Living Dangerously

Chapter Ten



Julie refused to cry. She stared out the giant picture window overlooking the backyard and absolutely refused to cry over a guy she barely knew. At least not until he’d left her house, at which point, there did exist a chance she’d break down like a teenager after her first heartbreak. Which was disturbingly ridiculous.

She was old-fashioned. With the exception of work, she dated a guy before kissing him. Yet a few minutes ago she’d had no qualms kissing this man like her life depended on it. What the hell was that all about? Just because he’d saved her life—on multiple occasions—didn’t mean she had to take him bed.

She just wanted to take him to bed.

He was such a contradiction. Tonight, dressed in all-black, he struck her as the ultimate bad boy, but every one of his actions had painted him as a good guy.

The door closed, and in spite of her anger, tears stung her eyes before slipping down her cheeks. She bowed her head and let them fall.

What was wrong with her? She was a twenty-seven-year-old Hollywood A-list movie star, and she didn’t have a boyfriend and couldn’t get the guy she liked to sleep with her. Sure, she’d made the choice years ago to be particular about who she wanted to be with. She wanted a regular guy. Someone who—preferably—knew nothing about show business. Someone who had his own money and didn’t care about hers. Somebody strong enough and with enough confidence to deal with her fame without letting it affect the way he treated her.

Was that too much to ask?

Apparently so.

A sob broke free and she turned to get a tissue from the corner end table.

Troy still stood by the front door and she nearly jumped a mile at his looming presence. He hadn’t left. Her heart skipped a couple of beats, then pounded triple time. Blood rushed to her cheeks. He didn’t try to hide the combination of confusion and wonder on his face. As if the sight of tears had rendered him deaf, dumb and blind.

Julie felt sliced open wide for the whole world to see. But the only person watching moved toward her steadily, a look of determination taking over his features as she stood rooted in place. She didn’t know what to say or where to go.

“Goddammit,” he swore softly as he stepped in close. He cupped her face in his hands. Wiped her tears with his thumbs, then bent his head and kissed her. This kiss couldn’t have been more different than the first. The first kiss had rocked her. This kiss scared the hell out of her. He took his time, brushed his mouth tenderly across hers, coaxed her lips apart with a gentle tongue and teased her with soft licks and little nibbles. She breathed in his faint spicy aftershave and let him take her mouth.

Her knees went weak. Her insides turned to mush.

She set her hands on his forearms, intending to push him away. She shouldn’t let him kiss her. Shouldn’t let him think he could play push me/pull me with her emotions and get away with it, but instead she hung on as her heart warred with the joy of having him kiss her versus her pitiful lack of dignity.

Why had he stayed after all?

More important, did she care?

She’d liked him from the beginning. From the moment he skidded next to her on the red carpet while bullets were flying. He’d risked his life for her on more than one occasion. That had to count for something in a moment like this when she very nearly shoved him back.

He felt her tension. She knew it when he pulled away a fraction and studied her face. She hadn’t put her arms around him or kissed back. Allowing the kiss hadn’t made her a partner in it and he clearly realized it.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I don’t ever want to be the cause of your tears. Not ever.” He leaned in again and kissed her just as softly, his lips smoothing over hers with gentle insistence, the tip of his tongue teasing the crease of her mouth. He wanted cooperation. He wanted in.

Julie pulled back, let his breath glide over her tingling lips. “So, what is this? Are you staying or going? I honestly don’t know.” Her lids stayed almost totally closed as she waited for his answer. She couldn’t bear to look at his gorgeous deep brown eyes and didn’t want him to see the effect he had on her.

“Julie.” He whispered her name and this time she did look at him. His gaze bore into hers, searching, seeking, needing something from her, but she had no idea what. The more time she spent with this man, the more she realized she had no idea who he was. He shook his head the tiniest bit. “Don’t look at me like that. Like you’re ready to run. I was about to run myself three minutes ago and changed my mind.”

“Why?” The word barely came out, but she deserved an answer. “What’s wrong with me?”

He drew back sharply, his brows creased together. “What?” In the next instant he pulled her close and she felt the strong beat of his heart against her cheek. “You’ve got it all wrong. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.” She shifted and he lowered his head. His lips grazed her ear, sent a riot of tingles down her back and arms. “I was running because of me.”

She looked into his eyes. She needed more than that. Did he think she’d fall for the It’s not you, it’s me line?

“Give a guy a break, okay.” He must have seen the skepticism in her eyes. “You’re Julie Fraser. I have to wrap my head around the fact that Julie Fraser gave me a booty call.”

Her jaw dropped open and a wave of heat spread across her whole face. She couldn’t argue, because he was right. She’d called him late at night and had basically invited him over because she was lonely. She’d wanted companionship. Someone to talk to and laugh with. And maybe, tonight, someone to sleep with. She’d gone through three near-death experiences in the last two months, and everything combined made her realize how quickly it could all end. Maybe it was the way they’d been entwined on the stairs. The way she’d felt his physical reaction to her. Or maybe she’d just gone too long without a man and simply needed the connection.

A handsome grin curved his lips. “I think I’ve wrapped my brain around the idea,” he murmured. He brushed his lips gently across hers and sent all the hair on her arms and nape at attention. He flattened his palm at the base of her spine and halfway over her ass and a surprising zing of lust shot through her. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Definitely wrapped.”

He set his mouth to hers and this time Julie participated. Oh, Lord, how she participated. She not only participated, she might have taken over. But it was hard to tell because they both fumbled with buttons and zippers as Troy walked her backward to her bedroom. He knew exactly where to go since he’d been through her house already. By the time they got there, her top and jeans lay somewhere down the hallway along with his shirt.

His hands smoothed over her skin as if he couldn’t touch enough of her, as if he’d waited his whole life to touch her. She wasn’t especially shy either. She loved the play of muscles on his chest, the dusting of dark hair that arrowed down to the waistband of his jeans and straight to the straining erection beneath.

Now, standing next to her giant bed, he pulled back and took a long look at her. Moonlight shining in from the window illuminated his hungry gaze. Wearing just her bra and thong, she never felt more appreciated in her whole life. As if all the hours she spent in the gym were for this moment and none other. Not a film or a photo shoot. But just for Troy.

He grazed his thumb across the scar on her arm from the bullet. He had a similar one on his shoulder. In that one way they were very connected, and it helped her get more comfortable in the nerve-wracking moment. Their matching scars marked their first meeting, gave them a unique starting place. They both had an appreciation for life that maybe hadn’t been there before. Maybe that’s what tonight was all about. Appreciation. It was about living life and living in the moment, giving and taking. Sharing the sweetness of a first kiss and first touch and not worrying about what it meant.

Troy fingered the front clasp of her bra and she held her breath, waited for the first illusion to disappear. The only thing that would make her barely there Bs beautiful would be surgery and she refused to cross that line.

His knuckles scraped the bottom of the bra and his gaze fastened on her eyes. He unsnapped the hook, but his look didn’t waver. “You don’t need this,” he whispered roughly.

Did he mean the push-up part or the bra as a whole? Push-ups were all she owned. “That’s a matter of opinion.” Her voice had a strange husky edge to it.

“My opinion,” he said very succinctly, “is that you don’t need this.” He eased the straps off her shoulders and let the bra fall to the floor, leaving her bare breasted. When his gaze moved from her eyes to her chest, her nipples puckered. He cupped her breasts, rubbed his thumb over the stiff peaks and made her gasp when his short thumbnail flicked each tip. Fiery shocks of lightning zipped through her nerves.

When he bent his head and took her in his mouth, she had to grasp his shoulders to stay on her feet. His teeth pulled gently on her nipple as his tongue stroked. The combined sensations had her struggling to breathe. She tipped her head back, loving the way the alternate glide and suction washed through her, sending fresh waves of pulsing need between her thighs.

Troy bent lower, wrapped his arms around her middle and stood up, lifting her in his arms as he continued to suck at her breast. In seconds, he had both of them on the bed and rolled her beneath him. He worked his way up her throat, across her jaw until he reached her mouth, where she very clearly thanked him for all the attention by driving her tongue past his teeth.

She wiggled her hands beneath the waistband of his black jeans and under the elastic band of his underwear, searching for that part of him she wanted to touch most.

“Wait,” he rasped. “Not yet.” He intercepted her hand and trapped it on the pillow.

“Why not?” she panted. “I get to play too.”

His wicked grin sent a full body flush across her skin. “You will definitely play. But me first. I’ve been thinking about this since that night on the balcony. You don’t want to ruin a man’s fantasy, do you?”

She was his fantasy? She still couldn’t imagine how she could be any man’s fantasy. Sure, with makeup and hair done to perfection, she understood the illusion, but Troy had seen her at her worst in the hospital. He knew the real deal. That her lips were a little too thin, her nose too sharp. Now he knew her breasts were too small. She’d worked hard on her body, making a personal decision to gain weight by packing on muscle. She’d been too skinny during all those years growing up on TV, listening to the executives tell her she needed to keep her weight down.

Now, he’d seen her crying with smeared mascara and she was still his fantasy.

His wicked mouth continued another descent and it felt too incredibly good. Okay, to hell with having her way with him. If he wanted to go first then by all means, he could go first.

Inch by inch, he kissed and licked his way down her ribs, her abs and toward her hips. He wrapped an arm beneath her and she arched into his mouth when he reached her belly button and circled with his tongue.

Bringing in air got a lot tougher. Knowing where he planned to go had every cell inside her screaming in anticipation. He glided his lips over her hipbone and inched the thong down. With his teeth.

Her whole body trembled as chills streaked across her skin.

His slick tongue eased across the band as he moved to the other side and pulled that down as well, slowly easing the material off her hips until it just barely covered the racing stripe leading the way to nirvana. He’d reached home plate, but instead of sliding for the mound his gaze caught hers. “There’s one thing I need to know,” he whispered roughly.

Of course! God, how come she hadn’t thought of this earlier? “I’m healthy,” she panted. His gaze narrowed. “I am too, but that’s not what I was asking. I’m dying to know what

you taste like.”

A fresh surge of moisture pooled between her thighs.

He nuzzled her * and made her jump, then swiped his tongue over the silk of her thong. “Pretty damn good,” he muttered. He took the thong down the rest of the way until she lay exposed to his heated gaze. “Don’t mind me.” He hooked each leg over each one of his arms and settled between them. “This is going to take a while. Relax.”

A nervous laugh erupted from her gut, but died a quick death when his mouth clamped over her * and went to work. He licked, stroked and sucked her into a mindless frenzy. He had her panting, gasping and moaning his name. Begging for release, pleading for him to fill her. His big hands roamed her sweat-slicked skin and dim moonlight washed over the flexing muscles in his back. When she thought she couldn’t take it another second, he eased back and rolled her over, shocking her completely when he set his mouth on the crease of her ass. She pulled away, but he held her steady, using his tongue to tease and torture the delicate, sensitive flesh. He moved down to the crease between her butt and thigh and teased there too, driving her crazy with his hot mouth and lush lips.

He snuck his hand beneath her, between her thighs, and she shamelessly rubbed against his palm, silently begging to be filled. She cried out when two thick fingers pushed inside her slick entrance. She moved down and forced them deeper, reveling in the way he stroked her, pushed her higher.

Once again he flipped her and this time, he shoved three fingers deep inside as his tongue lashed her *. The instant climb shot her to the peak. Firecrackers went off in her skull. Lights exploded behind her closed lids. She cried out and convulsed around his fingers, every pulse a pleasure ride so intense she forgot to breathe. The sweetest, perfect moment of her life.

When she finally stilled, gasping for air, she saw him watching her with such a look of satisfaction on his face that she smiled. “Don’t look so cocky. You’re not done yet.” She crooked her index finger and beckoned him forward. “C’mere.” She wanted more.

Troy’s eyes narrowed as he slowly climbed up her torso, leaving light licks and small nips in his wake. He still had on his jeans and they scraped against her bare legs.

“Those things had better be off you in the next ten seconds or I’m going to cut them off.”

He grinned as he pushed his jeans over his hips along with his boxer briefs. He stopped long enough to get his wallet out of his back pocket where he’d stashed a condom.

“Wait,” she said. “I want to put it on you.”

His dark eyes got darker as she snatched the condom out of his hand and rolled him onto his back.

“You are mine.”

* * *

Troy thought his head might explode, and at this point it was a toss-up as to which head he meant. Though Julie might intend to eventually roll that condom over his straining erection, she clearly had no intention of doing it in the next few seconds. Or even minutes by the way she looked at him...with a hunger so real, he felt it deep in his bones.

But to have Julie Fraser easing herself between his thighs topped every single expectation he’d ever had. She nuzzled his cock in a very clear imitation of how he’d nuzzled her. Her pink tongue darted out for a taste and he gritted his teeth against the wet heat along his dick. At this rate, he was going to revert to the fifteen-year-old boy who’d been a little too fast on the draw.

Because he doubted he’d ever relive this moment ever again, he kept his eyes on her as she played with him. Nix the word play. She f*cking tortured him with her hot tongue and sweet lips. She traced the tip of his dick along her mouth and Troy didn’t think he’d last another minute of her attention. When she opened and took him inside, he sucked in his breath, drawing air into his stricken lungs because every f*cking muscle had seized with pleasure. Up and down. She continued to drive him out of his mind. He put his hands on her head, let himself pump into her mouth a couple more times before he pulled her off him. In under two seconds he had her flat on her back. He snatched the condom from her hand and rolled it on quicker than he’d ever done in his life.

He covered her mouth with his, hooked an arm beneath her knee, opened her wide and pushed inside her, deep and sure. She stiffened beneath him and moaned inside his mouth. He let go of her leg, might’ve pulled out then, worried that he’d hurt her, except she wrapped her legs around his hips and kept them connected tightly together. Troy’s mind went blank. All that mattered was the incredible pleasure he got from pumping in and out of her. From hearing the desperate sounds of need coming from her throat. From feeling her heat, the strength of her muscles as she flexed and strained under and around him.

The moment ranked as—absolutely—the best of his life. Better than actually having an orgasm. Because in this minute, they were together, every move felt better than the last. Every stroke took them both higher.

“Oh, God. Troy,” she panted, “So good. Please, please. I have to...”

He lifted her ass, canted her hips a fraction and pushed in. She cried out. Her orgasm powered through her so hard she shook beneath him. Troy had no control over his own release. Her climax triggered his. Like an explosive had been detonated, the wave that hit him ripped him apart. Intense gratification buffeted every nerve, every cell. He locked his jaw and rode out the swell even as he continued to pump into Julie. He wanted to feel every pulse, every last shudder.

When it was all over, Troy collapsed on top of her, but she wasn’t complaining. Her hands stroked over his back. Her heart beat a fast, steady pulse.

He expected to see her half-asleep with a satisfied look in her eyes. Nope. Despite the darkness of the room, her blue eyes twinkled with fresh light and excitement.

“That was amazing.” One thing about show business, it had taken the shyness right out of her. Assuming she ever had been shy.

He nodded, rolled to his side, but kept her close. He needed to get cleaned up, but wasn’t ready to leave the warmth of her arms. Her hand trailed to his thigh and it didn’t matter that he’d climaxed harder than he’d ever had in his life, he felt his dick grow again anyway.

Troy stopped her hand. “Hold on, sweetheart. I only have the one condom. A repeat performance will have to be with another toy, not my boy.”

A coy smile curved Julie’s lips as she crawled over him and opened the top drawer of the night table. Her ass, right in front of his face, teased him within an inch of his life and he couldn’t resist. He shifted in bed and commenced to kissing. He loved her ass. Hell, he loved her small breasts too. The pert and perky twins made her all the more real and helped him separate the movie star from the woman. He loved her imperfections: the uneven quirk of her lips when she smiled, the little scar near her right temple. At the moment, the crease between her butt cheek and her thigh was anything but imperfect. She took care of herself. Worked out hard. Without clothes on, it was easy to see her strength. She’d been pretty scrawny all those years on television, but now... She’d definitely grown into a mature female. A woman with curves and muscle. A woman who knew exactly what she wanted.

She came away from the drawer with a box she waved teasingly in her hand.

Condoms.

“Prepared are you?” He didn’t know if he liked that. What did it mean about how often she entertained?

“Actually, they were a gag gift. I was working on a film last year and the prop guy gave them to me for my birthday. He said I should have some fun. On him.” She lifted an eyebrow. “The guy’s a real comedian.”

“I’m not laughing,” Troy said. “When’s your birthday?”

She smiled her famous smile and Troy’s semi hard-on got harder. “Actually, it’s next week and I think I know what you can give me,” she teased as she removed the old condom and slid her hand up and down his growing erection.

“There’s something you should probably know,” he told her as he once again rolled her beneath him. “I’m going to be hard for you all night long.”

This time both brows lifted. “All night? Wow. An early birthday present that just keeps on giving.” She cocked her head to the side. “I’m not sure I believe you though.”

He dumped the box of condoms, ripped one open, sheathed himself and pushed inside her in seconds flat. She gasped then moaned and the sounds spurred him on faster. The need he felt came back at him. Not so much the need to come, but the need to satisfy her. To make this the best experience she’d ever have. To make her remember this time with complete clarity no matter what happened the rest of her life.

A few minutes later, when their skin was slick with sweat and their muscles strained to the limit, Julie came apart in his arms with a cry. She bucked beneath him and dug her fingernails into his back. Troy nearly howled as his own orgasm hit him like a linebacker, hard and rough. For the second time that night, he collapsed on top of Julie, his mind thoughtless, his body, boneless.