Page 24 of Bossy Mountain Daddies (Reverse Harem Mountain Daddies #3)

Griff

" F uck, that feels so damn good, Griff. Don't stop." Skye's fingers tangle in my hair as I work my mouth on her pussy. The afternoon sun warms her bare skin on my back patio chaise lounge, her legs draped over my shoulders.

My cabin is remote—no neighbors, no one to see what I’m doing to Skye as she completely comes undone. I’m committed to her orgasm and then I can’t wait to fuck her. I’ve been thinking about it nonstop since the day I took her on my bike to the waterfall.

I lose myself in her taste, the soft sounds she makes, the way her hips rise to meet me. Her breath hitches and I know she’s so close. Nothing exists outside this moment—until a man's voice cuts through our private world like a knife.

"Dad? What the fuck?"

My head snaps up. My son—my estranged son—stands at the corner of the house, frozen in place, his face a mask of shock. Time seems to stop as I stare at him, hardly believing he's standing in front of me.

"Dan, son, what are you doing here?" My voice comes out rough, the question absurd given the circumstances.

Skye scrambles to cover herself, yanking her shirt down and fumbling for her underwear. Her face drains of color as she looks at Dan. I’m thinking it must be from the embarrassment of being mostly naked until she speaks.

"Daniel?" she whispers.

My brain struggles to catch up. She knows him? How does she?—

And then it hits me like a punch to the gut. Daniel. Not Dan, as I've always called him. Daniel. Skye's cheating ex-boyfriend. Daniel. My son.

Jesus fucking Christ.

"Skye?" Daniel's voice cracks. His eyes dart between us, narrowing as comprehension sets in. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

The venom in his voice makes me stand, instinctively positioning myself between him and Skye. I grab my shirt off the ground and pass it back to her without looking.

"Daniel, calm down," I say, trying to sound reasonable despite my anger.

"Calm down?" He laughs, the sound harsh and bitter. "I drive all the way out to this backwoods town to talk to my father for the first time in years, and I find him going down on my ex-girlfriend. And you want me to calm down?"

I glance back at Skye. She's wrapped my shirt around her lower half, her eyes wide. She meets my gaze, and I see the question there: How is this possible?

I wonder the same thing.

"How do you know each other?" Daniel demands, jabbing a finger between Skye and me.

Before I can answer, Skye finds her voice. "My car broke down on my way to Wyoming. Though it’s absolutely none of your fucking business.”

“She’s been working at the bar I own.”

"Since when did you buy a bar?" Daniel's eyes narrow at me.

"Five years ago," I reply tersely. "If you'd returned any of my calls, I would have told you."

Daniel ignores the jab. His focus returns to Skye, his face twisting into a cruel smirk. "So your car breaks down, and you immediately jump into bed with the nearest available man?"

I feel my face heat with anger. "That's enough, Dan."

"It's Daniel," he snaps. "I haven't gone by Dan since high school."

"Daniel," I emphasize his name. "You don't get to talk to her that way."

My son stares at me like I'm a stranger.

And I guess I am. I haven't seen him since I visited him a long time ago, when he was barely out of his teens.

He'd been sullen then, refusing to speak to me beyond clipped one-word answers.

He blamed me for the divorce, for not fighting harder to keep our family together.

Now he stands before me, a full-grown man who looks so much like I did at his age. Except for the beard—or lack thereof. My hand drifts unconsciously to my own.

"How can this be happening?" Skye asks from behind me, her voice small but steady.

Daniel's eyes flash to her. "That’s a great fucking question, Skye. Only you would know how you ended up fucking the man who abandoned my mom and me when I was fourteen."

The accusation hangs in the air. I want to defend myself, to explain that his mother was the one who left, who took him halfway across the country, who poisoned him against me. But what's the point? He made up his mind years ago.

"I obviously didn’t know," Skye says, her voice stronger now. "He only mentioned you a couple of times and he called you Dan.”

Daniel snorts. "He talked about me? That's rich. Did he tell you what a terrible son I am for not keeping in touch? I’m guessing he left out the part where he walked away from us without a backward glance…"

"That's not what happened, and you know it," I say, struggling to keep my voice level. "Your mother left me. She's the one who moved you to Florida. I tried to stay in your life. I called every weekend. I sent letters. I flew out for every birthday until you told me to stop coming."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," he dismisses me with a wave of his hand. His eyes fix on Skye again. "How long has this been going on? Were you seeing him while we were still together?"

Skye stands now, my shirt wrapped securely around her waist. "No. I didn't even know Griff existed until my car broke down here. I had no idea he was your father."

"Right," Daniel says, skepticism dripping from the word. "What a convenient coincidence."

"It is a coincidence," I insist. "A weird, uncomfortable one, but a coincidence nonetheless. Now why don't we all go inside and talk about whatever brought you here?"

Daniel takes a step back, shaking his head. "I'm not going anywhere with either of you. This whole thing is disgusting."

I see Skye flinch at the word, and something protective rises in me. Whatever happened between her and my son is their business, but I won't let him make her feel ashamed for what’s going on between us.

"Son," I try again, softening my voice. "Please. It's been years. Whatever you came here for, we can figure it out. But you need to calm down first."

For a split second, I see something vulnerable flicker across his face—a glimpse of the boy I used to take fishing, who would curl against my side during thunderstorms. Then it's gone, replaced by a hard mask of adult resentment.

"I can't believe this," he says, more to himself than to us. "Of all the women in the world, you had to go after her?"

"He didn't go after me," Skye says quietly. "And I didn't go after him. It just... happened."

Daniel's laugh is cold. "Sure… it just happened."

I take a step toward him. "Daniel?—"

"Don't," he cuts me off. "Just don't. I can’t talk to you right now." He backs away further, his eyes never leaving us.

With that, he turns and stalks around the side of the house. A moment later, I hear a car door slam and an engine roar to life.

Skye and I stand in stunned silence. She quickly begins to put the rest of her clothes on.

I'm about to reach for her when I hear the car door slam again.

Footsteps crunch on gravel, then Daniel reappears around the corner of the house, his face flushed with anger.

Whatever momentary retreat he'd planned has clearly been abandoned in favor of continuing this confrontation. I instinctively step closer to Skye.

"You know what? No. We're going to talk about this now," Daniel spits out, striding toward us. His finger jabs the air in Skye's direction. "You skipped out and left me to pay the rent. Three thousand dollars, Skye. Three thousand fucking dollars I had to cover because you decided to run away."

Skye's jaw drops and I can see the fight come back into her eyes. "Are you serious right now? You cheated on me with my boss. In our bed!"

"That doesn't mean you get to just leave without paying your share of the rent," Daniel counters. "We have a lease agreement."

"You should have thought about that first before you fucked Alicia!" Skye's voice rises.

Daniel scoffs. "That’s got nothing to do with you paying the rent."

"You're seriously going to stand there and act like I owe you something?" Skye steps forward, her hands clenching into fists. "After what you did?"

"I wouldn't have cheated if you hadn't made my life a living hell," Daniel snaps, his face reddening. "Always working late, always too tired, always with your nose in some stupid book instead of paying attention to me."

I feel my fists clench at my sides. The urge to defend her is overwhelming, but I force myself to stay quiet. This is between them.

Skye laughs in disbelief. "So it's my fault? Classic Daniel. Nothing's ever your responsibility."

"You pushed me away!" Daniel's voice rises. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Oh, I don't know," Skye says, sarcasm dripping from every word, "maybe talk to me? Or break up with me? Instead of fucking my boss in our bed?"

I feel anger invading my chest at the picture she's painting. My son—the boy I raised to respect women, to be honest—did this to her?

"You know what?" Daniel runs his hands through his hair, his face flushed with anger. "I don't give a shit anymore about what happened between us. But Alicia is moving in next week, and I need your stuff out of the apartment."

Skye stares at him, mouth open.

"And if you don't come get your shit by Friday, I'm throwing everything on the street. All those precious books of yours? Gone."

"I won't be coming to get my things," Skye says, her voice suddenly calm. She crosses her arms over her chest. "But I'll arrange for someone to pick them up."

Daniel's face twists with ugly satisfaction. "Oh yeah? Who? Your new fuck buddy here?" He gestures at me with contempt.

"That's none of your business," Skye replies. "Just expect someone before Friday."

"Better make it quick," Daniel sneers. "I'm not making any promises about what condition your precious shit will be in. Accidents happen, you know."

Something snaps inside me at the thinly veiled threat. I step forward, drawing myself up to my full height, using every inch of the advantage I have over my son.

"That's enough," I say, my voice dropping to a dangerous register I rarely use. "You need to get the fuck off my property. Now."

Daniel's eyes widen slightly, but he quickly masks it with a scoff. “Oh, now you're defending her honor?”

I take another step closer. "Don't test me, Daniel."

We stand there, locked in a standoff, father and son separated by years of resentment and now this new complication.

"This isn't over," he says finally, backing away. "I want my money and I’m going to get it, no matter what it takes.”

And with that he turns and walks away.

Skye and I stand there stunned.

"I can't believe you're his father," she says again, looking at me as if seeing me for the first time. "Does this... does this change things between us?"

The question hangs in the air, heavy with implications. Does it? Should it? I honestly don't know. My son hates this woman. But my son also seems to hate me, and there's nothing I can do about either of those things right now.

"We'll figure it out." It’s all I can come up with right now.

I reach for her hand, and after a moment's hesitation, she lets me take it.