by Megyn Ward
Relaxing my jaw, I take him in as far as I can, licking and sucking while he fucks my mouth. Looking up, I find his gaze with mine, the blue of his eyes hooded and dark. His breath heavy in his chest like he’s having a hard time catching it. His hips pumping and stroking against the pressure of my mouth and hand.
“I gonna come.” His fingers tighten in my hair for a second before loosening, giving me a chance to pull away.
I don’t pull away.
I moan again, tightening my grip on his cock. Licking and sucking faster. Harder. “Fuck.” He shouts it this time, his fingers tightening in my hair hard enough to hurt while his cock jerks and spasms, the thick, salty taste of his release hitting the back of my throat.
Before he’s finished, Zach is reaching for me again, this time fitting his hands under my arms.
One second, I’m on my knees. The next I’m on my bed, sprawled my back, Zach kneeling between my thighs. Hooking my panties with his fingertips, he rips them down my legs before lifting my hips off the bed—and then he’s inside me, a hard, deep thrust that has me crying out.
“Christ…” He growls it, low and rough in his throat. “You feel so fucking good.” He shifts his grip on my hips, sliding his thumb up the seam of my throbbing pussy until his finds my clit, slicking the pad of it over me. Pressing and circling until I’m writhing and moaning, my legs locked around his hips.
“More, Zach…” My hips flex in his hands, my pussy trying to pull him deeper. Closer. “I need—”
Leaning forward, he braces a hand against the wall above my head, lifting my hips even further off the bed with the other, deepening the angle of his thrusts. “Me.” He pulls out and slams back into me, so hard and fast my eyes fly open. “You need me,” he says, each of his words punctuated by the stroke of his thick cock inside me. “Say it Kylie—” He’s staring down at me, watching me come apart underneath him. “Say you need me.”
“I need you, Zach... only you.” As soon as I say it, a fire catches in my belly, my orgasm burning its way up the length of my spine. My back arches, shoulders digging into the bed and I scream his name, my pussy gripping around him like a fist.
“Fuck.” Buried deep inside me, he comes again, his fingers digging into my hip while his cock empties inside me.
Stretching himself out on top of me, he keeps fucking me, his thrusts slowing as he cups a hand around my jaw, using his thumb to angle my mouth up to meet his. His tongue sweeps past my lips to tangle with mine, each languid stroke of it keeping perfect time with his cock moving inside me.
The wave recedes and I catch my breath. “Wow.”
Zach rolls off of me but despite the heat, we lay against each other. “I’ve never.” He swallows, starting at the ceiling. “Not like that.”
I turn my head and look at him. “Like what?”
His mouth tightens at my question and I think I’ve pushed too far. That he isn’t going to answer me, until finally he speaks.
“I had a girlfriend.” He doesn’t look at me when he says it. “We were together for seven years. She dumped me—she’s the reason I went crazy. Dropped out of school. Started drinking and fucking anything I could get my hands on.” He must feel my shoulders stiffen against his because me looks at me. “I thought I loved her. That I couldn’t live without her. Didn’t want to… and then I met you.” He smiles at me, the slow spread of it lighting up his face. “When I look at you, I can’t even remember what she looks like.”
He props himself on his elbow and kisses me, lingering and soft. The kind of kiss that says together.
Only you.
I feel myself smile and it surprises me. “And to think, this started out to be the second worst day of my life.”
“I’m calling it.” He kisses me again. “Best day ever.”
The room is growing dusky. It dawns on me I haven’t eaten all day. “Are you hungry?”
Zach kisses me again before he swings his legs off the bed. I can seriously get used to those kinds of kisses. “Starved.”
I push myself to sit. “I can offer you ramen with a side of Poptarts.”
His face freezes and his smile fades. “What time is it?”
I flop over and fumble in my bag for my phone while Zach lunges for the shorts I’d slipped off of him earlier. “It’s going on seven.”
“Fuck.” He buttons and zips and casts frantic eyes about for his shirt.
That sets my blood tripping. “What?”
He grabs his shirt. “I’m supposed to be at Liesa’s at six, so we can go some sunset cruise.”
My blood freezes and I stop breathing. My throat closes and I watch him button his shirt.
Oh my god. I’m stupid.
So. Fucking. Stupid.
Finished, he turns and bends to kiss me. I pull away with a sharp jerk that slams his brows slam low over his narrowed eyes. “What?”
“What?” I scramble off the bed and reach for something, anything I can find to cover myself up. I find a towel on the floor and wrap is around my chest. “You just fucked me and now you’re running back to your girlfriend and you ask me what?”
“No.” His blue eyes, go wide and he shakes his head. “Shit. It’s not like that. It’s just—”
“Just what?” Tears build in my eyes and he shimmers on the other side. “You’re frustrated because you can’t get her into bed, so you thought you’d get a little from the easy slut. Is that it?” My chest constricts, squeezing my heart and lungs together until I feel lightheaded. Sick to my stomach. “And now you’ll be in trouble if you don’t hurry back to be her footstool.”
“God, Kylie. Is that what this felt like to you?” He stares at me. “Did you think we were just fucking?”
“You just fucked me and now you’re running back to your girlfriend.” I want him out. Out of my bedroom. Out of my house. Out of my life. “What else can I think?”
I watch him struggle. His mouth move without producing sound. That panicked look in his eye slide into desperation. “You don’t understand. I have to go to Liesa. But I—”
“Where are the cameras this time?” I make a show of looking in my closet. Under my bed. “I mean this is juicy stuff, right? Reality TV gold.”
“Kylie, stop.” He reaches for me, tries to pull me close but I jerk away, and he drops his hands. “There’s no camera. No one knows I’m here.”
“Right.” Keeping the towel clamped under my arms, I bend over and snatch a t-shirt from the floor. “Because I’m everyone’s dirty secret.”
His head jerks back on his neck like I punched him in the mouth. “Don’t—” He stops and shakes his head like he doesn’t understand or know what he’s going to say next. “Don’t ever say that about yourself again.”
For some reason the tone he uses shames me. “Why?” I’m practically yelling. “Like you care.”
“I care.” He glares at me, his hands clenching and working at his sides like he has to physically force himself to keep from grabbing me. Like he can’t decide if he wants to shake me or kiss me. “You have no goddamned idea how much I care.”
“It’s obvious how much you care for me.” I put my hands through the armholes. “You’re late, you’d better get going.” I fight with the towel and the shirt and finally give up, let the towel drop and stuff the t-shirt over my head.
When I open my eyes, Zach is still here, standing in front of me. “I don’t want to go. I have to go.”
“Then go,” I say, pushing as much indifference into my tone as I can manage to scrape up.
He still doesn’t move. “If I don’t go, the director and camera crew will be all over me.” He reaches up to run a rough hand through his hair. “If I don’t, they’ll find you. Jonas has already threatened to start looking and if he does, I won’t be able to protect you. He’ll suck you into this shit storm.”
I shouldn’t believe him. He lied to me before. Called me here and willing. And yet, here he is, all sincere and so undeniably beautiful I feel myself bend. “If it’s s
o bad, why do you and Liesa do it?”
“I don’t have a choice.” He shifts his gaze away for a split second. The anguish in his voice tears at me. “Jonas and my father have me wrapped up so tight I can barely breathe.”
Jonas Knightly.
My father.
He turns everything he touches to ash.
My brain tells me to push Zach as far away as I can. To get away from him. To demand he leave me alone. Tell him I never want to see him again. But something deeper convinces me of his truth. The way he touched me. Kissed me. Moved inside me. Like he can’t live without me. Like he needs me just s much as I need him. What I felt between us is real.
True.
And I know he feels it too.
“No,” I whisper.
His jaw stiffens and he swallows hard before speaking. “No?” It comes out rough. Like he had to force it out of his mouth.
“No.” I shake my head. “It wasn’t just fucking.”
“Thank Christ.” His face relaxes. His shoulders drop, and he closes his eyes for a moment. “God—I’m so fucking sorry, Kylie. For all of it. Everything.” He reaches out and places his palm against my cheek and brings us closer together. “I’m going to figure a way out of this mess, for me and for Liesa.”
“For Liesa?”
“She’s more of a prisoner than I am.” He searches my face. “I can’t abandon her. You wouldn’t want me to.”
I shouldn’t care about her. Nothing about her is real.
But I do care. Damn it.
“But I need—” Zach takes my hand. “Shit. I need to stay away from you until I can get us out.” He holds my gaze and traces his thumb along my jaw, tipping my head up to him. Then he gives me one of those kisses, long and sweet. The kind that says more than words ever can and I feel myself falling, all over again.
“Okay.” I pretend the word doesn’t hurt. That it doesn’t cut me to the quick.
“I’ve got to go. But I promise. I’ll find a way for us.” He kisses me again. “You got a phone,” he says, flashing me his dimples.
I laugh, giving him a shrug. “Yeah, well someone pointed out that I’m hard to reach.”
Laughing, he grabs my cell from the bed and taps into it. A moment later, the phone in his pocket rings. He takes it out and punches off. “I’ve got your number. Don’t call me, because Jeri and Tom,” he pauses and adds, “that’s the director and her assistant. I’ve seen them checking my phone. Most of what happens on the show is scripted but they like to catch us off-guard sometimes because they say it adds drama. So, we’ve got to be careful.”
He kisses me again and again before he backs away with a groan. I’m not the only one wishing we can drop back into my bed. At the doorway he stops.
”Kylie, I know he’s your father but whatever you do—” His brow crumples a bit and he taps the doorjamb with the side of his fist. “just please, don’t trust Jonas Knightly.”
Thirteen
Zach
Leaving Kylie is one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. But I mean what I said. I will find a way to get Liesa and me out of this circus. It isn’t going to be easy. The first hurdle is to get Liesa alone, without the camera or Jeri and Tom.
It is no secret I’m on the payroll for Liesa’s Life. Liesa was clear that I was hired to play her boyfriend. I don’t know if she’s aware the goal is to get her into bed. I’m not good at this shit. I get confused on where script and real-life merge. For the first couple of months, she’d been lovey and affectionate (or jealous and controlling if the script called for it) while the cameras rolled and generally friendly when Jeri and Bob vanished. Lately, though, she’s running hot and cold all the time.
She’s either a really good actress or she’s legit falling in love with me. Whatever the case, we need to be allies if we’re going to beat Jonas at his own game.
Liesa likes Kylie. Cares about her. That much I know is real. There’s something about the two of them. They’re more alike than Kylie would ever want to admit. Aside from both being petite and blonde. Something about their determination and their ability to take what life deals them and come back swinging. If I can make Liesa understand we have to stop Jonas and Simone from this insane show, not just for us but for Kylie too, then maybe we can come up with a plan to escape.
I whip in and out of traffic, winding my way to Liesa’s house in the canals beyond the financial district. I look exactly like I should after a day on the beach and rolling in a woman’s bed. Which is to say, wrinkled, sweaty, and all around crumpled. I can’t go home and shower. I’ll have to make the best of it.
The guard at the gatehouse waves me in without having to check. I assume Jeri’s been there to make sure I’m not any later than I already am. I zoom through the now-dark streets and brake sharply in Liesa’s circular drive. Bob emerges from the azalea bushes along the drive and hits me with the spotlight.
Soundlessly, Lurch accompanies him, boom overhead.
Liesa throws open the front door and rushes out. “Oh my god! Are you all right?”
She launches herself into my arms and kisses me.
It’s all I can do not to thrust her away or spit the taste of her out of my mouth. I try for a smile but know it doesn’t quite make it. “I’m really sorry. I lost track of time and forgot about the cruise.”
She steps back and I see she wears a short red tube dress and platform sandals. Her hair is smoothed and ringlets cascade down her back. False eyelashes and perfect liner around her eyes tell me she’s taken special care with getting ready for tonight. She assesses me with narrowed eyes. Normally, she gives no indication she notices Bob or Lurch and the gang, so it surprises me when her eyes flick their way, then laser back on me.
She approaches me and pecks my lips with a chaste kiss. “It’s okay. I’m just relieved you’re okay. I was sure you’d been in a wreck or something.”
She takes my hand and leads me toward the open front door.
Something’s off.
Jeri shouts from the side of the drive. “Cut!” In her shorts and flip flops, she stomps toward Liesa, iPad in hand. “Where’s the conflict? You know this. Your viewers aren’t going to be happy if you let Zach off the hook. Pump it up, here.”
Liesa closes her eyes and Jeri retreats to the shadows.
Jeri’s voice rang out. “Go.”
When Liesa doesn’t move, I jump in. “Okay, the truth is I didn’t forget or lose track of time. I hate sunset cruises. There’s no worse time than riding around with a bunch of drunk tourists guzzling as much free booze as they can squeeze in the hour and half we putter up and down the shoreline.”
Liesa glares at me. “Truth? You wouldn’t know the fucking truth if you tripped over it and bit your lying tongue in two.” She doesn’t say it with her screechy, hysterical voice that is her trademark. The voice late night talk show hosts imitate to peals of laughter. This is something I haven’t heard before.
“Hey.” I hold out my hands and pretend everything is casual and cool. “I didn’t know it was that important to you. I’ll make it up by taking you sailing. I’ll even bring a bottle of wine and a picnic.”
“I hope you sail your fucking boat off the end of the globe and drown. Or get picked off by sharks. Or better yet, get your legs bitten off then bleed to death and drown.” She runs up the steps.
I run after her but she slams the door before I can slip inside. The lock clicks. I bang on the wood. Not because I want to, but because I think it will make good television. She’ll eventually open up, me, Bob, and Lurch will go inside. Liesa and I will have a loud fight. We’ll make up. We’ll kiss. I’ll start to get aggressive and she’ll shut me down and I’ll leave. Jeri will wrap it up for the day, and then I can come back and talk to Liesa.
The spotlight shines on my back. Bang, bang. “Let me in. I’m sorry. Really.”
I expect Liesa to yell something through the door but she stays silent.
“Come on. Let’s talk about it.”
Stil
l nothing.
Jeri motions with slashing her finger across her neck and Bob’s light flicks off and Lurch fades into the bushes like the spook he is. She slams her palm on the door. “Open up, Liesa. This bit is old already.”
Still nothing.
Jeri glares at me. “Looks like you fucked up again, loverboy. I don’t know what I’m going to do with this pile of shit, but you guys better get it together enough to give me something I can work with tomorrow. Or Jonas will shit can all of us and we’ll all be living in trailers down by the river.”
She stomps off with Bob in tow. I have no idea where they stay. Maybe they live together, have wild, abandoned sex after the shooting is finished for the day. Maybe they’re brother and sister. Maybe both? I cringe.
I sit on the brick steps of the porch and wait while they throw themselves and the camera into the van and roar out of the drive. The insects whirr and buzz. Across the drive, bushes rustle and I wonder what creatures scuttle along the ground. After several minutes, I get up and ring the doorbell.
She still doesn’t answer. I punch it again. “It’s okay. They’re gone.”
The bushes rustle again. The fuchsia of the tropical flowers glows in the porch light. I ring and wait. And wait.
Dread rolls around like raw dough in my gut. I think about her tone of voice and the deadly way she caught me in her sights.
I’m in big trouble.
That means Kylie’s in danger, too.
Fourteen
Kylie
Full of restless energy after Zach leaves, I straighten our room. It takes a while to separate the clothes on the floor. I toss Diana’s on her bed, mine end up in the laundry basket or hung up. I arrange the shoes on the bottom of the closet, make my bed.
When I run out of those chores, I do it all for Diana’s side, as well.
I can’t make sense out of what happened between Zach and me. Logic tells me nothing is changed. Zach is still a snake, Jonas still won’t claim me, I still work at an island dive bar, and have no plan for the future.