by Dee J. Adams
“Thank you.” He said the words so softly, almost as reverently as his touch, right before his mouth closed over her. The heat, the soft suction lifted her to another plane, a magic carpet ride of sensation. “Thank you,” he said again, right before his tongue circled her sensitive clit. He laved, he licked, he made her crazy and took her higher with each stroke. He teased her mercilessly, taking her to the edge, but holding off on the final show.
Sweat slicked Kim’s skin as she fisted the sheets and pushed into Leo’s mouth, silently begging for the push that would take her over. He ran a finger from her wet center all the way back to uncharted territory and Kim bucked up, her muscles tense, every inch of her strung taught. She rode that line of no return, the pinnacle before the fall. When he pushed that finger inside her, the line snapped. Kim came on a cry as wave after wave of satisfaction blew through her. Breathing hard, her mouth parched, she slowly came down to earth, barely aware of Leo licking her softly. He hadn’t budged. His hands stroked over her stomach and down her sides, over her hips. He looked up at her from that spot between her legs and Kim expected him to move over her, but he just grinned. “Thank you,” he said again.
She suspected he had plans to stay where he was and she beckoned him over her with an index finger. As he moved up her body, she gently pressed his shoulder back until she had him under her. He didn’t complain…just lifted up into her kiss as she settled over him. “These shorts have to go,” she murmured.
“Burn ’em,” he panted because she had her hand on his sizable erection.
She laughed, then stifled the sound. She didn’t want to have fun with him, or like him, or need him, or God forbid…love him. So she wiped her brain clean and focused on sex. She stripped off his shorts and wrapped her hand around a very magnificent part of Leo.
He thrust into her hand and because she didn’t plan to be with him again after this last time, she gave him the full party. When she licked the creamy pearl at the tip of his penis, he moaned and when she wrapped her lips around the head, he swore. He tasted salty and tangy. All male and all hers. At least for tonight. She’d never felt more power in this position. Never felt as if a man needed her more. That feeling fed her need.
She didn’t hold anything against him. He had a reason for his feelings and beliefs the same way she did. So no, she didn’t blame him and she wanted him to know that. So she took him deep and loved him with her mouth, intending to take him all the way. But after a couple of minutes, Leo snuck his hands under her arms and pulled her off him.
He took her mouth in a fiery kiss…teeth, tongue and lips as he settled her on top of him. Together they adjusted until he sunk inside her. The sudden invasion had her gasping into his mouth. Fulfillment washed through her with each new thrust and Kim rode him with matching pace. His hands roamed everywhere as she moved over him and with each stroke she got closer to another peak. When his fingers wrapped around her hips in a death grip, she knew he was close and she adjusted a fraction so that she got the most from their connection. He hit her G-spot and Kim tensed with the impending climax.
Leo’s jaw clenched tight and he growled. “C’mon, right now. Right now.” He tightened up everywhere and Kim felt the undeniable throbbing and the warm wash of his orgasm inside her. With a last powerful stroke, he set off her climax and she threw her head back and let it have her. It went beyond sex, beyond reason. Being with a man had never felt like it did when she was with Leo. There was something in the way they touched, in the fiery looks they exchanged as they came together and broke apart. Bucking on him as the last aftershocks washed through her, Kim knew no one would ever measure up to this man.
She collapsed on his chest, careful of his scrapes and sore muscles as she gasped for air.
His arms wrapped around her in a perfect moment.
Chapter Fifteen
When Leo opened his eyes in the morning, he rolled over and got nothing but cold sheets. He’d wanted to wrap himself around Kim’s warm, supple body…then pull her underneath him and continue where they’d left off. The change in plans left him empty. Morning sun streaked in from the opened curtains. A jackhammer pounding in his head indicated he might’ve overextended himself last night, but he figured every second with Kim was worth it. So… Where was she? He didn’t hear her in the bathroom? Maybe downstairs.
Leo eased from under the sheets and winced as his feet hit the cool hardwood floor. He’d definitely overdone it last night with the monkey sex. Turned out the more he had Kim, the more he wanted her. A new phenomenon for him. He’d blame it on the head injury, but he’d been leaning in this direction anyway, so that argument didn’t fly.
Instead of heading downstairs smelling like sex, he took a quick shower and threw on a pair of comfortable sweats. Now that he was home, he needed to find out if his editor, Tim, had cut any of the footage. He’d let too much time get away from him since Saturday. He checked his watch on the nightstand. Tuesday, noon. Already? How the hell did that happen?
Time to get back in the saddle. He cringed at the thought. No saddles for him in the near future. Which reminded him, he needed to call Kyle and see how Smokey was and he had to make a trip to FedEx for Kim’s passport. Just another item on his growing list of things to do. He had a ton of phone calls to return since most of the crew had checked up on him during his hospital stay. Seemed as if Kim had been answering his phone for days now.
Leo took the stairs gingerly to make sure his head stayed on his shoulders since he did have a 9.0 on the Richter scale of headaches. He hoped the few ibuprofens he swallowed would take the edge off, because he didn’t want to use the pain meds prescribed by the hospital. That shit made him loopy and he needed to think clearly to finish the movie. His stomach rumbled like a bear out of hibernation. Food would definitely help his case.
If the smells coming from the kitchen were any indication, there was some serious cooking going on. Leo slipped into the doorway and saw Kim at the stove, manning a couple of pans. The body hugging yoga pants and form-fitting, coordinating pink tank set his mouth to salivate. Or maybe it was breakfast. Could’ve been both. A ponytail kept her blond hair out of her face.
“I thought you didn’t cook,” he said easing behind her and tugging her against his chest. She smelled like cinnamon and morning. Her firm ass cheeks cradled his growing erection.
She didn’t fight him, but she didn’t turn into him for more either. She snorted. “This doesn’t count. Anyone can scramble an egg and you had premade pancake mix. All I had to do was add water and shake. They’ll probably be horrible.” She flipped a couple pancakes as she spoke then did the same with the eggs.
Leo bent and nibbled her earlobe. She shivered and he smiled against her soft skin. He could get used to mornings like this.
“Oh, forgot the orange juice,” she said, easing out of his grasp and heading to the fridge. She barely looked at him as she handed it over. “You can put that on the counter.”
“Okay…” Something had definitely happened since last night. The woman in front of him now was not the woman who’d been in his arms or in his bed for the last eight hours. Last night, she’d been a hot tamale spicing up his life and this morning she was a cold potato. “Is—”
“I made a list of all the people who called while you were in the hospital,” she said, tipping the pan and sliding eggs onto a plate. “I mean besides all the crew members. Word got out and you made big news.” She plopped a couple of pancakes along with some strawberries next to the eggs. “I also made a list of all the things you still had left to do from your original list on Saturday.” She glanced up at him. “I hope that’s all right.”
“All right? It’s better than all right.” No one had ever worked this much—or as hard—for him and not received a paycheck. But why was she acting as if last night never happened? Like it was nothing out of the ordinary? Yes, he’d definitely had a lot of good sex, but nothing compared to what happened when he was with Kim. So what the hell changed between last night a
nd today? “If there’s—”
Her wide green eyes blinked when the phone rang, and she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief as she passed it to him.
Leo answered, but didn’t take his eyes off Kim.
“Leo! It’s Yanic. How you feeling, man? I swear to God, I nearly had a coronary when that horse went ape shit. I seriously thought you were a dead man when you hit that rock.”
“I think that makes two of us. Thanks for dropping the load with Tim. I owe you.” Kim slid the plate of food in front of him on the counter and stuck a fork in his pancakes.
“I’ve delivered more than one,” Yanic said.
“How’s that possible?” Leo asked. “We only used one.”
“You only used one,” Yanic informed him. “Once you left, we consulted the story board and finished the shot list. We got almost everything you wanted.”
“How was that possible if I wasn’t there?” Leo asked. Kim set down syrup and orange juice next to his plate.
“Wardrobe had doubles so we put Chad in your clothes and shot the scenes with the cameras behind him.”
“How the hell did he get on Smokey? You couldn’t match the shot without the horse.” Leo forked some eggs into his mouth. She’d sprinkled on cinnamon sugar. Perfection. She settled next to him with her own plate and started eating. Her shower-fresh scent snuck its way into his brain.
“Kyle pulled out a chunk of cactus from his saddle blanket. When you kicked him, you must have nailed that piece into his side and he lost it. We found it after you were airlifted away.”
He swallowed his bite. “So once the cactus came out, Smokey was okay?”
“Pretty much,” Yanic said.
“How the hell did a chunk of cactus get under his saddle blanket? He was fine the first take. No problems at all.” He tried the pancakes next. Not bad, although he was so hungry, he probably would’ve eaten his leather boot and been happy.
“It’s a mystery. Kyle has no clue. He swears it wasn’t there when he saddled Smokey and since Smokey seemed fine after the first take, it means the cactus found its way there before the second take.”
“You studying to be a detective?” Leo asked around his breakfast. It was easier to make light of the situation than to think someone purposely set him up.
“Amateur sleuth,” Yanic replied. “Mysteries fascinate me.”
Leo couldn’t say the same. He liked his mysteries on paper. Who wanted him hurt or dead? Why would one of the crewmembers be out to sabotage him? What could possibly be the motive? Yanic wouldn’t have those answers, so he went with the question he needed answered most. “Okay, Columbo, tell me you got a shot of the trio moving in on me, thinking I’m dead, before riding away.”
“Got it. It added some good tension to the scene.” Yanic chuckled. “You might have a career in this business.”
Smiling, Leo sipped his OJ. “Let’s hope.”
“The other good news is that Tim finished the cut yesterday. He’s just waiting for your notes to finish it off.”
There was nothing in the world like having good friends when shit hit the fan. “I can’t thank you enough, man. You totally saved my ass with this.”
“I know. You owe me so big. I can’t wait to collect.”
Leo nearly cringed at the thought. In the old days, he had courtside Laker’s tickets or orchestra seats at the Ahmanson or Pantages or any number of theaters in Los Angeles, but he’d had to get rid of everything, so now all he could offer was a piece of the movie and he’d already done that for Yanic.
“Give Tim a call,” Yanic said. “I think he’s busting at the seams for you to see his cut.”
“Ha. Him and me both,” Leo agreed.
Kim kept busy with the dishes after breakfast. She discovered that keeping Leo talking about his movie and the editing process kept his mind off their relationship.
The emotions she felt when they made love surpassed anything she’d dealt with. Sure, she liked good sex, but with Leo, it went beyond good sex into earthshattering, mind-bending sex.
With the light of day, her sanity returned. Somewhat. Leo still didn’t want her to have this baby and maybe she understood why, but it didn’t change her mind. Everything happened for a reason and if she was meant to have a less than healthy child, then she’d deal with it, but she wouldn’t consider another option now that she’d made up her mind.
Leo drove her to pick up her passport, and Kim battled the joy of being a free bird against the knowledge that she was about to leave Leo for good. She stood in line while Leo fielded another call on his cell phone in the car. When the clerk handed over a manila envelope, she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
Back in the car, she ripped it open and pulled it out. “Yes! Finally.” Free.
Leo disconnected his call. “Let me see.” He took the passport and smiled at the old picture of her. “When was this taken?”
“I don’t remember. A long time ago,” she said.
His smile dimmed and he crinkled his nose. “You don’t want to hear this.” He met her gaze. “It’s expired.”
“What?” Kim snatched the passport and checked the expiration date. “Three months ago? It expired three months ago? Are you freaking kidding me?” She slammed her head against the seat rest. “Unbelievable.”
Leo cranked the engine. “Home?”
Did she have a choice? “Home,” she said.
Luckily for her, Leo contacted his editor and ended up making notes on Tim’s cut of the footage. The digital world made everything instantaneous and Leo worked for hours, his eyes fixed to the computer screen while he made notes in a little pad. She kept her distance and spent a lot of time with Stella, giving the cat the attention she’d missed the past couple of days.
With an expired passport, she needed her driver’s license desperately. Chelsea had assured her that everything at work was under control, but Kim didn’t see how she was going to last another week or more without some form of ID. It was the key to her freedom. A call to the airlines was in order to see if she could fly without it.
Until she could grab a flight, maybe she should take Wilson up on his offer to stay at his hotel. That would get her out of Leo’s vicinity. God, sometimes she came up with the worst ideas. She just didn’t want to leave before she knew Leo was well enough to take care of himself. What if he got dizzy on the stairs and fell? That would seriously piss her off.
Later in the afternoon, the doorbell chimed and Leo strode across the room to open it.
“Dude!” A handsome thirty-something man pulled Leo in for a bear hug before releasing him. “I told you not to do the stunt. You gotta leave that shit to the professionals.” It had to be Rex. Funny, he looked like a Rex, handsome, with brown hair and eyes.
Yanic walked through the door next and pumped Leo’s hand. He kept his dark hair slicked back with product and was a dead ringer for Adrian Brody. “When did you get home?” he asked.
“Late yesterday,” Leo said, closing the door behind them. “Guys, this is Kim. Kim this is Rex and you met Yanic on Saturday.”
Kim shook hands with both men as they drifted into the den. “Can I get either of you something to drink?” She shot a quick look to Leo because when the hell had she become the hostess in his house?
“Not for me,” Rex said. “I’m fine.”
“Me too,” Yanic said, taking a spot on the sofa.
Whew. That solved that. “I’ll just be in the kitchen. Cleaning up.” Because that’s what the little woman would do, right? Damn, no matter what she did, she came off as the girlfriend and she really wasn’t Leo’s girlfriend. Didn’t want to be his girlfriend.
For the gazillionth time she wished for her driver’s license so she could get her life back. Staying here with Leo wasn’t doing her any favors. Unless she just made it clear that their sexual relationship expired early this morning after the fourth time they’d made crazy hot love.
Kim sighed and shook her head. “Face it, you’re the problem,” she murmur
ed to herself, the one with zero restraint when it came to this man. He pushed every one of her buttons, the kind of buttons that had her panting and begging for more of his touch, more of his kiss. Staying here would only mean more sex because she had that little willpower when it came to him.
As Kim loaded the dishwasher, she listened to the conversation in the other room. Yanic described the Smokey debacle and how he got the whole thing on film. He suggested Leo use that clip for promotional purposes. Kim cringed at the idea of watching it again. Once was plenty. But Leo didn’t seem averse to it. He just wanted to see it first.
Rex went into a few stories of stunts gone wrong and Kim couldn’t imagine doing such dangerous things for a living. Rex specialized in driving and motorcycle stunts, but he sounded like a man of many talents…all dangerous.
Kim finished cleaning up and walked through the room to head upstairs. Leo snagged her hand as she passed and he stood next to her.
“Whoa, where you headed like a bullet? Come sit down.” He tugged her next to him and she didn’t want to make a scene so she sat. The glance that Rex and Yanic shared didn’t get past her. She just wasn’t sure what it meant.
“I couldn’t have done anything without Kim this past week. She saved me,” Leo said, squeezing her hand.
Heat infused her cheeks. “You’d have been fine without me,” she assured him. Although it had been an eventful week. The car accident, the shooting, the horse… Even she wasn’t that unlucky. Sure detectives had been investigating, but this was the first time she really believed someone meant to do her serious harm.
“What’s wrong?” Yanic asked. “You look ill.”
Kim turned to Leo and forged ahead with her thoughts. “I see how the car accident and the shooting were directed toward me.” She paused as the idea took a stronger hold. “But the Smokey drama affected you.”
