Without Limits: Austin (Rugged Riders Book 4) (9 page)

“See you tonight,” she said. “Let’s think about this. Given the circumstances…your position here and your allegiance to R.R. of which my Dad is a well-known member, do you really want to cross this line?”

“Most definitely.” Trent smiled, and tightened up the tie around his neck. “See you tonight and I bet you my answer will still be the same.”

H
ip hop music
blared from every speaker in the house. Guests filled the dance floor which was placed strategically in what looked like it was used as the main living room. Bodies grooved and gyrated to the beat. Couples, singles, and groups…everyone who was anyone was there. Typical private house party, and she actually preferred this scene to the nightclubs in the city.

Zaira took another sip of her Cosmo and moved her hips in tune with the music, alongside her friend, Pam.

“Your man is fenced in over there,” Pam said, tilting her chin in the direction behind them.

“My man? You mean Trent?” Zaira turned, but the floor was so packed with people that she lost sight of most everything.

“Yeah, he’s a ladies man, isn’t he?

Zaira shook her head. “First of all, he’s not my man. We came here together, though.”

“As a date?” Pam giggled. “Come on, girl. We saw the way he looked at you at Drew’s house party the other night. You went home with him that night too. I know y’all did something.”

“Whatever. We did nothing.” Zaira shrugged. “Men look at women in that way. It’s in their nature.”

“You are such a liar! So, is it true?” Pam leaned in closer and whispered, “Does he fuck like a porn star?”

Zaira’s temperature escalated and she took another sip of her cocktail and exhaled. “You know what? I’m done talking about this. Let’s go see what Trinity is up to.”

Pam craned her neck again in the same direction as before and narrowed her eyes. “You might want to go get your man. He’s a fucking chick magnet and the hoes have already begun to swarm like flies.”

“I’m not worried about that.”

“You sure?”

“I’m sure, but hold my drink. I’ll catch up with you later.” Zaira handed Pam the cocktail, turned around and headed in Trent’s direction.

The women dancing in front of him, blatantly flaunting themselves didn’t see her coming, but Trent did. His back was flat against the wall and it seemed he was making no move to accept the dancing women’s invitation. He lifted the Heineken and took a long sip, catching Zaira’s gaze from over the bottle.

“Excuse me.”
Zaira passed through the three women and said, “I’ll take over from here.”

They all looked confused and then pissed as they rolled their eyes and walked off.

Zaira smiled and slid her hand into his. “It looks like you’re done talking with your R.R. brother.”

“Yeah, I am. Sorry about that. It was about business affairs,” Trent said, pulling her against his chest.

“No apologies,” she said. “If you haven’t noticed, I’m not the clingy type.”

“I noticed.”

“Well we came to party, so are you just gonna stay posted up on the wall all night?” she teased.

“I’ll take your lead,” he replied.

The music pulsed through her body and she swayed her hips to the music. His eyes cast appreciative glances at her body.

“Come on. Dance with me,” she urged.

Trent grinned and pulled her in closer. “I’ve never been all that good of a dancer. You dance. I’ll watch.”

Zaira felt like Trent’s own private dancer as she moved her body against his in rhythm with the beat. He’d probably not let her forget this night. He seemed to have a knack for remembering their most intimate and deepest encounters. At this moment, she couldn’t help herself. Everything here tempted her to bring out this side of her. The words of the song. The company of all the people at the party. The warmth of the man in front of her.

His eyes burned through her like liquid passion. Her veins filled with hot desire. Her aggression was fueled by the hard-on he sported. His hard dick felt good against her ass as she ground up against it.

Trent grabbed her hip with his free hand, pulling her in a little closer. His lips brushed against her neck and he whispered, “Crossing the line a little, aren’t we?”

She turned around to face him. “Are we in a challenge now to see who will cross the line first?”

His gray eyes sparked and it reminded her of the light cast by the chandeliers hanging from the ceiling in the ballroom.

“I’d cross the line in a heartbeat, Zaira. All you have to do is say that one little word,” he said, moving her hair away from her neck and kissing her there. “Maybe we might make it to a bed and maybe we won’t.”

She gasped as Trent’s hand snaked up her thigh and under her skirt. “I—”

“Trent, my man. Is that you?”

They parted and turned to see a blond-headed male stranger walking up toward them.

“Aaron, hey,” Trent greeted him. “Long time no see, man.”

“Dude.” Aaron said, as they gave each other daps. “Weren’t you planning on moving back to Virginia with your Pops? Are you even still living in the city?”

“I’ve got ties to Atlanta too believe it or not, so yeah, I’m still here.” Trent cleared his throat and pressed his palm lightly to her back. “This is Zaira.”

“Nice to meet you.” Aaron grinned and his gaze shifted quickly over her and then back to Trent. “New girlfriend?”

“We—”

“—We’re friends,” Zaira said. “Nice to meet you.”

“Well, then…” Aaron replied. “There’s a poker game going on in the basement. The prize pool is pretty big right now. I was headed back that way before I saw you. You down?”

“Ah…” Trent shifted from foot to foot next to her and ran his hands through his hair. “I haven’t played for money like that in forever.”

“Come on, just like old times,” Aaron urged. “Zaira, you play any?”

Zaira was caught off guard when Trent’s friend turned the question on her. “Um, well a little. I’m not an expert. Not like you and Trent anyway.”

Aaron chuckled. “Have you ever seen this guy in action on the card table?”

“I…um…” Zaira met Trent’s gaze. “Trent has taught me a few tricks of the game. Of course, we were just playing. Never anything serious.”

“Honey, you oughta see him. You don’t know the real Trent Stone unless you’ve seen him doing what he does best,” Aaron replied.

Trent chuckled nervously. “Don’t try to flatter me. If you haven’t noticed, I was a bit busy.”

Aaron nodded. “Yeah, I bet you were.”

“You know what…” Zaira replied. “Don’t let me keep you from the card game.”

“Zaira?” Trent replied indifferently.

“No, let’s go.” She took his hand in hers. “I want to watch.”

Trent smiled and they maneuvered the crowds to get down to the basement level.

Zaira had to admit that she missed them hanging out together like this. Trent was always especially happy when he was doing what he loved the most. She knew that to be a fact.

Z
aira observed
Trent as he played the seven person poker game. She lost track of time but suspected that at least an hour had passed. It was the last betting round and the pot had tripled in size during such a short time frame. Sometimes her own poker face waned and she was literally on edge as they played out the last hand. It was funny how Trent brought out the emotions in her. Every single one of them. She was left with no choice but to keep her distance. The side conversations with the friends of the other players weren’t helping her state either.

The game ended with Trent laying down five cards on the table. Four of a kind and one queen. She had no idea how he did it, but he was a beast at this game.

Zaira sighed in relief. Even though it was all a game, she still cheered for Trent. Of course, she wanted to be the first to congratulate him on his win, but all the losing players and bystanders got there first. When he turned to look in her direction and acknowledged her, she smiled. He grinned back and moved his attention to the card dealer who was speaking to him.

Noticing her empty cocktail glass, Zaira moved to the mini bar in the room to secure one more. She grabbed Trent another beer while she was at it and walked back over to the pool table.

What she did not expect was to find a woman standing near Trent, laughing and flirting with him. Zaira knew green jealously was only human nature, but she also knew that the feeling never evolved into anything worth fretting over and she worked to dispel the emotion. Taking a few deep breaths, she closed the distance.

They stopped talking when she made her presence known.

Trent slipped his arm around her waist. “Zaira. This is my agent, Eve. Remember I told you she was working on my timeshares.”

Eve blinked several times, her cheesy grin fading by the second. There was no doubt that the woman was beautiful with her flawless pecan colored skin, slim physique, and jet black weave flowing down her back. The death stare that Eve gave Zaira revealed the woman’s agenda in a matter of seconds.

“Yeah…you sure did.” Zaira handed him the beer and nodded her head. “Nice to meet you, Eve.”

“Oh, hi,” Eve greeted and smiled. “How odd. Trent’s told me
nothing
about you yet.”

Zaira chuckled. “I don’t find it odd at all. You don’t need to know
anything
at all about me.”

A small gasp emanated from Eve’s lips and she looked disturbed. “Oh, please…” She shifted her gaze away from Zaira. “Trent, don’t forget about our dinner tomorrow tonight. We can continue this talk in a more sophisticated type setting.”

Trent still wore a poker face and he said nothing as he nodded his acceptance to Eve.

Eve gave Zaira another glance before she turned and disappeared into the crowds.

“Zaira…”

She held up her palm. “You don’t even have to explain, but answer me this…”

“All right,” he replied, nervously.

She turned to face him. “What type of magnet do you have in your dick?”

“It’s not what it seems. We’re—”

“—Number one. Your agent is attracted to you and she looks like she wants to jump you for sex if you haven’t already fucked her. Number two. You’re going on a
sophisticated
date with her and you have the nerve to say it’s not what it seems.”

Zaira feigned nonchalance, but deep down inside she knew the truth would hurt if she ever allowed her real feelings about Trent to surface.

Trent took her cocktail and put it and the beer on the card table and placed both hands on either side of her arm. “There is no date. I hired Eve to help me with my timeshares.”

“Okay. I’m over-reacting.” She shrugged. “It’s not like we’re a couple anyway. You can go date and fuck whoever you want, but you won’t be dating and fucking me at the same time. So if that was your plan, you can scratch what we talked about the other day at the office.”

Trent sighed and swore under his breath.

“Crossing the line is a bad idea,” she added.

“Yo, Trent.” The guy that was dealing the cards walked up from behind. “The money is counted and ready. We can’t cash out standing around out in the open.”

“Wire the money. I’m kind of busy right now,” he replied.

“Naw, man. I don’t want this traced. You either take it now or leave it,” the guy said. “I can certainly use me a new ride if you leave it.”

“
Fuck that
. I want my cash.” Trent turned back to Zaira and held his palm out. “Come with me?”

“Let’s call it a night.” Her heart seeped with regret as she fought herself from speaking the next words. “My friend, Pam, is here and I’m sure she’ll give me a ride home.” She reached up and stroked his cheek as a gesture of peace. “Go get your money. You deserve it.”

Zaira picked up her cocktail and turned without another word.

* * *

Z
aira was
fresh out of the shower when her cell phone began to ring. She ran over to the nightstand and picked it up without checking caller ID.

“Hello?”

“Zaira.” It was Trent.

Her heart skipped a couple beats and she clutched the towel just before her fingers went completely lax. “Hi,” she breathed.

“I needed to know if you made it home safely.”

“I did. Thank you.” She sat on the bed, put the phone on speaker output, and grabbed a bottle of lotion. “I was just getting ready for bed.”

“We had quite a night. You must be really tired.”

She shrugged and smoothed the lotion over her arms. “Well, you’re the one who left with the win.”

“I would have rather left with you.”

Even over the phone, his voice sent warm sensations up her spine. Or maybe it was the cool air hitting her skin from the vent above her bed.

“Some days you can have cake and ice cream, other days you can only have cake. And sometimes you end up with nothing at all.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“You didn’t leave with me, so I hope you at least got something out of the deal and hooked up with Eve. It looks like she’s ready to blow your mind and your dick.”

Zaira couldn’t believe her nerves right now, but seeing another woman dote on Trent must have really gotten to her. Maybe the distance between them had her spewing these begrudging words.

“I don’t want Eve,” he said.

“That’s too bad.” She applied some of the lotion to her legs and feet. “You told me once that you liked to celebrate your wins with no strings sex. So didn’t you?”

He exhaled loudly into the phone. “You know, sometimes I wonder if I’m at a disadvantage in trying to convince you that you’re the only woman for me when you know so much about me. The good and the bad…and the ugly.”

“Probably. We’re like brother and sister. We just had a bad fallout at one point, that’s all. Let’s not repeat it.”

“Is that how you really feel?”

She squeezed more lotion into her palm and applied it to her torso as she spoke. “This is probably our sign. Remember what we agreed on? After tonight, we’d decide if crossing the line was a good idea. I think we have enough evidence to say that this was not a good idea.”

“It sounds like you’re running around. What are you doing?” Trent asked.

“Seriously? I’m putting some lotion on my body.”

He cleared his throat. “I can help you with that.”

“I bet you could,” she said. “I’m almost done. I just have my thighs and ass left.”

“Fuck,” he mumbled.

Zaira chuckled. “See? You should stop asking me intimate stuff. If we’re going to agree to be friends, it would be wise to at least pretend that we’re not attracted to each other.”

“I remember when you got your first tattoo a year ago. That same weekend, some R.R. brothers had a pool party and you and your friends came by. I could tell it was new and your first one. Maybe a few days old. You were proud of it and you wore that two piece bikini to show it off, didn’t you?”

Zaira’s breath caught in her throat and she caught a glance of herself in the mirror by her bed. She looked just as flustered as she felt. Enough time had passed since she’d exited the shower, but a rush of heat suddenly filled her pussy.

Trent continued when she didn’t speak. “It’s a black and red butterfly on your lower back. That day I tried to pretend that I was only admiring your new tattoo, but I was really admiring your ass.”

Her sex clenched and a jolt of pleasure surged up her spine. She knew what he was trying to do. Nope. It wasn’t going to work. She would not be taken by temptation. When her contract at Svelte was up, she’d stay far away from his smooth talk and magnet dick.

“I’m sure you were, unless you had a change of heart about your favorite body part on a woman,” she said.

“I bet your ass is just as plump and round as it was that day in those flimsy bikini bottoms,” he continued. “I wanted to take you somewhere, untie the strings, and fuck you like it was my last day on Earth.”

Fever rushed over her body. She inhaled and exhaled silently so that Trent couldn’t detect her reaction.

Zaira got up with the phone and pulled out a pair of black lace panties from her dresser and slipped into them. She turned her back to the mirror and looked to peek at the tattoo that he spoke of. It had been her first and only tattoo, but Trent was right. She was proud of it and the ass she worked so hard at the gym to maintain.

“You know what, Trent?” she asked. “You wouldn’t know what to do with this ass if it was right there in your face.”

Zaira promptly disconnected the call and activated her “do not disturb” settings.