by Ali Parker
"Fuck you, man." I gave him a stern look. "You know this girl's gonna be my wife one day."
"Then stop dicking around. Some other dude's going to move in and steal her the minute she even looks available."
"Fucking around is the funnest part." I walked into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of wine sitting on the table by the microwave. "We drinking this?"
"Yep. Pop the top, baby, and let's let the fun begin." He wagged his eyebrows and walked over to unload a big bag of groceries. "I got steak and shrimp to put on the grill. Go start that shit up for me."
"Absolutely." I licked at my lips as I picked up five wine glasses and toted the bottle outside with me.
Cole was telling a story about some crazy chase he was on down in San Diego and both girls were laughing. Someone had started the fire between them, and the glow against Riley's pretty face nearly stole my damn heart from my chest.
When I'd gone from a cynical bastard that wanted to pop as many cherry's as possible to someone that felt emotionally fucked around the same person all the time was beyond me. I wanted to analyze it, but something deep inside of me said to just roll with it.
"And my brother was the biggest bitch of all, whining the whole damn trip." Cole laughed loudly, and the girls both laughed too.
"Ian would kick you in the face for talking shit about him in front of these pretty girls." I winked at my brother's best friend and set the wine down in front of him. "Open this for us?"
"You bet." He took the bottle and let out a long sigh. "Charlotte, tell me about yourself. I know Riley is a soon to be award-winning actress. Are you into drama too?"
Another collective giggle.
I walked over to the grill and bent down, turning it on and making sure it was good and hot before turning to walk back in the house. Riley was standing just behind me, her eyes full of lust and cheeks a little flush.
"What it is, baby?" I closed the gap between us and pulled her against me. I didn't care who knew how I felt. We were in good company for the night.
"Nothing. Everything." She smiled and lifted her wine glass to her lips.
"You're so damn beautiful. I've never in my life seen a more beautiful woman than you. Everything about you leaves me aching and horny." I moved in and brushed my lips down the side of her face. "Let's skip dinner and go upstairs. I'll just suck on you a little more."
She groaned and shook her head. "You're so horrible."
"Am I?" I licked at her ear. "I'd say by the little pebbles pressing against my chest that you like horrible. Is it true? A sweet, innocent girl like yourself likes horrible, dirty, hungry guys like me?"
"Are you still hungry?" The softness in her voice left my body aching.
"Now who's being horrible?" I slid my hand down her back and squeezed her perfect ass tightly. "Keep it up, and I'll not be asking to go upstairs."
"You're just going to strip me down right here?" She smiled and glanced around, like the thought of doing it was unthinkable.
"Nope. I'm going to sweep you off your feet, jog up the stairs and take advantage of every opening on your tight little body." I leaned down and licked at her mouth as she whimpered again. "You know how big my dick is, right?"
She nodded as her breathing got off kilter.
"You sure you wanna try and handle it tonight?" I tugged her closer using my grip on her ass. Aggression raced through me, and it took every ounce of my strength not to pick her up and lay waste to what she imagined a good fucking to look like.
"I want all of it." She licked at my lips and moved back, pulling from my hold and walking back toward our friends. The little bitch went so far as to shake her hips more than necessary, as if I needed anything else to drag me farther into depravity.
"You're sporting a tent, dude." Liam popped me in the chest as he moved past me toward the grill. "You're going to ruin the girls for anyone else if they see that monster."
"Shut up." I turned and walked back toward the grill with him. "I'm thinking me and Riley are going to stay here tonight. That all right?"
"Oh yeah? You finally got her to agree to take on the beast?"
"I hate you sometimes." I smiled and walked back toward the house. "Anyone need anything?"
"Nope!" the collective call came from behind me.
I walked in and grabbed a beer from the fridge, downing it in hopes of cooling myself off a little. I was so turned on I was sweating. The sound of laughter behind me was needed after the last few weeks we'd all had. I tossed my empty beer bottle in the trash beside me and walked back toward the bathroom as my phone rang. I pulled it out to see Deza was calling. Part of me didn't want to answer the call in case she was pissed about something, which seemed to be the norm lately. But... it was Deza. I couldn't leave her hanging.
"Hey boo. What's up?"
"Don't hey boo me."
"Ahhh great. Do you think I can call you tomorrow morning? I'd rather spare myself an ass chewing tonight seeing that it's turning out to be a pretty good one."
"No. You can't call me in the morning." Her voice was full of tension and wrapped in angry pixie dust. I was fucked.
"What's going on? Get it off your chest."
"I have a call from some bitch that says you're the father of her baby. What do you have to say to that shit?"
I snorted. "You're kidding me right now, right? I never have sex, D. I try all the time, but unless my swimmers have figured out how to penetrate those tube things from someone's stomach, that shit ain't mine."
"She's filing suit against you which means that you're going to have to take a paternity test to prove the baby isn't yours."
"Fine. I'll take the fucking test. It's not mine. Period." I hung up on her, angry that she would even think I would be so careless as to fuck some chick bareback.
Wait. Had I?
Sickness rolled through me as I walked up the stairs to the second story of Liam's house and moved to one of the spare bedrooms. There was no way the chick Deza was talking about was the girl that raped me at the club. It hadn't been long enough. It took like six weeks or some shit to see if a girl was pregnant. Was it Jazz? I'd fucked her drunk a zillion times over the years, but she always had condoms on her. She was a whore... it was her job. There had to be a contract in place that said she couldn't sue a client if the condom didn't work, right?
Panic swept through me as I walked out on the balcony of the bedroom and listened to everyone laughing as Liam told silly stories about me when I was a kid. It grew quiet as my mind raced with the possibilities of my whole life being ruined.
"You like my brother, hm?" Liam.
"Yeah, he's all right." I could hear the smile in Riley's voice.
"He's better than all right. He's the Ethan Lewis."
More laughter, but the kind that should leave a man feeling loved. I stumbled back into the bedroom and sat down on the edge of the bed.
"What if this shit is real? It would do wonders for my career, which is totally fucked up, but what about me and Riley? She would be appalled... wouldn't she?"
I stood up and swallowed the bile in my throat. I wouldn't tell her. I couldn't. It would ruin everything. I needed one night pressed up against her just in case things went to shit. I could cling to the memory of being loved for one night in my life. Like really, truly loved.
Because without a doubt... I might be falling for her, but she'd already fallen for me.
I'd hate myself in the morning... but tonight was mine.
I just wouldn't tell her.
I couldn’t.
To Be Continued Below…
Improv
Bright Lights Billionaire #4
Getting ahead couldn't be harder...
With the pressure of completing school and burying her mother off of her shoulders, Riley moves into focusing solely on her career as an actress. Her coach, the infamous Clayton Welms, is older, confident and full of surprises. His strength draws her in, but nothing can seem to quench the fire she feels when she's around Ethan.
Too bad he's lost in his own problems and unwilling to give her more than a few moments here and there.
Ethan's life is unraveling at the seams, and he does what he does best as a leading actor - he pretends that everything is great. He moves through his scenes with ease and forces himself to ignore the anger burning inside of him at the unfairness of his troubles. Clayton seems to have Riley under a spell of sorts, and Ethan has to figure out if he's willing to force himself back into the limelight in the beautiful girl's life. Maybe it's best to turn away and forget any of the feelings that drove him toward her in the first place.
Or maybe it's time to stop planning so damn much and improvise a little more. Act on the fly. Steal the girl and make her his own if that's what his heart desires. He's not too sure about his heart, but other parts are screaming for her attention.
Time to grow up, stand up and steal her back?
Hell yes.
Chapter 1
Riley
"Where is Ethan?" Liam, Ethan's older brother, called back to us from the grill.
"No clue." I stood up and smiled, feeling like everything was right with the world for the moment. Ethan and I were going to spend the night in each other's arms. What that meant for the future was still fuzzy, but irrelevant. I needed him like a freezing man needs a small fire, and something told me that he needed me just as well. "You need something?"
"Lots of things, but I'd get in trouble for listing them in front of you. My brother seems to have taken a liking to you." Liam wagged his eyebrows, making him impossibly cute in his own way. He wasn't his brother, but I could easily see why someone would be attracted to him.
I glanced back at my best friend, Charlotte and Liam's buddy, Cole. They were laughing over something and lost in their own world.
Liam's voice was closer, pulling me from my thoughts. "You wanna come grab a platter and hold it for me while I pull everything off the grill?"
"Yeah. Absolutely." I gave him a warm smile and followed him into the kitchen. I couldn't help but glance down the hall to see if Ethan was hiding out on the phone or something.
"He's upstairs, I think. The bedroom light was on up there from what I could tell outside." He knelt and pulled a large platter from under the kitchen counter. "Let's get this meat off the grill and then you go check on him."
"Okay." I followed Liam outside as warmth rushed through the center of my chest and took up residence in my tummy. Ethan's attention was all I wanted from the moment I met him, and I'd been fighting myself as hard as I could to deny that fact. Tonight would be a release in more ways than one.
"So you've been acting for a long time, right? I feel like you already answered this on my boat when we met. Tell me again. I’m a dumbass. You’ll get used to it.” Liam smiled and opened the grill, backing up as hot smoke billowed out.
"I've been involved in drama my whole life, but I just got the opportunity to do something with it thanks to Eon opening up the set for outsiders."
"I've been involved in drama my whole life too. Most of it has a name." He worked to get the meat on the platter I held and chuckled softly before continuing. "You know... Sherry, Dana, Liz. Those gals."
I snorted, my wine having loosened up my composure. "Ethan said to watch out for you."
"Me? Fuck that. You gotta watch out for him. With me, you know what you're getting."
"And what's that?" I lifted an eyebrow and put my free hand on my hip.
"Sex and maybe breakfast if you're really good in the sack." He closed the grill and took the platter from me. "That seems like a pretty fair deal."
"It does, but the question is whether you're telling these drama queens up front what exactly is included in the package deal." I followed him back in the house as he chuckled again.
"You might have a point there, though I'd rather we talk about something else. You're making me feel like I'm the creator of this drama in my life."
I patted his back before walking toward the hall. I called over my shoulder, "You said it... not me."
"I like you already. If Ethan fucks up..."
I rolled my eyes at the playfulness in his voice. From what I could tell of Ethan and Liam's relationship, there was no way in hell Liam would step on his brother's toes - no matter what. The notion of Ethan fucking up wasn't too terribly far-fetched though. Whatever relationship we'd concocted so far was nothing less than a hot mess. That wasn't going to change anytime soon.
Tomorrow would come soon enough. I had enough worries to fill today. Sleeping with Ethan was all I wanted, and yet trying to put one foot in front of the other as I walked up the long winding staircase to the second floor, I wasn't sure how coordinated I would be in bed. I could barely keep my balance.
"Ethan?" I yelped and reached for the railing as I missed the last step and almost fell.
"Hey. Be careful, beautiful." Ethan rounded the corner, reaching out and holding me up.
I smiled so wide it hurt. "You keep showing up right in the nick of time."
"It's a gift?" He moved back, pulling me with him before sliding his strong hands down my arms and squeezing softly. "Food ready?"
"Yeah, but I'm not hungry for food." I took the step between us and pressed myself to his strong chest as liquid courage forced me to push us into what we both wanted.
"No?" He brushed his thumb over my cheek and slid his fingers into my hair, cupping my head and gripping me tightly. As if he were in complete control of what was soon to happen.
My breathing got off kilter and I let my eyes flutter closed. "No. I wanna taste you instead."
"It's a lot to handle, Riley. You sure?" I could hear the smile in his voice.
Laughter bubbled up inside of me, and the moment was broken. I opened my eyes and pushed at his chest. "You just have to bring up the size of your cock, don't you?"
"Seems like a good time to do it." He smiled and the world faded. The man had to be the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. Why in the world he would want anything to do with me was a complete mystery. And maybe he really didn't want much more than a night, but he was pulling off a great show if that were the case.
"Someone needs to put you in your place." I moved past him, stumbling a little.
"Whoa. Be careful, baby." He moved up behind me and gripped my elbow, steering me toward the only room with a light still on.
"I like to live on the edge." I hiccupped and laughed again. Wine was the bane of my existence. Being poor most of my life meant not drinking anything but beer, which funny enough didn't have the power that wine did to turn me inside out.
I stopped in front of the bed and let out a soft sigh as the door closed behind me.
"How far do you like to be dangled over the edge?" He pressed his chest against my back and leaned down, brushing his lips by my neck.
Chill bumps raced across my skin. "Depends on who's anchoring me to safety."
"A bastard." He slid his hands over my hips and wrapped one arm around me under my breast. His free hand pressed against the front of my sex, tapping me softly. "A really bad guy that just wants to know what it feels like to be loved by you for the night. Tell him no."
"Not in a million years." I lifted my hands to reach back and run my fingers down the back of his head. "I'm not sure I could."
He sucked my earlobe in his mouth and growled softly. "And if you could muster the self-denial to tell me to fuck off, you'd want me to press you, wouldn't you?"
"Yes," I whispered and undulated my hips, wishing like hell I was out of my dress. "Don't take no for an answer with me."
"Is that permission to have you all to myself, Riley? Whenever I want?" He patted me once more before gripping my dress and tugging it up to my waist. His fingers pressed into the top of my panties and I groaned and gripped his hand tightly as I panted.
"What do you want?" I turned my head and lifted my chin until I could see him.
He spread me open and ran his finger along the soft skin I wanted him to worship. Leaning down, he pressed his mouth
to mine and cupped my face with his free hand as he pulsed his middle finger against my entrance.
"I wanna hear you come. More than anything else. I wanna feel it. Taste it. Bathe in it. You up for that?"
I pressed my hips forward, fucking myself as he tightened his hold on me.
"Just sex," I mumbled and lifted my foot to rest it against the bed in front of us.
He pressed another finger inside of me and licked at my mouth. "Is that all you want?"
"Tonight? Yes." I rocked against him as pressure built up deep inside my stomach. "I want to feel you on top of me."
"Behind you?" He pulled his hand from my panties and stepped back before jerking me around. "Underneath you?"
The pressure of being whipped around was a little much. I reached up and touched the side of my head as the room spun. Blinking seemed to help a little, but not much. Another odd laugh left me.
"You okay, Riley?" He moved down, bending at the knees and getting in my line of sight. "You've had too much to drink."
"Have I?" I moved a few steps back until my knees hit the bed. Sitting sounded good. Laying sounded better. "I need to just lay down for a... for a..."
"For a minute?" He moved up onto the bed and dropped down beside me on his side. "Take all the time you need."
I turned my face toward him and laughed again. "Are you really here?"
"Oh yeah! I wouldn't be anywhere else." He reached up and brushed the back of his fingers by my face. "I got some bad news tonight."
His words were a little slurred, but I wasn't sure if it was me being drunk, or him having one too many drinks. "You're so fucking hot." I pulled him down and offered him what I could only hope was a sexy kiss.
My first mistake was closing my eyes. It felt too damn good to close them. I mumbled something before letting the darkness move in and take me away from what could have been the best moment of my life.
Typical.
