Her throat tight from the realization that their lovemaking hadn’t changed anything in the long term and that the clock was already running out on how long she could stay here with him, she could barely get the words out. “Because they don’t understand how Hollywood works like my family and I do.”
“You’re wrong. So damned wrong.” He pulled her onto his lap, clearly not giving a damn that she was still sticky with sweat. “The real reason people can’t get enough of you is because you’re smart. You’re funny. You’re talented. It’s because you’re soft and you’re strong, all at the same time.”
Her throat grew even tighter as it swelled with yet more emotion. “Only you see me this way.” And oh, how she wished she could stay with him. How she wished that she could love him the way he deserved to be loved. Not in the shadows, but for the whole world to see. And with a whole heart, rather than one that had been shredded to pieces one too many times.
“Everyone sees you that way, Rosa.” He pressed the words against her lips in a sweet, soft kiss that made her want so many more, especially if they could actually erase the dark clouds that had been hovering over her for so long. “You’re the only one who doesn’t.” His lips whispered against hers. “How many paintings am I going to have to make of you until you see the truth?”
“I—” She shook her head, let out a frustrated breath, one that came from way down deep in her soul. She wanted so much right now, wanted all the things she knew she could never have because of a decision she’d made to film a TV show when she was eighteen years old. “I don’t know if that’s even possible.”
“It is.” He spoke with perfect certainty. “But maybe it’s not seeing that will help you believe.” He tangled his hands in her hair to pull her closer. “Maybe it’s feeling. Feeling so much that you can’t deny it anymore.” He took her lips in a deep, passionate kiss, one that had her head spinning and her body tingling all over. “I’m going to make that my purpose from now on—to make sure you’re feeling all the time. Starting right now.”
She knew he wasn’t saying the words as a warning, but so that she could anticipate. So that she could pant with renewed need as he ran his big hands over her naked skin, cupping and stroking until she was actually writhing on his lap.
And even though she knew better, even though she knew this perfect idyll in Drake’s secret cabin in the woods couldn’t last forever, no matter how much she wished it could, she was here with him now. So she would make the most of every precious second.
“Please.”
He made her so needy that she couldn’t help but beg. And maybe with anyone else it would have felt like giving away her own power. But though she wasn’t sure she’d ever be able to believe in her own strength or talent the way he did, she already knew for certain that he would never try to gain his power through her the way so many other men had since she’d become famous.
“Tell me,” he urged, “tell me what you want.”
She hadn’t exactly been shy during their lovemaking—how could she be, when his kisses and caresses felt like they’d stripped away everything that didn’t matter? But she hadn’t taken the lead either. She knew what she wanted, of course. What she’d wanted from the start, but hadn’t let herself have.
“You.” She put her hands on his jaw and let herself take a long, heady look at the incredible man holding her as though he’d never let her go, never let her fall. “I want you.”
His grin was spiked with heat. So much heat that it took her breath away. “Then take me.”
She grinned back, no longer worried about feeling shy or ashamed. At least not now. Not when she and Drake were alone in their private cocoon of pleasure.
Drawing back just enough on his lap so that there was space to put her hands on his chest, she closed her eyes and drank in the feel of him, so solid and warm and alive against her palms. Where he obviously favored the visual, she always saw best through her hands.
Slowly, sensually, she worked her way down over his broad and muscular shoulders, tracing his biceps and triceps, and then the sinews on his forearms. First with her hands, and then with her lips, over every inch. All the while, she could feel his arousal grow beneath her hips. Instinct had her teasing with a slow slide here, a wiggle there.
She was glad he let her play as long as he did, but at the same time she loved it when he hit his limit and took her mouth in a rough, perfect kiss. She never wanted this moment to end, but now that she knew the exquisite pleasure of Drake’s body heavy over hers, inside of hers, she didn’t think she could wait another second to get there.
Fortunately, he must have been thinking the exact same way, because the next thing she knew he had donned protection again and was tumbling her back onto the bed, his weight levered over hers.
“Rosa.”
He said only her name as he moved into her, but it felt like so much more. Felt like everything she’d ever wanted but hadn’t thought she could have. She’d never felt this good before, never believed it was possible.