Thinking about their tryst on the beach was a mistake. Doggedly, she shut her mind to the memories. Quietly flipping off all the lights, she went to her side of the king-size bed, turned back the covers and crawled in between the cold sheets.
Nineteen
Jacob awoke in the dark completely disoriented. Something had dragged him out of a deep sleep. His heart beating rapidly, he lay still, cataloguing his situation.
Gradually, it came back to him. He was on top of the covers, fully dressed. Evidently, he had conked out while Ariel was showering. He rubbed the crick in his neck and turned his head gingerly to glance at the illuminated dial of the iPod dock on the bedside table. 3:30 a.m.. Which meant his body clock said it was time to get up, since he was three time zones from home.
Suddenly, he realized what had awakened him. Ariel was crying. He scooted across the mattress, cursing the comforter that bunched beneath him. “Ariel? Hush, princess. I’m here.” With some one-handed gyrations, he burrowed to the level where she was curled into a fetal position, her feet cold as ice.
He pulled her close, trying to warm her with his body. “Shh, honey. It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” It took him a few moments to realize that she was crying in her sleep. For some reason, that made it worse. He wanted so badly to comfort her. But there wasn’t a damned thing he could do to help her.
He couldn’t let her continue to struggle in the midst of whatever terrible dream was tormenting her. Shaking her carefully, he whispered, “Wake up, princess. Wake up, Ariel.”
At last, he felt her jerk and stir. He wanted to turn on the light so he could see her face, but the sudden shift from sleep to a brightly lit room might be too much for her. He brushed the hair from her cheeks. “Are you awake?” He stroked his hands down her arms, feeling gooseflesh.
She burrowed into his chest, a shaky affirmative muffled in the starched cotton of his shirt. Holding her this way had a predictable effect on his body. He couldn’t hold her without wanting her—especially now that he knew what it was like to be inside her, to stroke deep and hard into her tight warmth.
His breathing accelerated. This wasn’t the time for lust. She needed a friend, not a lover.
Ariel apparently had other ideas. He sucked in a sharp breath when one of her small hands closed around his hard flesh. “Make love to me, Jacob,” she whispered. “So I can forget.”
Understanding her plea wasn’t enough to make him feel okay with it. “Just let me just hold you. It’s been a tough twenty-four hours.” He gently tugged her hand away from his aroused shaft.
Ariel tensed, her entire body rigid. “Sorry,” she said abruptly. “I shouldn’t have assumed…”
What cockamamie notion was she running with now? Frustrated and aroused, he reached across her to turn on the lamp. “What in the hell does that mean?”
She sat up, legs crossed, facing him with arms wrapped around her waist. Dark smudges beneath her eyes painted a picture of a woman at the end of her tether. The huge T-shirt she wore was as erotic to him as a transparent lace nightie. If she thought it made her less appealing, she was clueless.
“I asked you a question,” he said, his irritation at her, at him, at the whole situation making his voice harsher than he had intended.
Big blue eyes stared at him. “I’m new to this man/woman/sex thing. I shouldn’t have assumed you meant for us to keep on having…well, you know…intercourse ”
“Intercourse?” His eyebrows rose in direct proportion to his incredulous response.
“Isn’t that what you call it in the medical profession?”
“Hell, Ariel. We were lovers last night. I’d say that gives you some pretty damned clear rights.”
“Like what?”
The simple query stopped him cold. She watched him carefully, and he realized suddenly that this was some kind of a test. “Well, I…”
“We’re not in a relationship. We had a booty call, right? And now it’s over.”
He ground his teeth. “Are you trying to make me lose my temper?”
She shrugged. “I wasn’t aware that a man with your IQ stooped to such human emotion.”
“If you want to pick a fight, Ariel, why don’t you say so? I’m up for anything that will make you feel better.”
“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped. “And don’t lie.”
His temper neared the boiling point. “I’ve been called many things in my life, but seldom a liar. Would you like to elucidate?”
“Quit using fifty-dollar words,” she yelled, now up on her knees. “I only went to high school, you know.”
“Oh, for God’s sake…” He slid off the foot of the bed and started stripping off his clothes.
Ariel’s eyes widened. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to have sex with you.”
“No, you’re not. I won’t be your charity case.”
Naked, he climbed back into bed and tumbled her onto her back. “Does this look like I’m doing you a favor?” He moved between her legs and used his erection to stroke the crotch of her simple cotton bikinis. They were white, like the T-shirt.
Ariel’s hands fisted at her hips, grasping the sheet. “A minute ago you didn’t want me.” Her youthful vulnerability twisted something in his chest.
“Of course I did, princess. But I was trying to take care of you.”
“Try harder.”
That she could make him laugh in this emotionally fraught situation sobered him. He outstripped her in so many ways—years, experience, formal education. But somehow, this childlike, beautiful, spirited woman held her own.
“I live to please you,” he said wryly, testing her readiness by sliding two fingers under her panties and into her passage. She was wet and hot. Gently, he dragged her underwear down her legs and tossed it aside. His hand shook, and his brain—his much-vaunted, highly regarded brain—shut down.
Ariel watched him, big-eyed, as he positioned himself at her entrance. “You can touch me,” he said, groaning in shock as he pushed his way in. Every cell in his body leapt to attention and started dancing in crazy circles that made him dizzy and weak.
Ariel’s hands settled circumspectly at the small of his back.
“Am I hurting you?” he gasped, remembering her newly non-virginal state.
Her eyes closed, a dreamy smile curving those perfect lips. “I don’t know. I’m too busy swooning.”
Again, he laughed. The combination of physical stimulation and mental euphoria was a new experience. “Watch us,” he commanded, suddenly feeling a few caveman impulses despite his evolved intellect.
She turned her head toward the dresser where a large mirror reflected their images faithfully. Ariel squeezed his ass. “I like your butt,” she said. “See how nice it looks when you—”
He clapped a hand over her mouth. “Most people do this without talking.”
Her eyes danced with amusement as her legs wrapped around his waist and tightened. Ariel worked with a personal trainer two hours every day. She was strong and limber. He shook his head, gasping and falling forward onto both hands. “Fine,” he muttered. “Feel free to chatter away.”
“I did a sex scene once where the director asked us to say dirty words to each other.”
Imagining the mischievous Ariel mouthing sexual demands hardened his cock to the point of pain. “How did you do?”
She wrinkled her nose. “I kept laughing. After twenty-five takes, they rewrote the dialogue.”
“Thank the Lord.” He didn’t want Ariel talking smut to another man. But his possessiveness was irrational. After he went home, the chances of seeing her again were slim. Shying away from that certainty, he pumped his hips more slowly, leaning up on one arm and using his free hand to play with her breasts.
Ariel’s fair skin flushed pink, darker still at her throat where his chin stubble had marked her. It was his turn to look in the mirror now. Ariel’s eyes were closed, her fingernails digging into his flanks. Her breath came in choppy pa
nts.
Evidently, she had lost her urge to converse. He hovered, his body joined with hers, as he absorbed the picture they made. To an onlooker, they seemed a perfect match, Jacob dark and dominant, Ariel pale and lovely.
But that pairing was a lie. They were not meant for each other. Jacob walked alone, and Ariel was destined for bigger things.
She was still wearing her T-shirt, though it was bunched up beneath her armpits. He’d been in such a hurry to get inside her he hadn’t bothered to remove it. But now he wanted her naked.
“Sit up,” he said hoarsely. He reared back and helped her wriggle out of the offending garment. The operation buried him even deeper, all the way to the hilt.
Falling forward onto her chest, he cursed. “Sorry. I don’t want to crush you.”
Ariel held him tightly, nibbling his earlobe. “I like it,” she said. “Makes my stomach feel all shivery. You Tarzan, me Jane.”
Again, amusement caught him off guard. And how dangerous it was. A woman who could do this to a man was as fascinating and deadly as an unseen reef. For a captain at the helm of a smooth journey, the resultant collision could spell disaster.
He shifted, sparing her some of his weight. “Nevertheless.”
“Whatever happened to slam-bam-thank-you-ma’am?”
“Excuse me?” God knows, he was not in the least interested in talking, but his little Ariel showed a regrettable propensity for coital conversation. Withdrawing almost completely, he took her chin in one hand. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, but could we discuss it later?” He throbbed inside her, his balls on fire.
She shrugged, once again twining her legs around his back. “Sure. Do you think I can do that multi-orgasmic thing, or does it take more rehearsal?”
Everything conspired against him. Years without a woman in his bed. Lying atop perhaps the most beautiful female he had ever seen. Knowing that he was her first lover.
Fire jolted through his body. “Hell, Ariel…” He moaned her name as he climaxed violently, shooting his seed inside her, thrusting rapidly and with little finesse until every last nuance of his release faded away into stunned immobility.
She rubbed his back. “It makes me feel good to know you want me so much.”
He knew she hadn’t come. How could she? He’d been too damn caught up in his own hunger and need. “Sorry,” he mumbled, his limbs the consistency of noodles.
“For what?”
“For being selfish.”
She chuckled. “You’re the least selfish man I know. You can’t help it if I drive you crazy with unbridled lust.”
The smug note of satisfaction in her words charmed him. “I do seem to remember several moments of insanity on my part,” he said, breathing hard. “But I am now in my right mind. Prepare to be wowed.”
He shifted to his side and zeroed in on the little area of curls at the apex of her thighs. Pale as winter sunshine, wavy as the sea, it concealed what he was eager to pay homage to.
Ariel’s small white teeth dug into her bottom lip. “Oh, Lordy.”
Those were the last words she spoke. At last he had silenced her. Wanting badly to make sure she experienced the shattering release he had received, he devoted himself to learning each tiny breath that signaled her response. With his thumb and forefinger, he plucked delicately at the small bud.
Ariel’s hips came off the bed. She strained into his touch.
“Easy, honey.” He changed tactics, wanting to build her need until she was as crazed by desire as he had been. Starting with her head and neck, he massaged her tenderly. Moving to her breasts, he caressed them in circles, deliberately avoiding her nipples.
She trembled beneath his touch. He stroked her flat belly, ran a hand down the length of first one leg then the other. Switching positions, he licked her toes, pulling one perfectly manicured digit into his mouth and sucking hard.
Ariel cried out, writhing, thrashing, trying to coax him to where she wanted to be touched.
When she was red-faced and incoherent, he shoved two fingers into her sex and simultaneously gave a firm, gliding pass to her little bundle of nerves. It was enough to push her over.
Her body went rigid. “Jacob?” The single word was little more than a raw groan as she bore down on his hand and crested with a whimper and a sigh.
After she had time to recover, he pulled the covers over them. “Sleep, baby. It’s still early in L.A. We’ve got all the time in the world.”
Twenty
We’ve got all the time in the world. Ariel awoke with Jacob’s words ringing in her head. They were lovely words, words that made her desperately want to believe. But he had gone off script, and the dialogue wasn’t in character, not for Jacob Wolff.
She glanced at the clock. Still time for lingering. The experience of literally sleeping with a man was novel and exciting. Jacob’s warm, hard, hairy legs tangled with hers. He held her tightly against his chest, one of her thighs resting on his.
It was an odd feeling, but she liked it. Far too much.
He stirred beside her, yawning and stretching. “Time to go to the hospital?”
“Not yet. Go back to sleep.”
He turned his face to kiss her. “I’d rather talk.”
Oops. He’d turned the tables, and she couldn’t stave off what was coming. “You first,” she said, trying for sassy, but coming up weak.
His hand found hers and clasped their fingers. “How and why are you still a virgin? I really want to understand. Not that I ever believed all that stuff in the press, but Ariel, you’re nothing like the way they’ve portrayed you. Is part of that on purpose? To sell movie tickets?”
She was glad it was dark. “That’s a lot of questions.”
“Pick one.”
He dragged her back against his chest, spooning her. She felt his erection nudge her buttocks. Her cheek rested on his arm. “My mother is and was very protective. When you’re thirteen years old and making more money a week than some families earn in a year, life can be confusing. Mama kept me on the straight and narrow.”
“You didn’t ever try to rebel?” His warm breath stirred the hair at her nape.
“I probably would have, but something happened the year I turned fifteen.”
He tensed. “What?”
“One of my directors tried to force himself on me…in my trailer on the set.”
“Jesus.” He sounded appalled and angry.
“Mama came back in time. She kicked him in the nuts and swore she’d report him to the police if he ever came near me again. He couldn’t afford to protest. I was making piles of money for him.”
“And how did you react?”
“It scared me,” she said flatly, not wanting to remember that awful afternoon. “I had bought into all the romantic hype about first kisses and romantic love, and what he did to me was neither sweet nor tender. It’s possible that the experience might really have screwed me up for a long time, but Mama made me go to counseling.”
“Smart woman.”
“I came out on the other side more or less unscathed, but I built walls after that. Fortunately, Mama made a point of entertaining at our house with kids my own age. I didn’t think anyone would ever come because we didn’t serve alcohol and there were no drugs allowed.”
“But they did come?” He caressed her hair with a soothing rhythm.
“Yes. I think the other teenagers—actors and actresses like me—were relieved to have a place where they didn’t have to put on a show. We had the opportunity to be young and silly like adolescents everywhere.”
“My admiration for your mother’s parenting skills is growing by leaps and bounds. But what about when you turned eighteen or twenty-one? Did you not want to move out?”
“I could have. There was plenty of money for Mama and me to maintain separate residences. In fact, she even suggested it at one point. I think she worried that I would never have a normal relationship with a guy because of what had happened.”
�
��Were you dating by that time?”
“Oh, yes, of course. I went out all the time. And had fun doing it. But I knew my own boundaries, and I wasn’t willing to settle for what Hollywood said was the norm. Mama still calls me an old soul, and it’s true. I took self-defense lessons, and I was vigilant about things like date rape drugs. Pitfalls abound in my line of work. But Mama and the good Lord protected me.”
He fell silent, probably processing her recounting, weighing it to see if all the parts meshed together. Her virginity he had proved himself, but even so, all those stories over the years would be hard for an outsider to discount.
She wished she were able to say that she was so smart and serious that she finished college along the way. Lots of kids did, even while working steadily. But Ariel could never seem to focus on boring textbooks, not when the world outside the classroom awaited her.
“Why me?” he said bluntly. “Why now?”
No. I don’t love her. Damn. This was the moment she had been dreading. She couldn’t let him know that she loved him. His rigid code of honor might persuade him that he had to stay with her because he had taken her innocence. And that would destroy her.
Ariel swallowed her tears, called upon now for the most critical performance of her life. “It was time,” she said simply. “I didn’t want to be a freak. You were convenient. I mean that in a good way,” she said hastily. “And I knew I could trust you. So I made my choice. You didn’t disappoint me.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess.” He sounded disgruntled.
She slid from his grasp and climbed out of bed. “Do you mind ordering us some breakfast from room service? I’m going to get ready. I don’t want to miss visiting hours in ICU.”
Jacob went through the motions for the next few hours, but his emotions were in turmoil. Mrs. Dane was indeed transferred to a regular room. She insisted that Ariel go back to the set, and her daughter was finally persuaded. Jacob summoned the jet. He and Ariel were back in Antigua before dinner.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but she was acting strangely. Still upbeat and smiling, but with a layer of darkness he’d not noticed before. Perhaps it was nothing more than well-justified concern about her mother. But Jacob worried that she regretted the step into intimacy they had taken.
Impossible to Resist Page 14