“Drew!” My head swiveled at the sound of my name, and I gave Griffith a chin lift as he strode towards us. My hand impulsively tightened around Autumn’s and I pulled her possessively into my side. I heard, but chose to ignore, her muted chuckle. This was a side of myself that I didn’t recognize but apparently, Autumn brought it out in me.
“Great show tonight, man,” I told the rocker as we shook hands.
“Thanks,” he accepted with a grin. His smile widened as his eyes landed on Autumn, and I fought the instinct to take her and run away as fast as possible. “And who is this stunning, woman?” he asked with a wink. I couldn’t help the growl that escaped my lips and both Autumn and Griffith looked at me with surprise. To my disbelief, I felt my cheeks heat. It quickly morphed into annoyance when my friend’s smile turned mischievous.
“Autumn meet Griffith Thorne,” I introduced grudgingly. “Aptly named as he is constantly a pain in the ass.”
He grinned widely and lifted Autumn’s free hand so he could kiss the back. “Great to meet you, Autumn. I hope you enjoyed the show.”
She nodded enthusiastically. “You guys were awesome! I’ve heard you put on a great show, but this was better than I imagined.”
“Want an autograph?” he offered, his eyes laughing as they darted to my face and he clocked my hard expression. “I’m happy to sign anything, body parts included.”
“Watch it,” I barked, making him throw his head back with laughter.
After a minute, he caught his breath and said, “How about a T-shirt?”
“That would be great!” Autumn beamed, then bit her lip a little nervously. I was suddenly incredibly jealous of her teeth. I couldn’t wait to nibble on those plump lips. “Could I possibly get two?” she asked hesitantly. “My best friend would flay me alive if I didn’t ask for one for her as well.”
I was about to insist that Griffith agree, but I should have known better because he winked at her and answered, “Of course! Anything you want. Besides, Drew basically owns my ass right now, so I should keep him happy.”
Autumn cocked her head to the side, her face a mask of confusion. “What do you mean?”
This was not the time or place to get into the discussion about who I really was, so I jumped in before he could say anything else. “I negotiated his contract with The Lennox,” I explained, trying to sound casual.
Griffith raised a pierced brow but didn’t remark on my cagey response. He turned and asked one of the roadies to grab a couple of shirts and other memorabilia. We shot the shit for a few minutes with the whole band until the young kid returned to the room. The guys all signed the items and then shoved them in a bag and handed them to Autumn with bright smiles. Then they said goodbye and headed to their dressing rooms.
When we were left alone, Autumn faced me with twinkling eyes, and raised onto her tip toes to kiss the underside of my jaw. “You’ve officially blown away every first date I’ve ever had. Honestly, some seconds and thirds as well,” she proclaimed with a delighted giggle.
The preening peacock threatened to return, so I stole a kiss from her lips, giving in to my urge to nibble at the sweet, puffy flesh. “The night’s not over, baby.” I twined our fingers and we walked side by side back to the casino floor.
“Ready to take some risks?” I asked as I gestured towards the Blackjack tables. My tone was heavy with innuendo and I swallowed hard as I waited for her to reply. She bit her lip again, forcing me to stifle a groan and try to discreetly adjust myself.
Autumn glanced in the direction of the pit and then back to study my face. Then she took a deep breath and whispered, “Yes, I’m ready.”
All the tension drained from my shoulders. Unfortunately, it traveled straight to my groin, causing my already stiff cock to painfully harden.
“Let’s start with a gambling lesson,” she proposed, emphasizing the word start then licking her lips suggestively.
I silently and sternly told my dick to stand down but he continued to strain towards the gorgeous female who was currently eyeing me like a piece of candy. Quickly, before I gave in to my rising libido, I put my hand at the small of her back and guided her over to a table manned by my best dealer and good friend, Becket.
“Surprised to see you on the floor tonight, Drew,” he stated with a nod of greeting. Then his eyes swept over Autumn and his expression turned curious. Not only was I rarely on the floor, except to schmooze high rollers, but I’d never been with a woman in my own casino. I didn’t mix business with pleasure. It hadn’t really been an issue in some time though since I couldn’t remember the last time I’d spent time with a woman beyond business.
“Autumn is learning to play Blackjack,” I said simply. He scratched at his scruffy chin as he studied me for a moment, then looked Autumn over one more time and smiled knowingly. I scowled at him and opened my mouth to say something sarcastic.
“I’m new to risk-taking,” Autumn jumped in with an evocative glance in my direction. “Drew offered to show me some moves.”
I pulled out her chair, strategically positioning myself behind it to hide my reaction to her words. She took her seat and as I scooted her in, I leaned down to whisper in her ear. “I definitely intend to put the moves on you, sunshine. All fucking night long.”
Her breathing picked up and she shivered. I grinned, loving how she responded to me before tracing the shell of her ear with the tip of my tongue then straightening.
Autumn handed her card over to Becket who swiped it through a card reader that would subtract the amount she requested from her account. He looked to me and I gave him a barely noticeable head shake. He bobbed his head in acknowledgement and handed it back without recording a deduction. Then he pushed a stack of colorful chips in front of her.
Becket called for the initial bets, and Autumn glanced up at me nervously since this table had a one-hundred dollar minimum. I smiled and placed a hand on her shoulder, giving her an encouraging squeeze. She took a deep breath and placed the minimum bet in front of her.
As Becket dealt the cards to each player and himself, I softly instructed the basics to Autumn. He flipped over one card, revealing a King. She peeked at her cards revealing that she’d been dealt an Ace and a two. I told her that she would want to take another card and explained the strategy behind the move.
She was dealt a five, giving her a total of eighteen when using the ace as an eleven. She decided to stand and grinned when I nodded my approval.
When it was the dealer’s turn, Becket flipped his other card over to reveal a six.
“The dealer has to hit until he reaches seventeen or busts,” I murmured. He turned over another card, adding another six to his total.
Autumn’s eyes darted between her eighteen and Becket’s twenty-two. She squealed and bounced in her seat as she realized she’d won. I couldn’t help laughing at her innocent joy.
We played a few more hands, her pile growing slightly with my tutelage. Before long, she sighed and dragged the chips closer to her, asking to cash out. She grinned at me sheepishly. “As someone with a mountain of student-loan debt, I think I’ll stop while I’m ahead”—she pointed to her winnings—“this little extra will come in handy paying the bills while I’m in Africa.”
She played with a chip, trying to mimic the way my fingers manipulated the one in my pocket. It was a habit and most of the time, I didn’t even realize the little disc was in my hand. I smiled at her cute attempt until her words sunk in. “Africa?” My head started to spin and something strong clenched my heart.
“I’ll be leaving next week to spend a year with Doctor’s Without Border’s in Africa,” she said as she handed her card to Becket.
He swiped the card again, watching me surreptitiously. Probably, wondering at what I’m sure was an appalled expression on my face. Not only had I just been informed that my time with Autumn was more limited than I’d thought, I was suddenly picturing every horrible thing that could happen to her in a place like Africa.
Aut
umn sprang to her feet and grabbed my hand, dragging me towards the exit without looking back. I took the opportunity to ogle her delicious ass and though the disturbing thoughts were still in the back of my mind, I was sufficiently distracted by Autumn’s eagerness and the realization that my fantasies about her were about to come true.
Chapter Six
Autumn
A romantic dinner with a sexy stranger on the roof of one of the most extravagant hotels on the strip. Backstage passes to meet Griffith Thorne. Gambling a hundred dollars a hand at the Blackjack table and winning. As amazing as it all was, it was also completely out of character for me.
So was having sex with someone on the first date, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from dragging Drew up to my fancy hotel suite so I could have my wicked way with him. Or at least that’s how I thought it was going to go until the door shut behind me and Drew flipped the script on me and took control.
He tugged me close and cupped the back of my head with one hand and my jaw with the other. “I’ve wanted you since I first laid eyes on you, sunshine.”
He made it sound like he’d waited forever to get this close to me. “It’s only been a day.”
“It’s been a little more than a day,” he corrected.
I shook my head a tiny bit and his thumb brushed against my cheek. “Wrong. I was there when we met last night, and it’s definitely been just one day.”
His blue eyes darkened to a light shade of navy. “It’s been twenty-six and a half hours since I spotted you.”
I did a quick mental calculation. “That can’t be right. I’d barely walked into the hotel by then.”
“You were standing in line, waiting to check in.” The hand at the back of my head slid down, gliding along my spine and stopping to rest an inch above the swell of my ass. “It shouldn’t come as a surprise to you that the view from behind snagged my attention.” His thumb stroked my cheek again. “Then you turned around.”
I had been incredibly gratified by the compliment he’d given me, but now I was confused. If he’d been so drawn to me when I’d been standing in line, why didn’t we meet until a couple of hours later? “And what? The front view didn’t live up to your expectations, so you decided not to approach me?”
His hold on me tightened, and I found myself pressed tightly against his body. His hard length left me without a single doubt as to how much he wanted me, and I softened against him when he growled, “The front view was somehow better than the back, which should’ve been impossible considering how spectacular your ass is. I went from wanting you to needing to have you, and I resented every single minute I had to wait until I saw you again.”
“Drew.” For the first time since I’d signed on with Doctors Without Borders, I second-guessed my decision. My conference was scheduled to end tomorrow at one. Then I was supposed to fly home the next morning. And then I only had a few days to finish wrapping up everything at home so I’d be ready to get on another plane for my twenty plus hour journey to Africa. It didn’t give me much time to spend with Drew. “I’m leaving—I can’t—”
“I know, baby.” He bent his head low and brushed his mouth against mine. “But I’ve got you now, and I’m not giving up the time I have with you even though I know it’ll be hell letting you go in two days.”
He slipped his tongue between my lips and devoured me. His erection was thick and long as it pressed against my belly. And hot. So damn hot.
Desire coursed through my veins, more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. It scared me, but I refused to give in to that fear. That would’ve meant backing away from Drew, which was the exact opposite of what I wanted. Instead, I tore at the buttons of his shirt, desperate to get my hands on bare skin.
“I’ve got no problem taking you against the wall,” he murmured gruffly. “But I want a bed for our first time.”
I wrapped my hands around his thick biceps when he lifted me off my feet like I weighed barely more than a feather and carried me into the bedroom. He lowered me onto the mattress and followed me down. His hard body pressed against mine, and I curled my nails into his arms before letting go to attack his buttons again.
He grabbed the back of my head, stroking his tongue against mine. I moaned into his mouth and his hips jerked, pressing his cock against my core. I pulled my head back and stared up at him. “Too many clothes,” I panted.
A low rumble crept up the back of his throat, and it sent shivers up my spine. It was a sound of pure need, and it amplified my own and sent me spiraling out of control. Clothes flew in every direction until we were completely naked. I stroked his chest, enjoying the feel of his muscles under my fingertips until his hands slid down to my inner thigh. My nails dug into his shoulders as he pulled my legs farther apart.
“Fuck, I can smell you from here.” A deep flush spread across my chest and neck, but it wasn’t from embarrassment. He crawled down my body, and shame was the furthest thing from my mind when his fingers slid through my wetness to part my pussy lips as he bent low. I lost the ability to think anything at all. I could only focus on the pleasure I felt as his warm breath teased the most sensitive part of me. “My mouth is watering for a taste of you.”
His lips were on me. His tongue teasing me. His teeth nipping at me. It didn’t take long for him to drive me up the peak and toss me right over it. He licked me through my orgasm, waiting until I caught my breath again before he rose up on his knees between my thighs and stared down at me. His blue eyes burned with lust, his chin was wet from eating me out, and there was a deep flush high on his cheekbones. Combined together, it ratcheted his sexiness level up from super-hot to I-might-spontaneously-combust hot. And he was one hundred percent focused on me.
“I’m going to fuck you so hard that you’ll still feel me deep inside days from now.” He lined his cock with my entrance, and I pushed against his chest. “What’s wrong, baby?”
“Condom,” I gasped, even while I circled my hips and the tip of his cock slipped inside me.
“Shit! I can’t believe I forgot.” I whimpered when he pulled out leaned over the mattress to grab his wallet. “Please let me have a fucking condom,” he murmured so low I almost didn’t hear him. He opened the leather billfold and dug around before sighing, “Fuck, yes.” He took out a foil packet and ripped it open, rolled the condom down his hard length, and lined himself up with me again. His fingers dug into my hips as he stared down at where his cock nudged against my pussy. “You’re so ready for me.”
“Beyond ready.” I wrapped my legs around his hips to urge him on, and he slid in an inch.
“Wet.”
Another painfully slow inch.
“Tight.”
And another.
“So fucking perfect.”
I clenched around his shaft as he continued to inch his way inside.
“I could easily become addicted to the feel of your pussy wrapped around me.”
I whimpered when he hiked his hips backwards and his cock dragged against my walls.
“That’s right, baby. You know it too, don’t you? This isn’t a casual fuck. It’s the start of us, and there won’t be any coming back from this, Autumn.”
I was due to fly halfway across the world in a few short days, but that didn’t stop me from agreeing. My nod was pure instinct, and it was all the encouragement he needed to bury himself fully inside me with one swift thrust.
It took me a moment to adjust to his size, and then I panted, “More.”
His blue eyes locked on mine as he pumped into me like a crazy man. I squeezed my legs around his hips and held on tight, my hips jerking up to meet him. His pelvic bone pressed against my clit on every thrust, and it wasn’t long before I felt the orgasm building in me.
“So close,” I gasped.
“That’s right, baby. Fly apart for me, with your tight little pussy squeezing the fuck out of my cock.”
I threw my head back against the pillows and tightened my hold on his body. The heels of my
feet were digging into his ass, and my nails were clenched in his back. He bent low and pressed his mouth to my ear. “I’m close too, baby. I want us to come together. Take me with you.”
He nipped at my shoulder, and it sent me over the edge. It was more powerful than the first time, and he slammed into me three times before anchoring himself deep. His cock jerked, and I felt the heat of his come as he filled the condom separating us. For the briefest moment, I wondered what it would have felt like if he’d taken me bare. The thought was crazy, and I blamed it on how insane the chemistry between us was. Because no matter how attracted I was to Drew, or how perfectly we fit together after he pulled out of me and held me close, I’d made a commitment that meant I only had this one night with him. I couldn’t ask a man I’d only known for such a short time to wait an entire year for me...could I?
Chapter Seven
Drew
Holy fucking shit. I held Autumn close as I caught my breath and my heart-rate began to level out. That had been the best sex I’d ever had. Not that I remembered much about the women before her except to know she blew them all out of the water.
When she mentioned a condom, I almost had a fucking heart attack at the thought that I might not have one and we’d have to stop. I didn’t know how long that thing had been in my wallet, but I’d sent up a prayer of thanks that it was there.
Our bodies were sticky with sweat and sex, so I reluctantly let her go and dragged my ass out of bed. She looked adorably disheveled and flushed with satisfaction. Knowing it was all because of me had my ego swelling just a little.
Autumn watched me with hooded eyes, the dark color swirling with remnants of desire, and her lips dropped into a tiny pout when I stood up. I grinned and leaned over her, trapping her between my arms. “Don’t worry, baby,” I crooned and lightly bit her lower lip, “We aren’t anywhere near finished.” I didn’t have another condom, but there were a multitude of other ways for me to pleasure her and I intended to spend the night trying out as many as possible.
It's Vegas, Baby: A Vegas, Baby Novella Page 3