Money Shot (7 page)

“And gambling.” She couldn’t get over the place. It was huge! And the view of the strip all lit up out the window was dazzling.

“On occasion.” He patted the seat beside him. “I don’t bet more than I can afford to lose.”

“You can afford to lose a lot.” She snorted, taking a seat beside him, smoothing her hands over her dress and kicking off her shoes. It felt so good to have them off, she gave a little moan.

“Money?” He shrugged, sliding an arm around her shoulder. “Yeah.”

“This place is…” She looked around, too overwhelmed for words. “You know how amazing this is right?”

“It should be, for forty thousand a night.” He pulled her closer still, his lips brushing the top of her head.

Forty thousand a night?
What was she supposed to say to that?

“It’s just you here?”

“I’m not that extravagant.” He laughed. “I had over two-hundred people packed in here last night.”

Well that made more sense. Jodie looked out at the view again and saw something she couldn’t quite believe was real.

“Is that… a pool? Oh my God!” She jumped off the couch, running over to the floor to ceiling windows that, she realized, weren’t all windows. There was a full glass door leading out to a huge cantilevered pool—it hung right off the edge of the building! It was all lit up, with a breathtaking view of the strip.

“Want to take a selfie and send it to your idiot ex from the pool?” Dorian came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist. “We can go skinny dipping.”

“I don’t care about him…” She still couldn’t believe what she was seeing. It was like a dream. “Not anymore.”

“Well I do.” He pulled her hair aside so he could kiss his way down her neck, giving her goose bumps. “We’re going to show him what he’s missing.”

She thought of Jason getting that photo of her kissing Dorian and, she had to admit, some part of her was glad. Maybe he would understand what it felt like to be cheated on, hurt, devastated. She knew what this was, that Dorian didn’t love her and she didn’t love him. She had no wild ideas about them living happily ever after. This was revenge—and it felt damned good.

“Sir?” Andrew interrupted them, rolling a tray loaded with food into the suite. “Your dinner.”

It was nearly midnight—a little late for dinner—but she was starving anyway.

“You can leave the champagne and strawberries by the pool. We’ll eat in the dining room.”

Jodie’s eyes widened. “There’s a dining room?”

There was, indeed, a dining room, which seated twelve people, but they sat together at one end, Dorian devouring his steak and Jodie her chicken and waffles. The cupcakes were red velvet and she moaned as she ate them, licking frosting off her lips. He watched her with a bemused smile on his face.

When Jodie went to clean up, Dorian stood, taking her wrist.

“Leave them. Andrew will clean up in the morning.”

“Who is Andrew? Is he yours?” she asked, following him into the living area.

“No.” He laughed. “He comes with the penthouse.”

“Wow… I guess forty thousand dollars can buy you everything.” She gravitated to the window, looking out at the pool.

“Not everything.” His hands moved on her shoulders, brushing her hair aside.

Jodie held her breath as her zipper came down, down, down, all the way to her lower back. She remembered the underwear she was wearing—white cotton, nothing special at all—and regretted her choice.

“Your skin is flawless.” His lips brushed her shoulder as he slid Lauren’s fifteen hundred dollar dress to the floor. Jodie stood there in her bra and panties, in front of floor to ceiling windows, for all the world to see. If they had a telescope, anyway.

“Let’s go swimming.” Dorian opened the door leading to the pool, waving her through.

Jodie couldn’t believe the view. She could see every hotel on the strip, all lit up. You could probably see them from space, she thought, conscious of Dorian’s eyes on her as she held onto the handrail and dipped her toes in. It was like bath water.

“Go ahead.” He smiled, unbuttoning his shirt. “I’ll join you in a moment.”

Jodie waded in, watching as he went back inside. The pool was a giant rectangle with two adjacent wings. The end of the rectangle hung out over the edge, enclosed with some sort of clear glass or plastic. She was desperate to see that view and swam out to the very end, her stomach doing flip flops as she looked down at the street below where everything was microscopic.

She could see Caesar’s Palace in the distance and wondered what the girls were doing. Probably speculating about what
she
was doing. Going back and telling them in the morning would be quite an experience, she was sure. Although, she had a feeling she wouldn’t be telling them
everything.

“Say cheese.”

Jodie turned and Dorian snapped a picture with her phone. He was down to a pair of boxers and that fact interested her far more than the fact he’d just taken a picture of her half-naked in the Palms penthouse pool with her phone.

“Water’s warm.” She waved him in, realizing he probably already knew that.

“Temperature controlled,” he explained as he waded in toward her. “I like it warm.”

“Me too.” She leaned back against the glass, watching him approach. And she’d thought the man was beautiful in a suit? She liked the Dorian Cole who swept her into his arms and drove around in a Bugatti, but she was liking this stripped down Dorian Cole just as much—maybe more—as he gave up walking, fighting the water, and dove under.

He popped up beside her, his curly hair slicked back, water dripping off his nose and chin. The water wasn’t deep—not even five feet, but they sank low, their heads bobbing above the surface, Jodie’s dark hair spreading around her shoulders like a fan.

“What are you thinking?” she asked as he reached over to brush a wet strand of hair from her cheek.

“That I haven’t taken a strange girl back to my room since…” His voice trailed off, his gaze shifting away, off into the distance, looking past the strip, through it.

“Since…?”

“Two years.” He met her eyes. “I’ve been celibate two years.”

“Celibate.” She blinked in surprise. “As in…?”

“No relationships. No dates. No… anything.”

“But… why?”

“I was very, very foolish.” He chuckled, moving to take her in his arms. She liked it there, floating in the water, as she wrapped her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. “Now I realize what I’ve been missing.”

“You know, I’m not that strange,” she countered, kissing water droplets off his broad shoulders.

“You’re not strange at all.” He moved slowly through the water, carrying her with him. “Actually, you’re oddly familiar.”

“Do I remind you of someone?” That would actually explain a lot, she reasoned. Maybe she looked like an old girlfriend or lover—or wife?

“No.” He smiled. “I just feel… like I know you.”

“You don’t know me at all,” she scoffed, rolling her eyes.

“Oh I beg to differ.” He cocked one eyebrow. “You’re a very good editor for Simon & Schuster. You’re not used to wearing fancy dresses and high heels. You’re incredibly lucky at dice. You have sisters who you used to beat at Yahtzee.”

She had to laugh at that. So he’d overheard her talking and had a good memory.

“You’re a very good friend.” He kissed the tip of her nose. “And you like cupcakes. And waffles.”

“Muffins too,” she added. “Any carb really.”

He smiled, turning in a semi-circle in the water.

“And you have a very big heart,” he added. “Which has just been broken.”

“Don’t make me cry.” She swallowed past a lump in her throat. “I’m not here to cry.”

“Hm.” He shifted her weight downward, aligning her hips with his, and she instantly felt his erection through his boxers. “What are you here for?”

“To forget,” she whispered, her gaze focused on those soft, soft lips.

“Then let me help you with that.”

He slipped a hand behind her head, bringing her mouth to his in a long, slow, tantalizing kiss, his tongue playing with hers, like a bee drawing honey. Jodie didn’t understand how he did it, how the instant his mouth found hers, she forgot everything. His hands roamed over her wet back as he broke the kiss, mouth trailing down her neck, licking the water off.

She moaned when he grabbed her breasts, flesh spilling over the top of her bra, nipples so hard they ached. His thumbs made circles around them as they floated through the water. When she looked down, she saw her white cotton bra was completely see-through, her nipples and dark areolas showing through the thin material. He seemed to be enjoying the view—his cock throbbed, trapped between them.

He groaned when she reached back and unhooked her bra, sliding it down her shoulders and letting her breasts spill into his hands. Dorian licked and sucked at her flesh like a starving man, leaving little bruises with the suction. She cried out when his mouth covered her nipple, sucking deeply, his fingers digging into her ass, grinding her against his crotch.

Fuck, she wanted him. Her panties and his boxers were between them and she wanted the material to just disappear. She reached down to tug at her panties and found herself distracted by his cock. He moaned when she slid a hand into his boxers, stroking him under the water as he devoured her tits. His boxers slipped off, floating away as they rocked together.

“Easy, girl.” He groaned as she tugged him faster, rubbing him over the thin material of her panties. “It’s been a damned long time.”

“Wait…” She stopped, blinking at him in surprise. “When you said celibate… do you mean… you haven’t…?”

“I haven’t come in two years.”

“No fucking way.” She stared at him in disbelief.

She couldn’t believe this beautiful man had not only been celibate for two years, but hadn’t even once touched the glorious cock throbbing in her hand.

“It’s true.” He bit his lip when she squeezed him.

“Come here.” She used his cock to lead him to the shallow end, tugging him along until she could sit on the steps, running her hands over his body, the water dripping down his broad chest, his hard-ridged stomach, the bulging muscles of his thighs. He might work in an office, but the man took good care of his body.

His cock stood up, thick and proud, dripping water as well as precum. Jodie slid her mouth around the head, hand encircling the shaft as she looked up, watching his face. She saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed, burying a hand in her hair as she took his length slowly from tip to base, pausing before coming back up again for air.

“Where do you want to come the first time?” she asked, rubbing the tip of his cock against her lips, her cheek. “My mouth? My tits? My pussy? ... My ass?”

She offered the last after only a moment’s hesitation, something she’d never, ever given Jason, even in all their years together.

“Your mouth.” He grabbed her hair, sliding his cock back in, slowly pumping. Jodie moaned around his length, her pussy aching for attention. She slid her hand into her panties under the water, her clit throbbing under her fingers as she played with herself.

“Mmm, good girl,” he murmured, watching her take his length, his gaze skipping between her legs where she worked her little clit in circles. “Finger yourself.”