“I’m not messing with you,” he said as he pulled her along. “And everyone in the family has to know how to do it. No one gets out of the dirty work.”
“You can’t mean that you take the bull by the …” Jess cupped one hand to show what she meant. “Do you?”
“I do mean that. There’s a chute that holds them still for that. And once you start fondling them, they calm right down and actually seem to enjoy it. As you can imagine, the females of the family manage to get them to give more sperm with their tender touch than the men do.” He laughed, and Jess gagged.
“You’re messing with me. I know you are. There has to be a machine that does that,” Jess said as she shook her head. “People don’t do that for real.”
“There are other ways to get it, but our way works the best. We get a lot more than other producers do. And all because we aren’t afraid to get our hands dirty.” Out a door they went, and into a fenced area that had a large barn at the back if it. “I’ll let you watch the video first, then you can try it.”
“No way in hell, Griff!”
“Baby, come on. You’re into animals anyway.”
She stopped dead in her tracks. “Not into them in that way! That’s bestiality, Griff. It’s sick!”
“It’s not considered that, and it’s not sick. It’s profitable.” Pulling her along with him, he continued to take her to the barn.
“How about I watch you jerk the cow off?” she asked as they got to the barn where she could hear the cattle mooing.
“We don’t jerk off the cows, Jess.”
“Bulls. Whatever. You know what I’m saying. Let me watch you do it.”
He eyed her as he opened the large door, letting a burst of livestock odor pour out. Griff wasn’t about to put his hands on any bull’s cock, but he was about to watch Jess do it. “Inside, baby. You see, I’m itching to see if you can do this. It’s a thing each family member has to do, and I wanna see if you have what it takes to be a Houser.”
Jess eyed him and was unsure if he was being serious or not. He’d overheard them talking about the phony marriage scam. Was he into it, or was he going to try to use his own fake marriage proposal to win the bet he had with his friends?
“I’m not about to put my hands on a bull’s anything, Griff. Furthermore, I’m not interested in being a Houser.” She leveled her eyes on him and put her hands on her hips.
“You sure, baby?” he asked as he gathered her up in his strong arms. He’d heard her and her sisters loud and clear. He knew she wanted to get married.
When he moved his mouth past hers and went straight to her neck to kiss and nibble it, she couldn’t help wilting in his arms. He did know how to work her body; that was true. “Griff,” she moaned as she ran her hands over his tightly muscled back.
The bulls that were in the pens began to get louder as they mooed. Griff whispered in her ear, “We’re making them get all hot and bothered, baby. That’s a good thing. It’ll make your job easier.”
Pressing her up against the wall, he kissed her long and hard. He was going to work her up into a frenzy and win the bet while he planted the seed of doubt in her head about making him her husband.
Jess was finding it harder and harder to keep her wits about her when Griffin kissed her and handled her in a way that made her insides turn to butter. His mouth was hot and demanding as he kissed her. His strong hands gripped her waist, pulling her up. She wrapped her legs around him and felt the swell of his cock as he pushed it against her.
They were completely alone, save for the bulls, and she was losing the battle. Moving her hands through his thick hair, she moaned as he rubbed himself against her. Over and over, his throbbing cock moved, making her lightheaded and all thoughts ceased, except the one. The one that told her to let the damn bet go and find out what Griff could do for her.
Raking her nails along his back, she gasped when he bit her lower lip then nibbled his way down her neck. “Griff …”
“Shhh,” he said as he kept going. “Just let things happen, baby.”
Her brain was swimming in a sea of lust. Her body was on fire, and Griff was the only man who could douse those flames. She knew, without a doubt, that he’d be the best she’d ever had. And she’d held off for as long as she could.
When his fingers moved down her throat, all the way to the top button of her shirt, she let him unbutton it. Each button got him that much closer to the prize. Stopping to cup one breast, he groaned with how good it felt in his hand.
Griff had to admit that things with Jess were going great. If he could have gone back in time, the one thing he’d have done was make sure he hadn’t overheard the girls’ conversation about roping them into marriage to pay their bills.
And with that thought, he lost the feelings he’d had. He let her breast go and stopped kissing her neck that was so sweet and tempting. Griff reminded himself that the woman who was holding him was a money grubbing liar.
“So, you ready to get handsy with one of the bulls? I’ll let you pick him out.”
“Griff, no,” Jess whined. She was wondering what the hell had happened. They’d just been making out hardcore, and she’d been about to give into him.
“Yes, Jess,” he said as he stepped back, moving her legs off him.
“Griff, what’s wrong?” she asked as she knew something had to have gone through his head that had him stopping. Then she knew he’d been thinking about the marriage thing and it’d shut him down.
All she wanted to do was end the charade. Tell him she knew about the bet and how they’d gotten back at them for it. But Griff seemed set on trying to make her whack off a bull as he dragged her along with him to the first pen. “Come on. You have to do this. If you want me, then you’ll have to do this.”
Stopping short, Jess made a drastic decision. She was going to tell him the truth. Tired of keeping so much bottled up was taking its toll on her. “We need to talk.”
Griff turned around and eyed her warily. Somewhere, deep inside, he knew she was about to confess, and he knew he should too. “About what, Jess?”
A door on the side of the barn flew open and in came a tall man with a gun aimed right at them. “What the hell are you two doing in here?”
“Who the hell are you?” Griffin asked as he quickly moved Jess behind him.
“Never mind that,” the stranger shouted. “Get on the ground and put your hands behind your heads.”
Griffin had no idea who the man was or what the hell he thought he was doing. Jess looked at him with wide eyes as she said, “You don’t live here, do you?”
Chapter 31
Bouncing in the pickup truck Phoenix had rented at the airport, Cait looked out the window at the desolate area he was taking her to. “So, this is the land that’s made you so rich?”
“It sure is,” he said with pride in his deep voice.
“It’s not much to look at,” Cait commented on the drab gray trees that were short with thin leaves on them. The tan color of the dirt made everything blend in. Nothing stood out. “Does it get any better?”
“Hell, yes, it does,” Phoenix said as he went around a corner and the pavement ended, white caliche rocks began, and the ride became even bumpier.
“Are we going off-roading now, Phoenix?” Cait asked as she grabbed the bar above the passenger side window. “Now I know why this was installed.”
Phoenix laughed as he shook his head. “This isn’t off-roading, Caity-cat. This is one of the many roads the oil company put down when they were drilling the wells.”
“This is not a road!” she said as she hung on for dear life to the bar and pressed her feet against the floorboard in a vain attempt to steady herself. “This is worse than driving on the dirt, Phoenix!”
Rounding another curve, he pulled to a stop in front of a giant see-saw like structure. “This is the Nelson number one. The first oil well they drilled on this property. It makes roughly 40 barrels of oil a day for me.”
“I can see
why you like the land for that purpose, but for any other purpose, it’s more than fairly undesirable. You sure you want to make a home for yourself here?” she asked him as she looked around, desperately trying to find anything of beauty at all to make her understand what he saw in the place.
Phoenix was happy with her dislike of the scenery. He was set on showing her that if she was looking for a husband, he wasn’t going to be the man for her. But if she wanted to play, he was game for that.
“This is where it all started, Cait. I want to make a home for myself and a family right here, where it all began,” he said, then pulled away from the pump and headed down the bumpy road again.
Cait clung to the bar as she thought about why in the world he or anyone else would want to live in the middle of nowhere with only a bunch of machinery as their neighbors. And when he pulled up at a small, white house with the paint peeling, exposing old, gray boards underneath, she was thoroughly confused by the man. “What’s this?” she asked.
“This is the house the property came with. I stayed here a lot when I was first given the property. I want to make this place into a home. Come on, Cait. Let me show you around,” he said, then jumped out of the truck.
When he opened the door for her, the most awful smell hit her like a brick. “Oh, Lord! What’s that smell?”
“That’s the smell of money, Cait,” he told her as he helped her out of the tall truck.
“It’s more like rotten eggs and tar.” Cait looked around to try to find out exactly where the odor was coming from and couldn’t pinpoint it at all. “It seems to be coming from everywhere.”
“Well, that’s because it is,” he told her as he led her into the ramshackle dump of a house. “That’s the gases that come up with the oil. He pointed to a row of tan painted huge tanks that were not too far away. “That’s where the oil is pumped to. So, that’s why the smell is so strong here. You get used to it. You’ll see. Now, let’s go inside so I can show you the house and get your take on it.”
Cait pinched her nose shut as she went with him. She was pretty positive she’d never get used to that stench. And when he opened the door, she was met by three scurrying mice and let out a scream. “Rats!”
“Nah, those aren’t rats,” he said as he pulled her inside. “Rats are a lot bigger. Those are just mice. Once we move in here, they’ll move out.”
“We?” she asked as she looked at him, her fingers still holding her nose closed, making her sound stuffed up. “Phoenix, what the hell are you talking about?”
“You and me, of course. That’d be the next logical step, wouldn’t it? Moving in together?” he asked her as he watched her eyes get big.
“We’re not anywhere near that place yet,” she said.
And he had to wonder, if they weren’t near that place, then why was she talking to her sisters about marrying him?
Taking her into his arms, he pulled her close and kissed her on the forehead. “Maybe soon you’ll be closer to wanting us to be a thing. A real thing. A lasting thing.”
“Not here,” she said as she looked at the empty house. “And to be perfectly honest, this place needs to be torn down. Bulldoze it. And don’t start over anywhere near here. I’m pretty sure breathing in this air is not good for us.”
Phoenix was pretty sure it wasn’t either, but he said, “You really can’t see yourself living here, Caity-cat?” He rocked her back and forth as he looked into her eyes.
“I really can’t. We should go see that beach house you have.” She let her nose go and gave him a smile and then a kiss to see if she could get him to take her away from the horrible place. “I know I’ll feel a lot better with the salty air blowing around, instead of this.”
“You don’t even wanna spend one night here?” he asked. “Just to see what it’d be like?”
She shook her head. “No, and you shouldn’t either. This isn’t a place to build a home and raise a family. This place looks like rattlesnake heaven. A terrible place to raise kids.”
Cait wasn’t wrong about the snakes. Phoenix knew that each year the oil field workers killed five to ten of the poisonous creatures on his place, alone. Her instincts were right.
Everything about the girl was right, except the conniving part of her, Phoenix thought. “I tell you what. You and I are going to the little town that’s just a piece down the road and have some dinner, then maybe get a room in town for the night. I really do want you to get to know this place. This is where my future will be. Maybe I could buy a house in town. Maybe that’d be more your style.”
“You keep talking like I’m about to move down here with you. I’m not,” she told him. “I’m still in school, and that’s my top priority.”
With her words, he let her out of his hold. “About school. I suppose you’ve gotten into a real financial pickle with all those student loans. I’d like to help you out with them.” Phoenix eyed her to see if she’d accept his help and let the marriage thing go.
He wanted them to stop the playing against the other thing they’d been secretly doing. Phoenix wanted things to be real between them. A thing they were far from at that moment.
Cait was wondering what he was up to. She placed her hand on her hip and shifted her weight. “I don’t need your help, thank you very much.”
Moving around her like a cat stalking its prey, he said, “I think you do. I think you need my help very much. You have to admit, it’d help your father out tremendously if I settled your debts. Don’t you want that for him?”
She gulped as Phoenix circled her then stopped in front of her, taking her by the chin, making her look into his eyes. Cait was on the verge of telling him the truth. The only thing keeping her from blurting it all out was the fact that he was hanging on to his secret too.
“My father wouldn’t want me accepting that kind of money from a man.”
“But a husband, he surely would,” Phoenix said then smiled.
“What are you getting at, Phoenix?” she asked him, as she knew he didn’t want to marry her. And she didn’t want to marry him. It was all too soon, and there were lies in their way.
A loud popping sound made them both jump and Phoenix ran outside to see what was making the noise. Cait followed, and the two found one of the tanks had a small lid that was blowing up as each pop sounded. “I need to make a phone call,” Phoenix said. “We should get out of here.”
Hurrying to the truck, Cait climbed in on her own so they could get out of there faster. Phoenix got in the driver’s side and pulled out his phone as he pulled away from the area. “Why do you think it’s doing that, Phoenix?”
“I have no idea.” He gave her a look that told her more than he’d been telling her.
“You’ve never stayed out here, have you?” she asked him with a frown. “You’re trying to make me think this is what you want, but it’s not, is it?”
“Um, uh.” He had no idea what to tell her. He drove away from the smell and the noise that he knew damn good and well he never wanted to live around. And suddenly he felt he had to open up and be honest with the young woman. “Let me make this call to the oil company and then you and I are going to have a long talk.”
Cait nodded and leaned her head against the headrest. It seemed they were finally going to get to the truth. Or so she hoped.
Chapter 32
After a long day of visiting with Ethan’s fake family, although Kel was unaware of that fact, she was tired and ready for bed. Ethan walked her down a long hallway where many pictures lined the walls. “And who’s this?” she asked about a lovely young woman in a black and white photo, framed in gold.
“Um,” he mumbled, as he had no idea who any of the people were in any of the photos. The fact was, he was growing tired of the charade. Kel had been the epitome of class as she handled the shenanigans the acting troupe put her through. “Not sure about that one, love.”
Kel stopped and turned to face him. “How’s that, Ethan? I have to tell you that I feel like something’s n
ot quite right here.”
He gulped and felt a weight on his back the likes of which he’d never known before. Taking her hand, he led her into one of the bedrooms. “I think I can finally be honest with you, Kel, seeing as I have you too far away for you to grow furious enough with me that you’d run out and hide away from me.”
She sat on the bed, watching him as he began to pace with a slightly nervous expression on his handsome face. “Be honest. I never run from honesty, Ethan.”
He laughed with an oddly loud and abrupt sound. “Oh, I think you’ll be pretty mad at me, my love.”
“I’ll hold my temper.” Kel got up and put her arms around him. “You can be honest with me.”
He stroked her soft cheek and looked into her eyes. “I think I can, but I’m still afraid you’ll end this.”
“And why would I end something this nice?” she asked him, then leaned her head to rest on his broad chest. “Just tell me. You really can tell me anything.”
Taking her hands, he held her away from him. “Take a seat.”
She did as he’d said to and sat on the edge of the bed. “Okay, spill it, Ethan.”
“My friends and I overheard you and your sisters talking about something that has us all doing some kind of crazy things to you girls.” He began to pace again, putting his hands behind his back as he weighed what he wanted to say.
Kel held her temper, but the fact was that she was getting irate that this was the thing he wanted to be honest about and not the bet he and his friends had. “You and your friends are doing crazy things to me and my sisters, Ethan. Please go on. And what did you hear us talking about?”
Ethan stopped and leveled his eyes on Kel. She looked so small and innocent as she sat on the bed, waiting for his explanation. “Marriage, Kel. Marriage and how you three plan to get us all to marry you and pay your damn bills.” His face was turning red as he grew angry.
Kel’s face began to turn red too. “Anything else you’d like to be honest about, Ethan?”
“These people aren’t my family. I hired them to play the role. I wanted you to think I came from looneys and stop trying to get me to marry you. I actually come from good stock. No Americans are in the mix at all. And no mental illness, either. I’m not proud of what I did. And I wanted you to know that. I want us to be honest with one another. Would you like to confess now?”
Hacked For Love & The Dom's Songbird Page 99
