Star Crossed (12 page)

Naturally, his words triggered a different reaction in A.J. “Don’t start
that
up again.”

She assumed he meant he remembered his night in her apartment. His mind veered, his groin tightening. Okay, he hadn’t forgotten that either.

He gave her the sexy half-smile the paparazzi always clamored for. “Don’t tell me you’re afraid to reminisce.”

She tugged the front of her black trousers. Did she feel the pull between them as well? If she did, her tone remained terse. “I’m on the job. I don’t need distraction.”

“Maybe I do.”

Her breath caught at his suggestive tone. It was the tiniest betrayal, but he couldn’t resist it. She wasn’t as cool as she pretended. When he ran his tongue around his lips, she watched.

“Come here,” he ordered.

His voice had deepened with arousal. Apparently, that affected her. An involuntary shiver shook her shoulders. She frowned as she recognized what she’d done.

“Cut it out,” she said. “This is no time to fool around.”

“Actually, it’s the perfect time. This is a long, damn flight. Your partner has—I assume—checked every inch of the plane for threats. We’re thirty thousand feet in the air. It’s never going to be safer to scratch our itches than this minute.”

He crawled toward her across the bed. She watched him warily, too proud to back away, too stubborn to meet him in the middle. Her lips pressed together, nerves and disapproval combining. He suspected she wanted to wet her lips. Beneath her white business shirt and bra, her nipples had beaded up.

“Your hands are clamped on those chair arms,” he purred. “You’d think you were afraid of me.”

“I am not afr-”

He’d reached the end of the bed. He swung off smoothly, covering her hands as he laid his mouth over hers. Though he resisted the urge to savage, he wasn’t tentative. He knew how to persuade with a kiss. He’d seduced women on screen and off more times than he could count—certainly too many to doubt his skill at it.

A.J. made a half-swallowed sound, her mouth hesitating a single instant before pushing back at his. Being kissed by her packed a punch. Lust jolted through Luke’s veins, his cock hardening so swiftly the relocation of so much blood should have dizzied him. The knowledge that he affected her was heady. However much she fought, A.J. couldn’t resist their chemistry.

She wanted him as fiercely as he did her.

Luke slid his hands up her shirtsleeves, tugging her from the chair and onto her feet with him. She wrapped him in her arms like it was her idea, her tongue working magic as it tangled with his and sucked. He moaned in reaction.

This, it turned out, wasn’t a good idea.

A.J. jerked back at the sound and glared. “You’re only pushing this because I’m a challenge!”

“Fine,” he said, as close to panting as she was. “You tell yourself that’s why I want you if it makes you feel better.”

He slid his hands down her back, palming her ass through the trousers to pull her against the dramatic evidence of his desire for her. She frowned harder but squirmed at the same time.

“Damn it,” she said, and then
she
was all over
him
.

Her fingers seemed to fly down his silk shirt’s buttons, tugging each one out swiftly. She found his belt buckle and freed it. The leather pulled at his waist and trousers as she yanked it through the loops. His zipper rasped, its descent a speedy tease down his erection. The sensation was delicious, but he barely had a chance to react. She shoved him hard, once, to tumble backward onto the bed.

He hissed a curse that wasn’t an objection. She’d followed him in his fall. She was over him on her knees, peeling off her own shirt. A button flew and zinged off some hard surface. Her bra was white and simple, but in that moment sheer black lace couldn’t have wound him up tighter. His pulse pounded crazily, his cock about to explode with excitement. He reached behind her to unhook the plain garment.

As soon as the bra was off, A.J. dragged his hands up around her breasts. Her nipples were hot and tight, like satiny pebbles against his palms. The rest of her flesh there was melting soft. He remembered it so, so well, the memory intensifying his arousal. After so long, simply holding her like this shot spikes of white-hot feeling straight up his erection.

He moaned into her mouth, because she was kissing him again. Crazy to get inside her, he tried to help her wrestle out of her trousers.

“I’ll do that,” she hissed, urging his hands to their former positions.

He rubbed her nipples with his thumbs, felt her twist with pleasure, and decided this particular loss of control ought to be encouraged. Taking a tighter grip on her ribs, he dragged her high enough up his body to reach her breasts with his mouth.

“Fuck,” she breathed, her pelvis rolling hard on his thigh as he sucked and tongued one nipple. “I’m trying to concentrate . . . on taking off my pants.”

Luke didn’t care who took them off as long as they disappeared. Because he currently had more coordination, he flipped her under him. She’d made some progress. Her zipper and button were undone.

“Lift your hips,” he rasped.

She lifted, he yanked, and a few tugs later her long, muscled legs were bare.

“Underwear,” she urged.

Luke dragged her panties down as well.

Completely and gloriously bare, she pulled him back to her.

Luke’s shirt hung open and his zipper gaped, but other than that he was clothed. Was it rude not to be naked too? His desire to rub their skin together conflicted with his longing to plunge straight in. He kissed her hungrily, deeply, one palm running down her sleek side. A.J. twisted at the stroke, clearly enjoying it. God, he could smell how aroused she was.

“Should I take off my pants?” He was so overheated the offer came out broken.

“Leave them,” she said, tugging him closer by his shirt. “I want you in me now.”

A couple fuses blew in Luke’s brain.

He fought to think through the explosion. “Wallet.”

She retrieved it from his back pocket but fumbled with the foil square. “Crap. You have to put this on.”

Fortunately, he had practice. His fingers managed the sequence of tasks swiftly. She touched his hand, her thumb helping him roll on the rubber. His nerves spangled insanely.

“That feels nice,” he gasped. “But you’re in my way.”

“Sorry.” She moved her hand like his cock was a hot poker.

Luke fought a smile as he shifted into position.

He should have entered her straight away. He certainly had her go ahead. Instead, he paused to look down at her, gladder than he could explain that it was broad daylight. Her sharp whiskey gaze met his. She looked suspicious. Her eyes were narrowed, her lashes dark and spiked. Luke couldn’t tell if the plane were vibrating or just him. He felt as if he were falling, like he couldn’t quite catch his breath.

“Come on,” she urged with more than a hint of impatience.

Finding this illogically endearing, he fit his tip to her hot, slick entrance. Her eyes changed, going unexpectedly bright and soft.

“This okay?” he couldn’t resist asking.

She blinked, the momentary vulnerability disappearing. “For God’s sake, you know it is. Just get on with it!”

He laughed. She’d seen right through him, and he loved it. More than
okay
, she was wet as hell and sultry. Entering her presented a different challenge. His nerves went haywire as her sheath slowly engulfed him. He had to school his breathing, afraid he’d lose control otherwise.

The way she groaned and pushed her hips up his shaft nearly made him unravel.

“Oh, my god,” she moaned as his last inch squeezed in.

“Too much?” he gasped, aware that their fit was snug.

Her hands fisted in the small of his back. “Just. Right.” As if she couldn’t help it, she undulated beneath him. “Please move, Luke. I need to go for this.”

“You don’t want to be on top?” Somehow he knew she didn’t. He just wanted to yank her chain. She narrowed her eyes again, her fists pulling him closer. Luke cracked a little grin. “Fine then. I’ll operate this ride.”

She inhaled, no doubt about to say something tart. He drew back and started thrusting before she could. Her neck arched up flatteringly.

“Oh,” she said, a clear moan of pleasure. “Oh yes, keep doing that.”

He kept doing it and more. He pulled her right leg high up his side, spreading her wider for his entries. Crooking his arm around the bend of her knee gave him better control of her movements, as did pinning her other leg with his.

He guessed the slightly trapped effect did it for her, because she started thrashing and going wild. That felt incredible on his cock—as did the strafing of her pebbled nipples across his chest. He clenched his teeth and steadied his rhythm. He wanted this to last, wanted to savor each damn second. She was pushing him up too fast. Fighting his instinct to let go and grab release, he tried to roll his hips more smoothly.

He’d make this memorable for her if it killed him.

Her hand slid up to stroke his face, making him realize he’d closed his eyes to better drink in the sensations.

“Luke,” she said when he opened them. Her face was flushed, her expression soft again. She looked tender, which took him by surprise.

He had a feeling dynamite wouldn’t have gotten her to say why.

“Is this okay?” he prompted anyway. “Do you like what we’re doing?”

He shouldn’t have asked. Naturally, she rolled her eyes.

“You
know
I do,” she said—not the information he really was looking for.

He wasn’t always so controlling, but something told him he’d get more of what he wanted if he forked his fingers into her hair and gripped. Her dark locks were short but thick, satisfying to hold onto. This at least was a good decision. Her eyes went glassy, a moan catching in her throat.

“I love this,” he whispered, throwing caution to the wind. “I fucking love you looking at me like this.”

She tried to look annoyed again but failed. She liked what he was doing too much to be angry.

Made reckless by her pleasure, Luke rocked his hips faster. Her nails dug into his back as he thumped them both into the mattress. She was strong, pushing up his cock as hard as he drove down. He loved how tall she was, how demanding and physically direct. When her hands slid to his butt and clamped, he dropped his head to her neck. Her pulse raced so fast it excited him even more. He panted against the skin there, letting her hear what her eagerness did to him. She groaned his name, and he found her hip with his second hand, stretching his thumb inward to rub her clit. The little rod was swollen, a hot, ripe berry he massaged the pad hard over.

Gentleness mustn’t have been required. A.J. broke with a muffled cry.

He sucked in air, holding on by a thread as her sheath contracted and pulled at him. He couldn’t bear not to pay attention. She was lightning around him, quivering, alive as she came. He groaned and thrust through her tightening softness. The steady roar of the jet engines muffled the animal sounds they made. His balls drew up, his own climax gathering. A.J. gripped his ass tighter.

That was curtains for his control. Sweet suspense tightened to near pain and snapped. Ejaculate shot from him. God, he was coming hard. He heard himself snarl as A.J.’s pussy clamped deliciously down on him again.

His head went back, golden warmth expanding through his body.

“Oh yeah,” he growled, his cock barely taking time to soften before it started to stiffen a second time. “We are so doing that again.”

Fate had different ideas. Before he could put his words into action, a knock sounded on the door. A.J. stiffened under him.

“A.J.?” said the visitor, effectively ruining Luke’s glow. “We’ve hit cruising altitude. Do you and Luke want lunch?”

“Shit,” A.J. hissed. “It’s Martin. I knew we shouldn’t have done this.”

She was trying push him off her, her cheeks flushing extra hot with embarrassment. Though Luke didn’t relish her reaction, he sympathized. She’d had sex on the job, and Martin was a coworker. He pulled out of her, wincing briefly at the loss of her warm harbor. Because he had clothes left on, there was only one thing to offer.

“Stay,” he said. “I’ll handle this.”

He fastened his pants and zipped but left his shirt open. Martin Sands was no idiot. He’d figure out what he’d interrupted regardless.

A.J. muttered a sailor’s curse. Luke glanced back. She’d yanked the coverlet over her nakedness. She was glowering, but she nodded when he cocked his head inquiringly at the door.

Because he didn’t feel especially guilty, he opened it more than a crack. Not all the way, though. That would have been obnoxious.

“Yes?” he said to Martin.

He’d taken Martin’s measure on the tarmac. The forty-something ex-mercenary was fit, lean, and gave off a wiseacre vibe most actors had to take lessons for. Older than Luke, he wasn’t too old to attract someone A.J.’s age. His brown hair was salted at the temples, the lines around his eyes and mouth suggesting sagacity and humor.

Proving he was right about the sagacity, Martin added one plus one in fewer than two seconds. Luke’s satisfaction at the way his jaw dropped was perhaps juvenile. When Martin clamped his molars back together, he did so firmly enough that a muscle ticked. Luke still wasn’t sure what was between the man and A.J., but the bodyguard clearly disliked discovering her tangled in Luke’s sheets—not to mention post-coital.

His expression tight, Martin dragged his disapproving eyes back to Luke. “I didn’t realize I was interrupting.”

Luke gave him credit for not saying
sorry
when he wasn’t.

“You couldn’t know,” he said just as coolly. “I’m sure this isn’t Alexandra’s standard M.O. at work.”

“Not anywhere,” Martin said. “And no one calls her Alexandra.”

Luke let one of his eyebrows ghost upward. “Don’t they? She’s certainly beautiful enough to be called that.”

He knew he was goading Martin but couldn’t seem to stop. Whether the other man had slept with A.J. he didn’t know, but Martin
was
suggesting he had a superior claim to her.

A.J. cut their pissing contest short.