“Besides you?”
He tipped his head and shot her a look, and pinpricks of guilt needled her. He was just doing his job—at least now he was. She could go on acting like a petulant child, or she could get this over with so she could hide in her room until morning.
“No,” she said, dropping her feet from the coffee table, unfolding her arms, and shifting more upright in her chair. “Until that break-in in my room, I’d pretty much forgotten about the whole thing.”
“How did Ryder know about your stalker? Did you tell him?”
Grace huffed. “Tell Jake some guy’s been harassing me? Are you mad? He’d do exactly what he did—send one of his operatives to babysit me.”
“Well, someone told him,” Brian said, ignoring the dig.
Someone had told him. That was clearly a given. “It could have been Holly. But it was probably my mother.”
“Who’s Holly?” He jotted a note.
“My friend. We write together. Wrote together,” she corrected. “Holly and I have been cowriting songs for several years. She’s the one who encouraged me to come up here and get away from everything so I could finish my contract.”
“Tell me about the contract.”
“What about it?”
“How did you land it?”
This was all shit Grace did not want to get into, but she knew it was inevitable. “Two years ago, I was on that reality music show, American Superstar. I got booted off in the third round. Tate Kendrick, the guy from the bar last night, was one of the judges. They have a strict policy about contestants dating judges, but after I was no longer in the running, he asked me out. It was very casual, we only went out a few times after the show aired and ended, and the media made more out of it than it actually was. I didn’t think much of it, then about six months ago, Royalty Records approached me and offered a contract for twelve new songs. They’re Kendrick’s record label. He put in a good word for me, played them some of my stuff. I guess they were impressed.”
“But not with your friend Holly?”
“Kendrick doesn’t know Holly.”
“Did you know Kendrick was going to be here this week?”
“No. I don’t keep tabs on him.”
“Don’t you think it’s a little coincidental that he is?”
Was he trying to insinuate that Kendrick was her stalker? “Tate Kendrick didn’t toss my room.”
“How do you know?”
“I just know. That’s not his style.” When he pinned her with a look, she huffed. “Look, we didn’t have that kind of relationship. It wasn’t sexual, it was friendly. And he spent more time asking me about Aegis than anything else.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Probably because he’s had his own issues with stalkers and unpredictable bodyguards. His fans are intense.”
Brian looked back down at his notepad. “So he played Royalty Records clips of your performances on that reality show?”
“No.” Geez, Grace hated how this sounded. “When we were…dating, I played him one of the songs I’d written. That’s what he showed them.”
Brian’s hand paused against the notepad. “You wrote him a song?”
“No, I played him a song.” I wrote you a song, jackass, and see how that turned out?
The hurt was coming back. The hurt that spurred her anger all over again. She shifted in her seat and told herself to just get through this.
“So why did you get voted off the show?”
He wasn’t looking at her. He was jotting notes on that piece of paper as if he were Sherlock-fucking-Holmes, and as Grace studied him in that black Henley and the loose-fitting, faded jeans, her heart did an involuntary flip. One that pissed her off even more.
“I don’t like singing in front of people.”
He glanced her way. “You didn’t have a problem singing for me this morning.”
No, she hadn’t, had she? Grace’s heart flipped again, and, quickly, she averted her eyes from his sexy sapphire gaze.
“So that means something had to have happened,” Brian went on. “What happened on the show, Grace?”
“Nothing. I already told you.”
“Something had to have happened.”
Why was he pushing this angle so hard? Frustration welled inside her. “I didn’t like the cameras, okay? I don’t like people invading my privacy. They were at the house all the time. They put us up in one of those big mansions in the Hollywood hills, and they filmed every moment. I don’t like people hovering.”
“So you purposely sang badly to get yourself kicked off.”
Grace crossed her ankles and shook the top foot back and forth. “What makes you think that? People get cut from those shows all the time.”
“I’ve heard you sing. Remember?”
Was he trying to compliment her now? She didn’t want that. Didn’t want anything from him anymore.
“Tell me why you have an issue with people in the security field.”
“I don’t have a thing against security personnel.”
“Yeah, you do. Most people don’t even notice they’re around, but I saw the way you reacted when that guard stopped us outside your room last night, and I sure as hell can see how agitated you are right now just talking about it.”
The hair on Grace’s neck stood straight, but she clenched her fingernails into her palms to keep from reacting. “You’re obviously reading something that’s not there.”
“That’s why you stopped singing, wasn’t it?” he asked, his voice low. “It wasn’t the cameras. Cameras are temporary during the filming of a show. But you knew if you hit it big, you’d have to deal with paparazzi and fans and inevitably, more security.”
Grace was done with this conversation. She pushed to her feet. “Make up whatever excuses you want. I don’t care.”
She took a step toward the bedroom, but Brian blocked her path. “What happened with the security, Grace?”
“Nothing.”
He moved in front of her again. “What happened?”
“Nothing happened. Dammit. Why can’t it just be that I don’t want to live my life that way?”
“Because I can tell there’s something else going on. Someone with your talent doesn’t just give it all up for no reason.”
The frustration, anger, and hurt finally boiled over, and she couldn’t hold it back anymore. “I grew up with that, okay? Security from the casino was always hovering over my mother because of her shows. And not all of them were nice. Some were downright mean to a kid who didn’t even want to be there. Then every summer when she’d ship me off to my dad’s to get me out of her hair, he was always too busy to spend time with me, so he’d pawn me off on his latest bodyguard, who thought he was too important to be babysitting the boss’s kid. And let’s be honest. He was.”
She waved her hands around, knowing she was out of control but unable to stop it. “I don’t like people watching and criticizing and reporting back to someone else about the things I’m doing. And before you say this isn’t the same, you can save it. I know that Aegis isn’t really in the bodyguard business. I know that their focus is more black-ops style, defense-contract stuff, but that’s not what this is. This is babysitting, plain and simple, and contrary to what you or my obnoxious brother think, I’m not some weak, helpless female who needs a guy to step in and take care of her. And I especially don’t need it from a man who fucked me just so he could claim his freakin’ paycheck.”
“Grace, dammit.” She made it one step around him before his hand closed over her arm, jerking her back to face him. “You weren’t just a job. And this isn’t about my paycheck. Do you honestly think your brother told me to sleep with you just so I could get close to you?”
“No, he wouldn’t dare. You did that all on your own.”
“Yeah, I did. But I don’t remember hearing you protest.”
Her eyes widened. “Because I thought you actually liked me. Because I thought there was something happening between us.?
??
“I do. And there is.”
She yanked her arm from his grasp, a sea of red covering her vision. “Bullshit.”
“Goddamn it, Grace.”
She reached the threshold to the bedroom, but before she could grasp the door and slam it in his face, his arms caught her around the waist, and he twisted her in the air, hefting her over his shoulder.
She struggled against him, but he held her too tight for her to get any leverage. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Put me down.”
“Not until you listen to me.”
He pulled something from the back waistband of his jeans and set it on the dresser. Grace’s gaze flicked that way, and she couldn’t see well in the dimly lit room, but she was pretty sure it was a gun.
Had he had that the entire time? She didn’t remember feeling that on him. Before she could ask what the hell he planned to do with it, he marched across the room and tossed her on the bed.
Her hair went flying, and the mattress dipped. She kicked out and tried to roll away, but he caught her by the arms, climbed over her, and pinned them near her head. “Stop fighting me, dammit.”
“I will when you stop being an asshole.”
“Grace…” His knees flexed against her thighs, holding her still, and his hands tightened around her wrists, but the exasperated sound of his voice, the way he dropped his head like a man defeated stilled her struggling. “Do you think I want this? Do you think I need this kind of complication in my life?”
He lifted his head and looked down at her, pinning her with deep-blue, stormy eyes that wouldn’t let her go. “I still have a shitload of shrapnel in my shoulder from a roadside bomb that pretty much ended my career in the military. And after months of doctors and surgeries and more rehab than I ever want to deal with again, I finally have a good job and a new career that gives me a reason to get up in the morning. I also happen to be damn good at what I do, and the last thing I need is to fuck that up with my boss because I went mad for his little sister.”
He’d just thrown a truckload of information at her, but right now her emotions would only let her focus on one thing.
“You’re mad about me,” she mocked, not believing him, knowing he had to be lying. He worked for her son-of-a-bitch, controlling brother.
“Crazy mad. Certifiably mad. I’d have to be, wouldn’t I?”
Something in his gaze made her heart bump, made it pick up speed against her ribs. Something that left her feeling hot and…unsettled.
“I wish I could regret last night, Grace, but I can’t. I’ve wanted you ever since you marched up to the bar and told me how hot my thighs were. And every moment we’ve spent together over the past day has only made me want you more. I didn’t go back to your room last night because you were just a job. I went because I couldn’t stop myself. And even knowing I’m probably fucking things up for my future, I don’t care. Because I’ve wanted you every second of every minute since we met.”
Grace searched his eyes, looking for the deception that had to be in there. She couldn’t see it. Her pulse pounded in her veins, echoing in her ears. Her chest rose and fell with her erratic breaths. “Don’t lie to me right now,” she whispered.
“I’m not.” His grip loosened against her wrist, but he didn’t look particularly thrilled with that revelation. He looked as frustrated as she felt. “I’m wild for you. And I… I don’t know what the hell to do about it.”
Thoughts spun out of control. Her body heated, and every muscle tightened. He wanted her. He still wanted her. And she still wanted him. Even after everything that had happened. “It shouldn’t be that hard to figure out.”
She felt the shift in him where his knees pressed against her, where his hands held her down, felt the white-hot need pulse from him into her everywhere they touched. And she saw it in his eyes. Saw the stark, raw craving lurking in their deep-blue depths just before he whispered, “No, it shouldn’t be.”
He lowered his mouth to hers. Grace opened at the first taste, licked across his tongue, and groaned. His hands released her wrists, his body lowered and lengthened over hers. She gasped at how hard and hot he was already pressing against her, and she opened her legs to draw him closer, fisted her hands in his hair, and held on while he kissed her deeper.
Sensations bombarded her from every side. His mouth, frantic and needy as it ravished hers. His tongue, forceful and seductive. His hands, pushing up her sweater and closing over her breasts until she groaned. And the best part… The length of his erection, rocking against her sex, making her hotter and wetter with every slip and grind.
But it wasn’t enough. It couldn’t be enough. She wanted more. Wanted him. Hooking her leg over his hip, she flipped him to his back. He groaned against her lips. The mattress dipped. She yanked her mouth away and ripped the sweater from her body, then threw it over her head.
“Grace.” He sat up, captured her mouth again. His tongue tangled with hers as his swift fingers found her bra clasp and released it. He tugged it free of her body and threw it away. His fingers found her nipples, pinching, tugging. Grace rocked against his erection and cried out at the exquisite tremors rushing through her core.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he whispered against her lips. “You’ve been driving me absolutely crazy since we met. You know that?” One hand streaked down her belly, found the snap on her jeans, and wrenched it free. “God, you’re so sexy.” He lowered his head to her neck, her collarbone. One hand closed around her breast and lifted it to his mouth. “I want you all the time.”
Oh… She wanted him too. Now. Right now.
His tongue was like heaven, flicking, licking, his mouth sucking, his fingers pinching. But Grace was in hell because it wasn’t fast enough. She needed fast. She needed hard. She needed deep.
She yanked her mouth from his, scrambled off his lap, then dropped to the floor on her knees between his legs. Her fingers grappled with the button at his waistband. “Get these off. I need these off.”
With frantic fingers, he helped free himself from his jeans. She pulled them from his legs and tossed them aside. He reached back to tug off his shirt. And while she waited, Grace’s entire body vibrated with the throbbing need to take him deep inside her, but then she saw his cock jutting out toward her, his shaft long and hard, the head engorged and thick, just waiting for her attention.
She salivated, and her sex clenched tight. He threw his shirt on the floor, the muscles in his abs rippling, drawing her attention to the cut V of his hipbones pointing downward like an arrow toward what she suddenly wanted most, and that need went supersonic.
He reached for her. “Come here, Gracie.”
She pushed his arms back. “Not yet.” Lowering her head, she wrapped her fingers around the hot, steely length of him, and drew him toward her mouth. “I need to taste you. I need to fuck you with my mouth. Come in my mouth, Brian.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Brian was so hot, he was afraid he might come just from Grace’s dirty words. Then her tongue flicked against the underside of his cock, and he knew it wasn’t her words that were going to make him blow his load. It was her hot, sinful mouth about to suck the life out of him.
He groaned as he looked down at her, as he watched her tongue circle the engorged head, as she glanced up at him with those wanton eyes while she did it again. But when she closed her lips around him, when she sucked, when he saw the rapt pleasure on her face, he knew he was done for.
“Fuck, Grace…”
Her mouth was hot and wet, her tongue on fire as it rubbed against the sensitive underside. She didn’t go slow. Didn’t give him time to adjust. She sucked him deep as if she couldn’t get enough and drew him all the way to the back of her throat.
He groaned at the exquisite tightness of her mouth, at the way she released him, then sucked deep once more. His fingers tangled in her hair, his head dropped back in pure bliss. He couldn’t stop himself from flexing his hips and thrusting into her. The tip of his cock h
it the back of her throat again and again, and when she swallowed… Holy hell. He was gonna come. He was gonna come so hard.
He dragged his eyes open, looked down at her. Lust flushed her cheeks, glazed her dark eyes as her head bobbed up and down. This was better than any blowjob he’d ever had before, because she wasn’t doing this to get him hard, wasn’t doing this out of obligation. She was fucking him with that gorgeous mouth because she wanted him. Because she needed him. Because she couldn’t get enough.
She reached down, closed her hand over his balls, and squeezed. And then she opened her throat and took him even deeper.
His climax shot down his spine, echoed in his balls. Before it exploded through his cock, though, he pulled her off him, pushed them both to their feet, then closed his mouth over hers.
Grace moaned, tried to break free of his kiss, tried to drop to her knees once more, but he didn’t want that. At least not right now. Right now he needed her. All of her.
He turned her, pushed her down on the bed, and jerked the jeans from her long, sexy legs.
She pressed up on her elbows, trying to get to his cock again. “Brian,” she gasped. “I need that.”
“Too bad. I need this.” He pushed her legs apart, then groaned at the sight of her slick, pink center.
Leaning forward, he drew her breast to his mouth and suckled. She reached for him, sifted her fingers into his hair. Her nails dug into his scalp while he laved her nipple, while his hands ran over her waist and hips, while he pressed his fingers between her legs and rocked the heel of his hand against her mound.
“Brian…”
“What do you want, Grace?” He kissed a path of wet kisses up her neck, breathing hot against the skin behind her ear. Between her legs, his fingers slid lower, deeper, across the opening of her sweet sex. And oh, fuck, she was so wet. So wet and hot and ready, all for him. “Do you want my fingers here?”
“Oh, yes…” She wrapped her hands around his neck, arched up against him, tried to get him inside.
“Tell me. Surrender to me, Grace. You know you want to.”