1. The Shadow Cast #2
His mind was buzzing with the studio call, but he poured every ounce of that intensity into unraveling me.
He knew how to break me down. He shifted his angle, swirling his tongue over my clit.
The sharp pleasure made my breath catch, wiping away the last lingering threads of tension from the audition.
I reached down, my fingers searching for a hold. I grabbed handfuls of the sheets, bunching the thin fabric in my fists to keep my hands from shaking. His pace was relentless. I arched my back, my hips lifting off the mattress to meet his mouth.
The intensity of it pushed me close to the edge. The mattress springs squeaked in protest as I writhed against his grip. The second I lost the rhythm, he slid two fingers deep inside me. The sudden, stretching fullness alongside the slick pressure of his tongue broke my remaining control.
“Hayes, please,” I begged, the thin sheets pulling taut in my tight grip. “I can’t take much more of this.”
“Just let go for me, Sutton,” he murmured against my skin, his fingers curving inside me to hit the exact right spot. “I’ve got you.”
“God, Hayes, right there,” I cried out, arching upward to press closer. “Don’t stop.”
The violent, shuddering high of the climax was still pulsing through me when Hayes crawled up the length of my body.
The mattress groaned under his shifting weight.
He adjusted his knees, settling his hips directly over mine.
I dragged my hands from the tangled sheets to rest them flat against his bare chest, my palms slipping against the slick layer of sweat coating his skin. He pressed my knees wider.
He didn’t give me time to recover. He guided himself to my wet entrance and thrust inside.
I gasped at the initial stretch. I dug my fingernails into his shoulders.
He let out a low, ragged sound, bracing his hands flat on either side of my head.
The frantic, nervous energy from the living room was gone.
He set a slow, grinding pace, pulling almost all the way out before driving his hips forward to bury himself deep again.
The relentless friction sent fresh heat pooling in my core, erasing everything else from my mind.
He hooked his hands under my knees, lifting my legs high and draping them over his broad shoulders, tilting my hips upward. The shift opened me up further, allowing him to slide even deeper.
“You feel so incredibly good,” he groaned, his pace quickening as he thrust against the resistance of the mattress. “I could stay inside you forever.”
“Then stay,” I said, arching my lower back to meet the downward drive of his hips. “Don’t hold back, Hayes, just give it to me.”
He obliged, abandoning the slow grind. He pumped into me with a desperate, punishing rhythm, driving my shoulders flat against the pillows.
His rough stubble dragged along my collarbone.
I tangled my fingers deep into his damp hair, matching the violence of his pace.
I abandoned myself to the rhythm, letting the momentum pull me under.
The sensory overload drove us both straight to the breaking point. My hips stuttered against the mattress.
“Sutton,” he gasped, driving into me one final, brutal time. “You are everything to me.”
He held himself flush against me as the climax broke over us. I squeezed my eyes shut, breathless as the powerful, shared high washed through me. He collapsed heavily onto my chest, burying his face in the crook of my neck.
The wild rush of the evening finally faded, leaving the bedroom quiet.
We lay tangled together beneath the sheets.
The sweat dried against my skin as the cool draft from the window settled over us.
Hayes shifted his weight, rolling slightly onto his side.
He pulled my back tight against his chest, wrapping a strong arm around my waist to trap the heat between our bodies.
“You’re shivering,” he murmured against my shoulder.
“The sweat is just cooling off,” I said, reaching down to rest my fingers over his wrist. “It’s fine. Just don’t let go.”
He pulled me tighter against him. The solid weight of his arm holding me against his side made the dark room feel completely safe. He reached up with his free hand, tracing his thumb along the line of my jaw in the shadows.
The soft brush of his thumb stopped completely, and I turned my head slightly, catching the sudden shift in his expression. The reality of the studio deal was setting in. The charming, untouchable leading man faded, and he looked down at me with an intense, focused stare.
“The media is going to be dreadful once the cast list drops,” Hayes murmured, his voice lowering.
He didn’t break eye contact. He moved his hand down to my collarbone, resting his palm against my skin.
“I need to keep you safe from that circus,” he continued, the words deliberate. “So we have to keep our marriage a secret.”
The request hung in the still air between us. If keeping my name off the press releases meant preserving this quiet, private life, I would stay in the shadows. He looked at me like I was the most precious thing in his life, offering to protect me from the exact chaos that ruined everyone else.
“I don’t need the red carpets or the premiere tickets, Hayes,” I answered, tracing the back of his hand. “I just need you to come home to me like this when the cameras stop rolling.”
He let out a long breath, the tension leaving him completely. He leaned forward, pressing a warm, lingering kiss against my shoulder.
“I will always come home to you,” he whispered, his lips brushing against my skin. “No matter how big this franchise gets, they don’t get to touch what we have.”
He pulled the sheets higher over my shoulders, settling his chin against the crown of my head. I curled against his chest in the dark, content to let the rest of the world have his public life, as long as I got to keep the man.