We drove back in silence – at least at first – with Connor holding my hand.I just reclined in the leather seat, feeling wonderful and flushed and completely happy as I stared out the window. This time, though, I wasn’t looking at the sky; I was watching the dimly lit desert landscape as it rolled by in the starlight.“You know,” I said, “it’s kind of ironic that you took me out to see the future site of the largest solar energy installation in the world… in a Lamborghini.”He laughed. “I thought about getting a Tesla.”“That would have been more apropos.”“Yes, it would have. But there aren’t many charging stations between LA and Vegas, and the ones that exist are pretty damn slow. But… I’ll fix that.”“You really think you can do it?”“What, put in high-speed charging stations between here and Las Vegas?”I rolled my eyes. “You know what I mean.”He gave me a little half-grin. “Change the world.”“Yeah.”“Yes I do, or I wouldn’t attempt it.”I thought carefully about what I was goin
We got back to the hotel long after 2AM. Connor opened the door slowly, scanning for any angry Asian bodyguards – but the penthouse was dark, and Johnny was apparently sound asleep in his room.We tiptoed into the master bedroom and closed the door.“I need to take a shower,” I said. I had a thin layer of dust and fine grit over my skin and hair, and there was no way I was getting into bed like that.I peeled off my dress and bra. The panties, as far as I knew, were still in Connor’s pocket.He watched me as I undressed.I enjoyed feeling his eyes roving over me.“I’ll join you,” he whispered when I was finished.I looked back at him and smiled. “Fine by me.”While Connor undressed, I went into the bathroom. There were a number of small candles on the counters; I decided to light them rather than turn on the bright overhead lights.And… y’know… just in case.There was a light tap at the door.“Come in,” I whispered.The door opened, and he walked in.Totally naked.I caught my breath.
He didn’t let me get away with it for long, though.I was about ten feet away from the bed when he came racing out and almost tackled me from behind, his wet, powerful body smacking hard against my back. I half-shrieked, half-laughed as his arms wrapped around me and pressed me hard against him.“That wasn’t very nice,” he whispered hoarsely in my ear.I tilted my head up and turned it towards him.He kissed me hungrily as his hands founds my breasts and fondled them, hot and wet in his hands.I broke off the kiss this time. “How do you want me to make it up to you?” I asked innocently, batting my eyes.“I can think of a few ways,” he whispered, then turned me around so we faced each other. Then he grabbed my ass and began kissing me fervently again.I ran my hands over the wet skin of his back, and felt his throbbing shaft – slick from my own mouth – slide across my belly.Then he pulled back, and I swear he would have twirled his mustache if he had one.“…I know,” he whispered.Uh
I don’t remember much after that.In fact, I don’t remember much of anything until I woke up the next morning.The room was dim, but light was glowing through the curtained windows.I remembered Connor making love to me… …an amazing orgasm as I stared up at the stars……and an even hotter orgasm doing something really, really naughty.Maybe it was time for round three.I rolled over and reached for Connor.He wasn’t there.His side of the bed was empty, just rumpled sheets and a pulled-back comforter.But there was a note.Lily,Sorry, had to go tip over the first domino.Johnny’s with me, so you’re on your own.Order some room service – and DON’T PAY FOR IT. Put it on the room tab.Give me a call as soon as you read this.ConnorHe left his cell number at the bottom of the sheet of paper.The first domino…?Then I remembered what he had said the night before:All the pieces are already in place. It’s just a matter of tipping over the first domino.I grinned… and then lay back in bed,
Okay, mope time over.After I had my little freak-out over an ATM receipt, I decided I was going to celebrate.Not, like, celebrate the way Connor did, with sixteen-course meals and surf-n-turf room service.Just lunch. A nice lunch and a glass of wine. I’m a sensible girl (usually), and contemplating a year of financial freedom had made me want to keep it.Mmm… maybe two glasses of wine.I found a nice little restaurant by the crazy indoor canal that ran through the Venetian’s shopping area. It was late enough after the lunch crowd that there was plenty of seating, so they put me by the wrought-iron railing so I could watch the gondolas go by. Guys wearing white-and-black-striped shirts with little red scarves pushed the boats along with poles. Meanwhile, the people inside the gondolas filmed the whole thing with their iPhones. Or smooched. Or filmed themselves with their iPhones as they smooched.It looked like fun. I wondered if Connor would do something so ‘Vegas-y.’Probably not.
“You think you’re soooo funny,” I griped as I buckled the seatbelt.“I know I’m so funny,” he grinned, then glanced over at me. “But I’d like to pick up where that phone call left off.”“Ohhhh no. And where’s Johnny?!”“Ditched him again.”“Why?!”“I told you. Booty call.”“You are not getting any of this booty, not after your bad behavior.”“I think you like my bad behavior.”“No.”Yes.He slid one hand over to my exposed thigh and softly caressed it. “I think you do.”“No.”Yes yes yesHis fingers curled around my leg. The tip of one finger slowly stroked the inside of my thigh, light and soft as a feather. “I think you’re lying.”“No.”Yes I am keep doing that keep doing that –The tip of his finger slowly, slowly made its way between my legs… touched my drenched panties… and began to stroke my clit through the wet cloth. Softly… just making light circles…He never took his eyes off the road.I moaned and gripped the hand rest on the door like I was on a rollercoaster.“You’re a ba
He turned the steering wheel and accelerated a little too quickly.I looked up at him, which was a bit comical considering where my head was, and what was just a few millimeters away from it. “What are you doing?” I asked.“I have to have you. NOW,” he said, his face wild and furious, his eyes intent on the road.“Are we at the hotel?!” I asked, fear freezing my stomach.“No,” he said, his voice husky and low.“Ummm…”This was a little alarming.I pushed up on my arms and raised myself from his lap, then looked out the window, hoping to God nobody would see the worst cliché in the world: gorgeous guy in Lamborghini, disheveled chick rising up from his lap.We were away from the Strip and the crowds. I wouldn’t call where we were ‘seedy,’ but it wasn’t nearly as glitzy as the main drag. Not nearly as tacky, either. Vegas by night is a wonderland of lights; Vegas by day is a monument to excess and the question ‘Did they really think that would look good?’We were outside something that
We got back to the hotel safe and sound, though I basically looked like a hot mess. Not even the Lamborghini’s air conditioning could cure that. Bird-nest hair syndrome and streaks of sweat everywhere. Thank God my new dress was black, or there would have been some pretty unattractive stains showing.Connor looked great. He wore the sweaty and disheveled look like a movie star in a big action thriller, where you know some makeup artist has touched up the beads of perspiration dewing his brow – because nobody looks that good after running five blocks through New Orleans in the summertime.Except Connor did.Okay, so we weren’t in New Orleans. And we hadn’t been running. But you get the picture.He attacked again in the private elevator to the penthouse floor.I let him kiss me – let isn’t the right word, exactly; blissfully gave in is closer – but pushed him away when the elevator bell dinged.“I feel disgusting,” I moaned. “I have to go take a shower. Immediately.”“Soon as we walk th
The only part that was slightly sad was that Connor’s mother and brother didn’t attend. His mother was still under heavy psychiatric care. She wouldn’t have even known what was going on, according to Connor. As much as I disliked Lenora Templeton, that news saddened me. I only wanted her out of my life. I didn’t want her to end up like this.His brother had checked himself into rehab. Though he sent his congratulations, Vincent told Connor that he didn’t think he could attend, knowing what Miranda had done and how she had met her end. He felt he was still in too precarious a situation emotionally to leave the safety of the rehab center.I know that Connor still bore a lot of anger and hurt towards his mother and brother, but he would have liked to have had them there – as long as they behaved themselves.Things were improving, though. His mother was gradually getting better, and Connor had worked out a deal to take over as interim CEO of the Templeton Group while his brother was in r
But as far as wedding days go, it wasn’t the only one.Come on, I’d gotten married in sopping wet clothes, on a deserted island in the Caribbean, with only four people total in attendance.Did you really think I wasn’t going to have a billionaire-style shindig, with all my family and friends?Connor and I decided on it spontaneously, as soon as we got back home. But rather than hold it in New York City, with all its bad memories from the last couple of weeks, we held it two weeks later in Lake Cuomo, Italy. Have you ever seen pictures of Lake Cuomo? It’s like an Italian Renaissance fairytale. George Clooney bought a residence there, with good reason – it’s one of the most beautiful places on earth. And that’s where we had our wedding.There was only one shadow hanging over the entire day.After we were escorted back to St. Vincent by the policemen, Connor immediately hired a team of divers to go down to inspect the yacht’s wreckage. There was one body in particular he wanted found.B
It turns out Johnny was right: we didn’t see a single shark the entire way.That doesn’t mean it was a piece of cake. What with Johnny and Connor’s wounds, and my needing to rely on their help when I was tired, it took us almost an hour. By the time we got to the island, we were exhausted. But Sebastian was there to greet us. As we approached where the waves started to break, he saw us and started yelling and waving ecstatically from the beach.“A little help!” Johnny shouted at him. Sebastian immediately raced out into the waves and dragged me to shore. “Thank God, thank God,” he kept sobbing as he helped me lie down on the sand. Then he went back out and helped Johnny and Connor limp their way onto the beach.We all collapsed next to each other. Connor and I held hands as we stared up into the blue sky, too weary to speak.“I thought I’d never see you again,” Sebastian said, wiping tears from his face.I was touched; it was the most vulnerable I’d ever seen him.“No such luck,” Co
The happiest moment of my life was when Connor proposed to me.The second was when he burst through that door.And the third was seeing the look of surprise on Miranda’s face when she realized what I had done to her.While Connor kept her talking, I picked the lock and undid the handcuffs from my right wrist. (Bobby pins to the rescue!) Then I grabbed Miranda’s arm and slapped the cuffs on her.Anytime I’m ever depressed about anything from now on for the rest of my life, I’m just going to remember the look of surprise on that murderous bitch’s face, and everything will be better. Instant anti-depressant.Miranda yanked her arm up with a clank! of the chain, but she was locked to the metal armrest of the chair – which was bolted to the floor.She screamed in fury, and pulled the gun’s trigger.BLAM!But I’d purposefully bumped her aim away from Connor – so all that happened was one of the creepy glass spider cases shattered into tiny shards.The gunshot hurt my ears, but I’d been expe
I couldn’t take the shot. I wasn’t Johnny; my aim was good, but not stellar, and the floor was already at a 20 degree tilt. Miranda had her gun at point blank range to Lily’s head. If she pulled the trigger before I got her – I slowly held my .45 away from my body and let it fall to the floor.All the ugliness I knew was inside Miranda revealed itself on her face. It was the evil leer of a serial killer, the grin of a Great White Shark.“I win,” she gloated.My heart sank.It was over. I had failed.I looked at Lily, both sorrow and love welling up at once. She was seated in some sort of chair bolted to the floor, and was handcuffed to the metal armrest.Lily’s eyes were frantic, but her lips were moving. She was mouthing something…Keep her talking.I couldn’t tell for the life of me what she had in store, but I complied. I looked up at Miranda. “You win. You can do with me whatever you want, but please – let Lily go.”“Don’t waste your breath,” Miranda snarled. “Walk towards me w
The door suddenly burst open, and there stood Connor with a gun in his hand, just like the star of an action movie.My heart soared with love – and fear. Because Miranda was standing behind my chair, just like the villain in an action movie.I was between them – Miranda’s human shield.I felt the barrel of Miranda’s pistol jam against the back of my head.“Drop it,” she commanded, “or I kill her.”Connor looked at me helplessly.“Don’t worry about me – shoot her!” I begged him.But he wouldn’t take the chance. He held the gun slowly away from him and let it fall to the floor. CLUNK.I felt Miranda’s pistol stop pressing against my scalp, then saw it appear next to me as it pointed at Connor.“I win,” she said, and I could hear the sneering triumph in her voice.
I rushed over to Leo’s body, staggering in the tilting hallway as I ran.He was lying face-up on the ground, a pool of blood spreading out beneath him on the floor.He saw me coming. Tried weakly to lift his AR-15 – I put two more rounds in him with my .45.BLAM BLAM.He lay still after that.Adrenaline coursed through me like a drug, sharpening my senses while making everything unreal.I felt sick. I had just killed a man. I had just taken a life. He was a traitor, yes, and someone who was planning to hand me over to be killed – but still, I felt queasy.Lily.She was all that mattered. I pulled myself together.“Nice shooting,” Eve said in my ear. “Oh ye of little faith.”“What?” At first I thought she meant something about me doubting my abilities to shoot someone, which didn’t make any sense.“You thought I was a turncoat? AGAIN?”“Oh,” I said sheepishly. “Sorry about that.”“Hmph. We’ll talk later. Go down the hallway the way you were originally heading – there’s a half-dozen g
BOOM.There was a massive explosion somewhere on the ship. Every glass pane in the spider terrariums rattled, and a couple cracked.“What the hell?” Miranda said, and stumbled to her feet as the yacht began to tilt to one side.After my initial shock from the blast, I watched Miranda’s face. She was reacting with more fear – in fact, with more emotion – than I’d ever seen her display before.She looked back at me, her eyes wide with surprise.After all the indignities the bitch had put me through, I couldn’t resist. “Guess my fiancé’s here,” I said, and gave her a little smile.
I was halfway down the deck when Eve spoke in my ear. “Connor, there’s a problem.”“What?” I whispered.“Juan and Leo are on the other side of the yacht, but I’m not getting any video feeds of them.”There was a dull WHUP in the distance, then another one a few seconds later.Not like gunshots, exactly. But they did sound like a heavy book being dropped on a wood floor.I ducked into an alcove with a door in it, and hunkered down into a squatting position. “Juan? Leo?”“We separated, and Juan ran into a guard,” Leo’s voice said. “Juan’s dead, but I got the other guy before he could sound the alarm.”SHIT. Already things were going to hell, and we’d barely engaged the enemy yet.But… something didn’t make sense…I frowned. “I heard two silenced shots. How come I didn’t hear any regular gunfire?”“They’ve got suppressors, too. The first one was the guy shooting Juan, the second was me shooting the guard.”I couldn’t put my finger on it, but something seemed off. I just chalked it up to