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.
She found only a certain hardness there that hadn’t been there before. Jess was pretty sure it was because he was mad about what he’d overheard earlier that day.
“All I’m saying is you’re making the moves of a woman who’s done this a time or two,” he said.
“Well, I haven’t. Should I stop?” she asked him.
He laid his head back and wondered what the hell he was doing to himself. Sabotaging a blowjob that looked as if it might be a pretty great experience for him. “No, go for it.”
“Fuck! Don’t be so damn enthused, Griffin!”
“You’re mad now?” he asked as he lifted his head back up.
By the pin
k color of her cheeks, he could see she was mad. And when she got off the bed and pulled her bra back to cover her tit, he knew the little make out session was over.
Then it hit him that he still needed her. He still needed her to win the bet, and he needed to make her think he was looking at her as marriage material.
Changing his actions, he sat up and pulled her into his arms as he laid back with her. “Don’t,” she said with a muffled voice as he held her close to his chest.
“I’m sorry, baby,” he cooed. “It’s just that I had something I wanted to ask you to do with me this weekend and I’m kind of afraid to let you know more about me and those I come from.”
“Huh?” Jess asked as she pulled her head off his chest and looked at him.
“I want to take you home to Montana this weekend to meet my family. And I’m afraid of what you’ll think of them and the things we all do,” he said, looking sheepish.
“You want to introduce me to your family?” she asked, feeling kind of shocked he’d bring his family into his sinful bet.
“I do,” he said, then ran his hands through her hair. “But I’ve never taken anyone home before. I’m nervous about it. And about how you’ll like them.”
Jess was unsure what to say. “Why would you be nervous about that? You see where I come from. What do you have to be embarrassed about?”
“Just some things,” he said with a frown. “Would you like to spend this weekend with me at our ranch in Montana, baby?”
“Um, maybe I should ask Kel.” Jess chewed her lip.
Griffin took her face in his hands. “You’re plenty old enough to make this decision on your own, baby. Now tell me, what it is you want to do?”
“I’d like to see your ranch. I’ve never been up that way before.”
“So you’ll make me happy and come with me then?” he asked with a grin.
“I guess so.” Jess wasn’t sure what Kel and Cait would think about her accepting his offer. But she wanted to go for some odd reason.
Another loud blast of thunder that accompanied a flash of lightning had them holding each other tightly.
Both were a little afraid of what it was they were feeling.
Chapter 27
Phoenix looked down at Cait and couldn’t believe the young woman was resorting to such tactics to get a husband to pay off her debts. She just simply didn’t seem the type.
Her eyes were sparkling as she looked at him like she adored him. But did she really like him as much as she claimed to? Or was she just pretending?
He pushed back her hair and whispered, “You’re beautiful.”
Cait ran her hands through his hair. “Thank you. So are you.”
He kissed her because he couldn’t stop himself. It made him sick that he was falling so much into her trap. He’d nearly called off the bet to make things right with her. Then her secret was found out, and it made him sick.
Their bodies worked so fantastically together. He knew sex would be phenomenal with her. She was in tune with him in almost every way imaginable. As their mouths copulated the way he wanted their lower regions too, he got the impression that she might be about to let him go all the way as she moved his hand to cup her breast.
She was grinding her body up to his and moaning. He could feel the heat coming from her as he was wedged between her legs. Rain began to pelt the window panes, making things even cozier than they’d been.
Phoenix was all over Cait; their breathing was growing more frantic as they rubbed each other in all the right ways. She moved one hand between them and reached into his jeans, taking his swollen cock into her hand and stroking it.
His lips left hers as he said with a husky voice, “Cait, please.” He kissed her neck, nibbling it then biting it as she moved her hand faster. He ached to be inside her. But she wasn’t about to give him everything.
She tried to get a confession out of him. “Phoenix, tell me.”
Both of their minds were nothing but blurs as the passion dulled all other senses except that of touch. Phoenix thought she wanted to hear something other than what she really wanted, so he said, “I love you, Cait.” It just came out without him expecting it to.
He wasn’t even sure he meant it. But he went with it, anyway. Why not coddle her into thinking she was going to get what she wanted?
Him to marry her.
“Phoenix,” Cait moaned. “Don’t lie to me.” She stroked him harder, making him quiver.
“Cait, come home with me this weekend. I want to prove to you I want more with you.” He cupped the back of her neck then kissed her as she kept stroking him with her hand.
The kiss was sensual, making Cait want to give herself to the man. The waiting was killing her. But he’d gone too far with telling her the lie of loving her. She knew better than that.
Phoenix was going to resort to anything so he could to win the bet. And now her passion turned to anger. Pulling her hand out of his pants had him groaning and trying to get her to keep it up. She wrenched her mouth from his. “My parents will be home soon. We need to stop.”
“Are you fucking with me, Cait?” he growled at her. “Are you really going to take me this far and leave me hanging?”
“I have to,” she said as she pushed at him to get off her. “You guys need to get going before our parents get home. Dad’ll give you all what-for if you’re still here.”
Phoenix made a short laugh. “Your dad’s a kitten compared to your mother.”
And just like that, Cait was thoroughly pissed. “Well, be that as it may, you and your friends need to go.”
He stayed right where he was, pinning her to the sofa. “You haven’t told me if you’ll go back home with me this weekend. I want to show you where I live.”
She stared into his eyes. “Why would you even want to do that? Can’t you at least be honest with me about this one thing?”
“What one thing?” he asked in confusion. It was Cait who needed to be honest, in his opinion.
“This thing we have going on,” she said as her lips quirked up in one corner. “You know it won’t last. So why take me to your home?”
He trailed his fingertips over her cheek. “Are you psychic or something? What makes you so sure this won’t last?”
“Because it won’t. And what’s the deal with throwing out the I love you, Phoenix?”
He didn’t know why he had said it. How was he supposed to explain it to her?
“I just felt it in the heat of the moment,” he finally said.
“To get what you want,” she said as she frowned at him. “Isn’t that right?”
Suddenly it was he who was pissed. He moved off her and stood up. “I like how you act like you didn’t want it to go further than it did. Kind of an asshole sort of thing to do to us.”
“To us?” she asked as she sat up.
“You and me, that us,” he said as he zipped and buttoned his jeans. “Don’t pretend it isn’t hurting you to stop what we were about to do. I know you’re aching for it too. Just like I am. Only you’re teasing us both. When do you think you’ll stop doing that, Cait?”
“When are you going to be real with me, Phoenix?” she asked as she got up and ran her hands through her hair to tame it. Her clothes were awry, so she straightened them.
“Probably about the same time you decide to be real with me, Cait,” he said, then pulled her into his arms and kissed her. Her body immediately pressed into his. Her mouth opened and her tongue played with his. She was warm and inviting as she ran her hands up his arms then over his back. Phoenix knew she was holding back in order to trap him. He eased his kiss then asked her again, “So, will you come home with me for the weekend?”
“Promise me you won’t pressure me into having sex the whole time and I will.” She leveled her eyes at him to let him know she was deadly serious.
“I tell you what, Caity-cat. I won’t even make one attempt to get you into bed. I have a spare bedroom that’ll be yours while you’re visiting me. But
you have to do the same for me No, teasing. You know you’ve been doing that, right?”
She played dumb. “No, I didn’t realize that at all. I thought we were making out, is all. I’m not the kind of girl who sleeps around. I’m not easy.”
“No, you are not,” he said then let her go. “I’d never call you that.”
Cait watched as Phoenix walked away from her. And she had to fight herself not to blurt out everything about how they knew about their stupid bet and had come up with something just as stupid to get back at them for making her and her sisters pawns in their game.
What she didn’t know was that Phoenix was fighting himself not to tell her about the bet and what they’d overheard the girls saying too. It seemed that they were on the same wavelength but were too afraid of the others being mad at them to say what they wanted to.
Chapter 28
Though all the men went home unfulfilled sexually, they all had managed to get their women to agree to the weekend dates where they planned on scaring them off the marriage paths the men thought they were on.
Ethan hired a car to take him and Kel up to see his grandmother— a woman who wasn’t really his grandmother, but an actress he’d hired to play the part. He’d hired an entire comedy troupe to fool Kel.
Stopping to enjoy a nice lunch in New Jersey had the two getting into an in-depth discussion neither had planned on as they watched a couple with two young children as the parents tried to get the kids to act right and take their seats at the table rather than roaming around the little café.
The little girl, who seemed to be about three, wandered up to Ethan and pointed to his hair. “You have pretty hair.”
The little girl had blond ringlets that Ethen pointed to. “I think your hair is prettier than mine.”
She palmed her curls. “No, your hair’s prettier.”
“Jo Beth, come sit down and eat,” her father called out to her. Then he looked at Ethan. “Sorry, sir.”
Nobody's Girl: A Billionaire Romance Novel Page 41