Toad

by Cambria Hebert

  I opened my mouth, but he held up his hand.

  “I understand you want this done yesterday. I will hold off on having the hearing postponed for another twenty-four hours. Perhaps reach out to the chapel where you got married. See if anyone remembers you. You’re very famous. That makes you memorable. See if you can find someone who was there that night at the chapel. Someone who can corroborate your story. If you can find someone in the twenty-four hours and get them back here, we can proceed with the hearing. If you can’t find anyone, we’ll go ahead with the handwriting analysis.”

  A witness. Just one person. One person who could speak on my behalf. I could do it.

  I glanced at Nate.

  I had to do it.

  I stood and nodded. “Thank you for your time today, Walter. I will find you a witness, and I’ll be in touch.”

  “Call me the minute you have something.”

  I nodded.

  Nate put his arm at my waist as we walked to the door.

  Behind us, Walter called out, “And don’t forget. The press cannot get wind of your relationship. And under no circumstance can Mr. Roth be at the hearing.”

  Nate’s hand tightened at my side. I felt his frustration and anger.

  “We understand.” I confirmed.

  The second the doors to Walter’s office opened, Nate dropped his arm from around me and put a little distance between us.

  A rift opened up in my chest, but I knew the pain of him only standing beside me would be nothing compared to the feeling I would know if I had to remain “married” to Will for any longer than two more days.

  We walked down to the SUV, the entire time barely looking at each other, certainly not touching.

  It was the longest walk of my life.

  Once we made it to the car, I pulled out my phone.

  “Who you calling, princess?” he asked quietly.

  “Ten,” I replied, focused. “I need to borrow his plane.”

  Nate

  I’d rather never eat Fruity Pebbles again than pretend my girl wasn’t my girl.

  Yet here I was… riding the Nate Train solo.

  I mean, it was a pretend solo trip, but I hated it.

  And I hated Will Solberg.

  Yeah, yeah, hating someone was wrong. Well, if hating that douchebag was wrong, then I didn’t want to be right.

  We flew together to Vegas, thanks to my cousin and his private plane. But we departed the plane separate and took separate cars from the airport in Vegas to the hotel.

  Aerie was already inside the exclusive hotel, Yellow. The place where she woke up married. I didn’t want to stay here. I didn’t even want to look at this building, but the fact it was exclusive, had no cameras, no press, and the staff was all sworn to secrecy made it the only place in Vegas we could stay. That is if we wanted to see each other.

  And I wanted to see her.

  Letting her come to Vegas without me was not in the cards. As in, over my dead body. My instinct to protect her was in overdrive right now, and I was beginning to think it might never be anything but.

  Still, we had to be cautious because the last thing I wanted was for us to be photographed together and give Will even more ammunition against her.

  Someday that guy was going to get what was coming to him, and I sure as hell couldn’t wait.

  A while after Aerie was checked in, I pulled my rental into the private tunnel where guests entered. There were no signs or indications that it led to any sort of hotel, and the building itself was half a mile from the entrance. It too had no kind of identification on it. From what Aerie said, a lot of the locals all thought it was just a high-rise of office buildings. To keep up with the façade, the first two levels of the building did house offices, which were accessible from the street, but the third floor was sealed off from the lower portion.

  After driving for what felt like forever, the tunnel opened into a space that felt as if I’d just arrived at the swankiest parking garage ever. I mean, the space was actually like a hotel for cars. The floors were polished, there was art on the walls, and all the lighting was crystal sconces. There were even velvet drapes at the valet station.

  “Guest of Yellow, sir?” The man in a full-on tuxedo asked when I stopped the car and rolled down the window.

  “Yes,” I said, keeping my eyes trained ahead. I was wearing dark Ray Bans and a baseball hat.

  He handed me a ticket and then held his hand out for my keys.

  “You don’t need my name?” I asked.

  “We don’t do that here, sir.”

  I took the ticket, he put a corresponding one on the dash, and then I got out of the car, giving him the keys. I didn’t have a bag, and he didn’t ask me if I did. He simply got in the car and drove off.

  Across from the valet station was a huge glass rotating door trimmed in crystals. I went through and was instantly transported into easily the most luxurious, most moneyed place I’d ever been.

  I’m talking crystals that shimmered like diamonds, gold and silver trim everywhere. White marble. Art I was pretty sure belonged in museums and a bar literally serving free Cristal from a fountain.

  I sincerely tried not to gape as I gazed around for the elevators. It became almost impossible when the white marble wall slid open, revealing a softly lit car that looked more like some fancy spaceship than an elevator.

  What’s more was that a very famous actor stepped out of it.

  “Dude! I love your movies!” I said, my voice echoing around the hushed, posh environment.

  He merely smiled and kept walking.

  Quickly, I dove into the elevator as the walls started to slide shut. I typed in the room number Aerie had texted (like for real typed it in; there were no floor buttons here) and barely felt when the car started to slide up.

  When it stopped, the doors slid open, revealing basically a very short hallway that led directly to the door to Aerie’s suite. There was no stepping off the elevator onto the floor and hunting down your room.

  There was just the door to her space and enough room to stand in front of it.

  I stepped out, sort of feeling claustrophobic, and rapped lightly on the door with my knuckles. I heard someone on the other side, and then it opened, just enough for a dark eye to peer out.

  “Hey, princess,” I said, feeling more like I could breathe now.

  She opened the door wide and pulled me inside as the elevator behind me shut and disappeared.

  “This place is like creepy and amazing all at the same time,” I told her.

  Aerie wrapped her arms around my waist and pressed close. Holding her with one arm, I shut the door and locked it with the other, then wrapped that one around her tight.

  “Everything okay?” I murmured, rubbing her back. “They give you trouble checking in?”

  “No, it was fine. You pay cash up front. They don’t log you into the system, so there isn’t really a record of you being here. It’s all very exclusive. No one even knows who’s in what room because the elevators stop at each room and not on a floor.”

  “I noticed.” I thought it sounded pretty macabre, but I didn’t say it out loud. I was just glad to be with her.

  “When you order room service, it’s left in that little space between the elevator and the door of the suite. The delivery person doesn’t even know who they’re delivering to.”

  “This place is so fancy they probably don’t have Fruity Pebbles.” Which meant this really wasn’t my kind of place.

  She lifted her head off my chest, gazing up. “I don’t like having to hide you.”

  I kissed her in reply, sweeping my tongue into her mouth, playing with hers. She sighed, and I picked her up, her legs hooking around my waist. Not breaking the kiss, I carried her into the room, laying her across the bed.

  I didn’t get many kisses in today because we woke up in New York, flew to L.A., met her lawyer, and then hopped on another flight to Vegas. Quite frankly, I didn’t even know what time it was.

 
; All I knew was now we had less than twenty-four hours to find a way to discredit Solberg and his so-called witness.

  As I dragged my lips across her jaw and down her neck, she moaned and turned her head, giving me more access to her sensitive skin. I nipped at it, then sucked her earlobe between my lips and massaged it. Her fingers slipped under my T-shirt and caressed my sides and back.

  My cock strained against the fly of my jeans, and I thrust my hips against her. Automatically, her legs spread, and I settled between them, dry-humping her like we were a pair of sex-starved teenagers.

  Aerie rocked with me, and my blood boiled. My lips went back to hers, making out until I was sure the entire inside of my mouth tasted like her.

  I pushed up, hovering over her body and balancing on my arms. Breathing heavy, I stared down into her flushed face and nearly came in my pants. “If I don’t get off this bed right now, we’re going to be late getting to the chapel.”

  Her pink tongue slipped out, smoothing over her lower lip. “That place is open twenty-four hours. We have some time.”

  I groaned, and her hand curled in the front of my shirt, tugging it up. I let her peel it over my head and toss it away before colliding with her body once more.

  Her hands were in my hair, on my chest, and grazing down my back. The feel of her tongue wrapping around mine was like a drug I couldn’t get enough of. Continuing to kiss, I pushed her shirt up over her breasts. She had one of those flimsy, soft-feeling bras, so it was easy to pull the material down and bare her perky breast.

  She sighed into my mouth when I caught the hardened nipple and rolled it around between my fingers. Her lips slipped away from mine, her face falling to the side as I caressed her. My mouth latched onto the place my fingers had been, and I sucked deeply, causing her to arch up off the bed.

  My arm slipped under her body, fitting against her back so even when she relaxed, her body remained arched upward at the perfect position for my mouth.

  The fabric of her bra was damp by the time I lifted my head. Her chest rose and fell deeply, her hips moving impatiently.

  “I love you, princess,” I told her as I peeled the clothes off her body.

  “Oh, Nate.” She sighed. “I never even knew love could be like this until you.”

  I moved down her body, licking and kissing until I felt her tremble beneath my touch. Grabbing a condom out of my back pocket (I might not have brought extra clothes, but priorities…), I quickly removed all my clothes. When I turned back, she was sitting on the edge of the bed, legs spread, hair all mussed.

  I moved toward her, liking the way her eyes slid over my body, a caress that required no physical touch. She took the packet out of my hand and laid it beside her hip before taking my dick in her hand.

  I shuddered, and she smiled.

  “I think I want to feel you tremble the way you make me.”

  I opened my mouth, but whatever I was about to say turned into a moan. Aerie’s hot little mouth slid down over my length, taking it all.

  I felt my tip quiver in her mouth, and I pictured old ladies in their underpants.

  What?

  A man’s gotta do what a man’s gotta do.

  And this man wasn’t about to come early, because I had a lot more of this woman to enjoy.

  She made a sound, vibrating against my cock, as she torturously pulled back, dragging her lips over my skin. My hands found their way into her hair, my hips thrust out, forcing me deep into her mouth again.

  I froze, thinking maybe it was an asshole thing to do. She felt my reaction and gazed up my body, still keeping my cock in her mouth, and smiled.

  After that, I sort of stopped seeing. All I did was feel the way she sucked my rod as if it were coated in honey and honey was her fucking favorite snack.

  My balls and legs were indeed trembling when she finally released me.

  “I can taste you,” she said, pulling my lower lip into her mouth. I made a sound. It was all I could manage. Her fingers delved into the short, springy curls, and she smiled. “Red is definitely your natural hair color.”

  I picked up the condom and ripped it open. She moved back into the center of the large bed while I rolled it on. When I was done, I went to her, pinned her hands above her head in one of mine, and kissed her while my free hand tested out her readiness. She was drenched, and the second I flicked my thumb over her swollen clit, she shuddered.

  Releasing her hands, I moved over her, settling between her knees.

  Rising, I pushed her legs wide, staring down at her body stretched out before me. Unable to stop myself, I leaned down, sucking her breast into my mouth. She arched up and whispered my name.

  I dipped into her. Slow this time, not all at once. She grabbed at my hips and ass, trying to pull me in deep, but I wouldn’t let her. I went little by little… teasing us both.

  When I was at last sheathed inside her, I pulled out and plunged back in with one hard stroke.

  Her mouth opened, but no sound came out. I did it again and again, pausing only long enough to make sure she was okay with the punishing pace.

  “Don’t stop.” She gasped, digging her nails into my hips.

  I went back at her, pumping into her body like my life depended on it.

  She was gasping for breath, straining against me, when I leaned down and pinched her nipple lightly. She exploded beneath me. My name echoed around the room as she came apart over and over.

  My strokes gentled as she came down, her body sinking into the mattress with a heavy sigh. I kissed her softly, and she smiled against my lips.

  I pulled out, then sank back in. Her walls spasmed around me.

  Her palm hit my chest and pushed. “Roll over,”

  I did, making sure I stayed in her heat. Aerie rose over me like a queen claiming her throne. She sank down deep, wiggled her hips, and smoothed her hands over my chest. Then she linked her hands in mine, stretched them above my head, and rode me like a cowgirl on a wild stallion.

  I wished I could say I lasted longer, but fuck me… She milked my dick so good it was literally impossible not to explode.

  Even as I came, she moved over me, clutching her walls so I was sheathed so tight as I pumped hot seed inside her.

  When it was done, she collapsed over my chest and kissed the underside of my jaw.

  I was going to marry her someday.

  And not in some shitty chapel in Vegas.

  I was going to make her mine in every way humanly possible.

  Aerie was my forever.

  “Wow,” she said a short while later.

  I laughed, a throaty, cocky sound.

  “I guess it’s true what they say about redheads,” she quipped. “Red in the head, wild in bed.”

  I grinned. “You don’t have red hair, so what’s your excuse?”

  Gazing down at me, she whispered, “You.”

  Lifting off the pillow, I kissed her quietly. Tenderly. Then I pulled her back into my chest and wrapped her in my arms. “Come back down here. I’m not done holding you yet.”

  Aerie

  Seriously, though, were all redheads this fantastic in bed? Because damn.

  But that’s not what this chapter is about. Sadly.

  Let’s move on…

  “You know you can’t come to the chapel with me,” I said, still drunk on whatever it was he did to my body.

  Seriously, he was like the body whisperer.

  That thought made white-hot jealousy rip through me. How many other bodies did he whisper? Just the idea made me sick.

  “I’m not letting you go alone.”

  “How many women have you slept with?” The words literally toppled out of my mouth without any caution at all.

  He stilled beneath me. “What?”

  Well, the question was out there now. There was no point in backtracking. Besides, I was still insanely jealous.

  Lifting off his shoulder, I said, “How many?”

  “Why?” His voice was dubious.

  “Bec
ause I want to know.”

  “How many men have you slept with?” He countered.

  That was easy. “Two, including you.”

  His green eyes rounded. “Really?”

  I nodded, feeling a little self-conscious.

  Nate dragged his fingers through my hair. “He was your first.” The storm in his eyes proved he didn’t like it.

  I laid a hand on his chest. “Yes, but it was never like it is with you.”

  “Girls never forget their first… Do they?”

  “Would you rather be a girl’s first or her last?”

  He grinned fast. “Both.”

  I pinched his nipple.

  Nate laughed, but when it died away, his eyes softened on my face. “Last. Definitely last.”

  I smiled. “So?”

  He sighed. “Same as you.”

  I couldn’t help it. I gaped at him.

  He made a sound and tried to roll away.

  “Come back here,” I demanded and pulled him back beneath me. “Are you embarrassed?”

  “Should I be?”

  “No!” I said, trying not to smile like I’d won the lottery. I failed. “I’m so glad!”

  He scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It means I don’t have to be angry at a bunch of faceless women who came before me.”

  Realization dawned in his spectacular eyes. “You’re jealous?”

  “Ragingly jealous.” I confirmed.

  “There’s nothing to be jealous of, sweetheart.” He brushed his knuckles over my cheek but ruined his sweetness by grinning wide.

  I frowned. “You aren’t lying, are you?”

  “If I was going to lie, I’d lie about being more experienced.”

  “You have more natural ability than experience will ever teach some guys.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “And how would you know?”

  “A girl just knows these things.” I sniffed.

  He laughed.

  After a moment, I admitted, “I’m actually surprised, though.”

  He made a sound. “Me, too.”

  I laughed.

  This was nice. Being in bed with him. Laughing. Feeling safe. It was new for me, but something I didn’t ever want to give up.