanting to mess up her beautiful hair.

  “Fuck,” he growled as she took him into her mouth slowly. He was shocked by how much she got inside of her, and his balls tightened the minute she gagged and pulled back.

  “Damn, you are huge.” She smiled and licked at him a bit more before moving up to start her assault. Both of her hands tightened around the base of him, and she worked her mouth over him as she fucked him fast and hard.

  Her groans reverberated against his tight skin and the subtle brush of her teeth over his flesh left his knees weak. He reached behind him, pressing one hand to the door as the other slid into her hair. She could fix it before everyone got there, but he needed ownership over her for a few minutes.

  “Yes, take it, baby. Suck hard, Mariah.” He groaned loudly as she followed his directives to a T. The woman was every fucking fantasy he’d had since being a wayward teenager. Watching her eat at his cock in the office at his restaurant was almost too much. He ran his fingers by her exotic face, but she was lost to her indulgence, her pretty eyes closed and face slack as she forced him into the warm wetness of her pretty mouth. His head fell back as his orgasm pressed forward, the force of it wickedly delicious.

  “I’m gonna come, move back and let me finish it.”

  She growled and ran one of her hands down his sack, pressing her nails against his sensitive
flesh and tugging a little.

  That was all it took. He let himself go and watched in a lusty haze as she drank every bit of him down, cleaned him up and tucked him back into his slacks.

  “Now… let’s go impress these guys with your skills.” She smiled and patted his ass.

  He swallowed hard, never having been fucked so efficiently by a woman. “Yes, and don’t you dare even think of showing them yours. You belong to me.”

  Chapter 11

  Mariah

  The investors who had attended dinner wanted to take Darren out for drinks afterward, and though the invitation was extended to Mariah as well, she just wasn’t feeling it. Several of the comments made during the night left her questioning her decisions as of late.

  She gave him a quick kiss and told him that she would see him in the morning. Her story was that her mother needed her to come by the house, and she would just stay there for the night. He wasn’t happy about it, but she didn’t care. With everything running through her head, she needed time to think.

  Using her mother as a quick escape wasn’t the most honorable thing to do, but she was headed down a slippery slope anyway. It wasn’t about falling in love with Darren, or making love to him in several places and different ways. That all sat well with her, but the part where she was looking down her nose at one of her maids for doing the same thing she was doing? Disgusting.

  Even worse was the fact that no one knew but her. It was like hiding a part of herself, which felt icky. Wrong. Horrible.

  One of the investors had brought up the idea of the perfect staff member, and they’d all gone on and on about wanting someone with integrity. Darren himself had spent more than ten minutes talking about the fact that he could never truly trust someone who wasn’t the same in the dark as they were in the light. Pretending to be something they weren’t just showed a lack of ethics, which was incredibly disturbing.

  “Like me,” she mumbled and pulled up to her small trailer house. It was quaint and ugly, but it was hers. She got out and unlocked the door quickly before locking up and tugging her heels from her feet.

  What was she thinking? Not only should she have sent over another maid by now, but she should have pushed Darren away. Yes, he was everything she wanted in her life where a man was concerned, but he was leaving. Getting involved with him was the stupidest thing she could have done.

  Pulling her phone from her pocket, she texted Karen before she lost her nerve to do it.

  Mariah: Send someone else over to Mr. Botelli’s in the morning. I need a break, and you were right. I have too much to do to play maid anymore.

  Karen: You sure? Something happen?

  Mariah: No. Just tired, and with all the new client work coming in, I should be at the office. I guess I just miss the simply life sometimes.

  Karen: We can switch! I’ll clean houses for sexy billionaires.

  Mariah: Be my guest, sister. Thanks for the support.

  She tossed the phone on the couch and worked to get out of her dress. She would return it to him and get back to life. She’d been playing Cinderella long enough. She had a company to run and having put all of herself into it over the last nine years since dreaming it up was a big damn deal. The situation with Mr. Kinsley was a wake-up call. If Darren still wanted to see her, then she would consider going on another date or so with him, but working for him wasn’t going to work.

  Hell, she wasn’t even sure it was a good idea to have him as a client. If anyone ever got a hold of the fact that she’d entered into a sexual relationship with one of her clients, it would leave her looking as unethical as she felt, as she was.

  Hating herself for how much she needed him, she got into a hot bath and let herself soak as thoughts of him swam by her vision. Tears burned her eyes, and even though on some level she realized how ridiculous she was being, she knew their time was soon to end. Why she kept pretending like it wasn’t going to sneak up on them was immature and silly. It left her exactly where she was headed—toward heartbreak.

  He was too important to want to spend his life flying back and forth for a simple girl like herself. Sure, she owned the maid service now, but she was still just a maid herself. She enjoyed simplicity and the common things in life. Living in Italy and trying to fit in with a horde of beautiful and wealthy people wasn’t at all on her list of things to do.

  And in all actuality, the mature thing to do would be to let him go. If she wasn’t going to push their relationship forward, then it needed to end.

  Her phone rang in the other room, and she ignored it, not interested in talking to anyone, least of all him. He would say a few sweet things, make her feel better about her shitty decisions and then she’d be in his arms.

  She finished up and got in the bed, stretching out and enjoying the cool press of her sheets against her body. Her mind dove right into a fantasy that involved the man who would most likely hold her mind and heart for a while.

  Too bad it was to be so short lived.

  ***

  A loud knocking at her front door pulled her from a rather lusty dream the next morning. She scrambled around the bedroom and decided on an over-sized T-shirt she’d stolen from her brother a few years before. She was a hot mess, but it didn’t matter. Someone was in for a long ass-chewing for beating on her door at seven in the morning.

  She pulled it open and leaned around it, not wanting to show whoever it was that she was without pants and panties. “What?”

  Darren lifted his eyebrow and crossed his thick arms over his chest. “Why the fuck is there some random woman at my house, trying to scrub my baseboards?”

  “Because. I heard what you guys said about integrity last night, Darren, and you’re right.” She moved out from behind the door and reached up to brush her hair down with one hand while wrapping the other around her chest. Her breasts were far too large to leave them unattended while he looked at her like he was.

  His eyes moved across her, leaving heat in their wake.

  “I’m not interested in you having doubts about us, Mariah. You’re the first woman I’ve wanted with an insatiable desire my whole life. Your integrity is perfectly in place.” He moved into the house and slammed the door shut behind him. “And I’m not at least worthy of you calling or coming by to talk with me?”

  “Yes.” She glanced around. “Let me get dressed and we’ll go talk. I don’t want you to see this place.”

  “I’m fine with this place. It smells like heaven and looks like home.” His expression softened a little. “I’m not leaving here until we figure this out. I don’t want you to clean my house or do anything for me that makes you feel like your ethics are in question, but I’m falling in love with you. I’m not letting this go that easily. It’s not happening.”

  “You’re leaving in a week, Darren. This isn’t like you live down the fucking street.” Tears filled her eyes, and she hated herself for the flood of emotion coming. “I can’t do this. Just leave, okay?”

  “Have you lost your fucking mind? I’ve been looking for you all my life. I’m not letting you go. I’ll pay off every mother fucker or company in the world to make sure you’re beside me. You’re mine, woman. I don’t care what anyone else thinks, nor am I concerned with our businesses. Things and money pass away, Mariah, but this… this thing between us? It’s what people search for all day, every day.”

  She pressed her hands to her face and let out a painful sob. “I can’t fall for you to have you leave. It’s not fair.”

  “Baby, you already have.” He wrapped his arms around her and pushed at her with his weight.

  She snuggled into him and walked backward until her legs bumped into the bed behind her. “I’m scared to lose again.”

  “I am, too.” He reached down and pulled at her T-shirt, leaving her naked in front of him. Wrapping her up tightly, he pushed a little more, forcing her to lay down with him. “But we don’t have to be, Mariah. We can make this work. I’m willing to try anything.”

  She wiped at
her tears and tugged at his shirt. “Make love to me, now.”

  “What? No fucking? Damn.” He kissed the tip of her nose and moved back, his eyes never leaving her for a minute. “Just so you know, I’m not happy with you.”

  “I know. I’m sorry… I just didn’t know what else to do. I’m a fucking hypocrite, and I realized it in the middle of that dinner last night. I don’t want to lose everything. You have to go home, of course, but I still need my business to survive, Darren. If someone found out that I—”

  He cut her off. “That you fell for a man you were working for? That’s not as bad as you might think it sounds. We found each other, baby. Who gives a shit how it happened? I don’t.”

  She reached up and pulled him down to lay on top of her after he finished stripping. His deliciously large body pressed against her, and she opened her thighs before reaching up and touching the side of his face.

  “I want to make it work,” she said softly, her voice lost to the strong emotions that raced through her.

  He smirked and moved down, licking at her ear. “It’s going to work, baby. Let’s just concentrate over the next few hours on making it fit.”

  She groaned loudly as he pressed into her, his body so wickedly delicious.

  “We know it fits, so shut up and use it.” She slid her hands down his strong back and cupped his perfect rear, squeezing softly to encourage him to work her like only he could.

  “Such a dirty girl.” He nipped at her ear. “I want you on top. I want to watch you work me.”

  She nodded and rolled with him before sitting up and pressing herself down to consume him. They both cried out just before his hands locked onto her hips.

  He set the pace for their sex, and she kept to it until fire spread from the inside of her body toward her fingers and toes. Leaning forward, she pressed her hands to his tight abs and lifted up, working herself against him as her hair cascaded over her shoulders and her breasts bounced.

  “Damn, you’re beautiful, woman. Promise me forever.” He slid his hand up between her breasts and latched onto the base of her throat, forcing her to look up as she pressed against his hold. “Promise me.”