Cowboy Jackpot: Christmas (4 page)

Kira smiled and nodded at her, then looked at Jayden.
"How old do you think she is?"

"I'm gonna say twenty-one."

Gieselle laughed. "I'll be graduating with a masters in
business this spring." She glanced at Jayden. "What does that make
me?"

He whistled. "Impressive."

She shook her head. "No, I mean—"

"Then what?" Jayden leaned closer to her.
"What are you going to do after you graduate?"

"I've got a couple internship offers at companies in
Manhattan." She looked at Boone. "But I think I'm going to use the
casino's money and go for it. Start my own company."

He nodded, a pensive look in his eyes.

Kira set down her glass. "Prestigious companies in New
York. Gieselle's graduating top of her class." She pointed at her friend.
"Companies that would look really good on your resume."

Gieselle nodded then frowned. "I can't make the
decision right now. I've got too much rattling around in my mind." Top of
the list; Boone, and the bedroom so close to them.

"All right, so you start college at eighteen."
Jayden calculated on his fingers. "I'd say you'd have to be twenty-three,
but you sure don't look it."

She smiled at Boone. "Twenty-five tomorrow." She
batted her eyes. "Is that too old for you?"

He let out a laugh. "Practically a cougar." He
leaned down and kissed her. "You're perfect."

Something warm and sweet spread through her chest. Perfect.
If only.

A knock at the door had Jayden shouting, "Booze!"

****

Six hours later, Boone walked out of the Beefsteak Grill
with his arm around Gigi's shoulders and a belly full of the best beef and
whiskey he'd ever tasted. "I've never had a Christmas Eve dinner quite
like that."

She groaned. "I ate about ten ounces too much
beef."

He stopped and tipped his head, kissing her quickly on her
pretty lips. "That's what you get for betting Jay you could eat a sixteen
ounce steak."

She held up the ten-dollar bill. "I won, didn't
I?"

"Baby, you have no idea how impressed I am."

Kira, Dallas, and Jayden stopped next to them. They looked
sluggish and bleary-eyed after four hours of drinking in the suite followed by
a two hour orgy of food and liquor in the restaurant.

Jayden pointed to his right. "We've got a country bar
with dancing this way." He pointed left. "And a rock band playing
this way." He looked at all their faces. "Aw, don't tell me you old
folks are going home to bed."

Kira shook her head. "Hell, no! Let's get country!"

Dallas got them walking toward the Hotfoot Lounge.
"It's not even midnight yet. We've got to celebrate Gigi's official
birthday."

She smiled at Dallas. "You're so thoughtful."

A burst of jealousy surprised Boone. She'd been kind and
playful with both his brother and Dallas all evening, and he loved how she fit
into his gang. Boone stopped walking and cursed himself. He was getting too
close to her. Hell, she had dreams of being a big New York businesswoman, ready
to start a business or work for some major company. Her future didn't include a
beat-up bull rider.

"Boone? Are you okay?" Gigi looked up at him with
those big hazel eyes.

He got moving again. "Yeah. Just looking forward to
getting you back upstairs." He grinned.

She gave him a sly look. "We can duck out through the
back—"

"Uh uh. I want at least once dance with you." One
slow, sexy dance where he'd let his lust take over again, let it edge out the
strange craving filling his heart.

They caught up to the group and found a table near the dance
floor. The band was excellent, playing old standards and new songs.

Dallas and Jayden argued over which of them did a better
two-step, and Kira volunteered to be the judge. When Dallas took Kira out on
the floor, Jayden scoped out the rest of the bar, checking out the honeys.

When it was Jayden's turn on the floor with Kira, Dallas
stared at them, a dark scowl on his face. Was his buddy getting too close to
Kira? Just like he'd let Gigi mean a little too much to him at a time in his
life when he couldn't afford to have any distractions.

The band started a slow song.

"Belly rubbing music." He stood and held out his
hand.

Gigi placed her warm little palm in his. "Careful,
cowboy. Last time we started rubbing bellies, we almost ended up in bed."

He groaned, picturing her on the golden bedspread, her pale
skin glowing, her dark hair fanned out. Her arms reaching for him.

Pulling her close, he nibbled at her ear. "I wanna
touch you. Every perfect inch of you."

She shivered and sighed, closing her eyes.

"When I pull off your clothes, I'm going to taste you,
slowly, and kiss your breasts until you beg for more."

"More." The word left her mouth on a breath.

In his jeans, his cock pulsed, taking too much blood from
his head, making him dizzy with the need to have her. "When I kiss your
belly, you'll grab my hair and push my mouth lower, into your sweet, honey
lips."

A tiny cry escaped her. Her cheeks glowed pink and her head
lolled on her neck.

He ran his tongue from her earlobe down her neck.
"You're delicious. I won't be able to get enough of you."

"Boone." She licked her lips and opened her eyes.
Her hazel irises had turned to a dark gray. "You have to stop or I'm going
to be a puddle on the floor."

He chuckled. "Hold on to me. I'm here for you."
Always. He blinked and pulled back a few inches. Where the hell had that come
from?

She blinked a couple times, too. "Something
wrong?"

Yes! "No." Just a fool falling for someone he
couldn't have. "Let's get out of here."

Gigi smiled. "Let me talk to Kira quick." She
looked around the bar. "Something's wrong. That phone call she got had to
be bad news, but she won't admit it."

"Probably because it's your birthday." Her concern
for her friend struck a soft spot inside him. He led Gigi back to their table
where Kira sat next to Dallas, each of them with a straw stuck in one huge
glass of ice water.

"Kira, we should talk before I go—"

She held up a hand. "No. Everything's fine." She
shooed them away. "You two go. Have fun and we'll talk tomorrow." She
hugged Gigi. "Happy birthday!"

Dallas looked at his phone. "Five minutes to twelve.
Better run if you're going to be naked by midnight."

Gigi blushed and swatted him. "You're naughty."

Boone took her hand. "Keep an eye on Jayden, would
you?"

Kira said, "Sure."

Dallas scowled at her. "I think he meant me."

Glancing between the two, he let their comments pass. He had
better things to do. Naked by midnight sounded like an achievable—and
interesting—goal.

He led her through the casino to the bank of elevators. In
the car riding up, he pressed her against the elevator wall and kissed her.

Her soft lips parted and he took her, deep and wild, his
tongue twisting with hers, their breaths shared back and forth.

When the elevator doors slid open, he picked her up and
carried her down the hall to their suite.

She slid in the keycard, and he kicked open the door.

A six-foot Christmas tree filled with twinkling lights and
shiny decorations stood in front of the wall of windows.

She gasped. "Boone." Cupping his face with her
palms, she kissed him. "Did you do this?"

His chest expanded and his voice choked. "Happy
birthday, Gigi. And Merry Christmas." He set her down in front of the
tree.

She walked around it, touching a few ornaments and smoothing
her hand over the long needles. "It's a real tree." Her face showed
surprise.

"I have an uncle who's a tree farmer up north." He
shrugged. "I like to support the industry, and I'm partial to the pine
scent."

She leaned close to the tree, sniffed deeply, and let out a
loud sigh. "It's perfect." Shaking her head, she walked to him and
wrapped her arms around his middle. "I would be amazed that you could
arrange this, but I've been astounded by you since the moment I met you."
Her eyes held a depth of emotion he couldn't let himself name.

Instead, he winked. "This is Vegas, baby. Anything's
possible."

****

Gieselle couldn't speak over the catch in her throat. How
had he known exactly what to do to make her crazy for him? He didn't have to do
this. She would have spent the night with him. What a surprising man her cowboy
turned out to be.

He slid his arms around her, linking his fingers at the base
of her spine. Bending back to look into her yes, he asked, "Would you like
a drink?"

She shook her head. "I've had enough to drink."
Her gaze dropped to his lips. Firm and full, smiling with a naughty smirk, she
could drink them up.

"What do you want to do, then?"

Running her hands slowly up his arms, she sighed. "I
want to fool around."

Boone tipped his head back and laughed like a kid.
"You're the best Christmas gift I've ever gotten." Against the
backdrop of the suite's windows, he reminded her of a package all wrapped in
lights.

His hands slid to her butt and he tugged her up.

Holding on to his shoulders, Gieselle balanced herself and
wrapped her legs around him. She loved it when he carried her.

"You don't have to ask this cowboy more than
once." He strode to the bedroom, bent over the bed, and laid her back on
it. Lit only by the lights of the strip, the room wrapped around them, romantic
and cozy.

Propping his elbows at her side, his face hovered inches
from hers, his breath warm on her skin. "Baby, I've got plans for
you."

A hot shiver skittered through her. "Plans?"

"Mm hm." His eyes darkened and his breath came
faster. "

She unbuttoned one button of his shirt. "What kind of
plans?"

He reached behind his back, tugged off her shoe, and tossed
it. "Wicked ones."

Flicking open another button, she asked, "Hot
plans?"

"Yeah. And sticky." He took her other shoe and
threw it, too.

Opening the rest of his buttons, her mouth watered for a
lick of his nice pecs. "God, you're sexy."

"Baby." It came out on a growl and he ripped off
his cowboy hat and threw it onto a chair. "You're making me crazy."

She tugged his shirttails from his jeans. "I want to
make you naked."

With incredible speed, he removed his shirt and leaned back
over her. "Your turn." He slid his hands from her knees down her
thighs, his fingers tracing the elastic of her panties around her hips.

The rough calluses on his warm hands rattled lusty heat
along her skin and down to her pussy.

Boone gathered her dress under her butt and sat her up,
pulling it from under her and up over her head.

He froze, his eyes on her see-through lavender bra.
"Oh, jeez."

His stare puckered her nipples and tingled chills across her
breasts. Gieselle laced her fingers through his hat hair, releasing the blond
mop. The softness on her fingers tugged at her heart. A rugged cowboy with the
sweet personality of a gentleman.

Boone's mouth covered hers as he laid her back on the bed.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding on tight. His big prize buckle chilled
her belly.

She traced his lips with her tongue and he dove in, his
tongue on hers, on her cheeks, tickling the roof of her mouth.

His overpowering strength did fuzzy things to her brain and
wild, jittery things to her core. Her hips made tiny circles, cradling his hard
shaft through his jeans.

"Gigi." He whispered against her lips as his hips
took up the rhythm of hers.

She scraped her nails lightly down his back.
"Boone?"

"When you do that…" His mouth pressed hard and hot
on her neck, his teeth nipping, his tongue tracing patterns. Slowly he eased
his body lower, dragging his mouth along her skin, tasting as he went.

She closed her eyes and tipped her head back, thrusting her
breasts closer to him as desire swirled and puddled low in her belly.

His mouth traced the line of her bra across one breast, then
the other. "You're so hot. Your skin is burning my lips."

"Don't stop." Her blood raced through her like
solar flares.

"No, ma'am." Boone took her nipple in his mouth
through the sheer fabric.

She jumped. "Oh, yes."

He moved his lips, scraping the fabric on her tender flesh,
sending bolts of electricity to her pussy. When his mouth covered her other
nipple, achy contractions pulsed in her core.

With one hand, he unfastened her bra at her back and tugged
it off her. He sucked in a breath as he looked at her breasts. "You are
too beautiful." He gazed into her eyes. "Not just your body, Gigi.
You."

Her heart thumped and she had to swallow before she spoke.
"You're an exceptional man."

"I'm coming to think…" He shook his head.
"Now isn't the time for words, is it." He lashed his tongue over her
nipple.

Flashes radiated from the peak and she grabbed his hair and
pulled him to her breast. "No talk."

He chuckled as he took her nipple into his mouth and sucked.
His tongue swirled and flicked, his teeth grazed and nipped.

Gieselle grabbed his shoulders to keep herself from sailing
out of her body.

Boone licked widening circles around her breast and slid
across to the other, licking along the base then narrowing until her came to
her areola.

His slow loving eased her race toward climax but jittered
hot spikes that wet her pussy lips.

When he took her nipple deep into his mouth, the corresponding
tug burned at her slit. She held her breath while he teased and pleased her,
heating her until she felt a sheen of sweat on her forehead.

Releasing her nipple, he kissed a trail to her ribs then
dipped his tongue into each indentation, moving lower, slowly and painfully
teasing. His tongue darted into her belly button.