Sodom and Detroit (10 page)

Tomorrow, he promised himself, he would have some
alone time with Maeve. He wanted her to know about him, to see who
he was as a person. It felt unfair that he already knew so much
about her, and he chafed again under Angel’s restrictions on how
honest he could be. Everything in his heart told him that they were
making a mistake by not telling her the truth, but he couldn’t
betray Angel and go against his wishes. Nothing he said would budge
Angel on revealing the truth to her until he was ready. If he told
her without Angel’s permission, it could irreparably harm their
relationship.

She gently kissed his palm. That small gesture
warmed his heart in an unexpected way, and he glanced up at Angel.
For the first time, he saw his lover as a possible obstacle between
him and Maeve. If they didn’t handle this right, they would lose
her because of Angel’s deception. He prided himself on his honesty,
tried to live his life without hidden agendas or lies. Now he was
caught between betraying his love and betraying his principles. He
felt a stirring of anger against Angel for putting him in this
position.

Angel’s lips thinned, and he gave Luke a small nod.
His talk with Angel would have to come later; right now he needed
to focus on Maeve. He would have to do his best to make their time
together too good to give up. An unexpected image of the three of
them curled up on the sofa watching a movie together flashed
through his mind.

He nibbled on her shoulder and watched her nipples
tighten. His cock gave a lazy stir against her full bottom. He
needed to go so Angel could have some alone time with her and
convince her to continue seeing them for the remainder of her
vacation. Maybe Angel would decide to throw his plan out the window
and tell her the truth. So much depended on them being able to work
through their past, and he prayed with all his heart that he wasn’t
making a big mistake by keeping the truth from her.

Taking a deep breath, he took one last look at
Maeve, trying to burn the memory of her naked and sated between
them into his mind in case this was the last time he saw her. After
placing a kiss on her cheek, he said, “Pizzariffic.”

Maeve flipped through her selection of dresses and
tried to choose her outfit for today. She was determined to hunt
Gryphon—or whatever his name was—down and have her wicked way with
him in the flesh. The thought of finding Luke flitted through her
mind as well. A silly grin curved her lips. Last night had been
beyond amazing, and she wondered if Luke looked that good in real
life.

Her lingerie reflected her man-hunting attitude. A
raspberry pink garter belt with black lace and fastenings hugged
her hips. A low cut matching push-up bra held her firmly in place,
and she had her favorite raspberry satin crotchless boy-cut
panties. Now to find the perfect dress to wear over the top.

She decided on a soft gray sleeveless dress. It had
a modest neckline, but it clung to her figure like it was painted
on before flaring around her lower waist. She paired it with cute
black sandals and dabbed some perfume behind her ears and on the
backs of her knees.

Trinity was waiting for her in the living room of
the suite and let out a low whistle when she strutted in and did a
twirl. “Girl, you look awesome! What guy are you trying to give a
heart attack?”

Maeve couldn’t help her happy grin. “You mean what
guys? I had a double day in VR last night.”

Trinity stared at her. “I don’t know if I’m more
shocked or jealous.”

“They are both blessed down below, love to eat
pussy, and fuck like a tag team.”

“Okay, now I am just jealous.” Trinity tucked her
long legs beneath her on the couch.

The day was cloudy, and fat raindrops plinked
against the glass windows. “Where’s Jerald?” When she had come back
last night after another mind-blowing fantasy with Gryphon and
Luke, Trinity and Jerald were cuddled on the couch watching a
Godzilla movie and pigging out on an ice-cream sundae.

“He has a web business meeting this morning.” Now it
was Trinity’s turn to grin like a happy idiot. “Turns out he owns a
ski resort in British Columbia and is a partner at a resort down in
the Bahamas.”

“Does he know you don’t voluntarily touch
snow…ever?”

Trinity grabbed her key card and slipped it into the
pocket of her shorts. “Well, I might have fibbed a little about my
snow bunny skills.”

Maeve groaned. “Trin, you know honesty is the best
policy.”

“I’ll tell him! I figure I have a couple of months
till winter hits. I’ll just take some snowboarding lessons or
something.”

Maeve patted her shoulder. “I’m going to have to
ditch you after breakfast. I have some men to find.”

After touching up their makeup and locking the
suite, they walked down the hallway and Trinity asked, “Which one
do you like the most?”

“Gryphon. Something about him, well,
everything
about him draws me in. There is something almost
familiar about how we are around each other. But I would have
remembered a man who loved to share his woman with his best
friend.” They paused at the elevator, and Maeve traced the pattern
in the carpet with the tip of her shoe. “Luke was very kind though.
He tried to put me at ease, and he could do things with his pierced
tongue that made my toes curl.”

“I say good for you. Promise me you’ll see this
through.”

“I’m going to do my best.” Maeve put her hand on
Trinity’s arm to stop her. “Listen, I just wanted to say thank you
for giving me tough love the other day. You’re totally right. I
have been avoiding men that I could lose myself too. And Mr. Hefron
was right. I don’t want to be a crazy cat lady.”

Trinity pulled her into a hug and kissed her
forehead. “There is hope for you yet. Now let’s go grab some food
and you can go find your man. It’s a cloudy day, so it shouldn’t be
that hard.”

Flopping back into one of the padded chairs of the
main foyer, Maeve stared at the skylights and admitted defeat. She
had combed every square inch, hung out at every bar, and stalked
every floor looking for Gryphon and Luke. She’d even tried to bribe
the receptionist and was yelled at.

Her sandals hit the ground as she kicked them off,
then stretched her toes. All that walking around in cute shoes was
killer. The comfortable chair felt like heaven after two hours of
wandering the resort. She closed her eyes and sighed, trying to
think of where to look next.

Warm hands grabbed her foot and gently began to rub
her toes through her sheer silk stockings. Her heart fluttered in
her chest, and she opened her eyes to see Luke grinning at her. He
looked the same as he had in the fantasy last night, except now he
wore an expensive black suit with a tie two shades darker than his
ice blue eyes. And he had a goatee.

“Hello, beautiful,” he said as his clever thumbs
worked on a knot in the arch of her foot.

She sighed with pleasure. “Hello, Luke. Is that your
real name?”

He nodded and moved to her other foot. A couple of
people gave them curious looks as they passed, but she could care
less. This man was a black belt in foot rubbing. “Strike that, I
don’t care what your name is. I’ll call you master of the universe
if you just keep rubbing my feet.”

“What were you doing walking all over the hotel all
afternoon?” he asked and ran his fingers between her toes.

“How did you know I was walking around the hotel?”
She tried to be upset, but it was utterly impossible at that moment
in time. Her body was liquid with pleasure, and she sank back into
the chair.

He paused for a moment and opened his jacket,
revealing a shoulder holster with a handgun. “I’m the chief of
hotel security.”

“Oh.” She looked up and found him staring at her in
a way that made her want to purr. His eyes seemed to have darkened,
and his gaze took on a predatory gleam. It made her feel feminine
and very aroused. She mentally upped Luke’s danger-to-her-heart
factor. Any man that could make her panties wet with just a look
bore watching.

“I love your garters,” he said in a low voice. “From
this angle I can almost see your panties. Pink?”

“Raspberry,” she murmured and lost herself in his
eyes. His long fingers began to massage her ankles, and she wiggled
her toes.

“Raspberry. Delicious.” He scooted forward a bit and
placed her legs on his thighs. She shifted down in the chair, and
her cashmere dress rode up, exposing the tops of her garters.

His breath caught in his throat. “
Crotchless
raspberry panties. Now I know I’m in love.”

She giggled and gently removed her feet from his
lap, sitting up while he remained kneeling before her.

“Tell me, beautiful, were you looking for
someone?”

A blush heated her cheeks. She didn’t want to appear
too eager and tell him the truth, but she hated lying. “I was
hoping to run into you and Gryphon.”

He grinned at her. “I talked with him this morning.
He has a meeting today and asked me to entertain you if I happened
to run into you.”

The idea made her feel special. Gryphon wanted her
to be happy and looked after, so he trusted her and Luke enough to
be together. In an effort to hide her tender feelings, she snorted.
“Being that you have access to all the surveillance cameras, that
wasn’t too hard to do, was it?”

He didn’t have the good grace to look embarrassed.
“Nope. I must say, you have the most beautiful, plush bottom I’ve
ever seen.” He leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Tell me, Maeve,
do you like to get spanked?”

She sucked in a gasp of air and stared at him.
Another group of people slowed down to watch as Luke slipped her
sandals back on. His gaze drifted over her breasts. “I think you
do. Your nipples are as hard as pencil erasers.”

She fought the urge to cross her arms and tried to
regain her emotional footing. The men she usually dealt with were
nowhere near this frank or exciting. Luke was totally honest in his
desires, and she liked that. His utter self-confidence allowed him
to express his wants with no need for coyness or double talk. He
desired her, and he let her know it. “That’s very bold of you.”

Shrugging, he gave her a charming, boyish smile that
made her smile back. “Maeve, I helped design and work at Sodom.
Every wicked fantasy and decadent desire you can possibly imagine
has been engineered into our VR programs. You have no idea how bold
I can get.”

The quiet assurance and truth of his words warmed
her, and she felt another twinge of desire compete with the
butterflies in her stomach. Her already slick sex heated even more
and she shifted, pressing her thighs together to try to relieve the
ache. This man was smooth and charming; it was easy to forget how
much of an animal he was when he fucked.

“Would you like a tour of Sodom?” He held out his
hand.

The question was innocent enough, but she hesitated
and said in a whisper, “What if Gryphon gets mad?” She must have
been misreading him, because it looked like the smile he gave her
was filled with approval. Like he was happy that she had brought
Gryphon up.

“Maeve, Gryphon is
totally
okay with anything
that happens between us today. He is my best friend, and I love
him. I would never do anything to hurt him.”

The pounding of her pulse filled her ears. She took
his hand and hoped with all her heart she was doing the right
thing.

His soft smile made her heart thump. “Thank you. I
wanted the chance to tell you a little bit about myself.”

She arched a brow at him. “I can ask you
anything?”

“Yep.” He held her hand as they strolled through the
lobby. His willingness to answer questions was refreshing after
Gryphon’s refusal to tell her much about himself.

“Okay. Why do you like me?”

He led them to a private set of elevators and typed
in a code before looking down at her with a puzzled expression.
“You don’t see yourself very clearly, do you?”

The doors opened, and they entered the mirrored
elevator. He spun her around so she was framed by his body in the
reflective surface. Next to his height, she looked petite. He ran
his hands over her shoulders. “Aside from the fact that you are
absolutely stunning”—she blushed and dropped her eyes—“you’re also
talented, smart, and accomplished.”

“How do you know that?” she asked in a suspicious
voice. He rubbed his lips over her ear, and his soft goatee made
her shiver.

“It’s called Google. After our time together last
night, I wanted to learn everything I could about you.” She watched
his head move in the mirror as he kissed along her neck. “Graduated
from Stanford, worked for the same company in New York for seven
years. Your list of philanthropic awards is a mile long.” His big
hands reached up to cup her breasts as he held her gaze in the
mirror. “What guy wouldn’t want you? You’re the total package in
every way.”

She melted against him. Everything about him told
her he was being honest and really did feel this way. He made her
feel special and adored.

“Thank you,” she said softly and stepped away as the
doors to their floor opened.

He grinned at her. “Let me show you my world.”

She took a deep breath and slid her hand into
his.

Luke stroked his thumb over her palm, and she tried
to ignore the envious stares of every female they passed. He had
shown her the different sections of the hotel and was now taking
her to his office. She knew what he had in mind once they got
there. It was in the way he casually pressed his hand into her
lower back, how he ran his lips over her ear when he whispered
something to her, and how he looked at her. Every minute that went
by, his gaze turned darker, more lust filled, until she was
surprised he didn’t throw her up against the nearest wall and take
her. Without touching her, he had her body hot and ready for him
like they’d just spent the last half hour having foreplay instead
of touring the resort.