One more kiss, p.1
One More Kiss, page 1
one more kiss
TERRI ANNE BROWNING
Copyright © Terri Anne Browning/Anna Henson 2024
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Terri Anne Browning, except as permitted under the US Copyright Act of 1976.
One More Kiss
Written by Terri Anne Browning
All Rights Reserved ©Terri Anne Browning 2024
Edited by Lisa Hollett of Silently Correcting Your Grammar
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
One More Kiss is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
No part of this book can be reproduced in any form by electronic or mechanical means, including storage or retrieval systems, without the express permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer who may quote short excerpts in a review.
contents
1. Delilah
2. Delilah
3. Delilah
4. Delilah
5. Nash
6. Delilah
7. Delilah
8. Delilah
9. Delilah
10. Nash
11. Nash
12. Delilah
13. Delilah
14. Nash
CHAPTER ONE
delilah
What was more annoying than the blare of a five a.m. alarm clock on a Saturday morning?
Nicole’s laugh.
I didn’t open my eyes as I reached out to turn off the noise, my head already pounding. After spending the previous day fighting nausea and nearly passing out in the middle of work, I’d attempted to go to bed early. It had been in vain because all I’d done was toss and turn until sometime around one when I’d heard a helicopter on the roof.
Knowing my father and Nash had returned, earlier than anticipated, I’d lain in bed watching the door—silently willing it to open and for Nash to walk in. He hadn’t. Any hope that he’d cut his trip short because he was concerned about me died a slow and painful death with each passing minute. I’d fallen asleep around three thirty, exhaustion finally putting me out of my misery.
Once the room was silent again, I groaned as I threw my legs over the side of the bed. I felt like I had a hangover, but I hadn’t touched a drop of alcohol, not even the glass of wine I’d been so tempted to toss back in one gulp at dinner. Nicole had been more irritating than usual, but it could have just been me.
Finding out I was pregnant had kind of thrown me off-kilter. Not seeing Nash for two weeks had been bad enough. Now, I had to tell my secret lover that my birth control had failed and we were going to be parents in seven months.
Nausea roiled in my stomach, but I wasn’t sure if it was morning sickness or the thought of how Nash would react to becoming a father.
Slowly, I got to my feet. Stef had advised me going from lying down to sitting to standing should be approached with caution. Not only would it help with any sudden motion sickness, but it would also help to avoid issues with my blood pressure. If anyone would know, it would be Stef. He was the best OB-GYN in Vegas.
Lucky for me, he and Sam had been walking through the lobby on their way up to the restaurant on the third floor when I’d had my dizzy spell. They both helped me up to my suite, where Stef gave me a full exam before concluding that I was pregnant. Which he then confirmed by sending Sam to pick up a test at the pharmacy.
Sam had screamed and danced around my bathroom in excitement as the stick trembled in my hand. I was glad someone was excited. Maybe I would have been too if I weren’t so worried about how Nash would react.
A shower left me more alert but no less queasy. I was still putting in an earring as I stepped into the elevator. Out of the nearly three hundred hotels in Vegas, my family’s resort was in the top five most successful. My grandfather, along with Nash’s, had built up the Royal Phoenix from a small casino with two hundred rooms into a multibillion-dollar success.
Now, it sat on seven acres, had almost seven thousand rooms, eight pools and three lazy rivers, its own mall, and six different restaurants. One whole floor was dedicated just to our spa; three theaters could each seat up to five thousand people for a variety of live shows that were separate from our arena where we hosted fights; then we had our members-only nightclub.
At nearly twenty-one, I was an assistant manager, a position I’d worked my behind off for so no one could cry nepotism. Although plenty still did—but never to my face. Cowards. My grandfather’s philosophy had always been never expect anyone to do a job you aren’t willing to do yourself. From housekeeping to room-service waiter to concierge, I’d worked in every position within the hotel and had been promoted to assistant manager by the GM six months ago.
My heart clenched thinking of my grandfather. I missed him so much. He’d died two days after my promotion, but he’d seemed proud of me. Howard Royal hadn’t been an easy man to impress. Lord knew he had never been happy with anything his son ever did, according to my father. But he’d given me a rare smile and a tight hug as he’d congratulated me on my new job.
With his passing, things had been thrown upside down. A few matters were still flying around in the air like a Cat 5 hurricane was blowing through, but for the most part, Nash had been able to calm the storm.
“Delilah,” a stern voice greeted as I walked through the lobby. Despite the early hour, people were coming and going at a steady pace. Vegas was a true city that never slept. “Didn’t I tell you to take the weekend off?”
I gave the man behind the front desk a smile. My boss was a grumpy-faced a-hole most of the time, but Winston was all soft and squishy on the inside. “There’s too much to do this weekend. We have a celebrity poker tournament going on, plus the first LEX show starts tonight. Would you rather I left all that in Jackie’s hands?” I wasn’t the biggest LEX fan, but they had an almost cult following. The pop band was made up of Luis, Easton, and Xan Lexen, who were nothing but divas behind the scenes.
He shuddered but didn’t drop the frowny face. “I’d rather not have my favorite assistant manager passing out from exhaustion. You work too hard. Take a break. I can handle things. That’s why I’m the general manager.”
“There is no such thing as ‘work too hard.’ My grandfather is probably rolling over in his grave as we speak at someone saying such blasphemy in his hotel.” Stepping behind the desk, I logged in to one of the dozen computers.
Three receptionists were already checking guests in and out. If there had been a long line, I would have helped. But they were keeping up, so I started clicking through my long to-do list. When the phone rang, I picked it up without taking my eyes off the screen. “Royal Phoenix, front desk. This is Delilah. How may I be of service?”
“Lily.”
Goose bumps popped up along my entire body at the sound of his voice rasping the name only he used in my ear. My breath hitched. All reactions I’d learned to temper when it came to this man, to keep our relationship a secret as he’d asked.
Demanded.
I swallowed hard as that niggling voice whispered in the back of my mind, a lump filling my throat. It had been too long since I’d heard his voice. Even longer since I’d gotten to touch him. His concern for me if we went public with our relationship too soon had felt sweet in the beginning. Six months later and I was left feeling nothing but dirty.
And not in the fun kind of way.
“Sir,” I greeted, unable to keep the small bite of anger from my voice.
“Why are you working? I was told you were unwell.”
Was that why he hadn’t crawled into bed with me?
Someone cleared their throat. It was Winston subtly letting me know my customer service veneer was slipping. Realizing I was sneering at my computer screen, I blanked my face and forced a smile. “I’m perfectly fine now. Thank you for your concern.”
If you were so worried, you should have called me. Or come to my room to check with your own eyes that I was okay.
I wanted to throw those words at him, but I couldn’t with my boss, three staff members, and half a dozen guests standing nearby. Nibbling on the inside of my cheek, I wondered if what I was feeling was because of my pregnancy or if I was just tired of being his secret. Our relationship had been a growing sore spot for me long before he’d left on the latest business trip with my father.
“Come up to my office.”
“I apologize for the inconvenience, but I’m busy at the moment.” If he was watching me on the security feed—which I had no doubt he was—he would know I wasn’t lying. But two weeks ago, I would have dropped everything and run to him if he’d so much as raised his brows at me. We needed to talk, now more than ever, but I wasn’t ready. “If this is an emergency, I am sure Winston will be able to better assist you.”
“Whatever you are doing can wait. I have been traveling for more than twenty-four hours. Get your ass into my office.”
Shivering at the command in his tone, I tightened my fingers around the receiver. Suddenly, I wanted to be very, very dirty in all the yummy ways. But the length of his travel day reinforced my theory that he hadn’t returned because of me. He had been in the air long before I’d gotten sick the previous day. “Of course, sir. I understand. Give me five minutes to finish up, and I will—”
Replacing the receiver, I continued typing.
Winston grunted behind me. I looked up into his grumpy face and gave him another smile. There was just something about his sternness that made me want to squish his weathered brown cheeks together, even when I felt like crap and wanted to cause physical harm to the man I loved.
“I will handle LEX tonight,” he told me as I printed off a few things. “If you insist, you can handle the tournament, but only until evening shift clocks in. Other than that, I want you to take it easy. Maybe sneak in a nap.”
“Maybe,” I hummed noncommittally. Picking up the stack of files that was my six-page to-do list, I grabbed a keycard that would give me access to any room on any level. “Call if you need me for anything. I will be starting on all this after I have a chat with Mr. Phoenix.”
“Text me if you need reinforcements.”
CHAPTER TWO
delilah
It was barely after six, but Nash’s personal assistant was behind his desk clicking away on his computer when I stepped off the elevator.
He unlocked Nash’s office door with a quick flick of the button on his desk without lifting his gaze from the screen. “Delilah.”
“Heath,” I greeted as I passed.
“Good luck,” he muttered, and I almost smiled.
A lethal, golden lion stood behind Nash’s desk when I entered the executive office. His thickly corded muscles were tense beneath his wrinkled dress shirt as he stood by the window, glaring down at the Strip, the bored, angry god of all he surveyed.
I doubted he’d gone to his suite when he arrived in the early hours of the morning. From the amount of stubble on his chiseled jaw, he hadn’t shaved in a few days. His short blond hair was mussed. He must have been running his fingers through the slightly curly locks.
My heels sank soundlessly into the carpet as I crossed to his desk. Dropping my phone, stack of papers, and my access key on the corner, I folded my hands in front of me and waited.
Turning, he raked his true hazel eyes over me, the starburst of golden brown in the center of each iris glowing. My body reacted at the first caress of that beautiful gaze stroking over me. Goose bumps popped up along my arms, my nipples tightening into painful points against the satin half cups of my bra. My panties had been a mess from the moment I’d heard his voice on the phone earlier. It was a struggle not to rub my thighs together at his heated appraisal.
His shirt was half unbuttoned, showing off deliciously golden skin accented by curls of blond hair. I bit into the inside of my cheek to stop myself from whimpering at the sight of the tattoo of a lion’s head that took up the left side of his chest. I loved all his ink, but my favorite was the phoenix that was spread across his entire back.
A hoarse sound left his throat, drawing my gaze back to his face. Tenderness lightened his eyes, making the mix of blue and green around the golden starburst brighter. Until Nash, I had never understood the whole concept of drowning in someone’s eyes. Then I’d truly gotten lost in his and had the breath stolen from my lungs. I’d been willingly sinking deeper and deeper ever since.
I was starting to feel the suffocating effect from a lack of air. With each additional day of having to live in the shadows, never allowed to so much as smile at him in public while other women openly flirted with him in front of me, I wasn’t just drowning. His demand that we stay secret was like a boulder tied to my feet, sinking me faster.
“You have dark circles under your eyes,” Nash grated out. “Have you not been sleeping?”
“It’s been a long two weeks,” I told him with a shrug, struggling to keep my face neutral. Until he’d begun slipping into my bed almost eight months ago, I’d never slept beside another person in my life. But now, it seemed I couldn’t rest unless I was wrapped around his hard body.
Other than his rumpled shirt, he showed no other outward signs that he had suffered the same insomnia that plagued me when he was away. Another red flag I had ignored since the beginning of our…affair? I wasn’t sure that was the correct word. Relationship wasn’t right either.
Nash fucked me. Sometimes in his office. Every night he was home, he was in my bed. But we never went anywhere together as a couple. Work events were different. There were times when I had to represent the Royal side of the hotel, while he was the face of the Phoenix.
He was adamant we keep whatever this was hidden. From everyone. Not just those we worked with, but especially my father and the media. It was a long list, and until recently, I’d been all heart-eyed, thinking it was because Nash wanted to protect me.
Our age difference was the biggest hurdle he said we needed to be careful of. It made less sense with each passing day. My father, who was a decade older than Nash, had married a woman only five years my senior. Admittedly, the media had been tearing Nicole apart, but that wasn’t without reason.
Nicole was…
An evil gold-digging cuntasaurus?
Sam called her that often enough for the thought to pass through my mind without me bursting into giggles each time these days. But in the beginning, when my father had first married Nicole a mere four months ago, it had been a struggle. Sam wasn’t just my best friend, but a trustworthy judge of character.
Lately, however, I felt less protected and more like a dirty whore whom Nash was ashamed of.
But I guessed I’d allowed him to do so. Being treated like a whore in the bedroom, or in his office, was fun. I had been a virgin until Nash, but since then, no one would ever suspect that he was my only lover. He’d unlocked something in me that I hadn’t even known about myself until he’d shown me how fun sex could be.
“Did you miss me, Lily?” Nash asked gruffly.
The sting of tears momentarily blinded me before I could blink them away. “So, so badly,” I whispered, afraid he would be upset if I spoke the words too loudly. His office was soundproof, but when it came to expressing my emotions, he always commanded that I keep myself in check.
“How much did you miss me?”
I clenched my fingers together harder. Why did it feel like he was taunting me? “Did you miss me at all, Nash?”
He jerked in surprise as I threw the question at him. One moment, he was behind his desk. The next, he was in front of me. With a growl, he lifted me and slammed my ass onto his desk as his mouth crashed against mine.
Moaning, I raked my fingers through his hair, clutching at him as I furiously kissed him back, all my love and confusion and pain at missing him exploding out of me. I snapped my teeth at him, biting his tongue before sucking on it hard.
Cursing, he pulled up my skirt, exposing my soaked panties. A rumble vibrating through his chest, he dropped to his knees in front of me, burying his face between my thighs, ripping my panties out of his way.
His scruff burned across my skin as he worked his tongue back and forth over my swollen clit. Hungry, feral sounds came from him as he slurped up the honey I’d already spilled for him.
He knew my triggers and had me screaming my release within minutes. Dizzy from pleasure, I could only watch as he freed his massive cock and thrust inside me with a savagery that had my eyes rolling into the back of my head. Each thick, veined inch stretched me nearly to the point of pain.
Twisting his fingers into my hair, he jerked my head back, forcing me to hold his gaze as he pounded into me. Another intense wave of euphoria hit me. Powerless to do anything but accept it, I screamed his name so loud my throat ached.
“Yes!” he snarled, pulling my hair harder, the slight pain triggering another release. “Come all over my cock, Lily. That’s it. Such a good girl. Take it all and give me that sweet cream. Fuck, you’re still virgin-tight. You’re killing me.”
“Nash,” I whimpered, a third orgasm already building. Too long. It had been too long since I’d had him inside me. “Harder!”
