Master of the Game (Rush Series Book 3) (7 page)

The sound
of her lapsing into her native tongue had him growing even harder, if that
could actually be possible. He couldn’t ever remember a time when he so badly
wanted to be buried deep inside a woman. Keeping her wrists captured, and
remembering her words from the shower, he raised himself up with his free arm,
bent his knee for leverage, and began to move in and out of her with long,
measured strokes.

She
struggled to free her hands from his grip, longing to touch his face, his
chest, his hips… just anything. But he held firm and grinned down at her,
taking all control from her. She stared up at him, dark eyes meeting simmering
light ones. She began to whimper and thrust herself onto him as the feel of his
body entering her twisted her insides. With a shout, she bucked up and broke
free from the chains desire had tied her up with.

He
loved watching her reach her climax. She was so beautiful and responsive to
him. Her body fit his body like a glove, and
it’s
smooth velvetiness, didn’t allow for him to linger as long as he’d like. When
she finally opened her eyes, he leaned down and pressed his lips softly against
hers. Burying his face in the curve of her neck, he released her wrists and
instead grasped the underside of her knees effectively spreading her wider. Her
hands freed, she dug her nails into his hips. With more earnestness, he plunged
into her harder and faster before catching his release.

His
growl rumbled against her neck, tickling her supersensitive skin. When he
collapsed against her, panting, she ran her hands up and down his sleek back.
“Oh, Cowboy,” she whispered, “I wish you’d have brought a whole box.”

He
snorted against her neck as he struggled to catch his breath. “You really are a
Little Devil,” he replied.

~*M*~

The noise
of the air conditioner kicking on startled Alex awake. He blinked his
sleep-deprived eyes several times until they adjusted to the dim room.
Depending on whether you were a pessimist or an optimist, it was either
considered very late or very early. Memories from the night had him rolling up
onto his side and stretching out his arm. He sat up, the sheet pooling around
his waist, the bed empty. He looked about the room and finally spotted her
standing, wrapped in the bedspread, with her head and shoulder leaned against
the cool glass of the window. She stood as still as a statue staring out
through a crack in the curtain into the darkness beyond.

He
slipped silently from the bed, allowing the sheet to slip away from his naked
body. He stalked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and drew her
back against his body. So lost in her thoughts, she jumped at his touch.

“Hey,”
he murmured as he pressed his lips against her bare shoulders.

She
stiffened at his touch before leaning back against his warmth. “Sorry, did I
wake you?” she asked apologetically in a soft tone.

He ran
his lips up the long curve of her neck, inhaling the mixed scent of him, her
skin, and sex. He liked having his scent on her. She angled her head to give
him better access.

Ignoring
her question, he asked against her ear before he nipped it playfully, “Why are
you out of bed?”

She
sighed deeply. “Couldn’t sleep, I guess.”

As he
continued to trail kisses over her cool skin, he asked, “What’s keeping you
awake?” He felt her shoulders sag and he tightened his arms around her.

She was
silent for several long minutes. Finally, in a hushed tone, she asked, “Have
you ever been in a place - a cross-roads kind of place?
A
place where you weren’t sure which way to go?”

His
lips stilled as his mind went instantly to that last morning when Addie had
stood at their front door with suitcase in hand. “Yes,” he replied simply.

He felt
her throat move up and down against his cheek as she swallowed. “How’d you know
which direction to take?” she asked.

He
inhaled deeply thinking of a casket topped with individual roses - the end
result of his decision. He rested his chin on top of her shoulder. “I think you
choose the direction that feels less wrong.”

“But
wrong for whom? What if one decision hurts only yourself, but the other hurts
someone you love?” she asked as her shoulders rose and fell as she breathed in
and out rapidly.

Again,
his mind drifted back to that morning with Addie. “Who would get hurt least?”
he asked quietly.

“I
don’t know,” she whispered.

Raising
his chin, he placed his lips against the curve where her shoulder met her neck.
Between soft kisses, he said softly, “I guess you have to ask yourself what you
can live with.”

She
shuddered and murmured, “Life or death… I don’t know if I’m equipped to make
that decision.”

Her
words brought his head up with a snap. “What’s going on, Little Devil?” he
asked.

She
tensed in his arms, wishing she’d kept her comments to herself. Tired of having
the situation loop through her mind like a bad ‘B’ movie, she allowed the
bedspread to fall from her arms and turned around, which caused the spread to
fall to the floor between them. Clearing her throat, she pressed her lips
against his chest before slipping her arms through his to wrap them around his
waist.
“Nothing.
Take me back to bed, Cowboy,” she
pleaded as she flicked her tongue against his nipple.

Alex
hesitated, his need to protect deeply engrained. “Let me help you,” he told
her.

She
stilled momentarily and inhaled sharply as if his words hurt her in some way.
“You… can’t. I have to figure this out on my own.” With more deliberation, she
ran her hands down over his bare buttocks and pulled him closer to her. She
rubbed her body suggestively against his before kissing her way across his
chest, down the ridge in the middle of his stomach, to finally end up on her
knees.

He
swore softly when she sucked his rigid shaft into her soft, wet mouth.
Talk about a discussion stopper
, he
thought. He placed his hands on either side of her head as she ran her tongue
up his length. Slowly, she stroked him with her tongue and lips, while skimming
him gently with her teeth. The sensation of her mouth, her suction, and the
vibration of her moans, had him rock hard almost instantly.

When
his need became almost too great, he pulled away from her mouth abruptly. “I
don’t want to come like this,” he said huskily as he lifted her up, forcing her
to wrap her legs around his waist. “I want to be buried deep inside you. God, I
hope you’re ready.”

With
that, he grabbed her hips and slammed himself inside her warm, wet opening.
They both groaned. He thrust inside several times, hard thrusts which caused
her to throw her head back. “
Ahhh
,” she whimpered.

He continued
his thrusts as he captured her mouth and began to walk toward the bed. With his
breathing ragged, he pulled out of her silky body and set her on the bed. When
she looked up imploringly, he smiled and bent to kiss her deeply before
snagging the condom from the dresser and applying it in record speed.

With
gentle, but insistent hands, he turned her on the bed and pulled her down until
her knees were on the floor and her torso was lying across the bed. He fell to
his knees and even though all he wanted to do was to bury
himself
back into her body, he instead began pressing kisses from the base of her spine
up over her back. He rubbed his hands over her satiny skin, trailing one hand
down to sink a finger deep inside her. She moaned and arched her body into his
hand. He pulled back and inserted two and she moaned further. He continued to
stroke her until he’d gotten himself back under control.

She
whimpered when he withdrew his fingers. He placed himself at her entrance and
slammed into her. She cried out as his hard length glided smoothly, but firmly
into her. “Yes, yes, yes!”

“God,
it’s so deep like this,” he murmured as he slid out, then back in. He stroked
her softly, but would randomly slam back into her. She arched her back and
cried out again. “Yes, like that!”

He
smiled and wrapped his hands around her hips to steady her body as he began to
really pound into her. Sweat began to run down his face and drip onto her bare
bottom. “You are so tight, I don’t know how long I can last,” he panted.

He nearly
lost it when he felt her body clench around him. “I’m almost there. Don’t stop,
please don’t stop,” she pleaded.

He
clenched his teeth and closed his eyes at her words, struggling to hold on. He
groaned when she suddenly became like a wild animal beneath him. She began to
thrust her hips back into him striving to reach the end of her desperate
journey. He struggled to hold her steady as he pounded into her harder and
harder.

When he
heard her yell out over and over again,
es
demasiad
– it’s too much, it’s too much
, he stiffened to the point of pain. At the
first spasm of her orgasm, he exploded into her, ramming as hard as he could to
get deeper. His toes burned as his own climax seemed to go on and on. Gasping
to fill his oxygen-deprived lungs, he collapsed on top of her, burying his face
into the back of her neck. He swirled his hips to prolong the sensation of
being buried inside her. He laughed against her neck when she muttered, “no
más
, no
más
-
no more, no more
.”

Chapter 4

Devon
lay staring at the sleeping, handsome man gracing the bed. She longed to reach
out a hand and straightened his sleep-tousled hair. She wanted to press kisses
up and over his chiseled stomach, over this well-defined chest, to finally
reach his lips. She felt safe with him – protected - for reasons she couldn’t
identify. But nonetheless, fear filled her as she lay pressed up next to him.
She was placing him in danger because of something she’d done. She didn’t want
that. She didn’t want him knowing what she’d done either. She didn’t want to
see the eyes which had burned so bright with passion to dim into
recriminations. He deserved better. He was a good man… funny, sweet,
compassionate, and of course, sexy.

Before
she could talk herself out of it, she slipped away from him and reclaimed the
clothes she’d worn the night before and dressed in the near-dark. As she’d not
unpacked - had not even opened her suitcase - parting would be easy. Before
leaving, she turned back, kneeled on the bed, and pressed her lips against his one
last time before stealing away into the pre-dawn hours of the morning.
Strangely – even though she didn’t even know his name - her chest felt heavy at
leaving him… maybe leaving wouldn’t be as easy as she’d first thought. What a
mess she’d made of her life. Would she ever have the opportunity to love anyone
ever again?

Moving
swiftly down to the front lobby, she rented a room. She hoped once she got some
sleep, things would not look so dismal. She didn’t know how long Cowboy
intended to stay in the hotel, so she’d just stay in her room until Roman
arrived.

Tiredly,
she slipped the keycard into its slot and opened the door to her new room. She
stepped in, thinking how different walking through this door felt to how she’d
felt walking through a similar door earlier. Instead of nervousness tinged with
excitement, she felt… broken. She allowed the suitcase to fall from her
unresisting fingers. She glanced around the room which mirrored the room she’d
just left. The only exception was there wasn’t a beautiful man draped over the
bed. The burning in her chest returned and a sob bubbled up from down deep.

Now
that she was alone, the fear of the future had her falling to her knees. She
buried her face in her hands and cried. Cried for her losses, cried for those she
loved, and cried at what had transpired at her own hands. No matter what
happened from here on out, the life she’d known before was well and truly over
– no matter the reassurances she’d gotten from others.

~*M*~

Alex
woke the next morning to sunlight streaming through the gap in the hotel
curtains. He stretched and turned his head to find the other side of the bed
empty. He rose up on his elbows and glanced around the room. He listened for
sounds in the small space, but heard none. With his eyebrows drawn together, he
slid out of the bed naked and stuck his head into the bathroom alcove. The door
leading to the bathroom stood open with its lights off. He walked back into the
room and stood with his hands on his hips. Where had she disappeared to? A thought
crossed his mind and he returned to the alcove and found her suitcase wasn’t
where he’d sat it the night before. She was gone? He glanced about the room
searching for a note, but didn’t find anything.

A
heaviness he wouldn’t have, and shouldn’t have expected, lodged itself within
his chest. Maybe she’d just gone downstairs to get coffee or breakfast? But why
would she take her suitcase? He ran a hand over his more than usual scruffy
face.
Too bad
.
He’d enjoyed the Little Devil.
Dammit!
He’d never even gotten her name. Maybe the front desk would have it… not that
they’d give him that information. He sat down heavily on the bed. Again, he
thought,
too bad
. He would have liked
to enjoy the pleasures of her body for just a little bit longer.