Chapter Two
Everyone came to life as soon as the director called us to our places and I was quickly shepherded back onto the tiny stage. Dimitri strolled up to me with a casual gait and stood on the mark right next to me. He looked sexy and handsome in a midnight blue suit from Dolce and Gabanna, a white shirt, black tie, and black leather shoes. His dark wavy hair was slicked back for a sophisticated look and his ocean blue eyes twinkled with charisma.
“It’s good to see you. I was worried you might not show up today,” Dimitri whispered low and grazed my arm tenderly with his finger.
“Of course I came. I’m a professional actress with a job to do. Now please let me concentrate.” I pulled my arm back and glared at him with what I hoped was an air of cool detachment, but inside my heart was flipping cartwheels just at the sight of him. Even now, after everything we’d been through, I still couldn’t convince my heart to hate him. I knew that no matter what, I would always want to be his. I also knew that I must never let him know that or I would be nothing more than his plaything.
“I’m sorry about the way we parted. I wanted to call you, but I was afraid you’d just hang up on me.”
“Well that’s the first intelligent thought you’ve had. Perhaps you should just call Suzanna Blaze instead, I’m sure her standards are low enough for you.” I knew I was being petty and mean, but I wanted to hurt him like he’d hurt me. He nodded quietly as if he’d expected as much from me, and I was embarrassed. I stuck to my façade of cold anger however, desperate not to let him know how much I still cared for him.
“Can we go someplace private and talk for a moment?” Dimitri pleaded with his eyes and I almost broke.
“No. I think we said everything there was to say the last time we saw each other.”
I forced myself to shake my head. My dignity and my pride were all that I had left in the wake of being told that he didn’t love me enough to commit to me exclusively. It was a wound that went deep and I had to protect myself from further pain by refusing to let him into my heart any further. “We have a job to do today; let’s just get through it.”
Just then the director, Pete, approached us and Dimitri and I both tried to look as professional as possible, even though we were both distracted by each other. He was in his early fifties, wearing a designer jogging suit and sunglasses. He stood between us and said, “Okay kids; it’s a star filled night. You’re standing on the roof of a tall building with the New York City skyline all around you, thanks to the miracle of green screen. The night sky is filled with stars and the cool breeze is making your hair flow back seductively. You pick up a whiff of Star Cologne in the breeze and it draws you to walk the five steps across the roof top where you find Dimitri wearing Star Cologne. It mesmerizes you and fills you with desire. You say your lines and encircle your arms around his chest. Don’t look at the camera when you do this; look only at him, the object of your desire thanks to his incredible cologne. Then Dimitri pulls you into his arms and the two of you kiss, a smoking hot kiss filled with passion. Then the two of you pull slowly apart, look deeply into the camera and say, ‘Star for Men.’ Any questions kids? No? Good! Let’s do this!”
I took my mark on the stage. The director called for wind and the large fan was activated, making my hair flow back gently as if on a breeze and my already clingy dress fluttered sexily against the curves of my body. I felt my nipples constrict and pucker under the blowing breeze and knew that they must be visible through the thin fabric. I also knew that’s probably what the director wanted. Cologne commercials weren’t just selling scented oils; they were selling the idea of sex.
“Action!”
Pete pointed at me and I strode forward, swaying my hips as I moved sensuously across the stage to stand beside Dimitri. I encircled him with my arms and started to say my lines, but he yelled stop before I was even halfway through and I knew I was in trouble. My stomach roiled with nerves and I had to blink back tears as Pete hollered at me, “Stop! Tell me, do you find this guy attractive or annoying, because the look you’re giving him suggests the former and I don’t think that’s going to sell a lot of cologne! Do you?”
“I’m sorry. The lights were in my eyes, that’s all,” I stammered and turned around to walk back to my mark.
Before I could leave, Dimitri gave my hand a quick squeeze and said to me, “You can do this. You’re a terrific actress. Even though you hate me, you can make the audience believe anything you want them to.”
Then he released my hand and let me. I was in shock. As much as I’d been trying to hurt him, he still wanted to lift me up and make me feel good about myself. It pained me to know that I had succeeded in convincing him that I hated him, but at the same time it boosted my confidence too. I was a good actress. If I could make the man I loved think that I hated him, I could do anything. I could even make it through this job and do what I had to do to.
Standing on my mark I nodded at Pete, indicating to him that I was ready, and he called for action. I sauntered across the stage to Dimitri, not looking at the cameras or anyone else in the room, but keeping my eyes fixated on him like I was drawn to him with lust. It was an easy role to play, I just thought of the way I felt about him every time he walked into a room. Gazing at him with my breasts heaving with desire, I wrapped my arms around his strong chest and spoke my lines. He grabbed me, swift and hard, and pulled me into his arms with the same intensity as when we first made love in my apartment. Then he put his lips on mine and kissed me: forcefully, urgently, and with such passion I felt my knees weaken.
No! I had to keep strong and keep away from him! I couldn’t let myself be drawn back in by his overpowering charisma and the chemistry that we shared. I pushed him back with almost violent force and glared at him for making me want him like that when he knew I had told him I never wanted to see him again. Everyone in the studio gasped and that’s when I came back to my senses and realized we were actors playing out a scene and I just ruined it.
“Cut! I thought you said this girl was good, but she can’t even follow simple directions!” Pete shouted out, this time directing his irritation to Dimitri. “Maybe we should get someone else.”
“No, she can do it. She’s really good. I just slipped and bit her lip during the kiss, that’s all. Let her do another take.”
Dimitri was defending me and I could hardly believe it.
Fortunately, the director bought his lie without a doubt. He sent my assistant over to me with a cup of ice and asked me, “Are you all right? Did he injure your lip?”
“No, I’m fine. Let’s do another take,” I said and Sabrina ran up to quickly powder my face and freshen my lip-gloss.
“All right, clear the stage. Take three and make this one a good one!” Pete shouted and Sabrina and Steve scurried away.
I squeezed Dimitri’s hand and whispered, “Thank you. You didn’t have to do that for me.”
“I deserved it for being an asshole to you, and you deserve this acting job. Now show this guy what you’ve got. You can do this.”
As much as I wanted to keep being mad at Dimitri, I couldn’t help but smile at his words of support and encouragement. This time we gave the director a perfect take. My moves and words were just what he wanted and my kiss with Dimitri was smoldering hot. This time, when I felt my knees growing weak from the heat of his mouth on mine, I gave myself into it and let the passion fuel my performance. When Pete yelled cut, the room erupted with applause and I felt my heart swell with pride as Dimitri beamed at me.
I looked over at Pete, and he was smiling, “Great job kids. Let’s do another take with a little softer light on Avery. She’s the star of this commercial and I really want her to glow.”
We ended up redoing the scene all the rest of the day, with me kissing Dimitri over and over again countless times. It wasn’t the worst way to spend an afternoon, and getting paid for it was like a bonus. Still, it was hard work. The lights were hot, my feet were sore, and my muscles began to complain from repeat
ing the same unnatural poses time after time. The hardest part of all was the actual kissing.
Dimitri’s lips were soft, like the petals of a flower, but his mouth was hard and his kiss was urgent and insistent. It was the perfect blend, and when I felt his tongue probe into my mouth, searching for my own, it awakened in me a primal desire that I tried desperately to ignore, but couldn’t. My nipples grew hard and ached for the feeling of his mouth upon them. My pussy grew moist and quivered with desire, begging for the gratifying feel of his cock thrusting inside me. It was an exquisite form of torture, and through it all he remained constantly professional and respectful of me. He never touched me in any inappropriate way or said anything unseemly or crass. He was one hundred percent a gentleman; even though I wished he wasn’t. I could feel his erection digging into my hip every now and then when our bodies collided just right and I knew he must be in agony, desperate for release; but he made every effort not to let me know and I respected him enough not to embarrass him about it…
Finally, Pete had gotten enough takes in every angle and with every kind of lighting, custom change, and nuance of dialogue that he wanted to be fully satisfied. “That’s a wrap, kids. Avery: great work. You did a terrific job. Go on home now. Dimitri, come look at the playbacks with me.”
“Sure Pete, just a second. I need to talk to Avery for a moment,” Dimitri said, and I quickly dove behind a pile of equipment where he couldn’t see me. As soon as I saw him walk off with the director I ran down the hall to Maude’s room, stripped off my dress, and pulled back on my jeans, cotton blouse, and worn out sandals. It felt so good to be in comfortable clothes again, I practically sighed with relief. Now all I had to do was find Shawnee and get out of here before Dimitri cornered me and tried to talk to me. There wasn’t anything I wanted to say to him, and after all the hours spent kissing him, my hormones were so revved up I didn’t trust myself to be able to resist anything he had to say to me. The only safe way to protect myself from him was to stay as far away as possible.
I looked for the Kraft Services cart and found it closed and put away. There was no sign of the muscular worker or Shawnee. I saw Steve and ran up to him, asking, “Have you seen my friend Shawnee?”
Steve looked frantic and immediately started searching for her on my behalf. I almost felt sorry for the kid, but not as sorry as I felt for myself. If I didn’t find her soon and get out of here, I was sure to get stuck talking to Dimitri. I saw him wrapping up his conversation with Pete and strolling my way.
“Are you looking for that hot chick in the light blue skirt?” one of the crew members called out to me and I nodded my head. “She bailed about two hours ago with the Kraft Services guy just as soon as the lunch break was over. I saw them drive off together in a beat-up old Mustang.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
I wanted to cry. The busses didn’t come out this far, and unless I wanted to walk a few miles on tired feet, I was stuck with no way to get home. The thought of admitting to everyone here that I had no was utterly humiliating, and it was the last thing I wanted to do. I didn’t even have enough cash on me to call for a cab. I wanted to get outside before I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. I turned to run out the door and smacked right into the one person I didn’t want to see.
“Dimitri!”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you. I just really need to talk to you and it seemed like every time I tried to get you alone you disappeared.”
“That’s okay. If you want to give me a ride home, we can talk along the way,” I said, trying to sound tough and not pathetic. If Dimitri knew I was begging for a ride because I was stranded, he didn’t let on. In fact he looked relieved, like I was the one doing him a favor.
“Great!” he sighed audibly. “My car is parked right out front.”
Ever the gentleman, he held open the passenger door for me to his red Ferrari and I climbed in, wondering if I was making the biggest mistake of my life.
I will be strong. I thought to myself as I buckled my seatbelt and Dimitri rolled the car slowly from the lot and onto the highway. I won’t let him draw me back in with his charm and his sexy smile. My hormones are just raging from the kisses, but I’m not willing to compromise my values or my self-respect to be one of his playthings in a long line of women. Since he’s not willing to commit to me in a monogamous relationship, there can be nothing between us.
I stared out the passenger window at the passing scenery, not even daring to look at him as we drove. After a long period of awkward silence, Dimitri finally worked up the nerve to speak. “You did really great today Avery. The director was impressed and said he’d like to use you again for some of his other projects.”
“No thanks to you surprising me.”
I crossed my arms over my chest angrily.
“Why didn’t you warn me that the cologne commercial was for your cologne and that we’d be working together?”
“At first I thought it would be a fun surprise. I didn’t anticipate that we would have a fight and you would break up with me. I’m sorry. I know it made things uncomfortable for you. You’re a terrific actress though. One of the best I’ve ever worked with.”
I didn’t want to hear his empty compliments and was about to say so when his next words caught me off guard. “I’m really sorry Avery, about everything. About sleeping with other women when we were together. About not telling you the whole truth. About not being a good enough man to deserve you. I see what a dick I’ve been and I just wanted you to know that.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. Did he mean what he said, or was this just another ploy to get me into bed again? With a mixture of hope and skepticism, I put my hand on his and asked softly, “Really? So what does that mean?”
“It means I’m ready to become the man you need me to be. I know I haven’t been acting like it, but I think I’ve fallen in love with you. When we’re not together, I can’t stop thinking about you. You’re on my mind from the minute I wake up. Even after I’ve gone to bed at night, I lay awake for hours wondering how you are and if it would be all right if I called you. I’ve never been as happy as I am when I’m with you, or as miserable as when we’re apart. Agony this fucked up must be love.”
“I love you too,” I said and wiped away the tears from my cheeks with my hands. Then, taking a deep breath for courage I said, “But I can’t be with you. Your lifestyle is exciting and glamorous and just too fast for me. I know I’m a stripper who’s been living in L.A. for two years now and I look tough and seasoned, but deep in my heart I’m still just a girl from Utah. I need a man who can commit only to me, and I know that’s not who you are. I’m sorry, but I can’t change who I am any more than you can change who you are.”
“But, that’s what I’m trying to tell you,” Dimitri sounded happy and excited. “I want to change for you. I want to commit to being monogamous. From now on, you’re the only woman I want to be with. No more one night stands, no more affairs. I’m now a one-woman guy, and that one woman is you.”
“Are you serious?” I asked, with my heart in my throat. “You can’t mess around with my heart anymore Dimitri. If you tell me that you’re committed only to me and then you cheat and betray me with some other girl, you will have violated a trust that cannot be undone.”
“I know that. This isn’t a game for me; I’m serious.”
Dimitri looked at me, and saw deep into his ocean blue eyes all the way into his soul. He was serious and it made me burst into tears of pure love and happiness.
“Pull over!” I cried, pointing at the nearest exit off the freeway.
“What’s the matter? Are you sick?” Dimitri sounded terrified. He pulled off the road, parking beneath a quiet bridge and said softly, “Please don’t get out of the car and leave me. I love you. I’ve never said that to anyone before, but with you I know that’s how I feel. I love you.”
“I love you too. That’s why I wanted you to pull over. So I could kiss you,” I said, and
grabbed his face and pulled him towards me. This time, when our lips came together, it was clear that neither one of us was acting. My entire body pulsed with currents of sexual excitement and I wanted him like never before. The interior of the car was too cramped, and I couldn’t get to him over the gear shift stick and the steering wheel. Frustrated, I breathed, “Get out of the car.”
As I exited the car, Dimitri did the same with a confused expression, until I wrapped my arms around his neck and crushed my body to his own, kissing him passionately. His hands slipped up underneath my green cotton blouse, where he quickly discovered that I hadn’t bothered to put on a bra. His firm hands felt so good as they fondled my breasts that a gasp of pleasure escaped my throat.
“Suck my nipples,” I moaned, and tore open the buttons of my blouse, exposing my bare tits to him under the cover of the lonely bridge. Eagerly, Dimitri complied, and huge volts of sexual pleasure coursed through my body, and radiated inside me. I wanted him to fuck me. I needed him to fuck me.
Without thinking, I pulled down my jeans and panties, and bent over the hood of his car, exposing my naked backside to him. Delirious with desire, I wriggled my ass enticingly and I fingered my own pussy and said, “I’m so wet for you; I need you to fuck me right here and right now.”
Dimitri’s eyes burned with the same lust I felt raging inside of me. We’d gotten all the foreplay we had needed during the hours of making out in the studio and we were both primed for sex. He pulled open the fly of his slacks, gripped me firmly by the hips, and slammed into me eagerly from behind. His cock felt so good that I nearly orgasmed at once. Rocking back against him, I screamed out with pleasure as I clutched at the hood of the car and begged him to fuck me as hard as he could.
Dimitri’s hands gripped my hips firmly as he pounded into me with a fury that drove me over the edge and plummeted me into a powerful and deeply satisfying orgasm. I felt him climax as well, but we had both built up so much desire kissing each other for so long, that it wasn’t enough to satisfy him and he still wanted more.
Stripped Love #4 (BBW Alpha Male Romance) Page 2
