Daggertail (11 page)

Tears of frustration welled behind her eyes, and she fought them back. This was no time to moan about things already done and over with. Instead she could hope for a chance to apologize or explain. She was coming to realize that there were two very distinct portions of her life: life before Xave and life after Xave. Before him she'd been in survival mode. The addition of Xave to her life had taught Tavish to hope for something more. Before him she'd not known it was possible to enjoy the touch of a man. He had taught her about lust and longing. Now there would be no one else. Nobody would ever bring such exquisite pleasure with just a touch. That knowledge changed her more than anything else ever could. And not even Xave's biological status could alter that change.

“Try to move out of the way as quickly as possible once he opens the door,” Xave said. “It won't take long to subdue him. But I don't want you getting caught in the middle, and I want it over before he can pull a weapon.”

He wouldn't meet her gaze, keeping his eyes averted and his voice bland. After the closeness they'd shared hours before, she felt his withdrawal like a raw wound. How could she have ever thought him a machine?

She tried to focus on his speech. Instead her mind kept lingering on the uncanny blue of his eyes, the slope of his jaw, the familiar bump on the bridge of his nose, and the shape of his lips. She memorized every inch of him as if she might never have another chance.

The acknowledgment of that possibility made her blood freeze. They moved in worlds full of death and other incomprehensible horrors. A place where every breath could be the last, and there was nowhere to hide from those who hounded you. If something happened and one of them failed to survive this night, she wanted Xave to know that she accepted him no matter where he'd come from.

The lift doors slid open. The thirtieth floor stretched before them. Darting around Xave's bulk, she slammed her hand against the control panel to close the door and send the lift rocketing to the fiftieth floor.

Her rash action finally gained his full attention. “What are you doing?”

“I can't die without telling you something.”

A muscle jumped in his jaw. “You're not going to die.”

“We're both going to die eventually. And with our luck it could be within the next ten minutes.”

His scowl deepened.

“I'm sorry.” She twisted her hands together in agitation. “I shouldn't have said those things or treated you the way I did. I was stupid, and running off was worse. The only thing it did was fuck up your mission.”

He shrugged. “You're entitled to your opinions.”

“Sometimes things change. You aren't a machine.”

“You thought I was insane when I told you about my past, about where I'd come from. Are you telling me you've changed your mind?”

“You're more human than any other man I've known. How could I not change my mind?”

The corner of his mouth twisted upward. “Not necessarily a stellar recommendation considering the lowlifes you have for comparison purposes.”

She bristled, stepping toe-to-toe with Xave and glaring up into his face. “Mine's the only opinion that should matter.”

“And why is that?”

“Because I'm the one who loves you.”

He didn't believe her at first, but he wanted to. She could see it in the expressions warring for dominance on his face. He didn't know what to think or what to say. Deciding to sway the scales in her favor, she placed her hands on his chest and sent him a scorching look from beneath her eyelashes.

“Tavish, we can't. The cameras…”

“You think they haven't seen this before?”

She didn't wait for an answer. Launching herself at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her open mouth to his. He responded immediately, his arms sliding beneath her legs to pull her closer before he took violent possession of the kiss.

“This is insane.”

She pulled away long enough to press her lips to his ear. “I need you.”

Her words seemed to unleash something inside him. A guttural growl filled the lift. He yanked her legs around his waist and slammed her against the smooth metal wall. The cool surface contrasted the heat of the man between her legs. A soft cry of desire escaped her throat.

Her pussy ached with heat. Blood rushed into her labia, and they grew slick with fluid. She bucked her hips in silent desperation, trying to gain friction against the erection bulging behind the fabric of his pants.

He slung her dress out of the way to gain better access. His touch was cool against her naked skin, and his hands were gentle, despite his obvious lust.

His expression was pleasure laced with pain as his erection strained against his fly. He fumbled the opening of his pants, releasing his cock. The weight of its fullness pressed against the inside of her leg. She squirmed, wanting it closer, wanting it inside her.

“Please, Xave, don't make me wait.”

A wicked smile curved one side of his mouth, and then it descended upon hers. He gave her a long, intense kiss, and before their lips parted, he slid the length of his cock inside her tight sheath.

Every inch rubbed a delicious path over her vaginal muscles. Her body both resisted and welcomed his abrupt invasion. She reveled in the fullness, cherishing each place where the unbearable friction sent fissures of pleasure lancing through her.

Finally fully seated inside her, he ground his pelvis against hers. The splayed hood of her clit ground against him. She moaned and her head lolled to one side, her eyes sliding shut as the sensations flooded her body.

Again and again he pressed into her, pushing her against the unforgiving wall of the lift, his arms beneath her legs. His cock grew harder. The crown bounced steadily against her G-spot until her nerve endings thrummed. Heat pooled in her spine and trickled down the backs of her legs.

Her pussy contracted, drawing him farther in. He groaned and his hips bucked. He pushed his throbbing cock once more into her heat and then convulsed into ejaculation.

The sensation of his hot semen pulsating into her body was too much. She came on a soft cry of release, her ribbed pussy milking his cock as he poured his seed into her depths.

He pressed a kiss to the sensitive skin beside her ear. “Don't look at the cameras.”

She didn't argue. She had no doubt that the casino's security employees had seen such displays of wanton behavior on the lifts before. But by now they had to have gained an audience. Giving away their identities wouldn't be wise.

His cock made a wet sound when it slid from her pussy. Lowering her to the floor, he waited until she'd regained her sense of equilibrium before refastening his pants.

Tavish settled her dress back around her legs. Her thighs were damp with the mixed results of their coupling. She didn't want to stop. A few stolen minutes spent fucking Xave wasn't enough. Instinct told her he felt the same way.

“If we keep this up, I'll be wearing you like a perfume,” Tavish mused.

Eyes still glued to the floor, Xave grunted.

“I won't have many customers if I smell like another man.”

She didn't know where the words had come from. It was an inane thought, the rambling product of a busy feminine mind, that ended with disastrous results.

Xave froze. His big body went rigid. His expression darkened, eyes sparking in anger. When he reached out to grab her, his quickness startled a little gasp from her throat.

“You're not a whore.”

“I can't change what I am.”

“I can.”

A knot formed in the pit of her belly.

“No one else will ever touch you again. I won't allow it.”

The lift chose that moment to slide the doors wide open on the fiftieth floor. Tavish wordlessly pressed the correct button and stared fixedly at the wall. The awkward silence stretched until the door finally swished open on thirty.

Still reeling from Xave's forceful declaration regarding her future, she caught the heel of her shoe on the plush rug and stumbled forward.

Without another word, he headed down the wide corridor. She wanted to scream. How could he say something like that and then ignore it? He'd assumed control of her destiny. Did it matter so little to him that it required no discussion at all?

Wasn't that what she really wanted anyway?

She was disgusted with herself. It shouldn't matter that she couldn't imagine her life as a working girl any longer. The fact that she'd be hard-pressed to tolerate another man's touch long enough to earn a single credit wasn't the issue. Xave shouldn't be making assumptions about her. He had no right!

“Stupid, autocratic
machine
,” she muttered.

“Remember what I told you,” he said in a clipped voice. “There's a vid cam over the door, so I'll stay right here.”

She wasn't about to admit that she'd gotten distracted in the lift and hadn't heard the plan. She'd been too outraged over his apparent takeover of her life to pay attention.

Keeping her face averted to avoid being recognized in the vid cam, she reached out and buzzed the comm button on the door.

Mendez's whine grated on her frayed nerves. “What do you want?”

“Open up. The party's just starting.”

“I didn't order any entertainment.”

“Honey,” she said with a chuckle, “I'm not on the menu.” That soft feminine laugh had coaxed plenty of nervous johns into line. Keeping her back to the door, she eased into a posture guaranteed to get Mendez thinking with his cock instead of his brain.

The sound of his breath hitching could be heard over the comm. Turning it up a notch, she reached up and pulled the pins from her hair, letting the long mass trickle down her spine. Running her hands through the silky locks, she swirled into a sinuous dance right there in the hallway. Her palms slid down the curve of her hips, settling on her rounded backside and hitching her skirt upward until it rested just above her naked cheeks.

“Yeah, take it off,” Mendez urged in a voice tight with lust.

From a short distance down the hallway, Xave's gaze bored holes into her. She could feel his anger rising. So he thought he could order her around?

Think again, asshole.

Tavish picked up the narrow straps of her slinky dress and let it fall from her shoulders into a pool on the floor. Spreading her legs, she arched her back and wiggled before giving her ass a light slap with one hand.

Somewhere in the shadows, Xave muffled a roar. Behind her on the comm, Mendez gave a shriek.

“The door's open, baby. Come inside and I'll fuck you so good you won't be able to walk straight.”

Keeping her face lowered on the pretext of picking up her dress, Tavish rolled her eyes and muffled a laugh. Men were so predictable.

She reached out and swung the door open as soon as she heard it
click.

Before she could enter, Xave swept past her into the room. Mendez didn't have time to shout. By the time she made it into the room and closed the door behind her, he sprawled unconscious on the bed. Xave held an empty hypodermic syringe in one hand.

Xave picked up Mendez and slung him across his shoulders without a word. He stalked across the opulent suite and flung open a mirrored closet door, chucked the unconscious man inside, and slammed the door shut.

Then he turned his attention to Tavish.

Deciding to try and get a feel for just how angry he was, she pasted a bright smile on her face and injected cheer into her voice. “He didn't give us too much trouble about opening the door.”

Xave stopped and crossed his massive arms over his broad chest. “I can't imagine a man who wouldn't open the door for a beautiful, naked woman.”

“Glad I thought of that, then.”

His expression soured even more. She fought the urge to back away as he moved toward her. She had no reason to be ashamed. She hadn't done anything wrong. She'd gotten Mendez to open the door. For the first time in forever, she'd made an informed choice about how and why her body was used. Just because it hadn't been Xave sanctioned, he was pitching a fit. But it wasn't his decision. It was hers. And she was tired of men telling her what to do with her body.

“What possessed you to do that?”

“Possessed me? It's what I do! Why is that so hard for you to understand? I've danced and stripped, got down on my knees and been flat on my back for more men than I can count! Why does it matter what I do? I'm a whore!”

A frigid layer of ice descended over his blue gaze. His fists clenched so hard at his sides that the veins bulged out of his arms. She thought he might be in danger of explosion.

“Whore,” he repeated.

She nodded, her voice trapped inside her body. Why did he have the power to make her feel like this? After all this time accepting who she was, why did he make her feel like the cheapest woman ever to wear high heels? It was the truth that ate her soul and burned her into a dry, brittle husk a little at a time, day by day. Tears prickled in the corners of her eyes.