I shivered, still trying to catch my breath, and felt Jax’s fingers running through my sweat-damp hair. If I’d known it would be like this, after, I couldn’t help thinking we’d have done this sooner. Or if I’d known it would be that good during. . .
We stared at each other for a long moment, my fingertip tracing the outlines of his muscles as he looked down at me. I hope this isn’t where it gets awkward. "So, what now?" I asked tentatively.
"Now this." Smiling softly at me, he ran a hand down my cheek and neck. I closed my eyes, and felt his lips over mine again, sweeter and gentler than I’d ever felt them before.
I didn’t know exactly what he meant by it, but I could tell something had changed between us. There was a spark I’d never felt before, a pull between us that went deeper than even a few hours ago.
Sex changes things, I’d told Jax. This time, at least so far, it looked like they’d changed for the better.
I bowed my head to kiss his chest, just above his heart. "Thank you for tonight," I said, a blissful smile spreading across my face as I realized just how perfect the surprise "party" had been after all.
"The night’s not over, yet," he said, wiping his forehead with a hand. "But I think we should both go cool down—how about it?" He nodded toward the cantilevered pool.
I frowned, wishing I’d been better prepared. "I’d go in, but I didn’t bring a swimsuit."
He moved to the side of the bed and stood up, then looked down at me with his scarred eyebrow arched. "Who said anything about swimsuits?" he asked, giving me a frank, appraising stare. "I want you just the way you are."
The way he said it made my heart skip a beat but the pool hung thirty stories above the Strip, well over the edge of the hotel. "Won’t people be able to see us?"
"That’s the wrong question in Vegas, Riley," he said. "The real question is—will anyone care?"
I couldn’t resist looking him over as he stood there, next to the bed. His bedhead made him even sexier, and his erection was still as hard and thick as when I’d first noticed it.
"Come over here," he said, beckoning me with his eyes. "We’re not letting that pool go to waste."
I got off the bed and approached him, my body still aching from his thrusts. Tilting my head up, I kissed his lips, softly at first, then slipped my tongue past them.
His mouth moved against mine, hungrily sucking at my tongue, and I felt his hands move, cupping my upper thighs. Effortlessly, he lifted me from the floor, and I found myself wrapping my legs around him instinctively.
"Perfect," he said, carrying me toward the pool with my legs tangled around his waist. With each step, he kissed, trailing little lines with his mouth down my shoulders and neck as I clung with arms and legs around his strong torso.
We passed through the door. The night air was cool and dry as Jax stepped into the moonlit water. The view was breathtaking: all the lights of the Las Vegas Strip, and the city sprawling out gaudily for miles in every direction, just beyond the blue, transparent pool edge. The water flowed up around Jax’s legs, then his thighs, and then his ass.
As he stepped further in, I felt the warm water flowing around us, the currents rippling gently against my skin. Then, like a burst of light, I felt Jax’s cock nestling against my cleft, slowly easing its way inside me.
He looked at me, an unasked question in his eyes.
"Yes," I breathed. "Oh, Jax, please, yes."
The next time I screamed, it was into the Las Vegas night sky.
Chapter Eighteen
ALONG FOR THE RIDE
I jolted awake the following morning to an image of my own body floating above me, splayed naked over silk sheets. For a second, I thought I’d really died from an orgasm and my departing spirit was now looking down at my corpse. But then I realized I was looking into a gigantic mirror mounted above the bed, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
Propping myself up on my elbows, I saw Jax sliding on a pair of black jeans at the foot of the huge hotel bed. I fell back into the soft bed as everything from last night suddenly came flooding back to me, leaving me feeling satisfied and happy.
I stretched out and watched my naked, well-fucked body twist in the mirror above the bed. Sitting up, I tried taming my crazy bed hair as he watched me with a warm smile.
"You don’t have to fix your hair. I like it all wild like that." Jax said, giving me a sexy smirk. "So we've all got the day off today. I’m guessing the rest of the band's probably off gambling away their per diem." He sat down on the edge of the bed and slid on his black boots.
I pouted prettily. "You're leaving already?"
"I've got a surprise for you." He stood up and pulled a black tank top over his head, covering the tight contours of his muscular torso, but leaving his tattooed sleeves exposed.
I perked up. "Another surprise? What is it?"
"You know better than to ask by now." His smile widened and he winked at me. "I had the hotel bring up some clean clothes for you. They’re on the dresser next to some breakfast. Sorry I can’t enjoy breakfast with you now, but I need to go downstairs. Meet me in front of the hotel in twenty minutes. Sound good?"
"You’re killing me with these surprises." I playfully tossed a big fluffy pillow at him.
He caught it with one hand and looked at me with a palpable hunger in his eyes. "And you’re killing me just lying there in bed. I’m a second away from ripping off my clothes and jumping back in with you."
"I wouldn’t mind that," I said, my pulse quickening, "but I guess it wouldn’t be a surprise."
"Exactly." He leaned over the bed and kissed me softly on the forehead before disappearing out the door.
His kiss was comforting, but the absurdly large bedroom suddenly felt a little emptier. I showered and slipped on the blue jeans and breezy checkered shirt Jax had laid out for me. The jeans fit perfectly and despite the top being a tad too tight I was surprised by how well he knew what kind of clothing to have the hotel send up. After munching on some fruit and a bagel from one of the many left-over trays, I headed downstairs to wait for Jax.
As I walked through the hotel’s lobby, the noise was nowhere near as loud as I remembered it last night when I had been blindfolded.
Last night had been so surreal. I still couldn’t believe I’d been on stage during the Hitchcock’s show. And then my night in the suite with Jax was . . . more than magical.
Wandering through a maze of flashing slot machines, I idly wondered what he had in store for me today. The past few days had left me buzzing with excitement—all of it was like nothing I'd ever experienced before. It wasn’t just the rock star lifestyle he was treating me to, either.
Jax’s string of pleasant surprises was completely new to me. The only kinds of surprises I ever received from guys in the past were the bad kind—the collect call at 3:00 A.M. begging me to bail him out of jail., the break-up that comes without any warning, the accidental text that was meant for the other girl.
With Jax, things seemed different. Even though I still had some lingering concerns where things were headed with us, I could tell it was going to be a wild ride, one that I didn’t think I could get off of even if I wanted to.
Outside the hotel, as I eagerly awaited Jax’s arrival beneath the sweltering afternoon sun, a jet-black motorcycle came rumbling down the street. The biker pulled into the hotel’s curved driveway riding what looked to be a classic bike.
I’d had fantasies of being a badass biker chick, but owning a vehicle in Manhattan—even something as compact as a motorcycle—was a hassle I could do without. I enviously eyed its rider in his dark cowboy hat, wishing it was me on the bike instead of him.
When he parked, I squinted through my sunglasses and realized that it was Jax. Of course. It wasn’t entirely surprising that a bad boy like him would ride a motorcycle.
"I didn't know you rode a motorcycle," I said excitedly, as I hurried over to the thrumming bike. I lifted my sunglasses to get a better look at him and I bit my bottom lip. "
Or that you'd look so hot doing it."
"Must be this desert heat." Jax smiled and tipped his hat to me, the sun casting a shadow from the brim across his chiseled features.
"A cowboy hat, huh?"
"Like it?"
"Hmmm . . . " I said, tapping my chin and taking my time with it. "It’s cute but I’m not sure if it fits with your usual style."
Jax gave me a wink. "Thing is—I’m adaptable. Rock ‘N’ Roll sex symbol. Cowboy sex symbol. Biker sex symbol. It’s all the same to me."
I laughed and Jax revved the bike a few times, the roar sending a thrill down my spine. I ran my hand along the shiny black machine rumbling between his legs. "Okay, Mr. Sex Symbol, where’d this come from?"
"Been hauling it around in the trailer attached to the roadie bus." He revved it again and I admired the powerful roar of its engine emanating from its sleek design. "This is my vintage Vincent Black Shadow. It's pretty old but it's a classic. You're lucky today because sometimes it has trouble starting. It must be behaving extra well just for you." Jax gave me a wink.
"Looks like a high-speed Fortress of Solitude," I said with a nod.
He grinned. "I do usually ride by myself, but today's going to be different."
"How so?"
"Because today you're coming with me." He patted the cushion behind him in a welcoming manner.
"Really?" I hopped on, excitedly draping my arms around his neck and kissing his cheek. "I've always wanted to ride one!"
"Your first time?" He twisted his head back to face me. "I'm shocked. Given your taste for trouble, I figured you'd ridden before."
"I've just never had the chance." I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed firmly.
"Until now." He reached into a side compartment and pulled out a helmet. "Here, put this on."
I reluctantly took the unwieldy helmet. "You get the cool cowboy hat and I get the frumpy helmet?"
"I don't want you bumping that pretty head of yours," he said, sliding his hands over the arm I still had wrapped around him.
His warm touch reminded me of what he did for me after I’d been sore from making buttons for the band. "But you already made me bump my head. On the fridge shelf before you gave me that massage," I said, pinching his sides playfully.
He reacted only slightly to the pinching then pulled my free hand up to his mouth and kissed it. "Ah, you're right. Sorry about that."
"Besides, what's the point of riding on your motorcycle if I can't feel the wind in my hair?" I dropped the helmet in his lap. "I know you want me to be safe, but you know I’m not going to put that on."
He laughed and returned the helmet back to the side compartment. "Promise me you'll hold on tight then."
"Now that, I can do." I embraced him with both my arms and hugged his body close to mine as he revved the engine.
We pulled away from the hotel, the vibrations of the bike beneath me making me giddy, and before long we hit the highway.
The speed immediately sent a surge of adrenaline through my body and I could see why Jax loved riding. Jax masterfully swerved and wove around the slower cars, not letting anything slow us down. I gripped him tighter, running my hands across his ridged abs, slightly disappointed there had to be a layer of clothing separating us. As the wind blew through my hair, I briefly closed my eyes, and I could feel my heart racing from the thrill. The rush from the combination of being on the bike, clinging ahold of Jax, and the overall sensation of the new experience was exhilarating. But I wanted more.
Seeing a long stretch of open road before us, I shouted to him, "Push it faster!"
Jax turned his head and shouted back, "Give me your hand."
I tentatively let one hand go and reached forward. He wrapped my hand around the throttle and the vibration sent tingles shooting up my arm. I rested my chin on his firm shoulder to get a good view of the highway, which shimmered in the distance.
"Now, slowly twist it."
With his steady hand over mine, I twisted the throttle and the bike thrusted forward. I screamed with excitement at the top of my lungs. Even though having control over this dangerous machine filled me with a sense of wild abandon, I still squeezed my other arm around Jax's waist for safety.
After a few more exhilarating miles down the highway, I gave control of the throttle back to Jax. As fun as it was, my arm was tired and numb from the rumbling of the machine.
Jax took us down the highway a few more miles before he turned onto a dirt road in the middle of the desert. He parked close to a set of small wooden buildings that looked deserted. We got off the bike and my legs felt all wobbly, like I just spent hours on an elliptical machine, but Jax steadied me.
"Where are we?" I asked. Aside from the cluster of deserted-looking buildings, there was nothing for miles except cacti, shrubs, wildflowers, and tumbleweeds. I was still pumped from the ride, but the more I looked around, the more this desolate spot spooked me. "Did you bring me to a ghost town?"
"Don't tell me you're afraid of a few ghosts now." Jax grabbed my hand, which was still tingling from holding the throttle, and we headed toward the buildings.
"I don't think my pepper spray is going to work on them."
"Yeah, you're right, that probably won't work. Don't worry though, Chewie trained me in hand-to-ghost combat."
"Hand-to-ghost combat? Is there anything you can't fight?"
He looked into my eyes and his smile made my heart flutter. "Maybe." He squeezed my hand. "Come on, I want to show you something."
We approached the largest of the buildings, a big wooden structure with red paint long since faded away into an almost translucent pink. When we were only a few feet away, a resounding crash clanged from inside of the building. Startled, I clutched onto Jax’s arm.
A man with a weathered face wearing a red checkered shirt and brown cowboy hat appeared from the building leading an all-white horse that looked like a unicorn missing her horn.
"Surprise," Jax said turning to me and gesturing to what I now realized was an old stable. "It’s a Wild West horseback ride."
"Horseback riding?" I asked, eyes wide. "Now you’re just messing with me. First you’ve got a cowboy hat and now we’re going horseback riding? Are you the same Jax that rocks out on stage in front of millions of fans?"
He grinned and shrugged. "It's not too different from riding a motorcycle. Riding a horse offers more freedom to explore the wilderness and the unknown. You know, get in touch with nature. I figured you'd like it too."
"I do. I mean, I really like the gesture," I said with a nervous smile, "but . . ."
"You’re not scared, are you? Don’t tell me badass Riley can ride a motorcycle without a helmet, but can’t handle a little horse." Jax watched me, an amused look on his face.
I watched the stableboy lead the prancing white horse in a circle. "Horses are different. I’m used to cab seats, not saddles. I don’t know how I feel about getting on something with a mind of its own. They're cool, majestic creatures, but I’m a city girl, born and raised."
"If you don’t want to try it, we can always cancel and do something else," Jax said, watching for my response.
I looked over at the horse, which stood over a foot taller than me, and I rubbed the back of my neck. A quick glance back at Jax’s reassuring face steeled my nerves enough to convince me that I could do this. I knew I could trust him. "No, it's fine. Since I've already popped my motorcycle cherry today, might as well get horseback riding out of way at the same time, right?"
"There's the Pepper I know." He grinned.
We quickly signed the waivers that the stableboy handed us and returned them to him
"Looks like that's all settled, I’ll wrangle up the other horse," the stableboy said as he hustled back into the stables.
"Come on," Jax said, putting his arm around me affectionately. "I'll help you up onto the horse."
We walked a few steps over to the horse and he pointed to a piece of leather protruding up from the front of the saddle.
"Now just grab hold of the horn here, and then put your foot in the stirrup down there. And then, as you pull yourself up, swing your leg around."
"Nice horsey," I said as I cautiously approached the horse.
"Just remember—if you stay calm, she'll stay calm. If you get agitated, she'll get agitated." Jax held the reins of the horse. I grabbed the horn and slipped my foot into the stirrup, but I had a hard time swinging my leg up and across the saddle. I struggled for a few seconds until he put his hand on my butt and boosted me up.
With his assistance, I swung my leg up and over the horse and planted myself in the saddle. "I love your hands-on approach."
"It's the only way to teach a feisty girl like you," he replied with a wicked smile that made my insides melt. "So for today's first lesson in horseback riding, you'll need to make sure you're comfortable and stable in the saddle."
"Yes sir, Mr. Trenton." I situated myself in the saddle while Jax held onto the reins. "Is there a seatbelt or something I should put on?"
"No, no seatbelt." He laughed and handed me the reins. "You're just going to have to hold on really tight to these."
As Jax was literally showing me the ropes on how to properly sit a saddle and control the horse, the stableboy returned yanking the reins on a menacing midnight black horse that brayed and bucked violently.
"I'm real sorry, folks," the stableboy said, shaking his head. "I know y'all had a reservation, but goshdarnit, I must've made some sort of mistake ‘cause this bronc's the only horse I've got left. He's not as bad-tempered as he looks, he's just throwing a bit of a tantrum today. If y'all want your money back, I understand . . ."
"That bronc doesn’t look too rowdy." Jax waved him closer. "I’ll take a crack at him."
The stableboy eyed Jax cautiously. "You sure about this? Now you ain’t gonna sue us if something goes wrong are ya?"
"Don’t worry," Jax said, "I know a thing or two about horses."
"Suit yourself. As long as as y’all signed the waivers," the stableboy said, shrugging.