Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Mason
“ W hat do you want me to do?” I asked Emma as I hovered between her legs, my cock teasing the entrance of her wet pussy. Her legs trembled around me, having just come down from her orgasm.
She looked up at me with greedy, lustful eyes. “I want you inside of me, Mason.” Her tone was sultry as she wiggled her hips, grinding against me. “Please,” she moaned.
I took in the sight of her ample, round breasts as I leaned over her, taking her lips with mine. The kiss was hot and heady, and locking lips with Emma was the equivalent of getting drunk on the most potent fine wine.
And maybe even better than that.
I pressed myself into her, her tight pussy clenching around my cock. A soft groan left my throat as I nearly burst with pleasure. Her face contorted as I thrusted into her over and over, light cries filling the bedroom.
“You’re so tight, baby,” I said to her, kissing the nape of her neck as I kept working. Everything about her felt so… right.
“Are you gonna cum for me?” she murmured, threading her fingers through my hair.
I growled in response, fucking her harder. Our bodies slapping against each other filled the room, and it was…
It was heaven.
I lifted away from her, my eyes holding her as I edged closer to climax. “You’re so good,” I groaned, just before I exploded, my cock pulsing inside her.
I opened my eyes, the warm water of the shower growing cold. “Ugh,” I muttered, reaching over and shutting off the water. Jess coming home right in the middle of Emma and I getting intimate had left me desperate to finish the scene…
And that had become my shower routine.
Grabbing for a towel, I stepped out of the shower and began to dry myself off, ignoring the thoughts about Emma that were still plaguing my mind. We were planning to go to the gala, but beyond that… I hadn’t asked her on another date…
And I had no idea if she was still into it.
I caught wind of hesitancy when we discussed it all, but I wasn’t sure if it was the nature of what we were talking about… or the date. I was starting to get attached to Emma, and as terrifying as it was…
It was exhilarating.
The sound of the front door opening interrupted my thoughts, however, and I finished throwing on my clothes and took off sprinting toward it, wondering who the hell was coming or going. It was nearly nine o’clock, and Jess had been in her room all evening, working on an essay for her history class.
I glanced around the living room, noting that it was vacant. “Jess?” I called out before ripping the unlocked front door open. My eyes instantly grabbed onto the sight of my daughter in a cropped white T-shirt, heading down the driveway. “Where are you going?” I shouted, bounding down the steps and heading straight for her.
And what the hell is she wearing?
Jess stopped in her tracks and spun around, guilt written in her expression. “Uh… I thought you were in bed….”
“And even if I was, that gives you some right to run off… like that ? You need to make to the house, pronto. ” It was taking everything I had not to go off on her, but I knew that wasn’t the right avenue to take with her. It only ever made things worse.
Jess rolled her eyes at me. “I was going to hang out with Dara.”
“At this time of night?” I demanded, pointing back to the house when she wasn’t budging. “Get moving.”
“No,” she folded her arms across her chest. “I’m sixteen years old. My curfew is like eleven. That’s two hours.”
“It doesn’t work like that,” I growled, feeling my face grow hot as my temper flared. “I don’t even believe you’re meeting Dara at the end of that driveway. She always drives up to the house.”
Jess took a deep breath, and I knew I had caught her. “You don’t know that.”
“So, if I call Lily right now , she will confirm that Dara is waiting for you at the end of the driveway?”
“Don’t go all freaking cop on me,” Jess suddenly shouted, stomping her way right past me. “I swear, you literally don’t even care about my life.”
What?
“What does that have to do with lying to me about where you’re going? How many other times have you lied to me about it, Jess?” My voice strained as I followed her toward the front porch. I felt the need to rip my hair out. Maybe I had been so fucking caught up in Emma and the mess with Lucas that I was missing what was going on in my own daughter’s life.
“I wouldn’t lie to you if you’d just let me live my life!” Jess was shaking her head as she ripped the front door open and then slammed it shut…
Right in my face.
My fists clenched and I forced myself to take a deep breath before I headed inside, trying not to lose my shit even more. Why were teenagers so damn hard to understand? I had been one once, and I couldn’t remember ever having such big problems with my parents…
But I wasn’t being raised by a single dad who worked long hours, either.
Guilt slammed into me, and suddenly, I felt the need to apologize to Jess and try to make things right between us. However, just as I stepped inside, I heard her door slam, rattling the walls of the house.
Ugh.
My footsteps were slow and steady as I made my way to her room, gently knocking on the door. “Jess, we need to talk about this. Where were you going to go? And with who?”
“Just go away,” she shouted, and I startled as I heard something hit the door with a thud. “I don’t wanna talk to you. ”
“Okay, but we need to talk about this,” I jiggled the knob, my shoulders slumping as I realized it was locked. I waited for her to respond, but she didn’t. “Come on, Jess. We can’t just let this go.”
“I’m going to bed,” she shot back at me, her voice starting to sound more emotional.
“Where were you going?” I demanded through the door. “I just wanna keep you safe, you know. I can’t do that if I don’t know where you are.”
“I have a phone .”
“Okay, but that doesn’t keep you out of harm’s way.”
“You just say that because you’re a cop , and you think everyone is out to get me. I just wanna go to bed now,” she added, her voice breaking.
“Fine, but we’re talking in the morning. Deal?” I heard a heavy sigh on the other side of the door.
“Deal.”
“Goodnight, I love you, Jess,” I said, defeat and worry rolling over me when I was met with nothing but silence.
I turned to go, telling myself we would just talk about it in the morning, when she finally called out. “Love you, Dad.”
I smiled softly to myself, but it didn’t alleviate all of the worry. She still hadn’t told me where the hell she was heading, and I didn’t like that. She had always been such an outgoing, sweet girl, confiding in me about everything. Now, she was hardheaded, and I knew she was keeping secrets from me.
And don’t get me wrong, every kid keeps secrets to some degree from their parents, but something about Jess was making me feel uneasy. Maybe it was just everything else going on, and the fact that I was no closer to catching the cattle rustlers than I had been before …
And speaking of, I still needed to work on the proposal.
I headed to my office, and settled down at the desk, glancing over the case file for the cattle along with the history of the ranch. Honestly, I knew there was a slim chance that we would get enough money to fix all of Lucas’s problems… But it would at least maybe ward off the bank—which would then ward off developers.
And the thought of Graham losing his case to buy the ranch made me feel better. He was greedy, and determined to buy up all the land he could… And he gave me a bad feeling…
But there was no way to know why.
Could he be involved with the cattle rustlers?
I shook my head at the thought. It was rare for white collar guys like Graham to get in bed with cattle rustlers. It wasn’t entirely off, but cattle going missing had been a phenomenon in the area back when Lucas’s Dad ran the ranch…
And it was the reason he had gotten into debt long before Graham was even a developer.
I leaned my head against my elbow, the fatigue washing over me. I shut my eyes for a long moment and when I finally opened them…
It was fifteen past midnight.
Shit.
I rolled my stiff shoulders and tried to work out the kink in my neck as I stood to my feet. It was time to get to bed…
But something in my gut led me to Jess’s room.
I checked the doorknob, and it was unlocked. Gently, I turned the handle and peeked into the room, expecting to see Jess lying in the bed.
And there was something in the bed.
But it was not Jess.