Page 35 of The Butterfly Effect
“Besides bragging rights? If you win, I’ll take you home.” He raised his shoulder in a shrug. It didn’t seem like much of a prize, and I was having so much fun I didn’t really want to go home.
“And ifyouwin?” He had something up his sleeve, but I didn’t want to back down.
He brushed his lips against my ear, taking a deep breath before responding. “If I win, I take you home tomyplace.”
An intense warmth filled my core, and I pushed my legs together. Part of me wanted him to win, but I also wanted the bragging rights. I’ve always been competitive; it was why I didn’t really play games anymore. They got to the point where they weren’t fun.
“Okay, deal.” I stuck out my hand for a handshake, and he snickered before grabbing it.
He looked me over before releasing my hand, letting his eyes linger on my legs. The jeans I wore had a hole in the right thigh, showing a good amount of my skin. When he pulled his stare from me, he turned it to the other man at the table, who had started to pay more attention to us. I looked at him and he was staring at me. If I had any interest in having a conversation with him, I’d have told him my face was up higher. Rolling my eyes, I looked back towards the dealer and set a couple of chips out for a bet.
“You,” William said, his glare still boring into the man. “Scram. Find another table.”
The man clearly didn’t like being told what to do and looked like he was ready to argue, but William shot him a look that dared him to. It was the kind that told the man he couldn’t guarantee he’d live to regret telling him no. That was the look that made him so powerful. When the man broke away from William’s stare, he gathered his chips and moved to another table. William cleared his throat and set his chips down, his look telling the dealer to lay out the cards, which he did.
A jack and an eight. I felt good about my first hand until I looked at William’s. Two kings. What he had didn’t matter, though, unless the dealer got a… shit. A ten and a nine. I lost, and when I looked at William, he was smirking.
“Don’t get cocky yet. It’s early,” I told him.
We set another bet on the table, and as the dealer gave us new cards, William brushed his leg against mine. The spark that shot up my leg at the contact went straight to my center, and I rolled my lips together, suddenly aware of how dry my mouth was. He kept his gaze on me, his dark-brown eyes burning into my skin.
The next round I beat the dealer, and William busted. I returned the smirk. We were now tied going into the third hand.
“Don’t get cocky yet, baby. It’s early.” He said it under his breath and so quietly I wasn’t sure if the dealer was able to hear him, but if he was, he didn’t react. When he moved his hand and trailed his finger along my thigh, sliding it into the hole in my jeans, I shivered. Judging by the way he lifted his eyebrow, he’d gotten the reaction he wanted from me.
I was warm as the third hand was dealt, a nervous bead of sweat threatening to slide down my spine. The cards hit the table in front of us, and I danced a little in my seat. A queen and an ace. I watched William closely as he asked for another card, taking the fifteen he had to twenty-two.
“I guess that would mean I won then?” I tried my best to mimic his cocky tone, allowing the brag to hover in the air between us.
William didn’t respond before standing up, grabbing my hand, and pulling me with him out of the casino. He looked like he was brooding while we waited for the valet to bring his car, and I assumed it meant he was as good at losing as I was. I just stared at him and the way his chest rose and fell and his muscles flexed under his sweater.
He must have an agreement with the cops around here because no matter how fast he drove, nobody stopped him. We made it to my apartment in just a few minutes, but it’d felt like ages. The tension in the car as he drove was thick enough that I could taste it. By the time we got there, my lungs were heavy and my pussy throbbed. I pressed my legs together when he put the car in park, but he didn’t take the keys out of the ignition.
His eyes darkened when I hit the button to release my seatbelt, and I licked my lips. The growl he emitted went straight to my core. What had he told me at dinner?You bring a group of stubborn executives to their knees. Tonight, I just wanted to bring one to his knees, and he was staring at me.
I reached over and turned off the car, meeting his gaze. He swallowed, his jaw flexing under his beard, and I followed his throat. Leaning towards my door, I opened it and climbed out of the car with my purse. Before I closed the door, I met William’s gaze. “Aren’t you coming?” I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth, and he climbed out of the car, following me.
I ached for him to touch me, and I could feel his gaze on me as I unlocked my door. He followed me into my apartment, kicking the door shut behind him. I turned around when the latch clicked, barely able to face him before he had his hands on me. He flipped us around and pressed me against the wall, and when he kissed me, I opened my mouth and allowed his tongue to slide in and dance against mine.
He was quick to slide my shirt off over my head and unclasp my bra, and the cold air that brushed over my chest hardened my nipples. I missed the feeling of his lips when he stepped back enough to pull his sweater over his head before slamming his mouth back onto mine.
I gasped when he sucked my bottom lip in between his teeth and bit down hard enough to leave a slight iron taste behind. When he lifted me into his arms, I wrapped my legs around his waist and gripped his shoulders, holding on as he carried me to my room. He tossed me onto the bed, and I sucked in a deep breath.
“Take off your jeans.”
I locked eyes with him as I ran my hands over my chest, pausing at my nipples for a second before trailing down my stomach to the button on my jeans. He widened his eyes, following my fingers on my zipper. I lifted my hips from the bed and slid my jeans down my legs, kicking them off the side of the bed and sitting up on my elbows.
The bulge in William’s jeans made my mouth water, and the red lacy thong I wore was definitely wet with my arousal. With the way he looked at me, I imagined he could tell. He slowly unbuttoned and slid his pants off, tossing them aside. I stared at him standing in front of me in a tight pair of boxers, his cock standing ready, and I licked my lips.
“You’re fucking beautiful, Julianna,” he groaned, walking towards the bed. “Especially when you look at me likethat.”
My breath hitched, and I stared at him with my mouth open. The emotion in his voice when he spoke made my throat tighten, and cracks started to form in my heart. I was more than falling for a man who had said time and time again he didn’t date. I had already fallen. All I was doing was setting myself up to be heartbroken, but as the sculpted, tattooed man in front of me crawled onto the bed and ran his hands up my leg, I didn’t care about how badly it would hurt. I needed him now.
“Stop talking,” I told him, tugging his hair and pulling him until he was face-to-face with me. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my lips to his. He smirked at my urgency, slipping his hand into my underwear and running his fingers across my clit. I shuddered under his touch.
William pulled his mouth from mine and marked his way down my body by biting and then planting kisses on the teeth marks he left behind. The pain and pleasure mixed with him rubbing my clit roughly made me melt. I needed more from him, breathing heavily when he hooked his fingers in my underwear and pulled it off. He moved his mouth back up my leg with more bites and kisses, and by the time he was at the top of my thighs, they were shaking.
I didn’t fight him when he pushed my legs apart, settling himself between them and inhaling deeply. The satisfied sigh he let out on the exhale made my stomach flutter. He slid one finger into my pussy before diving in and sucking my swollen clit into his mouth. I cried out, moving my hands to wrap them in his hair while he licked, nibbled, and sucked at the most sensitive parts of me. I arched my back off the bed and heat raced through my core.
