Risk Me (Vegas Knights Book 2) Read online

  That thought swirled through my mind, then came to an abrupt halt, like a huge sign had just been planted in front of me.

  This was what I’d wanted—what I wanted.

  “We’re working on a project,” Nicky said, sounding a bit more normal now. “You’ll see it when we’re done.”

  “Okay.” This was what I wanted. My heart slammed hard against my ribs as an emotion I was too familiar with began to pulse through me.

  Anger.

  I was angry.

  “You have fun, Nicky, okay? Let me know when you can tell me more about the project.”

  “It won’t be long,” he told me, quite happy now. He hung up without saying anything else and I sat there staring at the phone for the longest time as I processed the abrupt change in my emotion.

  Nicky was happy.

  He was making friends.

  He was learning to cook for fuck’s sake—and I’d been so upset, had felt so guilty I’d missed the meal he’d invited me to.

  Fuck that.

  Angry, I grabbed my sketch pad and began to draw.

  Maybe I hadn’t gotten some of my best work done earlier, but as my pencil began to fly over the paper, I knew the creative dam had just been broken.

  I worked pretty damn well when I was pissed.

  The career I’d built over the past eight years was proof enough of that.

  I finished one design, then a second, and started a third before my fingers cramped so much I had to stop. The fabrics, the colors, everything I needed to finish those three designs was already as clear in my head as if the dresses were done.

  I had ideas for the next four I needed to round out my part of the show and I made quick notes, pausing every now and then to shake the numbness from my hand—and fume.

  Once I was done, I locked up and caught a cab back to my apartment. I was going to change, then I was going to call LeVan.

  The two of us needed to talk.

  Not available.

  I threw my phone down on the bed and spun away, pacing over to the window.

  Across the street in a towering spire of glass and steel stood Casino Torrid, the home of the Vegas Knights.

  Was LeVan in there somewhere?

  He wasn’t performing tonight.

  It was the one night of the week they turned their extraordinary theatre over to showcase up and coming talents—that was how it had been phrased in the PR materials I’d read. I’d devoured everything I could about LeVan and because of that, I knew as much information about his two partners as there was available publicly. I read everything their public relations team put, I bought the DVDs made available of their performances, and I held my breath every time LeVan appeared on stage in those DVDs.

  Since he wasn’t performing, I wondered just why he’d had someone else answer his cell phone.

  It wasn’t like I’d called the front desk and asked to speak to him.

  Anger burned in me so bright and vivid, I was almost sick with it.

  The woman had taken my name and number and promised she’d let him know I’d called, but that hadn’t done a damn thing to alleviate the anger. LeVan wasn’t available and my mind was conjuring up a thousand reasons why.

  And I knew none of them was right.

  Still, I couldn’t shut my mind down.

  “I’ve got to get out of here,” I muttered. Flinging off the faded Avengers T-shirt and jeans, I grabbed one of the dresses I’d designed. It was vivid, bold red, and looked amazing on me—of course, nothing I designed looked less than stellar. That was the perk of designing one’s own clothes, assuming one knew how. I was able to camouflage every flaw and highlight every asset.

  This dress, in particular, highlighted my two best assets—namely, my ass…and my legs. The color made my skin gleam like a pearl while my hair spilled down the back in a dark column, pure contrast.

  A pair of red stilettos completed the look.

  I didn’t put on any jewelry, save for a simple ring. It was twined and knotted gold, a ring LeVan had given me for Christmas years ago.

  I rarely took it off and although I was furious with him right now, it never occurred to me not to wear it.

  I lingered long enough to grab a small purse and toss in my ID and a debit card.

  I was going gambling and I just might get drunk off my ass.

  And I was going to do it at Casino Torrid.

  Maybe I’d get lucky and see LeVan…so I could tell him off.

  34

  LeVan

  “Don’t make me do that again!” Dina tossed my phone at my chest, and I just barely managed to catch it. “Next time, you tell her you can’t talk.”

  “I…Dina…” I tried giving her a smile. “It’s not like I’ve given her the brush-off. I mean, what do you think we’re doing here?”

  She huffed at me, arms crossed in front of her. She wore the Sleeping Beauty dress.

  We were cobbling together a different version of it, with a few new additions.

  “LeVan!”

  Nicky bounded across the stage, dressed in a suit of “armor” that the wardrobe techs had just finished adjusting so it would fit him. He was one of the new additions.

  The suit of armor belonged to Sly. He was a few inches shorter than Nicky, but their body types were similar and it hadn’t taken much for our geniuses in wardrobe to adjust the suit.

  The other part was trickier, but the big thing was getting Nicky to understand he could do it.

  It didn’t have to be perfect. He just had to have fun with it, and sell it.

  And so far, he was doing that in fine style

  Sly was actually playing my part in this bit because I had a different role.

  Mac had spent half the night coming up with the illusion after I’d told him my idea, then he’d spent the next couple of hours convincing me that Nicky would work.

  Next to nothing in it was new. The illusion itself was almost the same, just a twist on the Floating Lady, where Sly and I would fight it out in a mock battle. But the dragon itself would be...different.

  Because Thea and I had several dragons to overcome, something I hadn’t realized until Mac and Sly so calmly pointed out that I wasn’t the same person I’d been eight years ago…and neither was she.

  One dragon was time.

  One dragon was the doubt I’d let creep inside as days turned into weeks and she hadn’t just…appeared. Poof, like magic.

  I hadn’t thought about the changes all of this would bring for Nicky, nor how much he still struggled with changes—not the little ones that happened every day, but the big, life-changing ones.

  Another dragon was the doubt I suspected Thea had felt, and what I’d probably brought out after I’d attacked her.

  We had dragons to slay. Both of us.

  But what kind of knight was I if I couldn’t slay a couple more dragons for the woman I loved?

  I just hoped she’d be willing to slay a few of her own and not be too pissed off at me once we talked again.

  The door at the back of the practice theatre opened, and I glanced up as Mac slipped inside. He searched around the room and the second he saw me, his mouth twisted into an odd expression, something caught between a grimace and a smile. “Son, your ass is in trouble,” Mac said, striding toward me. He’d run up to his suite to grab something and had been gone longer than the twenty minutes or so it should’ve taken. The gleam in his eyes worried me a little.

  “I’m well aware, thanks.”

  “Oh, I think you might be in more trouble than you think.” Mac gestured to me and I hopped off the stage, irritation burning inside.

  “We don’t have time for chatter. We need to get this nailed tonight. Nicky needs to go through it a few more times to be comfortable with his role,” I pointed out.

  “I know, I know…” Mac held up his hands, waiting for me to draw closer. Once I did, he leaned in and down, closing the few scant inches left between us so he could murmur straight into my ear. “Your lady is here. Out
on the casino floor.”

  I blinked, those words echoing in my mind two or three times before I really processed just what he meant.

  Jerking back, I stared at him. “Thea is here?”

  Mac shot a look past me, but Nicky had chosen that moment to start chattering with Sly. Sly had impressed me today, proving to be far more patient with Nicky than I ever would’ve given him credit for and behind me, I could hear him answering the kid’s questions.

  Mac’s gaze slid to me and he inclined his head. “Yeah. Thea is here. And she looks like she’s out to kick some ass.”

  “What’s that mean?”

  Mac skimmed a hand over his hair. Most of it was pulled into a hairband. He took his time to tug the band free, gather his mane up, and smooth it back into a neater tail, securing it once more as he thought over whatever he was going to say. “Let’s just say she’s dressed to kill—red dress, fuck me heels, and quite a few men have noticed that she’s got one hell of an ass. She’s shooting craps at the moment and tossing back shots like there’s no tomorrow. Either she’s having the time of her life…or she’s pissed and burning off her anger. Take your pick.”

  Son of a bitch.

  I shot a look at the doors, debating.

  “You going out there?” Mac sounded wry. “Weren’t you just getting on me for taking a few minutes longer than planned?”

  I opened my mouth, then snapped it shut with a click of my jaw. “I go out there and if she’s in the mood I think she’s in, all we’ll do is make this worse. Let her be mad. She’s earned it.”

  “You sure?” Mac cocked a brow, crossing big arms over a heavy chest.

  No. “Let’s get to work,” I said shortly. I wasn’t about to explain to him that I hadn’t been sure about much of anything ever since I’d seen Thea at the after-party. It wasn’t a feeling I liked much, either.

  Three hours later, I collapsed against the wall inside the private elevator that only Sly, Mac and I had access too, along with our guests. It stopped at the three floors we’d taken over for our own use and no one else.

  So when someone stepped in behind me, I didn’t offer much of a response beyond, “Sorry, ma’am. This is a private elevator.”

  I had one arm braced over the elevator panel, head bowed, exhaustion crashing into me and I could only see her from the corner of my eye. But she made no move to exit.

  Jamming the button in to hold the doors, I turned my head. “You’ll need to find another…Thea.”

  She moved toward me.

  I let the button go and the doors slid closed.

  A moment later, the elevator was gliding up and I had my arms full of hot, angry, drunk woman.

  I tasted tequila on her breath and pulled back, catching her arms to keep her from following me. “You’re drunk, Thea. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

  “Fine, we’ll talk tomorrow. I didn’t want to talk tonight anyway,” she said, her voice surprisingly clear. She reached for me.

  Letting go of her arms to catch her hands, I pinned her against the wall, but all that did was press me up against her and her up against the elevator wall. The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened with a musical chime.

  Neither of us moved.

  We stared at each other.

  “You’re drunk,” I said again.

  “I’m tipsy,” she corrected. “I can do my ABCs and stand on one foot if that will make you feel better. And like I said…” Her eyes dropped to my mouth. “I’m not here to talk to you anyway.”

  “You think fucking half the night away will help anything?” I demanded, trying to ignore the commands coming from my body that were insisting that…yeah, it would help a lot.

  “I think it would do a considerable amount.” Thea lifted her chin. “For one, I spent too long without you and I can’t breathe without wanting you. For another, at least I’m good enough for you when we’re naked and not thinking.”

  My heart cracked a little. “Thea…”

  But when I went to kiss her, she averted her head. “I can give you more reasons, but I already said I don’t want to talk.”

  Oxygen dwindled, disappeared as she slid one knee between my legs, slowly moving it upward until it was pressed right up against my balls. “So…are we going to stand in here all night?”

  35

  Thea

  I thought, maybe, he’d pulled away.

  I didn’t know what I’d do if he did.

  Maybe this was stupid and maybe it would make things worse, but the moment I’d seen him walking across the lobby, I’d known what I was going to do—what I needed to do.

  The need for him burned inside me like a fever and there wasn’t any cure. As he leaned into me, arms stretched high overhead, I held my breath…waiting.

  The doors of the elevator had long since slid closed, but he backed away, still watching me and reached out, hitting one of the buttons without ever looking away from my face.

  When he didn’t speak, something in me died a little.

  It came back to life when he reached out and caught me around the waist, yanking me against him. He boosted me up as the doors opened and he carried me from the elevator across the hall where a single door waited. He passed his hand over the keypad and I heard a buzzing, followed by a click.

  He shoved the door open and we were inside. Then he motioned with his chin to the far side of the large foyer, and I saw it.

  Magnolias.

  Lilac magnolias.

  The ones that were Nicky’s favorite. And mine too.

  “How did you…where did you get those?” I stammered out.

  “They’re your favorite. I want you to be surrounded by only the things and people you love, baby doll.”

  I pressed a hand to my heart, overwhelmed by the flood of emotion. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s said to me. But… how did you know to have them ready for me today?”

  “I’ve had flowers like sent up to my suite every day since the guys and I bought this hotel, Thea. Every day for all those years that I waited. Just in case you surprised me and showed up. And every day that I saw them, you were here with me. Call it… faith.”

  “I… God, I love you so much, LeVan.”

  His tiger-stripe gaze held mine and I waited, expecting him to put me down.

  He didn’t.

  He turned around and pressed me back against the door, his strong hands going to the hem of my dress and dragging it upward until it bunched around my waist. “You want me crazy,” he muttered as he leaned in and kissed me, his tongue licking past my lips to seek out my mouth. “That’s all there is to it. You just fucking want me crazy.”

  “Why should you get to be the sane one?”

  At least that was what I tried to say.

  The words made little sense because he’d slid one hand between the crevice of my cheeks, then lower, seeking out my entrance and in a blink, he’d pushed two fingers inside my pussy and I cried out at the sudden invasion. He worked me to a quick orgasm before he finally lowered my feet to the ground and turned me to face the door.

  I didn’t even have time to brace myself before he kicked my feet apart and buried into me. “This is what you wanted, right, Thea?” he growled into my ear.

  “Yes…”

  He said nothing else, just fell into a rhythm that tore a harsh sob from me and quickly brought that biting, bruising hunger rising to the forefront. But just when I tipped forward and was close to falling over, he stopped, pulling out.

  “LeVan!”

  “Not yet,” he said.

  He swept me up into his arms and I clung to him, breathless and disoriented, as he carried me through the apartment. Lights flashed in through the windows but they passed by too fast for my head to settle and before I knew it, I was bent over the edge of the bed as he knelt behind me. “Again,” he said, and then he was inside me, riding me with slow, deep strokes.

  I moaned, shuddering around the feel of him inside me.

  He smoothed one hand up the si
de of my hip, then down, before grasping the curve of my ass and pulling me open. I gasped when I felt him probing at the entrance to my anus and then he wasn’t just probing anymore, but anchored in deep. He’d slicked lubricant or something on so that his finger was slippery wet and I whimpered as he rotated, twisted, and stretched my inner walls.

  “LeVan!” A crazed, new sensations rose inside me, something I couldn’t even begin to describe but it was wild, burning, all-consuming.

  “Is this what you want, Thea?” he asked, adding a second finger and rotating both of them.

  I cried out.

  At the same time, he slammed into me harder, his cock so snug inside me, filling me up, making me whole.

  The orgasm caught me sideways and I went flying into it.

  But I never quite came back down from it. Somewhere between the start of my climax and the end that didn’t quite happen, LeVan withdrew. I moaned out in denial and tried to draw him back to me, but he caught my hand and pushed it back to the bed.

  And I felt the head of his cock…elsewhere. It pressed against the entrance to my ass, wet now and prepared for him. Or…somewhat prepared. “Push down around me,” he said as he started to enter me.

  Pain teased me, flaring just at the end of my consciousness.

  “LeVan…?”

  “Push down,” he said again, the command in his voice unmistakable.

  I did so and he slid inside me. It wasn’t an easy passage and I shuddered as I tried to take him. He slid his hand around and pressed his fingers against my clit. As he began to circle it with slow, lazy caresses, I whimpered and shivered around the sweet, mind altering invasion of his cock.

  I could feel him trembling behind me, trembling within me—his cock jerked and that brought about the first real jolt of pleasure. Without thinking, I flexed around him and he growled. “Don’t do that. You’re not ready.”