One Wild Ride: A Hollywood Chronicles Novel

by Jackson, A. L.

  Our elbows brush against each other, and the breeze gently lifts her long hair, whipping it around her face. Instinctively, I reach out, tucking a long strand behind her ear. Elle’s casual stance stiffens when my fingers brush against her cheek as I capture another loose strand of hair, tucking that one away, too.

  Heart racing.

  Blood swooshing.

  My hand falls from her cheek to her shoulder, and my fingers follow a trail down the soft flesh of her arm to finally come to a rest on top of her hand. Her fingers widen, inviting me to lace mine through hers, my palm on top of her hand.

  Elle angles her body toward me. Her eyes heavy, her long lashes fluttering with each slow blink of her beautiful brown eyes.

  “What are we doing, Kassius?” she asks, her voice shaky and barely above a whisper. I shrug, not sure I’m ready to tell her exactly what I’d like from her.

  “We’re two people getting to know each other.” I use my free hand to pull her closer. Her pink lips are parted, and she pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, worrying at it gently. “I’ve enjoyed getting to know you, Elle. I want to know more about you.” I brush the front of my fingers over her cheek, and her head tilts to follow the gesture. Her eyes flutter closed as I brush her cheekbone up to her temple and back down.

  Maybe I’m a coward for doing it this way, but I don’t ask, I just take.

  Leaning in, I press a soft kiss to her supple lips. Lips that taste like wine and sugar. So goddamn sweet. I can feel her inhale sharply, yet she doesn’t pull away from me. Taking that as my cue to continue, I kiss her again. Perfect, sweet kisses. Over and over. This time, she returns them.

  She reaches for my face, her hands trembling on my cheeks as she deepens her kiss. It’s both the sexiest and most intimate kiss of my life. That muscle in my chest kicks up a notch, and I can feel it beating wildly against my ribs.

  Pulling her lips from mine, she inhales loudly and takes a step back. We both pant heavily as we regain our breath. Her eyes fall from mine to her feet, which she shifts back and forth nervously.

  “We shouldn’t do this.” Her words are quiet but stop me dead. My gut twists as I take in the conflict on her face.

  “We’ll take it slow.” I reach for her hand, but she pulls it away, not allowing me to touch her. She takes another step back, putting more distance between us while shaking her head from side to side.

  “Give it a chance, Elle.” My voice tinged with what almost sounds like desperation.

  I’m fucking begging her to give us a chance. I’ve known this beautiful stranger for a week, and I can’t imagine my life without her.

  She closes her eyes and takes a shaky breath. “I don’t think this is a good idea.”

  My heart sinks as the weight of her words sink in, but I won’t let her have the final say in this. She doesn’t get to dismiss us so quickly. “Well, I do. So, roll with it, Princess.”

  I take a demanding step forward and press a quick kiss to her forehead before hobbling inside the condo and heading toward the bedroom. Goddamn if I’m going to let that beautiful girl dismiss what we both just felt.

  It is more than lust.

  It is more than intense.

  It is everything.

  Eleven

  Elle

  What had I just done?

  Oh, that was right, I’d let Kassius kiss me.

  The sexiest man alive.

  The untouchable, gorgeous creature set on display on billboards, who had a body like a chiseled sculpture.

  The dangerous, aspiring actor, no doubt trained to be just like every other limelight-hungry, vain, shady, selfish prick willing to do whatever it took to make it to the top. Either pushing someone else down and climbing right over the top of them to get to those heights, or, more than likely, sleeping their way there.

  The sweet boy who’d spent the last week living in my apartment? That was the one who got to me the most. The one who had me questioning every promise I’d ever made to myself. Prodding at me to just give it a try.

  Hell, I should give it up and have a little fun.

  But, somehow, I knew Kas wouldn’t leave me unscathed, and a little bit of fun would turn into a whole ton of heartache. That, and when he looked at me tonight and told me he wanted to get to know me better, it really meant he wanted to get inside every inch of me.

  Body and soul and mind.

  Those penetrating eyes saw way deeper than just the surface.

  I paced my bathroom, wrung my fingers, blew out a strained breath.

  If he was looking at me so deeply, then why was I so scared to give him chance? If he was only looking for a stepping stone, why would he need to get to know me?

  To earn your trust, you dimwit, my mind screamed at me, while my heart was screaming its own defense, hating that I’d let Christopher scar me so badly that I was terrified to let anyone else get close to me.

  Because having a little fun was one thing?

  Letting this man in was an entirely different story.

  I knew doing so would be giving up on every resolution I’d made, all those staunch declarations belittled by the need this boy had lit inside me.

  Banging shook the bathroom door. “Elle,” he called from the other side, the sound of his voice so close he had to have his face pressed right up to the wood.

  “What do you want?” It flew out with more spite that it deserved, but Kassius Cowen had me on edge.

  “You,” he returned.

  Damn him.

  “Oh, yeah? Well you can’t have me.” It was all a petulant defense when I turned toward the door and crossed my arms over my chest.

  A warm chuckle filtered through the door. “Is that so?”

  “Incredibly so.”

  “How about you stop hiding in your bathroom and we talk about that?”

  “There’s nothing to talk about.”

  “I beg to differ.”

  I didn’t say anything.

  Another pound, though this one softer, I figured with the back of his fist. “Come on, Elle. Open the door. You’ve been in there for over an hour. I have to pee.”

  “Use the powder room off the living room.”

  “My leg is hurting.”

  Worry and twinge of guilt twisted my stomach. Dang him. I edged forward and slowly clicked the lock.

  The second I did, the door banged open, and Kas was sauntering in. My gaze raked him, the man wearing nothing but a pair of shorts hanging way too low on his waist, all those muscles rippling with every step he took.

  “It doesn’t look like your leg is hurting to me,” I managed, flustered, heat gliding through my body.

  I couldn’t help it. As soon as I saw him, I was struck with the way his lips had felt pressed against mine. It’d been a startling kiss in its softness.

  Something so different from what I’d imagined in all those moments when I’d let myself imagine too much.

  Oh, but I knew right then that, if Kas got his hands on me again, his kiss would be different.

  “You’re right. Leg doesn’t hurt.”

  “You lied?” I screeched.

  His dimple made an appearance, that little spot alone a tool that wiped out a whole layer of my walls.

  What was wrong with me?

  He stalked closer, and I was backing up when his low voice hit the air. “Call it a fib. I just needed to check on you.”

  My butt hit the counter, and I gasped. “Oh.”

  He came even closer, his nose almost brushing mine. “See . . . you’ve been talking nonsense, so I figured I needed to check to make sure your thoughts were working themselves out.”

  My eyebrows flew up so fast it kind of made my head spin. “Me? You think it’s me who isn’t thinking right?”

  He brushed his knuckles up my cheek.

  My lips parted, and my knees went weak.

  “Definitely,” he said. “You said something about me kissing you being a bad idea.”

  “It is a bad idea,” I returned.
“And it doesn’t have anything to do with my thoughts being out of order. The only bad idea I’ve had was bringing you here in the first place.”

  There was no fire behind it.

  No firm belief.

  Because I wanted him there. Had been anxious every single day when I left work to get home, knowing he’d be in my kitchen, making me dinner, which was all kinds of an awesome bonus.

  The real prize was getting the view of seeing this man standing in my kitchen.

  Stealing my breath every single day.

  Like he was doing right then.

  Though this time, he was sucking them down, inhaling me as I was inhaling him, something fierce moving around us as he stood there wearing a satisfied smile on his face as he watched me.

  “And you said I’m the liar?” He whispered it at my jaw. “Besides, you bringing me here was my idea. You agreeing to it was the beginning of the best decision you ever made.”

  He peppered those words along the length of my jaw until he was murmuring them in my ear, the vibration of them tumbling through my body.

  He set his hand on my opposite cheek and plucked a kiss at the very edge of my lips.

  Shivers cascaded down my spine.

  “Kas.”

  He slipped his hands to either side of my neck, his lips moving against mine. “Shh . . . don’t think. Just feel it.”

  That was the problem. I could feel him everywhere.

  My body pitched.

  He grinned. I could feel it. Right against my lips.

  “You really wanna feel it, huh?” he teased.

  “Kas.” I wanted it to come out as hard, but it fumbled out on laughter.

  Really, I should put this gorgeous man in his place because I was pretty sure he was a master at getting whatever he wanted, especially in a town like this.

  I squeezed my eyes closed against the thought.

  We all had our dreams.

  Was it wrong for me to judge him for his?

  But him having those dreams wasn’t really the problem. It was just I wasn’t sure how I could ever fit into them. Even if he wasn’t an asshole, his drive for fame would always come first.

  As if he could sense my worry, he slid his palms over my shoulders, all the way down my arms, until he was twining his fingers with mine. He stepped back, staring at me. “Hey . . . I mean it, Elle. I like you a lot, and I want to see where this goes. Even if it takes us some time to get there. For you to trust me.”

  Disbelief filled my smile. “I don’t know what to make of you.”

  He widened his eyes playfully. “That’s why you’re supposed to get to know me.”

  “And what if I don’t like you?” I ribbed, biting my lip and loving the feeling that filled my chest.

  Because I felt it chip away. A hardened piece of anger that had closed me off from a lot of relationships.

  Hurt that was heavy.

  Right then, I felt lighter than I had in a long time.

  He dropped one of my hands and began to walk backward out of the bathroom so he could still watch me as he pulled me along with him.

  Was it wrong he was still the hottest thing I’d ever seen in that cast? Hell, the boy could sell a broken ankle as the next best thing.

  A single brow arched, his sexy mouth twisting in a smile. “Not like me? Come on, Elle, don’t tell me that mind isn’t working right again. No chance you aren’t gonna like me.” He pulled me to his chest, his mouth back at my ear. “In every way.”

  Shocked, I gasped, hands on his bare chest, before he was chuckling and leading me to my bed that he somehow owned.

  How the hell was I supposed to sleep with him after I’d tasted him?

  All my lady bits fangirled.

  They totally loved the idea.

  I sucked in a breath and climbed onto the bed behind him. He was still on his knees when I laid down on my pillow.

  He planted his hands on either side of my head and dipped down closer, a sexy kind of arrogance leaving him on the words. “It’s going to happen, Princess. Count on it.”

  Twelve

  Kassius

  Her mouth opens but then snaps shut quickly.

  Elle’s heart beats so wildly I can damn near feel it as I watch the throbbing pulse in her neck. My gaze falls from the curve of her neck to the soft, supple flesh of her breasts that are peeking out of the sides of her tank top. Slivers of perfect C cups taunt me, teasing me to reach out and touch them.

  “Kas,” she breathes, her voice husky. I divert my eyes back to her face just as my dick begins to harden. Damn it.

  “Elle.” I mimic her tone and cock my head to the side. Her brown eyes holding mine, I look for a sign that she wants me, that she wants more. Her pink, pursed lips are an invitation that I gladly accept. I want them all over my body. Perfect, plump, and soft.

  Leaning in, I press a soft kiss to the corner of her mouth and feel her chest deflate before she inhales sharply when I deepen the kiss. As I lower myself on top of her, her thighs spread, making a home for me between her legs. A place I’ve dreamed of being. Thin sleep shorts do little to hide the heat I feel coming from her center.

  I will have her. Every square inch of her will be mine. Just not tonight. Elle needs to understand I want more than just a romp in the sheets with her. I want it all. I want to own her heart, body, and soul, and I’ll wait for her, but damn it, I will have her.

  My nose grazes her jawline before finding that sweet spot right behind her ear where I press my lips. She mewls and tosses her head from side to side as I nip at her ear lobe.

  “Bad idea,” Elle mumbles as her hands grip at my bare sides, her fingers gently pinching the flesh just above my hips.

  “Perfect idea, Princess.”

  Instinctively, I rock my hips into her center, letting her feel me through the thin fabric that separates us. I feel her physically shudder when my boxer-covered dick brushes against her warm opening.

  This woman.

  How the hell did we get from her damn near running me over to right here?

  To her bed.

  To her winding a place into my heart. In one week.

  “Oh my God,” she mutters as I rock against her core again, her hips bucking back against mine, a natural response.

  “That’s right, baby. You’ll be praying to every spiritual figure you can name and everyone in between when I finally take you.” My dick probes at her, and it takes every ounce of my self-control to back off.

  “Mmmm,” she barely manages to get out before she arches her back, pressing her chest into mine. My hand snakes up underneath the hem of that too little tank top that leaves nothing to the imagination.

  She’s all soft flesh and everything beautiful all in one perfect package. Her sun-kissed skin pebbles with goose bumps at my touch.

  My large hand glides up her side, stopping at the bottom of her rib cage. Brushing my thumb against the soft curve on the underside of her breast, she arches her back tighter into me. An unspoken request to touch her.

  I could plunge into her right now and lose myself, but I won’t. Tonight, I’ll take only a small piece of her.

  Pushing her tank top up and over her chest, her heavy breasts fall from where they were held by that flimsy material, and I inhale sharply. Her pink nipples, all puckered into hard little buds are begging for my mouth. Her chest rises and falls with each shallow breath she takes.

  Her eyes flicker from mine to her chest before her fingers dig into my sides, pulling me closer to her.

  “Bad idea,” she mumbles again. Who she’s mumbling too, I don’t know. Surely not to me, because every kiss, every brush of my finger sends her body into overdrive. Definitely not a bad idea.

  “Best.” I press a kiss to her neck. “Idea.” I press another kiss to the space between her breasts. “Ever.” I finally pull one of her nipples into my mouth, giving it a firm suck.

  “Shiiiiit!” She yelps, her hands moving from my sides to my back. Her fingernails press into the firm muscles th
at line each side of my spine.

  “You like that, huh, baby?” I chuckle, moving to her other breast, running my tongue in soft circles around the other nipple. Her legs fall open wider in response.

  Her breathing has turned to panting, and I’m so fucking turned on that if I don’t stop right now, I’ll blow my load right here. Reaching down, I adjust my erection as I slide off Elle, pausing our fun for tonight. I prop myself up on my side and readjust her tank top, pulling it back into place.

  She stares at the ceiling, her eyes blinking slowly as she regains control of her breathing. Her head rolls to the side, and her eyes meet mine. Something between lust, sadness, confusion, and utter joy swirl around in her expression.

  I reach out and lace my fingers through hers, placing our linked hands on top of her chest before leaning in and pressing a sweet kiss to her lips. “Good night, Elle.”

  “Night, Kas,” she says quietly, squeezing my hand. I pull her closer to me and cradle her against my chest as I close my eyes and fall asleep with her in my arms.

  Thirteen

  Elle

  “Oh my God, you’re back!” I said to Kaylee into my cell. Okay, I squealed it. I couldn’t help it, not when my best friend had galivanted off to London with one of the biggest superstars of our time.

  Paxton Myles.

  She was so in for an interrogation. The last time I’d seen her, she’d been crying her eyes out in her living room while she watched the paparazzi talk about her life like it was an HBO show. The next thing I’d known, I’d seen her face flashed on the screen that she’d run off to London with Paxton.

  Totally out of the blue.

  Totally in the limelight.

  Every kind of speculation cast their way.

  It was just reason number two thousand eighty-two a smart girl shouldn’t pick her dates from the Hollywood pool.

  Worse was I’d tried to call her umpteen times, and every single one of my calls had gone to voice mail. To say I was concerned was an understatement. Especially when I was the one who’d put her directly in the path of that speeding train.