By the Horns Ch. 03

Sorry for the delay. I read and reread this one and hates it, but I realize that it must be so I can go on with what is to come. Chapter four is in the works and should be out very soon. Hope you enjoy and stick around to see what happens next. As always, enjoy the show kids!

Nadine's hands pulled the black lace panties up her legs and set them in place. They fit so well and snug that she couldn't help smiling at the new feelings that washed over her as she looked in the mirror at the sensual woman that looked back at her. Her eyes gleamed as the mirror told the tale of it all. She was in her element now. A look into the mirror showed her eyes as the past washed over her thoughts. That time spent with Mike was time she would never forget.

"So you're a porn star?" Nadine asked quietly.

"Star, producer, distributor and director," Mike replied back.

Mike leaned against his desk and crossed his arms. The black button up shirt he wore had the top two buttons undone so that his chest muscles showed through. His blue jeans were not tight, but loose fitting so that they rested on his hips and lent to his body's image. Mike's face was firmly fixed on Nadine so she could see his expression without anything being hidden.

"I hope that doesn't bother you," he said quietly.

"I don't think it does, but can I ask...?" she asked confused, but stopped herself not wanting to be rude.

"What do you want to now?" he asked back.

"Why are you...you know..." she asked.

Mike smiled and chuckled a bit understanding her questioning.

"Why did I get into the industry?" he said.

Nadine nodded her head. She looked at him trying to read his face, and it was easy to do.

"I had no real options when I got out of the SEALs," he replied.

Nadine's confusion was immediate. She looked at his office and saw all the awards and the weapons in the office that looked like something she would see a special forces operator carry. Her face showed genuine confusion. Mike saw her expression and decided to lay out a bit of his life for her to help her understand why.

He raised his leg and bent it back and forth so she would look at it while he flexed it.

"They called me squeaky for a while," Mike said jokingly.

Nadine laughed at the crude joke unexpectedly. Her laughter was a cross between actual humor and pure shock that he just said that. Seeing he had her attention in a more positive light he went on.

"You have to remember, I may have all that training and proficiencies in all things tactical and special forces like, but that really means nothing in the big bad civilian world. I also had a little issue that a lot of people couldn't ignore," Mike said as he set his leg down.

Nadine gave him a saddened look as she remembered his knee.

"You see, I tried to join the police force after I got out, but I was declared medically unfit. I tried the NSA, CIA, FBI, and just about every agency that has letters as their name. All my applications came back to me the same way. Believe me, I've looked for all I could, but little came my way," Mike said somberly.

"But why?" she asked.

"Who could say? I tried to pan out my SEAL training for employment, but it got me nowhere. I wanted to make something of myself when I got out, but I lacked what the big employers want. So for me it was either I get a job or watch my kids starve. When you have two kids, a small VA check, and no college, it limits what you can do," Mike said as he sat fully on the desk.

"Is that why your second wife left?" Nadine asked.

"No, she left because she was a strung out junkie," Mike said to remind her.

Nadine looked down at his feet, but Mike would have none of that. He tilted her chin with his fingertip so she would look at him and went on.

"It was after I was out of the Navy that she started using. At first it was just a little pot, so I let it go. But soon, and I mean in record time soon, it got more and more into other things and I couldn't let that go. She stole my pain medication and even tried to steal my prescriptions before I got them," Mike said and Nadine's eyes began to waver.

"All her time at work was spent hanging out with her new buddy that also became her dealer and pimp. I tried to help her, but she didn't want my help. She blamed me for all that happened to her because she had to step up and do something for herself. When she had to work to help support her family and herself was when she decided she needed a crutch," Mike said and looked at the wall.

The conversation was getting to him, but he really had nothing to hide. Mike took a deep breath and left it out. The quick respite made him feel better so he went on.

"She ran away one night with that fucker and I never thought I would see her again. When she was gone three months I filed for abandonment and won the whole thing. She lost all rights to the kids and I had to pay her nothing," Mike said and his face showed nothing as he went on, "It was six months after she ditched us that a friend of mine showed me a newspaper clip of her obituary in Las Vegas from a pain medicine overdose," Mike said and his eyes never wavered.

Nadine touched his hand softly and he smiled at her.

"For a time I thought of going back to Montana with the kids, but there was less work there so I had to stick it out in LA somehow," Mike said softly. He shuffled on the desk as he got to the heart of the matter.

"I took a job at a strip bar as a bar tender and a bouncer," he recalled. "It was as good as I could get really at the time so I stuck with it. While I worked there I got some small consultant work here and there, but it was a simple five grand and done work that didn't last long. Most were simple "Hey Mike, can you look at this new toy? We think it'll be the next super weapon" or "Mike you gotta see this man! This gun is the shit and we need your opinion." I would look at whatever it was, play with it a bit, give my opinion, get paid, and be done. Sometimes not in that order, but more or less that way," Mike said and laughed a bit at the thought.

Nadine turned in the chair to look at his face. She saw his eyes were full of humor as he thought of something.

"What's so funny?" she asked not getting the joke.

"Hmm? Oh I was just thinking of how it all began," Mike said and a huge grin spread across his face.

"OK," Nadine said back interested at it.

"When I was working at the bar I wasn't really making all that much," Mike began. As he did he stood up and walked to the side and turned back around to face her, "I met a dancer who was a good earner with the club and we started dating sorta," he said.

"You dated a stripper?" she asked suggestively and her eyebrow raised.

"Well, dated isn't the word for it. We hooked up and actually made a thing for a while. We weren't a sex couple, just a living arrangement kinda thing. She moved in with me and it was a huge relief. I had the kids and was trying to scrape by. But when she was helping out around the house life got a lot easier. She and the kids got along great so it was a good arrangement for a while," Mike said getting off his desk.

He walked over to his fridge in the side by the tables and opened it. He pulled out two bottles of water and walked back to Nadine handing her one as he got to her. Nadine took the bottle and he sat down next to her.

"See, what I didn't know was she was moonlighting to make extra money. She did small scale work for a minor director in LA. When I found out I was surprised by it. I knew she made good money as a dancer, but I had no idea she was into porn. We talked about it and she offered me a job with her filming company. At first you could say I was reluctant. I couldn't see myself in that light. It was about a month later when I needed to make some more money for Tony and his upcoming school year, I said "What the hell" and took the plunge," Mike said chuckling at the crude joke he put in on purpose.

Nadine caught the joke and slapped her forehead. Her laugh was from the belly as Mike smiled down at her.

"Well, I did my interviews, took my pictures, had an audition, and viola I started up in the industry as an extra. It took me a good while for anything to really take shape for me. I had to work my way up to where I got to and it was no easy ride let me tell you," he said.

"How come?" she asked.

"Well for a guy it's easy to get into it as you only have to do what comes naturally to us. In the industry that isn't so much the case. You show up, have to get hard with a full cast of people around you staring at you. Then you have to keep it up and have sex with a woman you don't really know in front of all those same people. To make it more fun you have to start and stop as the director says, change positions and keep it up, keep going with a camera guy up your ass getting close up shots, and let me tell you that light SUCKS!" Mike said the last word emphatically.

"The light?" she asked.

"Before they found a new form of lighting in digital cameras and the likes you had to deal with the older model cameras that had enormous lights on the top of the camera. When you are busy doing your thing the camera guy would get in for a close up and the light would be shining brightly on your soft spots. It gets very uncomfortable after a while," Mike said chuckling.

Nadine was wide eyed and open mouthed as he told her that. She had an image in her mind of that happening and she shuddered.

"That's half the reason most guys in porn have no pubic hair anymore," Mike said laughing loudly.

Nadine laughed as well as the crude joke sank in. She had tears coming from her eyes as his voice was something she couldn't place. It was a cross between a stand up comic and a man telling his life story. She wiped a tear as he went on.

"Though I did get even with a couple of asshole camera guys in my time. I farted in one guys face when he wouldn't get that goddamn camera off my nuts. He bitched and moaned for that, but you know what he backed off," Mike laughed.

"Oh my god!" Nadine exclaimed and started laughing again picturing Mike doing that to someone.

"Something funny?" Mike asked his face showing confusion at Nadine's laughter.

Nadine laughed again at that and Mike stopped talking. He waited for her to get over her laughter a few minutes later and went on.

"But of all of everything I had to do in the industry the biggest thing was just making something happen. It doesn't happen overnight," Mike said.

"See it's not like you can just walk into porn and say "Look I have a big dick and I can do this, now make me millions!" The real stars are the ones who can make it over a good deal of time on the set," Mike finished.

"So how long have you been in it?" she asked.

"Bout eleven years now. It was a slow start for me. I worked at the club for a while and did a few shots here and there, then I got a lucky break and made a film that was a big seller with a few good stars. It was when I got really into the scene that I was able to break off and start a small scale project of my own and things began to flow into place for me. It took four years of hard work and lots of blue pills before things made sense for my label," Mike said and smiled thinking of it.

"So you did all of this for your kids?" she asked him.

"Yup, if it wasn't that I needed the money for them, I likely would have gotten a second job or something. But I was lucky that I got a good break," Mike said.

Nadine looked down and thought about it all. She could understand his motivations for it, but the fact that the nice guy she had helped move in was a porn star. She had another thought go into her head and before she could stop herself she asked another question.

"So Melina is also a star?" she asked.

"Yes, she is on my label now and that's useful to the both of us," Mike said with a happy smile.

"So how do you two make it work? I mean I don't think I could tolerate it," Nadine said speaking her mind.

"It's never easy, but we have a common footing that keeps us together," Mike said.

"Common footing, oh the kids right?" Nadine said seeing the only link.

"You would be right. We decided to stay together for the kids. Marcos and Luis are great kids and deserve a good chance. So we made a deal to keep work at work and here at the house it is us raising our kids in a good home," Mike explained.

"So that's what you meant by complicated," Nadine said and her eyes were big.

"Yup, but that's just the tip of it all really, Tony and Carey, my oldest, are also my priorities so I have a full life of mad confusion," Mike said chuckling.

"I can imagine," Nadine laughed. She got control of herself and went on, "So how did you two come of being?" she asked.

"Melina was working for a producer that I knew back when I was starting off. Everyone in the industry hated him because he was a scumbag. I couldn't stand him because he jipped me for money from a few scenes back when. He used his women like dogs or worse and mass produced cheap and really bad quality stuff. I met her on the set of a smaller film I was directing and we clicked. She dropped a hint that she wanted to get out of his production so I negotiated her contract with the guy and with a "savvy" bit of negotiating I was able to get her deal and bring her to my label," Mike said and when he said savvy he used his fingers to enunciate it.

"Savvy?" she asked.

"I threatened to sue him, or kick his ass, I didn't leave a preference to which. He was a weasel dick so it was an easy thing to make happen," Mike said chuckling.

Mike drained his bottle of water and stood up. He went to his fridge and got another. He shook it for Nadine, but she still had half a bottle. He stood up and opened the new bottle and Nadine tilted her head.

"So how did you guys...you know?" she asked.

"Well, she got pregnant on the set. We did a check of a few things and found out it was five guys and myself that were likely candidates of paternity. All of the guys bitched out on the test when she was able to find out who was the father. So I said fuck it and took the test. Comes to find out it was mine so it made sense to me. She moved in with me and we started a plan for her," Mike explained.

"Started a plan?" A plan for what?" Nadine asked.

"Meli doesn't want to do porn her whole life. So we started her up in school and getting her a portfolio so when the kids are more of age if she wants to find a new path in life she can. But for now, she loves it with me and the kids. Besides she told Tony if he doesn't have a date for his senior prom she would go with him," Mike said laughing and Nadine joined him.

"But I don't think that'll be necessary because he's a stud." Mike said beaming with fatherly pride.

"He seems like a good boy," Nadine said thinking of how he was at the party and the few times she saw him around the neighborhood.

"He is. Shit he's gonna be better than his old man I think," Mike said with a grin. Nadine smiled at the grin and he went on, "The only thing that worries me is he wants to join the navy and be a SEAL like me. I'm touched by that, but I won't let him do that," Mike said softly.

"Why not?" Nadine asked confused.

"If he wants to be a SEAL and is serious, then I will help him with everything he needs to do it right. I'll train and train him for it. But I wont let him enlist it the Navy, he's going to college first. Then, when he is an officer, he can join up and go for the SEALs," Mike said thinking of his own failures.

"So he can have a better chance later on," Nadine understood.

"Exactly. The SEALs are a great thing, but it's not for everyone. I've seen pro athletes go in and not make it. But I've also seen guys that were five nothing and a buck nothing make it through because they had what it takes. Believe it or not, it's not all physical, it's a state of mind," Mike said and Nadine nodded her head.

"So from the SEALs to porn huh?" she said and actually laughed despite herself.

"Yup, from a commando to a smut peddler," Mike joked back.

"So you said you were an investor though," Nadine said.

"I am, in fact that is where a lot of my money comes from. My mom taught me how to invest from an early age. When I was growing up my mom and dad scrimped to make ends meet, and when you have five growing boys to feed, they had to look to other means. My mom found the other means and taught me how to spend money to make a good return," Mike said and pointed to his file cabinet.

"So what else do you invest in?" she asked.

"Whatever turns a profit really. Though I have a few investments that won't surprise you. I invest in local clubs and real estate, plus I have some stock options in a few major weapons firms that I did a lot of work with back in the SEALs. Me and a buddy of mine co own a custom cars company that fixes up old cars and restores them. I also have a part ownership of a king crab fishing boat in Alaska. That actually makes me a decent return," Mike said and Nadine tilted her head in confusion.

"A fishing boat?" she asked incredulously.

"Yup. It's a good boat with a good crew that fishes all year round so it always makes good money," Mike said back.

Nadine's eyes were wide and blinking at him rapidly. She shook her head and laughed at that. Mike got up and walked to his cabinet and opened it. He fished around the came out with a thick folder and opened it. He produced a few documents that showed he was indeed a forty percent holder of a one hundred thirty foot fishing boat. Nadine was in shock at that, but for some reason she couldn't shake the thought of Mike fishing. She began to laugh and her head hit the desk as her arms came to her head. Mike looked down at her and watched her laugh for a while. While she laughed he put the folder away and sat back down next to her.

Mike had a sudden grin on his face as Nadine got the laughter out of her system. He had no idea why she was laughing at his choice of ownership, but he had a little plan to get the laugh under control.

"So when did you find out about my profession?" he asked.

Nadine's face went from happy to bashful in under a second as she remembered the reason they were there. A slight blush came up her neck to her cheeks as she looked down. Mike noted the expression change and went further into it.

"Well?" he asked playfully.

"Umm, a little while ago," Nadine answered honestly.

"So let me guess, you were surfing the net and suddenly there I was with a woman?" he asked again being very playful.

"Well no, not exactly. My friend showed me the clip," she said and tried to hide the blush that was coming up again.

"I see, so what scene was it if I may ask?" he asked and leaned closer to her and was not surprised by the heat he felt radiating from her body.

Nadine's eyes got wide as she looked up to see his grinning face very close to hers. Her mouth opened a bit, but she turned away from him and Mike chuckled softly, but devilishly, at that. Nadine's shaking fingers went to the keyboard and she tapped up the site that Stephanie had shown her. The image of the scene came to life and Mike looked over her shoulder at the screen and he smiled brightly. He remembered that scene so very well.

"Ah yes...that one. That was a fun one I recall. She was more into it than I thought she would be," Mike said simply.

Nadine turned to face him and her eyes were wide that he was so blunt with his explanation. Smiling Mike leaned towards her and put his cheek on hers and his hands came around her to the keyboard. Nadine sucked in a breath as she felt his body so close to hers. His fingers typed out a web site and hit the enter key. Nadine tried her best not to shake as she felt the stubble on his cheek brush against her smooth skin. She held her breath as he slowly pulled away from her and a small part of her wished he hadn't. Nadine closed her eyes briefly and opened them up as she heard the screen come to life with some music. When the screen stopped loading a very well made web site came up with a logo that she had never seen before. It showed a group of horses running across a field with flames coming from their hooves and manes. The top of the screen said Stable Productions.