Chapter Twenty-Seven
Casino de Gemmayzeh was everything that Imad Nasrallah had promised—beautiful and busy.
The ambiance welcomed Amanda and Hagan as newlyweds as much as it did high-rolling casino whales.
A bellhop had whisked their luggage from sight as soon as they’d arrived, and if she didn’t look carefully, it’d be hard to tell that anyone ever left the hotel.
Hagan rested his hand on the small of her back.
A firework of prickles ran up her spine.
He was playing a role, but he’d touched her like this before, nonchalantly telling the world that he had a claim on her.
Color warmed her cheeks, ensuring that onlookers would see that just-married connection.
She played her part, touching him as if they’d known each other for years.
Except, she wasn’t acting. Unlike any time where she played this role, Amanda didn’t have a mental list of action items. Smile.
Gaze. Touch. Everything with Hagan was natural.
They reached the registration desk. Hagan checked them in as she scoped the security and registration system, peppering the conversation with unobtrusive, fact-finding questions.
The man behind the registration desk told them about their room and collected payment.
Casino de Gemmayzeh’s system and procedures left little room for error and raised questions about their gaming systems. If they were anything like the simple check-in process, Amanda knew they’d have to dig deep.
The hotel registrar returned Hagan’s falsified identification and credit card along with key cards to the honeymoon suite, adding, “One second, please. I believe there’s one more thing.”
Curious, Amanda leaned against Hagan and watched the man disappear into an alcove behind the front desk.
Her job was harder than she expected with Hagan rubbing his fingers along her hip.
She ignored the way he made her feel like she had been walking on air and twisted in his arms, surreptitiously stealing a glance at the computer screen.
The registrar returned with an enormous bouquet of lilies and struggled to place them on the counter. “You had a delivery.”
Her stomach dropped. “Aren’t those beautiful.”
Hagan eyed her as if he knew lilies were associated with funerals and death, then read the card and handed it to her.
Best wishes on your speedy escape.
Oh, man. Jared was pissed.
“It’s from the office,” Hagan volunteered to the man, then added to Amanda, “Isn’t that sweet.”
“So thoughtful, too, but …” Her eyebrows arched. “It’s too bad I’m allergic.”
“Forgot about that.” He crushed the card in his hand and turned the man behind the counter. “Do you know anyone who might enjoy these?”
His brow furrowed. “Are you sure?”
“Absolutely,” Hagan confirmed.
Amanda didn’t know if the man was genuinely surprised to have the flowers turned away or didn’t want to deal with the hot-air-balloon-sized arrangement. “Please,” she urged. “As much as we’d love to take them, I’d be bed-bound with an allergy headache.”
The man hefted the vase off the counter. “We can’t have that.” He signaled to the bellhop captain that they were ready for their room, and with a final congratulations, Hagan and Amanda were directed to meet the bellhop who’d initially retrieved their luggage.
“Death flowers, huh?” Hagan’s lips lingered near her ear. “Bet Boss Man had to do some Googling to come up with that.”
“Or he had Angela take a page from her mother’s playbook.” They’d never reached the acquaintance level of interaction, but Amanda understood more about Angela’s life with a mother like the infamous Senator Sorenson than most.
Hagan snorted. “Don’t remind me of that old witch.” He smoothed his thumb along the indentation of her spine, then managed an easygoing conversation with their attendant as they made their way to the elevators and boarded.
The elevator quickly rose to the ninth floor. Hagan held her hand like they’d had years together, and when the doors opened, he strode in front of the bellhop until they reached their suite.
“I’ll make sure everything is to your liking,” the bellhop offered, unlocking the door with a key card and stepping aside.
Amanda took a step. Hagan hauled her back, and with a shiver-inducing half-grin, he winked. “I’m supposed to carry you over the threshold.”
Have mercy. She needed his arms around her again.
Hagan caught her gaze and held it, lifting her into his arms.
It felt so right. There wasn’t a single word that explained how he made her feel. A distant voice in the back of her head warned her that they would both get hurt if she let this go too far. But she already had and was fast wondering how deep she could fall for this man.
He carried her into the suite and spun Amanda around. “Does this work for you?”
In so many ways. “Think so.”
“Me too.” Hagan kissed Amanda and set her down.
She didn’t let go, not trusting her legs. Blood rushed in her ears, and vaguely aware of Hagan conversing with the bellhop, she fought against the deliriously amazing fog that his lips could create.
The door shut. They were alone. Hagan placed his hands on her hips and pulled her to him. “I like playing pretend with you.”
She swayed into him, feeling herself come alive.
His thick erection pressed between them.
There were things she had to do. Standard operating procedure required her to sweep the room and inspect their luggage.
But Amanda didn’t care. “That makes me very happy.” She caressed his bulge.
She unfastened the top of his jeans, teased the zipper down, and slid her hands under the denim. “Because I like playing with you, too.”
“That’s playing with fire,” he warned.
His black briefs were soft to the touch and painted over his muscular physique, and her mouth watered to pull his erection free.
But first, she teased. Amanda followed the cut indentation of muscle to the top of his thighs, back to his hips, and then to his firm ass.
Her fingernails bit into the hard flesh, and she sank to her knees.
His jeans piled at his feet. Hagan cursed when she tipped her chin up. The fire in his gaze made her tingle. “You’re too much for me.”
She rolled his boxer briefs down and freed his long, smooth length. “Liar,” she whispered against his crown. Her tongue darted out. Amanda licked the thick ridge of his cock, taking her time to feel his body tense before her lips opened over the top of his shaft.
“I lied,” he groaned. “You’re perfect for me.”
Amanda grinned, wrapped her hand around his thickness, and briefly pulled her mouth away. “I agree.”
She took him into her mouth again and worked her hand on his shaft. She needed more of him. Her eyes watered. There was a power in bringing his cock to her throat. Her terms. Her man. She pulled back and drank in oxygen, hungry for him to fill her again.
Hagan flexed and growled, nearly shaking to hold himself back. She wanted him to let go, to find what he needed with her—in her—as she was finding it with him.
Amanda gagged. He jerked back. Her hands grabbed for his ass. She willed him to understand that she was okay, that she enjoyed bringing him this much pleasure. Sucking him, tasting him, she’d found a way to own the moment, and it was more freeing than standing on top of a building.
Her mouth encircled his crown, and then she pulled back. Her lips nuzzled against his blunt head. “I need this.” Her tongue curled and swiped away a bead of precum. “I need you.”
The keycard and hotel brochure fell from his hand as though he couldn’t focus on anything but her.
She cupped his sac and let her tongue play on his crown.
She took him and teased him until any resistance had disappeared.
Hagan flexed and thrust into her mouth. She took him, deep and hungry, until she couldn’t breathe, then again and again, crying for more, choking on the need to feel him throb and shudder.
His hands grasped the top of her head. He gasped her name in warning.
The guttural cry electrified her body. She’d never needed another man’s pleasure like this before.
Hagan’s orgasm thundered. He cried her name and trembled.
In the middle of their newlywed suite, their luggage to one side, the key card at her knees, she drank him in until he eased away.
Amanda fell back and grinned. Her lips were numb, and her pussy soaked. “You look like you enjoyed that almost as much as me.”
It took Hagan a second to laugh. Then he kicked off his shoes and pants, hooked her under the arms, hauled Amanda to his chest, and kicked open the double doors that led to their bed.