“I knew you’d look so sexy in it. I couldn’t help it. I’ll just make sure to stay behind you when you get in and out.” He draped his arm around my shoulders and tugged me closer.
Joe drove us away from the hotel and soon merged with traffic moving slowly down the strip. I stared out the window at the blur of neon forming a kaleidoscope beyond the glass. Mentally, I made note of the way the colors blended against the night sky, creating a halo around the buildings that were larger than anything I’d ever seen before.
Joe slowed to a stop in front of a large, blue sphere, like a hot air balloon made of metal. A glowing tower stretched up into the sky beyond the glowing ball that announced we’d reached Paris. My heart fluttered at the sight of the Eiffel Tower replica.
When Dawson led me over to it, I gazed up, remembering the first time he’d taken me to the real tower. And the second time. Paris and especially the Eiffel Tower were incredibly romantic places. Every breath in that city had filled my lungs with love. Each kiss in the shadow of the tower had been potent, branding me permanently as Dawson’s. I’d been a fool to ever think I could move beyond him or find a love anywhere comparable to what he and I shared.
“Come on,” he whispered in my ear. “We have dinner reservations.”
Hand in hand we strolled over and boarded an elevator with a few other people. The ride up took several minutes. Most of the people with us got off when we did. We waited in line at the hostess station. When it was our turn, Dawson leaned toward the striking woman with the long, dark hair. “Reservation for Dawson Anderson,” he said quietly.
Her eyes lit up, but she didn’t squeal or ask him for an autograph. “Right this way,” she said in a mostly professional tone. She cast a bright smile my way. “I love your dress.”
“Thanks,” I said, running my palm down the front to smooth the skirt. It was nice to not to have a woman fawning over and pawing at Dawson for a change. Not to mention that she hadn’t sent me any jealous or hateful looks.
She led us to a table in a semi-secluded corner. At over 100 feet in the air, we were above the chaos of the Strip. Our view was dominated by the dancing water in front of the Bellagio. It was mesmerizing to watch.
Turning my head, I caught the tail end of the conversation Dawson was having with a young woman who was apparently our server. “I’ll be right back with your beverages. And your appetizer should be up shortly.”
I was so caught up in the hypnotic twist and twirl of the columns of water that I’d totally missed Dawson ordering for us. After this many years together, I wasn’t worried that he’d order something I didn’t like. He might even do a better job for me than I’d do for myself.
“It’s so beautiful up here,” I breathed, captivated by the water once more.
“It is. I’d hoped to take you to the restaurant under the bubble at the real Eiffel Tower. It was on my romance bucket list. But when we were there a few years ago, I didn’t have enough star power to secure us a reservation,” he confessed with a chuckle.
“We can always go back one day.” I wrapped my fingers around where his hand rested on my thigh and gave it a squeeze. “We have all the time in the world to create and tackle a new bucket list.”
“I’d like that.” He leaned toward me and planted a soft, sweet kiss on my lips. It held a hint of promise for more to come.
We spent the next hour sharing food off our plates and laughing over everything and nothing. The food was outstanding. Dawson kept checking the time on his phone over the course of the meal.
“Are we about to be late for something?” I finally asked.
“What?” he asked, a look of innocence on his face.
“You keep checking the time.”
“Yeah,” was all he said. He didn’t explain.
Just then he caught our server’s eye and waved her over. Leaning away from me, he whispered in her ear then handed over his credit card.
“I’ll take care of this really quick for you,” she said with a huge grin on her face.
Less than two minutes later, she returned with the receipt for Dawson to sign. “Thank you so much.” He signed a clean napkin for her, which had her blushing and stammering like a true fan meeting her idol.
When we got to our feet, he helped me into my jacket. “Let’s go up top,” he said, smiling at me as he slid his arms into his leather coat.
I couldn’t contain my excitement. It spilled onto my face in a wide smile.
Eagerly, I followed him to the elevator to take us up one more floor to the observation deck. When we arrived, he walked over to a man in uniform and spoke quietly for a few minutes as I walked over to the railing and peered out over the stunning view of Vegas. I waited for the crowd to shift around so I could see the other side.
Warm arms wrapped around me. I leaned back against Dawson’s hard chest as his scent surrounded me. The moment was perfect. He nuzzled my neck, then placed a sucking kiss on the sensitive skin there. My head dropped back to give him more access. Calloused fingertips trailed from my lower thigh up my leg, lifting the hem of my skirt a little. Those talented fingers drifted up my thigh to my hip then slid around to my front, cupping me possessively.
I lost track of where we were and who might be watching us. He’d always had the power to erase the world. I didn’t anticipate that ever changing.
“I wish I could lean you over against the rail and sink deep inside you,” he rasped in my ear as his fingertips twitched against the most sensitive and aching part of me.
Heat flooded my core, and I whimpered at the thought.
“But I was only able to get them to empty the observation deck for ten minutes. And that’s not long enough.” His hand slid back out from under my dress.
I groaned at the loss of his touch then glanced around us and noticed that no one stood on the deck with us. I spun in a circle. “You didn’t have to make everyone leave.”
As I turned back to face him, he was down on one knee in front of me. Tears flooded my eyes. “What are you doing?” I whispered. We were already engaged. His ring sat proudly on my ring finger every waking moment, letting the world know I belonged to him.
He took both my hands in his. Gazing up at me, his eyes shimmered with moisture. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. “I always envisioned taking you to Paris and asking you for your forever at the top of the Eiffel Tower. But after Casey used the cut-up photo of us in front of it to taunt me, I didn’t think it would be a good idea. And then when I found out I’d be performing at the awards show, that was too good of an opportunity to pass up.”
He let go of one of my hands, which I promptly used to swipe the liquid from my cheek.
“You already agreed to marry me, so this isn’t a proposal. This is me on my knees thanking God that He gave us a new beginning. That we got a do-over. Thanking you for coming back to me. For forgiving me. Without you, I was dead inside, trapped in a cocoon of sadness. Then you came back to me, shining your light and warmth on my barely functioning heart. You resurrected it. The phrase I love you is so grossly inadequate to describe what I feel for you. Flutterby, you are my heart, my soul, my song.”
He pulled a small box from his pocket and flipped it open. Nestled inside was a blue butterfly perched on a ring of platinum. It glittered under the lights overhead. Taking my right hand, he slid the delicate circle onto my ring finger. “Isabelle, I already asked for your heart, your soul and your forever. This ring symbolizes not just my gratitude over the new life you breathed back into me with your forgiveness and love, but it also signifies my pledge to protect our love. Even when it may feel fragile like butterfly wings, I vow to shelter and protect the beautiful miracle that we have and help it soar.”
I gripped his hands and tugged him to his feet. With trembling hands, I cupped his cheeks. “We both have so much to be thankful for. But I have to disagree with you on one thing. Our love isn’t fragile. It is inevitable. You and I are eternal. When there is no breath left in my body and no beat left
in my heart, somehow I will find a way to love you. Still.”
“Who’s the master of lyrics now?” he said with laughter while a tear tracked down his cheek.
He didn’t let me respond. His mouth married mine, there on the top of the world. Fingers tangled in my hair, holding me close while I clutched him tightly to me. And the fluttering in my heart against his torso was just one more reminder that it didn’t really belong caged in my chest. It was his. I was just the custodian of it.
The door behind us creaked as the guard opened the deck back up to the public. The sound signaled the end of our private heaven.
“Let’s go back to our room,” I panted against his mouth. I needed him. Now.
He groaned and shook his head against mine. “We can’t. We have one more stop.”
I stepped back and took a few deep breaths, trying to get my hormones under control. Lacing my fingers with his, I finally said, “What are we waiting for? Let’s go.” The sooner we did whatever else was on his agenda, the sooner we’d be back in our room and naked.
He stumbled slightly when I tugged him forward. “Eager are we?”
“Maybe.”
He winked at me then thanked the guy at the door before we boarded the elevator to head back to Earth.
Joe’s huge grin when we reached him gave me some indication that he’d known what Dawson was up to.
“Let’s see it,” he commanded when I stopped in front of him. So he’d definitely known.
I held out my hand to flash the gorgeous butterfly at him.
“It’s exquisite,” he said, bringing my hand closer to his face.
Joe opened the door for us then walked around to get behind the wheel. A line of vehicles waited behind us.
As Dawson helped me into the backseat, his hand slipped beneath my dress and brushed across my bare butt cheek. “A thong?” he growled low in my ear.
“Just for you.”
He gave my flesh a squeeze then cursed under his breath. “If I’d known that, I would’ve made the ten minutes in private work on the observation deck.”
I scooted across the leather seat to make room for him. He promptly wedged his arm between me and the seat, cradling me close to his warmth.
Stretching, I turned on the overhead light so I could admire my new ring properly.
“It’s a custom design. The butterfly’s wings are made of some mixture of crushed gems and enamel. I didn’t understand everything the artist described,” Dawson explained as I twisted my hand back and forth, catching the light with the color.
The edges of the wings were a deep blue, and the interior faded to a dark purplish pink. There were finely etched veins in the wings adding extra detail.
“The head and body of the butterfly contain nineteen diamonds. One for each year my heart has been yours. The circle of the band signifies how long my heart will be yours. Forever. And the inscription …” He paused, slipping the ring from my finger, so I could read what was carved in the metal. “I’ll go wherever you will go. Always.”
Reverently he threaded the band back around my finger.
“I love it. I love you.” I kissed him before I gave into the need to cry from the overwhelming love that wanted to pour out of me.
“I love you too,” he murmured against me.
“We’re here you two,” Joe said from the front seat.
Blushing, I pulled back from exchanging air with Dawson. “Where is here?” I asked, peeking around Dawson to see what was beyond the window.
“See for yourself.” Dawson hopped out then helped me.
My mouth gaped open as I took in the huge wheel towering over everything around it.
“I reserved us a pod on the High Roller Wheel. At the top, you’ll have the best view in Vegas. I haven’t ever ridden it. I wanted tonight to be all about creating memories with you in Vegas.”
I bounced up and down in my heels. “Oooo. I wanted to do this.”
I could barely contain my excitement as we made our way inside and up to where we would board our pod.
The sphere was even larger up close than I expected from the photos I’d seen online. I walked to the center and spun in a slow circle. The doors closed, trapping me and Dawson in our very own, personal bubble. The scene beyond the glass began to shift, but I couldn’t detect movement beneath us. In awe, I moved to the curved window. I leaned forward to peer at the ground as we began to float upward.
“When we move here, I want to bring my sketchpad up here. I might need more than one trip around. There’s so much to see from up here,” I gushed. I couldn’t imagine what the view would be from high above the Vegas pandemonium.
Dawson stepped up behind me, pressing his front flush with my back. His arms instinctively wrapped around my waist as he dropped his chin to my shoulder. “When we’re back here, you could create a series of pieces of Vegas from different vantage points,” he suggested.
“I love that idea.” I turned my head to the right to look in that direction. The lights dimmed inside our pod, making the Vegas lights that much brighter by comparison. “Look, you can see the Eiffel Tower over there.” I pointed to where the tower still stood taller in the distance than where we sat now.
“While I’m glad you’re enjoying the sights, I’d rather make you see stars,” Dawson whispered in my ear before drawing the sensitive lobe between his teeth. “By my count, I’ve got about twenty minutes to make that happen.”
I turned my head to the side, and his mouth immediately descended on mine, plundering the part between my lips without mercy. A denim clad thigh wedged between my legs, urging me to part them. I complied without thought. Fingers that had memorized every inch of my body started on a well-known path from the sensitive skin behind my knee, slowly up the center of my thigh, across the curve of one butt cheek. Goosebumps followed his touch like mice following the pied piper.
His mouth moved at a frenzied rate while his fingers moved glacially slow, frustrating me with a desperate need for more. Finally, he tracked around my hip to dip beneath the elastic edge of my panties. When he found me damp and ready for his touch, he ripped his mouth from mine.
“Hands on the wall,” he demanded as he shifted my panties over to leave my core bare for the taking.
I faced forward without hesitation and planted my palms against the glass. We were positioned on the wall of the bubble that wasn’t currently visible to any other pods.
Above the sound of the recorded voice telling us about our journey around the wheel, I detected the quiet snick of his zipper opening. My heels put me at the perfect height so that when he closed the distance between us again, his cock wedged between my parted thighs. He gave a couple of torturous thrusts against my skin before he gripped my hip with one hand and pressed the small of my back with the other. Masterfully, he maneuvered me into position.
A loud moan escaped my lips as he slid inside me. My fingers curled against the glass, needing something to hold onto. But the glass provided nothing for me to anchor myself with. A loud crack outside the pod sounded as Dawson lifted his hand from my back to reach around and stroke my clit under my dress. Beyond the glass, color burst across the sky as a firework exploded.
I couldn’t even appreciate the beauty of the shower of colored sparkles filling the black velvet sky. I was on my way to seeing fireworks of a Dawson-induced variety. With a few rapid circles around my clit, my body trembled and climbed higher and higher. Soon I hovered above a precipice. The fall off of it would be a swan dive into the deepest pool of pleasure known to man. And I was ready to freefall.
A few more perfect touches from Dawson shoved me over the edge. My body coiled tightly then sprang loose, letting every particle in me fly apart and float in heaven.
As I began to drift back down to Earth, I became aware of a countdown in the pod. The fireworks were still erupting in the air beyond our bubble.
Dawson paused his thrusting for a long moment, holding himself buried deeply in me. “Look out there,” he raspe
d. “We’re at the top.”
I tried to look. Really I did. But the pleasure still coursing through me made it impossible to focus on anything else. I was on top of the world already.
As the wheel tipped over the top to start our descent back to Earth, Dawson pulled out of me. I couldn’t stop the whine that fell out of my mouth.
Keeping his hands on my hips, he moved us backwards as a unit. The back of my dress was hooked on his erection, hiding it from view.
Dawson sat on the closest bench. In a dizzying fashion, he spun me around and tugged me onto his lap.
I rose up on my knees on the bench. Reaching under my dress, he held his cock up at attention. Without preamble, I sank down onto him, erasing the distance between us.
He groaned once I was filled with him. With his fingers digging into my hips, he guided my body over his, setting a punishing rhythm.
I watched his face, marveling at the beauty that was this man I loved falling to pieces because of me. He bit his lower lip as he picked up the pace incrementally. I threaded my fingers in his hair to have something to grip as my own pleasure surged once more. The muscles in his thighs tightened beneath my legs as he used his feet to propel himself deeper into me for a handful of thrusts. A vein bulged in his neck as he strained for control.
I rocked my pelvis on the next downward slide, making him curse under his breath. A few more moves like that snapped his control. His pace lost all syncopated rhythm as he stroked wildly into my core.
“Come with me, flutterby,” he panted as his fingers touched my nub.
It was all the encouragement I needed. With the grand finale of fireworks going off outside, Dawson and I found our own grand finale.
Dawson
Our trip was perfect. The band had inked a lucrative contract for a year long residency next year that would only aid in our rise to the top. It meant I didn’t have to drag Izzy on the road with me or face any potential separations from her.
Lyrical Odyssey Rock Star Series: Box Set 1 Page 88