AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter Five
McKenzie
We both know he’s talking about more than just casino games.
I glance down, conscious of how strong and broad his fingers feel laced with mine. He’s intoxicating. I’ve never been around someone who can make my stomach drop with a touch of his hand or make my thighs clench from nothing more than a kiss. He’s sexy as hell with his bad-boy good looks, but it’s more than that. It’s his confidence that borders on arrogance, that edgy carnality, and the way he seems to command the very air around him. I want to breathe him in and fill my lungs with the heady sensations he evokes before it disappears. I want to embrace this newfound sensuality and live in the moment like Liam. I’m feeling reckless, and the perfect cure for my sudden streak of wild abandon is the dangerously sexy Noah, a man I’d never be bold enough to talk to, much less have a one-night stand with, on any other night. But tonight, when I’m feeling confident and brash, Noah and I are as inevitable as the sun coming up tomorrow. Still, there’s no need to rush things. After all, I’ve got all night.
“Sure. Poker?” I ask innocently.
“As you wish,” he answers with the ghost of a smile on his lips, and I know I’m not fooling him for a minute.
We spend the next hour at the casino, and we play the game of seduction as surely as we play the game of poker—a sultry look, his hand on my thigh, my breasts brushing against his arm as I lean forward to claim my chips. With each hand we play, we dance a little closer to the fire. And I have to admit, I’m enjoying watching him. Under the bright lights of the casino, I can see that his dark hair is sun-streaked with gold as if he spends a lot of time outside, his skin is bronzed, and his muscles are even more defined than they’d appeared in the club. I wonder briefly what he does for a living. Construction? Professional trainer? Athlete? It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that this gorgeous specimen of male is going to be mine for the evening.
“You’re pretty good at poker,” he concedes after several more drinks and a long run at the table. He smiles, and my heart almost stops. He doesn’t smile often, but when he does, it’s devastating. “It’s those innocent blue eyes that give nothing away.”
“Beginner’s luck.” I add the last of his chips to the pile in front of me, and then I get up from the table and flash him a teasing smile. “In fact, I think I should quit while I’m ahead. Good night.” I turn and start to walk away, aware of his eyes on my ass. I give it a little wiggle just for his benefit. Who is this flirtatious girl who has taken over my body?
“I don’t think so,” he growls in my ear as his arms slip around me from behind. “You can’t just take all my money and disappear. You should at least give me a chance to win something back.”
I turn and give him what I hope is a flirtatious look. His dark cognac eyes are glittering with the promise of sin and redemption. I can feel my smile fade. “What did you have in mind?”
“Come back to my room and we’ll work something out,” he answers, his voice laced with desire.
“Okay.” Oh God. Did I just agree to go to a room with a guy I don’t even know? A guy with the most beautiful body I’ve ever seen, a dangerous look in his eyes, and a way of scorching my skin with a single touch?
The smile he gives me is so warm it curls my toes, and any last wisp of hesitation I may have had vanishes instantly. A girl could get into serious trouble with a man like this. He takes my hand, lifts it to his lips, and then wordlessly leads me to the elevator. We don’t speak as the elevator climbs, and when the door opens, I realize we’re on the top floor. Somehow I’m not surprised when he swipes his key card and opens the door to a magnificent penthouse suite. I slowly walk over to the wall of windows that offers the most amazing panoramic view of the glittering City of Sin. Of course. This god of a man would have nothing less than the best of everything. I frown. So, what the hell am I doing here?
Then he’s next to me, his strong fingers threaded in my hair, tugging my head back as his mouth descends on mine, and I’m not thinking of anything. His mouth is hot and wet, his lips soft but demanding as they press against mine, gently at first, and then more forcefully as his tongue explores my mouth slowly and thoroughly. I can feel my insides melting into a puddle of desire. He lifts my leg, his hand running up my bare thigh to cup my bottom, and I wrap my leg around his muscular thighs, pressing into him. He groans and I feel a stab of feminine satisfaction. With the alcohol flowing through my veins and the intoxicating warmth of Noah’s hand on my ass, I feel a wantonness I’ve never felt before. I have the strange but undeniably strong urge to give myself over to him, and to all the dark and depraved things he can show me.
My stomach flutters deliciously at the thought, and I press against him harder. With a muttered curse, he lifts me off the ground with both hands under my ass and pushes me against the cool glass window. He kisses me roughly, and this time he doesn’t trace my lips erotically with his tongue or explore my mouth languidly. This time he possesses me, demanding that I open to him, that I acquiesce as his tongue plunders my mouth, stealing my breath with his ruthless claim. I’ve been kissed before, but never like this.
I’m dimly aware of him pulling down the shoulder straps of my dress, his slightly calloused hand closing around my breast. I close my eyes and moan softly as his thumb brushes across my hardened nipple. He takes it between his thumb and forefinger and squeezes, hard, and my eyes fly open, meeting his hot gaze. I’m transfixed, my eyes locked on his, as he pinches harder. I suck in air at the bite of pain, but I don’t pull away, and with a faint smile he compresses the sensitive tip even more and adds a little twist, and I have the sense he’s testing me. He slips his fingers under my lace panties, and I’m mortified when he encounters the wetness there. He smiles then, a slow and depraved wolfish grin, and I have the inexplicable feeling that I should run while I can and never look back. But I don’t want to. There’s no turning back now. I want to taste the forbidden pleasure this man can give me. I’ve never been so turned on in my life, and all he’s done so far is kiss me and manhandle my breast.
“You are so fucking intoxicating.” His voice is like sandpaper, rough and raspy. “If you knew the things I want to do to you…”
“Tell me,” I whisper. “Better yet, show me.”
His head is bent, his mouth so close to my aching breast that I’m arching up to him, when his phone vibrates on the small sofa table where he tossed it when we walked in. He freezes, and his eyes become instantly shuttered, the blaze of desire I’d seen in them only seconds before gone. It happens so fast, I would have thought I’d imagined his attraction to me if it wasn’t for the heat of his hands still on my flushed skin—one cupping my ass as his body pins me against the window, the other holding my breast.
He seems to suddenly become aware of where his hands are, and he abruptly sets me down and turns away. He doesn’t answer the call—in fact he doesn’t even glance at his phone—but it’s clear that the mood is past and I’m not going to find out the things he wanted to do to me. Disappointment slowly gives way to relief as the reality of where I am and what I was about to do sinks in. I almost had sex with a complete stranger! A sexy, dangerous, completely intoxicating stranger, but still a stranger. What was I thinking?
“I…I should go,” I stammer, suddenly mortified to be standing here half undressed. I quickly adjust my dress. “My friends will be wondering where I am.”
It’s a lie. My friends know exactly where I am and are eagerly anticipating a blow-by-blow account of my evening.
“Text them. I’ll take you to breakfast.”
This is awkward. “No, thank you. Thanks for a, uh, lovely evening. But I’ve got to go.”
“I’ll walk you down, then.” He’s all business now, and he looks even more formidable somehow, although I have no idea how that’s possible. With his shirt unbuttoned and his hair tousled from my fingers gripping it, he’s also impossibly gorgeous, and I’m painfully aware that he’s way out of my league.
“You don’t have to. Really.”
He doesn’t argue. He just stands there, watching me with hooded eyes as I walk toward the door with as much dignity as I can muster. I’m opening the door when he closes the distance between us in three long, purposeful strides. He pushes it closed firmly as he fists his hand in my hair, tilting my head back so I’m looking up into his uncompromising face. He just stares at me for one long, silent moment, his face inscrutable. Then he leans forward and kisses me again, slowly this time, as if he’s savoring the taste of me.
“I’ll walk you down.” His voice is soft, but his tone leaves no room for protest. “I just have to handle something first. Wait here,” he commands. Almost as an afterthought, he adds, “Please.”
As if I have a choice. After that kiss, I’m not sure my legs are capable of working.
