Chapter 16
Empire in the arms of another man, letting him touch her the way I am, letting him see the pieces of her no one else deserves to see…red filters over my vision. Empire on some other man’s lap with his hand on her breast, on her hip, her thighs—damnit. The idea of someone else touching her drives me fucking crazy. I don’t want anyone else touching her this way, the way I am right now. Not even for a movie part I pushed her to do.
She belongs to me, even if I can’t keep her.
Even if I will never be the type of man who deserves her.
She will always belong to me, and the sooner we both get our heads around that fact, the better it will be for both of us. To whatever ruin we’re heading toward, the two of us are going to collide eventually, and when it does, it will be a spectacular explosion. Until then, any other boy or man in her orbit better steer clear of her.
I’ll have to make sure the intimacy coordinator is really on their game by the time they get around to filming this scene because, fuck. One wrong slip on her co-star’s part, and I’ll rip his goddamn head off. Both of his heads. Especially if he gets any ideas.
“Well?” she asks breathlessly, pausing in her monologue to push me along the path she thinks she’s leading me down.
She’s doing this on purpose.
Working me up into a frenzy because she wants to get her way and push me down beneath her heel. Not a bad place to be, and I bet the view would be spectacular from that angle. Too bad for her, it won’t work. She must have thought choosing this scene would get me to unravel and maybe make amends for last night. Who the hell knows what she really wants from me. Neither one of us is willing to admit to anything out loud. Her choice of this scene, and my choice to indulge her, mean something, but what is anyone’s guess.
How far will I go today? Another guess, a huge gamble on the part of my self-control.
Control versus desire.
How much longer will I let her think she’s got me by the short and curlies? I see through her game easily enough, even through my thick haze of jealousy.
“Keep doing the scene,” I urge, keeping my fingers light on her thighs.
“It’s your line,” she corrects.
Crap, it is. I glance over at the script, the words obscure and unfocused on the page, and I have to blink to clear my eyes long enough to find my place.
What a little brat, I think again. Someone needs to spank some sense into her or stuff it into her with my cock. That’s a mental picture to savor.
Empire wants to finish the scene, which culminates in a sexy fade to black before the two characters finally sleep together for the first time. No matter what she wants to get out of this, I highlighted it, along with a few other scenes in my script, for further inspection. Only the ones I considered a potential issue for her during filming.
Talk about taking a dive into the deep end of a pool with only minimal swim lessons. That’s this role for her.
“Actually, I think you’re okay on this scene for now.” I make no move to remove her from my lap, though. “I actually feel you’d be better served going over the scene on page two hundred and one today.”
It’s darker, with sinister overtones. If she wants to play games, then I’ll play. Let’s see what kind of performance she gives with this curveball.
Her brows knit together. “I want to finish this one.” She sounds like a princess who isn’t given her way.
“And I want you to run a new scene,” I tell her, flipping the pages haphazardly until I stop at the neon-colored post it note I’d tacked near the top. “Stop looking at me for your cues and keep going, as though you’re here in front of a camera. This sort of shit happens all the time. Directors change their focus.”
“Hmm?” She blinks, craning her head to look at the one I’m pointing to. Her face goes pale. “Marcus, I’m not mentally prepared to do this one today. No.”
“Come on. If you want my help, then let me help you, Empire.” Smooth as butter, trapping her without her knowing. “I’m going to forget the lines, but you have to act professionally and run with it, even if I screw up. Plus, I had a feeling you were going to need some extra work on this one. We might as well start now.”
“You picked this one out as a problem for me?” Her frown deepens as she scans the page. “I’m not sure if I should be insulted or not.”
“No insult necessary.” I grip her tighter to make sure she doesn’t shift away yet. In this scene, she won’t be on my lap.
“This is the one you want to do now?” she asks.
“Unless you feel you need a break or you’re not up for the challenge.” I shrug one shoulder high and watch her lift one corner of her lip in a quickly flashed snarl.
She rises to the challenge and takes the bait like a champ. “No, this is fine. I’m up for it. I just have to get in character.” Empire peels herself off my lap and moves a foot away, close enough for me to still reach her.
I stand too, making no move to hide the bulge very much evident in my sweatpants. I’m so hard, I can barely think. Barely move, for that matter. I give her a minute, looking at the script and tugging at the neck of my shirt to mime loosening a tie.
Her chest heaves, and the tiny top she wore to bed shows more skin than it hides.
“Looks like you have a little problem there.” She sucks on her teeth.
“This?” I jut my hips forward. “Don’t worry about me. Worry about yourself and this script. I’m just hoping your unwillingness to do the part won’t shine through.”
There’s no prodding her, though. She’s too focused on other things.
After scanning the dialogue, she turns back to me and tosses her hair to the side. Her entire demeanor changes with the gesture, along with the expression on her face. There’s still enough of Empire in her for me to know she’s distracted, but she’s begun to embody the character, whether she’s fully aware of the change or not.
“Haven’t you heard a word I’ve said? I’m done with this now.” Her voice is high pitched, tenacious.
“I hear you trying to end things,” I tell her slowly. “What you don’t understand, my dear, is the price you’ve got to pay now. You’ve entered into this deal with your eyes open. There is no going back now.”
“What deal?”
It’s the start of the scene where Alicia, after having gotten Mr. Patterson exactly where she wanted him, tries to break things off after he becomes too obsessive for her liking. Rather than letting her get away, Mr. Patterson refuses to let her go and runs after her when she bolts.
“I thought you understood. There is no involvement with me in any half measures.” I lick my lips, gauging her reaction.
She’s going strong in the scene, but her gaze keeps flicking down to my cock—too distracted, it seems, to really understand what she’s reading or where this scene is going.
She’ll have to run.
I’m damn well going to give chase.
“It seems you need to be taught the price for getting what you want.” I drop my hand to my cock and stroke it through the fabric.
“I’m not scared of you,” Empire as Alicia states.
“Then why are you sweating? I see your pulse in your neck, racing. You should not be scared. This is what you want, after all. You’ve talked a big talk, and now—” Shit, I forgot the line.
I want this so badly my hands are shaking. My body is tense. I can”t wait to taste every inch of her. The thought of capturing her, feeling her tight body beneath mine and at my mercy, is liquid desire injected right into my bloodstream.
“It’s just a line, Marcus,” she reminds me for the thousandth time. “And it’s not even like you’re going to be the one saying it.”
“You’ve talked a big talk, and now you’re going to have to put your money where your mouth is, young one.” I take a step closer to her.
“I thought I’ve already done that,” she argues. The first hint of fear shows on Alicia’s face. Empire only looks horny, her hard nipples visible through her shirt. “Didn’t I show you on my back?”
Another step. “Not nearly enough.”
I slide my hands along the outside of her bare thighs, her skin like velvet. I pause at her hips before I drag my fingernails toward her inner thighs and higher, teasing her before circling her knees.
Her tongue darts out to wet her lips again, and I stare up at her, watching her cheeks pink, her chest heave.
It’s her line.
Her gaze drops to my throat and stays there.
“Well?” It’s my turn to prompt her.
She clears her throat and twists to glance at the script on the desktop. I’m not the only one aroused out of my mind. She’s turned on too.
She’s struggling to remember her lines, but there is something so innocent about the way she’s fumbling, the way she thinks she’s the one in control of this game. I’ve played along the best I could, but I want to eat her. I want to do one better than Mr. Patterson. I want to devour this beautiful creature alive.
“What are you going to do?” I grind out. “Do you think you’re going to run? I see you going for the door.”
Empire lets out a breathy chuckle. She’s nowhere near close to the door.
“There’s nowhere you can go to escape me, Alicia. You’re mine now. You’re mine in every possible way. I own you.”
“I belong to myself,” she insists.
“You belong to me,” I repeat. “You can run if you like. It will only make it so much sweeter when I catch you.”
“What will you do to me?”
“You’ve stirred my passion, and now you think you’ve paid the price. You’re nowhere near close to paying it, sweetheart. One way or another, I’m going to catch you.” I drop my head to the side of her neck and drag my nose up her overheated skin. “You might not like what happens when I do.”
“You’ll…rape me?”
“It’s not rape if you beg me for it,” I say as Mr. Patterson. “Trust me when I tell you, I know exactly what to do to your body to have you begging for it. You love it when I touch you. You love what my money does for you. Isn’t that what you’re really after?” I pause to wait for her answer.
In the script, Alicia runs, and Mr. Patterson is supposed to hunt her down. It’s a culmination of their cat and mouse game, where he goes from the hunted to the hunter.
Except they’re in his house, and he knows the labyrinthine halls better than she does.
In our case, Empire knows this house much better than I do. I’m the one at a disadvantage if she changes her mind and decides to hide.
Better, almost. I want her to hide.
My body tenses. Wait until I taste every inch of her. She’ll think twice about playing games with me.
“Mr. Patterson, this is crazy,” she whispers.
It’s absolutely crazy. Both of us set out to provoke the other and only succeeded in torturing ourselves. If I do this, there’s no guarantee I’ll be able to stop myself before sliding into her moist heat and fucking her virginity away, until we’re both blind from sensation and she’s come around my cock two, three, four times. I won’t stop until we’ve both lost count.
The script is out of my head entirely at this point, along with any worry for her career or for mine. There’s only me and Empire in this tiny office, and we’re hot enough for each other to burn up every last atom of oxygen.
She jerks her chin up to meet my eyes, and her cheeks blossom a pretty pink. The flush creeps down her neck to her cleavage, and I wonder if she’s gushing between her legs. My mouth goes dry, and my cock jumps again.
My hands pause on her inner thighs as pleasure spirals up my stomach at the sensation of her.
“You haven’t seen crazy yet,” I growl. I’m not sure if it’s the line or not at this point. All me, all Marcus, I continue with, “Run, rabbit, run. Because when you fall, I’m going to bend you over and teach you the hardest lesson of your life.”