Living Dangerously (20 page)

Her heart stuttered then banged hard against her ribs. Her mouth went dry. That was exactly the kind of scene she’d read in Ari’s script. Had she imagined Troy tying her down as she’d read the pages? Damn straight, she did. The idea sounded so erotic she felt even more moisture between her thighs.

A nervous chuckle vibrated in her throat and his smile grew wider.

“It’s funny you should mention that because my character gets tied down in the film I’m doing with Ari. It’s a woman’s journey to find herself. To find the confidence to be who she wants to be and not who she’s told to be.”

“You sure don’t have that problem. I can see how this film might be a stretch for you.” He lifted an eyebrow and she smiled up at him. He gazed at her as his thumb lightly stroked her temple. He was so unbelievably sexy.

She couldn’t wait to get started. “Okay then. Let’s do this.”

“Really? Tie you down? To the bed? Right now?” He shook his head as if she’d given him one more thing to wrap his brain around. “I didn’t really expect you to say yes.”

He dropped his head again, but this time he laughed and Julie’s heart soared at the sound. In the time they’d been together, he’d grinned and chuckled but he’d never laughed until now. The sound cut straight through her. She wanted to keep him laughing.

“Did I say something funny?” she deadpanned.

He laughed harder until he rolled off her and onto his back. She propped herself on an elbow and watched him, fascinated. When he finally wiped a hand down his face and looked at her again with his dark eyes sparkling with lust and trouble, she had her answer.

“I’ve got two scarves in my bag for my wrists and we can tie a few pairs of socks together for my ankles,” she said.

He shook his head as a devastating grin curved his lips. “We won’t need the socks.” His low voice whispered in the quiet room. “I’ve got some rope in my car.”

* * *

Troy tested the last knot. Julie could get free anytime she wanted, if she wanted. She lay under the covers because he wanted to unwrap her one slow inch at a time. He’d tied her ankles spread-eagle to the bed frame and her hands together above her head, then secured her to a wood slate on the headboard. He’d used scarves around her wrists, and wrapped hand towels around her ankles to keep the rope from abrading her soft skin.

“How’s it feel?” he asked. He still wasn’t sure about this and God knew it exceeded his wildest imagination when it came to this woman.

“Fine. Kind of sexy.” Her face flushed with the admission.

“Anytime you want me to stop, all you have to do is tell me to stop.” His dick was so hard already he didn’t see how he was going to manage this. Knowing she was bare under those sheets and waited for him to do whatever the hell he planned on doing to her maxed out just about any thought process in his brain.

“And when you don’t hear me tell you to stop, it means you keep going.” She looked at him with so much trust in her eyes that he shook his head, unprepared for the humbling feelings that fought for space in his head, in his chest. She didn’t belong to him. This game didn’t mean to her what it meant to him. He was sure of it. Almost.

“What are you thinking about?” She cocked her head to the side, concern in her eyes, when he was the one concerned about her. “I know you won’t hurt me.” She smiled, a wicked smile that sent more blood rushing south to his already hard dick. “In fact, I’m counting on you to make us both feel really good.” She flexed under the sheets and the words that were becoming common to his brain flashed again.
Fuck
it
.

He crawled over her slowly. He’d thrown on jeans and a T-shirt to get the rope from his car and the idea of her naked while he remained dressed aroused him even more. If that was even possible.

Starting at her neck, he feathered kisses below her ear, across her jaw. Her breathing faltered already and he’d just started. The blanket still separated them, but he felt her muscles flexing beneath him, felt her strength as she tried to move against him.

“Don’t move,” he told her. It was a command and her breath hitched. If she wanted him to take control then he planned on doing just that. He grabbed a fistful of the sheet and slowly pulled it down her chest, revealing more silky skin with every inch. His lips trailed behind until the sheet barely covered one peaked nipple. He licked her through the cotton, took the hard bud between his teeth and applied the tiniest bit of pressure. She gasped, nearly hissed, but she didn’t tell him to stop.

When the cotton was plastered wet to her breasts, he pulled down the fraction needed to reach her hot skin. She cried out when he sucked her into his mouth, gently at first, then with more pressure. After a few minutes, he trailed his mouth to the other breast and gave it the same attention. A light sheen of sweat already coated her skin. His too. This research might’ve been good for her, but it was killing him. He continued his descent, deciding that going down on her would be easiest on her leg.

Inch by inch the cover came down and as each new bit of skin came into view, he kissed, nipped and licked. Her stomach contracted with the contact of his tongue to her navel.

Damn, she was so beautiful, letting him have his way with her. The sense of power he expected had materialized as the need to please. She may have been tied down, but Troy felt bound to satisfy her, intent on giving as much pleasure as she could possibly handle, then giving her more.

“Please,” she whispered when he still hadn’t uncovered her fully, but she didn’t move and he thought she deserved a reward for that. He lowered the sheet, but kept the edge at the halfway point of her little patch of honey-blond hair. He ran his tongue along that spot and she moaned.

Goddamn this was more fun than he ever dreamed. “Should I stop?” he murmured, trailing the sheet the next few increments and exposing her to his gaze. Her scent made him dizzy with lust. He wanted to dive in and take her hard and fast with his mouth, but he held himself back.

“No, God, please don’t stop. Please,” she begged breathlessly.

She was soaking wet. The sheets damp beneath her.

Just like the other night when he removed the thong, he used his teeth to remove the last few inches of the sheet. She trembled beneath him and her skin pebbled where he touched. He couldn’t remember when he’d spent this amount of time seducing a woman, loving every inch of her before actually making love to her. He kissed the inside of each thigh, tortured her with his hot breath and reveled in her choppy panting.

The rope had some give, so he snaked an arm underneath her good thigh and settled between her legs for the duration of the flight. He used his finger and his tongue at the same time and her legs stiffened. She tasted exotic and dangerous, like the best moonshine on the planet. He could get drunk on her taste. He circled her clit teasingly with his tongue as his finger pushed inside her. After a few minutes, she tried to inch down, tried to take more of him, feel more pressure, but he backed off.

“I said, don’t move.”

She lifted her head, then just as quickly slammed it back down, digging it into the pillow and moaning her frustration. He loved it.

“Are you going to be good?” he asked, teasing her clit again with quick lashes of his tongue.

“Yes. Please, yes,” she gasped. “Please, Troy.”

“Please what?”

“Please make me come. Please, I have to come.”

Troy pushed two fingers inside of her and hooked them against her inner walls at the same time as he stroked her clit hard with his tongue. The neighbors probably heard her cry out from three doors down. Her orgasm milked his fingers as she flew apart and each contraction throbbed against his tongue.

When she finally came down, when the last shudders faded, her legs went limp. He glanced at her thigh to make sure all that straining hadn’t done anything to the stitches. Nope. They looked fine.

Reassured with her tied down, he felt better about making love to her despite the injury. He shucked off his jeans and underwear as he worked his way back up her body, then he knelt between her legs and looked his fill. He stripped his T-shirt over his head. Her gaze shifted to his dick. His insanely hard dick.

“Condoms on the end table,” she whispered huskily.

He’d been planning on a condom, saw them waiting on the table. But her assumption that he needed one right this second changed his mind, for the moment.

“Who said I needed a condom?”

Her eyes flashed, a ghost of a smile quirked her lips.

He couldn’t believe he even said that. The words were out of his mouth before the thought. But he had serious plans for those beautiful lips. Plans that didn’t require a condom. “How bad do you want me?” he asked, teasing one breast with the rough pad of his finger.

“Bad,” she croaked. “Really bad.”

“Are you hungry, Julie?” He had no clue where any of this was coming from. He’d never played like this with anyone. Sex had been sex and that had been the end of it. Sure, he’d been in just about any position imaginable, but he’d never taken control—this kind of possession—to this level.

She licked her lips and his dick twitched. He wasn’t sure he could bring himself to do what his dick wanted him to, what his words led her to believe he might do. But she looked so damn tempting spread out on the bed. If she wanted him to stop, she only had to say so. If he kept telling himself that, he could continue. Maybe.

Jesus, this was absolutely killing him.

“I didn’t hear you,” he said, rolling a nipple between his fingers. “Are you hungry for me?”

She nodded, licked her lips again with her gaze locked onto his straining dick. “Yes.”

Carefully, he moved up her body and straddled her chest. He leaned forward to stick a fluffy pillow under her head and she took him in her mouth. The hot, wet warmth surrounded him, made him groan. That she took control before he was ready nearly made him laugh. She wasn’t following the script. But seeing how this whole thing was ad-libbed, he probably got what he deserved.

He cupped the back of her head as she worked him with her tongue and mind-bending suction. He thought his heart might pound out of his chest as more blood flowed south. Watching her take him the other night had been surreal enough, but this took surreal to a whole new level. Her eyes were closed and her cheeks flushed red as she strained to suck all of him.

He had Julie tied to a bed while she...

Pressure built and coiled low, the hot, wet tunnel of her mouth shot him closer to the edge. Closer, closer... He pulled out before he unloaded. It was too damn good and he wasn’t done with her yet. Reaching for the table, he grabbed the condoms, ripped one open and covered himself. He got into place between her open thighs and, careful of her injured leg, he shoved in. He swallowed Julie’s gasp as he sealed his lips to hers and pushed his tongue deep into her mouth. She tasted of sex and all kinds of lust. She made his fantasy real as she strained and moaned beneath him. He pumped into her hard, but controlled, driven by the need to come, the need to make her come. He pulled out and rammed back in, his hips slamming against hers.

Julie panted and her muscles flexed under and around him. The tight sheath of her inner walls squeezed him until his brain fogged over in a sexual haze and all he could do was dive back in for more.

Shit, he didn’t want to hurt her, but every sound she made, every taut muscle in her body drove him closer to the edge. Relinquishing complete control only gave her more power.

“Like that?” he asked roughly.

“God, yes,” she huffed. “Just like that.”

His lips crashed down on hers and he couldn’t hold back another second. His orgasm shot through him like a fucking missile, exploding in hot spasms that shook him from head to toe. Julie stiffened beneath him and he felt her contractions around his throbbing dick, felt the power of her release even as the shudders of his waned.

Breathing hard, he rested on his elbows, not ready to move off her and lose the connection, lose her heat. He reached up and loosened the knot holding her wrists. Her arms came around him tight in one of the most intense moments he’d ever shared with a woman.

“You okay?” he whispered.

She shook beneath him and he didn’t know if laughter or tears caused it. He pulled back and looked into her eyes, bright with tears and the reckless grin curving her lips. “I’m freakin’ fantastic. How are you?” The energy behind her voice confirmed what he already knew. Sex revved her up and after this, she was just getting started.

Troy laughed and held her close, loving the fast beat of her heart against his chest.

Loving her.

Chapter Seventeen

Julie soaked up Troy’s warmth, his weight. She’d never experienced tie-me-down sex like that in her life. She’d always been so tame when it came to the bedroom. Going down on a guy had never been her favorite pastime, but tasting Troy was a whole other matter. Something about him made her want to do things to him. She wanted him crazy and out of control. Loved the power she felt knowing she could drive him to the brink and send him over.

He untied her ankles, went to the bathroom and came back to wrap her tightly against him. She had no clue what to say. The whole experience had been way more than she anticipated, on more levels than she could count.

She stroked his chest, loving the light field of dark hair and the play of muscles beneath her fingertips. Adjusting her head a fraction, she looked up at him. He was always so serious, and now was no different. Staring up at the ceiling, he seemed a world away even as his fingers absently grazed her arm.

After a minute, he looked at her, his dark eyes intent. He brushed a soft kiss across her lips. “Why so serious?” he asked.

She forced a small grin. “I was going to ask you the same thing.”

He shook his head a fraction as if he couldn’t express what he wanted to say. “How’s your leg?”

If she’d been a guessing woman, she’d have said that wasn’t what had been on his mind. “It’s okay. A little sore.” Every muscle ached as if she’d been through a strenuous workout. “I’ll be glad when the stitches come out. Will you be able to handle that or am I going to have to do it?”

One eyebrow lifted. “I was thinking we’d find a doctor.”

“What about keeping me under wraps?”

“You can’t visit the doctor with a wig on?” He kissed the tip of her nose. “Besides, there’s patient confidentiality. You’re safe.”

Not from the people in the waiting room. “It seems silly to go to a stranger when one of us can snip them out.”

“I just want to make sure it’s healed and healthy,” he said.

“So far so good. I don’t expect any problems.” She climbed halfway on top of him and a twinge of pain zipped across her thigh. She kept it under wraps. “In fact, I expect my recovery to move along even faster now.”

He ran his hands against her scalp and his heat made her lids heavy. “Why do you expect that?” A sexy smile curved his lips.

“Because I’ve started my physical therapy a little early,” she whispered laying a gentle kiss on his lips. But one kiss wasn’t nearly enough and what she intended to be short and sweet turned into slow, deep and hot as hell. Finally, she pulled away to catch her breath.

“You like me.” His narrow-eyed gaze sent a thrill of tingles down her spine.

It was the same thing she’d said to him on the stairs and she laughed because it was true. She more than liked him. She was in
serious
like with him. So serious, that it scared the hell out of her. She wouldn’t have let just anyone do what he did to her. Did he realize that?

His erection grew against her thigh and she rubbed against him. “What gave it away?” she whispered as she continued to feather kisses across his jaw. “Was it the way I let you tie me up?” Her lips glided across his in a silky caress. “Or maybe it’s the way I took you in my mouth when you didn’t expect it?”

She felt his dick grow rock hard against her leg and she reached between them to grasp him in her hand. He sucked in a hard breath. Her leg ached liked a bitch, but she refused to tell him because he’d make her stop and there was no way she wanted to stop. She wanted to make him come again, wanted him begging for release as she’d begged for hers.

Troy rolled them to their sides and faced her as she continued to stroke his dick in her hand. Maybe he knew she hurt because he didn’t change their positions further. His hand did its own exploration down her stomach and toward the spot he already knew so well. He pushed a finger inside her and she kept her gaze on his eyes, watching him as they pushed each other toward the edge.

They could’ve been teenagers by the way they played with each other. Just hands and fingers stroking inside and out, gliding and pumping. In minutes, they were both breathing hard and on another edge. He thrust into her hand as she worked her hips on his fingers.

Julie came first, her gasp and moan accompanied the rush of her orgasm and no sooner had she started clenching around Troy’s fingers, when she felt the warm wash of his come jet against her hand and onto her stomach.

Breathing hard, they stared at each other. The connection, the feelings she had for this man went way beyond her comfort level for the amount of time she’d known him.

His rare smile showcased his straight white teeth and her heart somersaulted because she could get that reaction from him.

“Did we really just do that?” he asked.

She rubbed her thumb under his ear. A spot she knew turned him on. His lids got heavy and she took comfort that she did know things about him. She just wanted more.

“Yeah, what happened to us? We went from the wild side to
The
Muppet
Show
in a matter of minutes. Losing our touch.”

His eyebrows quirked. “
The
Muppet
Show
?”

“You know, from full-on bondage sex to hand jobs? Hand jobs...sock puppets... Muppets...?” At his blank stare, she laughed. “Hey, not all the jokes hit all the time. Sue me.” She kissed him and smiled when his lips curved against hers. She rested her head next to his and took the breath he exhaled into her lungs. The closeness, the bond gave her a sense of comfort that was becoming more and more familiar with this man. She began to think she couldn’t live without it.

* * *

Allen watched as Carrie Ann threw off the white sheet and headed, naked, to the bathroom. The lady didn’t have a shy bone in her very toned body. He’d never been with anyone as physically fit. His experience with women ranged from too skinny to too fat. Carrie Ann was like that last bowl of porridge. She was just right. Not as good as Julie would be, but as perfect as anyone could be, not including Julie. She was shorter than Julie, but her skin was soft, her breasts were pert and best of all, she let him fuck her in ways he’d never fucked a woman. The girl bent more ways than a pretzel.

He looked around the hotel room, still in disbelief at what he’d done. When he’d knocked on Julie’s door looking for information, he never dreamed it would lead him to this place.

You
betrayed
Julie
. Guilt tried to make its way through his system, but Allen crushed it. No. He’d done what he had to do. Julie would never have to know. He’d find a way to ensure Carrie Ann wouldn’t talk about it. At the moment, he needed Carrie Ann to find Julie.

The toilet flushed and water ran in the sink. Carrie Ann came out of the bathroom and leaned against the door frame.

“Tell me again, how long you’re here for?” she asked.

Allen smiled at the way she stood there, stark naked. Every woman he’d ever slept with had been self-conscious of her appearance. But Carrie Ann knew what she was about. Knew she had the whole package.

“I’m not sure. I might do some traveling, so I’m taking it day by day.” He’d told her he’d had to move into a hotel while the house was under renovation. It couldn’t have worked out more perfectly. Luckily, he had plenty of money saved since he still lived at home and he’d told Carrie Ann that all of his belongings were in storage. Spending three hundred dollars a night on a hotel room to make his story legit was the cost of doing business. Besides, when his game sold, a night here would be petty cash.

She sauntered over to the bed and straddled him. A sheet still covered his lower half, so she didn’t notice that his sore dick didn’t respond. He’d never gone all night before. The last two times he’d had to pretend he was fucking Julie to keep it up. As beautiful as Carrie Ann was, she simply didn’t hold a candle to Julie. She was just a means to an end.

“I wish I could stay.” She looked down at him with regret in her eyes, then ran her hands through his hair and grinned. “You are such a total nerd.”

He fought back the anger that swelled at the N-word. If she wasn’t careful, he was going to strangle her pretty little throat.

“Good thing I like nerds.” She dropped a kiss on his forehead and climbed off him. “Tell me more about your game,” she said as she stepped into a miniscule red thong.

She really wanted to know how much money he would make once he sold his game. Her transparency pissed him off. Did she think he didn’t realize the only reason they’d fucked was because he’d told her he had money? Finding a woman to sleep with had always been an uphill battle. If he’d known lying about his net worth would bag him a beautiful woman so fast, he’d have started doing it years ago.

“It’s a kill-or-be-killed commando warrior game.” Pride made his chest full as he spoke about it.

“Aren’t there like a thousand of those already?” She fastened the front clasp of her bra and he wanted to wrap it around her neck until she couldn’t breathe.

“Not like mine,” he gritted out.

She had the fucking nerve to grin at him. “Don’t get pissed. I’m a girl. I don’t know anything about boys and their video games except for what I see on TV. It’s all blood and violence.” She shuddered. “Yuck.” She reached for her tight jeans and her phone rang. She snatched it from the desk, checked the screen and answered. “Hey! Where are you?” She put an index finger in the air and mouthed
one
minute
. “I haven’t talked to you in days! Who the hell does this guy think he is? I can’t tell you how much I hate this whole—” She stopped abruptly. “But Julie—”

Allen sat up, every nerve alert. Julie was on the phone. His heart slammed against his ribs.

“You tell
Troy
that I don’t give a shit. Your family and friends have a right to know where you are.” She listened some more.

Troy
? Who the hell was
Troy
? Did Julie have a boyfriend? She’d been single all this time and now when he was so close to her, she’d found a boyfriend? A wave of jealous anger washed through him.

Carrie Ann didn’t get to rant anymore because whatever Julie said shut her up.

“I’m calling you later!” she finally said before punching her screen and stepping into her jeans.

“How’s Julie?” he asked. No reason to beat around the bush. Besides Carrie Ann looked like she was halfway out the door.

“She’s fine. If fine is letting some asshole drag you across the country. So fucking stupid,” she mumbled. “So, am I going to see you tonight?” She zipped up and tossed a sexy little top over her head.

“I don’t know. Wait, go back. What are you talking about? Who’s dragging her where?” He didn’t like the sound of this. He leaned on an elbow, hoping his questions seemed casual.

She adjusted the straps over her shoulders. “His name is Troy and I’ll bet you money he thinks that taking Julie cross-country on a solo trip is going to get him into her pants.”

Allen’s mouth went dry and his pulse pounded. “What do you think?”

“I think there’s good chance he’s right, and it’s the last thing I want for her. She deserves someone with more.”

“More what?” Allen asked.

“More clout. More money. More everything.” She dug her feet into her four-inch platform shoes. “God she makes me mad. You didn’t answer me. Am I going to see you tonight?”

He agreed. Julie did deserve more. And he could give it to her. But he had to finish this game with Carrie Ann first. “I’m not sure I’m available. I’ve got meetings.” He needed a break from her. His dick might’ve wanted to play last night, but this morning, it was frickin’ sore.

She threw out her lower lip in a sad pucker. “You’re not giving me the brush-off, are you?” She shook her head and narrowed her gaze at him. “That would not be wise. I am a woman who gets what she wants.”

“Is that so?” He forced a smile. The more she talked the less he wanted to be around her. It was very similar to the way he felt about his mother.

She licked her lips very slowly. If she meant to turn him on, she got it all wrong. “You’re going to miss me when I go.”

He doubted it. “I miss you already.”

She swiped her bag from the chair in the corner and backed up toward the door. “I’ll talk to you later after my audition,” she said.

“Can’t wait.” He waved as she eyed him and finally opened the door.

“Oh, shit. I just remembered. I told my brother I’d help him unpack since he’s moved back into his place.”

“If it doesn’t work out tonight, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Her pretty smile didn’t hold a candle to Julie’s. “Yes, you will. Bye,” she said, closing the door behind her.

Finally. Alone.

He leaned back on the bed. Had to think this through. He’d have to wait until Julie got back. But when she did, he’d do her a favor and get rid of the new deadweight hanging onto her. Taking out this guy was bound to be harder than offing his father, but that didn’t mean it was impossible. It just required a plan and he happened to be very good at planning.

* * *

“How much longer?” Julie asked. Today marked the first day Troy allowed her to sit in the front seat like an adult. She suspected the only reason he caved in to her constant nagging was because they had a shorter drive to the final destination. Though the last three days had been great as far as research and catching up on the scripts, her vision was shot to hell from reading so much.

“You sound like a ten-year-old.”

She caught the smile he tried to conceal. “Are we there yet?” This time he reached out to tickle her. She laughed and caught his hand, laced their fingers together in an intimacy they hadn’t shared outside the bed. His gaze latched on to hers for a few seconds before turning back to the road.

Yeah...they had something brewing between them. Something big. She felt it bone deep.

Her phone rang. She had to let go of Troy’s hand to fish it out of her pocket and was already annoyed at the caller who’d ruined a good thing. But maybe the detectives had some good news. She checked the screen. Cal. So much for that thought.