by Susan Stoker
She smiled and reached up to wrap one arm around my neck, her free hand dropping to again stroke along my shaft. “Hmmm, since you damn well know that I already had the edge taken off on that evil, wonderful machine of yours, I suppose that would be one option.” She giggled. “Then again, there is option number two.”
“Which is?”
Fingers began to unbutton my fly. “I take your edge off.” When she pulled out my cock and began to drop to her knees, I scooped her up yet again.
“I’m choosing option three,” I said, carrying her into the bedroom and tossing her onto the bed. “If that shirt isn’t history by the time I’m naked, while I’m going to definitely take my edge off, I promise you won’t be coming again for a long… long…” While I’d had to unbutton the shirt to remove it, it was so large on Dani that all she had to do was pull it over her head. Tossing it to the floor, she laid back, her hands cupping her breasts, her legs open just enough to give me the barest glimpse of the heaven that laid between them.
Naked, I slowly crawled onto the bed and over her body. Bracing my weight on my hands, planted on either side of her head, I gazed down into her eyes, not speaking, just drinking her in. This wasn’t a moment to be rushed. It was a moment to be treasured, to reconnect and make sure that connection was strong enough never to be broken again. Finally, when her eyes began to shimmer, and her teeth captured her lip, I lowered my head and ran the tip of my tongue along the seam of her mouth and when her lips parted, I took the bottom one, sucking it into my mouth until she moaned and then giving it a nip until she gasped. Only then did I kiss her, softly, gently, until she reached up, wrapped a hand around my neck and pulled me closer.
I kissed her until she was writhing beneath me, her legs already wrapped around my waist, her hand moving from my neck to my ass, attempting to hurry me. When that failed, she dug her nails into my skin. That move earned her another nip of her lip before I took her hands and pinned them with one of mine above her head.
“You’re killing me!” she whined, arching her back.
“No, you already boasted that you have a check mark in your column of the board, remember?” I hid my grin when she snarled by dipping my head down to run my tongue around the areola of her right nipple. God, I loved her nipples. They were the lightest pink when flaccid, but turned the most gorgeous dusky coral color as they puckered, hardening into points that I loved flicking with the tip of my tongue. I feasted, moving from breast to breast until she was pleading for more and then I gave it to her.
Releasing her wrists, I slipped my palms beneath her buttocks. Lifting her, I thrust into her in one stroke, her scream a combination of shock and bliss as I filled her. I held myself still, waiting for her body to remember that it could take me.
“For God’s sake, Judd, move!”
I gave her another kiss, this one hard and demanding, letting her know that I was claiming her. I began to move, slowly at first and as she began to match my rhythm, I picked up the pace, going deeper, harder until her nails were digging into my shoulders and she arched, screaming my name as she exploded around me. It took all I had, but I stilled again, each contraction squeezing my cock but I still waited. I didn’t let her orgasm ebb completely before I began again, watching every expression on her face as I thrust in and out, pistoning my hips until she threw her head from side to side, her hair flying, her back arching, and, this time when she came, I joined her. Her body continued to shudder with little aftershocks as I lowered her ass to the mattress and moved my hands to stroke the hair I so loved off her cheeks. Waiting until her amazing eyes cleared just a bit, meeting mine, I bent down until my lips were a mere fraction of an inch from hers. “You are my heart, Dani. You’ve always been my heart. There is nowhere you can go where I won’t find you.”
“God, I love you, Judd. I’ll never run from you again, I swear.” Tears filled her eyes as I lowered my lips to hers.
Remembering that Dani had not eaten all day, I insisted we eat though it was much later. I’d left her sprawled on the bed, swearing she’d never move again as I prepared a tray with a variety of sandwiches, chips, fruit, and strips of raw veggies. She straddled my lap as we fed each other. She moaned as I bent to pull her head close in order to lick a bit of mustard caught in the corner of her mouth, running my tongue along the seam of her mouth, teasing, taunting with promises of what might be. When I released her, she smiled and I groaned as she held a huge strawberry by its stem, flicking her tongue out to swirl around the sweet fruit, taking tiny licks, sucking just the tip inside her mouth before taking a bite. Her tongue darted out to capture the juice off her lip before she pulled it back into her mouth, giving a hum of appreciation that had my cock jerking beneath her. As she leaned forward, she gently squeezed the berry, causing several additional drops to fall on my skin.
“Oops,” she said, smiling as she fed the rest of the berry to me and then began sliding her tongue across my skin, cleansing my flesh of the juice. She slowly slipped down my body, continuing her journey until she reached her destination, which fortunately, was my cock. I enjoyed every lick, every nip, every suckle until I drew her off and placed her on her hands and knees. With her cheek and chest on the mattress, I slid into her from behind, my fingers squeezing her globes and when she wiggled, I lifted my hand and smacked her ass. She gasped, looked over her shoulder, and then smiled and gave a very exaggerated wiggle. I grinned and continued to lay down swats, loving the color that bloomed on her skin as I slowly fucked her until we both fell into the abyss again. After we recovered, it was Dani who slipped from the bed. I watched her go, loving the sway of her hips and the rose colored blush that decorated her perfect heart-shaped ass.
“What’s that?” I asked when she returned, a mug in each hand and something tucked beneath her arm.
“I’m not sure,” she said, passing me a mug. “I found it on the other side of the thermos. It has a note stuck to it.
I normally didn’t drink tea, but knew it was far too late for coffee. Taking a sip, I set the mug carefully down on the nightstand, taking her mug from her so that she could climb into bed. Once she was settled, I handed her back her tea and removed the note from the front of the square plastic case.
“What does it say?”
I opened the paper and read the two words written. Watch… Aaron
“Watch what?” Dani asked, sipping her tea.
“Only one way to find out,” I said, once again leaving the bed. After I’d loaded the DVD into the machine, I joined Dani, slipping one arm around her shoulders, and picking up my own mug. We watched as the screen came to life, and it didn’t take us long to realize we were watching a copy of the day’s rushes.
“I wonder why he wanted us to watch this,” Dani said.
“Probably so you can critique my performance before we reshoot tomorrow.”
“Judd, you don’t need my critique. You’re a great act… oh my God!”
Her tone had me looking from her back to the television in time to watch Dani stomp across the floor of the saloon.
“Why didn’t he call cut?” Dani asked. “Judd, turn it off!”
“No,” I said, removing the remote from where I’d laid it between us. “There must be some reason Aaron wanted us to watch.”
“Yes, to embarrass me!”
“You know that’s not true,” I admonished.
“But—”
“Shhh.” She didn’t say another word as we watched ourselves on film. It was raw… not only due to the fact that it hadn’t been edited, but raw in the power of the emotions depicted. When I threw the glass at the bar, we watched it shatter and for the first time, saw Sandy standing there, her eyes wide, her mouth an ‘O’ as I asked Dani if she wanted sizzle. We watched as I pulled her to me and kissed her. We watched it all, tea long forgotten as I gave my parting shot and stormed out.
It was the first time I’d seen Dani’s reaction, and I felt like a bastard when I saw the shock on her face and then the embarrassment. I fel
t like an asshole when she stammered she was sorry and ran out, tears sliding down her cheeks. The screen faded, the scene over as Aaron finally called cut.
“I’m so sorry, Dani. I never meant to embarrass you, I swear. I feel—”
“I didn’t show you this to embarrass either one of you.” We turned back to see Aaron’s face on the screen. “I wanted you both to see this because this is what the film is missing. This, the two of you together, this is the magic. This is the sizzle. Danielle, I knew you wrote a great story, I didn’t know you could act. Judd, you’re a great actor, son. Nobody is denying that, but no one is going to deny that the scene you just watched is the best you’ve done. Is it because you dug deeper in order to impress Danielle… or is it because you weren’t acting at all? I want you both to consider appearing together. And consider it seriously. We’ll talk tomorrow.”
With that, the screen faded to black. For a long moment, neither of us spoke, until finally, I grinned, set my mug aside, took Dani’s from her slack fingers and pulled her onto my lap.
“Well, what do you think? Want to be my co-star?”
“Yes and no.”
Not believing I was going to have to ask yet again, I still did so. “What does that mean?”
“Yes, I want to be your co-star, but only in your life. I’m incredibly honored that you’d ask, but Judd, not only do I not want to act, we both know I can’t.”
I shook my head, not believing she was passing up an opportunity so many women would kill for. “That’s not true, Dani. You heard what Aaron said—”
“He said that no one denies that you are an incredible actor. Judd, he’s right. You are. Hell, as mad as I was at you, that didn’t keep me from casting you, because I knew you were the best. But I’m not. I wasn’t acting today; I didn’t even consider they were filming. I have absolutely no experience—”
“Bullshit. You acted in college!”
She smiled. “What parts did I play?” I thought back and saw her on stage, but before I could speak, she continued. “Bit parts and only when you insisted. The one time I even tried to take a larger role, do you remember what happened?”
“You got a little sick.”
She laughed and reached up to cup my cheek. “God, I love you, but we both know that’s not true. I got violently ill. Hell, the best acting I ever did was of a terrified woman racing off stage, praying I’d find a trashcan in time.”
I had to concede she was right. I’d been the one to hold back her hair while she retched until she had nothing left. “But you love the theatre, and this is your chance.”
“Judd, I love the words, the set, the music, the production. I love the fantasy. But most of all, I loved watching you on stage. You were the reason I was even willing to take bit parts. I love watching you on the big screen. You are the magic, Judd. I don’t need to be your make-believe princess, but I so want to be your real one.”
I was disappointed, but I understood. Acting was in my blood, creating the worlds that actors brought to life was in hers. “You’re wrong, Dani. I’m not the magic… you are. You make me want to be worthy of you. You’re not my princess, Dani. You are my queen.”
Chapter Ten
Danielle
Aaron quickly got over his disappointment when Judd assured him that the magic would continue to be there because he still had the two of us. I told him I wasn’t the least bit worried. And I wasn’t. I truly believed that everyone on the set could feel the sizzle every time Judd and I were together.
At first Judd was worried that I’d come to regret my decision, and I had to repeatedly tell him that I never would… well, not unless he fucked up my movie. That had earned me a swat on my ass, but had also allowed him to stop worrying about me and concentrate on making the best film he could. It wasn’t all fun and games over the next three months, but we worked through our differences together. Every time before he was about to step onto the set, he would come to me, not to speak, not to seek further direction, but to simply take my hand and hold it over his heart, reminding me that we were connected, making sure that I knew that even though he was working with the beautiful and incredibly talented Peyton Moore, that once Aaron yelled cut, he was mine.
Cheryl left only a week after Judd and I had discovered that we’d never stopped loving each other. We spoke every day by phone and only hours after she had given birth, we looked at the family of three over Skype. Both Judd and I had tears in our eyes when she told us that she and Tom, her husband, had named their new son Thomas Judson Wilkins. When I asked if there was anything she needed, being Cheryl, she said since she was going to have to put TJ through college, she needed me to sit my ass in a chair and write another book. When Judd asked what he could do to thank her for the honor, she’d said all he had to do was take care of me and remember that any labor of love was worth it. When Judd rolled his eyes, she’d giggled and said that just cost him two tickets to the premiere… with a limo ride and champagne. It was a condition Judd swore he’d meet.
The last day of filming was finished by ten. Judd kept his promise and we returned to the river. This time, we rode horses and carried a picnic. We spent the day swimming after Judd slowly peeled off each article of my clothing before allowing me to return the favor. The water was still chilly, but we managed to keep each other warm. We made love beneath the pines on a soft blanket and fed each other with me sitting on his lap… a position I’d come to love.
All too soon, we finally began to put our clothes back on.
“I never would have believed that I actually enjoyed being naked outdoors,” I said, sighing as I stepped into my panties that Judd held for me.
“I’m glad you do,” Judd said, drawing the purple lace up my legs, bending forward to place a kiss on the red curls between my legs before he pulled them over my bottom. “My home in Colorado is in the mountains. No neighbors for miles. You can run around naked all you want.”
“Oh, I can, can I? And what will you be doing?”
“Chasing after you, of course,” he said, standing and cupping my face in his hands, his eyes locked on mine as he bent to kiss me again. When I was breathless, he smiled and stepped away. I wanted to pull him back and rip off the clothes he’d just put back on but knew we needed to head back before it got dark. The horses did not need to be put into danger of stepping wrong and breaking a leg just because I was horny. While Judd packed our stuff into the saddlebags, I went to stand at the river’s edge, looking across the water, smiling when I felt Judd behind me and when he put a hand on my shoulder, I reached up and covered it with mine.
“Let me guess, you’re memorizing every leaf, every rock, every sound so that you can put it in a book.”
“Yes, but I don’t think I’ll ever be able to relay how much this place… being here with you means to me.”
He turned me to face him. “Perhaps this will help you remember,” he said. I looked up at him as his other hand opened and a golden chain fell free to swing from his fingertip. On the chain was a key… a key that matched the one on his chest, except, as I reached up to touch it, I realized that the bow didn’t contain the letter D… it held the letter J.
“Oh, Judd,” I said, tears welling. “It’s beautiful.”
“I appreciated your suggestion that you get your own key, but, Dani, I also know you’re sort of a wuss.”
“I am not!”
“You are. You almost fainted when you had to get a tetanus shot that time you stepped on a nail. Can you imagine being able to stay completely still as a tattoo artist pierces your skin?”
I felt my stomach lurch, and he laughed. “Besides, the only marks I want to see on your breasts are the ones I put there with my lips or my teeth.”
“I like those marks too,” I said, my nipples pressing against my bra.
“Lift your hair.”
I did and he put the necklace around my neck. Once it was fastened, he reached out and, like I had that day months ago, he traced the key with his fingertip and I realized
that it lay exactly over my heart.
“I love you, Judd.”
“I will always love you, Dani.”
***
On the night of the premiere, we did arrive in a limo, Cheryl and Tom as our guests. It was a magical night. Though I still felt a twinge of nausea at being in the spotlight, it disappeared when Judd took my hand. I was aware of the crowd, the flash of cameras as we stood on the red carpet, but with Judd at my side, his arm around my waist and his key over my heart, I allowed myself to bask in the moment.
Once the lights dimmed inside and the music began, I forgot about everything but the film. I watched in breathless silence as the actors brought my book to life. I watched every move Judd made, the man sitting beside me, holding my hand as his larger than life likeness gave me far more magic and sizzle than I’d ever thought possible. As the final scene began to play, I felt Judd squeeze my hand. This was the one scene I hadn’t watched being shot. I knew it was silly, as I knew what was going to happen, but I’d not been able to bear watching, knowing it was the last day I’d watch my dream being made. I had tears in my eyes as I watched Judd and Peyton walking from the church where they’d just been wed. I thought my heart would burst when, outside, the mountains soaring behind them, Peyton turned to Judd, lifting her hand. What I saw wasn’t exactly as I had written the scene, but it was better. I watched as Judd took her hand and turned his wrist so that when their joined hands laid over his heart… it wasn’t Peyton’s hand pressed against the key I knew lay beneath his shirt… it was Judd’s. As the music swelled, my tears fell and as thunderous applause filled the theater and the lights came up, Judd stood and went down on one knee. Pulling a box from his pocket, he asked me to be his forever wife and I learned that a heart was capable of holding more joy, more love, more promise than I had ever imagined.
Eight months later
I’d thought the premier was magical, but the Academy Awards was a fairy-tale come to life. I wore a sheath of sapphire blue that perfectly matched the color of Judd’s eyes. The gold key was nestled between my breasts, grounding me, reminding me that no matter what happened, I was going home with the man of my dreams. Just looking at Judd in his tux had my nipples pressing against the satin of my gown and my sex dampening.