Mountain Man Daddy Read online

  He stood and tossed her jeans over the tree branch.

  “See how amazing it is to live where no other human wanders?”

  “Yes, I’m definitely starting to see what you like about this place.”

  He gave her a little wink and went down again.

  “Not nearly as fun without you, honey.” He used his finger to trace around the band of the panties and smiled widely as she squirmed when he got close to her liquid center.

  “Dammit, Daddy, please just fuck me already!” His brows shot up before he shook his head, stood and tsked her. He walked behind her, and when she twisted with her rope to see him, his hands found her hips firmly and set her back in place.

  “I think these have to come off now, too. Sooner than I intended, but I simply must teach my little girl what happens when she says such nasty things even when we’re playing captive.” He yanked them down quickly, leaving them at her knees and slapped her ass hard enough to make her screech and thrust forward to escape. The sting on her right cheek hadn’t even begun to fade when he grasped her hip and gave her other cheek a branding just as hard.

  “Ohmygosh, Daddy! Sorry!” she gasped. He chuckled then and spun her. Dropping to one knee, he removed her panties.

  “Grab the rope,” he ordered gruffly, and when she obeyed, he put her legs over his shoulders and stood, cradling her ass in his big palms. Her bottom still tingled where he’d spanked her, but now it was joined by tingles all over. She flipped back and hung onto the rope.

  “Oh now, aren’t you the compliant little girl.” He pressed his mouth against her again as he had over her jeans, and blew heat but this time his tongue flicked out and parted her for one quick swipe. She moaned, bobbing her head.

  “Oh, Daddy.” She let the words tumble from her mouth.

  “Let’s just see if I can’t really test you now.” He slid his tongue very lightly along her lips.

  “I’ll be good, Daddy. Please!” She shuddered and then moaned as he began to suck rather than tease. A quick few thrusts against her clit and he stopped to speak again.

  “Okay, I’m trusting you on this.” His breathy words brushed across the wet skin. “Now honey, you’re not going to come until I give you permission, okay?”

  “Yes. Fine. Whatever you say. Just please.” Avery’s answer tumbled out. She’d agree to anything Mike asked if only he’d hurry up and give her release. Her lids fell closed as his mouth was back on her and his tongue darted into the slit and flicked again, twice this time before he pulled away.

  “If you disobey me now, honey, there’s nothing to remove as punishment and my hand is still stinging from those swats.” Another few flicks of his tongue made her cry out. “Oh, baby, you’re so ready.”

  She howled, and he chuckled.

  “God, yes! I want you so badly. I’ll obey! Just stop talking already!” He slid a finger inside her, then two, and teased a moment by pumping inside her. She cried out in pleasure.

  “If you come without permission, what will I do to you?” he hummed, lowering his mouth to her again.

  “I-I…” she panted. “I don’t know.”

  “I’ll take you to the sawhorse, baby.” His mouth went over her, and this time his tongue didn’t stop. Oh. My. God.

  She didn’t come, but when he began using his fingers to pump inside her again, and this time using his tongue counterpoint, she shrieked in frustration. She was nearing her limit, but by the look of him so was he. He stopped long enough to look up and nod before he dove back to her center and let her pleasure pulse its sweet spasms around his fingers and tongue.

  “How are your arms?” he asked as she went slack against him. He wasted no time, setting her down and undoing her ropes. With her hands freed, she grabbed hold of him, wrapped her leg around his and knocked him back onto the grass. She followed, going down to straddle him so she could take control. He let her, but only for a few minutes and then rolled and was on top, pinning her hands above her head again.

  “Are you going to take your clothes off, Mountain Man, or are you shy out here in the wilderness?” She gave him a sassy ‘I dare you’ smile.

  “Just making sure I have you under control first, little girl,” he said and then kissed her. She smelled the heady scent of herself in his beard. He went for her neck, and she arched her back, loving the feel of it against her sensitive skin.

  “Please, I need you inside me.” Her words were desperate, causing him to give a low rumble against the hollow of her throat.

  “All in good time, little girl. Demand if you want, but I’m in charge.” He lifted above her with one hand still holding her wrists and pinned her with a dark look. “Don’t move.” She nodded, wide-eyed and enamored by the man of her dreams hovering above her.

  She watched him, saliva pooling in her mouth as he got to his knees and removed his shirt. His tawny hair and thick muscles turned her insides molten. He was beautiful, and she would do whatever he asked. Next came his belt and he shoved his jeans down his hips. His iliac muscles were thick and defined. He eased back from her to remove the jeans completely and smirked at the desirous look on her face.

  When they were finally skin to skin, she closed her eyes. It was as if she were home. It felt so right to be beneath him, pressed to the earth by his weight—one with both him and nature.

  She licked her lips and whimpered as he entered her. The feel of his girth sliding inside her was intoxicating, and it brought her up higher than she’d ever been. He was gentle, slowly thrusting deeper inside her, allowing her to feel every intense sensation. She clung to his shoulders and rocked with him. His lips brushed her brow.

  “I don’t understand it, little one, but I love you. And now that I know what love feels like, I know I’ve never loved anyone before.”

  She felt his whispered words against her skin and deeply inside her heart. Tears leaked from her closed eyes, running down her face toward her ears. She’d never been told that for real before, not from her grandparents, and not from Alex sincerely.

  “And I love you. So much.” She said it back slowly, knowing she’d never said the words and truly understood them as she did then. “I was yours from the moment you saved my life. I will always be yours, Daddy—always.” And like falling off a cliff, they went over together, clinging to each other.

  Chapter Eleven

  Rocky bounded down the mountain and rolled the last few feet until he landed near the tree with a loud chuff. Mike laughed and stood, gathering their clothes.

  “Let’s get you dressed.” He reached down and pulled her up, holding her clothes up and away from her reach and jutting his chin out for a kiss. She obliged by giving him a peck on his jaw.

  “Arms out.” She did as he requested and he slid the shirt on her arm.

  “What about my bra?”

  “You’re a mountain girl now. They definitely don’t wear bras.” She chuckled and let him finish dressing her, loving the idea of being his mountain girl.

  “They apparently don’t wear panties either,” she grumbled as he spun her delicates around on his finger.

  “I’m hungry, let’s go have some eggs.”

  “Eggs and stew? Is that all you eat?”

  “You’re not complaining about my cooking, are you?” He rubbed his hands together. She eyed them, covered her butt with both hands, and shook her head.

  “Not at all. You make the absolute best venison stew I’ve ever had, and your eggs taste fit for a king.” She moaned in pleasure, releasing her butt to rub her belly. He harrumphed. “I thought so.”

  * * *

  They made love again three more times through the afternoon, evening, and morning, but then as she lay against his chest, the warmth of that lovemaking still glowing on her skin, he said they had to deal with what they’d been avoiding.

  “Tell me everything, Avery.”

  Her heart pounded, and she felt lightheaded. What would Mike think of her? Would he think she was stupid and naïve? And worse still, would he see h
er through the eyes of her grandparents and Alex and realize she wasn’t worth all the trouble?

  Her eyes welled, and he twisted her hair around his hand and tipped her head back, so she had to look at him.

  “Don’t be afraid. You’re my little girl, and nothing you tell me is ever going to change how I feel about you.” A tear slid out, and he wiped it away before brushing his lips lightly across hers.

  “Your secrets are now our secrets. Your problems are now our problems. And we’ll face it all together.” He released her hair and smoothed it to comfort her. “Now talk, little lady.”

  She drew in a shaky breath. This was it. She could risk losing him and tell him everything, or she could refuse, and her secrets would drive them apart.

  “I was four and a half when they died.” Another tear slid down her face. “I don’t even remember them. What I do remember is the day my mother’s parents came for me.” She drew in a breath.

  “They barely even looked at me when the social worker handed me over. They didn’t speak to me at all, and I didn’t dare say a word—not through the plane ride, and not on the drive to their house, but as I lay in the bed that was once my mother’s, I finally spoke.”

  “Aw, honey.” He kissed her head.

  “I asked if my mama and daddy were in heaven.” She sniffed, and the tears flowed. She swiped at them and looked down so he couldn’t see her face. “They said there was no place in heaven for those people that fornicated before marriage, got pregnant and ran away, but it wouldn’t matter anyway because God didn’t have a place for babies born out of wedlock either.”

  Avery heard Mike’s breathing still. And she counted five full seconds before he drew a breath and spoke. “Those people didn’t deserve one child, let alone two. Baby, you are the sweetest little girl anyone could ever ask for, and I hope they’re rotting in hell.” More tears fell, and this time he wiped them away and kissed the fresh ones that fell.

  “My parents had money. They left it in a trust for me. The first installment on my eighteenth birthday was five hundred thousand dollars, enough for me to go away to college and be free of my grandparents. The second was the two million on my twenty-fifth birthday, and the final payment is to be released to me when I turn thirty in a few months. It’s five and a half million dollars.”

  He said nothing, just rubbed her back and let her continue.

  “Daddy, I was so desperate for love that I let some asshole con artist trick me into thinking he thought I was special.” She choked on a sob. “He took me for every dime I had and managed to build enough debt and enemies that all my future money is gone too. Or at least out of reach. I thought things were okay for a long time, but since I’ve been with you, I’ve seen they were never okay. No one has loved me like you.” She shoved her face into his chest and wept against his warm skin. He pulled her chin until she faced him again. His eyes pinned hers with an intensity she couldn’t look away from. “He didn’t trick you into thinking you were special—you are special; he tricked himself out of seeing it. You deserve love, and little one, I plan on showing you just how much every chance I get.”

  Avery trembled. “I see now that it wasn’t love. I’ve never loved anyone like you, Daddy.”

  “Baby, I know exactly what you mean.” She wrapped her arm around his belly and squeezed him before she continued. “I went a little wild with the first payment of the trust. I never had anything. My grandparents wouldn’t let me get a job because I had to work for them on the farm, so when I got the money, I spent it fast.” He took her right hand and linked their fingers, smoothing his thumb against her skin as she continued.

  “By the time I was twenty-five, I was married to Alex. I planned on being smarter with my money, but I was naïve. I let him control it. He spent it all. He used me and by the time I found out, all our accounts were empty and in overdraft. Our credit cards were maxed out and overdue. I kicked him out, but it was too late. He even managed to remortgage the house.” She grit her teeth.

  “I was so stupid,” she ground out. He gave her ass a little swat. “Nobody’s allowed to call my little girl stupid, not even you.”

  “And now the bad guys, who I assume he borrowed money from, are after me. They plan to hurt me, Daddy.” She swallowed hard and gathered a breath. “I heard them tell Alex they plan to have some fun with me—the non-consent sexual kind, take my money, and I think they’ll kill me just like they killed Alex.” She gathered another breath and let the final rush of words fall out as she trembled in his arms. “I don’t want that to fall on you. I don’t want you hurt because I was stupid. I love you. I love you so much! I’m ready to die, but I’m not going to take you with me.” She was hyperventilating by the end of her long spiel, and he had to shush and rock her until she calmed down.

  She gave him a pathetic, watery smile and he hugged her tighter. “Baby, trusting someone you love isn’t stupid. Loving them after they screw you over, is. You didn’t do that. You saw what he did, and you kicked his ass out. And baby, if that fucker were alive, I’d pound him to a pulp, not only for hurting my little girl but for being too dumb to see how amazing you are. And any trouble that comes for you, I’m more than ready to handle. Hell, I’m eager for it. No one fought for you, Avery, and you deserve to be fought for. I won’t fail you, and I’ll bulldoze, tear limb-from-limb, and annihilate anyone who dares touch what’s mine—you are mine!”

  She felt lighter than she’d had in years, maybe lighter than she’d ever felt. Her worries were for nothing; he didn’t judge her at all. She was safe with him, not just physically and mentally, but emotionally, too. Her mountain man daddy protected her in every way.

  * * *

  He held her for a long time after that, telling her silly stories of Rocky and Annie and making her laugh. He wanted her to feel happy before he left her. He wanted to ensure she’d be okay.

  “I’m going to go catch us some fish for dinner tonight, and then I’m going to head into town. I think the police station is the way to go. I’ll call some of my contacts and get this straightened out.” He sat up on the edge of the bed.

  She clutched his forearm. “I’m scared. What if they take me away? What if they don’t listen to you and hand me over to that crooked cop?”

  He paused and turned back to her. “You’re going to have to trust me, baby. Can you do that?”

  Her teeth chattered uncontrollably, but she nodded, and he smiled at her, leaned back to kiss her.

  “Will you tell me about your job before you go?”

  His throat worked as he considered her question. His job, it seemed, wasn’t any easier to discuss than his wife and Lydia.

  “I was an RCMP staff sergeant.” He shuffled back and sat against the headboard, pulling her with him. “I was the team commander in several manhunts, but my last was the search for Canada’s most notorious serial killer to date.” Mike leaned down and kissed her head. “See, baby, I’m more than capable of hunting killers.”

  “Did you catch him?”

  “No.” He shut his eyes and steadied his breathing. It was a question that stung. How could he prove he could keep her safe when he’d failed so many others? Prescott was the one who got away, but he was also the worst of them all. “He was still at large when I retired.”

  “Is he still out there?”

  “Honestly, Avery,” he sighed. “I don’t know.”

  “You didn’t keep track?” she asked, shifting up onto her elbows.

  “No,” he said. “I was a little busy grieving for my wife.” And this time his words were unintentionally sharp. His heart sank as she pulled away.

  “I’m sorry.” She swallowed hard and he nodded, but his mood remained stony. “Daddy?” she asked softly, grabbing his bicep as he moved away from her. “What about all the people I hurt?” He sat on the edge of the bed, his back to her as he pulled on his socks.

  “When this is all over, baby, we’ll mail them every cent plus interest.” He stood and grabbed his pants.

&
nbsp; “And the Jeep?” She watched as he pulled on his jeans.

  “The book value plus a few extra thousand for the trouble.” He started threading his belt through the loops.

  She remained silent a moment, watching him. He turned, his jeans still open and the belt hanging loose with his hands poised on it, knowing she was struggling and feeling guilty for being sharp with her. “Not good enough?”

  “I want to write them letters, explaining.” She hugged his pillow to her chest. “I need them to know I’m not a bad person.”

  “You’re not bad, honey.” He sat, leaned back, and tucked her blonde hair behind her ear. “You know that, right?” She shook her head, and he pressed his lips together.

  “I feel like one.”

  “You would never have made it if you hadn’t done what you did. You’re not a bad person—not even close.”

  She breathed in, and he could tell she was holding her tears at bay, but also holding her unspoken words, too. I’ll spend the rest of my life proving it to you if you’ll let me.

  He rose from the bed and finished dressing. He watched her, knowing he wasn’t the only one with a heavy heart. She was scared, and it was taking everything for her to trust him. He wouldn’t let her down.

  * * *

  She felt a tug in her belly for him after he left. She was anxious, and though she knew he needed to hunt and fish, she wanted him with her. Now that she had given him her trust and submission, she found that she instinctively wanted to turn to him for protection and reassurance. It irritated her slightly as she wandered about the cabin, putting away the laundry she’d washed the day before in between their lovemaking. So much had changed so quickly. He’d gotten into her head, and he’d stirred a lust in her that she had never felt before and now she was practically insatiable, even in times like these when there was discord in her heart and mind.