The Stars Trilogy (63 page)

“Missing me? We were always together the past weeks.”

“Yeah, but every time you went home, I’d miss you immediately. Every time we’re not together, I’d miss you. I feel hell when I don’t see you.”

“If that’s the case, we’d be Siamese twins.”

“I’m trying to be romantic here but you’re turning my spiel into a joke.”

She grinned. “Go on, Shrek.”

“What I’m trying to say is...I’m not good at relationships...”

“Oh, I noticed. Three ex-wives. Nice job.”

“Hush, woman! Will you let me finish?”

She bit her bottom lip, her eyes shining with that adoring look again, the look he had missed the past days. His chest expanded with joy.

“Celine Lavega, will you be my woman?”

“Like your official GF?”

“Whatever you wanna call it.”

“But you’re still married so I’d be your official mistress.”

He felt ashamed. “I’m sorry, baby. But you know very well it’s only a matter of time and I’m legally single again. You negotiated my divorce yourself, remember?”

“Hmmm. Well, in that case...”

“Yes!”

“My parents will kill you.”

“You won’t let them, would you?”

“My brother will try to castrate you.”

“Ouch. Now, I think that will only happen over your dead body, right baby?”

She giggled. “Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“Okay, you’re my man now and don’t you ever forget whom you belong to now.”

He grinned.  He touched her cheek with his chuckle. “I missed you, baby. I don’t think I could ever sleep without you in my arms again.”

Her eyes became misty. “Me, too.”

He bent and kissed her lips ever so gently.

“I love you,” she whispered.

Something inside him broke free when he heard those words again. Whereas before his entire defense mechanism recoiled and went on full scale red alert at the mere mention of those three words, now, his entire being seemed to blossom into a new life, a whole new experience.

He responded in only the way his soul was shouting right that very moment. “I love you, baby. God, I really do.”

He almost choked on his words, so overcome he was by his emotions.

He hugged her tightly, so grateful to feel her warmth again. He didn’t think he could survive another scare of losing her like this.

For so long, he had been living as if his life was forfeit and it was just a matter of time before his body would succumb to death itself with all those death-defying stunts he’d done. One can only defy death so much. Luck will eventually run out.

But watching Celine breathing through a respirator with several other life-saving tubes attached to her body, he realized that life was precious. Celine’s life was so precious. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her, of being alive and never being able to hold her again, see her smile again, hear her laughter again and laugh at her silly jokes again.

He knew then, that he cannot spend another day of his life away from her. If this was love, then so be it. He would accept it as it was.

Life was precious. His and Celine’s. He wanted to experience more to life. Now. With this woman.

The door opened.

“Celine, we think...” came her father’s testy voice.

“Dad, I’m going back to the States with Dare,” she announced calmly.

Dare inwardly winced and pitied the old man. Poor Mr. Lavega looked like he would have a heart attack.

After being confined for more than a week at the Raffles hospital in Singapore, Celine boarded Dare’s jet with him and Cruz. They were flying back to the States. They no longer went back to Thailand as Dare had urgent commitments back in LA that he needed to attend to. Kelsey, Ben and Rocky would stay in Thailand for a few more days to wrap things up and would follow them after.

Dare was with her everyday at the hospital. The doctors had insisted that she stayed confined until all her organs were cleared of Malaria.

She had to give it to Dare. Despite her family’s hostility toward him, he was able to slowly charm her mother and establish a civil relationship with her father and brother.

Grudgingly, her family allowed her to go back to the States with Dare because she told them that she was old enough to decide for her life and she wanted to be with Dare. They all knew how she loved Dare and during that moment, she also found out how her family loved her. It must be so hard for them to let her go with Dare but they chose to be the understanding and loving family when she needed their support the most.

Dare assured her family that he would take good care of her. Her father and brother calmed down when Dare made this promise with utter seriousness, looking them square in the eye. Maybe it was a macho thing but it effectively got him past her father and brother. Her  mother was crying buckets when they parted ways at the airport but at least, she was already on hugging terms with Dare.

They had the whole plane to themselves.

Celine was sitting on Dare’s lap as he reclined on one of the comfortable seats.

“You will live with me from now on,” he declared with a tone not open for discussion.

Now he will start taking charge, she thought, amused. “Hmm. Not a good idea.”

“Celine...” he said warningly.

“Please, Dare, I’d still like my own place.”

“What for? Your place at the Sommerset will fit in my bathroom,” he said testily, obviously not used to being disobeyed.

“I still want my privacy.”

And independence, she wanted to add but decided not to. That would open another angle for discussion. She discovered that Dare was quite a traditional male when it came to certain matters. He insisted on paying for all her hospital bills at the Raffles, which was a  staggering amount, something that pleased her very conservative family. A man who knew how to take care of his woman in any way impressed her uberly macho father and brother. It most likely improved Dare’s rating in their book, too.

“Privacy? After everything we’ve done, you want privacy? From me? I don’t get it.”

She touched his cheek. He sounded seriously insulted. “Darling, if you see me everyday, you’ll soon get bored with me,” she attempted to be glib.

“And where did you get that? YouTube or some feminist garbage you’ve been reading?”

She grinned, pinching his nose lightly. “What’s the rush, honey? We’ve got all the time in the world to enjoy each other. To get to know each other.”

He fell quiet for a bit.

“Okay, I’ll move into Sommerset.”

“What?!”

“You don’t wanna move in with me, you want your privacy, I’ll move into one of the vacant units there. Hell, I’ll buy all the units in your wing so we can have privacy.”

“Not a good idea.”

“Must you disagree with everything I say?”

“Although the tenants in my building will be thrilled at having a very famous neighbor, they’d hate the paparazzi. I’d hate them, Dare.”

“You think once we let the world know about us they won’t swarm Sommerset?”

She hadn’t thought about that.

“Remember, my girlfriends and wives get more famous than I am,” he now reminded her with relish.

Oh Lordy! It still hadn’t sunk into her fully. Her life would change drastically the moment her relationship with Dare went public. Her boyfriend was of the most popular celebrities in the world. She would be the subject of gossip, slander and all things nasty in the dirt-digging business. Her life would turn into a mad circus!

Sensing her sudden misgivings, he smiled. She could read the triumph in his eyes. “I’ll give you three choices.”

“Okay...”

“My house, Sommerset or your own house near mine where I can put full security.”

She sighed.

“The advantages of living with me are–”

“My own place near yours.”

He sighed dramatically. “Is the thought of living with me so awful?”

“No. I’ll live with you only when we are married.” The moment she uttered the words, she wanted to bite them back. She didn’t want to sound demanding or pushy. But she couldn’t lie to him. Communication. Yes, she needed to be open to him about her feelings in important matters in their relationship.

He fell silent again.

Afraid he’d withdraw again, she tried a different tact. “I’m sorry, Dare. Let’s just figure things out as we go along, okay?”

“I don’t believe in winging it. I always plan ahead of time.”

She smiled. “That’s why you’re so successful. But our relationship is not a business, darling.”

“Sure it is. Like any other business investment, you’ll have to plan for it, take care of it, protect it from bad elements so that it will survive.”

“My, my, you’re taking this relationship business way too seriously, Mr. Montgomery. I am so impressed.”

“Of course. It’s my first real relationship.”

His quiet and sudden admission touched her like no other. For all his warped ideas on relationships, Dare could make it sound so right with just a few words.

She hugged him, her heart overflowing with joy. God, she was so happy and she was so scared. Scared that it was just a dream. Too good to be true. Whereas before she had all these fantasies of her and Dare living a fabulous life together, now that it was actually happening, she was afraid to move forward, to disrupt the perfect order of the moment. She wished she could just freeze time and stay in this frame with him and never have to face any future struggles with him. 

“I love you,” she whispered.

“Are you strong enough now to show me how much?”

She grinned and licked her lips. “I’ve never done the Mile High Club.”

He chuckled and captured her lips in a hungry kiss. “God,  you’re the horniest woman I’ve had.”

Her eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”

“I’ve seen all kinds of horny. Yours is the most...honest.”

She slapped his chest. “Explain!”

He grinned. “When you come, I can really tell that you’re coming and not faking it. I love watching you when you come, baby. It’s the best view in the world.”

“Oh. Women faked it with you?”

“Oh yeah, they did a lot of that.”

“But why would they do that?”

“When you become as famous as I am, you cease to exist as a human being to people. They see you as a means to an end or a commodity they would aspire to have.”

“That’s not true. I don’t see you that way.”

He smiled and touched her cheek. “I know. You don’t know how to fake your feelings.”

“Oh, honey...”

“There were times when I was pretty generous, too. But after so many years in this business, meeting so many people, so many strangers who wanted to have sex with me, it came to a point where I didn’t really care anymore what they felt. I took what they offered. For whatever reason, they chose not to complain or demand too much from me. I was a selfish bastard most of the time and I really didn’t care what they thought of me.”

“And here I thought you’re the greatest lover and women are dying to get in your pants!” she teased him.

“Am I not your greatest lover?”

Her eyes glowed. “You are.”

“You know why?”

“No.”

He touched her lips. “Because I love you.”

“Oh Dare...” She turned to mush.

“I care about your pleasure. I want to make you feel so good you’d want to shag me everyday and you’d get wet just thinking about me or hearing my voice on the phone.”

“I do.”

He smiled. “Let’s see...”

His hands crept under her skirt.

“Dare...What about Cruz?”

“He’s busy co-piloting the plane and he knows when not to barge in here. Don’t worry, baby. Relax.”

His thumbs wiggled their way past the elastic edge of her panties and met on top of her clit. She inhaled sharply at the fabulous sensation. “Oh gosh, Dare!”

“Hmmm, creamy. It’s always ready for me.”

“Are you complaining?”

“No. I’m actually...insecure.”

“Dare Montgomery, stud of the four corners of the earth, insecure?”

“They say that as women get older, they get hornier.”

His thumbs started a gentle gliding motion around her clit, avoiding the center. Her skin broke out in sweat as heat raced through her bloodstream in no time.

“Oooohh, aren’t men like that, too?”

“I’m afraid one day soon, you’re going to outlast me.”

“Impossible. Oh yes, like that…just like that!”

“God, you’re beautiful.”

“Oh Dare, you have talented fingers! I so love them!”

He laughed. “I aim to please you, my sweet Sleeping beauty.”

“Not Sleeping Beauty! Am Muh—ohhh—lan!”

“Yes, Mulan. The valiant warrioress who saves knights.”

“You sound like you know Mulan.”

“I sure do.”

“Really? Do tell. Ohhh, do it again!”

“A tough chick who saves her father from going to war. She pretends to be a man and joins the army in place of her father. She gets into a series of mishaps but eventually learns the ways of the soldiers and proves her  capabilities during training. All the soldiers respect her, not knowing she’s a woman. She is dying to shag Captain Shang but he sees her as a boy—”

She smacked his shoulder. “You’re making that up! Oooh! Do that again...like that!”

“I have an idea. I’m going to make a movie of Mulan and I’m going to be Captain Shang and I will Shang...errr shag her in the movie to show her that while women have the cunt...errrr cunning, men still possess the brute force and the balls to really win wars. How’s that for a twist?”

“Don’t make me kill you now! I’m about to come!”

He chuckled. “Ah baby, it’s you who’s going to die any moment now.”

All the while he  was talking, his fingers were working their magic on her. “No...Yes...yes! Ohhh Dare!”

“Yes, baby?”

“You...inside...now!”

“Ahhh, very demanding Mulan.”

“Shut up and do it!”

“Captain Shang at your service, my brave, horny Mulan.” He unzipped his fly and obeyed her command.

She gasped, her insides fluttering with anticipation as his penis reared between them like a serpent, swollen with his passion.

“There’s Captain Shang’s sword, Mulan. Take it. Use it.”

She held his shaft, gripping it. “Is this sword ready to pierce something?”