Guarded Desires

by Couper, Lexxie

  Liev’s heart slammed into his throat.

  “Now tell me about this Australian,” the talk show host said, fixing Chris with a pinning look. “This…what’s his name, Liev Reynolds? Sounds like Liev Schrieber and Ryan Reynolds got together and made a bodyguard.” A superimposed image of Liev wearing a tux at the Australian Dead Even red carpet event appeared on the screen. “Oh my God,” the host proclaimed. “He looks like they did too. Damn, that’s an impressive looking man right there, isn’t it?”

  The audience cheered and clapped and whooped. On the sofa Chris laughed. “Impressive is one word I’d use, Conan.”

  The host leaned forward on his desk. “One word? What’s another?”

  “Perfect,” Chris answered, his smile utterly relaxed. “Funny. Powerful.” He paused. “Sexy as all hell.”

  “Wait a minute,” the host held up his hand. Liev’s gut knotted. “Wait a minute. That’s seven words.”

  The audience laughed. So did Chris. “True though.”

  “So, impressive, perfect, funny, powerful and sexy as hell? Anything else you want to tell us? Hairy ass? A tattoo? Birthmark shaped like a kangaroo? I couldn’t really tell from the photos.”

  There was more laughter from the audience. Chris chuckled, shifting on the sofa to lean closer to the host. “None of those. But I will tell you, he’s got the best ass on the planet. Better than mine, in fact.”

  The host whistled. “So is it love?”

  Chris laughed. “Conan, Liev Reynolds is the man who made me realize who I really am. And I really like who I really am. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.”

  The host turned to the camera. “Yeah!” he said, pumping his fist. “I’m really, really a fan of love.” Turning back to Chris, he held out his hand. “Thank you for coming on tonight, Chris. And congrats again, not only on Dead Even breaking box-office records but on the announcement of the sequel. Thanks for sharing that news here.”

  The clip ended.

  Liev stared at the screen.

  Without a word, Caitlin leaned over his shoulder and clicked on the top link on the right of the page.

  Another clip opened, this one of a different talk show. The host sat behind a desk, Chris sat on a sofa, smiling at the audience as the host rattled off a list of records Dead Even had broken since its international release—fastest film to break one billion dollars in the US, fastest film to break one billion in Europe, fastest film to break one billion in the UK. Highest-grossing action film in U.S. history. Highest-grossing film of the decade.

  “Which makes you a very successful guy,” the host pointed out.

  Chris nodded. “It would seem so.”

  The host straightened his note cards on the desk with a sharp rap. “So, this guy from Australia, what’s his name? Burt Reynolds?”

  Chris laughed along with the audience. To Liev, he’d never appeared more relaxed or gorgeous. “Liev Reynolds, Dave.”

  “Ah, that’s right.” The host adjusted his glasses. “He’s a big scary guy, isn’t he? How did you meet?”

  Liev’s heart thumped faster at the cheeky grin that stretched Chris’s lips. “He was selected by my brother-in-law to be the perfect bodyguard.”

  “And was he?”

  Chris wriggled his eyebrows. “You’ve seen the photos, Dave. You tell me.”

  The audience erupted. The drummer beat out a riff.

  The host waved his hand, smiling. “Seriously, Chris,” he said, his blue eyes intent behind his glasses. “Are you worried about being so open about this? There aren’t that many action heroes willing to discuss their gay sex life. Do you fear your career will suffer?”

  Chris sat back on the sofa and rested his arms along the cushions. “There should be more of us, Dave. There’s nothing to be ashamed about. Who I want to be intimate with, who I chose to be intimate with is neither offensive nor significant to what I do for a living. Someone I know very well told me just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I’ve less testosterone in my system. It just means I’ve got different taste.”

  The audience applauded. The lump in Liev’s throat grew thicker. He stared at his laptop’s screen, drinking in the sight of the man who’d shaken his world.

  “Wise words.” The host tapped his index cards on the table again. “Who said them?”

  Chris’s smile sent Liev’s heart racing. “Liev Reynolds.”

  The host looked into the camera as an image of Liev from the current fire-fighters charity calendar flashed onto the screen. “And I’m not going to argue with him. Have you seen the size of this guy’s arms? I think he’s got testosterone to spare.”

  The clip ended on the audience’s cheers. Before Liev could contemplate what he’d just watched, Caitlin started another.

  A different show, a different host, but showing the same thing—Chris talking openly about his sexuality, the host congratulating him on the phenomenal success of his film and its announced sequel, the audience showing their adoration for Chris through their cheers and applause.

  Liev didn’t know what to do. Or say. He watched each one Caitlin opened, guilt twisting through amazement.

  When he didn’t think he could take any more in, when his gut couldn’t get any tighter or his chest any heavier, Caitlin clicked on a clip called Chris Huntley Announcement on Leno.

  It was a short clip. No more than a minute. Chris stood beside the talk-show host, looking sexier than ever in a pair of faded blue jeans, an open-neck white shirt and a five o’clock shadow on his jaw Liev knew would feel like heaven against his lips.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” the famous host waved his hands about in the familiar way he did, “before we finish for the night, Chris has got something to tell us. Chris?”

  Chris turned to the camera and grinned. “I’ve just been named People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive again. For the third time.”

  The crowd went wild. Chris burst out laughing. And the clip ended.

  Liev stared at the frozen image of Chris. Just stared at it.

  “Uncle L?”

  At his niece’s soft—and worried—voice, he jolted to his feet and ran for the bathroom.

  “Uncle L?” Caitlin shouted from his living room. “What are you doing? You’re not throwing up, are you?”

  “Get my credit card out of my wallet,” he shouted back, grabbing the hem of his sweat-drenched shirt and yanking it over his head as he toed off his running shoes. “I need you to buy me a ticket for the first flight to L.A. you can while I have a shower. The first flight.”

  “You don’t have to do that, Uncle L.” Caitlin’s voice floated back to him just as he reached into the shower cubicle to flick on the water.

  Suppressing a grunt, Liev turned and hurried back out to the living room. “Yes, I…”

  He froze.

  “No, you don’t,” Chris said.

  Liev stared at the man standing in the middle of his living room.

  Chris looked just as gorgeous, just as stunning, just as sexy as he had on Leno. The stubble on his jaw was longer, his hair messier, his shirt—white cotton—was crumpled.

  Liev swallowed. Chris Huntley was here. In his bloody living room.

  Movement from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Aslin leant against the wall, his arms crossed. Bethany stood beside him, iPad pressed to her breasts.

  With a chuckle, Chris’s brother-in-law pushed himself from the wall and jabbed a finger at Liev. “Get your sodding act together, Reynolds, so I can get back to my wife and my daughter. Hear me?”

  Before Liev’s brain could make his mouth open, Aslin snared Caitlin by the elbow and dragged her from the room, a grinning Bethany in tow. “Hurry the hell up and kiss him, Reynolds,” Aslin called. “And say you’re sorry.”

  “Sorry is a good start,” Chris murmured.

  Liev swung his stare back to Chris. His breath caught in his throat. A throat well on its way to trying to asphyxiate him.

  The actor smiled, shoving his hands into the bac
k pocket of his jeans. “I thought you Australians were meant to be brave.”

  His voice caressed Liev’s senses. Made his head spin. “We are brave. Just not that smart, it seems.”

  Chris laughed.

  The sound flooded Liev with euphoric pleasure. And still he couldn’t move. Couldn’t take that step to close the distance between them. “Not smart like you,” he said, the words a rasping breath.

  Chris shook his head, his smile loose. “Nah, I’m the funny guy in this relationship, remember?”

  Liev swallowed. “There’s a relationship?”

  “I didn’t just fly halfway around the world to tell you you’re a moron, did I?” A frown dipped at his eyebrows. “Maybe I’m not as smart as you think I am?”

  Liev’s snort echoed around the living room. “Bullshit, Huntley. I just spent the last half hour watching you on YouTube.”

  Chris smirked. “I know. I was standing outside waiting for you to finish. Just in case you were wondering, your niece really has a flair for the dramatics. When I called her, she told me she knew exactly what to do to make you see the light.”

  Liev’s chest ached. “I didn’t need to see the light. I saw you,” he said, unable to stop his gaze roaming Chris’s face. Hell, he’d seen it every night in his dreams since he’d walked away from the man. He’d seen it every time he’d closed his bloody eyes, and never once was it as breathtaking as it was now. In reality. “I saw how comfortable you were talking about us, about who you are. What you are. I saw the hosts eating out of your hands and the audience hanging off your every word.” He shook his head, his pulse pounding in his neck. “That wasn’t just you being funny, that was you being honest and smart. They loved it. They loved you.”

  Chris stood motionless. His gaze found Liev’s and held it. “I don’t want everyone to love me, Reynolds. I just want—”

  Before he could finish, Liev crossed the room and crushed Chris’s lips with his.

  How could he not? The man he loved was here in his living room even after he’d behaved like a fucking idiot and sent him away.

  Chris fisted his hands in Liev’s hair. The crisp cotton of his shirt stroked Liev’s bare chest. Liev’s nipples pinched hard. A heavy spasm claimed his cock.

  From the other room, on another planet, a jubilant and thoroughly teenage whoohoo filled the air. “Way to go, Uncle L,” Caitlin called.

  With a chuckle, and far more reluctance than he imagined possible, Liev broke away from the kiss and stared down into Chris’s face. “Fuck, I’m sorry, Chris. I was an idiot.”

  Chris cocked an eyebrow, smoothing his hands from Liev’s hair down over his shoulders to his bare chest. “Yes, you were. But I won’t hold it against you.”

  Liev sucked in a sharp breath. Christ, if his niece wasn’t in the other room right now… He dragged his thumb over Chris’s bottom lip. “You know, I’m never letting anyone else guard your body but me, right?”

  Chris leaned forward and brushed his lips over Liev’s. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, Mr. Costner.”

  The quip sent joy radiating through Liev’s soul. “Mr. Costner?”

  Chris grinned. “Mr. Costner. You know…” He threw back his head and burst into the theme song from The Bodyguard, his voice ludicrously off key and pitch.

  Liev laughed, holding the man who had changed everything for him closer, and then, incapable of holding off anymore, kissed Chris silent.

  The man may be bloody funny and as sexy as all hell, but he couldn’t sing for shit.

  About the Author

  Lexxie Couper started writing when she was six and hasn’t stopped since. She’s not a deviant, but she does have a deviant’s imagination and a desire to entertain readers with her words. Add the two together and you get romances that can make you laugh, cry, shake with fear or tremble with desire. Sometimes all at once. When she’s not submerged in the worlds she creates, Lexxie’s life revolves around her family, a husband who thinks she’s insane, an indoor cat who likes to stalk shadows, and her daughters, who both utterly captured her heart and changed her life forever.

  Contact Lexxie at lexxie@lexxiecouper.com, follow her on Twitter www.twitter.com/lexxie_couper or visit her at www.lexxiecouper.com where she occasionally makes a fool of herself on her blog.

  Look for these titles by Lexxie Couper

  Now Available:

  The Sun Sword

  Tropical Sin

  Suck and Blow

  Triple Dare

  Dare Me

  Sunset Heat

  Twister

  Suspicious Ways

  Heart of Fame

  Love’s Rhythm

  Muscle for Hire

  Savage Australia

  Savage Retribution

  Savage Transformation

  Principatus

  Dark Destiny

  Dark Embrace

  Coming Soon:

  Heart of Fame

  Steady Beat

  Lead Me On

  Blame it on the Bass

  Getting Played

  His music moves the world. Can his love move her heart?

  Love’s Rhythm

  © 2012 Lexxie Couper

  Heart of Fame, Book 1

  Nick Blackthorne knows all about words of love. They’re the reason he’s the world’s biggest rock star. The irony? He turned his back on love a long time ago, lured away by the trappings of fame.

  An invitation to a friend’s wedding is a stark reminder of how meaningless his life has become. When he enters that church, there’s only one woman he wants on his arm—the one he walked out on a lifetime ago. But first he has to find her, even if all she accepts from him is an apology.

  Kindergarten teacher Lauren Robbins once had what every woman on the planet desires. Nick. Their passion was explosive, their romance the stuff of songs…and it took fifteen years to get over him. Then out of the blue Nick turns up at her door, and all those years denying her ache for him are shattered with a single, smoldering kiss.

  But molten passion can’t hide the secret she’s kept for all these years. Because it’s not just her heart on the line anymore…and not just her life that’ll be rocked by the revelation.

  Warning: Remember your first crush on a rock star? Now add smoldering sex, a raw and undeniable passion, soul-shattering orgasms. And secrets…

  Enjoy the following excerpt for Love’s Rhythm:

  Just as she turned back to him, her face set in a glare, her finger raised—no doubt ready to tell him to go to hell—he slid his hand into the hair at the nape of her neck and claimed her mouth once again.

  She fought the kiss. For exactly one wild thumping heartbeat. And then she surrendered to what was already in complete control of Nick—pure, undeniable desire. The desire of their past, the desire that had fed them for so long nothing else had mattered.

  He worshipped her mouth, her lips, her throat. He scored lines along her jaw, up to her ear, back to her lips. She whimpered nonsensical sounds that filled his cock with fresh want. Whispered words fell from her lips, words that belonged to unfinished sentences like, “This can’t… I need… I… You… Please…”

  When he slipped his right hand from her hair and covered her breast with it, she sucked in a gasp, her hips pushing to his with an unspoken request. Her nipple pressed at the centre of his palm, hard and insistent. A tremor rocked through her and she let out a hitching breath. “Nick…please.”

  He knew she was asking him to stop even as she was begging him for more. Her voice wavered, torn with need and confusion. “Don’t ask me to stop, Lauren,” he groaned against her throat. He could feel her pulse beneath his lips, rapid and strong. “Unless you really want me to walk away, right now, don’t ask me to stop.”

  “Nick,” she choked, her hips rolling against his. “We can’t do this…”

  He lifted his head, his gaze roaming her face. Her ragged breath caressed his lips, her eyes were closed, her face etched with pleasure. Pleasure he’d given to her with ju
st a kiss. A kiss.

  “Are you with someone, Lauren?” His gut churned, his voice cracking on the question. He had to ask. No matter how much he hated the expected answer. “Is that why you want me to stop? Is that why you’re fighting so hard to deny what’s so very undeniable? If you are, I’ll stop. I’ll stop right now.” He swallowed, clenched his teeth. “Just tell me if you are.”

  Her eyes squeezed more tightly shut. Her teeth caught her bottom lip. She didn’t answer.

  His stomach knotted. His cock pulsed. She was so soft in his arms, against his body. Her heat was so close to his, her breasts so full, her lips so sweet. Fuck, he wanted her. More than he could comprehend. Wanted to bury himself in her heat and give her everything he was.

  Weren’t you here only to ask a question?

  He was. And he had. And she hadn’t said yes.

  “Let me make love to you, Lauren.” He pressed his mouth to the base of her throat, stroking the tip of his tongue into the shallow dip there. “Let me show you what we both once had.”

  He slipped his hand under her shirt, his head swimming at the velvet warmth of her skin. His fingers danced over her ribcage before brushing the under-swell of her breast. Lace rasped his fingertips and an image of Lauren in her underwear from a lifetime ago filled his head, making it swim some more. She’d always loved beautiful underwear—lacey bras and knickers, usually white or the deepest burgundy. What colour was she wearing today?

  His heart slammed faster at the thought and, unable to stop himself, he shifted his arm, bunching up her shirt to reveal that which his hand so desperately wanted to possess.

  “Oh, babe,” he groaned, his stare falling on a cherry-red bra perfectly cupping her breast. Her nipple strained at the delicate lace, drawing his attention and making his breath quicken. “You are as beautiful as I remember.”

  He bent and took her nipple in his mouth, rolling its taut form under his tongue before suckling on it hard through the lace.

  “Nick,” Lauren raked her nails over his shoulders, her hips bucking forward. He pressed his free hand to the small of her back, holding her still as he drew on her breast. She whimpered, clinging to him, those wordless sounds slipping from her again. Wordless sounds that grew to raw pleas. “Oh, Nick, that feels so good. So good…”