I release a deep sigh as my hard-on all but disappears at the reminder of our situation. “What is it you wish to say?” Addie always speaks her mind with me, and I always encourage her to do so because she’s extremely savvy and always has my best interests at heart.
“For what it’s worth, I think you ought to consider Liza’s advice. You pay her a lot of money to tell you what to do in these situations. I happen to agree with her. If Natalie tells her story in her own words, that makes it impossible for anyone else to tell it. It would put an end to the salacious innuendo that has overtaken the Internet.”
“You know what I hate most about this?”
“What?”
“Every time her name is mentioned for the rest of her life, this story will be tied to it. That’s why she changed her name in the first place.”
“I hate that, too. We all do. But the cat’s out of the bag. You can’t pretend it’s not happening, as much as you’d like to.”
She’s right, and so is Liza, but all I can think about is Natalie and asking her to go on national TV to talk about the most painful thing in her life. The very idea of it makes me nauseated.
“Get some sleep, Addie.”
“Night, Flynn. And good luck in the morning, not that you’ll need it.”
“Thanks.” Her comment reminds me that Oscar nominations are coming in the morning, something that would normally be foremost on my mind. But I don’t have the capacity to care about anything other than what’s happening with Natalie right now.
I return to the bedroom, where Natalie is propped on her upturned hand waiting for me. The sight of her bare shoulder reminds me of what was about to happen before I left the room. Retrieving the box of condoms, I drop my pants onto the floor and crawl back into bed with her.
“What’s wrong?”
I force a smile and hold up the box of condoms for her to see. “Nothing now.”
“Don’t lie to me, Flynn. Something happened while you were out there. I can tell just by looking at you.”
“How’d you get to know me so well so fast?”
“The same way you got to know me.” She caresses my face, and her tender touch makes me melt on the inside.
I love her so fucking much, and I want to protect her from anything and everything that could ever hurt her. “Addie has been talking to Liza. They think we ought to do an interview to give you the chance to tell your story in your own words to put an end to all the speculation.” I watch the light in her eyes go dim.
“Oh.”
“I told them it’s not happening. I’d never ask you to talk about something so painful on TV. The thought of it makes me sick. I can only imagine how you must feel.”
“If we did this, the interview, I mean… Do they think it would put an end to people talking about me? About us?”
“It might put an end to people talking about what happened to you years ago. It’s probably safe to say they’ll continue to talk about us.”
“I’ll do it.”
“What? No. You’re not doing it, and that’s the end of it. I told them the same thing.”
“Flynn.” She uses the hand she has on my face to turn me toward her.
“You’re not doing it.”
“Yes, I am.”
“No! No fucking way. And that’s the end of it.”
She smiles at me! The angelic, beautiful smile that slays me every time.
“Why are you grinning like a loon?”
Her smile gets bigger. “You’re awfully cute when you’re being bossy.”
She hasn’t begun to see the full extent of how bossy I can be. The thought of showing her my dominant side reawakens my cock.
“I’m doing the interview.”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
I kiss her to make her stop talking, taking possession of her lips and mouth in the fiercest kiss we’ve ever shared. It’s all lips and tongue and teeth. I keep expecting her to push me away in shock that I would dare to kiss her this way, but instead she meets every stroke of my tongue with one of her own. She makes me crazy with desire and the most intense need I’ve ever experienced.
I break the kiss and move down, cupping her breasts and sucking on her nipples. While I keep expecting her to stop me, she encourages me by arching her back and wrapping her legs around my hips.
I’m lost, completely fucking lost to her.
Chapter 4
Something is different. He’s wilder, untamed, ravenous. Is it because I defied him about the interview? Whatever the reason, I’m not complaining. I like him this way, a little unhinged and overtaken by desire. As his teeth clamp down on my left nipple, I want to beg him to hurry, to take me, to relieve the aching pressure between my legs, but I can’t seem to find the words. He’s stolen them, along with the breath from my lungs.
I’m on fire for him. He leaves my nipples stiff and aching to kiss his way down my body. His hands are everywhere, touching and caressing and coaxing. I can’t get close enough.
He settles between my legs, his broad shoulders pushing them as far apart as they can go.