Merrick: Harlequins MC (15 page)

“Poppy?” The door rattled again as someone knocked harder. “Poppy. It’s five.”

Poppy groaned and rose slightly from Merrick’s chest. “Yeah! Okay!” she called before falling back into the snuggle. She wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep, but she knew she had to get up. She had a six o’clock call this morning.

She groaned and stretched. He’d shown her, all right. She’d
never
been fucked like she had been last night. She’d lost count of her orgasms after ten thousand. Or was it a million? She smiled at the memory and breathed deep in satisfaction. It had been so long, and she’d been wound so tight, she’d come five or six times, more than she’d ever had before, and several of them had been brain-melters. Merrick was like a machine, and by the time he’d groaned and shuddered, they were both bathed in sweat and gasping for breath.

Her smiled widened. She’d almost had him a couple of times, but he’d managed to fight off his orgasm. Watching him struggle to hold his climax as she tried to fuck him into orgasm had been the most erotic thing she’d ever done, and when she’d finally succeeded in making him come, she felt the same rush of satisfaction as when she nailed a scene.

The amazing thing was that he’d tried to wake her up for another round after only an hour’s sleep. Had she not been so totally zonked, and didn’t have to get up so damn early, she might have taken him up on it.

“Morning,” he murmured.

She rose and accepted his kiss. “Morning.” She slid her hand down and smiled at his hardness. “I wish we had time to do something about that,” she said as she caressed him.

“Dinner tonight?”

“I would love to. With entertainment afterwards, I hope.” She her smile faded. “I hope it was good for you last night. I’ve—”

“Shhh...” he whispered as he pulled her lips to his again. “It was amazing. I tried, but I couldn’t hold out anymore.”

She smiled at him. “Good. I was afraid that…When I didn’t want to—”

“Shhh…It was great. Don’t worry.” He grinned at her. “I didn’t have another condom anyway.”

“So why did you…?”

“There are other ways,” he began, then paused for effect, “and I wanted you to be satisfied.”

She burst into giggles. “I’m so satisfied I hope I can walk!”

They cuddled for a time then the door rattled again. “Poppy? I have your lined script for the day.”

He glanced at the clock. “It’s five-thirty. Go hop in the shower. I’ll let them know you’re up.”

She groaned again, and set up in the bed, rubbing her face and scratching as Merrick slipped is pants on.

“I’ll take it,” he said as he opened the door.

Leslie stared at him, then glanced around him to the very bed-tossed Poppy, sitting in the bed with the sheet draped around her. She looked like hell, but she was smiling and looking very well fucked. “Uh, yes, well, uh, thank you,” she stammered, holding the thin bound packet to the mouthwatering specimen standing before her.

Merrick took the papers. “We’ll be down in a few. Thank you, Leslie,” he added so she would stop staring and get moving.

“What? Oh! Yes, okay!”

He chuckled as he closed the door.

“By the time we get down there, the entire crew will know,” Poppy said as she walked to the bathroom.

“Do you care?”

She thought about it for a moment. “No. Not a bit.”

***

Poppy missed the bus taking cast and the rest of the crew to today’s location, the Laredo Police Department, but she and Merrick roared past it on his Heritage Softail Classic, Merrick skillfully weaving in and out of traffic. She’d been nervous before, riding a motorcycle for the first time, but after last night, both riding his bike and riding him, she trusted him.

The Harlequins were already setting up the barricades when they arrived, Merrick riding right up to where the crew was setting up, blipping the throttle on the bike as Poppy stepped off. He expected her to kiss him, but she simply removed her helmet. Even without makeup, and her hair in disarray from the helmet being on her wet hair, she was still lovely.

“Backrest,” he said when she looked around for a place to put the helmet. He was just going a block or so, and it would be fine up there for that short of a ride. He revved the bike a couple of times, then pulled smartly away, riding past the barricades to park his bike with his brothers’ rides.

She watched him ride away, and even though he’d fucked her to nirvana last night, she could feel a heaviness form between her legs. Between the lack of sleep and thinking about
why
she hadn’t gotten enough sleep, it was going to be hard as hell to concentrate today. She smiled and turned to the caterer’s table, drawing herself a cup of coffee and picking up a banana. Maybe she could catch a nap while in makeup.

“Did you?” Tim asked as Merrick walked up.

“What?”

“Don’t what me. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”

Merrick kept his face perfectly normal. “I’m going to go get some breakfast. It was a long night last night.”

Tim watched him walk away. “Lucky bastard,” he mumbled under his breath. Not only had Merrick probably fucked every hot woman in Laredo, now he was fucking movie stars, too. He looked up as the production bus pulled to a stop. He put on his game face and prepared to check everyone in.

***

Everything was in place, and they were getting ready to start shooting for the day. They were going to shoot three scenes in three locations at the police department, then they were going to do some in car shots. Merrick stood in his place and grinned as Poppy kept looking over at him and smiling.

“Are we ready?” Will asked.

“Five minutes, Will,” Jeff said.

“Is it true?” Blake asked as he stepped up beside Merrick.

“Is what true?”

Blake looked at him with derision. “You know what I’m talking about.”

Merrick shrugged. “Does it matter?” The crew had obviously heard he’d spent the night in Poppy’s room from the way they looked at him, but Blake was the first person to question him about it.

“No, I guess not. But a piece of advice you would be wise to follow: she’s trouble. She’s so full of herself she doesn’t think of anyone else. I like you, and I don’t want to see get hurt, so just be careful.”

“I’m a big boy. I can take care of myself.”

“Merrick, you’re playing in a whole new league here. This isn’t Laredo; this is Hollywood. Lawyers, publicists, and more money than you can dream of. These people are experts in controlling public opinion, and there is nothing Hollywood likes more than a good scandal. She can destroy you if she wants.”

He looked Blake in the eye. “Now why would she want to do that? I’m just security.”

Blake held Merrick’s gaze. “I’d recommend keeping it that way.”

“Noted.”

“Okay, people. Let’s get this show on the road! Lock it down!” Jeff called.

“Speed!”

“Cue the cars…and…action!” Will said.

Merrick watched as Richard gave Abigail some fatherly advice before they got into their prowler car. The car was full of Laredo PD cars and SUVs, but those whose doors could be seen had the City of Laredo shields covered with the fictional town of Los Rio.

He watched Poppy and Paul work, filming two scenes. It never ceased to amaze him how Poppy, all the actors actually, could seem to switch on and off. The first scene they shot was heavy and full of emotion, the second was light and playful, and Paul and Poppy seemed to be able to switch the entire range of emotions on and off with ease. He knew movies were fake, but just
how
fake amazed him.

“Cut!”

“Can I have one more?” Poppy asked.

“Why? That was fine.”

“Please. Give me another. I think I can do better.”

Will shrugged. “Reset. Do it again.” He waited until everything was ready. “Action.”

“It was different when I joined the force,” Paul said as they walked toward their patrol car. “Women were in administrative positions, but not out on patrol.”

“That’s when you walked a beat?”

“Yeah. I was the last, and I think dropping beats was a big mistake. Now we ride around in air-conditioned patrol cars but nobody knows us. I think that’s part of the problem we now have between people and the police.” He grinned at her. “You don’t know how easy you got it, kiddo.”

They had been shooting this scene for the last forty-five minutes, and every time Poppy had said, “Maybe, but it’s better than being out in the heat with twenty pounds of gear on.” But not this time.

“Maybe. On the other hand, if I were walking a beat, my ass wouldn’t be getting fat, Gramps,” she said.

Paul looked at her and grinned, but held it together. “You should be grateful for geezers like me who are willing to teach you rookies how police work is really done,” he said, improvising along with Poppy. “And don’t call me Gramps.”

“Cut!” Will said and the crew burst into chuckles. “Great job!”

***

After they finished shooting Blake and Poppy at the police station, they began setting up to shoot Poppy and Richard, then Poppy and Blake, driving around Laredo, getting in car scenes. The car was mounted on a low trailer, towed by a truck with cameras mounted on it.

“Will!” Merrick said, stepping up behind him. “Rather than us blocking off these streets, why don’t you let us create a rolling roadblock for you.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’ve been watching long enough to realize you don’t hold any one scene very long, right? Everything is quick,” he said, snapping his fingers. “So what if I were to line up my guys in front and back of the camera car? We’ll figure out where we need to be so you can’t see us, then we just roll along with you. It will be a hell of a lot faster than blocking the streets, plus you can get out on some of the main streets.”

“Can you do that?”

“Don’t know, but we can try. If a car gets in between us, we’ll get on him and force him back. You can cut all that stuff out later, like the other mistakes, right?”

Will thought about. It was untraditional, and went against their permits, but if it worked, Merrick was right. If they could just keep rolling, that would save a shit load of time. “Let’s give it a try. If it doesn’t work, we can always go back to blocking the streets.” His eyes shifted to his Production Assistant. “Patricia, get the camera crew over here. I need to talk to them.”

***

“Ready to do a little gorilla film making?” Will asked as he climbed onto the camera truck.

Steve looked away from the camera. “I haven’t shot without a permit since film school. You know Taylor is going to have a shit-fit over this.”

Will grinned. “We have permits. Just not for this. Besides, what Taylor doesn’t know won’t hurt him.” He picked up is walkie. “Move out.”

They spent five hours driving around Laredo, the Harlequins racing around on their bikes, riding four, five, sometimes six abreast to form a block which kept traffic out of frame as others raced ahead and stopped to block side streets, preventing cars from pulling out into the scene, then racing away as the truck approached so they wouldn’t appear in the frame. It appeared to be total chaos, with the bikes whizzing about, but the Harlequins were making it work.