by Jessie Cooke
He finally got his mind back on work, and he was running numbers on the protection money that one of the guys had brought in earlier when there was a knock on the door. It was a tentative knock, so that meant not one of his main guys. He closed the little fireproof safe on top of the desk and said, “Yeah!” His heart instantly sped up at the sight of Dallas. She had on jean shorts and a t-shirt with the Beatles on the front of it. Her long hair was in two braids and she had a bandanna tied around her head. That fresh smell was strongly mingled with the smell of pot as she came inside. She’d been working…and she looked like she’d been working…and she was still the hottest thing on two legs.
“Hi,” she said, almost meekly. That surprised the hell out of him; she was never meek. He didn’t like it. He liked her spunky.
“Hi.”
“You have a minute? I can come back if I’m interrupting…”
“No. I can take a break. Sit down.” She did and crossed those long, tan legs. Fuuuuck… “What’s up?”
“Well…I kind of…I was thinking…”
He laughed and said, “Can I record this?”
“Huh?”
“It’s the first time I’ve known you to be at a loss for words.”
She rolled her eyes at him, but a little smile was tugging at her pretty lips. How many times had he imagined slipping his tongue in between those lips? “Fine, I’ll just spit it out. I have some ideas I’d like to run by you, about the hothouse.”
He smiled and sat back in his chair. Now he knew why she was nervous. She was about to tell him she knew how to do something better than him. This should be fun. He folded his hands across his lap and said, “Shoot.”
“Well, I know you obviously must know something about growing, but I’m going to talk to you like you don’t, just so I can explain this. Don’t get mad.”
He grinned. “I never get mad.”
She rolled her eyes. “Okay, whatever. Anyway, the plants we grow are started in January or February, inside, and then they go out to the greenhouse. By the end of the winter they’re hardened off, right?” He nodded. “From there, we keep them in the greenhouse and what I’m seeing are plants that are anywhere from 6 to 10 feet high…which is good.” He nodded again. “But…we could make them great, Doc. We could grow plants that are 15 or 20 feet high.”
“So why aren’t we?”
“We live in a cold climate and there’s only so much energy available to us in the greenhouse, right? I mean…I know Grandpa had to worry about the cops looking at the electric bill and knowing we’re not using that much electricity to light the house for two humans. I’m guessing it’s the same for you.”
“You’re guessing right,” he said. Their electric bills were through the roof. Rat had come up with the idea of breaking the land up into acres and putting those acres into different names. So at least it wasn’t one giant electric bill. They also had a legitimate herb garden and the girls took what it produced and sold it at the Farmer’s Markets, so that could be pointed out as part of it if it ever came into question.
“People have started growing plants underground, Doc. Picture it like this, you just take that big greenhouse out there and you sink it so the walls are the earth around it. There’s all kinds of decay in that soil, radioactive decay and energy left over from…just the earth forming. It all produces heat. The temperatures down there five to ten feet below the frost line are 55-60 degrees Fahrenheit all year round.”
“You’ve done this?”
“No, but it’s being done, all over, in cold climates. I’ve read all kinds of studies on it. People are growing monster plants, and no one is the wiser.”
“I’ll be damned,” he said. “You got this literature, I can take a look at it?” He could tell she was insulted by that. He was impressed by her ideas, more impressed than he’d probably let on to her. But he never did anything without research. His own research.
“Sure, of course.”
“Okay, get it to me and I’ll read it. Anything else?”
“Seriously? That’s all you have to say?”
He chuckled slightly. “What did you expect me to say?”
“I don’t know. Maybe that it’s a phenomenal idea. That I’m a fucking genius.”
He laughed. “We’ll have to ease into that.” This was his girl, the one he couldn’t stop thinking about. There was that fire he craved.
“Right, because you’re the only phenomenal one around here, huh?”
“So far,” he said. “But I’ll give credit where it’s due if need be.” He antagonized her on purpose – he realized it was kind of sick – but fuck, she turned him on when she was fired up.
She got to her feet. “You’re so infuriating!”
“And you are impetuous and hotheaded. I said I’d check it out. Trust me, that’s a compliment in and of itself. No other woman around here is even granted an audience about something like this.”
“You arrogant, chauvinistic…that’s what this is about! If I had a penis, you’d be shaking my hand and kissing my ass.” He was still smiling at her. He knew the woman-crack would really piss her off. She was into that whole women’s movement bullshit.
“Baby, trust me…if you had a penis, I wouldn’t get anywhere near that fine ass of yours.”
“You won’t get anywhere near it with what I do have.”
Doc stood up. He could tell she wanted to run, but she wouldn’t…just so she didn’t look weak in front of him. Again, he was impressed. Still messing with her, he walked around the desk and leaning up against it he said, “What do you have?” He wished she’d just say it. He wanted to hear her pretty mouth say dirty things.
“Stop it.”
“Stop what?”
“I came to you with a serious proposal and you’re trying to turn it into something…weird.”
He laughed. “I listened to your serious proposal and told you I’d consider it. You’re the one that brought up penises and…whatever it is you have.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “I have a question for you…did you tell your guys to keep their distance from me?”
That took him by surprise and from the look on her face, it did her as well. “Why on earth would I do that?”
She seemed to shock herself again as she said, “Because you want me for yourself.” Her hand came up like she tried to stop it…but it was too late. Her face turned bright red. Doc didn’t even know what to say for a second and then he decided what the hell, he’d just go with the truth. He reached out and did what he’d been wanting to do for weeks. He put his arm around her waist and while she looked like she was trying to decide whether to kick him or kiss him, he made the decision for her. His mouth covered hers in a hard kiss. His lips coaxed hers apart and his tongue slipped into her hot, sweet mouth. She tasted like peppermint and something else sweet…all woman and fucking delicious. He put his other arm around her and pulled her body up against him. God, he’d been craving that feeling. Her body felt so good pressed into him. She shivered and moaned into his mouth and he knew she could feel how badly he wanted her pressing into her now, as his cock got harder by the second. She was kissing him back and the kiss was erotic, almost illicit. Their tongues were making sweet, passionate love. It was the sexiest kiss he’d ever experienced, and he needed more. When he let go of her she was looking at him with glassy eyes. “Doc…” she whispered. She looked like she was trying to form more words, but they weren’t coming out.
“You’re right,” he heard himself saying. “I do want you for myself. I did tell them not to touch you. I told them I’d cut off their dicks if they did. I’m a patient man, but I’m tired of waiting, Dallas. I want you right now, tonight. So, you’ll need to decide if you want me badly enough not to let any one of those fuckers put their hands on you, ever. I won’t share you and if that’s what you’re looking for, then we just won’t do this.”
“Share me? I’m not a club girl.” She looked confused.
“I mean, if I have you
tonight, Dallas, you’re mine.” He could see that she was trying to process that. He needed her to understand it. He needed her to know that once he had her, he would have to kill any other fucker that ever touched her. He could see desire beyond the confusion. She wanted him, he knew she did, and he could take her right then and there. But she wasn’t just some fuck. She wasn’t a club girl. Dallas was the kind of woman you made into an old lady and he wasn’t about to have an old lady that any other fucker in a leather vest had touched.
“Um…I…”
He put his finger on her lips and stopped her. “I’m going upstairs to my room. I’ll give you some time to think it over. But not too much time.”
“What does that mean, exactly?” she managed. “Are you saying I go upstairs and…”
“Say it, Dallas, you’re not shy. Don’t start now.”
“Fine. If I have this right, you’re saying that if I go upstairs and fuck you tonight, I’m yours, just like that.”
“Just like that,” he said. “I’ll see you up there, I hope.” As he walked away he heard her whisper:
“The blue-eyed devil wants my soul.”
9
Doc went up to his room. In most cases, there was no question the woman would follow him up. In this case, there was a pretty good chance that she wouldn’t, but he thought that was what made her so exciting. She was wild and unpredictable and as much as he liked being in control, something about her defiance was what he suddenly craved. He started stripping off his clothes as soon as he walked into the room. He pulled off his t-shirt and then took his gun out of his jeans and laid it on the dresser. He had just pulled off his boots and was unbuttoning his jeans when there was a knock on the door. With a smile on his face, probably a smug one, he pulled open the door…and he was looking at Jamie.
“What are you doing here?” Her eyes went to his naked chest and then suddenly her hands were on him.
“I needed you, Doc.” She pressed her body into his and he could feel her hard nipples through her halter top. He caught her wrists in his hands and pulled her off him. Her green eyes went wide as she looked up at him. “Please,” she whispered. “I’ll do anything you want. I’ll be your dirty girl.” Before he had a chance to respond to her, he saw Dallas on the landing of the stairs, looking like someone had just slapped her in the face. She was gone as quickly as she appeared, and he shoved Jamie back and said:
“Don’t ever fucking come to my room again unless you’re told to, or you’ll be looking for another place to live.” He slammed the door and put his clothes back on, dressing faster than he had since he was in the army. He rushed down the stairs, almost bowling Coyote over at the bottom.
“Doc…”
“Not now.”
“But…”
“I said Not. Fucking. Now!” He didn’t look back and everyone in the great room made a path for him to breeze through. Once he was out the back door he stopped and looked around. There was a house being constructed for him not far from the clubhouse. Another sat next to it, finished, but unlived in. There was one on the back forty that would be for the club girls someday. And the rest of the ranch on that side of the club was open fields of dirt or agriculture…and then there was the greenhouse.
He made a beeline for it, cussing as he had to tromp through a freshly plowed and watered field. He was wet and muddy up to his knees by the time he reached the greenhouse. He pulled on the door and when it swung open he saw Hawk and Dallas. Hawk was on guard duty, so it made sense that he was there, but what didn’t make sense was that they both had their backs to him and Hawk’s arm was around her shoulders.
“Get the fuck off her.”
They both turned at the sound of his voice. Hawk dropped his arm and looked amused. Dallas had tears in her eyes and looked pissed. “Not what it looks like, boss.”
“Get the fuck out.”
“Excuse me. Hawk and I were…”
“I didn’t ask what you were doing. Hawk, last time, get the fuck out.”
Hawk gave Dallas a look that pissed Doc off further. It was…sympathetic. It was like he knew her. Doc didn’t want Hawk, or any other man, to know her. She was his. He stepped out of the way of the door and let Hawk leave, suppressing an almost uncontrollable urge to punch him in the mouth. When he was gone, he turned back to Dallas and said:
“Why the fuck was he touching you?”
“Are you kidding? That red-haired whore just had her hands all over you. Who do you think you are?”
Doc stepped closer to her. It was fucking hot in the greenhouse and he was sweating. “You know who the fuck I am,” he said. “And I suggest you start acting like it.”
Dallas did something then that he wasn’t expecting. She laughed. “I suggest,” she said, “that you realize just because you own every fucking body else around here, you don’t own me. I am not your property. For your information, Hawk was just comforting me because unlike you, he has a heart.”
“Right – Hawk? If you believe that man has a heart than you’re more naive than I gave you credit for being.” He took another step toward her.
“I want to go back to my room,” she said. “That’s where I was headed…before…”
“You’re a terrible little liar. You were coming to my room. If you weren’t, then seeing Jamie there wouldn’t have fazed you.”
“Who said it did? I just needed some air.”
“Liar,” he said again, taking another step toward her.
“I’m not ready to agree to your terms. I wanted a fuck, not an old man.”
Doc didn’t say anything to that. He knew she was lying. He could see how badly she wanted him in her eyes. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her in, hard. She grunted when her body slammed into his and opened her mouth to say something, but he didn’t give her a chance. He covered her mouth with his again, even harder this time than before. He wasn’t just kissing her, he was claiming her. He was finished waiting. She was his. She had been his since the day she set foot on the ranch, and any dick that tried to touch her from that night on signed his own death warrant. She resisted for several seconds, but he didn’t let up. At the very least, he was going to kiss her like he owned her. It was only when he felt her arms snake up around his neck that he realized she was going to give in and relief flooded his system. He would never take a woman by force and before her, he’d never even considered it. But if she had walked away after that kiss, it may well have killed him.
He kissed her until he couldn’t breathe. The hot air in the greenhouse didn’t help. But when he pulled his mouth off hers, she didn’t stop. She kissed along his jawline, soft little pecks. He tipped his head to one side and gave her better access to his neck. She kissed along the stubble until she came to a smooth spot and she began to lick and suck at his skin, causing his body to shudder in response. He let her kiss and suck at his neck as long as he could stand it and then he pushed her back, knocking over several plants in the process, tromping on them with his boots as he pushed her into the canvas wall of the greenhouse. Her body was trembling all over and his was on fire. He pressed his hips forward, grinding his erection into her. He watched her lick her lips and then he bent down and licked them for her. His body was just about burning up and he had to get out of his clothes. He let go of her long enough to begin stripping off his clothes for the second time in half an hour. While he did that, she did the same. As hers came off, he finally got to see her perfect, sexy body…and it didn’t disappoint. Her breasts weren’t big, but they were shaped perfectly, and she had big, round, dark nipples. Her stomach was flat, and her hips flared just enough to say she was all woman. And when she pulled down her panties and he saw the puffy lips of her pussy, his chest almost hurt in anticipation of touching it…tasting it.
He finished undressing while she watched and then he took her back into his arms. Once again, her back was against a wall and this time his hands took full advantage. He felt every part of her, beginning with those soft, sp
iral curls and finally making his way to that soaking wet pussy. He groaned as his fingers slid down the slick surface of her lips and she moaned and shuddered when he touched her.
She suddenly rose up on her toes again and like a feral beast, she attacked his lips with hers. She had her hands in his hair now, pulling at it while she devoured his mouth. His hands were on her firm breasts, massaging them in his fingers. When she finished sucking on his lips, he dropped his head down and put his mouth on one of those huge, delicious nipples. He sucked it between his lips and used his tongue to trace it and flick it and then he sucked in more of her flesh, biting at the nipple and making her moan loudly. He sucked on a piece of the flesh just above her nipple, hard and for a long time, knowing he was leaving his mark, getting more turned on about it by the second. Meanwhile her hands had finally made it down to his engorged cock and she wrapped both of them around his shaft. They felt as good there as he had imagined they would, even better. She held him firmly and began to stroke him up and down while he worked on the other breast, looking to leave his mark on that one as well. Her ministrations were causing his core to tighten up and for the first time in his life he worried that he was going to come before he was ready. He had always been in control of that, like he was every other part of his life. But of course, the reason he wanted Dallas so badly was because of the way she made him feel out of control. It was a different feeling, one that he never would have believed he would crave so badly.