by Lila Dubois
“It’s just that I hadn’t realize how…horrible…I’d been to you.”
“Henry, you weren’t horrible. You were sending me some mixed signals, but that hardly makes you horrible.”
“On set today you pointed out that everyone was looking at me because it was the first time I’d expressed any concern for you.”
“That was my fault. I didn’t mean for it to come out the way it sounded.”
“But you were right. Once you said it, I noticed everyone looking at me.”
“It doesn’t matter what their opinion is.”
“I know, and I don’t care what they think.” Henry stopped himself, hands balling into fists. “Fuck, I’m doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Being an ass.”
Akta’s lips twitched. “Maybe it’s part of your charm.”
Henry looked sideways at her. “I can’t imagine that it’s charming.”
“Henry, listen to me. Yes, it was hard to hear you say you didn’t think humans and monsters should be together, but that was hard for me to hear because I wanted to be with you. You’re not a jerk, not an ass.” She took his hand, laced his fingers with hers. “You’re smart and gorgeous. You’re an amazing actor. It doesn’t matter what people think.”
“Doesn’t it?” He wanted to accept her words and let them go. “I’ve lived my whole life trying to hide how I really felt—in my true form everyone knows my feelings, and as a human I have only slightly more control.”
He shook his head. “I’ve become so good at hiding myself that I’ve turned into the person I was only pretending to be.” He shifted on the couch to face Akta. “I want you to know that every time you were doing something even a little dangerous, I was worried about you. When you were filming the scene where Seling kidnaps you, I watched you. I knew how dangerous it could be with him carrying you like that. I was terrified something would happen to you.”
Her lips parted and her eyes were luminous. “I didn’t know.”
“I made sure you didn’t,” he said in disgust. “I’m lucky you’re still willing to sleep with me, let alone have sex with me.” He groaned and put his head in his hands. “You had to have sex with an asshole virgin.”
“Oh, Henry.” Akta’s voice was soft and there was a smile on her lips. “You poor man. I promise you it’s not as bad as you make it sound.”
“Which part? That I’m an ass or that I’m a virgin?”
“Were a virgin. I’m sorry to say you lost that status.”
He grunted.
Akta’s arms slid around his bare chest and she rested her head on his shoulder. “Henry, I always wanted to be with you. Even when I was sure you wanted nothing to do with me, I wanted you.”
“I hate to point this out, but that’s a bit insane.”
“Trust me, I know that. What I’m trying to say is that the way you behaved before was normal. This whole project has been like a monster-human dating game, which is decidedly not normal. In fact, if this were a normal set, the only people hooking up would have been the two of us. Normally the principal actors are the only ones messing around with each other.”
Henry looked at her, frowning as he tried to understand.
“Compared to how everyone else was behaving as they seduced each other, you seemed distant, but that’s because you and I were the only ones not acting like characters in a Nicholas Sparks movie.”
Her words brought a little chuckle, and his black cloud of self-hatred lifted a little. “Cali and Seling were the worst.”
“I know, they were like a bad soap opera. Today you acted like a guy seeing the girl he’s sleeping with being dragged across the floor. You were concerned, and you said something. That’s natural for, well, a boyfriend. Not natural for a costar.”
Henry let out a relieved breath. He wasn’t 100 percent convinced, but what Akta said made him feel a lot better. “You’re sure I wasn’t a jerk before?”
“Yes.” Her voice left no room for doubt. “There are four or five people looking out for me at any given time. That wasn’t and isn’t your job. What I said on set wasn’t meant to make you feel bad about the past. I just wanted to warn you that if you kept it up everyone would start speculating about whether we were together.”
Henry leaned back and wrapped his arm around her, pulling her against his chest. Her hand settled over his heart. Her fingers were cold, so he took her hand in his, warming her. “Are we a secret?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Are we?”
Neither had the answer, so neither said anything.
Akta’s breath was fanning across his collarbone and the longer they sat there, the more aware of her body Henry became. He slid his hand down her back to the hem of her sweater, lifting it enough so he could touch the bare skin of her waist.
Akta sat up, bracing her hands on his chest. “I’ve been thinking about you.” The desire was there in her voice, and Henry was sure that if she’d been a color-changing monster she’d be flushed red with desire.
“What were you thinking?”
“I was remembering what it was like to have you inside me.”
His semi-erect cock sprang to full hardness at her blunt words. “Akta,” he groaned.
In the next moment they were throwing off their clothes. There was no finesse or artifice, just a desperate need to touch and be touched. Henry shucked his jeans, then pulled off her sandals. He took her pants and panties down at the same time, tossing them away. She flung her bra after them.
Naked, they came together, flesh slapping against flesh. Henry had thought about this moment, imagined it, dreamed about the things he would do to her the next time he had her naked in his arms, but there wasn’t time. He needed her like a thirsty man needed water.
“Akta, I can’t wait.”
“Don’t. I want it hard, fast. Fuck me.”
Her words spurred him on, and when she parted her legs, wrapping them around his waist, he didn’t waste any time. Shifting forward, he rubbed his cock against her until he found the entrance to her body. Her skin was hot against the tip of his dick, but she wasn’t as wet as she had been last time.
“Akta?”
“Now, Henry. Fuck me now.” She accompanied that with nails digging into his back.
He thrust, driving himself into her. It was not the smooth, easy glide of last time—she was tight, he had less control. As he pulled out, he felt her body grow slick, as if the penetration was what she’d needed.
“Tell me if I’m hurting you.”
“You’re not—I mean, maybe a little, but I like it. I want it.”
Henry shuddered at her words, but paused. She was so little, so delicate and soft. She—
Bit him, hard enough to make him yelp.
Henry met Akta’s gaze. Whatever she might be on the outside—delicate and feminine—inside, she was wild and powerful. She was demanding that he pleasure her, demanding that he meet her core of strength with his own.
Henry shifted them until she lay in a better position under him, braced his arms and fucked her. Their flesh slapped as he thrust in hard and fast. She urged him on with little moans of enjoyment and quiet demands that grew fainter as her enjoyment increased. Henry’s skin pricked from a pleasure that was both physical and mental. This was his woman, his mate, and he would take her, possess her.
Her nails dug into his back and her legs tightened around his ass. He felt her orgasm, her pussy clenching around his cock. For a moment he thought he’d come from that, but it wasn’t quite enough. He wanted—needed to fuck her.
“Akta,” he growled.
“Tell me.”
“I want to fuck you. Harder.”
“Get up. New position.”
Trusting her, he pulled out, which elicited a groan from both of them. Akta rolled to her feet and dragged him to the small table. She threw her sweater over it, then climbed up. Henry steadied her as she knelt then dropped onto all fours. She spread her legs and leaned back a bit.
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The position put her pussy on display, allowing him to see her core in the lights of the trailer. His dick jerked against his belly and his mouth went dry. Holding her hips, he lowered her ass, then pressed his cock against her. Her knees bent and she stretched out her arms to hold on to the far side of the table.
He had to use his hand to guide himself into her, testing this new kind of sex. Akta gasped and jerked.
He stopped. “Did I hurt you?”
“No, no. New position, different angle. So good. Don’t stop.”
Filing that piece of information away, he withdrew and slid in again. This time he could feel it—the difference in the way they fit together when they were like this. When he was sure of how to move, he increased the tempo. Standing at the table she knelt on, his hands on her hips helping to steady her, Henry could go faster and harder than before, and that was what he wanted—faster and harder.
He slammed into her, fucking her with a wild, uncontrolled desire. Akta gasped and moaned through her teeth, each little sound only making him hotter.
He wanted it to go on forever, but within two minutes he lost control. The orgasm swept through him, tightening his balls and making his cock throb within her. Henry pressed himself as deep inside her as he could go, riding out the pleasure.
When the last shudder rippled through him, Henry let out a tired breath. It felt good to be inside her like this, but he was suddenly exhausted. Pulling out, he staggered back a few steps to the futon and fell on it.
Akta started to slide off the table.
“Wait, I’m going to help you,” he said. “I just need a minute.”
Akta stretched, thrusting her breasts out as she lifted her arms over her head. Her breasts! He hadn’t played with her breasts. Damn it.
“That was amazing. And don’t be sorry. It’s quite a compliment, tiring out a man like you with good sex.”
“Come here,” he demanded, wanting to hold her.
Akta slid off the table and into his arms. They curled up together on the futon, and Henry grabbed a folded blanket off the back and draped it over her. “Thank you,” she said in a tired voice.
“You should sleep.”
“I want to go home, sleep there. I’ve got a twelve-hour break.”
“I’ll wake you up in a few minutes and drive you home.”
“Okay, thanks.”
Akta’s breath slowed and deepened. Henry held her as she slept, feeling happier than he ever had before. He’d finally found a woman he trusted enough to admit his secrets to, and she’d not only embraced them, and him, but the reality of being with her was better than he’d ever imagined.
A frisson of fear skittered through him. He tightened his arms around her.
He wasn’t sure he had any right to be this happy, and now that he was, he was going to do whatever it took to keep her safe. The problem was the thing most likely to harm Akta was being with him.
For the first time, he understood the fear the other males lived with—a fear they seldom spoke of but Henry could see in their eyes. This movie wouldn’t just expose him and his people to the humans, it would expose the humans they’d involved to a danger as great—or greater—than what they faced.
Henry hugged her tighter, terrified that he’d already doomed her to a very grim fate.
Chapter Nine
“We aren’t even done filming. Are you sure this is a good idea?” Cali paced the Calypso Productions office.
Akta pulled her heels up onto the chair, as comfortable in this conference room as she was in her own living room. “The marketing firm thinks people should start to get to know them.”
After some heated debate, they’d decided to bring in a marketing and PR team earlier than expected. It was going to kill the budget, but they needed to be proactive about putting out their message. Their account manager at the marketing firm hadn’t even blinked when they explained that the monsters were real and that their movie was going to change the world. They hadn’t been able to take any of the guys with them to the meeting, so they didn’t have proof of their story.
“How many people do you think we’re going to meet with?” Runako asked.
“We’re going to limit it to thirty, which is still going to take all day.”
Though Truth in Darkness was top secret, the word had gotten out that it was being made, and the minute they’d announced the movie junket everyone and their brother had wanted in. They were going to show a few rough clips and—if Oren got it done in time—a teaser trailer.
Henry, Runako, Luke and Akta would be interviewed on camera for various outlets, while Cali and Lena would be there for off-camera interviews and to answer questions.
“Has everyone memorized the interview guidelines?”
The marketing firm had helped them come up with a list of topics they should avoid and a second list of topics they weren’t going to answer any questions about but could drop hints for.
“I have,” Luke said, ever the good guy.
“I don’t need guidelines,” Runako insisted.
“I’ll make sure he knows them,” Margo said, her engagement ring catching the light as she gestured.
“Henry? Akta?”
Akta jumped at Lena’s saying their names together. They’d been filming nearly around the clock since that night she and Henry had sex in his trailer, and somehow Akta still hadn’t found time to tell her friends what was going on. If she was totally honest with herself, she’d admit that she was enjoying the seemingly illicit nature of their fractured affair.
“I’ll be ready,” Akta assured them, then looked at Henry under her lashes. He nodded.
When the group’s attention shifted to the next order of business, Akta and Henry shared a long glance across the table.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
“I missed you.”
A little thrill went through Akta at Henry’s words. Holding her phone with one hand, she carried her glass of wine to the living room. She’d finished filming hours ago, and their tentative plan to get together tonight hadn’t panned out. It was just past ten, but with their call times for six o’clock in the morning, and sleep and rest a precious commodity, they’d agreed via text message to remain in their respective homes for the night.
The disappointment at not seeing him had Akta moping about as she did some chores around the house, until her phone rang.
“How did it go after I left?” she asked.
“Good. They’re still messing around with some of the effects. I might need to remind Pete that we’re tough but not indestructible.”
“I would be pretty upset if something happened to you,” she teased.
“You would?” The question was serious, maybe a little tentative.
Akta took a sip of wine, embarrassed that she might come across as needy. “Yes. I would.”
“Good.”
“Good? That’s all you’re going to say.”
“What am I supposed to say?”
Akta settled back, feeling like she had when she was a teenager sneaking phone calls with her boyfriend while her poor parents were in the other room dreaming of the day she’d become a doctor. Luckily, Akta’s siblings had all become doctors. Even now, despite her success, she knew her parents worried that she didn’t have a skill—acting was a hobby in their eyes. Neurosurgery was a skill.
“Why don’t you say something like, ‘Oh, Akta, if anything happened to you I too would be terribly sad’.”
“First, I would never say it like that. Second, if something happened to you I’d be more than sad.”
“You would?”
“Yes, I’d be…” she heard his sigh through the phone, “…I’d be broken.”
Akta went still, his words causing her heart to beat so loud she could feel it in her fingers. “Henry…”
He cleared his throat. “What are you doing right now?”
Akta bit her lip, wanting to go back, to stay in that vulnerable moment. There was something sh
e wanted to tell Henry—and hopefully hear the same in return.
“Akta, you still there?”
“Yes.” She looked at her wineglass, then let the moment go. “I’m sitting on the couch drinking wine. What are you doing?”
“Same, but it’s beer.”
“What are you wearing?”
“Uh, pants?”
Akta snorted. There went her attempt at phone sex. “We should probably go to bed. Wasn’t the point of tonight to get some sleep?”
“Yes, but I wanted to hear your voice.”
Akta took her glass into the kitchen and put it in the sink. “I’m glad you called.”
Henry made an odd noise. “There was, uh, something I wanted to talk to you about.”
“Okay.” Akta went down the hall to her bedroom, looking sadly at her empty bed. She still needed to do her evening beauty and stretching routine, but she’d wait until Henry was off the phone. “What is it?”
“Do you remember when you said that I should tell you…tell you what I want?”
Akta tensed. “Yes, I remember. And I do want you to tell me what you want.”
“Were you talking generally or about more specific things?”
Now she was confused. “Either. Both.”
“Okay.”
“Is there something specific you want?”
“No. But I have a list.”
“A list of things you want…” In a girlfriend? From life? For dinner? Men could be so difficult.
“Sex things.”
Akta sat down on the bed. It took her brain a second to switch gears, but when it did, a smile spread over her face. “You have a sex wish list? Henry, that is so hot.”
“It is?”
“Definitely.”
“I was worried.”
“Are you going to tell me what’s on it?”
“The instructions say that you’re supposed to fill out one too.”
“Instructions?” Akta was both confused and curious. “Where did you get this list?”
“The Internet.”
Akta bit her index finger to keep from laughing. “And it came with instructions?”
“Yes, but I just noticed them. I just wanted the list so I would know what my options were.”