I'm kicking back in the control room to cover one of the guys on his break when I spot a commotion on the screens in front of me.
Glancing up, I do a double take and bite back a groan as I watch Marlee walk in on Decker’s arm. She’s dressed like every man's dirty fantasy and their arrival has all the hallmarks of a staged event. I’m not the only one who’s noticed, the entire lobby stopping still to watch the King as his assumed new queen enter the club.
A low whistle escapes me as I take her in. I’m equally impressed and proud, and even from a floor and a camera feed away, turned the fuck on. This is the girl who had buck teeth and the most adorable goofy grin when I first met her. The woman who still never fails to take my breath away without even trying. The same one who can barely stand the sight of me. Regardless, she still is—and will forever be—the most beautiful woman inside and out I've ever had the pleasure of knowing, having, and once calling mine.
Her highlighted blonde hair cascades down her back in soft waves, her little black dress a beacon screaming 'look at me' as it hugs her curves in all the right places and even some wrong ones. Decker stands tall by her side, his body language proud, cocky, knowing. Like a man who has everything he could ever want in the palm of his hand.
They make their way into the club and I don't need sound to know exactly what’s happening. Heads turn, conversations all but forgotten, and there's a buzz in the air that I can almost feel through the camera feed. Whether it was Decker's idea or Marlee's, whoever came up with the plan to make a grand entrance, it's working. The only focus in the whole club is the power couple that have entered the building.
It’s probably why I’m gritting my teeth so tight my jaw aches and digging my nails into the palm of my hand. Yet I can’t tear myself away, watching as they ascend the stairs to the VIP lounge, like they’re ascending the throne of a new kingdom. I roll my thumb over the trackball on desk panel, switching camera views so that I don't miss a single second of this charade.
Even knowing it’s not real, I still hate it. Just the thought of him being anywhere near her makes me see red. But I can't do anything about it, I have to sit on my hands and watch it all happen, all the while trusting that Marlee knows what she’s doing and who she’s dealing with.
That doesn’t mean I can turn off the protective instinct I have toward her, even if I lost that right. It's not something a man like me can just switch off.
Chris walks back into the control room and I turn in time to see him jerk his chin up as he returns to his desk. “Anything I need to look out for?”
Shaking my head, I turn back to the VIP cameras and the corner booth where Marlee and Decker are now sitting close, the former throwing her head back with laughter as the latter smirks like a snake in a hen house.
“Boss man's here? Usually we get a head’s up,” Chris says, leaning back in his chair.
I grunt noncommittally, still watching the camera feeds. Chris is a good colleague and a hard worker, but I can’t talk about Decker and Marlee/Quinn. Not with him or anyone else here. That's not to say I can't use the working relationship to my advantage.
Watching Marlee and Decker, I can't help but wonder what kind of game they're playing with each other. The woman I knew wouldn't even play the seductress or let it get too physical just to get dirt. I know that she's determined and passionate enough to do whatever it takes to get the job done but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. And with Decker, well, I don't trust him as far as I can throw him. Especially since it’s been days and I still haven’t heard back from my contacts about his early years.
I'm about to switch feeds again when something catches my eye. Decker's hand is on Marlee's thigh, and she doesn't seem to be objecting. Instead, she leans into it, bringing her mouth to Decker's ear and saying something that makes the man smile.
My blood boils as he turns his head and captures her lips in a deep, open-mouthed, claiming kiss that has me forgetting everything I’m supposed to be doing—keeping my nose clean, flying under the radar, all of it. My sole purpose taking a massive U-turn as I pick up the phone and dial the front desk.
“Hey, Ben. Can you come up and cover me in the control room? I want to roam the floor for a while.”
“Sure thing boss. I'll be up in a few minutes,” he replies in my ear.
“Good. Good. Chris will be here in the meantime.”
“Copy that, A.”
I hang up and find Chris frowning at me as he switches his attention between the panel of screens in front of him and back to me. “Did I miss something?” he asks.
Jumping to my feet, I shake my head and try to come up with a believable story on the fly. “Nah. I'm just going to walk around and stretch my legs, see if I find anything or anyone. Maybe check that our guests aren't partaking in a little more than we offer.”
I waggle my brows and his eyes crinkle with understanding. “Oh yeah. Stone countertops are just as good as a mirror so I’m told,” he says with a wink before he blocks a nostril and sniffs loudly.
Grinning, I give him one last wave and move to the door. “I’ll be back in a half an hour or so. You OK till Ben gets here?”
“Sure thing, A.”
After leaving the control room, I head down the hall and straight for the private-access elevator that only Justin, Decker, and now I have access to. Stepping inside, I press the button for the first floor and log into the camera feeds on my phone, checking that Marlee and Decker are still in the booth.
Unfortunately for me, they're still sitting close and I'm still raging. Dirt like that has no place even being near Marlee, let alone touching her, tasting her mouth... It makes me want to rip his limbs off and steal her away, I want to kiss her myself and erase any and all memory of him.
A moment later, the steel doors open up to another corridor, one that's darker and more intimate than the offices upstairs, exactly what you'd expect in the hottest, most exclusive nightclub in Vegas.
As luck would have it, Marlee excuses herself and leaves Decker’s booth, heading my way, probably going to the bathroom. Which is just down the hall from where I am now. Fucking perfect.
My pulse picks up and I spot a door opposite the ladies’ room. Hiding just inside the small room, the door slightly askew, I wait for her to get close. When she does, I jump out, wrap my arm around her waist, and pull her backward, covering her mouth with my hand to muffle her scream as I drag her into the closet with me.
I spin around and close the door, pushing my back against the wood to brace myself as she thrashes against me. “Let me go,” she says, her words muffled against my palm.
It takes everything in me to hold on and dodge the elbows to my ribs and the attempted slam against me to get me to release her. But before I can drop my hand from her mouth, she bites my fingers, making me curse under my breath. “Fuck, Marls. It’s me. Quit fucking fighting,” I whisper harshly, releasing her.
She pushes away and spins around, her eyes spitting fire and her expression more murderous than I’ve ever seen. And fuck if it doesn’t still do it for me in a big way. Focus, Aiden.
Just as she opens her mouth to let loose on me with her sharp furious tongue, I press my index finger against her lips “Shh.” I hold my phone up between us and swipe the screen, checking the camera feeds to make sure Decker is still where “Quinn” left him and that everyone else is where they should be. “OK. Coast is still clear.”
“The coast is still? Ugh. What the fuck, Aiden? Are you insane?” she growls. “You fucking kidnapped me and now you’re holding me hostage? I’m undercover. Do you want me to get made? You trying to out someone, again?" Her voice rises with every word.
Out of the corner of my eye I see two patrons come down the hallway and stop right outside the door, glancing toward the sound of Marlee’s voice. So when she opens her mouth to go again, I do the only thing I can think of to shut her up. I reach forward, jerk her forward with my hand hooked around her neck and slam my mouth down onto hers.
She freezes and pushes away, her wide eyes staring dumbfounded at me. Then she parts her lips and this time, we meet in the middle. This time she moans into my mouth and the rightness of the kiss rushes through me. It’s like coming home.
I touch the tip of my tongue to hers then dive deep, my arm snaking around her waist and holding her tight as I lick and nip, taste and plunder. Dragging my lips from hers, I pepper kisses between heavy breaths, making my way down to the silky skin of her neck.
“Had to shut you up,” I say. “Then I touched you and now I can’t stop. Felt you and can’t not feel you.” I punctuate every word with a thrust of my hips, my hard length pressing into her.
Before I can kiss her again, her body jerks and the hands that were gripping my shoulders shove me back, as if she’s come to her senses when it’s the very last thing I want her to do.
In the dim light of the closet, I can see her swollen lips and hear her ragged breathing. "Aiden, we can't—"
“Fuck yes we can,” I spit out before I’m reaching for her again. “He touched you,” I say between hard, deep kisses. Marlee bites my bottom lip, the coppery tang of blood cutting through the lust as we both pull back this time.
I swipe a finger against the bruised skin, a tinge of red coming away with it. “What was that for?” I say.
"For kissing me," she whispers, her voice as rough as mine. Not with anger this time. No, this is something different… better.
My gaze narrows. “Yet you’ll kiss him?”
"That's what this is? You're jealous?"
"Fuck yes, I'm jealous. He's touching what's mine!" I shoot back, not caring where we are.
She steps into my space, jabbing my chest with her finger. "I'm not yours, Aiden Lawrence. You ruined that.”
I dip my head so that we're barely a whisper's breath away, my eyes locked on hers. "You'll always be mine, Beautiful."
Her big eyes widen as a soft gasp escapes her and I brace for her to spit fire. It doesn’t happen though, instead she detonates. Launching herself at me, she grips my head in her hands, her body slamming into mine, her mouth attacking my lips like I'm the very thing she needs to breathe. I lift her up, her legs wrap around my back, our mouths not parting once while I walk forward until her back meets the nearest wall.
Then it's on.
Our kiss is hungry, desperate, needy. My hips pin her in place as she grabs at my hair, her grip tightening to the point of pain, but I welcome it. It drives me higher, making me want her more than ever. I'm devoid of rational thought at this point, we both are. All I can think about is feeling her skin against mine, consuming her until any memory of Decker James touching her is gone.
I slide my hand along her thigh, dragging her tight dress up while she whimpers against my lips. Grinding my cock against her core, I wish the layers between us would just melt away.
With her earlobe between my lips, I rake my teeth against the skin, as her hands scramble over my shoulders, her nails biting into my skin through the shirt and driving me crazy.
I want her naked but that'll have to wait, now is not the place and not the time for me to worship every inch of her smooth skin until we both explode. Now is about showing her she's mine and proving I'm hers.
Burying my face in her neck again, I pull the fabric away from her torso with her help, not stopping until her sexy-as-sin black bra is revealed.
I dip my head and wrap my lips around her nipple over the lace, drawing deep and craving more of the harshly panted breaths escaping her.
Her arms drop down so she can tug my shirt out of my slacks, her fingers dragging against my abs before diving lower. She palms my cock through my pants and it’s then I know I’m a lost cause and restraint is no longer in my vocabulary. I need her and I need her now.
"Down," I rush out, my voice as rough as gravel. I catch the flash of heat and understanding in her gaze before I lower her onto to her feet.
She opens her mouth to say something, but I stop her with another kiss, not wanting to hear her say we shouldn't do this… that we can't do this. Instead, I’m hell bent on wanting to prove to her we can... more than that, we have to.
I'm too blinded by lust and overcome with the need to bury myself so deep inside her that she’ll never forget she's mine and always has been. I want to prove to her that I'm here, I'm real, and—if I have my way—no one else will ever touch her again but me.
Marlee whimpers and moans into my mouth, just as lost in lust as I am. She grabs hold of my belt and rips it free from my pants, making quick work of the button and zipper before diving in and wrapping her fist around me.
"Fuck," I groan.
She tightens her grip. "Need you, Aiden."
In the blink of an eye, I spin her around and crowd my body against hers, pressing her into the wall as my hands roam everywhere.
She tugs up her dress at the same time my hand dives between her legs, pushing her thong aside and feeling just how into this she is.
"Christ, you're soaked," I growl. "Is that for me?" My fingers circle her entrance, my thumb rubbing over her clit as I do it. Turning my head toward hers, I touch our lips together, resting them there as her ragged breaths wash over my skin.
"Yes. Please, Aiden. Need you."
I thrust two fingers inside of her, rolling my hips against her ass as her body pulls me in deeper, her moans and my groans getting louder as we lose control and forget the world around us.
She presses her forehead against the drywall, and I bring my mouth to her ear, telling her exactly what I'm about to do.
“I’ll take you so hard and deep that you won't see anyone else, won't feel anything other than my cock inside you. You won't think of anyone but me, Marls. You want that, don't you? You want to remember how good we are together."
"Aiden," she begs and it takes everything in me not to come right then and there.
I pull my fingers free, reaching into my back pocket and grabbing my wallet, pulling out the lone foil packet stored in there.
Rolling it down my length, I give myself a few tugs to relieve the ache before pressing my body against hers again, my heart pounding in anticipation.
With one hand cupping her breast and my other palming her clit, I notch the head of my cock at her entrance.
"Say it, Marlee. Tell me your mine."
She tries to turn her head away, the intensity too much, and I know I’m pushing too hard, but I want to hear her say it. Need to hear it from her lips. I bring my hand up, pressing her cheek to the wall so she can’t look away. "Say. it."
"You're mine, Aiden." With those three words crossing her lips, I thrust forward and bury myself to the hilt.
"Oh God," she cries as I bottom out again and again. Her head drops forward, her forehead hitting the wall as she moans with every hammering thrust.
She pushes back against me, fucking herself on my cock, urging me to go harder, faster, deeper.
If I thought I wasn't thinking rationally before, there's no way my brain is functioning now. My sole focus has narrowed to taking her... claiming her... everything is about her.
I roll my hips and circle my thumb over her clit, my free hand threading through her hair. "So fucking perfect," I say against her neck as I kiss and lick her skin. "Mine. Always mine."
"Yes," she moans as I feel her start to unravel around me, her release so close.
Tilting her head to the side, I grip her jaw and kiss her deeper, swallowing her cries. Her whole body convulses, and she tightens around me as she screams into my mouth.
"Marlee," I groan and with one last thrust, my body is no longer my own and I succumb to my own climax, holding on tight, as I ride out wave after wave of pleasure and wish we could just stay like this forever.