The Director (Hollywood Nights) (2 page)

           
Jed wasn’t as public as the rest of
his family. His name surfaced when he released a project, mostly documentaries,
or when he was seen with his siblings. He could step back into the spotlight
any day he wanted to. He seemed to be comfortable on the indie circuit instead.

“What’s in New York?” She hoped
he didn’t say a wife and kid, or anyone else significant. She wasn’t that girl
anymore. She might be able to have a one night stand to scratch an itch she had
been having for two long years, but she would not go back down the road of
treacherous behavior.

           
“My place.” He shrugged. She took in
the awesome sight of Jed Gunner, dressed up, standing against a backdrop of the
ocean, under a blanket of stars, and looking at her with interest. “You gonna
stand there all night?”

           
She shook her head no as she took a
few steps onto the cool sand. She walked out to almost where he was standing. Her
silk dress was a modest length, it hugged her curves, but not in an
overexposure kind of way. No, she was no longer a “label whore” as her agent
had called her. She was classy and classic. Her hair was pulled up in an old
Hollywood style bun, her make-up subtle, and the only jewelry she wore was a
pair of stud earrings.

He was standing on a wet patch
and the water would be returning momentarily. With each step she could feel the
sand getting wetter, not unlike her when he looked at her and smiled.

           
“Come on.” He motioned for her.

           
“The water is cold.”

           
“I promise to make it worth your
while.” He winked at her.

           
That easy she was taking steps onto
the cold, wet sand towards him. She shivered as the water touched her toes,
flowed over the top of her foot, and wrapped around her ankle. She clenched her
teeth to prevent a squeal of girlish discomfort at the shock of chill against
her flesh. He had no idea how much she hated the cold.

           
He made good on his promise. She
looked up at him right as he took her hand. The warm rugged feel of his hands
told her that Jed was not pampered. Well, he didn’t have to be pampered. He obviously
wasn’t afraid of work. He leaned in suddenly and kissed her. He wasn’t kidding
around. He warmed her to the core instantly. His facial hair tickled, but his
soft lips and skilled tongue made her forget it altogether. He let go of her
lips and looked down at her. The kiss had ended too quickly for her. She tried
to hold back a pouting lip. She wanted to kiss him again, more, now.

 
He licked his lips and said, “I came out to
stand in the ocean like this once before and thought about how the sand moved
from beneath me every time the water pulled back. I was losing ground, but I
was still standing. I wondered how long I could stand there before I couldn’t move;
how long it would take to sink into the sand and be covered up by the waves.”

           
It seemed a really personal thing to
share. He appeared almost startled that he told her. He looked away from her
quickly. She asked, “How long did you stand there?”

           
He got a little twinkle in his eye as
he turned his head to face her again and he chuckled. “Until a piece of seaweed
wrapped around my ankle, at which point I jumped about a foot and screamed like
a little girl.”

           
She laughed with him. “How old were
you?”

           
He stopped laughing, looked out at
the water and then back to her, “Just a boy.”

           
She didn’t press any farther. The
air between them was becoming odd, personal, when all she wanted, all he
wanted, was physical pleasure.

           
“Well, you’re not a boy anymore.”
Shay reached for the bowtie and pulled it loose.

           
“No.” She was sure his voice dropped
an octave into the sound of seduction. “I’m not.”

           
Their lips met in a clash of fury.
Both of them were broken souls and somehow still standing on the sand that
slipped beneath their feet with every wave. One of his hands pulled her up at the
back of her head and the other gripped her ass and pulled her closer. The
moment their bodies lined up Shay pulled at his shoulders and lifted into him.
His crotch at her navel, she was already burning to get her hands on him, to
taste him, to feel him inside of her.

           
He bent just slightly while letting
her head go, and lifted her off the ground. Both of his hands were on her ass
and her legs wrapped around him as the dress shifted up to her waist. Her
fingers tightened on his shoulders as she held on. He began walking them back
towards the house.

           
“I have to ask,” he said in a silky
smooth whisper, “have you been tested?”

           
“A year ago,” she said against his
neck. At least he started the conversation. She was still trying to process how
to ask the things that needed to be asked of a one night stand. The things no
one liked to talk about because they broke the mood or interrupted the flow of
things. The things that in this day and age was necessary.

           
“And the last time you…”

           
“A little over two years ago.” Shay
frowned. “I’ve recently discovered that I haven’t been approachable for…a
while.”

           
He snorted, “I find that hard to
believe.”

           
“You?” She tried not to think about
what he would have thought of her had he met her two years ago. Hell, had he
met her twelve months ago. It took almost a full year for her to recover,
cleanse, and accept.

           
“I’m never approachable,” he teased.

           
“Now there’s a line.” She was sure
of it. He may not be in the spotlight, but even in the dark, Jed looked pretty
damn good to her.

           
He said, “But seriously, yes. I have
been tested. Though, it’s been longer than two years for me so you may have to
take it easy on me.”

           
“I’ll follow your lead.” It was a
bit of a joke, but she realized as the words slipped out she had been doing
that the whole time. He had initiated and led this whole scene.
 

           
They were at the patio and he
stopped. He held her until her feet touched the ground. She looked up at him.
He was tall, handsome, and rugged even in the tux.

           
“I’ve been working on a documentary
for the past two years.” He looked away and then back. “I went through a dark
period before that.”

           
If anyone knew what that was like, it
was Shay.
 
She noticed the aged scar at
his wrist but didn’t say anything about it. It wasn’t straight so it might not
have been something he did himself anyways.
 
“I understand.”

           
He quirked his brow and then nodded,
“Maybe.”

           
She slid her hands over his chest
and then down where she started on the vest buttons. He watched her fingers as
they slid the buttons through one at a time. She slipped the vest off and
stacked it on the jacket already on the table. She reached for a button and he
stilled her hands.

           
Shay couldn’t quite understand the
expression, the intensity of the look he was giving her. Then he said, “I can’t
get any further than this right now. At some point, I won’t want to stop…”

           
“I don’t want you to…”

           
He pulled her hand up to his lips
and kissed her fingers. She could feel her breath grow heavy, the desire
building in her loins.

           
“Turn around.” He let her hand go
and she turned. He found the top of the zipper and slid it down. The zipper was
quiet, smooth. He slid his fingers under the straps at her shoulders and then
slid the dress down until she was able to step out of it. He tossed the dress
to the table and onto his stack of clothes. He touched the strap of her bra and
said, “Now that’s interesting.”

           
“I made it.” Shay blushed. She was
glad he couldn’t see her face. She had forgotten all about the bra.

           
“It’s like pantyhose. You can’t see
it’s there. Turn around.” She turned slowly. “Where does it fasten?”

           
“Here.” She gasped as his fingers
traced the line of the material. “In the front.”

           
“This is something else. If I wasn’t
so distracted by your spectacular breasts I could think of something better to
say.” He seemed serious on both accounts. His expression was intent on the tops
of her breasts. He traced the material with a finger, gently, until it met with
flesh.

           
She found the hidden clasps and
unfastened them. She pulled the bra open and he inhaled a sharp breath.

           
“Fuck, those are nice.” He slid his
hands to cup them. “And real.”

           
“Are you growling?” Shay bit into
her lower lip and enjoyed the way he looked at her body.

           
“Yes.” He leaned down and kissed
her. His fingers found her nipples and teased them. Every brush of thumb across
turgid bud had her feeling sparks at her clit. His lips moved from her mouth
down to her throat, farther to her collarbone, and anxiously to her nipple. He
pushed her breast up as his head bent down to capture the nub.

           
She pushed her fingers through his
soft hair and pulled him closer. His attention shifted to the other. Her knees
grew weak. The scrape of the beard added sensations she had never felt before.
Down he moved, his hands on her hips, his tongue exploring her navel. He was on
his knees and she realized, “Your suit. You’re going to ruin it.”

           
He let her watch his tongue as it
slipped from her navel and back into his mouth. Never had anyone frenched her
bellybutton before. He looked at her then said, “I have three others just like
it.”

           
“Oh.” She slid the lock of his hair
between her fingers enjoying the silky smooth feel of it. “We’re a little
exposed out here, don’t you think?”

           
“Private property. No one knows
about it.”

           
Her pulse was racing, her head
considering the possibilities of get caught, and her body was reacting to his
caresses as he waited for her to respond. Breathless she said, “Okay.”

           
He reached over and patted the
cushion on the lounge chair. She moved closer to the seat. He guided with his
hands until her panties were gone, and she was laying back. Her legs were soon
parted to either side. He unfastened his shirt and removed it.

           
Jed’s chest was covered with a
dusting of masculine chest hair. It swirled around his nipples, lined a trail
to his groin. The shirt went to the ground beside them. He moved to sit on the
chair, picked up one of her feet, kissed her knee, licked her thigh, and
settled in between her legs. He inhaled deeply and Shay couldn’t help but feel
a moment of self-consciousness. He parted her slick folds and licked. His
skillful tongue penetrated her, sucked on her clit, his fingers pressed into
her causing her to arch back and cry out.

           
She called his name, it spurred him
on. For someone supposedly out of practice, he seemed to have the task down to
a science, more like an art. No one had found those buttons so quickly, or paid
enough attention to know not to stop or move when there. She was clasping his
fingers, panting, moaning, and all too easily, “I’m coming.”

           
Her body went rigid from toes to
scalp, everything tensed, vibrated, then pulsed violently.
 
A tear escaped her eye. No one had ever
rocked her that hard that fast before. She was spent, her breaths heavy, her
body sheened in sweat. Maybe she needed to wait every couple of years to do
this. Surely that was why she wound up so quickly for him.

He took his time sitting up. He
wiped the back of his hand across his mouth and looked at her with satisfaction
that he had turned her into the gasping wet mess she had become.

           
“My turn?” He licked his lips and
unfastened his pants. He was hard, and Shay gasped again at the sight of his
rigid cock. Jed was not a small man in any sense of the word. He stepped out of
the clothes and moved towards her.

           
She mustered the strength to sit up
and lean forward. She reached for his cock and he stepped back.

           
“I won’t last a minute that way,” he
chuckled. “I may not last a minute inside you either, but I want to fuck you.”

           
She noticed the wallet he had
slipped from his pocket and the condom he removed from it before letting it
fall to the ground. He tore the wrapper. She moved to stand. He looked at her
questioningly.

           
“Sit.” She licked her lips as she
watched him slide the prophylactic over his length.

           
He moved to take a seat on the
lounge and lay back as she climbed on top of him. Seeing his size, knowing how
long it had been since she had fucked anyone, Shay wanted control of the
thrust.

           
She straddled him and leaned in to
kiss his lips as she sat on the head of his cock and pressed against it until
he penetrated her opening. She sucked in a breath against his lips. He liked
that. He moved his hands to her hips and pushed her down farther. He moaned,
his head fell back against the chair and his eyes closed.