Cards Of Love: Queen Of Pentacles Read online

  “Yes it is.” Not letting her finish, I took a firm step closer, closing the gap between us. Nola's chest lurched as I loomed over her, pinning her to the bar. “You don't need to deny it. You're not going to hurt my feelings, I'm hard as stone.”

  Her eyes lowered to the bulge in my pants, hovering there for a second. My lips split happily as she lingered on the muscle. I enjoyed myself right then, pleased with how her gaze traveled in the right direction.

  Taking in a quick snap of air, she shot her eyes down to look at her feet. “I didn't mean for it to come that way. I've had a rough day, I'm not usually so rude.”

  Grabbing her chin in my hand, I angled her head up. “No worries, I'm not offended.” Letting my thumb brush her jaw, the electricity jolted between us, sparking something deeper in my core. I wasn't sure what it was, but it sat there like a rock in my stomach. “So tell me then, if all these people are here for what you say they are, then why are you here?” Dropping her face, I let my arm rest on the bar.

  “Me?” she choked the word out. “Because it comes with the territory. Some of us actually do care.” She looked flustered, visibly affected by how close we were. Her fingers nervously tapped the outside of her glass as she clutched the drink and took a long, wide-throated gulp.

  She reminded me of Alice in Wonderland, holding a vial of liquid that said 'drink me', and hoping it would shrink her so small she could scurry away.

  “Am I making you nervous?” Twisting my torso, I faced the room, giving her open space to run if she felt the need. Not that I'd let her get that far, I had already claimed her as mine for the night. Stretching a single finger across the glossy mahogany surface, I brushed the side of her wrist. “Or are you getting turned on?”

  Choking on the alcohol in her mouth, she swallowed hard. “Excuse me?” Inhaling a deep breath, her eyes shot open wide. “No, no I'm not.” Pausing, she licked her lips and searched the crowd. “Okay, well, thank you for the drink, but I really should go do this whole meet and greet thing.” Standing up straight, she straightened the front of her dress and started forward.

  Snagging her arm, I stopped her. “No need to rush off, I think they've had you long enough. It's my turn, and believe me, I'm way more interesting than all these people put together.” Taking a firm step into her, I slipped my hand around the small of her back and leaned over to whisper in her ear. “There's a nice little balcony off the back, maybe we could go outside and be alone for a little bit.”

  Pressing her hands to my chest, I thought she was going to push me away. I braced for it, digging my heels into the floor. Only that's not what happened.

  Her slender fingers slid up the center of my shirt, adjusting my tie, and straightening the knot at my throat. “I don't know what you're trying to do, but that's not going to happen.”

  “And why not?” I asked, holding her tighter.

  “Because I have an appearance to keep up, and running off with someone I just met isn't exactly how I work.” Nola tried to step away, but I gripped her firmer.

  Fanning my hand open, I cupped the top of her ass. “No one has to know. It could be our little secret.”

  Tracing my knuckles up her spine, my fingers hit the bare flesh just above the low v-cut in her dress. The way her skin felt against my hand made my cock jerk. It was soft and supple like hot velvet, forcing my body to come alive. My veins heated, my nerves popped and snapped, my muscles twitched dangerously, ready to throw her over my shoulder if she denied me one second longer.

  I need to have this woman.

  There was an animalistic desire that woke inside me, slowly stretching its arms up high and taking control. I didn't care about anyone else in that room, I didn't care about making a good impression with my co-workers—who still remained a mystery because no one was wearing tags or dangling media cards; all I cared about was getting what I wanted.

  That was my downfall, my Achilles heel; once I had my eyes set on something, there was no stopping until it was mine. It wasn't a game, it wasn't a bet or goal I gave myself. It was a feeling that went deeper than the surface, it was stronger and more powerful than any other emotion. It was a dark obsession I couldn't turn off.

  Need.

  Need was more than just something my body experienced when it was hungry or tired or thirsty. Need for me was all-consuming, it could control me in ways you could never imagine.

  I needed Nola. Period.

  All I had to do was lay my eyes on her, that one action made her mine; even if she didn't know it. She wasn't having a choice in the matter. If I couldn't get her here, I'd find another way.

  The craving would need to be satiated, the hunger would need to be fed, the thirst would need to be quenched. I was going to get what I wanted.

  Giving me a tender smile, she shook her head. “No, I can't. . .” Her voice trailed off as she contemplated the idea. “I. . . I shouldn't.”

  “You can and you should.” Wriggling my brows, my lips thinned. “All these people will still be here, it's not like I'm asking you to come home with me.”

  Hanging her head, she looked up at me with those big doe eyes. “What kind of girl do you think I am, Ash?” Pursing her lips, she glanced between the crowd and myself. “Do I come off as easy?”

  I wasn't sure if she was checking to see if anyone was watching her directly, or if she was trying to weigh the options in her head. But her eyes flickered with a hint of uncertainty, a sliver of fear as if the wrong person might watching her from a distance.

  Don't worry about them. They're all a bunch of pricks with assholes for brains.

  “I think you're a girl who knows a good thing when she see it and a woman who knows what she wants.” Pressing her harder into my chest, I softly ran my fingers across her forehead. “Besides, this shit is boring as fuck. Why not make the best of it?”

  “You have fucking balls to approach a girl this way.”

  “What can I say? I have no fear and a big heart. . .” Pausing, I wriggled my brows. “Among other things.”

  Her fingers danced across my ribs, plucking at the thin fabric of my shirt. “You know what, screw it. This night didn't start out good at all, let's go.”

  “Are you sure?” I asked, giving her one last chance to back out if she really wanted to.

  “Stop talking and walk before I change my mind.” Tipping her head back slightly, she eyed me. “Unless you're having second thoughts. Are you doubting yourself now, Mr. Smooth and Savvy?”

  “Not a chance in hell. I never doubt what I want.” A devious smirk emerged on my face as I took her hand and led her to the double doors hidden in the back of the ballroom. Squeezing my body behind the giant Chinese character partition, I tugged open one of the doors, allowing the warm night air to spill in around us.

  The taste of a busy city filled my lungs as the scent of exhaust from the overcrowded street below mixed and blended with all the different aromas from the various restaurants lining the sidewalk.

  I could smell french fries and pizza, I could smell chicken and sausage from the vendors hovering around the walkway, and the stuffy thickness of diesel from buses.

  Tangling our fingers together, we both stepped up to the edge of the railing. Nola's eyes grew wide as she took in the vast expanse of high rises, all twinkling like a Christmas tree in December.

  “Wow,” she said, letting go of my hand and curling her fingers around the railing. “You know I've lived here my entire life and I don't think I've ever really stopped to appreciate this. This view is beautiful.”

  “It really is.” My voice dropped in tone, turning dark and sensual. Flicking her eyes over to mine, her cheeks turned rosy as she realized I wasn't looking out at the city in front of us or the water just under the horizon; I was looking at her.

  Tipping her head into her chest, a soft smile spread across her lips. Her eyes fluttered back up, lids hooding as a sultry expression painted her face. “You're really laying it on thick, Ash.”

  “Is it working?”
I asked, lifting my thumb to her cheek and stroking it lightly.

  Shrugging her shoulder, she snapped her head back to the city glistening under the full moon. “I don't normally do this you know.”

  “Do what?”

  “Let random strangers get me alone. I feel a little too vulnerable right now, we're the only ones out here.”

  “You say that like it's a bad thing.” Stepping up behind her, I gripped the railing and wrapped my arms around her shoulders, engulfing her small frame. “It's not bad to let go once in a while. People deserve to have some fun, to have something to look back on and smile about.”

  “What makes you think I don't have fun?”

  “You're here.”

  “So are you.” Her voice came out quick and hard.

  “True, but the first time I saw you smile was when we were talking.”

  Arching a brow, her nostrils flared. “So you were watching me too, that means you could be a serial killer.” Her back stiffened as I held her in place, her knuckles turning white as she clutched the railing.

  “I'm a lot of things, Nola, but I'm not that.” Running my fingers up her bare arms, I felt her skin erupt in goosebumps. “What I am is a man who knows something good when he sees it. I know what I want, Nola, and it's not the food here. I'm an easy man to read, I don't like complicated.”

  Her ass bumped against the bulge in my pants as she pressed herself into my chest. “So what does that make me?”

  “Perfect, it makes you perfect.” Placing a light kiss just behind her ear, a shiver scaled her body. “I won't do anything you don't want me to, I'll stop if you ask me to. But I don't think that's what you want.”

  Tilting her head to give me room, her voice lowered. “You don't know me, how could you possibly know what I want?”

  Kissing her neck, I whispered in her ear. “I don't need to know you, your body has a voice of its own.”

  “And what is it you think my body is saying?” Pushing her ass back, her hips swayed a little, rubbing the growing muscle.

  Moving my lips over the shell of her ear, I ran the tip of my tongue around the curve and nibbled her lobe. “It's telling me you want my cock.”

  Nola let out a loud laugh that echoed across the street and bounced back at us off the building. “You just say whatever the hell you're thinking, don't you? There's no trying to read between the lines at all.”

  Running both my hands down her forearms, I touched her ever so lightly with the tips of my fingers. “I've found that being upfront leaves little room for misunderstandings. You know what I want, I know what you want, there's no guessing game here.” Resting my chin in the crook of her neck, I kissed her throat, moving up slow and steady.

  Loosening her body, she fell back against my chest, letting her head drop onto my shoulder. “I don't normally do things like this. You're a complete stranger.”

  “That's the best part, there's nothing linking us, no strings attached. It's just about the sex, about taking and giving. Doesn't that sound nice? No head games, no back and forth, just sex.”

  Twisting her head, her eyes were glazed over, her body moving and rolling like a paper doll in the wind. Biting her bottom lip, Nola stretched her arm up around my neck and teased the ends of my hair.

  “It sounds dangerous, and for some reason, I like it.”

  Fuck yeah, my dirty girl, my bad little muse. I knew you wanted this too.

  Slipping my hand over her stomach, I reached lower and cupped her mound. The sexiest coo spilled out of her lungs as her eyes snapped shut. Pushing my fingers against her sensitive button, I massaged her clit, keeping her dress as a barrier.

  Her legs buckled, so I gripped her tighter and held her up. My finger kept rubbing firm circles, making her body squirm and her pulse kick harder.

  “The second I saw you, I had to have you. Tell me you want this, Nola.” Biting her collar bone, I growled. “Let me here you say it. I want to know you want this, that you want my cock.” My hands moved all over her body, tracing the outsides of her breasts, and squeezing her ass.

  “I want this, I need this,” she said, her words an audible exhale. “Fuck I need something good tonight.”

  “Say it again.” Pressing her shoulders forward, I bent her over the railing. “Tell me you want to feel my cock in that tight little pussy of yours.”

  “Fuck me, Ash, I want you to fuck me.” Spreading her legs, she pushed her ass back against my cock as her fingers braced the railing. “Fuck me before I realize what the hell I'm doing and run away.”

  A husky laugh exploded from my mouth as I dug my fingers into her hair and tugged her head back. “You know exactly what you're doing.” My words cut through the air, forcing a big smile on her face. “And when I'm done with you, you'll be lucky if you can still walk.”

  Veering her stare, she pushed back from the railing, grinding her ass up and down my hidden length. “Just shut up and fuck me.”

  Her ass swayed back and forth as her legs went straight and her back arched hard. Whipping her head over her shoulder, her eyes were dark and alluring, making my dick throb painfully.

  Shifting her dress up her legs and over her hips, her satin pink panties made my lungs hitch. Fumbling with the button on my pants, I freed my length.

  Now this night was worth it.

  Pulling a condom out of my back pocket, I tore open the package with my teeth as I splayed an open palm against her back to keep her still. With on hand, I slipped the thin skin down my length.

  Pushing her panties to the side, I ran a single finger up her folds and creases. Nola was smooth and soaked, dripping with arousal. A single line of hair ran up the crest of her mound, her clit was swollen and pulsing against the pad of my finger.

  Greedily, I held my shaft, ready to plunge deep inside her. Teasing her entrance with the tip of my cock, I spread her juice over the crown. Her body was trembling, her muscles shaking as her hips kept moving and rocking, ready to force me in if I didn't fuck her soon.

  “Please fuck me, take me, Ash, take me like I'm yours.”

  Throwing my hand around her throat, I held her face high as I bit her neck and spoke clear and firm into her ear. “Like you're mine? You are mine.”

  Driving my hips forward, I slammed my cock inside. Her body went rigid as she moaned, dropping her head forward and clasping the railing with all her strength. Pulling back out, her pussy clenched tight, refusing to let my dick slip free.

  Scraping her nails through my hair, I held her body up as I pistoned my hips hard and fast into her cunt. She was warm and wet, tight and throbbing, she was everything I needed right then.

  Slipping my hand down through the top of her dress, I pinched her nipple, rolling the pebbled bead between my thumb and forefinger.

  Nola groaned, her moan loud, casting its presence out into the world below. She had let go right then, not caring that we only knew each other's first names, not caring about the mass of people she should be intertwining herself into.

  She let me have her, she gave herself to me, she allowed that feral desire to come alive, to take shape and just be free.

  We're all animals no matter how you look at it. You can try and rationalize it, you can try and say we have self control, that's what makes us different than other animals.

  But none of that shit matters.

  I don't think it's wrong to take a beautiful woman if you want her. I think the best sex is unplanned, it's wild and raw, it's built off lust and attraction.

  A moment where two people lost themselves to inhibition and unbridled lust, giving in to those feelings that made you human to begin with. The shivers, the butterflies, the anxiousness and release; all of it made the experience.

  Grunting, I drove in hard, pulling out just to the crest of my cock. Nola's body was trembling, her moans growing in volume as the orgasm stirred inside her lower stomach, slowly drawing her into a state of delirium.

  Climbing onto the tips of her toes, she held onto the railing, her knuckle
s turning white as she let out a scream that I would never have imagined was her if I wasn't listening to it with my own ears.

  My cock twitched, drawing up my balls and making my stomach clench. I held on as long as I could, doing my best to make sure she got off before I blew my load.

  Maybe I am a gentleman after all. . . Maybe.

  Her body writhed, muscles turning limp as her breathing became ragged and uneven.

  Pulling my cock out quickly, I tore off the condom and rested my swollen head between her ass cheeks and came. Pulse after pulse of thick white come covered both her cheeks, slowly dripping down her plump ass.

  Squeezing from base to tip, I slapped her ass with my dick. “And that's how you make a charity banquet worthwhile.” Stuffing my length back into my pants, I tugged the small handkerchief out of my pocket and wiped her clean.

  Nola stood up straight, trying to regain her composure. “You've certainly made this banquet one I won't forget.”

  “Woo, yeah!” A loud scream came from below as multiple claps filtered through the air and reached us on the ninth floor.

  Peeking over the railing, a small group of people had gathered below, and were looking up at us with giant smiles on their faces.

  I expected Nola to get angry or embarrassed, running off back inside to escape the scrutiny of the crowd. To my surprise, she clasped her hands over her mouth and looked down at the people. Letting her hands drop free, she gave them a big smile and a soft bow.

  The group gave her another round of applause, and I stood at her side just grinning. Noticing my absence, she snagged my hand and raised it high in the air. “Take a bow, Ash, this wasn't a one person show.”

  And in that moment, I knew this girl was special. She accepted the clapping with grace, she didn't freak out and start panicking about who they were and if anyone else here would find out.

  She just smiled and made it fun. Her playful spirit made my heart jump inside my chest, ricocheting off my ribs like a caged bird.

  Taking my hand, Nola walked to the doors that led inside and turned on her heels to look me in the eyes. “Just so you know, I have never done this before. I don't want you to think—”