Chapter 12
Her tiny kiss staggers me and gets me instantly hard.
My cock strains against the tight pleats of my dress pants, and only the six inches between us keep Empire from feeling it.
“Fuck.”
The word explodes out of me, and I catch a flash of worry on her face before she’s got her lower lip between her teeth, nibbling. It’s hard to keep my hands in place, to keep my grip light instead of crushing her to my chest and finishing what she started. I guide her down the hallway with her face ahead so she can’t look at me.
“The other day, on the couch…” I start then stop. “With us.”
“Yes?”
“That wasn’t your first kiss, right?”
She took my breath away the moment I saw her with her dress halfway on, her hair and makeup done, and a slightly wry grin on those bright red lips. I wanted to thank God for whatever a fuck like me did to earn even a glimpse of her, a fallen angel made of sin and smiles.
She lets out a soft giggle. “No, it wasn’t my first kiss. Not by a long shot. But Marcus…”
The sound of my name on her lips is a prayer, one I’m powerless against.
“I want you to kiss me again. I want your hands on me.” Her back straightens as she speaks. “I don’t want you to hold back.”
If I start, if she turns and looks at me, then I won’t be able to stop myself. I keep my eyes ahead, my own breathing ragged as she turns to glance at me over her shoulder. Her gaze travels over my chest and back up to my eyes while she waits for me to answer.
An undeniable hunger passes through me and lodges in my insides. A low growl burns the back of my throat.
Blame it on my dick. Blame it on too long without having a woman to fuck or to hold.
I’ve got to have her.
I grab her and back her into the wall, the full force of my lust focused entirely on her. I lunge, freeing myself of any ties, and kiss her hard. Thoroughly. Empire throws her arms over my neck until we’re a tangle of lips and teeth.
“Give me everything, Marcus.”
It’s a whispered plea as loud as a shout.
She runs her fingernails down the back of my neck, across my overheated skin, and I want to tear at her clothes until they are on the floor.
She moans, and something inside me hardens further at the sound. Kissing her is a terrible mistake, and I can’t stop myself. Even the layers of fabric between us feel like walls, and I’m about to burn everything down. There’s no denying the attraction I feel for her, the completely impossible attraction that we will probably both regret once this moment passes. But there is nothing but hunger in her eyes when I break away, and her gaze darts do my lips.
“More.”
Fuck any control.
Her mouth is on mine this time, insistent and angling to take the kiss deeper.
Careful of her hair, I wrap my hand around the back of her neck to keep her close, her lips parting to accept my tongue eagerly. I tease her with short strokes that have Empire clutching at me. She tastes sweet, like mint. Like spearmint. Light and sharp and intoxicating.
And when she kisses me back, scraping her teeth over my lip, I moan her name, feasting on her, holding her in place with my hand against her hip and kneading her skin even as I press closer.
I kiss her again and cup my hands around her ass, grinding her against my erection. The dress won’t allow her to wrap her legs around me, but she holds onto me like her life depends on it. My cock presses to her front, the wall at her back, and she’s as soft as I imagined.
We move together, burning each other to ashes, and I know if I ever got the chance to take her, I’d go over the edge entirely, sweat slicked, panting, smelling of her the way she’d smell of me.
It’s madness, and I want it to go on forever. I reach between us and slide my fingers underneath the neckline of her dress to tease her nipples. They’re already hard, and I rock my hips into hers until she gasps and breaks the kiss. I brush my chin along the side of her neck, her jaw, nibbling lightly to make sure there are no marks on her pale skin.
Need pulses through me, and I feel my heartbeat in the tip of my cock. How easy it would be to shuck the pants, to push her dress up to her waist and thrust inside of her.
She’s struggling to draw a full breath when she says, “Marcus? The other night with you? That was the first time anyone ever touched me.” She cups my face and kisses me until my body goes taut. “I never let anyone go that far before.”
“Fuck me.” The words are clipped, but the heat in her tone makes me lose control.
I push her back to the bed until she drops with a sharp gasp.
I fumble with her clothes, not wanting to tear the dress. Her lipstick is already smeared across the lower half of her face from our kisses. I want to taste her, to dive my head between her legs and lick her from taint to clit, but we don’t have time for it. I push her dress up, standing on the edge of the bed like it will give me a little fucking clarity when it absolutely won’t.
Her thighs tremble when I touch my thumb against her clit, working in tight circles until Empire moans. Her eyes close and her head drops back, and I slip my finger inside her.
I want her mindless.
I want her to remember the feeling of me where no one else has been before. She’s tight around my finger, pulsing and tensing and absolutely drenched for me. Her eyes lock on mine when I slide a second finger beside the first and crook them up, stroking her insides in time with her breath.
I’ll brand her damn insides with my fingers and then with my cock. She’ll always feel me inside of her.
Empire moans, her breath quickening and her chest heaving as I work my fingers in time with the arch of her hips. I circle her clit with my thumb, keeping the pressure light, curling my fingers inside of her until her movements go jerky. She cries out, and the muscles of her pussy tighten around me, her orgasm long and steady.
Once she comes down from the high, I lift my fingers to my mouth and wait for her to meet my eyes before I lick them. I stick both between my lips and lap at every bit of her moisture. She tastes like goddamn honey.
“So good,” I mutter.
Like I own her.
Like we have any kind of chance at this. At least I haven’t fucked her, haven’t sheathed myself inside her tight little cunt and made that mine too.
I stare at her a moment longer before reaching down and adjusting my erection in my pants.
“Come on.” I hold out a hand for her to take. “Your lipstick is smeared.”
Empire slaps her hand on mine, and I haul her to my side, waiting until she fixes her dress. Neither one of us speaks. Neither one of us says anything about the fact that I still taste her on my tongue, or the small tremors of movement shooting through her lightning quick, remnants of her orgasm as she comes down from the high.
I don’t give her time to clean up, only enough to fix her lipstick.
Let her walk the red carpet feeling her wetness, knowing I’m the one who caused it. The same way I’ll stroke myself once I’m alone tonight and remember how breathtaking Empire had been with my fingers in her pussy.
The hired limo is parked outside the house, the driver smoking a cigarette just outside the driver’s side door.
Empire waits for me to hold open the rear door before she gathers her skirts in hand and slides across the backseat. We’re a little later than I wanted to be, but it’s my fault entirely. I’d gotten too excited by her.
No control, like I was some kind of fucking horny pre-teen about ten seconds away from coming in his pants at all times. Just because a pretty girl let me help her with her dress—
She keeps her hands in her lap for the duration of the drive until we pull up in front of the Chinese Theater, and suddenly, she stiffens at the crowds outside the structure, the snap of cameras and the people crowding closer to see who will walk the carpet to the entrance.
“Wow, there are a lot of people out there.”
“Of course there are.” I lean my arm over the rear of the seat. “You’ll do great.”
“I’m glad for your confidence in me, but I still feel like there are bugs eating me alive.” She rubs a hand over her bare stomach.
“Follow my lead. And for fuck’s sake, can you smile a little bit?” I keep my voice low and strong before grabbing her hand and squeezing. Her fingers have tightened into a fist, and I slowly work them open, sliding mine through hers. “You’re going to have to relax, or they are going to eat you alive out there. You know what to do.”
Her brows lift into a more natural position. “Of course I know what to do. Once the doors open, you won’t have to worry about me,” she replies.
I hope it’s true.
Without waiting, without making a big deal over her nerves, I step out into the noise, the lights, the chaos, heads turn in our direction, especially when I swivel to help Empire out of the limo.
They know her face.
They’ve seen her before many times, even though it’s been too long, and they understand what kind of a moment this is, even if no one says it out loud. The air fills with anticipation, and her first step onto the carpet ahead is confident. Empire rests her hand at the crook of my arm, allowing me to guide her. The mask is solidly fixed. She smiles at everyone she sees and lifts her free hand in greeting to several folks who call out her name.
Not a hair out of place, even though she’d been completely undone less than thirty minutes ago.
I love how she trusts me to lead her through the event. There is no hint of the nerves plaguing her as we maneuver the red carpet, following on the heels of another couple ahead of us and more shuffling into place behind. We are the zoo animals on display tonight, but that’s why everyone is here.
“Empire! Is it true you’ll be starring in the next major motion picture by Parker Heath?” one of the reporters call out. “Word is out you’ve been tapped for a huge role in a yet untitled project.”
“Miss Stone has recently signed her contract,” I answer for her. It’s all I’ll give away despite the barrage of attention.
It’s a small thing to direct every question toward her upcoming movie and the increase in her social media presence. Effortless. Part of my job and the one thing I know how to do without fucking up.
We’re inside the doors, in the relative cool of dimmer light, when Empire turns her face to mine and smiles a different grin than the one she reserves for the crowd. Bright, grateful…and she looks so much like her mother, the pain becomes a physical slice, from my heart all the way down past my navel and lower.
Fuck.
If that isn’t the biggest reason to keep my hands to myself, then I have no idea what else it would be.
Empire is supposed to be untouchable, at least by me.
It’s my job to watch her and boost her career, not get her off. Especially when the opening is a blur of bodies and preening. There are more diamonds here than at Zales, more wine than at a winery, and toasts are being lifted in front of the snapping cameras. I stay at Empire’s side and lend her my silent strength even as I field questions.
She does her best to answer and tries to smile, if only for me, at anyone who flits close enough to her to speak.
Several actresses who knew her mother stop over to personally greet her and ask how she’s doing. She answers all of them with grace, but the look in her eyes says her mind is elsewhere.
“You’re doing well,” I murmur next to her ear.
“It’s like riding a bike,” she insists.
I chuckle. “I’ve never seen you ride a bike.” Although the image in my head is one worth exploring at a future date.
“But you’ve seen me work a premiere.”
“It’s because you stand out in your dress.” I crane close to whisper beside her ear, loving the way she trembles. “Everyone is looking at you, wanting to know what put the smile on your face.”
She shivers, and I know I’ve got her.
Someone grabs at my jacket and tugs to grab my attention. “Marcus Ortega, it’s good of you to make it out! And you’ve brought my starlet with you.” And there”s Parker with a shit eating grin on his face.
His gaze falls to Empire and shifts into pure, gut clenching lust, enough to have my fingers clench in my pocket.
“Parker.” I shove my arm between us to shake his hand. “I knew you’d turn up. I just didn’t expect you so soon.”
He isn’t paying the least bit of attention to me, not while he’s staring at Empire, his gaze trailing from the top of her head to her navel and lower. “I hear you’ve been really talking up my movie and my starlet,” he says. “We haven’t even started to film and already, she’s causing a stir. I can’t wait to see what happens once we start.”