“Ah! Zach! Just in time.” Ace called from across the room the second he saw me. “Come, the game has just started. Why don’t you join us?”
Without hesitation, I crossed the room, approaching the biggest poker table. It was beautiful. Marble edging. A perfect felt playing surface. High-backed chairs that looked like miniature thrones.
“And who is this lovely lady you’ve brought with you?” He asked.
“Don’t tell me you’ve never noticed her before?” I pushed Brooke forward ever so gently, allowing Ace to kiss the back of her hand. As he did, I watched him like a hawk, prepared to strike if he so much as thought of stepping out of line with her.
“No, I don’t think we’ve met.” He looked into her eyes with intrigue, no doubt mesmerized by their warm chocolate color. If I didn’t need her for a job, I probably would have fallen for them too.
She giggled as he kissed her hand. “I was just playing at L'Abeille.”
“Were you, my dear? My apologies for not noticing you. If I had, I never would’ve let you fall into the hands of another.” He winked.
Great. He was starting to like her.
But things were just about to get messy. Very messy.
Chapter 5
BROOKE
“You’re too kind,” I said graciously, bowing my head in a slightly submissive nature. I knew that guys like him got a kick out of dominating women and hey, I was just playing the part.
When his lips left my skin, I tried to pull my hand away, but he held on. “Oh, come now, you aren’t going to leave me so soon, are you?” He grinned. “Why don’t we make this interesting?”
Before I could do anything, he had wrapped his arm around my waist and plopped me down onto his lap. I nearly uttered a small gasp of surprise, but I managed to keep my cool, melting into him, my arms wrapping around his neck in a natural manner. “Trying to sweep a girl off her feet, are you?” I asked, my voice soft and seductive.
“I think I’ve already succeeded.”
Zach cleared his throat which prevented Ace from moving his face any closer to mine. His expression faltered like he was annoyed by the interruption, but then he smiled, clapping his hands together.
“Right. I’ve been awfully rude. Why don’t you sit down and I’ll explain the rules of the game.” As he said this, he started to shuffle the deck. It didn’t look like there would be a dealer.
This already seemed unfair.
Ace gave Zach a sharp look. “You and I are going to play a friendly little game. If I win, I get to keep the girl. If you do, you get to leave here with your life.” He flashed a smile. “Sounds fair?”
I tensed up a bit in his lap.
I was all for this undercover mission, but the thought of actually sleeping with this criminal was horrifying. I glanced over at Zach who had a cool expression on his face as if the man’s wagers hadn’t even phased him.
“Sounds good to me.” He said, shrugging off his jacket and rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, exposing his chiseled forearms. His muscles rippled under his skin, making me feel a little better, but then I remembered all the bodyguards standing around with guns. Even if Zach managed to punch Ace, what good would it do? He would just be shot a second later.
At the thought, my heart started to thump.
I wanted excitement and I sure as hell was getting it.
“Heidi didn’t fail to mention your notorious winning streak. It seems you never lose a game. How do you do it?” Zach asked.
Wait… If Ace never lost… how was I supposed to get out of here without sleeping with him? Zach better had a plan or something or I swear, I’m going to murder him myself for getting me into this situation.
“It’s a trade secret.” Ace answered, dealing out the first hand before passing the deck to a young man wearing white gloves.
Now, if I had to be completely honest, I knew absolutely nothing about poker but as the game wore on, I could tell that Ace had a lot more chips on his side than Zach did. I was starting to think that things would not work out in my favor.
“All in,” Zach said, pushing all his chips into the middle.
“You do realize that if you lose this hand, your lovely date will be going home with me.”
“I am well aware, but there’s no way you could beat my hand,” Zach said with an air of confidence.
“I wouldn’t be so sure, but it honestly doesn’t matter. Either way, I’ll win and I’ll have this beautiful woman in my bed.” He grinned wildly, his hands snaking up my thigh. I giggled and leaned into him like I was enjoying myself. “So, think it over a minute.”
Suddenly, his lips were on my neck, sucking on my flesh. My skin crawled with disgust and I wanted to do nothing more than push him away. If I didn’t have the threat of dying hanging over my head, I probably would have slapped him across the face for touching me, but I knew better than to piss off a mafia leader. I had seen plenty of movies on the subject and I didn’t want to go swimming with the fishes tonight.
His hand ran up my back, his fingers tracing the outline of my spine. It sent a shiver running through my body that he must have interpreted as one of pleasure. “You like that, don’t you?” He whispered in my ear, nibbling my earlobe ever so gently. “Don’t you worry gorgeous. Later, I’ll make sure you’re screaming my name.”
“Mmm, I can’t wait,” I whispered, trying to maintain my part, hoping that Zach had some trick up his sleeve to get me out of this situation.
Eventually, Ace stopped kissing me, his hands resting on my hips as he looked back at the table. “So, you’ve decided to stay all in?”
“Yes.” Zach nodded.
“Very well.” Ace glanced at the white-gloved man who was supposedly the dealer all of a sudden. He drew the last card. “I think you have just lost your lady.”
Even though it was not his turn to show his cards, he arrogantly flipped them over. “Full house, ace high.”
That sounded good. I had no idea how Zach looked so calm in a moment like this while I was sweating bullets, trying to ignore the thought that I would have to be sleeping with the most vile man in the city in a couple of hours… maybe even sooner.
“Too bad you didn’t have an Ace of Spades,” Zach said as he showed off his cards. An ace and a king, both of the same suite.
“Royal flush.” The dealer said with a grave tone. He looked the most surprised of all, almost as if he had never seen anything like this happen before.
A deadly silence settled in the room and it felt like the whole world had stopped for a moment.
Suddenly, one of the guards grabbed Zach’s wrist, hoisting him out of his seat.
“Where are you hiding them?” Ace demanded. “Your sleeves are rolled, so you couldn’t have hidden it there.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Zach answered calmly. “If you’re implying that I cheated, you flatter me.”
The guards started to rough him up before one of them found another ace hiding in the collar of Zach’s shirt.
Ace picked it up and I was sure that Zach was as good as dead, but then, strangely enough, Ace started laughing. “That’s a new one, kid. You got me good.” He continued to laugh, getting up.
I scrambled to my feet, standing there awkwardly, not quite sure what to do. I kept my eye on the exit, just in case I needed to make a run for it. Not that I would get very far in these heels…
“I’ll give you this one,” Ace said, slapping Zach on the back. “But only if you promise to come back tomorrow. I’ve invited some of my closest friends. The buyout is $500,000 and the game won’t be as friendly.” He leaned in close like he was going to whisper. “So, if I catch you cheating again, I’ll be sending your head to Heidi on a dinner platter.”
With that, Ace pushed him forward. The guards grabbed him, towing him out of the building. For a second, I thought that I would have to stay, even though Zach had technically won the game, but then the guards started pushing me out too, pressing their guns against the
small of my back.
“Hey big boy, there’s no need to get so rough…” I said, but the guy just pressed his gun into me harder. Okay, apparently charm didn’t work on the big gorillas.
They threw us outside. I landed on top of Zach, our faces impossibly close. Our noses almost touched.
Zach pressed his hands into my hips before he got up, helping me to my feet. Without a word, we walked to the motorcycle and got on, driving away as fast as we could. It was only once we were out of harm’s way that it really dawned on me just how close to dying I had really come. Before I could stop myself, I slapped Zach upside the head. “You nearly got me killed!”
He came to a screeching halt on the side of a deserted backroad. “Did you really think I would let you go home with a creep like Ace?”
“Oh yeah, what would’ve happened if someone in there pulled the trigger?”
He turned and looked at me, his hands on my cheeks, a grin on his face. “You said you wanted an exciting night, didn’t you? Well, I don’t think it gets any more exciting than that.”
“You’re crazy.”
“And you love it.” Before I knew what was happening, his lips collided with mine. His hand was on my cheek, keeping my face locked with his.
He caught me by surprise and at first, I didn’t know how to react, but once those sweet, sweet lips started dancing on mine, I melted into him, my fingers tangling in his thick hair. Soon, I was addicted.
His tongue trailed along my bottom lip, asking for entrance into my mouth. Eagerly, I parted my lips and our tongues contorted in an erotic dance. His hand crept up my leg, getting dangerously close to my pussy. I thought he was going to tease me, just like he had been doing all night, but instead, his hand slid under the thin material of my thong, finding my wet slit.
I couldn’t believe that after everything that had happened, somehow, I was sexually charged, almost as if I was getting aroused by the adrenaline. Or maybe it was the pure testosterone rolling off this man, driving me absolutely crazy.
He slipped a finger inside me, pumping it in and out of me at a breakneck pace almost immediately. If anyone decided to drive up the road, it wouldn’t take much imagination to figure out what was going on.
As he continued, one of his hands reached back, revving the engine. Doing so caused the whole bike to vibrate underneath me, sending waves of euphoria running through my spine. I tilted my head back, moaning his name, my neck exposed.
He leaned forward, kissing my flesh, his lips sending electricity running through every part of my body, invigorating me like nothing else.
Now, this was the kind of excitement I was looking for.
***
I don’t know how we managed to get home, but soon enough, we were at my apartment building, already making out as he carried me up the stairs. It was almost painful to pull away from him as I grabbed the spare key from under the doormat and opened the door.
The second we were over the threshold, he nearly tackled me onto the couch, his body pinning mine in place. “You’ve been teasing me all night long…”
“Can you blame me?” I was unbuttoning his shirt, desperate to see him naked at this point. Once his shirt was across my living room, I ran my nails along his skin, leaving behind angry red lines.
His eyes blazed with lust and I knew I was turning him on.
Perfect.
He growled in my ear before he unzipped my dress, rolling it down slightly until my chest was on full display. Without hesitation, he took my breasts into his hands, kneading them roughly until my nipples were so hard, they could probably cut diamond.
Just when I thought things couldn’t get any better, he leaned down and took one of them into his mouth, sucking on it.
As my mind went numb with pleasure, he unzipped his pants, freeing his cock. I didn’t get a chance to see it, but I had a pretty good sense that it was considerably above average.
I tried to sneak my hand down and cop a feel, but he slapped my hand away before pinning it above my head. “You’re mine.” He growled before biting the side of my neck.
With his free hand, he pulled my thong to the side. I thought he was going to plunge into me right then and there, but instead, he continued to toy with me, one of his fingers running along my soaked little pussy.
I moaned, thrusting my hips into the air, craving his touch.
He gave me exactly what I wanted, his finger slipping inside me, hooking this way and that until I had my head tilted back in ecstasy.
“Don’t tease me like this…” I panted.
He tightened his grip on my wrists, maintaining complete control over me.
God, I loved it.
He added another finger, pumping the two of them fast and hard, my juices sloshing in and out of me, forming a puddle underneath. I would definitely need to power wash this couch if I ever wanted to get the security deposit back on this apartment.
But I didn’t have time to worry about such trifle matters as he took his fingers out of me and aligned his cock with my hole.
He locked eyes with me before thrusting forward as hard as he could. I screamed in pleasure, my whole body tensing as his massive member filled every inch of me. My toes curled. My pussy quivered, tightening around him, threatening to milk him for every last drop he had.
With a grunt, he started to fuck me – hard.
The couch started to creak with his efforts, but that didn’t stop him. He just went faster and I loved it. I begged for it.
Soon, it was too much for me to handle. His every touch, his every thrust, every last inch of him was driving me completely insane. I tried to hold back, to make the moment last forever, but he was just too good.
With pleasure washing over every part of my body, I screamed his name, climaxing for the first time that night… or well… morning at that point.
The sun was already shining through the curtains as Zach continued his relentless assault, going harder and harder and harder. He had the stamina of a porn star and by the looks of things, he was going to keep at it for a long, long time.
Not that I minded.
Hell, he could fuck me all day long if he wanted to. I wasn’t about to complain when things felt this good.
Chapter 6
ZACH
When I woke up, it took me a second to realize where I was. The bed I was lying in wasn’t my own. The covers were strangely purple in color when mine were usually black satin.
It was only when I started to move that I felt someone next to me. I turned my head slightly, a full head of blonde hair tickling my nose for a second. A scent of cherry blossoms wafted up to my nostrils and I smiled, pulling Brooke a little bit closer.
Our night together replayed in my mind. She had been good. No, good didn’t even come close to describing it. She had been amazing. Breathtaking. Stunning. No wonder I had gone a little overboard. She was no doubt going to be walking funny for days. Okay, maybe I’m tooting my own horn just a little bit, but I did fuck her good.
It took some effort for me to let her go, but I still had a job to do. I found my clothes scattered around the apartment. I put them on, smoothing away any of the wrinkles before I put on my bow tie in front of the mirror.
“You know, usually bowties look so stupid, but somehow, you manage to pull it off. Even make it seem sexy.” Brooke appeared behind me, helping me finish off my look by making sure the bowtie wasn’t crooked. She then wrapped her arms around me, kissing my neck. “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye? And then you say you’re not James Bond…”
I turned to face her. “The high stakes poker game starts in an hour.”
“Did we sleep through the whole day?”
“And night.” I grinned slightly. “It was one hell of a time.”
“You can say that again.” Brooke walked into the living room, grabbing her dress which was strewn across the coffee table. She started to put it on before I stopped her.
“You can’t go this time.”
�
�Why the hell not?”
“It’s too dangerous. Ace has his eye on you and if you were to come, he’s not going to let me leave with you again.”
She walked up to me, resting her hand on my chest. “Zach. After what you did last night, I trust you with my life. I know nothing will happen to me as long as you’re by my side.”
“I got lucky that time, but luck runs out and I can’t let you get hurt.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Tell me the truth. What’s the real reason you’re going after this guy?”
“It’s my job.”
Taming The Billionaire Page 24