“Come back here,” I growled as I held out my hand.
She ignored me and quickly righted her bra before yanking her shirt closed. “Crap,” she muttered when she realized it was ruined. I watched her silently while she looked all around, trying to find the little pearl buttons. I wasn’t sure what she thought she was going to do with them even if she found them all. It wasn’t like she could just stick them back on. I mentally patted myself on the back for being so eager that she was now stuck here without a shirt. My eyes dropped to her pants as she zipped them up, and I studied them thoughtfully. Hmm...I needed to ruin those next. The idea of Anna being left with nothing to wear but her underwear—or being naked since I’d find a way to make those useless too—had me grinning wickedly.
“Stop undressing me with your eyes,” she snapped, apparently just noticing where my attention was focused.
“Why?” I asked with a smirk. “I’ll be doing it with my hands next.”
“I don’t think so.” Her tone was firm and lacked any hint of humor. My head whipped up, and I narrowed my eyes when I saw the determined expression on her face.
“Then think again,” I growled.
Anna’s eyes flared with heat. She could deny it all she wanted, but it turned her on when I took charge. I might have tried to control my caveman tendencies when it came to her if I didn’t know she got off on it.
I sighed when she snuffed out the spark and gave me a bored, disinterested look. “I shouldn’t have let this happen. It was a mistake.” That set me off, and I shot to my feet. Stalking forward, I forced her back until she was flush against a wall.
“Don’t ever call what happens between us a mistake, Anna,” I snarled as I slammed my hands onto the wall on both sides of her head. “Or my handprint will magically appear on your ass.”
Her mouth formed a little O, and I had to hold back a groan when her emerald eyes darkened with desire. Well, fuck. My hands started tingling, aching to go through with my threat.
Shaking her head, she cleared her throat and placed her palms on my chest, trying to push me away. I didn’t budge. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean...Look, it doesn’t matter. The point is, this won’t happen again.”
I decided to humor her for the moment and drawled, “And why is that?” She glanced everywhere but at my face, so I grabbed her chin and forced her to meet my eyes.
“I don’t date men like you.”
A single brow arched over my eye. “Like me?”
She shrugged. “Celebrities. Rich, sexy, and with a belief that rules don’t apply to them.” There was a sadness in her eyes that made me ache for her, but at the same time, I was glad to see that we were finally getting to the root of her fear, the reason she was fighting what was between us.
6
Anna
As soon as I spotted the predatory gleam in Julian’s eyes, I realized what I’d just given away. Crap. The situation I now found myself in was a big part of the reason I’d done my best to stay away from the sexy magician. Deep down in my gut, I’d known I wouldn’t be able to push him away without explaining the source of my fear of getting involved with a man who lived his life in the limelight. Since it was the last thing I wanted to talk about, I pressed my lips together as I stared up at him, hoping that a miracle would happen and he’d let the subject drop. Even though we weren’t all that familiar with each other, I knew better, and Julian was quick to prove me right.
“As happy as I am to have you confirm that you’ve noticed my sexiness, I don’t consider myself to be truly famous. It’s not as though I’m recognized everywhere I go,” he pointed out as he ran his hand down my spine in a soothing gesture I also found incredibly arousing. His lips curved up in a slight grin of male satisfaction, and I knew the sexy jerk hadn’t missed my reaction to his touch.
I narrowed my eyes at him and argued, “There’s a giant neon billboard with your picture on it hanging smack dab on the Strip. You’re famous enough for it to count.”
“I couldn’t care less what the world thinks about me,” he growled before brushing his mouth over mine. It didn’t matter that the kiss was quick, the impact on my senses was instantaneous. It felt as though every nerve ending in my body was begging for more. “Your opinion is the only one that matters.”
My fingers trembled as I reached up to touch my lips. “Why?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know why, Anna.” He cupped my chin with his palm, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “Not when you’ve already admitted to feeling this thing, the same as me. We’re moving forward. Together. Not backward.”
It felt as though butterflies took flight in my belly upon hearing the steely determination in his tone. As much as I tried to convince myself that a relationship with him was impossible, I still wanted it with every fiber of my being. I gave him the barest nod of my head, and he continued, “I took my dad’s advice on investments when I started earning decent money, and I’ve amassed quite the nest egg over the years. I’m not as rich as some, but I’m willing to concede the fact that I have money. Not as much as Drew, but it doesn’t seem as though you hold his wealth against him from what I’ve seen this past month.”
My lips had curved up in a small smile when he mentioned his dad because it was unexpectedly adorable, but they pressed together in a tight line when he compared my reactions to him and Drew. Julian was correct, I didn’t have any issues with my boss’s wealth. Maybe it wasn’t entirely fair to Julian that I was holding him to a different standard, but Drew was only my boss while he was...more. It was time for me to stop lying to myself and admit that no matter how hard I’d tried to fight my attraction, I hadn’t succeeded. And if I wanted to move forward like Julian said, then I needed to open up to him about why I’ve been fighting this thing between us so hard.
“I don’t care how wealthy Drew is. He seems cool enough, but he’s Autumn’s problem. Not mine.”
Julian’s eyes filled with male satisfaction at my admission. “You can’t say the same thing about me, can you?”
I dropped my forehead against his chest and mumbled, “No, darn it. Even with as hard as I’ve tried, I can’t.”
His arms tightened around me, pulling me closer before he brushed a kiss against the top of my head. “Thank fuck you’re finally willing to admit it. That means you’re going to stop fighting what’s happening here and tell me why you’ve been avoiding me this whole time?”
I heaved a deep sigh and nodded, keeping my face buried in his broad chest as I answered, “My very first job was with a public relations firm with a lot of celebrity clients. Nobody expected me to handle any of them directly because it wasn’t in my job description. I was basically a glorified gopher, but then one of their biggest clients took...a shine to me, I guess you could say.”
Julian was close enough for me to feel his body tense as he growled, “I’m sure he did.”
“I didn’t see it at first. As far as the whole world knew—me included—the guy was happily married to his equally famous wife. My boss grumbled about it when he insisted that I be assigned to the team who handled him, but she didn’t hesitate to give in to his request because she was all about keeping the client happy. I didn’t start to second-guess my luck until she made an odd comment one day about how much easier her job would be since I signed a non-disclosure agreement when I started working there.”
“That fucking bitch,” he bit out, tilting my head back to look into my eyes. Whatever he saw there made him swear some more before he walked me over to the couch and settled me on his lap. “Let me guess, the celebrity client’s marriage wasn’t as happy as everyone thought because he was a cheating bastard.”
“Yes.” I thought about everything I had learned back then. “But also no since it was more of a case of them having an open marriage as long as they didn’t publicly embarrass each other. She had apparently had just as many lovers as him from what he told me when I turned him down flat. He thought I’d be more open to his advances if I knew his marriage w
as a sham they’d gone through with to help their careers before they were A-listers.”
“He didn’t understand you at all.” His hand stroked up and down my spine. “If he had, he would’ve known you have too much integrity to do something like that, no matter what the situation.”
My head jerked up, and I searched for any sign of deception in his gorgeous face. All I found was utter sincerity, though. “How could you possibly know that? We never even really spoke to each other until you pulled your kidnapping stunt during your show yesterday.”
“Sweetheart.” He quirked a brow as though that one word was an actual answer, but I needed more.
“No, really. How did you know?”
His lips curved up in a smug grin. “While you’ve been trying to avoid me, I’ve spent the past month watching and learning about you.”
“I should probably be worried that you just admitted to basically stalking me and followed it up by kidnapping me.” I laughed softly and shook my head, feeling flattered instead.
“You don’t ever have to worry about me hurting you.” Julian ran his fingers through my hair, twirling a lock around his index finger and tugging on it gently. “So finish telling me the story.”
I refused to think about what his promise meant until I got through the rest of what had happened before I came to Vegas and took my job at the Lennox. “Stuff blew up in the client’s face when the woman he was sleeping with while he was hitting on me turned up pregnant. She got an abortion, but she wanted to go public about the whole mess—probably because she was an aspiring actress and figured having her name linked with his, even negatively, would give her career a push. She was probably right about that, but my job wasn’t to worry about her. It was to protect the client’s image, no matter what.”
“And you took your job seriously, didn’t you?” he asked with an understanding gleam in his eyes.
“Yup.” I swallowed down the knot in my throat and forced the words out. “The whole situation sucked, but I was the one who came up with the plan that made the client come out looking squeaky clean. His bodyguard agreed to claim paternity if the story ever came out, the wife befriended his ex-mistress—at least in the public eye—and the girl ended up landing the role of a lifetime that catapulted her career a good five to ten years ahead of where it should’ve been. Everyone was thrilled with the outcome...except me. I felt like I’d betrayed everything I believed in, so I pushed for a letter of recommendation to help me land the job here and quit.”
“I can understand why you’d be leery of falling for someone in the limelight,” he conceded, lifting my hand to press his against his chest, directly over his heart. “But there’s something you need to know about me, Anna. I’ll never cheat on you. My parents have been married for more than thirty years, and my dad never hid from me that my mom is the most important person in his world. I grew up seeing their love for each other every single day, and I promised myself that I would have the same kind of relationship with my wife when I found her.” His thumb stroked over my ring finger, making my heart beat wildly in my chest. “I love magic, but I don’t care about being a celebrity. I took the job at the Lennox so it would be easier to settle down when I found what I was looking for, and I’ve never been happier about my decision than when I spotted you on your first day here...even though you made me hunt you down.”
Whoa. He couldn’t possibly mean what I thought he was saying...could he?
7
Julian
Anna looked stunned at my declaration. “I don’t understand,” she mumbled with a shake of her head.
I chuckled and gave her a quick kiss. “I guess I wasn’t clear enough. You’re everything I’ve been waiting for all my life, sweetheart. I’m not going to let you go. I’m going to marry you, have babies with you, and spend the rest of my life with you.” Her jaw dropped, and she blinked owlishly, looking overwhelmed. “How about we start simple? The first step toward our future is me making love to you.” I sealed my mouth over hers before she could respond.
Anna emitted a tiny moan and twisted her torso so she melted into me. Her hands went to my shoulders, and knowing this meant her shirt would be hanging open again, I slid mine from her face, down to cup her big, heavy tits. As much as I was enjoying devouring her mouth, I was dying to get my lips around her nipples.
I used one hand to unhook her bra at her back and the other to pull the cups down. I held the round globes in my palms and tore my mouth from hers to drop my eyes to her heaving chest. Damn, they were magnificent. I lifted one and bent my head to suck a hard tip into my mouth. I groaned, and my cock jumped beneath her ass. Anna shuddered and wiggled her hips, unintentionally grinding against my large, stiff shaft. Without taking my lips away from her nipple, I relaxed back into the couch and lifted Anna, turning her and settling her on my lap with her legs straddling me.
The new position nestled my cock against her pussy, and I released her nipple with a pop to hiss, “Fuck!” I held her hips in a tight grip and bucked up. “You’re so hot,” I muttered, meaning it literally and figuratively. She was trembling with desire, her nails digging into my shoulders. “I bet you’re tight as fuck,” I groaned, thinking about sinking deep inside her.
An odd look crossed her face, and her cheeks bloomed with pink spots. I cocked my head to the side and studied her as I removed her hands from my shoulders. Slowly, I pushed her blouse off and my thumbs brushed her nipples when I shed her bra next.
She was panting, her eyes glued to my hands, watching me touch her. The wonder in her gaze reminded me of her innocence, and I wanted to howl in possessive satisfaction; to warn every male around that this woman was mine and mine alone. “Sweetheart,” I whispered against her lips, “there is nothing you could tell me that would make me want you any less. But I’m not going to lie, knowing I’m the only man who will ever know you like this is arousing as hell.”
Her pretty lips curved up, and I saw relief enter her eyes a second before I took her mouth in another deep, passionate kiss. As our tongues explored each other’s, her hands came to the top of my shirt and began to work at undoing the buttons. After a minute of fumbling, I pulled back and grinned at her. “It seems only fair that my shirt be ruined too.” I winked at her as I grabbed the sides she’d managed to open and yanked, ripping it apart.
Anna returned my smile as she shoved the fabric from my shoulders, and I shrugged it off completely. Her expression turned hot as her eyes swept down, taking in my naked chest and arms. I tried not to puff up with pride, but I was never happier that I kept myself in great shape. She traced the grooves of my abs with her nails, and a violent shudder shook me from head to toe.
Suddenly, I grabbed her ass and held her to me as I surged to my feet. If I didn’t get to the bed right that minute, I was going to take her on the couch. That was not what I wanted for our first time. I placed soft kisses along her throat as I stalked to the bedroom. Once I reached the bed, I carefully lowered her onto the mattress. My eyes never left her as I toed off my shoes before moving in close and leaning over her.
I left hot, wet kisses all over her neck and throat as I removed the rest of her clothes. Her hands had woven into my hair, but when she was naked, she pushed against my chest. Surprised, I stumbled back, but she caught me with her fingers in my belt loops, yanking me back to her and making me laugh.
She unbuckled my belt, then undid the button of my pants. As she slid the zipper down, my cock struggled to get out, and her eyes widened as she realized how much my pants had disguised my size. She hooked her fingers in the waistband of my pants and boxers, then dragged them down, causing my dick to spring free. Her eyes went wide, and she swallowed a couple of times before raising her eyes to meet mine. “You’re really big.” She was stating the obvious, so I just nodded. “I don’t think you’re going to fit,” she rasped before biting her bottom lip and looking back down at my cock. The skin was stretched tight, and the head was angry and purple, glistening with precome.
&nbs
p; “Trust me, sweetheart,” I purred as I stepped out of my pants. “You were made for me.” I pulled off my socks, then positioned her in the middle of the bed before climbing on and covering her body with mine. “Do you trust me?”
“Yes,” Anna whispered. I could see the truth in her beautiful green eyes, and once again, it made me want to roar with satisfaction. I’d never realized there was a caveman living dormant in me. I kissed her as a way to show her how grateful I was for her surrender.
After loving on her mouth for a few more minutes, I moved to her breasts. When she was writhing with need, I continued my journey until I was resting on my stomach between her legs, and her pussy was bathing my face in her radiant heat. “You smell so good,” I groaned after taking a deep inhale, then I licked my lips. “Do you taste as sweet as you smell, sweetheart?” The question was rhetorical, so I didn’t wait for an answer before dragging my tongue up her slit. “Fuck,” I rasped as my cock pulsed, and my hips involuntarily ground into the mattress. “I didn’t think it was possible, but you taste even more amazing.”
Anna’s pelvis lifted just slightly, but it was enough to have me looking up at her with a grin. “Did you like that, sweetheart?” Her face was covered in a blush, but she took a quick breath and gave me a confident smile, then a sharp nod. When her hips tipped again, I was proud of her for being bold and rewarded her with another long, deep lick.
“Julian,” she moaned, her muscles tensing. Hearing my name from her lips like that was my undoing. I needed my mouth on her.
I rested my elbows on her pelvis to hold her still, then used my thumbs to part her pussy lips. “Anna,” I hummed worshipfully. “Look at this pink, wet pussy. So damn pretty. It’s sexy as fuck to know this is all for me, drenched because of me.” Her clit was hard and begging for my tongue, but I wasn’t ready to give it my attention. I wanted to drive her wild with need first.
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