7
Emma Lia Grant
Last night was sooo good.I could get hooked on that kind of sex with Tristan, but I know that vanilla doesn’t fulfill him the way it doesme.
The man needs to fuck. Needs to be rough. Needs to causepain.
I wish that he weren’t that way. But he is, and there’s nothing I can do about it except be grateful for the times when he is gentle withme.
I stretch and open my eyes, finding that Tristan is still next to me, awake and smiling. That’s a good sign that he isn’t freaking about my being in hisbed.
“Good morning, sunshine,” hesays.
“Goodmorning.”
He twists and reaches for something on the nightstand. He turns back to face me and places an elegantly wrapped gift from a high-end luxury jeweler on the bed beside me. “I have a gift foryou.”
“What kind ofgift?”
“Let’s call it ayou-are-my-submissive-and-I’m-going-to-spoil-yougift.”
“Ooh, I like the sound ofthat.”
My mouth feels dry and sticky. I was probably mouth breathing and maybe even snoring, according to what Tristan has told me, so I know my breath can’t be pleasant. “Give me a minute to freshen up. Be rightback.”
After dashing to my bathroom, I brush my teeth and comb my hair before rushing back to bed, eager to open my gift from Tristan. “Hmm… I wonder what in the world could thisbe.”
I tear away the ribbon and rip the paper. My heart speeds a little because I’ve never been given a piece of jewelry by a man other than my dad. The guys that I’ve dated in the past have been closer to my age and not financially stable enough to afford even an inexpensive piece of jewelry from a store likethis.
I crack open the box, and it’s a matching set that includes a necklace, earrings, and bracelet. Very posh. Very formal. Veryexpensive.
I finger the center stone of the necklace. I don’t even know how many carats it would be, but it’s huge. “Tristan… this is beautiful, but it’s so formal. I have no idea where I’d wearit.”
“I have a business trip, and you’re going with me. We fly out in themorning.”
“Whereto?”
“Destination Vegas. And you’re going to wear this set of jewelry to a high-stakes poker game that we’ll beattending.”
Omigod. I’m going to Las Vegas with Tristan Broussard. He’ll rub elbows with important people while we’re there. Being seen with him only builds my image within the casino world. No one in their right mind would think that he’s keeping the company of a professional gamblingcheat.
This is a good thing. Perfect,actually.
I hurl myself onto his lap, my arms wrapped tightly around his shoulders. I bury my face in the side of his neck and squeeze him tightly. “There’s no one else in this world I’d rather go to Vegas with. Thank you. For the trip and thejewelry.”
“I told you that I was going to spoil you, bebelle. This is only a smalltaste.”
I release my hold on him. “You said that this trip isbusiness?”
“It’s always been a dream of mine to have my own casino, one that I’ve overseen from the ground up. Not one that I’ve inherited from my grandfather. And I’m going to make ithappen.”
“Fuck, Tristan. That’s a hugeundertaking.”
“Language, bebelle. Or you know what willhappen.”
Yes, I do. And I’m sure he’d like nothing more than to punish me, but I’m not ready to go there just yet. Not after the wonderful night we justhad.
When we were making love last night, I had a fleeting thought that there was something more to Tristan. Until he told me that things would return to the way they were. That’s when I realized that I was only getting one night in his bed. And I remembered what he is and what I am to him—a pretend submissive who’s working off a debt tohim.
