20
ZANDER
“I LIKE THESE TWO, and this one,” I said, pointing at the new cocktails Dell had been working on.
Kade and I paid Dell big bucks for a reason. He was a genius with alcohol, concocting specialty drinks exclusive to Empire Sevens to lure the customers.
Casinos up and down The Strip tried to copy us, but that only lit a fire under Dell’s ass to make something even more extravagant and tasty.
“Go ahead and put these on the menu as the new specials,” I said, wiping my mouth with a napkin.
He nodded and grinned, obviously proud to please me.
“Sounds good. I’ll get right on that. Have you—” His sentence was cut off when the phone behind the bar rang.
“Get it,” I told him, grabbing another drink off the bar and tossing it back.
Alcohol had become my best friend over the past few days. It was the only thing that kept me numb, which helped keep my thoughts off Eden long enough to get me through the night.
I wanted to feel relief that she wasn’t working tonight, but the hardness of my cock had other plans. Every time I turned, I hoped I would see her there, but then again, I knew that wouldn’t go over well since I needed at least twenty-four hours to think about what I was planning.
Jumping off the wagon and letting the sex addict in me take control was a big deal to me. I worried that once he was loose, I would never be able to contain him.
“Luke!” Dell called to the other bartender. “It’s Eden. She wants you. She sounds kind of funny.”
The mention of her name and the fact she was calling Luke instantly sobered me. All my attention went to listening to Luke’s one-sided conversation.
What the fuck was Eden calling Luke for anyway?
Didn’t I tell her I forbade it?
Jealousy lit a fire in the pit of my stomach, and I found myself glaring at Luke.
“Eden? Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Luke asked.
It annoyed the fuck out of me that I couldn’t hear her response, but he listened for a bit before a tiny grin tugged at his lips as he scribbled something down. Then he nodded and said, “Okay, I’m on my way.” He handed the phone back to Dell. “Can you cover my shift for a couple of hours?” he asked.
Dell nodded before setting the phone back onto the counter. I waited for him to ask Luke why, but it didn’t seem like he would.
No one was saying anything. I had no idea what was going on, and I hated being out of the loop on anything.
“What’s going on?” I demanded.
Dell and Luke looked over at me as if I hadn’t been standing there the entire time.
“Uh, it was Eden. She thought she heard something at her place, and with Kennedy out of town, she’s a little freaked out. You know how women can be. I’m sure it’s nothing, but I’m going to go over—”
I was out of my seat before he could even finish his sentence.
“Finish your shift. I’ll go.”
“But ...” he started, obviously hoping to get Eden alone, but one look from me had the rest of his sentence frozen.
I didn’t waste any more time with the two of them as I walked away and headed toward the entrance to the hotel. Jerome, part of our security detail, saw me going toward the door and was already speaking in the mic on his wrist to get my car.
Waiting the few minutes for them to bring my car around felt like hours. When they finally pulled around in front, I was out of the parking lot before I could blink. I didn’t know what to think of my reaction to hearing that someone could possibly be inside Kennedy’s place while Eden was there alone.
I made it to Kennedy’s place in less than five minutes, and when I got there, I didn’t bother waiting for anyone to take my keys. Instead, I parked right in front of the main door and dared anyone to touch my fucking car.
The elevator seemed to be moving slower than usual, and when the doors finally opened to the penthouse floor, I felt real relief.
The door to Kennedy’s condo was locked when I tried to open it, and when I reached for the key she had given me to her place, I remembered leaving it on my desk the last time I cleaned out my pockets.
“Fuck,” I muttered to myself before reaching up and knocking on the door.
No one responded at first, prompting me to knock yet again. Still, there was no answer, yet I could somehow sense her on the other side of the door.
“Eden, it’s Zander. Open the door,” I called out.
I waited, aggravation and annoyance building inside until finally, I heard the locks on the door clicking.
When the door opened, Eden was standing there looking back at me with wide eyes and shock holding a large kitchen knife in her hand.
The warrior in her had come forward.
Her sweet mouth was hanging open in surprise when she realized it was me there and not Luke.
Looking at her lips and the inside of her mouth and the smoothness of her tongue made me think of all the dirty things I wanted to do to it.
In my imagination, my cock had been inside there—thrusting and seeking—feeling the warmth and the hard sucking she was capable of.
I wanted her on her knees in front of me, her fingers gripping my ass as she pulled me into her mouth. I wanted her there ready and waiting, begging me to come all over her gorgeous face.
I pushed past her and moved into the living room. I had never set foot inside Kennedy’s condo before now even though I had a key in case of an emergency. I heard the door close behind me, and when I turned around, Eden was staring at me, waiting.
“What are you doing here, Zander?”
“What the hell do you mean what am I doing here? You said someone was inside the condo.”
“I didn’t say someone. I told Luke I heard noises. So why are you here?”
Again, aggravation and jealousy rose within me.
She wanted Luke.
Not me.
Well, fuck that.
“I told Kennedy I’d look out for you, so why the hell would you call Luke?”
Her eyes went wide.
“Because he’s my friend. Who was I supposed to call? You?”
“Fucking yes!” I snapped, making her jerk.
I couldn’t look at her anymore.
She had me so angry, and I knew it had less to do with her not calling me and more to do with her calling Luke.
I also knew I was still aggravated with myself a bit for giving in and letting her see me at such a vulnerable moment both in my office during fight night and in my condo the night before.
I shook my head, annoyed, and started toward the stairs.
“You said you heard something upstairs?”
She followed me.
I could hear her tiny bare feet on the marble flooring.
“Yes.”
I took the stairs two at a time, leaving her behind and putting as much space as possible between us. I wanted her, but not in Kennedy’s condo and not when I wasn’t exactly ready yet.
I moved through the second floor of the condo, checking the rooms and opening closet doors, looking for anything that could have made a noise. Finally, when I opened the last door on the right, I came face to face with what I knew was Eden’s room.
It smelled like her.
I breathed in deep, pulling her into my lungs as I moved into the room and began to search. The room was mostly empty, but still, I let my eyes linger on the things I knew belonged to her.
Clothes littered the bed, and the white dress she had worn at the fight hung loosely on the back of the chair. Then my eyes moved to the floor beside the chair, and I found myself looking at a pair of white lace panties.
They were the ones she had worn with her dress. I wasn’t sure, but the fact they were discarded beside where the dress lay was a pretty good clue.
I closed my eyes, wondering how wet those panties had gotten while she watched me jerk off to her, and at the moment, every wall I built to keep the addict in crumbled away.
He was free.
He was rock hard.
And he was ready.
I could feel the heat of Eden at my back; she was standing close. So close that I could almost feel her breasts pressed against my back.
“What is it?” she asked. “Do you see something?”
Biting my lip, I tried once more to rein in my control, but there was no capturing the addict. He was too far gone.
I turned, my eyes moving over her and taking in what she was wearing.
A T-shirt, long enough to cover if she was wearing panties or not, and nothing else. Her nipples were peaking, hard beneath the cotton fabric, letting me know she wasn’t wearing a bra.
Reaching out, I grabbed her arm and tugged her to me. She stiffened in my grasp, but I didn’t care. I leaned down and breathed in the scent of her sunshine hair and sighed when the smell matched the smell of her room.
“What are doing?” she asked.
I ignored her question.
It should have been obvious what I was doing.
“The panties on the floor by the chair, did you wear them Friday night?”
Her head jerked up, her eyes going wide when she looked at me.
“That’s none of your business.”
“Wrong answer,” I said. “I’ll ask again. Did you wear them Friday night?”
Her lips tightened, and for a second, I thought she wasn’t going to respond when she said, “So what if I did? Again, it’s not your business.”
I pulled her tighter to me, letting my steel cock rub against her.
“I disagree. I’d say those panties are definitely my business.”
She tugged against my hold. “You’re crazy.”
I ignored that and continued. “Because you see, I happen to know you soaked those panties that night. And you did so by watching me jerk off. I’d say if anything, those panties are mine now.”
She blushed, letting me know I was correct, and that sent me over the edge.
I reached behind her and under the back of her T-shirt, grabbing handfuls of her beautiful ass, and was happy to find her ass cheeks were bare.
“Thongs?” I asked, looking down into her flushed face.
She bit her lip, driving me fucking insane, and nodded.
“Mmm,” I moaned, enjoying the feel of her naked ass in my palms.
I was too far gone.
Too fucking far.
“Did you like watching me jerk off?” I asked.
When I did, she blushed even harder and turned her head away. I wasn’t having that. Grabbing her chin between two fingers, I turned her face toward me once again.
“Never look away from me when I’m talking about my cock.”
Slowly, I could feel her melting against me, her stiff body loosening in my hold.
“Do you want to know what I was thinking about while I was touching my dick?”
She looked at me, and I could see she wasn’t sure how to respond until finally, her face reddened a bit more, and she nodded.
“I was thinking about you. I was imagining your gorgeous mouth wrapped around my cock, sucking me off. I imagined I was coming in your mouth.”
I swiped my thumb across her pouty lips.
“Would you like that, angel? Do you want to suck my dick?”
Again, she looked away. “Zander,” she said with a small sigh.
Capturing her chin, I turned her face toward me again. “What did I say about looking away from me when we’re talking about my cock?”
Her eyes glazed over. “You said not to do it.”
I nodded. “Correct. Good girl.”
Pleasure moved over her expression, and she licked her lips. The movement of her tongue and the moisture of her sweet mouth did me in.
I leaned in and kissed her.
My tongue swept across her lip the way hers had, and when she gasped, I used that as my opening and thrust my tongue into her mouth.
I was losing control completely.
I was letting go.
I moved us, pushing her against the wall of windows behind her and lifting her so she could wrap her long legs around my waist.
Her center was hot. I could feel the heat of her through my pants, but it wasn’t enough. I wanted more.
Reaching down between us, I unbuttoned and unzipped my pants and pulled my cock out. Once it was free, I thrust my hips up, rubbing the head of my dick against her soaked panties.
“Oh, my god,” she whined.
It wasn’t overly erotic.
There was nothing even remotely wild about the situation. Just me, dry humping the fuck out of the angel in my arms.
Then I remembered the main reason I wanted her. I thought about the tightness of her untouched pussy and the thin barrier that made her so fucking perfect for me.
I pulled back, my eyes going to hers.
“Are you a virgin?” I asked.
I knew the answer, but I almost hoped she would tell me she wasn’t.
“Excuse me?” Her breathing was more laborious and accelerated.
She was so into what we were doing.
She wanted me to fuck her so badly.
“You heard me, Eden. Are you a virgin?
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”
I shook my head, secretly enjoying her tiny bits of rebellion.
“What did I say? When it’s wet because of me, it’s my business. Those panties ...” I nodded toward the floor. “They’re covered in your juices because of me. And this perfect pussy,” I said, reaching between us and sliding my finger inside her panties to feel that she was fucking soaked, “it’s wet because of me, which means it’s my fucking business.”
She sighed when I ran my finger over her swollen clit.
“Now tell me,” I said, reminding her of my question. “Because I can’t fuck you if you’re a virgin, Eden.”
Her face flamed, and she stuttered. “Who … I didn’t ...” And then she frowned. “Why not?”
“Because I’ve worked too hard to get to where I am.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I can’t fuck you if you’re a virgin. Tell me you only look innocent—that you’re really a naughty girl who’s let lots of men climb inside you.”
It wasn’t really what I wanted to hear, but it was what I needed to hear. Otherwise, I would crack.
She bit her lip but remained silent, and that was all the answer I needed.
“Fuck,” I cursed, removing my hand from her panties and running it down my face.
The wetness from her pussy was still on my fingers, and when I ran them across my lips, I could taste her.
I put her down, turning away from her and licking my lips for just that tiny taste.
I couldn’t handle fucking her if she was untouched, untainted. That would be my undoing, and I would be back to square one. If she only looked innocent, I could end my suffering with a quick screw and be done with her, but taking her virginity would mean she was mine and mine only.
“So because I’m a virgin, you don’t want me?”
I could hear the desire and upset in her voice.
I groaned.
Her words couldn’t be further from the truth.
“I’ve worked too hard,” I repeated, breathing in deep as I tried to reclaim my calm.
“I don’t know what that means, Zander.”
“It means if I fuck you tonight, I’ll want to do it again and again.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“Yes!”
“Why? I want you, Zander. Please.”
Fuck it.
Going to her, I dug my fingers into her hips, flipped her around, and threw her down on the bed. She looked up at me with wide but excited eyes.
“Remember, angel. You asked for this,” I warned as I climbed on top of her.