Only in Vegas (9 page)

She lifted her face to his, looking up at him with those incredibly large, dark chocolate, eyes of hers.  “It’s all right.  I understand.” 

Despite her reassuring words, he knew she didn’t.  Not really.

Trey caught her beautiful, upturned face between his hands.  “Angel, you are one of the sexiest women I know and I’m not just saying that.  I mean it.  But you’re looking for a relationship that offers you a future.  I’m not at a point where I can do that right now.”  He wasn’t sure when he’d ever be.

“I’m not asking for forever, Trey.  All I’m asking for is now.  Only in Vegas.  No more.”

“Only in Vegas?” he repeated, his words thick with desire.

She nodded.

He brushed his lips across hers in a tender kiss.  “You’re my best friend
,” he said with a sigh.  “I don’t want to lose that.”

“You won’t.”

“I need to think.”  He caressed her cheek.  “I’m going for a walk.  I’ll be back in a little while.”

He was out of the room before he did anything they would both regret, like make love to Angel.  That wasn’t part of her plan and he knew it.  And to let things move to that level would bring in complications that could ruin a friendship he wouldn’t trade for the world.

*              *              *

Angie stared at the door after Trey had gone, wondering what had just happened between them.  She didn’t have to ask what hadn’t.  The ache between her legs and in her heart told her that.

Trey had said that he wanted her, too.  But his flying out the door the way he had wasn’t a very reassuring sign.  Angie sank onto the edge of the bed with a sigh. 

Whatever had she been thinking asking Trey to make love to her?  Risking their friendship.  It wasn’t as though she had planned it.  It just came out of her mouth before she could stop it.

Truth was it couldn’t be helped.  The way Trey’s hungry gaze had moved over her, the intensity of his kiss, all left her wanting.  And she wanted Trey.

The phone next to the bed rang out and Angie shot to her feet.  “Trey!”

Why she had thought it would be him as she scrambled madly for the ringing phone was beyond her.  He’d only just left the room.  It was just that she wanted so badly...

“Hello?”

“There you are.  I’ve been trying to catch you all day.”

“Kathy?”

“Last time I checked.”  Her friend laughed.  “I know.  I’m such a smart ass.”

Angie walked over to the window.  “Took the words right out of my mouth.”

“Trouble in Paradise?”

“What?” 

“You have that little hitch in your voice you always get when you’re upset about something.  Rick proving himself a dick again?  I can put ex-lax in his coffee when he gets back from this trip.”

That particular thought had a smile tugging at Angie’s lips, despite being so disconcerted over her feelings for Trey.  Feelings that were so complicated it was almost impossible to know where to even begin to decipher them all.

“Angie?” Kathy prompted.

“I’m fine.  Just a little tired.  Your brother and I shopped all day.”

“Hold up.  We are talking about Trey, aren’t we?”             

“Unless you have another brother that I don’t know about.”

Angie turned away from the window.  She couldn’t enjoy the view or any part of Vegas while Trey was God knows where only to avoid being propositioned by her again.

“Okay, the only kind of store I’ve ever known my brother to frequent by choice is a sporting goods store.  So I guess I’ll be getting a souvenir from you guys that calls for me to get sweaty, which may I remind you I hate to do.  That is, unless it’s with a man.”

Angie sighed and sank down onto the edge of the bed once more.

“Ange, what’s wrong?”

“I messed up big time.”

Her friend’s groan echoed through the receiver.  “My ears are covered.  I refuse to listen to you tell me you had a change of heart and slept with that slime ball ex of yours.”

“Ick.  No.”

“Oh, thank God.”

“I almost slept with Trey.”

“No shit!”  Suddenly, there was a loud clattering at the other end of the line.  “Hang on,” Kathy called out.  “I dropped the phone.” 

Angie rolled her eyes.  This was just great.  She’d now succeeded in shocking both of her best friends.

“Back,” Kathy said, after having apparently regained control of the handset.  “Now, care to run that by me one more time?”

“I said I almost slept with your brother.”

“That’s great!”

Angie closed her eyes and shook her head.  “You’re not hearing me.  Key word there was
almost
.  As in it never happened.  Nothing.  Nada.  Zip.” 

“I don’t understand.”

“Join the club,” Angie muttered in frustration.  “Everything was fine between us, just as it’s always been.  Then he kissed me in the lobby—”

“He kissed you.”

“Don’t go getting too excited.  He was supposed to do that.”

“He was?”

“Well, the where of it wasn’t actually specified.  Just the when.”

“Let me get this straight.  You wanted my brother to kiss you at a specific time?”

“Yes.  He was supposed to do it whenever we ran into Rick, which we did right after arriving here at the hotel.  Trey and I were in the lobby when Rick came strolling toward us, flaunting his new eye candy.”

“Slithering would be more like it,” Kathy promptly corrected.  “But that’s beside the point.  So that’s when Trey kissed you?”

“Yes.”  Angie closed her eyes, remembering the incredible feel of his lips on hers, gentle yet demanding.

“I see.  But for some reason I’m thinking there is more to this than you’re telling me.”

“It was supposed to be for appearance sake.  But when Trey kissed me that way, it was like his mouth took possession of me, and something big happened.”

“Damn.  I’m aware that my big brother has a reputation for being good, but to give you the big ‘O’ with just a kiss...  And in the middle of a crowded lobby...”

“Kathy!”  Heat flooded Angie’s cheeks.  “I didn’t have an orgasm.”

Mentally maybe...

Her friend giggled.  “Oops, sorry.  It’s been so long since you’ve even had sex, I just thought—”

Angie groaned.  “You don’t have to remind me of how long it’s been.”  And it didn’t appear like that was going to change anytime soon.

“So what does all this have to do with having almost sex with my brother?”

“I was modeling the nightgown I bought today at Sinful Surrender—”

“Sinful what?”

“It’s a store Trey and I went to so I could spice up my wardrobe.”

“With a name like that, I can only imagine what the nightgown must look like you were modeling for him.”

“It’s not that bad, really.”  Angie gave it another thought.  “Well, maybe it is a little sexy, but that’s what I was aiming for.  I really think it was working.”

“Was?” Kathy pressed.

“He looked at me like he’s never looked at me before.  Then the next thing I knew we were kissing again.  Only Rick wasn’t around.”

“Sounds to me like it did work.”

Angie sighed.  “Only until I asked Trey to make love to me.  Then he was out the door like his pants were on fire.”

“No doubt they were from the sound of things,” Kathy said, her words followed by a muffled snicker.

“I’m glad you find my situation humorous.  I’d hate to depress both of us.”

“I’m sorry, Ange.  I’m just trying to imagine what’s going through my brother’s head right now.  Sometimes he can be so clueless to things.  Like what a great couple you two would make.”

“Kathy, you know he’s not looking for anything like that.”  Most of all, she knew that.  “I was only asking him to have a fling with me.”

Her best friend laughed again.  “Sorry, I just can’t picture you as the ‘fling’ kind of girl.  The Angelina Rossi I know is more the commitment type and Trey knows that, too.  We just have to work on changing him.”

“I could be the ‘fling’ type of girl if I wanted to be,” Angie argued, determined to set her friend straight on the matter.

“Yeah, and I could be a runway model.  Sorry, Ange, there are just some things neither of us will ever be, and your being the ‘fling’ type is one of them.”

“If you remember right, I came here intending to change myself.  Out with the old Angelina Rossi and in with the newer, sexier one.  I just happened to get a little carried away and your brother had the misfortune of being right in the line of my sexual misfire.”

“Trey will get over it, I’m sure.  It’s you I’m worried about.  You going to be okay?”

Angie smiled.  “A little embarrassment never killed anyone.  I’ll survive.”

“Thatta girl.  Look, I’ve got to run.  Call if you need to talk.  Anytime.  The cell’s always on.”

“I will.  Thanks.”

Angie returned the phone to its base and dropped back onto the bed.  Talking wasn’t what she needed right now.  It was Trey and the friendship she had so miserably mangled.

*
              *              *

Make love to me, Trey.

Angel’s words continued to torment Trey even after he’d left the source of his temptation and slipped into the casino downstairs.  He needed diversion and he needed it fast.

Unfortunately, that diversion soon came in the form of Angel’s ex.  “Well, well,” Rick muttered as he slipped onto the stool next to Trey’s.  “I’m surprised to see you down here - alone.”

Trey fought the scowl that threatened to overtake his features.  “Angel’s sleeping.”

Rick-the-Dick laughed, tweaking Trey’s already taut nerves.  “She wear herself out playing Ice Princess?”

That last comment had Trey springing to his feet, drawing stares from those around him.

Rick shot off his stool.

Trey looked down at the worthless piece of shit Angel had once fancied herself falling for and wondered what she ever saw in the guy. 

“Insult Angel one more time and I’m going to drag your sorry ass outside and pound it into the pavement.”

“Are you threatening me?”

“Call it what you want.”

“Ricky...”  The blonde that had been with Rick earlier that day hurried to his side, slipping her arm through his possessively.  “We should get going or we’ll be late for the show.”

“Yes, Ricky, you’d best get going,” Trey told him, his tone threatening.

“Landers, you’re lucky I’ve already put out for the tickets or—”

“No,” Trey said, cutting him off.  His gaze drilled into Rick’s.  “You’re the one who’s lucky.  Or maybe that should be stupid, giving up a woman like Angel.”

“Pretty face or not, I need a woman who can warm my bed like Stephanie here.”  He smiled cockily and nodded toward his now blushing companion.

Across from where they stood an elderly woman gathered up her
purse and sweater and walked away from the slot machine she’d been playing on, clucking her tongue.

“Angel has no problem warming a bed,” Trey said in her defense after the old woman had gone.  “It was being with a guy like you that caused her to freeze up.  Can’t say that I blame her.”

“Gentlemen, is there a problem here?”

Trey turned to find one of the casino’s security guards standing in the aisle way.  “No.  No problem.”

“We were just leaving,” Rick added, shooting one final sneer Trey’s direction before leading his platinum blonde companion away.

“I was just leaving, too,” Trey told the guard, and then walked away.

His run in with Rick had done nothing to ease his desire for Angel.  If anything, it made him want her more.  Part of it was knowing that Angel hadn’t given herself fully to any man.  Bernie Parks didn’t count.  He was a boy who was out for his own pleasure.  Not Angel’s. 

No wonder Angel was leery of trying again.  But she hadn’t been afraid in the room when she’d asked him to make love to her.  He’d been the one who had run out of there.  Away from his feelings.  Away from loving her.

That last part was what scared him.  His wasn’t just the kind of love one friend had for another, it ran so much deeper.  When had that happened? 

Trey made his way back to the elevator he’d just gotten off of only minutes before.  He hurried to press the up arrow, his heart thumping hard against his chest.  If Angel felt he was worth taking a risk on, then he was going to have the same faith.

His policy of keeping a relationship simple had gone out the window the moment he’d kissed Angel in the lobby that morning.  It was one of those kisses that left a man hungering for more than he had a right to.

But she had given him that right when she asked him to make love to her.  And if Angel still wanted him, he was going to do just that.  He would show her what it was like to be loved passionately by a man, not a boy.  By him.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Okay, so she had made a complete fool of herself with Trey, Angie decided.  She had definitely learned her lesson.  Contrary to what Kathy believed, men who were interested in what a woman was offering them didn’t fly out the door like they had rockets strapped to their butt.

Feelings like the ones she harbored for Trey, sexual in nature, were better off kept to herself, just as she had done as a teenager.

This was where she was supposed to pick herself up, dust herself off, and go on.  At least, go change out of the nightgown she’d given up a week’s worth of groceries for.  But the oversized bed was just too comfy a companion to give up at the moment. 

Angie closed her eyes with a frustrated sigh only to have them fly open as the door to the suite swung open.  She shot upright in the bed with a startled gasp.

“Trey?”

The sight of him standing there in the doorway, his expression so intense, had her scooting off the bed.  She hurried toward him.

“What’s wrong?”

“I was wrong,” he replied.

“About what?”

“For leaving the way I did.”  He gathered her in his arms, taking Angie completely by surprise. 

She looked up at him, trying to calm her racing heart.  “I don’t blame you, Trey.  Really, I don’t.  I know I was talking crazy.”

“You didn’t say anything I wasn’t already thinking,” he admitted with a warm smile.

She wasn’t sure what to say.  His reply had taken her completely by surprise.  Probably because she had just spent the past twenty minutes or so convincing herself that she was all wrong about Trey wanting her.  Now here he was proving otherwise. 

His blue eyes studied her, and then moved slowly downward.  “You look so damn sexy, Angel.  Feel so damn sexy,” he said with a low groan as his hands glided down her bare back to the curve of her silk covered bottom.

So much for easing the pounding of her heart.  It was racing as wildly as her thoughts were at that moment.  She had waited for what seemed like forever for this.  For Trey to look at her the way he was looking at her now.  To want her even half as much as she wanted him. 

“I..., um, you’re okay with this?” she uttered, finding it hard to think as the warmth of his hands penetrated the cool silk of her nightgown.

“We’re both adults, Angel.  And we’ve both been honest enough with each other to know what it is we’re getting into.  That there can’t be any—”

“Promises,” she finished for him.

He nodded then lowered his head, brushing his lips over hers.  “I’ve never cared about any woman the way I care about you, Angel.  I want you to know that.”

A rush of emotion made it impossible for her to reply.  Trey had no idea how much his confession meant to her.  Just maybe...

Before she could finish her thought, Trey captured her mouth beneath his in a kiss that promised to make all of her dreams come true. 

At least most of them.

She’d never have the kind of future with him her fantasies were made of.  No perfect little house.  No white picket fence.  But she did have now, and she wasn’t about to trade that for the world. 

She reached out to tug his shirt free of his pants, then ran her hands up the row of tiny buttons, working them free, needing desperately to touch him.

Trey stood watching her, his eyes reflecting the heat she felt coursing through her.

When the last button gave way and his shirt fell free to hang at his sides, she slipped her hands through the opening to smooth over the crisp golden hairs and warm flesh.

Her exploratory touch brought about a low groan deep in his throat.  He pressed his lips to her hair, whispering huskily, “I’ve been thinking about you in this nightie since I walked out.  I thought about touching you, imagined your skin to be as soft and silky as this gown.”

Releasing his hold on her backside, Trey skimmed the sides of the sapphire blue gown, grazing her breasts with intentional caresses of his thumbs. 

Angie knew now the reason cats purred while being stroked.  And if she didn’t think Trey would have thought she’d lost her mind, she might have done just that.  Instead, she pressed into his touch, silently pleading for more.

“Maybe softer,” he added in a husky whisper as his hands curled around her breasts, his long fingers teasing the hardened peaks through the blue silk.

Angie’s legs trembled beneath her.  No man had ever come close to making her feel the level of desire Trey’s attentive touch aroused in her.

Trey looked down at her with that incredibly sexy grin of his and then lowered his head.  The dim lights overhead reflected off his golden hair as he traced a silk covered nipple with his tongue.

He obviously wasn’t satisfied with having turned her legs to limp noodles and her brain to mush.  Trey wanted her to dissolve into one big sexually induced puddle of want on the floor at his feet.  She moaned softly.  Who would have thought his touch could affect her the way it did?  Especially when no other man’s had.  But she was living, breathing, melting into the sand colored carpet proof of Trey’s seduction skills at work.

Clinging to his broad shoulders, she arched into the heat of his questing mouth.  “Trey...”

He lifted his head.  “I know, Angel. I know.”  His fingers slipped beneath the straps of her gown.  “I need to see you.  All of you.”

It appeared that Trey
really did prefer his women in nothing at all, despite all the rumors she’d heard about men liking a little left to their imagination.  But she was grateful for that because she was just as eager to undress him before the dream ended and she returned to her real life as the office Ice Princess.

Angie nodded and lowered her arms, watching as his long fingers eased the slender blue straps off her shoulders and down her arms, her breasts bared to him fully.

“So damn beautiful,” he said, his husky tone evidence of his desire for her. 

The air in the room was cool, causing her nipples to pucker even more than they already were.  Heat followed as his mouth covered one of the thrusting peaks.

Angie closed her eyes with another soft groan, her fingers curling into the gown. 

“Open your eyes for me, Angel,” he demanded, his breath hot against her aching flesh.

The second his mouth left her, she wanted to beg him for more.  Instead, Angie opened her eyes and looked up into his feverish gaze.  It was clear Trey was no less affected by what was happening between them than she was.

Capturing her face between his hands, he said, “I want you to watch me, Angel.  To know who it is that’s making love to you tonight.”

She knew and that sent another heated surge of excitement racing through her.  “I do know,” she said, her voice barely a whisper. “My best friend.”

“Forever,” he said, tenderly caressing her face.  “But I’m more than your friend, Angel.  I’m a man who finds you incredibly sexy without any of those lessons in seduction you think you need.  A man who appreciates the beauty you have to offer, both inside and out.”

Her sexual confidence skyrocketed with those words.  At that moment, thanks to Trey, there was no ice in her veins, only heat.  Angie let go of her nightgown, smiling up at him as the cool silk slithered down her naked form to pool on the floor at her feet.

“You make me feel sexy,” she admitted with a smile. 

He loosened his hold and stepped back, taking in the sight of her.  His gaze caught and his Adam’s apple bobbed.  Once.  Twice. 

“
Trey?”

“Forget something at the store?” 

The strain in his voice told her Trey had only just realized that she wore nothing else under her nightgown.  She resisted the urge to blush at her boldness. 

Think sex kitten.  A woman in total control.
  After all, this was her fantasy.  She might as well go all out.

“As skimpy as the matching thong was,” she explained.  “I figured nothing at all would work just as well.”

Trey looked up, his blue eyes meeting hers.  “Sweetheart, it works very well.”  His hands curled around her waist, stroking the bare flesh.  “And I intend to make you feel even sexier.”

She shuddered with the heated promise of his words.  “I’m looking forward to it.”  Reaching out to work the button free on his jeans, she dragged the zipper slowly downward.  “Very much so.”

Just as Trey’s skilled touch had made her legs weak, she intended to return the favor.  She may not be as skilled, but her hunger and determination would make up for her inexperience.

Angel slid her fingers beneath the waistband of his underwear, finding Trey hot and hard and wanting.  She brushed her fingertips over the taut head of his cock, making him groan.

“Like that?”

“God, yes,” he muttered through clenched teeth.

She curled her fingers around his erection.  “I guess I’m not the only one who’s up for this.”

He groaned as her hand began to stroke him.  “Seems to be a permanent state of mine since arriving here.”

Her smile widened and she leaned into him, nibbling at his jaw.  “Funny, but I never knew you had a thing for slot machines and Elvis look-a-likes.”

“I don’t,” he ground out.

She pulled her hand free and shoved his jeans down over his hips.  “Flashing lights make you hot?”

“No.”  This time it was Trey who was closing his eyes.

Angel had never felt so in control.

“Are you tired?” she asked as she eased the white cotton briefs down over his erection and then further down his muscular thighs.

“Hell, no.”  Trey stepped out of his discarded clothes and scooped her up in his arms.  “And the only thing in Vegas turning me on is you.”  He carried her over to the king-sized bed and drew back the covers.

The urgency of it all had her head spinning.  Angie clung to Trey as he lowered her onto the sheet, urging him down onto the mattress with her.

“My beautiful Angel,” he murmured between passionate kisses as he settled onto the bed next to her.

She smiled.  “You’re not so bad yourself.”

Trey propped himself up on bent arm, his gaze sweeping her naked form.  “So hot.”

She was hot all right.  Her body temperature had just gone from fevered to boiling. 

Looking wasn’t enough.  Trey sought to explore, leaving a trail of heat wherever his hand went.  Cupping a breast.  Teasing a pouting nipple.  Drifting slowly down her stomach to circle her belly button with a touch so light Angie wondered if she might only be imagining the sensation of it. 

Then his hand moved further down to caress the inside of her bare thighs, each stroke bringing him closer to the core of her need.  When his fingers finally slipped inside her, Angie gasped in pleasure.

His hand stilled and he looked up at her worriedly.  “Angel?”

“I’m fine.  It’s fine.  P...please, Trey, please don’t stop.”

“I’d never do anything to hurt you,” he said, brushing a tender kiss over her lips.

“You weren’t hurting me.” 
Far from it,
Angie thought with a smile.  Nothing had ever felt so right.

“Well, you’re coming pretty damn close to killing me.”  He resumed his pleasuring of her, stroking her slowly and deliberately before dipping into the pool of liquid pleasure his touch had elicited from her.

“Good,” she said, trying to catch her breath which seemed a waste of time at that particular moment.  “Then we’ll both be going together.”

“I’ll see what I can do about that.”  He followed that up with that sexy devilish grin of his that made her knees weak.  Thankfully, she was lying down. 

“Promises.  Promises,” she teased.

“One I fully intend to keep.  But first on the agenda...”  He rose up above her and pressed his lips to her throat, moving slowly downward.

Angie couldn’t have spoken even if she had wanted to.  All her thoughts were centered on the growing intimacy of his kisses the further down he went. 

She expected him to stop.

He didn’t.  His mouth found its way to the ache between her legs, the warmth of his breath teasing the sensitive flesh between them.  “Prepare to be pleasured, Angel.”

Pleasured.  The promise of it had her parted legs trembling.  “You don’t have to.”

Trey looked up at her from where he knelt between her parted thighs.  “I promise you there is no
have to
about it, Angel.  I want to.”

Her body trembled with wanting as Trey made love to her with his mouth.  Angie closed her eyes and clutched at the sheet beneath her.  No wonder women lined up at his door.  He knew how to drive a woman mad with sexual torment.  Her trembling body was proof of that.

Then it happened.

The big ‘O’.  ‘O’ definitely standing for “Oh, my God, what an orgasm!”  

Angie cried out, her body quaking uncontrollably.  Nothing had prepared her for the overwhelming pleasure that swept through her at that moment.  There wasn’t one part of her unaffected by it, mentally or physically.  Trey had just given her something no other man had ever been able to.