“Well, I had just assumed you’d be bringing Winter with you and when you didn’t show….” Fallon’s words trailed off as color poured into her cheeks and she took a step backwards as she took in their appearance, Flynn in her robe and Winter in his Winter skin. “I should have realized you had a different reunion in mind.”
Winter nuzzled his nose against her throat and made a humming sound, ignoring Fallon who was standing right there. Turning her head, Flynn saw that his eyes were closed and he wore a drowsy smile. Hell, he was probably still mostly asleep. Sliding her hand along his jaw and into his hair, she held him against her as she gave her sister an apologetic look. “He’s really tired.”
“I can see that,” Fallon said, biting back her horrified amusement. “And he’s really horny, too.”
“Always,” Winter purred roughly. “Come back to bed, Flynn.”
“Flynn, he’s naked,” Fallon finally acknowledged out loud.
“Yeah, I kinda figured that out,” she admitted, scooting in front of him to hide his goods from her sister’s eyes. Of course, Fallon had already seen all there was to see because of that picture on her phone. “He’s not all the way awake otherwise he wouldn’t be standing out here in nothing but his stubble.”
Winter’s hand slid into the front of her robe, his palm warming her skin as he moved upwards and cupped her breast. Shifting uneasily, Flynn tried to keep her robe closed as she continued talking with Fallon, who was backing towards the door with a huge, cheeky grin on her face. Winter was very persistent, tugging at the robe until it fell open. Thank God for underwear.
“Come back to bed,” he growled, pulling her backwards.
“I think I’d do what he says,” Fallon laughed, opening the front door and stepping one foot out. “Otherwise you might have that beast of a man seducing you in our living room.”
“I’m not a beast,” Winter mumbled, tugging Flynn further into the bedroom, his lips tasting and teasing her neck. Flynn was barely aware of the front door closing as Winter spun her around and thrust his tongue into her mouth. “I woke up and you weren’t there.”
“I was ten feet away,” she murmured, running her hands over the hard, hot planes of his chest.
“I missed you,” he growled, grabbing her under her thighs and hoisting her up so their mouths were even. Automatically, her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck. He looked at her with eyes that were wide awake and she suspected he had been awake the entire time.
Her lips parted on a grin. “Oh! You beast!”
His smile was wicked and unrepentant as he fell onto the bed, holding her on his lap. “Like I said, I missed you.”
“It would have taken me five minutes to get rid of Fallon,” she chided lightly, trying not to laugh and encourage him. “You didn’t have to come out there and let her see the goods.”
His eyebrow shot up, “The goods?”
“My goods?” she asked, nipping his chin with her teeth. “My delectable, delicious manly goods?” She nipped his nose. “My Winter goods?” Softly, she kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth and tasting his minty-ness. “I could spend hours kissing you.”
“Days.”
“Years.”
He smiled against her lips closing his arms so she was more intimately pressed against him. “I wish you weren’t on your period.”
“So do I,” she agreed on a groan, sliding off his lap and laying back on the bed. Looking up at him, she squirmed a little until her robe fell open exposing her body to his hungry gaze. In a move that startled her, he was hovering over her, his hands on either side of her head, his face right in front of her face, his body covering hers. A delighted giggle slipped past her lips, which made him growl.
“Don’t tease me, Flynn,” he rumbled, the heat of his body warming her until she thought she would never be cold again. “I am not a man you want to tease.”
“Oh, I beg to differ,” she purred, running her foot up along his calf, the crisp hair of his leg tickling her toes. “You’re the only man I want to tease.”
Once again he moved faster than she expected, grabbing her around her waist and flipping her over his knee. “Winter!”
“I told you not to tease me,” he crooned with a dark edge, gathering up the silky material of her robe and draping it over her waist so her bottom was exposed. His warm palm curved over her butt and he lovingly stroked it as he leaned over her and whispered in her ear, “Because it’s your first time, I’ll leave your panties on.”
Alarmed, she jerked her head around and looked up at him. The dark smile curving his lips sent a thrill of anticipation and fear through her and she swallowed, bracing herself for the impact. Then his hand was gone and a heartbeat later, a sharp sting heated her ass and she yelped. He did it again and then again, the heat flowing over her skin as he spanked her. His erection twitched against her hip and the flames of arousal burned even hotter.
“I want your ass, Flynn,” he growled against her ear, spanking her one last time before smoothing his hand over the red-hot flesh. Maneuvering her body until she was straddling him once against, he looked at her with hot and heavy eyes, “Would you like that?”
The thought terrified her and she stared at him with wide, frightened eyes even though she knew she would deny him almost nothing. Empathy shone in his blue eyes as his fingers tangled with her hair and he cupped her skull in his heated palm. “We’ll go slow.”
Holding his eyes, she cautiously nodded her head, once. She made to climb off his lap to assume the position but he held her still, a soft chuckle washing over her, through her. “Not tonight, Flynn. If we did it tonight it would be an awful experience for you because your body isn’t prepared.”
Feeling young and inexperienced, she blushed. “Okay.”
His laughter was louder as he hugged her to his chest, resting his chin on the top of her head, “We’ll stretch you slowly so by the time I take you it will be nothing but pleasure. I never want to hurt you.”
“I know.” Even though he told her they weren’t going to do that tonight, her heart was still racing in her chest like a frightened, little rabbit. Pressing her cheek against his chest, her eyes still wide, she listened to the soothing rhythm of his strong heartbeat.
“Oh, you poor thing,” he crooned, stroking her back in long, lingering caresses. “You’re trembling.”
“I’m cold,” she hedged, sliding her arms beneath his and around his back. His muscles flexed and contracted with his movements, matching the steady rhythm of his heart, calming her.
Shifting, he grabbed the comforter from the bed and wrapped it around her so they were snuggling beneath the blanket. With her cheek resting on the curve where his neck met his shoulders, she drifted in blissful lethargy even as her bottom still smarted. Softly, feeling like a cloud floating too close to the sun, she asked, “How did you end up on Midnight Kiss?”
He was now dragging his fingers through her hair, pressing soft kisses along her temple, the shell of her ear, and it was a few moments before he answered. “I went to an open audition with one of my friends, a fellow theater geek. Only, I was there for moral support because I had no desire to do television. For me, it was always going to be the stage and nothing else.”
She smiled at the arrogance of the eighteen year old boy he had been, so certain of his future. “That would have been a great loss because Vitali Marcos is a freaking legend.”
Kissing the top of her head, he chuckled before he continued, “We weren’t told a lot about the role, only that it was a small part in a new series, not even a day’s work. Because we weren’t given any explicit instructions, when my turn came I decided to do the Superman transformation.”
Tilting her head back and to the side, she looked at him and watched as he acted out the motions as he described them. “I went in as Clark Kent, meek and humble with my shoulders stooped and my mop of hair flopping over my eyes.” Pushing his hair back, he smiled down at her with the cocky arrogance of
the young vampire and her breath caught in her throat. “And then I straightened my shoulders, slicked my hair back, and was imbued with confidence and a certain swagger that comes with the knowledge that you’re the most lethal man in the world but you use your power for good.
“The producers fucking loved it, though I didn’t know it at the time,” he admitted. “In fact, I thought my friend did a better job. He read the entire soliloquy from Hamlet and had everyone in rapture. Of course, vampires are more Superman than Hamlet and my character in particular was the whole Clark Kent transforming into a badass.”
“Plus you’re gorgeous,” she teased, reaching up and pushing her fingers through his thick hair and mussing it up even more.
“Three months of intense training before taping started,” he told her candidly. “Before the series, I was just your average, high school student, nothing special.”
“I want to see pictures because I’m pretty sure you were gorgeous even back them.”
“Yes and that’s why all of the popular kids used to torment me and generally make my life a living hell,” he told her in a wry voice.
“That’s because they were high school kids, too, and probably intimidated by the sheer awesomeness you hadn’t even realized you had,” she said with utter conviction. “It was there, surrounding you, and they could sense it but they couldn’t see it and it freaked them out because even then they knew you were destined for greatness.”
“You’re so full of shit, Flynn Rogers,” he said, a smile in his voice.
“I prefer to think of it as cotton candy because it’s sweet and fluffy,” she sniffed.
“And sinfully sweet and full of hot air. No, Flynn, I don’t think so because you have more going on in that head of yours than any ten people I know,” he returned, twisting so she was on her back and he was looming over her once again. His fingers were at her ribs and he did the most evil thing ever: he began tickling her. Overcome with giggles, she squirmed to get away from him but he was an evil, tickling mastermind, able to anticipate her moves and counter with more tickles.
Shrieking with laughter until tears ran down her cheeks, unable to catch her breath, she begged him to stop. Kneeling over her, his fingers hovering over her ribs but not quite touching, he kept teasing her just to make her laugh without even being touched. Laughing, sobbing, she begged, “Stop!”
“Okay, I’ll stop,” he said, bracing himself with his hands on the bed on either side of her breasts. Letting her catch her breath, he stared down at her with a tender expression on his face before reaching up and running one finger along her temple, over her nose, and down her throat. She held her breath as he followed the path of his finger, as if finding it the most fascinating thing in the world. Lifting his head, he looked directly into her eyes, an unnamed emotion burning brightly in the blue depths, “You don’t hold anything back, do you, Flynn?”
“What do you mean?” she asked softly, sucking in a shallow breath, afraid to break the spell that he seemed to be under.
“I now know why you were afraid of taking risks,” he said instead, his fingers trailing over her skin in a random pattern. “There was no one before I came along that was strong enough to catch you if you fell.”
Her brows puckered in confusion and a little bit of hurt, “Are you saying I’m fat?”
Laughing, he shook his head no, “Not even a little bit. But your personality is larger than life itself and it took the right hammer to break the thin walls down and release the beast within.”
Collapsing onto the bed next to her, he wrapped his fingers around her hand and murmured, “You’re bursting with life, Flynn. You have this intensity about you that intimidates mere mortals.”
Rolling onto her side so her chin was on his shoulder, she smirked at him, “And you’re immortal?”
“Well, I played one on T.V.,” he grinned at her, looking suddenly younger and more carefree and absolutely beautiful.
After a moment of silently grinning like a couple of idiots, she asked, “What became of your friend?”
“We’re still friends.” Winter laughed at some private joke before he told her, “He’s doing really well on the stage, at least well enough to make a decent living at it. Trevor Malone?”
Her eyes widened as she sat up and looked down at him in stunned amazement, “Trevor Malone’s your friend? My sister is obsessed with him, thinking he’s the reincarnation of Laurence Olivier. She’s going to shit bricks when I tell her he’s your friend.”
“So it takes a stage actor to really impress your sister?” he teased, drawing a finger along her clavicle.
“Well, it is impressive,” she returned, her heart rate picking up as he drew his finger along the edge of her bra. “I mean, he’s a stage actor.”
“Don’t get any funny ideas about him,” he growled, his eyes serious even as he continued to smile. Hooking his finger into the cup of her bra, he tugged it down until her nipple was exposed and she had to bite back an audible gasp. Sitting up, he wrapped an arm around her waist and jerked her against his body. Her naked nipple rubbed against the hard plane of his chest and jolts of pleasure shot down her spine. “Unlike me, he actually is a man whore.”
“And he has a smaller dick,” she breathed, arching her back to create more friction. When he gave her an odd look, she scraped her fingers along his skull until she was cradling the back of his head. “Wasn’t that your version of a pissing contest? Staking your claim? I thought I’d help out since I have no intention of ever looking beyond you.”
“You humble me,” he said thickly.
“I would like to meet him one day.”
Narrowing his eyes, he looked at her in suspicion, “Why?”
“To know more about what you were like in high school from someone who isn’t you.”
“Maybe,” he agreed, hesitation in his voice. “But I find I’m not eager to share you with anyone in my world. I’m afraid they’ll taint you or infect you with their poison.”
“You’ll find that I’m immune to a lot of infectious diseases,” she murmured in a straight voice, her eyes sparkling with laughter.
“This from a girl obsessed with STD’s.” He rolled his eyes at her, his smile taking the sting out of the words.
Staring at his handsome face, seeing the man beneath the mask, she was suddenly struck by some strong emotion. With her fingers still tangled in his hair, she asked, “When did this become real?”
“I think it’s always been real,” he answered in a voice just as hushed and reverent as hers. “But I was too afraid to admit it.
Bending her head, she kissed him softly, “I’m glad you’re no longer afraid.”
“I think I’ll always be afraid,” he breathed against her lips. “But now I’m more afraid of losing you than having you in my life.”
“You’ll never lose me.” Kissing him, she whispered. “Never.”
Chapter 15
As she got ready, Flynn couldn’t stop the grin from splitting her face because she was going to see Winter in just a few hours. She was inordinately pleased with herself because over the past couple of weeks, she had managed to ferret out Winter’s favorite food (lobster), favorite color (chocolate brown), favorite place in the world (between her thighs), and a host of other little tidbits. She had compiled everything she knew about him and kept the information in a folder on her tablet titled Winter Files because she wanted to plan an awesome birthday party for him, even though his birthday wasn’t for almost three months. On January 19th, he’d be turning twenty-eight and exactly two months later, on March 19th, she’d be turning twenty-two.
In the month since admitting their relationship was real, Winter had spent most of his time on location filming his latest movie, an epic sci-fi fantasy involving aliens, prophecies, explosions and Winter. It sucked balls, especially since their phone conversations were so short because his schedule was insane. But he was going to be there in a few hours for their clandestine date. They were planning on attending
a masquerade-themed Halloween party at the ultra-exclusive club, Velvet Smoke.
It was difficult being apart from him but it was even worse because Melissa and Storm were staying near him to keep up appearances and there were plenty of pictures of Winter and her together. The magazines all gushed over their solid relationship, coming up with stories about their long-standing engagement or their secret wedding or the joyous news of their unexpected pregnancy, none of which were true and Winter always called the moment a story broke. When she saw the pictures, she could see the strain on both Melissa’s and Winter’s faces and she wondered how no one else noticed it, figuring people saw what they wanted to see. It explained how no one realized Storm was Winter’s biological son, even if there were no pictures in any of the publications of the little boy.
Her job kept her busy as she continued working on Storm’s party on top of her regular duties at Gilded Dreams. She discovered she was actually pretty good at planning a party, especially once she figured out she got to do decorations. Oh, she knew she’d probably never reach the level of Gwyn or Siobhan or Jennifer, who were able to make fantasy into reality, but she was really good at planning children’s birthday parties. In fact, she was thinking about letting Diane know she’d be willing to take on children’s events but she didn’t want to be presumptuous. She’d see how Storm’s party went first before she mentioned anything. Well, if she and Fallon were going to stay in L.A.
Plans for the party were moving ahead and she didn’t have to deal with Melissa at all and Winter said she could do whatever she wanted. She and Harry had come up with an amazing menu, she hired a band that played kid friendly tunes but in a way that adults enjoyed, and she handled a hundred other details. Her dad and his crew had started and nearly completed the work on the pirate ship but they were still three hours away. When she had gone to visit, it had felt weird being at Winter’s home without him there, though that didn’t stop her from sleeping in his bed. Naked. He had nearly had a coronary when she told him that, threatening to punish her for teasing him while there was nothing he could do about it.
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