She toasted him and they each drank a sip. “I’m going to think of it as a date, though.” He grinned wickedly at her and she rolled her eyes and looked away from him, setting her glass down and picking the knife back up.
“This is good wine. Thank you for bringing it.” He complimented her and she gave him a nod.
“It’s one of my favorites. It’s usually just right for any occasion; from formal to casual.” She said, focusing on the salad. She cut and chopped and steadied her breathing as he walked over to the oven to tend to the dishes there that he was cooking.
“So, I wanted to talk with you about the arraignment.” She said. He made some sound of acquiescence behind her and she launched into the details of it as she cut. Talking business with him that way gave her some semblance of normalcy and it helped to ease the tension in her. She found that she was able to breathe again and she felt her body slowly relax as she sipped wine, explained about the arraignment, and cut all the vegetables in front of her.
He listened to her talking and explaining everything, and at odd intervals he would interject with a question, but during most of what she needed to explain to him, he was quiet and he listened. By the time dinner was ready, she felt confident that he understood all of it, and that he would do alright with it, but there was one point that she wanted to be very clear with him on, and he just didn’t seem to be concerned about it.
“Lucas, I really want you to give some serious thought to your plea. I know you think you want to plead innocent, but there’s just so much evidence against you, and almost nothing that shows you aren’t guilty.” She looked directly at him as they sat across from one another at the table, trying to convey to him just how important it was that he understand the implications of the choice that he would be making.
“If you plead guilty, the prosecution will probably offer you a plea bargain of some kind, and you will get a sentence, and this will be on your record, but it will be less drastic than if you plead innocent at the arraignment and then this whole thing goes to trial and you’re found guilty. The sentence then will be much harsher, and I’ll be honest with you, there’s just not much that I’ve been able to come up with to defend you.
The prosecution has a towering case and tons of evidence against you, and what you would be fighting would be an uphill battle. I’m not entirely confident that we could win it. You have to understand that.” She looked at him imploringly, and he only gave his head a shake and smiled back at her.
“First, I’m not going to plead guilty, because I’m not guilty. I’m not going to say that I did something wrong when I didn’t do anything wrong. Second; I’m hoping that truth will out, and you will be able to convince the jury that I am innocent.
I have faith in you, Alexis, and I believe that you can do it. You’re a strong, intelligent, amazing woman, and I know that you’re going to do your best to make this a win for us.” He looked at her with utter confidence, and then raised his hand.
“That is as much business as I am willing to talk about with you tonight. We’ve just hit our stride for that subject. I want to know more about you now. Do you have any family around Los Angeles?” he asked, filling her wine glass up and giving her a sweet smile.
She sighed, hoping that they had discussed business enough that he really did know what he was doing. She was worried about him making the wrong decision, but she knew that the decision was his to make, and his alone. If he wanted to plead innocent, there was nothing she could do about it except try to protect him and prove his innocence. Even if she didn’t believe it for a minute.
“Well, I have a sister who lives here. She’s younger than me by two years. She is sweet; she’s my best friend. We’re really close, but we are very different. She’s actually a pretty big fan of yours and she was really excited when she found out I was representing you.” She laughed and shook her head.
He smiled at her. “What about your parents, are they here, too?” his curiosity about her seemed to grow the more she spoke.
She shook her head and couldn’t stop the flicker of sadness that moved over her face. “No, my mom passed when I was little. My dad raised us on his own and we were all three really close. He just passed away a couple of years ago.” Her voice grew soft and she smiled wistfully thinking of him. “He’s actually the reason I got into law to begin with.”
“Yeah? How did that happen?” Lucas watched her, fascinated.
She saw her father in her mind, and her heart swelled. “Oh, he was a judge. He was in law his whole life, and he did so many incredible things. I always wanted to be him when I grew up, and it took a long while, but I made it through law school and the day I graduated… he was there. He was so proud of me. It was one of the best moments of my life.
He was able to see me through all of my beginning years as an attorney, and he was around when I was hired at Nolan. He was always so proud of me. I loved seeing that. I miss him a lot. It’s still hard when I do something or I want to share a funny story with him, and I reach for the phone and he isn’t there anymore. I’m still not used to it.”
He nodded and listened closely to her. “That happens to all of us. My grandfather raised me; he was a war hero, and he was a little strict, but he was supportive of me getting into acting, and he liked that I did it. He was around to see my first two films, and then he passed.
So, I know what that’s like. I wish he could have seen me win the awards I’ve won, or… not even just that, but… just to be there, you know, on those days when you just want to pick up the phone and call them, or get in the car and go home to talk to them and spend time with them.” He grew quiet as well. “I miss that too. So I know just what you’re talking about. I hope I’m the man that he was, someday.”
She gave him a warm and genuine smile. “Me too.” she reached out and took his hand in hers and they were silent, sharing the moment for a small space of time. She brought up a few stories about her family, and he shared some tales of his family, and the walls between them slowly disappeared.
Alexis looked at him and shook her head slowly. “You know, you’re so different than everyone thinks you are. You’re so different than the super bad boy that everyone believes you to be.”
He chuckled. “Thanks for noticing. I come by that nickname honestly, but there is more to me than all the façade of the image the media portrays.” She nodded in agreement. He was a much more complex person than she had ever thought or imagined, even after meeting him for the first time.
She realized as she was helping him clean up after the meal, that she was at utter ease with him, and that she was enjoying his company and being around him. The nervousness she had felt with him before was gone, and that made her happy.
They talked a long while and had made it through most of a second bottle of wine, sitting together at the table, when she got up to get herself another glass of water. He followed her and as she stood at the sink filling it, he waited until she’d had a long pull from it, and then he took it from her hand and set it on the counter.
Her heart began to beat swiftly again, and she knew that there was no way she could resist him as he stared into her eyes, looking at them as if he was seeing every thought and feeling she had ever had. He cupped his hands around her face and brought his lips to hers; soft, sweet, warm. Her breath caught as she gasped and a soft moan escaped her.
She wanted to tell him no, she wanted to stop him and keep their relationship completely a platonic business bond, but more than that, she wanted to feel his lips on hers, and taste his kiss, and even more than that, to feel his hands as they closed around her body and pulled her to him.
She lost herself in his kiss, and the world fell away from them. Every piece of it; every thought of it, until nothing remained but the feel of his tender lips moving over hers, sucking gently, pulling, pressing, and the taste of his tongue, sweet with wine, twining with hers until there was no way to know where one began and the other ended. Her breath grew shallow and short, as e
verything in her began to catch fire and she surrendered to it, letting the flames engulf her. She remembered the dreams she’d had, and there was nothing in her dreams that was even close to the experience of really finding herself in his embrace, sharing his kisses.
Lucas drew his fingertips over her skin lightly, tracing invisible lines like a painter creating on a fresh canvas, and with every touch he stoked the heat in her, making her want more of it, making her need more of it, until she could barely breathe or hold herself back at all any longer.
She knew that he felt the same; in his arms she could see by his hunger for her that he felt as if she was the only person in the world just then who might be able to keep him alive if he only held tightly to her, and it felt to her like he wasn’t ever going to let her go. He began to tug at the thin straps of her sundress, sliding them off of her shoulders until her shoulders were bare and his mouth moved from her lips down her neck to the curve of one of them, biting her gently, holding her tight against him, teasing her skin and making her desperate with need for him.
He brought his mouth back up to her ear and whispered softly to her. “Alexis… come with me. Make love with me. I need you… god I need to feel you with me so much.”
His words set her on fire, and she closed her arms around him tightly as a soft moan escaped her. “Yes! Oh…. Yes… Lucas. I want you so much. I need you, too.” she kissed him again and he finally paused in their tasting long enough to take her by the hand and walk with her toward the stairs that would lead to his bedroom.
It took them some time to get there, as they kept stopping along the way, embracing, holding, kissing, and touching one another until the desire in them had overtaken them both. By the time Lucas got her to his bed, neither one of them was wearing any clothing at all, and he stood at the bedside with her, staring at her standing there before him, nude and beautiful.
“You’re amazing.” He breathed, barely able to speak as his hands canvassed her flesh, stroking and cupping it, following his hands with his mouth. She had never felt so wanted, so important or cared for, so cherished as she did standing there with him, feeling all the desire in his touch. She felt as beautiful as he told her that she was.
Lucas laid her back in his bed and moved his hands over all of her body, until she felt that she could not want him more. He slid down between her legs and gently pushed her thighs apart, trailing his lips and tongue over her skin until he reached her core, and as he tasted her, delving his tongue deeply into her, she arched her back, holding tightly to the pillows around her, crying out in pleasure until his strong tongue and gentle teeth brought her to her full ecstasy and she called out his name, wanting more of him; needing all of him.
He could not hold himself back from her any longer, and in moments he was at the outside of her, and she ached for him, and then in a breath, he pushed himself inside of her, slowly, carefully, deliberately taking his time to feel all of the exquisite heat and pleasure of entering her. She closed herself around him and they began to move together as one; both of them holding tightly to one another, clinging together in their heat and passion, wrestling in love.
They tasted one another’s skin, kissing it, breathing against it, making their two bodies one in every way, and he brought her to her breathless climax time and again until at last he joined her, flooding her as he moaned loudly, trembling with his pleasure, and she held him against her breasts tightly, until they had both collapsed together and rested in each other’s arms.
There was a peaceful quiet between them for a long while, but just as she was about to fall asleep, he leaned over to her and kissed her again, and that one kiss led to more kisses, until they had stoked the fires of need and desire to a blazing inferno once more, and they made love again, more slowly, more passionately, losing themselves in the wholeness of each other, until they were spent, and sleep overtook them both, wrapped around one another.
Chapter5
Morning light slowly and softly filled the room, drawing her from her sleep and when she opened her eyes, she looked around, not remembering right away where she was, but when she did realize it, she sat up a little in the bed, and saw that she was alone.
Sadness touched her until she looked over at his pillow and saw a note there that he had left for her. “You are incredibly hot, thank you for an amazing night. I had a great time.” He didn’t leave his name, only an X beside an O, and that was it.
She sighed and frowned slightly, reading the note a few more times before she climbed out of bed and straightened the blankets and sheets some. She saw that her clothes were laid out for her at the foot of the bed and she smiled at his thoughtfulness, remembering how they had come off bit by bit on the way to his bedroom.
She showered and dressed, and went to the kitchen. There was hot coffee waiting in the coffee pot, and she found that he’d left a clean mug for her beside the pot. She sat with her coffee at the table and let images and feelings from the night before run through her mind over and over, and she smiled blissfully at how much she had enjoyed it. It was almost like it had freed her somehow, letting herself go with abandon the way that she had. She wondered if it would happen again with him, and she hoped with everything in her that it would.
Alexis left a note on the kitchen counter for him, telling him how much she loved being there and thanking him for a night she would never forget. She copied his X and O, and read it once more before walking out of the door and heading home.
She changed her clothes and headed in to work, her mood blissful and her mind on more than just her cases that day. The only thing that worried her was the arraignment and the knowledge that Lucas was hell bent on declaring himself innocent, no matter what it cost him, and she knew that it could cost him a great deal more than he might be bargaining for.
All throughout the day, she checked her cell phone, wondering if she would hear from Lucas, and as each hour passed, she began to realize that she would not hear from him, and as time began to stretch from when she had been in his arms to each passing minute that ticked by silently, the bliss she had felt began to be replaced with tinges of remorse.
She went home that night and tried to avoid looking at her phone or her tablet, tried to think of anything but him, but he was all that was on her mind, and there was no contact at all from him. By morning, as she readied for his arraignment, she had hit an emotional low that she had not expected, and she reminded herself again and again that it was just a one night stand, and that she shouldn’t read more into it than there was. It was only one hot night with a beautiful man, and that was all that there would ever be.
The remorse had grown strong in her, and though she had been completely elated at the sheer pleasure and happiness she had experienced with him, she was at a loss as to why he would disappear without a word to her at all, but there was nothing.
She walked into the courtroom early, hoping to see him and get a few moments alone with him to see how he was feeling, but he didn’t arrive until right before it was time for court to start. She felt her breath catch as she saw him walk in. Warren was at his side, and they appeared to be in the midst of a deep conversation that they both cut off when they reached her at the defense table.
She held herself back from touching him, from looking at him too long, and from asking him any of the thousand questions that were burning through her mind. Instead, she glanced at him and kept it simple and professional.
“Are you ready for this?” her tone was nothing but polite, though she felt tidal waves of emotion inside, none of it showed.
He nodded at her silently. Just then the prosecuting attorney came over to their table and looked at them both.
“Harvey.” He said, looking directly at Lucas. “Here’s my final offer for a guilty plea. If you plea bargain this, it will go much lighter on you than it will if I have to drag your ass through the court system. If you make me take you to trial, I’m going to make you regret it. I promise you that, Mr. Ryan.”
Lucas stare
d at him in shock. Alexis stood up and met Harvey’s gaze, eye to eye.
“Well?” she asked coldly, “What’s the plea bargain offer?”
Harvey lifted his chin slightly. “You enter a guilty plea today, and I will let you off with time served in jail, you’ll have to do mandatory rehab, I’m going to nail you with a huge fine, and you’ll get three years of probation. In return for that deal, you have to tell me who the drug dealers are and you have to testify against them for us when we prosecute them. That’s the most I’m willing to do for you.”
Warren looked over at Harvey and spoke before anyone else had a chance to open their mouths. “No deal.” He looked directly at Lucas. “We talked about this. You fight this.”
Lucas shook his head at Harvey. “I’m not going to plead guilty. I didn’t break the law. I didn’t do anything wrong, and I’m not about to say that I did.”
Alexis closed her eyes for a brief second, wishing so much that she could have found something that would save him. She knew she would have a little more time before the court set a trial date, but it was going to take a miracle to prove him innocent, and he had just declined the prosecuting attorney’s offer. She knew that was the end of it, unless she could work some magic.
Harvey gave his head a shake. “Well, that’s too bad, Ryan. You’ll be going to prison.” Then he turned and walked off, going back to his table just as the bailiff announced the judge’s entrance. They all rose as the judge walked in, and they all sat when he told them to.
Lucas was sitting right next to her; inches from her, and yet she had never felt so far away from anyone in her life. He did not look at her; he did not indicate at all that there was anything between them but the cool, professional relationship of a defendant and his attorney. It felt to her as if there was some great void beside her; like a black hole that she had somehow fallen into and could not get out of.
Hollywood's Baddest Page 8