Vixen in Vegas (Sinful Novellas) (23 page)

Sunday morning we headed to Vegas. While we drove, I played the Rosetta Stone Italian CDs. We laughed as practiced aloud. After watching
Under the Tuscan Sun
four million times, I had memorized a few key phrases. Currently, I considered turning
ciao
into part of my regular vocabulary.

“Damn, you sound sexy,” he said while changing one of the CDs.

“You know,” I began, “if you want me to sound sexy all the time, we should go to Italy. What do you think of that idea? We could use our Italian…” I waited for him to agree.

It seemed like he was already considering it. So, I decided to push a little harder. “We could ride a real gondola. We could see all kinds of art in Florence; explore so much history in Rome. As much as you like ice cream, we could try some gelato.” He wasn’t saying anything. “What do you think?”

“It could be fun,” he agreed. “When would you like to go?” He turned to look at me in my seat.

“Well, we could go after we’ve been in Vegas a few days. That would give us time to arrange flights, go grab your passport, that kind of thing.” I was growing more and more hopeful as we spoke.

“That could be fun,” he admitted.

That’s when I decided I might as well go for the gold. “Then after a few days playing in Italy, filling up on pasta, seeing if we can topple the leaning Tower of Pisa, and spending some time bumping into strangers while staring at the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, we can go to Switzerland.” I smiled at him. “I hear they have great chocolate! I’m too clumsy to ski, but there are lots of other things to do.” I wanted to babble on, to try and distract him from the true purpose of the trip.

Judging by the look on his face, he knew. His eyes grew dark, a stormy blue. “No, Sin. We’re not going to Switzerland. I’m not going to that clinic. I’m not.” He growled. “Are you teaming up with Brenda now? Are you trying to trick me? And you claim to love me!”

Given his reaction, I was glad that he hadn’t jumped from the moving vehicle. “Teaming up against you?” I asked angrily. “I’m teaming up with you!” I shouted. “Suddenly I’m some bitch because I want you to fight? I want you to live?” I slammed my hand against my dash then and stopped speaking.

It was silent for many miles. Neither of us knew what to say. How could I make him understand? How could he want to leave me sad and alone?

Instead of checking into the hotel first, we drove to the first address that the realtor gave me. I parked the SUV, waved at the realtor and turned to Ben. “Are you coming in?” I asked seriously.

“Why would I come in?” He asked. “I won’t be living here.”

“No,” I responded sadly, “you won’t…because you’ve decided not to live at all. So, I have to figure out where to go, where I will put my life back together, where I’m going to go to heal because you are breaking my heart.”

Opening the door, I stepped out of the vehicle and slammed the door behind me. He still sat there, staring out of the window. I wanted him to change his mind…about everything. I wanted him to take one look at this house and tell me that I wouldn’t need it because he was going to live. I wanted him to say he was going to go get the treatment, and that he would try anything, everything just to have a future with me. Instead, he stared blankly out the window.

When I had spoken with the realtor, I had specifically asked for a ranch style home. I hate stairs. Okay, I like stairs; I just hate cleaning stairs. Blech. This house was…practically perfect and I found it hard to believe that she had had nailed it first time out of the gate.

As I walked up to the door from the circular driveway, I found double doors, wooden and detailed that lead into the house. Once inside, it was like being transported to an entirely new world. The floor had a stone medallion of a mariner’s compass. There were two wings off the entry. One went to the bedrooms, the other to the entertaining space. Straight ahead was a huge patio door that opened up to the courtyard, which apparently had a pool and hot tub.

Real estate is the only area of my life that I believe in love at first sight. This house…had the right bones. I could feel it. I wasn’t afraid of a project. And this could be just the place for me to recover. Grabbed at my chest, I realized how much I was dreading the future. My heart was hurting so much already. Stupid, stubborn ass of a man.

While I stood there staring out into the courtyard, he walked in behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. “I’m sorry,” he murmured in my ear. “Let’s not waste time being angry at one another. I know you mean well. I know Brenda means well. I love you, Sin.”

“I love you, too,” I said happily, completely unbothered by the previous discussion, fully focused on the house. “Now come look at this place. I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy it.”

Taking his hand, I walked him through the space. “Did you see the pool area?” I asked while I bubbled with excitement. He nodded, quietly.

There was a formal living room to the left and a great room with a fireplace to the right. “I don’t need both. The room to the left looks out front. I’d love to make that my office. I can get French doors to close it off. Look at the space,” I was dancing around and twirling some in excitement. I had hoped he’d be happy for me, but the look on his face suggested otherwise.

We continued the tour. The kitchen needed an overhaul. I hate tile counters, but the space was ideal and maybe this remodel I’d get one of those big farmhouse sinks…white porcelain. I had been babbling and talking about my plans for changing the place and turning it into my own.

Then we went outside, where I discovered that there was plenty of room for a grill, or even an outdoor kitchen. “Holy crap! I’m dying to live here!” I was squealing like a girl.

“What do those patio doors open to?” I asked, pointing out the ones across the way.

“Those go to the master suite,” the realtor responded. She was smiling like she already knew I was going to put an offer in on it.

We went through the doors to the room and I fell further in love. There was the perfect spot for the bed so that I could lay in it and look out at the pool area. The walk-in closet was massive. The bathroom needed updating, but the layout was
perfect!

Finally after I realized that the laundry room was conveniently located at the end of the hall, that the garage was a side garage and that there was more storage than I would know what to do with…I talked numbers. “I’m serious,” I told the realtor, but I’m not a newbie. I own five houses in other states and I’m not afraid to walk away if I can’t have what I want.”

Glancing over at Ben, I realized he had turned white while I spoke. I imagined that the desert heat was too much for him, or maybe his blood sugar was low. Either way, I needed to speed the process up. “Give me your card and I’ll call you later with an offer,” I told the realtor. I definitely knew how to take charge of a situation. Hopefully, it was one of the many reasons that Ben liked me.

We walked back to the SUV and before I even drove away, I was asking him about how he felt. “Are you sick? Do you feel ill in any way?” I was hovering and probably annoying the hell out of him, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t lose him.

“You’re going to buy that house, aren’t you?” He asked weakly. “I could see how much you loved it from the moment you started talking about it.”

I nodded. “Yeah. I’m sure I will.”

By now I had decided to head towards the hotel. I knew that he could rest and I could relax poolside or take some pictures. Hell, I’d lay with him if he wanted. I just wanted to get out of the sun and relax some.

We rode in silence. It worried me a bit, but I rather expected it, too. We were both coming to terms with our future. At the same time, I had one more card to play that even I didn’t see coming.

I had thought long and hard. What would it take to make him change his mind? What would convince him to try? Then it came to me. I knew what I had to do.

We laid low the rest of the day. I was deep in thought, plotting and planning. Ben seemed lost in his own mind, too. We stopped and picked up sushi for lunch, since I swear I can never get enough of that stuff. Once we checked in, we stayed in our suite for the day. It was perfect. We ordered food to be brought up, which is when I decided I could get really used to room service. During his nap I made some phone calls and ran a really important errand, too.

That night, we sat and snuggled. We talked about nothing of importance. There were many unspoken words between us so I decided to keep it light. “We have to be up bright and early,” I announced.

“What do you have in mind?” He asked.

“Well, I thought maybe you would indulge me a really amazing photo opp?” I asked gently.

The relief on his face was evident. It was as though he would do anything to avoid that elephant in the room. “Babe, of course! Where are we going?” He sounded really excited with that prospect.

“Ummmm…Death Valley,” I said. His face fell some. It was obvious that he expected this to turn into some life lesson or some embattled discussion about his decision to forgo further treatments. “There are so many extremes there. I was really hoping to go there last time. We had such an incredible time at the Grand Canyon. I thought that this could be something really different.” I felt like I was struggling to explain it to him, but he was reasonably eager to comply.

“Absolutely. Let’s do it.” He smiled at me. We stood for a bit staring out the windows of our Grand Lakeview Suite. I loved looking at the fountains from there. The suite was bigger than my old house. It even had a second master bedroom.

I could feel it still…that elephant in the room, everything we needed to talk about that we both kept trying to avoid. It seemed like we should clear the air before we went to bed. So, I made the first attempt to confront my feelings, to maybe even get him to share his.

“Ben, we should talk,” I began quietly. My experience in this kind of conversation was limited to what I had seen in movies. Too late, I realized that this could be code for: we’re breaking up. Before I could rectify that, he spoke.

“We could talk,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. “Although, I have to admit, I’m more of an ‘actions speak louder than words’ guy. Come with me.” He took me by the hand and walked me into the bedroom.

It took him but a minute of hunting around in his bag to pull out some of our toys. Standing there, I was torn. Part of me wanted to talk, the other part of me, that old Sin, the Sin that I was so comfortable with…she wanted to fuck. It’s so easy to fall into old habits.

Without saying another word, I walked over to him and started removing his clothes. To say I made short work of undressing him would have been such an understatement. Almost instantly, he was naked and I was kissing him passionately, nipping at his lips, sucking and nibbling his ear lobe. Then I moved further south.

Pushing him on the bed, I did something I’ve never done. I gave him a strip tease. I had seen them performed in person and in movies. How hard could they be? So, I took over for a moment. I paraded around while singing
Black Velvet.

By the time I was singing about being brought to your knees, I was on mine in between his. His dick made the perfect microphone for my grand finale. And since I was already holding it, I might just as well…taste it. So, I licked him from base to tip until I was satisfied that it was lubed enough for me to take him into my mouth.

Ben groaned the minute I started sucking on his erection. He didn’t let me finish him that way. “Every man loves a blow job,” he said, “but I also love being in you, feeling you tighten around me, watching your face, being able to kiss you.” He sighed. “If I could only find a way to make that happen doggy style.” He winked at me then, but I had an idea.

“Come here,” I said and I pulled him off the bed. Leading him into the bathroom, I was quick to position myself in front of the bathroom counter, bent over just enough so that he had easy access to my vag, but could see my boobs and face. “I want you in me,” I murmured.

Soon enough, he pushed his way into me, then picked up the pace. I could see his face, too, watch him and all the emotions that he gave away. This man…he didn’t just want me, he loved me. Seeing that made it so much more intense. I could feel the need building in me. I could watch it building in him.

“Let it go, Sin. Just ride it out,” he said.

Something about the way he said it, the way he had taken charge, it pushed me over the edge. A second later I was contracting around him while emitting tiny whimpers of pleasure. Grabbing my hips, he slammed deeper into me, then one hand knotted in my hair, pulling me back so he had access to my neck. “You, Sin. Only me and you forever.” His orgasm over, he pulled out of me, and turned me around. He kissed me a few more times with a serious look on his face. “Bed,” he said. It was an order. Just for him, I liked it that way.