Hot Number (20 page)

“To your mom,” Sadie said, touching her
goblet to his.

“To Mom,” he echoed. They drank, but then he
seemed to give himself some kind of mental shake, as if things had
gotten too heavy. He opened the fridge and grabbed a plate stacked
with several enormous cuts of meat. “I’d better get the steaks
on.”

After Nick rubbed salt, pepper and a few
other mysterious seasonings into the two-inch thick filets, he
disappeared into the back yard. Sadie peeled and chopped the rest
of the vegetables as she sipped her wine, pondering the short but
intense conversation that had produced a whole raft of conflicting
emotions and thoughts in her heart and head.

She ached with sympathy for Nick, both for
losing his father at fourteen and for seeing his mom slip away into
the agonizing fog of Alzheimer’s. And the fact that he’d trusted
Sadie enough to share those painful revelations touched her more
than she could say. Even more surprising was his intimation that
their relationship could go beyond a hot but brief Vegas fling.

Did he really want her to meet his mother?
She didn’t think Nick was the kind of guy to throw that kind of
statement out on a casual basis, not given everything it implied.
Like a relationship—one that might eventually involve a genuine
commitment, and making decisions about a life together. Until a few
moments ago, she hadn’t even been sure she’d want such a thing. But
as soon as Nick had articulated those words, Sadie knew without a
doubt that she wanted those possibilities to exist.

She finished up the salad, covering it with
paper towels to keep it fresh. Nick had only been gone a few
minutes, but she missed him anyway. Stupid, when he wasn’t far
away, but she had to resist the temptation to follow him out to the
backyard. Hints of possibilities were a good thing. Being clingy
was not. Whatever her faults, she had never been clingy.

Finally, Nick shoved the backdoor open with
his foot, his hands full with two platters of steak, grilled
zucchini and yellow peppers. She rushed to help him set the food
down on the kitchen counter. Beads of sweat trickled down his
forehead and neck, and his shirt clung to his muscled chest and
arms. Endearingly, his hair was mussed and a jet black lock had
fallen across his brow, making him look younger and a lot less
worried than the man of a few minutes ago.

“Man, it’s got to be a hundred fifty degrees
near that barbecue,” he said.

She could believe it. Though it was already
dark, the temperature was probably still in the eighties, with more
humidity than she’d expected to find in Las Vegas. She grabbed a
tea towel and ran it under cool water as Nick arranged the grilled
veggies on a serving plate. “Here,” she said, holding the damp
cloth to his forehead. “We don’t want you collapsing into your
dinner with heatstroke.”

Nick scoffed. “Not likely. This isn’t all
that hot. Iraq in July, wearing a helmet and body armor—now, that’s
hot. But thanks for this,” he said, covering her hand with his own,
and pressing it harder against his forehead. “You’re a
sweetheart.”

Sadie stood on her tiptoes and brushed her
lips across his cheek. “Thank you, sir. You’re not so bad for a
hardass sheriff, either.”

Instantly, Nick reached around her waist and
pulled her against him. The heat and now-musky scent of his body
took her breath away. Who would have ever thought that a hot,
sweaty man would turn her on? But it did, in a heartbeat.

As he tugged her tight against his groin, the
evidence of his arousal couldn’t have been clearer. The hard, full
length of him pressed insistently against her belly. Before she
could react, he tossed away the wet cloth and tilted her face up,
his mouth taking hers in a fierce, possessive kiss. With a pounding
heart, Sadie fumbled to open his jeans and reached inside the
waistband of his briefs. As her fingers found the hard heat of his
erection, Nick moaned and broke the kiss.

“I guess we’re both hungrier than we
thought,” he said, his voice thick with wanting.

She knew exactly what kind of hunger he was
talking about. “Why don’t we put the plates in a warm oven? Right
now I want something else for dinner.”

Nick grinned. In seconds, he had the oven on
low and the steaks and vegetables stowed inside. Sadie shoved the
salad into the fridge. When she turned to face him, he put both
hands on her hips and kissed her on the forehead. He seemed to
breathe in her scent as if it somehow revitalized him. “You smell
fantastic, and I must smell like some disgusting combination of
sweat and smoke.”

“Nonsense,” she blurted out. “You smell good
enough to eat, and I have every intention of doing exactly that.”
Then her mouth dropped open. Did she actually say something that
earthy? What the heck was happening to her?

He laughed. “Amen to that, but I’d feel
better if that happened after a shower,” he demurred. “Care to join
me?”

“You have extraordinarily lascivious
appetites, Sheriff,” she said, trying unsuccessfully not to grin.
“But then again, I suppose that should have been self-evident after
last night’s exploration of erotic fantasies, shouldn’t it?”

Nick rolled his eyes. “Is that a
yes
?”

“I should say so. What is it you military
people say? Roger that. One hundred per cent affirmative.”

* * *

A low, ugly voice in Nick’s head whispered
that he’d made a mistake. They should be having a quiet dinner, and
then he should be talking to her straight about what she’d been
doing at the blackjack tables. That had been his plan. He really
couldn’t let the evening fly by in a sexual haze without
confronting her—for both their sakes. As reluctant as he might be
to admit it, he was beginning to like her too much for this not to
mean anything to him.

The thought that Sadie might be disguising a
blackjack pro underneath that innocent exterior had driven him
crazy since the moment he saw her raising her bets like a seasoned
card counter. Even worse, it had crossed his mind that she might
even be playing him for a sucker. Maybe she figured the best way to
keep casino security off her back was to get
on
her back for
casino security.

His mind skittered away from that idea, every
instinct revolting against it. But in his business—and in the
Marines—he’d learned not to let his guard down and never trust
anything based on its surface appearance.

But when Sadie, her eyes brimming with
concern, had rushed to put a cold cloth to his forehead, he
couldn’t help himself. He had to give in to the overwhelming
compulsion to kiss her, a compulsion to seek escape from all the
obstacles piling up around him. And once he’d started kissing her
lush mouth, so warm and welcoming to his invasion, he knew he
didn’t want to stop. And when she slid her fingers into his jeans,
he
couldn’t
stop.

The interrogation would happen, but it would
have to wait. Maybe it would even go better when her defenses were
down after another session of steamy sex. She would be pissed at
him, but if she was lying sated and naked in his arms, he had every
confidence he could deal with that.

Yeah, asshole. Keep telling yourself
that.

Nick silenced the ugly voice and deepened the
kiss, backing Sadie out of the kitchen. They stumbled across the
living room toward the bathroom, unbuttoning and pulling at each
other’s clothes. As she freed the last button on his shirt, he
yanked her skimpy top up over her head. For a moment, he stopped
moving and gazed down at the lacy black bra that pushed her breasts
into perfect, creamy mounds. When he unhooked the clasp they
spilled out, the nipples already rosy and taut. His cock throbbed
even harder.

Nick tossed his shirt to the floor and took a
breast in each hand, circling his thumb around each flushed nipple
with increasing pressure. The sweet, hard peaks drew his mouth with
an irresistible lure. He kissed and suckled and teased them with
his tongue, gently scraping his teeth across one and then the other
as Sadie squirmed in his arms, moaning in pleasure. The contrast of
the delicate, satiny skin of her breasts with the pebbled hardness
of her nipples sent a blazing fury through his body and straight to
his cock.

Somehow, in the midst of her moans and sighs,
Sadie had managed to push his jeans down and slide her hands inside
the back of his briefs. Cupping his butt with her small hands, she
stood on her tiptoes and pulled him close, nudging his throbbing
cock into the tempting vee of her thighs as she undulated against
him. At the same time, she sucked his tongue into her mouth,
tasting him with an innocent enthusiasm that made him crazy.

He could hardly believe it.
He
was the
one who was supposed to grab ass and take control, not this little
slip of a thing he cradled in his arms. Sadie might be a relative
sexual novice, but she had amazing instincts for what turned him
on. And she wasn’t faking how turned on she was, either. He was
sure of that. Whatever else she might be, every instinct told him
her eagerness to be with him was real.

Nick kissed her hard and deep, his hands
pushing her jeans down her rounded hips and smooth thighs. He
needed to get her naked—now. Clearly sensing his urgency, she
wriggled the denim down her legs until she could step out of the
jeans. Her hot little panties, of course, matched her bra. When he
leaned back to enjoy the view, she pulled the bra’s straps from her
shoulders and let it fall, leaving her naked except for the little
triangle of black lace that barely covered the silky curls hiding
her sex. All creamy white skin and lush, natural curves, and naked
except for that scrap of tantalizing fabric, Sadie was the most
erotic thing he had ever seen.

His throat went dry. When she reached to pull
down her panties, he stopped her. “I think we’ll leave them on. For
now,” he said hoarsely.

She looked startled, but then shrugged,
giving him a
whatever
smile. He chuckled. Yep, she was
eager, but she couldn’t help dropping unconscious hints about how
tame her sex life must have been. Not that it mattered, but he had
to admit he kept looking forward to expanding her horizons.

He stepped out of his jeans, pushed open the
bathroom door and reached inside the shower enclosure to turn on
the water. In an instant, Sadie had his briefs down around his
ankles and had reached around to cup his balls in her hand. He
arched his back and sucked in a deep breath as she squeezed him in
an oh-so-gentle grip.

Impatient now, he stuck his arm inside the
shower stall again. The water temperature was perfect—good and hot,
but not scalding. Sadie stroked his cock, gliding her fingers from
the straining head to the base. That hot little hand and the
perfect pressure of her touch threatened to blow away his already
tenuous control.

Pausing only to pluck a condom from one of
the bathroom drawers and roll it on, he guided her into the shower,
closing the door behind them. Sadie arched her back as the water
cascaded over her face and down her slim shoulders and lush
breasts. She turned into the water, letting the stream flatten
those crazy curls against her head. For a long moment, Nick let his
gaze wander over her glistening back and butt. Some men might think
she was too short and her hips were a bit too wide, but her skin
was smooth and her muscles toned. When he massaged her last night
at the spa, he’d felt strength and resilience in the beautiful
planes of her petite body.

But it was that scrap of black lace that his
eyes lingered on. Little more than a thong, it covered almost
nothing, and certainly not the pretty globes of her ass. Now
soaked, it was an erotic reminder of the delights it barely
concealed. Delights he fully intended to sample, starting right
now.

Sadie gasped as Nick slipped his hands
between her cheeks, opening her just enough to press the head of
his cock up against her panties, tracing the full length of the
material from back to front. The soaked lace, slightly rough
against his skin, rubbed him with an erotic friction that had him
clenching his teeth. He had to resist the urge to rip it aside and
surge into her, fucking her in long, hard strokes. But he held
back, wanting her to be as ready for him as he was for her.

But Sadie knew exactly what he wanted. She
widened her stance and braced herself, palms flat against the side
of the shower, a clear invitation for him to take whatever he
wanted.

** *

Sadie knew what Nick wanted, and it was
exactly what she wanted, too. She wanted him to take her from
behind in a hot, blinding rush. Foreplay was overrated—at least at
certain times—and this was definitely one of them. Sometimes a
woman needed to be filled up, and fast. Just thinking about him
doing that, and the power of his body sliding into hers, had turned
her soft, slick, and more than ready.

By spreading her legs and bracing herself,
she might as well have issued him an engraved invitation. As if he
needed one. The way he’d gazed at her, the way he’d almost devoured
her with his lips and tongue, demonstrated an overpowering hunger
that needed to be fed. Their sexual desire for each other was
evident enough, but their talk in the kitchen and Nick’s emotional
honesty had brought another powerful element into the equation. Now
there was an intensity of feeling growing between them that could
no longer be denied.

But this moment was all about the erotic,
just like last night had been. Nick had surprised her—almost
shocked her—with his insistence that she leave her panties on. It
felt weird to have them on in the shower. Weird but also
disarmingly naughty. Clearly, the idea had turned Nick on, too.

And even now, with only a bit of sheer fabric
separating his big erection from her sex, he still didn’t seem to
want to remove her panties. She’d thought maybe he want to rip them
from her body in a single hard and dominating gesture before
thrusting into her—which would have been just fine with her—but no.
He was content to leisurely rub through the lace with his cock
while he slid his fingers inside the triangle in front, brushing
down over her wet curls and sending tendrils of fire to settle low
in her belly and between her soft inner lips.