Lane
Pulling up to the five-star Hotel Dylan, I tossed my keys at the valet and yelled, “Leave it up front.” As if they wouldn’t. They kept all the hottest cars out in front, and my shiny midnight-blue German-engineered convertible was nothing less than the best.
But that wasn’t why I needed my ride in the circle. I was going to require a fast getaway after checking Bess into her suite. The heat circling the two of us was thicker than the air in Miami in August. The heavy clouds of passion that were cloaking us in their dark fury were about to burst. And while I wanted nothing more than precisely that, I needed to escape.
Fucking Bess right now would screw everything up. I wasn’t even sure what everything meant, but right now I felt as though the fate of my heart and mind were tangled up in a waitress from Pennsylvania, and I needed to dissect that wide open—but in the privacy of my home.
“Good evening, Mr. Wrigley.” James, the dapper, way-too-chipper guy at the front desk, greeted me. “Welcome back to the Dylan. What can I help you with this evening? Will you be dining late with us? Should I call the restaurant?” he said with a wink.
As usual, he was eating me up with his eyes, and I could only imagine what must be running through his mind. With the relaxed casual clothes I was wearing and my hair more mussed than usual, I looked nothing like I normally did.
His cheeks pinked before he turned his gaze on the woman beside me. Bess was flushed from our time on the beach, her hair tousled and wind-whipped, long tresses partially obscuring her face and running down her back. Her gaze roamed the lobby while she wrapped her arms tightly around herself in her pink cardigan.
“Hello, James. No, I’ve already eaten, but I’d like to check in my guest from out of town.”
He leaned back, further inspecting Bess as his tongue took a lap around his lips. He smoothed a hand down the skinny European suit hugging his frame, which set off his hair that was perfectly combed like a pop star’s. “I see. And who may she be?”
“James, meet Bess Williams, a friend of mine from Pennsylvania.”
Who knew my little gay blade, my hook-up for quick reservations at one of South Beach’s hotspots, would put me through such scrutiny?
“I didn’t know you had any friends . . . from Pennsylvania,” James said drolly.
I narrowed my eyes and said, “Well, now you do. Can we get Ms. Williams checked in for the evening? She’s had a long travel day.”
“Yes, of course. Right away. Nice to meet you, Ms. Williams,” James said as he started banging away on the computer in front of him, his movements exaggerated.
“Thank you,” Bess finally said.
I wasn’t sure who she was addressing, him or me, but James answered. “Oh, that’s what I’m here for, doll.”
When I eased my hand to Bess’s lower back, James eyed the action pointedly before he focused his laser beams on Bess, laying it on thick. “Have you been to our establishment before, Ms. Williams?”
What was he insinuating? She wasn’t an available-by-the-hour type, and he knew it.
“Um, no.”
“How about South Beach, doll?” He winked and batted his eyelashes.
She shook her head.
“Well,” he said to her with one eyebrow raised, “it looks like you found the right VIP bachelor to show you off around town.”
All at once, the scent of coconut coming from the candles in the lobby overwhelmed me. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, James. Do you have a room ready for Bess?”
I wasn’t having a dick-swinging contest with a lightweight whose feathers were ruffled over my attention, or lack thereof. James knew I was about as hetero as they came, and he also knew I didn’t do relationships. But there was no fucking way he was swooping in and pretending to be best-fucking-friends with my date. If he was trying to get to me, it was damn well working.
James stiffened slightly, then collected himself. “Of course. A suite just like you requested, Mr. Wrigley.”
“Good, now give her the key. I’ll help her upstairs.”
“Certainly.”
Once she had her room number and instructions for finding the elevators, Bess tried to grab her bag, but I got it first. I was annoyed enough with James, and I certainly didn’t want a valet either.
As we walked down the wide hallway with white curtains billowing on either side, tiny votive candles lit along the stone walkway marking our path, lust filled the air all around us. I had no idea how I was going to leave her at the door.
We stepped inside the elevator and I pulled her in close—her back to my front—after the elevator doors shut behind us, then I kissed the nape of her neck.
“I’m going to be a good boy and say good-bye at your door,” I whispered, “but it’s going to be fast because I don’t think I can trust myself for much longer.”
With her eyes averted, staring at the elevator floor like it was the most fascinating tile ever, Bess replied, “That’s good, because I’m not sure I trust myself to hold true to my word either.”
She ducked her head, shyly trying to hide her face, but I caught the faint hint of her blush. And if that didn’t ratchet me up further, I was a goddamn liar.
I was running my tongue up the side of her neck, taking deep inhales of her scent now mixed with the salty ocean air that clung to her skin, when the doors opened. Bess glanced at her key and said, “Twelve nineteen.” I pulled her hand into mine and walked toward the placard with directions to the room numbers and pointed left toward room 1219.
We traveled slowly down the hallway, our footsteps muffled on the expensive carpeting. I felt like a lion going against his instinctive nature, resisting temptation by locking his prey up for the night. Bess was like an innocent kitten, welcoming my closeness, throwing caution to the wind with her hand tucked inside mine, and both her ass and long hair swaying sensually from side to side.
I’d never wanted to put my dick inside a woman so badly. Anywhere and everywhere she would let me.
The situation sent red flags waving inside my mind. I knew I should leave Bess alone, but at the same time I wanted to claw my heart out of where it had been buried for most of my life and hand it over to a woman I barely knew, yet understood better than she thought.
Safely locked inside the four walls of my house an hour later, I lay down on my king-sized bed, sinking into the thousand-thread-count sheets and duvet my decorator selected for me. Slipping my hand inside my boxer briefs I’d quickly stripped down to, I replayed our kiss at the door to her suite.
I’d trapped Bess against the heavy mahogany door, bracing my palms on either side of her head before leaning in and capturing her mouth in a brutal kiss. I didn’t wait for the green light; I’d pushed my way in and fucked her mouth.
My dick was hard just remembering it. I grabbed hold of myself and squeezed before running my hand up and down my length. More than just a little pre-cum dripped out of the top and I rubbed it along my shaft, easing the way for my hand to work faster.
With Bess trapped in my arms, I’d bitten down on her lower lip as I pressed my hard body into her soft, lush one. My erection, begging to be freed from my pants, rubbed along the bottom of her sweater, and I’d pushed it against her abdomen, making sure she felt what she did to me.
We’d been moaning so loudly, my hipbone grinding into hers, I’d been ready to roar when sanity crept back in along the edges of my brain. I’d released Bess’s lips reluctantly and took a long, deep breath.
“We’re going to wake the whole floor and get arrested for public indecency if I don’t sprint for the elevator now,” I’d said quietly.
“Okay,” she’d said softly, and a slight pout had appeared before she smoothed out her features. “Good night.”
“Good night, Bess.” I’d dipped my forehead to touch hers. “I’ll call you in the morning and we’ll make a plan to do something fun, okay?”
She’d nodded, then I’d kissed her one more time, brushing my lips along her cheek.
Now I was pumping my dick at full speed, my release barreling its way through me, hardly taking the edge off my desire.
When she’d called after me, I had the urge to run to her, to bust through the door and fuck her right on the floor of the suite.
But instead I’d turned to hear her say, “Lane? Thank you,” before I nodded and raced to the elevator bank.
My sheets and my hand were now a sticky mess, but my cock hadn’t received the signal. It came back to life, standing at attention as it berated me for not taking it into consideration.
As I headed to the shower, my heart pounded and my brain whirled with bad ideas. It was going to be a long night.