by Naomi West
Without looking back to see if I was following him, he started off. I struggled to keep up, the rocks not the ideal surface for my heels.
“We’re going to hike all the way into the canyon?” I asked. “I’m, uh, not really dressed for the occasion.”
He flashed me a sly look over his shoulder.
“Nah,” he said. “And you don’t really seem like the hiking type.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked, hurrying to his side.
Tiger continued on, his boots crunching on the rocks.
“It means just what I said. Club girls like you and nature don’t really mix. It’s only a matter of time before the complaining starts.”
He gave me another slight grin, letting me know he was only busting my chops.
“I’m not a club girl,” I said.
“Right,” he said. “You’re just a girl who likes to hang out in clubs.”
I guessed he had me there.
“I mean, that’s not the only thing I like to do,” I said, continuing to protest. “And I don’t even really like going to clubs very much these days anyway.”
“Uh-huh.”
I wanted to stomp and scream, but I realized that really wouldn’t do much to dispel the immature party girl idea he seemed to have of me in his mind.
“Seriously!” I said, focusing on not toppling over on my heels.
Instead of responding, Tiger pointed to a small outcropping about twenty feet away.
“There’s the spot,” he said. “Come on.”
He led me through a narrow, rising path that curved through the rocks. Tiger took my hand when I needed some support, and soon we arrived at the spot that he’d pointed out. Tiger dropped into a sitting position, turning towards the city. I plopped down next to him, catching my breath.
“Nice view, huh?” he asked, his eyes ahead.
Once I felt a little back to normal and looked forward, I saw that, yeah, he was dead-on in that little assessment.
The city stretched out in front of us, the lights of the Strip brilliant and bright, the shapes of the casinos jutting into the night sky. The surrounding city was an endless crisscross of lights. Looking up, I could even see some of the stars, free from the light pollution that typically filled the air.
“It’s amazing,” I said. “You like to come here often?”
“Yep,” he said. “I come here to clear my head when the city’s starting to drive me crazy. Nice to get away from the chaos, if only for a little while.”
We both said nothing for a little while, and I let the silence fill my mind. I thought about how my night might’ve gone if Tiger hadn’t showed to spice things up. I imagined staying at the club, getting wasted with the girls, dancing like a drunk idiot.
Then I thought about how I would’ve handled the situation with the tab. I knew that I wouldn’t have had any other option but to find Marcus, to see if he would be able to bail me out. I imagined him sidling up to the bar, all fake cool and confidence as he realized that he now had the chance to use his dad’s status to save the day. He’d have told the bartender just who he was, told him to put it all on his dad’s tab.
Then he’d have thought I’d owed him. And he’d have been right.
I imagined him inviting me back up to his room where he’d have put his awkward, boyish moves on me. By that point, the booze would have been sloshing around in my head as he started kissing me, and I’d just have been ready to go along and get it over with.
Ugh. The thought of sleeping with Marcus was even more unappealing now that I had a man like Tiger at my side. But as I regarded him out of the corner of my eye, I couldn’t help but notice that his eyes were still locked onto the city ahead. That raw sexuality that had taken hold of him on the dance floor was gone. Or maybe it was just simmering under the surface. Without thinking, I rested my head on his strong, hard shoulder, the feel of the leather cool against my face.
“Let’s get back to the city,” he said, standing up. “It’s about the witching hour, and in Vegas, that’s just when the night starts to get good.”
Part of me wanted to stay there with Tiger, sitting in comfortable silence until the sun came up. But the better part of me was ready for more fun. I was eager to see where Tiger was going to take me next.
“Where to now?” I asked as we reached the bottom of the path and started back towards the motorcycle.
“Back to the Strip. Got something else I want to show you.”
I was ready. I straddled the back of the bike, and as I did, thoughts of what else I wouldn’t mind straddling came into mind. I let a naughty smile form on my lips as I wrapped my arms around Tiger and the bike roared to life.
After a quick drive through the city, we were back at the Strip. Sure enough, Tiger was right. It was getting very late—or very early, depending on how you looked at it—and in any other city that might have meant the night was winding down. But not in Vegas. The Strip was even more of a hive of activity than it had been when we left, and as Tiger cruised down the wide streets, I felt like he and I were at the center of the universe.
We parked and got off. The sounds of the Strip swirled around us, and without thinking, I took Tiger’s hand as he led me down the sidewalks.
“You checked out the Bellagio yet?” he asked.
“Just from afar,” I said.
“Gotta see it up close. Come on.”
Tiger led me through the crowds. We dodged drunks and tourists, making our way to the grand outline of the Bellagio off in the distance. From what I could see so far, the waters were cool and calm—the fountains had yet to start.
We arrived in front of the huge building, standing side by side as we waited for the fountains to start.
“Give it a second,” he said, his eyes ahead.
Then it started. Grand music played, lights flashed, and the show began. Jets of water shot high into the night sky, synchronized to the music playing. My eyes went wide as I watched the amazing display. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before.
But in spite of the show in front of me, the chill of the night air was started to take its toll. A shiver ran through my body, and without thinking I ran my hands over my arms to warm up the skin.
Then, to my surprise and without a word, Tiger slipped off his leather jacket and wrapped it around my shoulders. The fabric warmed me up right away, and the manly scent of his body wafted up to my nose. I felt warm and turned on all at the same time.
And then a strange thought struck me: Was Tiger, this burly, beefy biker with tattoos all up and down his arms, a gentleman? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t want to push my luck.
For the moment, I was happier than I’d been in as long as I could remember.
Chapter 7
Tiger
The Bellagio fountain was always a hell of a show, but I was more interested in the hot little thing right next to me. She looked a little ridiculous in my jacket, her tiny and shapely figure swimming in the leather.
“This has been nice,” she said, her eyes fixed ahead. “I thought this was going to be just another night out getting drunk with my friends, but it turned out to be something really special.”
“Hey,” I said, “just making sure that you’re fulfilling your end of the arrangement.”
Nikki stepped closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder again. I felt another stirring down below, my cock twitching at the feeling of her body pressed against mine. As much as I was actually enjoying the company of this little rich girl, my prick was being as single-minded as ever. It wanted to get right between those legs of hers.
My horniness taking over my brain, I turned towards Nikki and looked down into those big doe eyes of hers. She stared up at me in silence, dragging her tongue over her lips and leaving them fresh and wet.
I couldn’t take it anymore. I leaned in fast and locked my lips onto hers, kissing her hard.
The music from the fountain show blared around us as we kissed, as though the soundtrack was
just for us. I put my hands on Nikki’s hips, pulling her close and keeping her body right against mine. Opening my mouth, I slipped my tongue into her and tasted her deeply, the flavor of her mouth like heaven.
I couldn’t remember the last time I’d let myself fall into a kiss like this. As much as Nikki might’ve started out as just some hottie whose legs I wanted to get in between, I was realizing, to my major chagrin, that there was something else, something strange going on inside of me. But I pushed it down and focused on the kiss, focused on the taste of her lips, focused on the soft curves of her body as I ran my hands under the jacket.
The fountains went off behind us and I knew that they weren’t the only things about to erupt. My cock was stone-solid underneath my jeans, and I was so eager to give Nikki the fucking that she was clearly beginning for that I could hardly stand it.
After a few more moments of kissing, however, she pulled her lips away.
“I think it’s time I treated you,” she said. “Let’s go back to my hotel and get a quick drink.”
Was drinking really what was on her mind?
“And how the hell are you planning on paying for that?” I asked. “You find that wallet while we were walking around?”
“Nah,” she said, a little smile forming on her lips. “I can put it on my room tab. Come on.”
I had other things on my mind than another drink, but I wasn’t about to pass up a chance to go with Nikki to her hotel. She took my hand and led me down the sidewalk. After a time, I spotted the figures of a trio of rough-looking men approach us from the other direction. I narrowed my eyes to get a glimpse of them.
Fuck. They were members of the Wild Elders, one of the rival MCs in the city. They were the last assholes I wanted to bump into tonight. Once they spotted me, their rowdy conversation stopped and all of their eyes locked on me. And then onto Nikki.
“Well, well, well,” said Rex, the VP of the club. “If it isn’t fuckin’ Tiger.”
I said nothing. Looking them over, I could tell that these pricks were half in the bag already and likely looking for a fight.
“Not interested,” I said. “You wanna talk, you know where my crew hangs.”
The men shared a look.
“But why would we go all the way to the fucking trouble of finding you in one of those shitty dives where you hang when we’ve got you right here?” said Rex.
“Then make it fast,” I said.
I didn’t need to wait to know what they wanted, though. The Wild Elders and the Big Cats had ended up on opposing sides of a gun-running operation a few weeks back, and we’d ended up prevailing, making the sale and leaving these pricks out in the cold. If they were sober, they’d know better than to start any shit, but it was easy to see that they were drunk off their asses.
Nikki shot me a worried look. I didn’t need to tell her that this was a bad scene in the making.
“We’re just all a little pissed about how that all went down a few weeks ago,” said Rex. “Me and the boys have been talking, and we’re thinking that you and the fucking Cats pulled some dishonorable shit to come out ahead.”
It was bullshit and he knew it. Our crew had outmaneuvered them, and it was as simple as that. We had gotten the guns where they needed to go while the Wild Elders had still been sitting around with their thumbs up their asses. Part of me wanted to lay Rex out right then and there for running his damn fool mouth, but I wasn’t interested in starting shit there right on the Strip.
Especially not with Nikki at my side.
“You can think what you want,” I said, keeping my voice cool. “But you’d be better off planning your next op instead of holding a grudge.”
Rex sneered. Then his eyes latched onto Nikki. His gaze moved up and down her body and the guys at his side joined him in eye-fucking her. I was doing my best not to start any shit, but Rex sure was making it hard.
“Bet you got a good little payday out of all that, too,” he said. “But Tiger, buddy, I never expected you to be the call-girl type. Thought you always got your pussy for free.”
He was pushing it. My fists clenched seemingly on their own. I took a deep breath and spoke.
“You’d better choose your next words really, really fucking carefully,” I said.
He didn’t.
“What’s he paying you, huh? Bet a girl like you doesn’t give up that pussy for less than five thou.” Then he flicked his eyes up to me. “Or maybe I’ll just take her for free.”
That did it.
My fist arced through the air, connecting with Rex’s jaw, a sick cracking sound cutting through the air. Rex stumbled back a few feet, a shocked expression on his face. Then, a split-second later, he dropped like a sack of hammers right onto the pavement.
The other men looked at me, their eyes wide. It was like they were waiting for an order. So I gave them one.
“Funny thing about getting that fucking drunk is that it usually only takes one good punch to put someone out cold. Might want to get your boy home, maybe throw a steak on that jaw of his.”
The men looked at each other, as if quickly trying to figure out if they were going to start some more shit. Lucky for them, they made the right call and hurried to Rex’s side. Sure enough, he was out cold.
“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” I said.
Nikki nodded and we hurried in the direction of her hotel.
“I think I’m about ready for that drink now.”
She didn’t say a word as we entered the hotel and made our way to the elegant, high-class bar. Once seated, I ordered a shot of whiskey to steady my nerves.
“Um, one for me, too,” said Nikki, raising her little finger into the air.
The shots were put down in front of us and I tossed mine back instantly. The whiskey burned down my throat in just the way I liked it.
“Chee—” said Nikki, realizing that I’d already had mine.
She took a sip of her drink and set it down.
“You okay?” she asked.
“I’m fine,” I said. “Just sorry that you had to see that shit.”
Truth be told I was thinking about how Rex had gotten off lucky. Talking shit like that to a girl of mine should’ve meant he got put in the fucking hospital. But I figured a girl like Nikki probably didn’t have the stomach to handle anything more than seeing a guy get socked in the face.
“It’s okay,” she said. “I’ve been around enough rowdy drunk dudes to see fights like that. I’ve seen worse, actually.”
I nodded.
“But … that was nice—what you did.”
I raised an eyebrow.
“Nice?” I said, letting out a little bark of a laugh. “‘Nice’ wasn’t exactly what I was going for.”
“You know what I mean,” she said, giving my bicep a little slap and pointedly leaving her hand there. “Sticking up for me.”
“Some assholes just don’t have any manners.”
She finished her shot and ordered two more.
“Damn, girl,” I said. “You’re not screwing around.”
“What can I say?” she asked, leaning in close. “That kind of got my blood pumping.”
“That makes two of us,” I said.
Once the shots were put down, we both took ours and tapped the rims.
“What’re we cheersing to now?” I asked.
“Um,” she said. “How about to new friends?”
I smirked. “‘Friends’ isn’t exactly what I had in mind.”
“And what did you have in mind?” she asked.
“You got a room here?”
“Sure do.”
“Then why don’t you let me show you?”
She turned her attention to the bartender. “We’ll take the check.”
Chapter 8
Nikki
We didn’t even make it to the hotel room.
As soon as the elevator doors slid shut with a “ding,” Tiger, well, pounced. He turned to me, clapped his hands down onto my hips, and brought me in
close for a hard kiss. Just like the kisses before, I fell into it right away, my body feeling as though it just might melt in his hands. He slipped the jacket off of my shoulders and tossed it to the side of the elevator.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?” I asked, feeling myself get wetter and wetter by the second.
“I think you know,” he said, his voice a low growl.