CHAPTER NINE
LAUREN
The afternoon sunlight warms my shoulders as I relax in one of the Adirondack chairs scattered on the stone patio outside the lodge. It's set up in tiers that weave through a garden of dormant shrubs and bare trees. In the spring, I’m sure it’s beautiful, but the stark winter visage holds its own kind of wonder, too.
Ezra messaged earlier to postpone our coffee date, mentioning needing to pick up his niece from school. It’s sweet how involved he is. My extended family didn’t live anywhere near me while growing up, which made impromptu pick-ups impossible. Plus, I took the bus since my parents worked during that time.
“Lauren. Lauren!”
The sip of my latte spews from my lips at the sound of my name in that overly friendly tone.
Oh, no.
My metal chair scrapes across the stone as I stand, fighting to regain my equilibrium.
Hunter is here, and he brought an entourage.
A smug grin plasters his face before he tugs me into an awkward hug. “There you are! Do you know how hard I've been trying to reach you? Harmony House wants us back for a reunion show.”
Hunter’s audacity remains unmatched. How dare he track me down and suggest I’d ever want to work with him again? As if I’d want to appear on a reunion show with him and Mya, who last I heard was still fucking my ex.
“Are you out of your mind? I’m not filming a reunion show.” The end of my ponytail stings my eye because my head shakes no so fast. “I’m never doing reality TV again.”
“Come on, Lo. Don’t be like that,” he whines. Ugh, I can't believe I used to date this wheedling jerk. “Our storyline made ratings history for the network. Imagine how well a live reunion will do! You, me, Mya… It’s a guaranteed hit.”
“It’s a guaranteed trainwreck. You humiliated me in front of millions of people, and you never even apologized. Now, you expect me to prostrate myself for the public again?”
“That’s what this is about? An apology?” He runs a hand through his shaggy hair. “I wanted to do it right. There’s a whole thing planned for the reunion, but if you need to hear it now, I’m sorry, okay?”
“No, not okay. Take your fake apology and shove it up your ass. I came to Suitor’s Crossing to get away from you and the tabloids, and you’re screwing that up by bringing them to witness whatever this is.” I gesture between us.
A group of photogs are crowded at the edges of the stone patio, snapping shot after shot like their lives depend on capturing Hunter and I in the throes of an argument.
“Everything all right here?” Ezra’s familiar voice enters the fray, and I’m torn between being happy he’s here and embarrassed that he’s getting another glimpse at how much of a mess my life’s been lately.
“Everything’s cool, man. Just a little spat with my girl. You know how it is.” Hunter offers an affable smile.
“I’m not your girl.”
“She’s not your girl.”
Hunter looks between me and Ezra, his brows furrowing as confusion wipes away some of his earlier charm.
“If you’re not a guest of Hearthstone Lodge, then you’re not welcome on our property, and it's considered trespassing. Do I need to get Sheriff Lawson here?”
“Whoa, easy… There’s no need for the cops. Lauren, tell this guy who I am.”
“I know who you are,” Ezra growls. “You’re the asshole who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants. Who thought another woman could replace Lauren. Who fucked up and lost the best thing you’ll never have again.”
Wow, Ezra is freaking hot when he’s defending me, and Hunter’s expression of annoyed disbelief is just the cherry on top. He thought he could show up and bully me into doing what he wanted like when he first asked me to join Harmony House .
Think again, loser.
“Lauren…”
“Don’t speak to her. Don’t ever say her name again.” Ezra’s large body forms a barrier between me and Hunter. “I’m going to count to ten, if you’re not out of my sight and off my property in that time, then those paparazzi friends of yours are going to get a camera full of your face looking a hell of a lot less pretty after my fist breaks your nose.”
Hunter huffs and acts like he's going to push, but a glance at the cameras has him changing his mind.
“Fine, I'll go, but think about the offer, okay, babe?”
I don't bother answering him. I'm just happy when he finally leaves.
“That’s going to air on E! tonight,” I mumble, my palm hesitantly rubbing circles over Ezra’s tense back.
His head of security arrives with a host of men in black, who herd the cameramen off the property. Once the excitement has died down, the guests who stopped to witness our debacle move on, and Ezra guides me inside the lodge.
He silently punches the button for the elevator and selects my level.
Guess we’re going to my room to talk this out.
Does he think I’m more trouble than I’m worth?
He probably isn’t used to dealing with D-list celebrities traipsing around his property and causing problems. And I’m just a guest. It’s not like I permanently live here, even if the thought of moving to this small town has grown on me the past week.
Especially since Nashville doesn't feel safe anymore with Hunter, Mya, and their slew of cameras.
My room door unlocks with the tap of Ezra's phone, and soon we’re locked in privacy—the weight of our relationship’s future burdening my shoulders.
I open my mouth to apologize. “I’m sorry for—”
He shuts me up with a possessive kiss that steals my breath away. “No more apologies. No more talking about your ex.” He punctuates the statement by tearing off my knitted wrap dress, leaving me bare except for my bra and panties.
“But…” He doesn't want an explanation for what happened? For Hunter’s visit?
Rippling muscles snag my attention as Ezra unbuttons his shirt. His abdomen flexes, and my gaze follows the enticing vee that leads to the thick bulge in his pants.
“But nothing , Lauren, and if you disobey me, there will be consequences.” Leather loafers fly through the air. Black slacks slump to the carpet.
“Like what?”
The more Ezra uncovers, the less I care about the last fifteen minutes. Hunter is gone, thanks to the dominant billionaire currently standing naked in front of me, so why dwell on the past?
Ezra stalks forward, his cock swaying between his muscular thighs, and I lick my suddenly dry lips. For a man who sits behind a desk most days, he's incredibly fit—the complete opposite of my squishy curves.
“Like my palm staining your pretty ass red with my handprint,” he warns with a feral smirk stretching across his face. “Like my cock ramming so deep in your tight pussy that you’ll forget about every man before me.”
“That’s a confident claim. Are you sure you can live up to it?” The taunt spills forth without preamble, announcing the arrival of my inner sex goddess awakening again.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Ezra has the skills to scramble my brain and have my pussy aching for more—our interlude in the supply closet proved that—but a part of me wants him to show me just how much he wants me.
He says I break his control?
Well, I want to see it in all its growly glory.
Quicker than the snap of a camera, Ezra pins me to the solid dresser next to the window that overlooks the mountains on the horizon. His larger body cages me against the dark-stained wood and guides my hands to the top for support as the rectangular mirror attached to the dresser reflects our flushed forms.
“Naughty little tease,” he whispers in my ear before biting the lobe. “Just for that, I’m going to make you forget your own name. All you’ll be screaming is mine for the entire lodge to hear.”
A shiver works its way down my exposed skin, though I’m far from cold. I’m burning up from the inside out with the furnace that is Ezra Caldwell at my back, the hot ridge of his cock wedged between my ass cheeks.
“Promises, promises…” The provoking words are barely spoken when the flat of his hand lands on my bottom with a resounding crack. I jump at the unexpected contact and wiggle against the wall of muscle preventing me from avoiding another spanking.
Not that I truly want to dodge Ezra’s erotic discipline, but it’s difficult to keep still when you’re desperate for release.
His finger slips beneath the top of my panties and tugs the fabric higher until the wet cloth binds my clit in a tight embrace while the rest of the cotton lewdly rubs my back hole.
Oh, fuck. Ezra’s barely begun his onslaught, yet I’m already shaking, panting with desire and nerves because no one’s ever made me feel this aroused this fast.
My bra snaps open and falls forward, freeing my breasts for his sensual pinches then soothing caresses, drawing my nipples into throbbing reddened points.
“Ezra… Please…”
“That’s a good start, baby. Beg me. Moan my name.” He pulls on my panties again as the broad tip of his cock nestles between my soaked folds, and the dual sensation of cotton and hard male teasing my entrance forces my spine to hollow, driving my pussy back for more.
Until, finally, his mushroom head stretches the clenching muscles, shoving my panties to the side.
“I’m going to fuck you so good.” Another thick inch slides forward. “I’m going to fuck this sweet cunt, and you’re going to watch.” More cock, more stretching. God, he’s torturing me. “Watch these sexy tits bounce with each thrust. Watch me mark your pretty body with my teeth.” A bite to my shoulder before sucking the pain away to leave behind his claim.
I’m surrounded by Ezra. Completely at his mercy.
Yet I’ve never felt more powerful.
Gone is the uptight businessman who maintains fastidious control of his life. In his place is this wild beast devouring me whole with savage obsession.
The passionate choreography outlined in the mirror showcases Ezra’s undeniable virility and dominance as he buries himself deep again and again, my body accepting each heavy thrust eagerly.
“Yes, mark me. Use me. Make me yours,” I ramble, jolting from the milking of my clit and nipple in time with the vigorous pounding of my pussy.
“You’re already mine, Lauren,” he grunts.
Oh, wow…
My mouth falls open with the scream of his name, and I come hard, blinding stars bursting behind my eyelids as I shudder and moan, grasping for purchase on Ezra’s sturdy forearms.
“That’s it, baby. Let everyone know who you belong to.” His movements become less controlled, more erratic, until he roars his release, hot jets of his seed overflowing from where we’re joined.
Good thing I’m on the pill , I think dazedly.
We stand locked together for long moments. Our breathing syncing. Our hearts matching beat for beat.
A small giggle erupts from my chest as I take in our sweaty appearance.
“What’s so funny?” Ezra nuzzles the space between my neck and shoulder, clearly one earth shattering orgasm eased the furious beast he turned into the second we entered my hotel room.
“Us. Like this.” I tiredly nod toward the mirror. My ponytail has half fallen out. My bra hangs wrinkled and crushed between me and the dresser, while Ezra’s usually styled hair clings to his temples and forehead, a sweaty mess from my fingers reaching back to grab on at some point. “We’re a mess.”
Ezra studies our entwined bodies then shrugs. “I like it.”
“Me, too… So would the paparazzi. I can see the headline: Humiliated Songwriter Gets Even with Billionaire .”
“I could arrange for that, you know. Rub Hunter’s face in how badly he fucked up.” He pauses and retreats enough to meet my eyes. “How are you feeling about seeing him again?”
“I’m allowed to talk about my ex now?” I tease.
“With my cum dripping down your thighs? Sure.” A satisfied grin tips his lips, male pride emanating from him.
Resting my head on his pec, I sigh. “His appearance shocked me, but that’s about it. I’m not harboring an unrequited love for him, more like unrequited loathing. I can’t believe he thinks I’d want to do a reunion show with him.”
“That’s what his visit was about? What a jackass.”
“Right?” Spinning in his embrace, Ezra’s cock falls from my pussy, and we both groan at the sensation before I forge ahead, ignoring the kindling need to be taken by him again. “I just hope he takes the hint and leaves me alone from now on.”
“If he doesn’t, he’ll have me to deal with.”
Warmth settles in my chest at the firm assurance. I pat his chest then press a kiss over his heart. “Of course he will. You’re my knight in shining armor, aren’t you? The guy in the grocery store. Jean Marcelle.”
“I’ll always protect you,” he confirms, and despite our short time together, I believe him.
I trust Ezra.
And for the first time since Harmony House and Hunter, I feel hopeful for the future with my gruff protector at my side.