Dust Storm (The Griffith Brothers, #1)

by Maggie C. Gates

“I want to be the person that people go to when there’s a problem. I want to be the one who gets the calls in the middle of the night to fix something that’s going wrong. I want to be the one that holds everything together. I want to be irreplaceable.”

“Don’t stop on my account.”

“Close your eyes.” I hated taking orders, but for him I did. “Index finger on your clit.” He didn’t make another sound until obeyed. “Two fingers from your other hand inside that pussy.” “Christian—” I whispered. “Curl those fingers inside of you.” I did as he said and bucked my hips, arching off the mattress. “Get to work on your clit, Princess. Make yourself get there.”

“Make those pretty toes curl for me.” “Yes,”

“Well?” I laid back on the pillow. “Make yourself useful.”

“Cassandra?” My breath caught at hearing him use my full name. “Yes?” “Get that goddamn ring out of my house.”

“You still miss her?”

“She was my best friend. I think it’d hurt more if I didn’t have the girls. I get to see all her goodness in them.”

“Her fiancé was cheating on her.” Nate swore under his breath. “Becks hates that guy. Always has.” “With the client that got her fired from her job,” I added. Nate laughed at the sky. “Where does Cass want him buried? In the east pasture or the west?”

“First, any kid with an X in their name is a walking red flag. Just spell it the normal way.” In a mutter she added, “Same goes for men named after accidents. Like Tripp.” Refocusing, Cassandra waved the wand in the general direction of the bright pink shirt Bree had layered with a lime-green tank top. “And second, boys don’t notice clothes. You dress up for yourself first and your girls second. Boys notice how you feel in your clothes. It probably seems like he likes girls who wear loud clothes when he really just likes girls who are confident in who they are.” She flicked the wand, dismissing Bree. “Go do better.” “Yes, my queen,” Bree blurted out, then dashed past me to go back up the stairs.

“Wanna explain to me why my children are calling you ‘my queen’?” Cassandra smirked. “I’m not big on the ‘ma’am’ thing. It makes me sound old. So I told them to rebrand. “My queen” was their idea, and I don’t hate it.”

“Keep telling yourself that, Princess.” Cassandra relaxed. “It’s ‘my queen.’” I laughed. “Sweetheart, there’s only one situation where I’ll call you that and, I promise you, this ain’t it.”

“I don’t bring temporary hook-ups into this house. Not while the girls live here. I’ve worked hard to give them stability and security. I don’t jeopardize that⁠—”

“—no matter how much I want to.” A soft, amusing exhale whispered from between her lips. “Then it’s a good thing that I haven’t gotten rid of the ring yet.”

“I wouldn’t let you wear it if I thought you wouldn’t take care of it.” I fastened the necklace and smoothed her hair down. “Square necklines need a little something extra. And it’ll make you hold your head high.” Bree threw her arms around me and squeezed. “Okay, okay—” I shooed her away as my throat prickled. “That’s unnecessary. It’s just jewelry.”

“Sit tight. Do not say anything until we get there.” “What?” “Why did you speak?” I snapped as I yanked open the truck door. “Did I not just tell you to shut the fuck up?” “Cassandra,” Christian hissed. I paid him no mind. “Sit there. Think about something boring. Don’t smile. Don’t frown. Don’t let them smell your fear. Admit nothing and shut your mouth. We’ll be there in⁠—” “Ten minutes,” Christian said as he hopped in and cranked the engine. “Ten minutes. Don’t speak.”

“For the hundredth time, you cannot talk to my children that way,” he clipped as he strangled the steering wheel. “I’m handling the situation, Christian. It’s what I do.” I pulled down the visor and checked my lipstick in the mirror. “You don’t like it? Well, too damn bad. Fire me.” “She’s a child,” he said. “You can’t treat her like she’s… Like she’s one of the upper-crust socialites you have to ‘contain.’” I turned on him. “Your daughter is getting bullied by an adult. Celebrity or not, assholes are assholes.” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do I even want to know what you’re about to do?” I smirked. “I’m about to be the bigger asshole.”

“You’d better use your powers for good in there, Parker.” “Just because I don’t sugarcoat things doesn’t mean I’m a heartless bitch. I’m only a bitch for good causes,” she said, her words on tempo with the tip tap of her shoes. “I’m a vigilante bitch.”

“Just… Give me a minute to see what’s going on before you rip this old woman to shreds.” Her lips curled up in a wicked smirk. “I am feeling a little peckish. A little aged meat might tide me over until dinner.” “Jesus Christ,”

“Don’t wanna bend the brim. Always hold it by the top.” She was unamused. “It’s a hat.” “Yes, it is. There’s etiquette around them. Respect it.” Cassandra looked taken aback. I sighed and scrubbed my hand down my beard. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to yell at you.” She laughed. “If you think that’s yelling, then I hope you never have to see me order from a deli. I’ll scare the shit out of you.”

“But for the record—I wouldn’t be opposed to you bossing me around, cowboy.” I yanked open the door to the school office. “Are you flirting with me?” “Yes. That should be obvious. Now shut up and let me do the talking.”

“The fact of the matter is that she’s out of dress code.” “How?” Cassandra pressed. “Because according to the dress code, blouse necklines are to be no lower than three inches below the lowest point of the clavicle. Now, I’m more familiar with things that are bigger than three inches, but I can see how you may be more in tune to things of that size.” I choked on an impulsive laugh. “Would you like to get a ruler?” Cassandra looked around. “This is a place of learning, after all. I’m sure there’s one around.”

Bree hasn’t violated the rules, which you just admitted yourself. But I think the school board would be very interested to hear about how the administration has been sexualizing the minors under their care. Underage students show up to this school, intending to have a safe place to learn. But instead, they’re judged by adults in positions of power based on how quickly their bodies are developing, and pulled from class because of it.”

“You and I both know that’s not the case. Either you’re a principal on a power trip—” her voice turned lethal “—or you’re an adult in a position of power over a minor, and chose to cause a scene in her classroom, making her a distraction to her peers after you assessed her genitals.”

“And while this little repartee has been fun, I’m getting rather bored of dealing with you. Frankly, you disgust me. I think the best course of action would be for Bree to go back to class and for you not to try me, don’t you?”

“You see, Texas is a one-party consent state, and I consented to recording this conversation. And before you bring up the reasonable expectation of privacy, there’s no reasonable expectation of privacy in a school office with the door open after you humiliated my girl in front of her entire class.”

But the way Bree radiated with energy when Cassandra said “my girl” was worth every penny I had to my name.

“I have no hobbies and, frankly, hate the outdoors. Living on a ranch is my version of hell.” Cassandra grinned like a dragon about to breathe fire. “So trust me when I say that a smear campaign is child’s play for me. I have all the time in the world to do it. I’ll run for the school board and my first order of business will be to have your head served on a silver platter. I’ll personally use your resignation letter as my napkin. You wanna look up my track record? The last political campaign I worked on was a senate race and the man ended up in the president’s cabinet after three months. I dare you to try me.”

“I’m sorry, daddy,” she said as she wrapped her arms around me, clutching her hall pass. “You didn’t do anything wrong,” I said as I let go of Cassandra’s hand and held her tight. “That was hard, and I’m proud of you for sitting through it.” She sniffed. “Thanks for coming.” Before I could say another word, she leaped to Cassandra and hugged her. “Thank you.”

she slid down and adjusted the hem of her dress. I wanted it off. “From the looks of it, no one has ever put that bitch in her place. It was overdue. I was performing a public service.” Her shoes clicked as she scaled each step. The swing of her ass was hypnotizing.

“I swear, if Bree tells me that one fucking comment was made about her after today, I’ll burn the place down.” And then my self-control snapped.

“I don’t do mind games, Princess.” His beard scratched my ear as he whispered against my skin. “If you want me to finish what you started the other day, then take off your dress.”

“You’re wasting time.” “You could help me get undressed,” I sassed. Christian chuckled. “You’re doing just fine on your own. Besides—” he brushed my hair aside and dotted the crook of my neck with the whisper of a kiss “—I like watching you.” I shoved the dress off my hips, letting it fall in a pool of black fabric. “If you’re just watching, I’ll need some fresh batteries.” His knuckle trailed down my cheek. “One day that smart mouth is gonna get you in trouble.”

“Let me be clear. I do not like being dominated. I’m in charge.” His chuckle was dark. “It’s cute that you think that. But let me be clear.” He grabbed a condom from his pocket, tossed it on the bed, and dropped his jeans. “This is the only place I want to dominate you. And I think you’re going to like it.”

“The only time you’ll kneel will be over my face so I can pleasure my queen the way she deserves.”

“I like seeing you in those high heels you love. Your legs are a fucking dream in them. I like the way you always take the time to put on perfume even if you’re working from the house. I don’t want you rough and rugged, Cass.” He slid a thick finger into my pussy and slowly curled it, dragging the tip along my sensitive walls. “I like your softness.”

“Christian—” I groaned as he edged me again, closer to the precipice this time. “That’s right. My fingers in your cunt. My name on your lips. He doesn’t get this body anymore. Not his ring on your finger, not a fucking inkling of him in your mind. I’m going to replace every thought of him. Mark my words, princess.”

“What can I say? I like being bad.” Christian grabbed the condom he had tossed on top of the sheets and handed it to me. “Then enjoy what it feels like to be my good girl.” He shucked off his boxers and straddled my hips. His cock was thick and heavy, bobbing in front of me as he plucked my nipple. “You know what to do. Put that on me.”

“Do you know how many times I fucked my hand thinking about you?” “Ah. So you don’t have the supernatural self-control I thought you did. Good to know you’re human.” His laugh turned into a kiss. “Kings, tyrants, and gods couldn’t resist you, darling. How could I?”

You wanna be tied up and teased? I’ve got rope. You want me to pull your hair and turn your ass red? It would be my pleasure, Princess.” He wrapped his arms around me and pulled my body against his chest. “But if you just want me to put you first and make you feel good, you can trust me to do that because making you feel good turns me on.”

“It wasn’t practical to keep asking my mom to help me with the girls’ hair. I grew mine out so I could practice on myself and learn how to take care of it so I could teach them. I’ve gone to work with braids, curls, rollers—you name it.”

“Cass, I’ve been fantasizing about you since I saw you get out of that car the day you arrived. Not fucking you the day I walked in here and saw you touching yourself had nothing to do with you.” “Because you have kids.” “I do.” He stomped into his boots. “And today you stood up for them and protected them.” He leaned over the bed and kissed me. “Nothing is more attractive to me than that.”

“Bacon, egg, and cheese on a roll.” Cassandra looked genuinely surprised. “It’s not on a biscuit?” “Not on a biscuit.” She set the coffee aside and started ripping into the wax paper. “I could kiss you right now.” “Fine by me.”

“Don’t run away from me, princess. Not without leaving a glass slipper.” I kissed the top of her head as she laughed softly. “And if you need a healthy coping mechanism other than avoiding me, you know where to find me.”

“I have firearms, hatchets, and throwing knives. Pick your poison.” She looked up with curiosity in her eyes. “Do you have Tripp-shaped targets?” I chuckled. “We’ll have to get a better printer in the office.”

“All I wanted was some good dick.” “Pretty sure I delivered on that, princess. But if you need me to help jog your memory, it’d be my pleasure.”

Ray, the brother between CJ and me, was a champion bull rider who was living it up on the rodeo circuit.

“What do you want?” I murmured against her lips. Heavy eyes lifted to mine as she ran her hands through my hair. “Princes are overrated. I always liked the beast better.”

“Look at you.” I scraped my teeth across her nipple. “Goddamn, you take my breath away.”

“We doing this again?” I asked into her tits before taking one into my mouth. “Pretty sure the ‘yes’ was implied when I let you put your hands on me,” she sassed. “It’s never implied. Yes or no.” “Yes—okay? Just fuck me already,” she retorted. “Watch your mouth, princess. I’m just getting started.”