by Sierra Dean
The clock was ticking, though, and Julian had expectations that went along with his loans. Things he expected people to do to earn their keep, in lieu of charging interest. It was sort of a flesh tax he liked to apply whenever he loaned money, and Kelly had claimed it was why she hadn’t gone for the loan herself.
Ethan had heard a thing or two about Julian’s bargains, but they hadn’t seemed so bad to him at the time. Julian threw sex parties at Antoine Parks’s L.A. mansion or a rental suite in a five-star hotel somewhere in Vegas, depending on the clientele. People looking for a nasty thrill or some down-and-dirty sex with a famous adult-film star would pay top dollar to get into one of these parties, and Julian was obviously pocketing a huge chunk of the revenue.
Twenty-five days into the loan and Ethan had been called in for two of these parties already. The first had been okay, a little weird but strange was par for the course in Ethan’s life. He’d done a few things he might not have otherwise, but if it was a one-time thing, he could handle it. Then the second call came in, and Ethan went, though this time he’d had his reservations.
After the second party he knew he never wanted to do it again, so when the third call came in, he left L.A., using the video awards as an excuse and hoping it would fly.
He should have known better.
Julian thought he was the master, and when Ethan didn’t come to his call, things were bound to get messy. Ethan had hoped he could get away long enough to recoup the losses, but it looked like Lady Luck wasn’t on his side tonight.
“I’ll get it,” Ethan said again, hoping the third time might be the charm.
“I’m sure you will. But let’s say you have until the end of the week, shall we? I feel like I might want to do some shopping while I’m in town, and that money would help me buy a lot of shiny things.”
“Three days?” It wasn’t necessarily impossible, but improbable wasn’t a stretch. How the hell was he supposed to come up with ten grand in seventy-two hours?
“And don’t think you’re going to win your way into a jackpot, either. I have friends. Friends who owe me favors you couldn’t imagine. Every pit boss in this city has you on their most-wanted list, so consider your free pass to the casinos officially terminated.”
“What the hell? How do you think I’m going to get that kind of money, then?” He knew better than to talk back, but in the moment all Ethan felt was a furious rage, making it impossible to keep his mouth shut.
Julian rose to his feet and stubbed out his cigarillo on the arm of the sofa, burning a hole clean through the leather.
“Gosh, I don’t know. Maybe you can sell your body.”
Chapter Eight
It went without saying that the moment Ethan navigated his rental car away from the Strip, Sam started hearing the lyrics to Sheryl Crow’s “Leaving Las Vegas” in her head.
When he’d come to her room earlier that afternoon, her immediate fear was that he regretted kissing her. He had seemed distracted and unhappy, but when she’d pressed him for details, he’d gone quiet, not giving her any indication of what was upsetting him. Since the only thing that had happened before they’d returned to the hotel the previous evening was their kiss, she assumed that had to have a hand in his foul mood.
She couldn’t figure out why though. When he’d walked her to her door, he’d been cheerful and almost obnoxiously charming. And the way he’d kissed her before parting ways for the night? Well…she’d nearly taken back her no sex rule right then and there.
Was that what was bugging him? That she hadn’t invited him in for a roll in the sheets after his evening tour of the Vegas Strip? If so, he wasn’t the kind of man she thought she’d been getting glimpses of. The Ethan she was coming to know wasn’t at all the type of person she’d imagined a male porn star to be. He was clever, and kind and romantic in unexpected ways. He made her want to spend more time with him.
Sam sincerely hoped that wasn’t just a big show to get in her pants. She knew some guys would go to impressive lengths to bed a girl, but Ethan got to have sex literally whenever he wanted. It was his job. She liked to think he wasn’t playing games with her, because the previous night had honestly been one of the most romantic evenings Sam could recall ever spending with a guy.
It was also the first time she’d seen a guy’s cock before the first date. Come to think of it, it was the first time she’d been on a date with a guy whom she’d seen naked but hadn’t actually slept with.
Weird.
She shifted uncomfortably in the passenger seat, waiting for him to break the silence. They’d been driving for about fifteen minutes, and he still hadn’t told her where they were going.
The farther out of the city they got, the more her worries from the previous night about being alone with a stranger began to nag at her. After all, in the CSI episodes she’d watched, things never went well for the wide-eyed out-of-towner.
She bit her thumbnail and tried not to imagine being murdered in the desert.
Ethan turned on the radio and tuned into a random pop-rock station. Stevie Nicks was singing “Edge of Seventeen”, and for some reason the familiarity of the opening guitar riff and Nicks’s raspy gypsy voice made the stiffness melt off her, and she relaxed into her seat.
Finally, when even the upbeat music couldn’t soothe her anymore, Sam asked, “Where are we going?” She’d already asked once or twice, but every time Ethan had dodged the question without really giving her an answer.
“We’re not far.”
“I wouldn’t look good as a sun-bleached, vulture-picked corpse. I mean, I don’t think I’d look good as any corpse, so keep that in mind, but like…especially not good in the desert.”
When they were on a straight stretch of road, Ethan shifted his eyes and looked at her. “What was that?”
“I mean, if you’re driving me out somewhere to kill me.” She gave a little shrug and kept a light tone to her voice, hoping he might laugh.
It must have worked, because he cracked a smile and chuckled softly. “I’m sorry. I thought I’d picked up a sane girl, but from what you just said it sounds to me like you’re pretty fluent in crazy.”
“You would think, considering how many women you work with, that you’d know by now—the only difference between a sane woman and a crazy one is that the sane one hasn’t let you see her craziness yet.”
At that he laughed loudly, a rich sound that made Sam glow with a curious warmth. “I didn’t know there were such fine distinctions between the crazy and the sane. Thank you for enlightening me.”
“Glad to help.”
“Just to be clear, though, I have no intention of leaving your bloated corpse in the desert.” He grimaced slightly at the words bloated corpse.
“No? Keeping it in the trunk then?”
“On a rental? Are you out of your mind? I’d never get my deposit back.”
“Well, I mean that all depends on how violently you plan to do away with me.”
“Oh, I’m going to throw you to the lions,” he told her, nodding decisively. “It’s going to be grisly.”
He turned the car onto a highway that looked totally abandoned, the high midday sun baking the bare earth. It was hard to believe it was February. The weather and landscape in Nevada made it seem like they were on the hot surface of a strange and distant planet. Sam silently thanked herself for having the foresight to put on sunscreen. With all the rain she dealt with in Oregon, she sometimes got lazy with her skincare habits, but she had been smart enough to think of the desert sun when she packed. Looked like she’d been smart to.
They followed the road another ten minutes or so, Ethan lapsing into another contemplative silence before he angled off onto a side road. With the exception of a lot containing a small house, a child’s play structure and a dingy brick wall beyond, there didn’t seem to be anything to look at.
As they drove, the brick wall went on for a long distance with them, until Ethan turned and pulled into a parking lot within the confine
s of the wall. Just looking at it reminded Sam of a prison lot. Her gut told her it was unlikely he’d be taking her on a romantic tour of a penitentiary, so it had to be something different.
“What are you up to?” she asked.
He smiled, the same coy, flirty smile he’d given her the first time they met, and got out of the car, coming around to her side to let her out. They cleared the lot without him offering her any insight, but beyond the main building, Sam swore she could see cages. Lots of them.
Then an animal roared.
Her eyes went wide, and she glanced over at him, but he hadn’t lost that grin, looking pretty damned pleased with himself as he put a hand on the small of her back and steered her in the direction of the main building.
Inside, a wall of A/C greeted them like an arctic air slap, and Sam was suddenly freezing in spite of the eighty-degree heat she’d just come out of. Ethan stuck to her side, and having him close made the chill a little easier to bear.
A young woman, wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a white polo T-shirt with the name Lion Habitat Ranch emblazoned over a photo of a small lion cub, got up to greet them.
Sam gave Ethan an assessing look. She’d assumed he’d been kidding when he said he was going to throw her to the lions, and though she obviously knew he wasn’t planning to murder her, she was more and more curious about what he was up to.
“Hi, guys, welcome to the Ranch. How can I help you?” Her voice was bubbly and bright, making her the perfect person for a greeter position.
“I have a reservation for one of the interactions. Should be under Ethan Silver.”
If the girl recognized his name, she made no sign of showing it. Though Sam was guessing Ethan’s celebrity status was limited to a very specific sphere of the population.
The greeter consulted her schedule book and smiled up at Ethan. “You’re right on time. They’re in a great mood today, really playful. One of our trainers will be right in to get you. Will it be the two of you?”
Ethan shook his head and nudged Sam forward. “Just the lady. I’ll watch.”
“Oh that’s a shame. You know you’re allowed to divide the time, right?”
“I do, but I want her to have it all.” His attention was all for Sam, and under the scrutiny of his eyes and that damned smile she got all weak in the knees. “Besides. I like to watch.”
He winked, and her stomach did a little flip. Was he just being generally perverse, or was that a teasing nod to her because he’d busted her watching his movie?
The girl gave them a peculiar look but paged someone, and shortly after a similarly dressed woman with her hair in a high ponytail came in to collect them. She introduced herself as Juniper and gave Sam a quick rundown of safety protocols and time restraints. Sam nodded along like she knew what to expect, but she still had no idea.
They were soon back outside, and now she found herself amongst a dozen cages of varying size. With only a few exceptions, they were all full of lions. She’d expected it from the name on the polo shirt and the roar she’d heard earlier, but it was still amazing to see so many of the animals together in one place.
A male lion lounged lazily on the ground, his wide mouth parting in a huge yawn that showed off an impressive set of canine teeth. She definitely wouldn’t have wanted to be on the wrong end of those. He shook his mane and made a snuffing sound. Sam started to wonder about all the safety details Juniper had laid out for her, and suddenly it all sank in. She was going to go into one of the cages.
She swallowed hard and hoped like hell lions couldn’t smell fear.
Juniper was giving her and Ethan a brief history of the lions, talking about how they’d previously done live shows at the MGM, but to keep the lions in better health it was decided they wouldn’t continue to move them regularly. The lions, they were told, were directly descended from the lion in the MGM motion picture opening sequence. Sam nodded, but she barely heard any of it.
“Okay, here we are.”
They’d stopped in front of a glassed-in area in the shade, and Sam scanned the space for the lionesses and big papa lions she’d been seeing, but it took her eyes a moment to focus on what was in the stall.
“Oh my God,” she gasped.
Ethan put a hand between her shoulders, his fingers massaging the base of her neck. “See. Throwing you to the lions.”
Inside the space was a swath of blankets on the floor, and rolling around on them were a half-dozen lion cubs. They weren’t newborns, but still small enough to retain their spotted coats. Juniper led Sam into the cage, leaving Ethan outside, and any words the woman was saying were blotted out by the white noise of total excitement that overcame Sam.
She nodded whenever Juniper told her anything, but none of it actually processed. Sam was guided to the blankets where she sat with her back against one of the glass walls, and Juniper proceeded to collect the wandering lion cubs and deposit them on Sam’s lap one at a time. When all six were nestled around her, Juniper stepped back and said, “Enjoy!”
The little furballs squirmed on top of her, pawing at one another and at Sam, letting out mewling growls that were only slightly more menacing than those of their kitten cousins. One of the cubs lolled its front legs out and promptly fell asleep on her lap, while another began to happily gnaw at her fingers.
Sam didn’t even realize she was crying until the first tear slid down her cheek. But she was also laughing. She turned her face towards the glass wall. Ethan was braced against it with one arm and smiling at her, snapping a photo with his cell. When he saw her looking, he glanced up and met her gaze, his grin faltering when he saw the tears.
But her smile had to be unmistakable. Sam couldn’t remember another time in her life she’d felt such a pure sense of euphoria. The tears weren’t out of sadness or fear.
She was so happy, the emotion was too much to keep inside, and the only way to get it out was to cry.
Petting the sleeping lion in her lap, she laughed to herself and tried to think of the reasons she’d had for telling Ethan she didn’t want to go to bed with him.
Funny thing was she couldn’t remember a single one.
Chapter Nine
It was a shame Ethan couldn’t make money by impressing Sam. In the five minutes she got to spend with the lion cubs, he would have become a millionaire.
When she looked at him with tears in her eyes, he almost melted. He’d never had a woman favor him with an expression of such sheer joy, not unless it was the result of physical pleasure. And while he’d have liked to give that to Sam too, the emotional response he got from her was more moving.
He’d made someone happy. Profoundly, genuinely happy, and he was willing to bet not a lot of people could honestly say they’d been able to do that for another person.
At least he couldn’t think of a lot of examples from his past.
It was a funny thing, making another person happy. He had planned the cub visitation with help from the Hard Rock’s concierge, and just thought it would be a fun, unique Vegas experience for Sam. A relatively inexpensive afternoon date she would find memorable. He’d have been lying if he hadn’t hoped a little it would soften her stance on sleeping with him, but it hadn’t been the ultimate goal. A large part of it was him distracting himself from his bigger problems, and spending time with Sam had the happy side effect of taking his mind off things.
Then she’d given him that look.
The happy, blissfully innocent look that made him tingle in places he had long thought were dormant. He was feeling feelings because of her, stuff he never thought he’d feel again, and all thanks to one teary smile.
After their drive back from the desert, they left the car with the valet. Walking into the lobby with Sam, Ethan started in the direction of Culinary Dropout, one of the hotel’s best-reviewed restaurants. They were halfway past the gaming pit when Sam grabbed his arm and pulled him in the direction of the slot machines.
“Don’t you want dinner?” Ethan asked, pointing at the
restaurant quickly vanishing in the distance. “I’d planned to make a proper date of this.”
“Next time.” There was a wicked glint in her green eyes, a naughty gleam he was more accustomed to seeing from himself in playback monitors as he gave a girl the look.
No mistake about it, Sam was giving him a fuck me look. With the way she was tugging his shirtsleeve and moving them in the direction of the guestroom elevators, she was in a hurry to get things underway.
Ethan wasn’t going to argue. Sure, she’d said no sex, but that was her rule to break, not his. Still, he was going to make her say the words before he let her jump his bones.
“Room service then?”
“Yeah,” she replied with a shy grin. “Room service.”
“Your room or mine?” He was hesitant to take her up to the suite after Julian’s sudden appearance the night before. But he didn’t think the older man was going to show up a second evening in a row. His time was too valuable, and with his threat already delivered, Ethan wouldn’t be seeing him again until his week was up.
The question gave Sam pause though. She stopped dragging him and took a moment to seriously consider the options.
Then that devilish gleam returned and she smiled, her expressions wavering between conflicted good girl and a woman who wanted to pounce. Ethan had seen both looks on other women, but never on one woman at the same time. She wanted to be bad, but she was having trouble letting herself do it. He’d need to tread lightly with Sam. One wrong move would make her second-guess what she was doing, and the little angel on her shoulder would tell her to walk away.
Little angels were never any fun. Ethan had always preferred to follow the advice of his inner devil, even when he knew it would end up nowhere good. Life was too short to play it safe all the time.
He just needed Sam to take a chance and let herself be bad for once. Ethan was something of an expert in the care and handling of bad girls.
“Your room,” she replied at last.
