My vagina was definitely fonder of him than the last time I’d been with him.
“I think you’ll like it. And neither of us will get in trouble.” He angled his chin up to the ceiling where a small security camera was mounted, then headed towards the elevator. Ah, yes, how could I forget? This was Ardra’s hotel, after all, so of course we’d be under a watchful eye whenever we were near each other. I hadn’t really factored that inevitability in when I’d decided to stay at the Lucky Star.
I shut my hotel room door and jogged down the hall to catch up to him. We were close in height, but he still took longer strides, moving with the kind of purpose that seems to guide powerful men through the world.
Inside the elevator I immediately regretted not taking a different car. If we were supposed to just be acting like old friends, I was going to need to stay at least fifty feet away from him at all times.
He smelled perfect, like bergamot and linen. The elevator car was lined top to bottom with mirrors, and I caught his eye in our reflection.
“I missed you.” His voice was so quiet it felt like he was sharing a secret with me.
“Shh.” How dare he say something so sweet and honest when I couldn’t touch him? There were limits to my self-control, and he seemed to be bent on testing all of them.
I pressed myself against the wall farthest from him and fixed my eyes on the elevator doors, taking calming, measured breaths until I could almost ignore his scent. Until I nearly believed I could stand next to him in public and not try to dry hump him.
Baby steps.
The elevator chimed, and the doors opened up into a dark corridor.
“Have you brought me up here to kill me?” I teased.
“No. The carpet is new. I’d have taken you to the basement for that. I can make whatever kind of mess I want down there.”
I don’t know if it was the implication of making a mess or the very subtle suggestion of violence, but either way the whole sentence made me dizzy with arousal.
Get a grip, woman.
Though we were obviously still in the hotel, this floor looked more like it belonged to an office building. There were names rather than numbers beside each card reader, and along one of the far walls I noticed a bulletin board and coffee maker.
We stopped in front of a door marked Cade Melpomene – External Relations.
I’d like to have some internal relations with him.
Gods I hoped this wasn’t his room. If there was a bed anywhere in sight, I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from climbing him like a really, really sexy tree.
“That’s not your suite, right?” I asked, not sure how to word it without giving away what was going on in my head.
“No.”
“Okay.”
He leaned a little closer, pretending to pick a piece of lint off my shirt. A knot formed in my throat, making it hard for me to swallow. He casually, playfully tugged my ponytail and whispered, “Maybe I’ll show you that later.”
Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.
Was it possible to get pregnant from hearing a sentence?
He held the door open for me, staying out of my way so he didn’t touch me. His attention seemed to be up at the ceiling again, as if he was telling the cameras, See, no funny business.
The interior of the room was lit only by one lamp sitting on a low bookshelf. He went over and turned it off, leaving us totally engulfed in darkness. Somehow this made me all the more aware of him. Each rustle of fabric as he moved, the way the air shifted to make way for him. I stayed absolutely still, wrapping my arms around myself.
A moment later the sound of blinds being raised drew my attention.
He pushed back heavy, dark curtains, revealing an enormous picture window that looked down over the strip. Evening had settled in, making the miles and miles of neon pop like feverish cartoon fantasies. It was all so bright and colorful I didn’t want to believe it could be real. How could something that beautiful have been crafted out of glass and chemicals?
I crossed the room and stood by his side, drinking in the view. Pedestrians clogged the sidewalks, moving like ants. Cars added their head- and taillights to the mix, with two red and white ribbons binding off the city as if it were a gift.
A scaled-down Eiffel tower was next to a hot air balloon. Across the way, the Bellagio fountain was making its ostentatious display. Everywhere I looked my eyes landed on something familiar but somehow different from this view.