Let it Ride (Casino Nights #1) (9 page)

Once Team 2 was up and running,
she’d tried to make some changes in her life. Although she always kept her
phone close by, she’d established the new rule that during her sleeping time,
she turned her phone off. If there was an emergency, then someone would have to
come to her door and wake her. Last month she’d added an additional hour to her
blackout time, so that she could read, workout, or simply do nothing.

“Francesca, what do you think? I
have always thought that Jimmy was grooming you to take over for him when he
retires.” Able’s voice broke through her introspective thoughts.

“Well for one, I don’t think Jimmy
will ever retire.” That observation made the entire table laugh. “For years I
wanted to be Jimmy’s second in command, to run The Red Rose, and it does hurt
me to tell you this. I’m finding it to be really hard. Trying to be that person
has cost me a marriage, friendships, and most of my personal life.” She
stopped, realizing that she was sharing too much.

“I’m glad to hear you say that.”
Marie had called her earlier to check on her and was now sticking close. “You
know this business from the inside out. If and when Jimmy decides to step down,
I have every confidence that you’re ready. You don’t have to do any more to
prove it.”

She smiled at her friend; there
really wasn’t any more to say. She glanced at Remy. He was sitting stiffly next
to her and one hand was gripping the edge of the table. His knuckles were
white. She put her hand on his.

He turned his head sharply to look
at her, she tried to read his expression, but it was a blank mask.

“Remy?” She silently asked what was
wrong.

“It’s nothing.” He gave her a smile,
but it didn’t reach his eyes as he moved their linked hands to his lap.

Remy followed Francesca into their
suite. He turned to lock the door and threw the deadbolt.

“I’m going to shower, then pack.”
Francesca had already kicked off her shoes.

He walked to the kitchen and grabbed
a beer from the fridge. He hated hearing her words earlier. She was so immersed
in her work. Could he ever compete for her attention? He shook his head to
clear the negative thoughts. He knew that Francesca was driven. He also knew
that he could never be happy long term with someone that put their work ahead
of their relationship. This was a hurdle that they would have to figure out. No
sense worrying about it tonight, their last night together for now. He heard
the shower shut off, finished his beer, and put the bottle on the counter.

He tore off his suit jacket and let
it fall to the floor as he made his way to the bathroom.

He pushed open the door and
Francesca froze. She had her leg resting on the side of the tub, obviously in
the process of drying it. He walked in and picked her up. He had one arm under her
knees and the other along her back, holding her close.

“Hey,” she squeaked. “What are you
doing?”

“Taking you to bed.”

“But I’m wet.” She wrapped her arm
around his neck.

“You will be,” he promised.

He threw her on the bed and then
started to undress. She went on her knees, crawling towards him. Soon her
fingers were unbuttoning his shirt. He didn’t have the patience; he pulled the
shirt over his head, shaking his arms free of the sleeves.

Francesca’s hands were already on
his belt. He kicked off his shoes and pushed her hands out of the way. He
yanked down his pants and tore off his socks in what had to be the most
uncoordinated moves ever.

Francesca’s hands were back, running
up his chest and then looping around his neck, pulling him down to her.

He dropped to the bed beside her,
pulling her close to kiss her hungrily. He kissed her lips and then moved lower
down her chin and neck to the space between her breasts.

“God, yes,” she said, the words
dropping into a moan. He plumped her breasts in his hands as he slid off the
bed and onto his knees.

“Where?” She tried to sit up to see
where he had gone.

“Stay,” he commanded.

She dropped back onto the mattress
as he moved between her legs, dropping to his knees. He pulled her body by her
ankles closer to the edge of the bed. He was manhandling her, but he had to
taste her.

When her hips neared the edge of the
mattress, he positioned her legs as wide as they would go and he dropped his
mouth to her. He forced himself to slow down, and kissed her inner thigh. He
then kissed the other. He ran his tongue from that thigh to her mound. He
outlined her sensitive outer lips.

“Baby, please,” she moaned as her
hips rose, closing the distance to his mouth.

God, he loved to hear her beg. “Tell
me what you need, Frankie.”

“You. I need you.” Her body was
writhing on the white comforter.

“What do you want me to do?” He was
getting off on her words, her need.

“Fuck, Remy. I want…I want your
cock. Jesus, I want your cock.”
 
Her
words were ragged as if pulled from her chest.

He gave an evil laugh. “You’ll get
it all, I promise.” He put his mouth on her and sucked her clit hard. He swore
she levitated off the bed. He ran his tongue over her outer lips slowly and
then licked the sensitive folds of her inner lips.

“God Remy,” she panted as her hands
fisted the comforter.

He knew she was ready as he pushed
two fingers into her, and slowly moved them in and out. Her hips matched his
rhythm. She was so tight and hot.

“I’m close Remy, so close.”

He continued moving his hand and then
tongued her clit, rubbing it with the flat of his tongue. She was ready and he
moved his hand faster, sucked on her clit again, and then used his teeth.

“
Fuuuck
,”
she moaned as she came for him.

He stroked her soft skin right above
her mound then moved his head to drop a kiss onto her hip. When he felt her
harsh breathing ease, he asked, “More?”

She gave him a huge smile. “Please.”

He turned her over to her stomach
and stood. God, she was sexy, her curves cried out for his touch. He ran his
hand over her ass. “Lift up, babe.”

Francesca raised her body to all
fours. She looked back over her shoulder at him.

“Anybody ever fucked your ass?” His
voice was harsh as he positioned himself behind her.

She started to drop her hips back to
the bed. “Uh, can you hold on a minute?”

He ran his palm over the curve of
her ass to calm her. “I’m not going to fuck you there tonight, Frankie. I just
want to know, for the future.” He kept one hand on her hip and the other he
tapped the outside of her knee to signal for her to open her legs.

She complied and pushed her body
toward him, arching her back. She trusted her body to him and that was amazing.

“I didn’t like it,” she told him
softly.

“So are you saying that’s a hard
no?” If she didn’t want to try again he would be disappointed, but it was her
body and her right to say no.

She turned to look at him over her
shoulder, he could see by her expression that she was thinking about her
answer. “I’m not sure. The last time it hurt.”

He ran his hand from the back of her
neck, down her spine a few times, comforting her. “Something to discuss another
time.”

“OK.” He felt her body relax.

This time he ran his fingernails
down her spine, her hips pushed back into him. He circled a finger at her
opening, gathering her wetness using it to lube the tip of his condom covered
cock. She was wet enough to take him, but he had been rough with her the night
before and he didn’t want to hurt her.

She made a circle with her hips, an
obvious invitation for him to take her.

He eased his cock into her slowly;
he wanted to memorize this feeling. Her inner muscles were gripping him so
tightly that he didn’t want to move. She felt so good.

****

Francesca shifted onto her side and
then tried to plump the pillow under her head. Remy had dealt with the condom
and now had his back to her. She ran her palm across his shoulders. He was so
big. She loved that about him.

He rolled, changing positions,
pulling her closer to his side. Remy liked body contact while he slept. She
also liked that about him. On the outside he looked tough and a little
intimidating, but with her, he held her hand and complimented her. His behavior
was natural, not an act. He was kind and caring.

“You sleepy?” he asked as he ran his
fingers along her back and ribs.

“I think the word is sated.”

His smile caused her heart to skip a
beat.

“You know that you can tell me no. I
will stop if you ever need me to.” His eyes were so serious.

“I know,” she reassured him. Her
instincts told her that she could trust him and he would do as he promised.
This was out of character for her, she didn’t trust easily or quickly. What was
it about this man that made her act so out of character? It had to be that he
was so confident in this budding relationship. It was like he had spent two
years figuring out how to make it work. She was usually the planner, but Remy
took it to a whole new level. It made her heart melt a little that he wanted
her so badly.

“I like some edgier things that
might surprise you. I’m telling you now, because if you aren’t into something
or never want to try any of it, just tell me. I won’t ever force you or
pressure you. You decide what you want to do with me.”

She ran her fingers over his pecs.
She could feel herself blushing,
why did
this have to be so difficult?
Jesus the guy just had his face buried in her
pussy, she shouldn’t feel this embarrassed. “I’m open to talking about your
desires and fantasies. We might need to go slowly, because I’ve never really
done much more than vanilla. But with you, I might want to try things.” Her
throat felt like it was closing over the words. She was giving him so much.

“Sometime later,” he ran his hand
down her ribs. “Thank you for your trust Frankie. I know it was hard for you.”

He always seemed to understand what
she couldn’t say. It unnerved her, but it also moved her. She was falling for
him. He kept chipping away at her defenses by giving her his respect.

“Remy.” She didn’t even know what
she was going to say. She feared it was going to be something like,
I’m falling for you
. Thank God he
stopped her.

“
Shh
,
Frankie. Go to sleep.” He snuggled closer to her.

Why did he have to be so perfect?

Francesca watched Rico shake his
head at them. “I’m going to give you three more minutes to say goodbye.” Rico
flashed a mock angry look at them. He walked to the door and warned them again,
“Three minutes and then I’m dragging her out. I don’t want to miss our flight.”
He went outside to set the stopwatch on his phone, she bet.

“He means it.” Francesca pushed her
chair back and walked around the table to meet Remy, who was already on his
feet at the head of the table.

“He probably wouldn’t mind watching
a little show.” He was trying to lighten her mood.

“I’m scared he might do more than
watch.” She walked into his arms and hugged him tight. “I’m not doing this very
well.”

No she wasn’t. Earlier, he had
walked into the bathroom to find her crying during her shower. He ran his hand
through her hair and then used it to tip her head back. “I’ll see you in a few
weeks.”

She’d awakened him before the alarm
and this last time their lovemaking had been fast and desperate. When they were
done, she’d grabbed her phone and made plans to fly back to Indy to see her
cousins and him. He took that to be a good sign.

“I know, and we can FaceTime and
message. It’s just, this has…” she let out a ragged sigh. “This has been
special. Really special to me.”

He kissed her, his tongue tangling
with hers. After a moment he rested his forehead against hers. “For me too.”

Rico knocked loudly on the door.
“Thirty seconds.”

Francesca looked at the door and
then at him. “I have to go.” She looked so unhappy.

“I know.” He wrapped his arm around
her and walked her to the door.

She stopped to grab her tote bag and
threw it over her shoulder. “I’ll call you when I get in.”

“And again when you are in bed,” he
smiled at the thought.

“Since you want it so badly, I
will.”

He kissed her again. “You’re way too
good to me.” She was plastered against him, her hands gripping the front of his
shirt.

He whispered, “Go or I’ll figure
some way to keep you here with me.”

For a fleeting moment, he thought
she might give in to his threat. “I’ll call.” She promised,
then
opened to door to leave him.

 
The end for now….