by L. D. Davis
“We’ll let ourselves out, Al,” Alden said to the driver. “Are you finished resisting me?” he asked me as he threw the door open.
“No,” I said stubbornly. “Never.”
He grinned. “Good. I like fighting for you.”
For me…not with me…
He got out of the car and held out his hand. I scooted out carefully, but when I stood up, the alcohol had indeed hit me.
“Oh, my god,” I said, grasping his arm. “I think I’m a little tipsy.”
He chuckled and wrapped an arm tightly around my waist. “Don’t worry, baby. I got you.”
“Don’t let me fall,” I giggled, clutching onto him.
“I’ll never let you fall, Little One,” he said and caressed my cheek even under the flashing bulbs of the press.
There was so much implied in that sentence, but I had no time to think about it. I got my wits about me and allowed Alden to escort me onto the red carpet.
***
Sahara was enviable. Her long dark hair hung down her back in waves. Her large chocolate eyes were bright, her skin flawless. She wore a gold and red saree that left her bare at her waist, showing off her fit abdomen. A thick band of gold wrapped around her right upper arm and she wore gold bangle bracelets on both wrists. Large gold earrings hung like teardrops from her ears and she even wore her gold nose ring.
I was delighted that she had come. With her superior beauty and shining personality, she fit right in. She walked through the clusters of stars as if she was one of them, and they in turn took note of her. She even knew a few already, thanks to the men she had dated in the past.
“I had no idea that she would be so fucking hot,” Alden had whispered in my ear in awe as we watched her work the room with one arm looped through Greg’s arm. He had taken an instant interest in her after they were introduced.
I nodded, unfazed by the fact that he was checking out my friend. I was checking out my friend. “She is the most beautiful person I know,” I admitted to Alden.
“She comes in a close second,” he said instantly and looked away from her to kiss my jaw tenderly.
I smiled instead of pushing him away or chastising him. I was determined to enjoy my night and to forget about Larson. I didn’t want him to have that power over me. I didn’t want the ghost of him following me around.
“Come on, baby,” Alden said, taking my hand into his. He kissed my knuckles and said, “Let’s go meet some celebrities.”
Alden and I joined Sahara and Greg where they stood in a group of celebrities and politicians, chatting. I was no longer nervous; Alden had taken care of that for me. I met the actress that starred in my favorite political drama, and the older British actor who was old enough to be my grandfather, but whom I was secretly in love with.
Alden kept a possessive, but gentle hand on me at all times, my neck, my lower back, my hand. I didn’t shrug him off. I even reached for his hand on more than one occasion.
Something was swiftly changing between us, or it had been changing all along and I just didn’t accept it. I don’t know if what I was doing was acceptance or not, but all I did know for sure was that I didn’t want another stretch of days like what we just had to pass between us again.
“Noa, you seem to be getting used to your company as of late,” Sahara commented later at dinner. “You used to fidget at the idea of even meeting senators and diplomats. Now you’re rubbing elbows with world-class movie stars and not batting an eye. I must say, I am proud of you.”
“It’s all superficial, Sahara,” I admitted with a giggle. “I had a couple of shots in the car and I’ve been drinking ever since.”
“What?” Alden whispered in my ear. “You don’t want to tell her I made you come?”
My thighs clenched together at the thought. His hand was on my thigh, so he felt it. He laughed lightly as he pulled away.
“I can’t imagine my Little Noa being so shy,” he said to Sahara.
“There’s been nothing shy about that girl since the second she started giving Alden the evil eye in California,” Hash commented from across the table.
“Yeah, I’m only shy around important people and talented people,” I teased.
“Do you really not like Friction?” James asked seriously. I realized that I may have offended him and instantly offered him a warm, apologetic smile. I hadn’t spent much time with James or Hash, so they didn’t understand that I met no harm. They didn’t understand that I, in fact, had a lot of respect for all that they had accomplished as a band.
“I do,” I said. “I just don’t like Alden.”
There was some chuckling from around the table at Alden’s expense. He rolled his eyes at me, but smiled anyway.
“Honestly, I didn’t listen to much of your music before the concert, but I didn’t really have anything against you as a group or musically, I just couldn’t stand Alden. He’s so…arrogant and self-important – I hated the way he strutted across the stage as if every girl in the audience wanted to screw him.” His own band members and Greg nodded in agreement with me as they chuckled.
“Sweetheart,” Sahara cut in. “Every girl in the audience probably did want to screw him.”
“Thank you, Sahara,” Alden grinned at her.
“Don’t make his head any bigger,” I said to her.
“Well, look at him,” she gestured with her fork.
“No,” I said, looking at her as if she was crazy. “He gets looked at enough. Almost every woman is already looking at him. I don’t need to look at him, too.”
“You do realize I can hear you, right?” Alden said from my left, but I refused to turn to look at him.
Sahara laughed warmly and I followed her suit. She easily changed the conversation, focusing on Greg instead of Alden. I was happy that Alden was okay with taking the spotlight off himself for a change. Conversation always seemed to revolve around Alden or the band as a whole, but people tended to forget about Greg always being there to keep them going. Sahara really seemed to enjoy listening to Greg’s stories, and he really seemed to enjoy talking to her. Soon, the rest of us were nudged out of the conversation until the pair was only focused on each other. I smiled to myself. Greg would definitely not be a disastrous date for Sahara.
A little while later, Alden pulled me out to the dance floor for a slow dance. He held me much closer than necessary, but I didn’t try to pull away from him as we slowly glided across the floor.
“I have your panties in my pocket,” he said in my ear.
“I am well aware, sir,” I answered.
“Sir?” he looked down at me with a raised eyebrow. “I think I kind of like that.”
“So, what are you going to do with my ruined panties?” I faked a disinterested tone. “Why haven’t you already thrown them away?”
“Well,” he started softly. “After I get you off again tonight and knock your ass out, I’m going to pull those panties out and put the crotch up to my nose and inhale your fucking intoxicating scent.”
Ohmygoodnessgracioius.
Shamefully, I heard myself gasp and my pussy responded with throbbing.
“Then I’m going to run my tongue along the seam,” he continued, pressing me impossibly closer as we continued to dance. “And then I’m going to wrap them around my dick and jerk off until I’m close to coming, and then I’ll shoot my load into that scrap of cloth that was pressed against your beautiful cunt.”
How the hell I managed to stay on my feet was beyond me.
“Sounds like a lot of work when you can just go out and get something real,” I said, trying to hide how hot he had just made me.
“The only thing real that I want is you, Noa,” Alden said fiercely. “I’m tired of fucking other women and pretending they’re you when they’re so fucking not. I want you.”
“You…you promised,” I said in a burst of air.
“You can relinquish me from that promise, Little One,” he said, smoothing his hand down my back and openly cupping m
y ass. “You can stop the bullshit and I can make you not want another man ever again.”
I kind of wanted to throw him down on the ground and screw him right there, but fortunately, I had more sense than that.
“I have to think about it, Alden,” I said, my voice quavering.
“Why do you have to think about it?” He pulled away to look down at my face.
“I…I don’t want to be hurt, Alden,” I admitted and looked away from him.
Oh my god! I all but just admitted to him that I had feelings for him! Stupid, stupid, stupid.
I decided at that moment to blame it on the alcohol. I wasn’t knocked down drunk, but I wasn’t very sober, either.
Alden’s hand slid up and away from my ass and returned to my back where it belonged. The song ended and he led me off the dance floor. Since it was technically his party, people had been coming up to him all night to shake his hand and to chat. We didn’t get too far before an infamous couple approached us. He was himself, no sign of the seriousness that just took place on the floor moments before. By the time we made it back to the table, Alden had been stopped too many times to remember. He didn’t even have time to sit back down because Friction was up next. Before Hash rushed him away, he managed to lean down and whisper in my ear.
“We’ll talk later,” he promised and then he was gone.
When Friction came on stage, I made sure that I was up front, right against the stage, right where Alden would be. He looked at me with surprise at first, and then his whole face lit up. My recovering body was jostled around a bit by the energetic crowd, but I didn’t care. I stayed there throughout their set, and when it was over, Alden rewarded me with a brief, but deep kiss.
***
“When I invited that chick to my party, I didn’t mean for her to steal the heart of Dr. Greg,” Alden whined as we walked through the door of the apartment.
“Yeah, well, he’s a good guy if he’s had to put up with you for all of these years, and Sahara is a beautiful person, inside and out. She has very high standards and if Greg is meeting them, then great, but we’re getting way ahead of ourselves. They only left together to go out for coffee.”
I threw my coat on the back of a chair and leaned against the back of the couch to pull my heels off. Alden walked into the kitchen as he undid his bowtie and came out with two beers. He handed one to me, even though I really didn’t need anything else to drink.
“What if they fall in love?” he asked with his brow down. “Would she be willing to come on the road with us when we’re away?”
I made a face that answered his question before I could speak. “Sahara worked her ass off to get where she is in her company. I honestly don’t see her throwing that away.”
“Well, Greg is the kind of guy that would leave the band for a really good woman,” Alden complained. “She might steal my doctor!”
I rolled my eyes. “Maybe you’ll need to get someone else to kiss your boo boos.”
“I don’t want anyone else to kiss my damn boo boos,” he growled.
“Then maybe you should stay out of trouble,” I suggested. “Stop screwing other peoples’ property in public toilets.”
“Low blow.” He frowned.
“But a good one.” I shrugged.
“No, that’s the thing. She wasn’t a good blow at all.”
I rolled my eyes again and walked to the guest room.
“I guess I shouldn’t have said that,” Alden said behind me.
“Probably not, but you seem to have a knack for saying and doing stupid shit.” I put my beer down and pulled my hair aside, looking over my shoulder expectantly until Alden pulled the zipper down on my dress.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said,” he said softly as he ran a knuckle over my bare back.
“I’ve said a lot,” I said. “What are you talking about?”
“Don’t play stupid,” he said in a tone that told me he wasn’t joking around. “You tried to push me away a few days ago. You lied and said you didn’t want me.”
“Who said I was lying?” I whispered.
“Don’t fucking play with me, Noa. I know I’m an asshole, but I’ve always been a very honest asshole. You can’t deny that.”
I couldn’t. So, I said nothing.
“I wanted to hurt you,” he admitted in a low voice. “I wanted to fuck everything and hope that it hurt you, but in the end, I realized I was only hurting myself. I know it’s only been a very short period of time, but I have very strong feelings for you, Noa. I’ve tried to shut them down by burying my dick in other women, but the feelings don’t go away. They only get stronger.”
“Umm…” I said and then looked up at him over my shoulder. “Was that supposed to be romantic?”
He dragged his fingers over his face in frustration. “I don’t know how to do this romance shit.”
“It was supposed to be romantic?” I asked incredulously.
“Can you give me a fucking break, Little One?” he growled. “I just said I don’t know how to do this shit.”
“Well, what are you trying to say?” I turned around to face him. I had to hold my dress up to keep it from falling.
“I thought I said what I was trying to say!”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You said you stuck your dick in other women to try to hurt me and erase feelings you had for me. You’ve accomplished one of the two.”
His eyes pinched. “I hurt you?”
“A little bit,” I said, looking at the floor. “But go on with what you were saying – or trying to say.”
Alden groaned as he ran a hand through his hair. “I guess what I’m saying is that I won’t push you to have sex with me, but I also won’t stick my dick in anyone else, either. I’m willing to wait until you’re comfortable. I don’t want to hurt you – again – and fuck knows very well that I’m capable of fucking up. I feel like I need to prove myself to you, that I can be a good guy.”
“You are a good guy, Alden,” I said, putting a hand on his chest. “But you’re a good guy that is also a major slut.”
He closed his eyes for a moment. “I will try to be much, much less of a slut,” he said.
“That’s not exactly the same as not sticking your dick in anyone,” I said dubiously.
Alden growled and stripped out of his tux jacket. Muttering under his breath, he walked out of the room. I could hear him talking to himself in the next room. I couldn’t help but giggle a little. The great Alden Breck was having a hard time telling me something romantic, and I was enjoying it. It was a big change from a few days ago, I realized.
He returned a couple of minutes later, wearing only a pair of boxers, even though the apartment was nippy. I didn’t mind too much. I got to admire the ink on his muscular body. I had changed into a pair of shorts and a T-shirt. I was already in bed when he came in. He turned off the light and got into bed with me.
“I don’t remember inviting you to sleep in my bed,” I said, even as I snuggled up to him.
“Yeah, I’m a bastard, always inviting myself in. You know I came in here while you were sleeping?”
“When?” I demanded.
“Every fucking morning before the sun came up. You know, when we were talking but not talking. I would come in here and just lay here until you started to stir. Then I’d haul ass out of here because I didn’t want you to know I gave a shit.”
“Creepy,” I murmured, closing my eyes.
He was quiet for a few minutes. I had thought that maybe he was asleep until his voice stirred me from my near-sleep state.
“You know there is something between us, right?” he whispered. “You can’t deny it now. No matter how much you tell me you dislike me, you still let me do the most intimate things to you. A few days ago, you were biting me to make me get the hell out of your face, but now you’re wrapping your body around mine. You can’t deny that there is some kind of force pulling us together, Little One.”
I swallowed hard as his han
d laced with mine on his chest.
“Alden, I agree but…it feels too fast too soon,” I said.
“Who the hell said that there had to be a certain amount of time before two people could claim one another?” he demanded.
“Society as a rule, but that’s not really what I’m worried about. I’m worried about you hurting me or me hurting you. We hardly know each other.”
“I’ll tell you any damn thing you want to know about me,” he said.
“Well,” I sighed. “I wouldn’t even know what to ask – it’s not a twenty questions kind of deal, Alden. Some things you just learn about people along the way.”
“So…what do we do? I don’t want you dating any other douche bag and I’m sure you don’t want me fucking around. What does that make us?”
“We don’t have to put a label on anything yet,” I said cautiously.
“You’re still afraid I’ll hurt you,” he said and I couldn’t miss the sadness in his voice.
“I am,” I admitted. “But I could very well hurt you, too.”
“Impossible.”
“You don’t know me that well, Alden.”
He sighed. “So, when are you going to let me in and so that I can get to know you?”
“It’s just going to take some time,” I said. “Hell, maybe I should put everything up front now. You’ll probably run the other way.”
“There isn’t anything about you that will ever make me run the other way,” he said.
“You don’t know that,” I whispered.
“Listen to me closely,” Alden said and tilted my chin up to his face, illuminated only by the soft glow coming from the cable box across the room. “You would’ve had to have done horrific things to make me run away from you, Little One – like burn a Friction album, or hooked up with the lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars.”
I gasped. “Jared Leto is hot sex personified!”
“Arch. Enemy,” Alden bit out.
“What did Sexy Hotness with the Fuck Me eyes ever do to you?” I asked.
Alden growled at me and I giggled.
“He’s hot, what can I say?” I laughed. “What did Jared Leto ever do to you?”