Starring Me and You

by Ella Bradshaw

  I kissed him back desperately. If he was water I was parched, I needed him to survive. He held me so close that all I could feel was his warm, hard body against mine. We didn’t break the kiss as we fumbled our way to my bedroom. The moment the door was shut his crisp white shirt and my pajamas had fallen to the floor. He lifted me up and I wrapped my legs around him tightly, desperate to feel him inside me once again. I’d dreamed of it so often since the first time it had happened. Yet his hard desire pressed against me drove me as wild as it had the very first time. All I could do was give into my lust and let him have me.

  Soon we were on the bed and his hands were caressing every inch of my body. As he kissed me I rubbed the hardness in his jeans, which only made him hungrier for me. He quickly undid his belt and the two of us were naked now, kissing and touching and loving every inch of each other.

  Nate kissed my lips, my neck, my breasts softly, like he was savoring me. I ran my hand through his thick hair and grabbed it.

  “I want you,” I moaned.

  “I want you too,” he growled back. That was all I needed to say.

  He gave me one last kiss on the lips before positioning himself. I could feel the tip of him pressed against my entrance and it drove me wild. I needed him now. I needed him to complete me, even if it was just for a moment.

  “Please,” I pleaded. Nate bit his lip.

  “I don’t want this to be the last time,” he said. He meant it.

  “Please.”

  He didn’t argue with me. Instead he kissed my neck as he slowly pushed into me. I gasped at the sensation. It was more than I had remembered it to be, and that was saying something. Every inch of him made me moan at the mixture of intense pleasure and delicious pain. It only increased when he began to move. He was gentle at first. His thrusts were soft, slow and even. Every one of them caused me to cry out. I clutched him tightly.

  “Faster,” I whispered, looking right into his eyes. He had to see how desperate I was. This desire was driving me crazy. He was the only cure.

  “I love you,” He replied. Then I got my wish. Nate made love to me fast and hard, just as I had been craving. He slammed himself into me and I was screaming now, feeling my body getting closer and closer to its climax. The words he’d just said repeated and repeated in my mind. I’d imagined them, imagined this so many times. Yet it had still taken me by surprise.

  It wouldn’t be long now. Nate was groaning and grunting with every thrust, leaving bite marks all over my shoulders and breasts. He was close. So was I.

  “Nate,” I moaned, as I felt myself going over the edge, “I love you too!”

  The two of us climaxed at the same time. It was the strongest wave of pleasure I’d ever felt in my life. I wanted Nate to stay inside me for as long as possible. As long as we were making love we didn’t have to have any hard discussions. Once it was over, all our problems would be back.

  He pulled out and laid down next to me. I looked at him and he looked at me.

  “I meant it,” he said, “Did you?”

  I paused.

  “It’s okay if you didn’t. I just need to know,” he said gently. I sighed.

  “I meant it. I’m an idiot so of course I meant it,” I said. Nate couldn’t stop himself from smiling, just for a second. Then his face went back to serious mode.

  “You’re not an idiot.”

  “Just tell me one thing,” I said, my eyes well with tears again, “Do you love her too? Do you love Courtney? Or is it all just for show?”

  “Baby…”

  “Don’t call me baby!” I snapped, then my voice softened, “I’m sorry. I’m just not ready to hear that. Not yet.”

  Nate nodded.

  “That’s okay. To answer your question, no. I’ve never loved her. I wouldn’t even have agreed to this whole staged romance thing if they’d asked me, but they didn’t. They just sprang it on me and expected me to go with it,” he said, “And it’s okay, no one thinks we’re together now. Not since I punched that so called journalist friend of yours.”

  I covered my mouth in shock.

  “You punched Tim?” I exclaimed. Nate looked surprised.

  “Don’t you read the papers, or the magazines or the Internet? It’s everywhere. He lost two teeth,” he said. I giggled.

  “Oh my God, you’re so bad!” I said. Nate looked proud of himself.

  “Well, I try. That’ll be a fun lawsuit. Now I have a question for you,” he said, “Why didn’t you go to him? You could have sold him a great story.”

  I shrugged. It had never been an option for me. No matter how much Nate hurt me, I wasn’t going to get my big break from pandering to tabloid leeches like Tim.

  “Because I’m not that kind of girl,” I said. He nodded.

  “You sure aren’t,” he said, “Darcy…do you think you could give me another chance?”

  I took a deep breath. We both knew that question was coming but I still wasn’t quite ready for it.

  “Yes.”

  I said it automatically, without thinking. Nate grinned and kissed me hard.

  “I’ll prove it to you this time,” he said, “I will.”

  Call me a fool, call me an old romantic. You could call me a whole number of things, but I knew. The way he looked at me told me everything he was saying was the truth.

  “I know you will,” I said.

  Nate

  The premiere had so much build up to it that when the day finally arrived, it seemed unreal. So much had changed between the last day on set and the night of the first screening. I was a different man. Maybe even a better man. Darcy certainly liked to think so.

  She stepped out of the bedroom and I gasped at the sight of her. A floor length, pale pink off the shoulder gown with tousled hair and a sweet smile. That was my girl.

  “Close your mouth, baby,” she stepped towards me, looking pleased with herself. She was taller than usual now, in her skyscraper heels, “Promise me I can take these torture devices off as soon as we hit the red carpet?”

  “Promise,” I said.

  I had to admit as I saw us in the limo mirror, we looked sharp together. Me in my suit, her in her evening gown. We looked great. She completed me in more ways than one.

  She looked at her cell phone.

  “I hope Mama doesn’t take too long getting ready. They’ll never get the good seats if they’re late,” she said. I’d thrown a few premiere tickets the way of Darcy’s family and they reacted like I’d given them gold. Her mother had even insisted on sending me a thank you card in the mail. She’d mentioned in the card that I was welcome to visit the ranch anytime. I’d felt a little guilty reading that. Obviously Alex and Javier had stuck to their promise to Darcy about not telling her parents about my little visit. They’d been a little frosty to me at first, which was well deserved. After I spent a few days with them they changed their minds. I was thankful for that. I planned to be around for a long time.

  We pulled up to the red carpet and Darcy was shaking now. This was all still so new to her.

  “Hey,” I took her hand, “It’s okay.”

  I’d announced in another interview that I had a girlfriend called Darcy who wasn’t famous. I also gave a little shout out to her film blog. It got so many hits that she was able to monetize it and quit her useless internship. Of course, she could have done that anytime but she wanted to make her own way. Now high brow magazines all over the country were offering her guest spots here there and everywhere. It turned out she was a great reviewer after all. She just needed a little exposure.

  “Right. We can do this,” she smiled at me, “I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  I gave her a kiss and then we opened the door. The two of us could face anything, as long as we faced it together.

  Epilogue

  Darcy

  The dress was everything I could have dreamed of. It was a stunning shade of champagne, fitted at the waist and studded with delicate sequin detailing that reminded me of f
ireworks. As soon as I saw it waiting for me on my hotel bed I gasped in delight. It was the second best thing that I had ever found on the hotel bed, waiting for me. It was almost too beautiful.

  A note accompanied it.

  Thought you’d like this. See you later. The brief message was followed by a single kiss. The simplicity of it all made my heart flutter. Nate had promised me a special night once he got back from his new PR tour. I would have gone with him if I could. I liked being on the road and watching him work his magic. Seeing how the fans screamed for him made me feel proud. It just hadn’t worked out this time. I’d been asked to do a series of interviews with some up and coming Japanese horror directors in New York for one of the magazines I worked with now. So we had to be apart and I missed him. I missed him more than anything.

  I lay down on the bed.

  “Nate,” I sighed.

  “Yes?” I sat up in surprise. The man himself stepped out from the hotel bathroom. I gasped at the sight of him. There he was, my one and only dressed like a dream. He wore a black Givenchy suit with a smart gray shirt just unbuttoned at the top. His hair was slightly messier than when I’d first met him but he’d shaved that persistent stubble that I’d always secretly found to be sexy.

  Nate grinned at my response.

  “Surprise baby.”

  I jumped up from where I was laying on the bed and ran straight into his arms. He picked me up and whirled me around until I squealed. I used to hate when he did that. It made me feel small, scared and insecure. Terrified he would end up hurting me when his intention was only to play around. It was kind of like a metaphor for our whole relationship really. Now it just made me feel giddy excited and most of all, loved. So so loved.

  He put me down and kissed me before I could say a word. I’d missed his touch so much. It hardly felt real now, but it was. Nate was here, smelling like the cologne I got him for Valentine’s day and holding me tight.

  “You fucker,” I growled playfully, “I thought you weren’t going to be back until later tonight.”

  “I caught an earlier flight. I thought it would be a nice surprise, you seeing your handsome, in demand boyfriend before you have to share him with the world again.” he said.

  “Interesting thought,” I teased. Nate pulled a mock hurt face and I giggled. As if. This was the best surprise he could give me. “It’s great to see you.”

  I turned and gestured to the dress.

  “This is so beautiful, Nate. Thank you so much. It’s such an amazing gift. I hope you didn’t spend too much money on it baby, I was just going to borrow one of my cousins’ prom dresses for the premiere.”

  Nate sat down on the bed and pulled me onto his lap. I felt a little under dressed in my skinny jeans and over sized t-shirt compared to Nate’s expensive suit. He clearly didn’t care.

  “Now now, we can’t have you representing the brand in some hand me down mall dress,” he said. He gave my hips a soft squeeze, “Though I can’t imagine this body looking anything less then perfect, no matter what you wear.”

  “I’m surprised you didn’t pick me out something short and skimpy and see through,” I said. I’d let Nate buy me lingerie once or twice without any guidance and lived to regret it. His taste didn’t seem to extend past black and red lace. We’d slowly managed to come to compromises. Keeping the lace, getting rid of the mesh panels and fishnets that went with it.

  He kissed the back of my neck.

  “I can’t say that didn’t cross my mind, but I talked to some fashion editors and stylists. They said that nude lipstick would look great with it. I don’t know what that means, so I bought you like twenty,” he said, “I still think you’ll look hot as hell in that dress though.”

  “Thanks,” I said. I still wasn’t used to this. Though I was making more money than I ever had been, my income level was still nowhere near Nate’s. They way he could just drop money on things still amazed me. He could buy himself anything in the world and yet the thing that seemed to make him most happy was giving me gifts, “Really, you didn’t have to.”

  “I know. I wanted to.”

  He nuzzled into me.

  “God I missed you Darcy.”

  “I missed you too.”

  He pulled away from me and grinned.

  “Now, let’s get you out of those clothes and into that dress.”

  Though Nate would have enjoyed it if I changed in front of him, I insisted on going to the bathroom to get ready. I’d been to a few of these premieres now and the thought of them still made my stomach turn. I wasn’t a beautiful starlet with a dozen block busters under her belt. I was just Darcy. Ok, I wasn’t Darcy the intern anymore. I was Darcy, editor-in-chief of Lumiere magazine. People knew who I was now and not just in relation to Nate. Still, on the red carpets I was usually focused on for a few seconds before everyone started freaking out over Nate. That was all right. That was how I liked it.

  “So, I heard this movie has a twist ending?” I said, as I pinned my hair up into a criss cross updo. The one thing I drew the line at was hiring hair and makeup artists for myself. I liked to be in control of my own look. They always did my makeup just like the other Hollywood girls and straightened my hair so it lost all of its life. I had no interest in being a clone. I pulled a few golden tendrils out of the updo to give it a messy finish. There. Now that was Darcy.

  “I don’t know. It’s probably gonna be garbage anyway, I wouldn’t get too excited,” said Nate. I stepped out from the bathroom and he gave an audible gasp at the sight of me. I was only a little bit surprised at his response.

  “I clean up ok?” I said. Nate was too in awe to even joke at me. He just nodded slowly, his mouth open, “Come on Nate, you’ve seen me all dolled up before. It’s no big deal.”

  He stepped towards me and cupped my face in his hands. His eyes stared intently into mine before he spoke.

  “You are the most beautiful thing in my life.”

  “Nate…” I felt myself blushing. Even after all this time his candid love exclamation gave me butterflies.

  “I was tearing my hair out at night, wishing you were with me. All the hotel rooms start to look the same, no matter where you are in the world. It wasn’t even the sex, but I missed that too. Fuck, I got so worked up just thinking about you baby. But it was more than that. All I wanted was just to have you in my arms and hold you, just like this,” he said, pulling me close. I smiled up at him.

  “You big sap.”

  “Don’t tell me you weren’t feeling the same way. Your eyes practically popped out of your head when you saw me,” he said. I couldn’t deny that. My heart had almost stopped. It felt like the first time I saw him, all over again.

  “You wanna know a secret?” I whispered, looking up at him. Nate stroked my hair.

  “I like secrets.”

  “While you were away I binge watched all your movies. Even those terrible indie horror flicks you did in Bulgaria. I pulled on one of your old t-shirts and watched them all in a row. It made me feel like I was with you, just a little bit,” I said. I could feel myself blushing. I expected Nate to laugh at me, but he surprised me. He was good at that. He tilted my chin up towards him and gave me a soft, chaste kiss on the lips.

  “You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever had,” he whispered. No sarcasm, no teasing, no jokes. He meant every word. Then he gave me a little smile, “I got you some other presents while I was away. There’s a bag in the closet. Wanna have a look?”

  “Sure!” I said. I got up and opened the wardrobe. Inside was a large, stark white gift bag. The kind you only got in elegant department stores. A little pink tissue poked out from the top. I took it and placed it on the bed as Nate looked on with a smirk on his handsome features.

  He’d really thought of everything. I pulled out everything I needed from the bottom of the bag. Foundation, powder, soft pink blush, a chic bronze eyeshadow palette and about two dozen lipsticks in every shade under the sun. He had also included a large bottle of perfume. The bo
ttle itself was an elegant frosted pink glass with an old fashioned diffuser. I gave it a little spray and smiled. It smelled like lemon drizzle cake.

  “It’s custom made,” Nate said with a wry smile. I gave him a kiss on the cheek and noticed he was blushing as well.

  “It’s beautiful.”

  “So are you. Now look at your other presents.”

  “Baby, it’s too much.”

  “Nothing is too much for my baby. You’re my princess and you deserve the world,” he said. I returned to the bag. He had also included a gorgeous pair of heels and a clutch bag to match my dress. I kicked off my own shoes and changed into them. They fit perfectly. Once I’d applied the makeup I looked ready to go.

  “I am doing everything I can right now not to throw you on the bed and make love to you ‘til the sun rises,” Nate said. I bit my lip. That didn’t sound like a bad option. I would much rather have him screw my brains out all night than have to sit through some movie that he wasn’t even in. Even so, we would probably end up screwing later on so it wasn’t all bad. The temptation remained.

  I took a step closer to him and caressed his cheek.

  “Maybe…maybe that wouldn’t be the worst thing, baby. It’s been so long since the last time and I’ve been so lonely without you. The last few weeks have been so hard,” I said, softly. I could see him softening. If there was one thing Nate could never turn down it was sex with me. We were both addicted to each other. I leaned in closer and whispered, “I miss feeling you there, deep inside of me.”

  Nate gave a low groan.

  “You always have to make things difficult, don’t you?” he said, but he was smiling. I shrugged.

  “It’s a talent.”

  I figured that I had won, but to my surprise Nate took my hand and insisted that we leave.

  “We don’t wanna keep everyone waiting,” he said.

  “You don’t mind keeping me waiting,” I grumbled, but he just laughed at me and pulled me along with him. Jeez Louise, he sure was eager to get to this dumb movie. What was the big deal?