“I just can’t believe my little Jess is this devious. She seems so sweet and innocent,” Griff said.
“Well, the heartless oldest sister who had her heart broken, who’s become a shrew, has led her sisters down a dark path. I just hope the younger two see the light before they follow in her footsteps,” Ethan said. “And what a great actress she is!”
“All three of them are,” Phoenix said as he shook his head. “So damn honest looking and talking like they’re good girls. They are not good girls!”
“No, they are not!” Griff said then finished his beer. “I think I need a nap before I see Jess again. I don’t know how I’m going to hide the fact that I know about their terrible plan.”
“Me neither,” Phoenix said then finished his beer. “Let’s go. My head hurts.”
“Aye, mine too,” Ethan agreed. “That woman has let me down so completely. And to think that I contemplated ending the bet.”
“You did?” Griff asked. “How come you didn’t say anything about that? I’ve thought about it too.”
“Me too,” Phoenix said. “Especially since yesterday.”
“Well, I wasn’t sure about it. I wanted a couple more days to go by before I said anything,” Ethan admitted. “But now I’ll never stop the bet. One of them will make one of us the winner, then we’ll dump all three of the money-grubbing whores!”
“Whores is a bit much,” Griff said. “Let’s just call them gold diggers and let that be their brand.”
“Yeah, they aren’t whores, Ethan,” Phoenix said as he got up. “But they are liars.”
“They are that,” Griff agreed. “But Jess is still naïve and pretty innocent.”
“For a woman who’s trying to get a guy to marry her to pay off her debts,” Ethan said with raised brows. “Don’t let the sirens fool you. And I think we have a better shot at getting them into bed now, anyway.”
“After we marry them, we do,” Phoenix said with a sigh.
Ethan smiled as they walked outside. “Stipulations could be made, you know. Put a cheap, fake ring on their fingers, then tell them we want to marry them but have to know if the sex will be good before we go all the way through with it.”
“Genius!” Griff said, and the three high-fived one another.
Chapter 25
Garlic and basil filled the air as the men were greeted by Cait at the front door of their home. “Smells great, honey,” Phoenix said as he pulled Cait into his arms and dropped a kiss on her lips. “You’ll make some man a great wife someday.”
She giggled and smacked him in the chest lightly. “Oh, you!” Cait took his hand and led him and the other men down the dark hallway to the kitchen. “Come on. I’ll pour you guys some of that wine you brought, and you all can take seats at the kitchen table. Our parents went out to play bingo at the church. They took Alex, so it’s only us for the evening.”
“Good,” Phoenix said as he pulled her up closer. “Then we can play house for a little while.”
Cait giggled again, finding it funny that he was talking in such a way. They’d half expected the guys to disappear on them. But they’d also had a notion they’d stick around for the bet.
Ethan pushed the galley door open, finding Kel stirring a pot of bubbling red sauce. “There’s my love!” He went straight to her and picked her up, kissing her with a homey kiss. “I missed ya.”
Griff went to where Jess was tearing up leaves of lettuce in a large bowl. “Look how domestic you are, baby!” He too gave his girl a kiss and a sweet hug.
“I can be quite the domestic goddess when I want to be,” Jess said with a smile.
Griff kissed the tip of her nose. “I bet you can be. Can I do anything to help you?”
“You can pour me a glass of wine while I make this salad.” She kissed his cheek, then whispered, “Mom and Dad are out; I plan on taking you up to my bedroom later.”
Griffin eyed her for a moment. He wanted to let the cat out of the bag so damn bad, it ate as his insides. But he pushed that down and said, “I can’t wait.”
With a sweet smile, Jess went back to making the salad as Griff went to pour her a glass of wine. He watched the women being overly sweet to his friends. He knew they thought they were so smart. But they had no idea of the bullshit that was about to be pulled on them.
With what they had planned, no woman in her right mind would want to marry any of them!
Kel handed Ethan the plates to set the table with. He met Griffin at it as he was putting down napkins and forks. Phoenix had been delegated the job of placing the food on the table as the women washed up the dishes they’d use to cook with.
Then all six took seats around the table. Kel took Ethan’s hand, and that of Cait’s who sat next to her. “I think we should start a tradition of saying grace before we eat. It’s what I want our family to do. When I have one, that is.” She gave Ethan a giant smile. “Would you do the honors, Ethan?”
He was shaking inside with fury at the woman. Playing on the Lord to gain him as a husband was low. But he smiled and pretended to be impressed with how fantastic Kel was. “Oh, love, yes, please allow me to do the honors. Everyone take hands and bow.” They all did as he said and he too lowered his head. “Oh Heavenly Father above us all, please rain down your guidance on us this evening. Watch over our pretenses and silence the fears in us.”
Kel opened her eyes and looked at him. “Ethan, this is no sermon. Bless the food and be done with it.”
“Sorry, my love,” he apologized. “Lord, up in Heaven, our almighty and one true God, please bless this food these lovely, honest, women made for us this evening. Please watch over them and lead them to the light and to your ways, Lord. Help them to understand life and truth.” Another tug on his hand had him knowing Kel was about to interrupt him again if he didn’t wrap it up. “Wrapping it up, Lord, our God, please help these women with their very souls. Amen.”
“I don’t know what that was about,” Kel said. “But thanks for saying the blessing, Ethan.”
“You’re very welcome, my love,” he said then kissed her cheek.
At least he’d asked God to help their heathen souls!
Dinner went well, and soon they were finished and retiring to separate, secluded areas of the home. Jess took Griffin up to the bedroom the three young women shared. “Here we are; my room.”
Griff looked at the three beds. “You all share one bedroom?”
“Yes, the house only has three bedrooms. Alex is a boy, so he gets his own,” Jess said then wrapped her arms around his neck. “Wanna make out?”
Griff was pretty pissed at what Jess was trying to pull, but he might just get her to do more than make out, and it might lead to him winning the bet then they’d dump the money grubbers and leave town. “Sure, we can make out, baby.”
She smiled as he kissed her and picked her up in his arms. Taking her to the nearest bed, he laid her down and covered her body with his. The kiss grew with his desire, and he was lost in it in no time at all.
Pushing her shirt up, he cupped her bra-covered breast, kneading it and salivating as he wanted to have it in his mouth. He decided he was going for it. Pushing the bra up, he uncovered the perfect mound and kissed his way down until he found the nipple hard as a rock and pulled it into his mouth.
Jess moaned and arched her body up to him, “Yes, Griff.”
He dug his fingers into her waist as he sucked and licked her tit. His cock was straining the zipper of his jeans, and he had to have a bit of relief. Taking her hand, he moved it to his cock.
It took her no time at all to unbutton and unzip his pants, setting him almost free. Her hand moved over his underwear, rubbing his aching dick. The sisters had all talked and had come up with the idea to give the men almost what they wanted. It was another teasing scheme that was sure to leave the men mad at them and hurry the end of their plan to get them into bed.
In the living room, Cait had Phoenix on the sofa. The way he was grinding on her was making it hard
for her to stick to the plan of teasing him beyond belief without giving in all the way. His warm lips pressed against her ear. “I want you, Cait.”
All she could do was groan. She wanted him too, but there was the little promise she’d made her sisters. Her body undulated to his. Her breasts were mashed against his tight chest. When he grabbed her ass and gave it a squeeze, she almost lost it all.
Kel and Ethan were in the den. He was kissing his way up her neck, muttering, “You smell like heaven. You taste like sin, and I want to taste every inch of you, love.”
Kel’s body was on fire. She just kept wishing the man wasn’t a liar. She’d have given into him with a passion she’d never known before if he’d been an honest man.
He had her lying on the sofa, and there was a spring in her back that kept her alert, instead of falling into the abyss his kissing was trying to take her to. Ethan made his way down her body, kissing and touching her all over. When he got down on his knees beside the sofa and pushed her skirt up, she sucked in her breath.
Should she allow him to kiss her more intimately?
Ethan wasn’t asking; he was taking. Before she could protest, he pulled her panties to one side and had his hot mouth on her. It was his intention to fuck her. Then the bet would be done, and he could move on from the conniving female.
Kel had lost all track of any thoughts she’d been having. With his tongue stroking her clit, she was in ecstasy. Her hands fisted in his amber waves. She cried out with each deft lick he gave her. “Yes!”
Ethan was in a frenzy of lust and anger that had him being more beastly than he had been before with her. His nails pressed into the flesh of her ass as he took it to lift her up so he could kiss and eat her out more voraciously.
Kel was aware of nothing but the intensity that he was filling her with. An enormous wave began in her lower regions, swelling up and moving all the way through her body. She let out a hellacious shriek with the orgasm, “Ethan!”
The man wasted no time; he stood up and dropped his pants as he pulled her around so he could get on top of her and finish what he’d started. It was her weak cry that made him stop. “Are you weeping?” he asked her.
“I’m sorry,” she whimpered as the tears flowed like rivers. “It’s just that, damn. It’s … I haven’t …”
“Are you trying to tell me that you haven’t had an orgasm since you and that guy broke up?” he asked her in disbelief.
“I’ve never had an orgasm given to me by anyone. You’re the first person to ever make me have one.” She wept openly and felt so damn odd that it made no sense to her at all.
Ethan pulled his pants back up and sat down, picking her up and cradling her in his lap. “Shh. It’s okay, love.” He had no idea what he should do. The poor thing was sex deprived.
How could he just take her then walk away?
Kel cried into his chest as he rocked with her. “I know I must seem like a freak to you.”
“No, never, Kel. Don’t think like that.” He kissed the top of her head.
“I’ve had self-induced orgasms before, but no one has ever brought one on. I thought something was wrong with me. I was wrong. It was just that I let the wrong men have sex with me.”
Ethan ran his hand through her hair and whispered, “It seems you have.” His heart was all over the place. He felt sincere feelings for the woman. But she was just after money. A thing he seemed to have forgotten about.
Hell, what she was doing was most likely an act!
“Ethan, thank you for stopping,” Kel said as she stopped crying. “You’re a real gentleman. You’re a good man.” She kissed him softly. “I’m lucky to have you.”
He leveled his eyes on hers, unsure of what he should do. So, he decided to test her a bit. “You don’t exactly have me yet, Kel. Do you really want me?”
Kel was struck dumb by his question. She didn’t know what to say. If she said yes, then he’d most likely push her to do more. But if she said, no she didn’t know what he’d do. “Ethan, someday I hope you’ll be mine.”
He brushed her hair back off her face. Her eyes were a little red and swollen from crying. Her cheeks were red from where his beard had rubbed them when they’d kissed. Ethan decided it was time to start his plan. “You should know more about my family and me if you really want that, Kel. How about this weekend I take you to meet my grandmother? She has a home in Connecticut. Would you like that?”
Kel was more than a bit shocked that he’d go that far to win the bet. But she was curious, so she agreed. “Yes, I’d love that.”
His touch on her cheek as he looked into her eyes made her shiver. “I’ve never taken a woman to meet her before. You’re the first.”
“I am?” Kel asked with surprise. “And what does that mean, Ethan?”
“It means I see more in you than I’ve seen in any other woman. And I want you to be aware of what you get when you get me. It’s not all rainbows and lollipops.” He kissed her again.
Kel had no idea what could be wrong with Ethan or his family. Not that it mattered. This was all a game to him anyway. She was sure he was lying about never taking any woman to meet his grandmother before. Anything to get her to let her guard down and let him into her pants.
When he eased the kiss, she said, “I think I can handle anything that comes with you, Ethan.”
His smile told her she could, and she had to remind herself again that the whole thing was a ploy. It wasn’t real. As much as it felt real, it just wasn’t.
The worst part was that she was telling him the truth about him being the first to make her climax. And she hated the fact that the one man she’d found who did that for her was never going to be a permanent fixture in her life.
Ethan and his friends were all frauds. All men with a mission to win a bet.
And damn the hearts they might break along the way!
Chapter 26
Light filled the bedroom as lightning lit up the night and an unexpected boom of thunder made the glass shake in the windows. “Wow, that was close,” Griffin said as he pulled his mouth off Jess’ perky breast.
She hated to admit that she didn’t want him to stop what he’d been doing to her. He was pushing all the right buttons and hitting all the right places, and the damn storm that looked like it was about to hit them wasn’t helping her one bit.
Pulling him back to look at her, Jess said, “You want to let me kiss you for a while?”
With a smile, he nodded and rolled over with her, leaving her on top of him. Pushing his shirt up, she moved her hands all over his tight chest and over the hills of his muscular abs. Then she ran her tongue through the valley that separated those abs.
With his jeans already open, she pushed the elastic of his underwear down, igniting a moan from him that made her smile. What she was about to do was the meanest thing she’d ever done. And she wasn’t particularly proud of herself for doing it.
It had her giving Griffin another shot at doing the right thing—telling her about the bet and telling her he was calling it off. She looked up at him with a nervous expression. “Griff, I’ve never done this before. You promise not to make fun of me if I do it wrong?”
“You’ve never given a blowjob before?” he asked as he leaned up on his elbows.
“No, but I really want to please you. I’d never do this if I didn’t trust you.”
Jess watched his eyes go dark. “Is that so?” It wasn’t the reaction she thought she’d get. He looked a bit pissed. “Then don’t do it, Jess. It’s that simple.”
“Are you saying that I shouldn’t trust you, Griff?” she asked, hoping against all the odds that he was about to stop the insanity.
“Me?” he asked with a high voice. “Me, you can trust. I just mean you should only do what it is you want to do. Not what anyone else tells you to do. You know what I mean?” He was giving her the chance to come clean about what she and her sisters were doing, trying to pin down some unsuspecting men to pay their bills for them.
/> “I guess you’re right.” She kissed his stomach with a hot kiss then dipped her tongue into his belly button.
He pulled her up by her hair and asked, “Does that mean you still want to do it?”
“Give you the first blowjob I’ve ever given?” she asked. He nodded. “Yes. I want you to be my first. I trust you that much, Griff.”
He didn’t know what the hell to say. He wanted a blowjob, for sure. But he felt like something was wrong. He shouldn’t let her do a thing like that if he wasn’t being real with her. She was kind of innocent and in the end, it might hurt her self-esteem.
When her mouth moved over his cock, he reminded himself that she too was playing a game with him. Why not get the blowjob?
Her mouth was hot as she moved it up and down his cock. He laid back and closed his eyes, letting himself get into it and trying to forget that this was the first time she’d trusted a man enough to be so vulnerable.
The way she used her tongue to run up the underside was surprising him. Then he started to think she was lying about this being her first time to do such a thing. “You’re kind of great at this, Jess.”
“Am I, really, Griff?” she pulled her head up and asked him. “Don’t say it if it’s not true.”
He raised his head to look at her. “And you shouldn’t either.”
“What does that mean?” she asked him as she was utterly confused. It was the first time she’d given a blowjob; she wasn’t lying about that.
“I’m saying that if you’ve done this before, you can just say it. You can be truthful about anything with me, Jess. That’s all I’m saying. Anything at all, you can confide in me.” He gave her another chance to come clean and waited to see if she’d take his bait.
“I’m being truthful with you about this. Is there anything you want to be truthful with me about?” She was searching his eyes for any sign he was ready to let her in on what he was really doing.
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