by K. K. Allen
Despite the lack of space, I managed to turn, unlock my door, and push inside my room. I tossed my key onto my desk and tore off my heels and jacket then chucked them across the room.
Gah. Sebastian was infuriating. No need to get an explanation from him. I knew exactly why he’d stood me up. He was getting wasted. Maybe the rumors of Sebastian’s drinking problem weren’t wrong at all.
I reached for the hem of my shirt and pulled it over my head, freezing when I heard someone clearing their throat behind me.
Shit, shit, shit. Did my door ever shut? No.
I pivoted to face an amused and still pissed-off-looking Sebastian. He’d only stepped a foot inside my cabin, but that one foot was dangerously close to leaving us half naked and alone together.
My arms were still caught in the shirt locked above my head, revealing a sheer black bra that surely was doing nothing to hide my hard nipples in the company of my intruder.
“What are you doing?” I shrieked. “Get out!”
“Not until you let me use your phone.”
“No. You can’t be in here.”
Deciding that removing my top was much easier than trying to put it back on, I tossed it onto my bed and charged Sebastian. My palms hit his chest, and I looked up into his baby-blue eyes. He wasn’t budging an inch.
“I’m not doing a walkabout in my smalls.”
My gaze fell. “Your smalls?”
“Undies, knickers, bum-huggers. Why? What do you call ’em?”
I shook my head, my eyes locked on a perfectly defined dick. “Definitely not smalls.”
I looked up. Another mistake. Sebastian’s grin was so wide, he looked like he’d eaten a Cheshire cat for dinner.
“Oh my God, Sebastian, you need to get out of my room right now.”
This time, when I pushed a little, he stumbled out into the hallway. Relief whooshed through me, but only for an instant. Chatter and footsteps could be heard through the door leading to the stairwell. Whoever was headed our way would see Sebastian in the hall and help him.
But my heart betrayed me as jealousy reared its ugly head at the thought. I didn’t want anyone seeing him like this, especially not in his state.
With a hushed growl, I grabbed Sebastian’s arm and tugged him back inside my room, bringing him far enough so that the door could shut behind him. His gaze was an inferno of heat and desire, and I couldn’t look away.
“Who’s crossing the line now?” He taunted me like I hadn’t just saved him from giving our fellow crew members a peep show. Then again, it was Sebastian. He probably wouldn’t have minded in the least.
“You wanted to use my phone.” I pointed at my nightstand, where the ship phone sat. “Knock yourself out. I’m going to shower. Feel free to let yourself out when you’re done.”
“Or,” Sebastian said, stepping toward me. “I could join you.” He ran a hand over my shoulder, hardening my nipples to the point that they ached with need.
I stepped back, forcing a laugh to mask my nerves. “Have you seen these bathrooms? We wouldn’t fit.”
He shrugged. “Tight squeezes are my specialty.”
I rolled my eyes. “Wow, you’re on a roll tonight.” Then I went to the bathroom and pulled the door shut and locked it behind myself, wondering if he’d actually be gone when I got out.
More than thirty minutes later, I walked out of the bathroom, wrapped in a towel. I’d taken my sweet time, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed and pass straight out. The day had been a long one, and I was still pissed at Sebastian.
I flipped on the hallway light and had started to unwrap my towel when something blue flashed in front of my sweeping gaze. Sebastian was still there, and he was facedown on my bed, asleep. I could tell by his heavy breathing and his mouth, hanging agape.
The book I’d been reading was lying facedown beside him beneath his hand. After picking it up, I flipped it over and chuckled at the irony of the clever title, Pour Judgment, by Heather M. Orgeron. Sebastian could probably relate. I quickly slipped it back onto the small bookshelf over my desk and returned to him.
“Sebastian,” I hissed. “Wake up.”
Maybe he was only half asleep. But he didn’t move, even after I shook him.
Groaning, I gave up the battle, dressed in a long shirt, and crawled under the covers. At least a sheet and comforter were between us, so he couldn’t accidentally cop a feel during the night.
I would kick him out in the morning.
Chapter 26
Sebastian
Dessert.
That was the first thing that popped into my mind when my eyes opened in the middle of the night. At least, it felt like the middle of the night. Then…
“Shit.”
I groaned at my headache and cursed myself for everything I could remember from the night before. Kai and I had had plans, but I’d gotten drunk after letting Dirk get under my skin. And I didn’t show up for frozen yogurt. Instead, I wrote a song heavily inspired by the woman I should have been with while writing it. To make matters worse, I ended up locking myself out of my cabin, which meant…
I was searching in pitch blackness for a clue as to where I was because I sure as hell wasn’t in my own room. I could tell by the lack of light streaming through a single porthole that looked out over the ocean. No, I was in an inside cabin.
I searched the bed with my hand, hitting something solid, and I sure as hell hoped it was Kai rather than some random crew member I might have picked up from the bar in a past life. No way had I done that last night, not with the way Kai had been consuming my every thought and breath.
A soft moan came from beside me. “You cold?” she asked.
I swore my heart stopped beating for a second just at the sound of her sweet voice. “Yes,” I lied.
“Get under the covers.”
I could tell she was half asleep by the grogginess in her voice. The room was so damn hot, but no way would I deny her. I slipped under the covers, well aware of my lack of clothing, and still trying to process everything. How the hell did I end up here?
Soft, warm fingers touched my stomach then walked their way up to my chest. Every nerve ending in my body lit up at the sensation. Kai was touching me. I felt like I was in a dream.
I felt a pinch. “Ow!” Then I realized nothing had pinched me. Kai had plucked a hair on my chest.
“You’re hairy,” she said, and I could almost hear her smile as she explored me slowly, gaining confidence as she went. Fingers slid over my pecs and grazed my nipples in a way that had me imagining doing the same to her… only I wouldn’t be as gentle.
It took all my willpower to keep my hands to myself. As much as I wanted to pinch something of hers, I decided to behave. “What about you, Kai? Are you as soft as you look?”
I was expecting one of her clever retorts, her sharp words and the whip of her luscious tongue against the air we were sharing.
Instead, she grabbed my hand and pulled it toward her then placed it on her thigh. “Nope,” she rasped. “See?”
I slid my hand an inch with the lightest touch I could manage, feeling skin as soft as velvet. But I needed to touch more of her. “You’re comparing my chest to your thigh, love. Not quite the same.”
“Then keep going, Sebastian.” Her voice was so quiet that if I hadn’t been so fucking hard for her, I would have missed it.
After swallowing, I inched my way up the rest of her leg then stopped at her bare hip. My heart hammered in my throat as I searched for the scrap of fabric that should’ve been covering her. But no, Kai wasn’t wearing any underwear.
“Did you forget your knickers? Or did I take those off you last night?”
She let out a breathy laugh. “I don’t wear panties at night.”
Dear heavens. I blew out a breath and continued my exploration, focusing on my breathing like I was executing an important mission, which I guessed I was. Touching Kai felt like an honor. I still didn’t believe it was all real.
When I started to roam over her silky stomach, I felt like a man desperate to find his treasure but knowing he’d never find it if he rushed. So I took my time. I familiarized myself with every dip and curve, every line, soft and hard, every hill, every crest, until I was doing it all over again.
My chest was whirring, and my head felt so fogged with bliss that I started to lose myself completely. My head dipped down over her breast, yearning for a taste, my insides growling with a hunger for a woman who was far too good to ever be mine.
Yet here she was, one swipe of my tongue away from the beginning of the end. Fuck me.
“Your skin… your body. So bloody perfect.”
Kai’s breathing hitched as she shook beneath my mouth. I groaned against the need to take her in my mouth and placed an index finger there instead. I grazed her hard nipple first, sucking in a breath at the feel of her. Her breasts were perfect little mounds that would easily fill my palms, but I wasn’t about to go there. No, she’d allowed me to touch, and I wouldn’t take advantage of that.
I lifted my head as her mouth moved toward mine. “Sebastian,” she whispered. “I don’t want to cross the line.”
I brushed my lips against hers and sighed. “Oh, Kai. I’m not sure where the line is anymore.” I circled her nipple again then ran over it with the pad of my thumb. “Is it here?”
She moaned then shook her head, scenting the air with her signature fruit-enhanced fragrance. “No, not there.”
I filled my palm with her just like I’d wanted to a moment before, then I took a swipe of her with my tongue. “What about there? Did I cross it that time?”
“Mmm,” she moaned. “No. No, that was definitely okay.”
I smiled even though I knew she couldn’t see me then ran my fingers down her stomach to an inch above her slit. “What about here, Kai?”
“N-no. I think that’s okay too.”
I bit my lip then purposely skipped over her girly bits and ran my hand along her hip then bum cheek. “Here?”
“Still okay.”
I cupped her ass and squeezed. “Good, but I think I know what will cross the line.” I moved my hand back to her thigh and massaged at the crease right where her leg met her sensitive parts. “Don’t worry, Kai. I won’t fuck you with my fingers like you want me to.”
She groaned this time, frustration vibrating deep in her throat. “Sebastian.” She arched her back. “I need you to touch me.”
I put my lips to her ear and bit down on her lobe. “No. That would definitely be crossing the line. But I have an idea.” I took her hand and moved it between her thighs. “Touch yourself.”
“What? No.” She was breathing so fucking hard.
I bit her lobe again. “Touch yourself, Kai. I want to hear you come, but you know I can’t be the one who makes you.”
A small, tortured cry climbed from her throat, and I moved my mouth to her neck. “Do it. Now,” I growled before taking a small section of sensitive skin and sucking just lightly enough to make her cry again—not enough to leave a mark. “Don’t make me ask you again.”
She let out a quivering breath, and with my hand still on hers, she moved her fingers through her folds. They must have been slippery the way she slid through them so easily until she reached her clit.
“Rub it. Rub it the way you’d want me to rub it, Kai.”
Her hand started moving. Her breathing shallowed. And together, we massaged her just the way she liked it. I could hear the tension compounding in her breaths, in the way she quickened her pace like she was in a race for the finish line.
“Slow down. If I were doing that to you, I would take my time, build you up until you burst.”
She shook, and I could tell she was seconds away from letting go. I guided her hand away from her bundle of nerves, sliding it down and placing two of her fingers at her entrance. It was impossible not to feel her juices practically gushing from her center as I pushed her deeper and deeper inside herself.
I let out a heavy breath once her fingers hit the brink, imagining my cock in that same tight space. I held her hand so that her fingers couldn’t escape, then I pressed down, making her fingers pulsate inside of her like I would if it were me.
A few minutes later, she gasped in warning. “Sebastian.”
God, if that guttural sound ever vibrated around my cock, I would be a dead man. I quickened my movements, making her pulse faster and hitting that sweet spot just right.
A scream tore from her throat next, followed by another moan as her hips jerked with her release. I moved my hand from her as she finished herself off, wishing I could steal the tiniest bit of light just to watch her let go.
For now, all I could do was imagine.
She let out a heavy sigh and slipped her fingers out. I pulled her hand to my mouth, kissing one finger then the next, before placing them in my mouth and devouring her sweet juices like I’d just won a prize.
“Feel better?”
She practically purred as she hugged my side. “Much. Thanks for not crossing the line with me.”
I grinned and pressed my lips into her hair. “Go to sleep, Kai.”
“Okay, but I’m still pissed at you for standing me up.”
I was still holding her hand, so I slid it down my chest to where she could feel how hard I was for her. “Who’s standing who up now?”
She gave my hand a little squeeze then moved her hand away with a laugh before curling herself into my arms.
And just like that, I fell asleep next to a woman for the first time in years, and I couldn’t remember ever feeling better about the prospects.
Chapter 27
Kai
Avoidance was the only way I knew how to deal with what had happened the night before. Sebastian was nowhere to be found when I woke up, but even after my shower, I could smell his cool alpine scent everywhere—in my bathroom, on my sheets, on my skin. Still, I was holding out hope that I’d had nothing more than a very wet and vivid dream.
The principal cast’s rehearsal call time was later that morning since the production crew was testing all the audiovisual equipment and timing. So I got in a quick cardio workout before heading back to my room to get dressed.
We were told to “dress the part,” which was a casual term meaning “We don’t have your costumes yet, but don’t walk in with athletic wear.” I chose the closest best thing to what my opening number was supposed to look like, a white chiffon minidress with black polka dots and long sleeves. It tapered at the midsection and had a wide plunging neckline.
While I was drying my hair ten minutes before call time, my cabin’s phone rang. I scrunched my nose, wondering who it could possibly be. I hadn’t given anyone the number to my cabin. I’d never even used the phone before.
After the third ring, I picked it up from its base and held it to my ear. “Hello?”
“Hi, Kai. This is Rebecca, Jimmy’s assistant. There has been a change in plans for today. Rehearsals have just been canceled, and we will resume tomorrow, according to the regular schedule.”
That was it. No explanation, just… a free day?
Confused, I left my hair half dried and walked down to the mess to grab a bite to eat. One sweeping glance over the room confirmed that Sebastian wasn’t there, and I felt a flood of relief, though not because I didn’t want to see him. I was anxious to see him again, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to see him in front of my fellow cast members. I was certain the moment we were spotted together, everyone would know our secret.
After I grabbed a plate of food, Jake waved me over to where he and a few of the other dancers were eating.
“Did you hear the news?” he asked as soon as I sat down.
I scrunched my nose while stabbing at a piece of egg. “Other than them canceling rehearsals today, no.”
“But do you know why?”
I shook my head. “No. Do you?”
Jake nodded. “Sebastian had another blowup this morning. Apparently, he stumbled in late to the early-morni
ng rehearsals and flipped when he saw his understudy filling in for him.”
Madeline blew out a breath. She was a couple spots down from Jake. “Sebastian does not want anyone but him singing his songs.”
“Then he should show up on time like the rest of us,” Jake shot back.
“I’m sure we don’t know the whole story,” I tried. “Give him a break, you guys.”
The way the cast’s eyes shot over made me want to dig a hole under the table.
“Why are you always sticking up for him, Kai? He’s not your responsibility.”
My cheeks heated. “I know that. I’m just saying to cut him some slack. We weren’t there. We don’t know what really happened.”
“I was there,” Madeline said, her eyes wide like saucers. “Some of the understudies were asked to block some of the shots while they tested the lighting.”
I couldn’t keep the shock from my face. “You’re saying Sebastian got so angry Jimmy called off rehearsals?”
“He was furious,” Madeline confirmed. “Grabbed Lee by his shirt collar and yanked him off the piano bench.”
“Really?” I still didn’t want to believe it. “Why would he do that?”
Jake shook his head. “There’s no explaining him, Kai. He’s always been like this—just a bad dude who hates life.”
My stomach twisted at his words. Clearly, Jake didn’t know the real Sebastian. The man I’d gotten to know over the past month and a half might have had a rough exterior, but he had always meant well even if he didn’t know how to express himself when he felt threatened.
Jake’s opinion of Sebastian meant nothing to me. They’d worked together years before. People changed.
“They call him Bash for a reason, you know?” Jake said, forcing my attention back to him.
“Why does everyone call him Bash?”
Madeline searched the table before opening her mouth. “Didn’t he trash his dressing room one night during the Broadway run?”
“Oh yeah,” Jake confirmed. “I was playing Angst on Broadway at the time. Things were toxic already, but that night…” Jake shook his head as if the memories were too heavy to bear. “We’re talking broken mirrors, pictures, couch cushions thrown everywhere. There was even a hole in the wall from where he bashed it before he broke his hand. Saw it with my own two eyes. If he didn’t own the show, there’s no way in hell he’d ever be allowed back on a stage.”
