by Cat Miller
Luc’s last strike landed squarely on her clit. Everything inside of her imploded. Her inner muscles contracted, and she came screaming. Luc stuffed two thick fingers in her pussy, and she rode out the intense and unexpected orgasm.
Everly was barely coherent. She found herself face down on the bed with her legs hanging over the end. The sounds of clothing being hastily shucked came from behind her. Warm hands ran down her back to her hips before gently caressing her stinging ass. She was sure the whole thing must be glowing like a flame.
“You make me so fucking hot. I’m going to have you now. Tell me you want me, Everly.”
She did want him. Desperately. He needed to hurry. She nodded her head against the blankets.
“I can’t hear you,” he coaxed and ran a finger through her soaked folds.
“Yes! Please! I need you, Luc.” Fuck, she would beg if she had to.
“That’s what I wanted to hear.”
Luc lifted her hips. His cock was so rigid he didn’t need a hand to guide it into place. She was completely exposed with her ass in the air. He moved forward and entered in one demanding push. He was on a mission. Luc set up a vigorous pace, fucking her deep and long. The friction of his skin against her burning ass only heightened Everly’s pleasure.
Luc arched over her back. The angle of his penetration changed, and Everly lost her ability to breathe. One of his hands slid under her and cupped her pussy.
“I’m going to make you come now, Everly. Ask me to make you come.”
She didn’t answer. She pushed back against him and reached for the precipice of her orgasm. She wouldn’t ask him for it. Luc clutched her hips and held her still. His steady thrusting slowed to a swivel of his lean hips.
“Ask me to make you come, Everly.” His hips circled. Teasing. Tormenting.
She bit her lip and tried not to give in but it was a wasted effort. He had her so close to the razor’s edge that she ached with need to release the tension coiled in her belly.
“Luc, make me come. I need to come.”
“Good girl.” He thrust deep and pulled out slowly.
She panted. Her head tossed on the bed. She needed to come so desperately.
“Good girls get rewards, Everly. Bad girls get punished. The next time you’re bad, there won’t be an orgasm waiting for you at the end. Don’t forget that.”
He fucked her then. His hand still cupped her mound while he pounded against her tender ass. He was so deep. So fucking right inside her. The orgasm built and built to near painful heights. Just when Everly thought she would go over the edge, Luc slapped her clit lightly. She screamed. The climax was so intense, so much more than anything she’d ever experienced before in her life. She was babbling nonsense and possibly giving thanks to her maker when Luc finally strained against her and shouted his own release.
Heaving and sweating, she crawled up onto the bed and collapsed on back. She watched Luc disappeared into the bathroom. He came back with a warm cloth, just as he had the last time to cleaner her up. It was a very intimate thing to have a man do for you. He then turned her over onto her belly. Some kind of soothing lotion was rubbed into the stinging skin of her bottom. Then he tucked her in and stood by the bed looking down at her. They watched each other warily. This attraction of theirs was so intense and so unexpected. It was frightening. She wasn’t so sure she wanted him to stay. She didn’t want to get close to a man like him. Even if he did fuck like a machine. She watched him gather his clothing.
“Good night, Everly,” was all he said before leaving her bedroom. She heard the door to the suite close behind him as he slipped back to his own rooms.
Everly rolled over and tried not to think about Luc, but it was useless. It had almost been like he was jealous. Jealous and possessive . . . of her. But no. That wasn’t possible. He just didn’t want his temporary property embarrassing him with other men or causing trouble in his club. That was all it was. She told herself over and over that was all it was.
* * *
Everly was about to open her door to go to breakfast when she heard voices in the hall. She was tired of eating alone in her room. A change of scenery was what she needed. She cracked the door just a bit to see who was speaking to Luc. It was none of her business, but she was curious. Given his habit of ignoring her, who knew when she would see him again?
Luc was waiting for the elevator with Rourke and Dolce. They were talking about a poker tournament being held at The Inferno and the additional security that would be needed for the event. It sounded like just another day at the office. It was Sunday. Didn’t these people ever take a day off?
Once they entered the elevator and the doors slid shut, Everly made her way out and waited for it to return. She noticed the private elevator had stopped on the third floor. She wondered what was on the third floor. She assumed the hotel rooms began on that floor. Why would he be on a public floor? Did Luc inspect the rooms himself? She scoffed at that idea. She tried to imagine him giving the white glove tests and checking bathrooms for cleanliness in his expensive, tailored suits. It was laughable.
When she entered the elevator, instead of pushing the button for the lobby level to leave the hotel as she’d intended, Everly hit the button for the third floor. When she stepped off the elevator, Everly was surprised to find a much more average looking hotel floor than was found in the rest of the building. It was clean and tidy, but the elegant décor was missing.
A group of ladies she’d seen waiting tables in the casino came around the corner laughing and smiling. Oddly, they were all dressed in prim suits and frilly dresses. When she saw them in the little red waitressing outfits, it was hard to imagine them in anything else.
“Hello,” Jessica, one of them called to her. “Are you going to chapel?” she asked.
Everly didn’t know how to explain her presence there, so she nodded. “I’m a little lost.”
“Oh, that’s because you’re on the dormitory floor. You came down in the private elevator from the penthouse, didn’t you? The public elevator drops you right by the chapel. We’ll show you the way.”
She looped an arm through Everly’s and tugged her along. It seemed the waitress knew more about her than she thought they did. She didn’t advertise the location of her room. “You have dormitories?”
Jessica blushed and ducked her head a bit. “Mr. Christianson is a very kind man. He’s demanding but very kind.”
Everly didn’t know how to respond to that. Her tender backside disagreed with Jessica’s assessment of the man.
“Some of us don’t have our own housing. It’s hard in this town. Harder than you can imagine.” Jessica was pink with shame, and Everly didn’t like being the cause of her discomfort.
“We all have highs and lows in our lives, Jessica.” For all that she was sleeping in a penthouse suite, Everly was in the middle of a low herself. “Things work themselves out in the end.” Everly patted Jessica’s arm. Jessica seemed relieved not to need to explain any further.
“I hope so. Anyway, this floor is a dorm for employees who need a little help. We do our own cooking and cleaning. We buy our own food and toiletries and stuff too, but we have a bed and a safe place to stay while we get on our feet. The floor usually only has a handful of people.” Tears filled Jessica’s eyes, and she cleared her throat. “I don’t know where I’d be . . .”
One of the other ladies spoke soothingly to Jessica. They passed the public elevator and turned a corner where a set of beautiful stained glass doors loomed ahead of them. When they reached the doors, Everly faltered. Was Luc in the chapel? He must be. She didn’t want him to see her. She hadn’t been invited to attend chapel. He might not want to see her at all after last night.
“You can sit with us,” Jessica said.
“I think I’ll just slip in the back if you don’t mind.”
Jessica shrugged and opened one of the ornate doors for her friends and coworkers. They filed in, and Everly ducked behind them to enter unseen. She sat in
the back pew behind a couple of security guys who blocked the view of her almost completely. The little chapel was the size of two hotel rooms and nearly filled to capacity with Luc’s employees. Luc, Dolce, Rourke, and a beautiful blond woman, who must be Rourke’s wife judging by the adoring expression on his face as he looked down at her, were in the front pew chatting with everyone around them while they waited for the service to begin.
Everly was taken aback by the whole community atmosphere in the sanctuary. They were in a casino, for the love of Pete! A prostitute having, illegal gambling, robbing people of their lives’ work, casino! She just couldn’t reconcile the presence of a house of God in the same building. The pit of Hell was on the floor below them.
A man in a well-worn brown suit with an equally worn Bible entered the chapel. His thick, white hair was a contrast against the deep bronze of his skin. The telltale laugh lines around his mouth suggested he was prone to smiling. He stepped up to the podium and began spreading out his notes. The parishioners all settled into their seats, and a hush fell over the room.
“For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15.”
The pastor looked out over the assembled worshipers and nodded his head slowly, making eye contact with as many people as possible.
“Forgiveness. It can be harder to receive forgiveness than it is to give it in some cases. For some, forgiving the sins of others is easily done, but we can’t put our own sins behind us. In other cases, we hold on so tightly to our anger at someone else that we can’t receive the forgiveness our own souls crave.” His eyes landed on Luc and stayed there for just a moment before he continued.
“In prayer, there is a connection between what God does and what you do. You can’t get forgiveness from God for instance, without also forgiving others. If you refuse to do your part, you cut yourself off from God’s part.”
Everly sat back in her seat and began to really absorb the sermon. It hit home for her. She was so very angry with her father for the position he’d put their family in. She felt like forgiving her dad would need to happen before she could pardon herself for wagering with her own body and soul.
She became caught up in the service and was surprised when over thirty minutes had passed and people were rising from their seats to file out of the chapel. Everly ducked into the coat closet to avoid being seen. She peeked around the corner to watch for her chance to sneak out unseen. The pastor made his way to the rear of the chapel and greeted each parishioner individually. Luc was the last to leave. He and the pastor spoke to each other in hushed tones for a moment before the pastor patted Luc’s back soundly in the supportive but not too touchy-feely way of men.
All was quiet and Everly was about to slip out of the closet, when the pastor’s voice rang out.
“Is there something I can help you find in the closet?”
Busted. Everly squared her shoulders and stepped forward. Her cheeks were blazing with embarrassment.
“No, sir. I was just . . .” What could she say? She didn’t want to lie to a man of God. She was a terrible liar anyway. The truth was best. “I was just hiding from someone I don’t believe would be happy to see me here.”
“Now why in the world would Luc want to deprive you of God’s word?” The pastor took a seat in the back pew and invited her to do the same. He had her, and she wouldn’t deny it. How did he know she was hiding from Luc? She sat down next him and let her eyes move around the sanctuary. Everly was nervous and she felt like a fool for hiding in the closet. Mostly she felt like an idiot for getting caught hiding in the closet.
“Luc and I aren’t very friendly,” she told him. There was no need to explain that ‘not friendly’ didn’t mean not sexually active.
“Luc finds it difficult to make new friends, but when he does make a friend, it’s for life. Maybe he just needs a chance to warm up to you.”
It seemed the pastor knew Luc well. That was another surprise.
“Are you an employee here?” he asked.
“Something like that. Just temporarily.” She flushed again. What would the pastor think of her if he knew why she was staying with Luc? Probably no worse than she thought of herself.
“I see questions in your eyes. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“I’m finding it hard to reconcile the presence of a chapel in a place called Hell,” she admitted. “Luc condones and supports some very unsavory behaviors. It’s a wonder you would come here to work for a man like Luc.”
“I see you have preconceived notions about Luc and what he’s doing here. Maybe I can help you with that, Ms. . . .” he let the end of the sentence trail off.
“Parker. Everly Parker. Please, just call me Everly.”
“I’m Pastor Dave.” He extended his tan hand to her. She shook it. “I’m going to share a few things with you today, Everly. When you say ‘a man like Luc’ I fear you don’t really know what kind of man he is. I’m sure you’ve heard the saying about not judging a book by its cover, but frankly, with Luc you might never get past the cover if he doesn’t want you to. Luc is a good man. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Everly raised an eyebrow. She didn’t feel comfortable divulging her family’s dealing with Luc, but her expression conveyed how difficult it was for her to accept his description of Luc.
“I’ve known Luc all his life. He and his grandmother, who raised him, attended my church every Sunday from the day she adopted him when he was a baby to the day she passed on to her reward.” Pastor Dave looked off into the distance as if he could see every day from that time until this one.
“He was raised by his grandmother?”
“Yes,” Pastor Dave nodded, “but that’s Luc’s story to tell. I want to tell you about the man you think he is. Tell me what you know about Luc.”
She shrugged. “He runs an illegal gambling club. He takes advantage of weak-minded people. He employs prostitutes who work in sex clubs.”
“Mhmmm. I suppose it would seem that way from the outside.” He sighed. “If I give you some truths, do you think you’re ready to receive them with an open mind, Everly? I can tell Luc has done something to color your view of him. I don’t know what that is, but it could make it difficult for you to see other possibilities.”
“I’ll certainly try to be open, Pastor Dave. I don’t want to dislike Luc but my dealings with him haven’t been very positive. It would be a relief to find something redeeming about the man.”
“Good. Let’s talk about all of the things in Luc’s business that upset your obvious sense of morality. Luc owns a hotel and casino that was founded by his father.”
Everly wanted to ask about his father, but Pastor Dave held up a hand.
“I can see that you’re curious about the details of Luc’s private life. I won’t go into that with you, Everly. Luc will tell you if he wants you to know. I’m simply going to relay what is public knowledge.”
“I understand. Please, continue.” She wouldn’t ask for more than Pastor Dave felt comfortable sharing. Honestly, he didn’t have to tell her anything, but it was clear he had a real connection with Luc. Her negative opinion of Luc saddened Pastor Dave.
“Luc’s casino, the member’s only portion of it, is a far cleaner place than it was in his father’s day. I’m not condoning it. I’m only acknowledging that it could and has been worse. Luc believes if a man or woman is willing to risk it all, they deserve to lose it all. He gives them a place to lose if they choose to do so.”
“Can I ask why you don’t mind being here? It really is surprising to find a chapel in a casino.” She was very curious.
“As preachers, we go where the people need us. I retired, and Luc stopped going to church. He needed me more than anyone. So when he asked if I’d be willing to do Sunday services, I agreed. There are a lot of people here who need encouragement. It’s my honor to provide i
t. At first, it was just a few people who met with me in a conference room. When the number grew, Luc had this built.” He gestured around the chapel. “Now, we fill the place every week. I’d also like to point out that this is not a casino. It’s a hotel. This floor in particular is residential. Luc provides housing for people in need.
Now, let’s discuss the prostitutes. Luc does not ‘employ’ prostitutes, per se. He has never profited from the sale of sex. He has taken a lot of people in and given them jobs in service. They’re waitresses, hostesses, and bartenders. They don’t give him any part of the money they earn from those activities.”
Everly blinked. He didn’t get paid for the shenanigans she witnessed in the sex club?
“Many of them were homeless or abused by pimps. Now they live and breathe safely right down the hall from here. They have medical care and everyone is tested for STD’s before they’re let loose in his club. If a patron and a waitress come to an understanding, Luc allows some shocking indiscretions. It isn’t easy for me to accept these things, but I know Luc’s heart is in the right place. Inside these walls, they are safe. He has security in place, and he knows everything there is to know about all of his private club members. These women, and some men, would be doing this on the streets if they weren’t here.”
Everly tried to get her head around that as Pastor Dave went on.
“Speaking of the rather large security force employed by Luc, most, if not all, are ex-military. Luc can’t stand the thought of men and women who risked their lives to defend our country coming home to nothing. He gives our veterans jobs that pay well in a field they are trained to handle and the dignity they deserve.”
He stopped and looked her squarely in the eye. “I want you to think about everything I’ve told you and come to your own conclusions. What kind of man does the things Luc does for his people?” He patted her knee and smiled. “And I’d like to see your lovely face somewhere other than the coat room next week.” Pastor Dave got to his feet and left her with her thoughts while he gathered his Bible and sermon notes from the podium.
