Chapter 20

Terri

I fell asleep on the plane, much to the chagrin of my seatmates. I woke up with a sore throat and a wet cheek, so I’m pretty sure I was snoring and drooling as well. If they knew what type of week I had, though, they wouldn’t have blamed me.

Billy and I were trying to get used to the new clinical trial schedule. He had physical therapy, new meds, and their night sessions were more psychoanalytical, which pissed him off to no end. He didn’t “have time for that shit.” So trying to convince him that it was a complete package and not to fuck around was a full-time job in itself. He had some bad reactions to the medication. It caused cramping and stomachaches. So they’d been messing with the dosage and finally gave him something completely different. I hope it wasn’t the placebo. But when I left him tonight, he was planning on going to bed and catching up on his online computer classes.

I almost canceled my trip because I didn’t want to leave him alone without anyone to look after him. It had been Mick’s suggestion to see if Elaine could drop by and check on him. That had been an interesting conversation. I hadn’t realized her brother had died young from kidney failure. She told me that Mick had also helped with his treatments and, after her brother passed, had bought the mortgage on the Beanery so Elaine could make a living.

It seemed Mick wasn’t such a prick when you got to know him. No wonder Elaine treated him like a VIP. He had been her brother’s friend and gave her a break when she needed it. Just like he gave Billy one.

Elaine was going to check up on Billy on Saturday and Sunday, and he knew not to be a macho shithead and would call for help if he needed it. By the time I got off the plane, it had finally become real. I was on vacation for the first time since my parents died. Rolling my suitcase through the terminal, I saw Lionel waiting for me by the exit.

“I have instructions to take you to your hotel and after you’ve settled in, I’m to take you to dinner with Mr. Wentworth.”

Good thing I had a nap on the plane.

“Where are we going?”

“It’s a surprise. I’ll tell you later,” Lionel said.

Lemmingware had set up most of their events at the Luxor, which was a giant pyramid of a hotel, even though the convention center was a twenty-minute taxi ride away. I had argued against it. It was a perfect setting to promote the Egyptian release, but I worried that the convention attendees would use the free bus we provided just to visit the Las Vegas strip.

“I’ll be waiting here when you’re ready to go to dinner. There isn’t any rush,” Lionel said, handing me his card. “Just call before you head down and I’ll bring the car to the entrance.”

“Thanks.” I hoped he meant that I didn’t have to hurry back, because I wanted a shower and a change of clothes.

I could see a bunch of cosplayers already hanging out in tunics and robes, swinging homemade battle-axes and staffs. Hopefully, they would also check out the free game play in the ballroom. I should swing by and get pictures. Glancing longingly at the pool, I made a note to make time to rent one of the cabanas if I got the chance. But I was here on business, not for pleasure, so there probably wouldn’t be any sunbathing. However, I did have a hot date tonight. Hurrying up to my room, I was surprised to see a bouquet of multicolored tulips on the dresser, with a card attached. I tore open the envelope and grinned.

Can’t wait to kiss your two lips

Mick

“Hokey,” I scoffed, but I was grinning like a loon.

There was also a beautifully wrapped gift on the bed. It was a big rectangle and the wrapping paper looked like papyrus and it was tied together with a golden cord. I opened it carefully so I could save the paper and gently pulled out the box. Inside was a pair of Egyptian sandals, a white linen wrap dress in an ancient Egyptian style, two gold arm cuffs, and a gold circlet. It couldn’t be real gold, could it? There was another card:

For you, Kitten. Wear this to dinner.

Hasani

I squealed like a teenager and danced around the room. I turned Mick into a nerd! Thoroughly pleased with myself, I rushed through my shower and blow-dried my hair. I climbed into the outfit, deciding to eschew undergarments. Ancient Egyptians didn’t wear any and let’s face it, I wasn’t going to need them tonight.

I styled my hair straight and put on heavy eyeliner and blue eye shadow. Looking at myself in the mirror, I realized I kind of looked like my Egyptian character. I was totally going to wear this on the conference floor. Maybe I should rethink the underwear then. Tossing them in my purse, I called down to Lionel to pick me up.

Enjoying the looks I was getting as I strolled to the front of the casino, I smiled at Lionel when he opened the door for me and then handed me into the car.

“Now, can you tell me where we are going?” I asked.

“Dekandanz,” he said, naming one of the newest resorts that had gone up off the strip. I took out my phone to look it up, and noticed that Billy hadn’t called to check in. No news was good news, right? Nibbling on my lip, I shot him a quick text saying that I landed all right and was settling in.

Dekandanz was a swanky hotel that promised to fulfill all your fantasies. I raised an eyebrow. We were eating dinner there? I leaned back in my seat and enjoyed watching the comings and goings of people on the Strip. The billboards were alive with flashing lights and videos. I pushed the button on the window so I could hear the street vendors play while we waited at a stoplight. Then zoomed it back up when the heat became stifling. It was almost ninety degrees and the sun was just going down. It was hard to remember that Las Vegas was a desert, but the wind and the weather reminded you. Off the Strip, the view wasn’t as enticing. I thumbed through Dekandanz’s web page and saw there were private swimming pools and a members-only dance club. The three restaurants on the property looked amazing. In one of the pictures, there was a pyramid of sushi rolls that made my stomach growl, and in another was a barbecue pit and I could almost smell the sweet tang of the sauce.

And opposite me at the table would be Mick. I wondered if he would dress up too or if he just wanted to make me happy with the cosplay outfit. It was easier than I remembered having a boyfriend. It helped that Mick was as busy as I was during the day and that not only did he not resent the time I spent with Billy, he understood and tried to make things easier.

Billy still hadn’t warmed up to him because, he said, “He just throws money at problems and hopes they go away.”

Which I thought was unfair, especially since he had a catered dinner sent over so we didn’t have to eat burgers for another night in a row. I think deep down Billy thinks I’m a gold digger.

I touched the bracelet on my wrist and admired how the gold flashed in the sunlight. It wasn’t like that. Mick knew that and I knew that. So that was all that mattered. Still, I wished Billy could be happy for me. He had been thrilled that I had access to the pre-beta and beta versions, so that had sweetened his temper a bit. I hated using the office laptop for everything. Mostly because I knew it wasn’t mine and I had to be careful what to download on it. But I didn’t feel right about spending the money on a three-thousand-dollar gaming rig for Billy. At least not until I had a few more months into this job.

Lionel pulled the car up to the resort. It looked a bit ominous from the outside, all sleek black marble with gold accents. I waited for Lionel to open my door and help me out so I didn’t flash my hoo-hah to anyone who was looking.

When he paused outside the car door and froze, I wondered if I was violating some type of unspoken rule. Was I supposed to open the door? I saw a woman walk up next to the car, and peering through the window I recognized Mick’s mother. She was dressed in gold lamé pants and a sequined halter. I didn’t think she was wearing any underwear either because of how tight those clothes were.

“Open the damn door,” she snarled and Lionel fumbled to do her bidding.

With one hand on the hem of my dress, I got out of the car as carefully as I could.

“Who are you?” she sneered.

Part of me wanted to say, “one of your son’s whores,” to be a smart-ass, but the words tasted wrong in my mouth. I fiddled with my bracelet and said, “I’m Terri. You must be Mick and Simon’s mother. Pleased to meet you.”

She squinted at me. “Which one are you fucking?”

Lionel cleared his throat.

Apparently the whore comment was just assumed. The high road was that way, straight through the hotel doors. And yet I couldn’t seem to let it go. “What were you going to use the six million dollars you stole from your sons for?” And because I was behaving myself, I didn’t add Botox? to the end of that sentence.

“Who the hell do you think you are?” she gasped.

“Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing.”

Tapping her chin, she cocked her head to the side. “You’re Mick’s girl. Simon married his bitch. I guess my sons like loudmouthed women.”

There was an Oedipus joke in there, but I wasn’t going to go there.

“I’m glad I ran into you. I’ve been trying to reach my son all day, but he’s avoiding me. I want you to give him a message for me.”

“No.” I shook my head and walked away.

She chased after me, stumbling a bit on her stiletto heels. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m not listening to your poisonous shit. And I’m sure as hell not going to pass it along to Mick. Bye, Bette.” I waved at her and ducked into the revolving doors at the last minute so she had to wait a full rotation to follow me.

I heard her banging on the door as I ducked into a row of slot machines and zigzagged through the casino tables so following me would be nearly impossible. The casino was dark, but the amber lights recessed in the walls made it easy to navigate. I sat at an Alice in Wonderland slot machine and put in ten dollars. By the time I was out of credits, I was in the clear.

I texted Mick.

I’m here. I dodged your mother. She wanted me to give you a message, but I didn’t want to hear her bullshit.

That’s my girl.

Where are we eating dinner?

Suite 508. The elevator passcode is your birthday.

How did he know…? Oh, right, the HR paperwork I had to fill out. Very sneaky, Mick. After asking a few casino employees, I finally got to the right bank of elevators and punched in the correct code to get it moving up.

The elevator doors opened into Egypt. As in no shit, there was sand on the floor and fig and date trees along the walls. I stepped out of the elevator before the doors closed on me and whirled around. How big was this place? It had to be a whole floor. I was almost expecting a camel. As I walked in, I saw the murals on the wall depicting a great Egyptian city. A movement caught my eye and Mick was there, dressed as a Roman gladiator. He held out a goblet of wine to me.

“Welcome, Kitten,” he said.

“Hiya, Handsome.” I took the wine from him and placed it on the table. “I can’t believe you did all of this for me. You look amazing.”

“We look like Antony and Cleopatra. It was the best they could do on short notice.”

“I love it.”

I threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. We had made a pact not to fool around in the office and that had been more difficult than it should have been. Mostly because we had a hard time keeping our hands to ourselves. Often a meeting behind closed doors was an invitation to play grab ass. We wound up leaving the office door open at all times to keep us honest. This entire week, though, he had been in Vegas working GameCon and meeting with the Lemmingware executives. I hadn’t realized how much I missed him and our Friday night geek fests until this very moment. While we vowed to behave during the workweek, the weekends were ours. And this was officially the weekend.

“I missed you,” he groaned. “I miss how you taste.”

My stomach took that moment to growl, and we both laughed.

“Come on, Kitten. I’ve got a meal prepared for us.”

On a low table, surrounded by throw pillows—well away from the sand—were bowls of grapes and olives, three different types of hummus, and crusty and soft bread to dip in it. Kabobs of meat and chicken were piled on brightly hand-painted pottery platters. We ate the meat with our fingers, wiping away the grease with thick napkins. As for dessert, I was almost too full to eat. But the Turkish coffee and flaky honeyed baklava convinced me. The meal was far from authentic, but it was close enough, and so darned tasty. All that mattered to me, though, was that I was with Mick. And even though we would have two hard days of working the conference together, it felt like a vacation.

“Do you mind if I get out of this armor? It’s beginning to pinch,” he said.

“Take it all off, baby.”

I shamelessly watched him do a striptease, admiring his taut abs and the curved muscles on his legs. Crawling to him on my hands and knees, I took his cock in my hand and admired it. Its thickness expanded to full attention while I was looking at it. I gave him a few long licks before I took all of him in my mouth. Closing my eyes, I enjoyed his long, satisfied moan.

“Fuck, Terri.” Mick’s fingers tangled in my hair. The circlet went flying, but I didn’t care. I wanted him to be as crazy for me as I was for him because I was pretty sure I was in love with the prick and if he didn’t feel the same, I was going to make sure he at least fucking remembered me and this.

His hips twitched against me and I knew he wanted to fuck my face. I grabbed on to his hips and took his cock deeper into my mouth, signaling with my eyes that it was okay. The sexy groan he gave as he tightened his hold on the back of my head drove me crazy. Moving his hips in a slow rhythm, Mick pushed deep down my throat. He was moving too fast for me to latch on and suck, but I was trying. He grunted and groaned. The dirty curse words flying out of his mouth just made me more desperate to make him come. My tongue swiped along the sides of his thrusting cock. Finally, he held still deep enough that I almost gagged, but I moved so it was more comfortable for me and I could suck hard on him. He let me lavish attention up and down his shaft.

“I’m going to come,” he warned.

Grinning, I tortured his tip with tiny licks and long sucks. He shoved himself full and exploded down my throat. His eyes were still crazy when he picked me up like I weighed nothing. The next room was just a circular bed with soft blankets. I landed on them with a thud. On the wall was a painted mural so lifelike I could almost imagine I was in Egypt looking out at the pyramids. Mick made short work of my wrap dress and now it was my turn to hold his head in place. I was so worked up, I came as soon as his tongue licked me a few times. Luckily, Mick knew that wasn’t enough for me and he dug in, kissing my pussy like it was my mouth. All tongue and teeth and playful tugs and I was breathless, boneless. I needed him so badly that it was becoming an addiction. I craved the rasp of his beard on my stomach and thighs. I dreamed about his kisses and I fantasized about his cock inside me. Now I was fucking his face, grinding against him, using him to come. I shook apart as he let me and I realized I was making the same grunting noises that he had been making.

“I needed that,” he groaned, kissing up my stomach. Pausing to tongue my belly button ring. It never failed to curl my toes. “Missed these too.” Mick buried his face between my breasts, sucking and groping them.

Opening my legs, I felt his cock settle against me. He was hard again and I couldn’t control my moan of pleasure. He was teasing me with the tip while he was playing with my tits.

“More,” I demanded, thrusting my hips up.

“Mmm,” he moaned, ignoring me while he worshipped my chest.

“That feels so damned good,” I told him and I spread my legs wider, hoping he’d slip inside me.

“You want this?” He dipped in.

My entire body locked in pleasure. “Yes.”

And then he slid all the way out.

“No,” I cried in outrage, reaching for him to pull him back. The bastard had the nerve to chuckle. “Don’t worry, Terri, I’m going to fuck you all night long.”

Shivering, I hooked my leg around his hip. “Start now,” I ordered.

“I need to put a condom on first.”

I didn’t want him to leave me, but I also didn’t want to end up like Janet. So I waited as he rolled on a condom. It took an eternity. I closed my eyes.

He slammed into me so quickly, I gasped.

“Like that?” he asked, innocently.

“Just like that. Only faster and harder.”

He obliged. Oh, fucking hell, did he oblige. There was nothing to hold on to so I just gripped the sheets. He bent me in half so my ankles were around my ears. Pistoning in and out of me, Mick shouted in pleasure.

Playing with my clit, he rubbed me fast and I knew he wanted me to come before he did. I tried to fight it, but the combination of his thumb on my sensitive bud and the hard pounding of his cock threw me over the edge. He released my legs to take off the condom and I let them sag to the bed.

Mick gathered me close and we kissed until he was hard again. This time I put the condom on him. Straddling him, I rode his cock at my pace. His eyes were half closed as he watched me. Every now and then his hand on my hip would tighten as he thrust up, but for the most part he let me bounce and grind until I was gasping for breath.

“Mick,” I stuttered, moaning as I felt my orgasm build. He pulled me to him and kissed me while I squirmed, chasing my orgasm. Letting me up, he tugged on my nipples and I found my rhythm again. I came, grunting in satisfaction. “Fuck, that’s what I’ve been waiting for all week.”