Rapturous (5 page)

“What did you think of your first Oscar ceremony?”

“I loved it. Especially the part where all my friends won.”

“I liked that part, too.” Leaning forward, he grabs the Pappy bottle by
the neck and refills his glass. I begin to worry about him being too drunk for what I have planned for him, but then this is Hayden, and he doesn’t get drunk. Buzzed, yes. Drunk, no. Flynn once told me that Hayden never gets drunk or stoned because he doesn’t ever want to be out of control like his mother often was during his childhood—and much of his adulthood.
 

“I’m so happy for you guys. The
film deserves every accolade and then some.”

“It’ll be a tough act to follow,” he says, his brows knitting.

“What do you mean?”

“
Camo
was a once-in-a-career confluence of events that led to pure perfection. How do I top that? How do any of us top it?”

“You and Flynn and Quantum are just getting started. We’ve only begun to see the full extent of what you’re capable of.”

He turns to look at
me—really look at me—and the vulnerability I see in his eyes goes straight to my overcommitted heart. “You really think so?”

“I know so. You guys are magic together—and on your own. I predict you’ll top yourselves many times over.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I usually am. Just ask Flynn.”

My comment draws a lusty laugh from him that makes my mouth go dry and my heart pound. God, even my palms
are sweaty, and that never happens. I have never,
ever
wanted a man the way I want Hayden. Nothing I’ve experienced with any other man can compare to the way I feel just sitting next to him.
 

It’s this last thought that cements my resolve. If I don’t do this, if I don’t take advantage of the opening he gave me with that kiss, I’ll never forgive myself. I simply can’t live the rest of my life
wondering what if I’d been gutsy enough to go for what I wanted? So he’s my boss’s best friend. Who cares? I’m not on Flynn’s time right now, and he’s not the boss of my personal life, even if he sometimes thinks he is.

Fifteen minutes later, the car comes to a halt outside my building, and I’m hit with another unsettling thought—what about the driver? Hayden will expect him to wait, but he doesn’t
know he’s going to be here awhile. What do we do about the driver? I don’t have a backup plan for that plan, and my stomach knots with nerves as Hayden extends his hand to help me out of the car.
 

I take hold of it and don’t let go. I hold his hand into the lobby of my building and in the elevator to my fifth-floor condo. I keep a tight grip on that lifeline to him as we approach my door.

“I’m
really glad you were there tonight, Addie.”

“Thanks for inviting me.” New dilemma: how to produce my key without letting go of his hand? That can’t be done, so I reluctantly release him, and he jams his now-free hand into his pants pocket. I unlock my door and take a deep, cleansing breath.
 

Go time
.
 

Turning to him, I look up to find his hungry gaze fixed on me, and I take that as the sign
I need to proceed.

“Come in.”

“Oh, um…”

I take a firm hold of his arm and draw him into my home. He doesn’t resist in any way. Closing the door behind us, I make the snap decision to leave the lights off when I place my hands on his chest and look up at him again. He’s so much taller than me, even with my four-inch heels. I love that he towers over me. I love the idea of being overtaken by
him, surrounded by him.
 

“Addie—”

Before he can protest or tell me why this is a bad idea, I curl my hand around the back of his neck and rise up, brushing my body against his as I bring his lips down to meet mine. At first, he doesn’t resist. In fact, he actively participates, kissing me back with the same sense of urgency that I’m feeling. I want to shout
hallelujah
. I’m finally kissing Hayden!
But that would require me to stop kissing him, and now that I have him—

He turns away, breaking the kiss abruptly. “
Addie
.”

“Don’t stop. Please don’t stop.”

His hands frame my face, his thumbs caressing my skin. “I can’t do this. It wouldn’t be fair.”

“How would it not be fair when I’m telling you it’s what I want, too?” I use the word “too” intentionally because I can feel the hard length
of his cock pressing against my belly.
 

“I can’t.”

“
Why?
”

“Addie, we’re friends. We can’t—”

I drop my hands from his shoulders to his waist, suddenly thankful for all the time I’ve spent with stylists choosing tuxedos for Flynn. I know exactly how to quickly gain access to what I want. And dear sweet baby Jesus, he’s commando under there, and the cock that falls into my hand is long and thick
and hard, the biggest I’ve ever felt. My mouth waters at the thought of taking it inside me.

I tighten my grip and stroke him, learning how he likes it by the way he reacts.

He keeps his hands on my face, as if he’s afraid to touch any other part of me, but his forehead lands on mine. His breathing is rough and choppy, and his lips hover close to mine. “What’re you doing?” he asks, sounding
desperate and needy, just the way I want him.

“I’m doing what I’ve wanted to do for so long. Tell me you want me, too.”

“Addison…”

I drag my thumb over the tip of his cock, letting it slide through the moisture that’s gathered there. “Tell me, Hayden.”

His lips come down on mine, hard and demanding.

I open my mouth to his tongue. This, this,
this
is what I want.
He
is what I want. My eyes
are wide open to his many faults. He’s a difficult, moody bastard when he wants to be, but I’m crazy about him anyway.
 

Because I’m paying such close attention, I’m aware of the exact second his control snaps. His hands fall from my face to my shoulders to tear at the straps holding up my designer gown. The kiss turns savage as he pulls at the fabric until it gives way, the seams popping. My
breasts spring free of the tight confines of the bodice, and I want to cry from the sweet relief and the wild excitement of his reaction to me.

The heat of his hands on my sensitive flesh sears me. His cock gets harder and longer in my hand, feeding the fire that burns between my legs. I have never wanted anything more than I want him inside me. Right now.

I keep my lips pressed against his
when I say, “Bed. Now.”
 

He hesitates, and I worry my two little words took him out of the moment long enough to remember why he thinks this is a bad idea. How could anything that feels this good be a bad idea? I believe this will turn out to be the best idea I’ve ever had. He rallies, turning me toward the bedroom, which is when I remember that he lived here for a short time, while his place
in town was being renovated, before he bought the Malibu house.
 

Keeping his hands on my hips, he steers me through the dark space to the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. I turn on the bedside lamp because I’ve waited too long for this to do it in the dark. In the soft glow of the light, he zeroes in on my bare breasts. Before we pick up where we left off, I want him naked. I unbutton
the black vest he wears over a crisp white shirt. Still afraid he might change his mind, I work quickly to uncover his broad, muscular chest and abdomen.

Silently, he turns me to unzip my dress. That’s when I begin to believe this is actually going to happen. He’s not going to change his mind. Laying his hands on my back, he slides them down to my waist, leaving a trail of fire and taking the
dress with him. I help him along by shimmying out of the tight dress and look up in time to see his cool blue eyes go hot when he sees the thong I’m wearing.
 

I push his pants over his hips, and he kicks them off along with his shoes and socks.
 

Dear God, he’s beautiful. I always knew he would be, but the reality takes my breath away. Taking him by the hand, I sit on the edge of the bed and
lie back, hoping he’ll accept my engraved invitation to take whatever he wants from me. For a brief, paralyzing second, he seems uncertain and torn.
 

We can’t have that. “Hayden.” I give his hand a little tug, and he comes down on top of me, resting that magnificent cock on my pubic bone. Holy shit, this is happening. I want to take a minute to celebrate, to do a squealing happy dance, but I
can’t stop now when I’m so close to getting exactly what I’ve wanted for so long.
 

Wrapping my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck, I ensure that he can’t easily get away.
 

“Addie…”

“Yes, Hayden?”
 

“You won’t hate me for this, will you?”

I stroke his hair, his face and his back. “No, I won’t hate you.” It hurts me that he feels the need to ask.

“Do you promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“In case I forget to tell you… You’re beautiful. I’ve always thought so, but seeing you, all of you… You’re stunning.”

Okay, I can now officially die happy. “So are you.”

“I’m not. I’m a heartless bastard, and you deserve better.”

Before he can head down that road, I draw him into a kiss intended to make him forget everything other than what we’re about to do. I give him all I have, without
reservation or worry about what tomorrow will bring. Who has time to care about tomorrow when Hayden Roth is naked and aroused in my bed?

His desperation matches mine. His hands are everywhere, his lips ravenous, as if he’s been starving for me the way I’ve been for him. Every one of my senses is on full alert to his taste, his scent, the texture of his skin and the rub of his chest hair against
my painfully sensitive nipples. I wonder if I have an actual fever or if I just feel as if I do.
 

My body is on fire for him, and he knows how to fuel the flames like no one else ever has. Breaking the kiss, he moves down to focus on my breasts, which he holds in his big hands. He ventures a glance at my face, and I see uncertainty mixed in with hunger and desperation. I don’t want him uncertain.
I want him to want this as much as I do.

If I give him too much time to think, he’ll talk himself out of it. I can’t let that happen. I’ll never survive having gone this far only to stop now.

I sink my fingers into his hair and pull gently. “Turn over, Hayden.”

He draws my nipple into his mouth, tugging and sucking so hard that tears fill my eyes. It’s the most exquisite thing I’ve ever felt,
and I want more. I want everything, but not before I’m sure he’s with me. I push on his shoulder. “Hayden.”

Groaning, he lets my nipple pop free of his mouth and turns onto his back.
 

I let my gaze take a full, perusing journey from broad shoulders to well-defined pectoral muscles to washboard abs and thick, ropy hip muscles. The incredible, gigantic penis that lies hard and hot on his abdomen
makes my mouth water. Leaning over him, I run my tongue from the base to the tip, focusing on the slit at the top that’s leaking pre-cum. I lap him up, and he groans, grasping handfuls of my hair.
 

I love making him groan, and I want to hear that sound again and again. Taking him in hand, I draw the head into my mouth, licking and sucking until his hips come up off the bed and his fingers tighten
in my hair to the point of pain before he seems to realize what he’s doing and lets up.

Opening my mouth as wide as I can, I slide him in over my tongue until I feel the head nudging my throat. I can’t possibly take all of him, but I can take enough to make this really good for him. Squeezing the part I can’t take, I stroke him while I lick and suck until he’s panting and groaning.

“Addie… Addie
stop.
Stop
.”

Wondering if I’ve done something wrong, I release him slowly, almost afraid to look at his face. He sits up and reaches for me, bringing me onto his lap so I’m straddling him. I curl my fingers around his cock and watch the pulse of tension that jumps in his cheek. “You didn’t like it?”

His wry smile goes a long way toward calming my nerves. “I liked it too much.”

For a second,
I’m left off-kilter by the potent impact of that smile and the fact that I’m actually sitting naked on Hayden’s lap while I stroke the biggest penis I’ve ever seen—or felt. It’s surreal, to say the least, and I want that big penis inside me in the worst possible way.
 

“Are you safe?” I ask him.

A quizzical look passes through those cool blue eyes. “How do you mean?”

“I’m not going to catch
anything if we do this without a condom, am I?”

“No, you’re not.”

Because he’s been my friend for a long time, I believe him.
 

“Are you protected?”

I notice he doesn’t ask if I’m safe, and I’m strangely complimented. “Yes.”

“Addie, before we do this, we should talk.”

“No, we really shouldn’t.” I have all the information I need to take what I want, and I’ve waited long enough to have him.
How many days in the office, nights on the town, getaway weekends with our mutual friends and other events have I withstood wishing for what I have in my hand right now? Far too many to count. But there is one thing I have to know before I seal the deal. “Is this what you want, too?”