Page 23 of Bounty

No woman had ever taken my mind off of her. Like a weed, she established roots in the garden of my mind, rampantly spreading until she overran it. I tried so many times to lose myself in someone else, but never could. Mandy never got the message, apparently.

“It’s because of Wisteria Jean, isn’t it? Lou Lou told me she saw a woman that looked like her in the backseat of a car Cain and Colin were in, but she couldn’t possibly be her, right?”

I don’t want to deal with Mandy or the rumor mill right now. Hearing her talk about Wisteria like a returning plague will make me do something unbecoming, so I gather the last bit of calm I have before addressing her.

“If I hear you, or anyone else, talk about her, they’ll be punished at the next gathering. Spread the word, you nosey bitch. Remember that whatever happened between us is over. It won’t happen again, and any further attempts to fuck me again won’t end well for you,” I say in a low, threatening voice.

She stands there, opening and closing her mouth like a bass fish. A smile curls my lips. I walk away from her and finish my rounds before going back to the house.

I need to see Wisteria Jean, now. We have things to discuss.

The house is silent when I return. It’s late into the night now, but I figured someone may be awake at this hour. There’s no way Wisteria is still sleeping. I hang my coat in the closet and remove my shoes, then climb the stairs to change into something morecomfortable. A suit isn’tapproachable, especially when Wisteria is wearing lounge clothes.

I make a mental note to arrange for her to go shopping. She’ll need nicer clothes moving forward. After searching through my closet, I settle for gray sweatpants, a white henley, and a black cardigan and matching moccasins. That’s as approachable as I’ll get.

When I enter Cain’s room, Colin is sandwiched between Cain and Wisteria. Her tits spill over the blanket that only reaches her waist. His tattooed arms clutch onto her for dear life. Cain is in a hoodie and sweatpants, his sock-covered feet sticking out from the bottom of a different blanket.

The pangs of jealousy I’ve felt before are nothing compared to how I feel now. She hasn’t even been back in Colin’s life for a couple days, and she’s already forgiven him—gotten on her knees for him, let him inside her. They’re both back to being in her orbit, while she ices me out.

If I ever touched her again she’d make that slap from our childhood feel like a lover’s touch. Nothing ever has or will be easy for Wisteria and I.

I go to her side of the bed and nudge her shoulder until she wakes up. She scowls at me, then follows my gaze to her bare breasts and covers herself. Ripping the blanket away, I bend over so our faces are inches apart from each other.

“Get up, and put something decent on. Meet me in my office at the end of the downstairs hallway,” I demand in a whisper. Focusing will be impossible unless she dresses herself.

Maybe she can feel my anger raging inside me. Or maybe the look on my face is enough, but she gets out of the bed and starts to look for her clothes instead of arguing with me like she used to.

I’d never seen Wisteria completely naked before, even when she lived with me in my father’s home. I’d seen glimpses of herbare skin, or her in a bathing suit, but those pale in comparison. The sight of her bare body makes me salivate.

She walks around the room, searching for her hoodie and sweats. Her curves are ripe, perfect for squeezing. The globes of her ass are round, jiggling with every step she takes. Her nipped waist gives her an hourglass shape that would rival Marilyn Monroe’s.

My cock tents my sweatpants, and when she bends over to pick something off the floor, I see her perfect pink pussy peek out from between her thick thighs. I stifle a groan.Christ.There’s nothing safe about this woman’s body. She’s temptation personified, and eventually she’ll ruin me.

She sighs, holding up a hoodie torn down the center. “Do you know where my bag is?” she asks.

I motion for her to follow me, because I don’t trust myself to say anything when I’m this angry and horny. Her bag is still in the car, so I take her to my room. She hangs back by the open door, while I go toward my closet.

“Your bag is in the car, so you can wear something of mine.” Offering her my own clothes isn’t the olive branch it should be, but a completely selfish move.

I pick another pair of sweatpants and a tee shirt. When I hand them to her, she doesn’t reach out to take them. She doesn’t even look at me. Not because she’s subservient or meek. No, she’s neither of those things by a long shot. She’s avoiding me. I fucking hate that she tries to act like I’m not here.

“What’s wrong?” I snap, immediately regretting how frustrated I am. I shouldn’t take it out on her but I can’t help myself.

“I’m not comfortable wearing your clothes,” she says calmly. “I’d rather have my own.”

“It’s late and cold outside. You can wear this until someone grabs your bag in the morning.”

She bristles at the sound of my gruff, cutting voice, an annoyed look on her face. “I’m not wearing your clothes, Jude.”

“Well that’s what you’ll get.” I put them down on the upholstered bench at the end of the bed, then stare her down. I don’t know why I’m willing to fight her on this, but I want her in my clothes. I want some kind of claim on her now that there’s nothing standing in my way.

“Fuck you,” she spits, bypassing me and walking out of the room, in nothing but her birthday suit. I grab the clothes before following her.

She walks down the hall, the stairs, and then walks around the foyer, searching for something.

“What are you doing, Wisteria Jean?”

“Where are the keys?”

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