Penn steps out into the hallway and the low sound of his voice blends into the background.
“Penn Barnett?” Chloe asks with a raised eyebrow and a smirk. “That was quick.”
“He literally followed me home like an annoying stray dog,” I hiss, ignoring the amusement flashing in her eyes.
“So when did you meet him? The Barnett boys are kind of infamous in this town.”
“I literally walked into him this morning and I haven’t been able to get rid of him since. He told me I was his, kissed the shit out of me then followed me to work and refused to leave. He’s been sitting in reception all day, waiting for me to agree to go out with him and telling anyone who would listen that I was his. When I left for the day and he didn’t try to get in my car with me I thought he’d given up. But apparently he just followed me home. You came out with Poppy and you know the rest.”
“He told you, you were his?” Chloe says slowly.
“Jesus,” I roll my eyes, “Don’t tell me you’ve bought into this love at first sight legend too?”
Chloe’s laugh is so loud it makes Poppy jump, her eyes going wide as tears fill them. “It’s okay, babycakes, Auntie Chloe is being too loud isn’t she,” I coo to my daughter. Poppy stares back at me, fat tears rolling down her cheeks as she looks up at me. I wait for the wail, but it doesn’t come and instead she flops forward and buries her face into my boobs. This tiny baby is my entire world. I never planned to be a mom in my early twenties, but now she’s here I wouldn’t change a thing. No matter the circumstances that lead to her conception.
“It’s not just a legend, three of the Barnett boys have fallen that way. I’ve seen it with my own two eyes, those boys go from the consummate bachelor to head over heels in love in a millisecond and the way they love is, well… phew, it’s enough to make me a little hot under the collar.” Chloe fans herself with her hand and I roll my eyes.
“He’s crazy.”
“Quite possibly,” she snickers.
“He keeps telling me I’m his, it’s ridiculous. Although I’m sure this,” I nod to Poppy, “will change his mind and he can go and stalk someone else instead.”
“I wouldn’t be so sure, honey. He could have run a mile at the first sight of that precious little girl, but instead he offered to help you get her ready for bed while we wait for the takeout dinner he just ordered.”
Groaning, I lean forward and press my face against Poppy’s tiny head. I have no idea why babies smell so good, but I inhale deeply, filling my lungs with her awesome baby smell. “I don’t have enough room in my life for a man shaped complication.”
“I don’t plan on being a complication,” a deep voice announces.
Squeezing my eyes shut I try to hide from him, but given his tenacity so far today, I get the feeling he won’t just disappear… no matter how much I’d like him to.
“Penn,” I start, lifting my head and preparing myself to dole out the speech about why my baby has to be my priority, and how I don’t have the capacity to worry about anything but her. But he cuts me off when he strides over to me and scoops her out of my arms. I immediately bristle. I don’t know him, who the hell does he think he is touching my daughter? But instead of protesting, Poppy immediately nestles into him, resting her cheek against his shoulder as he holds out a hand for me.
“Let’s go get this one ready for bed, then we can talk.” His attention is split between me and Poppy, and the sight of him holding my daughter in one arm while he reaches for me with the other is sexy as fuck. I don’t know him, I certainly don’t trust him, but somehow not placing my hand in his feels impossible. There’s a pull to him that I just don’t understand. His alphahole personality is exactly what I crave, and he’s hot, like thermonuclear hot, but I don’t want or need a man in mine and Poppy’s lives. The man who provided the other half of her DNA has never even laid eyes on her, I doubt he ever will, but that doesn’t mean I should be trying to fill the gap with a random stalker I only met this morning.
I allow him to gently pull me from my seat on the couch and guide me toward the stairs as Chloe stands by and watches, a sly smile etched across her lips.
“Where are we going, Kitten?” he asks as he guides me up the stairs, still carefully holding my content daughter to his chest.
“I need to get the bath started.” We reach the landing and I point in the direction of the family bathroom. He follows me in, then hands Poppy to me.
“You have the princess and I’ll get things ready. How warm and how much water? Does she like bubbles?”
His interest and questions throw me for a loop as he turns on the facet, running the water until he’s happy with the temperature before allowing the tub to fill. He asks question after question. Where are the cloths, the shampoo, the diapers, her jammies and anything else she might need? He’s not just showing an interest, he’s actively learning how to take care of her and honestly, that freaks me the fuck out.
“Why are you doing this?” I blurt.
“What do you mean?”
“This,” I throw my arm out to encapsulate the room. “Running the bath, helping, all of it.”
Instead of speaking, he closes the short distance between us and lifts his hand to gently cup my cheek. There’s none of the intense possession from early, his fingers aren’t around my throat and he’s not telling me all the dirty things he wants to do to me, instead he’s soft and sweet. “You’re mine, she’s yours, so she’s mine too. I take good care of the things that belong to me.”
My lips part and my mouth falls open. Who is this guy?
“Now, come check this water and then show me how to take care of our princess.”
Our Princess. Why the hell do those words make me want to burst into tears. No one but me has ever claimed this little girl, and now this man I hardly know is swooping in here like a knight in shining armor. It’s too good to be true, it has to be. But surely someone would have warned me. Annette, or Dave or Chloe would have told me to keep my distance, to run away from his dirty words and sweet touches and possessive claims. Only they haven’t. Chloe is my biggest champion, mine and Poppy’s fiercest protector. Yet she invited him in to our home, backed up this ridiculous love at first sight rubbish, then let him hold my daughter without even a moment of reservation.
I might not trust him yet, but I do trust her. She would never allow someone who was going to hurt us into our lives.
Grabbing the changing pad, I drop it to the floor then kneel down and carefully lie Poppy onto it. I strip her out of her cute dress, leggings and diaper and then carry her over to the tub. Just like I told him, there’s only a couple of inches of water in the bottom and I check the temperature, keeping a protective grip on her arm as I place her in the bath seat Chloe bought.
Her baby giggle is so adorable I barely notice that Penn has kneeled beside me, watching me carefully as I squeeze soap onto a soft wash cloth and start to bathe her. He doesn’t attempt to help, other than pushing bath toys toward Poppy when she kicks them away, scooping up handfuls of bubbles and blowing them in her direction as she giggles and squeals with joy.
This should feel awkward, doing this task with a guy I barely know, but oddly it doesn’t, nor does it feel weird when he leans over and presses a kiss to my shoulder. It’s the only touch he offers me, while he talks sweetly to Poppy.
“Hey Princess, do you like the bubbles?” he asks, scooping another handful and blowing them at her. One gets stuck to her nose and she shrieks with joy as she slaps her wet hand against her face to get at it. Suddenly wet and shocked, fat tears fill her eyes again and she glares at Penn in the way babies do when the game they’ve been playing isn’t so fun anymore. I glance at the man at my side just in time to witness a flash of sheer panic cross his features.
“Naughty bubbles, they need a spanking don’t they,” he coos at her, reaching past me to gently slap the bubbly water.
The tears sit on the edges of Poppy’s lids as she watches Penn with fascination, then reaches out to the water and copies him, slapping the bubbles in front of her and laughing. A game of splashing commences, with her kicking her legs and coordinatingly patting her hands into the water while I wash her hair.
By the time I’m done, most of the bubbles have gone and we’re all a little damp. “You want me to grab you a towel, Kitten?” Penn asks, jumping up from his spot beside me on the floor.
“Thanks.”
He reappears beside me a moment later as I pluck a wiggling, slippery Poppy from the water. Holding out the towel for her, he wraps her in the fabric, then lifts her to his chest as I clamber up from the floor. Since we got to Rockhead Point a little over a week ago, Chloe has helped me to care for Poppy, but before that I’d been completely alone taking care of my baby, so having someone I barely know so effortlessly offer to help is confusing.
“Where are we going?” he asks, cuddling Poppy to his chest.
Leaning over, I pull the plug from the tub and the water starts to drain. “Over there,” I say, leading him to the room Poppy and I share. A white changing console is against the wall and I motion for him to place her down on it while I grab her pink jammies from the dresser.
He steps aside once I reach her, only taking his hand from her when I’m close enough to take his place. I quickly dry her, put on a clean diaper and get her into her bunny jammies as Penn stands at my shoulders watching me.
“Would you mind going downstairs and grabbing her formula? Chloe will have made her a bottle,” I say quietly, scooping Poppy into my arms and walking to the overstuffed armchair next to her crib.
“Sure,” he says, disappearing out of the room, returning a moment later with a baby bottle gripped in his massive hand. Settling Poppy against my chest, I reach out and take the bottle from him, pushing it into Poppy’s mouth and humming a lullaby as she drinks. I missed her today. I miss her everyday; but at least here she’s with Chloe, not in day care with strangers. That was a massive reason for moving here, Chloe retired a few years back and with no grandchildren of her own yet, she was excited to have a baby to look after. I’m not sure what I’d have done without her support this last year.
Penn moves to the bed and sits quietly on the edge, watching as I feed my daughter, running a finger over her tiny scrunched forehead and down between her eyes as she slowly falls asleep in my arms. I love this time of day with her, when she’s sleepy and relaxed. I could hold her like this forever, feeling her tiny fluttery heart beating against mine. This tiny little creature owns me and now that I have her, I have no idea how I thought I was truly living without her.
I expect him to get bored, or leave, but the entire time I cuddle with Poppy, he sits quietly, his eyes on me, watching us. I hold her long after she’s fallen asleep, but eventually I know I need to put her down. So I hold her to me, stand up and cross to the crib, placing her carefully down on the mattress and covering her with the blanket. Switching on the baby monitor, I grab the parent unit and tiptoe to the door. Penn follows me and I close it behind us and head downstairs.
“Oh shoot, I left the bottle,” I say, sighing and turning.
“I got it,” he says, lifting it into the air to show me.
I smile weakly. “Oh, thanks.”
Moving to take it, I’m surprised when he pulls it back out of my reach, curling his arm around my back and pulling me into his chest. “Watching you with her, it’s fucking beautiful,” he purrs, his breath against my ear making me shudder.
“Penn,” I sigh.
“You’re both mine.”
“You can’t just decide that.”
“Yes, I can. You were meant for me and I was meant for you. Doesn’t matter what came before I found you, but now you’re here, I’m claiming you. My dick has never been so fucking hard, I can’t wait to get inside of you.”
“I don’t believe in love at first sight.” I push at his chest but he just tightens his grip, sliding his free hand around my neck and squeezing my throat gently.
“How about want at first sight. Your nipples are hard, you’re fucking panting and I’m willing to bet your cunt is dripping for me. I dare you to let me find out.” His fingers on my neck release and he slowly slides his hand down the center of my body, between my breasts, across my squishy belly and beneath the waist of my skirt. He’s giving me time to stop him, but even as I part my lips, no words come out.
He doesn’t breach my panties to start off, he cups my pussy over the fabric, feeling the heat pouring from my core. “So hot, Kitten, how long do you think it would take me to make this little kitty purr. Does she want it gentle or rough?”
Closing my eyes, I swallow thickly.
“I think my kitten likes it rough. I don’t think you want me to be gentle, I think you’ll like it when I hold you down and force my fingers deep inside of you. You don’t want to be wooed; you want to be owned.”
I try to deny his words, but he’s right, I’ve never enjoyed it when a guy is all sweet and nice. I don’t want him to ask permission. Pushing my panties to the side I feel a single blunt fingertip stroking along my sex before thrusting inside of me, he pulls out and pushes two fingers into me, roughly finger fucking me, right here in the hallway.
“Spread your legs.”
I do as I’m told, spreading my legs wider as he fills me again and again. A third finger pushes into me and I whimper, the pleasure and pain of being stretched almost too much.
“Fuck, Kitten, I can barely get three fingers into you, you’re going to scream when I force my fat cock into your cunt. I can’t wait. My dick is going to ruin you.”
His words are crass and vulgar and so inappropriate from a man I met this morning, but I can’t help the arousal that weeps from me.
“That’s it, soak my hand, I want to lick all that sweetness off my fingers.”
His fingers move relentlessly, fucking me in short, hard thrusts that make my eyes roll back with pleasure. His thumb finds my clit and he presses down, rubbing as he fucks me with his hand until I’m gripping his shoulders, holding on as an orgasm barrels down on me.
“Come for me, Kitten, and bite down so no one can hear. All your sounds are for me only, no one gets to share in the pleasure I give you.”
Burying my face in his chest I do as he says, clamping my teeth into the skin on his bicep as an orgasm explodes from my core, ricocheting through my limbs until I’m a whimpering, shaking mess.
“Fucking perfect,” Penn rasps, pulling his fingers out of me and lifting his hand up to show me how wet it is. “All this is you; this is how wet you got just from a small taste of how I’ll claim your body.”
Lifting his hand he paints my lips with my own arousal, pushing his fingers into my mouth and forcing me to taste myself on him. Dragging them free, he pushes them between his own lips and sucks heartily on them, before he dips his head down and kisses me.
I don’t resist, I couldn’t right now even if I wanted to. In this moment I truly am his and so I let him own me, moving with him, parting my lips and stroking his tongue back as he invades my mouth. For a big, dominant guy, he doesn’t try to make me submit to him, he simply kisses me in the same forceful way that he seems to do everything else.
“You taste fucking delicious,” he growls, his voice rough and gravelly.
The doorbell ringing shatters the illusion he’s woven around us and I rush to the door, throwing it open as my chest heaves.
“Here,” Penn snaps, handing a handful of bills to the delivery guy and taking the box of takeout from him, before unceremoniously slamming the door in his face.
“That was rude,” I glare.
“Don’t give a fuck, not having another man see you looking all cum-drunk. He’s lucky I didn’t gouge his fucking eyes out.”
“Penn,” I gasp. “I’m not yours.”
“Tell that to your sopping wet cunt, Kitten.” He chuckles, grabbing my hand, and towing me back into the kitchen. Depositing me at the dining table, he moves around Chloe’s kitchen like he owns it, washing his hands then pulling out plates, glasses and silverware.
“Something smells good,” Chloe says loudly before she steps into the kitchen and plops down in the seat opposite mine at the table. “There’s soda, beers and a bottle of wine in the refrigerator,” she tells Penn, not getting up herself as he moves around the space.
Narrowing my eyes at her, I glare, but she just smiles, looking incredibly smug. I don’t really know what’s gotten into her but apparently she’s firmly team Penn, even though she knows I only want to focus on Poppy right now. “Traitor,” I mouth.
She laughs, then brings her fingers together to make a heart shape, placing them over chest and pouting.
Rolling my eyes, I ignore her, forcing my face into a neutral expression as Penn places a glass of wine I didn’t ask for in front of me, another in front of Chloe and a glass of soda at the place setting next to mine.
“I hope you’re not a vegetarian, I didn’t think to ask and pretty much everything I’ve ordered has got meat in it.”
“She’s not,” Chloe answers for me, before I can tell him I am.
“Good. Chopsticks or forks?” He holds out three of each and I reach for the chopsticks as Chloe does the same. I expect him to take a fork, caveman that he is, but he follows suit and rips open the packet, snapping them in half.
It’s not that I’m assuming he’ll behave like an animal or have no manners, but I’m still shocked when he serves both me and then Chloe before he adds food to his own plate and expertly uses the chopsticks to devour the tangy orange chicken, spicy szechuan pork and crispy broccoli florets that are drowned in something I don’t recognize, but just became my new favourite.
We eat in comfortable silence with Chloe mainly filling the void with town gossip about people I don’t know. I perk up when she starts to talk about James and London and before long, I’m chatting happily about my favourite pseudo cousin and the exciting life he’s living on the other side of the world.
When the food is all gone and my wine glass is empty, Chloe excuses herself to go take a bath and I’m left alone with Penn and this cloud of indecision that’s floating above me. If I didn’t have Poppy, if I hadn’t just moved half way across the country for a fresh start, I’d be flinging myself into his lap and begging to ride what I’m guessing is going to be an impressively large cock. Penn exudes big dick energy and I’d be surprised if it was all bravado.
But the thing is, I do have Poppy and she has to be my focus. I don’t have room, time or energy for a guy like Penn. He’s the type that wants to consume you and I can’t allow that to happen, no matter how much I might want him to.
“Look,” I start.
“No.”
“What?”
“No, I’m not going to back off. No, I don’t agree that we can’t be together. No, I don’t care that we just met. No, I don’t think I’ve imagined this thing between us,” he growls, placing his hands on my hips and boldly lifting me into his lap.
“Penn, my life is kind of complicated right now.”
“That’s okay, we don’t need to be complicated, in fact, we’re simple as fuck. You’re mine and I’m yours. See? Simple,” he drawls, his tone slow and sexy.
“And what about Poppy?”
“I already told you, she’s mine too.”
“You can’t just claim me and my daughter.” I sigh.
“Why not?”
“Because that’s not real life.”
“Life’s as real as we make it. I know you’re it for me, I won’t find anyone else, I’ll never want anyone else. You’re mine, my woman, my life, my fucking happy ever after. This right here, being with you, touching you, this is as easy as breathing to me. Since I saw you this morning I felt something settle inside my chest, like you’re the missing piece of me.” He grabs my hand and places it on his chest over his heart. I can feel the constant, steady beat and it calms me.
“Penn.”
“Who’s Poppy’s dad?”
“That’s none of your business.”
“Course it’s my fucking business if he’s going to be in your life, our life.” His grip on me tightens and his jaw clenches.
“He’s not a part of mine or Poppy’s life.”
“That might change.”
“It won’t, he signed over full parental rights to Poppy before she was born.”
“Asshole.”
“It’s a complicated situation,” I say slowly, not really wanting to get into the circumstances of Poppy’s conception right now.
“Complicated how?” Penn asks.
“That’s not something I want to get into with a stranger,” I quip, a hint of anger lacing my words. I don’t want to discuss how Poppy came to be, or why I’m here and not in Chicago, especially with someone I met this morning.
His growl is pure frustration, his muscles tensing beneath me. “I don’t like that you don’t want to confide in me.”
“I don’t know you,” I cry, my voice incredulous.
“So get to know me. What do you want to know?”
“I don’t know. How do I get you to leave me alone?”
His laugh is rough and full of menace. “You don’t want that. If you did, you wouldn’t have come all over my fingers earlier.”
“Sex has nothing to do with it. I can be sexually attracted to you without wanting to be with you.”
“True, but this is more than just sex, this is intimacy at its bases form, it’s my core calling out to your core and claiming it. You can try to deny it, you can even fucking fight it, but it’ll still be true and we’ll both be missing out on happiness until you accept that you belong to me now.”
He sounds so certain and I don’t even know what to do. How do I fight someone who feels so strongly that they’re right?
“Kiss me,” he demands.
“No.” I shake my head.
Strong fingers grab my chin in a firm hold. “I said, kiss me.”
Swallowing thickly, I try to shake my head but his grip tightens.
“Kiss me, or I’ll strip you naked, flip you till your ass is in the air and your cunt is open and dripping for me, and I’ll fuck you right here on this couch. It’s not the way I envisaged claiming you for the first time, but if I have to prove a point and punish you for ignoring me, I will.” His lips skim over my cheek. “But if I do, if I slam my fat dick into you as a punishment, you don’t get to come, no matter how much you beg for it.”
A moan slips from my lips. Fuck, I shouldn’t be turned on, I shouldn’t like threats of sexual punishment, but I do and the sound I just made was like a ten-page confession.
“Oh, Kitten, you’re fucking perfect. Now kiss me.”
Leaning down I offer him my lips and he takes them, kissing me deeply and possessively until I’m squirming in his lap, my pussy swollen and needy.
“Where’s your cell?”
“What?” I ask, dazed.
“Your cell, where is it?”
“In my purse,” I say, pointing roughly in the direction of the couch.
“Go get it.”
“Why?”
“Because I told you to.” He kisses me again and I groan into his mouth, burying my fingers in his hair and holding him to me.
“Go,” he smirks, lifting me off his lap and turning me toward the couch.
On shaky legs I pad over to my purse, find my cell and carry it back toward him. He reaches for me the moment I’m close enough, taking my cell from my hands and holding it up to my face when the facial recognition app kicks in. The moment it’s open his fingers move across the screen, then a noise sounds from beneath him and he pulls out his own cell, checks the screen, then smiles. He messes with my cell for a few more seconds then hands it back to me.
“Now I have your cell number and you have mine. I should go, you have work in the morning? Do you start at the same time every day?”
“I nod, yeah, 8.30.”
“Do you have to take Poppy to day care first?”
“No, Chloe is taking care of her while I work.”
“Okay, I’ll pick you up in the morning.” Lifting me from his lap he places me on my feet, then stands up behind me, towering over me once again.
“What? No, I can drive myself to work,” I cry
“I know you can, but I can pick you up, so I’ll see you in the morning.” Dipping down he kisses me again, one hand wrapping around my neck, while the other rests against my spine, holding me to him. “Night Kitten.”
“Night Penn,” I reply almost on autopilot as he presses a soft, sweet peck to my lips before he turns and leaves, closing the front door behind him.
