She wanted more and wouldn’t take for granted that what they shared in that moment would soon be repeated. Working then to, in some way, reciprocate his attention to her chest, she dragged a shaky hand up his sweat-slicked abs and rib cage until she was cupping a bulging pec. She caressed his nipple beneath her thumb.
Rook shuddered, his divine mouth still full of her breast. Viva seized the opportunity to turn the tables then and she had him on his back moments later. Their connection never broke; it had no chance to. Viva’s hips were smothered in his hands, his hold so secure, it almost allowed for no movement.
Sensually slow, her body rocked in a fashion that sent orgasmic shudders ricocheting through her in thick, unapologetic waves. Her hands glided, coasting up her taut, trim torso. She made a brief stop to cup her breasts before moving on to drag her fingers through her hair and let the mass tumble around her enchanting face.
Rook received almost as much pleasure from the sight of her as he did from the feel of her squeezing the erection that showed no signs of losing its intensity anytime soon. When he sensed her needs were getting the better of her, he added more pressure to his hold at her hips in hopes of preventing her from taking him over the edge with her. Not yet, he told himself. Not yet.
Viva’s shudders grew fiercer and Rook knew she was indeed at the limit of her resistance. He wanted more though and he meant to have it. Viva collapsed atop him, yet she still moved with an overt eroticism that would’ve made him come were it not for how greedy he still was for her.
Viva’s smile reflected complete contentment. She felt oh so pampered when his lips brushed her brow for a tender kiss. Yes, she felt wholly content, or at least she thought she was, until he put her beneath him again.
This time, she was on her stomach with Rook’s considerable weight more stimulating than it was crushing as he took her from behind. Spent as she was, Viva still latched onto a new wave of arousal. She arched up to receive him, gasping eagerly and panting while her intimate folds contracted in a desperate attempt to keep him still to savor.
Rook calmed his enthusiastic captive with quick, soft kisses to her ear and whispered, “Easy...it’s my turn now...”
Chapter 12
“I was watching the show one night. You and what’s his face were having...a moment.”
Viva giggled. “Wholly content” seemed a poor way to describe the way she felt. While the sex had been supreme, the aftermath was hot on its heels. Snuggling into the perfection that was Rook’s chest, she sent up a quick prayer for this time to be among the first of many.
“Bryce Danzig.” She gave him the name of her leading man. “He’s gay, you know?”
Rook snorted. “Hard to tell judging from his scenes with you.”
Viva felt the urge to laugh again, knowing the emotion was brought on by more than Rook’s teasing. It was from the true happiness coursing through her veins.
The only light glowed from the fireplace. The master suite was dark, even with the moon’s illumination. It shone faint that night as it streamed in through windows yet to be covered by drawn drapes.
“Anyway...” Rook continued, snuggling his head deeper into the cradle provided by his arm tucked beneath it. “You were very into what he was doing and I...”
Viva pushed up on her elbow then to look down at him. “The show’s director, Jake Hough, had to work a lot with us—me and Bryce—in the beginning. My acting experience was still very limited and Bryce’s...sexual preference was a challenge. He’d never acted opposite a woman as a romantic lead before.”
Viva rested back into the sheets when she saw she had Rook’s attention. “Jake’s advice to us was to see the person we most wanted to be with in the world. ‘Every move you make, every sound you utter is for them,’ he said.” She grazed her knuckles against his jaw when he raised up over her.
“Every love scene I’ve ever done has been with you in my head,” she said.
Rook’s sly smile defined his features into a more devastating picture. “That was some pretty handy advice.”
“Yes, yes, it was.” Viva chuckled the words. “Hard to believe the man is four times divorced.”
Laughter mingled with the pop and snap of the fire-engulfed logs in the hearth.
“That night I watched you with him,” Rook continued, “and I heard you, um...responding to him. I thought about us, thought about you sounding that way for Vossler...and I lost it.”
“Rook—” Viva didn’t realize she was holding her breath until he eased his staggering gaze her way. She didn’t know what to say. There was no need for more.
“Let me finish,” he soothed.
Viva allowed the breath she’d been holding to expel in a slow flow and somehow she managed to keep her gaze from faltering.
Rook sat up then, one arm hanging over a raised knee as he looked toward the fire. “My crew had been on a pretty rough case—it was a domestic thing. The client’s daughter was trying to get out of a bad marriage. The ex rubbed the whole team the wrong way. The client hired us to watch her and make sure the fool didn’t come around.” He brought a hand to his jaw, massaged there for a moment as the buried memories began to surface.
“She’d served the jerk with papers the week before and her father—my client—wanted us to keep an eye out.”
Viva decided to sit up then as well, but felt it best not to initiate contact. She could see the muscles in his wide back were rigid with tension.
“That night I saw you on TV...being there in the apartment, our apartment...it was too much.” He squeezed his eyes shut, gave a quick shake of his head. “I went to relieve whomever was on shift. I just needed to get out of the house and take my mind off stuff—off you...” He passed Viva a sidelong smile, but didn’t look her way.
“I went to the daughter’s house, talked a little bit with my guys. I was going to take a walk around the grounds. My team was about to pull off when I heard her scream. It was a big place, so we didn’t know how long he’d been in there with her before we heard her. My people are obsessive about their jobs...” He shook his head again. “No way the bastard got past them, but there he was inside. Turned out, he talked his way in. Lied to her about wanting to put the past to rest—that’s what she was able to tell me...later. Hmph...put her to rest was more like it. She was hurt pretty bad by the time we got him off her. My guys were calling the cops, so all I had to do was restrain him and let him cool his heels until they got there. I didn’t.”
Viva watched Rook’s fists clench. She resisted drawing the sheets over her suddenly chilled skin.
“It just came over me,” he said, and then studied his fists, as well. “Like a fever and I... I couldn’t—” His sigh was loud over the wood crackling amid the fire.
“It’s ironic.” He laughed shortly, quietly then. “I beat the guy almost half to death—a guy who lost it when his ex just shook hands with another man and there I was on the verge of killing him because I couldn’t handle seeing my—my ex...acting out a love scene.”
“You know you were dealing with more than that.” Viva tentatively voiced the reminder.
Rook angled his head, but still didn’t give her the full benefit of his gaze. “It wasn’t enough to justify what I did to that guy. No one blamed me for it, but they were plenty ready to lay blame by the end of a few more weeks. Thank God for Linus,” he groaned, burying his face in his hands.
“Linus Brooks?” Viva frowned.
“He was the one who got me to include the fight-training service end to my business.” He smirked. “Once I dealt with the crap load of anger that had me in danger of losing every friend I had in the world. I, um... I’ve come a long way on that end, but I’ve still got a long way to go. Which is why—”
“You kept giving me the brush-off on talking about it,” she finished.
He smoothed b
oth hands over his nape. “Right.” He then worked the heels of his hands into his eyes while resting back onto the bed.
“So? What now?” Still sitting, Viva turned to study him where he lay.
Rook was quiet for a long time. “You have to know I tried everything to stay away from you. Over the years...there were a lot of times I could’ve changed that. I didn’t and I’m sorry.”
Viva returned the lopsided grin he sent her. “I could say the same, you know? What’s done is done, right?”
Rook folded her hand into his. “You’re gonna have to forgive me if I’m hard to shake after all this.” He considered her fingers as if each was a unique source of fascination. “I knew if you ever came back into my life, I wouldn’t be up for letting you go again.”
“That doesn’t sound so bad to me.” Viva scooted round to face him more fully.
His expression was a sober one. “I haven’t evolved all that much, V. I’m still that guy you had to walk away from.”
“I was really in love with that guy, you know?” She straddled him on the bed.
“Really?” Rook fought to suppress a smile. “He was pretty overbearing, kind of a know-it-all.”
“Mmm...yeah...yeah, he could be those things. But his body is amazing and he’s quite stunning in bed.”
Rook had to laugh then. “We can’t spend all our time in bed, though, remember?”
She shrugged. “Well, it’s not a deal breaker and like I said...I love you, remember?”
“I remember.” He’d been spanning the lush length of her thighs with his palms. They traveled up to curve about her waist and he tugged to set her nice and neat against a renewed erection.
Viva wanted to melt, even as her heart sank in reaction to the fact that he’d yet to reciprocate her emotional confession. Still, happiness continued to mount and she forgot her disappointment when he nudged her close for a kiss.
“I love you,” he said softly, simply against her mouth.
Her sinking heart was suddenly in her throat and the resulting kiss was more than a greedy claiming. It was a confirmation that their hearts were again as one.
* * *
Words of promise and love renewed were whispered deep into the earliest hours of the morning. This, followed by more lovemaking, interrupted by lengthy bouts of sleep, followed by more lovemaking.
Rook didn’t make a move to head into work that morning and Viva wasn’t about to call his attention to the fact. Sunlight was reflecting blindingly bright off the snow-capped landscape around ten that morning when they decided it might finally be worth checking out another area of the house besides the bedroom.
While Rook went to the kitchen to begin breakfast, Viva returned to the den and set the coffee table. The plan was to eat there with the splendid mountain scenery before their eyes. With the table set, Viva returned to the kitchen to watch Rook put his culinary skills to the test. Watching the man cook was only an added benefit. Viva was more interested in watching him cook wearing only the nylon basketball shorts he’d tugged on before leaving bed. She grabbed her cell as she passed the lamp table where she’d left it last night. By the time she got to the kitchen, she was frowning into her phone.
“Trouble?” Rook had spied the look she wore when she took a seat at the other end of the wide wood-grained cooking island.
“Not sure...there’re about ten missed calls from Stanton Giles. He’s Bryce’s agent.”
The news had Rook’s hand hovering over the bowl of eggs waiting to be cracked. Viva pulled a trembling hand through her hair and gave the phone a foreboding look.
“I can’t take much more of this,” she said. “If Stan tells me something’s happened to—”
“Hey, hey, stop.” Rook turned to wave off her predictions. “Find out what the man wants before you take your trip off the deep end, okay?” His stern expression softened when he saw her decisive nod.
“You’re right.” Viva continued to nod while she eased off the island’s bar seat. She disregarded the time; the man had left ten calls, after all.
Rook forgot his breakfast duties, his focus instead on Viva across the big kitchen. Slowly, approvingly, his gaze roamed her legs bared beneath the hem of an extralarge midnight-blue sweatshirt. All she wore beneath were a pair of pink bikini briefs and the knowledge of that pleased him to no end.
Viva was greeting Stan Giles a few moments later. Rook half listened. His attention gradually returned to his cooking task as he took in the obligatory opening chatter and the series of “mmm-hmms,” “okays” and “rights” Viva uttered for her part of the conversation. Her sudden gasp and hushed “what?” followed by “Are you serious?” had Rook pausing once again over the food.
When she screamed, his first instinct was to go to her. Then he saw the scream followed by five seconds of excited jumping and a hand covering her mouth to muffle more screams. He understood. The news was good. He focused on whipping the eggs into a creamy yellow froth.
“Oh?...Yeah...No, yeah, yeah, I get it. I, um, how’d he—how’d he sound, Stan?...Right...Right, no, I—I get it...Yeah, yeah I am excited.” She turned, met Rook’s gaze and smiled brighter. “Right,” she said into the phone. “Yeah, okay, Stan, thanks...Okay, sounds good...All right...All right. Talk to you soon...Bye.”
“Good news?” Rook was adding chopped scallions to a bowl of chopped green peppers and spinach.
“The show...” Viva began as if dazed. “Sounds like we’re popular enough for a movie.”
Laughter was brightening Rook’s remarkable face even before the sound tumbled full and rich from his throat. The explosion of good cheer was followed by words to that effect and he came around the cooking island to grab Viva into a bear hug that took her off her feet.
“It’s pretty cool, huh?” Viva’s words were practically swallowed up by her laughter.
“Probably old hat for someone who’s no stranger to the big screen,” Rook said as he set her to her feet.
“Are you kidding?” Viva shuffled back to the island and set the phone on the counter. “The show was my first real leading role. To know it’s become so popular with the audience and that the audience is big enough to get the attention of a well-respected studio...it’s like a dream that keeps on morphing into something more amazing.”
“Okay.” Rook nodded, tilted his head as if measuring her expression. “So why do you seem sort of down about it?”
Viva let her smile carry only a few seconds longer before letting it slip. She didn’t know why it still surprised her how well he knew her.
“Stan reached out to me because Murray asked him to. Stan is Bryce’s agent, not mine.”
“So?” Rook went back to his place at the stove.
“So why give a damn whether I hear about this or not if he plans to kill me? He asked Stan to take me on as a client. Why do that?”
“To put you at ease, maybe?” Rook gave the eggs a few more seconds of unnecessary beating. “To have you focused on good fortune instead of the threat at your back? Do you really not get that, V?” He pushed the eggs aside.
“I just don’t...”
“Don’t what, V? Believe he’d ever do anything so foul? I get it.”
“Rook, I—I don’t want to fight.”
“Neither do I.” He took up the egg bowl again. “I’ll call you when breakfast is ready.”
Viva used another minute to study him. The rigid set of his shoulders was more than a little noticeable. She agreed it was best to wait out the breakfast prep elsewhere. Before she cleared the kitchen’s entryway, she heard his voice.
“He enjoyed it,” Rook spoke over his shoulder, sorrow clinging to every word. “Murray. He told me to my face. I think he made a special trip back just to do it. He enjoyed telling me about you and Vossler. Grinned like an idiot the whole time he was giving me t
he details. He knew I was too out of it to beat the hell out of him like I otherwise would’ve done. He finished up by telling me that his only regret was that he couldn’t tell me how much you enjoyed yourself. He must’ve had a conversation with Vossler about it. According to the man himself, you were very eager to please.”
Viva was glad Rook kept his back turned. Her face was shining with tears that blurred her vision as they streamed her cheeks. She left the kitchen soundlessly.
Rook remained motionless until the mutinous anger engulfing him had backed off.
* * *
Breakfast was a quiet affair. Rook and Viva managed to enjoy it in the same room, though Viva wondered if that was because they ate in the den and not in a more formal setting at an actual dining table. Aside from requests to pass the fruit bowl or nods for coffee to be topped off, there was no real conversation.
They parted ways soon after the meal. Rook handled the dishes. Viva had said something about getting dressed and then reviewing her script again. She tried to close out the replay of the run-in with Murray that Rook had mentioned. But it was useless.
After she left home—the way she left home—there had been no one, no family. There was only Murray—he’d been her family. He’d been there for her through everything. Everything. From the early career disappointments, to giving her a shoulder to cry on when she continually mourned the end of her relationship with Rook.
“God...” she moaned, holding her head in her hands as she leaned against the window in the parlor.
Murray had done it. Rook was telling the truth about what he’d been told. Even all the rest, the curious accidents that had befallen others over the last several weeks... He was most likely responsible for them, as well. Most likely? Most definitely. She knew that and she just couldn’t bring herself to admit it.
* * *
Knocking caught her attention. Quickly, she blinked water from her eyes and turned on the padded window seat where she’d been pretending to review the script for the past few hours. The routine had not changed much over the last day and a half. She and Rook had spent much of that time moving around each other in quiet caution. She guessed they were both afraid of saying more of the wrong thing.
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