Player

by T. N. King

  The director laughed. “Yes, Anna said pretty much the same thing. You two are pros. This will be a clean speech, one take I will bet.”

  Well, don’t bet your salary on that. Jacob nodded his head.

  The director walked back over to his chair.

  One camera swung this way and that, centering on the door. The other two were being put into position.

  It was almost time. He got up from the chair and his gaze met Anna’s. He’d decided when she’d left that solarium that he would not have her again. This wasn’t having her, but it would be damn close.

  Her gaze looked a little panicked.

  Now he felt bad for her, instead of himself. Jacob was sick of this shit. All day worried, second guessing, conflicted, panicked. This was his job, his skill, he always used everything he ever felt, ever learned. This would be no exception. He gave her a wicked wink.

  Her eyes widened. She knew he was going to just go with it. She seemed to have an inner battle that he could see. How did he know? She clasped her hands together and her knuckles looked white.

  Sorry, Anna. It can only happen right…one way. The hell with this. I am going to allow it all to come. He mouthed, “Perfect,” at her.

  He noted her chest moving with rapid breath. “Use it,” he mouthed.

  Slowly, she nodded her head and unclasped her hands. She stretched them out as if to check and see if they were shaking. They looked steady.

  Good girl. Jacob swallowed hard. This is what he’d said to her several times when they’d had sex. He let out a breath. He then immersed himself in the character. Dade was desperate to have her. He would win her back. He would feel her against him, have her begging to be kissed, to be taken hard. Make up for all those lost years. After the fight that is.

  Jacob sets a stern, determined look on his famous face.

  “Pictures up!”

  Cameras were ready.

  “Set Points!”

  The clapboard moved in.

  “Brilliant, 35, Take one,” the clapper announced.

  The clapboard goes down with a SNAP!

  “Quiet on the Set!”

  Jacob stood at the barn doors.

  Anna moved to the tackle she would be hanging on the barn wall.

  The boom mikes moved.

  Three huge swinging cameras moved to the side, overhead, and behind him.

  The sun slanted into the barn through cracks in the wooden walls just perfectly, the air swirls with bits of fluff.

  Silence echoed like a living thing.

  The air nearly crackled with suspended electric energy.

  Jacob loved it—he loved it all.

  “ACTION!”

  Showtime.

  Dade walks in

  Chapter Thirteen

  Dade strode over to an unsuspecting Eve.

  She halts with a bridle in her hand and slowly looks up. “What the hell are you doing here?”

  Dade sighs. “We have to talk about it, Eve.” He moves a step closer.

  She raises the bridle at him like a weapon. “Don’t,” it was a one word warning with fury backing it up.

  Dade knew she would do it. He expected her to throw everything at him, anything she could. He even had a slight bruise on his jaw from the last time they got too close to one another. “Is it that what you want? To hear me say it?”

  She looks angry as she binds the leads together with a white knuckled grip. “I don’t want to hear anything now.”

  “I will say it. I will tell you—”

  She screams and throws the bridle at his head.

  He sidesteps it. It lands with a metal sounding thump right beside him. He looks up to see her grabbing more tackle.

  Dade knew this would be tricky and dangerous. This woman has more fire in her than anyone he’s ever known, besides himself.

  She glares at him and he steps forward again.

  “You stay away!” She tosses more tackle at him and takes off over a bale of hay.

  Dade closes in and goes after her. He lunges up on top of the bale, catching her in midair.

  “NO!” she screams as he wraps his arm around her waist.

  Eve fights him with all her might. “Go away. Just go away.”

  He holds her hands down and pulls her up against him, as they are both standing on top of the bale.

  The overhead cam swings smoothly over with a barely discernable hum.

  Tears form in her eyes. “It’s what you’re good at. Leaving. So just DO it!”

  Staring down into her eyes, he looks upset, feels upset. “I never wanted to hurt you,” he whispers.

  “But you did! You never even gave me the respect to talk to me. Not even a fucking dear Jane letter! You just disappeared!”

  He nods. “I knew if I went and talked to you that I wouldn’t leave.”

  She stills in his arms.

  “One look at your face.” He lowers his nose to her neck. “One whiff of your scent and I would have stayed.”

  Her tear filled eyes widen. “Then why? Why did you go?”

  He lets out a sigh. “I needed to stop all this crap. Stop what was happening to my family, all my friends. Men dying down there, with no one to care.”

  “So you join the enemy? The murders who…” She shakes her head and starts to struggle again. “You know what? I don’t care!”

  He pulls her close. “You do. You do care.”

  Tears roll down her pale cheeks and her blue orbs are full of pain. “You can’t just come back and…”

  He raises a brow. “You know what we have. It is pure fire—”

  She huffs. “HAD! Not have. It’s gone. Ground to dust. Under your boot heel as you walked away!” She struggles again.

  Dade ignores it, he’s stronger than her, he leans his face down to hers.

  Their lips meet, hers tremble. His are steady, he knows what he wants, what he needs as he takes her mouth and kisses her hard, deep, as melting heat pours from him.

  Her breathing accelerates as she stills in his arms.

  Dade let her arms go, only to wrap his arms around her lifting her up off the ground.

  Suddenly, she is kissing him, with all her passion, maybe her anger—it is all consuming.

  Dade pulls back and stares into her eyes. He sets her down then reaches out and grasps her shirt tearing it open from collar to belly then he rips her bra from her.

  With her bare chest heaving, she stares into his eyes.

  Hard as stone in his jeans, Dade grabs her with one arm and leans her back to lick her neck, down over her collarbone down to her breasts.

  Panting, she arches back, taking it all in as her entire body trembles visibly.

  Grabbing her up, he tugs her to his chest and looks into her eyes. “We will stay together this time.” He hauls her over to the hay and drops her.

  She bounces in the hay and stares up at him, panting breathlessly.

  Dade feels hard and is breathless. He looks down at Eve…

  Her eyes look the same as when… He pushes that memory away, he is about to make a new one. He bends over and tugs her jeans off of her legs. He wants to see it all, take it all.

  With her body bare, only then does he pause. He takes a long look at that beautiful body. Creamy thighs, taut belly with that tasty belly button he remembers so well. Those sweet breasts, the flavor of her skin still in his memory, the feel of her nipples in his mouth. His gaze slowly spans up along all that glorious skin to her face.

  Eve bites at her lip.

  Fuck! The character didn’t do this cue in the script. This was Anna. Yes, she was feeling as hot as he did. He was hard as a diamond and his breathing was hitched. My line! “I want that fire. The only way I can burn is with you.” He unbuttoned his jeans and lowered them. Jacob knows everyone would see his tented briefs. Hell, what the fuck could he do?

  The camera panned over, he did not see it, he heard it. A low hum, usually it soothed him. This time, it felt like an intrusion. He knew the camera was at half shot
, to avoid some of the nude views.

  The boom lowered, the side cam lowered.

  Dade kneels down and takes her face in his hands. Then he kisses her hard.

  Her arms wrap around his neck as she cries.

  Pulling back, he swipes at her tears with his thumbs.

  Gazing into her blue orbs, Jacob felt lost. The depth of feeling in them jolted him to his very core. Jacob saw something there, something that could not be faked. He allowed himself to actually feel tenderness, heat, and a strong urge to hold her to him and not ever let go. He grabbed her face and kissed her.

  Anna kissed him back as she desperately clung to him with all her might.

  His hard chest crushed up against her soft breasts and he wanted inside of her like never before, sink deep, lose the world. Make her whimper and beg, then give her what she needed. Something that only he, Jacob, could give her. Only then would he actually feel supreme, feel powerful.

  All that could be heard was their heavy breathing as they tangled tongues tasting, consuming delving, burning, and he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. His thumb was on her neck and he could feel that her pulse matched his.

  “CUT!”

  They both froze with tongues entangled, bodies pressed so close—none of that slanted sunlight could have ever passed through.

  Jacob slowly let go of her face and pulled his lips away from hers. He looked into her glistening blue eyes. He saw the same look as when he’d fucked her back in the solarium. His gaze lowered to stare at her lips, pink, puffy from his kiss. Anna had been another minute away from an orgasm. This he knew, because damn it, he could scent her. Like her juices were a red flag to a mad bull—him.

  Sounds echoed from all around them.

  “God damn!” the director yelled.

  “Yeah, I need a cold fucking shower right about now,” the assistant director added with a nervous laugh, like it was true.

  The crew all applauded loudly. Some even stomped their feet.

  Jacob let out a long breath and pulled back. Against his own wishes, against every fiber of his being, he set himself away from her. His cock demanded claim. She was his. He shook his head. To try to disengage. Put on the brakes. Rein in that lust, Jacob.

  Panting, Anna dropped back to the straw and gazed up at him.

  Stepping back, he smiled down at her.

  Staring up at him, she laughed. It was a nervous jittery sound. “Perfect!”

  It was. Or it would have been if he’d had the chance to actually get inside her pussy and…He then tilted his head back and laughed, releasing his own nervous tension.

  Everyone around them stared.

  No, they’d never seen Jacob Cooper do this…ever. He’d always remained steady, almost emotionless, in fact.

  Fuck! His laughter stopped as he reached down and offered her his hand, he hauled her upright, and they both seemed to sigh.

  Just then, a crew member brought a robe over wrapping it around Anna.

  “Well damn it!” the director said in an exhilarated tone. “Check the gate!”

  This meant for them to make sure the camera caught all that.

  The camera man was already viewing it. He nodded his headset covered head and gave the thumbs up.

  “Well, for today at least…That is a wrap!” the director called out as he grinned from ear to ear.

  Anna and Jacob locked gazes for a second. People started to cross in front of them and the flurry of action around them broke the moment. They both turned away.

  He needed to put his damn clothes back on. Good thing he never took off his briefs, they all would have seen that he’d been hot and ready. Well, that wasn’t in his damn contract! But if that scene had gone on just a minute longer? He might have broken that clause in a hundred nail splitting ways. He shook his and headed outside to get back to the main studio.

  Jacob sure as hell hoped that was a final take. If he had to do that again, this whole company would be moving into real porn. He laughed at what their expressions would be had that been the case as he rode along in the cart. It had been that ridiculous. He’d never experienced that before.

  Half real, half acting.

  The lines of reality blurring in and out—like being caught at the vortex of two worlds, two people melding into one. Although, he could never share this event and perception with anyone. Well, maybe just one person. The woman he’d experienced it with. Man, would he love to have a full out honest conversation with Anna to find out just what she’d experienced. Thing was, her descriptions would probably just have him jumping her.

  He winced as the cart hit a damn speed bump. He was still hard and it was almost painful. Well, sacrificing for the craft was a hard way to go. At the unintended pun, he laughed again.

  Jacob then stopped laughing and as he drew in a deep breath—in that instant, in that very second—he decided that when it was a final wrap, he was going after this woman with a God damn vengeance.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The days of shooting went sailing by. At least, the scenes with Anna seemed as if they flew past. Then every night, Jacob would arrive home to the penthouse and stand in the foyer to look around. He wanted to have her here. He envisioned taking her in the steam room, on a warming bench, in the huge triple spray shower, in the garden tub. The thoughts of having her grew with each passing day.

  They had just wrapped the scene where Dade had lost his brother to another cave in and he’d come forward with what he found out about the company not putting in the safety features in that coal pit. Dade lost his job and spiraled down to where he was a drunken mess, he’d lost a brother and his career in one fell swoop. His father hated him and the town did too. He’d gotten beat up three days ago by a gang of coal miners.

  It had been rigorous to do and the scenes took five days to shoot. He’d done all the others before Anna arrived on the set. They had their last scene together tomorrow. It was the ending, where they had a tender moment and he realized she’d stood by him for all that time. He was a man bare of all he’d built, yet he realized he could make a family if he could just convince her to move, so they could have a family together out of the coal mining sphere.

  Then it should be a wrap. There would be a wrap party tomorrow night.

  Then Jacob had plans of his own as Jacob. He intended to convince Anna to go out with him. Or in with him if she was afraid of the paparazzi. At this point, he didn’t care. Let them make a field day of it. He’d found a woman he could talk to, joke with, share their love of the craft and woman made for him sex wise. The hell, he would let that walk away.

  He headed to the steam room, as he needed it today. He was more than done in. Jacob halted and looked around. Where was Airi? He wondered. Was this her day off? He couldn’t be sure as the last three weeks had been rough and the days melded into a week, then two, then three. Shrugging, he headed into the relax room.

  There stood a woman.

  She was Asian. She looked to be older than Airi. Bowing, she lowered her gaze. Then she rose up.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked outright. “And who the hell are you?”

  She smiled and he could tell by the knowing look in her eyes that she understood English.

  “I came here to see Airi.”

  “Okay and why are you here in my house?”

  “You have lots of money.” She looked around.

  His eyes narrowed. “What the hell does that mean?”

  She kept smiling. “Airi is my daughter.”

  His eyes widened. “I thought she had no family?”

  “I am her mother.”

  “Then you know what happened to her.”

  She nodded.

  “So, you show up now? Years after it happened?”

  Remaining silent, she didn’t give him an answer.

  Sighing in frustration, he asked, “So where is she? Why aren’t you visiting with her?”

  She walked around and touched this or that. “She had to go out and get some
how you say, groceries?”

  “Okay and I ask again…Why are you wandering around in my house? Her apartment is—”

  “You mean the one you pay for?” she asked.

  Again, his gaze narrowed. “What do you want?”

  She sidled up to him. “You are this big star, yes?”

  His body stiffened. This was not going well, it was headed to a place he didn’t want to go, at all.

  “You were keeping her here to please you.”

  He shook his head. “Hell no. She is my housekeeper.”

  “And your personal masseuse?” She motioned around with her hands and pointed at the massage table.

  Now he felt angry. “Nothing like what you are insinuating ever happened between us.”

  Shrugging, she looked around. “No matter. People will believe it is so.”

  Shit! This woman was here to blackmail him. “I won’t pay you a dime, bitch!”

  She took a step back. “You gonna attack me?”

  He clenched his hands. Oh yes, he sure would like to. “Of course not.”

  “It would be what a man like you would do.” Her eyes narrowed. “If you do not pay me recompense for what you have done to my family, the world will know.”

  “Know what?” he yelled. “Get the hell out of my house!”

  Now she showed her teeth so to speak, as she didn’t smile but looked cold as steel. She strolled to the door. “If I no hear from you in two days…” She set her card down on the warming bench. “I go to the press.” She went out the door.

  Jacob let out a frustrated breath. What the fuck was going on? He followed her to make sure she didn’t lift his silver or whatever the hell she could get her greedy hands on.

  She went out the front door.

  Jacob was shaking. He couldn’t let this woman…damn it, the press would eat it up. But no, he would not pay someone blackmail money. He went over to the table by the door and grabbed his cell. He dialed the number. “What the hell did you get me into?”