On the Edge

by Jayne Ann Krentz

  The light dimmed in the ring, spotlights roamed the arena as the crowd fell into a hush. Drums began beating slowly.

  “Princess! Princess!” the crowd chanted.

  “That’s right, my friends. She’s the Hawaiian with dangerous hips. The daughter of the volcano god, Pele, and Queen Kulani, sent here to remind mankind to fear the eternal damnation of the flames of Hell! Let’s give it up for the Ha-waii-an Prin-cess!

  The drums pounded faster as a second platform was carried in from the other side of the arena. These men wore nothing but a neon red sarong that barely covered the tops of their tan thighs or their hip bones. Ulani knelt on the platform with her head bent, as if in prayer. She wore a sarong and a bikini top that matched the scraps of material covering her attendants. Her black hair cascaded down her back in a fall of thick satin.

  As they reached the floor of the arena the drums beat to a crescendo and then stopped.

  Ulani rose, taking in her surroundings with apparent wonder.

  The crowd stilled, waiting.

  The announcer’s voice was urgent. “Be careful folks. The volcano goddess is about to blow!”

  Ulani crouched in a defensive stance, glaring at them all. She lifted her palm in front of her mouth and blew flames over the crowd as the sound of a volcanic eruption shook the arena.

  The crowd thundered its approval.

  “She’s a goddess,” Quinby cried and fell to his knees as her bodyguards carried her closer.

  Crap. This was exactly what Ulani didn’t want.

  Blue yanked Quinby back to his feet. “She’s Tinkerbell with a flame thrower. Don’t be fooled.”

  Maddy’s camera caught all the action. She panned back and forth between Ulani and Blue, probably wishing she had a camera in each hand.

  Ulani knelt in prayer once more. The warriors carrying the rear of the platform extended their arms, lifting her carrier and tilting it forward until Ulani plunged from it into the ring, as if she were being sacrificed into the depths of a volcano. At the last moment she tucked and rolled, bouncing to her feet and spewing more fire above the crowd.

  The audience loved her, shouting and whistling their appreciation.

  The arena darkened, but Blue was close enough to the ring that he could see Ulani hurry into a corner, strip off her sarong skirt and wipe her hands on a towel.

  “Ladies and gentlemen. Tonight’s match between Le Tigre and the Hawaiian Princess will last three rounds of five minutes each. Choose your champion because the match is about to begin!”

  With glaring intensity, the lights came up on the ring. The women were barefoot and barely covered by their bikinis. Their bodies had a slick sheen to them as if they’d been oiled down. The two women circled each other. Sensing blood, the crowd grew more excited.

  A referee stepped into the ring, a portable microphone curved over his ear. “I want a clean fight, ladies. Nothing like last time.”

  Without warning, Ulani and Le Tigre charged toward each other and the referee that stood between them. With a sickening thud, all three went down.

  “She’s too powerful, too beautiful,” Quinby cried. “What would she want with me?”

  “Hey, aren’t you the highest level in World of Warcraft? She may be beauty and the beast all wrapped in one package, but you’re the brains that will keep her safe.”

  Quinby seemed to buy it, for he brightened and his scrawny chest seemed to swell.

  Ulani broke free and grabbed Le Tigre by the ankle, dragging her off the referee.

  Le Tigre whipped her other foot at Ulani’s head, bringing Ulani down hard in front of Blue.

  Showing no mercy, Le Tigre dropped a knee in Ulani’s back and grabbed a handful of her hair.

  “Help her!” Quinby cried stepping toward the ring. “We must help her!”

  Blue held the professor back. “You do know wrestling is fake, right?”

  Ulani spotted Blue and snarled as if she was a tigress. With a quick roll and an elbow to Le Tigre’s midsection, Ulani was free. She ran to the nearest corner, grabbed a stool and hefted it at Blue.

  Blue ducked and covered Mr. Jiggles’ bag. The stool connected with something with a loud crack. The crowd held its collective breath. He looked up to make sure Maddy was unharmed. She was filming, adjusting her camera lens his way as if nothing dangerous had happened.

  Blue turned back to the ring and stumbled…over Quinby, unconscious on the ground. “Quinby! Jesus, I wanted you to find true love, not a ticket to the emergency room.”

  Ulani grabbed Blue by the shoulders and shook him. “You.” And then she wrapped her strong hands around Blue’s throat. “You can’t escape your fate.” Her words poured out of the speakers.

  “Man down.” Blue forced the raspy words past fingers clenched around his throat. “Down there.”

  The crowd ate it up as if it was all part of the show.

  Ulani glanced down. “Dear gods. This is all your fault.” Ulani released Blue and crouched next to Quinby, her face ashen. “I’ve killed him.”

  Quinby wasn’t dead. Blue had seen his thin chest rise and fall. “This is the sacrifice I promised you, Princess. The man who will complete you.” Blue’s words were unintelligibly garbled coming out of the speakers.

  Thankfully, Ulani seemed to hear. She blinked and then sagged against Blue’s legs with a shuddering sniff. “I’ve killed him.”

  “No. You haven’t.” Blue leaned over and whispered in her ear. “Say something princess-like and carry him off like King Kong did with Fay Wray.” He slipped Quinby’s microphone free.

  Ulani blinked and then her killer showman’s face slid back in place. “This offering is mine!”

  The drum beat slowly as Ulani carried Quinby up the ramp as tenderly as if she carried the baby she so desperately desired.

  “My job here is done,” Blue said, nodding toward Maddy. He picked up Mr. Jiggles’ messenger bag.

  Applause in the arena built to a deafening wave as Blue made his way to the exit, followed by Maddy, her camera still rolling.

  “Did you see how she threw that stool at you? Oh, my God. I didn’t think you could move that fast.” Maddy sat in the front seat of Blue’s SUV, cradling her camera to her pounding heart.

  “Thanks. I think.”

  “And then Ulani leapt over the rope and grabbed you like she couldn’t decide whether to choke you or swing you up in the ring by your neck. Can you image if she would have done that? Le Tigre would have eaten you for breakfast.”

  “Your continued confidence in my skills is heartwarming,” Blue deadpanned, accelerating onto the freeway as if he couldn’t get away from Ulani fast enough.

  “You would have been toast.” Of all the projects Maddy had worked on, this night had by far been the most exhilarating.

  “Okay, the wimp driving would like to change the subject.”

  Maddy fidgeted in her seat. “Do you think Quinby will be scared? We should have followed her backstage.”

  “Some things are best left off camera.”

  She laughed. And then giggled.

  “What’s wrong with you?”

  “Oh, my God. I’m just so excited. I can’t sit still. I’ve never seen anything like that and to get it on film.” She pounded her feet on the floorboards as if she was sprinting. “I want to go back and do it again.”

  “No. You don’t.” Blue pulled off the highway and into a subdivision, following the winding roads until they dead ended on a cul-de-sac overlooking the ocean.

  “Yes, I – ” But her enthusiasm was cut short by Blue’s lips on hers.

  “Burn some of that energy off on me,” he murmured into her ear a short time later. He eased her camera to the floorboard.

  In the back seat, Mr. Jiggles growled.

  Maddy leaned over the shifter, reaching for Blue, throwing Vera’s cautions to the wind, because this was the release of energy her body craved. Not filming. Not telling a story. Him.

  She grabbed Blue’s shirt the way Ulani
had and tugged him closer.

  Blue chuckled, the sound reverberating into her throat as he started another kiss. “You want to be in control.”

  “Yes.” But that wasn’t all. She wanted to stretch her body out against his. She wanted to feel the hard length of him against her. She wanted to nip and lick and taste.

  Mr. Jiggles growled.

  He always seems to know what you want.

  Words the Avengers had used to describe Blue.

  Maddy drew back. “Holy crap. You’re dangerous.”

  “And you’re combustible.” His hand had somehow managed to find its way beneath her shirt, creeping closer to the cup of her bra. “I’ve wanted to touch you since…” He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a bedroom whisper. “Since the first day we met.”

  Not believing him, Maddy shoved Blue away. “No. This is exactly what happens with you and women. You want to give me something I want, just the way I want it. Fast and dangerous. What’s next? Sex in a dressing room?” The thought turned her on. What was happening to her?

  “That’s not…that isn’t…”

  “You have an M.O. I’ve listened to enough of your exes to recognize you’re playing me.”

  “Not all play is bad.” Blue retreated to his side of the vehicle. His face was hidden in shadow.

  “It is if you don’t mean anything to someone. It’s just sex, like Senge said. An empty release.”

  “Don’t short change a freely offered orgasm.” The sarcastic silkiness of his offer couldn’t disguise his hurt.

  “Don’t be like the Avengers and take this personally.” She held up a hand between them. “Part of me wants to accept your offer, but I’ve been shortchanged too often in the past. If I was looking for a quick release, I’d date my shower nozzle. The next time I go to bed with a guy, I want him to go nuts over me.”

  “You drive me nuts, Maddy.” No hesitation. So believable.

  Maddy didn’t know what to believe. “I drive you nuts when I film. I drive you nuts because you don’t have control over the show I’m pitching. Don’t try to kid yourself or me into believing you lie awake at night thinking about me or that you’d give me a second thought after we had sex.”

  He had no comeback for that.

  “I’m not asking you for a commitment. I’m focused on my career, not happily-ever-afters, remember?” Her track record with guys was pathetic. The message she wanted him to receive bore repeating. “It’s just that the next time I go to bed with someone, I’d like it to be with the expectation that it’ll last more than one night or a few weeks.”

  “You know I don’t do l-l-long term.”

  “Nice recovery.” She knew he’d stuttered over the word love. Maddy sighed, the sexual energy draining out of her as if she was a leaky, blow-up, love toy. “But I’m not sleeping with you.”

  www.PlayboyAvengers.com

  Our Latest Revenge

  Just a note of warning for a woman we’ve seen with our Playboy. It’s best you stay away from him. Collateral damage and all.

  Chapter 20

  Blue didn’t want to admit Maddy’s words had struck a chord. But they had. And the chord was truthfully off-key. He only had sex without emotion. He was an ass. Just like his father.

  The part about sex without love wasn’t new information. Blue was used to the idea. The part about being like his dad was with women slid under his defenses like bamboo shoots beneath his fingernails. Sheer torture. He’d wanted to avoid his father’s mistakes.

  He liked women. They were each so diverse that starting a relationship was like unwrapping a present at Christmas. He didn’t know what he’d find, but he knew whatever it was, it would be awesome.

  And so he allowed himself to be led by the deviants, the sweethearts, the selfish ones, because it was the discovery he enjoyed. And then, after a few weeks the novelty wore off. And probably because he was so willing to go along with whatever they wanted, to please them the way they wanted to be pleased, they started treating him like the dog he was.

  Come here. Sit. Perform the way I like it. For the rest of your life.

  And that’s when Blue turned resentful. That’s when Blue lost interest. That’s when Blue played his man-card and broke things off. He thought he’d been considerate by not telling them they didn’t own him and he resented being treated that way. Ha!

  Maddy didn’t treat him like a possession. Oh, she was bossy enough. But bossy when it came to her filming. She listened to him. She looked at him as if she saw who he was inside. She laughed when she noticed something about him other than the brand of watch he was wearing.

  Maddy saw him.

  It was simultaneously thrilling and disturbing.

  Thrilling because he wanted her, despite the complications it presented. Disturbing because he didn’t mind helping her career as long as she didn’t ruin his. It was why he’d set up the bogus pitch meeting for her tomorrow. He was paying Plump Bird Studios to green-light her pilot, but Ivan had assured him it wouldn’t go farther than pilot-production. She’d gain a valuable contact in the industry – one she could pitch another idea to at a later date. A fair trade to cover his ass.

  But to have a woman see him for who he was, not who she wanted him to be…it turned him on. And it made him think about who he was and who he wanted to be.

  Blue pulled into the driveway of his rented house, knowing that Maddy would never believe him, but sleep wasn’t going to come easy tonight. He was going to dream about Maddy and every way he wanted to have her.

  What a hell of a surprise.

  “Maddy Polk. What are you doing here?”

  Dave’s superior tone grated across Maddy’s nerves. She turned from the reception desk at Plump Bird Studios to see her ex-producing partner, ex-writing partner, ex-lover, and full-time not-to-be-trusted scumbag standing inside the doorway.

  “Dave, I might ask you the same question.” She hoped to heaven that he wasn’t pitching a Blue Rule documentary.

  “I’m pitching a reality show to Ivan Usherman at three ten,” Dave preened.

  Great. She was pitching to Ivan at three.

  “What are you pitching?” The way Dave asked made her feel as if he thought anything she pitched was crap compared to what he could do. “Blue Rule? He’s a dud.”

  “This and that,” Maddy said evasively, checking to make sure the seams of her skirt were in the proper place. Blue was far from a dud. He was layer after layer of intriguing man. “What have you got?”

  “Rich Korean lesbians in Utah. Jealous?”

  “Not in the least.” Maddy took a seat and mentally reviewed her pitch outline. She’d thought she’d feel sick, but she didn’t. She felt powerful, as if she’d won all the marbles on the playground and Dave was about to run home crying to Mama. It was just the boost she needed before her presentation.

  She’d slept fitfully, regretting her clench with Blue. She was lucky she’d caught herself before they had some serious finger foreplay in the car or somebody’s lips drifted where they didn’t belong.

  After checking in with the receptionist, Dave sat next to her and guffawed, that holier than thou sound that cinched her shoulder blades. “You’re so screwed, Maddy. You can’t pitch the Avenger thing. Will you go with sewing circles at the old folks’ home?”

  “That was a good idea and you know it.” Maddy blew. “And it was the retired actors’ home. We would have had built in viewership.”

  Dave laughed again, unwittingly fanning her anger. How could she have been so blind to have let him screw her in any capacity?

  She leaned closer to her ex. “Everyone can see those pants have a built in crotch pad. You come with such empty promises.” Someone had inhabited Maddy’s brain. She never talked to people like that, even if they deserved it.

  “Ms. Polk? Mr. Usherman will see you now.”

  Maddy leapt away from Dave guiltily, making Dave chuckle, but this time it lacked his usual bluster.

  She was still fuming about Dave wh
en she shook Ivan Usherman’s hand. Her grip practically broke his bones. So unlike her.

  “Mr. Usherman. I have ten minutes to speak to you. Let me cut to the chase.” Usually Maddy would have opened with a bit about her experience and her interest in storytelling. Today she was busting balls. “I know who the Playboy Avengers are and who they’re after. I’ve prepared a sizzle reel to show you how I envision this series playing out.”

  An hour later Maddy walked out of Plump Bird Studios with a signed contract for a pilot, a modest check to fund the production for two weeks, and Ivan’s cell phone number.

  Dave was pacing in the waiting room. She ignored his questions as she left, her mind spinning with a list of things to do.

  First off, she had to hire another cameraman. Second, rent additional equipment. Third, set up time with Blue to make sure she was in on his matchmaking. Fourth, make sure Kaya Anika showed up. That bitch was Emmy material.

  But uppermost in her mind was meeting Ivan’s tight deadline for the pilot. If she delivered a killer, edited product to him in two weeks, she’d get a bonus and be able to reclaim Poppa Bert’s albums. She’d fought for every penny with Ivan, but in the end she couldn’t hide enough in her budget to pay off her pawn shop loan and fund the production. It would be horrible to achieve her dreams, only to lose the last link she had to her grandfather.

  “I thought you were fucking Maddy Polk,” Ivan Usherman said when Blue picked up the phone. “That kid’s got talent. This thing is going to be huge. You’ll be a star. They’ll write about you in the trades. They’ll interview you on Entertainment Tonight. The paparazzi will follow your every move. Fuck, you have the golden touch, just like always. Floating in under the radar and making shit happen.”

  “Ivan?” This was not happening. Blue felt like he was being sucked under quicksand. “Ivan, I agreed to pay you five thousand dollars to help fund her pilot. I wanted it to look like an investor was interested.”

  “An investor is interested. Me. I’ll give you a half share since I gave her ten thousand dollars.”