“Please, call me Greyson. It will say on your room key.”
Klaus fished around in his pocket and pulled out his gold room key. He squinted at it and read the number aloud. “Twenty seventy-seven.”
“Consider your entire trip paid for,” I said. “I will have my staff apply a credit to your account to cover the cost of the room. You will be reimbursed for what you have spent. Anything you purchase or do in this casino will be free. Just have them scan your card.”
“Mr. Kline, no. That is far too much—”
“It’s Greyson,” I said. “And I insist. It’s my way of thanking you for the kindness you’ve shown me. To be remembered the way you have remembered me, this is the best part of my job.”
Klaus smiled. “I do so wish I had a granddaughter for you, Greyson.”
I threw my head back and laughed. Klaus laughed with me. It felt good to forget my troubles for a while and sit with an old friend. I ordered us another round, and we sat for another two hours while he told me stories about his wife and their marriage.
All the while, I thought about Skylar.
Chapter 22
Skylar
I was thankful that I hadn’t bothered to put on any mascara that morning because my conversation with my sister had left me feeling hollow and guilty. The tears had started to flow as soon as I got back to my hotel room, and I had spent the last two hours lying facedown on my bed, trying to get myself under control.
It was proving to be a difficult task.
Each time I managed to stop crying for more than fifteen minutes, my mind would wander back to the look on Renee’s face when she had tossed her napkin down and stood up. She had never been so upset with me. I had never done anything to make her so upset.
But this was my fault, and I knew it. My decision to choose Greyson over my time with my sister had hurt her feelings, and I understood that. If the shoe had been on the other foot, I knew I would have felt exactly the same way. She deserved better from me.
She had paid for a trip to Vegas only to spend it with a party girl who came stumbling back into their hotel room in the early morning hours to puke her guts out.
I pressed the heels of my palms into my aching eyeballs and blew out a distraught breath. My sister was too good of a person. This trip should have been better for her, and I made it all about me. I was being selfish.
There was a knock on my door.
I wiped my eyes and sniffled, knowing that I probably looked like a wreck. Then I made my way to the door with my fingers crossed, hoping it was Renee. Maybe she wanted to hash things out now. Maybe she had found a way to forgive me.
Maybe she wanted to really let me have it this time, and she was standing on the other side of the door with a well rehearsed speech that she intended to yell at me until she was red in the face.
I paused with my hand reaching for the door and decided to be safe. I looked through the peephole.
Greyson was there.
His head was on a swivel as he looked both ways down the hallway. I watched him for a moment. He seemed nervous. I opened the door, and he looked up at me. All the tension that had been in him when the door was closed instantly disappeared when he saw me. He gave me a radiant smile, but it crumbled when he realized I had been crying.
“What’s the matter?” he asked, his eyebrows drawing together and his mouth forming a thin line.
“Nothing,” I said, shaking my head. “Renee and I just had a bit of an argument. That’s all. She’s upset with me. It will pass. I just feel bad.”
“Was it about me?” Greyson asked.
There was no point in telling him the truth. It would only make him feel guilty. So I shook my head and forced myself to smile. “No. Just stupid sister stuff.”
His slumped shoulders squared themselves again, and he seemed a bit relieved by my answer. “May I come in?”
“Of course,” I said, standing aside to let him step past me. I closed the door behind him and joined him in my room.
He glanced at the tissues all over my nightstand. I had forgotten they were there.
Horrified and blushing from embarrassment, I grabbed the wastebasket and threw all the crumpled-up tissues into it. “Sorry,” I said. “That’s so gross. I didn’t think it would be you at the door.”
“It’s okay,” Greyson said, surprising me by chuckling. “Everyone needs a good crying session every now and then, right?”
I bit my lip and nodded. “Sure.”
He came to stand in front of me and took the wastebasket out of my hand. He put it down and cupped my face in his big, warm hands.
“I can’t stop thinking about you, Skylar. I don’t want things to end tomorrow. I’m not ready to say goodbye to you. I don’t know if I’ll ever be ready to say goodbye to you.”
Before I had a chance to speak, his lips sealed over mine. The way his hands slipped into my hair and cupped the nape of my neck made my whole body feel like butter.
Stopping him to tell him I had to go home wasn’t going to be possible.
Not with the way his tongue was eagerly exploring my mouth, or the way his cock was hardening against my belly beneath his pants. I could feel the urgency in him, and the same desperate need rose up in me.
I pulled my shirt over my head. I unbuttoned my denim shorts and wiggled them down my hips. I stepped out of them as Greyson went in for another kiss that set my skin on fire. As he kissed me, I worked to undo his belt and his fly.
His black slacks slid down his thighs, and I giggled at the dress socks that were halfway up his shins. He scowled playfully at me as he kicked his shoes off and shrugged out of his jacket to begin undoing the buttons of his black shirt.
While he undressed, I put on a show for him.
I wasn’t the type of girl who did sexy things, partly because I was shy and awkward, and partly because I had been a virgin, but I was willing to try for Greyson.
I could feel his eyes on me as I turned away from him and arched my back. I reached up to pull my hair tie free. My ponytail came undone, and my hair fell down my back. I knew how much he liked my hair, so I made a show of drawing it over my shoulder to wiggle my ass for him.
I was wearing a matching set of lacy blue panties and a bra. I ran my fingers under the waistband of the thong and snapped them playfully. Then, ever so slowly, I pulled them down, bending forward until I was touching my toes to show him all of me. I took my time taking off my bra too, trying to be as sexy as possible.
He was wearing nothing but a condom now, and he came for me. He took me by the hips and pulled me to him. His cock slid into my wet pussy, and he grabbed a fistful of my hair. He pulled me up so that my shoulder blades were pressed against his chest, and he turned my face away from him so he could kiss and nibble my shoulder and neck while he thrust inside of me.
The hand that wasn’t in my hair wandered across my belly and down, where he began to rub my clit in slow circles. I spread my legs for him and moaned. This was what I had needed.
I was caught off guard when he turned me around and pushed me forward onto the bed. I fell face first with his cock still in me to the hilt. He spread my ass and pulled out slowly. I clutched at the sheets and waited for him to plunge himself back inside me.
He was going to make me wait a while.
When he was free of my swollen pussy, he dropped to his knees behind me and began licking my clit. His tongue caressed me in slow swirls and quick flicks. Each sensation made me flinch. I muffled my moans in the hotel bedding. I didn’t want Renee or Nikki to hear me having my brains fucked out. That wouldn’t help my situation at all.
I sighed with contentment when Greyson slipped a finger inside me. He worked like an expert, curling it downwards to rest against my G-spot. Then he performed quick, come-hither motions inside my pussy, grinding against my sweet spot until I came all over his hand.
He licked me again, tasting me, and moaned into my pussy.
The sound drove me wild.
“Please,
fuck me,” I begged. “I want your cock so bad.”
“How bad?” Greyson asked before dipping his tongue between my folds.
I gasped and tightened my fists in the sheets. My brain was incapable of answering his question. I just wanted him to fuck me. So I told him with my body instead of my mouth. As he pulled away from my pussy, I arched my back, lifting my ass in the air for him. I wiggled my hips back and forth as I lowered my own hand between my legs and began rubbing my pulsing clit.
My response had the desired effect. Greyson stepped in close behind me, close enough that his muscular thighs were pressed against the back of my legs. When he entered me, I looked over my shoulder at him and bit my lip. He watched me the whole time until I began rotating my hips on his cock.
His eyes closed, and his head went back. “Fuck, woman,” he breathed. His voice was more of a groan from the back of his throat. I loved how he sounded. “You’re so fucking tight.”
I came again. His words and the swell of his cock inside me were too much. I broke open and gave in to the spasms that washed over me. My legs quivered, and my toes curled, and it took everything I had not to scream Greyson’s name.
He felt the surge of wetness in my pussy. I heard him groan as he thrust his hips forward. His balls slapped against me, and I reached between my legs to fondle them. He froze, paralyzed by the pleasure, and I bounced on his dick.
All the while, I watched him over my shoulder. His muscles were straining. He was going to come at any second.
“Fuck me as hard as you can,” I said.
And he did.
He took my hips in his hands and buried his shaft in me with each powerful thrust. I couldn’t keep watching him. I had to face the mattress and bite down on the blanket. It stifled my scream as I came for a final time while Greyson’s cock swelled and pulsed inside me.
When he pulled out of me, I collapsed on the bed and rolled onto my back. I giggled as he shook his head at me in awe.
“No one should be allowed to be that sexy,” he said as he made his way to the bathroom. “Seriously. It’s criminal.”
“You’re not so bad yourself,” I called as he closed the bathroom door. I caught him smiling in the reflection of the mirror right before he disappeared behind the door.
I waited for him to return. I wasn’t sad anymore. I was only happy when I was with him. I felt complete and whole. It felt like I was exactly where I was supposed to be.
Greyson returned a few minutes later and laid down beside me. He rested a hand on my bare thigh and looked over at me as I fluffed my pillow.
“I wish you didn’t have to leave,” he said softly.
That happiness inside me shattered. “I know.”
“You don’t have to, you know? You can have a life here. I can support you until you find a job. Nurses are needed all over the country.”
I bit my lip and settled on my pillow beside him. “I have a life back in Texas, Greyson. My sister. My career. My patients. I can’t just abandon everything and move out here. I have to go home.”
Greyson sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “I understand.”
“I wish you didn’t.”
“What? Why?”
“I wish you wouldn’t be so… so… kind about this whole thing. I wish you’d get mad at me. It would make it easier to leave you if you were mean to me.”
Greyson clasped his hands behind his head and laughed at me. “I’m not going to be mean to you so that goodbye is easier. I’m just going to do my best to enjoy the time we have left so I can look back at this time fondly. But know this. I firmly believe you have ruined every other woman for me.”
I blushed and nuzzled my cheek into my pillow. “Don’t say that. You’ll meet someone who is perfect for you one day.” I hated saying it. The thought of him with someone else twisted my insides into a furious little knot of angst.
His eyes were sad as he continued looking up. He didn’t say anything, and neither did I. There was nothing to say. I cuddled up against him and rested my cheek on his chest where I listened to his steady breathing and the sound of his heartbeat.
Chapter 23
Greyson
I barely slept throughout the night. I was too aware of Skylar beside me and too intent on trying to remember everything about the moment to sleep. I focused on her breathing. On the little sighs she made as she dreamt. I ran my hands over her bare thighs to try to imprint the feeling of her silky smooth skin against my palm in my mind.
I counted her eyelashes.
I admired her cupid’s bow lips and resisted the urge to trace them with my finger several times.
I even took note of the freckles on her shoulders and across her nose.
I never wanted to forget a thing about her, even if she was able to return to Texas and remember me simply as the man who took her virginity. I could live with that. I would have to.
I had spent the entire night convincing myself that she was right. Skylar and I came from two very separate worlds and lived very different lives. She liked routine and consistency. She loved working in the hospital and caring for people’s needs.
I preferred adventure and excitement. I liked catering to people’s more materialistic needs. I liked showing everyone a good time. I owned a casino in the biggest party city in the entire country. Our lives were polar opposites. The pacing would never be right.
Skylar woke close to seven in the morning. She rubbed sleep out of her eyes and looked up at me. She smiled, still in a sleepy daze, and kissed me softly.
“Morning,” she mumbled. “I didn’t want to fall asleep on you. I wanted to stay up all night together.”
“This was a perfectly pleasant way to spend the night,” I said, rubbing her shoulder absently with my thumb. I meant it. Just being close to her had been enough.
She stretched and then draped her leg over mine. “Are you hungry?”
“Always.”
“Want to get breakfast together? Our last date?”
I nodded. “Let’s do it.”
Skylar rolled out of bed and took my hand in hers. She led me to the bathroom where she ran the water for a shower. The room filled with steam, and she stepped into the shower. I followed her in, and she stepped beneath the stream from the showerhead. She ran her fingers through her long, black hair. When it was wet, it was even longer.
We bathed each other without speaking. I lathered her body in minty smelling soap. I liked the way her breasts felt covered in soap as I caressed them and cupped them in my hands. She scrubbed and massaged my back, and I did the same for her, and once we were clean, we kissed under the water until it began to run cold.
She turned off the tap and turned back to me. Her eyes, for the first time, were heavy with sadness that matched the grief in my heart. We only had a few hours left to spend with one another, and it was not enough time.
I took her in the shower, and this time, she didn’t try to silence her moans. She clung to me as I fucked her, and we descended into our last moment of bliss together.
***
The restaurant we ate at was a small diner. Their coffee was blacker than ink, but Skylar claimed to like it as she sipped it without milk or sugar. We had ordered full meals of eggs, bacon, hash browns, and toast, and had set to it ravenously. We had worked up an appetite over the last ten hours.
I watched Skylar eat. She drowned her toast in strawberry jam and made sure to take a bite of egg after every bite of toast. She had it down to a science. Routine.
She caught me staring and arched her eyebrow at me. Her mouth was full of egg and toast.
“Nothing,” I said, answering her unspoken question. “You’re just cute when you eat. And you follow a pattern. Did you know that?”
She nodded and swallowed. “I’ve been doing it since I was a kid. I don’t know why.”
“You like what you like,” I said with a shrug. “Why change a good thing?”
Conversation felt forced. Neither of us knew what to talk about, and neit
her of us wanted to bring up the fact that she was leaving for the airport that afternoon.
Not only would I have to say goodbye to Skylar, but I would also have to deal with Luccio Bravo after she left. His blank check would be arriving at my office within the next few hours, and then I would have some decisions to make.
“Is everything okay?” Skylar asked, dabbing her mouth with her napkin and then taking a bite of her bacon.
“Sorry. Yes.” No, it wasn’t. Nothing was okay.
“I’m really going to miss you,” she said.
I wasn’t ready to start this conversation yet, but here it was. I sighed and nodded. “I’m going to miss you, too. I’m terrible at goodbyes. Maybe we could exchange numbers or emails or something so we could stay in touch. I’d love to get little letters from you about how you’re doing.”
Skylar pursed her lips. I knew she was going to turn me down before she even opened her mouth. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea, Greyson. I think that will only make it harder on both of us. I don’t think we should exchange numbers. When I go home, this is going to be over, and we both need to figure out how to move forward. We can’t fall back on one another.”
It made sense. Of course, it made sense. Skylar was a smart woman. But I hated her answer. Regardless, I swallowed it. “You’re right.”
She frowned at her plate of food and pushed some hash browns around with her fork. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry,” I said. “This is just one of those things, you know? The timing was wrong. In another life, if we were doing different things, this might have worked.” It could work now, I wanted to say. If only you were willing to take a risk on me.
“Right,” she said. “Timing.”
I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. “I don’t blame you. If you ever change your mind, you’ll know where to find me.”
She nodded, but tears were welling in her eyes. I gave her hand a squeeze, and we stayed like that until the bill arrived. I paid, and we made our way back out to the street. I walked her back to the hotel.
Deepest Desire_A Billionaire Bad Boy Novel Page 14
