Split the Aces Page 6

  “You’d give up the glamour of the casino floor?”

  The answer was more important than Cori wanted to admit. Not that dealing blackjack was actually glamorous, as she’d implied. She knew the job wasn’t, but the casino provided Rae with endless opportunities to meet new women. The thought sent a stab of jealousy through her. She wasn’t entitled to feel possessive of Rae, and the emotion was irrational, but the burn in her gut owned her nonetheless.

  “In a heartbeat.” Rae’s answer was automatic, like the decision had been made long ago and she was simply waiting for her plans to reach fruition.

  She turned into a deserted gravel parking lot. The dam was nowhere in sight. If they were anywhere near the tourist attraction, the lot should be overflowing with cars and people.

  “I thought we were going to Hoover Dam,” Cori said.

  Rae smiled. “We are.”

  Save for the constant drone of cars passing on the highway, the air around them was quiet. Cori listened more closely. The usual sounds of the city were absent, but underlying the buzz of wheels turning on pavement, there was something more, a rushing, roaring in the distance.

  “Is that—”

  “Yep.” Rae hopped out of the car and circled around to Cori’s door. “Coming?” she invited with an outstretched hand.

  They fell in step together, Rae’s arm resting on Cori’s shoulders. It felt good, with just the right hint of possessiveness. Cori sank into the feeling, allowing herself to be drawn down the path away from the car.

  “What about you?” Rae asked. “I have no idea what you do for a living.”

  Could that be true? Cori searched her memory. She and Rae had spent shockingly little time talking, but still, she had to be aware of something so fundamental. Realization settled in. They knew nothing about each other. “I’m a massage therapist.”

  “That explains it.” Rae looked at her like she wanted to eat her alive.

  Cori stumbled. “Explains what?”

  “Why you’re so good with your hands.” Rae’s arm dropped to Cori’s waist, holding her tightly. “I should have realized when I saw you at the convention center. I knew which group was meeting.”

  Cori felt her face flush. “I’ll give you a real massage sometime, and then you can decide how good I am with my hands.”

  Rae glanced sideways at her. “You’re blushing.” She studied Cori more closely. “And very cute.”

  Cori stared at her lips, full and inviting. The need to know more about Rae burned away as she watched something change in her eyes. Her expression was serious, the usual sexy grin absent. In its place was a tenderness that made her seem so vulnerable Cori caught her breath. Rae leaned in close, her mouth hovering over Cori’s for a moment, then she kissed her, slowly and deliberately. Red flares of desire curled through Cori, stretching out to engulf her. Her grip on Rae slackened, her hands falling to her side. She felt weak, aware of nothing but the hot press of their lips and the promise of fulfillment. The simple touch was overwhelming, and the growing need that burned her insides raged up, demanding more. This connection was all she craved. The moment one encounter with Rae ended, her body simmered, yearning for the next.

  Rae’s lips brushed hers one final time and she linked their pinkies together and started walking again, drawing Cori with her. They followed the trail around a bend that opened to a clearing.

  Cori had seen pictures of Hoover Dam, but nothing had prepared her for the vista stretched out below them. Water, cool and placid like liquid satin, pooled at the top, held back by a massive wall of concrete. Puget Sound, Cori’s baseline comparison for bodies of water, was a dull grayish blue. The Colorado River, which fed the dam, was the kind of blue Cori had only ever found in Crayola boxes and, she realized, in Rae’s eyes in the moment before she climaxed.

  Rae’s arms wrapped around her from behind. “The spillways are closed off right now, letting the water build up, but they’ll open one soon. It’s amazing.”

  Cori leaned into her, absorbed by the beauty of the surroundings and the heat flowing between them. “Thank you.”

  Rae snuggled closer. “For what?”

  Cori turned and kissed her lightly on the cheek. “Sharing this with me. It’s…” She searched for the right word to capture the moment, but they all sounded flat. “It’s special.” She shook her head. It was the best she could come up with.

  “I’m glad you like it.” Rae paused. “We could go closer. They have tours, complete with placards and guides who spout random facts about how much concrete was used to build the dam and how much water pressure is at the base.”

  Rae’s uncertainty tugged at Cori. She liked that Rae was struggling to impress her, to make the moment even more perfect than it already was. She regarded her seriously. “I like it here.”

  Rae lowered her head to kiss her again. Once more the image from the party the night before fluttered behind Cori’s eyes, drawing a sharp sigh from her. Rae’s touch shook loose the memory and as their lips met, Cori surrendered herself to the moment, opening herself to exploration. Rae started slow, keeping her arms around Cori’s waist. Her tongue barely skimmed past Cori’s teeth before retreating and returning for more. The timid control frustrated Cori. She knew Rae wanted more, she felt it in the air whenever Rae looked at her, but still she held back.

  With a growl, Cori backed her against a tree and insinuated her thigh between Rae’s legs. She demanded more and Rae finally responded. Her fingers tangled in Cori’s hair and she tugged hard. A sharp edge of surprise shot through Cori as her throat was exposed. Molten heat built to pinpoint sharpness where Rae’s mouth latched on to her pulse, bringing her soul screaming to the surface. This was the Rae she wanted. Hot and demanding. Hard enough to drive the thought, and the unwanted images, from her mind.

  She gasped as Rae spun her with alarming speed, pinning her firmly to the tree. The bark dug into Cori’s back, making her squirm. She felt Rae fighting with her buttons, scratching futilely against them as she reclaimed her mouth. Not willing to wait, Cori yanked her shirt free from her shorts and pushed Rae’s hand against her skin, urging it up to her breasts.

  The responsible part of her nagged that what she was doing was wrong, that she would never behave like this in Seattle. She was exposed in a place that, while it felt secluded, was very much public. She was not the kind of girl who fucked total strangers against a tree in the middle of the day. But Rae wasn’t a total stranger. Cori knew exactly what Rae was about. She was a player, interested only in a passing encounter, nothing more. And at that moment, that was enough. It had to be.

  “God, you make me crazy.” Rae pinched and twisted her nipples.

  Fire shot from Cori’s breasts to her clit, driving away the reasons for stopping. Apparently in Vegas, she was exactly this kind of girl. Not only did she want to be fucked against a tree in broad daylight, she wanted to do it now. She reached out for Rae, needing her closer, but Rae stepped back from her, hastily wiping her mouth. The shy tour guide look was back on her face, and she brushed Cori’s clothes into place as a family of four emerged on the path.

  Cori groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me.” She hadn’t even heard the intruders approaching. Her skin burned and her clit screamed for more. Now.

  “Sorry about that.” Rae smiled like a teenager caught on her parents’ couch, proud, embarrassed, and uncertain all at once.

  From the hesitation in her eyes, Cori knew if she wanted this to continue, she would have to be the one to push for it. “We need to go back to my room.”

  She steered Rae back to the car, moving like a woman being chased. Before long, the memory of Rae coming in another woman’s mouth would catch up with her again. But for now, she didn’t want to surrender the sexual tension building between them to a jealousy she had no right to feel.

  Chapter Seven

  “Stop looking at me like that.” Rae forced herself to stand on the opposite side of the elevator from Cori. She didn’t trust herself to be any c
loser and if the damned car didn’t start climbing the cable just a little faster, she was going to forget the fact that security, and therefore her boss, could see everything she did while on the property.

  Cori lowered her eyelids sexily. “Like what?”

  Her voice was huskier than usual and Rae faltered, almost forgetting her objection. “Like you don’t care that there’s a camera in this elevator recording everything we do.”

  Her skin burned under Cori’s close scrutiny, and every time she met Cori’s demanding gaze, her brain stuttered to a stop, leaving her wanting and vulnerable. All the reasons for not pursuing a relationship with Cori had been so clear the night before. But today, with Cori’s bare skin only a few painfully slow floors away, those reasons were beyond her mental reach.

  Cori looked pointedly at the camera and took a half-step toward her. “Is that why you’re not touching me?”

  “Yes.”

  The twin mirrored doors slid mercifully open at Cori’s floor and Rae led her impatiently from the car. She entwined her fingers with Cori’s as they walked down the hall, her thumb smoothing a path over the soft moon of skin on the back of Cori’s hand.

  Cori pressed her lips to Rae’s cheek. “Today, at the dam, that was really special for me. Thank you.”

  The kiss was soft, unassuming, almost chaste. The sweetness of it clutched at Rae’s heart and she wondered irrationally if she could shower without washing away the rose-petal-soft imprint of Cori’s lips. The silly, teenage-girl thought startled her. She’d abandoned such romantic pining when she left high school, and even back then she hadn’t experienced the mind-numbing pull of another person. She’d never felt so helpless to resist her desire for a woman.

  The walk down the corridor seemed to take even longer than the ride in the elevator. To Rae’s surprise, she didn’t have to fight her hormones into submission. She truly wanted this experience to be different. A deep craving for connection with Cori made her want to go slow, to explore her completely and give her everything she wanted. Cori deserved to be worshipped, with Rae on her knees paying homage.

  When they arrived at Cori’s door, she squeezed Cori’s hand, a gentle reassurance to help calm a tremble she felt. “Are you sure about this?”

  The question sounded absurd to Rae’s ears, but she had to ask. They’d spent the day together, navigating the boundaries with one another. She wanted Cori to know, more than anything else, that she liked her. She didn’t see her as only sexy and wild and hot. She really liked the woman she was getting to know—her personality, her sensibility, her vulnerability. Incredibly, this night didn’t have to end in sex for her to be completely happy. The day and the memories they were building were worth more to her than that. Cori was worth more.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” Cori handed her the key.

  The symbolism wasn’t lost on Rae. With a simple gesture, she’d been given the key to open Cori’s world. All she had to do was step through the door. Was she brave enough to abandon the role she’d always played so well and lay claim to a new life, one that included Cori and all the promise she offered? Rae hesitated. Maybe she was giving too much significance to the moment. Perhaps all Cori wanted was for her to open the door, push her against the wall, and fuck her until she exploded. The latter would certainly be easier and more comfortable. Rae knew what to do in a world constructed of sex games and orgasms. Heartfelt connections were ethereal to her, something she’d have to stretch to obtain. God help her, Cori made her want to reach for happily ever after.

  Thankfully the room was empty. The last thing Rae needed was the judgment of Cori’s protective roommate. She leaned against the closed door and watched Cori loosen one button after another until her shirt hung open down the front, the lace of her bra peeking through. This was crazy and foolish and she didn’t want to stop. Bands of panic tightened around her chest. The familiar thoughts that had driven her to run from Cori and find comfort with another woman crept in around the edges of her consciousness. The intensity of her emotions—her illogical, inexplicable, and certainly unwanted emotions—built to a crashing crescendo.

  Cori couldn’t possibly be feeling like this. Hell, Rae wasn’t even sure what she felt, herself. The overwhelming tide could recede in a moment and leave her wet but no worse for the wear. She forced herself to remember that Cori would soon be leaving Vegas. Rae needed to accept that and take what she could from this moment despite the teasing sense of possibility. Tonight wasn’t about building an unbreakable bond. It wasn’t about forever. It was about sex. Really good sex with a really sexy woman. It couldn’t be anything more.

  Cori peeled off her clothes, one garment at a time, her eyes on Rae as she dropped them seductively to the floor. The more skin she revealed, the further out of control Rae’s thoughts spiraled. She wanted her. Not just for the frantic press of their bodies, but in the seconds, minutes, hours, and everything that came afterward. She wanted to hold her and wake up next to her in the morning.

  “There’s something really wrong here.” Cori’s expression was teasing. She crossed to where Rae stood immobile against the door. “I’m naked and you still have all these clothes on.”

  Her kiss wasn’t gentle, but it wasn’t overwhelming. Cori didn’t seem bent on domination. It was as though she was trying to pull Rae out of her thoughts and back into the moment. Rae felt the familiar chill of anticipation as Cori opened her shirt, only without the sense of urgency that always accompanied the prelude to sex. She reminded herself that she wasn’t on her lunch hour. She was here, in Cori’s room, with the entire night in front of them. She touched Cori’s fingers, aiding them to push the shirt down her shoulders. The glide of Cori’s fingers against her bare abdomen brought a ripple of tension that tripped over her body, chasing Cori’s touch to her sports bra.

  Cori removed this quickly, leaving Rae naked from the waist up. Saving two nights ago, Rae couldn’t remember the last time she’d undressed fully for sex. What was the point when she invariably had to drag everything back on after a few minutes? She started as Cori circled her nipple with a finger. The touch was soft but far from timid. She took her time, exploring the contours of Rae’s skin as it puckered and tightened, then letting her tongue follow her fingers. Rae slid her fingers through Cori’s hair, holding tight, prolonging the moment as ribbons of desire rippled through her.

  Cori worked her hand down Rae’s abdomen, pausing at the waistband of her jeans before pushing forward. When her fingers skimmed Rae’s clit, Rae moaned at the touch, but held Cori’s wrist firm, refusing to let her go further. She had to slow the momentum. It felt too much like their last encounter. In spite of the heat in Cori’s touch, and her eyes and mouth, Rae wanted more. She didn’t want to fuck. She wanted to make love.

  She drew Cori up and kissed her gently. “Slow down. Let me get undressed.”

  Cori moaned. “God, I want you so much.” She buried her face in the curve of Rae’s neck. “Why are you doing this to me?”

  Rae unzipped herself and pushed her jeans and panties down her hips. Cori’s hand stayed between her thighs and her finger twitched, just barely. The sensation was enough to make Rae jerk back, pressing her ass against the door.

  “I want you, too,” she groaned. “But I want us to take our time and enjoy one another.” She worked her way out of her shoes then kicked her pants aside. “Come on.” She took Cori’s hand and led her to the bed.

  The air between them was heavy and thick as she slid back the covers and lowered Cori onto the bed. She held her body above Cori’s, not touching, barely breathing, scared to move forward with her intentions. Light from the neon night filtered in around the edges of the drapes, making it bright enough to see the dark desire smoldering in Cori’s eyes but leaving the planes of her face and body etched in shadows. Rae traced the line between light and dark from the base of Cori’s throat down to the apex of her thighs, dipping into the moisture pooled there. Cori held herself rigid, trembling at the touch. She sucked in a ragged breath
when Rae slid further, letting her fingers brush Cori’s clit.

  Bracing herself with her arms on either side of Cori’s head, she lowered herself until their bodies were touching. The graze of their skin was light at first. A trembling electric pulse arced between them, compelling more. Rae took a deep, steadying breath and focused. She wanted to remember everything about this moment. The deep, dark desire threatening to drown her in Cori’s eyes. The tremor in her arms. The building throb pulsing inside her, and the growing pool of moisture between her legs. The tickle of Cori’s pubic hair blending with her own. She gazed down at the fan of Cori’s hair against the pillow and the slow trickle of sweat beading down her neck. The beat of her pulse stirred just below the surface of her skin, pleading for Rae’s lips.

  When she could no longer hold herself back, she sank down the rest of the way until their bodies molded together. They settled into slow, undulating thrusts as Cori’s hips rose up, circling and drawing Rae down, not pushing for release, but dancing beneath her. The seductive rhythm urged Rae to take her, but she stayed with Cori, not increasing the tempo. She rode the wave as it took them higher, still refusing to meet the request for more. The night had just begun and she wanted to prove that she could wait.

  Cori lifted her head to capture Rae’s mouth in a kiss. The sucking, sliding invitation of her tongue drew Rae in, demanding only that she surrender herself to pleasure. Every kiss should be like this, she thought, bringing the rest of the world to a stop in its warm, erotic give-and-take.

  When they finally released each other enough to breathe, Rae leaned on one elbow and stroked Cori’s swollen lips with her thumb. Awed and humbled that this beautiful woman was willing to share herself so freely, Rae pressed her lips to Cori’s eyes, one after the other. “You’re so beautiful. Why are you here with me?”