by Alice Raine
After recovering himself, Jack kissed me, his tongue moving lazily against mine before he lifted his head, stared deeply into my eyes, and began to move more purposefully.
His thrusts were deep but controlled, each one causing delicious tremors to flow through my entire body. The sensations blurred into one long, hazily beautiful swirl as he worked both my mind and body towards a peak that I’d only ever experienced from my own hand. I felt myself tighten around Jack, and a deep, pleasurable ache settle in my core and I knew I was close, then a second later, as he thrust back inside me once again I exploded into a climax so strong it had me grasping at Jack as I writhed against him, convulsing around him like a fist.
Jack moaned in pleasure, and I let out a hoarse cry as my orgasm seemed to go on and on, and then seconds later Jack thrust in deep and paused, a guttural groan escaping his throat as I felt his cock jerk and twitch inside me.
It took me a long while before I was remotely ready for speech, and in that time all I could manage was to gently trail my fingers through the damp hair at the nape of his neck as Jack panted on top of me.
‘That...was...amazing,’ I gasped. Jack leant up on his elbows and gazed at me with a grin.
‘It certainly was,’ he murmured. His forehead was damp, but his eyes were twinkling with happiness. Gently easing himself out of me, he rolled to my side with a laugh and kissed my shoulder and collarbone, making me shiver once again, dropping another soft kiss on my lips before he slid from the bed. ‘Stay there.’
Returning a second or so later with the condom gone, Jack grabbed a box of tissues from the bedside table and held them out to me. Accepting them with an embarrassed blush I grabbed a wad and wiped between my legs, only to flush further when it came away with a pinkish smear on it. The last remnant of my lost virginity.
To my further embarrassment I noticed that Jack saw this too, and frowned. ‘Are you OK?’ he asked.
‘I’m fine Jack, it didn’t hurt,’ I whispered, my cheeks absolutely flaming.
‘Shall we take another quick rinse and get some food?’ he asked.
‘Sounds good. I’m starving.’ I really was. Sex must have burned a whole load of calories because my stomach was actually grumbling audibly.
‘Me too.’ Jack looked at me and winked. ‘I think we’ve worked up quite an appetite.’ Laughing at how well he had mirrored my own thoughts, I allowed him to take my hand and pull me behind him into the bathroom.
As I stood behind Jack, waiting for him to get the temperature right, I watched the muscles in his broad back flex and felt my fingers itch with the urge to explore them. Swallowing, I refrained, but I couldn’t stop my gaze moving over the rest of his body. He really was such a prime specimen. I suppose it was a by-product of needing to stay trim for filming, but there didn’t seem to be an inch of fat on him anywhere. He was muscular, with corded arms and thick, strong legs, and an arse that was too good to be true.
Suddenly, as I stood there comparing my lanky, scrawny body to his near perfection I started to feel really self-conscious. The adrenaline had passed, leaving me feeling...almost vulnerable.
Turning toward me, Jack paused, and then frowned as he took in my awkward stance with one hand wrapped around my belly and the other covering my boobs.
‘Hey, you don’t need to hide from me, Caitlin.’
Averting my eyes, my past insecurities crept up on me all at once and I found myself shrugging awkwardly. ‘I, um, I don’t really like my body.’
Jack’s eyes boggled at my statement. ‘What? Why on earth not?’
I didn’t really want to bring him up again, but Jack knew I carried a lot of baggage, most of which stemmed from Greg. ‘Greg always used to tell me my breasts were too small, and my legs were too skinny and...’ My list was interrupted by Jack as he closed the gap between us and dragged me into his arms.
‘Fucking hell,’ he cursed. ‘I hate that he screwed with you so much, Caitlin, but you have to believe me, you are gorgeous. Utterly gorgeous. Unbelievably so. Please don’t feel embarrassed, I love every single part of you.’
That was exactly what I needed to hear.
My hands dropped away from my breasts and wrapped around Jack’s warm body. We seemed to fit together perfectly. This was where I was meant to be, and finally I’d fully accepted that fact.
Forty-eight
Allie
Staring at the phone in my hand, I grimaced at the idea of calling my parents. I normally loved chatting to my mum and dad, but this was one call that I was dreading. How did I break the news of Greg’s attack without sending them into a complete tailspin?
‘Oh, hi, Mum and Dad, what’s new? Me? Oh, I’m not too bad...Friday was a bit of a bummer, I got stabbed by a psycho who attempted to rape Cait, but my boyfriend broke down the door and saved us, and then the knife-wielding lunatic escaped and is currently on the run...Oh yeah, and my boyfriend proposed to me in the hospital and I said yes...’
Hmmm, no. I think my mother would pass out on the spot.
There really was no easy way to break this kind of news. All I could hope was that the sound of my voice would reassure them that I was OK.
Just as I plucked up the courage to bring up their number my mobile rang in my hand, illuminating the screen with four simple words: Mum and Dad – Home.
Shit. They’d beaten me to it. Was this just a regular catch up call? I supposed there was only one way to find out, so I took a deep breath and pressed the answer button.
‘Hi.’
I tried to sound bright and breezy, but I only got one word out before my mum’s panicked voice interrupted me. ‘Allie? Oh thank God! We got a call from Cait’s parents, are you alright?’ Her voice was high and wobbly as if she had been crying, which I suppose she probably had.
‘Calm down, Mum, I’m OK.’ Well, as OK as I could be. I was in hospital, in fairly significant pain, but my mum didn’t need to know that when she was thousands of miles away.
She didn’t heed my request to calm down, though, because as soon as I had said I was OK she started sobbing, sniffling, snivelling, and hiccupping all at the same time down the line. Wow, was my mum a loud crier.
There was a muffled noise and then the calm voice of my dad filled the line. ‘Allie, sweet pea, I’m so glad to hear you’re OK. That phone call gave your mother and I quite a shock.’ Hearing him call me sweet pea made me start to well up, and I found myself reaching for a tissue before I turned into a snivelling mess like my mother.
‘Yeah, it was a pretty shocking day here,’ I mumbled, not sure what else I could say.
‘We’re coming over, and Cait’s parents too.’
I suppose it was only natural that they’d want to be near us. ‘Dad, that’s not necessary, we’ll be fine. Honestly.’
‘Yeah, that’s what Cait said too, apparently. You girls are so stubborn it’s unbelievable. We want to come.’
‘OK. It’ll be great to see you. When are you flying?’ I was desperately hoping he would say a few days’ time so I would look a bit perkier, and hopefully be out of hospital.
‘We’re not sure. As soon as possible, but flights for today and tomorrow are booked up, so probably Monday or Tuesday. I’m waiting for a travel agent to call me back.’
Just then, Sean burst into the room with a harried expression on his face and a cardboard cup in his hand. Seeing me sitting up and talking on the phone, he immediately relaxed, and closed the door behind him before holding out the cup to me.
I had to chuckle. He hadn’t left my side since I’d arrived in hospital, but when the doctor had given me the all clear for eating and drinking normally I’d immediately begged him to go and get me a cup of coffee–a decent cup of coffee, not the sludgy muck they served on the cart that came round the wards. He had refused at first, adamant that he wanted to stay with me, but after I’d threatened him with taking back my acceptance of his proposal if he didn’t get me some java within the next fifteen minutes he had disappeared on his mission. From th
e delicious aroma wafting from the cup, he’d done a great job.
I mouthed a thank you to Sean as he took a seat beside me, gently stroking my thigh as I tried to re-focus on what my dad was saying. Even feeling as rough as I did, Sean’s touch was still remarkably distracting.
‘Cait was adamant that she was fine and told her parents not to come, but as it’s her birthday soon they said they want to make the trip. It’s going to be a bit of a surprise for her. I’ll text you as soon as we have our flight details.’
‘OK, Dad, sounds good.’
There was a chirruping noise in the background and the sound of my dad moving. ‘My mobile‘s ringing; I think that might be the travel agent. I better go. We’ll be in touch soon. Take care of yourself, sweet pea.’
The lump in my throat immediately reappeared as I nodded and had to force my words out. ‘I will, Dad, see you soon. Bye.’
Once I had hung up, Sean took the phone from me, placed it on the bedside table, and linked his fingers with mine. ‘How’d your parents take the news?’
I gave a watery-eyed shrug and gripped his fingers. ‘Not too bad, I guess. They called me, apparently Cait’s parents phoned them with the news this morning, so I guess she must have phoned home.’ Pausing, I dabbed at my eyes and pulled in a deep breath. ‘My mum was a bit of a state, but I think they were both just glad to hear my voice. They’re coming over in the next few days.’
Sean nodded, and indicated for me to try my coffee. The deliciously warm beverage definitely had me smiling in no time.
I noticed Sean starting to get fidgety. First he stood up, then his fingers started to rhythmically squeeze mine, and the final giveaway was his eyes, which began to dart around the room restlessly.
Something was up.
‘What’s the matter?’ I asked, putting my unfinished coffee down.
Sean chewed his lip for a second and then his cheeks flushed. ‘This is going to sound so selfish...’ Rolling his neck, he cleared his throat. ‘I...well, I was just wondering if this means you’ll be going back to the UK? Are your parents flying out to take you home?’
My eyebrows shot up. I hadn’t even considered going back.
‘Because I can’t leave until filming finishes for the season, and I...I really don’t want you to leave,’ Sean whispered, his eyes lowering away as if he were embarrassed. It still amazed me how a man as strong and confident as Sean could also be so vulnerable.
‘Sean, look at me.’ After taking a deep breath, he followed my request and raised his eyes to mine. ‘I am home. We’re together, home is wherever you are.’
Sean raised an eyebrow and, after releasing a breath of relief, leant in closer to me. ‘We’re more than just together, my gorgeous girl. We’re engaged. Don’t forget that.’
As if I could! I giggled at the way he wiggled his eyebrows, but then he exchanged his grin for a more serious expression as he dug in the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a small, black velvet box.
‘Speaking of which...I bought this a while ago. One of my security guards was kind enough to fetch it for me this morning.’
Popping open the box, Sean revealed a diamond ring that caused me to suck in a gasped breath. It was a simple band, which appeared to be platinum, and on the top were three square-cut diamonds nestled together and sparkling in the light. It was the most beautiful ring I’d ever seen.
‘I’d rather not be doing this in a hospital room, but I want to make it official, so here goes.’ Sean kept hold of my left hand and knelt onto one of his knees. Clearing his throat, he swallowed and grinned. ‘I’ve been practising this in my head all morning.’
Drawing in a deep breath, he licked his lips and gave my hand a squeeze. ‘Allie, you are without a doubt the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me. I love you more than you can ever imagine, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you make me the happiest man alive and agree to marry me?’
Seeing as he’d already asked, I shouldn’t have been anywhere near as emotional as I was, but after the call with my parents, tears soaked my cheeks within seconds. ‘Yes. I love you, Sean. I can’t wait to marry you.’
Sean leapt up and planted a hard kiss onto my tear-stained lips before helping me to slip the ring onto my finger. ‘I’m glad you said that, because I don’t want to wait long to make you my wife. As soon as you get out of here we can start making plans.’
Forty-nine
Cait
Being a nature geek, I always tried to spend as much time outside as possible, and so the morning after I had (temporarily) moved in with Jack, I went exploring, and discovered that his house offered me multiple ways to do so. There was a beautiful garden, a sunroom with side windows that opened out in a concertina so you were almost outside but still under the glass roof, and also not one, but two sprawling balconies.
I’d spent the best part of the previous hour exploring the private estate he lived on – complete with a gym and bar for the few residents –and was now relaxing on a sun lounger while I waited for Jack to finish a conference call with his director. I didn’t have any spare clothes–Jack had washed yesterday’s outfit for me and promised we could collect some from my own house today – so I’d stripped down to my bra and panties, deciding that they were basically the same as wearing a bikini anyway.
My eyes were closed and I was almost drifting off to sleep when I felt two warm hands trail across my belly. ‘Hmmm. I could get used to seeing you with so few clothes on,’ Jack murmured, dropping to his haunches and placing a kiss where his hands had just been.
Giggling as his lips tickled my belly, I rolled onto my side and noticed that he’d changed out of his swimming shorts and was now in grey jeans and a T-shirt. ‘Are you going somewhere?’
He smiled at me ruefully. ‘I’m ashamed to say it, but my cupboards are bare. If we’re both staying here, I need to run out to get some food. I won’t be long.’
Sunbathing was fine, but there was only so much I could do without getting bored so I quickly jumped up, keen to join him. ‘Wait, I’ll come too.’
Besides, the thought of watching a Hollywood superstar pick out groceries had a certain appeal to it. I pulled on my faded jeans and a T-shirt as fast as I could. ‘Ready.’
Jack grinned, so I looked down at myself critically. I looked a little scruffy, but these were the only clothes I had here, and besides, we were only going shopping. ‘What? Do I look OK?’
‘You look gorgeous, as always. It’s nothing. Come on, let’s go.’ I gave myself a final assessment, but saw nothing wrong with my outfit, so I shrugged, picked up my bag and a sunhat he had leant me, and followed him through to the Jeep.
After just ten minutes, Jack pulled his car into the carpark of a small supermarket. Well, it was small compared to the Walmarts I’d been to, anyway. As I gazed around I spotted what looked like several photographers lazily sitting in the sun by the trolley bays.
Seeing my look of concern Jack smiled and patted my knee. ‘They’re often here. This place is used by all the rich and famous of L.A. Well, the ones like me who do their own shopping,’ he chuckled.
Oh God. I’d never considered that something as mundane as shopping would be of interest to the press, but thinking about the gossip magazines I read in the hairdresser’s, I realised how naive I’d been. Jack was famous–everything he did was interesting to journalists.
So much for a quiet trip to the shops. Now I realised what he’d ben chuckling at earlier–my first meeting with the press and I was wearing a crumpled T-shirt and scruffy jeans. ‘You could have warned me!’
Jack gave me his best cheeky chappy look and then shrugged as if it was no big deal. ‘I already told you that you look gorgeous, and I meant it.’ Leaning across, he gently swept a wayward piece of hair from my face and smiled at me so adoringly that I couldn’t find it in me to stay irritated with him.
This was not good though, because after Greg’s attack, I was now even more reluctant to be seen publicly with Jack.<
br />
Besides, I didn’t want to be introducing myself to the world as the significant woman in his life when I looked like this: I had no make-up on, my face was shiny and red from sunbathing, and my clothes looked like I’d pulled them out of a bin bag.
There was only one solution. I was going to have to go incognito.
Digging around in my bag, I pulled out my large sunglasses and pulled on the floppy sun hat. It was a bit worse for wear, but it would do the trick – once I had these on, there was no way anyone would be able to recognise me.
Shaking his head, Jack fingered the rim of the hat. ‘Is being seen in public with me really so awful that you have to hide?’ he joked. Although there was humour in his tone, I could detect a hint of resignation. I knew he still wanted to go public, and it was obviously niggling him that I was holding back. I wanted us to be more official too, of course I did, but I was still adamant that my reasons for staying quiet were valid.
‘You know it has nothing to do with you, Jack,’ I murmured, tugging on the hat and making sure it was firmly on my head. ‘But until Greg is found I’m not willing to put you at risk. The hat stays for now.’ Flashing one more determined glance at Jack, I opened the door and dropped from the step onto the warm tarmac of the car park. I knew I was being paranoid; Jack had Flynn to watch over him, after all.
Slamming the door behind me, I saw some of the photographers glance my way, but not recognising me, they continued to lounge in the sun. Huh, this wasn’t so bad.
A second later, however, it became a completely different story as Jack emerged from the other side of the Jeep and casually grabbed a trolley. He was wearing just his aviator sunglasses, so with his tall frame and familiar floppy hair he was instantly recognisable, and his mystery brunette in tow–me–became the centre of the photographers’ day.
Shiiiiiiiit.
I had never seen a group of people get up so fast, and suddenly the photographers were on their feet and firing questions at us thick and fast. ‘Jack! Jack! Is this your girlfriend? Sister? Friend? Miss? Hello, Miss?’ This tirade was shortly followed by, ‘Is this the new girlfriend you’re rumoured to be seeing? Can we get a name? A picture?’
