She unzipped her dress and let the bodice fall away from her body. He was teased with glimpses of her flesh as she danced and shimmied closer to him. Gravity pulled the material lower with a slowness designed to keep him hanging on the precipice of anticipation.
Finally, as she reached the edge of the bed, the dress fell to her waist. She winked at him and shook her hips with the grace of a belly dancer. “I took belly dancing last winter with my girlfriends. What do you think?”
The dress fell to the floor and she stood in front of him, wearing only her pretty bra and matching panties, a pair of thigh-high hose, the jewelry he’d given her and a pair of heels. She had legs that would do a showgirl proud.
“I’m not sure I can be objective,” he said.
“Sure you can. Weren’t you interviewing dancers for the new show today?”
“Yes,” he said, reaching for the buttons on his shirt and slowly opening them. “Do you want me to consider you for the show?”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not…”
“Not what? Sexy enough? Bold enough?”
He knew she had some doubts about her sexuality but he’d have thought spending all that time in his bed would have erased most of them.
“You’re right,” she said, thrusting back her shoulders and tossing her hair. “I am sexy and bold enough to be a showgirl. At least for you.”
He shrugged out of his shirt and tossed it aside. He sat on the edge of the bed and drew her closer to him. Her skin was hot and flushed from her exertions. He’d never had a woman affect him so deeply. He couldn’t wait any longer to make love to her.
He tugged her forward until she rested between his spread legs.
“What are you doing?” she said. “I’m in charge.”
“Not anymore.” He grabbed her by the waist and tugged her down on top of him. Falling backward, he cushioned their fall to the bed.
He caressed his way up her spine, unfastened her bra and then pulled the fabric away from the globes of her breasts with his teeth. He took her nipple into his mouth and suckled. She rocked against him, her hands sweeping up and down his chest.
She pinched at his nipples and his hips jerked upward. He was on the edge. He desperately wanted to be inside her. But it was important that Kylie be with him tonight.
He slipped his hand inside her panties and tested her, finding her ready for him. He pushed her panties down her and she kicked them away.
“Move up on the pillows, Deacon.”
He scooted back, unfastening his pants. Kylie helped him get rid of them and his boxers, as well. He reached for the condoms in the nightstand and sheathed himself.
Kylie moved up and he put his hands on her hips to help her position herself over him. Then she braced her hands on his shoulders and looked right in his eyes as she slowly lowered herself onto him.
She shuddered as he filled her. Her eyes drifted closed and her head fell back. Then she paused. Just held him there deep inside her while the walls of her vagina contracted around him. He tried to keep still but couldn’t. She felt too tight, too good around him. He had to move.
Tightening his fingers on her hips, he lifted her off him and then thrust upward while he brought her back down. He did that two more times before he felt the telltale tingling at the back of his spine that signaled his pounding orgasm. Shifting up off the pillows, he took her nipple in his mouth again and suckled her hard until he heard the catch in the back of her throat that he’d learned signaled her approach to climax. He waited until she started to clench convulsively around him and then thrust one more time deeply inside her. He cradled her in his arms as they both returned to earth.
Their hearts beat in sync; and for the first time he had a feeling that he might actually get to a place in life where he was comfortable with himself and his world. And he knew that it was only with Kylie by his side that he could achieve that.
Eleven
L
ess than a week later, Kylie returned to Las Vegas on Deacon’s private jet. He was in a meeting when she arrived at the hotel and she was at loose ends, no longer on vacation. She prowled restlessly through the casino, where she ran into Angelo Mandetti.
“What are you still doing here, Angelo?”
“I don’t know. I thought my assignment was finished but I guess that just proves I’m still a
babbeo
sometimes.”
“Have you seen Deacon?”
“Not this morning. I’m going up to the security room for a meeting with the head of that department. Want to come with me? I’ll show you how to use the surveillance cameras to locate your husband.”
Their wedding had taken place two days after Deacon’s proposal. It had been small and intimate, and she’d found out quickly that her new husband delighted in indulging her. He’d arranged for her parents to fly back early from their trip and called both her sisters who’d flown in from the coast for the ceremony. The actual ceremony had taken place under a tent in the desert where they’d had their first date.
“You can do that?”
“Sure. That’s how Deacon spotted you the first time. Didn’t he tell you?”
“No. Will you?”
“
Madon’.
I guess so. He zoomed on you and decided you were the woman for him.”
Kylie wouldn’t have guessed that Deacon was the love-at-first-sight kind of guy, but it fit with what he’d said about fate the first night they met.
“Thanks, Angelo. I’d love to see the security room. Maybe I can find Deacon and surprise him.”
Mandetti lead the way to the employees-only area and up a carpeted stairwell. Deacon kept promising her a tour of the casino, but so far he hadn’t had the time and they’d gotten no farther than the roulette table. His job was very demanding. In fact, that was why she’d gone to Glendale by herself to pack up her house.
Deacon promised her a month-long vacation in Fiji once she returned. She was looking forward to time away with her new husband. She glanced down at the showy engagement ring and simple wedding band. A sense of love and satisfaction filled her. Even her father, who rarely showed any emotion, had told her how happy he was for her to have found a man like Deacon.
“Here we are,” Angelo said, leading her into a dimly lit room filled with security monitors. A wall of glass separated them from the security guards who were on duty.
“What’s this room for?”
“For Deacon’s private use so he doesn’t have to interrupt the security team.”
“Good idea.”
“That man of yours has made several innovative procedures here. That’s why I’m still here. Documenting them so that we can propose several of them be added in other hotels.”
Kylie didn’t know what to say. She was proud of Deacon. She knew he’d worked hard to achieve everything he had and he must be very glad to know that others were recognizing his efforts. She knew that he had Vegas in his blood. It was only fair that he give back to the city that he claimed as his own.
Kylie walked to the bank of monitors and saw the shops, the pool, the casinos and the lobby. Angelo fiddled with some buttons on a keypad and the high-stakes rooms came up. Deacon was alone in one of the rooms with a man she didn’t recognize.
“Who’s that?”
“Hayden Mackenzie, owner of the Chimera hotel and casino.”
“Is he a friend of Deacon’s?”
Angelo nodded.
“Can we hear what they are saying?”
“Yes. Here’s the volume key.”
Kylie turned it up until Deacon’s deep voice filled the room. She leaned closer to watch his face change as he talked. There was something inherently masculine in everything he did. But today he seemed more macho—which she knew sounded silly. Probably it was the way he was holding his shoulders. He seemed broader or taller.
“I never thought you’d go through with the wedding,” Hayden said. “Was winning that important to you?”
“I told you from the beginning that she’d be my wife and she is. The rest is immaterial.”
“I’m not so sure about that. But you won the bet.”
“That’s not your concern. I’ll have the financial analyst from the children’s shelter contact you.”
“You do that.”
Kylie turned away from the monitors. Angelo was still in the room with her and watching her carefully. “I’m sorry,
cara mia
.”
“Why are you sorry? Oh, God, did you know about this bet, too?”
“Yes.”
“What was the bet, Angelo? Tell me the details.”
“It’s not as bad as you think.”
“I’ll make up my own mind,” Kylie said, wrapping her arms around her waist, then dropping them as she realized the gesture broadcast her vulnerability. “Why me?”
“I don’t know all the details, only that he saw you on the monitor and said he was going to marry you. Mac offered him a wager. To meet and marry you within two weeks.”
“I made it so easy for him,” she said more to herself than to Mandetti.
“You’re both happy now.”
“Yes, we are. But how long will that last? Until Deacon has spent his winnings?”
“Kylie—”
“Thanks for the tour, Angelo.”
She opened the door and walked down the long hallway. Her thoughts swirled around in her head. Maybe this was all a misunderstanding. Maybe there was a positive spin on this she was missing. But it didn’t feel that way.
It seemed as if her dreams of happily-ever-after had once again been crushed. She’d given her heart once again to a man who didn’t really want it.
She couldn’t face him again. But she had nowhere to go. She’d rented out her house in Glendale to a co-worker, and she didn’t want to let anyone know that once again Kylie Smith had been a fool for love.
Deacon was feeling pretty good. His children’s shelter was getting a new wing. The Golden Dream was going to be used as an example of innovation by the gaming commission. And most important, Kylie was coming home today.
He hadn’t expected to miss her as much as he had. He left the high-stakes room and walked through the casino. He checked his watch and called Martha to find out if the jet had landed.
“She’s been in the hotel for the last ninety minutes, sir.”
“Why didn’t you notify me?” he asked.
“You didn’t ask me to,” Martha said. She hung up before he could respond. He knew his secretary well enough to know that he’d just ticked her off.
He went to the private bank of elevators and waited impatiently for the car to arrive. He stuck his keycard in and leaned against the wall as the car carried him to Kylie.
He had a very intimate reunion planned for them. And when he had her naked in bed and totally sated, he wanted to talk to her about their honeymoon in Fiji. Mostly he just wanted to hold her and listen to the cadence of her breathing. To breathe in the scent of her and then fall asleep wrapped around her.
He opened the door to his suite and ran into Kylie coming out, with a suitcase in each hand. Her eyes were puffy and red. He pulled her into his arms, the suitcases slamming against his legs. What had happened? He rubbed his hands down her back trying to soothe her.
He’d never really been any woman’s hero before, but being Kylie’s felt right. He wanted to shelter her from harm and fight her battles. But Kylie wasn’t looking at him as if he was her hero.
“Where are you going?” he asked carefully, maneuvering them back into his apartment.
“Home,” she said. She moved a few paces away.
“This is your home now.” Reminding them both of something he’d been so sure of just moments earlier.
“I thought, so too, Deacon, but now I’m not so sure.”
“I can’t argue with you if I don’t have all the cards,” he said. He’d noticed that about women. Sometimes they were angry about something only they knew, and guys were forced to try to sidestep the emotional mine fields and guess what they’d done wrong. It had happened before, but for some reason he’d never expected it to happen with Kylie.
“And you’re such a big believer in making sure everyone knows all the details, right?”
He took her suitcases from her and walked into the living room. He put her luggage down next to him and leaned back against the pool table. Obviously he’d left out a detail at some time. When? “Tell me what’s going on.”
She pushed a strand of hair back behind her ear and watched him with those wide green eyes of hers. “It’s so hard to decide where to start.”
“At the beginning,” he said.
She paced around the pool table to the bank of windows on the far side of the room. He saw her reflection in the glass. The woman looked aloof and alone. Not at all like his Kylie, a woman who exuded a quiet enthusiasm for everything she saw. Today it wasn’t there.
“When I got back to the hotel today, I was wandering around looking for you and ran into Angelo in the casino. He offered to show me the security cameras so I could find you.”
“And did you?” he asked. Damn. He’d been with Mac for the last forty-five minutes.
“Yes, I did. You were talking to Hayden MacKenzie about a wager—me.”
He straightened and walked toward her. “Now, Kylie—”
She held up a hand to ward him off. He was reminded of how she’d used her book as a shield that first time he’d tried to talk to her. Her defense mechanisms were firmly back in place, it seemed.
“
Don’t.
Don’t try to explain it. I’m not ready to hear anything from you right now. I just want to go away and pretend this never happened.”
“But it did happen. And it’s not the way you think. I had already decided to go after you before Mac proposed his wager.”
She pivoted all the way around to face him. She blinked rapidly and he knew she was trying not to cry. He was a bastard. He’d always known it, but he’d fooled himself into believing that he’d left all that behind by carving out a better life for himself. It was humbling to realize how little he’d changed.
“You bet on me, Deacon. I can’t get my mind around it.”
“I bet on everything, angel. You know that. It was nothing.”
“Why would you make a bet like that?”
“Mac knew I’d decided to find the right sort of wife, and he didn’t think I could convince you to marry me.”
“What’s the right sort of wife?”
“You are.”