Salacious Sale Read online

  Oren crumpled. Cody’s dad was a brilliant, dedicated doctor—a humanitarian to his core—but he was oblivious to any reality but the one he’d chosen to focus on. For the moment, that meant his medical endeavors in Sudan, and everything concerning the Double O—or the rest of the O’Neal family—was secondary. As usual, Oren would simply assume everything would work out.

  “Even you can’t be that idealistic,” Cody whispered. “Grandpa deserves a safe place to spend the rest of his life. I would love it if he could stay here, but we can’t afford a private nurse, and if you won’t come back to take care of him—”

  “I have work to do here, son. I can’t leave.”

  “Then I’ll have to do what I think is best, and you’ll have to live with the consequences, Dad. I’ll try to work everything out, but I’ve given you fair warning. You’re not getting a dime if Grandpa needs it more.” Unable to deal with anything else his father might suggest, Cody disconnected and shut the laptop.

  He took one moment to regret and grieve all that he’d never had and all that he’d lost before he understood what was happening, then he picked up his phone and dialed the number he’d been given for the Great Gas & Petrol Company.

  Chapter Eleven

  Mayor Wiggins’ car juddered to a stop right at the bottom of the porch steps. Olivia growled, but the rumble was too low to overhear and she managed to keep a sour expression off her face. She neglected to find a smile or a word of welcome, however.

  “Mayor, it has never turned out to be a good day for us whenever you’ve visited the Raines Ranch.” She didn’t offer to shake his hand, but neither did she cross her arms over her chest. Olivia counted that as a victory.

  Wiggins leaned against the porch rail. “Have you considered the town’s offer?”

  “The piddling little sum of money you’re hoping to buy me off with, you mean?” She shook her head. “No, I haven’t considered it, and I won’t be able to get around to doing that for another forty years, or so. But I’ve got you penciled in on my calendar.”

  “The offer was generous, Miss Raines.”

  “Depends on your definition, I suppose. Either way, we can’t afford it. Without that stream, this house, my cattle and my business are all literally dried up. Employees will be out of work, the tiny tourist industry that’s built up in town will collapse and families will suffer—all because you can’t fix a pump at the treatment facility.”

  Wiggins scowled. “It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

  “Readjust your budget, Mayor. If you can afford to buy my stream, surely you can afford the necessary repairs to the town’s utilities.”

  “Miss Raines, you have no idea of the complexities of running a municipality. I understand the sentimental value you hold for this property. I understand your need to protect that which you feel is yours. But water can’t be owned, my dear. It is a basic human right.”

  “Get off the stump before you fall, Mayor. There’s a river.” Planting her fists on her hips, Olivia struggled to keep her temper, which was quickly spreading embers beyond her ability—or desire—to control. “The town doesn’t have a right to the small amount of water running through my land when there is a much greater source available.”

  “It’s too contaminated for our plant to treat.”

  “Do something about that, then.”

  “We’d need a whole new filtration system. Taxes would rise, including yours.”

  She crossed her arms. “You can’t have my water rights.”

  Sighing, Wiggins reached into his suitcoat pocket and withdrew an envelope. He offered it to Olivia. “I tried, Miss Raines. I tried to be decent, fair, even generous. This is on you now.”

  “I’m surprised you’re out here doing your own dirty work. Shouldn’t you have assigned someone else to bring me your newest offer? Just so you wouldn’t have to hear my opinion on it, if nothing else. There’s no amount of money that can make me sell—”

  “Read that over.”

  As a cold stroke of premonition worked down her spine, she took the envelope and ripped it open. The document inside was thick, but Olivia unfolded it and skimmed as quickly as she could. Mayor Wiggins spun on his heel and moved back toward his car, but she managed to stop him before he got in.

  She jumped right over the porch rail, waving the papers, snapping them in his face as he backed up against the car door. “You are not serious!”

  Wiggins sighed and lifted his gaze heavenward, as if seeking patience. “Action must be taken. I’m sorry it has to come to this, because I’d truly hoped for a peaceful resolution—a compromise.”

  “Handing me court papers isn’t the way to compromise.”

  “It’s all over town that your business partner is selling.”

  Again, Olivia flapped the pages she clutched. “My business partner is my mother, and I’m damned sure she’d have told me if she was selling out long before you could have possibly heard of it!”

  “Not her.” Wiggins slashed his hand through the air. “Great Gas & Petrol Company has already filed paperwork for the transfer of the Double O’s land into their possession.”

  Shock shuddered through her entire body, making her legs go numb. Olivia braced against the dizziness swamping her. “Bullshit.”

  “Cody O’Neal has been seen in their office. They’ve begun the proceedings for the sale, and the real estate agent in River’s Edge is gloating about his commission on his social media accounts.”

  “My God.” Fueling herself with a deep pull of oxygen, she shook her head, dispelling a good portion of shock. Unfortunately, that left room for a sense of betrayal to take root. “He wouldn’t. Eugene would never let him sell.”

  “Does the old man even have a say anymore, Miss Raines? He’s in the hospital. The man had a stroke.”

  “No, no…” She struggled for calm, but she feared it was a losing battle. “Even if Cody did sell, that has nothing to do with the Raines Ranch, Mayor!”

  “Oil rigs leak. They catch fire. They pollute the land. They poison the water. We can’t risk it.” Wiggins pouted in false sympathy, but his next words dispelled any kindness he’d pretended to have. “You had your chance to receive compensation and you turned it down. That’s your loss. I’ll see you in court, Miss Raines.”

  The rage that stormed through her then tinted Olivia’s vision red. “Oh, you’ve got a lot of balls, Wiggins! Big brass ones, if you think you can come out here and tell me you’re taking my land!”

  “Eminent domain.” The mayor straightened, though he remained pressed to his vehicle. “It’s in the public’s best interests and well within the town’s rights.”

  “The town’s rights?” Olivia felt her blood pressure spiking, drilling upward into her skull with thick, erratic thumps. “Fuck you, Wiggins! You can’t have my land or anything on my land, including my water. This property has been in my family since—”

  “You live in the United States of America. If your property serves a need, if taking it back—back, Miss Raines, because it rightfully belongs to this country—is necessary for the benefit of society, then by God and the Constitution, I will!”

  Her anger went far beyond description, hot and pulsing, choking her, prodding her into a violence she’d never known before. Olivia was at a loss as to what to say or do. Her hands worked on autopilot, wholly outside her control as they tore the legal documents into tiny pieces.

  But she knew exactly what she was doing when she tossed them into Wiggins’ face. “Get the fuck off my land, and don’t come back without a warrant and police protection!”

  “Is that a threat, Miss Raines?”

  “I will see you in court, you bastard,” she shrieked, “and not a minute before then!”

  * * * *

  Olivia threw open the door to the house she’d once found refuge in. It wasn’t her house, but the overstuffed, comfortable furniture had held her through many hard times. The kitchen had kept her warm when she was at her lowest and the refrigera
tor was stocked with her favorite beer.

  The man responsible for her losing all that and more stood with his stockinged foot on the bottom step, ready to ascend—until she’d barged into his house.

  Vile things were on the tip of her tongue, but, at the last minute, she managed to bite them back. Her mother always said she’d catch more flies with honey, anyway. Olivia couldn’t stop her boots from pounding the floorboards, and she knew she conveyed her anger without ever saying a word by the way Cody stiffened, but when she reached him, she threw herself at him and planted her mouth on his.

  Never had a kiss been so incendiary. Caught between rage and lust, driven by a need for comfort and control, molded by fear and held together with an unbreakable thread of something so sweet she refused to even acknowledge it existed, Olivia hefted herself against Cody’s chest and took his mouth without restraint.

  Clutching his shoulders, she damn near climbed his torso, claiming and conquering with no thought of the ramifications. With a wet, thrusting, sliding kiss that left no room for his protest, she swallowed his shock and tasted his confusion. She pressed deeper, licking and biting his bottom lip, writhing against him until she felt his erection rise in response.

  She grabbed it. Fondling the length through his pants with an uncompromising hold, Olivia let her intentions be known without apology. Jerking at his fly, clawing at his pants, she wrestled Cody’s dick free and stroked the length. He gasped, but she’d clenched the fingers of her other hand in his hair and refused to let him pull back to acquire more oxygen.

  Licking at his mouth, she pulled her palm over his cock and felt her own desire swell. Impossible, she thought hazily. She was already saturated, soaking through her panties and damn near dripping through her jeans. Still, Cody’s passivity added an edge Olivia couldn’t deny. There was something intoxicating about taking control, especially with so much in her life wildly spinning away. The power was hers and Cody’s body was urging her on.

  She shoved him backward, taking him by surprise. He hit the wall and staggered, his stockinged feet sliding out from under him, leaving Cody with no choice but to sit down hard on the narrow landing. Olivia jumped on him. Totally disregarding any discomfort he might feel with the steps beneath his spine, she straddled his exposed cock and rocked the seam of her jeans against him. Cody hissed. She took a small amount of mercy on him and slid back, her knee finding the lower step as she curled over his waist and sucked his cock into her mouth.

  “Holy fuck! What the hell has gotten into you?” Cody’s words were strangled. He raised his hand to curve around the back of her head.

  There was no time for explanations or crude jokes. Her emotions were too raw to allow her to respond, slow down or think. She could only feel—the ultra-soft skin of Cody’s dick sliding over her tongue, the tightening muscles of his thighs beneath her hands and the hard edge of the step under her knees.

  Olivia sucked and he lifted. Running her tongue over his shaft, she then flattened it against his tip, already knowing what he liked from the last time she’d tasted his pleasure. She toyed with the flared head and explored the ridges she knew to be most sensitive. Cupping his balls in one hand, she tugged until Cody panted and groaned.

  And with her other hand, she undid her own pants. Awkward and hurried, Olivia toed off her boots while sucking Cody’s cock ever deeper. Her lips stretched around him as she wiggled out of her jeans and panties, the back of her throat smarting as she contorted her body. The moment the fabric cleared her ankles, she let his dick fall free of her mouth and sprung back onto his waist.

  Bracing her hands on Cody’s lower stomach, Olivia struggled to pleasure them both. Aching knees planted on the landing, she used the pitiless leverage to rock her clit over his dick. Sliding on his shaft, her folds parting around him, spreading the flood her pussy had provided over both their genitalia, she refused to let his minor struggles bother her. Just a few heartbeats later, Cody stopped trying to sit up, stopped trying to enforce his own will on her seduction and let his head fall back to the steps with a thump and a lusty groan.

  “Damn,” he breathed, “that feels so good, Olivia. What are you doing?”

  She didn’t answer that question either. How could she, when her pussy hummed and her body clenched so hard there no were muscles free enough to form a response? Cody still looked dazed, almost disoriented in his confusion, when she lifted and surged against him, higher and harder, intent burning in her lower belly and slicking down her thighs. She arched, bringing his dick against her greedy, wet entrance.

  “No condoms,” he groaned. But Cody lifted his hands to her hips and pulled her toward him.

  A fraction of an inch. For a bare, brutal second, the feel of his dick lodged against her pussy sank into Olivia’s anger and shuddered through her entire nervous system. The sweet thing she refused to examine jolted and swelled until she had no choice but to close her eyes against its encroachment. Her inner walls quivered and her juices overflowed, giving her something else to focus on—a glorious rush of lust encouraging everything inside her to still in appreciation for a single, endless second.

  Then Olivia rocked forward, taking Cody’s cock into her body. A smooth, slick glide saw him buried deeply and her muscles rippled around his shaft, needing so much more. She tipped her head back and fought for air, even as Cody groaned and arched beneath her. He tightened his fingers on her ass cheeks, making her think he was—once again—trying to take over.

  She wouldn’t allow it. She was in control—of this, if nothing else.

  Olivia fucked him hard. There was no leeway for smooth or gentle, and she certainly couldn’t afford to feel whatever it was she’d felt the last time she’d been so close to his dick. The overwhelming sense that she was in over her head—that there was more to whatever had cropped up between them than a little sexy fun mixed with business—was wholly unwelcome while her anger raged within her.

  Lifting and falling, bucking, riding him as best she could in their current, awkward positions, Olivia took Cody fiercely. The pleasure of her pussy plunging onto his cock mingled with the pain of the unforgiving press of the steps with every arch of her hips. She could only imagine what it was like for him. He shifted with every thrust. Curling her fingers against him, digging her nails into his ribs, Olivia surged over him.

  Orgasm came in a blinding wash of sensation. Fast and hard, as everything else had been, finally ripping away her control until Olivia writhed erratically. She rode him through her climax, fighting the constriction of her inner walls, letting her pussy clench and pulse over his dick, permitting her juices to smear across them both. Cody gripped her hips and hauled her over the length of his cock, helping her, pushing through the convulsions in her depths until he, too, groaned and stiffened with pleasure, filling her with enough heat that her body clenched again.

  Their groins glued together, still braced against his torso with outstretched arms, Olivia hardly waited for her breath to even out before she looked down and commanded, “Don’t sell the Double O.”

  Cody blinked and gasped. “What?”

  “Wiggins came by my house, not more than an hour ago. He told me you were selling to an oil company.”

  “They’ve made an offer. I don’t think this is a great time to talk about it, though.”

  “This is the perfect time to negotiate, don’t you think?” Olivia shifted sinuously.

  Cody jerked. She felt the tension rush through every part of his body—except his deflated cock. Cody’s muscles quivered like her most easily spooked stallion and his chest expanded with a massive breath. Again, his head fell back to rap against the landing.

  “Negotiate?” he whispered. “Is that what this is? Is that what we just did?”

  “Just think of what we could accomplish.” Ignoring his tone, desperate to achieve her goal, Olivia moved on him again, sliding over his softened cock even as Cody tried to push her away. “Think of what we could do if we worked together, or even if you would just sell m
e the Double O. Rent to own, something.”

  “I can’t quite believe this.” Cody grabbed her hips once more—but this time he pushed her off his body, rather than pulling her farther onto it. Wincing, he stood and jerked his pants back up his thighs. Tightening his lips, he snatched her jeans off the floor and tossed them at her. Surprise had her drawing them on mechanically.

  Suddenly, Olivia had serious misgivings about her tactics. The anger on his face alarmed her and the anxiety flooding her chest was unnerving. Her body was sluggish, her nerves still humming, but the fog of anger clouding her senses was beginning to lift and her deliberate refusal to consider anything beyond herself left her with nothing more than her own regret.

  Still, she’d put everything she had into one basket, and she couldn’t see how to change course at that moment. “Cody—”

  “Whoring yourself out for my ranch, Olivia?” His expression shut down completely, but there was a spark in his eye that sliced into Olivia’s conscience. “You felt the need to come over here and use sex, rather than words, to discuss my decision over my property?”

  “An incentive.” She tried to smile, to be coy and alluring all at the same time, unsure of which mix would tempt him the most.

  His face darkened. “You’re fucking kidding me.”

  “Cody, we can work together.”

  “I had thought so,” he said. “I had started to think… Never mind. Please leave, now.”

  “But I haven’t—”

  “I need you to go, Olivia.” Cody moved toward the front door and opened it. He didn’t look at her when he waved her out. “Please.”

  Her stomach flipped. “Cody, wait! I didn’t mean—”

  “Go.”

  “I’m trying to say that I had a good time and I—”

  “That’s fantastic,” he sneered. “Really fucking fantastic. Get out.”

  Stepping onto the porch with her shoes in her hand, Olivia finally realized she’d made a huge mistake. There was no chance to rectify it, however. Cody shut the door in her face and the tears in her eyes were too blinding to fight her way toward forgiveness.