Lusted in Las Vegas (5 page)

“Did you decide to join me after all?” he asked as he raised his eyebrows.

Stephanie laughed. “No, I can’t be late for my meeting. But I must have lost my lipstick last night. I called over to the salon at the hotel. They’re open and they carry my brand, so I’m just going to run over and grab a new one before I head to the convention center.”

“Why don’t you call valet services? They’ll bring it right over.”

“I don’t have time, plus I’m not sure what it’s called, but I’ll know my shade when I see it.”

Jason looked at her with a trace of concern in his face.

“Wait a second and I’ll have Sam take you.”

“Don’t be silly. I’ll see you later.”

She smiled at him and blew him a kiss through the glass. Jason had suddenly become overprotective and she doubted it was due to their incredible lovemaking in the cabana. Their passion brought them closer but at the same time it added more distance between them. His change disturbed her. Was he simply protecting her or was this an ultra possessive Jason she’s just now getting a full glimpse of? She wondered if his business was illegitimate; or perhaps he was involved in organized crime. Her mind went into many directions as she grabbed her credit card from her wallet and slipped it into her jacket pocket. She only took her thin laptop sleeve with her and didn’t have room for her large wallet. Donning her sunglasses, she hustled to The Castillo just a few yards away.

*****

As Stephanie flipped her sunglasses to perch on the top of her head, she looked over the lipstick shades at the makeup counter. Suddenly, she felt a presence standing just a little too close. She didn’t make eye contact but gave the person a sideways glare and moved to regain her personal space.

“I’ll take this one.” Stephanie told the clerk.

“I guess you like taking things,” said a voice to her right.

“I’m sorry, are you speaking to me?” Stephanie asked.

Stephanie turned to see Jessica staring at her with her hand on her hip.

“Jessica. I seem to be bumping into you a lot this weekend. Somehow I don’t think this is a coincidence, is it?”

“You know you’re just his flavor of the week, don’t you? He wines and dines all of his women at his fancy villa at The Gates. You are just the latest in the string of many, honey. He’ll drop you flat, when someone new walks into the picture, the same way he dropped me.”

“Look, I’m not sure what you want but you’d better stop stalking me.”

Stephanie handed the clerk her credit card.

“He broke our engagement, Stephanie. All because of you. I loved him. I wanted to have his children. He came back from meeting you and threw me out of the house without as much as a warning. I have nothing now. No house, no job, no husband and I have you to thank for it.”

Stephanie couldn’t hear anymore. She grabbed the bag from the clerk and briskly left the salon, lowering her sunglasses to her eyes to hide her tears.

“Hey Stef! Give Jason a message for me. Let him know they’re coming for him!” Jessica called out behind her.

Stephanie couldn’t ignore her feelings any longer. Her heart pounded. She loved him, damn it, she allowed herself to love him even with the knowledge that she was just another passing fling. Jessica was right. If he did that to her, he was capable of breaking her own heart, too. She couldn’t torture herself any longer. The only thing to do was to leave Las Vegas as soon as possible. But first, Stephanie had to attend the client meeting or she could lose her job. The only thing worse than a broken heart was having a broken heart while unemployed. She grabbed a taxi from the entrance of The Castillo and went directly to the convention center.

Somehow she made it through the meeting without breaking down in front of the client. She answered all of the client’s questions and explained that she needed to leave that day due to a family emergency. She planned to take a cab to the airport from the Convention Center. Then it occurred to her that she couldn’t get on the plane without her identification. The only thing she had on her was her room key, debit card and her brand new lipstick. She was willing to leave everything else, but she wouldn’t be able to board the plane without an ID.       

She needed to put as much space as possible between Jason and herself. She had to leave fast, but she had no chance of getting on a plane without her driver’s license. What were her options here? She could call the valet, but whom was she kidding? They would tip Jason off in a second; he built and owned the damn place. No. She had no choice but to return to the villa for her wallet and hope like hell he wasn’t there. She remembered him mentioning that he had a meeting while she was working. If luck was on her side she would be out of there in a matter of seconds. If he was in the villa, she would deal with that, but it would cause further damage to her already broken heart.

God, she had to get out of Vegas and back to what was safe and comfortable. How did she even pretend there was something more with Jason? How could she ever entertain the thought that they had a future together? She wiped a tear from her eye. Angry tears, nothing more, she whispered as she slipped into the cab.

*****

There was no way of knowing if Jason was in the villa until she was inside herself. Stephanie slowly opened the door, crept inside and quietly shut the door behind her. All was quiet. She relaxed slightly and hoped she was home free. She marched straight to the bedroom, grabbed her suitcase and packed the clothes she came with. Jason told her that everything there was hers to keep, but she didn’t want it. She didn’t want anything that would remind her of him. No. She’d just chalk this up as a beautiful dream -- a beautiful dream that turned into a nightmare. Stephanie grabbed her wallet and rolling suitcase and headed towards the door.

She took one last look around before reaching for the knob. The door swung open hitting her hand. He immediately looked down at the suitcase in her hand. “Where are you going, Stef?”

Stephanie narrowed her eyes. “I’m leaving. It’s been fun, but it’s time for me to go now.”

“You’re leaving? Now?” he asked softly.

Stephanie choked back tears, but she stood firm. “Yes. Good-bye, Jason.” She turned and reached for the doorknob.

“Going back home to your husband? You miss him, don’t you?” He spat out the words with such anger it surprised her.

Stephanie spun around and threw her hands in the air. “Yeah, that’s right, Jason. I miss him. Hey, bonus for you! You can spend the night with that sweet young thing who’s been stalking me all over Vegas. Or I guess she’s yesterday’s news like I will be soon. Don’t worry, I’m sure you can troll the casino for a new one.”

“Stephanie, back up a moment, did Jessica approach you again?”

“Yes and I’m glad she did. She filled in all of the gaps you wouldn’t. I opened myself to you, Jason. I put my feelings on the line for you. But I was just one of the many notches on the Jason Royce bedpost, wasn’t I?”

“Jessica? Shit! I should’ve known. Sweetheart, let me explain.”

“Don’t call me that! This is all a game to you, isn’t it? Well, I will not be played with.” She turned the doorknob.

“A game, huh? It’s funny you mention game, Stephanie, because you’re the game player here, not me.” Stephanie stopped in her tracks, but didn’t turn around.  Jason’s words were low; almost a whisper and she could feel his eyes boring into her head.

Jason let out a deep breath. “That’s right, Stef. I know you’re divorced. I’ve known it since we left Miami. I was waiting for you to come clean this weekend and you never did. This is all a game to
you
. For me it’s been one hundred percent real.”

Stephanie’s eyes began to well up with tears as she fought to keep them back. She wouldn’t allow another man to screw with her the way her ex-husband did. She wouldn’t be hurt that way again. “Good-bye, Jason,” she whispered and opened the door.

She took a step outside but he followed close behind.

“Don’t go,” he pleaded huskily.

Jason’s simple plea was enough to open her floodgates. Stephanie broke down and sobbed. Her shoulders shook and tears streamed down her face. “Damn you, Jason! I have to leave. You’re going to hurt me just like you hurt Jessica. I will not get hurt again. Just leave me alone,” she said as she turned to leave.

“About Jessica, I did love her and I thought she loved me. That was until I found her in our bed with her personal trainer.
I
was played, Stef, and I vowed that it would never happen again,” he said quietly. She was facing away from him but could picture how his dejected face must’ve looked.

She let go of her suitcase and sobbed into her hands. Jason pulled her back into the villa, slammed the door and pushed her against it. Heat radiated from Jason’s body as he embraced her. Heavy breath steamed through her hair.

Stephanie struggled to free herself from his grip. Her face was hot and her hair stuck to her cheeks from a mixture of tears and sweat. Jason held her even tighter.

“No, Stef. I won’t leave you alone. I can’t.”

Stephanie could barely breathe as his body crushed hers. She turned her head; ashamed of the tears she shed.

“Look at me,” he said.

Stephanie lifted her eyes to meet his. She stopped struggling and searched his eyes for answers. As though he understood her unspoken questions, he cradled her face into his hands, wiping the tears away with his thumbs.

“I won’t let you go. Not now, not ever.”

He greedily kissed her firmly and his tongue sought hers. Stephanie resisted for just a moment. Then in a show of acceptance she sighed and put her arms around him. The action fueled Jason’s yearning. He pinned her against the door and kissed her along her jawbone and down her neck. A day’s growth of stubble scratched at her neck and excited her senses.

“Jason, but—“

He placed his fingers to her mouth.

“I’ll explain everything but not now. Right now, I am going to make love to you right here.”

Jason reached under her dress with both hands and ripped the panties off her body. The act both surprised and excited her and she groaned with passion.

Stephanie unbuckled his belt, worked the button of his pants and unzipped his fly. Sliding her hands under the waistband of his boxers, she cupped his ass as his pants fell to his feet with a clatter of the belt buckle. He grabbed the back of her knee and wrapped her leg over his hip. Stephanie guided his stiff erection to her slick channel.

With a raspy groan, Jason entered her with ease and ravenously drove into her over and over. Her shoulder blades hit the door with each thrust. Stephanie whimpered when Jason withdrew from her slick tightness without warning. Swooping her up in his arms, he carried her three paces to the suede sofa. He slowly dropped her legs so that she stood at the end of the sofa and spun her around so that she was facing the seat.

“Bend over the arm, Stef.”

His request was almost enough for her to come right there. She bent over the sofa and waited for his cock to fill her.

Jason’s fingers began their journey at the top of her thighs to her ass and up to her lower back. He nudged her feet apart with his knees so that her legs were spread wide. Her aching pussy swelled with anticipation as his cock entered her core once more. Stephanie cried out and Jason slid a hand between her body and the armrest of the sofa. He found what he was looking for as he circled her clit and relentlessly pummeled her over the arm of the sofa .

“Stef, God, Stef, I love you,” he whispered into her ear from behind.

His words tipped her over the edge. Her climax wracked her body as her inner walls gripped his cock.

   Chapter 9

Stephanie couldn’t move let alone stand, so Jason carried her into bed and crawled in beside her where they drifted off to sleep.

Stephanie woke from Jason pulling his arm from around her waist.

“What time is it?”

Jason stood and pulled on his pants. “It’s almost nine. I’m going to grab us some dinner over at the hotel, what are you in the mood for?”

“Is that a loaded question?” she asked as she surveyed his bare chest and conspicuous bulge as he zipped his fly.

“I’ll be sure to bring back some whipped cream to top off our dessert. But first I’ll pay the chef a visit and see what he can make for us,” he said before he kissed her softly on the lips.

“Oh, I almost forgot. I know you don’t want to talk about her, but Jessica said something really strange as I walked away from her today. She said to let you know they’re coming for you.”

Jason halted in the bedroom doorway, and slowly turned around.

Stephanie sat up in bed and wrapped the sheets tight around her. “What’s going on, Jason?”

“Stef, I—“

The buzzing from his cell phone in the next room interrupted him.

“Hold that thought.”

Stephanie heard his conversation. “Yes Sam…when?...it’s okay, you had no choice…take care of Stephanie.”

Loud banging echoed through the villa followed by shouting. “Jason Royce, this is the Las Vegas police; open the door!”

Stephanie pulled on her robe and rushed to the living room. Jason turned toward her, “Stef, go back to the bedroom and close the door.”

“Do you think you can tell me now what the hell is going on?” she shouted.

“I’m sorry to get you involved with all of this. Go back home to Boston, Stef. Sam will take care of all of the arrangements for you.”

Stephanie began to tremble, “You didn’t answer me. What’s going on? What did you do?”

The wrapping at the door became louder and more urgent. Their eyes locked from across the room. Stephanie searched his face for a clue.

“Good-bye, Stephanie.”

He turned and walked toward the front door. Three police officers charged into the room and immediately searched and handcuffed him.

“You are under arrest for the blackmail of city officials in the state of Utah. We’re taking you into custody and you will be extradited to Salt Lake City for trial.”

An officer held his arm and guided him out the door.