by Murphy,Misti
“Come on.” Gripping my hand, he leads me outside to where a huge motorcycle sits in the driveway.
“Um, no.” I gape at the monster on its two big, black tires. “I’m not going on that. I need metal all around me. A seatbelt. Protection.”
“What do you think you’re wearing?” He chuckles. “Do you think I’d let you ride on my bike without making sure you were practically zombie proof? You may as well be wearing Kevlar.”
“In this?” I run a finger along the collar of the jacket. It’s already too warm.
“You’re perfectly safe.” He grabs a helmet from the bike and places it over my head, latching the chinstrap. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”
“Accidents happen.” I glance past him at the awful contraption. I’ve never been on one, never been tempted to. The idea of him in an accident and getting hurt makes me wince, and then having me on the back? “I’ll probably fall off.”
“Your balance is questionable.” He takes my hand and leads me over to his bike where he straddles it. “I promise you, I won’t let anything happen to you. All you have to do is hold onto me.”
Somehow, I’m climbing on with him, my hands gripping tightly to his hips as I settle on behind him. I try not to let my speeding pulse and the slight tremble in my hands give me away while I wait for him to put his helmet on. Then he takes both my hands and pulls them around his waist, lacing them together, and I’m forced to lean right into his back, his ass between my thighs, and now I have to worry about the heat of him sinking into me, and the tingles that run up my legs to my core as he starts the bike.
***
“Recovered yet?” Rush asks, laying his arm along the back of the seat and tickling my shoulder as we cruise through traffic in the town car that collected us from the airport when we touched down.
Shaking my head, I lean into him a little. I don’t know how long I screamed as he tore up the road. As soon as the bike leapt forward, so did my heart. Somewhere in my mind I knew he was good at riding— good at everything really— since his brother’s all own bikes, and even his sister rides, but that didn’t quite take the edge off how scary it was seeing the road beneath us. Or how low the bike would go to one side when he took turns. So I screamed from how scary it was, and then at some point adrenaline took over, and his care for keeping me safe let me relax, and I screamed with enjoyment. But my voice didn’t quite recover on the forty-minute flight into the city. “I can barely speak.”
“Fuck, it’s sexy.” He dips his mouth to my ear. “Your voice all rough and low, like this. I can’t help but imagine it’s how you’d sound after a night in my bed.”
I suck in a breath. Did he actually say that, or did I imagine it? Have I turned into such a cock chaser that it’s all I can think about? What on earth is happening to me?
Cupping my cheek, he makes me face him. “It is going to happen. You know it as well as I do. You can feel this thing, this attraction between us.” His fingers travel down my throat and along my collarbone. I can barely keep still, my body coming alive, yearning for more. A slow warmth spreads from my core. I thrill at his touch, my nipples pebbling as he palms one breast. “You keep saying no, but your body is telling a different story. When are you going to stop pretending you don’t want me inside you?”
“It wouldn’t be professional.” Even to my own ears, it sounds like a pitiful excuse.
“No, it would be fucking heaven.” His hand moves lower, and my knees part as he reaches my thigh. “Your gorgeous body on mine, your sweet pussy squeezing my cock.”
Heat blasts up my chest and neck as arousal swarms me, making me wet.
“Does that embarrass you?” Torturously, he eases his fingers between my thighs, brushing a finger over the leather. I’m so sensitive that even that slight touch makes me whimper. “Does it make you uncomfortable when I tell you I want you on my cock? That I want to hear you scream my name while I fuck you?”
I shake my head. I’m not as prudish as he believes me to be, not as frigid as it’s been suggested I am. The only thing uncomfortable about what he says to me is how on edge I am from the nearness of his fingers to my clit, and that if I ever do give in to him, I’ll be a disappointment. “I bet you say that to all the girls.”
For a heartbeat his face hardens, and then he laughs. Withdrawing his hand, he leaves me aching. “Actually, no. You’ve heard the line I use on women. One line I don’t even need to use. Why am I so hell bent on getting you under me?”
Honestly, I have no freaking clue, but whatever the reason, he’s wearing me down far quicker than I ever expected would be possible. And maybe, I want to give in. I don’t want to tell him that though, I don’t want to lead him on. With no idea what to say, I touch his arm. It’s meant to be sympathetic, or friendly.
Instead, it’s a heated glance in return and then he takes my mouth, kissing me with a fervor I don’t expect. Unbuckling my seatbelt, he pulls me onto his lap as he thrusts his tongue against mine. His lips are harsh, maddeningly demanding as he grips my hips and grinds his hardness against me with a groan.
The taste of copper hits me as he pulls back. I can barely breathe, my pulse racing as I touch my lip where he bit me a little too hard.
“Fuck.” Carefully, he touches his thumb to my bottom lip. “I should have been more gentle.”
But it doesn’t bother me as much as I thought it would, to have him mark me like that. There was something primal and possessive about it that I was powerless to resist.
“Doesn’t matter.” I press my hands to his chest, ready to lever myself off him, but not quite having the will to do so.
“It’s just…” He runs his fingers down the length of my braid. “You have to know you’re killing me.”
Chapter Fourteen
Rush
Climbing out of the car in front of Nordstrom, I wait for her to fiddle with her face and hair, which I may or may not have made a mess of while giving in to frustration. Further up the street, some guy stops and gawks at me as he juggles a camera out of his satchel. Great. Fucking perfect.
On the other side of us a couple girls, probably still a birthday or two away from their twenties stop mid conversation and gape. I’m used to it, to a degree. There’s always someone who recognizes me when I’m out in public. A girl or guy, looking for an autograph, or to tell me they watch my shows. But this is a disaster in the making. The guy with the camera moves too fast, too obnoxiously, not to be pap. And the girls squeal loud enough to draw more attention from passersby as they hurry toward us.
In the midst of all this, Maxi finally climbs out of the car. I’ve put a lot of effort into keeping my personal shit personal. I haven’t been caught in public with a woman who wasn’t family or a part of my team since before I hit it big, a feat in itself. But with the camera flashing as the pap makes a beeline toward us, and Maxi being the weird and socially awkward person she is, I don’t want her to have to face the onslaught of questions that will no doubt occur once the photographer catches up to us. Grasping her hand, I dash for the door of Nordstrom as the pap starts hurling questions at us. “Is this your girlfriend? How long have you been seeing each other?”
“Rush, you’re amazing. Can I have your autograph?” One of the girls following us screeches.
We’re abruptly surrounded by a small mob, increasing with each step we take.
“What’s your name?” The pap thrusts the camera right up in Maxi’s face. She blinks, her mouth opening on a squeak while he continues. “How did you meet Rush Hadley?”
Screw this. I yank her onward, pushing the guy out of the way. She might be used to being on the other side of this hoopla, but it’s a whole other show from this point of view. They trail after us, but I get her in front of me, guiding her into the first changing rooms I find and locking the door, because that doesn’t look scandalous at all.
“I wasn’t expecting that.” She exhales. “The pap, your fans. You have to deal with that a lot, don’t you?”<
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“More often than not.” I still haven’t dropped her hand, but there’s barely any room in the cubicle. We’re standing toe to toe, her back pressed to the mirror, her chest rammed against mine, her face turned up. That juicy fucking mouth still teasing me with how perfect she tastes. “I don’t mind most of the time. A couple tricks and a few autographs, and I’m usually left alone.”
“I don’t know how you do it.” Raising one hand to my bicep, she clings to me. “I’ve been to all kinds of events, I’ve stood along the red carpet at the Australian Logie Awards ceremony, the Brownlow Medal night for football, even a few movie premieres. But it’s definitely different waving a microphone in a celebrity’s face than being the one confronted with it. I was freaking out, but you took it in stride.”
“Well, let’s try and keep you out of the limelight then.” I palm the back of her head, leaning closer. This confined space, her sweet smell, I don’t half mind being stuck here with her.
Tilting her face she licks and bites her lip, her eyes darkening. “You’re a remarkable man, Rush Hadley. I can’t believe I ever pigeonholed you the way I did when we first met.”
“I’m not a bad guy.” Sweeping a hand around to the small of her back, I capture her hand to the mirror above her head. “I’ll never lead you on, never offer you anything more than I’m willing to give.”
“I know.” She bends to me, arching in all the places that keep her flush against me. One leg rises up the outside of my thigh, her boot a heavy weight against my calf. “You’re a good man.”
Nudging her head to the side, I lick my way up her neck. “Nah, I’m a great fuck.”
I take her mouth, soft this time, lingering and explorative while I tighten my hold to bring her core flush to the rock hard bulge I’m sporting because of her. She’s dry-humping my leg, bumping her clit on my thigh. And it feels so good, incredible, watching her get close to climaxing. Feeling her hot body on mine. The sensation is too fucking perfect, too pleasurable to control. We’re in a public change room, and I can still hear the voices of people waiting for us to come out, but damn, she’s on fire for me.
She whimper-screams into my mouth, my lips clamped on hers so the people stalking us won’t hear her. It takes all I have to keep from ripping her pants down, turning her to face the mirror, and plunging inside her. She’s fucking gorgeous when she lets go. All her inhibitions, her nervous ticks disappear, she gets so lost in pleasure.
Gradually, I ease away from her, disentangling my leg from between hers. “We better get this show on the road, huh?”
She straightens herself out, and I put in a quick call to Jade, a shopping consultant who works for Nordstrom, who should be waiting for us upstairs. “We got a little stuck. There’s a group of people waiting outside. Do you think you could head down here and get Maxi?”
“That’s where you got to.” Jade chuckles. “You never could go anywhere without stirring people up, could you?”
“Nothing’s changed.” I peer at Maxi who is pretending to examine her nails while also pretending to ignore my conversation. I sure as hell enjoy stirring her. “We’re in the changing rooms closest to the main entrance.”
“I’ll be there in a sec.”
Shoving my phone back in my pocket, I adjust my hard on that doesn’t want to go down. “Jade will be here in a minute. She works upstairs as a consultant. Buys for women’s fashion as well. She’s going to look after you while I deal with that nosey pap.”
“Okay.” Hitching her bag on her shoulder, she grips the strap, trying not to fidget when there’s nothing to do but wait.
Jade doesn’t take long. A couple minutes and she calls out. Unlocking the cubicle, I walk out in front of Maxi. “It’s good to see you, Jae-Jae.”
“A pleasure as always.” She grins as she kisses me on each cheek. “It’s been a long time.”
“You know I don’t have much need to come this way.”
“Sure,” she agrees, turning to take in Maxi. “And you’re the girlfriend?”
“Not my girlfriend,” I grumble before Maxi can say anything. She’s an acquaintance who seems to be growing on me. “Just a friend.” Opening my wallet, I take out a credit card and hand it to her. “Razer and Claire are getting married in a couple weeks. And Tom’s following in his brother’s footsteps and marrying the month after. So we need dresses.”
“I heard about Mace. Can’t say that was much of a surprise. We had a bet going on how long it would take those two back in high school, if I remember.”
Yeah, I’d thwarted that for a good long time, and the worst part wasn’t that I got between them, but that I can’t really remember why or how I ended up being so jealous of my brother. Only that he’d had Razer, and Tommy and Claire had seemed to worship him, and then Chels came along and it was obvious he could have it all. And I’d wanted it all, and so much more. Turns out what we wanted were two completely different things. “Take it along with your fee.”
“No. I only wanted to rub your face in it for a moment.” She gives my bicep a light squeeze before holding her hand out to Maxi. “I’m Jade.”
“You went to school with Rush?” Maxi thrusts out her hand to Jade with enthusiasm. Her head held high, she engages with the other woman as she steps in front of me. “I’d love to know what that was like.”
She shifts so quickly from hot, sexy, and fuckable, to quiet, nervous mouse, to professional it makes my head spin.
“It was entertaining.” Jade chuckles.
“Careful, Jade, she’s a journalist,” I say pointing at her head. “Here to find out all my dirty secrets.”
“Is there anything I shouldn’t ask?” Maxi queries me over her shoulder. “Because I’d really like to get another person’s perspective on what you were like as a kid.”
“Go ahead.” I grin. “I’ve got veto on anything in the article anyway, don’t I?”
“Sure.” She nods.
Jade cocks her head to one side, asking me with her eyes if I mean for her to say anything, or if I’m appeasing the woman who is so excited by the idea of rooting out information on me. “Well, I’ve got some stories.”
“Great.” I propel Maxi forward. “You go with Jade and get all the gossip.” The noise from outside the changing rooms has died down, but that doesn’t mean people aren’t still lurking, and I wouldn’t mind getting out there to deal with them. Plus, I want a chance to see Maxi all dolled up, and the longer we stick around in here the longer I have to wait. Gliding toward the door, I tell them, “I’m going to go say hi to my fans.”
It doesn’t take too long to appease the few strays mingling around the door when I come out. I sign a couple autographs, and pull a deck of cards from my pocket, running a few tricks that have them amused while I answer some of the questions the pap, who identifies himself as part of TMZ, barks at me. Then I head back out to the car, giving them the slip with a quick bit of misdirection and race upstairs to where the girls are.
Jade’s bagging up whatever outfits Maxi chose and closing the sale. There are more than the two bags I expected her to have, but not much. Not that I care what she spent, but I’m curious. So damn curious to know if there’s another fucking elephant about to make its way into my house, or maybe something far sexier.
“Thanks for the help.” Maxi pushes her hair back from her face as she picks up the bags. “And the stories. It really was great to meet you.”
“I’ve missed all the fun.” I accept my card back from Jade, and take the bags from Maxi who tries unsuccessfully to suggest that I don’t need to carry them. “What did you get?”
“A few essentials.” Jade lifts an eyebrow at Maxi. “Things a woman needs.”
Maxi refuses to look me in the eye, her cheeks flushing. Back to where we were after I first got my hands on her. I want to take it as a sign there’s something lacy, or silky, or sheer in those bags. Fuck, I hope she’s talking about lingerie. Please, please, let it be something I get to tear off her when she finally succumbs.<
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Stepping around the counter, Jade gives me a peck on the cheek. “Hold onto this one. I like her.”
“Nothing to hold onto,” I say. Because I don’t need some woman, no matter how appealing she is to my dick, getting in the way of my achieving the absolute peak of my career and everything else I want to accomplish. “Seriously, we’re friends. That’s all.”
“Okay.” She pats my jaw and steps back. “Whatever you say, Magic Man. Now, do you want to take the back exit?”
“Yes. I told the driver to meet us there.” We follow her off the main floor and out through the staff area to a corridor that leads to a flight of stairs, where Jade says goodbye and heads back the way we came.
“I didn’t want to use your money,” Maxi says, going ahead of me. “But Jade wouldn’t let me pay for the dresses. The other stuff I paid for myself, in case you’re annoyed that I bought more than you were expecting.”
“You know I’m wealthy, right?” I frown at the back of her head. She’s here because of me, with me. I pay, not her. That’s how this works. Besides, I liked the idea of spoiling her. Instead she insists on proving she doesn’t need to take from me. “Incredibly so.”
“Billions,” she says. “I’m aware of your net worth. It’s saved in a file on my laptop. But that doesn’t mean you need to spend it on me.”
“But I want to.” I brush past her to hold the exit door open for her.
“I don’t know why.” There’s a troubled tone in her voice as she stalks toward the car waiting close by. “You don’t owe me. We’re just two friends who made a deal, right? Until it’s time for me to leave. Neither of us ever said anything about you picking up the check.”
“Christ.” I rub at the knots forming in my neck, my jaw tightening. Who would have thought my great idea to keep out of trouble while I’m home would turn out to be so fucking maddening? “Fine. From now on, I pay. Whatever it is you need or want, I pay. Even if it’s another damn elephant. Because you came all the way here at my insistence. Okay?”
