Touching Sin (Vegas Sin Book 1)

by J. Saman

  Niklas Vaughn is dead.

  Stepping back, I spin around, my hands running through my hair, before I scrub them up and down my face, blowing out a breath. I tuck my gun into the back of my jeans. “You okay?” I ask.

  “No,” Gavin replies, standing over Niklas’s body, staring down at his lifeless form with so much disappointment in his eyes. “I wish I had shot him in the stomach and watched as he slowly bled to death in agonizing pain. That was too easy. Too quick. I wanted him to know what true fear feels like.”

  I shake my head. I have no response for that. Gavin spits on Niklas’s body, and I realize that’s why he didn’t want him dead. Why he wanted him in prison. There is no satisfaction in death.

  I walk away, back toward the entrance of the hotel where I left Fiona and Maddox. Fiona. I quicken my steps before I break out into a sprint when I catch sight of her on the ground by the door.

  “She collapsed before we made it to the door,” Maddox yells to me as I approach. He’s sitting with her, kneeling on the ground. “She begged to stay, and I didn’t exactly want to move her. I don’t know the extent of her internal injuries.”

  I reach them and drop to my knees. The extent of her internal injuries.

  My body covers hers in a protective hold, my face inches from hers as I cup her cheeks in my hands. “I’ve got you, Sunshine. Breathe, baby. You’re not breathing.” She’s not. At least not enough. And if I thought my heart was pounding before during the freaking gun fight, if I thought I knew what panic-induced adrenaline coursing through my system felt like, I was wrong. “Breathe, Fi. Goddammit, baby. Breathe.”

  “She’s in shock. She heard the shots and started to lose it. I’ve been trying to calm her down,” Maddox says, but his voice sounds like it’s so far away, garbled and tinny. I can’t focus on anything other than her. Her green eyes are open and she’s staring back at me, but I don’t know if she’s there. If she’s able to hear me. “Ambulance is en route. Gavin, if he’s done, you need to leave, bro. Cavalry is five minutes out. Leave me with your gun.”

  “Fiona, look at me,” I beg. “Focus on me. Please, baby, you’re scaring me. I love you. Breathe.”

  A surge of air forces itself into her lungs, and she gasps out, crying like I’ve never seen anyone cry before. “Niklas is dead?” I nod, and she closes her eyes, shaking her head back and forth. “Are you sure, Jake? Are you absolutely sure?”

  “Yes. He’s dead, Fi. I promise.” I run my fingers along her cheek and through her hair.

  A rattled sob escapes her lips. “I feel…relief. So much relief. He’ll never hurt me again. He’ll never hurt anyone else again.” Her eyes open and lock with mine.

  I lean down and gently kiss her lips. “Never,” I whisper and then smile against her. “No one will ever hurt you again. You kicked his ass pretty good.”

  She grins, but then it slips. “I didn’t win. I didn’t beat him.”

  I rub my nose against hers. My competitive girl. “You fought him, Fi. You didn’t back down. The rest doesn’t matter. It’s done. It’s you and me now, Sunshine. Us. You’re safe. I swear to God, Fiona Ramsey-Foss, I will always keep you safe.”

  “You better,” Gavin interrupts my tender moment and I angle my head to find him. He’s smiling down at Fiona, looking as bad as I feel, but a serene glaze lights up his eyes. “Or I’ll come back for you, Jake.” He winks at me. “I’ll be in touch, beautiful.” He kneels down and kisses her face. “Both you and my sister are free now.”

  And then he’s gone. Running off as the sirens grow increasingly loud.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  The sky is one of those pale-green, ominous-looking things. And the air is oh so calm. Not even a stray breeze to be had. If this were Texas, I’d be thinking tornados, though we don’t typically get those this late in the season. In Las Vegas, however, it means a nasty storm is on the horizon. And generally, those are not my favorite. But right now, I’m sort of welcoming the ensuing chaos. A flash of lightning illuminates the sky only to be followed by a crash of thunder moments later, and then the pounding of rain as it hits the glass of the windshield.

  I spent two nights in the hospital. Broken ribs and a serious concussion. Bastard nicked my lung when he broke one of those ribs, too. The police showed up just after Maddox and Jake put their hands all over Gavin’s gun. The guys told the police their version of events and I suppose, it wasn’t difficult for them to believe. There was nothing on video other than Niklas trying to drag me out of the hotel and Jake running after us. But once we hit the long drive that leads out of the event area, the footage ends, because there are no cameras there. Good thing for Gavin.

  I don’t remember a lot of what happened after Jake arrived outside. A lot of yelling and gunshots. And pain. God, the pain was intense. So much worse than the last time Niklas nearly beat me to death.

  The police questioned me for long, relentless hours. My face was all over the television as the press got one detail wrong after another. It was ugly and overwhelming. All I wanted was to be left alone to think. To process. I left immediately after I was discharged from the hospital. That was two weeks ago. Two. Honestly, it feels more like a lifetime. At the very least, months. Jake told me he was coming with me, but I insisted going back to Texas was something I needed to do alone. I left him with promises of coming back after facing my demons.

  Jake accepted it about as well as a person accepts a terminal diagnosis. He fought me hard. Fought for me, and I love that about him. Jake is a fighter, but instead of using his fists, he uses his brain and his heart. Finally, after a lot of persuasion, I left alone.

  But something unforeseen occurred when I got to Texas. When I stepped foot inside the big, empty mansion. When I saw family pictures and wedding pictures and closets filled with closes that would never be worn again by their owner. I went somewhere dark. Somewhere beautiful. I breathed in possibilities. A life renewed.

  And I cut off all ties with the outside world. For the first time in my life, I had freedom. Real freedom. It was a lot to absorb, to come to grips with.

  My family was dead, my husband was dead, and I was free.

  “He’s gonna be madder than a cut snake,” Maddox drawls with a shit-eating grin as we drive toward the hotel, past the event area. The event area that changed all our lives.

  Maddox presses the button on his steering wheel and Jake’s sexy baritone booms through the speakers of the Bluetooth. My heart picks up pace at the sound of it. “I’m going. You can’t talk me out of it this time.”

  “You can’t fly tonight,” Maddox deadpans, trying to contain his grin. “You know, storms and whatnot. It can be dangerous.” He turns to me with a dopey grin and a shrug that says, I have no idea what I’m saying.

  I hold in my laughter.

  “I need to get to her, Maddox. It’s been weeks and she’s barely returned my calls or texts. I’m dying here.”

  Guilt sweeps over, making my gut sink like lead. Maddox reaches over and quickly places his hand over my folded ones in my lap. He gives me a reassuring squeeze before releasing me and returning his hand to the wheel.

  “Marry her,” Maddox suggests, that stupid grin growing so wide I can see his pearly whites in the dim lighting of the car. Asshole. “I don’t give a shit that you’ve only known her a couple of months. I’m not even saying you need to do that immediately. But you’d be a fool to do anything else.”

  I smile to myself at that, shaking my head. Jake chuckles into the phone, the sound giving me chills and the man isn’t even in front of me. Lord, I have it bad. “What’s wrong, Maddox? Jealous?”

  “Yeah, motherfucker. I am.” Then he clucks his tongue, running a hand through his hair and throwing me a sideways glance. “She can throw one hell of a punch.” Another wink in my direction and I reach across and punch him in his huge, muscular shoulder. I think it hurts my hand more than it hurts his arm. “Go get your shit, get your girl and bring her back here where she belongs. And tell her I was right
about the rescue. She’ll know what I mean.”

  “You’re a jerk,” I say the moment the call is disconnected, and Maddox breaks out into a peal of laughter.

  “Oh come on,” he says through his amusement. “That shit was funny as hell and you know it. He’s all the way down the strip at a meeting, but he’s gonna go home to grab a bag before he tries to fly out and get you. Good thing we’re gonna beat him home.”

  I nod. “Good thing.”

  Jake announced himself as the new CEO of Turner Hotels. It had to be done, even if it was a little earlier than he’d planned. He needed to make a statement about the shooting and Niklas, and if he didn’t do that as the CEO, well, it would have looked bad. Not just for him, but for the company. It also would have leaked sooner or later. A secret like that can only be held so long.

  Questions circulated around my relationship with Jake. He never commented publicly about it, and I certainly never said anything to anyone, not that I spoke to the media. I was technically a married woman. Even if I stopped feeling like one years ago. I think a dog’s chew toy is a more accurate description of what I was.

  Lucky for us, this is Las Vegas. And Vegas does not have a long memory. In fact, this city prides itself on its ability to roll with the punches. To not get hung up in the regular daily crap of the world.

  Maddox drops me off with a hug and promises of dinner tomorrow night. I like Maddox. He’s the equivalent of having a grizzly bear for a brother. I enter the hotel and meander my way through the madness until I reach Jake’s elevator. He changed everything after Niklas got in. His code is different, and he had a keycard insert installed. He added cameras in the elevator, as well as in the foyer that leads into his apartment—both feed directly to the security tower.

  Maddox explained everything when he handed me his keycard.

  Setting my stuff down by the entryway closet, away from the elevator, I forgo turning on the lights in favor of the wall of glass. It’s beautiful here at night. Especially when the room is dark. This room. God, I can barely think about the last time I was in it. But I don’t focus on that now. The wall of glass is calling me. The storm is not in town, it’s out in the mountains, though we’re getting the tail of it with the rain. Sliding open the door, I step out onto the balcony and am instantly soaked through with rain.

  Lightning flashes through the sky, the following bolt of thunder startling me in the best possible way, a jolt of excitement coursing through me. This is likely stupid. But I cannot seem to care. It’s the most alive I’ve felt in so long. Turning my face up to the sky, I close my eyes and let the rain drench me through. Wash me clean of my past.

  “What the fuck are you doing out here?” Jake yells, and I startle once again, the effect on my body the same as it was with the lightning and thunder.

  Spinning around to face him, my eyes are wide, lips parted. He rakes down my body like he can’t believe I’m here. Like he cannot believe I’m standing on his balcony in the middle of a rainstorm. Not an inch of me isn’t saturated with rain water. My long hair is plastered to my face and body, my dress, which is white, is clinging desperately to my skin. My eyes drop, following his line of sight. My nipples are hard, straining through the now-sheer fabric of my dress and bra, my white panties are also visible as is the outline of my pussy beneath. Every inch of my skin is on display. I should feel embarrassed, but I don’t. Maybe it’s the fire in his eyes. The way he licks his lips. The bulge in his pants.

  In four swift strides, Jake crosses the balcony, capturing me in his arms and pressing me into him with an unforgiving grip. My ribs still hurt. It’s only been a few weeks and my body is still feeling the effects of that day. Sore ribs. Headaches. But in this moment, I don’t care. Jake. He’s all I see.

  “What are you doing standing out on my balcony in the middle of a lightning storm?” he bites out harshly.

  “It was beautiful,” I pant, my voice breathless. “I wanted to watch it while I was waiting for you.”

  “From fifty stories up?” His tone incredulous. “This place is like a lightning rod. You could have been killed.”

  I pull back from his embrace and smile softly. “The storm is in the mountains.” I point a long finger out into the sky just as another bolt does in fact hit in the mountains. “See. It’s not close. We’re just getting the rain.”

  “Since when are storms known for their predictability?” He sighs, running a hand through his now soaked hair. “Sort of like you, Sunshine. You’re a goddamn storm of unpredictability. How did you get here?”

  “Maddox came and got me. I called him.”

  “Maddox?” He grounds out. Yeah, Maddox was right about that whole madder-than-a-cut-snake thing. “You called Maddox and not me?”

  I shrug, smiling up at him, staring into his beautiful obsidian eyes. God, this man. He makes my heart beat like nothing else. Rain hammers around us, loud and unforgivingly violent. “I did. I wanted to surprise you, and you would have gone all caveman on me if I called you first.”

  He shakes his head, anger and disappointment raging through him.

  My hand comes up, cupping his face, forcing him to see me. To hear me. “I needed time, Jake. I needed time to figure everything out for myself. I’ve never had that. I’ve never been alone. I’ve never felt in charge of my own life. There’s always been this…void.”

  “What void?”

  I blow out a torrent of air, staring sightlessly off into the distance. “I always felt like I had a hole in my soul. Like where I should be filled with things, meaningful things, I was empty. I never had any love or attention from my parents. I had never had friends or school or hobbies. I was told what to do and how to do it, and I did it, because if I raised even the smallest amount of resistance, I paid for it. It’s why I clung to Niklas so desperately. He promised me a way out and he ended up being something so much worse than what I had with my parents. I didn’t realize just how much I need this.” I wiggle a finger back and forth between us. “How empty I’ve been for so long. How alone and lost and unconnected.”

  “And did you fill that void in your time alone?” he asks softly, but his expression tells me he’s not sure what he wants my answer to be.

  “No, Jake.” I wrap myself around him, pressing my face against his drowned shirt. “You filled my soul. You filled it until I was overflowing. I just didn’t know what it was until I took a step back. I want to be complete in myself. And I think I’ll get there. But I don’t think I can do that without you.” My head draws back, my chin resting against his shoulder as I peer up into his eyes. “I’m sorry I didn’t call you much, and I’m sorry I’ve been out of touch. I hate thinking that I hurt you. I swear it wasn’t intentional, and the distance was not about you. It was about me and maybe that’s selfish after all we went through, all you did for me. Probably is and for that I apologize. Sometimes, we just need to hit the pause button and let the rest of the world spin on without us. But I’m here now and I want this. With you. I love you, and if it’s okay, I’d like to stay.”

  His hands cup my cheeks and his lips descend upon mine. He kisses me like he wants to devour me. Like he can’t get close enough. Like he’ll never get enough. My lips glide against his, cold and wet from the rain. When my tongue moves against his, heat explodes inside me, zapping me with electricity and turning everything on. His fingers rake through my hair, tugging hard enough to make me whimper against him.

  “I missed you,” he breathes against my mouth. “I fucking missed you. My world was so goddamn empty when you were gone. I don’t want you to stay. I need you to. You own me, Sunshine. You will always own me, and I’ll face anything that comes our way if it means you’re mine on the other side.”

  My heart rate picks up as anticipation slams into me, causing my breath to hitch, my stomach to coil and my skin to tingle. I can’t even play it cool. I’m pure lust. Pure need. Judging by the inferno in his gaze, he’s right there with me. He lifts me effortlessly into his arms, my legs wrapping aroun
d his waist, but instead of kissing me the way I expect him to, he just holds me close, watching me intently.

  “Do you trust me?”

  I expel a heavy breath, blinking at him. I think about that. Really and truly let his question marinate until it settles in my bones with absolute truth. I nod, slowly, deliberately. “With my life,” I tell him.

  “Thank God,” he whispers and then his mouth raises to mine, his teeth clamping down on my bottom lip, sucking it into his mouth before he does the same with my top lip.

  A crooked grin curls up the corner of his lips when I moan. Jake deepens the kiss, desperate to capture the sound and taste of it. I shiver, and with another bolt of lightning and crash of thunder, we come back to our surroundings.

  “Let’s get you inside. It’s dangerous as hell out here, you crazy thing.”

  I giggle into him, clutching his neck even tighter. He carries me through his apartment, my body shivering, sinking deeper into him as we’re blasted with the air conditioning. He holds me tight against his warm, hard length, our bodies leaving a trail of water as we go. We bypass Jake’s bed and head straight for the shower.

  Setting me down on the marble counter, Jake opens the glass shower door and starts up the water to hot. He turns on the steam, too, because this feels like that type of moment. He catches me watching him, and stares at me with so much affection, my chest clenches and my stomach flutters.

  This day changed on me. I wasn’t entirely sure how Jake would respond to me after my two-week absence. His soft expression quickly morphs into something else entirely as he takes me in. My white dress is plastered to my body like a second skin. The silky fabric turned sheer. My long brown hair clings to every place it touches.

  “God, just looking at you.” He shakes his head in disbelief. “You make it so hard to breathe.”

  My head dips a little, my pale cheeks coloring. “How can such a simple sentence light me up like this? Set me on fire? Or maybe it’s just you, Jake.” His eyes stay locked on mine as he snakes an arm behind my back to unzip the second-skin dress. The fabric kisses down my curves, falling to the floor with a wet slap. “Do you think I should go back to blonde?”