What Happens in Vegas...After Dark (18 page)

When this was over, when she’d dealt with the human and the damned mages, she would grab William Emery and not let him go. There’d be work, she knew that, but she knew what they could build would be worth it.

She arched when he reached around and slid a hand into the bodice of her blouse, palming her nipple. Shivers rippled through her, straight to her pussy as he drove into her hard and fast.

“He’s still watching,” William said in her ear.

Indeed, the man below still stood watching, having turned to face them. A smile broke over his face and he tipped his glass toward them. Even in the dark she knew she blushed at that, and yet, it still turned her on.

“He can watch all he wants, but he’ll never have this. This bounty. You’re magic.” He snorted. “I mean it.”

How would he feel a week from now when she wasn’t there anymore?

“Finger your clit for me. Let him know you can’t get enough of me.”

The muscles in her arm corded as she leaned more fully on it to remove the other to reach to slide her free hand between her thighs.

The tug of her pussy around him and then the brush of her fingers against his cock for a few brief moments let him know she’d obeyed. And then, as she touched herself fully, her inner walls clutched him, squeezing tight.

“Fuck. Fuck! So good. What you do to me, Nell.”

Through her curls, she saw the desire in the eyes of the man below, saw the envy, felt the rush of pride that she was William’s. His.

She cried out softly. Felt her nipple stab into his palm as her cunt slickened, heated, spasmed around his cock until he nearly lost his mind with just how good she felt when she came around him.

She didn’t want this moment to end. Wanted him to stay buried in her forever and that’s why it had to end. He pushed one last time, hard and deep.

Nell felt the rush of intensity as he came. His emotions spoke loudly through the way he touched her, through the change in his breathing. It didn’t take a magical gift to know she touched him. But would it be enough or would he force her to push?

She opened her eyes as he stepped back. The man downstairs forgotten, she smoothed down her skirt and turned, but William had already put distance between them and her heart sank.

“Wil iam,” she started, but he held his hand out. She waited while he tossed the condom into a nearby trash can, covering it with napkins before draining his drink.

“I…I have to get back to the club. Let me know what happens with Leah.”

She stood there, livid and hurt as he rushed off, his anguish written on his face.

“What the fuck!” Snatching up her panties, she shoved them in her bag and rushed after him.

Oh, she was so going to make him pay for this when she finally won him over!

N ell trailed him, wanting to make sure William got back to the club safely.

Her contact said the mages knew of William and he was at risk from them, too. She didn’t want him to get jumped by something he couldn’t handle before she got the chance to wipe the floor with the fools.

William’s reaction was sort of cute once she got over her initial hurt. He’d touched her with tenderness, spoken to her with possession in mind. He wanted her, was moved by her, no doubt. It wasn’t that surprising it freaked him out. The differences between the way she saw the world and he did were vast. Her rational mind knew it. Knew his understanding of Fate wasn’t similar to hers in any way, no matter what his heart and soul told him. He was a businessman, he believed in the bottom line.

Lucky for him and for her, too, being together was the bottom line in their situation.

He’d just have to accept it.

Smiling, she kept some distance, thinking she’d have to give him a few lessons on self-defense and how not to get followed. That smile died when he got to the doors of the Dollhouse and he was met by two women. Two women who instantly began rubbing all over him and worse, he ate it up and even played a bit of grab ass as they entered.

Oh, that prick! She narrowed her eyes and after one last sweep through the area, she headed back to Bellagio.

William’s head swam. What the fuck was he going to do? He’d never, ever felt that intensity of connection when he’d been with anyone. Every time he touched Nell, thought of her, he warmed inside.

He wasn’t some untested boy. He’d been with plenty of women, but he’d never had a reaction to any of them the way he did for Nel . What they had—chemistry or magic or whatever it was—he knew at some elemental level was different from anything that ever had been or ever would be.

He’d gone to that club, stepped firmly into her world and he’d gotten off on it. Moving aside one of the women who’d attached themselves to him when he entered the club, he ran a hand through his hair. Licking his lips, lips that still tasted of her salt, of her tang, he groaned.

“Ladies, if you’ll excuse me. I just remembered something I need to take care of. Please enjoy the evening. I’ll have a bottle of champagne sent over.” He said it absently, not even noticing the features on their faces. He’d intended to fuck the pain away, to wash Nell from his skin and soul with the bodies of other women and he knew it would be useless.

Worse, it would be a mockery of the heat he’d shared with Nell, and that would betray not only her, but himself, as well.

Heading into his office, he tossed himself onto his couch with a growl of frustration.

The interlude on the balcony had been meant to be lighthearted. Hot and fun. But it backfired. It backfired because fucking her, touching her there had sent him headlong past pretensions of extreme lust into the seeds of love.

He sat up. Love? No. Fucking. Way. Sure, he liked Nell; he’d liked her more each time he’d seen her. Each time he’d thought about her he’d recalled something else he admired.

Not just the way she felt while he’d been inside her, not just the way she matched him sexually, although admittedly that was huge. He’d never had that sort of parity with anyone sexually. But in truth, he loved the way she held herself, the way she was so strong and in control, the way she smiled and laughed. Hell, even the fact that she was some witch bounty hunter made her special and strong and it attracted him, impressed him and made him proud.

He pushed off the couch and began to pace. She’d settled inside him. Not as a weight, not as a burden, but as part of him. As much as he wanted to deny it, to be frustrated and angry and pretend she was nothing more to him than a few hours’ worth of fun, she was more. She was everything and he supposed he’d reached the stage in his life where he simply couldn’t ignore it.

Stock-still and struck dumb, he faced it. He didn’t understand it at all. He didn’t know her! He’d met her less than two weeks before. How could it be? He wasn’t a woo-woo type of guy. He didn’t believe in karma or soul mates or hell, and until the first time he laid eyes on Nell Hunter, he wasn’t sure he even believed in love.

“Too damned bad.” He clenched his fists. He didn’t want to love anyone and the only way to resolve this stupid mess was to get Nell Hunter’s delectable ass out of Vegas posthaste.

Nell stomped into her hotel room and threw her purse against the far wal with a curse.

Galen had gone out to do some reconnaissance work near the area they’d thought the mages had been holed up.

She snatched up her phone and dialed the familiar number.

“You wil not believe what that fuck did!” she said without preamble when Meriel picked up.

“This is about William Emery, our boy hero?” Meriel’s voice held amusement, but also concern.

“Meriel, I don’t care what Fate has in mind, he’s a gigantic tool and there is simply no way I can deal with being shackled to such a twit. Fate has to be wrong.”

She unzipped her boots and tossed them to the side.

Meriel sighed. “Tell me what he did.”

Nell recounted the evening, including the whole balcony episode and then the way he’d let himself get jumped on by the women back at his club.

“Here I am, even after he fucked and ran, making sure he’s safe and al he can think about is dipping his cock into yet more women? I’m not enough? He sure came like I was enough. Meriel, how dare I not be enough!”

She wadded her skirt and threw it in a far corner.

“In the first place, of course you’re enough. He’s an idiot and he’s running from a very scary truth. I know you understand that even as it hurts.”

“He’s gonna be the one hurting if he has sex with anyone but me, I’ll tell you what.

Punk. Idiot. Prick. Oh! He’s just an ass.” She failed to hold back the tears.

“He’s totally a prick. And I’m going to kick him so hard when I meet him for making you cry. Do you want me to come down there?” Meriel’s sarcasm smoothed into soothing tones.

“No. I’ll be done in a day or two if everything goes as planned anyway.” She sniff led and her blouse and bra followed the skirt. She planned to burn the whole ensemble later.

“You’re not giving up on this butthead. We’ll make him pay, of course, but you love him. And Nell, Fate is female. She won’t take this lightly and you know as well as I do, he’s so going to pay for making you cry.” Meriel laughed and Nel wiped her nose on the sleeve of the robe she found hanging in the bathroom.

“I hate him.”

“No, you don’t. If you hated him, he couldn’t make you cry. You love him and he loves you, which is why he ran like a little girl after that thing that happened in Darkness. He’ll come knocking soon enough. Then you can make him pay. You sure you don’t want me to come down there? I feel awful to hear you so upset.”

“Save me a pint of Cherry Garcia. I’ll be back soon. I have to go. I need to shower and sleep. Or try to sleep. I love you, thanks for listening.” Nell slumped onto the bed.

“I love you, too. It’s going to be fine. Cal me tomorrow.”

She hung up and threw herself onto her back for a moment, giving in to a miniwallow.

She planned to throttle the hell out of these mages and the woman when she hunted them down the next day. Just to make herself feel better if for no other reason. Hmpf.

William stalked down the hall, annoyed with himself for even being there. He should be back at his apartment with a woman or two, fucking this one out of his head. Fuck it, he had to get her out of Vegas before he did or said something stupid.

Agitated, he pounded on the door, softening as he remembered it was after one. He waited, hearing her approach on the other side.

“What do you want?” Her voice came, muff led through the door.

He leaned in close to the door. “Open up, Nell.”

“No.”

“Damn it. Open the door.”

“Go away, William. I can’t deal with you right now. I’m tired and I don’t have the energy to fight with you or take your insults.” Her voice caught. He heard it through the door and regret crashed through him.

“I need to talk to you. It’s important. Open up. Please.” His hands fisted with the need to pull her close and make that catch in her voice go away.

She opened it hard, stood there in a tiny pair of pink panties and nothing else. He pushed his way inside and closed the door, locking it. It was then he really saw her face.

Her beautiful eyes sparked with temper, but they were swollen and red.

She’d been crying? Tenderness unfurled through him, pushing aside his anger, his frustration. “What’s wrong?”

She put a hand on her hip and try as hard as he could, there was no way her near total nakedness couldn’t attract his attention. He’d been inside her twice, thought of her in hundreds of sexual situations, but he’d never seen her totally nude. Her breasts were fucking amazing. The rest of her was long and lean, toned and creamy pale. She shone like the moon, nearly stopping his heart with her own unique beauty. Never in his life had he been so moved by a woman’s beauty. No one was like her.

Still, tears. Focus on the tears.

“I’m trying to sleep, in case you haven’t noticed. You got what you wanted back at Darkness. Why are you here?”

That hit him like the slap it was. Landed true because he knew he’d run out and made her feel used. He’d done it to hide from what she made him feel and instead he’d damaged her. The wall he’d erected just two hours earlier continued to crumble.

“Doesn’t look like you were sleeping. It looks like you’ve been crying. And I didn’t get enough of what I wanted at Darkness.” He paused and walked down the hall into the room. He’d meant to just tel her to get out of town immediately and instead found himself standing stock-stil , breathing deep. Her scent hung in the air, wrapping around him and squeezing until he had no choice but to abandon his stupid plan. “Damn it.

Damn it, Nel , I don’t feel like I can get enough of you. Ever.”

She’d grabbed a robe and was attempting to put it on when he spun and caught her.

Emotion clouded his gaze and something deep inside her squeezed.

“What now? What did I do?” She left her robe open, daring him not to look.

“Fuck. Fuck. Why? What did you do to me? Why do I love you?” He reached out and pul ed her to him and she growled in his face.

“Do you think I need magic to be alluring? You’re such a prick!”

“I am. I know I am. It’s served me well, kept me away from feeling deeply about other women like Leah! And you come along, I barely even know you and I can’t stop thinking about you.”

Anguish poured off him in a wave, catching her, tugging at her emotions, her need to soothe him.

She pulled herself loose, needing some distance. “I would not use magic to manipulate your feelings. That’s not how it works. I use it to defend myself and my people. I don’t use it to play with men who I’d be way better off without. You don’t know what an insult it is to accuse me of that. There are no love potions, no spells to make another person love you and if there were, I’d still not use them. I wouldn’t cloud your wil .”

He sat on a nearby chair and looked up at her. “I’m sorry. It…I know you wouldn’t harm me like that. I don’t know why I know it, but I do. I’m just…I don’t know what to do with all this emotion.”