CHAPTER THREE
The two-hour ride to Dallas beside his brooding brother had been mostly silent. Noble waved goodbye, slung his duffle bag over his shoulder, and then strolled into the airport terminal. After placing his bag on the security belt, he watched it disappear inside the X-ray machine before stepping up to have his body scanned. An hour later, he was buckled in his seat on the airplane, next to a sweet old lady named Kitty.
“You going to Vegas for work or pleasure?” she asked.
“Pleasure. An old pal from high school is getting married.”
“I’m going for pleasure, too. I’m being inducted into the AVA Hall of Fame,” she announced with a big, proud smile.
Noble had no idea what that was, so he simply returned a polite smile and nodded while he studied her more closely. The woman was dressed in stylish clothes, though she wore more makeup than most her age The diamonds twinkling off her fingers, wrist, and neck spoke of wealth. She might be a famous philanthropist. Still, the words AVA Hall of Fame rolled through his brain as he worked out the acronym. Maybe it stood for the Athletic Veterans Association. He could be sitting next to a gold medal winner from one of the early modern Olympic games.
“You don’t know what the AVA is, do you, sugar?” she asked with a pronounced southern drawl.
“No, ma’am, I can’t say as I do.”
“It’s the Adult Video Awards.”
Noble’s smile slid from his lips. Adult movies? Was she talking…porn?
“I can’t believe a big, strappin’ hunk like you hasn’t heard of the AVA,” she mused, sadly. “But nowadays, it’s all too easy to find such things on the Internet. Surely, you watch them while you’re”—she dropped a glance at his crotch—“you know…spanking your meat-monkey?”
Noble nearly choked on his tongue. He’d rather die, buckled to his seat in a fiery airplane crash, than discuss his masturbation preference with the old girl.
“It’s a pity that all the video stores went belly-up. No one sees my movies anymore and it’s a darn shame. I mean, I spent my whole life taking it every which way but inside out.” Kitty leaned in closer and whispered, “Double penetration was always one of my favorites.”
The visuals flashing through Noble’s brain weren’t only wrong but nauseating.
“Oh, those were the best of times. I still do some oldster porn now and then.” Kitty scrunched her face and shoulders like an excited child. “I just love giving my all. Though most of my co-stars have to pop Viagra like they’re M&Ms, it’s still fun.”
Hands down this flight was going to be the most awkward and psychologically damaging three hours of his life.
“My screen name is Syndee Suckem,” Kitty stated proudly. “Maybe you’ve heard of me?”
She flashed him a hopeful smile full of perfectly aligned dentures.
As he shook his head, the twisted half of his brain was dying to ask if she kept them in or took them out while working. But then he could feel his junk shrinking up inside him, as the other half of his mind cried, Dude! What the fuck is wrong with you?
“That’s a shame,” Kitty tsked. “You should rent one of my movies, handsome. I guarantee you’ll like what you see. I might be old, but I’m still flexible.”
He sent her a painfully polite smile as he shoved visions of wet gums, wrinkled, saggy boobs, and scraggly gray pussy hair out of his head.
“While I’m in town, I’m also going to visit my daughter, Karen,” Kitty announced, changing the subject—thank you, god! “She’s a blackjack dealer and mother of four who’s divorcing her third scumbag alcoholic husband.”
“That’s a shame.”
“It is.” Kitty nodded. “I wish she was more like her brother. My sweet boy, Kyle, is a genius, and he’s so damn handsome. He could have been in movies, like me.”
As the plane taxied down the runway, the old woman prattled on about her golden boy, Kyle, while sprinkling in disparaging comments about her not-so-smart daughter. Noble obliged her with nods and smiles long after the plane lifted into the air while Kitty regaled him with every photo on her cell phone. While none were work related—thank fuck—there were plenty of pictures of the old gal wearing barely a stitch, with her body bent in lewd, sexually suggestive poses.
No amount of bleach would ever scrub the images from his eyes or his brain.
But when Kitty started describing—in great detail—the oozing, pustule ass boils her late husband suffered at the nursing home, Noble had to swallow back the bile rising in his throat and quickly excused himself.
After working his way to the back of the plane, he found all the lavatories full. He couldn’t find the willpower to return to his seat and listen to more of Kitty’s disturbing stories, so Noble decided to loiter outside the bathroom door. While a middle-aged flight attendant busily checked supplies on the drink cart, he turned on his charm. Three and a half minutes later, she pressed her number, scribbled on a piece of paper, into his palm.
After using the facilities, he squandered several more minutes sweet-taking the fight attendant, before reluctantly returning to his seat. To his delight, Noble found Kitty fast asleep. Thankfully, the old porn star snored the rest of the way to Vegas.
When they landed and the cabin doors opened, Noble grabbed his duffle bag, bid farewell to Kitty, and sprinted off the plane. He stepped outside, and the carbon monoxide fumes pouring from the string of taxis sucked the air from his lungs.
Noble gaped up at the palm trees before snagging a cab to take him to his hotel.
Peering out the window, he felt as if he’d landed on a distant planet. Huge, elaborate hotels soared into the bright blue sky, while on the ground, bumper-to-bumper traffic crawled at a snail’s pace as hordes of people strolled up and down the busy sidewalks of the strip.
You’re definitely not in Texas anymore.
His eyes grew even wider when the cab pulled into a circular drive and came to a stop beside an ornate marble fountain. Grecian urns and statues were situated throughout the meticulously manicured landscaping. Noble paid the cabbie, grabbed his bag, and climbed out of the car.
As the taxi drove away, Noble stood slack-jawed as he took in the white marble columns and intricately carved sculptures tucked in arched alcoves lining the front of the hotel. He stood mesmerized by the beauty before him, ignoring the people coming and going around him until someone bumped his shoulder, jostling him from his trance.
He entered the lobby and simply stared. Beneath his feet, huge circular patterns of inlaid marble swept the floor. Noble paused to take in the large fountain of three sleekly carved Roman goddesses—with perky nipples exposed—standing shoulder to shoulder in a semicircle, surrounded in a dome of gold and marble. Dragging his eyes from the beauties, he drank in massive Roman paintings and even more sculpted statues that lined the curved walls. The ceiling above him was dotted with enormous chandeliers that cast a golden glow over several recessed cupolas.
Noble knew exactly how Alice had felt when she’d tumbled down the rabbit hole. He yanked out his cell phone and started snapping photos. Even if he found the words to describe the grandeur of this hotel, his family would never believe him. Best to have proof.
“Grayson!”
Jerking toward the sound of his name, he peered across the lobby and spotted a bald man waddling his way. Noble blinked in disbelief when he realized his old friend Harvey was beneath all those layers of…weight.
Christ, what the hell happened to him?
“Harv.” Noble banked his shock and wrapped the large man in a brotherly hug. His hands sank into gelatinous flesh as he clapped Harvey on the back. “You look…you look great, man.”
“Right. Liar,” Harvey growled. “I’m a hundred pounds overweight.” More like two hundred, but Noble kept that observation to himself. “My hair keeps sliding off my head into my ears and down my back. I can’t see my dick anymore. I’ve turned into my fucking old man.”
He had. But again, Noble wasn’t going to confirm that claim. He simply chuckled.
“But you, you lucky prick. You haven’t changed one damn bit. What the fuck? You should be falling apart like me. Prick.”
“Dude! We’ve only been out of school seven years.”
“Yeah, well stress is an evil bitch that does ugly things to a man. I’m not complaining, owning my own business is great, but it takes a toll. I’ll gladly carry a few extra pounds around my waist and shed like a fucking husky in July to live out my dreams. None of those dickless pricks back home had the courage to grow a pair and try to accomplish all I have.”
Harvey’s insult stung, but Noble let it slide. There wasn’t any use getting riled up about an opinion.
“Looks like you’re living a stress-free life. I guess you’re still living at home…still being your old man’s bitch and sweating your nuts off with his camp thing, right?”
This time, Noble bristled. But instead of following through with the knee-jerk reaction to slam his fist in the prick’s jaw, Noble simply clenched his fist, and shook his head. “I’m not his bitch. I work hard to earn my paycheck, man.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure, sure. Sorry, didn’t mean it as an insult. But, Christ, bro…living at home with Mommy and Daddy must be hell on your sex life. You must not get laid but once or twice a year.”
Harvey’s caustic laughter was as offensive as his taunting.
“Try three or four times a week,” Noble bit out, barely containing his anger. “A real man who possesses the right skills doesn’t need a bed to get the job done.”
Harvey threw back his head and laughed. “You would know. You’ve been perfecting those skills since we were freshmen.”
“Yes, I have.”
“Good to know you’re still chasing pussy. It got boring as hell to me,” Harvey stated, curling his lip in revulsion. “It’ll be a welcome relief to pound my meat into one girl from now on. Maybe one day you’ll find a snatch so sweet you’ll want to slap on the ball and chain, too. Hell, it might even be one of the fine ladies I lined up for us. At least you won’t worry about waking up the folks tonight while you’re banging bitches.”
Damn! When had his old friend’s opinion of women turned so…degrading?
Harvey Hays was an obnoxious little bitch. Sawyer’s words rolled through his head.
Had Harvey always been so condescending and rude? Noble wasn’t sure. Maybe he’d worn rose-colored glasses back in high school. If he had, they were definitely off now. Unfortunately, it was too late for him to tell the man to go fuck himself and head back home. Noble would simply have to suck it up and make the best of a bad situation. Besides, it was only for a few days.
“Look, I have to run upstairs and check on the little woman-to-be…maybe knock a little off, yanno?” Harvey grabbed his cock and grinned. “Meet me down here around five and we’ll grab some dinner before climbing aboard the party bus. I can’t wait to raise hell like we used to. Man, wait till you see the whores I bought for us tonight.”
Whores? He bought…?
“You lined up hookers? I thought you said they were strippers.”
“Strippers…hookers, what’s the difference? As long as they spread their legs for us, that’s all that matters…am I right?” Harvey’s grin was down right lecherous.
The thought of paying a woman to have sex with him immediately turned Noble off. He’d never had a girlfriend, per say, but he at least knew the women he slept with. The excitement he’d felt about this trip was totally scrubbed from his system; dread had now taken its place. “I thought one-night stands bored you.”
“They do. But before I’m locked in the marriage cage for the rest of my life, I want some kinky memories to think about while plowing my wife.”
Jesus Christ! Why marry the poor girl at all?
Too bad Harvey and Trudy were marrying different people. Those two would be perfect for one another, since neither had an ounce of respect for their future spouses. Maybe they were simply getting married out of convenience. Talk about a death sentence.
While Noble had zero desire to ever tie the knot, he’d never marry for anything other than love. And he certainly wouldn’t treat his bride like a blow-up doll. No, he’d treat her like a queen.
“The hookers I hired are smokin’-hot, but they were pretty cheap. So, I’m not really sure how clean they are, but as long as we’ve got condoms, it won’t matter.”
Noble’s stomach pitched. Fuck that! He had no intention of flying home with a dozen STDs oozing from his dick.
“Fuck, I can’t wait,” Harvey continued, grinning like an idiot. “My bachelor party is going to be such an epic orgy, I’ll still be remembering it when I’m eighty.”
Orgy? The unholy visual of Harvey—naked—driving his little trouser worm into some skanky hooker made Noble want to hurl.
He had to extricate himself from this debacle of a bachelor party, and fast.
“Sorry, bro, I’m going to have to take a rain check on the hookers. See, I’ve got a sweet gal back home who took such good care of me before I left, the skin hasn’t grown back yet.”
Noble didn’t like to lie, but if it kept him herpes free, he’d lie his damn ass off.
“Sucked the skin right off, huh?”
Noble nodded.
“What’s her name?” Harvey pressed.
“Trudy Hanover.”
“She must be new in town,”
“Yeah. She moved in a few weeks ago.” Noble nodded. “She’s sexy as fuck. Got the biggest, sweetest titties you’ve ever wrapped your lips around. And an ass so fine it’d make an onion cry.”
“Damn, man. You just described my Celina.”
“Seriously?” Noble didn’t believe that line of bullshit for a second, but it gave him the opening he needed. “Then why the hell are you going to risk catching crotch crickets, or worse, by fucking some hooker? Passing a family of crabs to your bride on her wedding night makes for a damn ugly honeymoon.”
Harvey blanched. “Shit. I didn’t think about that. Maybe I should cancel the hookers. I mean, since you’re not going to give the beef injection to any of them…”
“Yeah. I’d cancel if I were you. Just to be on the safe side. Besides, if Celina’s like Trudy”—save yourself and eat a bullet now—“you’re gonna need all the stamina you got for the wedding night.”
“I sure am. But…I’m keeping the party bus. We’ll just go hit some strip clubs, buy some lap dances, and get fuuuuucked up!”
“I like that plan.” He did only because he wouldn’t get gonorrhea from a lap dance.
Nate watched his old friend waddle away and realized that the camaraderie they’d once shared was long gone. He couldn’t stand the pompous, egotistical man Harvey had become…or maybe had always been. Swallowing the disappointment staining his tongue, Noble ambled to the front desk and retrieved his card key.
While he waited for the elevator, a sunburned teen argued with his mom about leaving the pool. The ungrateful little prick didn’t stop whining all the way up to the twenty-second floor, where Noble happily exited the lift. Grateful he’d never be a dad or have to deal with the caustic attitude of a pubescent teen, he rounded the corner to search for his room.
Focusing on the numbers, he was halfway down the hall before he noticed a petite woman with a curvaceous hourglass figure. He suddenly itched to wrap his fingers around her narrow waist and skim a palm to her full breasts or sink into the thick mop of strawberry-blonde hair spilling down her back in big, fluffy curls. A mound of shopping bags and a couple of pink boxes lay at her feet as she angrily shuttled her card key in and out of the reader.
“Oh, come on, you miserable piece of…” she grumbled in a husky voice that made his dick stir as she slammed the card into the lock again.
Noble darted his gaze between the room numbers and the woman as he continued striding her way. To his delight, his room was directly across from hers.
Kismet. Or so his mom would say.
A wicked smile tugged his lips as he watched the sinfully sexy damsel in distress. If he was lucky, he might have this sweet little creature beneath him and screaming his name long before he had to meet up with Harvey.
“Need some help, ma’am?” Noble smiled, setting his duffle bag on the carpet next to her packages.
The woman snapped her head his direction, sending her pale curls swirling from her face. As she latched her shimmering green eyes framed in thick, dark lashes up at him, the air froze in Noble’s lungs.
He dragged an awe-struck gaze over the delicate contours of her face, pausing at her plump lips. The urge to slant his mouth over hers and taste all that sweet honey rode him hard. He was helpless to harness his primitive impulses, and his cock grew thick and hard beneath his zipper. He clenched his jaw and inhaled slowly, struggling to keep from pressing her up against the uncooperative door, peeling off her pretty pink shorts, and driving balls deep inside her right now.
“Did you just call me ma’am?” Her voice was low and sultry and sent his blood surging like lava.
Unsure if he could speak yet, Noble swallowed tightly and nodded.
“Are you a good southern boy or something?”
He cleared his throat as a slow smile spread across his lips. “Well, I am southern, and I’m good at a lot of things.” He leaned in closer, inhaling the scent of clean soap and ripe peaches. “But I excel especially well at others.”
Her eyes flared briefly and she sucked in a barely audible gasp before her wet, pink tongue peeked from between her lips. She lightly licked them and swallowed as tightly as he’d done a moment ago.
Turning her attention back to the door, she pulled the card key free and waved it in the air. “I don’t think this thing works. I should probably go down to the front desk and get another.”
The breathy tone of her voice was even sexier than the first time she’d spoken. Noble wanted to spend hours and hours listening to her sultry hoarse moans and whimpers as he made her scream and shatter over and over again.
She locked her hypnotic jade-colored eyes on his once more and he bit back a groan as his jeans grew exponentially tighter. He wanted this woman…ached for her in ways he’d never felt before. Quickly dragging his eyes off hers, Noble glanced at her left hand.
No ring. Thank fuck.
Unwilling to let what would undoubtedly be the thrill of a lifetime pass him by, he flashed her one of his most seductive smiles and stepped in closer. Even a blind man couldn’t have missed the tiny tremor skipping through her or the way her nipples pebbled under her white cotton shirt.
Tossing up a mental fist pump, Noble was elated that the earthquake of attraction rocking the ground beneath his feet wasn’t one-sided.
After dropping his gaze to the packages on the floor, he lifted his head and arched his brows. “Looks like you bought out all the stores.”
The throaty chuckle rolling off her lips and the megawatt smile lighting up her face nearly stopped his heart.
“I left a couple of thongs back at Victoria’s Secret, but I don’t think they’re your size.”
Her sassy retort intrigued him. Oh, he wanted to know this woman in every carnal way. Wanted to spend hours sweating and thrusting in mutual pleasure for sure, but there was something about this girl that made him want even more. He wanted to peel her open inside and out, wanted to know every morsel about her past, her present, and her future. Blindsided by the notion, he quickly shoved it aside. He had no desire to start dissecting these strange and unfamiliar emotions, for fear of what he might find.
Calm down. Don’t do anything stupid, just keep flirting, a little voice in his head prompted.
“That’s okay. I’m not a fan of wearing thongs anyway.”
Her eyes widened in surprise and a brilliant smile stretched over her succulent lips. He’d both surprised and delighted her. Score!
“How come?”
He sent her a playful smirk. “Well, the little string separates and strangles the twins something fierce. You ever tried bailing hay wearing those things? It’s not fun. You’re always stopping to rearrange your junk. Makes it impossible to get any real work done.”
Her tinkling laughter fluttered over him like a springtime breeze and warmed his flesh like the hot summer sun.
“I’ve never baled hay, with or without a thong. But it sounds…painful.”
He leaned in close, lips barely brushing the shell of her ear. Dragging in another breath of her intoxicating scent, he dropped his voice to a feathery whisper. “Excruciating.”
She trembled and swallowed audibly before easing back and extending her hand. “I’m Ivy.”
Noble stared at the delicate fingers she offered, fighting the urge to haul her into his arms and kiss her breathless. Instead, he swallowed her hand in his calloused paw and gently squeezed. A tingling static charge surged up his arm.
Ivy gasped, obviously shocked by the crazy sensation, too, before she tried to snatch her hand back. But Noble didn’t let her go. He held on tight, locked his gaze to her smoldering green eyes, and lifted his other hand. He skimmed the pad of his thumb over her lips, memorizing the soft, warm texture.
Unable to stop himself, he rested his thumb on her chin and brushed a whisper of a kiss across her mouth. Like sparklers, slivers of energy sputtered over his lips. He’d never experienced such a strange sensation, but he liked it…liked it a lot.
Still lost in her eyes, he inched back and released her hand. “Noble.”
“Are you?” she playfully asked.
“I am,” he murmured. “Especially when I’m tumbling you into ecstasy, darlin’.”
He didn’t miss the flash of lust that skipped across her eyes or the pulse point at her neck that picked up and hammered in time with each pulsating throb of his cock. As he eased in close to her mouth once more, the scent of succulent peaches surrounded him, stronger this time.
Suddenly, Ivy flinched backward, quickly banking her arousal and lifting her chin defiantly. “Not when, cowboy… if. If I let you tumble me to ecstasy. But don’t go getting your hopes up. Cocky men turn me off.”
“No they don’t. You’re just saying that so I won’t think you’re a slutty girl. Trust me, I don’t…not for a single second,” he whispered as he pressed his hungry erection against her soft hip. Her eyes flared. Her lips parted. A beautiful pink blush crawled up her chest and stained her cheeks. “I know you’re not easy, and I also know that if I want the chance to drown you in pleasure—which I desperately do—I’ll have to work hard to earn that honor. Work real damn hard.” Emphasizing the last word, Noble rolled his hips, letting her feel every thick, hard inch wedged in his jeans.
Ivy shuddered and pulled back.
Before he could blink, she’d slapped on a look that screamed hands off.
Suddenly worried she might decide to knee him, Noble stepped back, ready to cover his junk.
He was quickly learning that city girls weren’t anything like the ones back home.
He’d have to find a different tactic in order to seduce this fiery temptress. Thankfully, he’d been blessed—or cursed, depending on the situation—with a healthy strand of the stubborn Grayson DNA. He’d find a way to drag this saucy spitfire beneath him. But first he had to figure a way over or under the wall she’d unexpectedly constructed. He had no idea why she’d gone from a soft, pliant sex kitten to a brittle ice queen, but he aimed to find out.
A sickening thought popped in his head. He lifted his chin and pinned her with a suspicious stare. “You’re not in Vegas to get married, are you?”
“Me?” She choked on a gasp before vigorously shaking her head. “Not in this lifetime. Are you?”
“Absolutely not,” he adamantly replied.
As if she sensed a kindred spirit, her lips twitched, fighting a smile. With a nod, she tried unlocking her door again. The light stayed red and Ivy issued a tiny huff of frustration.
“Here, let me help you.”
“It’s okay. I’ll get it open…eventually.”
“How do you expect me to live up to my name if you won’t let me help you?”
“Okay, Noble. I’ll let you be noble and give it a try.”
When she started to lift her hand away, he reached over and cupped his fingers around hers. Once again, that crazy tingle slid up his arm.
“See, it’s all in the way you do it. You slide it in slowly…then ease it down…all the way down…nice and deep.” The sexual innuendo rolled off his tongue, thick and hoarse, while carnal images of the woman now trembling against his chest filled his brain.
Noble slowly dragged the card back out of the reader, and the green light began to flicker. He gripped the handle, pinning her between him and the door, and drank in the feel of her lush, warm body before turning the knob and pushing the door open.
She sent him a surprised smile over her shoulder. “You did it!”
Ivy hurried into the room while Noble watched the sensual sway of her hips. His grandpa Grayson would say that Ivy had a swing so fine he’d like to park it on his front porch. Noble wanted to park Ivy’s ass, all right…park it in the middle of his bed and drag about twelve hours of orgasms from her sinful body.
Somehow, someway, he was going to charm this city girl out of her clothes.
Bending, he gathered up her packages, snagged his duffle bag, and followed her into the room.