by Odell, Roxie
He was pretty good at letting the rants of angry women roll off his back, so he smugly disregarded her.
“Derrick,” she pleaded.
“You’re fine. Now just tell me why you left without saying goodbye.” Every instinct in him begged to kiss her, something he’d done so many times before in that very elevator.
“What does it matter?” she asked, tears jeweling her eyes. “We were just… buddies.”
“So you kept saying,” he said, his eyes narrowing.
“So you kept saying,” she parroted.
Before he could pull his emotions back into check from that stinging remark, rage erupted within him. “Bullshit!” he shouted. “Every other sentence out of your mouth was a reminder that we were having an affair, only an affair.”
“And that must have made you amazingly happy,” she said and turned to face the elevator button panel, clearly trying to figure out how to get it moving again.
“It’s a code,” he said.
“Yeah, you know all about codes, don’t you?”
“Very funny, Corrine. It’s these two.” He showed her. He figured if she wanted to get off the elevator that badly, he might as well let her, but he still could not resist touching her. As he reached over her with one arm, he drew back on her belly with the other, pulling her to him. Then he reached over her and stopped the elevator again.
He could hear the rise and fall of her breathing, and a rush of desire for her washed through him. He had to be smooth and patient, but he couldn’t deny that he wanted to take her. They had tried once before, since it was that very elevator that had brought them literally crashing into each other on that fateful day when it malfunctioned. They’d both agreed that while the moment they met was terrifying, more for her than for him, they owed the glass elevator a debt of gratitude. They also both agreed that it would make a magnificent place to consummate that gratitude, their own variation on the Mile High Club. Derrick would have loved nothing more than being inside her magnificence while surrounded by the jeweled landscape of Vegas at a gazillion stories up, and when Corrine admitted that love in an elevator was on her bucket list, he made quick work of consulting with the Maintenance Department about how to safely stop it. When they finally tried to follow through, her nerves got the better of her, and it was a no-go. Now, though, she seemed receptive, even as their relationship crumbled.
She looked him in the eye, her gaze straight, sure, and resolute, with a deep hunger raging in them like that of a desperate huntress on the prowl.
Derrick quaked slightly, but he already knew he would willingly let her consume him. In so many ways, she already had. “We can take this slow,” he whispered softly. “If you get nervous, just say so.”
“You, too. There’s no shame in saying you can’t handle it.” Her lips curled up in a way that made her look as if she should have had canary feathers jutting out of both corners.
“Holy hell,” Derrick exclaimed.
She tiptoed only a few steps, then whispered in his ear. “I have a feeling this little business meeting isn’t gonna take very long, Mr. Quinn,” she said as her hand reached for the buckle of his belt.
She was sly and covert in her movement as she slid down to her knees, minimizing his exposure. Anyone who happened to be able to spy on them would know they were up to something, and any lustful person who stepped onto that elevator would surely have the same sultry idea, but no one below would be able to tell exactly what they were up to.
Her sweet, hot lips encased the head of his erection. Her shiny lip gloss only added to the intensity, etching the moment forever in his brain. She pushed down on his length, enveloping him fully, then lightly battered him with her tongue, flicking and teasing.
Derrick pressed his palms against the glass walls of the elevator, silently praying for mercy as he suffered the best kind of agony in the universe.
Bzzz!
Suddenly, another kind of urgency was upon them; someone from Maintenance calling up to make sure they were all right.
Corrine ignored the call and went to town, furiously pleasuring him.
The pressure of needing to finish worked for him, rather than against him. He did not hold back, and he didn’t care who heard him. He released, his body gathering and erupting furiously, deliciously. He sang out his pleasure boisterously, crooning in a way that would spawn urban legends of the great ghost of the Tresor Hotel and Casino. From deep within, a long, sustained wail sailed out of him, ending in a hearty laugh.
Derrick braced her head as she backed off. He quickly fixed his pants, then helped her to her feet. He hurriedly reached over her to the intercom button, assured the personnel that they were okay, then hit the code on the panel so they could continue their ascent.
They gazed into one another’s eyes for the rest of the way up. While she had boarded the elevator so she could go up to pack her things, they both knew they were now going to her room for another reason.
Suddenly, a moment of clarity hit Derrick’s mind. He had forgotten completely that the elevator was equipped with security cameras. Oh well, he thought, realizing he’d have to pay the Security Department a visit as soon as he settled into her room. I’ll either have a souvenir or convince them to erase it. I wonder if I can bribe them with desserts, too.
Chapter 21
Derrick danced Corrine backward into her room. She expected to take things to the next level right away, and she worked hard at that, only to be cut off.
“Sorry,” he said, “but I have to step out for just a minute.”
“What? Now? Are you crazy?” She giggled, rubbing her hands all over him.
He had to push her off of him gently to get her to focus. “No, but look. I just have to go downstairs for a minute to take care of something.” He didn’t want to alarm her about the video.
“Take care of what?” she asked, sounding a bit put off.
“I’ll explain it to you when I get back,” he said softly. “It shouldn’t be more than fifteen minutes or so.”
“What is it?” she asked again.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be right back.”
Derrick slipped out of the hotel room and went straight to the Security Department, formulating his speech on the way. It was quite possible that they’d burst into juvenile laughter the moment he stepped into their office, but he certainly hoped only a limited audience had seen his performance, if anyone at all.
“Hey, fellas,” he said, trying his A-game charming approach.
“Yes?” asked one security guard.
“I wondered if I could persuade you to give me the most recent surveillance tape of the elevator,” he said. “From, uh, the past hour.”
The security guys knew exactly what he meant, since the glass elevator was a major attraction of the hotel.
“Would you like us to erase it?” asked one.
Derrick thought about it. It was such a magnificent moment that it would have been a shame to destroy it. There was no delicate way to ask, and there was no way to say it in code, so he just blurted, “Is there any way you can give me a copy before you delete it?”
The security guard just nodded. “Sure,” he said. “I can email a copy.”
Derrick jotted down his personal email. “Appreciate it,” he said. He then reached into his pocket for his wallet and pulled out a couple twenties, one for each of the guards present. “Thanks, guys.”
His heart nearly drummed out of his chest as he hurried back to Corrine. He was sure she’d be waiting for him, and he was dying to watch the footage of their escapade together. Of all the adventures they’d had, they had not watched a sexy video together. Now they could, and they were the leading man and lady in it. The more he thought about it, the quicker his feet moved until he was almost jogging down the hall.
When he reached her room, he had to knock, since he hadn’t taken a key. He was surprised that she didn’t answer right away, but he tried to convince himself that she was just in the shower or freshening up for their next sexy enco
unter. His intuition, though, told him it might be something else. “Corrine?” he called to her adamantly.
She finally opened the door and popped her head out. “What do you want?” she said, clearly annoyed.
“Huh? I told you I’d be right back, and here I am.”
“I’m not interested in being your hookup anymore, Derrick,” she spat. “I’m sorry. Maybe I should have made that clearer.”
“C’mon, baby. Let me in. I have a surprise for you.” He laughed nervously, hoping she was just playing once again.
“You just left me.”
He pressed on the door firmly enough for her to back away and allow him in. “First of all,” he said. “You’re far more than a hookup to me. I’m in love with you, Corrine. Maybe I should have made that clearer.”
Her mouth spread wide, and she was suddenly beaming, all her frustration just melted away.
“Second of all, that thing I had to take care of was retrieving the recording of you doing naughty things to me in the elevator. I thought it was better not to tell you, just in case I couldn’t get to it in time.”
Her eyes widened, and she let out an adorable little gasp. Derrick swept her up and laid her on the bed, then made love to her, long and furiously, with a gentle finish. Afterward, they climbed beneath the sheets and had a heart-to-heart, something they’d never done before.
It felt like it had been an eternity since they were in bed together, but there was something warm and wonderful about just lounging around and talking. Even though they were both completely nude, they focused on deep, unending conversation, sharing feelings and memories, hopes and dreams.
Corrine huddled against his broad chest and stared up into his eyes, listening intently to every word he said. He shared stories of his glory days when he was a baseball player and tales of his fraternity polishing a certain part of the brass horse statue. Most of all, he loved making her laugh.
He kissed her head. “I cannot believe we wasted all that time,” he remarked.
“Well, it wasn’t a complete waste,” she said flirtatiously.
His hands roamed her buttocks, and her knee slid up his thighs, gliding across them like a snake until it rested comfortably across him.
“That’s not what I meant,” he said in a low, deep voice. “I meant we wasted a lot of time not telling each other how we felt.”
She was so quiet for such a long time that he could almost feel her thinking. “It was what it was,” she countered. “We were both fresh off relationships that didn’t do either of us any good.”
“We both know quite a bit about my ex-wife—”
“Your ex-witch,” she teased.
“Yeah, that,” he said with a laugh. “But who was the dunderhead who let you go before you met me?”
She chuckled. “I’m not sure the dunderhead would even know what a dunderhead is.”
“Not so bright, huh?” he asked.
“Bright in some ways, but dumber than rocks in others,” she said with a little resignation. “I don’t know. He just wasn’t the right guy. He was a looker, though.”
“Ah,” said Derrick, completely aware of how easy it was to get caught up in superficiality, something he’d done himself. Jealousy plucked his insides just the same as she continued, though.
“Well, the ditzy high school girl in me was flattered when the hot guy on campus even gave me the time of day, but we didn’t click. There was definitely no spark between us, and before long, I was assuming all responsibility for that.”
“That sucks,” he said with a nod.
“Yeah. The relationship that kind of affirmed me, that at first made me feel attractive and vital, became the one that made me feel fat, out of shape, undesirable, and dull.”
“Damn, Corrine,” he cursed. “You’re none of those things.”
“I know that now,” she replied with a smile. “I just had to get away from him before the brainwashing cemented.”
“Same here,” he concurred emphatically. “Talk about wasting time.”
“I kinda like the way we started out,” she said.
Derrick grinned. “Believe me, I did too,” he said. “But then it backfired. You were being a little too… casual, and it started to piss me off.”
“Well, in my defense, I was starting to think all guys were the same,” she said.
“What, that we all think you’re dumpy and boring?” he asked.
“Something like that,” she said.
“Do the math, Corrine. Did you hit on that guy first, or did he hit on you?”
“He hit on me,” she replied cynically.
“Of course he did. Even a dumbass would know you’re a knockout.”
“Come on, Derrick,” she said. “You know some guys’ll nail anything that walks.”
“Ugh.” Derrick gasped with frustration. “That’s it. You’ve earned this.”
“Earned what?” she asked, innocently batting her eyes.
“C’mere, naughty girl.”
With that, he sat up and drew her across his lap. He marveled at how the arched surface of his thighs nestled perfectly into the hollow of her belly and once again realized that their bodies were made for one another. They had alluded to what was to come for quite some time, with all his playful swats here and there, always the promise of more. Now that she was in the ready position for it, they both trembled with sweet anticipation. Derrick, a grown man who swung multimillion-dollar business deals, was shaken to the core, though, not sure if he could follow through.
He drew up his hand and landed a smack on her rump with his palm. He leaned down, brushing her ears with his lips and feeling soft strands of hair against his mouth. “Do I need to make you count?” he asked.
“No,” she said quietly.
He swatted her once more and was so seized by his passion for her that he quickly flipped her over. He operated on total instinct. His mouth sought hers and hers his; everything he did, she mirrored.
They grappled, their quiet, casual moment suddenly gone. He impaled her, crazed with need for her, sinking into her as deeply as he could. That was still not enough, though, and he wanted more, maybe even more than either of them could give.
Corrine pushed up against him as firmly as possible, trying to give more. They were entwined with one another as much as humanly possible, yet it was as if they could not quite get there with each other.
Animal noises scraped Corrine’s throat, erupting from deep within. He watched her face twist into several unnatural contortions, and her eyes pressed shut. Her mouth stretched tight as she strained against him. She rocked her hips upward as he drove into her, and they moved in counter rhythm. For all their sexual tension, they moved fluidly in an ageless dance. Derrick braced the small of her back, steadying himself as he pumped.
Corrine tucked her knees up along his sides so she fit more snugly against him, so tightly that it was a wonder she could move at all. She mixed up her movement, wagging her hips back and forth and side to side. As he buried himself to the hilt in the hot wetness of her channel, she swung her hips to one side, her searing flesh pressing against his cock. As she swung to the other side, the tension came from the other direction. He could find no relief till he was bursting within her, but then the yearning would start all over again.
Derrick tensed, and his movements became less fluid. Each stroke pushed him forward to that delicious summit. She was so soft, so tight, and her body was like a damp, dewy, furnace. Corrine mewed more than moaned, and her faint, high-pitched cries fueled his passion for her. He felt as if he’d been pushed off a cliff and was now soaring into total bliss as he came hard.
All at once, they were a symphony of noisy sexual cries, suffering the same sweet agony. It was almost too much to take. It really had not been that long, but it was as if he had to remember all over again, relishing the way her magnificent her body spasmed around him.
She was both powerful and delicate. Clamping ripples rolled through her, gripping him as he comp
letely fell apart. Corrine bucked her hips upward in little erotic thrusts as his pleasure was upon him. Her climax triggered his, and their rapture was like a great storm. That torrent slammed them both with a fury, taking everything they had until it passed, leaving them in a crumpled mass.
They both relaxed against the bed, and Derrick laughed into the pillow, his arms and legs loosely strewn over her.
“What’s so funny?” she murmured sleepily.
“It just hits us, doesn’t it?”
“It sure does.”
He was quiet for a moment, nervous to say what he wanted to say, even though they had already talked it out. “I was wondering… will you be my girlfriend?” he asked finally.
Corrine’s fingers tightened around his forearm, giving him an answer long before her words did. “Yes,” she finally said. “Yes, Mr. Quinn, I’ll be your girlfriend.”
Chapter 22
The Vegas sun pressed down on the sunbathers lounging poolside at the luxurious, elegant Tresor Hotel. It was the place to be in Vegas, or at least it would be till a newer, hotter property came on the scene. For the time being, everyone in town seemed to converge there. Despite the sweltering desert temperatures, the pool deck was packed with partiers soaking up the sun.
Corrine Smith quietly baked in the heat, ready to take a dip again so she didn’t get sunburned. The last time that happened, it didn’t end well.
One more second, she told herself, and then I’ll go in. She couldn’t quietly nap as she liked to do when she laid out in the sun because a couple of guys next to her were involved in a rambunctious game of dice, slurping down rounds and rounds of drinks that seemed to increase their slurring volume more and more. They roared with each toss, and the dice drummed like a migraine in their leather cup as the drunken fools gave them hard shakes. Corrine couldn’t have dozed off if she wanted to.
Part of her wanted to stay awake because she somewhat envied those around her. Despite living close to Vegas, she wasn’t much of a risktaker herself, though she did indulge on occasion. She could take it or leave it, but she was intrigued by the idea of joining in the game. She had only played dice once or twice, but her poolside neighbors seemed to be really into it, and their excitement was contagious.