“Gina?” Marc’s terse tone jerked her attention.
Her breath caught at the anger in his eyes. If she didn’t know better she would have thought he was jealous. Of course, once again she was being an idiot. Marc couldn’t be jealous. He wasn’t real, but Starlight, her career—they were both real. She had no other choice but to listen.
“It’s all right.” Why she reached up and smoothed her hand over Marc’s cheek to comfort him she didn’t know. “I’ll be right back.” Gia narrowed her sight on Doug. “You’ve got ten minutes,” her voice dropped, “before these nice gentlemen escort you out.”
The big doe eyes he presented her pushed an exasperated breath from her thin lips. He cocked his head. “A little privacy. Please?”
“Over here.” Gia lead the way out of the tent, stopping beneath a lighted tree only twenty feet away from the entrance. She saw both security men and Marc hovering in the opening. Turning her full attention to the man before her, she said, “Talk, Doug, and make it fast.”
He eased up before her. “Baby… I’ve missed you.” His sappy tone didn’t penetrate her hardened shell, it only put her further on edge.
“You’re down to eight minutes,” she snapped.
Releasing a feigned sigh, he began to speak. “I got a call from the Starlight producer, Thomas Solar.” He paused for effect.
Gia didn’t know if it was excitement or apprehension that now danced across her skin. Either way she found herself holding her breath as she cocked a brow in question.
“It’s yours if you want it.” Then he did something that completely disarmed her. He reached out and pulled her into his arms. “We did it, baby.”
So taken aback by the news was she, she had yet to find herself. When she did, she shoved him away. “We? There is no we.”
She glanced back at the entrance of the tent in time to see Marc’s back as he stomped off toward the house. Gia wanted to go to him, share the fantastic news, but first she had to deal with Doug.
“Baby, I’m so sorry.” Doug reached for her again.
Shunning his grasp, her eyes widened. “Sorry? Puleeze…”
Doug drew his shoulders back, his backbone rigid. “You wouldn’t have this opportunity without me.”
“What?” Gia raised a hand, waving security over.
The minute Doug saw the guards approaching, his composure crumbled. “Please, Gia. There’s nothing between me and Mary. Not like what you and I had. Can’t you forgive me?”
Forgive him? Not on your life.
Norton eased up beside her. “Miss Easton?”
“Would you please escort Mr. Temin off the property?” She turned, stopping to glance over her shoulder. “Doug, my attorney will be in contact.”
As Norton and Harrison once again grabbed hold of Doug, he snarled, “I’ll ruin you.”
Gia slowly pivoted. Instead of anger or fear, she found her center and gifted him with one of her award-winning smiles. “No, you won’t. There’ll be plenty of money for everyone, including you.” That was the only thing that she regretted. The lying bastard would still profit off her work, but it would end here—now. “Doug, I trust you won’t cut off your nose to spite your face.” He wouldn’t let an opportunity like this pass him by, would he? It was a piece of this pie or nothing.
His silence was all the confirmation she needed. Without a second thought, she turned and started to walk toward the house in search of Marc.
Swinging open the front door, she made a quick sweep of the room. No Marc. As she moved through the room, one of her mother’s maids meandered by. “Carolyn, did you see Mr. Charleston?”
The rotund, dark-haired woman paused with a pitcher of tea in her hand. “I believe he went upstairs, Miss Easton.”
“Thank you.” Lifting the hem of her dress so that her heels wouldn’t catch, Gia hurried toward the escalator and stepped upon it. Funny. But Marc had been the first person to come to mind to share this moment of triumph with. Her breath caught midway up the stairs. If she didn’t know better she’d say she was falling in love, but how could that be?
As she approached their bedroom, she heard something hard tumble to the floor. She eased through the slightly ajar door. Her jaw dropped. What the hell was going on? Marc threw a can of shaving lotion into his suitcase before he crammed a pair of pants atop it.
“Uh. Going somewhere?” She moved farther into the room.
He didn’t look at her as he continued to push clothing with no never mind to their condition into his bag. “Home,” he finally grumbled.
“Home?” she repeated.
Where to? Her home in California? Back to the Institute? Nothing was making sense. Gia couldn’t quite comprehend exactly what was going on, but it didn’t take a genius to see Marc was madder than a wet hen. Then it dawned on her.
“Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. You’re jealous.”
He paused for moment before slamming the lid down on the suitcase. Raising his razor-sharp gaze to meet hers, he took a step toward her. “Hell yes, I’m jealous. What did you expect? The minute Temin steps back into your life you welcome him with open arms.”
“I. Welcomed. Him?” The words caught in her mouth.
“Gina, you’re a great actress, but give it a rest.” Sarcasm dripped from his mouth.
Now she was getting mad. “Just what do you think went on out there?”
He ground his teeth. The tendons in his neck bulged as if they would burst at any moment. “I—” His gaze narrowed. “I saw you two hugging.”
“Hugging?” A burst of disbelief in the form of laughter spilled from her lips. “Uhhh.” Her palms lit on her hips. She leaned slightly forward. “Did you see my arms around him?”
Marc offered no response, but the brittleness in his expression lost a little of its edge. She could almost see memories race before his eyes.
Still no answer.
Her brows furrowed. “Did you also see me push him away? Uhmmm. No. You didn’t. You turned tail and stomped off like a child. Not to mention, he’s gone and I’m here—with you.”
What the hell was going on here? Was this their first fight? Before she could even analyze his anger, he asked, “You’re not going back to him?”
Resigned, she threw up her hands. “Oh my god. You’re kidding, right?” Then she shook her head. “Your hardheadedness and stubborn streak is indeed a man’s trait I could do without. Why would you think I’d ever go back to that lowlife? Especially when it’s you I want.”
Crap. She’d said that last thought aloud.
“Me?”
She gave him her best “duh” expression.
“God help me, but yes.” She sank down onto the bed. “I can’t get you off my mind.” Gia raised her gaze to his as he advanced. “I know it’s silly. I know we can’t have a real relationship, but… I think I’m falling in love with you.”
Why did the words feel so right when it was impossible? Tears stung her eyes.
Lips pressed tightly together, she shrugged, feeling helpless as she gazed up at him. “I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Nothing.” He pulled her into his embrace. “Just let it happen.”
Gia buried her face in his jacket, smelling his earthy essence that seemed to anchor her in this fantasy world she was falling into. “That’s easy for you to say. They’ll just reprogram you for the next woman in your life.”
“There won’t be another woman in my life.” His vow rumbled over her.
Easing back, she saw the truth on his handsome face, but she knew differently. No way could they keep this charade up forever. Someday she would have to let him go, and when she did her heart would break.
“Hey, Gina, you up here?” Parker’s voice preceded him into the room. “Mom’s holding dinner up for you guys.” Concern flashed in his eyes as he glanced from her to Marc. “Everything okay?” There was a slight pause before he said, “Why do I get the feeling that I’m always interrupting something important?”
“Because you
have the uncanny ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time,” Gia teased, trying to cover up her lingering emotion.
“Well, I’m hungry and you know how Mom is.” Parker stopped at the door, waiting for them.
Marc wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Gia felt his warmth, his support. It cocooned her like a blanket. “Parker, you’re always hungry.”
Even as they headed for the door, she saw Marc look longingly toward the bed. Yes, crawling beneath the covers with him sounded like more fun than facing a yard full of people with a million questions. Plus, she had yet to share her news with Marc.
“Ha. Ha.” Parker stepped aside, poking her in the side as she walked by.
Gia jumped and swung at the same time, her hand striking her brother’s shoulder.
“Ouch.” With a scowl on his face, he rubbed the offended spot.
“Are you two always like this?” Marc asked.
“Sometimes worse,” Parker answered with a grin.
No one spoke as they moved through the house and finally stepped outside. Just before they entered the pavilion, Parker sidled close to Gia. “Is Temin out of the picture for good?”
“Yes.” She glanced at Marc and his grip around her tightened. Without a doubt, she knew Doug was out of her life, but she still had no idea what to do about Marc.
The party was a raving success. One congratulatory drink in honor of the anniversary couple and Marc and Gina had silently slipped away to their bedroom. The window was cracked open, letting in the fresh pine air along with a mixture of music and laughter. Marc glanced at the clock on the bureau flashing midnight in neon green. By the sounds below, the jamboree showed no signs of nearing an end.
Naked, he stretched out on the large bed, enjoying the feel of the cool sheets beneath him. Gaze narrowed on the bathroom door, his mind wandered back to Gina’s announcement. She had been so thrilled with the news of Starlight. Excitement had glistened in her eyes and heightened her rapid speech. Marc had responded in kind, but he was no fool. Her success would be their downfall. She would be swept away in a sea of fame while he would be left behind drowning in what-could-have-beens.
Inhaling a weighted breath, he slowly released the air from his lungs.
In truth, Marc hadn’t expected any more than a whirlwind relationship that would end badly once his secret was revealed. Unfortunately his shame and regret gnawed unmercifully at him. What had ever possessed him to think he could pull this off and step away unscathed? He needed to come clean and see if there was any way to salvage what they had together.
Before they were interrupted by her brother earlier, she had admitted to falling for Marc, even loving him. She had appeared so helpless, so aghast at the possibility of having feelings for an android. Yet he had to remember she loved what she thought he was, not what or who he truly was.
A man capable of returning her love.
Still the question remained. Could they get past his deceit, as well as Starlight, and develop a life together?
His thoughts dissolved into a mist of arousal when Gina opened the bathroom door and stood dressed in a sheer black negligee. The diaphanous material stroked her curvaceous figure, hiding little of her full breasts and the small patch of hair at the apex of her thighs.
His heart did a somersault and then skipped a beat while his cock stirred to life, firming. The hardening felt amazing, stimulating all of his nerve endings so that they tingled beneath her scrutiny.
Tomorrow. He’d confess all tomorrow. Tonight he would love her as she deserved to be loved.
Rolling onto his back, he eased up the bed, pillows propped behind him, one knee bent. Her hips swayed seductively on her approach, black heels silent across the carpet. A whisper of a smile touched her pouty lips, lips that called to him. His mouth watered to taste her. His palms itched to touch her.
Through half-shuttered eyes, her gaze caressed him head to toe. The spark that flared beneath her heavy eyelids when she scanned his erection shook the primitive side of him. He couldn’t wait to take her—make her his.
Pure, unadulterated sex moved toward him, heating his blood to a slow burn. With each step she took, he realized that sometime during their liaison he, too, had fallen in love with her. Not like infatuation or star admiration or even a fantasy, but the kind of emotion that thickened his chest, made him ache just thinking of not waking with her in his arms each morning.
“Gina—”
She pressed a finger to her lips.
Without a word, she crawled atop the bed, slinking toward him as if she were a cat on the prowl. She nibbled on his big toe before closing her mouth, swirling her tongue and then sucking.
Damn. Did she even realize what she did to him? What he would give to have those precious lips wrapped around another appendage of his. He fisted his fingers to keep from reaching for her.
The lascivious gleam in her eyes as she pressed soft kisses at his ankle made his pulse leap. Warm, moist caresses moved over his calf before she advanced farther along his leg, dragging her silky hair across his skin to send a tremor up his spine. When she reached his inner thigh, she nipped him—marking him. The love bite startled him, but added something raw and erotic to the moment. It was like throwing fuel onto the fire igniting inside him.
His body went up in flames. Blood surged wildly through his veins, slamming into his balls. When she licked a path over them he sucked in a breath and held it. Only when her delicate hand cupped his testicles, massaging them gently, did he manage to breathe again. His cock jerked in anticipation of feeling the warm cavern of her mouth.
Through thick, long lashes she looked up his length until their eyes met. Held. The pull between them couldn’t be denied. It was electrifying. He half expected her to purr. Marc knew he felt like it when she flattened her tongue along his shaft and bathed him with her heat.
“Gina. Please.” His plea was answered with a soft stream of feminine laughter sliding across his flesh like silk. “Sweetheart, fuck me with that beautiful mouth. Now.”
“Now?” A low, vibratory sound revealed her pleasure.
“God. Yes. Now.”
When her full lips parted, he raised his hips and she took him in. Hot. Moist. For a moment, he closed his eyes and savored the tightness of her hold, the fever of her caress moving up and down him. As her teeth scraped his tender skin, he hissed, eyes opening to watch his erection disappear once again beyond the depths of heaven.
The visual of her head bobbing between his thighs was every man’s fantasy. His fantasy. “Yesssss…” he hissed, drawing breath. “That feels so fucking good.”
While she sucked and tantalized him, her fingers stretched and played with the thin flesh of his sac. The woman was a master, his body a slave to her ministrations.
Marc reveled in the feel of her mouth, tongue and teeth. Then she swallowed. The squeezing sensation nearly jerked him out of his skin. It was beyond anything he had ever experienced. Muscles clenched. Taut, so friggin’ taut.
Shards of lightning exploded at the base of his cock, forcing his bent leg down upon the bed. He gritted his teeth, wanting, no needing, to ride the exquisite sensation to its end. His fingers speared her hair, closed around her head. He held her motionless while his hips rose and fell, as slow as he could manage without gaining his release.
In and out and in. Over and over.
Her hair tickled along his legs and his sac. The moist, sensual sounds she made sliding across his cock were hot, her soft whimpers even hotter.
Slower and slower he moved until he swore he couldn’t take it anymore. Except for the head of his shaft, he extracted himself from her mouth. Willfully, he withstood the swirl of her tongue around the crown. Still, he wasn’t prepared when she pressed against the small slit and sucked.
Marc’s toes nearly curled. Shards of desire zigzagged through him. His control and mind almost fled.
“Stop. Oh God. Gina. Stop.” His erection swelled even more, the throbbing of blood puls
ing madly through him. If she didn’t halt her exquisite torture, he wouldn’t be able to hold back any longer.
With the last strength left in him, he eased out of her shelter, dragging her cool body atop his. The silk of her negligee was the only thing between them until he reached for the hem and wiggled it up and over her head. When she had removed her heels he had no idea, didn’t care. Nestling his cock between her thighs, he released a sigh that she captured with a hungry kiss.
Tasting himself was arousing. She nipped at his bottom lip before thrusting her tongue deep into his mouth. He held on, sucking and angling his head to take all of her.
As their tongues dueled, he rolled them over, wedging a knee between her legs to part them. With one plunge he slid between her swollen folds and once again found a little slice of heaven’s warm embrace.
God, she was wet.
A flash of pride struck him as her inner muscles seized around him. When he stroked the back of her pussy, he breathed in her gasp. Their lips still connected, their tongues struggling for supremacy.
A deep groan formed in his chest and he tore his mouth away to stare into the dreamy eyes of the woman he loved. Did he dare say the words? They were on the tip of his tongue.
Oh hell. What did he have to lose?
Thick emotion threatened to choke him. He had never confessed this sentiment to another woman before. “I love you.”
Gia’s body melted with the deep chord in his voice. She smoothed her palms over the solid surface of his back, shivering not from the chill in the room but the array of feelings assailing her. Marc declared his love with so much passion and conviction she could almost believe he meant it. She needed to believe it more than anything.
When his hand closed over her breast and his teeth tugged at her nipple, she moaned. With his mouth raising havoc, she threw all restraint out the window and whispered, “I love you too.”
He stilled.
The ensuing silence was broken by a growl that rumbled deep in his throat. Cool air flowed over her breasts. He crawled to his knees, pushing a pillow beneath her hips before strong hands grasped her legs, raising them until he locked his fingers around her ankles. Then he spread her impossibly wider, baring her for the masculine hunger that burned in his expression.
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