What Happens in Vegas: A BWWM Alpha Male Romance (12 page)

She pushed him back and kissed down his neck until she reached his collarbones, licking straight along both of them. She licked up his neck until she reached his ear. He felt her hot breath against him and it sent a shudder down his spine, making his skin crawl in excitement. She felt him starting to get hard against her and this prompted her to move her hips down against him to create friction. She moaned and rolled her body against his. When he was fully erect, she grabbed the base of his shaft and lowered her body so he could penetrate her fully in one motion. She continued rolling her hips and body, his cock sliding in and out of her slowly each time. They both moaned and let their heads fall back, enjoying this slow and almost lazy sex. Both of them wanted and needed this but felt were too tired to go crazy.

This is actually great
, she thought as he eased her onto her back and began thrusting in and out of her, angling his body until he hit a sensitive spot inside her. This started a chain of moans from her and grunts from him as he thrust a bit faster and pushed into her as deep as he could. He pulled out enough to rub the ridge of his cock against her clit from time to time, eventually bringing her to an orgasm that slowly built up through her body. He felt his cum shoot out and pleasure coursed through his entire body. He pulled out of her and slid down to the floor, resting his back against the couch to allow her space to spread out comfortably. They both were quiet for a while afterward, holding hands and feeling content and comfortable.

The following morning, Nick woke up Shauna to inform her of a plan she had no idea he had been formulating. That is when it dawned on her that he had been working on it all along on his little notepad. His brother was already on the way to pick Nick up so they could go talk to the people in charge of sending the men after her. She bolted out of bed when he said this, frantically shaking her head and asking him not to go. He pressed her hands between his and told her, “It has to be done. This is the only way.” Tears began to well up in her eyes. She did not want anything to happen to him. Any number of things could go wrong at this meeting. “It’s true. But we can’t hide out forever, can we? Something has to happen eventually. I’d rather get it done now. It’s for the best, after all.” He leaned forward and gave her a reassuring kiss on the forehead before pulling her in to a tight embrace. He did not let her go until his brother arrived and he had to leave. He gave her a long, tender kiss goodbye and she watched him walk out the door.

She slumped onto the floor, back resting against the now closed and bolted door, hoping with every fiber of her being that he would be okay. She knew she had to keep busy if she wanted to keep any number of mortifying scenarios from playing in her mind. She stood up and dressed in casual clothes intent on cleaning the apartment. Everything was relatively clean, she found, and she did not have much to scrub or wipe. She set the mission of organizing the pantry how she liked it, a task that was sure to take at least a decent chunk of time from her day. In the end, it did not matter. Her mind continued to go back to Nick and his meeting. She could only hope some sort of agreement was reached and that the other men did not pull a stunt that left him wounded or killed. Something heavy settled at the pit of her stomach and, before she knew what was happening, she was vomiting into the sink. She simply could not handle the thought that Nick might be getting tortured or killed at this very moment.

It was ridiculous to think he had become the target of these people for a deal gone wrong, a deal that had nothing to do with him directly. Even if he had been involved, everything would have been completely out of his control. It was not as if he tried to make fools of them or rob them but that is how they were treating the entire situation. It was even more ridiculous
she
had become a target in all this as well. It would have made more sense for them to want to hurt her if he actually had been responsible for the deal not working out. She had a feeling there was a specific someone in the other family’s group with a growing resentment and he had finally decided to do something about it. And it had just so happened that Nick was the easiest target for them at the time.

She ran the water over the sink for a couple minutes and rinsed her mouth before scrubbing the sink clean. She stood there, leaning against the edge, looking off into space and trying to keep her thoughts from spinning even more out of control than they already were. She walked off to the living room and chose a light-hearted book from the bookshelves there. She needed to keep her mind occupied but could not handle anything too heavy at the moment. All she wanted was for Nick to come back, to know he was safe, and to have this ordeal be over. She was about three chapters into the book when she heard the door open and close. She whipped her head around and a huge smile broke out on her face when she saw Nick had returned unharmed.

Her smile soon faded when she saw the look on his face. It alarmed her not because he looked worried or defeated. He looked angry. He looked betrayed. “Nick…”

“You really thought I would never find out?”

She stood up from the couch, book dropping to the floor, and approached him slowly. “What are you talking about?”

“How many dollar signs, exactly, do I have attached to my name? How many that they were worth you staying by my side through all this instead of losing them?”

Shauna stopped dead in her tracks. Everything around her went quiet and she felt like she was observing everything, feeling everything in slow motion.
Dollar signs
, she repeated in her head.
Those words
, she thought. She opened her mouth to speak but no words came out and she only stood there with her mouth open.

“You can’t even talk. You really thought-”

“I thought nothing!” Her sudden outburst even took her by surprise. She took a couple steps toward him but he waved his hands in front and moved away until his back hit the door. He shook his head and looked at her in disbelief. “Nick, please, you have to hear me out. It’s not how it sounds, I don’t even know where you heard that.”

“I would say your
best friend
is a pretty credible source.”

A hush fell between them and Shauna’s thoughts came to a screeching halt. Not Michelle. “Not Michelle. Nick, please tell me she is okay.”

“Yes, don’t you think I would have immediately told you if something had happened to her? How little you think of me.” He uttered the last statement with such disgust in his voice it made her cringe.

“Nick, it’s not like that. I wasn’t with you for your money. I have never chosen to be or stay with you for that reason.”

“Are you denying that you like my money?”

“No,” she said honestly and he tilted his head, incredulous look taking over his face. “Of course it’s nice to be dazzled and treated that way. I won’t stand here and lie. But that does
not
mean it was the reason I wanted to be with you. We’ve always talked about our draw to one another and how intense this all has been from the start. How could that have been the case if I were only in it for the money? I had no idea you were a millionaire.”

Nick looked at her and she could tell he was processing what she had just said. He was trying to piece everything together. She knew he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and cling to everything they had lived through together, cling to everything she had ever told him in the past. But she also knew how hard it was to do that and just ignore something that seemed to be so true. “They talked to her,” he said quietly. “They followed her until she was somewhere public, it was a lounge. One of them approached her to flirt and they got her drunk. They took her to a private room and started questioning her. Even though she was intoxicated she had a bad feeling about it so she wanted to be as careful as possible. She told them you were with me for the money, that you had a habit of dating rich men. They looked into your past and verified it. I know about the men you’ve dated.”

Shauna sighed and rubbed her forehead before saying, “It’s never been on purpose. I don’t intentionally pick rich men to date, it’s just so happened to turn out that way. I only dated a rich man for his money once and I hated the way I felt about myself and what I was doing to him. It was a long time ago and I would never make the same mistake again.”

“You can understand why this is hard for me to wrap my mind around. I want to believe you but considering their findings,” he said before looking off at nothing in particular. The pain was clear in his eyes and she hated it. She despised making him feel this way especially through everything that they were going through. “I won’t be taken advantage of,” he said coldly.

“I would never do that to you,” she whispered. He nodded and said, “We need to talk to Michelle. My brother is bringing her over now, actually.”

They sat in silence, far away from each other, until Marcus and Michelle arrived. Her friend looked at the two of them and her eyes filled with questions. “Shauna,” she said walking over to her. She knelt down in front of her and said, “You have to believe me, I didn’t say those things to hurt you or because I believe them. I got a bad feeling from those men. I knew something had to be wrong so I answered their questions in a way I thought would cause the least amount of damage. I told them what I had to so I could get away but not really give them any real information.”

Shauna made eye contact with her friend and gave a single, curt nod. She knew Michelle was not lying. She knew her friend would never do anything to hurt her and would not make up such a story. It had to be the truth and it explained how those men had gotten that information and decided to use it against Nick. She heard Marcus say, “It’s over. It’s been taken care of.” Nick swallowed and said “thanks” under his breath before stalking off to the bedroom and closing the door behind him. Shauna stood up and thanked both Marcus and Michelle for coming over. Michelle stood up and shook her head before walking toward the bedroom as she said, “I need to talk to him.”

Shauna watched her open the bedroom door, step inside, and close it behind her. Their voices were muffled and as much as she wanted to know what they were talking about, she resisted the urge to eavesdrop. Instead, she walked to the kitchen and asked Marcus if he wanted anything to drink. When he declined, she walked to the dining table and sat across from him. She hesitated for a couple minutes before asking, “You said it’s been taken care of. I need to know… Am I a fool for staying with Nick? Am I putting myself at risk?”

Marcus sighed and leaned forward. He looked at Shauna carefully and replied, “If you’re with a Verraud, there will always be some kind of risk. But I can tell you my brother will always take care of you. And I will always help. He wants to live an honest life and, so far, he has. Things like this happen rarely and it’s the first time they have actually targeted him. I don’t think you’re a fool for staying.”

Shauna bit her lip and leaned back in the seat. She jumped out of it the second Michelle stepped out of the bedroom. She smiled at Shauna and walked over to the table saying, “He just needs a few minutes. But I talked to him and explained everything. He believes you. It’s just all been overwhelming, you know?” Shauna nodded and looked longingly toward the bedroom door. As much as she wanted to go in there and hug him, comfort him in some way, she knew it was best to give him space for the time being. Marcus and Michelle said goodbye and left the apartment. Shauna sunk down onto an armchair in the living room and waited. She had no idea how long she waited but there was nothing else to do until Nick decided he was ready to step out of the bedroom.

Hours passed. It was not until the first signs of daybreak began to show that he walked out of the room and toward Shauna. He placed his hands on the armrests of the chair and leaned over her, looking deep into her eyes without a single word. She held her breath. He leaned in and kissed her. It was a tender kiss full of emotion at first. She could feel both of their troubles melting away with it. All the danger, the panic, the concern, and the stress was slowly melting out of their bodies and evaporating with that kiss. All the betrayal and hurt he felt earlier left too. With that kiss, it was slowly going back to just the two of them before all of this started. As the kiss went on and his hand moved from the armrest to the side of her neck, it all went back to even before she knew about his family. They were taken back to those feelings and that excitement but with an even greater closeness than before.
This is the way it should be
, she mused as she pushed up to deepen the kiss.

The kiss that had started off so tenderly and had gone on for a while to cleanse them from everything they had experienced in such a short amount of time began to change. Like their relationship and their feelings it began to evolve. There was love, trust, and passion. They had to stop to catch their breath but soon were kissing again, locked into passion. He wrapped his arms around her, under her arms, and lifted her off the chair. She missed this. She missed all the comfort and closeness, she missed that feeling of him being in control but not pushy. She had missed everything about their relationship so much and it had felt like so long since it felt this way. It was so natural and so pure.