The Rule Ch. 07

Kevin felt himself blush. "Just... curious what he looked like."

"No, he won't be here at this conference." She poked his side. "Too bad for you."

The memories of his time under her desk came flooding back. Something odd stuck out in his memory.

"Jacob said something on the phone. He said you were the best closer, but you had... the second best record. Something like that."

Beth cocked her head. "You remember that? Even when you were... so busy?"

Kevin blushed further. "I... I don't know. I just remember thinking it was odd."

Beth nodded over at a gentleman sitting alone on a couch. He seemed completely out of place. Older, gray hair, with tortoiseshell glasses. He was slightly overweight- he came across as someone's fun uncle who had gotten lost here, not one of the executive sharks. "He's over there. Rodrigo. Best sales record at the company."

Kevin was surprised. "Him?"

"Yep. Let's say hello."

She led them over to him. Rodrigo stood, smiling warmly. "Beth, you look beautiful," he said, the slightest hint of an accent that Kevin couldn't quite place. Brazilian, maybe?

"What can I say," she said with a smile. "I wanted to look nice for you."

"Somehow I do not think it's an old man like me you're trying to impress." He smiled, extending a hand out to Kevin. "You must be the famous Kevin."

Beth's ears flushed at the comment.

"Nice to meet you," said Kevin, resisting asking what Rodrigo had heard about him.

"I hear you were cooped up coding all day," said Rodrigo with a smile. "Must be nice to stretch your legs, eh?"

Kevin opened his mouth to respond, but paused, and couldn't help but turn towards Beth, shocked that she was talking about him to her coworkers.

"Don't look at me like that! Rodrigo somehow gets all the right information out of everyone. If I knew he was going to try to embarrass me immediately, I would not have walked over here."

Rodrigo laughed- a hearty, full belly laugh. "Sorry, Beth! Kevin, my friend, when you know someone as serious as Beth, here, you have to take advantage of these little moments to tease her. Don't you agree?"

It was immediately apparent why Rodrigo was good at his job: he was instantly and insanely likable. "You know what? I do," said Kevin with a smile.

"Sorry to interrupt," said the CFO Beth wanted to talk to, suddenly appearing at their side. "I just wanted to say hello to Beth,"

"Oh, Ethan! I thought I saw you," said Beth. They kissed on the cheek.

"My COO wanted to say hello, as well- do you have a second?"

Beth looked at Kevin, who nodded. With that she slipped off to another conversation, leaving him with Rodrigo. Kevin couldn't help it and took one glance at her ass as she walked away, which the dress hugged very well.

Rodrigo and Kevin spoke for a while, while Beth mingled with those she had to.

Eventually, the hostess came around, telling those that were interested in playing to take their seat around the card table. Most people stayed mingling, but a few- including Beth and her CFO- sat down at the table.

The dealer dealt the cards, and slowly the game began to unfold. Mostly people kept mingling and doing business around the table, but when the pot would get big or when there would be a lot of action, people would quiet down to watch.

One thing became obvious quickly: Beth was good. Really good. Seemed not only to be unreadable for the other players at the table, but had an incredible understanding of what cards the other players had based on how they were betting.

Kevin watched in awe as, slowly but surely, the pile of chips in front of her kept growing.

Every now and then she would glance at Kevin, who smiled back at her. She kept giving him strange looks, as if she was trying to figure something out.

Eventually, she asked to be dealt out a hand, and stood up, walking over to Kevin.

"Hey!" he said as she came up to him. "You're killing it. I had no idea-"

"Come with me," she said seriously. She led him to a door and through it to the suite's large balcony, which overlooked the strip. They were the only ones on it.

Kevin looked at her quizzically. "What?"

She looked embarrassed as she turned towards him. "You've got to stop smiling when I've got a good hand."

"Wh- what?"

"You're... you're smiling. Every time I've got the winning hand. But not when I'm bluffing. So. How do you notice? What's my tell?"

Kevin studied her. "I... Beth, I had no idea I was doing that. I have no idea what your tell is."

She tapped her foot, impatiently.

"Seriously! Beth, I really had no idea I was doing that."

"Well stop it before another player notices." She seemed flustered that he was able to read her.

"I'm sorry."

She opened her mouth to say something, then thought better of it. Turning back, she went inside.

Kevin joined Rodrigo again, this time, being more careful as he watched the game. He did everything in his power to keep his face neutral.

But... It was a good question. How did he know?

After a few hands, he realized again she was happy with her cards. He studied her carefully: the way her eyes shined, the way her breathing changed.

With a start, he realized how subtle these changes were. Was he really picking up on them without thinking?

"Rodrigo," he said, turning to him, "I'm guessing you're good at reading people."

"I am."

"Tell me- do you think Beth is happy or sad with her hand right now?"

Rodrigo laughed. "Beth? At the poker table? Nobody's that good. I can hardly tell what she's thinking most of the time, let alone when she's trying to hide it."

Kevin studied her, more and more confident she had a great hand.

The betting came down to just her and the CFO. The pot was getting massive. They sat next to each other, betting each other up until finally, with a sad smile, Beth threw in her cards.

"Guess she wasn't too happy with her cards, then," said Rodrigo.

"She had him," said Kevin with quiet confidence.

She stood up from the table, out of chips. There was some good natured clapping for her from those still watching the game.

She walked back towards Kevin with a smile. "I think I'm ready for dinner. How about you?"

Kevin smiled. "Yeah? Okay, let's..."

The CFO- Ethan- came running over, stepping in front of Kevin to get in front of Beth. "Just wanted to say how much fun that was, Beth."

Beth smiled at him, but Kevin saw a moment of annoyance flash across her face. "I'm glad! You're too good for me, but it was fun while it lasted."

Kevin bit his cheek, knowing she could have wrecked him, but chose not to. He sidestepped his way around Ethan who either did not notice him or had intentionally blocked him out.

"Listen," continued Ethan, who Kevin decided he did not like, "We're about ready to call it here. I wanted to let you know, I was talking with my COO- I think we're in a good position to have a contract signed by the end of the month."

Rodrigo and Beth's faces showed that this was a big deal.

"That's fantastic, Ethan." said Beth.

"Why don't you come to dinner tonight and we can hammer out the details?" asked Ethan.

Beth blinked. "Oh, sorry, Ethan, I have plans already."

Ethan looked at her oddly, and then scoffed. "Well, cancel them! I know this would be a big contract for your company. One of the biggest, if I'm not mistaken."

"That may be..."

"So... I sort of expect to be a priority, here."

Yeah, Kevin really decided he hated Ethan. That being said, he didn't want to get in the way of Beth's career, which he knew was important to her. He chimed in, "Beth, it's fine, we can..."

Beth shot him a look that told him to shut up. "Ethan, trust me, you'll be our company's biggest priority. But I just need to wait until next week- we can set something up when we're both home. Literally the first thing Monday. How does that sound?"

Ethan looked offended. "It doesn't seem like we're the biggest priority if we need to wait all the way until next week. We're looking to move fast here. I'm sorry, Beth, but this is a bad indicator..."

Kevin cleared his throat. "Beth, seriously, I..."

"What about this weekend?" she said, interrupting Kevin. "I can call you Saturday first thing and we can walk through it."

Ethan sighed. "You want me to work on the weekend just so you can get dinner with another company tonight?"

Beth stared at Ethan, her eyes full of focus. You could really see her study him, really think about the whole situation.

Beth sighed, then put on a bright smile. Kevin was sure it looked full and happy to anyone that didn't know her well. "All right. You win. You're right, of course. You'll get all the details hashed out tonight over dinner."

Ouch.

Kevin knew it was the right call, of course. This sounded like it was a valuable contract, both for her and for the company. In his head, he knew she made the right choice.

But he couldn't help it. He was looking forward to tonight, and some part of him- a big part of him- felt crushed that she chose the contract over him. He forced a smile at Beth, but knew it probably looked sad.

Ethan looked pleased. "Excellent!"

"I need to run to my room to grab my purse- why don't you head down to the lobby in... twenty minutes?"

"Perfect. Thank you, Beth. Trust me, that was the right call- we'll have something in place by the end of the month. See you down there!" Ethan walked away, heading towards the hallway.

Beth, Kevin and Rodrigo watched him walk away.

"What an ass," said Rodrigo quietly.

Kevin watched Beth as she watched Ethan walk away. And to his surprise, a smile spread on her face. Not her practiced one, not even the cold one he'd seen so many times. But a warm, genuine smile. The one that made her look so beautiful.

"Well you better get used to him," she said. "Because he's all yours."

Kevin and Rodrigo both did a double take. "What?" asked Rodrigo.

"I told him. I have plans. I'm not going. You take him."

"You want to... you want to split the opportunity?" asked Rodrigo.

"No, Rodrigo. I want you to take the whole thing."

Rodrigo looked at her like she was crazy. "Beth, please- I know he was an ass, but the deal is in the bag. Think about what you're throwing away, here... Lumina is huge!"

"I know. And in twenty minutes their COO and CFO will be waiting downstairs. I'm not fucking meeting them. So you better do it."

"This may be the biggest contract the company has ever pulled, Beth!" Rodrigo was clearly flabbergasted.

"All the more reason you should want it."

Rodrigo shook his head. "You're... you're sure?"

Beth still held that smile, but looked directly into Kevin's eyes. "I'm sure." Beth reached her hand out, and Kevin, still in shock, took it. She began to guide him towards the elevator. "Good luck with him!" she said to Rodrigo over her shoulder.

Kevin could hardly find the words. "Beth, you... you don't have to..."

"I know I don't. That's what makes it impactful, Kevin. I'm choosing it."

Kevin's mouth felt dry. "It sounded like... like a big deal..."

"It is." At the door, she found the hostess. "Hi, can I have my bouquet?"

The hostess looked confused. "Your... what?"

"The piece of paper."

"Oh! Oh, er, right," the hostess said, before running towards the closet. She revealed the crumpled paper, and handed it over to her. Beth slipped her a few twenties as a tip in return.

Beth turned towards Kevin, looking him deep in his eyes, holding the paper. "I know what's important. And I know what I choose." She pulled him away from the suite, down the hallway, the smile still on her face.

"Beth, stop! Wait."

"No."

"Beth, Beth!" He finally began to physically resist her. He pulled his hand out of hers in front of the elevator doors.

"What?" She looked at him, radiating pure confidence. But unlike her usual aura of intimidating, cold confidence, this was pure happy, grounded confidence.

"We can... we can talk later, you can still have your deal..."

She rolled her eyes. "Kevin, there's always going to be another deal! There's always going to be another thing for me to conquer. Something for me to win. But there's only one moment, one time, here with you. When we go back to New York, things are going to be more complicated. We're all fucking each other, for gods sake. It's going to get messy. And now there's all these... stupid emotions, too. But here, now, in this hotel, over dinner, there's just us."

The elevator dinged, opening its doors, and she got on, grabbing his hand again and pulling him in.

"There's just us, and I need you to know- to believe me- when I say that you're not just a game to me. Not just a challenge. That there's something between us that can't go away, that I won't let go away. It's not about the sex- not really.

And holding on to that... whatever it may be... it's not just worth that one deal. It's worth every deal that was going down in that room."

She finally looked at him again. Each drank the other in as the elevator door slowly shut. She was out of breath from the rant, from getting worked up. But something about her energy made her look even more stunning.

The elevator slowly began to drop down towards the lobby as their eyes stayed locked.

Kevin no longer had a shred of doubt.

Neither of them was sure who started it, but they were suddenly on top of one another, kissing with intense passion. Weeks of teasing had led to this moment, and now they were here, and both of them barely had control.

They pressed against each other, kissing deeply, desperately, each hand exploring the other's body, squeezing, feeling, holding whatever it could, pulling the other in tighter, as tight as possible.

Beth moaned into Kevin's mouth. She looked over at the elevator buttons, as Kevin kissed her neck, breathing her in deep.

"We're not..." Kiss. "...making it to..." Kiss, kiss. "dinner, are we?" She could hardly get out the sentence, as they both desperately needed to be kissing the other.

"No," said Kevin, with complete confidence.

Beth reached out, pressing their floor number, before turning back towards him and locking lips with him again. Kevin pressed her hard against the wall, and she continued to moan into his mouth as their tongues intertwined.

The elevator dinged, revealing their floor. Beth dragged Kevin out of there, past other hotel guests with amused faces. It was Vegas, after all- you never knew when you'd see a young couple in the throws of passion.

At their door, Beth desperately fumbled around trying to find the key as Kevin kissed the back of her neck, exploring her body from behind, squeezing her. She moaned, completely distracted from the task at hand.

Finally, with a beep, the door was unlocked.

Beth turned around, grabbing him by the suit and pulling him in for another kiss, as she slowly backed up, dragging him into their suite.

Once the door shut behind them, she began to pull off his suit jacket. At the same time, she kicked off her heels. He began to unbutton his shirt. No matter what they were doing, however, there was never more than a second of their lips apart. Electricity was flying for both of them- the combination of incredible chemistry and weeks of buildup. Beth was slowly leading him towards her bed.

She unzipped the gown and let it fall, revealing a matching blue set of underwear. Kevin got down to just his suit pants, and managed to kick off his shoes.

She crashed back on the bed, and Kevin joined her, breathing in her smells as he kissed her neck. She moaned, happily, her body tingling from the kisses. Her hands ran down his back, grabbing him, feeling him, pulling him in.

"Oh god," she moaned to the ceiling. "That feels good."

Her hands slid down the front of his chest, down his stomach, finding his belt and undoing it. At the same time, Kevin reached behind her back, finding the clasp of her bra. He undid it, easily, with one hand. Beth reached for the button of his pants, and undid it as well.

They disconnected, only out of pure necessity- they needed to get out of these clothes. Beth sat up so she could take off her bra as Kevin slid off his pants. But each second apart was agonizing for both of them- torture as they desperately wanted, needed, to be in contact. They could not keep their eyes off each other.

Beth's perfect breasts were revealed. Kevin felt his cock, already rock solid, twitched at the sight. He threw his pants on the floor, and they were down to just their underwear.

They nearly slammed back into each other, each desperately wanting to feel the other's body, each wanting to explore the other. Kevin pushed Beth back down so she was on her back once again.

His kisses began to lead down her body, kissing first her cheek, then her neck, then down her chest, making his way to one of her perfect breasts. She moaned encouragingly, loving the sensations.

Kevin was doing his best to pace himself, but could tell they both were beyond eager for this to happen.

"Oh, fuck!" said Beth as he put her nipple in his mouth. His hand played with the other big tit, massing the flesh and playing with the nipple. "Oh, God, Kevin, this is crazy, I feel like... I feel like I'm on fire..."

Her hands played with his hair, pulling him tight, pressing him into her tits, encouraging him to go harder, to do more. Kevin did so happily- his cock rock solid in his underwear.

She pulled him up, kissing him again, pushing her tongue into his mouth, which made him moan. She broke the kiss for a moment.

"I need... Kevin, I need you to fuck me. Now." She slid off her panties, sliding them down her long legs before throwing them off the bed.

"You want me to break the Rule? The last one?"

"Yes, baby," she almost hissed between kissing Kevin's face. "Please- please. I need you to fuck me."

"Are you sure?" teased Kevin. He reached a hand down, putting two fingers inside her. Holy shit, he thought. She is absolutely soaked. More than he ever thought anyone could be. "We shouldn't wait another day?"

She moaned at the fingers inside her, her hands gripping the sheets tightly. Both of them were enjoying this shift in the power dynamics: Beth was the one being teased for once. "Please, Kevin. Please!"

He leaned in, kissing her with a smile. He thought about teasing her a bit more, just to see what would happen, but frankly he couldn't wait another moment himself.

"Okay."

With that, there were no more Rules left.

Beth reached down to the waistband of his boxer briefs, sliding it down, and revealing his rock solid cock glistening in precum. She moaned at the sight, loving how excited he was for her.

Kevin positioned himself between her legs, leaning forward, so their bodies were pressed together. They began to kiss, desperately again, their tongues intertwined. As she reached around his back to hold him tightly, her big tits pressed against his chest.

He reached down, guiding his hard cock to her soaking wet pussy. He pressed against the entrance, causing her to moan deeply.

He left it there for just a moment as they kissed and pressed into each other, teasing her pussy with the tip, feeling how wet it was. Feeling how wet it was for him of all people.

She reached a hand around, grabbing the side of his hip, and pulling, demanding, doing everything in her power to get him inside her.

Slowly but surely, he pushed in, gently rocking inside her inch by inch.

"Oh, fuck..." she moaned into his face. Though they had broken the kiss, their faces were still close, almost touching noses, as if they couldn't bear for them to be apart for more than a moment. "Oh fuck, Kevin, oh fuck..."

Finally he was all the way in, and began to really fuck her, pulling all the way out and back in, though he kept the rhythm slow. He looked down and watched as those big, perfect tits shook up and down with each stroke. It was beautiful.