Loving the Odds (What Happens in Vegas) (8 page)

That’s when he noticed that her other hand under the water, between her legs and moving ever so slightly. A groan erupted from his lips and he was instantly hard as a rock. As if sensing a change in the air, Bailey looked up sharply and caught his eye—the book falling onto the bathroom floor as she splashed in an effort to hide what she’d been doing.

He pulled the door shut out of instinct, the loud bang echoing through the quiet hotel room. A second later, water gurgled, followed by a string of hushed curse words.

“Shit, Bailey, I’m sorry,” he said through the door. “I called out when I got here so I thought you’d left.”

Silence.

He paced the room, trying to decide what to do. He should have turned away the second he’d seen her like any decent human being would have, but the sight of her naked body blurred by the water had rooted him to the spot. The knowledge that she lay there touching herself…his cock ached thinking about it.

The door flung open a moment later and Bailey strode into the room, her body encased in a towel and her hair piled on top of her head. She had the book and her headphones in one hand and her cheeks had progressed to flaming fire-engine red.

“How much did you see?” she asked, her voice wire-tight.

“All of it.” Every glorious bit.

“It was only for…research purposes.” She placed the headphones and book on the desk. “I went to one of the sessions and I was following their instructions.”

She showed him the piece of paper.
Ten steps to finding your inner sexy
.

“Bloody hell, you
don’t
need instructions for that.” He shook his head, wishing he’d had the forethought to put on a pair of pants after he’d shut the door.

Her eyes lingered on his chest and stroked down over his stomach until she settled on the bulge in his boxer briefs. But she didn’t say anything.

“Why do you seem to think that men aren’t interested in you?”

“I guess if you hear something often enough you start to believe it.” She shrugged as though it meant nothing to her, but hiding behind the impassive expression was a flicker of emotion. A sheer veil of vulnerability and hurt.

“Whoever told you that was an idiot.”

“Julian said he wanted to be with me because I challenged him mentally. But he was always pushing me to wear more makeup and dress sexier and be a human pretzel in bed.” She sighed. “I always felt there should be more to sex than trying to replicate the Kama Sutra.”

His resistance was close to breaking point. “That’s
not
what it’s about.”

Goosebumps rippled across her arms and she rubbed at them. “It wasn’t just him. I’ve dated other men before but they always got bored. I’ve never thought of myself as a sexual person.”

Dear God, what kind of Neanderthals had she been dating?

“How did you feel in the bath?” he asked.

The immediate tilt of her lips was answer enough. “It felt good to relax and…explore. I haven’t done that much but I liked it.”

His balls were tight and achy between his legs and he resisted the urge to adjust himself. One touch might set him off. Bailey had him in a spot he hadn’t been for a long time—desperate and ready to beg.

“I don’t want to be boring anymore—in bed or anywhere else.”

“For fuck’s sake, Bailey. You are
not
boring.”

She smiled tentatively and reached for the knot at the top of her towel. “Really?”

“Don’t.” He held up a hand. “You know we won’t go back to San Francisco and be boyfriend and girlfriend. That’s not how I am.”

“I understand.” She pulled at the knot and her towel split open like a curtain parting to reveal the pearly gates of heaven.

Afternoon light spread over her fair skin and caressed all the places he badly wanted to explore. He’d felt those glorious breasts in his hands last night, but seeing them now—not too big, not too small but the goddamn Goldilocks of breasts—made his mouth water. Her nipples were stiff and pink like candies. A neat dusting of light brown hair covered her sex in a triangle shape but he could tell she was bare below.

“I normally keep the lights off.” Her voice was hopeful and filled with the promise of pleasure. “But I want to see you. All of you.”

“Bailey…”

She held the towel out and let it drop to the floor with a dull thud. “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas. Right?”

“Christ,” he whispered.

“Show me how to feel good, Lance. Please.”

The pleading prickled along his skin, tugging him forward as if his limbs were controlled by puppet strings. He need to touch, taste, feel. Consume. Moreover, he wanted to make Bailey feel beautiful the way she deserved.

“I know this isn’t anything,” she said as he stood in front of her, his hands tracing the line from her shoulders down her arms. “I don’t expect anything from you beyond tonight.”

“You can expect one thing.” He fanned his hands over her hips and pulled her close to him. “I’m going to prove you don’t need to follow a fucking list to be sexy.”

Chapter Eight

Bailey’s knees shook as Lance stood in front of her, naked except for his black boxer briefs. He looked exactly like the kind of guy who normally intimidated her—rippled with muscle yet not too bulky, broad with a light dusting of blond hair over his chest. Then there was the definition at his waist, the magical V shape that she thought was only achieved by body builders and Photoshop.

She had the overwhelming urge to trace the diagonal lines with her tongue.

Her stomach clenched in anticipation. The roar of blood in her ears was almost enough to drown out the appreciative hum in the back of Lance’s throat as he reached up to cup her breast with one hand, his thumb strumming the sensitive tip. Fire shot like arrows through her, the pressure building between her legs so quickly it stole her breath.

“I’m going to show you how sexy you are, Bailey.” He grabbed her hand and pressed it to his erection. The hard length of him pulsed beneath her touch. “How you drive me crazy.”

“Oh,” she gasped.

He slid his briefs down his legs and kicked them to the side, then put her hand back on him immediately. Her fingers curled around his girth as though by instinct. He was hot to the touch. Silky and bold and throbbing.

“You make me want to explode.” His hand was at her lower back, holding her close so he could growl the words into her ear. “When I saw you touching yourself in the bath, that was the most exciting goddamn thing I’ve ever seen.”

Her sex clenched tight like a fist. “Really?”

“Hell, yeah. I was so jealous of your hand. I wanted to be under that water touching you.” His fingertip traced circles at her hip, skating down to her inner thigh but missing the area where she wanted him most. “I wanted to put my head underwater and kiss you there.”

“Where?” she breathed.

His hand pushed firmly between her legs, sliding up until it brushed the lips of her sex. “Here.”

Her hips jerked involuntarily, trying to get the friction she so desperately desired. But he was tricky, suddenly kissing her. Distracting her while he removed his hand.

“Touch me,” she begged against his lips. “Please.”

“How do you want me to touch you?” His gray-green eyes glittered, like the thought of hearing her voice her fantasies was thrilling to him.

She realized her hand was still on his erection, so she squeezed him. Her lips curved into a smile when he hissed. “Touch me with your hands and you mouth and…”

“And?” He peppered kisses along her jaw.

“Your cock.” Saying the word aloud made her flush, but modesty would not get in the way of her having what she wanted right now.

“Well, when you ask me like that…” He spun her around and pushed her back until they hit the bed. “Sit.”

His hand came to her stomach, guiding her down so that she lay across the mattress with her legs dangling over the edge. Exposed to him. Laid out like dessert. His palms smoothed up and down her thighs, tracing slow maddening circles until he reached her sex. Expecting him to tease her again, she was caught by surprised when he used his thumbs to part her.

Cool air rushed over her body chased by his warm breath. The sensation made her hips buck and he used his shoulder to nudge her legs apart, wedging himself between them. After drawing out her anticipation for an endless moment, he placed a chaste kiss over her clit. The slide of his tongue up the length of her sex had her hands fisting the duvet.

“I bet this wasn’t on your list,” Lance said, a throaty chuckle vibrating against her thigh as he kissed and licked every part of her.

“It should be.” She reached for his head, yanking him back between her legs when he strayed too far. The muscles of her sex clenched as if grabbing for something, and as amazing as his tongue felt, she wouldn’t be satisfied until he was deep, deep inside her.

“Oh, you don’t want me to go slow? Greedy, greedy girl.”

She wanted to have the last word, but it died on her lips as he unleashed his tongue on her at full force. Pure, white-hot pleasure speared through her as he flicked over her clit, pausing only to draw it between his lips and suck on her as if she was a piece of candy.

Tight pressure built inside her, bundling up and blanking out all but the sensation of his mouth. And then she was tumbling over the edge, crying out his name as she tightened her fist in his hair, grinding against his face like her life depended on it.

The bed shifted and Bailey opened her eyes. Lance pulled her against him so that her back lined his chest and his lips suckled on her earlobe. “Do you feel sexy yet?”

She wriggled her bottom against the hard length of his erection. “I’m not sure. You might have to keep going so I can be absolutely certain.”

“Is that right?”

“Well, I have to collect all the data before I can make a proper decision.” She rolled in his arms and he caught her mouth with his. “This is serious business. I can’t rely on guesswork.”

“I’m glad you’re here to keep me on the straight and narrow.” His fingers dug into her hip and he slipped his erection between her thighs. She clamped down on him, relishing in the heat and hardness.

“I’m going to need a condom before we go any further,” he murmured.

She touched her fingertips to his jaw. “Hurry.”

As he went to find protection, she wriggled farther up onto the bed, yanking the sheets back from their tightly made position before slipping underneath. The clean cotton was cool on her heated skin and anticipation skittered through her.

Sex had never made her feel quite like this before. In fact, she often struggled to orgasm because she felt so much pressure to act a certain way. To be sexier. To be more exciting. To perform. Trying too hard had killed her buzz on plenty of occasions. But Lance had stripped all that away, his touch so reassuring and warm that she’d melted like ice cream on a hot day.

The foil packet glinted as he tore it open and fished the condom out, before rolling it down his impressive length. “Feeling you come on my tongue has me hard as a rock.”

Each word pushed her blood to boiling point. He might look every bit the perfect, polished businessman but right now he had a mouth that was dirty and sinfully hot.

Right then, if he’d asked for her first-born she’d have signed it over without a second thought.

“Do you want to feel how hard I am, Bailey?”

She reached out and grasped him, running her hands over the length and tentatively tracing his balls. They were firm and heavy, and for some reason that made her belly quiver. Climbing onto the bed, he stalked forward on his hands and knees.

“I want to feel you around me now,” he said, dragging her beneath him. “I want to see if you’re as tight as I dreamed last night.”

With a final shifting of position, he was between her legs. The latex-covered head of his cock pressed at her entrance but he teased her by pushing hard enough to breach her and then pulling back out. Gripping the base of his cock, he rubbed himself against her.

“I’m going to die if you don’t finish what you started,” she said, her words rough to her own ears.

“Literally or figuratively?” He grinned and before she had a chance to answer, he entered her with one smooth, fluid stroke.

“Oh, God,” she moaned, rolling her hips up to meet him as he seated himself deep inside her. “All of the above.”

He moved lazily at first, slow and languid, like he wanted to savor every second of them being joined. But the moment she yanked his head down to hers and pushed her tongue between his lips, he lost his cool. Hips bumping hard against hers, he stroked her deep and fast.

Another orgasm welled inside her, this one like a rolling thundercloud as it gathered steam.

“Lance, I’m so close,” she whispered. “I’m almost…”

He slipped a hand between them and stroked her clit with his thumb until she shattered, her muscles clamping down on him. Squeezing him until he followed her over the edge, his body wracked with shudders as he moaned her name into the side of her neck.

…

The sharp ping of a text message pulled Lance out of the thick post-coital fog. Bailey was curled into him, her nose pressed to the crook of his neck and her arms tucked tightly between their bodies. His phone lay on the nightstand, a message displayed on the screen.

“Shit!” He grabbed the phone and checked the time. “We’ve got to get moving.”

“Hmm?” she grumbled and snuggled further into him. “No, we don’t.”

“Yes, we do.” He kissed her closed eyelids and the small, pouting rosebud of her mouth. “We have a client to catch and a watch to retrieve.”

Her eyes opened and she smiled. “Oh, voice of reason. Lucky one of us has our eye on the prize.”

“Oh, I do.” He cupped her face. “Don’t you worry about that.”

Her mouth opened up to his, her tongue pushing between his lips with more confidence than she’d displayed before. This new side of Bailey was tantalizing.

Reluctantly, he disentangled himself from her and took one last longing glance before heading into the bathroom. He disposed of the condom and wrenched the taps on the shower, stepping in before the water had a chance to warm up.

It seemed impossible, but he was totally satisfied and yet utterly desperate for her at the same time. He’d always enjoyed sex—he was a hot-blooded man after all—but being with Bailey was different. It made
him
different. Aside from the filth that had come tumbling out of his mouth, she made him hungrier. Unable to be fully satiated, but in the best way possible.

“It’s the honeymoon glow of new sex,” he said to himself as he turned his face to the spray. “Nothing to get all excited about.”

Yet his body was tightly wound in a way that wasn’t normal.

He scrubbed at himself with soap, determined to focus on the night ahead. The thick lather spread across his body and he watched as the suds raced down the drain with the water. When he tried to formulate a plan for getting to Braxton, his mind drew a blank. If he’d been a cartoon, little moths would have flown out of his ears.

He turned the taps off with a squeak and toweled himself dry.

“Get your shit together, Fulton,” he said, glaring at his murky reflection in the bathroom mirror. “This is work.”

Wrapping a towel around his waist, he walked out of the bathroom and halted suddenly. “
Christ
.”

Bailey stood in front of him wearing a dress that looked like something straight out of an old black and white movie. Her hair was pulled into a loose ponytail over one shoulder, leaving the other shoulder totally bare. Her hands pressed against her ribcage as if she was unsure where to place them.

“I didn’t have time to put much makeup on,” she said, touching her cheeks.

“You don’t need it. Orgasms are a good color on you.” He brought his hands to her waist and dragged her against him. His tux pants would be a tight fit if he wasn’t careful. But he couldn’t force himself to put distance between them.

“It looks pretty good on you, too.” She gave him a playful swat across the ass. “Come on, you were the one who said we had to get moving.”

“You’re right. But first….” He retrieved the mask and slipped the tag off. “I bought you a little something.”

A breath caught in her throat as she touched the mask. “It’s beautiful.”

“It’s sexy and mysterious. Like you.” She waved his compliment away but he caught her wrist in his hand. “I’m going to get you to accept a compliment before you leave Vegas. That’s my goal.”

“You’ve got more important things to worry about than me.”

He made a grumbling noise in the back of his throat but decided to let it go. Baby steps. “Will you be able to see without your glasses?”

“I always have a pair of contacts with me, just in case.”

“Such a girl scout.”

He slipped the mask over her face and she adjusted it so the curved design hugged her. The black filigree looked even better than he’d imagined. Her eyes were like two shining sapphires set into a royal crown. Her skin looked even paler and more perfect; the sweet sloping curve of her jaw and slender column of her neck begging for his lips. The black ribbon was almost lost against her dark hair as he tied it firmly against the back of her skull.

“All right, Princess.” Pressing against her, he dropped his head to press a kiss to her shoulder. “Ready to get that watch back?”

“Lead the way, my half-naked prince.”