Sin City Lights (Sin City #1)

Chapter 10

Eve

Eve turned her face to the sun, hair whipping behind her as the Bug flew down Route 66, top down, toward midtown Seligman.

Everything Adam put his hands on seemed to fly. The man did love speed, but then, so did Eve, and she was having a blast.

“The Mother Road,”

Adam quoted gravely, “the road of flight.”

Ah, he could quote Steinbeck too. Another box checked in Adam’s seemingly endless column of surprises.

“This looks like Radiator Springs.”

She eyed the long row of kitschy buildings. Perhaps the creators of the Cars movie had been inspired by this town. She felt as if she’d jumped back in time to when families routinely traveled Route 66 on family vacations.

“Yup. There’s Tow Mater.”

Adam motioned toward a rusty, beat-up truck parked at the front of a store.

She arched a brow. “You’ve seen the movie?”

“Twice.”

There was so much she had assumed about him that was proving incorrect, and she found she wanted to discover more.

“Questions game?”

she challenged.

“Sure.”

He turned into a lot and eased into a parking space.

“What is your favorite movie?”

“Top Gun,”

he fired back without hesitation. “Yours?”

“Gone with the Wind.”

His brows raised.

“Why does that surprise you?”

“It doesn’t have a happy ending.”

“It doesn’t,”

she conceded, “but I do.”

He put the Volkswagen in neutral and turned the key to cut the engine. “You do?”

“Yeah. I turn it off before Rhett says the famous line and think of the ending I made up.”

He burst into a startled laugh. “A novel way of watching movies. OK, let’s go see some weird stuff. We have an hour before we need to head back.”

He came around, opened the door, and took her hand to help her out.

She looked up at him.

He smiled down at her.

Vegas seemed a world away.

?

They visited the stores along the road, each funkier and more eclectic than the last, cluttered with memorabilia, vinyl records, and local art. There were so many license plates that Eve could have spent the afternoon browsing those alone. One store owner seemed to have had an especially creepy sense of humor, installing motion-activated mannequin heads to follow patrons’ movements as they browsed.

Eve decided they should see The Rusty Bolt, where mannequins adorned the roof and porch.

Adam opened the door for her, and there sat Elvis, ankle on the opposite knee, wearing his signature TCB gold sunglasses and sporting the famous black leather Comeback Special suit.

“Can’t get away from that guy,”

Adam muttered.

Eve’s laugh caught the store owner’s attention. “Welcome, folks. Would you like me to take a pic of the two of you with Elvis?”

The appalled expression on Adam’s face literally made Eve snort.

Adam with Elvis.

This was too good to pass up.

She gave the man her most enthusiastic grin. “Of course we would!”

Quickly, she fished her phone out of her purse, tapped the camera icon, and passed it to the owner. “Thank you so much for this.”

Eve grabbed Adam’s hand. Shaking his head, he allowed her to drag him to where The King held court. Flanking Elvis on both sides, they each grasped one of his shoulders and leaned forward, Eve barely containing herself while the store owner centered the photo.

“Say ‘Hound Dog’!”

the man prompted.

Adam groaned between clenched teeth.

Eve didn’t have to fake smile for the picture.

?

Too soon, they were on their way back to Sin City.

“I can’t believe you made me do that.”

Adam adjusted the microphone on his headset.

“Come on, it’s Elvis!”

“Hardly a novelty. We live in Vegas. There’s one on almost every corner.”

“True. Vegas is full of…”

She tipped her head. “What is the plural of Elvis?”

“Elvi.”

He kept a perfectly straight face.

Eve burst into laughter. After a beat, he, too, joined in.

For a while, they fell silent, content with Betty’s buzzing engine noise filling the cabin. Flying this low, one could enjoy the spectacular views of the changing landscape and not just stare at endless sky and clouds.

It was late afternoon now, and the colors of the horizon were slowly turning to stunning purple hues.

Adam adjusted something on the panel. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for that pie.”

“Can you eat and fly at the same time?”

His gaze swung to her. “I can eat and do many things at the same time, Eve.”

Her breathing quickened. She had to press her knees together. As always, how he said certain things made her body respond in ways it never had to any other man.

Eve nodded. “OK, then.”

She turned to get the small insulated cooler from the back seat behind her, the tight space making her shoulder brush against his arm. The sun had warmed his skin all day, amplifying his scent, and she inhaled deeply, feeling herself getting more heated by the second.

It was becoming an automatic trigger, the smell of him. All she had to do was sense him and she ignited.

Unzipping the little cooler, she extracted the brown paper bag the waitress had packed for them. Inside, in a clear clamshell container, was a giant wedge of pie, piled high with ruffles of fluffy whipped cream. She took it out, then groped around inside the bag but found it empty.

“She didn’t pack spoons,”

she told him, a little disappointed.

Adam kept his gaze fixed on the horizon. “I fail to see the problem.”

Electricity zinged down her upper arms as she stared at his profile, slowly realizing what he wanted.

Three fingers on the yoke, he kept his eyes on the blue sky, but she didn’t need to see them to know what he was thinking.

Her heart flipped.

Oh my God.

She flicked open the hard plastic container.

The scent of vanilla wafted to her nostrils.

He nodded. “That smells good. Feed me.”

Barely breathing, she sank her index finger into the lush, velvety dessert, fingering the smooth, cool filling. She hooked it, capturing as much cream as she could, coating her finger almost to her second knuckle.

Her heart kicked into a crazy rhythm, anticipating what she was about to do. Carefully, she leaned over and brought her finger to his mouth. His lips parted, and she slid inside, feeling his heat as he closed around her.

“Mm.”

That one hum of appreciation sent intense shivers down her lower body. Then he began to suck, his tongue simultaneously flicking, and she hissed in a breath, heat pooling in her core.

He opened his mouth to release her finger. “More.”

She started to dip inside again.

“Use two fingers. I want more cream.”

His voice was rough.

Her breath was coming fast. She shifted in her seat, afraid to glance down at his lap, knowing exactly what she’d see, not trusting herself should she see it.

Sinking her index and middle fingers deep into the pie, Eve pulled up more cream and glistening vanilla filling. She brought it to his mouth, turning her fingers this time, pushing down on his tongue, and then dragging out, scraping his teeth. He groaned and promptly moved his head forward to pull her back into his mouth, sucking harder, driving her close to insane.

For the first time in forever, she wanted to do something to a man not because she had to but because she wanted to.

Up here, all alone with only him and the open sky, her body thrummed with needing him to fill her.

She wanted to jump him, right here in this plane.

She noticed that he had switched hands, holding the yoke with his left, and was reaching out toward the container.

“My turn.”

His voice was a deep rumble. “You have to taste it too.”

She watched his chest rise and fall in rhythm with her own and offered him the pie, her eyes half-closing.

Adam used his thumb. He sank it deep into the middle, curling, then curling again, swiping up cream and filling, then, slowly, he brought it all up to her lips.

She leaned in to accept it. Her eyelids drifted shut. Her mouth closed around him with hunger, all the hunger she’d had for him since the first day when he had not allowed her to do anything to him but had given her all the pleasure.

Physical attraction, yes, but now it had gone far beyond that. She liked who he was. It amplified her desire for him a thousandfold.

Something suddenly snapped inside her, and she went wild on him, feasting on his thumb, tasting vanilla and cream and him. Before she knew it, her head began to move back and forth, sucking as if she had him in her mouth, and not his finger.

His intake of breath came in a hiss. She could feel him tensing, and she opened her mouth wider and took more of him, lips closing around the base of his thumb, sucking him to the very back of her throat.

He groaned. “Jesus.”

Lips clamping around him, she slid back, slowly, slowly, nipping the pad of his thumb before releasing him with a pop.

Despite the lower lighting, she saw that his pupils had dilated so much that she could barely discern those sapphire irises of his.

“You have no gag reflex,” he said.

She gave him a self-satisfied little smile. “That’s right. My turn to feed you.”

She swiped a bit of cream, placed it on her tongue, and leaned toward him.

His eyes were pure blue fire.

“Eve,”

he rasped, “I have to land this plane.”

As if to emphasize that, Betty rolled over a bump, and Eve gulped the cream with a gasp. Yes, letting Adam get them safely on the ground was a good idea.

Adam

“Restroom?”

Adam motioned with his chin toward the bathrooms adjacent to the pilot lounge.

He’d taxied Betty to the FBO, where his S63 waited, growling on the tarmac. He’d fully intended to race to the Lark with Eve, speed limit be damned.

Instead, she had begun behaving oddly nervous the moment he’d cut the engine, so he decided to head on inside and give her some time to freshen up and…what? He was the one who needed to recover from how she’d fed him that pie.

He used the facilities and washed his hands. According to the contract, he had her for the entire weekend, and he intended to make good use of every minute.

Tossing the paper towel into the trash, he pushed open the door and spotted Eve at the end of the hallway, shifting from one foot to the other, hands clutching her small purse more and more tightly as he approached.

“Ready?”

She nodded, cheeks rosy, chest rising and falling with one deep breath. He walked her to his car, trying to think of something calming to say as he buckled up, watching her gracefully settle into the seat.

The engine roared to life. He couldn’t help a satisfied smile and ran his fingertips over the leather of the steering wheel. Her gaze was on his hand. He knew it, even without looking. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see that she was rhythmically squeezing her thighs together, and his body immediately responded.

“What comes next?”

she asked. There was a huskiness in her voice that aroused him even more.

“You.”

He’d said it aloud without thinking, but hearing her sharp inhale, nothing would stop him from making it happen.

His hand slid off the wheel and, slowly, moved to smooth over her jean-clad thigh. “Right now, I’m cursing myself for my lack of foresight.”

Her quads tensed under his palm. “Why?”

“Because I asked you not to wear a dress.”

He let his hand inch up, his pinkie stroking the crease at the apex of her thigh. “But I can work with this.”

He could feel her heat even through the fabric of her jeans. “Do you remember the hidden talent question?”

Steering with his left hand, he kept his eyes trained on the road.

“Yes.”

“I never got to answer that one.”

He felt her start beneath his palm. “Can you guess what it is?”

She licked her lips. “I have some idea.”

“My talent is multitasking.”

He let his fingertip circle the button of her jeans. He flicked it. “This is hindering me.”

Adam could have easily undone it, but he wanted her to choose to do it.

Her breath quickened. She hesitated for a beat. Then, fingers trembling slightly, she unfastened it.

Adam grew so hard, it pained him. He could hear her already panting, and now, so was he.

Stopping at a traffic light, he fingered her zipper for a few good seconds before grasping the tab to slowly inch it down. He could hear the metal teeth easing apart above the rumble of the idling car and wished he could unzip himself, too, because he was painfully uncomfortable.

But right now, he wanted it to be about her.

Because he’d never stopped thinking about how it had felt to make her fall to pieces under his hands.

He didn’t need to see her to know what he was doing to her. Just like that night, he could sense it. But he waited. He would savor this.

She shifted, gripping the sides of the leather seat.

He needed better purchase. “Recline a little.”

She fumbled with the controls on the door panel. The seat motor whined softly as the back tilted.

“Spread for me.”

She did. Unhurried, just the way he liked it.

At last, his fingers sought between the teeth of the parted zipper, and found…

Jesus.

Lace, woven into little circles. Open circles.

A glance confirmed it. Ivory panties barely covered what lay underneath, and he almost lost it right there at first glimpse.

She was beautiful there, too.

He let his hand explore a moment longer, lightly caressing the delicate fabric and her heated skin, barely using any pressure, until she was moaning softly, her lashes lowered as she fixed her gaze on his hand.

God. She was watching.

Had he not been driving, his eyes would have rolled back in his head. He turned left, somehow still concentrating on the road, while his pulse skyrocketed and he hardened to steel.

The next second, Adam eased his finger inside one of the open circles.

And found her soaked.

She gasped. Blood rushed to his head, roaring in his ears, competing with the sound of the turbo engine. He swallowed back a groan and stilled his finger, keeping the tip on the spot where he intended to stroke her until she lost all control. “Want me to continue?”

A guttural moan.

“Is that a yes?”

He pushed on her, just once, drawing another cry from her lips, now reddened from her pressing them together and biting down. “Or a no?”

She didn’t answer. Just sat there, legs slightly spread, all of her now shaking.

Sweet torture, this was. He circled once, then stilled again. Oh, he knew she couldn’t refuse him. She was obligated to do whatever he demanded. He realized that bothered him because, for some inexplicable reason, he wanted her to want it too.

“Please.”

That one breathy syllable from her lips caused something to explode in his chest, and he exhaled the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding.

Ever so lightly, he began a slow stroke back and forth along the slick softness of her flesh. “Feel good?”

“Yes,”

she breathed.

One hand firmly on the wheel, the other working her, he navigated the road while navigating her, gauging every reaction, every breath, every moan. Just as she’d done that night, however, she wasn’t surrendering completely.

“You’re holding back. Let go. Go with the feeling.”

Her lashes lowered. She took a deep, shuddering breath. He sensed a shift, then, and a few moments later, she was countering his moves as he coaxed and teased, alternating rhythm and pressure as the car roared forward.

Suddenly, Eve gave a frustrated mewl, grasped his wrist, and began to move his hand herself.

Fuck.

Jaw tight, he strived to maintain control of the car and of himself, while she—

Through the blood pounding in his ears, he heard an all-too-familiar sound.

His phone.

Hell, no. He let it go unanswered.

“That’s it. Use me. Use my hand.”

Her cries grew frantic. He obliged her and stroked her harder.

A text tone sounded. Adam ignored it. “Reach for it, Eve. Let me see you come.”

He felt her tight grip as she guided him to use three fingers. The S63 went over a bump a bit too fast, and the car bounced.

“Oh, God…oh, God!…”

Her entire body shook. She dug her nails into his palm.

No longer trusting himself to drive, Adam swerved into an empty parking lot, slamming his foot on the brake. The tires screeched. The car lurched.

She lifted her hips high, drawing his finger deep inside her; his thumb stroked once, twice…

And then Eve threw back her head and shuddered, mouth open wide.

Never in his life had he witnessed such a long, hard orgasm. On and on it went, and he drew out everything she had, and then some, his whole body rigid with the struggle to rein in his primal urges.

At last, she stilled.

“Ohh…”

She slumped, eyes closed, her chest still rising and falling, but kept his hand there as she still quaked with little aftershocks. Her thumb moved over the tendons at his inner wrist, gently, back and forth. “Oh God.”

Her voice was barely audible.

She looked so very vulnerable. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he felt an overwhelming desire to protect her, and it confused the hell out of him. He also felt compelled to taste her.

Slowly, he slipped out of her grasp, pulled his fingers out, and brought them to his mouth, and she watched with wide eyes as he sucked them clean. “You taste so good,”

he said. “I’m going to take you to my bed, and then I’m going to make a veritable feast of you.”

A different ringtone sounded, one that made him grit his teeth and want to smash the phone.

Devon.

He wouldn’t be calling unless it was important.

Muttering a curse, Adam shoved the car into park, cut the engine, and answered.

“Someone had better be dead.”

“Someone very well may be. Jesus, man! You’re the one who busts balls about answering the goddamn phone.”

“What happened?”

“It’s Tim. Work platform fell over.”

“What?”

He couldn’t believe it. Safety was paramount at LarsAir.

“Yeah. New guy closed the wrong circuit breaker and tripped the air brake.”

Adam blew out a harsh breath. “How bad is it?”

“It’s bad. Head injury. They took him to UMC Trauma.”

Fuck.

“I’m on my way.”

He started the car. Beside him, Eve hastily sat up and put herself back together, eyes questioning.

“Tim had a bad accident at the hangar. I need to go to the hospital.”

“Is he OK?”

“I don’t know. I’ll drop you off at your place. It’s closer.”

She nodded. To his dismay, he thought he saw embarrassment on her sweet face and something else he couldn’t quite decipher.

The erotic bubble inside the car had burst.

Adam wanted to rip out the steering wheel and throw it in the roadway.