The Stars Trilogy (24 page)

Amid the bone-melting sensations that created a raging inferno deep within her womb, she stared. She could hear herself from a distance, her moans and mews. She was helpless, a weak, boneless, pliant mass of quivering flesh under his total control.

Dare...I love you...I love you...I love you!

He raised his head from her breasts.

Their eyes connected.

That look…those limpid eyes awash with arousal that stared at him so trustingly, so emotionally open, so familiar...

He had seen that look one too many times in his past lovers and he didn’t care then how they felt. He took his pleasure and ignored their feelings. Soon it would be over. He would expend his lust. Of course, he would give her sexual satisfaction, make her come again and again.

But she would want more. And that kind of more, he couldn’t give.

Whereas before he didn’t care what a woman would feel if she didn’t get what she needed from him, now...oh now…

He felt different.

He’d care.

He would care about her feelings. Dammit, but he would feel like a total bastard if he’d just use her like a vessel for his lust. Just like the others.

He stopped.

He straightened her bodice to cover her generous breasts, beauties that he had not gotten his fill of yet.

“Dare...?” Her eyes were wide, confused.

He sighed deeply. “I’m sorry, Celine.”

“Did I...did I do something wrong?”

“Hell, no. You were great. You are great.”

“Then… why did you stop?”

“This is not...I’m taking advantage of you.”

She touched his face. “No...no. Please, don’t think that. I wanted it, too. I’m not a minor, Dare.”

He smiled sheepishly. “That wasn’t how I wanted to thank you for making me twenty million dollars tonight.”

Shit, he was throbbing so hard it was painful to breathe. If there were dick attacks, he’d be ten times dead by now.

“But you are wrong,” she said then bit her lip. “I mean...I wanted it. It was...very nice...very good. I...” She licked her lips. “I loved it.” She flushed crimson.

It was all he could do not to grab her again and show her something really awesome.

But he kept his hands to himself. He was afraid that if he touched her again, he won’t be able to stop at simply necking and petting.

He couldn’t stop thinking about her.

And why the hell couldn’t he stop thinking about her? He had engaged in a necking session with the woman in his limo and now what, she was monopolizing his thoughts? He had done more than that countless times in his limo and never wasted time reliving the events.

Dare stared at the ceiling of his room for some time, contemplating his current predicament.

When he didn’t come up with a solution, he dragged himself out of bed and went to the gym. He spent an hour there, pumping iron and running for forty-five minutes non-stop on the treadmill.

Exhausted, he dropped his bulk on a chaise lounge overlooking the hills while drinking mineral water.

He had a lot of work to do today. After Jamie’s commitment to co-produce his movie, he will have to start setting his pre-production plans in motion. Creating the work force for a movie of this magnitude was a huge undertaking. Lots of people to hire and he wanted the best in the business. He intended for this movie to kick ass, leave a lasting mark, make a difference in Hollywood today.

Ben and Rocky’s story was great. He knew Jamie would love it, too. He couldn’t help but smile as he recalled how the movie got sold even without a script. Thanks to Celine’s great story-telling, he now had twenty million dollars to add to his budget.

Man, but the babe was brilliant last night. She completely pulled the rug from under him when she started discussing the script with Jamie. She was articulate, smart and charismatic, not wasting any word.

He’d bet she could negotiate his professional fee with the bigwigs and double it. She could very well finance her expensive wardrobe out of her talented tongue, and more. She was no secretary. She was a damn CEO material! Now, if only her tongue talents involved getting him off.

He cursed his thoughts.

He went up to his bedroom and hit the shower.

Time to raise hell.

Celine stretched languidly on the bed. She actually slept away half the day!

She felt the same...and yet different.

Smiling dreamily, she recalled what happened last night. Some really intimate stuff happened in the limo. She was introduced by Dare Montgomery into the realm of sensuality.

She wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.

She spent a few minutes rolling on the bed, giggling and writhing like an epileptic in her giddiness.

Then she remembered her duties. She jumped from the bed and hopped into the shower. She had to check on Ben.

Minutes later, she transferred to Ben’s unit.

She saw him up and about already, having a glass of lemonade in the kitchen.

“Good morning, princess. You’re late for work.”

“I’m taking the day off.”

“Already? I didn’t know they give days off on the second day of work.”

“I accompanied Dare in a meeting with Jamie Knoxville last night and he closed the deal. He landed twenty million dollars, so he gave me the day off.”

She went to open the fridge and took out a bottle of Cranberry juice. She had been sharing meals with Ben since his hospitalization. She did the groceries for him and made sure his cupboards were well-stacked. The old man gave her a credit card to use to pay for the goods.

“So?” Ben prodded her.

“So what?”

“Are you and Dare getting along?”

Oh yes, more than getting along!
She avoided his probing eyes. She could hardly tell him all the things that happened!

“He’s okay.” She poured herself a glass of the juice.

“There’s something else you’re not telling me.”

“Okay. He kissed me,” she confessed.

Ben choked on his lemonade. “Already?!” he exclaimed indignantly. “You’re not supposed to let a man kiss you on the first date! Especially if it’s not a date!”

She hid her grimace. If Ben knew that Dare had kissed her so many times already and so much more last night...Oh Dear! She didn’t know Ben was so conservative! How odd.

“A true gentleman wouldn’t even attempt to kiss you on the first date! That bastard!”

His mortified reaction sent her into a fit of giggles.

“What’s funny?”

“You! I know my Dad and brother will go ballistic but you, my friend, are supposed to ask me if it felt good.”

“But that’s girl talk. I’m a man and I’m not gay.”

“But you’re not my dad. You are my new BFF.”

“BFF?”

She went to hug him. “Best friend forever.”

“I think I’m in a bizarre dream or something. I am inside a chick flick.” He slapped his cheek. “Wake up, wake up, old man!”

“It felt great!”

Ben rolled his eyes. “Of course! He is a legend at making women feel great.”

Her face fell. “I know. Okay, he just gave me a mercy kiss. Poor me.”

“Aww, I didn’t mean that. What are you talking about? Any man would kill to have you if they knew how great you are. I want you to be happy, my dear, not get hurt. Take it easy.”

She smiled at her old friend. “I know. I know you care.”  She kissed his forehead. “But humor me today, will you? I’m happy! I’m over the moon!”

She waltzed around the kitchen island, humming. Ben shook his head. She pirouetted in front of him. “So, what do we do today?”

“I’m meeting Rocky here to finish the script.”

“Great! I’ll cook you guys something really sumptuous.”

Ben smiled. “You are spoiling us.”

“Anything for my fairy godfather.”

Ben rolled his eyes again. “Now I’m a fairy. Great.”

“Okay, time for your meds.”

She went to get Ben’s medicine kit and assisted him in taking the numerous pills. He had been prescribed six pills to take twice a day.

“What did I do to deserve a neighbor like you?” Ben said with sincerity after taking his meds.

She smiled at him sweetly.

“No, Ben, it’s the other way around. Because of you, I finally saw my Dare again.”

Dare’s team of lawyers were top notch. They were the most expensive corporate gunslingers Hollywood money can buy and they were all giving him bad news.

His taxes had increased by 15%, his real estate properties were undervalued due to the current economic down slide, his money invested in bonds and stocks had not moved much, there was still no good news from his new investments in oil and natural gas explorations and worst of all, his divorce settlement with his third wife was nowhere near agreement.

He was especially peeved by the latter.

“What does she want this time? I thought we had agreed on a figure? I have doubled what was stated in her contract.” To appease his conscience for repeatedly cheating on her, of course. He had always doubled his divorce settlements.

Clayton Boyd, one of the best divorce lawyers in Hollywood cleared his throat before answering. “She wants more.”

“More?” he scoffed. “She’s not happy with fifteen million dollars? Does she realize America is in deep shit right now? She’s lucky to get this deal at all considering her current market value!”

Boyd swallowed nervously. “She wants a meeting with you.”

“No more meetings. Deal with it. I’m busy.”

“Dare, she would most likely be agreeable if you’ll see her. You see...she is bitter.”

He mulled on this. Bitter? A person who was bitter after a break up was someone who truly loved. Gabrielle didn’t love him. Not in the way that was pure and true, untainted by the call of fame and fortune. The moment she signed their pre-nuptial contract, he had known what she loved the most, her Hollywood A-list status. She was bitter? What the fuck could she be bitter about?

“Okay. Set a meeting,” he conceded.

“Great. Is tomorrow okay? Lunch?”

He nodded and turned to Remington Black, his lawyer for his movie deals. Rem had a degree in business accountancy, as well. All his lawyers were. “I need thirty million dollars.”

“Business or pleasure?” Rem countered in his characteristically cool as ice demeanor.

“My film starts shooting within two months. Release my money, ASAP.”

“And what kind of film is this?”

“Am I paying you to screen my scripts?”

“No, but you’re paying me to make sure your script turns into a money-making movie so that your thirty becomes two hundred. I gather that this is going to be an independent endeavor, ergo, risky.”

He picked up a dart and took aim at a board mounted on the wall some three meters to his right. He released the dart with a flick of his hand.

Bullseye.

Rem coughed and arranged the folders of documents in front of him. “Okay, lest I suddenly become a freakin’ dartboard. You’ll have it tomorrow.” He stood up. “I have a meeting with your accountants in a few. May I be excused now, your honor?”

“Give my regards to Sarah,” he said of Rem’s lovely wife.

“I will. Don’t forget, Violet’s birthday at our house next Sunday. Kiddie party starts at 4 PM.”

“Man, good thing you reminded me.”

“She expects you to be there, Uncle Daredevil. Come in a superhero costume.”

“I’ll be there.”

After Rem left, he speared each of the remaining lawyers a serious look. He used it to drive a clear message. They can be replaced.

“Gentlemen, the next time we meet up, give me good news. I’m not paying you triple your market value to listen to shit, am I?”

The three remaining lawyers nodded in unison.

Nobody dared to say anything more.

He was known to be a hardball asshole in his business dealings. But an asshole who paid well. In the grand scheme of things, that was what mattered to most people in Hollywood. The paycheck. The end point of everything.

“Okay, let’s call it a day.”

The three men left the conference room quietly.

He swiveled his chair to face the panoramic windows of his third floor office. The entire building was occupied by his company, Phoenix Films. He had investments in film production in partnership with Paramount Pictures, Universal Pictures, Olympus Films and Warner Brothers. All his movies in the last seven years were produced by him and those studios and distributed worldwide by them. As an actor and producer, he mostly waived his professional fee for a lesser one but got a chunk from the global total box-office profits of his films.

Since hitting megastar status years ago, he had invested a huge chunk of his earnings in film production, not only for his own movies but other projects starring his A-list close friends like Matt, George, Leo, Will and Johnny, among others and it paid off really well. Although he commanded a minimum of thirty-million dollars per film today, he was still making much more money as a producer.

He had come a long way from being this dirt poor boy from Brooklyn...

Shit, here we go again.

Why were the old painful memories coming back at random all of a sudden lately? They were long ago buried and pushed to the deepest part of his memory bank and he had no desire to remember the past. They meant nothing to his present and future. But since he met Celine, his emotions were suddenly so raw, his memories easily triggered, his mind, prone to confusion.

He hated it. She was like a dangerous computer virus that breached his supposed to be tightly secured memory and she was running amok inside, going through old, old data in his brain, exposing his darkest, ugliest secrets. He felt like she had the power to open a major vein in his system and his life force would drain out of him and he would be helpless to stop it.

He picked up his phone from the table and stared at it.

It suddenly rang.

He took the call. “Yeah?”

“They definitely found something here just now.”

“Tell me something I don’t know yet.”

“A deep one on the sixth well. It’s shooting up like a geyser.”

“Are you sure?”

“I’m looking at it. This could be the mother of all wells in these parts, man. High-pressure reservoir. We won’t need to pump. I’m thinking 400 million cubic feet a day. ”