13. Ansel

Ansel

E ver since Jasper moved out of the main house and into the guest house with Olivia, the others have been feeling down. Rueben and Tyson might not admit it, but Jasper is the soul of the party, his lame dad jokes making everyone laugh. New Year’s is supposed to be a fun day for all of us; we always have an escort to spend the entire night with. This year proved to be different. Since Olivia entered our lives, things have changed. Rueben and Tyson are always in foul moods, Jasper never takes his eyes off Olivia, and Mose has no idea what to make of everything while I am waiting to see what happens next.

Empty pizza boxes lay on the coffee table next to some cans of soda and bottles of alcohol. It is only on special occasions that we have junk food since Mose cooks almost every day. Not that I am complaining, but eating spicy things day after day is getting old.

Rueben and Mose are playing poker while Tyson has his nose stuck in yet another romance book. Why he keeps wasting his time like this—reading—when he can find better things to do with his time is a mystery I am trying to resolve. He was more fun during University when he and Rueben finally started noticing women, and they would bring them back to our room where we would have a more private party.

I take a swig of my beer and a bite of my pizza and turn on the music, hoping it will animate the atmosphere a bit. And maybe convince Jasper to drop by.

“He won’t come,” Tyson says as he flips a page. He always has a way of knowing what I am thinking.

I shrug and try to pet Diva, who sits on the sofa with me, but one growl is warning enough that she doesn’t want to be touched. Once, she bit off a man’s finger because he pointed it in her face. “It’s worth a try.”

“He is smitten with her,” Mose says as Rueben shows his cards—straight flush.

Mose’s blank expression doesn’t betray anything.

Rueben is one of the best poker players I have ever seen, but Mose also has his way of winning as many times as possible.

“Once he fucks her, he will get over his obsession,” Tyson comments.

“If not, I can always put a bullet between her eyes and be done with her,” Rueben mutters.

Mose puts his cards flat on the table. A grin forms as he reveals his winning hand—a royal flush.

Rueben slams his fist on the table. “You cheated!”

“Prove it,” Mose dares him.

Knowing he can’t, Rueben says, “Fuck you, Mose!”

We all know Mose is cheating at poker, but how the fuck he does it is something we are still trying to find out.

Mose laughs. “I can’t wait to try out my new gun. Make sure to clean it before you give it to me.”

I told Rueben not to gamble his best handgun, but he never listens to what I say.

Huffing and puffing, Rueben sits between Diva and me and grabs a beer from the pack next to the coffee table.

“If we kill her, then we can’t take her father out,” I remind Rueben.

“You really think that old fart will give a fuck what his daughter does?” Rueben asks. “She was a fucking whore for years, and he left her to suck all the cock she wanted in the Celestial Heaven.”

I take a long sip of my beer while I think. “I’ve studied Senator Deymar’s habits for a long time. If there is one thing he hates, it is being the laughingstock of others. Especially now that he has been nominated as Speaker of the House.”

For years, the Speaker of the House has been a Lord, but in recent years, the Dukes have been pulling strings, and more and more of them are getting into politics, their goal, no doubt, is to control not only the US but the entire world. As long as the Lords exist, that will never happen.

One of the reasons Rueben hadn’t killed Olivia on the spot is because of her father’s recent nomination, which makes him an even harder target since the protection he is getting from the Dukes is top notch. She is the key to getting to him.

Working with Rueben and spending so many hours together has led to many conversations, and Olivia came up many, many times in the past few years. He has always been conflicted about killing her out right or hearing her out first; convincing him to let her live long enough to eliminate Senator Deymar has taken time. Soon, he will see I was right about keeping her alive.

I continue talking, “It won’t be only him who is going to be affected by the videos of Olivia being our little whore—”

“Bitch,” Tyson corrects me.

Slut, whore, bitch, ho, same thing.

“—but many other Dukes, since she is not the only Duchess to fuck Lords. Luis Hernandez lost everything when his daughter spread her legs for Alekos and his blood-brothers.” Remembering the videos of Angelica being tortured, I add, “The Dukes will lose their shit to see another Duchess stuffed with Lords’ cum. They will try to come after Olivia, and when that happens….”

I don’t finish my sentence as I want to make my blood-brothers see the bigger picture.

Tyson finally lifts his head from his book. “We will catch them and torture them until they tell us what we need to know.”

I look straight into Tyson’s eyes. “If the sex videos we are going to make have Olivia full of bruises as the main character, this plan won’t work.”

Rueben and Tyson torturing Olivia was never the plan. Her coming to the farm and us fucking her day and night, yes. Not necessarily… her, any woman. Her falling into our hands is even better because she will be the downfall of her father and, with a bit of luck, of many other Dukes as well.

Tyson looks at the fireplace. “I thought she knew information we could use against the enemy.”

Like that is an excuse to torture Olivia.

I grab my pack of cigarettes and take one out. After I light it, I take a drag and then press my thumb to my right temple while taking care not to burn my hair with the cigarette. “I have a hard time thinking she became a pornai of her own accord.”

Tyson snorts.

“What woman likes to be dicked without having a say about who she has to suck or fuck?” I question.

Rueben chimes in. “Olivia likes dick.”

“Maybe or maybe not,” I contemplate, “but Olivia was never the type of girl to go out with boys. Didn’t she always say she wanted to wait to have sex until she got married?”

At least, that’s what she told me. She was so shy when she was in high school.

Rueben laughs, but as he speaks, his tone betrays his anger. “Don’t tell me you believed her lies. She was fucking guys behind the gym the same day she killed Camila.”

Was she now? I never truly believed that rumor.

I shrug. “You can’t blame a girl for wanting to try other dicks before she settles down.”

Rueben stands, and before going to his room, he says over his shoulder, “You don’t understand what it’s like to lose a sister.” Diva follows him.

I take another drag from my cigarette, this time a longer one. “Camila was like a sister to me, and I miss her too,” I say to no one in particular.

Moments later, Tyson also stands. “I am going to call it a night as well,” he lets Mose and me know as he grabs his book and disappears into his office.

When I finish my cigarette, I turn off the music before I start cleaning the living room with Mose’s help. When it comes to Olivia, he doesn’t have much to say, since he wasn’t our friend at the time Camila was killed, but tonight, he has something to say.

“I don’t think I like her.” He stacks up the pizza boxes before putting them in a trash bag.

I take the empty plates to the sink. “Because she killed Camila, or is there another reason?”

“Ever since she came to live here, she has destroyed our peace. Jasper no longer wants to be under the same roof as us, and Rueben and Tyson are like two grumpy old men.”

I start washing the dishes. “Things will settle eventually.”

Mose thinks for a while before saying, “I suppose they will.”

After we put everything in place, Mose goes to his room while I smoke another cigarette and scroll through my phone until Diva barks. I grunt because it means she wants to go out.

A door opens, and by the squeak it is the one from Rueben’s room. He probably got up to let Diva out. Knowing how cranky he is when he doesn’t get enough sleep, I say, “I got her.”

“Thanks, man.” He sounds half-asleep.

Diva walks into the living room, and I get up, grab my coat, and go to the kitchen to open the back door.

“Come on, you little pain in the ass.”

Rueben could have picked a nicer dog than Little Attitude. But she is loyal to Rueben and is a great asset to our career choice. I never thought I would end up as a bounty hunter, but there are worse jobs out there.

Diva snifts the snow—a small set of footprints is visible, and I squat to take a better look at them. The light coming from outside is enough to allow me to inspect the footprints. They are small, like those of a child. A child on the farm?

My heart pounds a little faster.

Why is there a kid here?

Diva keeps sniffing the snow while I try to figure out where the kid came from until I see that the footprints are coming from the guest house. I let out a sigh of relief.

Wait.

If it wasn’t a kid who made the footprints, then was it Olivia? How small are her feet?

Shouldn’t she be in bed?

The footprints lead to the barn. She must be in there.

Diva keeps sniffing until she lets out a growl and runs to the barn. Fuck! I should have put her leash on, but who would have guessed that Olivia would be out in the barn when she is supposed to be in bed getting better.

I rush after Diva, hoping to catch her in time as she is not that fond of women, but she slips inside the barn before I can reach her. My heart is pounding hard as I expect to hear Olivia scream any moment now, but there is only silence.

Maybe I was wrong, and Olivia is not in the barn.

I rush inside. Instead of seeing Olivia on the ground with her neck torn open, I see her sitting on the floor petting the damn dog, who has her head on Olivia’s lap.

Olivia tenses, her hand pausing, as she looks at me with eyes that once used to sparkle but are now full of despair. Bruises cover her skin. My stomach turns in knots. In the forest, I was more focused on Rueben than on her, I barely took note of her, but now it’s only me and her in here.

“Ansel,” she acknowledges me.

I fold my hands against my chest. “Are you some dog whisperer or something?”

She blinks, confused by my question. “No.”

“Diva must really like you then. She never lets me pet her.”

Her gaze goes to the dog. “Diva,” she murmurs. “I like her name.”

Miss Attitude licks Olivia’s face.

“Rueben won’t be happy when he finds out his dog likes you,” I chuckle, and Olivia turns pale.

“But I am willing to keep the secret if you tell me how you made it all the way here.”

She bites her bottom lip as she thinks. She doesn’t trust me. Good. If she is smart, she won’t trust any of us.

“I walked,” she says a few seconds later.

“You walked while being sick as fuck and having broken toes?” I ask, wanting to be sure I am not misinterpreting her words.

She nods, then says, “I wanted to see the horses.”

I run my hand over my face. “You are something else. How are your ribs?”

She hesitates before saying, “They… hurt.”

“I didn’t mean to kick you in the forest. Everything was happening all at once, then you were vomiting and… I could have hurt you seriously.”

“You are not the first person to hurt me. I will eventually heal until I am hurt again.”

Olivia always had an air of sadness cast around her. I noticed it before she knew how to hide it; now she looks dead, as if she has given up on life itself. This does not settle well. She is worth more than this. She deserves to be happy.

I look over to the stalls, then I pick up Olivia in my arms. Diva is obviously displeased, but she can bite my ass. “Let me show you the horses.” Walking up to the first stall, I say, “This is Artax. Do you remember when we watched The NeverEnding Story, and you cried for days because Artax died in the swamp, and Camila and Rueben teased you because of it?”

When Olivia and Camila became friends, Rueben, Tyson, and I thought it was just a phase, especially since Camila never had a good opinion of the Dukes. Weeks later, Olivia became a common guest in Camila and her family’s house. Tyson, Rueben, and I would often hang out, drinking, smoking, and playing Call of Duty while preparing for University. Olivia wiggled her way into our lives by learning how to play video games and hanging out with us. Soon, Sunday became pizza and movie day. The five of us, plus Rueben’s parents, would find a comfortable spot in the living room and watch movies for hours.

“You were the only one who didn’t make fun of me,” she says as she looks at the horse. “Even Tyson laughed.”

“Tyson has always been an ass,” I remind her.

“I suppose,” she murmurs, her eyes never leaving Artax.

Despite the bruises covering her cheeks, she has turned into a beautiful woman. The shirt she is wearing has enough buttons undone to reveal her generous tits to me. My cock stirs, and if not for her being hurt, I probably would have had my cock down her throat by now, tears spilling down her face, her lips swollen by how rough I would have been with her. I push aside my desire to fill her holes with my cum.

Turning to the other stall, I say, “This is Speckles. She–” I pause for a moment, then continue, “had a rough life before Jasper found out about her and brought her here.”

Tears pool inside her eyes. “She is suffering.”

I frown. “I know the experience you had with us wasn’t the best, but we are not harming her.”

Olivia shakes her head. “She misses her filly.”

“Filly? Speckles never had a foal.”

“She did,” Olivia insists. “I can feel it.”

Olivia has always been fond of animals, especially horses, but for her to sense if an animal is suffering or not and why is another thing.

I know I am going to regret this later, but even so, I say, “I will ask her ex-owner’s son about it.” Olivia nods absently as her eyes are fixed on Speckles. “I left the best for last—Juniper.”

Olivia’s back stiffens. “Jasper kept mentioning her. It is not my place to say anything, but do you really have to keep her here, in the barn?”

I frown, because she is making no sense. “Where are we supposed to keep her?” I ask as we reach Juniper’s stall.

“In the house,” she suggests.

“The goat in the house!?”

“The what?”

“Juniper is a goat.” I chuckle as Olivia’s eyebrows inch up. “What? Did you think she was a woman we keep chained in the barn?” She doesn’t reply, but her pink cheeks tell me I am right.

I laugh, her cheeks becoming more flushed, making her even more beautiful. My eyes lock with hers, and before I know what I am doing, my lips capture hers, finally kissing her. For years, I dreamed of her, the forbidden fruit, knowing I would never have her. But now, not only is she in my arms, but soon she will be in my bed, under me, her pussy kissing my dick.

If not for Tyson and Rueben, the things I would have done to Olivia tonight… I only kept away because I thought she hated me for kicking her in the ribs. God knows I never wanted to harm her.

Her lips are soft and full, made for kissing. A purr ripples through me, reminding me I am not the only one who has been waiting for this moment.

I playfully nip her tender flesh, and when she opens her mouth, my tongue spears inside her mouth. Despite my eagerness to kiss her, Olivia barely reciprocates.

“Kiss me back, Honey,” I murmur.

Honey.

I bet that pussy of hers tastes like honey as well. When she is better, I will spread her on the table and lick her for hours. Not just lick her, I will eat her out, a full course meal—tongue, teeth, mouth, until I am satisfied and she has no more voice from screaming my name, as I make her come all over my face, over and over again, until my body and soul are fused to hers forever.

Olivia shyly returns my kiss, making me even hungrier for her taste. My tongue dives deeper into her mouth, licking every inch, claiming it for myself.

My cock throbs with the need to bury myself deep inside her and fill her with cum, getting her pregnant with my child. I have been obsessed with her ever since she became friends with Camila, but I never said anything to her because she was a minor back then. But now she is fair game, and this time, I won’t hold back. At least, not when I am with her, because Rueben and Tyson won’t approve of this… madness.

This is madness, else, how can I explain my unhealthy obsession with this woman? I’ve felt like this for so long and finally I can act on it.

Healthy or not, madness or not, obsession or not, Olivia is here to stay. It is only a matter of time before I convince the others that Olivia is the one for us.

Olivia shivers, and I break the kiss. “It’s best I take you back to the house.”

Looking over my shoulder at the black goat who is missing her left horn, Olivia says, “Alright.”

I walk out of the barn, Olivia in my arms, Diva following us. For a moment, I contemplate taking her to my room, but not wanting to deal with Tyson and Rueben’s outbursts, I head over to the guest house.

Jasper is snoring, oblivious to Olivia sneaking out of the house. I gently place her next to him and cover her with the duvet.

“Don’t forget about the filly,” she reminds me before I slip outside the house.

A few days later, Rueben, Diva, and I are on the road, tracking down a criminal who has been eluding justice for months. The air inside the SUV is thick with tobacco and there are empty beer cans all over the back seats.

Rueben has been stewing for days, and I have yet to find out why. I could ask him what’s on his mind, but after years of dealing with his temper, I learned not to give a shit, and eventually, he will tell me everything I want to know. Besides, I’m too busy thinking of the kiss with Oliva. I haven’t seen her since I found her in the barn, as she is still sick and Jasper doesn’t trust any of us around her. He guards her all the time. Good.

My phone buzzes in my pocket. I pull it out and open the text. It’s from the son of the bastard who was Speckles’ owner before us.

Him: Yes, she did have a filly eight months ago.

I contacted him yesterday. I wanted to demonstrate that Olivia was wrong about Speckles, but she was right about the filly.

How the fuck did she know?

I type back: Where is the filly now? before I put the phone back in my pocket, knowing it will take a while before I receive a reply.

Rueben turns left on an empty road in the middle of the forest and, minutes later, suddenly stops the car and gets out.

Knowing he is about to talk about whatever crawled up his ass, I take a cigarette and light it before I, too, get out of the car.

“Jasper is getting too attached to the Diseased Cunt. I don’t like it. We need to do something about it.”

Since New Year, Rueben has kept a close eye on Jasper, watching how he interacts with Olivia, while I took a step back, waiting for her to get better so I can fuck her to my heart’s content.

I take a drag from my cigarette. “Like what?”

“Anything.” He paces back and forth several times before saying, “We should take her to the Blood Lodge,” Rueben says. A growl rises in my throat, but I don’t interrupt him, as he keeps talking “during one of the gatherings and—”

He doesn’t get to finish as he suddenly grunts in pain and grabs the right side of his neck with his hand, blood dripping from between his fingers.

I put the cigarette between my lips and take out my handgun from the holster just as a bullet grazes my left ear. I should have checked the surroundings before having a chit-chat with Rueben.