Underneath It All (Sexual Misconduct Volume II) (6 page)

Xander

This fucking bow tie is suffocating me.

Or
maybe it was the clamoring press. Usually, I was on during these things, but having Avery here was making me nervous. Never had I presented myself on the red carpet as an
official
couple. Combining my life with Avery with my Hollywood life felt off. I’d become accustomed to our quiet times without the flash of cameras. Suddenly, what I’d loved and craved for years felt invading.

“
Xander! Over here.” I led Avery over to the line of reporters, knowing I’d never get inside without making a few stops.

“
Mr. Pierce, is it true you co-produced
Wild Nights,
which is up for an Academy tonight?” Every reporter on this carpet already knew the answer to this question, and it felt like she was leading. As in, leading to the question that would piss me the fuck off.

“
Yes, I began production of the film and left it in the hands of a colleague when I knew it was going to be everything I’d imagined.”

“
Did leaving in the middle of production have anything to do with your stint in rehab?”

And that is what the lead
-in was all about.
“I had a family emergency I had to handle.”

That went exactly as I expected it.
I smiled as I moved Avery over to the next station because once someone started digging, the evading shit was only going to last so long.

“
Mr. Pierce, it’s very unusual to see you on the red carpet without Victoria Abrams. Who has the privilege of being your arm candy tonight?” I knew the questions about Avery would come. I wanted to scream,
she’s mine and what we have is private, not to be exploited by the lies I know you are capable of!

“
I’m
the arm candy on this brilliant woman’s arm.”

I
’m done.

Marcus was going to kill me for not sticking it out and making a
good impression
with the press, but I needed to get Avery away from my Mr. Hollywood persona. Suddenly, everything I’d worked for paled in comparison to what Avery meant to me.

Everything since we landed in LAX seemed different.
Marcus and his investigation were starting to piss me off. I didn’t want him digging through her past or trying to interrogate her anymore. She’d waited patiently for me to open up to her, and that’s what I wanted to do with her. If there was some big dark secret that caused Avery to seal her records, then I wanted to hear it from her, when she was ready.

As we walked to our seats
, I watched the way her evening gown clung to her as she swayed. Every time I looked at her, I saw her naked, gasping, eyes glazed over with passion, and clinging to me. No matter if she wore a sexy evening gown like tonight or baggy pajamas, all I ever saw was her cradled in my arms, coming apart all over my dick. She caught me watching her and smiled. The heated look that crossed her blue eyes went straight to my cock.

This
is going to be a long night.

I went through the rest of the night on autopilot.
Winning the award, my acceptance speech, the interviews—they all seemed like part of another life now. This was what I’d always wanted to do, but after Jessica died, it became debased. It became a way to prove to my dead wife that I could make it, that I was worthy of her love. All of it just made me feel empty now.

I was tired of living my life weighed down by Jessica
’s memory. I wanted the happiness I had with Avery. I wanted the life we’d begun to build together. With her, I was no longer Mr. Hollywood. I was just the broken Xander Pierce, and she accepted me that way. And she was willing to put me back together.

Avery

Xander was dashingly sophisticated and had all the right answers for the press.
Anyone watching would say he was in his element, but I knew he wasn’t. This was making him anxious. I could see it when his jaw clenched when asked, “
Who is your arm candy
for the night?”
Xander did not appreciate that comment, but he kept his cool and said, “
I’m
the arm candy on this brilliant woman’s arm.”

I
’m not afraid to say I melted a little when he made that comment. The reporter lifted her eyebrow and tried to continue before Xander rushed us inside. I had a feeling my name was going to hit the tabloids soon, and I wasn’t looking forward to being fodder for the vultures.

We
’d arrived at the after party late, but if it were up to Xander, he would’ve skipped it altogether. He mingled for over an hour, keeping me strictly at his side.

“
Where are you going?” he leaned over and whispered into my ear as I tried to pry myself away to get a drink at the bar.

“
I’m just going to the bar.” He was way too on edge.

“
Don’t talk to anyone,” he warned me before I made my way across the room. I quickly ordered my drink and was able to get away from the bar without any small talk.

As I made my way back across the large ballroom
, I noticed Xander pretending to be engrossed in his conversation while his eyes followed my movements around the room. I didn’t get why he’d become overly possessive as soon as we hit the red carpet. I was so wrapped up in my thoughts, I accidently bumped into someone as he passed in front of me.

“I’m sorry.” I balanced my martini glass and was able to keep it from spilling on his jacket. This scenario seemed oddly familiar, and I was beginning to think I had a thing for spilling my drink on handsome actors.

“
Don’t worry. I’d forgive a pretty redhead with eyes like that for anything.”

I looked up and froze.

Is Luca Reyes flirting with me?
He was older than me, maybe early forties. I remembered watching his movies with my mom when I was a teenager. She had the hugest crush on him, and his beauty hadn’t changed over the years. He looked better, more distinguished. And that sexy lilt in his tone was mesmerizing.

“
So, Miss…”

“
Shaw. And it’s Dr. Shaw.”

“
Doctor?” He lifted his brows and nodded. “What do you practice?”

“
Psychiatry.” My glass faintly shook.
Am I getting star-struck?

“
Really?” He grinned. “And you’re here with Xander Pierce?”

“
Yeah… Yes, I am.” My God, the man had a daunting charisma. His dark, wavy hair dazzled, and his olive-colored skin made him appear to have a permanent tan.

“
You don’t seem like his type.” He tilted his head thoughtfully.

“
What do you know about his type?” I was half annoyed, half intrigued.

“
That they’re usually pretty groupies who last about a week. You don’t come off as a groupie.” He smiled.

“
No… No, I’m not a groupie. Just a really good friend.”
Why did I just call Xander my friend?
Maybe I was a little star-struck.

“
Would it be too much to ask for your first name?”

“
Avery.” I took a small sip of my martini.

“W
ell, Dr. Avery Shaw, I’d love to take you out to dinner sometime, if you’ll allow me to.”

Oh…
“That’s really sweet of you, but—”

“
She’s not available, Reyes.” Xander sidled up next to me, placing a hand at the small of my back, a possessive move that didn’t go unnoticed by Luca.

“
If they’re with you, they’re always available, Xander.” He smiled, tipped his head at me, then disappeared into the crowd.

Xander
hooked his arm around my waist with his fingers digging into my side. Then he leaned down. “We’re leaving. Now,” he hissed into my ear.

He
led me toward the exit, barely stopping to say good-bye to anyone except for a few whispered words to Marcus. His expression remained neutral the entire way out.

In
the limo, he sat across from me, gazing out the window. He leaned his elbow against the armrest, rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. I didn’t even attempt to talk to him. I knew he was angry based on the clenched muscles in his jaw and the utter silence in the car. This lasted throughout the ride and up the elevator to his place. But once we stepped into the condo, the calm ended and the storm ensued.

“
What the fuck was that?” Xander screamed, slamming the door with forceful emphasis.

“
What do you mean?”

“
Don’t play stupid. We both know you’re too smart to pretend otherwise.”

I sighed.
“We were just talking.”

“
Really? What were you talking about? His movies? Or maybe you were talking about how we’re just
friends.”
His glare burned straight through me.

I stared at him
, dumbfounded.
How’d he know I said that? How long had he been standing there?

“
Yeah, Marcus overheard your conversation.”

“
Of course he did.”
Marcus fucking Wilder
had his eyes on everything, including our private sexual moments. “It was a harmless conversation.”

“
You know what I don’t get?” He closed the distance between us, glaring angrily. “How is it when you met me, you were all clueless to who I was, but the minute you get here, you’re all starry-eyed over Luca fucking Reyes!”

“
Xander! Calm down, okay? Was he flirting with me? Yes. But it was harmless. And you can’t be mad about the friend comment because we’ve never defined
this
.” I waved my hand in the short distance between us.

He stepped back and gawked at me.
“You need definitions now. Okay, we can play Xander’s version of the Webster Dictionary. When I spend two and half months exclusively sticking my dick in one woman, she’s my
lover
. When I make her moan softy in bed, then hold her until she falls asleep, she’s my
girlfriend
. And when I fuck her so hard she shrieks, digs her fingernails into my back, and accepts my cum into her body—
I own her
. I don’t play nice when the only thing that matters to me is threatened. So stay the fuck away from Luca Reyes. He wants to fuck you.”

“
He just asked me to dinner. And I was never going to accept.”

He threw up his hands in exasperation.
“So he could fuck you afterward. I know how he works. I
was
him.”

“
And now you’re a changed man?” I glared at him.

“
If you knew me before…” He snorted, then looked me in the eye. “You have no idea.”

“
And I don’t want to.”

“
And I don’t want Luca sniffing around you. He thinks this is a game, that he’s competing against me to see whose dick is bigger. We do this shit all the time. What he doesn’t realize is this thing between us is real, and I don’t care if he had a Godzilla-sized dick, because what I fuck you with is beyond physical. Every time I touch you, you feel it deeper than anyone’s ever been. I know because that’s how you make me feel. So if you think I’d let him get a piece of that, he’d have to kill me first.”

I knew then that even though neither of us had said it
, this had turned into love. The crazy kind of love that spurred on Xander’s jealousy. He’d warned me he got this way, but I had yet to see his crazy.

I reached out and raked a hand into his hair.
“You don’t have to worry so much. You have me.” I leaned in and kissed him. “And I’m not going anywhere.”

His
eyes remained dark with anger as he took my hand and pulled me to his bedroom, throwing off his jacket and loosening his belt along the way. The storm inside him hadn’t calmed. There were words hanging in the air between us that he didn’t want to say, and he was going to fuck out his emotions inside me.

Unless I make him admit them.

Xander

I lost my shit tonight. Me and Luca had always had this unspoken competition when it came to the women we fucked. I never really cared if he fucked a woman I’d been with until I saw him trying to lure in Avery. The jealous rage had been palpable, almost choking me with its intensity. So as I gazed down at Avery spread out naked on my bed like an offering, I felt the calm returning to my life.

I sat back on my knees
and pulled her by the waist between my spread legs. She lifted her hips, and as soon as I positioned my cock at her entrance, she pushed down on it. She braced her palms against the headboard. Her back was arched off the bed, her thighs over mine and ass pushing against my balls every time she rolled and rocked her hips, taking her pleasure. I fought to stay still. Watching her fuck herself onto me was enough to take me over the edge without even moving a muscle, but I held off. Tried not to concentrate on how fucking tight and wet she was or how hot and sexy she looked.

She gasped and moaned as she gyrated her body
, riding my cock—chasing her orgasm. I leaned farther back, bracing myself on my palms and allowing her to take more, my cock so deep in her heat I was afraid I’d come before she got what she was working so hard for. But I wouldn’t. If she wanted to use me as her own personal dildo all day, I’d stay as fucking hard as she needed me to just so I could watch the beauty of it.

She started panting, her fingers digging into my thighs as she moved sporadically.
She opened her mouth to scream but choked on the sound as her pussy tightened and clenched around me. She convulsed and shivered, and still I didn’t move. Watching her come was too intoxicating.

As the last vibration passed through her
, she pulled herself up and wrapped her arms around my neck while still fully seated on my cock. She kissed me. I felt her smiling against my lips, drank in her happiness as she began to move again. I was about to throw her on her back and fuck her when she shook her head and began riding me faster. She rested her forehead against mine, staring into my eyes as she moved up and down, squeezing my cock with her tight pussy, demanding I concede to the power she had over me. My cock throbbed, and she was so wet my balls were soaked with her juices. I was so deeply lost in her, my eyelids got heavy from the dreamlike feeling she was inducing.

“
Tell me,” she said as I shut my eyes, yanking on my hair to get my attention. I looked back into her blue gaze, all my focus still on the feel of her moving up and down, sending white-hot pleasure up my spine with every shift of her hips.

“
Tell me,” she demanded a little louder this time.

She wanted me to make a confession I wasn
’t ready to give.

“
Xander…”

I was vulnerable as fuck right now.
She already had me on my knees as her body took from me. Any other time, I could talk my way out of this, but as she rocked her hips and stared straight into my eyes, there was no point in denying it. She wanted me to admit it.
I
wanted to admit it, and she tore it right out me.

“
Love you,” I ground out. My chest tightened with that confession.

She smiled, shifted, then began to fuck me so ha
rd my vision blurred, my head lolled back, and a ferocious wave of pleasure soared through my whole body and exited in a forceful burst of cum deep in Avery’s tight, hungry pussy.

“
Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!” I chanted from the almost painful orgasm that seemed to pull my soul right out of me.

We both breathed heavily.
Avery pressed her body against mine, her arms wrapped tightly around my neck as she covered my face and neck with kisses.

“
What was that?”

She laughed as if I
were joking, but I really wanted to know how she’d wrung that amount of pleasure from me. She shifted her hips. I sucked in a breath, stilling her with a hand on her hip because it felt like her pussy was still trying to yank something out of me, but I was sure she’d dried me out.

She looked me in the eye, kissed me
, and said, “That was love.”

“
It’s scaring the shit out of me.”

“
I know I twisted your arm to say that, but it felt right, even if you had to lie to me.”

“
It wasn’t a lie.” It was the realist thing between us. I was lying to her about things I never wanted her to know. But loving her would never be a lie. If I was going to fall over the edge, I damn sure was taking her with me, though.

“
What’s your truth?” I asked, because I fucking needed to hear it too.

She ran her fingers into my hair, massaging my scalp. She leaned in
, and with her lips pressed against mine, she said, “You’re my truth.” She kissed me until I was breathless. Then she looked at me with those blue eyes and whispered, “I love you, Xan.”

Shit…
I squeezed my eyes shut and absorbed her words.

Hearing my father
’s nickname for me come off her lips nearly brought me to tears. In that moment, I knew she
owned
me. Completely.