“Those things had better be off you in the next ten seconds or I’m going to cut them off.”
He grinned as he pushed his jeans over his hips along with his boxer briefs. He stopped long enough to get his wallet out of his back pocket where he’d stashed a condom.
“Wait,” she said. “I want to put it on you.”
His dark eyes got darker as she snatched the condom out of his hand and rolled him onto his back.
“You are mine.”
* * *
Troy thought his head might explode, and at this point it was a toss-up as to which head he meant. Though Julie might intend to eventually roll that condom over his straining erection, she clearly had no intention of doing it in the next few seconds. Or even minutes by the way she looked at him...with a hunger so real, he felt it deep in his bones.
But to have Julie Fraser easing herself between his thighs topped every single expectation he’d ever had. She nuzzled his cock in a very clear imitation of how he’d nuzzled her. Her pink tongue darted out for a taste and he gritted his teeth against the wet heat along his dick. At this rate, he was going to revert to the fifteen-year-old boy who’d been a little too fast on the draw.
Because he doubted he’d ever relive this moment ever again, he kept his eyes on her as she played with him. Nix the word
play
. She fucking tortured him with her hot tongue and sweet lips. She traced the tip of his dick along her mouth and Troy didn’t think he’d last another minute of her attention. When she opened and took him inside, he sucked in his breath, drawing air into his stricken lungs because every fucking muscle had seized with pleasure. Up and down. She continued to drive him out of his mind. He put his hands on her head, let himself pump into her mouth a couple more times before he pulled her off him. In under two seconds he had her flat on her back. He snatched the condom from her hand and rolled it on quicker than he’d ever done in his life.
He covered her mouth with his, hooked an arm beneath her knee, opened her wide and pushed inside her, deep and sure. She stiffened beneath him and moaned inside his mouth. He let go of her leg, might’ve pulled out then, worried that he’d hurt her, except she wrapped her legs around his hips and kept them connected tightly together. Troy’s mind went blank. All that mattered was the incredible pleasure he got from pumping in and out of her. From hearing the desperate sounds of need coming from her throat. From feeling her heat, the strength of her muscles as she flexed and strained under and around him.
The moment ranked as—absolutely—the best of his life. Better than actually having an orgasm. Because in this minute, they were together, every move felt better than the last. Every stroke took them both higher.
“Oh, God. Troy,” she panted, “So good. Please, please. I have to...”
He lifted her ass, canted her hips a fraction and pushed in. She cried out. Her orgasm powered through her so hard she shook beneath him. Troy had no control over his own release. Her climax triggered his. Like an explosive had been detonated, the wave that hit him ripped him apart. Intense gratification buffeted every nerve, every cell. He locked his jaw and rode out the swell even as he continued to pump into Julie. He wanted to feel every pulse, every last shudder.
When it was all over, Troy collapsed on top of her, but she wasn’t complaining. Her hands stroked over his back. Her heart beat a fast, steady pulse.
He expected to see her half-asleep with a satisfied look in her eyes. Nope. Despite the darkness of the room, her blue eyes twinkled with fresh light and excitement.
“That was amazing.” One thing about show business, it had taken the shyness right out of her. Assuming she ever had been shy.
He nodded, rolled to his side, but kept her close. He needed to get cleaned up, but wasn’t ready to leave the warmth of her arms. Her hand trailed to his thigh and it didn’t matter that he’d climaxed harder than he’d ever had in his life, he felt his dick grow again anyway.
Troy stopped her hand. “Hold on, sweetheart. I only have the one condom. A repeat performance will have to be with another toy, not my boy.”
A coy smile curved Julie’s lips as she crawled over him and opened the top drawer of the night table. Her ass, right in front of his face, teased him within an inch of his life and he couldn’t resist. He shifted in bed and commenced to kissing. He loved her ass. Hell, he loved her small breasts too. The pert and perky twins made her all the more real and helped him separate the movie star from the woman. He loved her imperfections: the uneven quirk of her lips when she smiled, the little scar near her right temple. At the moment, the crease between her butt cheek and her thigh was anything but imperfect. She took care of herself. Worked out hard. Without clothes on, it was easy to see her strength. She’d been pretty scrawny all those years on television, but now... She’d definitely grown into a mature female. A woman with curves and muscle. A woman who knew exactly what she wanted.
She came away from the drawer with a box she waved teasingly in her hand.
Condoms.
“Prepared are you?” He didn’t know if he liked that. What did it mean about how often she entertained?
“Actually, they were a gag gift. I was working on a film last year and the prop guy gave them to me for my birthday. He said I should have some fun.
On
him
.” She lifted an eyebrow. “The guy’s a real comedian.”
“I’m not laughing,” Troy said. “When’s your birthday?”
She smiled her famous smile and Troy’s semi hard-on got harder. “Actually, it’s next week and I think I know what you can give me,” she teased as she removed the old condom and slid her hand up and down his growing erection.
“There’s something you should probably know,” he told her as he once again rolled her beneath him. “I’m going to be hard for you all night long.”
This time both brows lifted. “All night? Wow. An early birthday present that just keeps on giving.” She cocked her head to the side. “I’m not sure I believe you though.”
He dumped the box of condoms, ripped one open, sheathed himself and pushed inside her in seconds flat. She gasped then moaned and the sounds spurred him on faster. The need he felt came back at him. Not so much the need to come, but the need to satisfy her. To make this the best experience she’d ever have. To make her remember this time with complete clarity no matter what happened the rest of her life.
A few minutes later, when their skin was slick with sweat and their muscles strained to the limit, Julie came apart in his arms with a cry. She bucked beneath him and dug her fingernails into his back. Troy nearly howled as his own orgasm hit him like a linebacker, hard and rough. For the second time that night, he collapsed on top of Julie, his mind thoughtless, his body, boneless.
Chapter Eleven
He didn’t know how many minutes passed before he lifted his head. The sweet, musky scent of Julie and sex filled him. Once again, her eyes shone bright, her excitement clear. “Oh, no.” He hid a grin, took a deep breath and exhaled. “Sex revs you up. It doesn’t put you to sleep.”
Her smile disappeared as she considered his observation. “Oh my, God. You’re right,” she said, clearly just now realizing the fact. “I never thought about it before.” Her saucy grin said she liked it. “I guess now I know what I need to do when I get tired in the middle of a work day.” She waggled her eyebrows.
The peek into her personality made Troy catch his breath before he laughed. Having this private side of her all to himself sent a strange sense of possession through his chest and gut. She didn’t belong to him, he understood that, but just being here with her, in her bed, seemed like an alternate reality. Yes, he knew better than anyone that she was only human, like anyone else. Her nearly bleeding out in his arms had made that abundantly clear months ago, but laughing and joking with her accomplished the same thing on a very different level.
“I can see it now,” she went on. “Julie,” she said, imitating a male voice. “We need you on set in five. And I’m all, but it’s been such a long day and I’m so tired. Gee, I know. I’ll find my guy and screw his brains out, then I’ll be ready for anything.” She laughed and fell back against the pillows.
My
guy
? Had she meant him or any man who might be in the picture at the time?
She ran her fingers through his hair. The caress cut straight to his heart and hit a nerve he didn’t know existed. He wanted her touching him like this for more than just tonight.
There were too many reasons why this shouldn’t have happened in the first place. She was Hollywood royalty. He was a private investigator working a case. Guilt for being where he knew he shouldn’t steadily rose and flooded his system.
Too late to go back now.
If he had to suffer the consequences, then he wanted the whole night. It would have to hold him the rest of his life.
* * *
Troy came awake to pressure on his cock. Not in a Bobbitt kind of way, but in a—
you
forgot
to
take
off
the
condom
,
asshole
—kind of way. What he didn’t expect was the warm wet cloth that stroked his dick, or the firm grip of the hand that followed. He shifted and spread his legs. Let the soft caresses take him away as she leaned next to him. Moonlight framed her golden hair to perfection. He wanted her between his thighs, to have her take him deep in her mouth, but God, this was so good.
Her grip tightened on his dick as she stroked him and a rough groan escaped his throat. Her hair tickled his thighs, sent currents of electricity to his heavy erection as her lips brushed across his hip. Her tongue teased with light flicks. He had no idea how long he’d been out. Maybe a minute, maybe fifteen, but his dick knew a good thing when it came in his direction and right now it strained for that seeking mouth.
He expected the gentle licks like the last time she did this. What he didn’t expect was for her to go down full bore and suck. Troy nearly shot to the roof, every muscle convulsed. A stream of obscenities rattled off his lips.
One hand moved along his abs, up to his pecs as the other moved under his sac. She continued to drive him insane with her hot mouth and light scrape of teeth.
America’s Sweetheart had a very dirty side. Who would’ve have guessed?
She pinched his nipple and he bucked into her mouth inadvertently. She moaned, let her hand slide to his hip where she gripped him tighter, dug her nails into his skin.
He had to have her. Had to taste her while she did this to him. He hooked his arm around her thigh and shifted her over his face. He needed the distraction or he wouldn’t last another ten seconds. God almighty, she was soaking wet and tasted like sweet sin. He sucked, licked and nibbled. He spread her ass cheeks as he tortured and teased with his mouth and his tongue. He loved the way she trembled and shook. The intimacy of the act had never floored him as it did in this minute. He’d never felt closer to a woman than he did right now. Her moans vibrated through his dick to his balls. She lost her rhythm and her body stiffened as her internal muscles clenched in a hard orgasm. He would have pulled her off him, but she took him deeper. She had to know what was coming.
“Shit, Julie.” His voice sounded harsh in his own ears. “Too good.”
She purred. She fucking purred. Then she pulled at his balls, touched a spot so tender that he bucked again. His orgasm tore through him. Julie held on tight, her mouth snug around his throbbing dick. Maybe he’d wanted to pull her up a second ago, but now he thanked the powers that be as she stayed locked on to his sensitive flesh.
When he finished, when every last drop of come had spilled, he let her go. She collapsed next to him, her breathing hard along his thigh, her skin slick with sweat. They lay that way for a few minutes as they came down from the rush. Finally, Julie sat up, her lips swollen, her face flushed and her eyes bright with satisfaction. With a pure feline smile, she crawled over him and settled on his chest, set her mouth on his and kissed him like she hadn’t just blown his world to kingdom come.
“I just wanted to give you something to remember me by, but I think it might’ve backfired.” Her grin was all sass and sex.
Troy ran his fingers along her head and held her away from him, stared into her amazingly sharp blue eyes. “You know, this has been the most damn fun I’ve had in years.” Probably decades, but he couldn’t really confess
that
.
Her smile leveled him as she nodded. “Me too.” She stared at him and the moment stretched on. Her thumb grazed his cheekbone in a soft caress, her smile faded and turned into something serious. “I need you to know that I don’t do this.” She paused and searched for words. “I’m not like this. Ever. With anyone.” She looked like a virgin confessing her sins.
One corner of Troy’s lips barely curved upward. To say that knowledge made him feel special was an understatement. It had been a while since he’d been with a woman, and he couldn’t claim to be a monk. But no other experience came close to this.
“Me either.” It was all he could manage. The truth, but he still had a hard time saying more. His upbringing had pretty much cured him of sharing his thoughts and feelings. He’d learned early on not to speak to his father unless spoken to because any mood could be translated the wrong way. If he was upset, he was a pansy. If he was happy, his dad quickly cured him of that with a swift, hard hand. Misery loved company and his dad never wanted to be alone.
Wait a minute... Did she mean...? “Are you saying that was your first sixty-ni—”
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. “Jeez. Did you have to say it out loud?”
He’d bet money if she hadn’t moved out of the moonlight, he’d see her blushing. Just another thing to wrap his brain around. He might not have been her first, but in a way, he was.
She snuggled along his side and rested her head on his chest. Her lashes fluttered against his skin. When she sighed, Troy felt a sense of home and peace he’d never known. He’d certainly never felt at home or at peace growing up with his parents. He’d been in Los Angeles as long as anywhere, and he called it home, but he could just as easily pick up and move next week if he wanted to. No place had ever given him the feeling of home. It had been an elusive dream he’d given up on long ago.
But here and now, with Julie in his arms and breathing steadily on his chest, something inside him recognized the difference. This was something he could see himself doing for years. Many, many years.
The bucket of ice water got tossed when Troy’s watch alarm went off at six a.m. He shut it down after the first bell. Julie hadn’t moved a muscle. He could skip the gym and sink into her again. But that would make leaving that much harder. He needed to get the hell out of her bed and stay out. At least until he no longer worked for Sophia.
Julie’s bare thigh was draped over his, her arm wrapped around his chest. He studied the woman who fascinated America. She had one of those faces that could morph into anything. She could be the Hollywood beauty or the sitcom clown. When she smiled, her eyes and face lit up with an inner beauty that could knock out a heavyweight boxer. But when she widened her eyes, pursed her lips or scrunched her eyebrows together, she just as easily turned into the comedienne. Her versatility had made her golden.
And here she was lying in his arms. Beneath the person she showed the world, Julie had the qualities he respected. She was honest, real and nothing like the spoiled actresses he’d come across.
Troy’s dick decided that too much distance separated it from Julie, but Troy slid out of the sheets before he let his other brain decide anything. He dressed quietly and quickly with one thing on his mind.
Distance. He needed distance to regain his footing.
* * *
Julie felt a tickling at her cheek. She registered the ache of sore muscles. Muscles she hadn’t used in a long, long time. She stretched her legs, her heavy lids fluttered open and she stared into Troy’s sweet, serious eyes as he crouched, fully dressed, next to the bed.
“Hey,” he whispered huskily, easing some hair behind her ear. “I have to get to work. I didn’t want you to wake up alone and think...”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Think what?” she murmured. She cleared her rusty throat.
“Think...think I’d deserted you,” he finally said.
She stretched again and her muscles protested. “Mmm.” She hadn’t thought about this moment last night, but now she had no idea what to say. She didn’t expect a commitment from the guy, but did he realize what last night had meant to her? She flushed just remembering that sixty-nine. “You want me to make some coffee before you go?”
He shook his head. His fingers continued to ease through her hair and threatened to put her back to sleep before he even left. “Not necessary.” His lips met hers in a soft kiss and Julie’s pulse increased. Toothpaste fresh. Delicious. He pulled away.
“You’re one brave hombre,” she said.
His smile decimated her. He rarely grinned, but now, with all those straight white teeth flashing at her, she grinned back. “Why’s that?” he asked.
“‘Cause, you kissed me with my morning breath. Yuck.” She scrunched her face into a sour pucker and he chuckled.
“You could eat a clove of garlic and I’d still love kissing you.” He meant it to be funny, but the words intoned something more. Did he mean that the way it sounded or was he just being nice?
Best to keep things light. “Sure, you say that now. Just wait until I eat a clove of garlic and come knocking on your door.” She tried not to sound like a lonely sap who wanted company. His company specifically. The
still
love
kissing
you
line was music to her ears, but what came next? She wanted to see him again. The idea that last night might’ve been a one-night thing depressed her senseless. What if she’d thoroughly misjudged him? Had she given herself to a man who wanted nothing more than one smokin’ hot night in her bed?
She needed a drink.
That was saying something since not only did she rarely ever drink, but it was still six-something in the morning and way too early to be thinking about liquor.
He grinned wider. “Garlic, onion, morning breath. Hit me with your best shot.” He kissed her again, maybe to prove his point. His lips smoothed over hers softly as his thumb caressed her temple. He was sweet, tender and everything she wanted in a man. He pulled back. “I should go.”
She nodded and licked the lips he’d just thoroughly kissed. She wanted to ask when she’d see him again. Wanted to know if he planned to call her. But he didn’t say anything. He just looked at her. Almost as if he were seeing her for the first time. Or maybe the last time. She would’ve come right out and asked, if it wouldn’t make her look so sad and lonely:
So
,
do
you
think
you’re
going
to
call
me
after
this
?
Think
you
might
want
another
fuck
in
the
near
future
? Her language always got atrocious when she got upset. The last thing she wanted was to scare him off. Being Julie Fraser entailed a lot of baggage and not all men wanted the hassle of the mass publicity. She’d certainly learned that lesson a couple of times.
So, she hid behind a smile the way she was supposed to. The way she’d been taught to do by everyone in the business. Never let anyone see you vulnerable.
She lifted an eyebrow. “For the record, you’re not what I expected.”
He cocked his head to the side. “What did you expect?” He sounded genuinely surprised.
“Macho.” She shrugged a shoulder. “I expected macho. You carried me through a bullet storm and got shot yourself. That screams ‘macho’ like nobody’s business.” She took his hand and linked their fingers. “But that bath in the middle of the night?” The sixty-nine hadn’t been the end of the night. Not by a long shot. “A bath screams sensitive.”
“Yeah?” His slow grin melted her all over again.
“Definitely.”
“I have to admit...” He shook his head as if he’d disappointed himself. “It was a purely selfish act on my part. Watching you come in a hot tub was the fucking sexiest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.”
Julie’s cheeks burned hot, but she refused to look away from his dark eyes. Eyes that said way more than the man ever did. “You like me,” she whispered, tracing a finger across his jaw.
He nodded, a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Yeah. I like you. Go to sleep.” He kissed her softly and she enjoyed the warmth and softness of his mouth before he moved away.
“You’re out of here awfully early,” she said after a quick glance at her bedside clock.