High Card: A Billionaire Shifter Novel (Lions of Las Vegas Book 1) (17 page)

Landon’s mouth is lined with vicious fangs.

Like I saw in Blake’s.

Then I blink and it’s just Landon, inspecting his palm like he feels found a sliver.
 

“I don’t really believe in ‘safe’.”

“Ever?”

“Not really. Never had the…” I cut myself short. I was going to say ‘luxury.’ Instead I shrug. “I think people spend a lot of time worrying about staying safe. Is it safe to drive? No. Fly? No. Travel? No. Nothing’s safe. But we fret about it constantly. I’d rather just—”

“Accept the fact that some things are beyond our control?”

Yeah
, I think, watching Landon’s muscles move beneath his t-shirt.
Exactly
. Then I say: “Sometimes it feels like the important things are always beyond our control. What kind of life we’re born into. When and how we die. Who we love.”

Landon studies the flames flickering in the stove, then shuts a glass door and seals the stove shut. He messes with the damper until the flames are burning bright. When he speaks his voice is soft. Distant. “For a long time I tried to convince myself it’s possible to control everything. That if we want something to change and we work hard enough at it…it’ll change. I read all the power of positive thought books. Tried using my mental energy to make what I wanted come to pass…”

“Now?”

“Now I’m not so sure. Some days I still believe that. Other days…I feel like you. Like we can change some things. But the big ones? No. Sometimes…we struggle to make things different and nothing changes.”

“I think a part of it’s about coming to accept who you are.”

“I’d like to be able to do that. Accept what I am.”

What I am.

Landon looks at me, and for an instant the firelight reflects in his eyes and makes them glow gold. Like…some kind of animal’s. A lion or a tiger hunting in the darkness when a camera flash goes off and all you see are those two predatory glowing orbs—

“I’ll get the drinks.”

“Thanks. The water will be warm soon.”

***

I have a moment of what-the-fuck while I’m pouring myself a second Scotch, but it passes quick when I remember the cash. Vito will play ball. We’ve been occasional fuck-buddies for years. He’ll have heard about the bust at Savannah’s. He’ll know I’m neck-deep in shit. All that will work in my favor when I ask him to let me in on a play—

It’s Landon I’m fretting about.

He’s new in town. Not down with how Vegas works.

He could let something slip.
 

To his brother or an Abatelli informant. That would put a bullet in my head. Landon might be able to walk away from this. Even with the death threat. Buy his way out of trouble, move somewhere nice and get on with his life. Put his little slumming episode behind him.
 

But me? I got no resources and no plan B.

All I have is a gun and a couple friends I
might
be able to trust.

I finish my second drink and pour another.

Landon’s holding all the cards.
 

And in this town, he’s nothing but another mark.
 

Shit.

 
I text Alfie about Jay.
 

He gets back to me almost instantly.

Still no word.
 

I pick up the two drinks and head outside, trying to stay positive.

But my gut’s telling me to wise up.

Jay’s dead.

***

Landon’s in the hot tub, running his hand through the water, swirling hot with cold. Steam’s rising around him. He’s surrounded the tub with four or five candles, glowing halos of light in the cool evening air. He stands to accept the drink I offer him. My breath catches in my throat.
 

He’s naked. Perfectly, gloriously naked. My gaze drifts from his muscled shoulders down the hard, flat planes of his pecs and abs, to the downy blonde hint of treasure trail tracing toward his cock. I make no attempt to hide my appreciative gaze. His cock is perfect, long and thick even now, and I can’t imagine how big he must be when he’s hard, pushing into my wet folds—
 

“Hope you don’t mind.”

Bastard
.

“Actually I do.” I hand him a towel that’s slung over a chair.

Landon’s mouth drops open. He makes to grab the towel. I burst into laughter and whip him with it. He sinks into the tub and takes a long gulp of Scotch, his eyes never leaving mine.
 

“Get undressed,” he says.

“What if I say no?”

“You don’t strike me as the shy type.”

“What if I’m the professional type? You’re my employer now, Landon Stone. Or should I call you ‘sir’?”

Landon’s eyes narrow. He doesn’t have me figured out yet, either.
 

Good. Best keep him guessing.
 

“Technically, you’re off the clock.”

“How is that?”

Landon slams the rest of his Scotch and refills his drink from the bottle I placed in the sand beside the tub. “The contract doesn’t begin until tomorrow.”

“So you’re not my boss?”

“No.”

“So nothing I do tonight has any bearing on our pre-existing agreement?”

“No.” Landon chuckles. “You missed your calling. Should’ve gone to law school.”

“I would’ve. Wasn’t in the cards for a girl like me.”

“It can be,” Landon says.
 

“So let me get this straight. I could refuse to get undressed and you won’t hold it against me?”

“Do you think I’m that petty?”

“I think you’re
very
used to being listened to.”

Landon smiles. “You’re right. I am. Take off your shirt.”

“No,” I say, sitting at the edge of the hot tub. My heart’s pounding in my chest. Part of me is terrified of this man. The wildness I sense in him…it’s not far removed from the murderous look I saw in his brother Blake’s eyes.

Landon tosses his arms over the edge of the tub. Through the water I can see his gorgeous cock swelling. “Get undressed. Now.”

“No.” The word’s so hesitant it almost becomes a question.

Landon takes two slow breaths. Something…flashes behind his eyes. Anger? No. Excitement. “You’re going to please me tonight, Summer Mason.”

My tongue feels rooted to the roof of my mouth, but I somehow manage to flick water at him. “Go…fuck yourself.”

“No. We both know who I’m going to fuck.”

He doesn’t
do
anything. Or at least not anything I can see. But suddenly I’m struck by the overwhelming desire to please this man. It’s in his presence. How he carries himself. The cool, calculating look in his eye. It’s in everything about him, sitting naked out here under the desert sky. Landon Stone is a man who commands. He might try and keep his true nature under wraps when he’s dealing with the public. That kind of domineering presence wouldn’t go over so well in his line of work in today’s world.
 

People would call him a tyrant.
 

Another dickhead boss on a power trip.
 

He’s not a tyrant. He’s a leader. But I’m beginning to wonder…if he even knows how powerful he is. I’m putting on a pretty good show of resisting. At least I
hope
I am. But the truth is…there’s nothing I would refuse this man. Nothing.

A shiver of anticipation rushes through me.
 

I’d do anything he tells me to.

I’m both perfectly bound…and perfectly free. It’s such an odd collision of opposite emotions it makes my head spin. I feel like I’m standing at the edge of a precipice, about to leap off and fall or fly—
 

I reach up and slip my t-shirt over my head. I’m braless. The wind tickles at my nipples, pebbling them. Landon takes a slow sip of Scotch. His eyes are cut gems glittering in the firelight. I love feeling his appreciative gaze take me in. Love the flush coloring his cheeks.
Super
love his cock hardening at the sight of me.
 

I realize no one’s ever made me feel anything remotely close to what I’m feeling now. A lightning storm of arousal and desire, the need to please and be pleased, the need to be dominated by a man who understands what he wants and gives me the respect I deserve.
 

Then it hits me.

My life until this point…it’s been lived in a kind of shadow. Like an old black and white movie. The color drained from it. And until now…I never even new what I was missing. But with Landon a world of emotion has opened up. I feel…alive. Tingling with excitement.
 

Truly open to the world.

The thought terrifies me.

Because what happens if—no,
when
—this goes to shit, and the dream dies?
 

“Take off the rest of your clothes,” Landon growls.

“Lucky for you,” I say, running my fingers down my neck and across my nipples, “I prefer being naked.”

“Naked suits you.”

Damn. He does know how to charm a woman.
 

Even a woman who has no intention of—

I slowly unbutton my jeans.

It’s a compulsion. This desire.
 

Landon shifts in the hot tub. He’s breathing slightly faster. He arms are still stretched out over the edge of the tub. I glance at his ripped biceps and forearms—

“I want to see you,” he says, his voice raspy with desire.

“Liar. You want more than that.”

“You’re right. I want everything.”

I tug my jeans off but keep my panties on. A black silk thong. I lean down, grab my drink, take a slow sip. Give him a smile.
 

“You’re lovely,” Landon breathes.

“Am I?”

“Lovely and…fucking hot as hell.”

“Actually…I’m getting chilly.”

It’s true. I’ve got goosebumps.
 

But not entirely from the cold.

“Then come here. I won’t say the water’s fine. It’s a bit hot.”

I slip my panties off and step into the hot tub. Settle down into the water. Breathe a long sigh. Close my eyes and lean my head back. I feel Landon’s eyes on me. His need. The hot tub’s quite small. I stretch my leg out just enough to brush against his. He reaches under the water and begins gently stroking my calf, running his fingers across the sensitive skin behind my knee and at the arch of my foot. His touch makes my pulse quicken. I feel the booze warming my insides and the hot water warming my skin—

“That was a hell of a day,” I say, my voice unhurried.
 

Landon slides his hand over my knee.
 

Across my thigh. His touch leaves aftershocks.
 

I slip a lower into the water, moving closer to him—

“I can’t imagine tomorrow’s going to be any less exciting,” I murmur. Then a thought strikes me. “Hey. Maybe you should pay me first.”

“That’s not what this is.”

“Oh, really? Then what is it?”

“This is us.”

Landon’s fingers brush across my pussy. I take a quick breath. My body’s completely relaxed, but my heart’s hammering in my chest.
 

I inch a little closer.

I should
really
get that hundred K—

Without a word of warning Landon grabs my wrist and pulls me close so I’m lying between his legs, with my back to his chest. His hard cock presses against my ass and lower back. Christ, he’s big.
 

I worry over the size of him, then lay my head on his shoulder while his fingers trace over every inch my body, exploring my curves. My breasts are wet, half in and half out of the hot water while Landon’s fingers tease and rub my nipples, sending sparks racing through my blood. The firelight reflects off the water in the hot tub and the stars shine low and bright in the clear night sky while Landon’s hands explore every inch of me with firm, commanding insistence.
 

A soft moan escapes my lips as his fingers slide across my wet pussy, gently opening me to the warm water—

Then he kisses my neck, works his way up to my ear. Slips my earlobe between his lips at the same moment he slides his finger into my pussy. I gasp, tensing around him slightly. My swollen pussy makes even his finger feel large.
 

I take a few slow breaths and will myself to relax.
 

There’s a thousand smart-ass things I could say, usually I
would
say in a situation like this, but somehow with Landon it’s different, when he touches me the bullshit and game-playing and cynicism I cloak myself in melts away, leaving me…
open
to him somehow, and as he slides a second finger into my willing pussy and I arc my back and lean onto him I think about what that means, how vulnerable I am to this man, this
stranger
, how unguarded, and then he curls his fingers slightly, caressing the hot, hidden spot deep in me and sending a warm flush up through my loins that ends at my skin with teasing tingles that make me shiver and moan.
 

Landon’s still kissing my ear, my neck, my shoulders, each kiss a gift of pleasure and his fingers are sliding into my pussy faster now, my breathless moans arriving in time with every touch, my toes curling and my legs straightening as desire wins over rational thought and then he slides his other hand down and holds my hip and pulls me tight against his throbbing cock and suddenly I want his cock so desperately it makes me ache, I’m fucking
pining
for him, the bastard, trying to push myself backward onto his cock—
 

Landon grabs my hip and holds me pressed close, in perfect control of me, then slides his hand still lower and rubs his thumb over my clit while his fingers press inside—

A burst of red-hot pleasure pushes me beyond any pretense of control. I’d meant to tease him, make him work for me but the bastard beat me to it. I’ve lost the last shreds of resistance. Landon’s fingers build my treasonous body toward one of those bone-deep orgasms that can make a girl forget who and where she is, make her expose herself completely and utterly and suddenly I’m in love with Landon’s expert touch, firm and commanding and gentle all at once and I reach behind and grip his hard cock in both hands, my fists stacked along his worrying length, my fingers unable to wrap completely around his girth and I hear myself moaning, begging for his cock, trying to scoot backward onto him, my pussy absolutely throbbing for him,
please
I’m whispering,
please give me that great cock
, but Landon’s holding me prisoner in his powerful arms, his hard muscles rippling as I struggle against him and then my back arcs as my come explodes, a white-hot heat making me clamp my mouth closed to try and silence my screams and my lover’s thumb presses against my swollen clit and his fingers sink deep in me while another wave of pleasure hits—