Staying in Vegas (Vegas Morellis 1)

Still grasping her arm, I pull her against my hard body and lean in, murmuring against her ear, “No doesn’t really work for me, kitten. Did you already forget?”

Her breath catches, and I feel the burn of victory. Her cocky little bullshit from a minute ago doesn’t hold up under my touch, and that’s why I need to get her alone.

“Don’t call me that,” she murmurs, lowly.

“I’ll call you whatever I damn well please,” I tell her, running my fingers down her arm lightly.

“Plutonium.”

I narrow my eyes at the sound of her safe word, my fingers halting and tightening around her bicep. “We’re not in the bedroom. Plutonium doesn’t work outside the bedroom.”

“Get your hands off me, Rafe,” she says, looking over her shoulder at me. Her blue eyes are turbulent and intense—whatever I make her feel, she’s determined to ignore it. Taking it a step further, she tries harder to shove me away with snippy words. “This is ridiculous. You made your feelings for me perfectly clear. You’re here with a date, for god’s

sake. You only want to play now because you see someone else having fun with the toy you discarded.”

Only now I’m not offended. I’ve had just enough time to get my bearings, and I can see things clearly, not from behind a veil of primitive, territorial rage. Now I see the desperation just beneath the surface she’s trying so hard to present.

I refuse to believe she’s really interested in Sin. She’s using him to try to get my attention back, and while normally I would be turned off by such a desperate method, right now all I feel is relief.

My kitten hasn’t found a new owner; she’s just dragging her claws down my leg, begging for my attention.

16

Laurel

We’re going out. Wear something sexy.

That was all Sin said to me when he unlocked my cuffs and let me out of bed this evening. Naturally, he neglected to tell me that the place we were going was the second circle of Hell, and that Rafe would be there with a date.

I may have opted to stay in the bed had I known.

But here I am, sandwiched between Sin and Rafe with Rafe’s date trying desperately to ignore the varying levels of tension rolling off him in waves. A couple days ago, I might have cared. Right now this asshole is toying with me just to do it, and I don’t think that’s fair to Sin. Admittedly, a date with the man who chains me to a bed every night to make sure I don’t escape is ill-advised, but what the hell? Despite my logical assertions about what a terrible idea any level of involvement with Sin is, when he told me we were going out tonight, it excited me. When it comes down to it, I much prefer letting Sin take me out on the town over spending the night locked away in his room so he can go out without me.

The whole time I got ready for my entirely unexpected date, I told myself not to make too much of it. Just because we’re going out in public together one time doesn’t mean anything will change once we get home. Just because it’s basically a date doesn’t mean it has to end like one.

I won’t pretend those thoughts didn’t cross my mind, because they did. Without knowing where we were going, I focused on the parts I could anticipate. Like coming home at the end of the date, walking up Sin’s sidewalk, wondering if he might kiss me. Knowing ahead of time that I would be spending the night at his house, I even wondered if he would take more than a kiss. It stands to reason he might have a drink or two while we’re out, and last night when he came home after drinking, he started to flirt with me. Sure, he let that moment pass, but maybe his resolve is weakening. Maybe he is attracted to me and this date is him deciding to go for it. Even though it’s definitely a bad idea, maybe I’ll let him. I’m already pregnant, so this fling can’t go sideways in the same way the last one did.

This week is halfway over anyway, so there’s not much time left. Whatever trouble I’m going to get into, I better do it expediently. Sin still hasn’t let me call Carly, and at a certain point, all these unanswered calls are going to turn into action. My sister doesn’t look like a force to be reckoned with, but she really is. She harnessed a volatile Morelli, after all.

Now Rafe is sitting here, his intense brown eyes trained on me while Jayla prattles on about this great advice she gave her girlfriend back in Los Angeles. I stopped listening to her a while ago, and to be honest, so did everyone else. I’m surprised I’m so in tune with him, but maybe because Sin’s arm is draped over my shoulders, I can feel the tension in him, too. Rafe is emitting it like a beacon, but in Sin, it’s only detectable in the way his body feels against mine. It’s an absurd instinct, but I want to ease it out of him.

I don’t even know if that’s my place, but the spot seems to be open, he draped his arm around me and offered enough of an invitation, so I respond to the need I sense in him.

My hand settles on his thigh, but instead of calming him, he tenses up more. “Do you know what you’re getting?” I murmur.

“Fired,” he offers back, dryly.

I fail to stile a smile. “He’s not going to fire you.”

“Move your hand back a couple inches and we’ll see.”

Just to be a hellion, I do.

Sin’s fingers close around my wrist and he shoots me a hard look. “Troublemaker.”

“Hey, you offered,” I reply airily, using my other hand to flip the page on the menu. “Is he paying? If he’s paying, we should order the lobster rolls.”

Sin rolls his eyes. “I can buy you fucking lobster rolls; I don’t need him to pay for you.”