Your Endless Love

by Layla Hagen

  I love seeing her open up to me like this. When she’s so close to a climax that I feel the muscles in her thighs and ass clench together, I pull back, kissing up her belly, bunching the tank top higher and higher, gobbling up every inch of skin I reveal. After yanking the top over her head, I capture her lips with mine. I could kiss her for hours, just kiss her. I can’t get enough of her sweet mouth.

  Lowering one hand between us, I play with her clit. She fists my cock at the base, pumping all the way up, pressing the heel of her palm on the tip.

  “Summer, that’s so good.”

  Tension pulls at the base of my spine with every stroke. Summer comes undone beneath me, writhing and moaning. I can tell when every wave of pleasure spreads through her, because she squeezes harder, moves her hand faster. I come seconds after she does and nearly collapse on top of her.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Summer

  “You are a bad man! Look at the time,” I exclaim once I’m dressed, and Alex has put on the only item of clothing he has in my room, his swim shorts. We were supposed to take a quick shower. Well, I suggested that. Alex had sexy plans, and he only shared them with me once I was already trapped between his hard body and the tiled wall.

  “You could have said no,” he says.

  “Mmm... I’m not very good at telling you no.”

  “You do know I’ll take advantage of that, don’t you?”

  “Oh, I hope you do.”

  He stalks toward me, intent written on his face. I point a finger at him.

  “Not right now. You’re going to make us miss lunch. And you still have to go change into clothes.”

  “I wish I could stay in here with you all day.”

  Sighing, I head to the small vanity table and start brushing my hair, avoiding looking at him in the mirror. “Far be it from me to want to bring reality into our little dream world, but we have to be careful, so no one can put two and two together about us.”

  “I’m sorry. My contract is very strict on that point.”

  “I know. Even if it wasn’t, being seen with a woman wouldn’t please your fans.” I shudder, remembering the vitriol in his fans’ voices during the panel.

  Alex walks right behind me. Taking the brush out of my hands, he disentangles my hair with slow, gentle moves.

  “You don’t mind that we have to keep it secret?”

  “I’d love it if we didn’t have to, but it’s not a big deal. And it’s just for a few days anyway.”

  Alex’s hand falters for a split second. We’re just for a few days. My stomach sinks at the thought, but I square my shoulders, smiling at him in the mirror. So what if we’ll go our separate ways in a week?

  Is there a real risk I might fall for him? Yes, there is.

  Will I let that hold me back? Most certainly not.

  I foresee a need for a copious amount of sugar and sisterly love when I return to San Francisco, but I won’t let that thought get in the way.

  When he finishes brushing my hair, he peppers my shoulders with kisses, glancing at me hungrily in the mirror.

  “No,” I say firmly. “I want that lunch. Don’t make me miss it.”

  He grins, his gaze raking up and down my body. “I promise I’ll make it worth your while.”

  Right... how do you let a man down gently when telling him you rate food—especially when you’re starving—above sexy times? I decide not to pussyfoot around.

  “Sorry, mister, but your schmexy skills aren’t reason enough for me to go hungry.”

  He abruptly straightens up, his eyes flashing. Yikes. Clearly, honesty is not always the best policy. In a second, he wraps his arms around my waist, trapping me against his chest. His naked chest.

  He has an advantage over me right here—all that skin on display makes it hard to think of anything beyond how lickable he is. I become aware that we’re moving toward the bed. I get all tingly at the prospect of more sexy time. A second later, I remember I had a good reason to say no. Then I remember my hands are free. I can use all this shameless display of hard chest against him. More for me to touch and taunt. I start my grand plan by splaying a palm on his chest. Then I have a stroke of genius, and I lick his nipple. That earns me a groan.

  I lick the other nipple. Alex presses his hips against me, and I feel his erection wedged between us. Hmm... I’m not sure if I’m winning this.

  He’s losing composure with every passing second, but we’re also moving in the direction of the bed. Did I mention I’m hot and bothered as hell?

  “I mean it. I want to get my lunch,” I warn.

  “No, you don’t. You want me. You tempt me, be prepared for the consequences.”

  He skims a large hand over my breast, as if to prove a point. I bite my lip as my sensitive nipple grazes the fabric of the bra. I’ve got to give it to him. Point proven. Now, how to torment him in return? I shimmy my lower body, feeling his hard and hot length pulsing against me. I hear a growl low in his throat. His control hangs on a thin thread. Yep, time to cut that thread. He’s at my mercy here. I’d feel like a powerful seductress if I wasn’t at his mercy just as much.

  His gaze is molten, his mouth hard as he pulls me into a kiss so hot and dirty, I might never recover. This man will climb into my heart and stay there. I know this with the certainty I know that my name is Summer Bennett. This doesn’t keep me from giving in to him.

  Oops, I guess I lost the battle. But if I’m honest, when it comes to feeling Alex’s lips and hands all over my body, there’s no losing, only winning.

  ***

  Alex

  “You’re right. I should buy more, or my nieces and nephews will fight over them,” Summer says almost a week later, scanning the racks with magnets. We’ve been in the resort’s shop for thirty minutes and are having a blast buying souvenirs for our families.

  I like that I can be myself around Summer, that we can have fun doing even the simplest things. I often feel like an impostor in Hollywood, where liking extravagant parties and exorbitant clothing is a requirement to fit in. Summer doesn’t look at me as if she’s measuring my net value in everything I do or say.

  “Okay, I’ll buy one of each,” she declares, nodding at the vendor. Once we’re out of the shop, her phone pings. She pulls it out of her bag, her brow scrunching when she reads the lengthy e-mail.

  “My boss. I pitched an idea about featuring young artists, but she’s not a fan. It’s important to nurture young talents. Having confidence in them boosts their own self-confidence.”

  “You’re right. One of the reasons I like to give feedback to young actors. Come to think of it, why don’t you have your own gallery? You have the funds to open it.”

  She smiles impishly. “It’s my dream to open one. I’d display collections by established painters and classics in one part, and new talents in another. I’d also love to offer painting classes.”

  “That sounds like a plan. Why don’t you do it?”

  “I opened a gallery after I graduated college. It failed spectacularly. I was... naive. I was too focused on young talents, and that’s not a draw with the masses. Never even came close to making a profit, so I closed up shop. Worked at several museums afterward, including abroad in Rome.”

  “You know what they say. Nothing is really a failure, but a learning experience.”

  She waves her hand. “I don’t mind calling things by their real name. Learning experience or not, failure is failure.”

  I take in her delicate frame. She might be small and fragile-looking, but Summer is made of a stronger clay than most people I know.

  “You have more experience now,” I reason.

  “So my family keeps saying.”

  “I like your family already. So, what’s holding you back?”

  “Oh, courage, where art thou? I’m still looking for it. I’ll let everyone know when I find it.”

  I’d like to be there when she does, hear her tell me all about it.

  “I can take both our gift bags to
my room,” I tell her. She has a painting class now, and I have some free time.

  “Thanks.” She cranes her neck to the left, then the right. “My neck’s stiff.”

  I lean in closer but still don’t touch her, because we’re in a public area of the resort.

  “You need to relax. I can help with that.”

  “Hmm... yes, you’re good at that,” she says pensively.

  “I’m amazing,” I correct her. “You keep telling me that. And you seem to mean it 100 percent.”

  She rolls her eyes, blushing. She does say that, repeatedly... in bed. “Fine, you’re amazing. Happy?”

  I flash her a grin. “We’re two hours away from of being alone, baby. I’ll show you what makes us both happy then.”

  Summer sighs contentedly as she heads toward the conference room where her painting class is taking place. Damn, I don’t want to let this woman go.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Alex

  “Ten more. Go, go, go.”

  “You’re enjoying this far too much,” I reply between breaths.

  Summer grins, dipping the spoon in the ice-cream box.

  “I have to say, watching you do crunches while I eat ice cream just made my top ten guilty pleasures.”

  Since we have such limited time together, we steal every moment we can, including my daily training session. Because I don’t need to beef up for a role right now, I exercise using my body weight only, so I’m doing the routine on the floor of my room. Summer sits cross-legged on one of the armchairs, flicking her eyes from my printed training plan in front of her to me.

  One day. We just have one more day until the camp’s over. How did this week go by so fast?

  “One, and done!” She claps her hands. “Planks are next.”

  I laugh, laying back on my elbows. “Don’t I deserve a break?”

  “Nope. It says on the plan you’re only supposed to take a break after the planks. I’m doing a favor to women worldwide by not letting you off the hook. We need your lickable hotness to remain that way, gives us all something to drool over. I’m doing this purely on humanitarian grounds. Not because I like to see you sweat and make all kinds of delicious manly sounds.”

  The things coming out of this woman’s mouth, I swear. I rise to my feet, stalking toward her.

  “Oy, that’s not a plank,” she admonishes as I prop my palms on the armrest, caging her in.

  “What are you going to do about it?”

  “Keep on like this, and you’re not getting goodbye sex.”

  My chest constricts. Fuck, I don’t want to say goodbye. I kiss her hard and deep. Can she feel how much I don’t want to let her go? Does she want this between us to go on as badly as I do? What if this one-week fling was enough for her? And if it wasn’t?

  It wouldn’t be fair to her to ask her to put up with all the drama surrounding me.

  “Mmm. How can I resist you when you kiss me like that?” she asks when I pull back. She licks on a spoonful of ice cream, which gives me an idea. I dip a finger in it. Summer blinks up at me, watching my lips. But I don’t bring it to my mouth.

  “Open your legs, Summer.”

  She gasps a little, but immediately shifts in the armchair, opening up, even bunching her dress to give me access.

  I bring my hand straight between her legs, push her thong to one side, and drag my finger up and down her entrance.

  “Alex! Whoa, that’s cold.”

  “I’ll warm you right up, baby.”

  I kneel before her, spreading her legs even wider. She clutches the box in her hand, looking down as if she can’t believe what I’m doing. I bunch her dress tightly against her and pull her ass a little further down the seat so she has a perfect view. I lick her clean, teasing her until her legs shake. Then I pull back.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Planks.”

  “Alexander Westbrook, get back here,” she warns.

  I grin, folding my arms over my chest. “Are you going to put your own pleasure above the interest of women worldwide? Not very humanitarian.”

  Narrowing her eyes, she covers herself and tucks her legs underneath her again. “On my count.”

  Planks are my least favorite part of the workout, but they’re effective as hell.

  “And, you’ve just broken your record!” she announces after an eternity.

  Explains why my arms feel like they’re about to explode. I lie on the floor, breathing raggedly for a few moments before pushing myself up.

  “You’re the best trainer I’ve ever had.”

  “Well, you just tell your trainer to ramble incessantly while you hold the plank to distract you.”

  “Won’t work. Only ramble I’m interested in is yours.”

  “Maybe you should keep me, then.”

  She sucks in a breath, then casts her gaze away from me, shoving a huge spoon of ice cream in her mouth. My throat goes dry as I mull over her words. My heart rate, which had just begun to slow down after the workout, picks up speed again.

  ***

  Summer

  Now I’ve done it. I couldn’t just keep my mouth shut, eat my ice cream and pretend like the fact that we’re going our separate ways tomorrow doesn’t make my heart weigh one hundred pounds.

  When he sits on his haunches in front of me, I add embarrassment to that dead weight. I stubbornly focus on detaching a frozen bit of ice cream from the carton.

  “Summer, look at me.”

  His voice is so soft, I want to sink into this chair until I disappear. I don’t want his pity or a gentle reminder that we’d agreed on... well, on some vacation fun, I guess. I know all that, I’m just having a bit more trouble accepting it than I initially thought.

  “Summer, do you mean that?” he asks, his hand now on my head, angling my face up. Gathering my strength, I’m about to wave my words away, but then I see his expression.

  His eyes are wide and searching, like he’s hoping I’ll say yes. Or am I just reading into this what I want? Taking a deep breath, I decide to own up to it, even though it feels a bit like peeling one of those protective layers I’ve put over my heart.

  “Yeah. Yes.” I bite the inside of my cheek, then add quickly, “But I know what our deal was, so—”

  “That doesn’t matter. Let me think for a minute.”

  He bites his lower lip, furrowing his brow. I swear I can hear his mind spinning. Meanwhile, my heart leaps into my throat.

  He moves from his haunches onto his knees. “My contract with the studio ends in three months. One and a half months after the premiere. We wouldn’t have to hide. Can you... would you be willing to wait for me?”

  “Three months? Yeah, it’s not so long.”

  It is a long time, and God knows what can happen during so many months, but I’m not ready to let this man go. We could work it out.

  He slides his hand into my hair, his fingertips pressing on my scalp as he draws me nearer to the edge of the armchair. I lower my feet onto the floor, parting my legs so he fits in between.

  “That’s not fair to you. Asking you to wait,” he murmurs. “And it’s not fair to ask you to hide with me either.”

  “Alex, what do you want?”

  “You! Any way I can have you.”

  My limbs feel lighter, as if an invisible weight pressing down on them has shifted.

  “But even after the whole studio mess is over, my life always has a dose of crazy. That’s Hollywood: insane filming hours, travel. The paps always make up stuff. I won’t be able to protect you from all that, as much as I want to.”

  “You don’t need to protect me, Alex. I’m not a damsel or a kid.”

  He kisses my palm, then moves my hand to his cheek. “In my early years in Hollywood, I had relationships with a few women who weren’t in the industry. It overwhelmed them.”

  “And I’ve dated men who acted like I was disposable. Like they could walk all over my feelings. Everyone has a history. You know what they say about kissing frogs.
I’m tough.” I shrug, smiling, even though I feel like jumping up and down, screaming my happiness to the four corners until my throat is raw. “And I don’t want this to end.”

  He pulls me into a kiss, hooking an arm around my waist, pulling me out of the armchair. I topple him over, until he’s sitting on the floor, and I’m in his lap. We’re laughing, and kissing, and I feel like the luckiest woman. He sweeps me onto my back on the thick, plush carpet, lounging over me, kissing me deeper. God, I have never been kissed like this, not even by him. It feels more intimate than making love.

  “I want to kiss you for hours,” he murmurs, swiping his tongue over my lower lip. “Just kiss you. It’s the first time I can do this without counting down the time we have left.”

  Emotion wires up my entire body as I bring my mouth to his. We kiss until we’re both shaking, and then move to the bed. After sheathing himself, he slides inside me, moving slow and deep until I come apart so hard I see stars behind my eyelids.

  Although the temptation to remain in this room, wrapped in our cocoon, is high, we head out to the goodbye bonfire. Alex and I do our best to act as if we’re simply friends—which we’ve done the past week too—but I think if anyone looks closely, they’ll see the barely disguised joy on our faces. We end up not sleeping at all, watching the sunrise and heading straight to breakfast.

  Alex pulls me to one side once we’re out of the breakfast hall. “Preston, my manager, will be here soon because we’re flying together to New York.”

  Alex is flying around the country for the next two weeks for more prerelease promo for the superhero movie.

  “I’d like for you to meet him,” he continues.

  “You’re telling him?”

  “It’s best if he knows. He can help. It’ll be easier to manage all this secrecy if he knows. But if you’re not comfortable with that—”

  “No, it’s okay. If you think it’ll make things easier, I’ll meet Preston.”

  ***

  Preston nearly cries when Alex explains everything to him.