by Scott, Inara
“Lena…” He fought to clear his throat, searching for the right words. “Lena, I—”
“You what?” She crossed her arms over her chest. “There’s nothing left to say. It’s done. I tried and I failed, okay? I can’t do it. I can’t shoot this movie with you. I thought I could, but I can’t. Are you happy?”
“Happy?” He stared in amazement. “Of course I’m not happy. You can do this; I know you can. You’re a damn good actress, and this part was made for you. You can’t walk away from it.”
“So now Alix has you giving pep talks too?” she snarled.
“It’s not a pep talk. It’s the truth.”
“No.” She bent over and began to crumple the silvery wrappers and shove them into the bag. “It’s not going to work. When you touch me”—her voice turned husky—“I can’t act. I can’t think.”
“So don’t think,” he pleaded. “Just let yourself go. Let yourself feel. That’s all Alix wants you to do. I heard what she was telling you, and she’s right. If you could only let go, it could be incredible.”
The thin lines around her mouth hardened. “Let go? So everyone can see how pitiful I am? The pathetic Lena Mandaval, still carrying a torch for bad-boy Jake Redburn?”
He slapped a hand against his forehead. “You can’t be serious! God, Lena, what’s this really about? You can’t possibly believe anyone is going to think that, can you?”
Lena snatched empty potato chip bags from the floor. “I want you to go.”
“I’m not leaving until we straighten this out,” he said. Something fell into place as he said it. He wasn’t leaving. Not anymore. He’d spent years walking away from her, and he was through.
“There’s nothing to straighten out.” Exasperated, she threw her hands into the air, empty bags and potato chip crumbs flying across the room. “I know what’s going to happen when that insane woman puts us in bed together, and I refuse to let it be captured on film. I’ve got some pride, Jake.”
He paused, tapping his mouth gently as an idea occurred to him. “So why don’t we just get it out of the way right now?”
She cocked her head, looking at him as if he’d finally gone insane. “Get it out of the way? Get what out of the way? What are you talking about?”
“This.” He turned to close and lock the door, and then took a purposeful stride toward her. “I understand what’s going on now. You’re worried about what will happen the first time we make love after ten years. It’s a legitimate concern. And there’s an easy solution.”
Her eyes widened, and she took a step back. “Jake, that’s not what I meant.”
“There’s a lot of pent-up sexual energy between us. You’re worried you’ll lose control. So we need to bleed off some of the tension. Get the kinks out before they put it on film.”
She shook her hands in front of her and kept inching backward. “I think you should leave. You’re obviously distraught about the movie. I can understand that, but surely Ryker can think of some way to finish this up without me.”
He grabbed her around her waist, sliding his hands under the hem of her sweatshirt and locking his fingers on her warm, soft flesh. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“Let go of me.” Her voice quavered.
He shook his head and pulled her toward him. “This is something I should have done a long time ago. You know, all these years I kept thinking someday we’d be able to start over. We were kids back then, I thought. Someday we’ll be adults, and things will be different. I thought if I gave you time, you’d come around. But I realize now that’s never going to happen. What we had was too deep to forget. It’s in our souls. You know that. That’s why you fight me so hard.”
Her hands formed two small, ineffective fists. She leaned them against his chest as tears began to glisten in her eyes. “Don’t do this to me right now,” she said.
“Oh no, I’m not falling for that. I’ve been sympathetic before, and what good did it do me?” He moved his hands higher, from her narrow waist to her back. She wasn’t wearing a bra, and his hands moved freely across the soft, bare skin. “We’re going to make love, sweetheart, and there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.”
“Jake!” She sucked in her breath as he trailed his hand along her rib cage, skimming the edge of her breast. “What do you think you’re going to prove? That you can turn me on? Fine. I admit it. You turn me on. You always have. Is that what you want to hear?”
He slid his hands to the sleeves of the sweatshirt, and, with one neat tug, pulled it up and over her head. Seeing her naked breasts brought a rush of desire so strong his knees quivered. Staring at her small brown nipples, he said simply, “I know you want me. That was never our problem. But do you know how much I want you?”
“It’s been ten years. You can’t possibly…” Her words trailed off, and she sucked in a breath as he lowered his mouth to kiss each impossibly beautiful peak.
“I’m not interested in talking anymore. That was my problem all along—talking never worked with you. I’m going to show you, darling. Maybe then you’ll get it through that thick skull of yours.”
Slowly, deliberately, he bent over and slid one arm behind her knees, catching her in his embrace and marching purposefully toward the bedroom at the end of the trailer. He had to shift sideways to fit through the narrow hallway between the living space and the bathroom, bumping Lena’s shoulder in the process.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
Lena stared up at him, eyes wide and vulnerable. For a moment, he almost stopped and set her down. But then he remembered how many times he’d walked away from her in the past and forced himself to keep going.
He laid her down on the bed. Lena threw out her arms to steady herself, her eyes still tightly shut. Her skin, like sweet cream, stood out in sharp relief on her crimson bedspread. When she laid her head down, her hair surrounded her, jet black and shining.
“Tell me how you doubt me, Lena. Tell me how I can kiss you like this and you can doubt the way I feel.” He lowered his mouth to her neck and then gently flicked the hollow at the base of her throat with his tongue.
She closed her eyes. “Do what you want. I’m not going to fight.”
He stood up and kicked off his shoes, pants, briefs, and shirt. Her eyes remained closed, but her breathing had quickened. He watched her chest rise and fall, her breasts swaying with the movement.
“I’m glad to hear that. And by the way, I’m naked now.” He kept his voice conversational as he leaned over her. Pulling gently, he began to lower her pants. Despite her protests, she lifted her hips obediently and helped move the soft fleece down to her knees. He kissed along the inside of her calf, down to her instep and the arch of her foot. She shivered when he pressed his mouth against her toes.
Memories came back to him, images of kissing those toes in their tiny studio apartment in Hollywood. They had nothing back then—just a futon bed and limitless ambition to make it in the movies.
“What a lovely little thong, Lena. Did you wear this for me?” Her clothing fell to the floor, and she lay before him, her body a miracle of shining white skin and soft curves.
He put one knee on the bed, and the mattress shifted under his weight. The comforter was soft and thick, so different from the coarse materials they’d once shared.
She flinched, closing her legs.
“Tsk, tsk,” he said. He put one hand on her knee and pulled her legs apart. “If you’re yielding to me, you must yield all the way.”
After a pause, her legs dropped open. He had to restrain his own indrawn breath when her pink flesh was revealed to him. “God, Lena. You’re so beautiful.”
Carefully, he coiled his body along hers, taking care not to touch her except with his hands. Using only his finger, he outlined her face, the curve of her eyebrows, and her smooth red lips. And then he kissed her, softly parting her lips with his tongue and exploring the depths of her mouth.
“I’ve wanted this for so long,” he said, sliding his mout
h along the edge of her jaw.
She turned her body to his. Her eyes remained tightly closed. “No words, Jake.” She pressed against him, and his skin caught fire every place she touched. Her breasts burned against his chest, her mound seared his cock, even his legs were scorched by her long, lean thighs. “If you’re going to screw me, do it with your body, not your words.”
He ignored the shot of pain her words inflicted and grabbed her buttocks with both hands, grinding their bodies together as if his passion alone could convince her he was speaking the truth.
“Open your eyes, damn it.”
She shook her head. “You’re an actor. I can’t trust my eyes.”
With a growl of frustration, he turned his attention back to her breasts. With a long sweep of his tongue, he bathed the hard peak and then gently bit the end until felt her hips jerk against him. He turned to the other peak, giving it the same attention, nibbling and sucking until her hips were in constant motion, grinding rhythmically against him.
Wanting both hands free, he sat up and pressed her onto her back. For a moment, he stared at her body, memorizing her curves, the taut flesh of her belly and puckered skin of her areola. Her legs were open now, relaxed, and he ran his hands along the inside of her thighs, brushing against the hair at the apex of her legs, feeling a cynical rush of satisfaction when she moaned and strained toward him. With one finger, he parted her nether lips and touched the soft flesh below.
Lena jerked, her head tossing.
He slid his finger along the edge of her clitoris, pausing for a moment to stroke her once, then again. She cried out, and her fists clutched the bedspread. He wished she would touch him, longed to feel her hands on his body. But today was about her, showing her all the pleasure he’d wanted to share with her for so long.
“Oh yes. Yes.”
Jake ignored her quiet moan and continued his steady manipulation of her flesh. Lena’s hips moved off the bed, and she began to whimper. When she reached up with one hand and began to blindly stroke his leg, he had to close his eyes and suck in a deep breath.
“Please,” she moaned. “More.”
Leaning forward, he kissed her navel and waist, then got to his feet and looked around the room for his discarded jeans. In the back pocket, he found his wallet and the single condom he’d stashed there. He slipped it on and moved back between her legs. Covering her, he let the tip of his cock touch her flesh for the first time, and almost lost control.
She spread her legs wider and thrust her hips against him. “Yes, Jake, now!”
She was wet and soft, and he had to grit his teeth not to bury himself with one thrust. Forcing control, he moved forward, inch by inch, shuddering when her hands finally came up to land on his shoulders. Somehow the touch of her fingers was even more sensual than the sheath of flesh swallowing him whole. He paused again, let her trace the edge of his biceps, slip over his shoulders to his back, then grab him around the waist.
The movement was too sweet, the pressure of her body against his too familiar. He held still and tightened his shoulders at the shudder that ran down his back. Lena’s hands slipped down his body to land on his hips and buttocks. When she pulled him hard against her, he finally lost control.
Thrusting slowly at first and then with increasing speed, he felt her body tighten around him, then release with a slow suction. With each drive, she held on tighter and moaned in his ear.
“Come with me,” he said, sucking in air in short, tense breaths. Harder, faster, he was starting to spiral beyond reason, but he wanted her with him. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was open.
“Yes,” she said, “yesss!”
Her body dissolved, racked with explosive shudders that told him what he needed to know. Covering her mouth with one last kiss, he thrust faster and harder, collapsing against her as the word dissolved to black.
#
While Gunther escorted the last of his guests to the doorway to say good-bye, Ryker paced impatiently across the thick white carpet, his frustration almost at the breaking point. Alix sat on the world’s most uncomfortable couch, nursing yet another glass of wine and looking shell-shocked. He’d been ready to leave three hours ago, but he wasn’t going without her, and she had stubbornly refused to even talk to him alone, muttering something about staying at Gunther’s house overnight.
“Well, that was fun,” she finally said, when both Gunther and his guest were out of view.
“Oh yeah, a barrel of monkeys. Right up there with dinner at Rosalia’s for sheer entertainment value.”
Alix leaned forward and unbuckled the strap on her shoe. She eased her foot free and looped it over her knee, massaging the instep with one hand. “At least no one there looked likely to get into a fistfight.”
“Don’t get comfortable.” Ryker frowned at the delicate, exposed skin of her foot. The straps of her sandal had left red marks around her toes and heel. “We’re leaving as soon as you say your good-bye to Gunther.”
She turned her attention to the other shoe. “I’m not going anywhere,” she said behind a waterfall of hair. “I told you that several times tonight.”
“Look, I already had to watch you condescend to yourself all night with those guys. I’m not in the mood for any more games. Get your purse, or whatever you brought. It’s time to go.”
The second silver shoe dropped to the floor. Alix looked up, her eyes evergreen in the flickering candlelight. “I can’t leave with you. Gunther expects me to stay. He’ll ask all sorts of questions if we leave together. Can’t you let it go for a night?”
“You’re an adult. You don’t need to justify yourself to Gunther.”
She held out her hands in a gesture of pleading. “I don’t have it in me right now. I barely made it through the night. You can understand that, can’t you?”
He shook his head. “Now that you mention it, no, I don’t understand. You let those guys insult you all night long. They called your films trash, and you didn’t blink. What happened to sex being the most important part of the film? What about love and all those things you told me you believed in?”
She sighed and leaned against the couch. “It’s nothing I haven’t heard a million times before. They aren’t going to change their minds because I tell them my films are different.”
“Every time I turn around, you’re telling me that your films are different, and damn it if I didn’t start to believe you. If I didn’t think what you were doing had any meaning, do you really think I’d let you work on Salva’s Revenge? I don’t care what strings Gunther pulled. This is my film, and you’re here to make a difference. Not to be the fashion police.”
Her lashes flicked down. “It isn’t the same with you. I don’t know how many times I’ve met Anthony over the years. He forgets me every time because I won’t sleep with him and I’m not rich. He’s a businessman. He knows dollars and cents. He doesn’t understand what I do and he never will. But you…”
She trailed off, looking vulnerable and unsure. From somewhere deep inside, Ryker felt a flood of a warm, powerful emotion. “Alix,” he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. Without her high heels, she barely reached his shoulder, and he had a sudden desire to sweep her against him and bury her in the crook of his arm. “Let’s go to my house. We’ll go for a walk on the beach. We’ll forget about Anthony and Gunther and Lena and this whole mess.”
She was silent. He tipped her face toward his. The mask that had shielded her emotions all night had fallen away, and emotions flickered in rapid succession—he saw desire and longing but also a fear he found difficult to comprehend. Helpless, he lowered his mouth and covered her with a kiss so deep he thought they might both drown. Their mouths meshed, opened, slid across each other in instant union. His body caught fire when her tongue touched his, and he tightened his arms around her waist.
“Come home with me,” he breathed against her neck. He molded her against him, and it was like turning on the radio in the middle of his favorite song. Her
hips arched against his, and he felt the pressure, the heat, and the need, familiar and new all at once. His hands teased the edges of her skirt, touched the tops of her thighs.
“But Gunther…”
He took her hand and pulled her down a short hall into an empty bedroom. He closed the door behind them. “You’re either coming home with me, or I’m going to make love to you on that bed right now, Alix. Which is it going to be?”
Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Without waiting for a further response, he pulled her back against him and renewed his assault. He slid her skirt to her waist and let his hands tease the soft skin of her hips and buttocks. She wore a thong, no stockings, and he cupped the bare skin in his hands.
“Mmm,” she exhaled, rising on her tiptoes to press herself against him.
Gently, he placed his hands under her thigh and lifted it off the ground. She was like silk, fluid and unresisting, and when she leaned into his body, he felt the heat of her core against his groin.
He stifled a groan and thrust against her. She responded in kind, arching and straining to bring their bodies even closer. He trailed his hands across her breasts, feeling the nipples spring into relief against his palms. She threw her head back, and he moved lower, finally pressing the palm of his hand against her mound. The silk of her panties was damp, and he pressed harder until she shuddered and moaned his name.
No longer entirely in control, Ryker slipped his hand over the top of her panties and then underneath. The moist curl of hair drew him lower, and he dipped one finger between the folds, just as he had earlier that day. She thrust hard into his hand, and he moved still lower to slide deep inside. It was all happening so quickly he had no idea where he might stop, only knew he needed to be inside of her.
They slammed against the door, her thigh at his waist, his finger buried deep in her core. He withdrew, knitted two fingers together, and entered again.
“Oh yes.” Alix pushed against his hand, her body as hot and ready as his.