In Too Deep: A Romantic Suspense Novel

by Landish, Lauren

  Mark pulled through the gate and let it close behind us, then opened his window. "Yes, but only a minute. We do have to hit the road."

  "Rumors are swirling that you're leaving the city permanently. Is there any truth to that?"

  "Well, financially I'm always going to be here," Mark replied, pitching his voice in the Marcus Smiley persona. "You guys will get some more information on that soon. As for where Miss Warbird and I will live, well, we're exploring our options. We were thinking maybe Hawaii, maybe the West Coast, maybe overseas. But yes, we've both decided as great as this city is, it's not the place for us to get married and raise a family."

  "Does that mean you two are going to tie the knot soon?" another reporter hollered. "What about kids?"

  "No comment," Mark said, smirking. "But maybe you all can get some honeymoon photos. Thanks guys, you've been pretty wonderful and respectful. Take care."

  Rolling up the window, we crept along until the last cameraman was clear before driving down the street and towards the highway. As Mark drove, he had a strange little smile on his face. "What?" I asked, unable to resist smiling myself. "Why are you smiling?"

  "Just thinking about what that reporter asked as we were leaving," Mark said, turning and getting on the Interstate. "What about it?"

  "What about what?" I said. I knew the plan at this point, we were going to head north and cross the Canadian border, then sell the car before crossing back over under our new identities. It'd be a supposed disappearing celebrity mystery, made even more weird as we had booked flights to five different international locations along with a yacht. The tickets would be used, but not by us. It was an elaborate scheme, but we hoped it would let Marcus Smiley disappear.

  "Getting married. When we cross back over, we can stop off in Las Vegas, get married if you want. It'd be pushing the schedule, but I think it could work."

  I grinned and nodded. "Why the hell not? Think you can charter us a plane to get us to Vegas in time?"

  "Of course I can," Mark replied, giving me another smile. "But first we're going to need to get some haircuts and stuff."

  "No, first we need to get to Canada."

  * * *

  The famous Las Vegas strip was amazing, even more than all the times I'd seen it on TV. Flying in on a Lear jet, I felt giddy as I looked over at Mark. Excuse me, at Mathew Mark Bylur, originally of Phoenix, Arizona. I had laughed when he had told me what his name meant.

  "Bylur is an Icelandic word, it means severe snowstorm," he told me as he handed me my new American passport. It had been brought over the border three days prior by an associate of Mark's, who then snuck back over the border after dropping it off in a train station coin locker in Toronto. "You think it works?"

  "I think I'll come to adore it," I said. "I think Joanna Bylur has a certain charm to it."

  After living my entire life as Sophie, first Sophie White then Sophie Warbird, I was now Joanna Smith, at least for the next two days. I'd stopped asking Mark how he was able to get such good fake identification papers, but I knew it involved hacking a lot of government databases. I'd done a search using the plane's WiFi while we flew, and I had a complete credit history, records from the University of Washington saying I graduated with a degree in sociology, as well as a Tinder account. I didn't even want to know how much it had cost.

  "In any case, we'll be landing soon," Mark said, patting my knee. "Then we have to check in at the chapel, they'll have us sign the basic paperwork, and the ceremony is tomorrow."

  "Did you book the one with the Elvis impersonators?" I said with a laugh.

  "No, another one that actually looks a little bit classy," he said. "It's still on the strip though, and we'll be within walking distance of our hotel."

  "But we're still getting married in shorts and tank tops, right?" I asked. It was my only insistence about the whole deal. I’d dreamed as a little girl about my perfect wedding and my traditional wedding dress, but now all I wanted was Mark. None of the other stuff mattered, and I wanted this to be fun.

  "Of course. I told the chapel in an e-mail, and they replied that they would be fine with it. Even offered to have the preacher and organ player in Hawaiian shirts if we wanted."

  "What did you say?"

  The plane banked, and we started our final descent into the Las Vegas airport. "I told them we'd tell them when we get there today," Mark replied. "I'd leave it up to you."

  After landing and getting our bags, we took a taxi to our hotel. Mark had been able to book us a room at the Bellagio, and I was absolutely blown away as we made our way through the luxurious lobby, past the casino and to the reception desk. I almost forgot to respond when the clerk called my name, and had to have Mark jostle my arm. "Sorry," I said apologetically as I handed over my driver's license. "First time in Vegas."

  "No problem, Miss Smith," the clerk replied. "It happens all the time. Okay, well, here are your room keys, and we've included complimentary tickets to the buffet as well. There's a map inside your guest packet if you need help finding it. Enjoy your stay."

  Up in the hotel room, I stared, transfixed at the sights outside our room. "It's amazing," I said as I watched the lights and the cars far below. "I can see why people become enchanted with this place."

  "It is," Mark replied, coming up behind me and giving me a hug. "But I see something even more enchanting."

  I smiled, resting my head against the glass while Mark held me from behind, his hand rubbing my belly. "Mark?"

  "Yes babe?"

  "I know it'll be tough, but tonight, can we not have sex?" I asked him, entwining my fingers with his. "I just.... I dunno, I want to save it for tomorrow after the ceremony."

  Mark kissed the back of my neck, and let go. "Of course. Just don't mind me if I have to take a very cold shower tonight. Say, are you ready to go to the chapel?"

  "Yeah, let's go."

  The pre-wedding part was easy, and the chapel staff was actually pretty nice. Walking back to the hotel, I stopped when I saw a pharmacy. "Hold on," I said, pulling him inside. Once there, I went over to the pregnancy test aisles, picking one up. "A wedding gift for both of us."

  "You want to open it tonight or tomorrow?" Mark asked as I paid for the test and put it in the backpack I was using as a purse. It felt strange and comfortable, not using something from Gucci or Dolce Gabbana for a purse again. I was going to enjoy being Joanna Bylur.

  "Tomorrow, after the ceremony. Come on, let's get back. I've never played poker before for real money, and wanted to try. Don't worry, I'm going to keep to a very strict budget. I walk away if we win more than two thousand, or lose more than two hundred."

  "That won't take long either way," Mark said as we walked. "The Bellagio tables are some of the biggest in the world. Have you ever played before?"

  "Just online against computers," I said. "But hey, I'm on my honeymoon. Why not live a little?"

  Chapter 50

  Mark

  As it turned out, Sophie was a better poker player than I'd expected, or perhaps just a luckier one. Using the Texas Hold 'Em tables, she walked away with four thousand dollars in her pocket and another comped meal from the pit boss after just an hour of play. The last hand, she'd gone all in with two other players when she had just over thirteen hundred dollars. The final two cards had given her a full house, beating both other players and pushing her over her limit. I was more impressed however as Sophie calmly cashed out and walked away after the hand, despite being on a hot streak, and we went to dinner at Le Cirque.

  The next morning neither of us could eat much, nerves prompting both of us to skip the buffet. Instead, we made our way down to the chapel early, arriving a good forty five minutes earlier than we had to for our ceremony check in. The staff who greeted us laughed and showed us to the garden. "We get this every day," she told us as she left. "I'd much rather have that than the ones who get sudden jitters and don't show up until five minutes late or something. Those are a pain. I'll bring you two some iced tea. Enjoy." />
  As it was, we ended up doing more than enjoying, as the couple before us, two kids from California who were most definitely eloping, didn't have witnesses. While Nevada law said that the staff could witness, the kids didn't have the extra money for the staff, so Sophie and I agreed to stand in for free. It was sweet to watch, and helped us calm down.

  Our ceremony, I can barely remember, which tells you just how dumbstruck I was by the whole thing. I remember that the organ player had a kind of jazzy sound to his playing, and that the minister was balding, and slightly overweight. Things didn't really start to speed up again until we got into the limo, and I was sitting there with the wedding certificate in my hand. "Mathew Marcus Bylur and Joanna Bylur. I still can't believe it."

  "Well, believe it," Sophie said. "Tabby is going to be so flipped out when we show her the pictures."

  "There were pictures?"

  Sophie looked over at me and laughed. "Yes there were, Mr. I Notice Almost Everything Around Me. You have been looking a little dopey, you sure your mind is right?"

  I blinked and nodded. "Yeah, it's just that I still feel blown away by all this. So what's next?"

  Sophie slid across the seat and into my lap, giving me a very nice view of her breasts underneath her tank top. "Next, my sexy husband, I'm taking you back to our hotel room and doing what Tabby told me I needed to do. She told me that at least once I needed to rock your world, and I think this is the perfect occasion to do so."

  For the rest of the short ride back to the hotel, Sophie and I kissed and made out in the back of the limo, an experience I hadn't done in a very long time, although this time it was much more meaningful than the last. Getting out, we rushed through the lobby to our room. Shutting the door and locking it, Sophie took two steps and launched herself into a full on flying leap, crashing into the bed with an explosion of giggles. Her short, now nearly black hair was the only thing that stopped it from being perfect, as I kind of wished I could have seen her do the same thing with her old purple locks. Ah well, it was still funny, sexy, and just everything that made Sophie perfect to me.

  "You going to join me or just stare?" she asked as she posed with her legs in the air, arms open for me.

  "If I jump on the bed like that, I'll break the damn thing," I said, pulling my tank top up and over my head. "But I am more than happy to join you."

  Coming over to the bed, I took Sophie's feet in my hands. I pretended to consider which foot to work over first before setting her right leg aside and untying her left shoe, pulling it off along with her sock. I was pleasantly surprised as I saw her toenails were painted a dark, lustrous purple. "I knew you were missing the color."

  Rubbing my thumbs up and down the sole of her foot, I brought her foot up to my lips and kissed each one, smiling in between. "I have, but the color isn't as important as the rest of you," I said, kneading her foot until Sophie was groaning in appreciation. "I think I might make foot massages a staple of our marriage."

  "I can get used to that," Sophie replied, her words slurring slightly as I worked up her calf muscle. There were quite a few knots in the shapely muscle, and I wondered just how hard she'd been pushing her workouts. "Oh God that feels good. I thought I was supposed to be rocking your world."

  "You do with every touch, every kiss, and every time you say you love me," I replied, setting her left leg down on the mattress. I picked up her right foot and took off her shoe and sock, before playfully teasing a puff ball of fuzz out from between two of her toes and blowing them off.

  Laying her leg to the side, I backed up, then lowered my face to Sophie's thighs, kissing each of them chastely before kissing higher and more intimately. Finding the waistband of her shorts, I pulled, and was surprised by what I found. Sophie, who had always just neatly trimmed our entire relationship, had shaved herself totally bare. The skin was so smooth and fresh she must have done it just the night before, or maybe that morning before our ceremony. "Wha...?"

  “You don't mind?"

  "Not at all," I said, kissing the soft skin on the inside of her thigh. Sophie trembled, and I could see her breath catch in anticipation of what I was going to do. "May I?"

  "Yes, of course..... my husband," she said, the words causing both of us to shiver in happiness. Her hand came down to stroke through my hair, and I kissed her thighs again, pushing them apart just a bit to keep her tender skin from the slight roughness of my cheeks. Reaching out with my tongue, I traced the silky soft skin of her outer lips, reveling in the taste.

  Licking up and down her outer lips, I slowly darted my tongue inside, listening as Sophie's breathy moans guided me in my caresses. Her sticky juices coated my tongue, a flavor that I will never get enough of regardless of whether I live to a thousand years old. Reaching deeper, I found her entrance and licked as deeply as I could, feasting on her nectar until it ran down my lips. Sophie groaned deeply, her hands pulling me into her before tensing and pulling me higher, toward what I knew she wanted.

  I withdrew my tongue with only a momentary flicker of regret, longing for more of her perfect essence before licking higher, searching for the tender button of her clit. It lay there at the top of her labia like a perfect round little pink ruby, shyly poking out from between the coral pink petals of her labia, wanting my attention. I kissed it first, my lips causing Sophie to cry out with a gasp. I traced around the nub with the tip of my tongue before flicking my tongue over it, her gasp becoming a sharp cry of pleasure. Her fingers tightening almost painfully in my hair, and she bucked into my tongue, nearly losing control. I repeated the flicks, my tongue barely brushing over the tip of her clit over and over, before I started circling again, this time my tongue dragging against her clit with every circle.

  I felt Sophie's fists tighten again, and her pull went all the way to totally painful as her hips lifted off the bed, and her cries reached a fever pitch. Her thighs clamped around my head as her orgasm washed over her, and I rode out the pain, even as the blood thundered in my ears and I could feel my hair being literally torn out of my scalp. Finally, Sophie's hands relaxed, and her legs fell to the side, her body sated momentarily. "Holy shit."

  "I aim to please," I said, kissing her belly button before slowly moving next to her on the bed. Sophie is very sensitive after an orgasm, to the point that anything more than holding her hand can be painful to her, and it takes her a few moments to recover. I lay there, holding her hand as she clasped it in between her breasts, taking deep breaths and staring at the ceiling.

  Finally, she turned her head to look me in the eyes, a single tear falling from her right eye to trickle down her cheek. "You're amazing."

  "I just love you," I said. "That's all."

  Sophie snorted and looked at the ceiling. "That's all."

  We lay there for another few moments before she turned on her side and kissed me. "And I love you with all my heart. And with all my body, too."

  Sophie's eyes glimmered with a kittenish sparkle that I knew so well, and was so happy to see. Reaching down, the nimble fingers of her right hand quickly unsnapped the button on my shorts and reached inside, finding my semi-hard cock. "What, you lost interest?" she teased, stroking me with her hand. "I've heard that happens in marriage."

  "No way, ever," I semi-replied. I know I wasn't that coherent, but I had the most beautiful woman I'd ever known smiling at me with a seductive look that was hot enough to melt titanium and stroking my cock right after I'd given her a pretty good climax. The only reason I was only half hard was because I had been so into using my tongue that my attention had wandered from my cock to my wife. As it was, I was raging hard again before I could answer, and I was pushing painfully against the constriction of my shorts. Worst of all, I had chosen shorts with a button fly, which meant that it took Sophie an extra ten seconds to get my shorts off, since she used just her right hand while her lips made little kisses on my jaw and neck that felt like they barely touched my skin, but each one of them left a trail of fire behind it.

  Kissing her wa
y down my chest, Sophie let her movement drag her t-shirt up, although I must admit I helped by pulling on it from the back. When it was all the way under her armpits she sat up to quickly pull it over her head, giving me an amazing look of her body. Grinning, she shook her head, letting her breasts sway from side to side in front of me. "You're never going to get tired of these, are you?"

  "Never," I said, pulling her back down into a kiss. Rolling to the side, I cupped her left breast as we kissed, my thumb running over her nipple while our tongues darted and swept around each other, kissing. I found one of the nice advantages of Sophie having short hair, as stroking and caressing her face was easier by far.

  Suddenly, I felt something that caused me to break our kiss, surprised. Using her thighs, Sophie had trapped me between her legs, wrapping my cock in a warm, smooth, strong vise that felt nearly as good as being inside her. Sophie grinned and leaned forward, biting my lower lip gently while she squeezed her thighs around my cock, growling sexily.

  Our lovemaking took on a feral quality, and Sophie dragged her fingernails down my back, both of us gasping in the mix of pain and pleasure. We wrestled around on the bed, both of us highly trained in martial arts, both of us in top shape. Still, we were making love, not fighting, and I had a nearly seventy pound weight advantage. Also, Sophie couldn't use her legs, keeping her thighs clamped around my cock with delicious results. I was hard and oozing precum, creating enough lubrication that I was actually thrusting in between her legs as we moved. Stopping, I used my strength to pin Sophie to the bed, her wrists held in my left hand above the bed. Sophie struggled for a moment, then relaxed, surrendering to me. Her thighs unclenched, and her knees splayed open, letting me in between. "You are mine," I growled, kissing her fiercely. "Forever."

  "Forever," she said, pulling her legs up. I could feel the hot, wet entrance to her pussy, as she angled her hips to give herself fully to me.

  I let go of her hands to pull her on top of me, reversing our positions.