Game (Gentry Boys, #3)(58)

“Silly girl, of course you like looking fine for your man.”

Just yesterday I received a dress I’d ordered online. It was a deep green with off the shoulder straps and the thin, stretchy material hugged my skin. I headed to the bathroom to critically observe the effect, worried as ever over my small breasts and lack of curves. But I was pleased to find that I actually looked decent and Chase was always insatiable when it came to my body. He never made me feel less than completely beautiful.

When he returned promptly in an hour I was waiting for him. He stopped to check me out appreciatively. “Damn, I’m gonna f*ck you up tonight.”

“Then it was worth the purchase.” I grabbed my backpack and locked the apartment door.

We were heading south on the I-10, out of the valley, and Chase still wouldn’t tell me where we were going. He got off on the exit for a towering hotel and casino but then bypassed it.

“You sure we’re not camping in the desert?” I asked as we traveled further away from the highway and deeper into the brown landscape.

“Trust me, Steph,” he said, grinning as he copped a quick feel.

Then we turned a corner and, like a fabled mirage, a luxury resort materialized. Chase tipped the valet and gave him the keys to the dirty pickup truck before leading me by the elbow through the tasteful lobby. There were huge windows along the back of the building and through them I saw a sizeable private lake surrounded by an abundance of vegetation. If I squinted just a little I could believe we weren’t even in Arizona anymore.

Chase already had the room key and he paused by the door. I had a brief flash of memory back to the last time we’d stood in a hotel corridor. It seemed like so long ago yet it had only been a month.

“Stephanie,” he said with utter solemnity as he held me close, “I’m taking you in that room tonight to love you in every way. And it’s just the beginning, sweetheart.” He kissed me with hard passion. “You can trust me completely,” he whispered.

He let me walk in first and I only made it two steps past the threshold before I just stopped. It was a beautiful room; spacious, stylishly accented and complete with a gigantic bed. But what got to me were the other things. There were rose petals strewn on the bed plus a small table with a bowl of huge chocolate-covered strawberries, a bottle of wine and two glasses. As Chase walked over to light the candles on the table I stared at him. Anyone who’d spent time with Chase would assume such a gesture was a mocking one because that was the face he turned to the world most of the time. But I knew it was nothing of the kind in this case. Chase was completely serious.

“Holy shit,” I said softly and he looked up with a small frown of worry.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” I shook my head. “Nothing’s wrong, Chase. You just overwhelm me, that’s all.”

He held a chair out for me. “This is nothing,” he laughed and I caught a glimmer of his classic playfulness. “Wait until you feel how I’m gonna overwhelm you as soon as I get you spread out on that bed with that hot little dress pushed up to your tits.”

“I love you,” I said abruptly.

He knelt beside me and gave me a tender smile. “I love you, too.”

Chase poured the wine and then urged me to try some strawberries.

“Best dinner I ever had,” I said, sipping wine and chewing on the fruit.

Chase toyed with the flame of one of the candles. “We can order more food later.” He grinned naughtily. “I mean after.”

I gestured to his empty glass. “You don’t like wine?” Then I remembered something. “Wait, are you not supposed to drink?”

He chuckled. “Not really. But then I’m a pill popper, not an alcoholic, remember?” He poured a small amount of wine in his glass and then tossed it back.

I looked around. “How much is all of this costing?”

Chase disliked the question. “Don’t you even think about that shit. I got this.”

“Yes, sir.”

His eyes flickered with glee. “Say that again. Wait, get down on your hands and knees before you say it.”

I rolled my eyes.

Chase was just getting warmed up though. “Call me Mr. Gentry and tell me you’ll follow my every command.”

“In a little while.” I stood up. “All that wine went straight to my bladder.”

As I conducted a mirror check in the bathroom a sense of unreality washed over me. I was mildly dizzy and it was partly from being halfway drunk on the wine. But it was Chase who got me completely intoxicated by just looking at me, by loving me. It was almost too much.

He was sitting on the edge of the bed with his shirt off when I stumbled out of the bathroom.

“What the hell are you up to now?” I smiled, wondering if he was intentionally recreating the scene in Vegas.

He was. “I was hot,” he grinned.

I slipped my shoes off and went to him. He stayed seated while he ran his hands over my hips and then down over my thighs. He started to push my dress up but I stopped him.

“Let’s play a game,” I purred.

His eyes were on my face. His hands were unfastening his pants. “What are the stakes?”

“If you’re hard then I’ll f*ck your brains out.”

Chase yanked his pants down. “I win.”