Gambling on Love (Stories of Serendipity #6) (6 page)

After signing the check to have a couple dozen drinks put on her room tab, she let herself into her hotel room and went into the bathroom. If tomorrow was going to be another day like today, she needed to go out and get shit-faced tonight. Maybe a hangover would make some of them look better. But first, she needed to unwind a bit.

She looked longingly at the bathtub, wishing she had some sort of cleanser to clean it. Sure, it looked okay, but just the thought of what could have gone on in this room based on the smell alone, gave her the heebie-jeebies. There was no way she could sink into a tub full of germs in this room…

“I’ve always wanted to have sex in a bathtub…” His fingers nimbly unfastened the buttons on his shirt, as he eagerly shed it, taking Kathy’s breath away, yet again, with the sight of his abdomen. She sunk lower in the tub, allowing just the tips of her breasts to peek out over the bubbles.

“Won’t Connor be mad?”

“I’m not really thinking about him right now.” Luke’s voice hit a gravely pitch, and Kathy shivered, despite the heat of the water submersing her.

Connor and Jessie were gone for the evening, and Luke and Kathy had the run of their house. Luke stayed with Kathy most of the times he’d visited. This time, he’d said something about mice playing when cats were gone that had Kathy eager to have a little more space to romp around in. And they were taking full advantage.

Connor’s house that held his restaurant was enormous and they’d started out christening each level that night. Now that they’d made it to the top, Kathy wanted a bath. The guest room had one of those old claw-foot bathtubs that could hold a family of six, and Kathy made no bones about making her wishes known.

As Luke sank in behind her, his arms came around to reach for the bottle of soap. His warm chest slid against her back, and she leaned against him, exhaling her pleasure.

The exhales turned to moans, as Luke’s calloused fingers deftly slathered bath gel across her body, focusing on her breasts. She knew he loved her breasts, calling them stupendous, magnificent, perfect, and her personal favorite, pleasure pods.

She turned around, sliding her pleasure pods against his chest, giggling as she did so, thinking of his pet name for her boobs. A gasp escaped when she felt his thick length between her legs.

“What’s so funny?” An amused smirk graced his lips, and Kathy momentarily resisted the urge to kiss him.

“Pleasure pods.” She whispered, drawing his eyes to the objects of her attention. He grasped them with his wide hands.

“Perfect pleasure pods.” His mouth kissed the flesh spilling between his fingers, sucking on a nipple. Kathy rose to meet his mouth, and his erection rubbed against the bundle of nerves between her legs. The slickness of the soapy water caused a delicious friction, and Kathy’s hips bucked to prolong the sensation. One of Luke’s arms went around her waist, holding her still before he slipped his erection inside her.

“Jesus, God…Kathy. You feel so damned good…” He murmured into her shoulder. She could only moan her agreement. Every time she felt him inside her, reaching her private, unnamed places, Kathy had to concentrate on her breathing or else she would forget to breathe altogether. The way he filled her completely, with no room to move in his initial thrust always managed to take her breath away.

She looked at Luke’s face and saw his eyes had darkened to almost black, his pupils were so huge. Once she’d adjusted to the size of him inside her, she rose and fell in a rhythmic manner, squeezing her thighs as she rocked over him. His hand on her hip slipped back to grab her butt and squeezed, as he threw his head back against the edge of the tub, muttering curses to the ceiling.

Kathy loved the sensations of rightness, when she made love to Luke. They fit together so perfectly, as if they were made for each other. It sounded cliché, but when they were together, everything was so perfect she couldn’t imagine her life without him. As she rose and fell on him, he stroked that spot inside of her with his shaft and everything took on a vague, sparkly hue…Stars appeared in her peripheral vision, and gasps escaped her. Kathy’s movements quickened, sloshing more water.

Warmth built inside Kathy as she felt her orgasm coming on quick. He slipped his thumb between them and rubbed her nub, eliciting a moan from Kathy. Luke’s groans, the heat all around her, and the erotic sloshing of the water in the tub, conspired to undo her. Her movements became more erratic, and before she realized what was happening, she fell to pieces, falling limp on top of Luke in a blaze of colored stars.

Without allowing her to catch her breath, Luke flipped them over, sloshing warm water out of the tub on all sides. He positioned himself between her legs, spreading her high and wide, exposing herself to him. She felt the tip of him inside her, and he slowly thrust in all the way.

“So fucking beautiful…This is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen, you taking me inside you like this.” The reverent look on his face made Kathy wish she could see it too, just to know what all the hubbub was about. Then, with a splash, he pulled out and pounded back inside her, taking her breath away all over again. As he rocked and thrust himself in and out of her, splashing more and more water out of the tub, Kathy felt the dichotomy of pleasure and pain mingled with an intense need for more.

“More…Luke…Please…”

“That’s it. Tell me what you need.”

She clawed at his shoulders, frantic, unable to articulate what she needed. “More…Deeper…” He complied with a grunt, drawing himself out and then slamming back into her, hitting the depths of her insides, scratching her itches. His abdomen flexed and pulled with his movements, and Kathy was entranced in spite of herself.

“Harder, Luke…” He complied, but not knowing what was coming out of her mouth, she continued barking orders at him, which he dutifully fulfilled. “Oh God…Luke…Faster…Please!”

He slammed in and out of her, clutching her legs against his shoulders, a look of intense concentration on his face, as he watched her boobs bouncing with his thrusts. Kathy could feel herself again. Another orgasm. This one impossibly more intense than the last. Her body spasmed under his, as she completely lost control, clutching with her hands, squeezing with her legs, shuddering uncontrollably. She scratched at his shoulders and cried out, as he increased his pace, before freezing on top of her, and then slamming back in one last time, eliciting another round of shockwaves through her highly sensitized flesh.

He stretched out next to her, spooning her in what was left of the cooling water.

“I hate to say this now, but I’ve heard that sex in water’s really not good for you.” Breathless with exertion, Luke’s voice sent a tickle across her shoulder.

“But what a way to go…” She replied dreamily.

Connor had been pissed about the water. They’d cleaned it up in the bathroom, but it left a water stain on the ceiling in the room below, Connor’s kitchen. And Luke had to replace sheetrock. Not that Kathy had minded. Watching the powerful strength Luke exuded, when he worked on stuff like that, really made her think of his vigilance, and how he would care for a family. She couldn’t wait for the day she could watch him fix up their own house. Someday.

A someday that would never happen now. Kathy wondered if she should have listened to Luke, hear what he had to say. Was there something she could have done before it all went to shit? Probably. She could have been willing to compromise with him, wait another year, maybe. She could have moved to Houston. She could have said yes to the proposal.

It was too late. Once he heard what she was doing in Vegas, he’d be through with her. There was no way he’d want her now.

She had to do something to get Luke out of her head. Now that Kathy was undeniably frustrated, what with her own fantasies and the underlying subject matter of the day’s proceedings, she decided to just go out and find some fun.

Selecting a slinky sweater dress that sort of hid her money belt, and a pair of heels, she decided to splurge on a cab to save her feet for dancing, if she decided she felt like letting loose. She stuffed a small wad of money in her bra, adjusted the girls and let herself go out. The cab ride showed her the stark error in judgment with picking her hotel. As soon as it crossed over onto the strip, Kathy could see the difference as if it was a completely different country. Her hotel was lit up, but not like this…

The cab let her out at the Bellagio, and Kathy kept her eyes to the ground so she didn’t gawk too much at the opulence. She asked directions to the club that Darrin had suggested and was led immediately to a raucous, dimly lit area blocked by bouncers. She knew how to work a line. If nothing else had gone right today, she could at least do this. Thankfully, the bouncer let her in without any questions, and after paying the big city cover charge, Kathy immediately went to the bar to order a double whiskey sour.

Once she paid for her overpriced drink and surreptitiously shoved her money back into her bra, she surveyed the club. It was pretty nice, by Serendipity’s standards, but definitely not the nicest place she could imagine. But with a name like the Bank, you probably had to own one to be able to really party here. The DJ was good though, and she caught herself bouncing in her chair to the beat reverberating through her insides, as she watched the dance floor. Her first drink went down smoothly, and while she wondered if there was actually any alcohol in it, she waved to the bartender for another before turning to watch the dancing.

She tried not to fidget with her Old Navy dress while she watched women much younger than herself slink around in silky sheaths. She fingered a tendril of her hair that had escaped its messy up-do, wondering if her highlights showed up under the blue lighting.

Even though she bounced, she still missed Clarissa, the DJ at the Gin, who was likely to play
Copperhead Road
, followed on the heels of
Donkey Butt
. She was sure this was not a place where she could go up and suggest the DJ play something she could line dance to.

A memory of teaching Luke how to do the
Cupid Shuffle
drifted through her mind, along with the goofy smile on Luke’s face as he watched her feet, trying vainly to mimic her directions. She closed her eyes and smiled sadly to herself.

“Hey! You made it!” A familiar voice turned her head, and Darrin stood next to her, holding out her drink. The only man who’d made the short list so far.

“Hi there. Yeah, I made it.” She forced her memories down and returned his friendly smile, taking her drink from him. Taking a sip, she nodded to him. “You clean up nice.”

He looked down at himself. He’d changed into a pair of fitted jeans that hung loosely on his frame and paired it with a sport jacket over a really tight tee shirt. It showed off some muscles that Kathy hadn’t noticed earlier. His hair was tousled still, but this time it was gelled that way, as if he had intentionally given himself bed-head. The look was good on him.

“Yeah, well…” He grinned sheepishly at her, and took a swig from a beer bottle. Kathy noticed he had nice hands, though they were smooth, as if he didn’t do much with them. She tried to remember what he did for a job, but the interviews seemed to mesh together in her head.

“Tell me what you do again? I’m sorry, I can’t remember.”

“I’m in finance. It’s boring, really.”

“So, you work with numbers? I’ve never really had much of a head for those.”

“Logistics mostly.” He hung his head sheepishly. “I try to be a professional gambler, but I haven’t managed to come up with a system to consistently beat the house. What do you do?”

Maybe she should re-think this. A man who gambled every day might have some sort of tendency toward addiction that she didn’t want passed down to her child. It was a depressing thought, as Darrin was the only viable candidate at the moment. “Nothing right now. I was a restaurant manager, but I quit recently, so I’ll be looking as soon as I find a place to live.” Wow. Her life sounded incredibly depressing.

“While you’re pregnant?” He asked, disbelief evident across his features. She nodded. “Wow. You’re something, you know that?” Apparently coming to a decision, he shifted tactics. “You want to get out of here? Let’s go somewhere quieter. There’s a café down the street?”

It sounded good, but she’d just paid an outrageous cover, and her drink was still fresh. The doubt must have crossed her face, because he continued. “It’s a crowded place, and we’ll stay on the strip. Good lighting.” She hadn’t even been thinking of that.

Kathy downed her drink, and decided to let him buy the coffee or pie or whatever they were going to get at the café to make up for her lost cover charge. “Sure.”

He smiled, holding out his hand to her. She took it, noticing again the lack of electricity between them, but his smile was warm and he didn’t seem dangerous.

Once outside, he didn’t let go of her hand, leading her down the street towards the corner. She looked over at him, and the play of lights across his face gave him a mischievous look.

“You ever feel dumb?” They’d reached the corner, and he turned right, heading towards a coffee shop a block down the road.

“What do you mean?”

He kept walking. “I mean, you fly half way across country, take out a personal ad for a baby daddy, meet up with a bunch of strange men in one of the most dangerous cities in the US, go out alone at night…” He stopped walking and put his hands around her waist, pushing her backwards, while his voice lowered to nearly a whisper. “Tell a complete stranger where you hide all of your personals…” His mouth covered hers to muffle her protests, as his hands dropped to the hem of her skirt, yanking it up to her breasts. To a casual passerby, they would seem like an amorous couple, getting too frisky. From out of nowhere, he produced a knife and held it to her throat, while his other hand clasped both of hers above her head. He was stronger than he looked, and he’d caught her so off guard, she couldn’t have screamed if she’d thought of it. He used the knife to cut away her money belt, where not only her money was, but her driver’s license and credit cards as well. Dumbfounded, she watched him slip the knife between his teeth and reach into her bra, rummaging around for the cash she’d stashed there, too. “Thanks, Kathy.” He flashed his bright smile at her, as he waved the wad of cash and her brand new Smartphone in her face, and he was gone, disappearing into the shadows around her.