Hustler

by Meghan Quinn

  Straightening myself I ask, “And why the fuck not?”

  “Because you lost that privilege the moment I walked out of your villa!”

  Gripping the back of my neck, I prepare myself for the grovel of the century.

  “What if I told you I was scared, that I had no clue what I wanted until I lost it, that the last few days without you have been so fucking miserable that I haven’t been able to sleep because you’re not next to me, pressed up against my side.”

  Her shoulders relax just slightly as she shifts in place, arms crossed over her chest, head tilted to the side. “I’d say you can keep saying things like that,” she replies, her voice full of the sass I’ve fallen so in love with.

  Yup, she isn’t making this easy on me at all.

  Sighing, I take a deep breath, ready to pour it all out on the table for her.

  I take her hands in mine and look her straight in the eyes. “For the longest time, ever since I can remember, poker has been what my life’s been about. I haven’t known anything else. My father taught me everything I know. Hell, it’s the only thing he ever taught me, and I used that to my advantage to get to where I am today, but slowly as time ticked by, I started to realize the game was no longer fun. It no longer challenged me, it was just something I did to kill the time. And then you came along…”

  I bring her hands up to my lips and kiss her knuckles softly.

  “At first, you were a nut I had to crack, I had to get inside you because everything about you is alluring, tempting, fucking heavenly. I needed a taste. I couldn’t have possibly known you’d put up such a goddamned fight, challenging me in a way that I’ve never experienced before, and just like that, I became addicted. I became addicted to our little cat and mouse game, to our push and pull. You thrill me, excite me, you question everything I do, but at the same time, you make me feel so fucking full, it amazes me.”

  I kiss her again, pulling her in closer and she actually allows me to. Thank fucking God.

  “Then you let me behind that tough exterior of yours, you let down your walls and gave yourself over. I remember the first night I sank into you. In my bed, the moon shining down on us. Fuck, Penelope, it was the single most fulfilling moment of my entire life. More fulfilling than any poker win. Knowing I was a part of you, that I’d finally earned you. That was what fueled me, that’s what has been fueling me ever since. I may have lost my way, I may have lost my head when approached by my past but that’s exactly what it is now, my past. You’re my future.”

  Releasing her hands, I bring mine up to her face where I cup her cheeks gently and stroke my thumbs against her soft skin. Her lips part and her eyes sparkle up at me. I have her where I want her, seconds from falling over. There is just one more thing I have to say to her before I win the biggest fucking bet in my life.

  “Everything about you, from your determination, your soft soul, your fiery spirit, and your sassy mouth turns me on and eats me alive. You’re a part of me, Penelope. You’re in my blood. I’m so fucking yours, I would do anything to have you in my life, even walk out on a poker game just so I can see you perform.” This is it, I let my nerves settle in my stomach and I speak softly as the words pour out of me. “I love you, Penelope. I love you so fucking much. Please say you forgive me, please let me be the man you need, the man I want to be. Let me be the man who gets to love you and claim you as his.”

  Her eyes well up with tears and her hands grip my arms. Through my suit jacket I can feel the burn of her touch, scorching through me. Fuck, I need her to forgive me. I need it more than air.

  I wait with bated breath. Her eyes search mine for answers and just when I think she’s going to pull away, her lips part and she smiles.

  “Your eyes are so dark, I can never read them,” she says in a whisper. I can barely hear her over the music playing in the background. “I’ve never been able to tell if you’ve been bluffing when it came to me, but right here, right now, there’s a spark in them, a spark I’ve seen maybe a few times at a glance. But it’s there now. It hasn’t gone away.” Standing on her tippy toes, she kisses me lightly on the lips.

  “That’s because I’m ready to be the man you need in your life. Someone to love you unconditionally and to compromise with you to make sure you’re happy, just like your parents.”

  Bonus material right there, remembering what she said when she walked out on me. And it’s not a lie, I will do anything to make her happy.

  “God, I love you so much,” she says right before her lips take mine and we get lost in each other’s mouths.

  Our tongues tangle, our hands wander and heat starts to build up between us. I press her up against the wall, lifting her so her legs wrap around my waist. With her positioned tightly against the wall, I place my hands on either side of her head and drive my tongue into her mouth relentlessly, soaking up every last bit of her.

  My cock is hard, my breaths are erratic and I need to be inside of her, this very minute, to make sure she’s mine. To make sure this isn’t some fleeting feeling. That this is real, that everything about this is a dream I never expected, nor thought would come true.

  “I need to be inside of you,” I say huskily against her lips. “How do you take this costume off?”

  “Not here,” she whispers.

  “Yes, fucking here. So either tell me how this costume comes off or expect me to rip it in two seconds.”

  “Gavin…”

  “I’m not a fucking patient man, Penelope, you should know that by now. I just told you I love you. I need inside you, so take off the fucking costume… now.” I grit out.

  “Zipper is in the back,” she answers breathlessly.

  Dropping her to the floor for a second, I turn her around, find the zipper and undo it quickly. She steps out of it and without even thinking twice, I grip the string of her thong and rip it apart, making quick work to shove the broken scrap of fabric in my pocket.

  “Pull me out,” I demand, speaking closely to her ear. “And grab a condom from my wallet, you have about three seconds.”

  Working quickly, she undoes my pants, grabs a condom from my wallet and sheathes my aching, hardened length. Before she even has time to stand. I lift her up and replicate the position we were in only mere seconds ago. Instead of placing my hands on the wall, I hold onto her legs and with one thrust, I enter her.

  Every nerve ending in my body sets on fire as I pound into her, not giving her a moment to adjust and by the moans coming from her beautiful mouth, it doesn’t sound like she needs any time.

  Her head moves forward as her lips kiss along my neck up to my ear where her teeth nibble on my lobe, pulling on it with each thrust of my hips. Her moans slide through her teeth straight into my ear, turning my steady motion into a crazed frenzy. There’s no holding back, I pound into her over and over until I can feel her start to constrict around me.

  “Oh God!” she moans into my ear. “I’m coming, Gavin.”

  And just like that, my balls tighten, my legs go numb, the spiraling tension in my core unravels and I come so fucking hard inside her.

  “Shit… Penelope,” I moan, thankful for the loud music playing around us.

  We stay still for a few moments, basking in our connection. I move so I can look her in her eyes, which are glazed over from lust… from love. “Fuck, I love you.”

  She giggles as she looks at me.

  “What’s so funny about that?” I ask, feeling a little sensitive to my new confession.

  “You have one of my jewels resting between your eyes. I fuck-dazzled you.”

  Not even caring that there’s a jewel resting on my face. I kiss her on the nose. “If it makes you happy, I’ll let you fuck-dazzle me every day for the rest of my life.”

  “I might have to take you up on that offer,” she winks.

  I would be damned if I ever said no to this woman now. She owns me in every way possible. Who knew the biggest game of my career was going to involve a cheeky cocktail waitress turned love
of my fucking life.

  Epilogue

  Two Weeks Later

  **NELL**

  My body is completely exhausted as I make my way from the elevator to Gavin’s—well, now our—villa, seeing as I moved in with him the moment we got back together. The morning after my first performance, Page pulled me down on the couch and forced me to watch the DVRed poker game Gavin had played in with Harley St. James. It wasn’t necessarily my idea of fun, but watching the man I love, the man who could read anyone’s tells, call it a loss while he held three of a kind, aces high, just so he could get to me, made me fall for him even more. Since then, things have been pure bliss. Don’t get me wrong, I can’t say there haven’t been bumps in the road. I mean, I’m me and he’s Gavin so it’s a guarantee we’re going to butt heads, but the making up is so worth it.

  Fact of the matter is, I’m happy. I’m performing for La Magie three nights a week, doing what I love. I’m shacking up with the man of my dream. And thanks to finally swallowing my pride and admitting I needed someone to lean on, Gavin’s stepped up in order to help my parents. They fought him at first, but once he informed them that he had every intention of being in my life long term, and he couldn’t stand seeing me worry about their wellbeing, they accepted his help in the form of covering any and all medical expenses. He even bought Mom a new, top of the line truck to get her to and from work. I still miss them like crazy, but thanks to having Gavin in my life, I’m looking forward to being able to travel to see them. As a matter of fact, I’m taking him to Tennessee at the end of the month to officially meet the parents. I can’t wait to see how he handles that. It’s foreign territory for him, considering I’m his first serious girlfriend, so I imagine it’ll be quite hilarious.

  The other major change that’s taken place over the past two weeks: Gavin’s officially out of the poker game. After his intentional loss, he announced he was done playing cards—which didn’t make Harley too happy, considering he knew Gavin had the winning hand. Instead of being paid under the table to watch the cameras, Gavin is now officially on Hotel Paragon’s payroll. He still drinks whiskey while watching the cameras, and he still gives Graham shit on a regular basis, but now he does it with a 401K and medical benefits. And he seems really happy about it.

  “Mmm,” I hum as Gavin rests his hand on the small of my back, reaching his other hand into his pocket and pulling out his key. “Tonight’s show was exhausting,” I yawn. The back to back performances after three years of inconsistent exercise are wreaking havoc on my poor muscles, but I wouldn’t change it for the world. “I’m looking forward to soaking in a nice, hot bath, crawling into bed, and passing out. You can take full advantage of my unconscious body, just as long as you don’t expect me to be mentally present while you’re doing it.”

  His low warm chuckles sweeps over my body like a gentle caress. “How could I possibly turn down such an enticing offer?”

  “You can’t,” I tease back, poking him in the stomach. “You know you can’t resist my body.”

  “You’ve got that fucking right,” he growls in my ear, nipping my lobe and sending tingles down my spine. Maybe I’ll be more mentally present than I thought. “Unfortunately, taking advantage of your sexy as hell body will have to wait.”

  “What?” I ask, looking at him over my shoulder as he inserts the card in the lock. “Why?”

  A wicked grin takes over his face as he shoves the door to the villa open.

  “SURPRISE!”

  I jump back and let out a startled yelp at the sight of everyone crowded in our villa, streamers and balloons seemingly covering every available surface. “Happy birthday, baby,” Gavin leans in and whispers in my ear at the same time tears begin to well in my eyes. He threw me a surprise birthday party. This hard, alpha man actually took the time to plan and execute a birthday party.

  Turning to face him, I wrap my arms around his waist and bury my face in his chest. “I love you,” I whisper, breathing in his intoxicating scent.

  “I love you too, baby.”

  Once I’m no longer at risk of crying, I move out of his chest and allow him to lead me into our home and to our waiting friends. Everyone I care about is here. Page, Davies, Scott, Graham, even Nick is present, along with some friends I’ve made from the show, all of them holding noisemakers as they smile and shout happy birthday.

  “Oh, my sweet baby girl. You look so beautiful!” At the sound of her voice, I yank out of Scott’s hug and shoot around, tears instantly filling my vision.

  “Momma!” I yell, rushing over to where her and my dad are standing. “Oh my God!” Launching myself at them, they both catch me in a hug, squeezing so tightly the air pushes from my lungs, but I don’t care. My parents are here. My parents!

  “What are you doing here?” I ask, pulling back so I can take the sight of them in. “Oh my God, I’m so glad you’re here!” I cry, happy tears running down my cheeks. “But… how?”

  “Well,” Dad starts. “That man of yours must really love you. He flew us in early this morning and put us up in a swanky hotel room. This place is fancy, peanut.” Dad grins. “He even got us tickets to your show tonight,” my mom adds. “You were stunning, sweetheart. It was like watching an angel up on that stage.”

  Looking over my shoulder as I go in for another hug, I catch sight of Gavin watching me, a content smile on his face.

  “Thank you,” I mouth to him from across the room.

  “I love you,” he mouths back.

  “You should know, baby girl, your momma and I more than approve of your young man.” That means the absolute world to me, knowing my parents like Gavin for me.

  “Well!” My mother pulls back, wiping at a few tears before clapping her hands. “We’re here for a party, so let’s get it started!”

  My parents mingle with our friends like they’ve known them for years, seamlessly blending with our hodgepodge circle of loved ones.

  “What are you thinking?” Gavin asks softly, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist as I look over the room, watching everyone I love having a great time.

  “That I’m so unbelievably lucky to have found you,” I whisper as I spin in his hold, wrapping my arms around his neck and looking up into those dark eyes, so full of love and devotion as he gazes down at me.

  “Funny, because I was just thinking I was the lucky one.”

  I scrunch my face and squint my eyes, like I’m deep in thought. “You know what? You’re right. You’re totally the lucky one in this situation. I’m a freaking catch.”

  His deep laugh vibrates through his chest into mine as he leans in and plants a kiss on my lips. “No arguments here. I know what I’ve got and I have no intention of ever letting you go.”

  God, I love this man.

  Just as I’m about to go in for another kiss, there’s a loud clang, followed by a, “Have you lost your fucking mind, woman!”

  I turn just in time to see Page dump a tray of appetizers into the trash before tossing it onto the granite bar, causing another clang.

  “Those canapés taste like shit,” she spits out, hands on her hips, chin tipped up defiantly. “I refuse for subpar food to be passed around at my best friend’s birthday party.”

  “You’re insane!” Graham rakes his hands through his hair. “There was nothing wrong with the canapés. You just want to give me an aneurism!”

  “My word,” my mom mumbles as she and my dad join Gavin and me. “Those two are going to spontaneously combust if they don’t hurry up and get together already.”

  “What?” I choke. “What are you talking about? They hate each other.”

  “Oh, peanut,” my dad laughs. “When you get to be our age, you can spot attraction like theirs a mile away. That right there, is grade-A sexual tension. Nothing else to it.”

  I catch Gavin’s eye, the smile on his face matching my own. “Oh, this is going to be fun to watch,” he chuckles. “So much fun.”

  Looking back, I see Page and Graham in a
standoff, staring each other down like they’re each about to attack. My smile widens.

  “I can’t wait.”

  **THE END**

  Thank you for reading Hustler! We hope you enjoyed it. If you enjoyed this book, please help other readers find it too:

  1. This book is lendable, so send it to a friend who you think might like it so they can discover me too.

  2. Help other people find this book by writing a review.

  3. Don’t forget to visit our websites: www.authormeghanquinn.com and http://www.authorjessicaprince.com/