by Ali Olson
He smiled at her to show he was teasing, but instead of laughing or rolling her eyes or any of the reactions he expected, she walked over to him and straddled him on the chair, her flowing robe leaving little to the imagination. She leaned in close to his ear, and in a velvety whisper said, “That’s what I was hoping for.”
Before he could react, she was up again and sweeping the dishes into the sink. He shook his head, trying to get his bearings back. How could she be so consistently astounding? He was instantly aroused, and she was standing in the kitchen as if nothing had happened. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Seemed like the thing to do,” she responded airily.
He watched her as she tidied up. Though she didn’t look at him, her lips turned up at the corners into a devious smile. She was probably very pleased with herself. He couldn’t help smiling, too. She might kill me before the weekend is over.
He walked up behind her and slid his hand inside the robe’s opening, sliding his palm across her stomach and lower to her hip, only inches from her core. He pressed himself against her, nipped lightly at her ear, and breathed, “I think we should—” He paused to suck lightly on her earlobe for a second, causing her to inhale sharply.
Then he moved away and turned toward the living area and finished with “—watch a movie.”
He sat on the couch, barely able to keep from laughing as he turned on the TV. She came over to sit as close to him as possible, her hip pressed against his. He turned slightly toward her, and their eyes connected. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her toward him. She curled herself into his hold and shifted her legs off the floor so they were lying across his. She pressed her lips to his, and he held her closer.
For a moment, his mind flashed with regret that this would be gone from his life as quickly as it had entered, but then he focused once more on the kiss and shoved away that unpleasant thought.
Jessica pushed him down onto the couch, her legs straddling him, his erection pressed against her stomach as she leaned in and kissed him.
“This is a much better choice than a movie,” he said against her lips, his voice rough and throaty.
“Much better,” she agreed, and the deep whisper shot all the way through him, settling pleasantly in his groin.
She shifted herself higher, sliding along him and making him moan from the sensation, his head falling back onto the cushion as he tried to hold himself together. She was so sexy he could hardly believe it.
And then her weight was gone, leaving him alone on the couch. He sat up, disappointed, but only for a moment until he realized where she was going.
Jessica scurried over to the bed and went straight for the drawer where he’d placed a pack of condoms. He smiled at her as she came back to the couch at a near-run. “You seem a little impatient,” he teased, ignoring how his cock jumped at the sight of her breasts bouncing with her movements.
She set the condom on the nearby coffee table. “Just want to have it nearby. For later,” she explained.
Instead of resuming her place on top of him as he expected, however, she knelt on the floor beside the couch and slid her tongue along the length of him before taking him into her mouth.
The hot wetness of her tongue made him groan. Whoa. “That’s not fair,” he managed to get out between clenched teeth.
“What do you mean, ‘not fair’?” she asked, her hot breath sending even more sensations rolling through him.
Instead of answering—which he wasn’t sure he could even do at the moment—he lifted her back onto the couch in one quick motion and kissed her long and hard, enjoying the taste of her until she was panting.
Then, before she could get her bearings enough to continue with her relentless teasing, he slid one hand along her thigh, dipping into her wetness. She gasped, but he kept kissing her as he played with her, feeling her body react to his touch.
She pulled away just far enough to say, “Get the condom,” and then she was kissing him again, her tongue sliding urgently into his mouth, demanding more.
He considered making her wait, but she was too goddamn sexy to do anything but obey. In seconds it was on and she was pushing him down on his back again, straddling him, her opening poised above him. “Ready, cowboy?”
She gave him no time to answer, even if he’d been able to. Without hesitation, she slid down him, enveloping him. He groaned her named as she moved on top of him, her movements fast, almost desperate.
She was in control, taking what she wanted, and he was loving every second of it. He looked up and watched her, her hair falling over her shoulders, her beautiful body on display just for him.
He didn’t know what he’d do when they parted ways, but he was definitely enjoying the ride.
* * *
THE NEXT MORNING, Aaron relaxed on the bed and watched Jessica sleep. She was so beautiful sleeping, but he felt the urge to wake her up so he could see her green eyes looking into his, hear her talk about anything that came into her mind. He wanted to hear whatever she might say.
He hadn’t realized how much he missed conversations like theirs from the night before, but if he was honest with himself, he’d had precious few of them since leaving college. He’d been starving for them without knowing it. For the past six years, he kept every thought about literature and world events pretty much to himself. Jeremiah and his other friends back home were great, but they didn’t have any interest in those topics of discussion.
If he let himself think about it, he was dreading saying goodbye and going home. Now that he’d had so much, how could he be content with less? He didn’t want to ruin his last full day with those kinds of thoughts, though, so he refocused his attention on her, memorizing her face and the way her hair spilled across the pillow.
She moved, stretching her long figure, and opened her eyes. She looked over and smiled at him. He smiled back. “Good morning, Jessica.”
“Good morning. Last night was fun. Best movie I’ve seen in a long time.”
He laughed. They’d gotten so distracted that they never actually made it through even a small part of a movie. He didn’t think they’d even managed to turn one on. “Yeah, it was amazing.”
They got up and put back on the robes from the night before, and set about ordering breakfast. Once that was done, Jessica began to pry once again into Aaron’s plans for the day.
“I need to know what we’re doing so I can go back to the room and get dressed. I only have jeans and a T-shirt.”
“I helped you take off your jacket yesterday, remember? Definitely no shirt. I remember it vividly.”
“It’s in my purse. But if we’re going somewhere, I’ll need to get something to wear. So you have to tell me.”
He shook his head. “Nope. I’m not going to tell you. You’ll have to see for yourself. The things you have with you will be perfect.”
“Are we going downtown? Someplace on the Strip? Those are the only places I know of here, so I’m out of guesses.”
“It’s neither of those. You’re never going to be able to figure it out, so just relax. We’ll leave in a couple hours. Until then, let’s enjoy the morning.”
She looked as if she was considering guessing some more, but she either thought better of it or couldn’t think of anything, so instead she came over to the couch where he was sitting and curled herself onto his lap. “Fine, don’t tell me.”
He put his arms around her, pulling her warm body close to him, enjoying the weight of her on his legs and chest. “You’ll find out soon enough. It’s not some giant amazing surprise or anything. It’s just hard to explain.”
“Okay, just get me back by five or so. I’ve got to spend time with Cindy or she’ll kill me.”
“Deal.” He kissed her forehead and rested his head against hers.
He knew he was ge
tting himself in way too deep with her, but he didn’t want to stop. As he sat there holding her, he decided that he was going to get everything he could out of that day, even if it meant a little misery later on. He’d just have to get over it. There was no point trying to keep his distance and missing out on this amazing moment in his life.
He was absolutely addicted to her. Her eyes, her hair, her smell, her body, her brain were all mind-blowingly fantastic, and he was never going to see her again? That made no sense.
When the food arrived and Jessica uncurled herself and padded to the door on bare feet, he watched her. He didn’t want to let her disappear out of his life completely. He needed to find a way to make it work, and before she got on her plane, he was going to have some assurance that he’d see her again.
With that positive thought, he hopped up and helped her, and soon they were eating at the table. After, they enjoyed another long shower together. He loved running his soapy hands along her smooth skin, down her back and along the sides of her stomach to her ticklish spot that made her wriggle away. Every inch was magnificent.
When they were finally rinsed and dried and dressed, he called the driver and arranged for them to be picked up at the front of the hotel. He grabbed his coat out of the closet and draped it over his arm. “It’s good you brought your jacket. It could get cold out there.”
He could see her mind using this clue to try to figure out exactly where they were going. “Dammit, I don’t know this area well enough. Are you going to take me out in the middle of the desert? Because that’s what serial killers and mobster hit men do.”
“You must have been such an obnoxious kid around Christmastime. Did you ever make it to the twenty-fifth without guessing every present?”
“Oh, I was the worst. It drove my parents crazy. We had to have all sorts of rules about not touching the presents, and they never answered any of my questions. My dad—”
She stopped talking and looked embarrassed for a moment. He almost asked what was wrong, but she looked as if she didn’t want to talk about it, and he decided not to push for details.
They left the room and made it down the elevator, through the casino and into the car before she said anything more, but she didn’t act as though she was upset or anything. Just quiet. He noted that she chose to sit in the middle seat, despite the large empty area available to her, and his stomach warmed. She wanted to sit closer to him. As he sat beside her and buckled his seat belt, she turned back to the topic of the surprise. “So, not the middle of the desert, right?”
“No, we’re not going to the middle of a barren wasteland where people bury dead bodies. Satisfied?”
“Well, at least then I would’ve known where we’re going. Okay, I’ll wait. How long until we get there? How are you going to let the driver know where to take us if it’s such a secret?”
“He already knows, and about forty minutes. No more questions, okay?”
She nodded and sat back, seemingly content. “Right. No more questions. I’m going to sit back and relax. I’ll just text Cindy to let her know that I’ll be at dinner.”
It took him about fifteen seconds to realize she wasn’t texting and leaned over to see a map of Las Vegas on her phone. “Oh my God. Seriously, you have a problem.”
He snagged the phone out of her hand and held it away from her, amused at her complete refusal to be surprised. When she tried to grab it back, he tucked it underneath himself and caught her up in his arms, pressing his mouth against hers to distract her.
She stopped struggling for the phone and allowed him to hold her close, and the kiss soon became hungry and urgent. By the time they split apart, both were panting and he wished they were back in his room. They leaned away from each other without breaking eye contact, taking in deep breaths to regain composure.
Once he had calmed himself enough, he pulled the phone out from under him and said, “We’ve built this surprise thing up way too much, and you’re going to be disappointed now. I’m just taking you to a place that’s near Vegas and happens to be kind of cool. You can keep searching if you want.”
He passed the small device over to her, and she glanced at it for a moment before throwing it back in her purse. “If you’re not going to try to stop me, what’s the fun in that? Let me know when we get there.”
With that, she closed her eyes and leaned against him. He wrapped his arm around her, and she settled deeper into the nook, her head against his shoulder. He could tell when she fell asleep, her breathing slow and deep, and he felt contentedness seeping through him.
Neither of them had gotten much sleep the past couple of nights, but instead of allowing himself to nod off as well, he spent the rest of the trip enjoying the feeling of her body against his, his mind quiet except for the question of how to get her to agree to see him again, which simmered lightly in the back of his brain.
One of the first steps, he realized, was to let Olivia know he wasn’t interested anymore. If he was going to be worthy of Jessica, he couldn’t leave that tie unsevered. He pulled his phone out of his pocket with his one free hand, careful not to move much, letting her sleep. He turned it on with a swipe, considering his options.
He couldn’t just say it over a text, though. That was cowardly, and besides, she probably wouldn’t get the hint, if the last time he talked to her was any indication. He’d have to talk to her in person. Finally he settled on meeting her when Jessica was with her friends. That way, he wouldn’t have to waste any of his last few hours with Jessica on anything but being with her.
He composed the text carefully, trying to be polite but distant. It took some time to decide exactly what to say and then type it one-handed, but he finally sent, Hey, Olivia, if you have time this evening, I’d like to meet up and talk for a few minutes. Are you free at all between seven and nine tonight? You don’t have to worry about coming over. I’ll drive wherever.
He was sure he could have come up with something better, but under the circumstances he hoped it would be enough to give her a small clue so their conversation wouldn’t be a total shock. He put his phone back in his pocket and looked out the window.
The city was behind them, and the car swept along a nearly empty highway surrounded by desert and dark, barren mountains. He didn’t know why he thought it was so beautiful. Most people would see it as some scrub brush and a few sad mountains devoid of trees, but the power of the desert and the number of plants that managed to still live in it had always impressed him. Except for the small pockets of a few run-down houses, nature was still in control.
When they were close to their destination, he shifted himself slightly, using his free hand to brush the hair out of Jessica’s face. He half whispered, “Jessica, we’re almost there.”
Her eyes fluttered open and she sat up with a yawn and looked at the desert spread out around them. “I never thought the desert would be beautiful. Now that I see it up close, there’s something about it that makes my soul jump. Did that make any sense at all?”
She looked at him for confirmation. “I love it,” he answered. “I can’t explain why, either. Every time I come to Vegas, I get out of the city for at least a few hours. There’s a big mountain out here that’s got some cool hiking trails, but I wasn’t sure you’d like that and it’s pretty cold. I think they’ve already opened the ski lifts.”
“There are ski lifts in Las Vegas?” she responded, surprised.
He nodded. “Yeah, but I wasn’t sure that would be fun for you, so we’re in the Valley of Fire. It’s named that because of all the red stone around here.”
He gestured out his window, drawing her attention toward the rock formations. He continued. “We can go out for a little bit and walk around. There’s one rock formation that looks like an elephant and stuff like that. As soon as you want to leave, though, we can head back.”
Before he’d finished, she wa
s wiggling herself into her jacket and unbuckling her seat belt. “Let’s go! I haven’t climbed around on rocks since I was a kid. Not many opportunities in New York.”
He inhaled deeply as they left the car. The air was cool and fresh, and the desert stretched around them, vast and unforgiving. Vegas was a faint squiggle in the distance. Aaron loved getting away from the city and onto the land, and it seemed Jessica felt the same way despite living in one of the biggest cities in the world.
She turned full circle to take it all in, sun glinting in her hair and turning it a thousand shades of red and gold. Once she made her circuit and was facing him again, she grinned, her sparkling green eyes grabbing at him, pulling him in. “This is perfect.”
His heart hit so hard against his ribs he wanted to rub the spot. “Perfect,” he agreed.
But he wasn’t thinking about their surroundings.
They stared at each other for a long second, and the couple of feet of air between them felt absurd. Aaron wanted to pull her in to him, wrap his fingers in her hair, but they were so far from the hotel and their driver was sitting in the car less than twenty feet away. And he wanted her to experience this place.
Reluctantly he shifted and pointed up a small thin trail. She turned to face the direction he pointed, and the moment was gone. He would hold her close later, he promised himself. There would be other moments.
Not as many as he wanted, though. It hurt just thinking about getting on a plane and flying away from her.
He shoved the thought to the back of his mind and tried to focus on the here and now. “Up that way about a mile is the elephant. You want to see it?”
She started toward the trail in response, and he fell in step beside her. They walked quietly for a short time, and his mind wandered back to the airplane. Truth was, he wanted to see her again. Maybe even needed to see her again. This couldn’t be it. But if she said no again?