Page 21 of Single Mom for the Mountain Men (Mountain Men Why Choose #3)
I cradle my frightened daughter close to me, my ears straining to listen for sounds outside the cabin.
I don’t hear anything but the chirping of birds and the sounds of the mountain waking up for the morning.
It’s hard not to look out a window, but I know that would be foolish if there is someone out there trying to harm the boys or myself and Sophie.
My mind races with worries over the predicament that we’re in. James was likely the person who attacked me the other night, and these men who want to collect Tanner’s debts are just as violent. I had thought it would be safe here on the mountain, but it has turned out to be anything but.
Maybe it’s time that Sophie and I leave.
I can find a job in a new state, in a new place.
I squirreled away quite a bit of money as I prepared to get away from Sophie’s father, but it might be nice to go back to earning my own way, showing Sophie a good example about supporting myself.
A fresh start might help us to get back on our feet and escape the attention of Sophie’s father once and for all.
I try to consider whether there is any way that I would feel safe enough anywhere else to allow Sophie to go back to school in person, or to play in the yard unsupervised, and my heart sinks.
I can’t think of where I could go that I wouldn’t have to constantly look over my shoulder, worried about her father coming to get us again.
A tear slides down my cheek as I realize that I have backed my daughter and I into a corner, one that is almost impossible to escape from.
My mind turns bitterly to thoughts of contacting the police.
I’ve done so time and time again, telling them that I was terrified that Sophie’s father would harm us, that I was scared to go to work since I didn’t want to leave her alone.
They always told me that he hadn’t done anything to make me feel that way, or at least nothing concrete, so there wasn’t anything that they could do. Now that he finally had done something concrete, I couldn’t even prove that it had been him who had attacked me.
Tired of the futile circling of my thoughts, I turn my mind to happier things.
The three men who share the mountain with us have given Sophie and me so much.
They have helped us to feel safe and have made things fun and engaging for us since we arrived.
Our cabin is cozy and warm, and everything on the property works, all because of their efforts.
My cheeks flush with warmth as I think about the other things that they have given me, things that Sophie cannot know about, but which have made me finally feel healthy and whole again.
I don’t understand why I’m attracted to all of them.
Surely, that’s not how love is supposed to work, but I do care about all of them for different reasons.
I bite my lip, shushing Sophie as she grows restless and reminding her that Tanner will come back when it’s safe. I think of how he fucked me this morning, and my cheeks grow even hotter. I’ve never taken control in the bedroom like that, but it was…amazing to get to do so.
I remember the massive size of him and how he stretched me and filled me to the brim. I had never experienced something like that, either, but I had loved that just as much as the wild sex that I initiated.
Could I tell them that I had slept with all of them? Would they be willing to…share me? I bite my lip at the thought. Men are so often territorial. I can’t imagine them being willing to all be in a relationship with me at the same time.
I suddenly think about a sexy novel I read before Sophie and I came up the mountain.
In the book, the girl was in a relationship with three men at the same time, and they…
all shared her. I nearly moan aloud at the thought.
Why does that turn me on so much? I can’t ask something like that of my mountain men. How would I even bring it up?
I realize then that my frantic brain is thinking about all kinds of things that don’t apply to our current situation as a way to distract myself. I should be worried about our safety, not trying to escape from my fear by daydreaming about the boys.
I shake my head, trying to gather myself. Suddenly, I hear booted feet walk onto the front porch. I suck in a sharp breath and squeeze Sophie closer to me. I press a hand over her mouth in case the sound of feet means that someone has come to harm us.
But then, I hear Tanner’s voice. “You can come out, Lena. It’s safe now.”
With a sigh of relief, I rise to my feet and pull Sophie with me. I don’t allow her to run ahead and find Tanner as she clearly wants to do. I don’t entirely trust that we are safe yet, not with my heart still slamming against my ribs.
I come into the living room and find that Tanner and Aiden are standing there with matching looks of grim concern on their faces. I let Sophie rush to them, and they both soothe her with quiet words and soft strokes of her hair.
I send them a shaky smile and allow first Aiden, then Tanner to enfold me in a hug.
“What happened?” I ask, clearing my throat when my voice wavers.
Aiden glances down at Sophie and puts his hands over her ears. “The men came back to find Tanner. They were standing in the yard, yelling and shooting their guns in the air. Brody tackled them to the ground and then tied them up. Now, we need to question them.”
I gulp. “Shouldn’t we call the police?”
Tanner shakes his head and glances out the window. I see with a start that there are thick flakes of snow pouring down out of the sky.
“There’s a storm sitting over the top of the mountain.
We don’t have cell service right now, and we don’t have time to mess around.
We need to know who sent them up here to threaten me and what I need to do to set things right.
I can get in touch with the police later, but right now, their presence here needs attended to,” Tanner says.
I square my shoulders. “Sophie and I will be fine while you do that,” I say as bravely as I can.
Aiden smiles a little sadly at me and shakes his head.
“I think that you two need to come stay with us for a bit until this whole mess blows over. I don’t think we’ll be able to make it to your cabin easily once the snow has been falling all day, anyway, and there have been enough issues lately that it’s better if we are all in one place for safety. ”
I bite my lip, but I nod, realizing that he’s right. It will be a little snug from being all stuffed into the same cabin, but I also can’t face the idea of Sophie and I sleeping alone while there are two kinds of madmen out there threatening our safety.
“I’ll pack bags for us both,” I tell the men. “Sophie, go get dressed.”
“Momma,” she whines, “I’m hungry.”
“I know,” I tell her as patiently as I can. “Just get dressed, and we’ll go to the boys’ house to eat.”
“Fine.” She sighs and trudges off to her bedroom.
I roll my eyes a little and spread my hands. “Kids,” I say to the men standing before me.
“Let me help you get packed,” Tanner says.
“I can pack a bag for Sophie,” Aiden offers, then starts to follow my child to her room.
“Thank you,” I say to both of them, heading back to my bedroom. I grab my suitcase out of the closet and start putting warm clothing into it, my thoughts racing.
“I’m sorry about all of this.” Tanner comes up behind me and hugs me. I lean back against him, grateful for his warmth.
“Some of it is my fault, too,” I say to him regretfully. “I shouldn’t have brought James up the mountain with me by accident. I was just trying to get away from him.”
“We’re all trying to do the best we can,” Tanner reassures me. “We all have our demons.”
“Tanner,” I say to him, my lip captured between my teeth. “I want to admit something to you.”
“Sure,” he says easily. “You can tell me anything.”
I sigh and ponder how to put my confession into words.
“You might have already guessed based on our discussion earlier, but I want to be as honest as possible. I…want all of you,” I finally blurt out.
“I’ve been with all of you. I hope that isn’t disgusting to you.
” I turn in his arms to look up at his handsome face.
He looks a little surprised, but then, a rueful smile flits across his face. “I thought it was just Aiden. I didn’t know about Brody, not for sure, anyway. It’s not like the old man, honestly. He’s not good at being close to people.”
I bite my lip again and nod. “I shouldn’t have done it, but you are all just so amazing, and I just can’t help myself. Do you think…do you think you might all be okay with…sharing me…or something like that?”
Tanner is silent for a beat, but after a moment of contemplation, he grins at me. “I’m only speaking for me, of course, when I say that I will take you however you will let me have you.”
I smile in relief, feeling a little better at hearing he’s okay with the idea. “I guess I should talk to the other two as well,” I say with some trepidation.
He shakes his head. “Let me tell them,” he says, then presses a kiss to the end of my nose. “We need to talk about how this will work, anyhow.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, relieved not to have to try and confess my small sins yet again. “Thank you for everything.”
“No worries,” he tells me fondly before stepping away from me. “Come on. We need to get you guys packed and back home before the snow gets impossible to walk through.”