Sex Symbol

by Laurelin Paige

  “Yeah. That would be perfect.” She opened her mouth to begin, but he spoke before she could. “I won’t know the blocking until we get on set. So you should direct it. Tell us how we should move.”

  “Hmm,” she said, a gleam in her eye. She read the page again and he knew she was visualizing it in her head. His heart swelled at her enthusiasm.

  She moved to a kneeling position. “Okay. You start there and walk by me, brushing my shoulder. Kind of rough. Then walk to that spot at the corner of the blanket.” She pointed to where she meant. “Pretend that’s the pump. You can be washing your hands at the pump because this scene is right after you skinned that rabbit, right?”

  “Yes,” he said. He adored watching the director’s hat come out. He’d only seen it before in the results—in her footage. Never in actual motion. He could feel her thrill and it excited him. He listened through the rest of her blocking. It would look good if it were being filmed. Beaumont would be lucky to come up with something half as good.

  “Places, please.”

  He stood and crossed to where she had indicated.

  “Wait.” She rose and searched the woods around them. “Are we really going to, you know? Out here? Do you think we’re out of the way enough? To not be caught or anything?”

  He couldn’t help but smile at her sense of propriety. He liked that they were just far enough away from the hiking trail that they probably wouldn’t be seen, but were close enough that they could be. “Would you care if we were?”

  She gave him a wicked grin. “No. Except that it might invite media into our lives.”

  “Yeah, there is that.” He considered. They hadn’t seen anyone all afternoon. “We’ll keep most of our clothes on. It’ll be fine.”

  “Well, then. It will be easier if I dispose of these now.” She reached her hands under her skirt and pulled down her panties. She stepped out of one leg hole, and with her other bare foot, she pitched them to the grass.

  Fucking hot.

  She winked at him, knowing full well what effect her action had on him. Then she turned somber. “Places.” Director hat back on. “Go sound. Camera rolling. And scene.”

  Micah closed his eyes. When he opened them, he was Billy Winter—his character. With a heavier step than usual, he walked toward where Maddie stood with the script in hand and brushed past her gruffly.

  He continued to the spot she had told him was the water pump. He felt her approach him from behind. Then she spoke.

  “Billy, why are you so angry?” She was acting her lines more than when she’d read with him in the past. He knew acting wasn’t her thing, but it roused him that she was getting into this role-playing.

  “Do you have to ask?” He spun toward her. “They’re gonna come for us, Izzie. They got Danny’s print and it’s going to lead them all—”

  She put one hand up to calm him, the other still clutching the script. “You don’t know that.”

  “I know I have no future anywhere but lost out here on this mountain.”

  “Then I’ll be lost out here with you.” She took a step toward him and reached for his arm. Softly, she delivered the next line. “I’ll be your future.”

  It was scripted, not really Maddie saying the words, but Goddamnit if it didn’t feel good hearing them in her voice, said to him.

  “Damn it, Iz.” He pulled away from her, but didn’t turn. He paused, not sure if he could say the next line without choking on it. It was too close to the truth—too close to how he felt about her in real life. “I don’t want to love you.”

  “Then don’t.” She tossed the script on the ground and reached for him again, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Let me love you.”

  She kissed him. Slowly, tentatively. She had directed him to not pull away, but also not give into her. She told him to let her seduce him, rather let the character she was playing seduce the character he was playing.

  Fuck. That was hard. Because Micah was already seduced, long before Billy Winter was supposed to be.

  She licked around his mouth, teasing him, inviting him to respond. With great difficulty he didn’t react. His resistance began to weaken, though, when she sucked on his top lip, gently at first, then with increasing fervor. Soon, he couldn’t take it any longer, opening ever so slightly. She took advantage of his weakness and slipped her tongue in, tasting him with long licks. Her hands ran through his hair, her body pressed to him, breasts heavy against his chest, as she sought deeper access.

  She mewled against his mouth and that was when he couldn’t hold out any longer. With a heavy sigh, he put a hand around the small of her back and pulled her even closer, if that was possible. He fell into her kiss, surrendering to the tango of her tongue, filling her with such soul-wrenching passion that he only dared show her under the guise of his character.

  He was so lost in her embrace that he startled when she pushed him to the ground, as she had said she would. She straddled him, hitching her short cotton skirt up to expose the beige skin of her thighs. Then, pulling at the bottom of his T-shirt, she coaxed him to sit up so she could remove it.

  “Yummy,” she hissed, running her hands up his chest. His skin burned in the wake of her touch, and he recognized that they were no longer on script, no longer playing characters, but were just Maddie and Micah, about to make love in the woods.

  He eased his own hands under her cotton tee, wondering for a moment if he should take it off. His desire to see her breasts as he caressed them won over his need to shelter her from spying eyes. “Lift,” he commanded, and she raised her arms for him as he undressed her. He flung her shirt to the ground beside him and lay back down, reaching his hands up to fondle and rub her tits through her thin bra. He paused to gaze at her above him, hair mussed, nipples sticking up under white lace. She was an angel, gorgeous and heaven-sent. He could look at her like that forever.

  Except that Maddie seemed set on more than looking. She rocked her hips urgently against the ridge in his pants. “Help me,” she pleaded.

  He reached beneath her skirt and found her clit, found her legs already soaked, wet for him. His breath hitched. “Jesus, Maddie.”

  “I’m ready for you. Help me with your pants.”

  He hesitated, wanting to enjoy her, wanting to feel her clench around his fingers before she clenched around his cock. But her look was insistent, so he complied, undoing his jeans and freeing his penis.

  She grabbed him eagerly, and positioned him at the mouth of her desire. She slid onto him and he let out a sound that seemed foreign to his ears, half groan, half guttural cry. Fuck, she felt incredible. So tight, and so wet around his naked cock. Fucking amazing.

  She put her palms flat on his chest for support and began to move. Up and down, quickly. Too quickly. Without a condom, he’d come in no time at all. “Slow down, baby,” he urged.

  She curbed her speed for about half a second.

  “Maddie.” He grasped her hips, attempting to control her rhythm. She wriggled against his grip, maintaining her pace. It was too much, too fast. In one swift motion, he maneuvered her beneath him, pinning her hands above her head. “I said slow down,” he rumbled.

  She moaned as he took over, moving in and out of her in long, leisurely strokes. Each pass of his penis against her vaginal walls felt more exquisite than the last.

  “Is this how you like it?” she murmured as he kissed along her jaw. “Real slow?”

  He licked at her neck. “I like it slow and sweet.” He nipped her earlobe. “And I like it fast and frantic.” He grinned against her ear. “And I like it when there’s a chance we might be caught.” He pulled his head up so he could look directly in her hooded eyes. “But mostly, I like it with you.”

  She moaned again as he pulled himself out to the very tip before plunging in again. “That was very sweet to say,” she said. “And this is very slow.”

  “Relax, baby. I’ll get you where you want to go. But I’m not wearing a condom and this is the first time I’m getting to fee
l you. Let me enjoy you.” He crushed his mouth to hers, resuming their passionate kiss from earlier. Soon their tongues moved frenetically around each other and he could no longer hold back the passion in his thrusts. She quivered as he let his need take over, plunging into her relentlessly. Her hips met each drive and then she was clamped around him, shuddering through her orgasm, milking him while he pummeled toward his own release.

  And when he came, it was a long, violent eruption that he filled with her name. “Maddie, ah God, Maddie.”

  He collapsed on top of her, still inside of her, sweaty and out of breath. The words from their scene echoed in his head. I don’t want to love you. He almost said them to her again, as Micah Preston this time.

  But he didn’t.

  He closed his eyes, as if he could squeeze out the L word like he could the light. “You can’t know what you do to me,” he whispered into her hair. “You can’t possibly have any idea at all.”

  Nineteen

  Maddie pulled a button-down black shirt out of the closet to drape over her tank top, and glanced at Micah still half-asleep in the bed behind her.

  As if feeling her gaze, he stirred. “What are you doing?” he mumbled.

  “Getting dressed.”

  “Stop it. Take your clothes off and get back in here with me.”

  She grinned. It took every ounce of strength she had not to obey him. Not just because he made her horny as hell, but also because she liked being with him. Loved being with him. No matter what they did. In fact, after two and a half weeks of secret kisses during the day and passionate lovemaking at night, she was beginning to hope the two of them had something that would last beyond the shoot.

  But since she couldn’t be sure he felt the same, she desperately wanted to hold on to each moment, including this one.

  Unfortunately, she had to leave for location in twenty minutes. “You know I can’t.” She relished in his pout then leaned over the bed to give him a swift kiss. “So, lover boy, what are you going to do with your day off?”

  “Actually…” He paused, stretching his beautiful naked body.

  Maddie’s eyes widened as if by a will of their own they wandered to the delicious v of his lower torso that peeked above the sheets. She was so distracted she almost missed his answer.

  “…with Lulu.”

  Lulu? Did he say he was spending the day with his mother? “Excuse me, what did you say?”

  “My mother. She’s coming in this morning. Fudge is picking her up from the airport after he drops you off on the set.”

  “Oh.” Micah’s mother was flying in. And this was the first she was hearing about it. “Oh,” she said again straightening.

  She turned to the mirror and redid her ponytail, even though it looked fine already. “How long is she going to be here?” Maddie hoped her voice didn’t sound as choked as it felt.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his reflection sit up and lean back against the headboard. “Today. Then I’m sending her off to a spa in Estes Park first thing tomorrow morning.”

  She watched her brows furrow in the mirror. “That’s not very long. You won’t get to spend any time with her.” But what she meant was that she wouldn’t get to spend any time with Lulu. And as her interest in Micah was growing exponentially every day, she had a strong desire to meet his mother. She didn’t even know much about Micah’s mother except that she’d been a former actress and that she’d helped push his career. There was so much more to glean from knowing her.

  And she wasn’t going to get the chance.

  “I have all of today with her. Believe me, that’s enough.”

  Realizing that she couldn’t pretend to fuss in the mirror forever, Maddie sat in the room’s armchair and tugged on her sneakers. Still unable to meet his eyes, afraid he’d see she was upset, she kept her focus strictly on her shoelaces. “How long have you been planning this?”

  “Um, a couple of days. I’m taking her to the fundraiser thing tonight.”

  He meant the Evening with Joss Beaumont, a charity event sponsored by the Denver Film Society. Beaumont had decided to wrap early that day and bought tickets for all of the cast and crew. Actually, it had been Bree’s idea, but the director took the credit. Though all of the crew had been invited, the focus would be on the VIPs. Bree had arranged for a red carpet at the theater for their entrances and publicized their attendance, hoping to draw more interest in the event.

  Maddie stood but sat back down to redo her shoes when she realized her laces were too tight. Or maybe that was her chest. Everything felt tense and off. “Maybe I should go to Beaumont’s thing after all.”

  “I thought you decided last week that you didn’t want to go.” Even Micah’s voice sounded tense. Had he picked up on her vibe?

  She heard him moving and she turned to see his backside as he climbed out of the bed. “I don’t want to.” She didn’t. Not with even an ounce of her being. Sit through a night listening to the asshole talk about himself while a room full of people oohed and ahhed? She’d rather shoot herself.

  Besides, she hadn’t packed any dresses for Colorado. Bree had overnighted one to her for the event, but it was more formal than she was used to. Though the thought of dressing up for Micah had almost changed her mind. He’d never seen her in anything but tanks and jeans and sweats. And naked. He’d definitely seen her naked.

  “Then don’t go.” He walked over to her still in the chair and pulled her up to stand in front of him, then ran his hands up and down her arms. “Stay home, take a bath. Enjoy the night off.”

  Now that sounded like a good time. Except, not so much without Micah there. And was he trying to keep her away? “Do you not want me to go?”

  “I didn’t say that.” He sighed and pulled her into his arms. “It’s just, like you said, why would you go to honor a man you hate?”

  “That’s why I wasn’t going to go.” Even as he comforted her she could feel the truth in her fear. He didn’t want her there. She didn’t like that. She wanted him everywhere with her. That he didn’t feel the same—was that an indication that he didn’t feel the same about where their relationship was going as she did?

  She couldn’t think about that now. It was too big. One day at a time. And this day, his mother was coming into town. “But now your mom is going to be there.”

  “Why does that change anything?”

  Maddie pulled back to study him. Was he really going to pretend that his mother’s visit was insignificant?

  He met her eyes then sighed. “Look, I don’t want to go either. But I have to go, because I don’t know, somehow people will give more money if I’m there. And you and I decided no press events, so I thought it would be easier to take Lulu. It was either that or go as Heather’s date.”

  “No way.” She brushed past him and busied herself with gathering her computer into her bag.

  “And that’s why I invited my mother.” His voice changed, as though he suddenly understood. “Does that bother you, Maddie? Did you want me to ask you?”

  “No, no that’s not it.” She zipped her bag and spun to face him. “It’s that you didn’t tell me you invited your mother. You’ll be at that all night and I’m going to be on set all morning and then she’s going to be gone. I won’t even have a chance to...”

  And then it clicked.

  He’d planned the timeline of Lulu’s visit on purpose. He didn’t want them to meet.

  The tightness in her chest increased tenfold, like a boulder was crushing against her. “Oh. I see.”

  “Maddie...”

  He stepped toward her, but she stepped back. “No, it’s fine.” God, how had she been so stupid? They weren’t committed to each other, why would he want her to meet his mother? “It’s a big deal. Introducing someone to a parent. I get it. Seriously, I wasn’t thinking. It’s fine.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes. Totally fine.” Though the tears gathering in her eyes would beg to disagree. She turned back to mess with her bag s
o he wouldn’t notice.

  “Okay.” She heard the resignation in his voice. “I’m jumping in the shower. We have reservations in Denver for dinner at five so I won’t be here when you get back.”

  “Okay.”

  She heard the door to the bathroom close and the first tear spilled.

  Then at the sound of the door opening again, she swiped quickly at her face.

  “Maddie.” He waited until she turned to look at him. He knew she was hiding tears, it read all over his face as he leaned against the doorframe. “I also really want you to know each other.”

  The weight in her chest loosened. “You do?”

  “Yeah. I do.”

  “Then do I get to meet her?”

  “I...don’t...know.”

  The relief she’d felt a moment before was replaced with bone-deep hurt. Another tear trailed down her face, her voice gruff. “So what do you want me to do? Pretend I don’t know you? Do I need to get another hotel room?”

  “No!” He crossed to her and wrapped her in his embrace. “No, I want you with me.”

  His arms made her feel better. She could feel in his touch what he couldn’t say, that he was torn, that he didn’t know how to handle the situation any more than she did.

  He pressed his lips to her forehead before tilting her chin up so their eyes would meet. “And I don’t want you to pretend anything. I can barely handle restraining myself on set. But my mother…it is big. For me. And I just thought we could maybe take it the way we’ve been taking everything else. See how things go. Maybe we can do breakfast tomorrow.”

  “Okay.” She smiled. Surprisingly, a genuine smile. “We’ll see how things go. If breakfast happens, it happens. If not, I won’t take it personally. As long as I still get to sleep here tonight.”

  “If you don’t, I’ll come find you and molest you in your sleep.”

  “Promise?”

  He kissed her deeply. When he broke away he said, “What do you think?”

  “I think I need to be going.” She reached her hand around to fondle his ass. “And you need to get in the shower before I’m tempted to be late.”