Ace-High Flush (9 page)

"Trey..."

Enjoying the sound of their breathing and nothing else, Trey didn't answer. Instead, he reached around her and unfastened her bra, pulling it down her arms and tossing it aside. Her pink-tipped breasts, firm and full, called to his hands. He answered.

She moaned softly as he kneaded, enjoying the texture of her skin and the softness of her flesh. Her nipples ruched in response to his fingers and he set his mouth on them in turn. Left, right, left, like a marching cadence, but much less martial.

Shifting next to her, Trey slid a hand down her torso and reached into the front of her bikini panties. She was hot and wet. He teased her there for several minutes, until she caught his hand and guided his fingers to her clit, whispering, "Please."

Indulging her was no problem, and soon her hips were rotating under his hand. Her moans were sexy as hell, and Trey thought maybe he was going to lose it and come on her thigh if he didn't mount her soon.

He pulled his hand out of her panties, and she finally opened her eyes. Her pout was sensual and young. "Don't stop, Trey."

"More to come, darlin'."

"Yes, I want to come."

He chuckled, and knelt up to remove the scrap of fabric that covered her hips. When she was naked and open to him, he moved between her legs and slid his anxious cock through her folds, and over her clit. She reached down to capture him and guide him into her sheath. He was tempted to stop her, to draw out the moment as long as possible, but his body rebelled at the idea, his cock throbbing in response to her hands.

Settled inside her, he began to move his hips. He and Liv had their own rhythm, a tempo they'd perfected that brought them to completion in harmony. Like a jazz musician, he played that tune, building tension in them both. She cried out in ecstasy, and he stroked a time or two more, before joining her.

After he rolled off her, he cuddled her up against his side for a time, dozing. They'd have to get up and get dressed for the charity event soon enough. A little nap was a perfect break before the media onslaught.

Trey couldn't quite get to sleep. He would drop off but wake up five minutes later. After a short time, he got up and made his way to the small refrigerator under the suite's wet bar, getting himself a bottle of water. He downed about half of it, then noticed a pile of receipts on the bar top. Curious, he riffled through them. Six hundred dollars for a pair of shoes. Another for $800. A purse for over a thousand. What the hell was Liv thinking? She'd put nearly all her savings from her modeling career into their foundation for young people with eating disorders. Out of the foundation's funding, she was paid a decent salary to be their spokesperson, but it was nowhere near enough to subsidize this kind of spending. In Texas, she'd overspent a few times, but he thought he'd made it clear that it had to stop. Apparently, the message was not clear enough.

His temper flared high.

"Liv! Wake up! You are in a passel of hot water, woman!"

* * *

Liv came to full wakefulness at Trey's roar. She sat up, alarmed. "Are you okay, Trey?"

He stalked into the room, his face dark with fury, carrying her new purse. "No, I am not the hell okay!" He waved shopping receipts at her. "Do you think our bank account is a bottomless pit? You bought a purse for $1250, for crissakes!"

"But that's what they cost."

"Like hell they do. I'm not stupid. You're spending way beyond your paycheck, Liv. I told you to knock it off."

It was true that she wasn't paid much by the foundation, not in comparison to what she used to make as a model, but she was used to designer products. It never occurred to her to even look at the price tags here in New York. She'd fallen right back into old habits. It was a huge blunder. Trey looked like a thundercloud about to burst with noise and violence. She felt her bottom tingling already.

"I'm sorry. I'll take them back."

"You sure will! But not the purse, we're keeping the purse as a memento."

That sounded bad. "A memento?"

"Yep." He pointed to a spot near the dresser. "Stand in the corner. I'm madder than a wet hen, and I want to think about this. I want
you
to think about this."

He stomped out of the room, and Liv counted out the seconds, then the minutes as she stood facing the perpendicular walls. How long would his cool down period last? Well, at least he never spanked her when he was really angry. That would be hard to live with.

She'd completely screwed up with the shopping. What had she been thinking? She wasn't thinking, that's what. She was acting like a spoiled child, with no regard to what things cost or how she was going to pay for them.

Liv had counted to 600 when Trey came back in. She peeked over her shoulder to see just how mad he might still be. He'd wrapped the strap from her new leather purse around his fist, tucking the metal parts into his palm, and leaving about a ten inch loop hanging free. Uh-oh.

He looked calm, but his mouth was set in a thin line. "Get your butt back on that bed, Liv, and up on all fours."

"Really, Trey, I'm sorry. I won't do it again. If you use the strap on me, I can't take the purse back. And we have the event to get ready for. We'll be late."

"I told you, the purse we keep. I like the quality of the leather, especially this strap. It's gonna leave some mighty nice stripes on your fanny every time I use it. And, believe me, darlin', I
will
be usin' it. If we're late, we're late. I plan to make my point, and I will do it right now. Move!"

He had his military bearing on and that never bided well for Liv's fanny. Dreading the inches, she crept across the bed and presented her behind.

"Pillows."

Liv gathered up the pillows on the bed and put her face on one. It would muffle her sobs, which was a necessity in a hotel room. She tried one more time to coax him out of it. "Please, honey, I won't forget."

"You won't forget because I'm gonna tan your butt."

Groaning, she put her face into the soft pillow and took a deep breath. She didn't have to wait long. The burnished leather strap hit her ass like a rattler bite, sharp, quick, painful. It was followed quickly by another and another.

"Money matters, Liv," he told her, smacking her again with the leather. "We don't have to live like paupers, but throwin' it around like it grows on trees isn't right. Too many people have to pinch pennies to feed their families."

"I'm sorry, Trey." It was lost into the pillow, though, and the strap whistled through the air several more times.

"These are fine stripes, darling'. You can see the pattern of the stitchin'. I'll say this, you have mighty good taste in leather." He ran a hand over her hot, flesh, and she flinched at the added heat and pressure. Then he went back to spanking her.

"You know," he said. "I think I can see an imprint from the designer label!"

"Oh God."

 Soon, she was moaning into the pillow. After twenty, she was screaming. At twenty-five, she was crying hard and begging him to stop. He couldn't hear her pleas, muffled by the down pillow, but that wouldn't matter to him. When Trey spanked, he did it his way and to his satisfaction.

He moved the strap to the junction of her thighs and rear, and the pain was magnified by a hundred. She'd never be able to sit at the event tonight. Her butt would be sore for at least two days. Oh why had she bought that damn purse! She didn't need a new purse, she had twenty or more. She didn't need new shoes, either. Her friends wanted to shop, so she shopped. They were all still modeling. Their means and hers were drastically different.

Liv needed to concentrate on home and hearth, not Prada and Gucci. She'd been so foolish. The spanking was deserved, but oh God how it hurt!

He stopped, but she continued to cry. Her butt was flaming and shooting pains traveled the surface of her angry skin. Trey gathered her up in his arms, and sat them up at the head of the bed, rocking her while she sobbed. Her ass was sore where she sat on his thighs, but the comfort of his bare chest against her cheek, his strong arms around her, was more important at the moment.

"I guess that purse will come in handy in the future."

Liv groaned. If she never saw the leather bag again, she'd be thrilled.

* * *

Gabby was a little nervous about going to the charity event. It had been a surprise to be invited. Apparently, the evening would be less boring for Trey with his brother there, and, at least while he was in New Jersey, where Ace went, Gabby went. She had a few dress-up outfits from other events she'd gone to over the last few years. Most were outdated castoffs from photo shoots. Her agent had wangled her invitations to a number of parties in order to make Gabby better known to photographers and fashion publishers. It hadn't much worked, but the clothes remained.

For this evening, she wore a deep mauve, sequined mini-dress, and silver sandals. Ace wore a black suit and a fancy bolo tie. She was proud to be seen on his arm, even if people did smirk with ungracious superiority at his hat. He didn't seem to notice, smiling and being sociable with everyone as they mingled.

After about twenty minutes of hobnobbing, Trey and Liv showed up. As usual, Liv looked like a Nordic princess. Gabby was once again struck by the resemblance between the brothers. If Ace hadn't been eight years older than Trey, they could have been twins.

It was uncomfortable being around Liv. Gabby had treated her badly at the Texas photo shoot they'd worked together. She paid the price by accepting a painful spanking, but meeting Ace was like a reward offsetting the punishment. Sometimes, he took her breath away.

Liv was polite, if a little distant. It was likely her presence that was making the other woman a little stiff, but as they went to sit down to dinner, Gabby noticed that Liv sat gingerly and squirmed in her chair. Eyes wide with something like amazement, Gabby watched Liv and Trey exchange a look that spoke volumes. Trey's little smile had Liv looking down at her plate with a contrite turn to her lips.

Curious, and unable to stop herself, Gabby tried to make conversation with Liv, who sat next to her. "You look terrific, Liv."

"Thanks, Gabby. You do too. That's a good color on you."

Gabby smiled. It felt good to be complimented, even if was out of politeness. "I like your purse." Actually, the purse didn't go well with Liv's outfit, but it was good quality and a designer brand.

Liv's expression was pained. "I liked it when I bought it, but it's not as great as I thought."

"Oh." What could Gabby say to that? She tried to make small talk for a while, and Liv played along. After a few minutes, as they ate, Liv seemed to relax a bit, and Gabby's tension eased off as well. They were getting back to their former friendly relationship. They might never be close friends, but they could be pleasant with each other.

"How are you and Trey getting along? Is it awful to consider him going to Afghanistan?"

Liv bit her lower lip for a moment. "He's my world, Gabby. I never thought I'd meet a person who would fill in the gaps in my life so well. I've been very lucky. When he's gone, I'm going to miss him a lot. But I knew it was a possibility going in. It isn't fair to say it was a surprise."

"I'm sorry. I mean, I'm glad that you and Trey are so close, but sad that you have to be apart."

"Thanks. I was a little surprised to see you here with Ace."

"I don't know how he found me, but I'm glad he did."

Liv smiled, but looked a little sheepish. "I'm afraid I'm the one that gave him your phone number."

"You did?" Gabby hadn't even thought about that. She knew her mother had provided her cellphone number, but no one had said where he got her home number. "Well, thank you."

"So you're getting along pretty well?"

"Better than that. He's a wonderful man. Even if he has this tendency to make his irritation known on my butt."

Liv laughed and squirmed in her chair. "It's a family tradition."

"Great. I should have known." Gabby wondered how often Liv got spanked, compared to her own experience with Ace. It seemed like a common thing with the Journeys. She spared a glance at her beau and when he looked up, eyes warm, she smiled. It was painful to think about their impending separation. Gabby knew exactly how Liv felt. Come to think of it, Liv was in love with Trey, and if Gabby was feeling pretty much the same sense of sadness at being separated from Ace, didn't that suggest that Gabby was in love with him?

"Liv..." She paused to think before she went on as Liv looked at her, expecting more. "How do you know if you're in love?"

Liv's eyes went from Gabby to Ace and back again. The two were sharing another heated glance. "Ace?"

Gabby nodded, her gaze going back to her plate.

"You can't imagine a world without him in it. You want to crawl into his pocket and be a part of his every moment. When you climb into bed with him, you can't get enough of his smell, the timbre of his voice, his warmth..."

That was how Gabby felt. Unhappiness washed over her and she wanted to cry. "I don't know what I'm going to do," she told Liv. "Please excuse me for a few minutes." She rose and hurried off to the ladies room where she could cry a little in peace.

Chapter 6

They made love four times through the night. Four times they were locked together, Gabby's whole world revolving around Ace. She couldn't get enough of him. When he pulled her close and pressed himself into her, she wanted to melt in his arms. Turning to him in the middle of the night, he encouraged her to take what she wanted from him. It helped satisfy her need to possess.

But in the morning the magic had to end. It would be Ace's last day on the east coast, and their last hours together. Gabby hoped for one more luxurious night, but she knew it would be as much pain as it was pleasure.

Ace smacked her on the butt as she crawled out of bed, and Gabby's first thought was
more
but her second thought was
don't leave a mark, I have to be naked in front of the camera today.
Thinking about the nude shoot was depressing. But she tried to focus on the big paycheck she'd receive and remember that it was the right decision. It had to be the right decision, because once she'd done it, it couldn't be undone.