“Nate?” Gabe’s voice barked at them from the two-way radio on Nate’s belt.
Nate unclipped the radio, his gaze still fixed on Annie. “Yes?”
“We’ve got a report your elevator has stopped in between the tenth and eleventh floors.”
His lips twisted in amusement as he pressed the button to respond. “That is correct.”
There was a long silence before Gabe spoke again. “Okay, then. Radio if you need assistance.”
“Will do.” Nate turned the radio off and tossed it to the floor with a loud clank.
With the interruption behind them, Annie crossed the floor in two long strides and stopped just short of pressing her rock-hard nipples into his chest. He watched her, one hand still buried in his pocket, the other perched on his hip. She took a ragged breath and stared into the tensed muscles of his neck and jaw as they twitched beneath the skin. She ran her fingertip along the line of this throat, stopping at his collar.
Then she spoke. “Touch me, Nate. Don’t make me wait any longer.”
It was all that needed to be said. Nate’s arms wrapped around her in an instant, pulling the full length of her body against him. His lips dipped down to brush against hers with a featherlight touch that sent a shiver of desire to the base of her spine.
“I want you,” he whispered against her skin.
Annie answered with her lips, standing on her toes to reach up and capture his mouth. The kiss was tender at first, soothing the ache for a moment before the fire raged anew. Her fingers weaved into the blond curls at his neck, tugging him closer, but knowing he could never be close enough.
Nate’s hands slid down her bare back, letting one dip lower to cup one lace-covered cheek. With a gentle squeeze, his hand continued down her silk-covered thigh to behind her knee, hitching her leg up to wrap around his waist.
Annie groaned as the new angle brought his erection into direct contact with her moist, aching sex. The sensation was overwhelming, and she knew it was just the beginning. Her mouth moved hard against his, her hands clawing at his tuxedo coat in a frenzy until he let it slip to the floor.
Her fingers were at his collar, undoing his shirt and thanking the heavens he wasn’t wearing a tie for her to deal with. With his chest bare, she ran her hands over it, marveling at the hardened muscles she remembered. She let them dip lower and lower until the tips slid beneath the waist of his pants. She brushed the skin there, eliciting a groan and a sudden start as Nate grabbed her hand.
In one quick movement, he spun them around as though they were still on the dance floor. Now Annie was the one pinned against the wall, Nate pressing the length of his entire body against her. The brass was cold against her bare back, but she didn’t care. It did little to soothe the fire that ran through her veins.
Nate’s lips traveled from her jawline to her ear before moving slowly down her neck to the hollow of her throat. A tingle of anticipation coursed along her spine, her body shuddering at the searing caress of his mouth on her sensitive skin.
Annie tugged off his shirt and threw it to the floor. She wanted to keep her eyes open, to drink in the breathtaking sight of Nate, but she just couldn’t. His mouth had traveled to the swell of her breasts. As he took one tight peach nipple into his mouth, her head flew back, her eyes closing on their own.
“Oh, Nate,” she cried out, her fingers running through his golden curls, clutching his head and pulling him closer.
Oh, how she remembered this feeling. She’d suppressed the memory of it all these years, fearing she’d weaken and come back. Annie was addicted to him, addicted to how he could make her feel. As his hands and mouth slid over her skin, the craving burst to the surface once again.
Nate got down onto his knees, his lips nipping at her tensed stomach, his tongue circling her navel and dipping lower. Every muscle in her body tightened into knots when his hands brushed over the edge of her lace panties. She let go of his head to grip the railing and brace herself.
The panties came down inch by inch, the anticipation making her crazy until he eased up one leg, then the next, to cast them to the side. She was left wearing only her stockings and heels. Annie couldn’t open her eyes. She was exposed, her trembling, aching body on display for him. If she looked at him, she might give herself away. She couldn’t let him know just how badly she really wanted this. How long it had been...
His hands traveled from her ankles up the length of her silky stockings. Her legs trembled as he moved higher, his touch blazing a trail across her skin. She clutched the railing with all her might, her eyes squeezed shut, her bottom lip clamped between her teeth.
With gentle pressure, he eased her thighs apart, exposing her to the cool air before his warm breath tickled her skin. His fingers danced lazy circles up her thighs, teasing her hip bones. Annie swallowed hard, her breath caught in her chest as she waited.
Nate did not disappoint. He tasted her, drawing a strained cry from her throat with its sudden attack. It was followed by a second, then a more lingering caress that was nearly enough to undo her. He must’ve sensed it because he paused, giving her time to recover, then continued his erotic assault on her body.
Annie cried out again, her hips straining to reach for him. “Nathan, please,” she panted. She wanted him. Needed him. After three long years without his touch she didn’t want to wait another second to have him again.
“Please...
what
...Annie?” With each pause, his tongue flicked over her.
“I want you inside me, Nate. Now, please.” Annie opened her eyes when the cold air tickled her skin.
He had moved to the other side of the elevator, undoing his belt and slipping out of his pants. He wasn’t looking down at his hands, though. He was looking at her. Devouring her with his eyes. Annie could see him mentally planning, the chess player in him working on his next move.
She really didn’t care what he did next as long as she was covered by his massive warmth. He was just so beautiful. His body was even better than she remembered, as though he’d spent the lonely nights since she’d left in the hotel gym. Every inch of his body looked chiseled from stone, the kind of male perfection that the great artists of the Renaissance struggled to capture.
In one last move, his pants and briefs slid to the floor. Instantly, he was as exposed as she was, his desire just as obvious as it thrust proudly at her. Annie’s breath caught in her throat. Her lips were suddenly dry, forcing her to snake her tongue across them.
Nate stepped out of his clothes and slowly walked back to her. Without a word, he circled his arms around her waist and lifted her up. She wrapped her legs around him and held his shoulders to keep her steady as he slowly lowered her onto him. He groaned, low and loud, as he was buried deep inside her.
They stood there, nearly still for a moment as they savored the sensation. It had been so long. She couldn’t explain the feeling, but somehow it was so much more than just the physical pleasure of sex. There was a connection there that had never been broken. It had never wavered.
Nate eased her back against the wall, his hands cupping the swell of her bottom. His fingertips dug into her ample flesh. Slowly, agonizingly so, he withdrew and thrust forward, beginning an easy rhythm.
Annie clung to him, her face buried in his neck as he moved. With every movement, he went deeper and thrust harder, driving her closer and closer to the edge. His breath was hot and ragged in her ear, mingling with soft whispers she couldn’t quite understand over her own cries.
She was nearly there, aching to go over the precipice, yet hesitant to let all this go. Her teeth gritted tight, her nails digging into his flexing shoulder blades. “Not yet,” she panted. Annie wasn’t ready to stop. She hadn’t had enough of him yet.
She couldn’t resist Nate. The rush of her addiction pumped through her veins, and the fears from her past slipped into her mind. This was why she had stayed so far away. She knew she wasn’t strong enough. She couldn’t deny him her body when it was all she wanted to give him.
Nate was not deterred by her apparent refusal. He widened his stance, gripping her with almost crushing strength to thrust in short, quick movements that left her no choice in the matter. The pressure built up, washing over her like a tidal wave. She was swept up in it, overwhelmed by the sensations she had deprived herself of for so long.
“Yes,” Nate hissed into her ear, coaxing her release as he held her thrashing body tight against him. When she stilled, softening in his arms from exhaustion, he moved quickly, shouting out her name with his last few thrusts.
Exhausted, he eased her back against the wall, resting her bottom on the railing. It was cold, but Annie didn’t care. Her whole body was throbbing, her skin feverish and slick with sweat.
Nate propped his elbows on the wall beside her and leaned against it to breathe, his body still cradled between her trembling thighs. “That—” he spoke between rapid breaths “—was worth the wait, but let’s not go another three years before we do it again.” His dark eyes studied her face for a moment before he lifted her up off the railing. With her wrapped around him, he reached over to hit the button and let the elevator continue up to his suite.
Seven
A
nnie wasn’t certain how the first day of the tournament would go. She was used to playing on her own terms. Free to indulge her superstitious rituals without personal distractions. This mess was the opposite of how she liked to work.
For one, she got almost no sleep. She and Nate had made love until her muscles gave out and she simply couldn’t do anything but collapse onto the bed. When she finally did sleep, it was like a minicoma until Nate shook her shoulder and told her she had to get up.
It felt odd to wake up in Nate’s bed with him beside her. Strangely comforting and familiar. She didn’t remember this feeling from before. Then there had only been the panic of knowing she was married. Today she was still married, but that didn’t seem to bother her as much.
It was an interesting and unsettling development. She’d sat up in bed and watched him disappear down the hall in nothing but pajama pants. Almost immediately her body was ready for more of him, but she knew now was the time to focus. She had a big day ahead of her.
Before she could go downstairs, she had to get briefed by Gabe for the tenth time. She also had to get wired. That experience itself was uncomfortable enough, even with Nate’s warm hands under her blouse to distract her. The head of security had said several important things after that, but all she knew was that the tape that secured the wires pulled at her skin and itched something fierce. She still hadn’t adjusted to the idea of having Gabe listening in to her conversations all day. Same team or no, every word out of her mouth was subject to his scrutiny and she didn’t like having to worry about it on top of everything else.
Add all that onto the pressure of scoping out her fellow players and she was completely unprepared to play poker. With the way she felt, she might just choke and get eliminated before she could fulfill her end of the bargain with Nate. What would his price be then?
Annie settled into her assigned seat and eyed Gordon Barker. He was three seats down. Gabe had arranged for her to share a table with him today because he was on their short list of suspects. She’d heard a rumor or two about him over the years, but they’d never been as loud as the ones about someone like Eddie Walker. If he was involved in some elaborate scheme, he was smart enough to keep it quiet.
Personally, Annie hadn’t had a lot of experience playing with him, so she wasn’t sure either way. As the tournament started, she decided to spend the first few hands focused on her game and building her chips. Once she had a healthy cushion above the other players, she would feel more comfortable breaking her focus to watch Gordon. She had to play well if she was going to be successful in any of this.
As the lunch break approached, Annie was pleased with how the day had gone. A few players had been eliminated. Gordon was still playing, but she’d seen nothing suspicious and she hadn’t lost any hands to him. He was probably another name she could cross off the list, but she wasn’t about to rule him out yet. If she was too good at her job, soon there wouldn’t be anyone but Eddie on Nate’s radar. Toppling him would not only be difficult, but destructive. Tessa would not be happy if she found out Annie had sent her boyfriend to jail.
When the tournament stopped for lunch, she grabbed her food and went to sit down beside the Captain. She figured he was probably her safest bet for company. He wasn’t much for gossip. With any luck, she could attempt to make conversation and dig for information as required, but he wouldn’t deliver anything but another one of his long-winded Navy stories. It was the perfect choice.
“Afternoon,
Mrs. Reed.
How’s your game going today?”
Annie smiled and shrugged. “Too early to tell.”
“Don’t let yourself get distracted by thoughts of that handsome husband of yours. You two seem to be enjoying this second honeymoon of sorts, but it can mess with your game. It’s no coincidence that every time I won the championship, I was between marriages.”
She opened her bag of chips and let a smile curl her lips. The Captain always seemed to be between marriages. She’d lost count at six. Her one marriage was too much for her to handle. “I’ll try. I’m worried about Gordon Barker, though. I’ve heard rumors he doesn’t play a fair game. I’d hate to get bumped out because he’s dirty.”
The Captain shook his head and took a bite of his sandwich. “You don’t need to worry about Gordon. He’s been clean for years. Had a brush with the law that was a little too close for comfort a while back and he straightened right out.”
“Oh,” Annie said. Well, at least the conversation was getting her somewhere and Gabe couldn’t accuse her of not doing her job. She was hoping to string Gordon along as an option for a while longer, but now she could focus on the rest of her game instead of him. “That’s a relief.”
“You’ll want to watch out for Eddie Walker, though.”
Annie stopped, her bottle of water hovering in midair. She hadn’t expected this at all, but she should’ve known the Captain would want to look out for her. He’d been the closest thing she’d had to a father over the years. “He’s not at my table today.”
“Well, the problem with Eddie is that he works with a circle of players and dealers. It’s actually better if he’s at your table because he always keeps his own game clean. He’s a tricky bastard. I wish to God someone would catch him so we wouldn’t have to deal with the scrutiny. It messes with my game to know how many security people are circling around and watching my every play.”
She immediately felt guilty for talking with him while wearing a wire. “I’m surprised no one has caught him yet, given how many people know about it.”
“He’s careful. And smart. There’s one main player they try to push through to the final table and a good ten or more in the tournament just to help them along. You never know who’s in on it. I heard he’s got a new partner working with him this year. I haven’t seen her myself,” he continued. “But I heard she’s—”
She?
Annie sucked a sip of her bottled water into her lungs accidentally, launching into a mad coughing fit. The Captain immediately stopped talking and patted her on the back, watching with concern as she wheezed and viciously hacked.
“Are you okay?” he asked when several minutes had passed and the bright red faded from her face.
“Yes, I’m sorry.” She nodded. “If you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll run to the ladies’ room.”
“Of course.”
At that, Annie dashed away to the safety of the restroom and hoped Gabe’s security goons had the good sense to stop listening in.
* * *
With the way the tournament play fell, Annie was scheduled Saturday so she had Sunday off. They had a record number of registrations, so the breakup allowed everyone to participate. The numbers dwindled exponentially after that point, so the top players from Saturday and Sunday would then combine to continue on Monday.
In theory, Nate should’ve been down on the casino floor making sure everything was going as planned, but he just couldn’t make himself do it. Saturday had been agony. He’d watched Annie play from a distance all afternoon, unable to touch her the way he ached to. His fists had been curled tight in his pockets for hours, a fake smile plastered onto his face.
When she finished for the day, victorious, he’d whisked Annie away to the suite. She’d barely been able to bask in the glory of her poker domination before she was naked and writhing under him again. They’d spent the entire evening holed up in the suite, ordering room service and making love on every piece of furniture he owned.
As the sunlight began pouring in the windows Sunday morning, Nate rolled onto his side and stared down at her. She looked as though he had thoroughly exhausted her. The long strands of her dark hair were messy and sprawled across the pillow, her eyes dancing under her lids with dreaming.
Throwing back the covers, he disappeared silently down the hallway. By the time he reached his desk, he could hear the chattering music of his smartphone. It was Gabe’s ringtone. He hadn’t spoken to him since the end of tournament play yesterday. He was certain his head of security had been anticipating a daily debrief with Annie, but Nate hadn’t felt like sharing her last night.
“Hey,” he answered.
“Good morning, sunshine,” Gabe said dryly. “We need to talk about something that happened yesterday.”
Nate frowned and settled into his desk chair. “What?”
“I was down on the floor watching Eddie as you directed, but one of my guys, Stuart, was doing surveillance and listening to Annie’s conversations.”
He didn’t really want to know what his friend would say next. It would ruin his sex buzz. “And?” he said reluctantly.
“She was talking to the Captain and having a fairly blunt conversation about Walker. He indicated that he’d heard Walker had recruited a new woman to work with him. Just when he was about to elaborate, Annie went into a mad coughing fit and immediately dismissed herself.”
That wasn’t good. Knowing the accomplice was a woman reduced the suspect list dramatically. Knowing Annie had abruptly ended the conversation, hadn’t followed up and hadn’t passed any information on to him or Gabe narrowed it to a party of one. Was it possible that Tessa was more than just Eddie’s girlfriend? Could she be involved in the cheating, as well, or was the Captain just misinformed? He needed to get Annie away from the casino and all the intrusions.
“I think I’m going to take Annie to the house today. We both know Eddie is up to something, possibly Tessa, as well, but I’m not sure about what Annie knows. I was thinking I could get more information out of her if we’re away from the casino.”
“Make sure you don’t get played. You don’t know how involved she is with all this. For all we know, she’s the ringleader and using her relationship with you as a diversion.”
“I guess we’ll find out.” At that, Nate hit the button to disconnect the call. He didn’t like thinking about Annie like that. He would do what was smart, but he hesitated to be instantly suspicious of her like Gabe.
Flipping through his address book, he punched in a name and within seconds had his housekeeper, Ella, on the phone. The older woman was in her late fifties and lived exclusively at Nate’s house. She kept the place clean and organized. If he decided to do something at the house, Ella would make sure everything was taken care of.
He explained his plans and she was all too eager to prepare everything for their arrival. Honestly, he hadn’t been back to the house in more than a month. The poor woman was probably bored to tears and suddenly all atwitter as she readied the house.
“Nate?” Annie’s sleepy voice called to him from the bedroom.
Nate switched off his phone and headed back to her. “Good, you’re up,” he said and sat on the edge of the bed. “Get dressed.”
“You mean you’re going to keep your hands to yourself long enough for me to put clothes on?” Annie sat up in bed, the navy sheets clutched to her bare chest.
Nate eyed her for a moment—the sexy mess of her hair over her shoulders, the smooth length of her leg peeking out from beneath the covers, the full swell of her breasts pressed against her arms. That was a very good question. He was considering having her again before they left. The only thing stopping him was the opportunity to make love to her someplace new.
“Only if you hurry.” He grinned and disappeared into the closet.
They did hurry, hopping into his convertible Mercedes as the valet pulled it around. Within minutes, they left the bustle of the Strip behind and settled into the sprawling suburbia that surrounded it. He’d told Annie to dress casually and bring a swimsuit. He expected her to ask questions, but she seemed content to watch the scenery go by.
It took about twenty minutes to get to his subdivision. The two-story Spanish-style house was typical for the area, with the sand-colored stucco walls and red clay tile roof. The yard was well landscaped but lacked any sort of personality. It could’ve been anyone’s house. Were it not at the very end of the cul-de-sac, it might’ve been hard for even Nate to pick it out from the others.
Nate hit the button to open the garage and pulled in beside the empty spot where Ella’s green Buick normally parked. He felt bad about the sudden plans, so he’d sweetened the deal with the offer of an afternoon of pampering at the Sapphire Spa. She deserved it. It also got her out from underfoot. Ella didn’t know about his marriage to Annie and he wanted it to stay that way.
Nate sighed and opened the door. “I’d give you the tour, but I’m a little rusty on it myself.”
Annie chuckled, scooping her purse off the floor and climbing out of the car. “You really need to focus on some work-life balance, Nate.”
He held his arms out wide. “I’m here, aren’t I?” He fished the keys out of his khaki shorts and unlocked the door. “Besides, I’m not taking any criticisms from a woman that lives out of her suitcase.”
“Touché.” She smiled, slipping past him into the dark, empty house.
As promised, the tour was short. They made a pit stop in the master suite to christen the king-size bed, then slipped into their swimsuits and took a dip in the cool turquoise pool in the backyard. Like children, they splashed each other and roughhoused in the water, then ambitiously napped in lounge chairs until the rumbling of their empty stomachs distracted them.
Without room service to call on, they wandered into the kitchen to see what Ella had left for them. An ivory note card on the counter informed them about the fixings for homemade pizza in the refrigerator.
“Do you think we can handle this?” Annie looked dubiously at the ball of dough on the counter.
“Oh, come on,” Nate prodded, scooping an armful of food off the shelf. “Certainly we can manage a pizza. Ella’s already done most of the work. It will be fun to try, at least. If it’s a disaster, we can order something later. Here.” He slid a few tomatoes and a pouch of fresh basil across the granite countertop. “You get the toppings for the pizza ready while I work on the dough.”
Nate assembled the pizza, ladling Ella’s homemade sauce and spreading fresh mozzarella slices on the crust. He watched Annie out of the corner of his eye as she worked busily, cutting tomatoes. She looked really beautiful today. Yes, she looked sexy almost all of the time, but most definitely beautiful now. The pool had washed away all traces of her makeup. Her long dark hair was still damp, the thick, corded strands running down her bare back. Her golden skin seemed even darker against the stark white of her bikini. She’d wrapped a colorful cotton fabric around her waist, tying it in a knot slung low at her hip bone. It hid the tiny white string bikini bottoms she’d pressed against him in the pool.