Chapter 30
Chapter Thirty
King
Aven toes the dry Arizona earth and looks up at the starry sky. “Ach, that is tough. Glad I’m not in your shoes.”
“You’ll have to tread carefully, that’s for sure,” Bennett agrees. “Once you tell a girl something like that, you can’t take it back.”
“But we’re all in agreement that I should tell her?” I look at the men seated around the small grill where Chef turns hot dogs and scratches his belly.
They nod.
“I don’t see what all the fuss is about,” Jim says. “Just explain that her snoring is keeping you up at night, and hand her the nose strips. She doesn’t seem overly sensitive to these things.”
All heads turn toward Jim, but I’m the one who speaks up. “Yes, well, I’m fairly certain all women are sensitive to being told they sound like a buzz saw with every inward breath. This wouldn’t be a problem if I didn’t need sleep. Maybe I should learn to do without.”
Gary raises his finger. “Or you could just stick it out a few more days. The trip is almost over. After the event tomorrow, we’ll head to Nevada for one more stop before we make the last push to California.”
“My god,” Ezra breathes. “In less than a week, I’ll be a married man.”
“And an orphan,” Bennett says with a scoff.
“How is the hunt for Daddy Dearest coming along?” Ezra asks Jim. “We’ve been leaving letters as instructed, but you haven’t given us any update. Has he received our scathing words?”
Oh, they’ve been received.
Jim picks at his nails. “Yes, things are progressing much as expected. How long until those weenies are ready, hmm?”
The change in topic is as obvious as a pimple on the end of Barbara Streisand’s nose, but I’m glad when the boys let it slide. Reading about how much they despise me is one thing, but hearing it from their mouths is something else.
As Chef motions for the men to grab a hot dog, I prepare to enact the plan Josie and I came up with while changing the tire on that blasted sedan. There isn’t much to it, and it may not work, but I can gauge Blayne’s reaction at the very least.
He’ll end up outing himself fully at best.
“Ice Pick, I’ve been doing a bit more digging into your little problem,” I say, loud enough for everyone to hear. “I think I’ve come up with a way to smoke out the fox who’s been in your henhouse.”
“Oh, I don’t have a henhouse,” Ice Pick says as he drops three hot dogs onto his plate. “You must be thinking of someone else.”
I close my eyes and take a deep breath. “No, I mean in just a few days, I’ll know who slept with Charity.”
All heads whip toward me. All but one.
“How’d you manage that?” Bennett asks.
I shrug. “A little thing called DNA. I took a sample before we buried her.”
“I don’t remember that,” Blayne says. “I was there.”
I smile at him. “It was discreet. I didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, as I wasn’t sure our team could pull a profile. Lucky for us, the idiot didn’t use protection and left a nice sample behind.”
In truth, I know no such thing. As Blayne suspects, I never took any DNA. Thank goodness I’m a convincing liar. Now I just have to hope he didn’t use protection, or this entire plan will implode.
But judging by the sweat popping onto his brow, I’m on the right track. We just have to find a way to get him to announce his failings. Poor Ice Pick won’t believe it unless he hears it straight from the horse’s mouth. Or the jackass’s mouth, in this case.
I continue studying Blayne as the men settle down with their food. Beers are passed around, and jokes and stories abound, but he’s miles away in his head. I mentally give myself a pat on the back.
After a bit, the ladies meander over and join us. Josie gives me a questioning look as she piles ketchup and mustard onto one of those questionable hot dogs, and I give her a nod. She smiles and takes a seat beside Eve in one of the folding chairs.
Now that the entire group is together, my few remaining heartstrings get a bit of a tug. Josie sits among the killers, melding with others in a way I’ve never seen. She’s laughing, engaging, and I don’t know that I have any right to tear her away from this life at the end of the trip.
And I don’t really know that I want to.
Maybe it’s time I retire from more than just my line of work. Maybe I should hang up my walking shoes as well.
I stroke my chin and consider what a life with her would be like.
Even aside from the benefit of draining my balls whenever she’s up for it, I can see so many positives to a life with Josie.
There would be no need to hide my depravity from her.
She shares my sickness. We’re both as possessive as Gollum with his damn ring, so there’s more compatibility there.
I keep coming back to the same conclusion.
If ever there were a woman I could settle down with, as much as I can settle down . . . it’s her.
Damn Jim for ever getting me into this mess, and damn me for agreeing to it. How was I supposed to know I’d fall in love and want something for myself? That never factored into my mind, and now? Now it’s consuming me.
There is just one little problem. Josie never wanted kids, and I have four of them.
If I ever plan to confess my love for her, I’ll need to come clean about the experiment, regardless of how that may pan out for me in the end.
I’ll also need her to admit she loves me first. This is one bet I refuse to lose, even if I’ve already lost it.
Because as I look at her in the gleam of moonlight, surrounded by everything I hold dear, I realize I’ve lost. Miserably. I love her, and I don’t know that I ever stopped.
“Truth or dare, King?” Bennett says, pulling me out of my thoughts.
I shake my head at him. “I’m far too old for these sorts of games. You kids have your fun.”
“Don’t be such an old man, old man,” Jim says. He stokes the small fire at his feet and smiles at me over the feeble flames. “Truth or dare?”
With a roll of my eyes, I relent. “Truth.”
“What’s your biggest regret?” Bennett asks.
Quiet descends on the group as everyone waits for my answer. I can’t give one. It would tip my hands—both of them. My biggest regrets are the way we handled the experiment and walking away from Josie. If I could go back in time to mend my ways, those would be my only stops.
“Dare,” I say, unwilling to speak my truth.
With a cocky smirk, Bennett leans forward and reaches into his back pocket. He sits upright again and produces a small plastic baggie, inside of which rests a piece of candy. “I dare you to eat this.”
My eyebrow rises. “I’m afraid I don’t imbibe.”
“Then I’m afraid you’ll have to answer the question.” Bennett shrugs. “What’ll it be, Pops?”
I lean forward and snatch the baggie from his hand, if only to stop myself from reacting to the fact that he called me Pops. A stupid grin nearly sprang onto my face.
Puh. As if I have the right to feel any joy where my children are concerned.
“At least tell me what I’ll be partaking in,” I grumble as I dump the sugar-encrusted square onto my palm. “I don’t want to end up making a fool of myself like Maverick did on the cruise.”
Cat sighs and shakes her head. “It’s nothing that potent. Just a CBD gummy I take at night to help quiet my mind. Negligible amounts of THC.”
“Are you sure about this?” Jim whispers. “You don’t know how it might affect you.”
He’s right. I should keep my wits about me. Any one of the three problems I’m juggling could slip from my focus if I’m not careful. There is too much riding on—
“Don’t be a puss,” Bennett says.
Josie giggles. “Wait, that could work. Josie and the pussycat.”
Fuck it.
I tip my palm against my mouth and bite down on the chewy sweet. My body nearly bursts into convulsions as the bitter nip of THC blankets my tongue, followed by the distinct taste of sun cream. Whoever chose these flavors should be flogged and thrown into the nearest pit.
Before my stomach can protest, I swallow the vile chunks. I hold out my tongue to show them I’ve completed the task.
Josie fans her face. “Damn, put that back in your mouth before I come.”
“It is exceptionally long, isn’t it?” Eve says. “Good for you, honey.”
I snatch my tongue back into my mouth, and the girls burst into fits of giggles and doubled-over guffaws. I’m so glad I could entertain them.
I turn my sights on Josie. As I cock my head and smirk at her, she realizes what’s coming, and she stops smiling. “Truth or dare, my beauty?”
She raises her chin and smirks right back. “Truth.”
I’ve got her now. We’ll see who’s laughing after I ask this question.
“But tread lightly, King. If you want your dick sucked tonight, I’d be very mindful of what you choose to ask me.” She bats her long lashes, and damn her.
I do want my dick sucked tonight.
“How do you want your eggs cooked in the morning?” I ask.
The girls nod in approval and give me a smattering of applause for asking something so innocuous with undertones of romance.
They have no idea. Because if she hadn’t stopped me, I’d have asked her why she wouldn’t kiss me.
When she subsequently demanded a dare, I’d have forced her to press her lips to mine and end my torment.
Josie licks her lips. “I want my eggs like I want my pussy treated tonight.”
“Beaten and eaten?” I say.
The entire group erupts in shrieks and shouts, most of them shocked by what I’ve said, I’m sure. Aven and Bennett lean on each other, laughing hysterically as they try to hold the other upright.
“What’s so damn funny?” I say as I look around at them. “Is it so strange for an older man to have sexual interests?”
Ezra is the first to stop laughing. “You’re right, King. Apologies. But if it makes you feel any better, it’s not awkwardly funny because of your age.”
“It’s because you’re like a dad to all of us,” Kindra says, struggling—and failing—to hide her lingering laughter. “We’re a fucked-up family.”
“Grim and Rose can be our grandparents,” Maverick adds.
“Jim would be the fun uncle who takes us on dangerous summer vacations,” Josie says.
Bennett flails his hand toward the bus in the distance. “Maurice is our weird older cousin who beats off to QVC hand models at four in the morning when he thinks everyone is asleep.”
Everyone stops laughing and looks at him.
“That’s . . . oddly specific,” Eve says with a scrunch of her nose.
The group goes quiet, the game of truth or dare forgotten as we consider what sort of person would masturbate to QVC. The more I think about it, the funnier it gets, and I’m unable to hold back the giggles.
“That was fast,” Cat mutters to Bennett.
I wave her off. “It’s not the gummy. I just keep picturing someone beating their dick to—”
Another fit of giggles steals my voice.
Josie strolls toward me as I try to regain my composure. She bends near my ear. “We should get you back to the RV,” she whispers. “You’re kinda high, my guy.”
The rush of her warm breath sends prickles of excitement through my skin. Gooseflesh rises, and I damn near groan her fucking name. I pull her onto my lap, and she squeals.
Can she feel how hard I am for her? I grit my teeth and flex my cock.
Her eyes widen.
Oh, she feels it, all right.
“Bedtime for us,” Josie says.
“Gross,” Bennett groans.
Aven grimaces. “Agreed. It’s like picturing my da boning a college co-ed.”
“That gives me a story idea!” Quinn says.
But their voices are already fading as Josie drags me toward the RV. Also fading is my ability to follow a coherent thought. Perhaps I’m feeling the effects of that gummy after all.
She gets me safely inside, then helps me down to my boxer briefs.
I lie back on the bed and enjoy the show as she sheds her shorts.
She pulls her bra through her tank top. This is an excellent combo.
Her nipples press against the fabric, and her sheer underwear leaves so little to my imagination.
I float on a dreamy cloud of thoughtlessness, and I admire her body.
“My mouth is watering for you,” I say, but then I smack my lips. “On second thought, could you be a love and fetch me the bottled water? I fear I have a touch of cottonmouth.”
Sitting up on my elbows, I watch as her hips sway toward the mini fridge. I can’t help the growl that rolls out of me as she bends at the waist, then looks at me over her shoulder.
My sandpaper tongue scrapes over my lips. “You’re being a naughty little brat, aren’t you? Because you know exactly what you’re doing to me, bending over like that.”
She smirks at me, then bites that lip, and pre-cum dampens my abdomen. Maybe that’s where all the liquid in my body went—straight to my fucking cods to prepare the next load to fill her with.
“Are you sure that shit wasn’t laced with Viagra?” Josie asks as she eyes my cock straining against my underwear.
Maybe it is the gummy Bennett forced on me, but I’m feeling especially randy this evening. I’d grovel at her feet if she would just touch my cock right now.
No wonder Bennett and Cat fuck like rabbits. It’s this feel-good chemical.
She returns to the mattress and straddles my waist. I part my lips and tip back my head as she pours water into my mouth, stopping before she waterboards me.
As I look up at her smiling down at me, caring for me in my vulnerable state, I’m overwhelmed by a need to be close to her in a way I’ve never been with anyone else before.
And I must be dying, because I don’t mean sexually.
“Would it be so bad?” I say, hoping she’ll read between the lines.
Would it be so bad to try? Could we come back to this if it didn’t work out?
But her eyebrows pull together, and she cocks her head. “What planet are you on, dude?”
I shake my head. Until I know how other things may play out, I can’t let on that I’ve fallen for her.
That I’ve started to consider something more.
That some feelings don’t fade with time; they grow and take root in the soul.
I stroke a strand of hair out of her face. “What do you say we see if I can come when I’m high?”
“Way ahead of you,” she says with a grin as she gets to her knees in front of me. “Just don’t go falling in love with what I’m about to do to you.”
It’s far too late for that, but she can’t know that. Not yet. Until I come clean with Josie about my children, I can’t let on that I’ve lost the damn bet.