by Kira Blakely
“No, it’s not. You’re absolutely right about that.”
“Why did you go out there tonight?” I asked, pulling back to look at him. “You knew that you weren’t in any shape to get on that bike. I could see it in your eyes afterward that you were aware of that.”
“It’s difficult to pull away,” he said. “I didn’t want to let the fans down, either. A crash is better than no show.”
I shook my head at him. “Your life is worth more than that, Jude.”
“My paycheck says otherwise,” he said, scoffing. “Everyone watches this sport, expecting something to happen. It’s just the nature of extreme sports.”
The nature of it. I didn’t like the sound of that but I knew that Jude was right. The crowd had gone ballistic when Jude crashed. They were all on the edge of their seats to get a glimpse of him being escorted off with a mangled bike behind him.
Room service arrived a few minutes later with our food, and we ate in silence. Jude turned the television off when they started to replay the crash over and over again. I turned away from the screen with a sinking heart.
My head ached from the rush of adrenaline earlier. After we finished eating, I went into the bathroom to run a hot bubble bath. I hoped the hot water would ease the aches out of me.
The bathroom door opened. Stripping out of his shirt, Jude wordlessly lifted my own shirt up. He undid my bra next. I let my eyes fall closed while his fingers gently massaged my shoulders. Then he helped me get out of my pants and underwear.
“Get in,” he whispered, coaxing me into the water.
I didn’t argue. The hot water felt sinful against my legs as I slipped into the tub. The water parted behind me as Jude slipped in as well, mindful to keep the temporary brace above the water. I settled between his legs to rest up against his chest while we both washed away the entire evening with a bar of soap and a wash cloth. It wasn’t until I felt Jude’s hands brush up against my breasts sensually that the water felt even hotter suddenly. He pinched a nipple softly while his lips nibbled at the side of my neck. His hand went lower to cup me gently through the water.
I sucked in a harsh breath as I let my head fall back against his shoulder. Using his other hand, he pushed away the damp strands of my hair from my forehead as he continued to rub at the center of me. I grasped his thighs while the feeling grew in my stomach. The hot water. The gentle rubbing of his fingers as he parted me. It was too much. I couldn’t imagine any other man touching me the way he touched me.
My world exploded a moment later. I sagged against him in relief while I felt Jude’s hardened erection against my lower back. He nuzzled the side of my neck while he continued to rub me in all the right places.
“We should get out,” he murmured against my neck. “We need to get out before the water gets cold.”
“It doesn’t feel cold,” I breathed when he slid a finger inside of me. “It feels hot. Too hot.”
Jude chuckled against my throat. “That’s you, sweetheart. It has nothing to do with the water temperature.”
He released his hold on me. I managed to get out on wobbly legs to dry myself off, with Jude doing the same behind me. I almost lost him. The thought flashed through my head when I entered the dark bedroom. Desperation filled me, and I turned to gladly be swept up into his arms.
Our lips met in a series of fevered kisses that bruised my lips. We tumbled back onto the bed, scooting backward blindly in the darkness. I felt Jude’s hot and throbbing erection against the side of my knee. I reached down to brush my fingers along the tip, marveling at the smooth skin there.
Jude sucked in a ragged breath at my touch. He went still above me while I explored him. He was all hot skin and steel. That was all I could think while I stroked him confidently. The sound of his moans and his hips thrusting against me filled the room. Fingers on my wrist stopped me suddenly. I looked up in confusion, even though it was dark.
“What is it?” I asked. “Did I hurt you?”
“No,” he gritted out. “I’m just not going to come like that, is all.”
“It’s okay if you do,” I said shyly. “I’m a bit curious, to be honest, to see what it’s like since I’m always, you know…”
I trailed off nervously when Jude opened his eyes. I could see the outline of him as he gazed down at me, burning holes into my skin as I waited for him to give me an answer.
“You’re okay with it?” he asked.
I frowned at him as his fingers released my wrist. “Why wouldn’t I be okay with it?”
“Some women aren’t okay with it,” he said with a shrug. “Not that I’m going to complain. Your hand feels fucking amazing on me.”
“Tell me what to do if it doesn’t feel right.”
His hips thrusted forward when I started to stroke him up and down again.
“You really aren’t doing anything wrong,” he said, voice strained with pleasure. “Trust me on that one, Ava.”
I kept going while listening to a series of pants and groans escape Jude’s lips. It was erotic to hear the pleasure coming directly from Jude, without my own pleasure mixed in there. His entire body quivered against me while I continued to stroke him.
“Ava,” he rasped out, hips thrusting against my hand madly now. “I’m going to come all over you.”
I pumped harder in response. The heat radiating off Jude nearly burned me as he let out a guttural cry. His hot seed spilled over my hand and lower stomach. He sucked in harsh breaths while clutching at my knees, and he rode out the rest of his release. I marveled at the intensity of it as he forced his fingers to let up.
“Holy shit,” he groaned, releasing his hold on me. “Add that to your list of amazing skills.”
He helped clean me up before collapsing in the bed next to me. I didn’t even try to push away when he tucked in the blankets around the both of us, pulling me flush against him. I relished the sensation of his strong arms wrapped around me before sleep took the both of us.
Chapter 19
Jude
I woke up the next morning feeling Ava’s soft legs tangled up in mine. My right wrist ached but it wasn’t horrible. I could still ride in Vegas without any problems. I lifted my head up from the pillow to gaze down at Ava as she slept peacefully alongside me, with her tight bottom nuzzled up against my groin.
I didn’t care that we had a plane to catch in the next few hours. I just wanted to stay wrapped up in Ava’s arms and legs. I wanted to savor the peace and quiet that came with having Ava in my personal space.
I nearly slipped back into dreams when I felt Ava’s hips squirm suddenly. Her ass cheeks rubbed against me suggestively. I forced my eyes open to stare at the back of her head. Her dark hair was pillowed out around us. It still smelled of shampoo from the night before. I waited to see if she would do it again.
“Jude.”
The whispered plea, followed by writhing, forced all my blood to pool between my legs. I pressed a kiss against Ava’s bare shoulder as I leaned over to see that her eyes were closed but pleasure was sketched out across her face. Another sex dream. She was having another sex dream about me.
It filled me with smugness when I realized that I was the center of her dreams. I smoothed a hand across her ass cheek while guiding her leg back to hook over my hip. Reaching down, I shuddered when my fingers brushed up against the heat of her core that was already wet and ready for me. I nibbled on the side of her neck while she continued to writhe against me while I rubbed her. Soft moans were escaping her lips as her hips rocked against my hand.
Shudders wracked her body when an orgasm came over her. I didn’t waste any time by sliding myself into that wetness with my own groan of relief. Ava’s eyes opened immediately as she twisted around to look at me. Her cheeks were flushed from coming.
“What are you doing?” she whimpered when I thrusted into her deeply. “Oh, God. I was having a dream that we were doing this.”
“I know, baby,” I murmured, pulling her leg back even more. “You
said my name, and I gave you what you wanted.”
Her head sank back into the pillow with a shaky sigh. “I don’t know how you manage to do this to me but it’s insane how you make me feel like this every single time.”
“It’s only going to get better from here on out.”
I rolled her over onto her stomach. Without breaking contact, I ignored the ache in my wrist as I pulled her back into me. Her hands gripped the sheets while she looked back over her shoulder at me in a mixture of desperation and embarrassment. I smacked her ass cheek before sitting up on my knees to let go of myself. She’d had her own orgasm. It was time for mine.
The headboard pounded against the wall but I didn’t care as I watched our skin smack against one another’s in a rippling effect. Ava’s pants were growing louder, bordering on screams at times. The sheets ripped off the corners of the bed while Ava bucked up again in another earth-shattering release. Those muscles clenched down on my cock hard. Grinding my teeth, I rammed into her harder and harder until I finally spilled into her with my own cry of relief.
We both collapsed against the bed, panting heavily. I reached for Ava’s hand, and we laid there for a long minute, catching our breath. The tips of my fingers and toes were tingling, a sign of an amazing release. I couldn’t even remember the last time it had felt this good back to back. It had been a long time. A really long time.
Ava rolled onto her back to stare up at the ceiling. Her nipples were hard, and goosebumps covered her skin. I’d never seen anything more beautiful and erotic as she laid there next to me, completely sated.
“How does this keep getting better as times goes on?” she asked, breathless. “You would think that it would get old eventually.”
I furrowed my eyebrows at her in confusion. “Who says sex has to be boring after a while? What rock have you been living under?”
“A small one.” She hesitated and added, “I never did it again after you.”
“You haven’t?” I propped myself up on an elbow to look down at her in surprise. Her cheeks reddened visibly. “You really haven’t been with any guy since me? In high school?”
She pulled the sheets up to cover her chest. “Well, I’ve been a bit busy trying to get through college and build my career.”
“Not even a one-night stand?” I pushed, still shocked. “I mean, no going out for drinks with friends to meet some dude in a bar?”
“Nothing like that. I really didn’t have any friends in college who liked to drink. I stayed in the library during frat parties. I just never got around to finding a guy that I was even semi-attracted to. I’ve been busy,” she repeated.
I couldn’t help the smug grin tugging at my lips. It was thrilling to know that Ava hadn’t slept with any other guy after me. She was still my first while I was her only. That thrilled me beyond anything else.
“Try not to look too satisfied with that information,” she said. “Maybe I should go out there and sleep with some other guy to see if I’m settling on your skills in bed.”
“That’s an insult,” I said and climbed over to pin her playfully to the bed. “I don’t think I could let you go anyway. I’d have to kick the guy’s ass for touching you.”
Ava waggled her eyebrows at me with a giggle. “Well, you won’t have to worry about it. I’m pretty much stuck.”
“Damn straight you are, baby.”
I leaned down to press a heated kiss to her lips but the sharp trill of the hotel phone ringing interrupted us. I drew back with an annoyed sigh.
“It’s probably Chuck,” I said, releasing her wrists. “Checking to make sure we check out on time to get to Vegas.”
Ava’s face clouded over as I rolled off her to grab the phone next to the bed. I felt the mattress shift as she got up to pad into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
“Hello?”
“Oh, good. I’m glad you’re awake, sunshine.”
I rolled my eyes at Chuck’s voice. “Yeah. I’m awake. We’re getting ready to get up for the day.”
“Good,” he said shortly. “I need you here tonight for press and interviews. Don’t be fucking late. Got it?”
“Got it.”
The pleasurable haze from the night before and the morning faded away to the chaos of traffic on the highways. Cameras flashed in our direction as we walked through airport security. I scowled in irritation at the paparazzi that followed us. I didn’t mind the fans who came up to me for autographs. It was the damn paps who came up with bullshit stories that I was growing tired of.
I didn’t relax until we were on my private plane an hour later, high above Texas. I let my head sink back against the seat cushion to enjoy the whir of the plane’s engines. Ava’s hand was twined in mine the entire time but she pulled back after a little bit.
“What’s going to happen now?”
I opened my eyes to look at her in confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Why are we going to Vegas?” Ava looked equally confused. “I mean, with everything that had happened yesterday, I assumed…”
She trailed off when I shot her a skeptical look. Not caring that she had pulled away, I placed a soothing hand on her bouncing knee. Anxiety was taking over her again.
“My wrist is going to heal just fine,” I said. “It’s not the first time that I’ve gotten hurt, Ava. Bones heal. Muscles get repaired. Everything is going to be fine.”
“So, you’re still going to continue this tour around the country?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked, thoroughly confused. “I have to. My contracts need to be fulfilled. My fans would be disappointed if I stopped over a small sprain.”
“It doesn’t seem like a small sprain,” Ava remarked, shaking her head. “I don’t know what it is but I can’t shake this feeling that something is going to happen.”
“It’s just nerves, Ava, from last night. This is my life. I know how to handle a bike, believe it or not.”
“You crashed,” she pointed out, looking at me then. “I don’t think I can sit through another show if you’re going to crash again. It’s too traumatic for me.”
Resentment flared in me when I realized the answer that she was seeking from me. I focused on the window then as her knee shifted away from my hand. I didn’t even bother trying to reach out and touch her again.
This was my life. I couldn’t count how many times I had broken bones, sprained limbs, or even had a concussion. It was just a part of it all. Crashes happened more than Ava realized but she was stuck on a minor one because of what happened with Andy.
“Believe it or not,” I started, turning to look at her, “I am a trained professional. I know how to get out there and handle stunts. I’ve been doing this for quite some time, Ava. This isn’t like when we were fifteen years old, trying to be cool. This is my job. And I’m going to keep doing it.”
A shadow flickered over Ava’s face. She shifted uncomfortably in the seat next to me as she crossed her lean legs.
“Right,” she said, a bit flatly. “I completely understand. You are a professional at this. I just can’t watch anymore, okay? I’ll do the article from what you tell me, but I can’t sit through these shows any longer.”
A headache pounded in my head again. I didn’t even bother responding because I could sense where this conversation would go. A fight. I didn’t want to risk another fight when the last one had me hitting the bottle and then crashing the next night. I didn’t even want to point out that Andy’s accident years ago had happened for an entirely different reason. I knew that Andy’s name would send Ava over the edge that we were teetering on together for what like the millionth time.
Chapter 20
Ava
“JJ! Can I have your autograph?”
“How is your wrist?”
I trailed behind Jude, past the stream of media and fans waiting for us outside of the hotel in Vegas later that afternoon. I watched as Jude stopped to talk to a few younger fans in the crowd. Their faces lit up as he talked to them
candidly while signing their photographs of him.
It made everything that much harder. It had occurred to me on the plane that injuries and the possibility of death weren’t even a deal breaker for someone like Jude. The entire accident yesterday had gathered more attention on him, but it was those young faces in the crowd who looked up to him that made my stomach twist into a million knots. Those young faces had no idea what those type of stunts could to do someone.
I walked past Jude to enter the hotel lobby where Chuck was watching the chaos unfold outside of the hotel as well. Our eyes clashed together as he gave me a long hard look.
“Try not to fuck with him tonight if you can,” he said darkly. “I’d rather not have a repeat of the other night.”
Cold anger skittered through me. I knew how Chuck looked at Jude—the young and vibrant man who could earn millions of dollars by just showing up to an event. That didn’t include anything else that Jude had planned.
“You mean, don’t mess with your money maker over there?” I asked coldly. “You realize that Jude is a human being beneath this blanket of fame he is currently under?”
“I’m aware of it,” Chuck responded smoothly. “Are you accusing me of something, Ms. James?”
The sliding glass doors opened before I could offer a reply to that. Jude walked into the hotel lobby in confident strides, flicking his sunglasses up to reveal icy blue eyes. He held out a hand for hotel keys.
“Much better this morning,” Chuck said, handing them to him. “You look clean cut and sober. Which is good, because we have some Las Vegas officials near the Starbucks in the lobby who want to speak with you about yesterday.”
“I figured that was going to happen,” Jude replied, handing a spare key to Chuck. “Take this one back to the desk. Ava is staying in my suite.”
My eyes widened along with Chuck’s, and he shot me a nasty glance. I opened my mouth to protest, but Jude didn’t give me a chance. He pressed a kiss against my lips before handing off his bags to the bellhop.
“I’ll be up in a little bit,” he said and handed me the key to his hotel suite. “Let’s get this over with, Chuck. I want to get some decent fucking sleep before tomorrow.”