Chapter Seven

Griffin threw the papers on his desk and leaned back in his chair. The wheels under him creaked. The papers Jett had brought needed to be rewritten, but he just couldn’t concentrate now. All he could think about was the fact that Nick Portland might die, and someone was trying to make it look like he’d attacked the man.

Portland was annoying, and he was dangerous to the activities that went on at Tres Lobos West, but there was no reason to try and kill him. He could have taken care of his concerns in the courtroom. If worse came to worst he could have bought him out, given him more money than the property was worth and hoped Portland would have taken it, and moved somewhere else.

“You’re not concentrating,” Jett said from the couch. “These contracts are a little outdated, but they do contain the basics. I think the only thing that needs to be changed is a listing of what the submissive won’t do, no matter what. I’m sure the ladies who come up here pay a lot of money for their adventures. But these contracts are very—generic. You need to have listings, like the sub likes pain, or she doesn’t. Or she just wants to be humiliated. This is just a basic rider to protect you from being sued. It doesn’t help her to get what she wants, unless you ask her those questions when she fills out her application. Do you ask her those questions?”

“We do a very thorough interview with the ladies,” he said. “But you’re right when you say that the contracts don’t include that information. That was stupid on my part. We need to remedy that.”

He picked up a pen and made a note. It had been years since he’d practiced law, but this was a rookie mistake.

“Did you write these?” she asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “Not my finest work. I remember pulling a contract off the internet, talking to a few Doms who ran clubs, and basically just throwing something down on paper.”

“Have you had trouble with someone threatening to sue? Is that why I’m here?”

“No, Stan and I were talking about it, and he looked at them for me.” He looked out the window. “He’s the one who told me they needed work.”

“So I am up here on actual business.” He loved the sexy laugh that escaped her lips. “That’s a good thing to know. Let’s rewrite them. Do you want to do it today? Or tomorrow? If I leave by four I can make it down the mountain road before it gets dark. I’m not thrilled about driving that road after the sun goes down.”

“We can do it in the morning,” he said. “I can’t concentrate right now, not on that, anyway.” He looked over at Jett. His cock stirred at the sight of her sitting there, her sexy body encased in jeans and a soft sweater. As much as he wanted to bend her over the desk, or take her back into his playroom, other things kept pushing into his mind.

Jett got up from the couch and crossed to the tray Celeste had brought in earlier. She poured herself a cup of coffee, then held it up in his direction.

“Sure,” he said.

After she’d picked up his cup from the desk she filled it at the tray and brought it back to him. It was after three in the afternoon, but it wasn’t the late-afternoon caffeine that he worried about keeping him up tonight. It was whether or not Portland was dead, and if they were going to arrest him for the man’s murder.

She sat back down on the couch and said, “I’m sure Tricky would call if there were developments.”

“I keep wondering who would want to hurt Portland.” He took a drink from his coffee.

“What did he do for a living?” Jett asked.

“You know, I have no clue.” He shrugged. “He’d lived here for ages, long before I came along. He came over and introduced himself to me when we bought the place. After that the only time I saw him was when he came to cuss me out for buying the Tres Lobos property out from under him, or so he said.”

“Did someone tip you off that it was for sale?”

“The owner,” he said. “She was once in love with my brother, then she got married and her husband wanted to move to Texas. She wanted us to buy the land, but she didn’t want to go through Darrin.”

“That’s your brother?”

“He’s the oldest,” Griffin said.

“So she contacted you and didn’t put the property on the market?”

“Well, it’s a little more complicated than that,” he said.

Griffin turned his attention away from the window when she sat forward, her arms propped on her thighs and her head cocked in a questioning manner. “More complicated? I’m confused.”

“You know what, let’s talk about it over dinner.”

She slouched back against the couch and sighed. “I feel like all we’ve done is eat today. What is Celeste making for dinner tonight?”

“Lasagna,” he said. “But I already told her that you and I are going out to Stef’s Steak House. I’m tired of being in this office. I need some fresh air. A drive through the mountains would do me some good. What about you?”

“Fresh mountain air is one of my favorite things.” The smile on her face made him want to fuck her. Screw all the problems that were mounting up around him. He wanted to go into the playroom, strap her to the chair and whip her pussy until she screamed, then fuck her until they both soared.

“Something wrong?” she asked.

“Other than the fact you make my dick hard when it shouldn’t be? No.”

The blush that crept up her face made him smile. “Shall we have an appetizer before dinner?”

“Um, sure.” She barely whispered the words, which made him frown.

“You’re not interested?” He cocked his head. “Didn’t you enjoy last night? Did I read you wrong?”

“I enjoyed it too much,” she said. “I haven’t had sex in a long time – well, until last night – and you’re not exactly close to me. Phone sex won’t produce the results that feeling your dick inside me does.”

“That’s good to know,” he said. “I’m glad you had fun.”

She wiggled a little, and he wondered if his spanking had left a lasting impression.

“Are you wet?” he asked.

She looked toward the windows, and her blush intensified.

“I’ve been inside you and you have trouble answering the question about being wet?” He chuckled. “You’re an enigma.”

“Not really, just not very good at finding words to answer questions.”

“You mean you can’t find a yes or no?”

“The answer is yes, but the answer is also that my body is sore from last night.” She shrugged. “It’s been a while, remember?”

“I don’t know how Stan ever kept his hands off you.”

“It was a mutual thing.”

“Do you not want to put your hands on me?”

“On the contrary, my hands tingle at the thought.” She drew her knees up in front of her, and he recognized the movement as a woman trying to close herself off. It was obvious she was mad at Stan, and while she’d allowed herself to give over for sex last night, she didn’t want to open herself up too much.

Challenge accepted.

“Be ready to leave around seven,” he said. “I’ll make a reservation for eight. It will take us about thirty minutes to get to Bear Creek in the dark. Too many twists and turns to go too fast.”

“Will that give you time to tell me the long story about how you bought the property for Tres Lobos West, and how it came to be?”

“Just about,” he said.

Griffin knew it would give him time to build her up for another round of sex tonight, which they would both enjoy.

***

Jett glanced out at the darkened sky and clutched the sides of her seat. Griffin was taking the curves a little too fast for her liking, but she was sure he’d driven the road between Bear Creek the town, and Bear Creek the resort, enough to know the twists and turns by heart; or at least she hoped so.

She needed to take her mind off his driving for the next thirty minutes. “So, tell me how you got control of the land for Tres Lobos West.”

Griffin clicked his teeth, and she wondered if he was trying to concoct a story, or put the facts in line.

“Well, I told you we got the property from a woman who had a long-term relationship with my brother Darrin, right?”

“Yes, you told me that much.”

“Well, their relationship didn’t end well,” he said.

“What was her name?”

“Alisha Hallowell,” he said. “She and Darrin dated since high school. They never married, and broke up from time to time. During one of those break ups the land across the way from us came up for sale, and she bought it. That was seven years ago. Then she and Darrin got back together. Given their history they decided to, as my father said, live in sin.”

Jett laughed. “Something tells me your artist mother didn’t see it that way.”

“Live free and enjoy life is her motto,” Griffin said. “She would never have us conform to society. We were taught to make our own decisions, despite what Dad wanted.”

Jett grasped the armrest as he took another curve. “Let me fill in the blanks a little. Alisha and Darrin broke up, she met someone else, and they ended up getting married, so she had to get rid of the land. I suppose it wasn’t in Darrin’s name?”

“No, but like I said she wanted us to have it, so she sold it to me, and I turned it over to our corporation that runs Bear Creek.”

“But this part was different.” She turned to him. “Were Alisha and Darrin running a BDSM resort before Tres Lobos West?”

His soft laughter made her nipples tingle. Everything about this man turned her on, and that scared the bejesus out of her.

“They built a few cabins that had extra rooms that they turned into what we call playrooms,” he said. “I never liked the word dungeon, and my brothers share the sentiment.”

“Is Darrin the artist?”

“How’d you guess?”

“Lucky,” she said. “And the other brother?”

“Russell,” he said. “He has a ranch outside Taos.”

“Is he also a Dom?” She smacked her forehead. “Cheese and rice! Of course he is, or he wouldn’t be part owner of a BDSM resort. Bad question.”

“Leaping lizards she figured it out,” he said.

Laughter burst out of her, and then she grasped the armrest again. “You’re scaring the daylights out of me.”

“I got it,” he said.

“So, they built cabins their friends could use,” she said. “Did they rent them out?”

“No.” He took another curve before he continued, “The three of us made an executive decision to open the resort. We did a little bit of a test at first. It went over well. We had a few couples that wanted to rent the cabins. Then we had a few subs that wanted to play, that didn’t have Doms.”

“So you gave them Doms for hire,” she said. “That’s where the contracts come in.”

“We have to protect ourselves.”

The dim lights of Bear Creek came into view.

“And them,” she said. “I can’t imagine giving myself to a Dom I just met.” She gasped at her words. “What am I talking about, I did it last night, with you.”

“What about Stan?”

“We didn’t have sex, or a spanking scene, until we’d known each other for a few weeks.” Jett shook her head. “You’re the first Dom I’ve ever submitted to on the first night we knew each other.”

“I’m honored,” he said.

“I’m as nervous as a cat on a porch full of rocking chairs.”

To her surprise he pulled the truck over to the side of the road. He put the truck into gear and turned toward her. “What can I do to ease your fears?”

“Not so much fears as nerves,” she said. “There’s a difference. I trust you because I trust Stan, and I don’t think he would put me in harm’s way, even if he did lie to me. But I have to admit that feeling so comfortable with someone I just met, enough to let him spank and fuck me, is scary.”

“It’s my magnetic personality,” he said. “I’ve sharpened it over the years.”

“Let me guess, you’re the middle child.”

“How’d you know?”

Jett shrugged. “They always work to be well liked, and have, as you said, magnetic personalities.”

“All of us?”

“Most of you,” she said. “Or at least that’s what I’ve read in psychology books.”

“I used to have to break up fights between my brothers.” He hadn’t moved the truck, and had kept his gaze on her. “They were fighters. I’m more of a lover.”

“One that likes to spank,” she said.

“Is that a complaint?”

“Not in the least.” Jett ran her fingers through her hair.

“Don’t be afraid of me,” he said. “Remember your safe word, and I’ll honor it. I promise you.”

“Cherry,” she whispered.

“For a lot of firsts.” He put the truck into gear. “Let’s go eat, and see if we can learn anything from gossip at the steak house.”

“Won’t Tricky be angry at you for sticking your nose into police business?”

He pulled back onto the road. “I can handle him. We’ve had a few fights in our life. And I always come out on top.”