Behaving Badly in Vegas (Vegas Love #3)

23. Chapter 22

Chapter 2 2

Charli

Hunter barely spoke to me on the ride home, the tension so thick it nearly suffocated me. It continued in the elevator and into the apartment. Carina had conked out in the car, so I put her to bed, knowing she’d be up again in a few hours.

When I came out, Hunter’s hands were shoved in his pockets as he stood on the balcony and stared out at the starry night.

I should have left well enough alone, but my feet moved in his direction on their own accord. With no sense of self-preservation, I slid the door open and stepped outside. My hands wrapped around the warm metal of the railing. “It’s beautiful tonight.”

He grunted. “You come out here to talk about the weather?”

So much for small talk. “No.”

“Then what do you want, Charli?”

My fingers gripped the railing tighter. “Did I do something wrong tonight?”

His eyes swung to me for a brief moment then returned to the dark abyss. “No. You were perfect. Everyone loved you.”

“Then why do you seem so annoyed?”

“I’m not annoyed. Tonight went better than I expected. Everyone was… nice.”

I peered up at him. “That’s a good thing. What’s wrong with nice?”

He shrugged. “Nothing. I’m just not used to it.”

“Sounds like you haven’t always made it easy.”

“I haven’t.”

“And why is that?”

“I never felt like I belonged. My dad cheated on Rose. That’s how I came into the picture. I was a little kid, but I remember the day my mom dropped me off at their house. I thought she was coming back, but she never did. Rose didn’t want me there any more than I wanted to be there. I wanted to go home. Rose wanted a reality where her husband didn’t fuck a stripper. Neither one of us got what we wanted.”

Everything he said at dinner was put in a different context and I finally understood his bitterness. Not knowing what to say, I said the lamest thing possible. “I’m sorry you went through that.”

“Everybody goes through shit. It could have been worse. I could have ended up with a dad who lived in a cardboard box. I hit the jackpot in that department.” He waved a hand in the air dismissively. “Rose tried. I have to at least give her that much. I fought her tooth and nail every step of the way. The situation wasn’t her fault, but I took it out on her anyway. Guess I still do.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you did a great job with Carina tonight.”

Hunter cupped my cheek in his hand and stared down at me. “Only because you were there. Thank you for going with me.”

His ice-blue eyes hypnotized me. This was intimate. More intimate than the messing around we did last night. Last night was fun and lustful. This was something completely different, and I didn’t know how to deal with this version of him. “It’s my job to be available twenty-four seven.”

He backed me up against the wall. “Are you still mad I messed up your date with Fuckboy Ben? ”

My breath caught in my throat, so I shook my head.

Pressing his muscular body up against mine, he caged me in with his hands against the wall. “Tell me no, Charlotte.”

My insides turned to lava. Hunter was the kind of man that would wreck me for all others. He was all jagged lines and fortified walls. He wielded his sharp tongue like a weapon to keep everyone out.

Including me.

During the last week, he’d cracked the door open to his fortress and I’d gotten a glimpse of who he really was.

What he wanted more than anything else was to be accepted.

Approved of.

He was still that little boy searching for his mother’s love.

He had a heart, but it was caged behind razor wire.

I’d be a fool to think he’d trust me with it.

I wasn’t sure I was ready for that kind of responsibility, but I was willing to try. “I can’t tell you no.”

Hunter pounded his fist against the wall over my head. “Damn it, Charlotte! Tell me no. I’m not good for you or anyone else. I’ll ruin you.”

My own reckless heart thrashed in my chest and my chin jutted up. “I’m not afraid.” Though inside, I was shaking, knowing I might regret it later.

“Stupid, stupid girl.”

Hunter’s lips crashed against mine in a feral kiss that had my body pushing off the wall and my arms clinging to his neck. It was all teeth and tongue and desperation.

In a move so quick it nearly knocked the breath out of me, he scooped me up and threw me over his shoulder like a caveman. A sharp smack came down on my ass and I yelped. “You’re mine,” he growled.

Hunter carried me into the apartment and down the long hallway that led to his bedroom. He tossed me on the king-size bed and stood over the top of me, hands on his hips and a glare that would make most men’s testicles shrivel up and fall off. “I knew from day one that it was a mistake to hire you, dollface. You’re too pretty, too innocent, too perfect. ”

I sat up on my elbows and shook my hair over my shoulders. “I’m not that innocent.” I’d been with men before, but as I looked at Hunter, I realized they were merely boys compared to him. This was a dangerous game I was playing. He was older, more mature, and most definitely more experienced.

“We’ll see.” He undid his tie and threw it on the bed. “I have a feeling our definitions of innocent aren’t the same.”

A shiver ran down my spine. With the way he was looking at me, I was a hundred-percent sure he was right about that. Hunter Dorsey was a force to be reckoned with.

He grabbed me by the ankles and dragged me to the end of the bed. Kneeling between my legs, he lifted my heeled feet over his shoulders. “I’ve been dying to see what’s under this dress.” His hands ran up my thighs, taking the material with them.

“I still have my shoes on,” I blurted.

Hunter chuckled. “I’m aware. They’re staying on your fucking feet. If I don’t feel them digging into my back, then I’m not doing my job right.”

Alrighty then . “And what job would that be?”

He flipped my skirt up and groaned when he saw my electric-blue lace panties. “Eating your pretty pussy. Do you want that, Charlotte? Do you want me to tickle your clit with my tongue?”

I covered my face as heat crept up my neck and into my cheeks. “Stop saying that!”

“And miss out on watching your cheeks turn pink? Never.” His fingers ran along the edge of my panties and over the silky material, tracing my seam. “Answer me, Charlotte. Do you want me to eat this pretty pussy?”

I’d never been with anyone who had such a dirty mouth, and it made my panties flood. No doubt he could feel it through the thin material. I peeked at him through my fingers and whispered, “Yes.”

He held his hand up and cupped his ear. “I can’t hear you, dollface.”

If he wasn’t stroking my clit, I would have given him shit about being bossy, but all I could do was drop my head back and gasp. “Yes!”

“That’s what I thought.” He grabbed my thighs and yanked me closer to the edge of the bed, then pulled my panties aside and feasted .

My god! The man had a magic tongue. He licked up my slit and circled the sensitive nub he’d been taunting me about for days. Lazy strokes lightly lapped at me, then disappeared. A tease of what was to come, but never finishing the job. He brought me to the brink then let it fade, my orgasm just out of reach.

It drove me crazy.

My back arched off the mattress.

My hands fisted the comforter.

My hips shifted, trying to get his tongue exactly where I needed it.

Hunter lifted his head and peered at me from between my thighs, chin glistening from my arousal and a shit-eating grin on his face. “You need something, dollface?”

I growled in a most unladylike fashion, my frustration and impatience bleeding out like a child having a temper tantrum. “You know what I want. You’re teasing me.” I refused to say the words he wanted to hear. Giving in felt like losing a high-stakes game. A game we’d been playing since I walked through the door on my first day. A power struggle I thought I could win but was clearly outmatched.

“I’m not sure I do. Tell me.”

His tongue lapped at me again and my pussy clenched. “Do it!”

“Is this what you want?” He circled my clit with a finger and speared his tongue inside me, so fucking close but missing the mark. The man was sadistic.

I could only take so much before my willpower snapped, my head thrashed and the forbidden words poured from my lips. “Tickle my clit!”

“Fucking finally.” Hunter ripped my panties at my hips and tore them away from my body.

“Hey! Those were expensive!”

“I’ll buy you new ones.” Then he buried his face in my pussy, his tongue zeroing in on my clit, attacking it with laser-like precision. It was pure ecstasy, an overload of stimulation.

His fingers dug into my ass, refusing to let me squirm away from him. I wanted to pull away and get closer, both at the same time. I’d never experienced this level of intensity. When the man committed to something, he was all in.

“Yes! Don’t stop!” My breath came in short gasps and every muscle in my body tightened one at a time. It was the click, click, click of a roller coaster climbing the highest mountain. There was no way I could take much more.

Hunter growled from between my legs and thrust two long fingers deep inside me. They massaged that magic spot, that until this moment, I thought was a myth. It wasn’t a myth… it was totally real and made my mouth sputter stupid words even I couldn’t understand. A mix of every filthy word I had ever heard, with Hunter’s name thrown in the middle.

And when he sucked on my clit, I free-fell from that mountain I’d been teetering on. Every nerve ending was set on fire as sparks ignited from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. I lost control as my body pulsed and clenched without my permission. My head swam in a dark abyss of pleasure I’d never experienced. Every thought disappeared and all I could do was… feel.

Complete euphoria.

My body buzzed and hummed, the white noise blocking out everything else, my brain light and foggy like that sensation you get right before you pass out.

When the feeling subsided, I opened my eyes to find Hunter propped up on the bed, staring down at me, his lips tipped up in a rare smile. “Welcome back.”

“Hi,” I croaked out. My throat felt like I’d walked a mile in the Sahara.

His fingers played in my hair, twisting the ends around and around. “You’re beautiful when you come.”

I licked my dry lips, stalling at the unexpected… compliment? I stared up at him with wide eyes, not knowing how to respond.

Hunter ran the back of his hand along the side of my face. “The correct response is thank you .”

“Thank you.” The man gave me whiplash; so domineering and bossy one minute and unbelievably sweet the next. I wondered how many people knew this side of him even existed .

He leaned down and gently pressed his lips against mine. “You’re welcome.” His fingers danced up and down my arm like it was a piano. “You’ve proven to be a pleasant surprise, Charlotte Bently.”

“So are you,” I said dumbly. “You’re a good man, Hunter.”

“I think I short-circuited your brain,” he said with a laugh. “Giving orgasms doesn’t make me a good man. If I was a good man, I wouldn’t have touched you.”

It wasn’t just an orgasm. It was an earth-shattering orgasm. “I didn’t tell you no.”

“You should have. You’re my nanny and you’re too young. It was a mistake. I’m sorry if you felt pressured.”

I was so confused. And embarrassed. Maybe I was too young. I’d obviously misread the situation. Made it into something it wasn’t. It was an impulsive decision that he now regretted.

God, I was so stupid.

I let my heart take over instead of using my brain. Tonight felt nice, like we were a family of three. It was a stupid illusion I created. I wasn’t Hunter’s wife or Carina’s mom. I was the fucking nanny. I was paid to be there, nothing else.

Suddenly feeling very exposed, I pulled down the dress that was still bunched up around my waist. “I didn’t feel pressured. No worries.”

In the distance, I heard a soft cry and hopped off the bed, thankful for the distraction. As I left to get Carina, Hunter called my name. “Charli?”

I looked at him over my shoulder. “It’s not a big deal. Forget about it.”

Walking away, I tried to tell myself the same lie, but I knew there was no way I would forget about it.