Late Saturday afternoon and she’d totally blown off her friends—granted, they blew her off too, but she had some minor guilt she was still dealing with—and she was spending time with a man she was growing to like more and more.
Again, ridiculous, because what they shared was fleeting and temporary, and they would be separated as of tomorrow morning when she hopped a plane back home.
“You’re tired? But you said you wanted to check out Vegas,” Noah said, pressing his lips to her forehead. “So I’m giving you a tour.”
Last night all she’d wanted to do was see what the city had to offer her. She wanted to explore and gamble and shop and eat. But now she could give a crap about Vegas. All she wanted to do was go back to bed. With Noah. The both of them preferably naked and wrapped around each other.
“I seriously need a nap.” Which was sort of a lie. Yes, she’d like a nap, but she’d rather have sex with Noah instead.
He grinned, the gleam in his eyes wicked. She wondered if he could read her mind. Probably. “I kept you up too late last night.”
And this morning. Straight through till lunch, they’d had sex countless times. She’d enjoyed every single minute of it too. Her body was sore, her muscles loose and relaxed, though between her legs she was tender. She’d never had so much sex in her life. They’d done it all sorts of ways, in all sorts of places. In the shower. On the floor. Against the wall. Of course, the good old standby—the bed. They’d fucked there endlessly.
He taught her how he liked a blowjob—slow and a little sloppy and with lots of tongue. She taught him what she liked when he went down on her—two fingers inside her while he sucked and licked her clit. They were both learning something. It was like a weekend of sex education.
“Let’s get a taxi and go back to the hotel,” she suggested, stopping in the middle of the sidewalk so she could look up at him.
Noah had no choice but to stop with her. “Are you serious? I thought you wanted the full Vegas experience. That’s what I’m trying to give you.”
He was so sweet, so incredibly earnest, which surprised her. She thought he’d be a shallow, arrogant rock star who cared only about himself, but he wasn’t. Noah had been nothing but wonderful since they fell into bed together.
“You gave me an amazing Vegas experience last night. Gambling. Winning big money. Having a few drinks. Sharing a hot fudge sundae.” She slipped her arms around his waist and tilted her head back so she could stare up at him. “But now I just want to spend my remaining time here in this city alone with you.”
He frowned down at her, his hair in total disarray, and she reached up on tiptoe, smoothing the wayward locks from his forehead. Today rock star Noah Wilde had disappeared and regular Noah was with her instead. He wore dark jeans and a gray T-shirt, not a lick of jewelry on him, not even his rings. No eyeliner either. He just looked like himself. A normal, every day guy.
Scratch that. A normal, gorgeously handsome guy who made her heart skip a thousand beats every time he so much as looked at her.
“Come on, Nat. I’m trying to be a good guy here.” He glanced around, as if worried someone might see the two of them together. Did he worry? She knew the paparazzi followed him around, though he hadn’t complained since they met. There was a possibility someone might take a photo of the two of them together. Would that be a bad thing? “I took you away from your friends after you save up for a special girls’ weekend in Vegas. I feel bad.”
“Please. Don’t feel bad.” She touched his cheek, thankful he hadn’t shaved today. Hopefully she’d feel his scratchy cheeks rub against the sensitive skin of her thighs later. Her insides quivered at the mere thought. “Andrea and Reagan are off with guys too. Your friends, as a matter of fact, so I can’t feel bad, and you shouldn’t either. We all ditched each other. Trust me, I want to be with you.”
And she did. Yes, it was a big risk, admitting something like that, especially to a weekend fling, a man who was rich and famous and could have any woman he desired. But screw it. She was tired of being afraid. Spending so much time with such a wild and carefree guy like Noah was teaching Natalie how to not give a shit about what other people thought. If she wanted to spend her Saturday with a sexy rock star, then by God, she was going to do exactly that.
“Really?” He looked downright unsure. Almost…nervous. How strange. This man was a total contradiction. She wanted to learn more. Everything she could. But their time together was limited and that made her sad.
So she pushed that thought completely out of her mind.
“Really,” she said firmly, going up on her toes again so she could press a kiss to the edge of his jaw.
He grabbed hold of her face, his hand cupping her cheek as he tilted his head and kissed her deeply, with plenty of tongue that left her breathless when he finally pulled away.
“Let’s grab a cab and get the hell out of here,” Noah said with a growl, taking her hand.
All she could do was follow him and smile.
“Why are you smiling?”
Natalie kept her eyes closed, inhaling deeply before she blew out slow, even breaths. She was trying to calm her still racing heart, but it proved difficult. The man gave her such powerful orgasms she swore her heart practically stopped. “I was thinking about your cheeks,” she admitted.
“What about them?” He sounded wary, not that she could blame him. Her statement was pretty odd.
“I was wondering earlier how they’d feel against my thighs since you hadn’t shaved, and I was right. They were scratchy.” She’d forgotten all about the scratchiness, though, too overcome at the sensation of his tongue lapping at her folds again and again, circling her clit, driving her insane. She laughed when he started tickling her. “I think you gave me a rash.”
“Great. I gave you a rash,” he muttered, tickling her some more and making her laugh harder. “That’s the last thing a man wants to hear from the woman he’s fucking.”
“Well, it’s true. Your stubble is very scratchy,” she accused, opening her eyes to grin up at him, her smile fading when she saw the serious expression on his face. His hands stilled on her sides and he curved his fingers around her hips.
“Did I hurt you?” he asked, his voice soft.
“No.” She shook her head. “Of course not.”
He’d been gentle and kind the moment they got back to the hotel suite. No outrageous positions or dirty words were needed. Instead, he’d been slow and methodical, lingering over every sensitive spot, which he’d already learned. When he’d finally slid inside her on a groan, they were face to face in the missionary position and she caught him watching her continuously, his expression unguarded and full of almost…wonder. Like he was so into it, so into her that he never wanted to stop.
It unnerved her. Filled her with a false hope she had no business believing in.
“Good.” He touched her face, his fingers gentle as they sketched across her cheek. “I would never want to hurt you, Nat. I like you too damn much.”
Her heart clenched at his sweet words. Why did he have to go and say that? Now he just filled her with even more hope, and that was the last thing she needed.
He stared at her, his gaze never leaving hers as he dipped his head low, lower still, his mouth hovering just above hers. She could feel his warm breath and she parted her lips, her eyes sliding closed just as his mouth finally touched hers…
And the phone rang. An annoying blare of sound that she recognized and knew was coming from Noah’s cell phone. The phone he’d been ignoring since she first met him last night. He’d kept it on silent until they left the hotel, when he’d decided to turn the ringer back up. Just in case, he’d told her.
Guess he forgot to put it back on mute.
“Damn it,” he muttered against her lips before he pulled away, reaching toward the bedside table to pick up the phone where he left it. “It’s my manager.” He sounded concerned.
“You should answer it. He’ll probably just keep calling if you
don’t,” she encouraged.
Noah’s mouth set into a grim line. “You’re right. Let me see what he wants. I’ll keep it short.” He climbed out of bed as he answered the phone, walking toward the wall of windows, his back still to her. Completely naked, and it was still late afternoon—if he wasn’t careful, someone could see him. Though they were pretty high up, and maybe he didn’t care.
She admired the firm curve of his ass, his long, strong legs. He had a lean, muscular body, one that she’d had her hands and mouth and tongue all over these last few hours, and she yearned to do it all over again. She felt like she couldn’t get enough of him and that was crazy.
Nuts.
Insane.
“What do you mean, there’s a photo? I haven’t done anything out of the ordinary this weekend. I’ve been on my best behavior, damn it!” Noah yelled into his phone, startling Natalie.
She sat up in bed, holding the sheet over her chest, watching as he started to pace. He wouldn’t even look at her. “Mystery girl? Is that what the headline said? What website?” He paused, then she heard him mutter, “TMZ motherfuckers.”
Oh no. Was he talking about a photo of the two of them? Together? Worry gnawed at her gut and she tried to ignore the nervous fluttering of her stomach.
“I know you told me to keep my…indiscretions private, but we weren’t fucking in the street, Walt.” He paused again, listening to whatever Walt the manager was saying to him. And it was something major since she could hear his muffled yelling over the phone. “She’s nobody. No one. Don’t worry about it.”
Oh God. Did he really just say that? Holy. Crap. She climbed out of bed, not caring that she was naked and on blatant display. Like he cared—she was nothing and a no one.
She moved through the suite at lightning speed, grabbing her panties and pulling them on. Trying her best to get the bra on, but the delicate lacy fabric had gotten twisted when Noah practically tore it off of her earlier, and she was having a hell of a time. Frustrated, she went to her purse and shoved the bra inside, then snatched her top off the floor and tugged it over her head.
“Hey, hey, hey, where are you going?” Noah wrapped his arms around her from behind and she lurched out of his embrace, whirling around to face him. He frowned when he caught sight of her expression. She probably looked super pissed, which made sense because she was super pissed.
Royally pissed.
“What’s wrong?” he asked when she didn’t say anything.
“I need to go.” She lifted her chin, trying to keep her emotions together. The worst thing she could do was cry in front of him. “This was a…mistake.”
He stared at her, his expression completely unreadable, and she hated that. She wanted him as torn up as she was. “A mistake?”
She shrugged. “A weekend of fun, right? That’s all we wanted. Nothing serious. Just…Vegas and sex.”
“Vegas and sex,” he repeated, his deep voice a dull monotone.
Natalie nodded vigorously, not wanting to admit how much it hurt to hear him describe her as nothing and a nobody. She should’ve expected that. He was Noah Wilde after all. Rock star extraordinaire. A sex god who could have any woman he wanted. Why would he care about a little nobody like her?
“Nat.” He blew out a harsh breath and ran his fingers through his already tangled hair. “I don’t want it to end like this.”
Her heart sank. Yes, there was going to be an end to this. She knew it. She’d told herself from the beginning there would be. It was her own fault that she thought for even a millisecond that there could be more.
There could never be more. She was living in a fantasy world.
“Just…come back to bed with me. Please.” He stared at her, his expression pleading. She wanted to give in. Desperately. But she shouldn’t. “Forget that phone call. Forget that stupid photo—”
She interrupted him. “So there’s a photo of us? Really?”
He sighed and nodded. “Yeah. On TMZ. Guess Perez picked it up too. They don’t know who you are and I refused to tell my manager. I don’t want to bring a shit storm into your life, Nat. The paps find out who you are and they’ll follow you everywhere. I was trying to protect you.”
By calling me a nobody. Whatever. “Protect me?”
“Yes. Protect. You,” he reiterated. “But forget about all that. Let’s go back to bed, Nat. Tomorrow will come soon enough. I don’t want to give you up yet.”
Her heart rose at his words and she bashed it back down. She absolutely should not go back into that bed with him. He was rude. A user. His excuse that he wanted to protect her didn’t fly.
But she let him take her hand and lead her back to the bed anyway.
Chapter Nine
Six weeks later…
“Natalie. When are you going to stop moping over him?” Reagan’s voice was firm as she stared at her from across the tiny round table they were sitting at in the crowded bar. “It’s been six weeks and he hasn’t contacted you once. Noah Wilde is an asshole. Fuck him.”
“Yeah, fuck him,” Andrea chimed in, holding up her margarita glass before she sucked half of it down.
Natalie glared at her friends. Her blissed out, totally happy and sexually satisfied friends. They had a lot of room to talk. After being down in the dumps for weeks, Declan finally showed up while she was at work and told Reagan he wanted her in his life. Andrea and Luke Nelson were so sickeningly in love—yes, in freaking love—it was disgusting.
In other words, Natalie was jealous as hell and could hardly contain it.
“I wish I could fuck him,” she retorted, earning shocked looks from both of her friends. She shrugged and took a sip of her margarita. “It’s true. I miss him.”
“We know,” Andrea said, leaning across the table so she could be heard. The bar they all met at to have drinks and chips and salsa was extra packed tonight. “And you need to get over him. There are plenty of cute guys here tonight. You should go talk to one.”
“Oh yeah, it’s that easy,” Natalie said sarcastically, grabbing a chip and dunking it in salsa before she shoved it in her mouth. She hadn’t been eating much since they came back from Vegas. Work kept her busy. Worry and sadness kept her nauseous. It was so stupid for her to feel like this, but she couldn’t help it. Those last hours with Noah, despite the fight and her almost leaving, had been the best. The absolute best.
And then he just…disappeared. He’d asked for her phone number and did nothing with it. No calls, no texts, nothing. The photo that appeared on the gossip sites? Her face hadn’t been shown, just the back of her as Noah kissed her in the street right before they grabbed a cab and went back to the hotel. She still looked at that photo on occasion, her heart aching at the way he touched her face, so tenderly, like he cared.
Clearly, by his actions, he didn’t care at all.
“I know it hurts. I’ve been there.” Reagan reached for Natalie’s hand and covered it with her own, giving it a squeeze. “Maybe you should try and reach out to him?”
“No way.” Natalie shook her head, withdrawing her hand from Reagan’s. “I couldn’t do that. I don’t have his number. He didn’t give it to me.”
Reagan sent her a look. “I could get it. So could Andrea. Declan and Luke know him. They’re all friends. I could text Declan right now and ask him for it…”
“No,” Natalie practically yelled, startling herself. She cleared her throat, ignoring the wide-eyed stares her friends were giving her. “I don’t want his number. I refuse to contact him. If he’s interested, he’d call. I’m guessing that’s not the case.”
“Natalie,” Andrea started, but Nat cut her off with a glare.
“Seriously. Let’s drop the subject.” She glanced at Reagan, who was furiously texting someone. “And you better not be asking your man for Noah’s number or I’ll cut you.”
“Please.” Reagan rolled her eyes and set her phone down. “Like you’d do that.”
“Don’t tempt me.” She’d never been one to enjoy v
iolence, but she’d really like to kick Noah’s ass just about now. It made her sad, how quick he dumped her. Sad and angry. Yeah, it had only been one weekend, but damn it, she knew she wasn’t the only one who’d felt something special spark between them, right?
Right?
She knew she was being irrational. A no-strings affair had been what she wanted, but the more time she’d spent with Noah, the more she liked him. And now that he wasn’t around? She missed him.
Terribly.
Reagan’s phone vibrated, sending it skittering along the table, and she snatched it up, her eyes going wide when she read the text. “Oh my God.”
“What?” Andrea asked. “What’s going on?”
Natalie ignored them both. It was probably a dick pic from Declan and Reagan was just rubbing it in. God, she couldn’t believe she was thinking like this, acting like this. It went against her nature completely. Her parents would be shocked. She was behaving like a bitter old woman and she was tired of it. Tired of feeling sad.
“You won’t believe this.” Reagan was looking directly at her when she said it. “I just got a text from James.”
“James?” Natalie frowned. They’d all stayed in contact with James since they came home from Vegas. Andrea had even gone out to lunch with him once and had a great time. Natalie couldn’t bring herself to make firm plans with James because seeing him would only make her think of Noah and that would make her miserable.
Reagan nodded eagerly, her gaze dropping to her phone screen. “He said, ‘Have you heard the new song by Wilde & Wicked? It just came out today.’”
“What?” Noah had confessed to her that relations between the band members had been strained. Had they worked it out?
“I didn’t know they had a new song out,” Andrea said, glancing between Reagan and Natalie.
Reagan looked like she was about to burst. “Yeah, they have a new song. And it’s called…‘Natalie’.”
“What? Why wouldn’t James text me first?” Natalie said again, a little louder this time. She scrambled for her purse and pulled out her phone, going to iTunes so she could look up the song.
Wild Nights (Vegas Nights #3) Page 7
