The Monster of Fame (The Price of Fame Series) (11 page)

But she hadn’t apologized for accusing him of betraying her. Nor had she been to any of the after show parties. He’d even tried showing up at the house a few times, hoping to catch her, but each time she hadn’t been there. She was obviously avoiding him and he was left feeling disgruntled.

Again, he found himself ignoring his acts and on the hunt for Annabelle. He’d come to the stadium early, having been told by one of the girls who worked back stage that she liked to come in and rehearse before anyone else arrived. It’s how he’d missed her every other time.

He walked through the public entrance and made his way to the stage, pausing when he saw her there. Her hair was tied up into a messy knot and her skimpy shorts and t-shirt were casual. Still, the way she danced around the stage in perfect sync with the backing dancers made his blood boil.

He slipped into a seat near the back, listening to her enchanting voice recreate a famous song and make it completely her own. A flare of heat darted straight to his groin, and he was harder than steel in mere seconds. Miles shook his head in exasperation.

For years he’d tried to be intimate with various women, both to fulfill his needs and to banish the memories of finding Cassie. Most of the time his body had failed him and the women had left his bed very disappointed. Now though, where thoughts of Annabelle were concerned, his hormones jumped to attention and little boy soldier wouldn’t stand down.

Maybe Annabelle was what he needed. Maybe she’d help him banish the memories of finding Cassie’s body cold and lifeless in their home. He never expected the guilt to go—didn’t want it to, it was what he deserved—but to be able to make love to a woman again would be enough.

But if they were to start seeing each other, they’d have to be very careful. If the press got a whiff of their relationship it would be all over the papers and wouldn’t bode well for either one of them. Miles was certain it would be worth the risk.

Already, he’d thought of a way to save her, like she was unknowingly saving him from his grief. His assistant was on the case, trying to find out how much money Annabelle’s family owed. He wouldn’t convince her to go home when she couldn’t make ends meet. He’d make sure everything worked out for her, just like he promised her it would.

* * * *

“Fancy celebrating?” Miles asked Annabelle when he found her in her dressing room after the show. She’d blown him away on stage and devastated his libido. He’d found himself again ignoring his acts and seeking her out straight after the final performance was over.

“Miles, I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have said those horrible things the other week.” She stood and hurried over to him, remorse clear on her face. “I didn’t think you’d want to speak to me again.” Tears welled in her eyes and he couldn’t resist pulling her into his arms.

“Of course I want to speak to you,” he whispered against her jasmine scented hair. He always wanted to speak to her. “Come and have a drink with me. You’ve never even celebrated getting this far. I have champagne on ice at home.” He didn’t want to press her to drink alone with him, but they had to be careful not to be seen together publicly. Going out together at this stage in the competition would have the paparazzi on their tails like bloodhounds.

She smiled up at him and his chest radiated warmth. “Why not? I deserve it, don’t I?” The teasing glint in her eyes made him chuckle.

“Yes, you do.”

Chapter 8

Long Night

“Have you lived here long?” Anna asked as Miles handed her a glass of champagne. Her stomach quivered with nervous excitement, but her curiosity was getting the better of her.

He sank down beside her on the sofa. “A few years.”

Anna waited for him to elaborate, but he stayed silent. She had thought about him every day over the last few weeks and had almost hunted him down on EconEkt to give him a groveling apology for doubting his intentions. The only thing that held her back was the fact that he was so far out of her league it wasn’t even funny.

After tonight though, when she saw him watch her perform, she felt a flare of arousal skitter up her spine. His eyes, usually so bright and wide, were dark and heavy lidded. He looked at her like she expected a starving man would look at his first meal in days before devouring it. The thought of being devoured—by him anyway—filled her with nervous excitement.

So, when he offered the chance to spend some time with him, she’d been more than eager to. She missed the time they’d spent together, the way her whole body lit up like a bonfire when she was close to him, and most of all, she missed his smiles.

“Is this where you lived with your wife?” Anna asked and immediately regretted it. That was
so
not her business. No matter that she’d been thinking of nothing else other than the grief he still suffered over his wife’s death for weeks.

Miles turned to her and she swore the light in his eyes died.

“I’m sorry, Miles, that’s none of my business.” It was times like this, when she royally put her foot in it, that she wished she could turn back time.

He forced a painful looking smile onto his face, but the light was still gone. “It’s okay. No, I bought this place after she died.”

His voice was laced with pain and his anguish became hers. She cared about him, that much she already knew, but this felt like more somehow. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” Anna asked, trying to encourage him to open up. She never experienced anything near his level of grief, but surely having someone to offload some of the pain onto would help.

He hesitated, his whole body stiffening for the briefest second before he closed his eyes and sucked in a deep, haggard breath. “I’ve never told anyone,” he began and focused his attention on the champagne flute in his trembling hand.

Pain slashed her heart and she grabbed his free hand to offer support.

He entwined his fingers with hers. “I met Cassie ten years ago. She was nineteen and amazingly talented. I offered her a record deal and we worked together to shoot her career sky high.”

He paused, taking a gulp of champagne. Anna had a horrible feeling that the full story of Cassie’s death wasn’t going to be a story she’d particularly want to hear. Yes, she wanted to help him, but hearing about someone he loved was going to be hard. Still, she squeezed his hand, encouraging him to go on. Her feelings weren’t important right now.

“We married three years later. The press gave her a hard time about her figure and criticized everything she did. I didn’t see how much it was affecting her until she started losing too much weight. I told her she was perfect the way she was and not to pay attention to the tabloids. Cassie insisted she didn’t care what they said. On her last tour, I had to stay in London. Business was booming and the company was small back then. When she got back, she’d changed completely. She’d go out every night and sleep most of the day. I’d go with her on the weekends, but I always felt I was holding her back. I never thought drugs were a possibility.”

He looked back to Anna and met her gaze with tortured eyes. Again, the slash of pain whipped across her heart, stealing her breath. “You don’t have to tell me the rest if you don’t want to. I’ll understand.” She had a feeling she knew anyway. Cassie died long before her time and the pressure of being in the spotlight drove her to it.

“I do want to, Annabelle. I just can’t stand it if you end up hating me as much as I hate myself.” His voice was no more than a whisper.

“I won’t hate you, Miles. It wasn’t your fault,” she assured him.

He looked away again, back to his glass. “You’re wrong. It was my fault. If I paid better attention, if I didn’t give her that deal, she wouldn’t have died at twenty-four from a drug overdose.”

Anna watched his tense, shaking frame in disbelief. He really believed that it was
his
fault that his wife died. She was frozen in bewilderment and couldn’t manage to speak even if she’d tried.

How could he think that? It was Cassie’s choice to lose weight. It was also her choice to party all night and take drugs. Not Miles’s. He turned to look at her and she could see the fear in his expression. How could she convince him not to blame himself?

At a loss for words, Anna did the only thing she could think of in this surreal moment and kissed him, full on the mouth and none too gently. His lips were rigid beneath hers, as were his shoulders.

Her tongue traced his lower lip and he relaxed, kissing her back. Heat swept through her from her head right down to her toes, burning hotter at the rigid peaks of her nipples and the valley between her thighs. All she wanted was to throw her arms around him and pull herself as close to that lithe swimmer’s body as she could.

She groaned as she remembered the champagne glass in her hand and broke away from him. When he opened his eyes half mast, the sparkle was back, but so was something else. A deep, ravishing hunger was barely concealed in his dark green depths. Anna’s whole body quivered with need.

Passion and someone to care for him were what he needed and she was only happy to oblige, because in that moment, she needed it too. After placing the champagne flutes on the table she leaned over to kiss him again.

“Wait,” he said against her lips.

She didn’t want to wait. She’d waited her whole life for this. Waited all this time for a man who she wanted with this much intensity. In truth, she didn’t think she’d ever imagined anything quite like this.

“No,” she breathed into his open mouth.

His groan of surrender sent a shiver of undiluted need through her. Strong fingers threaded into her hair, raising goosebumps all over her skin. Anna snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him closer.

His tongue slid over hers in sensual sweeps as his hands caressed her scalp. Anna’s whole body felt like one big throbbing pulse point. Again, her privates were on fire and she pulled herself against his chest, trying to ease the tension in her aching nipples. It was no use, the material of their clothes only increased her frustration. She wriggled closer, still unsatisfied with her proximity, and he chuckled against her mouth.

“Are you okay?” he asked breathlessly, and she could see a teasing gleam in his hungry eyes.

She felt her lips curve and, feeling more than a little dazed, she answered, “No. You’re torturing me.” His answering laugh sent a little jolt of happiness into her heart. Gone was the grief and guilt, replaced with a happy, hungry man.

Miles slid his arms around her waist and rose from the sofa, lifting her off the ground completely. She banded her legs around his narrow waist and held his shoulders for support. His hunger was obvious now from the ridge pressed against the center of her need. Everything inside her went molten.

He kissed her again, a light brushing of her lips, and she frowned in disappointment.

“Annabelle, is this what you want?”

The fact that he had to ask, when she was wrapped around him tighter than a roll of cling film, gave her heart another jolt.

“Yes, Miles. It’s what I want.”

His lips molded to hers and she closed her eyes, relishing in the tingling sensations his mouth roused.

She barely noticed when he began to walk, focused more on his tongue dancing sensually with hers and the broad strength of his shoulders. After breaking the kiss, he laid Anna on the bed, kicked his shoes off, and then joined her.

The room was dark, illuminated by the soft moonlight shining in from the window. She couldn’t see much else other than the dark sheets, Miles, and his glorious chest—now that he’d removed his t-shirt.

He reached over and pulled her up to her knees, his lips crushing down on hers as Anna explored the hard planes of his chest. His lean muscles bunched beneath her tingling fingers, and she ran one hand across the light scattering of hair leading down to the waistband of his trousers.

He sucked in a breath when her hand froze at the belt buckle and anxiety crept in. She had no idea what she was doing or how to do it. Would she disappoint him? She looked up into his eyes, terrified now that he’d push her away for her inexperience.

Miles didn’t look disappointed. He looked…tense. Like he was holding back, waiting for her to give him permission to go on. His uncertainty gave her the confidence she so desperately needed. Feeling empowered, she pulled the hem of her top and yanked it over her head. His gaze dropped to her white lace bra, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

Before she could unhook her bra, his control snapped and he had her on her back, his whole body on top of her. She released a gasp of surprise. His lips were on her neck as he deftly removed her bra. The minute his fingers found her nipples, Anna made a desperate, needy sound she never knew she was capable of. She groped greedily at the velvet skin of his back and his head lowered to her heavy breasts.

A flick of his tongue over one tight bud had damp heat flowing between her thighs. As he drew the nipple into his mouth, she arched into him and tangled her fingers through his hair. The sensations he was rousing were far more than she’d imagined in her x-rated daydreams. Every touch, every sweep of his fingers against her skin caused her to go into a hyperactive state.

Miles lapped each nipple thoroughly, turning the fire inside her into an inferno. Without thinking, she ground her hips against him, needing to be touched
there
, right where she throbbed the most.

Miles seemed to be in with the program because he unfastened her jeans and slid them off—right along with her knickers. Never before had she been so exposed to anyone, nor had she ever wanted to relinquish all her control to a man, but right now, she wanted it badly. So badly she thought she might explode if she didn’t have it.

He paused above her, his gaze raking the length of her body. “God, Annabelle, you’re beautiful.”

A lump formed in her throat and tears blurred her vision. No one had ever called her beautiful before. The words touched something inside her she never knew existed and warmed her chest with a different kind of heat.

His tongue delved into the curls at her core before she could analyze what these new feelings were. Anna’s mind went blank. Ripples of pleasure vibrated from where his skilled tongue caressed and she lost composure completely. She dug her fingers into his hair again and arched her hips toward him in desperate, needy motions. She’d have thought she’d be embarrassed by her behavior, but all she cared about was the building fire, scorching her body from the inside, seeking its release.