by Gemma Weir
Pausing I wait for something, anything from him, but he just keeps his eyes down, looking at his hands on the steering wheel, waiting for me to leave. So I do, muttering, “Bye,” as I unclip my seatbelt, open the door and leave. I don’t realize that my heart has cracked in two until he pulls away from the house without looking back.
I barely speak to anyone all day, riding the fences until the sun has dipped in the sky and my body is physically exhausted. Once I’ve finished feeding Vali and leaving her to bed down in her stable, it’s late and I head for the house, waving at all the familiar ranch hands I see. My heart stutters when I see my car parked out front. Beau or one of his brothers must have fetched it for me, because I’d told my dad that I’d get it tomorrow.
My cell phone has been deathly silent all day. I’m used to Beau’s constant texts and calls, but today he hasn’t sent me a single message. Crossing to my car, I half expect it to be full of all the stuff Beau insisted I take to his place, but it’s empty and I don’t know why tears fill my eyes.
The smell of food hits me when I step into the house, and following it is a sense of guilt that I’m not the one who cooked. Kicking off my boots by the door I pad into the kitchen and find my dad, Caleb, and my nephew, Noah, sitting around the table. All three look up when I enter the room.
“Hey Aunt Bonnie,” Noah says, jumping up from the table and moving towards me with his lanky teenage stride.
“Christ, Noah, stop growing, you’re too tall,” I tell him when he wraps me up in a hug, that I can’t explain how much I need.
“Hey honey, how you got on today?” Dad asks the moment Noah releases me.
“Good, Barber and I rode all the fences over on the west pasture and fixed all the holes we found, tomorrow we’re gonna do the pastures south of the river,” I tell him, sitting down next to him in mom’s chair.
I don’t bother to acknowledge Caleb, but it’s okay because he doesn’t glance in my direction either. “I’m sorry you had to cook, I was a little late getting here this morning and I didn’t even think about prepping dinner.”
“Too busy running around with Barnett to remember your responsibilities,” Caleb mutters beneath his breath.
“I can cook, your mama taught me well. There’s campfire stew in the crockpot and cornbread in the oven,” Dad says, shooting a pointed glare in my brother’s direction.
“I worked all day, Caleb, just like you did, I’m more than aware of my responsibilities,” I say to my brother, ignoring my dad’s attempt to diffuse the argument that’s brewing between me and my older sibling.
“Maybe if you were sleeping in your own bed, not off screwing a guy old enough to be your father—” Caleb says, not bothering to be quiet anymore.
“Caleb,” Dad snaps.
“I am so sick of this,” I shout, pushing back from the table, my chair scraping across the floor loudly. “I thought you’d gotten the message the other day, but apparently not, so let me reiterate for you. My life is absolutely none of your business, you made that choice when you decided to treat me like an unwanted burden. I lost my mom too, you had her most of your life, I didn’t get long enough with her. I thought that loss would bring us closer, but instead it turned you into an asshole. You pushed me away, you made me feel unwelcome in your life, your family, and your home. It’s been over a year, back then I needed you and you weren’t interested, now it’s too late for you to give a shit. I have the world’s best dad, a great sister, and two kick ass nephews, but as far as I’m concerned that’s all the family I have left.”
Chest heaving, tears spilling down my face, I rush from the kitchen, pausing at the bottom of the stairs. I could go to my room, cry a little, then sleep until I feel better, it’s what I’ve always done. But it feels hollow and lonely now. I don’t want to be alone; I want to be with Beau. I know that the moment he has me in his arms I’ll feel better, he won’t allow me to be lonely because we don’t have space and we don’t have distance between us.
I’m out the house, my car keys in my hand, before I even realize I’m moving, but I know this is right. I want him, I need him, and I can’t wait to see him, I just hope he doesn’t turn me away. I hurt him this morning, and so he did what he promised me he wouldn’t let me do. He let me run, because I basically demanded it of him.
It takes less than five minutes until I’m parking my car behind his, and dashing towards the front door. I should knock, but I don’t, I just let myself in, ignoring his brothers as I search for him. I find him on the couch, his expression solemn and sad. “Beau,” I half sob.
He’s half off the couch and moving towards me as I break into a run, throwing myself into his arms, knowing he’ll catch me. “Shh, it’s okay, baby girl, what’s happened?” he coos, his arms holding me tightly as I wrap my legs around his back and cling to him, my tears soaking his shirt from where I’ve buried my face into his neck.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” he asks, gently trying to pry my face up.
When I just hold him tighter, I feel him start to move and a moment later he lowers us to his bed, cradling me to him as I hold him tight.
“I’m sorry,” I sob.
“What for?”
“For saying I needed some breathing space. I don’t. I got into a huge fight with my brother and I needed you and I pushed you away,” I say on a rush.
“I was coming for you, Bonnie, I’ve had to have my brothers stop me all day, but I was coming for you tonight, I couldn’t stand it any longer,” he rasps into my neck.
“Really? I thought when you brought my car back that my stuff was going to be in it,” I confess.
“Never. Don’t you get it, I love you. I couldn’t give you up even if I wanted to, you’re mine, forever, always. I won’t ever let you go.”
He doesn’t stop me when I lift my face and look into his tormented eyes. “You love me?”
“Utterly and completely,” he says seriously.
“I love you too.” The words shock me, I hadn’t consciously decided to say them, but I know they’re true the moment they fall from my lips. “I love you too,” I say again, needing to hear the words.
A wide smile spreads across his lips and then we move at once, ripping each other’s clothes off in a frenzy of hands, lips, kisses, touches, and I love yous.
22
Beau
I don’t understand how we went from the best sex of my life, to her telling me she feels like a prisoner. I make her feel like a prisoner. Me loving her is stifling her and I have no idea what the hell I’m supposed to do to make this better, to fix it.
I wish I could give her the space she needs, but even leaving her at the ranch next door feels horrendous. My head and my heart are screaming that I need to keep her close, no space, no distance, that I’ll lose her if I let her leave me.
I’m in love with her and she thinks I’m an obsessed asshole.
The day is endless, each minute an hour long, each hour lasting at least a year. I’m barely restraining myself from driving over to the ranch and kidnapping her, when the front door flies open and she runs in, tears pouring down her cheeks, her eyes frantic until they settle on me.
When she runs and leaps at me, I catch her, cradling her to my chest as my brothers circle around us, worried at what’s happened to make her this upset.
Bonnie has no idea the impact she’s had on my whole family. My brothers love her almost as much as I do, she’s become like a little sister to them all, and right now they’re as worried as I am.
Trying to soothe her, I hold her close, asking her what’s happened, trying to find out if she’s okay. When she doesn’t respond, only sobbing brokenly into my ear, I carry her into our room, laying her down on the bed and cradling her in my arms, surrounding her with my love for her.
When she tells me she loves me too, my universe splinters into pieces, settling back into place with her in the center. “I love you,” I tell her as she scrambles to undress me, her hands frantic until we’re naked and ly
ing face to face.
Sitting up I pull her onto my lap, lifting her, then lowering her down onto my cock. Kissing her, I wrap my arms around her, until her breasts are pressed against my chest, as close as we can get. We rock, never parting, but allowing me to slide in and out of her slowly. This isn’t frantic, or desperate, it’s not fucking, or exploring a naughty fantasy, this is us communicating with our bodies how much we love the other.
My heart swells as I feel hers beat in time with mine, she doesn’t let go of me, clinging to me as an orgasm slowly grows, crashing over us when we reach the peak together, our mouths fused, connected in every way possible.
“I love you, Beau,” she breaths, her fingers running through my hair as I grip hers tightly. We stay like this, connected long after the glow of release fades.
“I don’t want you to feel suffocated,” I confess.
“I know. But I’ve never done this before, I’ve never been in love, never had a boyfriend. I just got overwhelmed, and sometimes I need time to breath and sort through my thoughts.”
“I don’t know if I can give you that time,” I admit, hating that I sound like a fucking psycho.
Sighing wistfully, she spreads her palm over my cheek. “Why not?”
“Because I don’t want to lose you. I don’t want to give you time to run.”
“But even If I run, I’ll always come back. I need you, Beau. I didn’t really realize until today just how much.”
“How about I just agree to give you a head start,” I smile.
“Till what?”
“Till I chase after you.”
Her giggle is the best sound in the fucking world.
“Move in with me.”
“Okay,” she nods.
“Marry me.”
Her lips part, but no sound comes out.
“Baby girl, I am a jealous, possessive asshole, but I love you more than I even thought it was possible for one person to love another. I’m gonna fuck up, so are you, but if you run, I’ll chase you and I’ll fix whatever problems we have. No space, no distance, just me and you, and an epic fucking love story full of dirty make-believe and sexy fantasies. I want to get old with you, I want to have babies with you, and I want to spend the rest or our lives making every single one of your sweet, dirty, kinky dreams come true.”
“Every single one?” she asks.
“Every single one,” I agree. “Say yes, baby girl, and make the best dream I ever had come true.”
A soft smile starts at the corners of her lips, spreading across her mouth. Her eyes sparkle and she says the most perfect word in the world.
“Yes.
Epilogue
Bonnie
I said yes.
Of course I did.
Beau Barnett is the first boy I ever had a crush on, and the man I’ll love for the rest of my life.
He’s overbearing, obsessed, and a pain in the ass, and in spite of, or maybe because of that I still want to marry him. His love consumes me, suffocates me and drives me crazy, but I know it’ll never fade. He’ll always chase after me, he’ll always find me and he’ll always take me home, because he’s my home, he’s my real-life dream come true.
Everything didn’t suddenly become perfect the moment I agreed to marry him. He still hates me working so much, hates that I insist on going out on girls’ night outs, hates that I won’t give up work so we can be together twenty-four seven. But after we argue, we get to make up, and we both enjoy him trying to fuck me into doing whatever he wants. It never works, but it’s sure fun to keep trying.
I moved into his house with his brothers the day after I said yes, and all the boys and my dad are working on the plans for the extension they’re going to build onto the existing home, so Beau and I can have our own space without him having to move away from his family. We also built a road between my dad’s property and ours, so now it’s only a quick walk or a ride in one of the golf carts we bought to see each other.
My brother reluctantly apologized after Beau and I announced our engagement, but to be honest I don’t think we’ll ever get the type of relationship I’d like us to have. Luckily when Beau claimed me, he not only gave me himself, he also gave me six equally over the top, overbearing brothers, who all now think of me as a little sister. We’re one big, weird family, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Everyone in our sleepy mountain town wanted a taste of the oldest Barnett Brother, but the only one he wanted was me. I thought he only saw the girl who brought him his coffee, turned out he knew exactly who I was—his.
Now I’m the property of a mountain man, and instead of dreaming about him and what it would be like to be with him, we’re going to spend the rest of our lives making both of our fantasizes come true.
The End
Owned by The Mountain Man
Sneak Peek
MONTANA MOUNTAIN MEN #2
COMING SOON
“Oh my god, I hate you so much,” I scream at the top of my lungs.
“You’ve mentioned that,” he says, his expression impassive, like my words have zero effect on him at all. “The thing is; I don’t believe you.”
Turning my back on him I head for the door, needing to get away from him and his annoying face and iron clad disinterest. Strong fingers wrap around my wrist and he yanks me back, pulling me off balance. I slam into his chest and he pins me to him, one hand on the base of my spine, the other tangled into my hair, holding me in place.
“Let go of me,” I say, my resolve weakening by the second when I’m this close to him.
“No.”
“I don’t want you here,” I cry, forcing the words out.
“Liar.”
“Please just go.”
“I can’t,” he says, his voice thick, the only outward sign that he cares about me at all.
“Why not?” I plead.
“Because I’ve tried, Peaches, and I just can’t leave you alone.”
Acknowledgments
This book has been the most fun to write. For over a year now I’ve had the idea of writing a series about a bunch of butch, rough mountain men, complete with axes, plaid shirts, and every other cliché you can think of, and here it is!
Beau and Bonnie’s story has flown out of me so effortlessly and I’ve loved every minute of getting their story from my head onto paper so you guys can read it. Beau is such an asshole; I love him so much! He gives me such alphahole vibes, just like Echo did way back when, and he’s reminded me so much why I enjoy writing books about guys that are so consumed by their want that they sort of forget everything else.
I want a real-life Beau (although I think my husband might complain a little lol) he’s ridiculously over the top, loves whole heartedly, and is honestly slightly oblivious to everything except his woman.
Hopefully the Montana Mountain Men series will have at least seven books and each brother will get a chance to fall in love. I’m so excited to write about these guys and I really hope you go on this journey of deliciously OTT jealous possessive heroes with me.
Time for some thank yous…
Sarah, as always you’re my rock, you constantly support me, listen to me chat shit and with this series humor me while I tell you how much I love it. I couldn’t and wouldn’t want to do this without you.
My wonderful editor Sarah, at the time of me writing this thank you, you actually haven’t read this book yet, but I have a feeling you’ll like Beau and I know you’ll make my words as close to perfect as we can both get them.
Kerry Heavens of Rebel Ink Co, I love working with you and this cover is just so quintessentially Beau. Thank you for always knowing exactly what I want, I can’t wait to see what you create for the rest of the series.
To everyone at Hudson Indie Ink, thank you so much for the continued support and for not blinking when I told you my next series was going to be seven smutty books about men with axes. You guys rock!
Finally, last but by no mean least, to all my amazing readers, if you�
�ve made it this far through the book and you’re actually reading the acknowledgements, then this is a huge thank you to you. You guys have made my dreams come true by choosing and reading my books. I honestly can’t explain how much it means to me, so if you’re a new reader, or if you’ve been there since the start you are amazing!