by Christa Wick
Luke shushes me as if I did nothing wrong.
Knowing better, I protest. "You were right about Rose. I couldn't see it...I put you and your men in danger--"
"You put yourself in danger." His gentle attempts to comfort me evaporate. Gripping my hair, he forces me to arch my neck back. The dark brown eyes glare down at me. "Don't ever do that again."
I blink, but I don't look away. "I won't. I promise."
"You've broken one promise already. You said you wouldn't leave the casino alone."
He strokes the edge of my mouth, not quite touching my lips. I realize he hasn't kissed me since sometime before he entered the room. Really, he hasn't kissed me since we argued over my meeting with Solandro and I threatened to call the police if he wouldn't let me go.
"I know. I'll keep this one." I strain up, trying to reach his mouth with mine. He shifts his fingers so that they rest against my lips and block any chance of a kiss.
"Your old warrants are gone and Solandro is cutting a deal against his boss."
Understanding the implication, I nod. I won't have to testify. But it doesn't mean that Tommy and I are safe from any of the men on Solandro's crew or above him. More than one of them will want to make an example out of me. I don't care about any of that right now. I want to know that I haven't broken whatever has been growing between us.
"Please, Luke…" They are the only words I can get out. My throat constricts too tightly to speak because, deep down, I know his feelings have changed and I'm afraid I can't fix them.
"Don't worry, Marie." Luke lightly taps his forehead once against mine. "I promised to keep you safe."
I glance down, losing faith for a second before I look back up. "How?"
"Don't ask how." He dips his head, his kiss a short, sweet benediction that lasts only as long as our lips touch. "Just complete your part of the deal."
********************
From the living room, we move to the bedroom. Luke strips me, kisses and caresses me, but he does not take me. I fall asleep in his arms and wake to an empty bed. A stranger brings me breakfast, another takes Tommy and me shopping for anything we might require for the rest of my month with Luke. Two bodyguards escort us on this trip. When we are done, one stays with Tommy and the other takes up a spot in the entry room of the penthouse.
I feel something is wrong. When the day goes by without any direct word from Luke and I head to an empty bed for a long, sleepless night, I know it in my bones.
Three more days pass in similar fashion with just a short call each day from Luke. He does not tell me why he is staying away. I do not ask, even if the question is on permanent rotation inside my head. On the fifth day -- I don't answer the phone the first time it rings. Or on the next call. After the second call, the bodyguard sticks his head inside the penthouse and sees me staring out the window. He leaves and there is no third call.
I am still staring out the window thirty minutes later when Vincent Masters appears. I acknowledge him -- barely. His hostility remains fresh in my mind and the look on his face tells me his feelings haven't dissipated. For some reason, he thinks I am a threat to Luke. I am not. I want Luke safe and Vincent's appraisal of my ability to bring harm to his brother is ridiculous.
Laughable, really. A week hasn't passed since I needed rescued by commandos while stuck in a dingy stall with my panties down. I am no Mata Hari, Salome or Delilah. I'm more like Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance in the Chocolate Factory episode, but at a much larger size than either woman.
Vincent moves to the window. "What's so funny?"
Realizing that I laughed, I laugh again then cut him a side look. "You are."
Not the best way to make friends with the man, but I have kept my head down for twenty-six years. Today, I'm not only spoiling for a fight -- I'm ready to have it.
I turn, so he knows he has my full attention. "You came here to say something, so say it."
His mouth gives a little side twitch that would almost be a smile if his gaze didn't simultaneously narrow. "Nothing personal, Marie, but I want you to leave."
I don't respond immediately. He has said "he wants" -- not that Luke wants or the more forceful "get lost, bitch" that would indicate a solid decision has been reached between brothers. It is impossible for me to care less what Vincent wants.
Relaxing, I smile at him. "Hard not to take that personally -- you must have your reasons."
He shifts, his mass briefly moving from left foot to right before it returns. It may or may not be a tell -- but the blinks and the slight new tilt to his head are. Vincent Masters is not agitated or angry, he's nervous.
Standing, I move until I am half an arm's length from him. Like his brother, he cuts an imposing figure -- handsome, muscular, resolute. His height means I have to look up at him at this distance. The dynamics should make me feel like I'm in the weaker position, but I don't. So I look up, my smile closed-mouth and soft, and then I speak.
"Surely, you have had to share him before."
His body tightens and I can feel the heat of his anger as his skin flushes, but that is the only outward physical reaction I get. He forces his body to relax then smiles back.
"How much do you want to go away?"
A simple question for which I have a simple answer. I return to the window and sit down. My back to him, I watch his reflection in the glass. "I want what's left of my thirty days."
Crossing half the distance to where I stand, Vincent stops and folds his arms across his broad chest. "One hundred thousand dollars and whatever else Luke agreed to give you."
At this, I glance back, but only for effect. My gaze travels down his torso to stop at his crotch. I smirk and shake my head, only half feeling the gesture. "Sorry, you're not my type."
This brings him directly to my chair.
I brace for violence.
Vincent drops down to one knee. His hand curls around the top edge of my chair. He remains mute until I look at him. He is solemn, all the anger evaporated, and suddenly I am uncertain.
"I told you it was nothing personal, Marie. Hell, I even like you." His hand rubs at the chair's fabric and I sense that he wants to touch me, if only for the veracity the contact will give his words. "But there are people out there who want to kill you. Luke risked his life once to save you. He'll risk it again."
He chooses this moment to touch me, his hand brushing against my cheek. "Sorry, baby, you're just not worth that -- not to me at least."
I can feel the tears coming hard, but I won't let them erupt. Vincent's valuation of my worth hasn't hurt my feelings. I agree with him -- I would put Luke's safety above my own, just as I would put Tommy's and, even now, Rose's.
His hand cups my cheek and I lose the fight to contain my tears, but I don't agree to leave. Brushing his hand away, I turn my attention back to the window.
"I'm staying."
********************
I sit and think for another two hours, wondering if I could really be the death of Luke Masters. As wealthy as he is, he will always be a target for violence. That is the nature of money and power -- everyone else wants what you have and some people are willing to kill for it. But revenge is a different beast. With my betrayal of Ortiz and his crew, I may have a very big bull's eye on my back for decades.
Alone, I start to wonder if there is a different deal to be made with Vincent. He wants his brother safe. I want Tommy and Luke safe, and maybe that means I cannot be around either of them. If I promise to leave, will Vincent look after Tommy with the same care he has for Luke?
The question brings me to my feet and carries me the distance to the front of the penthouse. I am about to open the door to the entry way and ask the guard to summon Vincent when the knob turns in my hand. I let go and step back.
Luke enters. Brushing by me with barely a glance, he gives me a terse order and I know my opportunity to bargain with Vincent is gone.
"Take a seat on the couch, Marie. I will join you in a moment."
I look t
hrough the open door at the guard, but the man is deep in his zone of professional indifference. Closing the door, I slowly make my way back to the living room. With each dragging step, I tell myself to stay calm and not let Luke see how much he is hurting me.
He saved my life -- he doesn't deserve my recriminations over his rejection.
I sit, eyes on my knees and rolling my lips, as I wait for his return. When he comes, he doesn't sit by me. Instead he lights a fire and sits on the marble base. In his hand, he holds the picture frame from his office.
He picks at the frame's backing, bending the small, flat pieces of metal to remove the picture it holds inside. When it is out, he holds the photograph in his hands and looks at me.
"Do you know how I got this?" He sweeps his head so that I know he is talking about the casino and not the picture.
"No." I haven't had access to a computer in a week and my phone doesn't do internet browsing. Nor did Ortiz give me time to research the casino -- he just gave me the lenses and told me the name, expecting me to go straight to the tables from his warehouse. "All I know is it's a couple of years old."
Luke nods briefly, his thumb smoothing one wrinkled corner of the photograph. He stands, crosses to the couch and hands me the picture. It is a young man, with blond hair that falls almost to his shoulders. He looks about Tommy's age, but there is a certain vulnerability in his expression that makes him seem much younger.
"Who is he?"
"Carl Haberlin. He was twenty-four when the picture was taken."
I shake my head. The name is unfamiliar. "He looks younger."
"He was autistic." The words come out raw. He takes the photo from me and returns to the fireplace. "His father owned 40% of the Zurich Gaming Group."
This time, I nod, I know the company, but not its stakeholders.
"Long story short -- I rescued Carl from a group holding him for ransom." Luke opens the fire's grate and slowly feeds the picture into the flames. "An earlier team botched the first attempt and the kidnappers took it out the boy before I reached him."
I don't ask what the kidnappers did as retribution. Anyone going after a billionaire's family likely is both an expert and a sociopath -- a criminal's criminal. Instead, I get up from the couch and sit next to Luke. I place my palm against his back, wordlessly asking him about Carl's fate and how it is connected to mine.
"I gave the old man two more month's with his son before Carl committed suicide because of what they did to him." Another gesture at the walls surrounding us. "He was grateful for the time."
I cannot hold back the small cry that escapes me. I have only spent a few days in Luke's presence, but I know his intensity and professionalism. That he has kept the picture tells me the loss affected him on a deeply personal level, as if, despite rescuing the boy, Luke somehow let him and the father down.
Turning, Luke embraces me and strokes my hair. "I didn't tell you the story to make you cry, baby."
"I know." I burrow closer, my hands snaking and pushing until my arms are around Luke's waist. "I'm sorry."
I truly am sorry -- sorry for poor Carl and his father and that Luke has opened up this wound for some reason connected to me.
He kisses my forehead and my heart hurts even harder, if that is possible.
"Vincent thinks I'm chasing ghosts, Marie." He pulls back and cups the sides of my face. "I'm not."
He kisses a spot on my cheek wet from the lone tear that has managed to escape me. He kisses lower, a thumb's width above the corner of my mouth. I tilt my head back before he can break contact with my skin.
His tongue teases my lips with a slow lick at their center. I open to him, heart galloping in my chest after the painful absence of his touch. Continuing to kiss me, Luke runs his hands down my arms. One hand captures my hip and the other a breast as the heat of the kiss burns hotter.
I lean into his touch, my breast filling his palm and my hip flexing against his hand. Grabbing the lapels of his jacket, I hold on as if my life depends on not letting go.
The kiss ends and Luke pulls back to stare at me. The scrutiny, as gentle as it is, undoes me and I start to softly cry.
Between sobs, I ask him, "Do you want me to leave?"
He pulls me in for a longer, slower kiss that will take all night to finish, but not before he answers.
"No, baby, I want you to stay."
********************
Stay doesn't mean forever. Foolishly, I thought it might, but three weeks have passed and Luke has not repeated the request. He has fucked me, pleased me, taught me more about my needs and endurance than I learned on my own in the last twenty-six years -- but he has not asked me to stay beyond the thirty days of our original agreement.
Sitting on a padded bench a few feet from his bed in nothing but black silk panties and thigh high stockings, I know that tonight is my last night with him. Tomorrow, I will be somewhere else, although I don't know where that will be.
Finished lighting the last candle, Luke turns to me and I lift my gaze. His lips purse as he stares at me and blows out the match. "You know how I realized you were cheating?"
I straighten my spine, my breasts lifting as I square my shoulders. "I can't even imagine how many mistakes I made."
Clearly I made a lot, not only that first night at the table but all the nights I have spent with him since then. Otherwise, tomorrow would not be a giant question mark.
"This many." He raises his index finger and briefly touches it against his nose. "You were damn near perfect, Marie."
Lowering his hand, he places his palm against his flat, muscled stomach. He has on black silk pajama bottoms and nothing else. Looking at him and knowing it will be the last time I see him like this is too painful. My gaze sinks down his body until it settles on the carpet in front of his bare feet.
Emotionally exhausted, I take a random guess. "Was it my clothes?"
He walks along my line of sight until he stands directly in front of me. Placing one finger beneath my chin, he tilts my head back. He studies me for a second then his shoulders push forward in an almost shrug. "Sort of. Most cons come in camouflaged in mediocrity."
He strokes my cheek, my attention diverted from his explanation by the simple act.
"But you, baby..." He lightly squeezes and pinches the side of my face, a growl rumbling inside his wide chest. "You came in like a 1950s' screen goddess. You kept the dealer -- and my security camera -- focused entirely too much on these."
Reaching down, he cups my breasts. His fingers draw forward, finding and twisting the nipples until a faint mewl escapes me. "If I hadn't been watching you so intently, I never would have noticed your tells or realized you were cheating. You made me want you. That was your mistake, Marie."
My mistake and my salvation. Without Masters, Rose and Solandro would have pulled me deeper into their con. He saved me from that and my life.
"Lucky me," I whisper before rule number 3 slaps me in the face.
Luck never gives, it only lends.
The loan period is almost over. I have one last night with Luke and then my marker is wiped clean.
Straddling my legs, he cups both sides of my face and forces me to look at him. "Why the sadness, baby?"
I close my eyes and hope he won't go so far as to pry my eyelids open to keep me from hiding. That he doesn't understand why I am sad tells me my leaving tomorrow means nothing to him. Nothing more to him than a drama-filled thirty-day fling, Luke Masters will soon forget me and have another woman warming his bed.
There have been plenty of warning signs of this outcome over the last few weeks. Not only did he stay away for five days after the shootout at Solandro's warehouse, but not once since my rescue has Luke called me "love." He showers the word "baby" and kisses on me, tells me I'm beautiful and how badly he wants me, but he doesn't tell me he loves me.
How can I be all that and nothing at the same time?
"Not going to tell me?" Luke steps back, gripping my shoulders as he pushes my legs
apart with the sweeping pressure of his foot.
Leaning forward, I press my forehead against the flat of his stomach. I could admit my feelings to him, but that will only increase my heartache when he sends me away. So I offer an explanation that I hope will end the conversation. "Endings are always a little sad, don't you think?"
His fingers knot in my hair to cinch my head against him. "If you only think of endings as endings."
I don't. The end of my relationship with Luke Masters marks the beginning of his relationship with another woman and the beginning of my return to loneliness. Knowing this doesn't drive away my sadness, it deepens it.
I take a ragged breath in, the fresh rush of oxygen easing my need to cry.
"Shhh..." He combs his fingers through my hair, his stomach pressing harder against my forehead as he rocks lightly from his heels to his toes. "You're way too stressed, baby."
"So relax me," I rasp. With my mouth concealed from Luke's view, I lick my lips. I know what comes next, where he can take me with his body and toys. Tonight, I need that trip more than ever.
His hand cradles the back of my skull. He arches his spine, the motion bringing the waistband of his pajama pants closer to my face. I want to unknot the ties, curl my fingers inside the fabric and drag it down his hips. Tomorrow will come no matter what, so we are only wasting time talking right now when I can instead have him halfway down my throat.
I nuzzle his stomach, my lips pressing against his navel as I tongue it.
"Relax you?" He chuckles, the sound pushing at me like a warm blast of air from an open oven door. "Baby, I'm going to exhaust you."
He breaks from me. I feel the hook and drag of each step he takes toward the dresser. Seeing him open the top left drawer, I focus on taking slow, deep breaths as my pussy works itself into a thick knot.
In his expert hands, the objects inside that drawer have the power to drive me wild and leave me floating in a blank abyss. The suede strands of the flogger will warm my skin, making my flesh extra sensitive to his touch. Nipple clamps and clit clips will bring even more sensitivity, his careful placement of them on my body achingly intimate.
