Vegas Moon (3 page)

Without missing a beat, he reached above his head and pulled the thin chain sunken into the ceiling. He glanced at her, a dangerously seductive look crossing his face before his tongue glided across his slightly open lips. She was so busy admiring his beautiful face she didn’t have time to argue when he cupped both her wrists in one hand. While she was busy trying to stop her heart from leaping from her chest, he secured the knot. “Is it tight enough?”

“Actually, it’s a little too tight.” Cindi fidgeted against the nylon only to have him yank the rope.
Hold on, caramel candy man.
She pulled forward, he pulled back, and a lovely tug-of-war ensued. “Tristan, damnit, you’re hurting me.”

He snickered only once before he scooped her up in his arms and hooked her bound wrists to the hanging chain. “There, that’s perfect.” Carefully he placed her butt against the slick plastic, giving it a gentle squeeze before releasing it. For the first time since he’d bound her, his eyes settled on her face for longer than a second. “Now let’s have some fun.”

The strange expression on his face made her wish she didn’t agree to the rope. Tonight wasn’t about fun for Tristan. It was obvious now that control was what motivated him this evening, and that fact sent Cindi into an instant rage. Heat suffused her cheeks as she silently gave a severe tongue-lashing to him for his stupidity.

You should know better than play the control game with me, little boy.

With every muscle in Cindi’s body tightened to the point that if someone touched her she might snap like a twig, she pulled on the ropes. “Listen, pretty boy, I don’t think this is such a great idea after all. Release me now.”

He ignored her and instead moved behind her. Once he’d settled in a spot, he slid both hands around her neck, then slowly across her breasts, and down her torso.
Oh, shit.
He wasn’t playing fair, and just as quickly as her desire to kick his ass came on, the feeling dissipated. His hands on her body felt outstanding, and she couldn’t help her reaction when she closed her eyes and savored his touch, letting the warmness that his hands brought caress every inch of her body. Why did he dazzle her like this? No other man in her life could make her instantly wet with female need except for Tristan, yet she refused to let him close. Always the age card reared its ugly head.

Yes, he was twenty-one, but she was still much older than him. Young ones were good for playing with. At least that’s what she’d been leading herself to believe for years.

Someone had dimmed the lights to an ethereal glow, and the vanilla-cinnamon scent of the candles slowly filled their alcove. Without words he reached into the pocket of Cindi’s black leather miniskirt and pulled out the razor. “I think this is a great idea, my submissive.”

No, it’s not. I need to be in control, not you.
The urge to hurt him traveled through her veins quicker than a moth to a flame, causing her head to jerk backward and then forward, hitting him smack in the face. “Back off, Tristan!”

He caught his balance before he landed on his ass, letting a string of profanities fly. “Fuck, woman, what the hell is wrong with you? You’re like a goddamned yo-yo. You want me, then you don’t. I’m starting to think you’re more trouble than you’re worth.”

Cindi watched him regain his balance through narrowed eyes. He knew damn well what was wrong. Rough was all right, but hostility drove Tristan tonight. Not the idea of having fun. Cindi shifted her head to the side just as he knelt beside her. “Let me go. This is going to end badly. We both know it.”

“I won’t untie you until I am good and ready. You need to come clean with me, woman. Either you like me or you don’t. Your head games are going to stop tonight.”

Another couple entered into the room and glanced at Cindi and Tristan before they chose a secluded corner. Cindi followed their movements until they disappeared from sight. “I’m not playing any game with you, candy man.”

Tristan’s expression moved to one of frustration, as if he just might give up this stupid power play, but he didn’t. Instead he eased his body back on his heels and pierced her with his severe brown eyes. “Stop it. We both know you feel a little more than friendship for me. Why can’t you admit it? Am I that repulsive?”

If she were to break down the hardness around her heart and admit her true feelings for this man in front of her, she would admit that what scared her was how much he was coming to mean to her. But the truth of the matter remained. She would not let another man close to her heart after what happened with Jackson years ago.

It took what felt like an eternity to pick up the pieces of her broken heart after he left.
I’ll be damned if I will let that happen again.

She made the mistake of meeting Tristan’s eyes and the burn of heat in their deeply shadowed depths made her want to hold him so badly it hurt. But the stark reality remained, and it trampled her daily. He was too young. Not to mention they were completely wrong together. Psychic and sanguine couldn’t mix. In the end, their polar-opposite personalities would end up ripping their relationship to shreds, so regardless of how she may feel about him, it was time to hurt him to the core. “I don’t think of you as anything but a plaything, candy man. That’s it. There isn’t some deep, dark feeling for you lingering in the shadows, Tristan. You and I can never be.”

All of the animation in Tristan’s face extinguished, and he struggled to speak, but only a groan crossed his lips. “I give up trying to make you admit that you care about me.” He pushed himself up to a standing position and moved in front of her. When he was nice and close, and most likely knew that she was as uncomfortable as all hell, he leaned over and planted a kiss on her cheek. Once he’d shifted the razor from one hand to the other, he whispered, “Let’s play.”

* * * *

Cindi’s final words flooded his gut with daggers. How could she deny that there was something between them? He could see it in her actions and reactions that she cared about him. Her demeanor changed like rapid fire when the prospect of them being more than blood-play and sex buddies surfaced. Well, fuck it. Two could play her game. He gripped the razor between clenched fingers, prepared to make the first cut, then stopped. Why didn’t she want him? Every woman he took to bed since Cindi barged into his life, couldn’t hold a candle to her. At nineteen, he’d enjoyed plenty of easy women and still was enjoying them at twenty-one, yet his abundance of able bodies never substituted for the one woman whose presence sent sparks through his body like laser beams shooting across the Las Vegas strip.
Why don’t you want me? Why won’t you give me a chance?

His gaze glided across her black leather vest then down her long, thigh-high-booted legs. How could she admit she didn’t feel the sparks that clearly ran through her veins? Cindi kept her eyes lowered for a half a second before she raised her head and shot him a glare that could have turned Medusa to stone. About now, he was glad he didn’t unbind the ropes. She just might hurt him.

She exhaled forcefully before a seductive drawl caressed his ears. “Are you going to stand there with that confused look on your face all night? I thought you were preparing for action?”

Instant fire shot through his veins. A muscle jumped in his jaw.
Calm down.
Don’t let her rouse you.
Yeah, easier said than done.
“I’m not confused, pretty lady, just fighting the urge to puncture your jugular.” The words came out quicker than he anticipated, and just as fast he regretted their very meaning. A slow churning erupted in the pit of his stomach and increased in magnitude as he watched her sexy face turn distraught, and all of the blood drained from her face. If she hated him so much, why did her facial expressions contradict her words?

For the first time since their strange relationship started, Cindi didn’t reply with a stinging comeback. She lowered her pools of blue to the floor and kept a transfixed gaze on the plastic-covered chair beneath her. “You hate me that much, candy man?” Her voice whispered across the space between them, shooting arrows of pain into the heart that beat in his chest, the one she continued to tap dance on.

Tristan stepped in front of her, eased down on one knee. “You know I don’t hate you. I hate that you won’t admit the feelings that linger between us. That my age is such a hang up for you.”

A gentle breeze drifted between them, carrying the subtle scent of her floral perfume. Inhaling the essence of the woman who he yearned to make his, Tristan let the words that he’d hidden for so long surface in his throat. “I want you in my life, Cindi, but you won’t hear of it.” He caressed her shoulder, hoping that he was sending power surging through the tips of his fingers straight to her heart. She felt something, because she flinched. Did she feel the attraction as much as he did?
I wish.

But as usual the next words out of her mouth crushed that idea. “Are you going to start the game any time soon, Romeo, or what?”

Fuck her. He was more than ready to begin. He cupped her soft neck with his right hand and moved the razor to the exposed flesh peeping out from her Wonderbra and then drew first blood.

“Careful, candy man.” Cindi flinched when the blade pierced her skin. The thick crimson liquid oozed from the small slice in her chest, and made a perfect line across her black lace bra. As soon as Tristan made the first cut, he stood up and moved to the side of her. The soft light against his auburn curls made him resemble a Botticelli angel. Yeah, Cindi knew better.

Truth of the moment, she couldn’t help but admire the sight of him. He was purely sex on a stick. A gorgeous specimen of humanity.

“Stand up.” His voice came from behind. As she stood, he pulled the chair away from her, leaving her standing in the middle of the alcove with her hands bound and hanging on a hook above her head. A slight uncomfortable silence pierced the dimness in the room. Her body was stretched a little tighter than was usual this early, but any time they were taking part in blood play, the endorphins released during the slicing and lead-up to the occasional beating made that slight uncomfortable pain seem normal.

Right now, with Tristan’s severely agitated mood, she wasn’t so sure how this night might end.

“I have a surprise for you tonight, sweetness.”

“What kind of surprise?” Cindi had to admit her attention was piqued. Most of his surprises during their blood-playing festivities were exciting and very, very naughty. Just like she liked it.

“A surprise that you will never forget. I’ll be right back.” He patted her on the ass and then slipped out of view. She glanced around the small alcove, studying the paraphernalia lying around a little more closely. It was the normal stuff, whips, chains, masks, tit twisters, vaginal clamps, lancets, and syringes.

What could he possibly be up to?
My little plaything, what are you springing on me tonight?
She didn’t have to wait long for an answer because he came into view with a woman on his arm. The redhead was as tall as Tristan and curvaceous in ways Cindi wasn’t. Her green eyes slid over Cindi not once but twice.

What the fuck?
Now, she’d admit she’d taken part in many ménage experiences through college, and a few before Tristan came into her life, but he’d never insinuated in any way that he might want to bring another partner into
their
relationship.

There was a rancid smell of head games in the air so thick that Cindi could almost reach out and touch it.

“Cindi, meet Candy Kane, our guest for the evening.” He pinched the exposed part of Candy’s breast. Her black leather bustier was minus the center material, which made it easy for him to cop a feel.

“That’s Candy Kane with a K.” The woman giggled. Tristan was so busy massaging her right nipple that he didn’t notice the look that was probably on Cindi’s face at the moment. She could feel the shock of what he was doing even though he couldn’t see her face.

Candy Kane with a K.

“Candy is going to join us in our games tonight. More to the point, since you’ve rudely drained me of most of my pranic energy, I need fed. Candy here is one of my donors.”

Cindi leveled him with a scathing look. “I’ve got a better idea. Why don’t you slip around the corner and feed from Ms. Kane with a K, and then we can resume. I totally understand your need to feed.”

“I don’t think so. I’d rather have Candy join in on our fun tonight. Oh, wait, are you scared, Cindi? Never been with a woman before?” He put a finger to his lip. “Oh, wait, if I remember correctly, and I do, baby, you’ve been with several woman. This should be like riding a bike.”

“Are we talking sex here, Tristan?”

“Mmm…not a bad idea. What do you think, doll?” He dipped down and sucked Candy’s exposed nipple into his mouth and then released it. A sly grin slid across his face as he arched a brow at Cindi. “Well, do you want to play full-on tonight, sweetness? My little donor here has been blood tested, and I have a condom, so we’re all good.”

Yeah, we’re all good
. So good that Cindi wanted to snap his fucking neck. But hey, she could play with the big boys if that’s what caramel candy proposed. She’d give Candy the best fuck of her life, and make sure while she was doing her, Tristan didn’t miss a single moment of the one-on-one girl sex. “Sure, I can play with your Candy Kane for the night.”

Tristan didn’t flinch.
Okay, this may be a little harder than first thought.

“Good. But before we get started, I’m going to replenish my energy first.” He ran a finger over his bottom lip. “You hang tight, baby.”

Always the smart-ass.
And that’s why you love him so much.
That thought snuck through her mental barriers and was followed up by a slight pang to her stomach. She couldn’t let herself fall for Tristan, at least that’s what she kept telling herself every time she looked at the man who rocked her world in so many ways.