by Joanna Blake
"Where to?"
"Hey man. The Grindhouse, please. Backdoor."
"You got it."
She sat there trying not to be shocked when Kendall's thigh pressed against hers. He seemed to be touching her a lot. It was definitely deliberate.
She felt tingles where his leg touched hers. Hell, she felt tingles everywhere.
"Do you go clubbing a lot?"
She shook her head, feeling shy suddenly.
"Never."
He smiled and put his arm around her, sliding even closer.
"Me either. I mean I go, but I always end up wondering why."
"You don't like it?"
He shrugged.
"It's kind of stupid. I mean, I like dancing. And the music. But it's such a meat market. Girls can get really aggressive. It's a turn off."
She peeked at him. He wasn't being funny. He seriously didn't like women throwing themselves at him.
"You are probably the only man on earth who would complain about that you know."
He grinned at her.
"I know."
Then he kissed her cheek, letting his lips wander over to her ear.
Oh my GOD.
"We're here."
**********
Kendall handed the driver a hundred dollar bill and he handed back his card.
"Call anytime."
"We will, thanks."
He looked at the tiny girl beside him.
"Ready?"
She nodded. She didn't look ready, she looked nervous. But she was game, he'd give her that.
"Let's go."
He helped her out of the SUV and they were immediately surrounded by security guards. The crowd at the front of the club had spotted them and were spilling over into the alley way. Somebody screamed his name.
He didn't stop, just pushed Jessica in front of him and guided her into the club.
They had full body contact for a minute as he stood right behind her. Her round little bottom felt incredible against him. He smiled down at her, knowing she was facing away and couldn't see the lascivious look he was giving her.
They hurried through a short hallways and then they were inside. It was dim in the club, with lanterns hanging everywhere, and twinkling lights in the floor. It was a good thing too, otherwise people would be tripping over each other. The back hallway opened directly into the VIP area, so it was less crowded there. A hostess guided them to a private table with the rest of In Tempo already seated around it. There were girls too. Not too many though. Davie was there and he wasn't a player.
Well, not anymore.
Kendall knew the guys were getting paid to party at the club but he didn't care. He hadn't signed anything. If his showing up upped their fee, he was fine with it. It didn't mean he had to stay.
That all depended on the girl. He guided her to the low banquette and slid in next to her. There were bottles of booze in buckets at the table with juice and other mixers.
He leaned forward and grabbed two glasses. He had to get close to her to be heard over the throbbing bass. Not that he minded.
"Same?"
"Yes, thanks. Maybe with that red stuff- what is it?"
He splashed some in a glass and sipped.
"Not sure. Maybe pomegranate."
She nodded and he mixed them each a drink, squeezing a lime in at the end. They clinked glasses and sipped. Then he leaned back and slid his arm around her.
Maybe it wasn't a date per say, but it was starting to feel like one. She was with him, that was for sure. He wanted everyone to know it too.
People were staring at them, taking cell phone pics. He just smiled, realizing that Jessica had no idea what she was getting into. He didn't particularly care at the moment if she didn't want her privacy invaded. He was becoming more and more determined that she was going to be his, no matter what that entailed.
And not just for one night either.
She was staring around, wide eyed. He was looking at her out of the corner of his eye. It was a really nice view. Her leg started bouncing when a popular song came on.
"Do you want to dance?"
She stared at him, startled. She still had no idea what she was in for. He'd decided to turn on the charm and then some. The poor girl didn't stand a chance.
His smile grew when she nodded, and he stood, pulling her to her feet. Then he led her out onto the dance floor.
People moved aside for them, but barely. In seconds they were swallowed up by the moving, shaking, bouncing crowd. He stared down into her eyes. She looked a little bit fearful. No wonder. She was so tiny that she couldn't see over the swarm of dancers.
"Don't worry, I've got you."
She opened her mouth and nodded, her eyes wide. Then he pulled her against him and started dancing. He kept his arms around her as he subtly started to mimic what he'd really like to do.
He started to make love to her.
His hands skimmed over her back and hips, urging her to rock against him. He circled his hips into her, not overtly, but it was a fucking turn on all the same.
Jesus, he wished they were alone. On a bed. Or a couch. Or the floor.
She was a little stiff at first, but he kept at it. Her eyes were downcast, staring at his chest. Even in the dark he could see that her cheeks were growing red.
Her breasts bobbed against his chest in time to the music. He was grinning ear to ear when she peeked up at him nervously. He raised an eyebrow, silently daring her.
That did it. She tossed her head and turned around. Then she brought her body back against him.
Oh my god.
The girl had moves. He hadn't been expecting that at all. Her rhythm was impeccable as she ground herself against him. Then she turned again and it was game on.
They were all over each other, grinding in a way that would have gotten them a lot of attention if people could see them. That's if everyone else on the dance floor hadn't been doing something similar.
Jesus, the girl was full of surprises! So prim and proper and then BAM! She was working him over like a freaking pro! He moaned, realizing that if this kept up he was going to have a serious issue.
Hell, he already had a serious issue. He just needed to keep from exploding on the dance floor.
The song ended and they stayed out there, dancing for another half an hour. He was fighting for control over his raging hard on the entire time. That didn't mean he wasn't loving every minute of it.
"Let's get some air."
She nodded, looking out of breath. He pulled her through the VIP section and up a set of stairs to a private balcony. It's where the celebs and high rollers went to smoke, or cool off, or fool around. It was dark thankfully, so he had time to cool down his body, hopefully without her noticing. He glanced around and pulled her to a secluded spot, leaning her against the wall.
She stared up at him, breathing heavily. He smiled and grabbed a bottle of mineral water from the bar. He held it to her lips, urging her to drink. He was leaning over her as he finished the bottle in two gulps.
He wiped his cold thumb over her cheek to her pouty lower lip.
No more fucking around now.
He kissed her.
Her lips parted softly under his onslaught. He sensed her hesitation but he didn't stop. Fuck, he wasn't sure he could stop.
Not unless it was just long enough to get them to a bed.
**********
"Do you want to get out of here?"
Jessica was still reeling from the kiss that Kendall had just laid on her. She shouldn't be surprised that he kissed her. Or that he was really, really good at it.
He must have kissed a hundred girls. No- a thousand.
Still, her heart was racing and her body felt strange-like she was floating.
Floating on what?
His softly spoken words were like a cold bucket of water though. He wanted to- crap. He was expecting to-
She closed her eyes. She did not want to go back to the hotel and screw him.
That wasn't exactly true. Part of her wanted exactly that. But she was afraid to give in to that. It was dangerous. It was impulsive. It was way too fast. He had her tied up in knots as it was.
He was staring at her mouth again. Maybe if she could delay a little while, she'd feel more comfortable with the idea. She desperately wanted to be the girl that just said 'sure' and slept with the man of her dreams.
Why the hell not right? She wasn't the sort to play hard to get. Then again, she wasn't the sort to go to bed with someone she'd just met either. She decided to play it safe and prevaricate.
"Where do you want to go?"
He smiled patiently. As if he were humoring her.
"Where ever you want."
"Maybe we could just walk a little bit?"
He opened his mouth. She was sure he was going to argue but he just licked his lips and nodded.
"Okay."
He took her hand again. She let out a sigh of relief. He wasn't going to force the issue.
They headed back through the club, waving to the guys. On the street it was still hopping but no one seemed to notice them as they snuck out past the crowd. It must be close to 3 AM.
"So… it's your first time in Vegas. Should we gamble?"
She shook her head.
"I don't have any money with me."
"That's okay, I do."
"Alright. I can watch if that's what you want to do I guess... Oh look!"
"What?"
He turned to look at what she was pointing at. There were rides on top of a really tall building up ahead.
Rides!
"The roller coaster?"
"Is that what it is? That's SO COOL!"
He was smiling at her like she was kind of crazy but she didn't care.
"Do you want to go?"
"Is it still open?"
He shrugged.
"Probably not. But let me see what I can do."
7
Kendall was laughing as Jessica jumped up and down like a kid. She was six months older than him? He shook his head. Damn but she was an excitable little thing.
She made him feel like he'd done something amazing. He liked it. He liked it a lot.
All he had done was ask if the rides at the Stratosphere were open.
They were not.
But they opened them for him.
Being a celebrity was kind of awesome sometimes, despite all the phoniness and other crap that came along with it. Especially if it helped his cause with a girl like Jess.
Now they were about to climb onto the first of four rides.
The Insanity.
The ride was basically just seats strapped to a huge mechanical arm that extended 64 feet off the edge of the tower. Hanging over nothing. 108 stories in the air.
He was feeling a little nervous about it actually. But he couldn't look like a wuss in front of Jessica. No way he was going to chicken out on this. Besides, she'd practically dared him.
They climbed into the bucket seats and were immediately strapped down. Jessica was grinning and bouncing around in her seat. He looked at her.
"You know what this thing does right?"
"No, why?"
"It, uh, goes out there, and then it spins. Really fast. All while pointing you down toward, you know, the ground."
Her eyes widened. Uh oh, was she as nervous as he was?
"Awesome!"
The ride started and he stopped thinking. He gripped her hand tightly as they were hurtled out into space and flung around in circles. It felt like they were going to be catapulted to their deaths at any moment.
Fuck, it felt like that at every moment.
They were being pulled back in when he snuck a look at her. She was breathing fast. Her hair was wild. She looked like she'd just… Christ, she looked like she'd just gotten laid.
Thoroughly.
She turned to him, her eyes bright. Then she kissed his cheek.
"That was AMAZING! Can we go on the others now?"
He swallowed. He would have given a chunk of flesh right now if it got her to kiss him again.
Hopefully on the lips this time.
"Whatever you want."
The next ride she wanted to try was the Big Shot, where they were once again strapped into the ride and shot 160 feet into the air at 45 miles per hour. That part of wasn't too bad, but the drop back down had Kendall trying to not scream like a girl. Actually Jessica wasn't screaming, she was squealing in excitement.
That made him start thinking about what sort of noises she might make in bed. Before he knew it, the ride was over. Hmmm… interesting tactic. He decided to try in on the X-Scream too.
While Jessica pulled him over to the roller coaster, he was mentally undressing her. He'd start at the top and work his way down. He was wondering what sort of underthings she was wearing as they propelled straight down- and over the edge of the hotel into space. Then they slid back again, onto the relative safety of the roof deck. That didn't last long though as the ride teeter tottered back into the empty sky.
Kendall was smiling the whole ride.
**********
It was four AM and she was about to jump off the side of a building.
Jessica grinned and gripped the harness that was wrapped around her. Kendall was off to the side, watching and sipping a cocktail that had mysteriously appeared. Things like that happened a lot around him.
People just wanted to please him.
She could relate to that.
She stepped out onto the platform and took a deep breath. A second later and she was plunging almost a thousand feet into space, the Las Vegas sky line far below her.
A fission of fear was spreading through her as she bounced up and down through space. The feeling wasn't a fear of heights. It was stemming from the realization she'd had just before the ground dropped out from under her. She'd been grinning at the handsome guy who had made all of this possible. All the thrills, the fun, the strangeness of this seemingly endless night.
Watching as the hotel staff hovered nearby, waiting to see if he needed anything else. Anything at all. That's when it hit her.
She wanted to please him too.
She was well and truly in trouble now. Her body flew through space on the end of the bungee while her mind started spinning.
She wasn't going to sleep with him.
But Christ, she wanted to. She wanted to a lot.
What the hell was wrong with her? Just do it. Or don't. Stop driving yourself insane about it.
He was watching her with a hooded look in his eyes when she got off. Her heart was already beating fast from the thrill of the jump, but somehow Kendall made it beat even faster.
"How's my little dare devil?"
She smiled at him breathlessly. He looked like he wanted to devour her. If they went back to the hotel now, she would let him. Hell, she'd devour him right back.
She licked her lips nervously.
"Hungry?"
He smiled at her in a predatory way.
"Hmmm… maybe."
"No, I mean I am. Hungry."
He pursed his lips. She was wondering when he was going to lose patience with her delay tactics. Then he shook his head.
"Whatever you want, Jess."
She swallowed, almost wishing she could snatch the words back into her mouth. She followed him out of the tower to the elevator bank.
"What do you want? Sushi? Steak? Just kidding about the meat."
He leaned his hands on either side of her head, backing her in to the corner of the elevator. He was going to kiss her. Oh god, he was definitely going to kiss her…
His lips brushed hers softly. Once. Twice. He was teasing her, she realized. He wasn't touching her anywhere other than the whisper soft touch of his lips on hers.
Well, she could tease him right back.
"Pancakes."
His mouth smiled, an eight of an inch from hers. Then he laughed. That hadn't been exactly what she'd been going for… Abruptly his hands move
d, cupping her face and then he unleashed on her.
Oh my god.
Kendall's body pressed against hers as he took her mouth. There was no other word for it. He was taking her, plain and simple.
And she loved it.
Jessica arched her back and she grasped his arms, pulling him closer. He was angling his head and body, getting as much contact between them as possible. His mouth slid to the side, licking and sucking on her neck and earlobe. She was having trouble breathing suddenly.
DING.
The elevator stopped and the doors opened. They looked up, seeing that they weren't down to the lobby yet. They were on the 47th floor. A group of drunk looking business men boarded. Kendall relaxed his stance, still holding her. He let his hands move lower, to a more casual embrace. They stared into each others eyes, trying not to laugh.
On the 20th floor, the business men got out again.
As soon as the doors closed, Kendall cupped her face again.
"Pancakes? Really?"
She nodded breathlessly. She really did want pancakes. And time to gather her thoughts. Mount her defenses.
He kissed her forehead.
"Okay pumpkin, let's go."
8
The sun was rising by the time they made it back to the suite. Jessica had nodded off a little bit after putting away a huge stack of blueberry pancakes at an all night diner. He was having fun keeping her awake. He knew he wasn't going to get what he wanted anyway.
She wasn't going to sleep with him. Not tonight.
But he had a good feeling about tomorrow night. Maybe tomorrow they could hang out by the pool, gamble a little. And there were plenty of other roller coasters in Vegas he could take her on. He had nothing planned until they left for New York on Sunday night.
The suite was… not empty. There were people passed out on all the couches. Girls mostly. Apparently the party had come back here after the club shut down. He did a quick check of the rooms and cursed. They were all taken.
Not that he didn't want her to share a room with him, but he didn't want her to feel forced about it. He shook his head. He wasn't a pig generally with women, but he couldn't remember the last time he'd been so concerned about what a girl's feeling were.