“Thank God I make up for it in looks.” That got my arm removed real quick.
“So do you want to walk all the way down and then work our way back up? We can grab some food on the way if we get hungry.”
It sounded like a good plan so that was what we did. In every casino, Reese lost me right away, and when I got bored, I could always find her at the poker tables. Maybe she was addicted and didn’t know it. When I had to start carrying her chips for her because her pockets were too full, I realized the real reason. She was damn good at it.
“Why aren’t you cashing these in again?” My pockets were getting full, making my shorts weighty. I should have worn a belt.
“Because the chips are easier than a stack of cash.” Both seemed cumbersome. “What’s wrong with them? I like the chips. They have a feel to them.” Descriptive.
“I didn’t know you were so good.”
“Surprised me too. Want to get some food?” If she thought I wasn’t going to notice the subject change, she was so wrong. I’d save it for an opportune moment.
“Sure.” I followed her into one of the million themed restaurants on the Strip. The food wasn’t great, but it was no worse than the decor. We both ordered soda.
*
Two casinos later, I started to actually win at blackjack. The night had been terrible for me so far, so I was totally pleased with myself. I was debating quitting while I was ahead when my phone vibrated. It was a text from Reese with one word. GO.
“Shit, what time is it?” I asked the guy sitting next to me.
He looked at his watch. “Almost midnight.”
“Man, my girlfriend is going to kill me.” The excuse was automatic. I tipped the dealer and made a show of worrying about the girlfriend. That worked well because my hands were so sweaty I dropped my handful of chips twice before I got them in my pocket.
Thirty seconds later, I was out the door. I texted Reese. Where r u?
Walk to Bellagio. Im behind you. I turned toward the Bellagio. Ten seconds later, there was another text. Buy hat. In front of me was one of the many stands with everything from lighters shaped like women to beer T-shirts. I dug out a crumpled twenty and bought a Corona baseball hat. As I walked, I stuffed it into one of my cargo pockets. My hands were shaking. Maybe Reese was fucking with me.
When I got to the fountains in front of the Bellagio, I stopped in the middle of the sidewalk like every other person. It was a guaranteed crowd. I pretended to watch the water show. Where the fuck was she?
“Act normal.” Next to me, that’s where. Crouched down in the middle of the swarm of people. Reese wrestled the hat out of my pocket. She twisted her hair up and put the hat on. She was trying to disguise herself. So I unsnapped my shirt, slid it down my shoulders, and handed it to her. The girl caught on quick. She threw the shirt on and straightened.
“What’s going on?” My heart rate was through the roof. I’d probably hyperventilate.
“Someone recognized me.”
Yep, I was going to have a heart attack. “Who?”
“Just keep my face covered,” Reese said.
I slung my arm around her shoulders as if we were a normal couple. The move also obscured her face. “Can you see them?”
“To your left. Big guy. Unbuttoned white shirt.” Casually, I turned away from her. There he was. Except Reese didn’t mention the bulge under his left arm.
“He’s packing.”
Reese glanced around me. Her eyes filled with panic. I tried to look calm for her sake.
“Fuck. He’s coming over here.” She was right. The guy was walking directly toward us, but he was watching the street. Slowly, he turned his head in our direction. “He can’t see my face,” Reese whispered desperately.
I did the only thing I could think of. I kissed her.
It worked in the movies.
Reese just went with it, which was good because I was worried she might have chosen getting shot over kissing me. Apparently not. She twisted so we were facing each other and I put my arms around her shoulders. When she moaned into my mouth, I knew it wasn’t just for show. Her hips rocked into mine sending heat through my body. I swear, I knew fucking divinity in that moment.
Holding back was too much. I pressed past her lips with my tongue, searching her mouth. The hand gripping my shirt tightened. She pushed my tongue back, bit my lip, and sucked on it. Fuck. This time I moaned. Reese took that as an invitation to go further. She kissed me even harder, bruising my lips, cutting off my air. I was pretty sure I could survive without air as long as she didn’t stop. That was when she pulled away. We were both breathing hard and staring at each other. She was still close enough for my biceps to cover her face.
“Do you think he’s still here?” Reese whispered. I drew her into me so her face was tucked into my neck. The mass of people had dispersed. The water show was over. The guy who’d been following her was gone.
“He’s gone.” I released her.
“Are you sure?” We started walking back to the hotel. Neither of us saw him. For good measure, we ducked into a casino and left through a side entrance. After that, Reese pulled me across the street. We walked through two more casinos, a restaurant, and a hotel lobby before Reese seemed satisfied that we weren’t being followed. Vegas was great for losing a tail.
“So who the hell was that?” It took only a little nerve to ask.
“My uncle Vito.” Dude sounded like something out of The Godfather. “He’s not actually my uncle. Just kind of.”
“He in the mob or something?” I joked.
“Not really.” What the hell did that mean? She didn’t look like she was kidding. The silence that followed lasted us all the way to the room.
When we got there, I crossed to the windows. With my hands planted on the glass wall, I surveyed the Strip.
“We have a problem,” Reese said quietly. She leaned her shoulder against the window next to me.
“A problem?” A rough laugh pushed out of my constricted throat. “Just one?” Reese closed her eyes and hung her head. “Are you talking about Uncle Vito,” I spit out the name, “seeing you? Or how about the fact that you even have an Uncle Vito.” She flinched. “Or,” the jagged laugh escaped me again. “Or maybe.” I turned and locked eyes with her. “That I’ve never, in my life, been kissed like that.”
Reese’s delicate hand moved to my trembling arm, still propped against the glass. She rubbed it, only for a second. “The last one.” Then she pulled my arm down and spun me so my back was against the window. There was a pounding in my veins that made my hypersensitive clit ache.
I tried to push up to take control of the situation. Reese held me back with one palm against my chest. She opened the button fly of my shorts and they fell to my ankles with a shower of colorful clay chips. Those slate brown eyes never left mine. My tank top was forced up and over my head. Deft fingers slid under the elastic of my boxer briefs and dropped those too. I was naked, fucking wet, swollen, and so ready I thought I was going to die. This was not how it was supposed to happen. I was supposed to be in charge. I always was.
“Reese.” She wasn’t even touching me. Just staring. “Take off your clothes.” Even with my forceful tone, it was a pathetic attempt to regain control.
“Don’t talk. Don’t move. Don’t fucking breathe unless I tell you to.” She planted one hand next to my head and slid the other between my legs. Holy fuck, that felt good. I started to double over from either pleasure or pain. I couldn’t tell which. Reese grabbed a handful of my hair and held me in place. “Watch me.” So I did.
I watched her tits sway as she circled my clit. I watched her bite her lip and I could tell holding back was killing her. When I begged her to fuck me harder, I watched the grin twitch at the corner of her mouth as she slowed down. Her eyes went liquid when she fucking finally pushed inside me. The muscles in her arm tensed with each thrust into me. Something resembling words flowed from my mouth as I cried, screamed, begged for release.
&n
bsp; I didn’t think. I didn’t think about Ryan. I didn’t think about the fourteen years of hell I’d put Reese through. I didn’t think about the cruelty in her eyes, ’cause right then it was gone. No anger. Just this.
Reese didn’t kiss me until that last second, the moment when I contracted around her fingers deep inside and stiffened. That was when her lips descended and let me know, this wasn’t fucking; it was way beyond that.
I slid to the floor, all strength gone. She followed still kissing me, still inside me, but unable to hold me up. I looked at her and couldn’t see a trace of her twin in the look on her face. Slowly, carefully, Reese extracted her hand. Just to make me crazy, she licked her fingers.
Roughly, I wrenched her shirts over her head, pushed her to the ground, and dragged off her shorts. “Now I’m in charge.”
“Whatever you want to think, sweetheart.” The last word came out a taunting drawl.
I gripped behind her knees and yanked her closer. Reese reached back and linked her hands behind her head like she was about to take a nap. I dipped my head between her thighs and blew lightly across her engorged clit. Her hips jumped so hard I laughed. When I looked at her, she had her hands over her eyes and her jaw was clenched.
“Watch me,” I demanded. Reese dropped her hands and propped herself up on her elbows. She was looking at me with unadulterated need. When I licked the length of her clit, she didn’t drop her gaze. It wasn’t until I drove my tongue inside her that she moaned and dropped her head back. I stopped.
Her head snapped up. “Fuck, Coop. Please.”
Fast enough to make her gasp, I moved up the length of her body, hovering, aching to press against the naked flesh under me. “I told you to watch me.”
“Okay,” she whimpered. My mouth dropped to her fantastic nipples. I alternated sucking on them until she was writhing and pleading, until I couldn’t hang on any longer. That was when I pressed inside her cunt, pushing hard until she screamed my name. With each thrust, we slid across the floor. And then we were up against the glass again. Reese reached back and braced her hands. Her hips were in the air fucking my fingers. I couldn’t even feel my arm anymore, just a mass of overworked muscle that ended inside of Reese DiGiovanni.
One of her hands left the window and curled around my head. She pulled me against her as she came. Our foreheads pressed together, slick with sweat, as we stared into each other’s eyes.
*
At six a.m., we should have been sleeping. My back was propped against the flamboyant, padded headboard and Reese was in my lap gyrating against my hand. Moisture dripped between my fingers and landed with surprising accuracy on my already wet clit. Every time she rocked forward, our matching necklaces tapped against each other with a metallic ring.
“Fucking kiss me,” Reese said.
With my free hand, I cupped behind her neck and drew her mouth to mine. I sucked her lip into my mouth savoring the taste of her flesh. Her slim fingers worked my nipples. They were going to hurt like a bitch later. Fuck it. I didn’t care.
Reese’s phone rang.
“Ignore it,” I said.
“Just don’t stop.” The rhythm of her hips picked up. I curled my fingers forward urging Reese to come. The phone rang again. “Fuck, fucking, fuck.” Reese grabbed the phone and opened it. She stopped thrusting into my hand, except for an involuntary twitch when I put my thumb to her clit. She grabbed my wrist as if that would stop me.
“Don’t do it.” I punctuated my second warning with a slow thrust into her.
“What?” she answered the phone. I could hear Ryan’s voice. I was so screwed. “What the fuck do you think I’m doing?” Just to mess with her, I started to work my hand faster again. Her jaw clenched. “That’s fine just—” I thrust into her pussy hard. Reese slammed the phone into the headboard and screamed as she came. Then she slumped forward against me breathing raggedly. She slowly brought the phone back to her ear. “Sorry, Ryan, what was that?” I grinned at her. “Yeah, guess I dozed off. No, that’s fine. Okay, see you then.” She closed the phone and tossed it behind her.
“Who was that?” I asked innocently.
“Bitch, I’m going to make you pay.” The threat made my stomach drop with wanting.
“I told you to ignore it.”
“Ignore this.” Reese moved back, pushed my legs apart, and sucked my clit into her mouth. Bitch.
*
Reese and I slept until the afternoon. When I woke up, she was on top of me, one bare thigh between mine, her hand resting on my hip, with her hair spread across my chest.
“Babe.” I rubbed up and down her naked back. “Hey, peanut butter.”
She opened her eyes then closed them. “Morning.” She yawned.
“It’s afternoon.”
“Good afternoon, then.” Her eyes were still closed.
“When’s Ryan coming back?” I was getting a little worried. Partially for his sake, but mostly for mine. If he came in and found us like this, I would be dead.
“Tomorrow.”
“He’s gonna kill me.” I played with her velvety hair. It was never a good idea to sleep with your friend’s sister.
“Me too,” she murmured into my chest.
“Why’s he gonna kill you?”
“Because of you.” Reese opened her eyes again and raised her head to look at me. “I slept with his best friend.” She smirked. “Of course, he’ll probably kill you first.”
“Great. I feel much better now.”
“Let’s get some food.”
Food sounded way better than my imminent death so I agreed. We settled into coffee and croissants, almost wearing clothes, and looking everywhere except at each other. I was chillin’ in my boxer briefs and a ribbed tank top. Reese was wearing my western shirt with not a thing under it, and I knew I’d never be able to wear it again.
“Are we going to talk about it?” Reese set her coffee cup down.
My pulse jumped. “Shit, I don’t know.” I was already sweating. I’d never done the morning after what-did-it-mean talk, and I told her as much.
“So we just ignore it? Pretend it never happened because Cooper doesn’t like talking?”
“That’s not what I said. I’m just no good at talking.” There was never a girl I wanted to talk to either. Not like Reese.
“Learn fast.” That tone was all bad.
“What do you want me to say?” At a loss, I shrugged dramatically. “I don’t know what we should do. Do you?”
“No, that’s why we’re supposed to talk. You know, figure it out together,” she said in that condescending voice of hers. Why was she so infuriating? In sixty seconds, I’d gone from the euphoria only inspired by a night of screwing to absolute revulsion.
“You seem to know everything,” I said. “You talk.”
“Okay, fine.” The pouty lips were kind of sexy. “This will devastate my brother.”
“Yep.” That I agreed with.
“We both love my brother.”
“More than anyone in the world.” It was true. “Except my parents, maybe.”
“Same here.”
“So?” We already knew all of this. I didn’t know why she was reviewing. “You want to act like nothing happened to spare him or something?” What a stupid idea. Ryan would understand. He would be pissed, but he would understand.
“Is that what you want?”
“What do you think?” It would have been a good idea to say what I actually felt. Those words just weren’t popping into my head at the moment.
“I think that you don’t give a fuck. And if I’m right then we should just pretend it never happened. I’m not willing to sacrifice my brother for you.” Damned if she wasn’t ice through that little speech. The girl didn’t break a sweat, shed a tear, or look anywhere except at me.
“Then fucking don’t, buttercup.” I stood.
“So that’s settled then?” I shrugged, clueless about what just happened. “We just ignore it? It never happened? It won’t hap
pen again?”
It felt like getting punched. Repeatedly. In the face. “You make the rules. I just live by them.” With that, I left her sitting on the couch. I needed a shower. If I had to walk around all day smelling like Reese’s sex, I would kill myself.
“We probably shouldn’t leave the room either,” Reese called before I shut the door.
“Why not?” I was never going to get out alive.
“Uncle Vito.” She didn’t need to explain.
“Uncle Vito.” I slammed the door laughing in a scared, heartless way.
Chapter Thirteen
By the early evening, I was bored and tired of the silence that felt like fighting so I decided to make a stab at conversation. It couldn’t be any worse than what we were already doing.
“So why is Ryan staying in the city another night?” I was at the bar pouring a scotch for myself so my back was to her. Reese was on the couch reading. The girl was still wearing only my western shirt, which I found infuriating and totally sexy. It was those muscled thighs, perfect for wrapping her legs around my hips.
She put her finger in her book and closed it. “He’s looking for a place to sell some of the bars.” What the hell was she talking about? Oh yeah. Ryan. “When we go back for the passports, he wants to sell a couple of them.”
“That’s a good idea, actually.” I turned and propped my back against the bar feigning indifference. “We should’ve thought of it before.”
Reese nodded. “If we don’t get rid of some of them, we’ll be in trouble. They’re too hard to move.”
“We should probably do the same, you know? Try and find a place to sell them.” Gambling, drinking, and screwing were fun so it made it easy to forget what we were supposed to be doing. That was the plan. Sell some gold in the States; take the rest to Mexico. And then…something.
“Ideas?”
“Do you think the phone book has a section titled Selling Gold Bars?” That sure would make it easier. Reese smiled at my joke, a definite improvement.
“Why don’t you check on that?”
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