CHAPTER FIVE
He should have ordered dinner up to the suite. As Luke followed Rachel in her figure-hugging, deep purple dress, all he could think about was getting her out of it and getting inside her. The sophisticated sway of her hips riveted his attention, and when she turned to slide into the private booth the maître d’ led them to in the Mystic’s upscale restaurant, his gaze shifted to the low V-cut neckline displaying an ample amount of flesh and generous cleavage.
Ignoring the flare of heat igniting in his belly, Luke sat next to Rachel and glanced back at the maître d’. “Thanks, Richard. We’ll take a bottle of Cristal when you get the chance.”
Richard nodded as he stepped away from the table. “I’ll get that champagne for you right away.”
Once the other man was gone and they were alone, Rachel slanted him a playful look. “If you’re trying to impress me, I have to admit that it’s working. Is all this another perk of working for the Mystic?” she asked, indicating the reserved table and the preferential treatment.
He grinned. “You could say that.”
She opened her leather-bound menu but didn’t look at the dinner selections. Instead, her gaze remained on him, her admiration genuine and real. “You’ve done very well for yourself, Luke. I’m really proud of everything you’ve accomplished.”
Her praise caused something warm and deep to curl through him and settle in long-forgotten places. “Thanks. I have to say, I love what I do. It’s a great job, and the people I work with are equally top-notch in the security field.” He nudged her menu in an attempt to avert the attention off of him. “The baked macadamia nut sea bass is exceptionally good here,” he said, remembering how much she loved seafood.
“I’m sold.” She flashed him a gregarious smile. “That sounds fantastic, and I’m absolutely ravenous.”
So was he, but not for food, he thought. Their episode in the bathroom was still fresh in his mind, as was their earlier kiss. Both encounters had him on edge with wanting her in the very worst way. Add that sexy, alluring dress of hers to his rapidly dwindling restraint and he hoped to God he made it through dinner without ravishing her in their very private and isolated corner of the restaurant.
He shifted in his seat, and while they waited for their server to arrive to take their order, he asked about her day, even though he knew exactly how she’d spent those hours. Regardless of his own secret knowledge of how she’d spent the afternoon, he listened to her anyway and realized just how much she’d enjoyed being indulged and pampered.
“Tell me something,” she said once they’d ordered their dinner and their Cristal had been delivered. “How did you get a job as head of security for the Mystic Casino?”
He sighed as he reclined against the booth’s leather exterior and watched as she took a sip of her champagne. They were back to him again, despite his attempts to steer the conversation away from his personal life. But her questions were relatively harmless, and the fact was, he didn’t have anything to hide from her.
“After you left, I was hired on with the Mystic as a valet attendant. I worked the night shift, which left my days free for school and studying.”
“You went to college,” she said, sounding very pleased with that revelation. “I’m glad you did.”
“I always planned on it,” he replied with a slight smile. “You know that.”
She hesitated a few seconds while her fingers stroked the stem of her champagne glass, much in the same way he imagined her stroking him. Then she spoke what was on her mind.
“During our senior year in high school, we did talk about you going to UNLV,” she said, her tone as tentative as her words. “But quite honestly, after I left for New York with my family, I wasn’t sure what you would do.”
Falling apart hadn’t been an option for him, no matter how devastated he’d been. Instead, he’d channeled his anger and resentment toward something productive, figuring that there was nothing left for him but work and succeeding and making something of himself. That had been the driving force in his life the past eight years, and what had kept him from ending up like his own useless, worthless drunk of a father.
As their waiter arrived to serve them their entrees, Luke realized that his thoughts had taken a dark turn, and he didn’t want their discussion to head down that morose path. Not during a pleasant dinner that had the potential of leading to an equally enjoyable evening up at the suite.
So, he kept things light and casual. “Two years after starting with the Mystic, there was an opening in security, which I applied for and got. Over the next few years, I went from overseeing the money transfers in the casino to working in surveillance. As for college, I started out taking general ed courses but switched to getting a degree in security services, which helped with promotions. I worked hard, proved myself to all the right people, and when the head of security took a job with another casino, I was qualified enough to get the position.”
“That’s amazing,” she said as she took a bite of her fish. “I bet your parents are very proud of you.”
“My mother is. As for my father, he died four years ago of liver disease.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, and she reached out to place her hand over his on the table in a show of comfort. “Oh, Luke, I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be.” The last thing he wanted was sympathy for a man who didn’t deserve it. “Bill was never much of a father to me anyway, and my mother is better off without him and his abuse.”
Understanding glimmered in Rachel’s eyes. She knew he’d had a rough childhood because of his father, and there was no making excuses for Bill Kincaid’s offensive ways. He’d always been a mean, ugly drunk, and even in the end, when he was dying, he’d been verbally cruel and unredeemable.
“I always did like your mom,” Rachel said with an affectionate smile that affirmed her comment. “How is she doing?” She took a long drink of her champagne, but her interested gaze never left his.
“Actually, she’s great.” He cut a slice of his beef Wellington as he spoke, then pierced the tender morsel with his fork. “She met a really nice man who treats her well. They recently got married and moved to Henderson. He’s retired and fairly wealthy, so she doesn’t have to work. It’s nice to see someone taking care of her for a change.”
“I’m glad to hear she’s happy.”
“It’s nothing less than she deserves.” He ate a bite of his dinner, then refilled their almost empty champagne flutes. “So, what about you, Rachel? I take it you became the lawyer your father wanted you to be?”
She tipped her head curiously, and a few loose strands that had escaped her upswept hair caressed her neck. “What makes you think that?”
He found her response odd and wondered if he’d misunderstood what she’d said when they’d discussed their invalid annulment papers. “This morning you mentioned working for a law firm.”
“I do, but not as an attorney,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’m a paralegal.”
Luke certainly hadn’t been expecting that, considering how adamant her father had been about his daughter attending law school. “What happened?”
“I started attending Columbia University in the fall of the year we moved to New York, but when my parents passed away, I had some difficult choices to make.” Absently, she pushed her half-eaten food around on her plate, her voice taking on a quiet, reminiscent note. “Since I was nineteen, I was able to become a guardian to my younger brother and sister, and that’s exactly what I did.”
An unmistakable surge of respect made itself known within Luke. He was beginning to see Rachel in a whole new and different light. Whereas he’d imagined she’d spent the past eight years living an easy, uncomplicated life, it was humbling to discover that she’d been forced to grow up at a very young age. “That’s a huge responsibility.”
“But well worth it,” she said without hesitating. “I wasn’t about to let the three of us get separated or Casey and Lynn end up in a foster home. But that meant quitting school and finding full-time employment, which I did. I was hired on as a secretary at a prestigious New York law firm, and much like you, I worked my way up through promotions. I went to night school and took courses geared toward becoming a paralegal, so I’d at least have some kind of career to fall back on once my brother and sister were on their own.”
The woman was as smart and determined as she was beautiful and sexy. It was an amazing, intoxicating combination. “What’s up with Casey and Lynn?”
Done with her meal, she set her fork on her plate and pushed it aside. “Despite the upheaval and emotional adjustments we all went through when my parents died, they turned out to be really great kids.” She grinned, the love and devotion she harbored for her siblings evident in her expression and her green-gold eyes. “Lynn just finished her second year at Allegheny College in Pennsylvania, and Casey is working for a marketing firm in New York City. He just moved out on his own, which is why I decided to finally sell my parents’ place. It’s just too big for one person, and lonely, too, I have to admit.” She ducked her head sheepishly at that admission.
He watched her take a slow drink of the Cristal champagne, understanding the feeling of loneliness all too well. For as much as he loved his job and was surrounded by many great friends on a daily basis, his suite and the house he owned always felt so empty, too quiet, and devoid of the kind of warmth and emotion that existed when you lived with someone you cared about and loved.
That was why he spent most of his time using the hotel suite, because when the solitude was too much for him to bear and he felt closed in, he could always head down to the casino and mingle with employees and guests. Surveillance was a twenty-four-hour job in Vegas, and sometimes it was also his salvation—from himself and those old, sweet memories starring the woman sitting across from him.
“What are you going to do now that you’ve sold the house you’ve lived in the past eight years?” he asked, curious to know what she had in mind.
Finished with her second glass of champagne, she set her flute on the table and licked her bottom lip. “I have all of next week off, and as soon as I’m finished here, I’ll be moving to the city, where I’ll be closer to work.”
Finished with him and finished with their marriage. Her words were a stark reminder that their time together was nothing more than a temporary affair, which would eventually end with his signature on the annulment papers.
As the waiter cleared their dinner plates from the table and he ordered a chocolate soufflé for dessert, they continued with their light, superficial conversation. It didn’t escape his notice that they were both careful not to bring up the past, the end to their relationship so many years ago, or the hurt and disillusion involved in their separation. But he knew the painful emotions were still there between them, just below the surface of the tentative bond they’d forged for the weekend.
They might be skirting all the real issues that had torn them apart as young lovers, but there was at least one thing they’d be able to deal with honestly—and that was their undeniable attraction to one another. And tonight, they’d do exactly that.
As soon as they walked into the suite and Luke stripped off his sports jacket then began loosening his tie, Rachel’s stomach fluttered with butterflies. Not from anxiety or even nervousness but rather from pure, unadulterated anticipation. Eight lonely years had passed since she’d been with this man, but her body yearned for his as if she’d never left him behind. After what had transpired in the Jacuzzi tub earlier, she wanted him with every fiber of her being. Since she wasn’t about to leave Las Vegas for good this time with any regrets, that meant indulging in every sensual pleasure the next two nights had to offer.
He tossed his jacket and tie onto a chair in the living room, then silently extended his hand toward her, his eyes warm with promise. It was an invitation she accepted by placing her fingers in his palm and following him into the master bedroom. Once there, he turned on the lamp on the nightstand to give the room a soft, unobtrusive glow of light, then took off his shoes and socks. When he turned toward her with a sexy, disarming smile that made her pulse quicken in her veins, she closed the short distance between them, slid her arms around his neck, and gave in to the urge to finally feel the damp heat of his mouth on hers.
The moment their mouths met, their lips parted in mutual accord, allowing her immediate access to the silken depths of his mouth. Tongues touched, tangled, merged, and that was all it took for her to kiss him with all the hunger and desire that had filled her starving soul.
A low growl rumbled deep in his throat, and his arms came around her, warm and strong and secure. His hands slid down her back, over her bottom, and pulled her hips hard against his. There was no mistaking the erection pressing insistently against her belly or the tingling sensation and slick heat that settled between her thighs.
Suddenly desperate to touch and feel more of him, she tugged his shirt from the waistband of his pants and began unfastening each and every button, all the while indulging in seductive, teasing kisses. Eventually, the lightweight linen parted, enabling her to splay her hands on his bare chest.
His skin was hot, his nipples as firm as her own. Slowly, she dragged her palms down his lean torso, reveling in the warm, firm contours and toned muscles she encountered along the way. Her fingers skimmed across his taut belly before gradually making their way lower, until she finally held the most virile, masculine part of him in her palm.
She stroked the length of him through his trousers and felt him grow harder, thicker. She squeezed him gently, and with a deep, tortured groan, he tore his mouth from hers and pulled her hand away from his burgeoning shaft.
Startled by the abrupt move, and certain she must have done something wrong, she glanced up at him questioningly.
A wry smile kicked up one corner of his sensual mouth. “As good as it feels having you touch me like that, we need to slow down or else this is going to be over before it even gets started … if you know what I mean.”
Oh, she knew exactly what he meant, and it was a heady sensation to realize that she’d brought him to that breaking point.
Before she could kiss him again and resume a slower pace, he strolled across the room, settled himself in an armless, cushioned chair, and sprawled his legs out in front of him. He was sitting in a darkened part of the room, with his shirt hanging completely open so that she had a wonderful view of his bare, magnificent chest. With the shifting shadows casting across his features, along with his dark hair and glittering eyes, he reminded her of the bad boy who’d stolen her heart so long ago … and her virginity.
She was no longer a virgin, but a part of her realized that he had the ability to claim her heart once again. Even knowing this, she started toward him with the intention of giving herself over to him more than just physically, but he held up a hand to stop her.
“Stay right there, Rachel,” he murmured huskily. “I want you to take off your dress for me while I watch.”
She shivered, excited by this sexually demanding side to his personality, and decided to take full advantage of his request to seduce, tempt, and tease him. It was also the perfect opportunity to show him that she could be bold and brazen, assertive even, with him.
Reaching behind her, she easily but oh-so-slowly unzipped her dress. The sleeves glided down her arms, and with a sensual shimmy the silky fabric glided down her curves, her legs, then pooled at her feet.
His hot gaze raked all the way down to her high heels, then back up in a lazy, visual caress that didn’t miss a thing. “Very, very nice,” he said appreciatively.
A rush of feminine power rippled through her, mingling with a potent dose of desire. “I’m glad you approve.”
She was equally glad that she’d purchased the pretty lingerie today on a last-minute whim—a black lace push-up bra, matching panties, and thigh-high stockings with a stretch-lace band. Her undergarments were normally more efficient than frilly, but judging by the lust and need burning in Luke’s eyes, the tantalizing ensemble had been worth every penny.
She continued on, pulling the pins from her upswept hair until the curly strands tumbled around her shoulders and down her back. Then she propped one heeled foot on the bed, intending to take her shoes then her stockings off in a sexy striptease.
“Leave everything else on,” he ordered, surprising her once again with his request.
Straightening, she deliberately stroked her fingers across her bare, flat stomach, just to increase his internal temperature a few extra degrees. Then she licked her lips for good measure. “So, what would you like me to do now?”
A wicked grin eased across his mouth. “I want you to get down on your hands and knees and crawl over here to me.”
She hesitated, at first not sure what prompted this latest command of his … until she realized that he was testing her, daring her to do something that might be just outside of her comfort zone. It was a challenge she wasn’t about to refuse, but she intended to make this fantasy of his as erotic as possible.
Lowering herself to the plush carpeting, she began moving toward him on her hands and knees at a leisurely and seductive pace. She made the most of her suggestive position, arching her back so that her full breasts swayed forward provocatively and her hips undulated each time she advanced closer. By the time she came to a stop between his widespread legs, his breathing had deepened, and he shifted restlessly in his chair.
She tipped her head coyly. “So, you like your women submissive these days, huh?”
“Not at all.” He reached out and entwined a long strand of her curly hair around his finger and gave it a gentle tug. “I was just curious to see how far you were willing to go.”
Grinning, she came up on her knees and skimmed her palms up his thighs, wishing he wasn’t still wearing his trousers. But she’d remedy that problem soon enough. “So, are you satisfied?” she asked.
“Not quite,” he replied wryly, the erection straining against the zipper of his pants making a very obvious point.
Her fingers brushed lightly over the masculine bulge, just enough to make him shudder before she unfastened the top button of his trousers. “Then you won’t mind if I take over from here, will you?”
Again, he grasped her wrists, holding her off. “I already told you what will happen if you go there,” he said meaningfully.
This time, she wasn’t going to let him deter her from what she desired. “I just did what you asked, now it’s your turn to let me do what I want.” She leaned in close, so that his shaft was snuggled in the cleavage from her push-up bra. “And if it makes you feel better, I promise not to let you come. That is, if you think you can handle the challenge—and the pleasure.”
He shook his head in amusement, and to her satisfaction, he released her. “You are a very wicked woman.”
And she had to admit that she liked the confident way that made her feel. “Just relax and enjoy yourself,” she said and lowered his zipper all the way down, which enabled her to reach into his briefs and release his solid erection and taut testicles.
She touched the sensitive head of his cock, then wrapped her hand around the stalk, measuring the impressive length with her fingers. “Umm, very, very nice,” she purred, complimenting him in the same way he had her.
His low laughter turned into a raw groan when she stroked him all the way to the base, then back up to the tip. He shook with restraint, and she allowed him a brief reprieve as she flattened her hands on his bare chest, then leaned in so she could explore other parts of his body with her lips and tongue.
Closing her eyes and letting other senses take over, she nuzzled his neck and inhaled deeply of his male scent, a dizzying combination of spice and musk, then trailed damp kisses down to his chest and the hard nubs she’d found with her thumbs. She laved first one nipple with her tongue, then the other, savoring the salty heat of his skin as she gradually made her way back down his torso. By the time she’d reached his shaft once again, his entire body was tense and his need nearly tangible.
Gripping him tightly in her hand, she used her tongue to taste the velvet head of his penis with a soft, swirling stroke that had his heels digging into the carpet and a hissing sound escaping his throat. Emboldened by his response, she took him deeper, swallowing him inch by delicious, maddening inch, then added suction as she pulled all the way back up to the tip of his cock.
He swore under his breath, and when she glanced up at his face and saw the sensual anguish etching his features, she realized that he was right on the brink and using every ounce of control not to climax. And to toy with him any longer would be nothing less than sheer torture.
“Stand up,” he rasped, obviously not wanting to take the chance that she’d resume her lip service.
Without hesitation, she rose so that she was standing in front of him, still wearing her bra, panties, stockings, and heels. He looked his fill of her for a handful of seconds, then sat forward and hooked his fingers into the waistband of her barely there underwear. He dragged it over her hips, shoved it down her thighs, and let it drop to the floor. Then he pulled her bra straps down her arms, until her breasts were freed from the lacy cups, her nipples already tight and aching for his fingers and mouth.
He didn’t touch her just yet and instead put his knees together and gave her a shameless smile that made everything in her quiver with awareness. “Come closer.”
There was only one way to accomplish what he wanted, and that was to widen her stance so that her legs were straddling either side of his thighs. And that, of course, would leave her completely open and exposed to him, as he’d no doubt intended.
She did as he asked, which brought him up close and personal with her breasts and stomach, and the most intimate part of her poised right over his rigid erection. The position was extremely erotic and nothing like anything they’d done as teenagers. No, this was all about adult desires and playing risqué sexual games, and she had to admit that it was thrilling, exciting, and more arousing than her wildest fantasies had ever conjured.
He glanced up and met her gaze as he skimmed his hands up her smooth thighs, then over the curve of her bare bottom. His fingers traced the line of her spine to the middle of her back, where he flattened his palm and urged her upper body toward him. The sensitive peak of one breast brushed along his damp lips, and his tongue darted out to lick her nipple before he drew as much of her as he could into his warm, wet mouth. She gasped as his teeth scraped gently across the tip, moaned softly when he sucked her harder, stronger, and felt her legs threaten to buckle when his free hand dipped between them to explore her weeping, swollen sex.
With a low, mewling sound of pleasure, she braced her hands on his broad shoulders to steady herself, but he wasn’t done making her burn. His thumb strummed her clit slowly and rhythmically as a long, strong forefinger slid deep, deep inside her and stroked. With his mouth latched on to her breast and his hand working the most exquisite magic elsewhere, she panted with the need to grasp the orgasm he deliberately kept just out of her reach. Every time she came close, he’d change the pace—from fast, deep, and greedy, to slow, lazy, and tender.
Desperate beyond belief, she fisted her fingers in his silky hair and tugged on his scalp. “Oh, God, Luke. Please let me come.” She was begging and didn’t care.
In his own good time, he released her breast and withdrew his fingers, which was the exact opposite of what she’d just pleaded for. She made a sound of protest.
“I want to be inside you when you come.” He reached for a sealed condom on the dresser that she hadn’t noticed was there until now, then glanced up at her, his eyes blazing with carnal lust and something more visceral.
Before she could analyze that latter emotion she’d witnessed so briefly, he was gripping her waist with his hands and pulling her down so that the head of his erection pressed insistently against her entrance. She was so ready for him, so slick and soft and hot, and he slipped inside her easily, until she was sitting completely astride his hard thighs and his thick shaft was impaled to the hilt.
She closed her eyes, sighed, and shivered decadently, enjoying the blissful moment. He felt so amazing filling her, being a part of her. So good and perfectly right. They were locked together so tightly it was difficult to tell where he ended and she began.
He spread his hands over her bare bottom and pulled her forward at the same time he thrust upward, grinding against her sex in a way that elicited a jolt of sensation that made her breath catch and her nerve endings zing. He grinned too arrogantly, and she countered his move, rocking and rolling her hips against his in an erotic lap dance that earned her a shudder and a groan from him.
Tension and need spiraled between them, and she undulated again, increasing the pressure and slick friction. He shuddered, wrapped one arm around her back, and tangled the fingers of his other hand in her hair, taking control. He pulled her head way back, forcing her to arch harder, deeper into him. Her breasts were crushed against his chest, her lower body at his every command, and she closed her eyes and surrendered to him and the pleasure coiling tighter and tighter within her. She felt his warm, damp lips on her throat, his hot breath, and when he gently bit the side of her neck, everything within her finally unraveled and came undone.
With a soft cry, she gave herself over to the pulsing orgasm surging through her, causing her inner muscles to clench tightly around his shaft, over and over again.
“Rachel,” he groaned raggedly, his own intense release making him shudder uncontrollably as he came right along with her.
With a trembling sigh, she collapsed against his chest and buried her face into the crook of his neck as he gently stroked his hands down her spine. They were both breathing hard from exertion, and beneath the hand she’d placed on his chest, she could feel his heart beating in cadence with hers, so perfectly attuned, as if they’d never spent the past eight years apart.
Her throat grew tight because, as wonderful as being with Luke was, she was forced to remind herself that her time with him was all a temporary situation. A weekend with Luke for his signature on the annulment papers—a proposition he’d issued and she’d accepted. An eventual end to any ties they had left to one another.
She never wanted anything less.