10. Summer
10
SUMMER
I barely recognized myself.
Flying around the apartment, putting last-minute touches on everything I had arranged. Foil containers sat in a warm oven, sending the aroma of grilled chicken and roasted vegetables wafting my way as I uncorked a bottle of ice-cold chardonnay before adjusting a few of the items on the crudités platter I’d thrown together. The rest of the counter was devoted to plans—my laptop sat open, a revised shooting schedule on display, photos of shooting locations, and various corresponding pages from the script attached to them. I’d made some small tweaks, all of which emerged from the footage I’d seen earlier.
The footage. The rough cut. My whole body tingled at the memory of viewing it earlier. The thrill. It confirmed what I had known from the beginning—this was a special project, and we had something important on our hands.
My hands trembled a little, running through my hair as I passed a mirror near the front door. Okay, so maybe I had put a little extra effort into my appearance tonight, adding a little makeup, spritzing on a bit of perfume. Not that I was trying to seduce him or anything, but I couldn’t seem to shake the impulse to impress him. What was it that had me so conflicted? Yes, I had always wanted him, something that got harder to deny as days turned into weeks, but nothing had changed. All of the reasons for resisting were still firmly in place.
My weakening resolve was the problem.
That and the way my heart leaped when the doorbell rang. I’d texted him earlier, inviting him to come by around eight o’clock. Claudia had left to visit her family a few hours ago, giving me time to get everything set up without being questioned.
Get it together. This is a working dinner . A working dinner I was already starting to regret as anticipation made my pulse race when I opened the door to reveal Lex with a bouquet in hand. “These are for you,” he offered with a faint smile, handing the flowers over for me to admire.
“Thank you so much. Come on in.” Lord, this was awkward. We were hardly strangers. This was not a date. He hadn’t even changed from the crisp shirt and slacks he’d worn earlier today. I needed to get the fluttery feeling out of my system before this went completely off the rails.
“Smells good in here. I hope you didn’t go to too much trouble.” He said all the right words, but there was something wrong with his tone as he stopped in front of the counter, gazing down at what I’d laid out.
“Everything all right?” I asked as I filled a vase with water and placed the bouquet of daisies, mums, and roses inside.
“Oh, fine.” Right. That was believable.
With suspicion beginning to build, I replied, “Well, I hope you’re hungry. I ordered enough for an army.”
“Can we hold off on the food for a second?” he suggested, glancing up from the location photos. “I was hoping we could catch up on some feedback I received today.”
Just like that, any appetite I might have possessed became a thing of the past. “Is that what the flowers are really about? A peace offering?” I asked. I couldn’t help the growing dread and what it did to me, stirring disappointment in my heart before he had a chance to say another word. It all made sense now. As happy as I was, I hadn’t really noticed earlier, but he looked pretty distraught when he found me in my office.
“Do you always have to jump to that?” he demanded, throwing his hands into the air. “Always so combative. We are on the same side.”
“Right, and you’re buttering me up, getting me ready for disappointment. I would much rather you just come out with it.” Instead of taking the pans from the oven like I had planned, I rounded the counter, facing him with my hands on my hips. “What is it you have to say? Get it over with.”
“Don’t order me around,” he warned, his jaw tightening. “I’m not a member of your crew, remember?”
“Well then, don’t treat me like I’m an idiot who can be placated with a bouquet of flowers and dinner.”
“ You invited me for dinner!” he reminded me.
Right. I had. “Whatever,” I snapped. “Get it over with. I know you’ve been dying to.”
He took in a breath, and I braced myself, waiting for the inevitable. I should’ve known this was coming. Yet once his gaze landed on my mouth and stirred a dozen needful thoughts, I found myself trying to remember what we were talking about in the first place. “It’s nothing we can’t handle,” he whispered, his breathing more strained than before, his body almost trembling. With rage? Or something else? “We can work around it. It doesn’t have to get in the way of anything.”
I had to wonder what he was talking about. The feedback or the energy crackling between us. Why was it always like this? How was I supposed to resist? “Well?” I challenged, breathing hard and trying not to. I had to be strong. I owed it to myself. “Do it, already. Do what you came here to do.”
“Don’t act like you have the first idea why I came here,” he warned with a growl, stepping up close until he loomed over me.
When his hands landed on my waist and pulled me in, bringing me closer to his intoxicating scent and overwhelming energy, I gave it one last valiant effort. “Let go of me,” I muttered, placing my hands against his chest. Meaning to shove until I made contact with his unyielding muscles and forgot everything I thought I knew while his heart beat wildly under my palm.
“I wish I could,” he whispered, his gaze focused on my mouth before his eyes met mine. Troubled, burning, the light in them drew me in the way his arms did. “Fuck, I wish I could.”
So did I the instant before he crushed his lips to mine, and my resolve shattered.
He parted my lips with his tongue, and I let him. I didn’t have it in me to fight what I wanted with every cell in my body. I was too weak. And this was too damn good.
It was so much easier to melt against him, to run my hands up his rock-hard chest and over his bulging shoulders, holding onto them as he claimed my mouth, erasing every last protest in favor of the sheer, sizzling thrill of what exploded between us. He invaded me with his tongue, probing and swirling, exploring while my lips ached from the intensity of his kiss.
And his hands. They were everywhere, stroking my arms with the softest, most tantalizing touch before sliding up until he cupped my face. A whimper stirred in my throat when he broke the kiss and pulled his head back far enough for me to look up into his coffee-colored eyes—so dark, swirling with lust, need, and a hunger that turned my insides to molten lava. “I know what you’re going to say,” he grunted out, breathing hard. “We shouldn’t do this.”
Why did he have to say that at a time like this when my clit was throbbing, and every part of me wanted every part of him?
“But dammit,” he growled, lifting the fine hairs on my arms and stirring fire in my core, “I’ve been wanting this too much.”
So had I, more than I wanted to admit until now. It didn’t matter how hard I fought or how wrong I knew it was. All it took was the slightest kiss for him to set me on fire from head to toe. My body knew a truth my mind didn’t want to accept. I needed to hate him because it was safer than craving him.
Nobody needed to know. We could do it once and get it out of our system. This would not be a repeat of my last disaster. I wouldn’t let it. Whatever I needed to tell myself.
I sighed, leaning in, sinking a hand into his thick, brown hair, pulling him down again. “Don’t stop,” I whispered into his mouth before electricity ran through me when our lips touched.
The deep growl he let out erased any scrap of resistance I had left. It was a wild sound, the kind that promised a night I’d never forget. His arms closed around my back, and something inside me lit up and took flight, making me wrap my legs around him when he lifted me off my feet. “Bedroom,” he grunted between kisses.
I couldn’t answer right away. The pressure from his enormous bulge against my pussy made it a challenge to do more than moan. “Second door,” I rasped. My mouth moved over his jaw and neck as he carried me down the hall, fingers kneading my ass and making my eyes roll back in my head.
How long had it been since I was touched like this? Obviously, too long since I was a throbbing, breathless mess by the time Lex threw me onto the bed hard enough to make me bounce. I squealed, but the sound was cut off by a gasp when he took my ankles in his hands and pulled me across the mattress.
There was something wild in his eyes. Almost scary. Instead of making me want to pump the brakes, I only craved more, seeing him loom over me as he parted my legs, taking control. I had never met a man who excited me more. Not even close.
He didn’t say a word, not that he had to. His hands did the talking—no, playing. He was playing my body the way a maestro played their instrument, sliding up my thighs, pushing my dress higher. The sensations bombarding me were intense enough that I forgot to breathe as I lifted my hips so he could slowly peel away my panties.
This was happening. He was really popping the remaining buttons on his tailored button-down shirt, revealing his perfectly chiseled chest, shoulders, andarms. I reached for him without thinking, needing to touch, indulging as he stretched out on top of me. Every ripple, every bulge, I was going to explore all of him.
His palm cupped my breast, massaging before his thumb circled my nipple through the thin cotton covering it. “No bra,” he grunted out, squeezing. I covered his hand with mine and squeezed harder while the nails of my other hand scratched his broad back.
He rolled his hips, and oh God, the pressure from his dick was incredible. My hips moved to meet him, and we both groaned. The sound of his helplessness was a drug, and I needed more.
Sliding a hand between us did the trick. “Summer… oh, f-fuuuck…” He gasped, thrusting against my palm when I found his length. It was so hard and big enough to worry me a little, but I wasn’t about to stop this. Not for anything.
His mouth traveled lower over my chest and down my stomach. When he worked my dress up, I helped him, crossing my arms over myself and pulling it over my head before dropping back again. I was barely on my back, and his hands were on me, taking hold of my breasts so he could lavish long, slow strokes across my nipples with his tongue.
“Mmm… that’s… shit. Don’t you dare stop,” I pleaded because I would die if he did. Every brush of his tongue sent a bolt of electricity straight to my clit, which now throbbed hard enough to hurt. Hooking a leg around him and pulling him in only made it worse. I needed him to touch me there.
“Lex… please…” I barely recognized my pitiful whimpering, but it did the trick. All it took was a single finger dragged through my entrance to send me flying over the edge before I knew what was happening. I arched, going stiff in that final heartbeat just as the tension shattered.
The sweetest relief poured over me and rolled through my core. It didn’t stop because he didn’t stop. “That’s it, beautiful. Give me another,” he whispered, guiding two thick digits inside me. I was still spasming, and instead of dying down, the sensations went on and on, dragged out with every stroke against my G-spot, heightened the harder he breathed. It was the sexiest sound—deep, guttural, and almost enough to curl my toes.
“Getting tight again,” he announced. With his fingers still inside me, he worked his way to his knees to unbuckle his belt with his free hand. “Come for me so I can sink this cock inside this pretty pussy. Do you want that, Summer?”
“Yes!” I sobbed, rolling my hips, working with him. Nothing in the world mattered but this. I needed it to end. The tension was so strong it made me plant my feet on the bed and move my hips frantically up and down. “Please! Let me come!”
It was the thumb he added against my clit that did it. I almost howled when it hit and practically shot me up off the bed. “Yeah, that’s right,” he urged, working in and out. “Give it to me. Let go.”
It’s not like I had a choice. I was weak and trembling by the time his fingers slid out of me. Opening my eyes meant watching him watch me. He stared down at my splayed-out body while lowering his zipper, lips parted, chest heaving with every breath.
“I could jerk off just looking at you like this,” he said, his voice gritty and heavy with desire. Meeting my gaze, he added, “But that wouldn’t be enough fun.”
No. It wouldn’t. Especially considering the dick he freed once his pants and boxer briefs were around his thighs—thick and veiny with a wide head. The sight of it made my pussy quiver, and my hand shot out to wrap around his shaft, testing it.
“Fuuuck…” He dragged out the word, letting his head fall back while he thrust his hips. “Shit, that’s good.” When I propped myself up on my elbow, he buried a hand in my hair and drew me closer.
He didn’t need to say the words. I knew what he wanted. After a few experimental licks against his underside, I took his head into my mouth, letting the taste of his precum spread across my tongue, taking more. I was barely two-thirds of the way before he hit the back of my throat, so I used my hand to cover the rest.
“Mmm… that’s it… get me good and hard for you…” he whispered, though I couldn’t imagine him getting harder than he already was as my head bobbed and his hips moved. Just as I got into a rhythm, he pulled me away with a soft, woeful groan. “Lie back.”
That was the most surprising part of all. How good it felt to give up control and follow his commands. I did as he said, working my way back until my head reached the pillows. He pulled a condom from his wallet, tossing his slacks and underwear aside.
Magnificent. That was the only word for his athletic body. My pussy quivered again in anticipation as he positioned himself between my legs, spreading them wider to make room for him. My heart was in my throat. Would I be able to take all of him inside me?
He didn’t give me much time to think that over, dragging his head through my slit before pushing forward until I gasped at the pressure that walked the line between pleasure and pain. It lasted only a second. Then, there was nothing but pleasure that only grew bigger the deeper he sank himself.
“You’re so fucking tight,” he gritted out, grimacing, squeezing his eyes shut. “Gonna make me come, you’re so tight.”
“You feel so good,” I whispered, arching my back, straining for contact with his warm, smooth skin and the flexing muscles under it.
“You think you have another one for me?” he grunted out, moving so slowly I was sure I’d go crazy. No way could I stand much more of this. Sweet torture, feeling every inch of him inside me, stretching and pushing me a little closer to the edge.
I clawed his backandgripped him tight with my legs, pulling him closer. Who was I? He was turning me into a greedy monster who needed more, all of him. I couldn’t get enough of the feeling of his dick stretching me, filling me, moving a little faster with each thrust. Wet noises mixed with the sound of our ragged breathing until bliss pulled me under one last time.
He came with a roar that shook us both. His body went limp against mine for a second before he rolled away and left me aching to have him back. Already, I wanted him back.
But this was already bad enough. I knew it way before the last little tremor raced through my core. There was no time to lie back and bask in the glow when what we did was dangerous for both of us.
He knew it too. “Let me guess what you’re thinking,” he muttered, eyes closed, stretched out on his back. “We shouldn’t have done it and can’t ever do it again.”
“You know it’s the truth,” I whispered, half-hearted. Knowing he was right didn’t mean I had to like it. Right now, I fucking hated it. I had seen the promised land, as corny as that sounded. How was I supposed to go back to the way things were when I only wanted him but didn’t know how it felt to have him inside me?
“I know. And I’m not trying to fuck this up for either of us.” He groaned again, sitting up and rubbing his hands over his face. “But don’t expect me to forget, Summer.”
I watched as he got up, memorizing every detail while he started pulling himself together. “It’s for the best,” I reminded him.
Maybe I was reminding both of us.