Celestina gave her best professional smile. “Yes, it’s certainly unusual.”
Machines handled the hard count of coins, and this room held metal shelves filled with rolls ready to be shipped to the bank. The soft count of bills happened here. Locked bureaus filled with cash lined the gray corrugated steel walls, books of ledgers stacked on a desk. Jesse let out a low whistle.
“It’s like that movie with Joe Pesci and DiNiro, you seen it?” he chuckled. “Jesus. When was the last time you updated your systems, 1988?”
“Most likely.” Celestina admitted.
She shrugged and stood to the side with Diana while the men murmured together, nodding and scratching their chins. Her mind was elsewhere while Jesse pointed at the corners and gesticulated with his hands, disagreeing with something Mr. Terrance had said. He rapped the walls with his knuckles and shook his head.
“Everything’s metal,” Jesse said. “You could bake a pizza in here. Ultrasound is out, too many echoes, and too much movement during counting time. What you want is ultra-violet or infra-red, make a grid out of the beams, triggered to turn on when your facial recognition lets everyone out of the room.”
Celestina remembered the feel of his hands on the skin of her face, through the silk of her dress at the small of her back. Rough. Strong.
Jesse was saying something about the proposed lasers, but Celestina couldn’t get her mind to focus. With a lazy drop of her chin, she indicated that Diana should take notes. Once she saw her assistant’s pen moving Celestina abandoned all efforts to pay relevant attention, relaxing into a heady, lustful state of observation. She watched the way Jesse’s jeans shifted on his hips as he jumped to scrape the ceiling or bent to have a look at the floor, the cords of his back and thigh muscles visibly shifting and flexing. She liked the coppery bronze of his tanned skin, the definition of his muscles, the changeable mystery of his face. His presence was electrifying.
There was no way she could keep it professional. She had to get him alone.
Mr. Terrence unwittingly gave Celestina the window she craved. “Well Miss Auditore,” he said, shuffling resolutely, “If you don’t mind an abrupt departure on my part, there are some things I need to see to back at the office. I’d like to leave you in the capable hands of my consultant here for another half hour or so if that is agreeable? That way he can complete his estimates, run everything by you, and get a head start and speak to your Director of Surveillance about certain logistical changes to the space.”
Celestina smiled warmly and thanked her lucky stars. “Certainly. Thank you for your time, Mr. Terrence. We’ll speak soon. Diana, please escort Mr. Terrence back up to the casino floor and have his car brought around.”
Celestina shook hands with Mark, and the older man followed Diana out of the money room with a slight frown on his face. Whatever was bothering him, Celestina would just have to worry about later. The heavy door clicked shut behind them, locking her in.
Celestina tried to let the sudden stillness of the room quiet her nerves. Her pulse quickened with the realization that she and her mysterious man were actually alone together for the first time. When she turned back around, Jesse was prone beneath the counting table in the center of the room, only his legs and hips visible poking out from under the stacks of money. Her eyes lazily traced the lines of his body, imagining him naked.
Raging hormones allowed Celestina little control over her thoughts. When was the last time she’d been with a man? College? She wanted him, here and now. But how could she possibly consider making a move? She was playing too important a role in her family, the business, and the public eye to jeopardize her reputation or safety with impulsive attractions. This was the real world, not school. She had to gather her self-control. Ordering other people around was easy, why couldn’t she control herself?
Celestina cleared her throat.
“Finding everything you need, Jesse?”
“Never,” he grunted, sliding back out with an inscrutable look on his handsome face. His eyes burned into her and her stomach knotted. “Any particular reason this table is welded to the ground?”
“So that it doesn’t move.”
Jesse’s laughter rippled through Celestina’s cells. “Ahhhh. Of course, that explains everything. You must do some crazy shit on that table.” He was on his feet again striding toward her until he fell still about a foot away from her, their bodies parallel. A dangerous twinkle danced in his eye. “Excuse me. Stuff, crazy stuff. I have to watch my language in the presence of a lady. Tested it out much yourself?” He playfully knocked his hip against the table’s edge.
Heart hammering, Celestina arched an eyebrow. “Not extensively. Curious?”
It was useless. The scruff of shadow on his face and the questioning intensity of his eyes moved something primal in her that demanded the immediate freedom of release. Celestina was not used to delaying gratification. Too fast to stop, her body surged toward Jesse like a hungry tidal wave seeking land.
The force of impact knocked the air out of Celestina’s lungs as their hips, arms, and lips locked together. Shockwaves reverberated down her legs, heat emanating between them as they met in a passionate kiss. Jesse’s warm hard body wrapped around her and his lips melted against hers with a sharp intake of breath. He groaned into her mouth, his tongue flickering under hers. He tasted like matches and cloves, heavy and spicy.
Adrenaline pumping, Jesse pulled back sucking in air.
“Fuck,” he whispered, brows furrowed as if in pain.
With a devilish grin Celestina shoved Jesse back toward the table, ripping at his work shirt with an urgency she couldn’t suppress.
Jesse stumbled backward away from her, off-balance but laughing. “Whoa, whoa, easy tiger!” he rasped. “Easy! We can’t. Stop.”
He held her at arm’s length and eyed her warily, letting his gaze travel up and down her body. Celestina felt hot all over at the appreciation that shone in his eyes. Whistling lowly, he shook his head and met her gaze.
Jesse’s voice was urgent and soft. “I knew last night that you were trouble for me. I could sense that across the room. And now I that I know the name for the face, you are even more trouble than I dreamed possible. And woman, as much as I like playing with fire—”
Celestina tried to lunge forward again but he caught her with his arm, one of his big hands gripping her shoulder and holding her upright. The strength and speed of him thrilled her. With his other hand he shook a finger as if scolding a child.
“Naughty girl,” he said.
She playfully bit his finger, wrapping her lips around his fingertip and sucking. When he jerked away she focused her hungry eyes on his. “You kept me at a distance last night. Why?”
“I’m also trouble…maybe I am protecting you.”
Celestina laughed. “Maybe we could get along: trouble for trouble. I can see that you want me too.” Her eyes traveled meaningfully down to his growing erection, bulging in his jeans. “You wanted me last night but held back. You don’t have to now.”
He breathed a strained sigh that turned into a dusty chuckle. “Eres loca, woman. Yes, yes I do have to. Remember where we are? There are cameras. We are at your casino. You are Miss Vice President. Why are you torturing me like this?”
“The cameras are broken, remember?” she whispered. “That’s why you’re here in the first place. No one can see us. It’s our secret.” He wavered, and she closed the distance between them, letting her lips trace along his corded neck and shoulders as her breasts brushed lightly in a rhythm against his chest. She knew she was being insanely reckless but that made her all the more excited. “I don’t care that I’m Vice President, do you?”
He grunted, breathing heavily. “That’s not the problem.”
Celestina knew she was winning the battle, that he wanted her to win him over. She wrapped her arms around his neck, threading her fingers in his dark short-cropped hair. “Don’t worry, if the fact that I’m your client bothers you…I can just
fire you. Problem solved.”
“Cocky.”
That was the end of Jesse’s resistance. It wasn’t that he snapped; Celestina sensed the shift happen in his mind, the control lifted and permission deliberately granted. In a burst of speed and desire, his hands closed on the flesh of Celestina’s hips. Her pulse leaped into her throat and she gasped, smiling. Jesse lifted and pushed her, slamming her down so that she landed sitting on the soft cushion of new bills stacked on the steel money counting table.
“I knew you wanted me.”
“Yeah I want you, loco,” he drew himself back, flashing the dark grin that made his eyes glow and warmth spread between Celestina’s legs. “And I’m going to have you. Now.”
Chapter Five
Jesse stood inches from Celestina, greedily taking in the sight of her parted blood-red lips and the rapid rise and fall of the breath in her chest. Her arousal was palpable. At least he wasn’t the only one aching.
Somehow the observation assuaged his pride, placed him firmly back in power. Her knuckles were white where they clutched at the edge of the metal table, and stacks of money fluttered to the ground like clumsy, lost snowflakes.
Jesse was as lost as a snowball in hell. His common sense was telling him to run, his desire and adrenaline begging him to stay. Holy fuck this was a terrible, terrible idea—maybe the worst idea of his life. The woman was forbidden fruit; not just associated with an enemy, but an enemy herself.
Auditore. Funny that something as simple as a name could draw lines, open gulfs, and divide people. Immigrant vs. citizen. Afghan vs. American. Ruiner vs. Auditore.
And she was an Auditore. How had he not realized it last night at the club? Maybe that was part of the reason she had seemed so familiar; she had the same Mediterranean looks as the men in her family, only in a distinctively feminine and sensual way.
Now that he knew her name, Jesse knew she was related to the Ruiners’ greatest nemesis. He’d be walking into this with his eyes wide open.
This magnetic woman could be his death.
The loudest part of Jesse welcomed the risk. All is fair in love and war, and instinct told Jesse this might just count for both. She certainly wasn’t one-night stand material.
Two things were clear: first, Celestina seemed to have no idea who Jesse was. Why should she? They’d met by chance, strangers in the night. And second, Jesse didn’t ultimately care about the consequences. His gut and body responded to her with a visceral force he had only ever felt before in combat.
This was combat. His soul was screaming to fight. His body was begging for it.
Using his knees, Jesse pried Celestina’s thighs apart and stepped closer, answering the call of their chemistry. A seam in her pencil skirt ripped apart as his invasion pushed the garment up around her thighs in a destroyed dark cloud. Neither of them hesitated or paused to notice the tear. Gasping like a pot letting off steam, Jesse felt a jolt of electricity through his core as their hips locked in an embrace. He could feel the warmth of her skin through his jeans as Celestina wrapped her legs around him.
Celestina rocked forward and catapulted herself into him, her boldness and confidence drawing a smile from Jesse. She latched onto his neck with her arms to pull him down for a kiss. The kiss was deep and long, Celestina moaned and pressed the firm mounds of her breasts into him. She clearly knew what she was doing, teasing him. He liked a woman who knew what she wanted. Their bodies melded together through layers of clothing, filling the void between them and seeking close, closer, closest.
Jesse’s back went rigid as his muscles subconsciously resisted the overwhelming flood of sensation. His hands pushed under Celestina’s ruined skirt, along the delicate skin of her thighs. Her skin was so smooth. He flexed and fisted his hands on Celestina’s hips, filling them with her taut and generous flesh, the feel of it hardening his cock. The scent of her skin intoxicated him. He pulled her hips closer to the edge of the table, pressing her open against his erection.
“Come here,” he grunted. He shoved her shoulders back forcefully to break the embrace, smiling at her expression of hunger and confusion. “Shhh.”
Keeping his pounding erection in contact with Celestina, Jesse leaned his torso away so that he could trace his hands down the deep v-neckline of her jet black blazer. He dragged his fingers along to the lowest point of visible skin just above her heaving breasts, noticing the rich feel of the clothing’s material. He ran his fingertips over the smooth olive skin of her chest, letting the textures blend. Spun silk, thick. Skin like raw silk, smooth. Arcing an eyebrow, Jesse hooked his fingers over the edge of her blazer’s neckline and tugged playfully.
The elegant blazer made Jesse think of everything that should make him stop what he was doing and run in the opposite direction as fast as he could: Celestina’s problematic identity, the wealth and power of the Auditores’ and the momentarily forgotten war over the vast revenue potential of the Las Vegas Strip. Forget the war—Jesse had already lost the battle. He gritted his teeth, struggling with himself until fierce desire splintered his will.
“Damn it, I don’t care who you the fuck are,” he growled, overcome. His calloused fingers balled into fists and he ripped the blazer apart, buttons flying. “You’re what I want and I’ll take you.”
“Cocky.” Celestina purred.
Jesse grinned at his own barb shot back at him. He grabbed each side of the blazer and jerked it down around Celestina’s upper arms, pausing when it reached her elbows. Perched on the edge of the table, half bound, drunk with longing, the sight of Celestina’s perfectly full bust and hourglass waist was enough to send blood and heat throbbing in a rush to Jesse’s already hard cock. He felt powerful and shook her just for the hell of it, watching her curves bounce and shiver.
“Why does it matter who I am?” She was breathing hard and her cheeks were flushed pink, excited, those fathomless black eyes of hers sparking with humor. “Who are you?”
Jesse felt like he could be rough with her and she could handle it. She was a real woman. He could be himself—as long as she didn’t know who he really was.
“You’re right,” he groaned. “Who you are, who I am…it doesn’t matter. This is what matters. This.”
Pinning her constrained arms against her sides, Jesse kissed his way down Celestina’s exposed neck and chest to the lacy black bra that cupped her full, decadent breasts.
“And this.” He said. Jesse’s lips and tongue stroked softly at the apex of her breasts, savoring the taste of her skin. He bit lightly down over the outline of her nipples swelling through the lingerie. His dick throbbed when she moaned. Her hands traveled up under his t-shirt, her nails scratching into his back. He could feel the scrape of her nails all the way in his bones. “Nothing else matters.”
He ripped her blazer open and buried his head in her breasts, reaching around to unclasp her bra. She pulled her arms through the straps to help him and threaded her fingers into his hair, clutching and pulling at him. The fine line between pleasure and pain brought Jesse’s senses into overdrive. He let his fingertips run up her hips, waist, and the sensitive skin of her ribcage just below her breasts. He could feel her hot breath as he drew his hands slowly up her sides, relishing the way her narrow waist and lower ribcage fit in his hands.
Celestina trembled as Jesse traced his hands along the slope of her twin peaks to her hardening nipples. He opened his eyes to watch her face as his hands shifted and closed around her breasts for the first time, kneading and playing. Their eyes met the moment his hands cupped her, intimately, and she gasped in pleasure and surprise. A hungry grin flashed over her parted lips.
“I only think of this right now,” whispered Jesse. “The feel of you. So good.”
Squeezing down, Jesse dug with his fingernails just enough to redden the sensitive skin. His mounting desire was too much and the charged eye contact quickly dissolved into a furious kiss, Jesse’s tongue plummeting under hers as if he could taste her essence, his grasp on her breasts al
most violent.
“Oh, Jesse.”
Celestina moaned into him, the sensations he pulled from her sensitive nipples and breasts making her body vibrate. Jesse noticed her response to his touch and rippled with the pride of possession. He stepped back just enough to rip off the rest of her skirt. With a thrill, Jesse saw that she wasn’t wearing underwear.
Her body was a full hourglass, every curve just right. Black hair slipped out of its bun on the top of her head and tumbled in dark tendrils around her gracefully sloped neck and shoulders. Jesse’s stared at her dark nipples that peaked in the lavish fullness of her breasts. She was fit and soft and shapely: a sex bomb with a burning fuse.
“Holy fuck, baby,” he whispered. “Look at you. We better hope nobody comes in to check on you right now. You’re dangerous. Feel what you do to me.”
She didn’t even wait for Jesse to guide her hand. Eagerly her arms shot out, her fingers reverently stroking the bulge of his hard-on through his jeans before she moved on to fumble with the button and fly. Her eyes matched his, fire for fire. Jesse burned as he watched her shift his pants open and down and reached through the elastic of his briefs, closing her fingers firmly around his reamer. Freeing him from his underwear, she sucked in her breath at the sight of his long hard cock.
“You’re a sight for sore eyes,” she whispered.
“I hope it’s for your eyes only. If you lied to me about those cameras, I’m fucked.”
“Don’t worry Jesse, I can promise you’ll be fucked all kinds of ways.”
“As long as you promise, I won’t worry.”
Jesse chuckled lazily, kicking off his shoes and stepping all the way out of his pants. He knew he was well endowed and enjoyed seeing Celestina’s eyes widen in calculation, her first glimmer of vulnerability. God he couldn’t wait to be inside her, splitting her open and mining that precious explosion of oblivion.
Riding Filthy Page 5