She sucked in a breath and ignored the stone settling in her chest. She adored Leo, always had, only things were much deeper now, and a great deal scarier. What if she gave Vault of Sin a try and her family found out? What if she choked, literally, and made a fool of herself? What if she wasn’t good enough?
In reality, he was asking her to be a performer in the rawest way. And yeah, she owned her shit, but spreading her thighs to the world required a set of brass balls…and she didn’t even own a plastic pair.
Leo strode past the bar, confident as always as he played the supervisor role. He was at home here in a club most people would cringe at. She was proud he owned his proclivities. Last week, she’d made a fool of herself by judging him without reason. Because glancing around the room, all she could see were happy faces. Everyone was having fun. Even those who sat in groups chatting, no orgasms required. The crowd was different from her previous visit. A completely new mass of faces, yet the atmosphere was the same.
Friends or strangers, they all seemed to be brought together by a familiar bond. They didn’t snigger or walk off in small groups to pass judgment on others. It was a quaint group of friends having a party. Only instead of playing cards and getting drunk, people got naked and played with each other.
The lifestyle here wasn’t seedy or sleazy. There were no men lurking in the corners, or women playing mind games. It was sex in a safe environment. Simple as that.
“Last drinks,” Leo raised his voice to vibrate through all the rooms.
“Oh, shit.” Shay felt the color drain from her face.
This was it. She had two options. One would test her limits and may even break her, but the chance of happiness would accompany the journey. While the other road was easy, only she’d walk the smooth, stone path alone.
“Bloody hell,” she muttered to herself. There was no way she could find the answer tonight. Not without hard liquor. And there was no chance of getting up close and personal with Mr. Grey Goose while working and having to drive home later.
Fate had got her this far…along with a little stubbornness. It looked like a flip of the coin would have to do.
* * *
Leo had called last drinks a few minutes early because Shay’s complexion was becoming paler with every passing moment. He didn’t want to contemplate the look in her eyes or what she planned on telling him the next time they were alone. So he kept himself busy and said farewell to the patrons who began to leave.
T.J. and Brute would’ve already closed Shot of Sin and be in the process of packing up for the night. He just hoped to fuck they didn’t make their way downstairs looking to play while Shay was still around.
He knew she was slowly coming to terms with strangers fornicating around her, but he doubted she had grasped the concept of T.J. and Brute being involved. Or maybe she had in the last hour and that was why all the color had vanished from her skin.
“Good luck with your bartender.” Grace came up to him, now dressed in a tight black cocktail dress with a purse clutched in one hand and a set of keys jangling in the other. She leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. “Give her time. I know you haven’t had the best experience with the ladies, but go easy on her. Adapting to new sexual experiences is more emotional for women. We tend to hold tight to our bad choices and analyze things to the point of insanity.”
“Thanks,” he muttered and then cringed at his rudeness. “I might see you next week,” he lied. It was highly doubtful with the way things were heading with Shay. If he had to make a prediction, he’d say his time in the Vault was drawing to an end, at least for a while.
He walked away, heading for the entrance to turn off the large flat-screen. All he wanted was to get out of here. Which was fucking ironic, because all his problems with Shay stemmed from his need to be in Vault of Sin in the first place.
When he strode back into the main room, only three guys and two women remained, finishing their drinks as they lounged on one of the king-sized beds. His gaze sought Shay’s, but she was gone. His head snapped around to do a quick visual sweep of the area—not in the bar, the storeroom door was closed and he doubted she was in any of the private rooms.
Shit.
He’d made a mistake earlier. He promised he wouldn’t chase her if she ran. Hell. He didn’t even know if she’d left and already he was fighting the need to kick everyone out so he could find her. His palms began to sweat as he pounded out the steps to the bar. Once he was behind the counter, he rushed to the cabinets under the sink and huffed out a relieved breath. Her handbag was there. She hadn’t run. Not yet.
He climbed to his feet and checked the storeroom. Empty. He locked it behind him and went to the first private room filled with numerous beds. Again, no sign of her, so he flicked off the light and shut the door.
That only left one place to check, unless she was upstairs. He stood in the doorway of his favorite room and stared at the mattress bathed in light. Yesterday, he would’ve given anything to see Shay lying atop the black sheets. Now, he’d give anything to have her in his arms, simply holding her in the quiet of his apartment. Could he forego his current need to participate and live a life without Vault of Sin? Maybe. He would at least try. For Shay.
He flicked off the light, killing his fantasy with a sharp click and turned his attention to the ladies bathroom door as it squeaked open.
“Shay?”
She came to him with her head held high. In the dim light emanating from the main room, he could see the uncertainty in her eyes, right before she reached on her toes to kiss him. It was soft, sweet, entirely opposite to the ball-busting woman he knew, and his heart ached all the more for her.
His hands found her hips and he slid his tongue into her willing mouth as her warmth filled his chest. When she pulled back, he was no longer uncertain. He knew what he needed in his sex life and it wasn’t other peoples’ lust. It was Shay.
Only Shay.
She met his gaze with a half-smile, half-wince marring her face. Slowly, she raised her hands to the hem of her shirt and, with a deep, unsettling breath, raised the material over her head and let it fall to the floor.
Fuck me.
“There’s people still out there.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure they were alone.
She gave a shaky nod and lowered her skirt to pool at her feet. “I know.” She stood before him in black lace, the firm mounds of her breasts plumped and begging to be touched.
“Shay.” He swallowed over the dryness in his throat. She needed to put her clothes back on and walk from the room. Now. He didn’t have the restraint to maintain the distance between them for too much longer. “What’s this about?”
She sucked in a strengthening breath and climbed onto the bed, laying her delicious curves down in the middle of the mattress. “This is me, risking humiliation, to give myself to you.”
He held back from pouncing, from taking what he wanted and instead rubbed a hand over the rough stubble at his jaw. Grace’s words repeated in his mind. “Adapting to new sexual experiences is more emotional for women. We tend to hold tight to our bad choices and analyze things to the point of insanity.”
This was too quick for Shay.
“Don’t get me wrong, but why now? You’re not ready for this.”
Her face was shadowed in the darkness as she rested back on her elbows. “I’m taking a leap. I don’t want to spend weeks stressing over what will happen. I want to do this now and have my answer straight away.”
He stepped forward and rested his knees against the side of the bed. “What’s the question?”
She paused, leaving them in heated silence for long moments. “I want to know if I can be enough for you.”
His nostrils flared with a sudden burst of anger. He wanted to spank her ass and prove to her in many pleasurable ways just how compatible they were. “You’re enough,” he growled. No other woman had set his heart racing like she did.
“Then show me.” She sat up and moved toward
him on her knees. “Do with me what you will, and if we both make it through to the other side, maybe we’ll have a chance of taking this further.”
His body tensed from his chest to his toes as she ran her hands over his pecs to grab the collar of his shirt. She tugged him forward and he followed her onto the mattress, crawling between her parted thighs as she scooted back to the top of the bed.
She loosened his ponytail with a hand through his hair, making the chin length strands curtain their faces. “You’re quiet,” she whispered against his lips, her breath heating every inch of him.
“I’m worried.”
She pulled back into the pillows and frowned up at him. “But I thought—”
“There’s only two possible outcomes to this. Either we’ll be perfect for each other…”
“Or I’ll have to quit my job if things go wrong.”
He nodded. Shay was a passionate woman with a mean jealous streak. Working together after a botched relationship wouldn’t be an option. And as much as his dick was willing to take the chance, a dull throb behind his ribs made him proceed with caution. “We can save this for another day.”
She remained still beneath him, her chest rising and falling against his. When her hand fell from his hair, he anticipated her moving out from beneath him, to leave and rethink her decision. Then she swept her fingertips over his jaw, his chin and finally his lower lip before her mouth brushed his.
“I’m willing to risk it.”
* * *
Shay waited with her heart in her throat and her confidence slowly fading. Leo continued to stare at her in the dim light, his quiet breathing the only thing she heard over the murmured voices in the next room.
People were out there, sipping drinks without a care while she lay in her underwear beneath a man she began to pray would say something.
“If we do this, I won’t be quiet, and I won’t allow you to hold in your pleasure,” he warned. “We’ll have an audience before my clothes hit the floor.”
She swallowed. “I know.”
He went silent again, and finally she appreciated the time he took to take the next step. His cock was hard between them, the thick length pressing against her pubic bone. He wanted her, yet he was proceeding with caution. Weighing up the pros and cons like she had for so long.
“I’ll push you, Shay.” He leaned in to gently slide his tongue along her bottom lip and his hand down her side to brush the curve of her breast. “I don’t know any other way in here.”
“I know.” She shuddered, part of her wanting to be pushed while the other hoped adrenaline would see her through to the end without fleeing.
“Then take off your clothes.” He pushed one cup of her bra up to expose her breast and leaned down to lap her nipple with his tongue. “I want every inch of you at my disposal.”
She arched her back and swung her arms behind her to unclasp the hooks of her bra. As she slid the straps down, he lavished her with attention, licking one and then the other until her inhalations became labored and her skin tingled with sensitivity.
“Tell me you want me.”
“I want you,” she whispered, thrusting her breast into the heat of his mouth, dying under the touch of his fingers as they travelled along her waist.
“Louder.”
Her heart thumped beneath her chest. “I want you.” Her voice rose with each word, her adrenaline spiking with it.
He chuckled and pulled back to look her in the eye. “That meek voice does shit for my ego. Tell me you want me like you mean it. Like the tough girl I know you are.”
She bit her lip, staring him down in determination, her nostrils flaring in spite. He raised a brow and skidded his fingers over her abdomen, slipping under the waistband of her G-string.
“Giving up already?” He flicked her clit, making her jolt.
“No. Just give me a second to prepare myself.”
“No more thinking,” he growled. “Say it.” He parted her folds with his fingers and penetrated her in one delicious thrust. “Say it now.”
“Jesus Christ,” she wailed. “I want you, Leo.”
He flashed her a predatory smile before sliding his touch from her body. “That’s better.” He gripped her G-string on either side of her hips and yanked the flimsy material down her legs.
She hoped the blood rushing through her ears was the only reason the soft murmuring in the next room had stopped. Not that they had fallen quiet to listen. Either way, she was determined to ignore any stranger who wanted to catch an eye full. This was her time to prove herself to the man she’d been dreaming about, and she definitely needed to lift her game.
She reached for his shirt and began to undo his buttons, unable to pull her gaze away from the skin she continued to expose. His chest was covered in a light dusting of hair, his pecs defined, his abs smooth and taut. She ached to run her hands along the lines of sinew, to bite into his flesh and make him flinch. She wanted to make him mindless, to repay him for the way he’d made her feel for too damn long.
With a rough hand, he pushed apart her thighs, exposing her, making her more vulnerable than ever before. She was on display, at his mercy, and her body had never felt more alive.
“You’ll always be open for me. You understand?”
Her legs trembled as she undid his last button with shaky hands. “Yes,” she murmured. “Always.”
“And you will only ever give yourself to me.”
She lowered her hands to her sides and raised a brow. “As long as the same rules apply to you.”
“Always.” He grinned, boosting her confidence even though the threat of other beautiful women from Vault of Sin hovered in the back of her mind.
“This is mine.” He glided his hand over her abdomen and then lower. She pressed her lips together to fight a mewl when he slid two fingers through her dripping sex. He leaned over her, his hand still on her pussy while the other palmed her breast. “These are mine.”
She whimpered, thrusting her chest into his hand. “Yes.” She moved her hands to the bedhead and gripped the wooden frame, digging her nails into the timber. “Please, Leo.”
He held her gaze, slowly gliding his fingers into her sheath as she released a long, deep moan. He withdrew just as languorously and wiped a trail of her juices around her clit, flicking the bundle of nerves back and forth. Movement came into her periphery and she froze, sensing more than one person hovering in the doorway.
“Focus on me,” Leo demanded.
She tried. Really, she did, but the pleasure in her body began to ebb and all she could see were the shadows of onlookers darkening her lover’s features.
“Me, Shay.”
He yanked off his shirt and threw it to the mattress beside her. The hard, unyielding flesh was enough to distract her for a fleeting moment. Then her gaze drifted, moving to the couple standing close together against the wall, then to the two familiar faces in the open doorway.
“Holy shit.” She grabbed Leo’s shirt to cover her exposed breasts as she squeezed her eyes shut.
T.J. and Brute were there, watching her like a fucking porn show, their focus harsh enough to burn a lasting impression on her retinas.
“Close the door,” Leo ordered, making her wince at the disappointment in his tone.
She’d wanted to impress him, to wipe away every memory he had of other women, and replace them with the crazy passion she had to share. How the heck had T.J. and Brute skipped her attention? Travis had mentioned staff participating after last drinks, yet the important point hadn’t crossed her mind. She shook her head at herself as shuffled footsteps drifted into the distance and the door closed with a click.
Then the back of her eyelids were illuminated with the overhead lights and her eyes burst open.
Don’t panic. Don’t freak out…any more than you already have.
“Aren’t they meant to be on the other side of the door?” She clung tighter to the shirt, as T.J. and Brute approach the bed.
“Calm down.
”
Calm down? She was crazy with panic. Hadn’t they just discussed remaining faithful, albeit vaguely? Now T.J. stood to the left of the bed, his somber smile focused her way as if he was about to face a firing squad instead of a naked woman. Then there was Brute. His usual scowl had deepened, his eyes harsh with disapproval.
“Yeah, calm the fuck down, Shay,” she muttered. “How the hell am I meant to do that with him glaring at me?” She flicked her gaze to Brute before swallowing over the emotion building in her throat and then focused on the black cotton sheets.
This was a fuck up of epic proportions.
“I suppose now would be an inappropriate time to ask for a glowing reference.”
“I’m not letting you run,” Leo spoke softly. “Look at me.”
When she didn’t, he made a move to climb off her. On instinct, she gripped him around the neck and yanked him back down.
“I’m naked,” she ground through clenched teeth. “Move off me and die.”
“I won’t, if you look at me.” He settled between her thighs and leaned on one elbow to peer down at her.
Fine. She raised her gaze, coming face-to-face with penetrating ocean eyes.
“You wanted to jump in the deep end, Shay. Don’t forget how to swim now that you’re here.”
His words repeated in a continuous loop. Taking the plunge wasn’t meant to be easy…it also wasn’t meant to be this confronting, but if she walked away now, there was no way she would come back.
“I’m not in this for anyone else,” she whispered. “All I wanted was you.”
Her gaze drifted away, over the sheets to the dark blue jeans T.J. was wearing. He stood still, not uttering a word while Leo ran a finger along her jaw, regaining her attention.
“All you’re getting is me. For however long you want me.” He narrowed his gaze, hitting her hard with his sincerity. “Playing with others would only be for your pleasure. And that doesn’t have to happen now, or tomorrow, or ever. You got that?”
The Vault Box Set Page 14