by Aubrey Rose
She was flipped onto her back so fast she lost her breath, and he was on top of her. He was hard. She could feel it as she shoved unsuccessfully on his chest. She didn’t dare look at him, with her gaze turned to the side, because he’d see her lying.
“You were wet before my first lick,” he growled.
She shoved again, squirming under him. “Vincent, let me up.”
His hand grabbed her hair and he tugged her face where he wanted it, looking at him. She scrunched her eyes shut. “Not until you listen to me.” His voice was low and measured, as if he contained the anger behind it.
“I know you’re scared Navarro’s buddies will do something to me.” Her gaze opened and tripped to his, and he looked lethal as he said, “I’ve been hunted by worse, baby. I am not someone to fuck with.”
Tess realized that she believed him—ever since they’d met he’d been nothing but the most powerful man she’d ever met.
“But Luna?” She whispered the question, and his expression grew unguarded. She immediately saw the worry growing there. She knew then, without a doubt, no one could protect her from Luna Whitehorse if Luna found out Tess was with Vincent.
She wanted to cry; both their ex’s were so crazy and unreasonable.
Then Vincent finally let her go with an angry snarl. And this time he didn’t turn back.
He just left.
SIX / CAN’T STAY AWAY
Vincent Whitehorse sat in his truck, watching the alley behind Tess Navarro’s shop as she came out the back. He’d parked there every night in the two weeks since he’d let her go, not leaving, no matter what hour, until she finally closed. She didn’t know he watched her. She didn’t know he followed her to the place he’d coerced her into staying, instead of Rowdie’s Motel or a hotel by the highway. It had been his second concession to letting her go ... she’d promised she would stay in a condo he told her a friend of his owned. That was a lie; he owned it. But Tess never needed to know that. The first concession to fucking releasing her was that she accepted his gift of setting her flower shop up with security.
Two weeks and all he could do was watch her. It was fucked up. He was fucked up. She was wearing a short skirt, a tee, and the leather jacket he’d cleaned for her. She nearly always wore cowboy boots. Those sexy legs messed with him, that curvy figure messed with him, and her long red hair made him constantly fight getting hard.
He could remember his hands fisted in the silky mass, tugging her lips to his mouth. The thing about Tess: she kept up with him in bed. This need he had now that was so fierce he could barely contain it—Tess followed it and she fed it, then she relieved it.
He shook his head, then leaned forward to start his truck—he knew tonight Tess wasn’t going straight to the condo. In the two weeks since they’d forced themselves apart, Tess had not gone home to her bastard husband. A good thing. She’d kept her promise and not used the affair as an excuse to keep away from Navarro. Instead she’d picked a fight with him.
Late one night on his cell, Tess had explained how she’d told Navarro she was tired of making all the money and him never being home. Tess had said it was strange because those issues should have been his triggers to getting pissed, but she’d had a hard time getting him angry ... he’d seemed so distracted. She’d finally managed a cell phone fight where she’d told Navarro she wasn’t coming home, and that she was staying at a friend's.
She’d whispered then, in his ear, that she couldn’t go back home to Steven’s bed. Ever. He got it ... what he was putting her through not letting her use the affair to finalize getting rid of her cheating husband. But it hadn’t taken either of them long to realize Luna and Navarro were so tangled into each other they weren’t paying attention to anything else. Vincent hadn’t seen Luna in ten days. Just calls about her “new” career on stage, singing in a band.
Good thing for him, he nearly had the votes to push Luna off the board. Bad for Tess, he knew her husband’s indifference to her and his blatant affair out in public with Luna hurt her. And fuck him, because he wanted to take that hurt away from her.
Tess drove toward Redrock Casino out on the far side of town. She’d been called late that day by Redrock’s community event director. Then she’d been hired over the phone as a last-minute plea. It seemed there was a wedding going on that night in one of the big banquet rooms at Redrock and they had flowers, but no one to arrange them.
Tess was still unclear how that had come down, but one, she couldn’t let anyone get married on their special day without lovely flowers, and two, it was too big an “in” into more business from Redrock. Besides, she had nothing planned for the evening except sitting in a very big, very well-furnished condo by herself.
“Except maybe feeling sorry for myself,” she muttered, pulling out on the highway to take the short drive to the Indian casino.
Her husband wasn’t acting as if he even cared that she wasn't living at their house anymore. She thought he rarely came home either. But she couldn’t take the chance going back to live at home, because Steven could show up anytime. Lately, she’d been thinking maybe just complaining to Steven about money and such might be enough to get a lawyer and start divorce proceedings. Steven was so preoccupied at the moment with his newest lay ... it might be the very best time. Then she could be free.
She nibbled on her bottom lip, wondering what Steven might have done if he ever found out she’d been with Vincent. Steven could act like she didn’t exist, yet the second he thought another man might take his place, he started paying attention and acting creepily possessive. She thought it might be those mysterious associates he’d hooked up with, which she thought acted weirdly like mob guys.
But she didn’t think there were mob guys nowadays. Besides, why would mob guys be into a low-tier wannabe talent agent? Tess would be more inclined to think those mob guys would have been more interested in Steven’s former job of being a securities trader and fund manager. But now he was around those guys, she bet Steven didn’t want to look weak to them, and that was what was spurring on any selective possessiveness he felt toward her.
She was nearly to the casino when her cell rang, startling her out of her intense thoughts. She used the hands-free button on her dash to answer it.
“Tess Navarro? This is the events coordinator for Redrock, Mary Runninghorse.”
Tess greeted her, then listened to Mary saying, “Just valet park out front. There will be someone to walk you back.”
Mary said goodbye rather quickly before Tess could get more details, such as who to look for.
“Darn,” Tess muttered, pulling up through the valet-parking lane. She just hoped they had some fresh flowers so she could make a good impression. She parked, grabbed her shoulder purse, then got out to hand her keys to the attendant with a smile. He was just tearing off the claim ticket, to hand her, when her gaze rose. Vincent. She felt her belly tighten as she watched Vincent getting out of his parked truck. An instant kick of excitement shivered through her.
Distractedly, she took the claim ticket as she tried to figure out why Vincent got away with parking where he had, and then she wondered if she had enough time to avoid being seen by him. Or if she wanted to. Of course she wanted to see him, desperately. She constantly fought the feelings. However, seeing him right then was too quick to erect any walls, and Vincent turned straight toward her as if he knew she was there.
She pulled in another breath at how virile and extremely hot he was as he took long strides toward her. Her memory hadn’t been wrong about his pure masculine attractiveness, and his wife was a complete idiot for wanting Steven over him. Vincent wore a black cowboy hat, tipped back on his brow. The hat tamed his shoulder-length hair down around his neck like an inky black fall. He wore faded jeans and a long-sleeved black tee that had “Redrock” printed across his chest in red lettering with slashes of silver behind it. He had on a big silver belt buckle, and when he got closer she saw a flying hawk embossed in the silver.
His black boots b
rought him towering over her, his gaze intense. It licked fire through her the moment their eyes met.
“Boss,” the valet attendant said beside her.
Tess scrunched her nose, wondering what that meant as she watched Vincent nod to him. “Keep her car close, Daniel.”
“Okay, boss,” Daniel, the valet attendant, replied, then he scooted around and got into her car.
“Hey,” Vincent said, looking down on her as his hand settled on her waist as though it belonged there.
“Hey,” she replied, tipping her gaze up to him, too confused to come up with more to say.
But internally, her concentration was latched to his wide, really warm hand curling over the indent of her waist. It was as if he had to touch her when they were this close and she immediately felt their connection. His dark eyes spoke of intimate things between them ... sexy, naughty, and wild things, and she blushed, thrilled to see him. Too thrilled, because soon they’d have to force themselves apart again.
When she blushed, his hand squeezed her waist as if he knew she was thinking about them having wild sex together. “Too fucking sweet,” his voice rumbled, and he said it like a curse, moving her forward. “Come on.”
She automatically followed him as if she couldn’t disobey him. Ever. But then she realized ... “Um, I have a job to do here—” she started to say.
He interrupted her, “I know.” Then he pulled one of the casino’s large front doors open. She walked past and he followed, keeping his hand on her waist as he opened the next set of doors for her. “You know?” she questioned.
Casino sounds filled the air and the lighting was dim, like in all casinos. She slowed to a stop, looking up at him. His hat came off but his hand didn’t move from her waist, while his gaze swept her face.
“Hey, boss.” Tess looked over Vincent's broad shoulder at a young cashier runner smiling at Vincent, who looked over his shoulder at her.
“Hey, Becky. Keep it tight.”
“Right, boss.” Becky nodded and moved away.
“Evening, Mr. Whitehorse.” This came from behind Tess.
Vincent nodded to a security guard, who passed by.
Tess turned back and grabbed a fistful of Vincent’s tee by his waist, feeling the ripple of his six-pack abs beneath. “Boss? You’re the boss.” It was not a question, it was a demand.
“Kinda,” he said, then he used his hand on her waist to move her forward and she lost her grip on his tee. Oh, he so was the boss. That meant her impromptu job was very suspect.
“This is not staying away from each other,” she accused.
He moved her through rows of slot machines with people pushing buttons and some looking as if they were hugging their machines. She was not a gambler, so the rows of machines looked like rows of tricked-out arcade games to her.
“Redrock can get flowers done by anyone. Why not you?” Vincent’s voice was close to her ear, where he’d leaned down to be heard. The rumble of his voice stroked her in places she’d have to appease later with her lonely vibrator. Damn him.
She caught his tee again as they walked, keeping his mouth close as she turned her head slightly. “Because we shouldn’t be together,” she whispered fiercely. Because any second she was going to veer him off their path and mouth-lock him. “Playing with fire,” she blurted.
“Just trying to help you, beautiful,” he replied.
But then their entire conversation was disrupted by a high-pitched exclamation. “Vin, baby!”
“Fuck.” Vincent growled the curse right in her ear. Tess felt him stiffen, then his hand lifted from her waist and he straightened, stopping their forward motion. “Incoming,” he warned her, right before she saw his face close tight, as if a mask had been slipped over it.
“Tess, what the hell are you doing here?”
Steven? Tess stiffened with shock, turning to look toward where Vincent was glaring.
“Vin, baby, this is so exciting! You just have to hear us! You will be blown away, darling!”
Tess felt the shock take her breath as she watched her husband walking toward her with a stunning blonde by his side. Steven had his hand on the beautiful, tall, slender woman’s waist. Steven. Did. Not. Release. It. Like Vincent had her waist. Ohmygod, Vincent’s wife had to be a model ... she was that perfect.
“Tess?” Steven demanded as the couple stopped before them, and then the blonde launched herself at Vincent, who had no choice but to embrace her.
“A flower job. Banquet room. Wedding,” she curtly told Steven, while she stepped back out of the way of Luna Whitehorse’s swinging legs and spiky heels, because Luna’s arms were latched to Vincent’s neck. And Vincent looked deadly, as if he were locked into immobile intensity, while Steven looked shrewd, with an indulgent smile playing on his lips. To Tess it was incredibly obvious they were after something.
Luna exclaimed into Vincent’s chiseled features, “I growl out our new song ‘Honey on the Side’ like a fucking rocker, Vin! Oh God, the lights on me, the music! You just have to hear, I’m so fucking good at this! Stevie knows talent, and he's blown away!” She kissed Vincent's cheek and his jaw, while bouncing against him as his eyes grew darker.
To Luna’s claims, Tess watched her husband, adding, “She's pretty hot.”
Steven turned away from Tess, leaving her like a forgotten hangnail. Her fingers curled into her palms, biting the flesh.
“Not interested. Get the fuck off me,” Vincent’s voice barked, sharper than Tess had ever heard it. It made her flinch, but apparently had no effect on Luna.
“I’ll start singing right here, Vin, baby, if you won’t listen to me on stage!” Luna exclaimed, clamping her arms around his shoulders, where he was trying to pry her off.
“Really, man,” Steven added, stepping closer to them, and cutting Tess completely out of the loop. Steven’s hand grabbed Vincent's shoulder as Luna practically humped Vincent. “This will bring you, your tribe, and the casino in some serious cash. You’d be a fool not to give it a listen.” Vincent jerked Steven’s hand off.
Tess looked at Luna’s five-inch gold heels, up her long legs encased in white skin-tight leather pants, baring her slender midriff with a huge diamond belly-button stud. Rising up to her designer cropped, shimmering tee with waves of blond hair falling to her ass. Luna’s face was the picture of perfect skin, lips, and eyes that were all pleading with Vincent.
This was what her husband was fucking! Tess turned away with her hand clenched to her belly. She wanted to double over as she took a trembling breath.
“Sam!” Vincent’s rough voice startled Tess out of her near breakdown. “Take Mrs. Navarro to the wedding setup in the Plains Room.”
Tess raised her eyes, which had to look just exactly like they were on the verge of tears because they were, and she saw a tall, heavily built, muscular man of obvious Indian heritage walk toward her. He gently grasped her elbow. Sam had his long hair in a ponytail down his back, caught by a beaded tie, and he was the second most handsome Indian she’d ever seen.
Her husband grabbed her other arm in a brief aside. The minute he touched her, she cringed. “Need some money. This is big—you got to see that now.” Steven grabbed her purse, yanking it off her shoulder, opening it and pulling out her wallet.
Sam kind of growled at her side, but by that time Steven had taken all her cash and thrust her purse back at her. “I’ll get you tickets to the show. You’ll see,” Steven muttered, turning away.
All this happened while Luna bubbled with “you should have seen me do this or thats.” She never once acknowledged her “agent’s” wife, as if Tess were a bug.
Gentle pressure curled over Tess’ elbow and she clutched her purse, blindly letting Sam guide her away. It wasn’t until thirty minutes later when she was trying to Zen into her flower arrangements, and therefore she was calmer, that she winced thinking she’d left Vincent to deal with those two parasites.
SEVEN/ THERE’S PLAYING GAMES, THEN THERE’S REAL.
Vincent finally got Luna to unclamp him and stop groping his body. She was a leech when she wanted something, and he had no fucking desire to give her anything. Except if he did, it could play into his plans. He saw her fuck buddy, Navarro, was getting very unhappy at how she was throwing herself at her husband.
He liked that part. But not enough to put up with the sick feeling he got when Luna touched him. As soon as she heard he might give her what she wanted, she stopped mauling him and rolled back to Navarro’s side.
“I’ll give you one night. You fucking get a standing O, you get another night,” Vincent uttered, glaring in her insidious, beautiful green eyes.
Her gaze turned shrewder. “Darling, I’ll need a fabulous outfit, like a rocker queen. Like Cher. So hot and tight, it will make you hard just looking at it.”
Never happen. Him getting hard over her, ever again. To her, he said, before she could sicken him more with her wheedling, “I’m not the planner. You get with Sam and you fucking stay out of my ear or no go.”
She pouted, while hanging on to Navarro, who Vincent swore groped her ass from behind. That nearly launched him at the bastard. Navarro had a body and he had looks, but he’d never last a minute because he had no balls like a man hanging on to a beautiful woman should have. Still, he didn’t care it was Luna that Navarro was groping, he cared that the bastard thought he could do it in front of him. Any caring he had for Luna she had wrung out of him long ago.
“Vinny, to be my best, you know I have to have an outfit.” Luna started to come toward him.
As much as he wanted to back up, he didn’t, but he put his hand out, then he acted as if he caved. “Five thousand. That’s it.”
She squealed in delight, but launched at Navarro. “I’ll be fabulous!”
Vincent growled under his breath. Luna was so into herself she couldn’t tell how wrong it was to be embracing another man in front of her husband. She should fucking know Vincent wasn’t stupid and could plainly see they were being inappropriate. He shook his head. Luna was always so wrapped up in herself and she never saw what was obvious. But she was also sly and sneaky when there was something she wanted.
