The Director (Hollywood Nights) (22 page)

“No,” he said and shook his head.

The command sent a thrill
throughout her body. He was in charge of this. She tried again to lie back and
he said, “Sit up.”

She looked at him. He looked up
at her, his eyes liquid, soul searing, alight with mischief. He let his tongue
slip out and tease her flesh. Her hips pressed forward and he retracted it with
a smile.

“You are being cruel,” she
whimpered.

“Am I?” he asked and then teased
her again.

“Yes,” she gasped.

“And now?” he asked before
leaning in and giving her an honest lick.

He had already built her up. She
was swollen, wet, and on the verge of losing control when he finally began to
work his magic. “Oh God, don’t stop.”

He tortured her for what felt
like hours but was only minutes. He didn’t even get the tip of his finger
inside her and she was breaking. Coming undone against her will. The orgasm
slipped up on her like a thief in the night, stealing the momentum and crashing
everything down on her at once. She looked at him. He quirked a brow at her,
that happened easier than usual, even for Jed. Breathless she explained, “It
just came out of nowhere.”

“I’m pretty sure it came out of
here.” He said and pushed his finger into her.

She collapsed backwards onto the
bed and let moan of delight escape her lips. He gave her a moment to catch her
breath, to recover, before he began again. “Do you have any idea how good you
are at this?”

“Yes,” he said smugly.

She giggled, but only for a
moment. He was back to work and she was lost in his efforts. She knew he did
this when he wouldn’t last long. When he was so wired up he just needed to release.
It was as though it was a penance or a means of compensating for it. She had no
immediate plans to tell him she didn’t mind a quickie now and then. She didn’t
have to get off every single time. With Jed, she had. Greedily, she was going
to continue that trend as long as it would last.

She could hear her own guttural
sound as the release swept through her in a flash of heat, light, and sparks
that left her listless.

She didn’t even realize he had
moved. She just knew the moment the head of his cock pressed into her, she was
full, whole, and she needed to turn her focus to him.

He was using a lot of restraint.
She could tell by the grip on her hips and the controlled thrust. The look in
his eye told her he wanted more than he was getting. She gulped, “Harder.”

He complied.

“Harder, Jed.” She gasped as he
again thrust harder than before. She knew she could take it.
 
“I know there’s more.”

           
“Are
you sure?”

           
“Yes,”
she groaned. Of course she was sure. He didn’t always want it this way. And in
some ways, it turned her on to unleash the beast in him. “Don’t hold back. I
want you harder. That’s it.”

           
She
watched as the tension built throughout his entire body. Each muscle bunched,
tightened. His chest flushed pink, his cheekbones, and his eyes ablaze with
need, focused on her.

           
“You
feel so good,” she said. One of his eyes closed then opened. He was getting
there. The words spurred him on. “You’re so big. Give it to me, Jed. That’s it.
Fuck me harder. Faster.” She gasped and said, “I love you.”

           
He
spent with a groan of pleasure and what seemed like an endless wave of bliss.
When he moved, he didn’t extract himself right away. He covered her, kissed
her, and whispered sweet nothings in her ear before telling her he loved her
and then trying to fall asleep.

Chapter 17

Jed was pushing
his luck. He knew that the moment he concocted this crazy scheme. He took one
look at her and decided it was worth the risk. A few days ago she asked the
question he had been waiting for. She wanted to know about the scar. He told
her the details of that night, of the weeks leading up to it, and the months
that stretched into years after. She had said simply that she was glad he
changed his mind. Throughout his adult life he had debated if he had made the
right decision on more than one occasion.

           
Looking at her in that dress,
knowing her heart was his, and that she loved him back, he knew he had made the
right decision. Life was finally more than existing, he was living. It wasn’t
always easy. Shay was an independent woman learning to allow herself to depend
on him for some things. He was an overbearing nurturer who had to work on how
he let her know that he saw her as his equal.

           
He wasn’t sure if this was going to
send the right message, but he knew that he wanted to spend the rest of his
life with her and every day they were not committed legally he ran the risk of
something happening to him and she would be left with nothing but her own income
and some memories. He couldn’t tell her about the incident in the homeless
shelter. She had asked him to stay close to avoid danger.

           
The one thing this particular film
had taught him was that danger was everywhere. The potential for any situation
to go awry was just a matter of happenstance. He had no control over it. For a
man who had spent most of his life wishing he was dead, he was terribly anxious
about the idea of dying. Before, he knew if something happened the people he
cared about would be taken care of. Now, the one person he loved the most,
would suffer the most. Sure, his family would do something for her, but it
would not be the same. He wouldn’t risk it. Not anymore.

“I’m going to be
freaking out about this all night,” Shay said as she ran her hands over the vanilla
cream colored dress she was wearing at his request.

“I’ll try not to
get you dirty.” He winked at her. He wanted a long and happy life with this
woman. He was sure of it. He couldn’t and wouldn’t be able to rest until she
was his in every way possible.

“I somehow doubt
that.” She held up her arm for him to clasp the bracelet he had given her. He
liked that she didn’t try to put it on herself. She wanted him to do it. She
wanted his attention, his touch. He almost frowned as he realized the diamond
earrings were already in place. No matter. He had other things to give her this
evening.

“You ready?” he
asked and offered her his arm.

“Are you?” she
asked. She looked at him and for a brief moment he thought she might have
suspected his plans. “It’s a big award. It’s not every day you get honored by
your peers.”

He sighed in
relief. It was a big award, but not nearly as important as the approval he
wanted from her.

***

           
Shay couldn’t tell if Jed was high
on life from winning or from some other intoxicating event that she was unaware
of. He was at once in command and anxious, excited yet nervous. He reminded her
of a child on Christmas morning. Ready to unwrap something but not sure if it would
be the surprise item or just some new socks.

They sat at a cozy table in the bar
at the hotel. She looked up at him and knew whatever it was, she was in for it.

           
“I think your outfit is missing
something.”

           
“You do?” She feigned surprise.

           
He began twisting the straw wrapper
to her non-alcoholic, but very fruity and caloric, drink into some sort of
loop. He reached for her right hand and put it on her index finger.

           
“I’ll have to be careful with it for
sure.” She laughed.

           
He pursed his lips and said, “Hmmm.
Maybe this?”

           
He pulled the straw from his glass of
soda and ran his tongue over it to remove most of the beverage. She enjoyed
watching it. Everything about his mouth was sexy. His tongue was magic. He had
her full attention. He began twisting it. She enjoyed the way his large fingers
worked the plastic tube into another band before placing it on her left index
finger.

           
“A little sticky so it might hold in
place and hold up under the water.” She could feel her gut tighten as he
reached into the breast pocket and extracted something she couldn’t see. He
grabbed her right hand and her heart sank slightly. She was foolish to think it
was an engagement ring. They were already moving at warp speed. She couldn’t
expect that from him this soon, yet she did. For all intents and purposes he
treated her like his wife.

           
Her eyes widened as a diamond
solitaire surrounded by smaller black diamonds was slid onto the ring finger of
her right hand. She gasped out his name.

           
“It’s modest enough you might wear
it every day, right?” He looked at her. She looked at him. She was on the verge
of tears. She nodded, unable to speak. It was a beautiful gift. Something she
could and would wear every day.

           
“Good. I had it made for you, like
the others. There is not another one like it in the world, like you.” He waited
a moment for her to collect her senses. He gently lifted her left hand and
stroked over her fingers before he slid the ring he had still hidden in his other
hand on her left ring finger. “I figured you might be more inclined to wear
that one every day, and this one on special occasions.”

           
She gulped. The ring was
spectacular, a larger version of the one on her right finger. She looked at
him, trying not to hope beyond hope…

           
“So what do you say?”

           
“What’s the occasion?” she asked
tentatively. She wasn’t about to reveal her heart for him to break it even if
every fiber of her being knew this was just a Jed Gunner way of proposing.

           
“You don’t know?” He quirked his
brow.

           
“I’m…”

           
“Nervous?” he smiled. Her nerves
settled a bit and anticipation moved in. “Me too. There’s a chapel just down
the road, what do you say?”

           
“Don’t you want your family here?”
she asked and half expected them to jump out from somewhere. He had made it
clear that he was not expecting to win and did not want any of them there. She
didn’t understand it then, she did now.

           
“No.” He got up from his seat and
moved to stand before her and held both of her hands in his. He looked down at
her. His blue eyes smoldering with passion, love, and tenderness like she had
never known before. “You saw that circus my brother had. My sister had the same
scene. They will have me a few months out of the year now. I agreed to that.
Right now, I just want us, for now, for forever. Do you want me, Shay?”

           
She sniffed, nodded. The word yes
slipped breathlessly from her lips.

           
“Mmmm,” he hummed and nodded. He
leaned in to kiss her. Brief, gentle, but powerful all the same. “Let’s go.”

Epilogue

Prologue to
Get a Grip

           
Ivy had wanted to do this the right way.
Over thirty years had passed and she was tired of doing things the right way.
Tired of waiting, tired of patience, she was doing this one way or another. She
wasn’t dragging him down the aisle, he was walking there willingly. On the way
in, she saw a familiar pair of faces coming out.

           
“Shay!” Ivy smiled as the woman who
used to be her enemy greeted her with a warm friendly smile of genuine
happiness. Ivy was certain the man practically aglow standing next to her had
everything to do with it.

           
“What are you doing here?” Shay
asked. Her hand was held firm by one of the best documentary film makers
around, Jed Gunner.

           
“Same thing you’re doing I suppose.”
Ivy shrugged.

           
Then something unexpected happened.
Jed spoke to Bo as though they were friends.

           
“What have you been up to? I came by
the studio when I was in LA, but they said you were on set somewhere working.”
Jed extended his free hand and Bo took it.

           
Bo, a quiet guy, seemed a bit
flustered. He said, “I’ve uh…been working as a grip for a while. They don’t
need me there every day. I just…uh…”

           
Jed took one look at Bo, and then
looked at Ivy. She was looking at Jed so she knew what his reactions were. He
let a slow, knowing smile spread across his lips. He nodded and said nothing
more about it. They had communicated more with that simple nod than most
conversations she had had with people she knew for years.

           
“Well congratulations!” Shay said
and then let go of Jed’s hand to step forward and embraced Ivy.

           
“To you, too!” Ivy returned the hug.
It was nice to be accepted by an old enemy as a friend.

           
Jed and Shay made their way towards
the exit and Ivy looked at Bo. She gave him one last chance to escape. “You’re
sure you want to do this?”

           
“Absolutely.” He nodded.

           
Her heart thumped fast and hard against
her chest. This was it. They were going to get married. She was going to marry
a guy she barely knew. He was going to marry her. This good girl, was finally going
to be bad!