1606010387-Love-Lust-and-Deception-Lucas.doc

by Love, Lust

  He shook his head lightly, fearing some other big revelation like she was actually Ashley’s twin or some other Hollywood oddity.

  “What do you mean, you’re not you?”

  She pushed away and climbed off the bed, taking the throw with her and wrapping it around her naked body like a shawl. She paced back and forth in the moonlight.

  “I’m not Ashley Williams, really. I mean I am, obviously, but I mean…” She made a sound that got strangled in her throat. “I won’t live up to your image. Trust me on this.”

  He sat up, ran his hand over his head, and let out the breath he’d been holding.

  “Ashley, I’m not worried about your image. Up until a few minutes ago, I was perfectly satisfied with the woman in my arms. I will be again if you’ll still have me.”

  He held out a hand to her.

  “Let me love you, Ashley. Let me teach you.”

  She chewed on her lower lip as she obviously considered his proposition. Slowly, she moved closer. Darius saw the uncertainty in her eyes and wished there were some way to reassure her, but he imagined she had a lot of baggage that would contradict anything he said. So he waited.

  She took his hand, and climbed back on top of him. Not in that confident way she had earlier, but almost as a scared little girl. He had to powerfully shove away his own baggage in that moment because now was no time to start questioning how like his father he was.

  He took her offered warmth, wrapped his arms around her waist, and helped her reposition herself so he could slide back inside her.

  “You’re sure?”

  She nodded.

  “If you are.”

  He kissed her, long and deep.

  “Oh, I’m damn sure.”

  She giggled and it was the first sign he had that things might actually be okay.

  Slowly, he slid her body down on his. She squeezed him with her muscles as she rose back up, almost leaving him and stopping at the very edge. He held her hips. His gaze locked with hers as she slid bit by bit back down.

  “Shit, Ashley. You’re so damn tight.”

  She moved up again, more awkward than seductress now and that made the moment all the hotter.

  “I don’t think I’m gonna last all that long here.”

  He used his fingers to stimulate her clit again. She lowered her head next to him and kissed him deep.

  “I don’t need to come again. This time’s for you.”

  He let her ride him a few more times before he pulled her off his cock and flipped her to his stomach.

  “I’m not coming without you, sweetheart.”

  * * * *

  Ashley was about to respond when he pulled her ass off the bed and pushed back inside her. His hand moved over her hip and between her thighs. His thighs pounded against her ass, his balls slapped against her intimately, and with every thrust, his fingers slid over her clit and his cock touched her womb finally sending her spiraling back into a deep pool of ecstasy the likes of which she never knew was possible before this moment.

  She felt his body go rigid behind her, felt him pump into her with restrained force and knew he was coming, too. Before she realized she had done it, she cried out his name in an incoherent mix of deities’ names and primal moans.

  When he wrapped his arm tight around her waist and allowed them both to fall to the mattress, Ashley wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to move again. Darius lay partly on top of her, mostly beside her, and pulled her hard against him as if he possessed her now. It was as if she was his and he dared anyone to take her from him.

  This wasn’t at all the night she’d planned. She still couldn’t quite believe she’d told him about Gabe. Maybe she was flighty like her mother always accused her, but in this instance, she felt it had paid off.

  She touched his cheek, summoning enough strength for a weak smile. She loved the sense of warmth and protection she had lying in his arms and began to spin all sorts of fantasies where she’d be allowed to stay there forever as she fell into the blissful sleep of the utterly sated.

  * * * *

  “Here.”

  Darius dropped a velvet robe over Ashley’s shoulders, then squeezed back in behind her on the lounge chair. The moon was high, but it was dark and secluded on Ashley’s balcony, with the sound of the rolling waves seemingly their only company.

  He loved the way she nestled back against him as if it were the most natural thing in the world. He wrapped his arms securely around her waist and tugged her even closer if that were possible. He wanted to tug her right inside of him, keep her there safely forever.

  Something about this woman made him want to take care of her in a way he’d never felt before. Most women in his life were self assured, successful, hard if he were to be honest. Not Ashley. It wasn’t as though he saw her as weak, though. He was more than certain she was quite capable of running her life and taking care of herself, but something in him seemed to touch a place in her so deeply hidden, he wasn’t even sure she was aware of it. It was a part that called to him, that called to his primal sense of chivalry and possessiveness. It was a part that seemed to need him and no one ever needed him.

  “This may seem like a silly question at this point in the evening but, are you staying?”

  He smiled despite himself. Tipping her head back, he met her eyes seriously.

  “There is one problem with that.” He felt her body tense and decided to just be nice and let her off the hook. “I’m halfway through my six condoms already and I’d been thinking six was overly optimistic. So if I stay, you absolutely have to stop throwing yourself at me.”

  He wasn’t sure what to expect from her. There was still so much he didn’t know. And things he thought he knew, he came to realize weren’t really her to begin with, so when she laughed and eased herself back against his chest, he knew he’d undoubtedly found the woman he’d searched for his whole life.

  “Well, I’ll be good if you will. It seems to me number one was mutual, two was all your idea, and…”

  He tilted her head back and kissed her words away. His tongue swept inside, mating with hers, claiming her if he thought he could get away with it. When he lifted his head, he smiled down at her.

  “…and three was all you, sweetheart.”

  She shrugged.

  “I’ve been deprived lately.”

  “Lately?”

  She shrugged again.

  “Or forever.”

  “Well, we can’t have that.”

  He laughed deep in his chest. It was funny because just earlier today he thought he might never laugh again. Now, it seemed like the trip out to see Dev happened a lifetime ago, not within the last forty-eight hours. It was surreal that he hadn’t even known Ashley twenty-four hours. How had he gotten to this place where his soul felt as if it had always known her?

  If he were honest, he’d always spent a great deal of time thinking about women, love, and happily ever after. Maybe his mom’s betrayal left him so desperate to prove it didn’t have to be like that. Or maybe he simply craved validation that it hadn’t been his fault she’d left, that he was simply unacceptable. Whatever caused it, it was what it was, and he did spend a great deal of time imagining love.

  Nothing he’d ever thought ever came close to this, though. Never before had he experienced this feeling of rightness, like she was just supposed to be in his arms, end of story. He smiled as he realized even their breathing was in sync at that moment.

  She sat between his thighs, head lolled back against his shoulder, and the scent of her embraced him right along with the salt air. This was one of those moments in life when he met perfection and he wasn’t stupid enough to think that happened more than once.

  “You’re good for me, Ashley. Earlier today, I was thinking I’d never smile again, now I’m not sure I can stop.”

  “Why weren’t you smiling?” She looked up over her shoulder and gently touched his cheek. “You have such a sexy smile; it seems a crime not to use it.”

&nbs
p; He brought his head down close to hers, pressing his lips against her shoulder.

  “Family stuff. I miss my brothers. They don’t seem so inclined about me.”

  Nothing but the sound of waves accompanied them for a time. Darius thought about Dev and Drake, even about Alexa, though to be honest, he wouldn’t know his sister if she ran him over in the street.

  “I’m sorry.”

  Her softly spoken words pulled his thoughts back. He wasn’t sure if it were the simplicity of her words or how heartfelt they sounded, but no two words, he was quite sure, had ever felt more like an embrace to anyone.

  “I realize this is probably a silly time to ask this as well, but…” Again she tilted her head back and looked up at him. “You are representing me now, right?”

  He chuckled and squeezed his arms around her waist.

  “I think I have invested interest.”

  He waited a minute, not sure exactly how to say what needed said, given that he didn’t want to hurt her. The way he saw it, Ashley Williams had been hurt enough in one lifetime, and if he had anything to say about it, pain and rejection would never find this woman again.

  “Ashley…”

  “Hmmm?”

  She sounded sleepy, as if she were about to drop off in his arms. The stars sparkled over their heads and as he lay his back against the lounge, he saw one shoot across the black velvet.

  “I’m speaking both as your publicist and as an invested party when I say I think we should keep our relationship private.”

  She tensed and wiggled around until she faced him. It was too dark to properly judge the look on her face, so he plowed on before he screwed this whole thing up.

  “Look, maybe I’m jumping the gun a little here, but I was sure hoping we were sharing more than a one night stand and that being the case, well…” He tugged at his ear. He felt her gaze bore into him like tiny blades of fire. “Ashley, you’re Ashley Williams. I don’t know if this is your first relationship since Gabriel’s death, but if the media gets wind of it, it may as well be.

  “Whoever the first is there will be a media storm and my past has some pot holes in it. Remember the family stuff I eluded to in my office?”

  She nodded. He hated the tension he sensed rolling off her and decided the only way to handle this was to just spit it out.

  “I don’t want you hurt by choices my father made. Enough people already have been and you add that to the fact that you’re having me represent you, well, sweetheart, it could get nasty. I hate to say it, but you’re America’s sweetheart and that’s a bull’s-eye around your neck you can’t ever put down. There are scandal rags out there that would make a fortune if they could find something black on you. I don’t want it to be me.”

  He waited, hoping she’d understand and hoping he wouldn’t have to tell her about his father, not now anyway. The fact his father wasn’t much better than a child molester didn’t seem like good pillow talk.

  She turned her head more into the moonlight. He caught the trail of a tear run down her cheek, and he wanted to castrate himself.

  “Ah, honey, I’m sorry. I never meant it as—”

  She pressed her fingers against his lips, then drew in a long breath before she met his eyes again. She twisted her body so she straddled his lap. The velvet robe hung open exposing her breasts and he felt himself growing hard yet again.

  “No one has ever looked out for me with the press. More often than not, I’m an easy ticket to some quick publicity. Even Gabriel saw me that way.”

  She swallowed hard and blinked back some more tears. He grabbed one off her lower lashes with his thumb.

  “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to make you see how much what you’re doing here means to me.”

  When she kissed him, wet, slow, and deep, a second later, he thought she made a damn fine attempt. When she smiled down at him with wicked intent, he knew he was in trouble of the best kind.

  “Now, you were saying we still had three condoms left?”

  “I might just have to marry you, Ashley. I do believe you are the perfect woman.”

  He reached into the pocket of the robe he’d placed around her shoulders and pulled out one of his three remaining condoms. They’d have to be careful or she would be awfully sore in the morning. But this time, he allowed her to sheath him and he focused hard on not coming from her touch alone. He couldn’t remember a time he was so primed and ready to go and quite so virile, but damn if he’d complain about it.

  * * * *

  Ashley had always hated Morey’s offices and his waiting room had particularly bad memories. The smell of it made her nauseous and brought back too many unhappy memories of being forced to wait here while Myra and he discussed her life.

  Her anxiety level neared the danger zone rapidly and if she didn’t just get this over with soon, Darius would be visiting her tonight in a hospital bed instead of the one they’d spent most of the morning in, and that would be a tragedy.

  She couldn’t contain the little smile that flirted with her lips when she thought of him, or the little shivers that traversed her spine when her memories started channeling his touch, his scent. She squeezed her thighs together as she remembered the feel of his skin beneath her palms, the feel of his cock embedded deep inside her.

  Ashley Williams was naive about many of things, but sex was no longer one of them.

  “What do you keep smiling about? You’re like the damn Cheshire cat this afternoon.”

  Johnny’s voice penetrated her conscious, snagging her attention, but causing another guilty little smile to cross her face before she could stop it.

  “Nothing. Just happy.”

  He narrowed his eyes at her and almost went back to reading his magazine. Holding the edge right below his field of vision so he could keep her tagged like a deer in the headlights.

  He looked ridiculously uncomfortable in the small chairs in Morey’s waiting room, but she didn’t need that image to make her smile today. Even with the task that lay ahead of her, she hadn’t been able to stop smiling all day.

  “Mrs. Williams.” Her head turned to the redheaded receptionist who was new and she couldn’t remember the woman’s name all of a sudden. “You can go on in.”

  She stood up and rubbed her palms together. She knew Morey would want to shake her hand and hated it when they were sweaty. Drawing a deep breath, she took Johnny for moral support, entering the dragon’s lair, ready to fire the only living person in her life who’d known her from the beginning.

  Chapter 6

  “You ungrateful little bitch.”

  Ashley flinched. If he’d screamed at her, she would have been prepared for that, but the cold, even tone of his voice cut right through her in a way she hadn’t been expecting.

  “You think you can just cut me off after everything I’ve done for you?”

  “I’m not cutting you off. We still have a contract.” She firmed her resolve. “I just won’t be contracting anything new with you from here on. I’ve…” she swallowed, “hired Darius Kiersen to represent me from now on.”

  An evil gleam shone when he smiled this time, and Ashley felt Johnny’s body tense as he moved a little closer to her.

  “That sodomite bastard! You’re a fool, Ashley. This is why Myra and Gabriel never let you handle anything. With your career in the hands of that asshole, you’ll be ruined within a month.”

  He stood up and paced to the window. Ashley felt paralyzed in her seat. She struggled to control her breathing.

  “I hope you didn’t let that pretty smile of his fool you. The man doesn’t like girls you know.” Ashley felt the blood drain from her face as Morey turned around. “As I can see, you didn’t.”

  Morey paced toward her, leaving her feeling like a mouse trapped by a ferocious cat. She was unable to move. She knew because she tried, but Myra had done too good of a job teaching her little girl to be submissive, and right now, there wasn’t a chance in hell she would get away before Morey had his say. />
  “His daddy’s doing time for being a little too close with girls a little too young. His older brothers are jokes, the one’s a deviant, the other a criminal. His own mama left him and there are rumors about his conduct in the steam room at Bailey’s as well as a very suspicious long-term relationship with a known homosexual.”

  Ashley felt a little faint. Had she made a mistake? She would have laughed if there weren’t such a large lump in her throat. This was her first big independent decision and maybe she’d screwed up. Maybe her gut couldn’t be trusted because after all, that was all she’d really gone on when choosing Darius.

  But then, what about last night? If the man were gay, he was a very inventive businessman and a better actor than she’d ever met.

  Somehow drawing a deep breath, she rose from her chair, summoning every acting lesson she’d ever had and stood firmly in Morey’s personal space.

  “Mr. Kiersen’s sexual preferences are neither my business, nor my concern. I hired him to do a job that, quite frankly, you refused to do. So that we’re clear, Morey, the only reason I didn’t fire you outright yesterday was because of how much you’ve done for me.

  “I do believe in loyalty, but I also believe in doing the job you’re paid to do. Yours wasn’t to override my wishes about the implants. It was to advise me and handle the press. Mr. Kiersen will handle me just fine, thank you very much.”

  She was nearly to the door when his insidious laugh crawled over her flesh.

  “Oh, I bet he’s handling you, but look what happened the last time you let some man handle you. Or have you forgotten Lance Mansfield already?”

  She refused to look back. Her hand was already on the knob and Johnny was like a bear in a harness beside her. She just knew he wanted to thrash Morey and a part of her wanted to let him. She had a long road ahead of her though now, without anyone telling her constantly what to do. It was time she learned to take care of herself.

  “Our business, Morey, from here on out, can be handled through Paige and Duncan. I don’t ever want to see you again.”