The heels were red as well, with a bedazzled rhinestone t-strap and flirty open toe. They were perfect for many outings, really, Catalina decided, half in love with the glitter texture of the stilettos.
“Model it for me, Kitten.” He handed it over to her, taking a seat in an armchair situated in front of a fitting room.
Xan enjoyed teasing Catalina, constantly pushing her until her cheeks turned pink, and she did her best to hide how much he was flustering her. He liked that a lot because the truth was he had never engaged himself in these kind of games with any woman before, not interested in anything more than a few pleasant moments under the sheets.
He couldn’t wait to have her and the fact she was prolonging the moment, making him work for it instead of giving in instantly, had his desire at fever pitch.
Xan kept replaying Kelton’s words over and over in his mind.
He wanted to know more about Catalina, but did he bother to learn her?
He knew she had plenty of questions of her own, which had yet to be addressed, but her inborn self-restraint was stopping her from blasting him with them. Moderation or maybe etiquette, it didn’t really matter, he supposed, since the end result remained the same and it suited him either way just fine.
It was more than obvious the moment he started asking about her that she would no longer stop herself from her query, and talking about his past or plans for the future was the very last thing he wanted to do.
In this case there was no middle ground to be found, he thought, so how exactly was he to go around it?
Kelton failed to find a solution for this part, he smirked inwardly.
His cell vibrated and when he pulled it from the back pocket of his jeans, he saw it was a message from Tony.
No matter how much he wanted to ignore the son of a bitch, they were still players of the same game, even if Tony had a sudden impulse to alter the rules from time to time.
Something was going have to give soon enough, but Xan was not ready to pull the plug on the club and his old mentor just yet. And even if he were, it was obvious Tony was not letting him go without a fight. As much as Xan loved nothing more than a good brawl, this one wouldn’t involve fists.
Tony was too smart to try something as literal as that, he thought.
For now he gave the date and time of Xan’s next meet, roughly two hours after he informed him he was back in play.
“Anxious much to see my ass kicked?” He smirked wondering who his opponent was going to be.
He wouldn’t mind it to be Dorian Carrey aka Gray because as much as the guy became nothing more than a pawn in Tony’s hands, he was still responsible for Dragon’s injuries. Knocking him down a notch or two and letting him taste the defeat and pain seemed only fair.
While payback was definitely a bitch, it was also a great tool of revenge if one knew how to wield it well, Xan thought.
He glanced at his wristwatch, deciding they could spare an hour more for shopping before they had to head back and get ready for tonight.
He couldn’t wait to see Catalina’s reaction to the whole setting, wondering what it was about her that was lulling his inbred wariness, allowing him not only to entertain the idea of showing her his world, but actually doing it.
When she emerged from the fitting room, he forgot about the time they had left, his next fight, and the fact she was dangerous to him on a level he had never permitted anyone close to before.
The way she filled the dress rendered him speechless and everything in him tightened in want.
He gestured with his finger for her to turn around and when she did, the dress danced around her in a way that was as sexy as it was innocent.
Just like Catalina herself, he thought, and stood up, straightening slowly to his full height.
“So, what do you think?” She asked with a smile but it slowly faded away after she caught his gaze. “Xan?” Waves of uncertainty in her voice crashed into him, yet he didn’t care about anything but touching her in this exact moment.
“Come here,” he rasped and saw her swallowing nervously, but even that didn’t stop or sway him.
He gripped her wrist, pulling her back into the fitting room and shutting the door closed.
“What do I think? I can’t think at all, Cat. I just want to feel you,” he murmured.
Xan’s arms locked around her, but this time it was Catalina who swept her tongue along his lower lip before suckling it into her mouth.
She had never acted with a similar boldness but then the look in his eyes burned her skin in a heated caress and the dress did the rest. It felt like its owner should be brazen enough to handle a man like Xan.
He groaned now and pressed his body aggressively against her, just as his lips pushed down hard on hers at what could be considered a silent order for her to stop teasing him and fully open her mouth.
When she didn’t heed it fast enough, his hand rose up to clench in her hair, tilting her head which would allow him to deepen the kiss. His abdomen was ridged with muscles which tensed in reaction when she laid her hand on it. Cat gasped when his hand closed over her breast, making her forget time and place they were in.
Xan wanted to rip the dress off her body so there wouldn’t be anything separating them any longer, and he was a breath away from indulging himself when he felt Cat’s teeth joining the play.
His hands shot to the back of her thighs gripping them and lifting her.
“Wrap your legs around me, Kitten!” He ordered roughly and this time the playful note was no longer present in his voice.
It made her hesitate but he nipped at her neck.
“Now!” His hands were strong and calloused– a feverish brand on the naked skin of her legs.
His fingers crept higher to the thin barrier of her panties, ready to rend them to tatters.
“Xan…”
That’s how he wanted to take her, Xan thought, when the sexual need held him in a vise-like grip.
Against the wall.
Impersonal.
Without waiting any longer, without all those confusing thoughts and emotions she was inspiring in him.
But her voice trembled when she whispered his name and he could hear notes of anxiety in it.
That reminded him.
She was a virgin and as far from a nameless and mindless fuck as one could get. That pissed him off again because it was an unwelcome reminder how untouchable she truly was to someone like him.
Yes, he could have her right now; her body was responding to him heedless of all the differences between them and all the reasons why she should have stayed away from him in the first place.
But she deserved better than a mechanical coupling in a fitting room, sure as hell better than him for that matter.
For the first time in his life, Xan did something that went against his wishes and wants, putting other person ahead of himself. He let go of her thighs, letting her shaky legs slid down his hips.
Torture on its own.
“When?” He wasn’t as selfless as to let her go completely.
His eyes found hers and pierced her with the echo of hunger still shadowing their green depths.
“Soon, just not like that,” she whispered.
“No, not like that. I need a whole night with you, not a few stolen moments in a public place. This will have to wait for another time.” He winked at her, acting as if backing down wasn’t against all that he was and didn’t cost him at all.
She gripped his face in her hands as if sensing the truth, no matter if he wanted her to know it or not.
“Are we good?” Cat looked him straight in the eye wondering if he was withdrawing into himself or if it was her imagination at work, but there was no answer in his gaze, not so much as a clue even.
“Yes. Let’s get out of here before I forget about your V card again. The outfit is perfect; we will take it.”
“I will take it. After all, ultimately, I am the one who will wear it.”
“Ultimately… I am
the one you will take it off for,” he replied and she found no witty reply for that.
CHAPTER 24
Catalina put her red lipstick aside, noticing a slight tremor to her hand. She knew it wasn’t caused by the vastness of the unknown as far as the evening ahead of her went.
No, she was still affected by what happened between her and Xan in the fitting room.
She didn’t think she would ever look at a changing room quite the same, especially considering he basically told her that public places were fair game in the future.
After he relieved her of the ‘V card’ that is, she thought, and made a face at herself in the mirror.
There was no doubt in her mind that sex with Xan was going to be one of the most intense experiences of her life, and that was the part that kept stopping her whenever she thought herself ready to be with him.
He was the most driven male she had ever met and it was the side of him she admired plenty, but it was losing its momentum when she considered it a feature utterly focused on her.
She needed Chloé, but after her words today, she wasn’t sure asking her advice was the right thing to do. Not when she already made it perfectly clear she considered being with him a mistake on Catalina’s side.
Cat didn’t see it like that… obviously, but even if it were to turn into one–wasn’t she entitled to commit a few, just like everyone else?
It was like replaying a refrain of the same song accompanying her since childhood over and over again.
The unfairness of it all made her want to rebel right away.
She wondered, what made people believe normal rules didn’t apply to her and they always expected more of her? And fine, by people she mostly meant her grandmother, but Florence made too big of an imprint on Catalina’s life to disregard her along with her opinions.
“Face it–you are on your own,” she told to her reflection and left her bedroom as soon as the doorbell sounded.
She had already seen him wearing a suit and a tie, but it still managed to surprise her and clench her stomach at the same time. The suit was black this time, paired with a shirt of the same color and a red tie.
She wondered if the small colorful accent was his response to her red dress.
“You clean up nicely.” She smiled up at him making him chuckle.
“That’s something coming from you. But don’t make the mistake of thinking that fancy is my new goal.” He bent his head to kiss her lightly on the lips. “Ready?”
“As ready as I will ever be, considering the fact I have no idea where we are going and what to expect.” She sighed and set the alarm, trying to understand where his words about fancy came from.
“Where does that leave space for a surprise?” He raised his eyebrow.
“I am prepared better when I am aware of the nature of said surprise,” Cat said with such seriousness he couldn’t not laugh.
“You know it doesn’t make any sense, right?” Xan felt the need to ask although he understood the need to know himself.
Surprises were fine and dandy, but avoiding something he considered a wild card was even better. He was just surprised they saw it the same. What kind of bad surprises could someone like her expect? He frowned and barely stopped himself from asking that very question. But he knew that once this Pandora box opened, it would be impossible to control.
He had other plans for tonight.
“Well, I told you we are stepping into the world of the mostly rich but not necessarily famous,” he reminded her, but she just shook her head.
“I understood you are taking me to see a game,” she looked at him when they took seats in his car.
“I am; now Catalina… tell me you didn’t take your camera with you.” He glanced at her and she was about to laugh but caught the somber expression in his eyes.
“Don’t have one that could fit in this tiny purse.”
“No funny business tonight, and stay close to me,” he warned.
“You are scaring me Xan.”
“You are fine, but those people play high and take it seriously… want to back down?”
“No, I trust you know what you are doing,” she stated, and he thought that he had never noticed what a big gap separated trusting someone and trusting them to know up from down.
“Are we going to the Hollywood Park Casino?” She couldn’t stop herself from asking.
“And what do you know about it?” His lips quirked at the corners.
“The Pavilion offers the best values on banquet facilities in L.A. and it can be a good choice, not only for charity events but also… private poker tournaments.” She glanced at him from the corner of her eye and this time he laughed openly.
“Stop fishing. But no, this is not the place… although you are on the right track with the private poker tournament thing, and this is the last you are going to hear from me.” His big hand landed on her thigh in an intimate gesture. “Am I going to get lucky tonight?” He wanted to know, letting his fingers stroke the delicate skin of her leg.
“Play your cards right and we will see.” She tried not to show what his touch was doing to her but she knew she was fighting a lost battle already.
“You should know better than to challenge me like that, Kitten,” he chuckled enjoying this innuendo with the woman who was nothing but cool and unruffled on the surface.
That was his initial impression of her, Xan remembered, and he didn’t think he had ever been more glad for being wrong than in this case.
“Not my fault that to you everything sounds like a dare.” She smiled sweetly at him and felt his hand gliding higher… higher still, until it slid under the fabric of her dress.
“Spread your thighs Cat.” He murmured wickedly and she wondered how could he control the car with one hand and… her with the other one at the same time.
“This is not behaving Xan,” she answered, determined not to give in his every whim. “Are you ready to risk it and go… all in?” She sucked in a breath when he gave a little teasing push.
“All the way in, Kitten; are you ready to fold?” He wanted to know.
“Careful, I might call you on it and make you show your hand.”
“Ah, but I like where my hand is right now,” he said smoothly and she laughed.
“You are unrepentant.”
“I don’t play on one team with regret.”
“Maybe because you are not a team player at all?”
“It will be my pleasure to prove to you otherwise.” The look he gave her was unambiguous.
Catalina just shook her head and slapped his hand away.
“Shutters on the Beach?” She looked at where they stopped. “It’s a romantic getaway, not a place to gamble.”
The hotel was located directly on the sand, within walking distance of Santa Monica’s biggest attractions such as the Pier.
“That’s the thing. Nobody would have suspected it,” Xan agreed. “Is there any place you haven’t been earlier to?” He asked curiously.
“I didn’t stay here; I just had dinner in their restaurant One Pico once or twice.” She shrugged as if it were the most natural thing in the world while hardly anyone could afford it, Xan thought.
For some reason, he purposefully kept forgetting about her wealth and class, and the small reminders felt like unexpected punches to his solar plexus.
The fact he was here with her tonight was irrelevant.
He could afford it today, but the place was as far from the filthy dump he grew up in as one could get. Xan didn’t finish any fancy schools, didn’t have an impressive title before his name.
All he had were his fists that helped him to survive.
“You are hurting me,” Cat complained and he realized he squeezed her hand too hard.
“I’m sorry.” He stroked her soft upper-class hand with his calloused finger, thinking that hurting her one way or another seemed inevitable.
But he was carrying on with gambling as far as the two of them went, determined to enjoy their
time together to the maximum.
“Let’s go, Kitten.” He pulled her toward the entrance and then led her to one of the Presidential Suites.
She would have thought the Beach House Suite to be a better choice, but it was her first time so she assumed she had a lot to learn about the subtleties of organizing the perfect background for illegal activities.
The door was pushed open before they could knock on it and a very big scary looking man in a well tailored suit gave them once-over.
“Yes?”
“Alex Thorpe,” Xan said, and the man stepped aside, letting them enter.
Catalina wondered if her imagination was running rampant again or if she did see a gun holster strapped under his arm indeed. She started to comprehend what Xan meant by saying those people were taking their game very seriously.
“Am I nothing but a pretty ornament on your arm?” Cat whispered and an instant later found herself under the shelter of Xan’s said arm.
“Pretty much. I didn’t think you would appreciate having your name on their list,” he informed her coolly and she had to admit she was impressed by his casual way of addressing even the smallest detail of the whole situation.
She had been fighting her entire life not to be portrayed as a pretty doll, but in this case it was nice knowing she was being taken care of, she thought.
“Who do you know here?” Cat asked as they walked deeper into the 1300-something square foot building.
“Tristan Channing, he is one of the high-rollers. A game doesn’t usually register on his radar if the ante-up starts below twenty five,” Xan told her.
“Bucks?” She glanced up at him and Xan threw his head back and laughed.
“You are adorable, Catalina… thousands baby. Twenty five thousands… bucks.” He leaned and kissed her.
“Oh.” She felt silly and completely green like the color of the hard currency. “Is he here?”
“Yes, the one in the white shirt with the shit-eating grin on his face.” She looked in the direction he pointed and saw a dark blond-haired male surrounded by a few women and what she assumed were other players.
CUL-DE-SAC (On The Edge Book 1) Page 19