One Night In Vegas

by Odell, Roxie

  His hot lips found the pebbled points of her nipples, and he suckled and licked and drew her out, causing wetness to flow from her body.

  She teetered in and out of clear-headedness, but it was nothing like being drunk. Rather, the rush was wholesome and natural, not at all poisonous. She was fully ecstatic. His powerful fingers cupped and stroked her breasts as he continued sucking and teasing her taut buds.

  His fingertips stroked her flat belly, which quivered under the thrill of his touch spreading through her. Finally, he dispensed with the delicate manner and snaked down between her legs to the heat waiting for him there.

  Corrine instinctively splayed her legs for him. She extended one up and over the back of the sofa and stretched the other across the floor. He scrunched his body down to place his mouth where his hand was, and the tip of his tongue found her. She drew up against his lips, clenching in response to the sugared sensation. He lashed her repeatedly with soft whips, building the arousal within her, tight in her belly and ready to explode.

  Her sexual excitement moved to her chest as she rocked up to his tongue, enduring his licking, his penetration. Her breath dragged through her throat, pushing out little moans of delight. Corrine lifted her leg up in the air, back and forth, changing up the pressure as Derrick sweetly ministered to her.

  “Oh, Derrick,” she proclaimed.

  “Are you going to come for me?” he whispered.

  “Yes,” she said. “Don’t stop.”

  He did not let up till she made good on her declaration, and he did not rise up to get inside her either. He pinned her hips with his strong hands, holding her in place until she came undone, which didn’t take long. Corrine, a mass of rolling spasms, helplessly cried out while he continued to touch her, stroking her through the powerful bliss. He worked her with his mouth as he unzipped his pants and pulled his cock out.

  Just as her pleasure ebbed, he entered her, possessing her fully in one stroke. He braced her lower back with one hand and placed the other behind her shoulders then lifted her until she was straddling him. It was a perfect position, allowing their bodies to connect as much as possible. Corrine’s weight sank onto him, urging him deeper and deeper inside her. She pressed against the floor with the soles of her feet and grabbed hold of the back of the sofa, all while Derrick worked her hips expertly in his hands.

  In short order, they were both drenched in sweat. Corrine was fully electrified from her climax, and every stroke of his body into hers was a burst of pleasure for the two of them. She could easily bring herself back to full pleasure so they could peak together. Derrick threw his head back and pressed his eyes shut, facing the ceiling and trying his best to hold back.

  Their lovemaking was so good that it was almost impossible to submit to the next level of ecstasy. As always, she wanted the moment to go on forever. She slowed her pace, cueing him to do likewise, until their bodies rocked together in slow, wanton thrusts.

  Corrine swiveled her hips, jutting them this way and that, mixing it up for cerebral delight as well as physical. They were still climbing toward that sweet culmination, savoring every moment of the journey along the way. She pushed off the floor, pistoning up and down on his length. Derrick pressed his thumb between her legs so her movement produced some wonderfully bothersome friction. He tweaked her nipple, and the arousal was so paralyzing, so enthralling, that they simply could hold off no longer.

  She slipped her hand where his was and, with strategic pressure, coaxed her excitement back to life. She clamped her mouth below his ear and nibbled and suckled, laving his earlobe with her tongue until he exploded with her. When he did, she felt his warmth flowing inside her, and she let go like fireworks and came with him.

  They jerked and spasmed until the moment washed through them. When the explosion passed, they lazily lay on one another, delightfully spent.

  Derrick finally drew in a deep breath and gave her firm buttocks a loving smack. “Mmm,” he proclaimed.

  Corrine touched her forehead to his and was still as the last wave of sweetness left her. Whatever happened between them, there was nothing wrong with that part of their relationship, and she took some comfort in that.

  After a little while, he leaned forward and gently moved her aside. He climbed off the sofa and stepped into the bathroom to freshen up before traveling back to his dresser to fetch something.

  Corrine drew the robe around her and waited till he sat back down with her. When he showed her a ring box, she was too stunned to move. Her shock only increased when he opened it and revealed an incredibly gorgeous ring with an awfully generous diamond that sparkled in an unreal way, like something right out of the movies. It was absolutely magnificent, the stuff of every little girl’s wedding ring dreams. Unfortunately, even the mention of marriage brought back all the bad feelings about the recent days and weeks.

  “I know you have a lot of mixed feelings about us, Corrine,” he said, once again reading her mind. “I also know we’ll never be able to smooth things over if we don’t talk about it. We need to—”

  She cut him off. “I don’t think I—” Then she stopped, unsure what she wanted or needed to say.

  “I know,” he said adamantly. “I know I was wrong. If you want me to admit that a million times, Corrine, I will, but one way or another, this is yours. I took something from you and wasn’t there for you. I want you to have this ring. It’s a symbol of how I really feel about you, a reminder of how much I want to be connected to you.”

  “But the gambling,” she said, trying so hard to be very hurt.

  “Yes, I know,” he said stiffly, looking as if she’d slapped him in the face. “I know I’m one of the bad guys in this situation, maybe the worst, but, well, I didn’t exactly get married by myself, even if I am the only one who remembers it. I know you don’t want me to rub that in your face forever.” Derrick dropped his head, immediately regretting the way the words came out. “Wait, I’m so sorry. I—”

  “This is not the way I would expect to be given a ring,” she said, sulking.

  “And it isn’t the way I want to give you one,” he insisted. “Look, I know things aren’t perfect right now, but I don’t want to wait another second.”

  “Are you going to make me take it, just like you’re making me stay here?” she asked, all the while wishing she would just shut her mouth and take the damn ring. She had no idea why she was trying to pick a fight, why she was trying to make him out to be the only bad guy in the situation. At that moment, she was the only one doing any damage.

  “No,” he said, sounding totally destroyed and not even able to look at her. “I won’t make you do anything. It’s just, in my heart, I believe you really do want to be married to me. Maybe that’s just my insanity talking, though.” He shut the lid on the box. “Anyway, it’s yours, and any time you’d like to have a conversation, I’m here. Wear it if you want… or not.” Derrick rose again and walked to the smaller room off the main room in the suite. “I’m sleeping in here tonight. Some of your clothes and things are in the closet if you want to change or whatever. Of course, you’re free to leave anytime. I just wanted to make sure you didn’t drink and drive. If you do go, just please be safe.”

  Corrine felt like the worst person on the planet. He was being the bigger person, accepting the responsibility for his mistakes, and she’d refused to do the same. Why? Why am I putting him through this? Why am I putting us through this?

  Chapter 34

  She spent the night at Derrick’s hotel because something about being in the same space with him allowed her to sleep like a baby. Unfortunately, he was gone before she awoke, and she hadn’t even heard him leave.

  She thought a lot about taking the ring but told herself it would be too materialistic, the very antithesis of love. “Besides,” she muttered to herself. “It isn’t as if I deserve it.”

  Her drive back to Paradise from the Tresor felt lonely. The sky was clear, the heat mellow. It was a lovely day, but Corrine was struggling to
find any happiness in it.

  A new fear had crept into her reality. The last time all was good and she was in Paradise, she drank like a fish. She blamed her prior escapades on her surroundings and made excuses because everyone got wild in Vegas. Binges and benders were the in things there. Now that she’d tumbled into a drunken stupor in suburbia, though, she didn’t trust that it wouldn’t happen again.

  On principle, whatever principle it was, she had left his ring behind, but as she made her way to her little stucco bungalow, she regretted that. Thus, just as she was about to pull into her drive, she turned around to head back into town. She couldn’t bear to take the ring in front of him, but she wanted it nonetheless.

  It was easy enough for her to go back up to his room. The Tresor staff knew her as his girlfriend, perhaps even his wife, so no one questioned her presence. She snuck in quietly and took a quick peek around to make sure he wasn’t home. Then she opened the drawer and snatched the ring box out of it.

  As soon as she had it in hand, she heard him coming down the hall, talking to someone. Instead of playing it cool, she tried to hide, hurrying into the smaller room of the suite. Since there was no real place to conceal herself, she laid across the bed and played possum while she eavesdropped on his conversation.

  “Come on in,” he said stiffly. “What was so important that you had to talk to me here, in my room?”

  “I just need to lay it out for you,” said a woman.

  It was very tough for Corrine to pretend she was asleep while there was another woman in her husband’s room, even if Derrick wasn’t being very polite to her. The voice sounded familiar, but Corrine couldn’t place it now.

  “Lay it out then,” Derrick snapped.

  “Fine,” she said. “You give me what I want, and I won’t go to your boss about your… activity. You’ll keep your job, and I’ll have the man of my dreams.”

  Teri? That waitress? Corrine realized, much to her horror.

  “The only reason I entertained your request is because I wasn’t sure, but now I am,” he said firmly. “I don’t give a shit what you do, Teri. Go to my boss if you want. You won’t have me or my money in the end. Hell, I already lost everything, so your threats don’t mean a damn thing. You can’t get blood from a stone.”

  “You’re lying!” she spat.

  “I want you to leave me alone. I’ve got nothing for you to take, and there’s nothing I want to give you. Am I clear?” He casually walked into the smaller room where Corrine was pretending to sleep. If he knew she was faking it, he didn’t say so. Instead, he just turned around to go back to the other room, but he almost bumped into the waitress, who was right on his heels.

  “What’s she doing here?” Teri demanded.

  “Uh, she’s my wife,” he said. “Like I’ve told you a gazillion times, I’m a married guy.”

  “But this is a different wife,” complained the busty blonde.

  “So it is,” he said, smirking. “Look, I’m not one to fuck around on my wife, Teri. Besides, married or not, I wouldn’t fuck you if you had a gun to my head. Now just get out of here and leave me alone.”

  “Well, I never!”

  “That’s my point, and you never will!” Derrick shouted, then gave her a light shove and slammed the door behind her.

  Corrine continued her act until she was sure the coast was clear.

  Derrick, back in the room again, very softly approached her. He leaned over her, caging her with his arms as he pressed on the mattress. He stared at her until she was forced to at least lift one eyelid and admit she wasn’t asleep. He arched his eyebrow with amusement.

  Corrine, clutching the ring box, had a guilty look on her face even though she wasn’t technically stealing it. “Hi,” she said softly.

  His face lit brightly, and his eyebrows rose. “Hi there,” he said. “Did you come all the way back here from your place just to take a nap?”

  “Um, sort of. I hope it’s okay.” She knew it was the worst and most obvious lie she’d ever told.

  He broke into laughter, a full, real chuckle.

  Corrine smiled because it seemed like it had been forever since he’d laughed like that. She tried to move, but he pinned her.

  “Want to try again?” he demanded.

  “If you insist,” she said, shoving the ring box under her hips. “I came back, and then you guys came in, and I… Well, I guess I was embarrassed.”

  Derrick’s face darkened in a way that left Corrine confused, not sure whether she should be afraid or turned on. “What’s that?” he asked coldly.

  “What’s what?” she asked.

  In a swooping motion, he lifted her up and set her aside, revealing the ring box. He picked it up to show it to her, then asked for an explanation again with only the expression on his face.

  A tear escaped her eye as emotion welled in her unexpectedly. “Please don’t make me give it back,” she whispered.

  “I won’t,” he said, handing it to her. “Like I said before, it’s yours.”

  She accepted it, struggling to choke back the tears.

  “It’s not real, you know,” he said in his sexiest voice. “It’s just pretty.”

  Corrine shook her head. “It’s real to me,” she said.

  “Just saying,” he said. “In case you’re hoping to pawn it to finance an addition on to your house.”

  She whipped her head up and looked at him with a smirk, and he winked at her. She reached her hand out to him, and he crawled onto the mattress and drew her into his arms.

  “I think I have a drinking problem,” she said finally.

  He laughed. “I’d agree with that,” he said gently. “I should have been more of a nursemaid to you, I guess, because I saw you get out of hand a couple times. I’m not claiming to be innocent or holier than thou because I knocked ’em back with you more than a few times, and I know I’ve got a gambling problem myself.”

  “Did you mean it when you said you lost everything?” she asked.

  He raked his fingers through her hair. “I wasn’t talking about cash, sweetheart,” he said in a whisper. “I was talking about you. I thought we were over. Are we?”

  “That depends. Do you really want to be married to me?”

  “Well, yeah,” he said. “I figure it’ll work better that way, since you’re going to be married to me.” He gave her a quick kiss on the lips.

  “But—” she started to protest.

  He pressed his fingers to her mouth to shush her. “But we happened so fast?” he asked.

  She nodded.

  “But I just got out of a marriage not so long ago?” he asked.

  She nodded again.

  “But you have a drinking problem and I have a gambling problem?” he asked.

  “Also, what’s up with that waitress?” she asked lightly. “Is she trying to blackmail you?”

  “I got in a jam with the gambling,” he explained. “She let me borrow some cash, and it carried me through to another winning streak.”

  Corrine pressed her fingertips to his chest as she studied him. “When?” she asked.

  “What do you mean?” he asked. “It was when I was gambling, but I’m not now.”

  “No, I mean, when was it? When did she loan you the money? Was it when you thought we were over, when I was just not available, or…”

  Derrick didn’t want to answer the question at all. “It was… before we got married,” he finally said.

  The pressure in the room rose, so much so that she feared she might burst. “So, you went to her with your troubles but didn’t come to me?” Corrine asked. “You knew her from before, then got into some trouble?”

  “Corrine,” Derrick pleaded.

  Pushing him away, Corrine ignored him and continued. “So you thought, ‘Hey, there was this woman who used to hit on me when I was married. I can go to her?’”

  “I was sick, Corrine,” said Derrick.

  “Right, and then she came on to you again. So, to get her off your
back, you took me to the place where she works, just to show her you’re not available?”

  “That wasn’t it,” said Derrick.

  Corrine rolled off the mattress. “That was exactly it,” she argued. “First, you went to another person and not me, the woman you made your girlfriend. Then you used me to keep her from asking what she just asked you today.” She charged away from him.

  “You’ve got it all wrong,” he said. “What the hell just happened here?”

  She shook her head, anger coursing through her body. “If I listen to you, I’ll just fall for you all over again, and I just… I don’t want to, damn it!” she yelled, then chucked the ring box across the room.

  “It’s yours,” he insisted, emotion tangling his voice.

  “You said it’s not real, and you couldn’t have been more right,” she spat. “There’s nothing in it for me, Derrick. Our marriage is as fake as that ring.”

  Chapter 35

  She could hardly see to walk down the hall to the elevator. It would have been a good time to let him walk her out, but she was destroyed and wanted nothing to do with him. As eager as she was to walk away, she knew there was something there for her to go back to if she chose to turn around. She staggered with indecision, feeling very self-conscious, worried that anyone who saw her might think she was drunk again.

  It would have been the perfect time to numb herself with alcohol, but that was the last thing she wanted or needed to do. She got as far as the fancy glass elevator that glided down the side of the building, the very place where their combustive relationship began. She boarded the elevator and sobbed all the way down.

  Knowing she was in no shape to drive, she willed herself off the elevator and waited in the lobby, bracing herself against the wall.

  The elevator door opened again, and out stepped Derrick. He took hold of her firmly and looked her squarely in the eye. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said. “I love you more than I thought possible. I was sick, Corrine. I know it’s no excuse for the horrible things I did, but it’s true. I need you to know I was never unfaithful to you.”