My mind suddenly cleared of the fog it had been drenched in since we arrived.
“Race you!” I challenged, immediately pulling my dress over my head.
“What?” Alex called as I ran outside.
I unhooked my bra, throwing it to the side as I kicked my sandals off. I balanced on the edge of the pool, and glanced back at Alex who was currently naked from the waist up. He was desperately trying not to fall over as he balanced on one leg, removing one of his trainers. I slid my fingers into the side of my pants and wriggled suggestively, skimming them down my thighs.
Alex hastily unbuttoned his jeans as he advanced toward me, leaving them in a crumpled heap at his feet as my pants fell to the floor.
I winked at him before diving into the water.
As I surfaced at the far side of the small pool, Alex leap into the air and bombed into the water, creating a massive splash.
He surfaced at the same point he had disappeared under the water.
“Diving not your strong point!” I called.
He swam across the pool, grinning as he approached me. “I think I have other skills.”
“Such as?”
He encircled me in his arms, pushing his lips onto mine as we gradually slipped beneath the surface of the water. The pool was too deep for me to stand in, but I was surprised to realise that it was too deep for Alex as well. We sank a good foot below the surface before we stopped. I wrapped my legs around him as we continued kissing. Bubbles of air rushed past our faces as they escaped through our noses.
When I needed to breathe, I moved my face away from him and pushed on his shoulders, rising the short distance to the surface. I took a big breath of air just as Alex grabbed my legs, but instead of pulling me back under the water, he lifted me, and I tipped backward. As I floated on the water, Alex’s face appeared between my knees as he came up for air. He guided my floating body to the edge of the pool.
“Hold on, Ella. I’m gonna make you scream,” he instructed before dipping under the water. I reached behind, and grabbed the edge of the pool.
“Oh shit!” I moaned as his head nudged my thighs and his tongue pushed against me, finding exactly the right spot.
There was no sound other than the water as it lapped against the side of the pool. I shut my eyes and relaxed, fully intent on letting Alex continue what he was doing. His insistent hands pushed my thighs further apart, and I moaned as his smooth tongue licked me.
The peace was broken as he came up for air, his hair plastered in wet strands across his face. He winked before disappearing under the water again. This time his tongue didn’t return to the area he had just left, his whole mouth did, latching over me as he sucked on my clit. I reacted instinctively, bucking my hips toward him. Taking my action as encouragement, he continued sucking, pushing his tongue out to tease me even more. When he surfaced again, he kissed me, deep and hard, pushing my head back onto the edge of the pool as he pressed against my body. I was trapped between the hard side of the pool and his insistent body.
“Have you screamed yet?” he asked, his voice husky and breathy.
I shook my head, my breathing laboured even though I hadn’t been the one under the water.
“Then I’m not doing my job properly, am I?”
He manoeuvred himself so he was at my side. Placing his hand against my stomach he slipped it lower, gently pushing between my legs before inserting his fingers. He kissed me as his thumb ghosted over my clit. As our kissing grew more passionate, he set up a rhythm with his fingers and his thumb, expertly bringing me near to his goal of making me scream. His erection pushed against my thigh, thrusting against me in the same rhythm as his fingers. He may not have been inside me, but his actions were more than clear.
I slipped one of my hands into the water, and wrapped my hand around him. He groaned into my mouth, and I gripped him tighter as he thrust. The change in his actions happened immediately. His thumb moved quicker, but he stopped the rhythmic movement of his fingers. Instead of them moving in and out, he stroked my front inner wall.
I screamed as my body reacted, and bucked my hips as my orgasm crashed through me. His kiss swallowed my scream, and he growled into my mouth, thrusting even harder into my tight grip on his cock. Seconds later, he pulled away from our kiss and dropped his head onto my shoulder. His cock swelled in my hand, and he gasped and moaned as his orgasm took a hold.
Neither of us spoke, and the peacefulness of the moment washed over us for several minutes. The only sounds were our laboured breathing as we calmed, and the chirps of birds in the trees nearby.
Alex lifted his head from my shoulder and pecked my lips.
“I made you scream,” he said.
I nodded. “Your fingers are incredibly talented.”
He leaned forward to kiss me again.
“We’d better get out, dry off, and then I’ll cook you some dinner,” he said when we broke apart.
“You? Cook?” I had visions of eating nothing but cheese on toast for the next week.
“Out here I do. Helen makes sure I have everything available to be able to rustle something decent up. I can hardly call for a take away. I’ll have step by step instructions in the kitchen—with everything labelled in the fridge. She’ll have made sure that there’ll be something extra nice because you’re with me.”
“Sounds good,” I offered as I turned in the water, ready to haul myself onto the side.
“Can I get out first?” Alex asked. “I don’t think I’ll cope if I see your naked ass when you climb out.”
I sank back into the water. “Be my guest. But you do know how much I like your ass. What makes you think I’ll control myself?”
He pulled himself onto the side of the pool.
I ogled him—it would have been rude not to. But as he stepped away from the pool area I shrieked in horror.
“Alex! What the hell have you got on your feet?”
“Socks,” he replied. “I didn’t have time to take them off!”
I screwed my nose up and floated on my back before pushing myself into the middle of the pool.
“If I’d known you had your socks on, you’d have never made me scream!”
I chuckled at the ridiculous sight of him naked apart from his socks. This was not what my fantasy of him looked like. I grinned as I realised that even though Alex was my fantasy man—he was also real. The socks, in a strange way, just proved it.
“Go make me my dinner, Sock Man!” I called after him as he disappeared inside.
Alex was true to his word. He cooked a fabulous meal of chicken fajitas, served with sour cream and freshly made guacamole. We also drank three bottles of wine between us before stumbling into bed. Neither of us slept straight away. The drunken sex was just too good.
I woke up alone the following morning, confused and disorientated—where was I?
A breeze pushed through the large glass open doors at the foot of the bed reminding me where I was. I sat up slowly, my hands reaching for my head as the sound of birds singing outside became very loud.
A clattering of dishes followed by several swear words made me cringe. Alex was already up, and by the sounds of it, trying to prepare some breakfast.
There was music playing, and he was singing along to a song that I didn’t recognised. I shifted my legs over the side of the bed before pulling on a white robe that was laid across the back of a chair.
I made my way to the kitchen, and leaned on the kitchen door, listening and watching Alex as he sang and danced around with his back to me. The sight was one I would have liked to have videoed. He seemed so carefree and happy, slouching around in just his tight black trunks as he prepared what looked like pancakes and blueberries for us to eat.
The song finished and I coughed.
“Ella?” He spun to face me. He had pancake batter smudged in his hair and across his face.
“You wearing that batter or cooking it?” I asked as I approached him.
His lip curled at the edg
e before he spoke. “And a good morning to you, Ella.”
I grinned as he waved a spatula in the air.
“Sit down, and I shall serve you breakfast,” he instructed, indicating toward the chairs with his cooking utensil.
He continued to oversee the cooking of the pancakes, and I helped myself to a glass of orange juice from the jug that was already on the table.
“What do you fancy doing today?” he asked as he placed a plate, piled high with pancakes, in the centre of the table.
I shrugged. “Isn’t it today that Simon’s story hits the papers back in England?”
Alex nodded as he reached for two pancakes, smothering them in syrup and blueberries.
“Hmm . . .” he spoke with his mouth full. “Look at your twitter account later, check what’s going on. I’m expecting a call from Megan.”
I huffed as I placed a pancake on my own plate. “I thought the idea of coming here was so that we had no interruptions, no disturbances?”
“It is. But I also need to know what’s going on. My career could be affected by all this. I need to know the public’s reaction to everything. Amy has many fans out there.”
“You have more,” I clarified
He nodded again, his face serious. “I may have lost a few recently. The introduction of a sexy girlfriend sometimes upsets them.”
“But you’ll still have more than Amy.”
“Oh, I dare say that I will. But there’s sure to be some backlash from all this . . . on both of us I’m afraid.”
I paused my eating of the pancake. Me? Backlash on me? Why hadn’t I realised. This wasn’t just about Alex. I was involved in all this as well.
“We’ll be okay,” I said, “We’ve done nothing wrong, not like her. Surely that’s what matters. People will know the truth at long last,” I reassured him, and myself.
“Well, let’s hope so. Maybe we’ll be able to see how the public reacts to Simons story, and be able to judge how things will go tomorrow when my side of things is published.”
I nodded reaching across the table to place my hand over his. “What time is Megan calling you?”
“Lunchtime.” He pushed his plate of pancakes away. “I can’t eat them now. I’m too on edge about everything.”
I took in his worried expression. “Hey, this trip was about us forgetting everything back in England. I don’t like seeing you so stressed about this.” I cocked my head to the side. “What on earth are we going to do until Megan calls?”
“I’m going back to bed,” he said as he stood up. “Care to join me?”
I was out of my seat and half way to the bedroom before he had time to respond.
I lay naked in Alex’s arms, my head resting on his chest, my leg entwined with his. The serenity that always came after we’d made love was even greater today. The birds that had chirped noisily this morning were quieter now, and I loved that glass doors were pulled back so that the outside became part of the bedroom. The muslin drapes floated in the breeze that drifted into the room carrying the heat of the midday. If I hadn’t been wrapped in Alex’s arms, I would have been relaxing outside, basking in the full strength of the sun.
My mind drifted as I ran through the events of the past few weeks. It wasn’t even three weeks since I turned up on the set of Starshine and met Alex. I’d heard of whirlwind romances, but never expected to have one myself. But this wasn’t just a romance, it was something much deeper. Could we really feel so strongly for each other after such a short amount of time?
The answer was a definite yes.
I loved his company. I loved talking to him, picking his brains and discussing absolutely anything with him. That was when we weren’t enjoying the more carnal side of our relationship. His body was everything I had ever imagined. He knew exactly how to touch me, caress me and make me come undone so easily with his actions. He was everything I wanted—and more.
I wriggled against him, sighing contentedly.
His arm tightened around my waist. “We should get up, you know. Perhaps we can sit around the pool. I’ll set the music up so it plays outside.”
“Sounds great,” I said, lifting my head and resting my chin on his chest.
Alex groaned as his mobile phone rang. “That’ll be Megan.”
I rolled off him, propping my head up on my elbow to watch his reactions to what she said.
He sat up and reached for the phone on his bedside table.
“Megan,” he said, holding the phone to his ear as he shuffled up the bed.
“We’re fine thanks. Yes, Ella’s impressed. She was like an excited child when we got here.” He nodded at something she was saying. “Yes, Felix looked well. Helen’s done us proud. The fridge is well stocked.”
He was silent as Megan spoke. I scrutinised his face, desperate for any clue as to what she was saying.
“Really? That’s unexpected. Hmmm . . . Well, that bit I did expect.”
I frowned, and he raised his eyebrows.
“Yes, I’ll get Ella to check that. Okay. Yes, call me tomorrow. I think it will be even more explosive.” He nodded again. “See you later, Megan. And thanks for sorting all the travel arrangements for me and Ella. We appreciate it.” He pulled the phone away from his ear and placed it back on his bedside table.
“That was quick,” I said. I’d expected him to be on the phone for a lot longer.
Lying back on the pillows, he turned to face me. “I told her before we left to just tell me the basics, make it short and sweet. I’d much prefer it if she didn’t call at all.”
“So, what’s the news?”
“It seems that the internet has gone crazy. All the sites that support me are up in arms over Amy’s scheming ways. Some of them feel sorry for Simon. It seems that Anthony kept to his word. He hasn’t printed anything about her being pregnant when we split up, or that she was seeing Simon behind my back. He seems to have concentrated more on her current pregnancy, and that her and me haven’t been together since the end of the first film.”
I observed him, trying to work out whether he wished the article had mentioned their ugly break up, and that she had also been unfaithful with Simon.
“It’s Simon’s side of things, remember,” I said quietly. “He’s hardly going to paint himself in a bad light by saying he was the reason you two originally split up.”
Alex offered a small smile. “There also seems to be a bit of hate for Rowan. Apparently, and the part that I’m surprised at, many fans are publishing video clips of me with Amy, and commenting that it was obvious we weren’t together. It seems strange that they never spotted it before if it’s so obvious to them now.”
“It’s an amazing thing, hindsight,” I added, knowing I had done the same when viewing clips of him with Amy after I’d found out the truth about their pretend relationship.
“The fans aren’t happy that the Starshine branding made us continue to act as a couple when we weren’t together. It seems my Lothario ways are now being looked at as a story that was also concocted by Amy and the Starshine team.”
“Well, they’re right. I think your real fans know you would never behave like that. They just hung in there with you because they always believed in you.”
Alex sighed. “Do you know, Ella, I’ve lived with everyone thinking I was a man whore for so long that sometimes I forget that I’m not that person.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about it anymore. Tomorrow will clear everything up.”
I hugged him tightly, kissing his chest.
“I hope so, Ella. I really do.”
When we eventually moved from the bedroom, Alex insisted I check my twitter account. I nervously logged on through my phone.
“Alex, I have over thirty thousand followers!” I exclaimed.
He came up behind me to look at my phone. “Check your time-line. What are they saying?”
I scrolled down my screen, seeing references to pictures of Alex with me, Alex with Amy, quotes from Simon’s interview, a
nd links to video clips. As I scrolled further down the pages, there were many fans unleashing their full fury at Amy and how they knew Alex was always the innocent one. Several fans hoped that he had found true love with me, stating that he deserved it after Amy. Many said they were crying over the revelations that Alex had been told to pretend to still love Amy when she was seeing Simon. The general reaction was what I had expected, even though it was quite hateful at times. There were a few nasty comments directed at me, but nothing as vile as the things that were being said about Amy. In fact, most people hoped that I would be Alex’s real love. But there was one person who had really taken a dislike to me—a person called Sambams.
“Sam’s tweeting,” I said, shocked that he would be continuing his witch hunt after last week.
“Your ex, Sam?” Alex dipped his head to see the screen
“Yes.”
He took the phone from me and hit a few buttons. His expression grew angrier by the second.
“Sorry, Ella. I need to make a phone call.” He gave me back my phone before heading into the bedroom. I wandered into the kitchen to pour myself a drink, but I could hear his loud voice, laced with several swear words as he spoke to someone on his phone.
Sipping at the cold glass of orange juice, I slid open the large glass door that bordered one side of the pool. I ambled around the water’s edge, and closed my eyes as I tilted my face to the sun. This place was a haven. Private and quiet, although Alex’s voice was still loud enough to hear outside, it was a true getaway from the hustle and bustle back in London. There were no photographers waiting to capture us off-guard, no reporters hounding us for an interview. There was just us—Alex, and me.
I crouched next to the pool before sitting on the edge of it, my feet dangling in the cool water. The shorts that Megan had bought for me fit perfectly, although they were shorter than I would have normally worn. She had also packed two bikinis, another three pairs of very tiny shorts, a couple of sexy night-time outfits, t-shirts, and a long flowing skirt. The items contrasted dramatically with the sweater and jeans that she had also packed. All my toiletries were included, as was a small zip up bag that had contained fifty condoms. There was a note attached to the bag that had read, 'Use them all, Ella.' It seemed that Anthony had also had a say in what was packed.
Starshine Page 33
