Exposing Alix (24 page)

Lena jerked, her head tossing.

He slid his finger along the edge of her clitoris, pausing
for a moment to stroke her once, then again. She cried out, and her fists
clutched the bedspread. He wished she would touch him, longed to feel her hands
on his body. But today was about her, showing her all the pleasure he’d wanted
to share with her for so long.

“Oh yes. Yes.”

Jake ignored her quiet moan and continued his steady
manipulation of her flesh. Lena’s hips moved off the bed, and she began to
whimper. When she reached up with one hand and began to blindly stroke his leg,
he had to close his eyes and suck in a deep breath.

“Please,” she moaned. “More.”

Leaning forward, he kissed her navel and waist, then got
to his feet and looked around the room for his discarded jeans. In the back
pocket, he found his wallet and the single condom he’d stashed there. He
slipped it on and moved back between her legs. Covering her, he let the tip of
his cock touch her flesh for the first time, and almost lost control.

She spread her legs wider and thrust her hips against him.
“Yes, Jake, now!”

She was wet and soft, and he had to grit his teeth not to
bury himself with one thrust. Forcing control, he moved forward, inch by inch,
shuddering when her hands finally came up to land on his shoulders. Somehow the
touch of her fingers was even more sensual than the sheath of flesh swallowing
him whole. He paused again, let her trace the edge of his biceps, slip over his
shoulders to his back, then grab him around the waist.

The movement was too sweet, the pressure of her body
against his too familiar. He held still and tightened his shoulders at the
shudder that ran down his back. Lena’s hands slipped down his body to land on
his hips and buttocks. When she pulled him hard against her, he finally lost
control.

Thrusting slowly at first and then with increasing speed,
he felt her body tighten around him, then release with a slow suction. With
each drive, she held on tighter and moaned in his ear.

“Come with me,” he said, sucking in air in short, tense
breaths. Harder, faster, he was starting to spiral beyond reason, but he wanted
her with him. Her eyes were closed, but her mouth was open.

“Yes,” she said, “yesss!”

Her body dissolved, racked with explosive shudders that
told him what he needed to know. Covering her mouth with one last kiss, he
thrust faster and harder, collapsing against her as the word dissolved to
black.

#

While Gunther escorted the last of his guests to the
doorway to say good-bye, Ryker paced impatiently across the thick white carpet,
his frustration almost at the breaking point. Alix sat on the world’s most
uncomfortable couch, nursing yet another glass of wine and looking
shell-shocked. He’d been ready to leave three hours ago, but he wasn’t going
without her, and she had stubbornly refused to even talk to him alone,
muttering something about staying at Gunther’s house overnight.

“Well, that was fun,” she finally said, when both Gunther
and his guest were out of view.

“Oh yeah, a barrel of monkeys. Right up there with dinner
at Rosalia’s for sheer entertainment value.”

Alix leaned forward and unbuckled the strap on her shoe.
She eased her foot free and looped it over her knee, massaging the instep with
one hand. “At least no one there looked likely to get into a fistfight.”

“Don’t get comfortable.” Ryker frowned at the delicate,
exposed skin of her foot. The straps of her sandal had left red marks around
her toes and heel. “We’re leaving as soon as you say your good-bye to Gunther.”

She turned her attention to the other shoe. “I’m not going
anywhere,” she said behind a waterfall of hair. “I told you that several times
tonight.”

“Look, I already had to watch you condescend to yourself
all night with those guys. I’m not in the mood for any more games. Get your
purse, or whatever you brought. It’s time to go.”

The second silver shoe dropped to the floor. Alix looked
up, her eyes evergreen in the flickering candlelight. “I can’t leave with you.
Gunther expects me to stay. He’ll ask all sorts of questions if we leave
together. Can’t you let it go for a night?”

“You’re an adult. You don’t need to justify yourself to
Gunther.”

She held out her hands in a gesture of pleading. “I don’t
have it in me right now. I barely made it through the night. You can understand
that, can’t you?”

He shook his head. “Now that you mention it, no, I don’t
understand. You let those guys insult you all night long. They called your
films trash, and you didn’t blink. What happened to sex being the most
important part of the film? What about love and all those things you told me
you believed in?”

She sighed and leaned against the couch. “It’s nothing I
haven’t heard a million times before. They aren’t going to change their minds
because I tell them my films are different.”

“Every time I turn around, you’re telling
me
that
your films are different, and damn it if I didn’t start to believe you. If I
didn’t think what you were doing had any meaning, do you really think I’d let
you work on
Salva’s Revenge
? I don’t care what strings Gunther pulled.
This is my film, and you’re here to make a difference. Not to be the fashion
police.”

Her lashes flicked down. “It isn’t the same with you. I
don’t know how many times I’ve met Anthony over the years. He forgets me every
time because I won’t sleep with him and I’m not rich. He’s a businessman. He
knows dollars and cents. He doesn’t understand what I do and he never will. But
you…”

She trailed off, looking vulnerable and unsure. From
somewhere deep inside, Ryker felt a flood of a warm, powerful emotion. “Alix,”
he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her to her feet. Without her high heels,
she barely reached his shoulder, and he had a sudden desire to sweep her
against him and bury her in the crook of his arm. “Let’s go to my house. We’ll
go for a walk on the beach. We’ll forget about Anthony and Gunther and Lena and
this whole mess.”

She was silent. He tipped her face toward his. The mask
that had shielded her emotions all night had fallen away, and emotions
flickered in rapid succession—he saw desire and longing but also a fear
he found difficult to comprehend. Helpless, he lowered his mouth and covered
her with a kiss so deep he thought they might both drown. Their mouths meshed,
opened, slid across each other in instant union. His body caught fire when her
tongue touched his, and he tightened his arms around her waist.

“Come home with me,” he breathed against her neck. He
molded her against him, and it was like turning on the radio in the middle of
his favorite song. Her hips arched against his, and he felt the pressure, the
heat, and the need, familiar and new all at once. His hands teased the edges of
her skirt, touched the tops of her thighs.

“But Gunther…”

He took her hand and pulled her down a short hall into an
empty bedroom. He closed the door behind them. “You’re either coming home with
me, or I’m going to make love to you on that bed right now, Alix. Which is it
going to be?”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise. Without waiting for a
further response, he pulled her back against him and renewed his assault. He
slid her skirt to her waist and let his hands tease the soft skin of her hips and
buttocks. She wore a thong, no stockings, and he cupped the bare skin in his
hands.

“Mmm,” she exhaled, rising on her tiptoes to press herself
against him.

Gently, he placed his hands under her thigh and lifted it
off the ground. She was like silk, fluid and unresisting, and when she leaned
into his body, he felt the heat of her core against his groin.

He stifled a groan and thrust against her. She responded
in kind, arching and straining to bring their bodies even closer. He trailed
his hands across her breasts, feeling the nipples spring into relief against
his palms. She threw her head back, and he moved lower, finally pressing the
palm of his hand against her mound. The silk of her panties was damp, and he
pressed harder until she shuddered and moaned his name.

No longer entirely in control, Ryker slipped his hand over
the top of her panties and then underneath. The moist curl of hair drew him
lower, and he dipped one finger between the folds, just as he had earlier that
day. She thrust hard into his hand, and he moved still lower to slide deep
inside. It was all happening so quickly he had no idea where he might stop,
only knew he needed to be inside of her.

They slammed against the door, her thigh at his waist, his
finger buried deep in her core. He withdrew, knitted two fingers together, and
entered again.

“Oh yes.” Alix pushed against his hand, her body as hot
and ready as his.

He entered her again and again, until she was teetering on
the edge of climax, but it wasn’t enough. In a frenzy of need, he found himself
roughly jerking open his pants and freeing his aching cock. Alix moaned and moved
her hips against him as he did. He pulled hard on her panties, and they ripped,
coming away in his hand in a scrap of silk and lace.

“I need to be inside you,” he growled. “Do you understand
that?” He paused and kissed her hard, waiting for some resistance, but all he
heard was her panting and pleading in soft, whispered breaths. With quick,
deliberate motions he grabbed the condom he’d thrown into his pocket earlier
that night in a fit of supreme optimism, and slipped it on.

Hungrily, he turned back to Alix and the tip of his cock
entered her, just an inch. She gasped, and he withdrew. She was so wet and hot
he could have burst right then, but he held back as he entered again, deeper
this time. When he withdrew again, the pleasure so intense he was momentarily
dizzy. Her tightness squeezed him; her heat burned all around him. He moved
inside her again, farther this time. The rhythm was unstoppable, the need overwhelming.
He took a deep breath, desperately trying to maintain his control, counting the
seconds until he could bury himself completely inside her.

He needed to take it slow. She wanted to take it slow. He
heard the words echoing in his mind but pushed farther, his control a string of
silken thread. “Alix, this is right,” he heard himself saying. “This is right.”

That was when he realized she had frozen and was staring
at him, her eyes wide and stricken.

“Sweetheart?” He stopped, remembering in a rush where he
was and exactly what he was doing. “Alix, what…”

She shook her head, her eyes luminous and cheeks flushed.

His hands fell away. For a moment, he stayed there, locked
between her legs, but all of the pleasure disappeared in an instant at the look
on her face. Slowly, he pulled out, and she lowered her leg to the floor. She
straightened, her breath coming fast and hard. Ryker stood, frozen, until she
turned away and walked to the window. He closed his pants, his cock still hard
and painful, his body disconnected from his mind.

A buzzing came from his pocket. Unable to think, much less
process what had just happened, he pulled out his cell phone and checked the
caller ID. He flipped open the phone.

“Jake,” he said, “this better be good.”

Alix closed her eyes and tried to
focus on the sound of the sultry jazz music that still filled Gunther’s house.
Her head was spinning from the combination of the wine, the long, painful
night, and Ryker.

Ryker.

She focused on her breathing, willing her heart to return
to normal. She didn’t know how to describe what had just happened, even to
herself. And really, it didn’t matter. She only wished she could undo that
moment of panic, the moment when she’d felt him inside her and all her muscles
had locked into a painful, terrified state. For the first time in her adult
life, she’d wanted it desperately, but her body’s reaction had taken the
decision away from her.

As Ryker barked into the phone, she straightened her dress
and panties, wincing at the slick heat of moisture between her legs and the
sound of his zipper on the other side of the room. She couldn’t look at him,
couldn’t bear the disappointment she’d see there. It was all over. He would
know how messed up she really was. Even when she wanted it, she couldn’t have
sex without freaking out. What man would have anything to do with a woman like
that?

She could barely make out the sound of Jake’s voice on the
other end of the line. They spoke for only a minute.

“Fine. Tell her I expect to see her Monday morning, eight
a.m.”

Ryker’s voice held little emotion. He snapped the phone
shut and threw it in his pocket. “Lena’s changed her mind.”

Alix avoided his eyes. “Thank goodness. What happened?”

“He didn’t say. Just apologized on her behalf and said
they’d be ready to go Monday morning.”

“Were they…together?” She forced herself to think about
Lena and Jake, to recall the mess that had been created that morning. If they’d
reconciled, it could change everything.

“I have no idea.”

Alix heard a trace of irritation in his reply and felt her
own temper surge in response. “Not important, I suppose?”

“Not as far as I’m concerned.”

She threw up her hands, the cool assurance in his voice
curling her nails into her palms. “Of course. What was I thinking? Because it
obviously hasn’t been relevant before now. Lena’s relationship with Jake
clearly
hasn’t affected her acting or her ability to perform the role. You’re
absolutely right. Forget I mentioned it.”

“What do you want me to do? Enroll them in couples
counseling?”

She brushed her hair from her shoulders, relieved to have
something, anything, to focus on other than what had just happened between her
and Ryker. “We just need to be aware that it’s an issue. Maybe give them a few
days to cool off before we try something physical again.”