Never Say Never (The Price of Fame Series) (18 page)

He stormed out of the bathroom and, avoiding the bar where he’d left Chloe, darted straight to the balcony. Cool air better calm him down or he’d make the biggest ass of himself yet. The last thing he needed was to lose it at their engagement party—the press would have a field day with the story and they’d have it completely wrong.

* * * *

“Long time no see.”

The familiar voice made Chloe shiver in the same way nails on a chalkboard did. Wiping any residue of emotion from her face, she turned to him. “Can’t say I would mind if I never saw you again.” The smile she threw him was bittersweet.

Dane laughed, showcasing too white teeth and dimples that looked ridiculous with his graying roots. God, she couldn’t imagine why she’d once thought the sun rose and set with the man. He was a poser, pure and simple, with a manmade hairline and steroid induced muscles.

And even then they had nothing on Sander’s.

“Still not over me, are you, sweetheart?”

She clenched and unclenched her hands. “Still full of yourself, I see.” She would not slap him, she wouldn’t.

His gaze swept the crowd, and she used the time to temper her irritation. What the hell was he doing there anyway? It wasn’t like Dane to go to engagement parties. Then again, with the amount of press there tonight she should have known he wouldn’t have been able to resist coming to the most covered party in London. The only thing missing was a thin waif hanging on his arm and every word.

“Looks like the singer is doing good by you.” Dane gestured to her dress.

She wished she could tell him she’d paid for it herself, but Dane would know it was definitely out of her price range. Instead, she pressed her lips together and kept her eyes fixed on the bathroom door.

He followed her gaze. “Your man left a few minutes ago, so I guess he doesn’t treat you that good.”

He what?
Her heart thrummed in her chest as panic rose in her throat. It took her a minute to pull herself together enough to speak. “Sander wouldn’t do that.” She was sure of it.

Then again, he’d promised he wouldn’t hurt her, and maybe avoiding the conversation they’d agreed to have would mean keeping his promise. Her eyes stung with tears. No, she didn’t believe that for a minute. Dane was just being cruel, playing head games. Still, a little voice in the back of her head asked why he would bother. He’d had his fun with her, why would he waste energy messing with her head?

Shaking his head with a small smile on his face, he pinched her cheek. Chloe flinched away from his touch. “Sweetheart, you’re still so naïve. That’s one of the things I loved about you.”

“You aren’t capable of loving anyone other than yourself,” she ground out and immediately regretted it. The last thing she wanted to do was show the tosser he could still get to her.

He moved closer and she smelled the familiar pear and pine scent of him. Before, she’d found it sexy, but now it caught in her throat until she wanted to gag.

“That’s not true, Chloe. You know how much I cared, but we couldn’t be together properly. I mean, I couldn’t exactly be seen with someone who works for people like me, could I?”

She ground her teeth against the angry retort she wanted to scream at him.

“Then again.” He cornered her into the bar. She shoved at his chest, but he was too bloody strong. “If I’d known how well you scrub up I might have held onto you a little longer. In fact, maybe there’s something good that can come out of this.”

Chloe had no idea what he meant, but her temper had reached levels she couldn’t control. “I wouldn’t have stayed with you for all the money in the world, you cheating, scumbag, bas—”

His lips came down on hers hard and demanding, like they always did, but no lust coursed through her body at the touch. Instead, anger pulsed through her veins and she continued to shove at his chest until he snared her wrists and pulled them behind her back. Without another thought, she lifted her leg and her knee caught him in the groin. He released her immediately and doubled over.

What the hell was that about?

Hopping down from the stool, she smoothed down her dress. “Don’t you ever touch me again, you sick bastard!”

“That’s all I needed from you, babe. It’s good to keep myself in the headlines.” He nodded and she followed his gaze to a photographer who snapped a stream of pictures of him bent over.

The bastard had used her again. Her stomach churned and her blood boiled.

A large hand fisted in the material of Dane’s jacket and hauled him upright. Chloe could practically feel the rage pour off Sander. It was there in every hard line of his face. Dane had both hands occupied protecting his crown jewels.

“If you ever touch her again, I’ll make sure it’s more than your dick that hurts.”

She could see Sander’s knuckles turn white where he’d balled them into fists and a jolt of panic went through her. People had stopped to watch the commotion, and another two photographers from the magazine joined the one on the sideline with their cameras. If Sander hit Dane, he could get arrested for assault, and there were enough witnesses there to back up Dane’s story.

She stepped in between the two men, and her heart almost broke at the look of betrayal in Sander’s eyes.
This is for your own good, you stupid, wonderful man.
“Sander, we should leave.”

“Is this the bastard that kept you hidden? The one who thought he was too good for you?” he demanded in a whisper, but not so low that Dane missed it.

“We had an arrangement, didn’t we, sweetheart? It suited us.”

She whirled on Dane. “It suited you because you couldn’t keep your dick in your pants for two seconds.”

Suddenly she was filled with the same rage as before and wanted to hurt him again, but Sander’s arms slid around her waist. “It’s time to go.”

Reluctantly, she nodded. He released her waist and guided her toward the entrance hall with a hand on the small of her back. Instead of leading her to the exit as she expected, he took her to one of the elevators and hit the button. All the while she could sense the anger pouring off him in waves.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

His face was so tense it could have been carved from stone. The doors slid open and he lifted her off her feet.

“Sander, what are you doing?”

He hit a button for the top floor and before she could form a coherent thought his big body pressed hers against the mirrored wall. The doors slid shut and the elevator jolted up. His eyes were filled with equal amounts of passion and rage. Her heartbeat pounded in her ears.

“Do you still want him?” He almost growled the question.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I kicked him off me!”

“Good.”

Sander’s lips crashed down on hers and washed away all memories of Dane. Engulfed in Sander’s clean, spicy scent and pressed against every hard ridge of him, her anger dissolved under the lust boiling through her system. His erection pressed against her stomach, and her core ached with the need to be filled by him. Claimed by him.

Wedged between him and the wall, she struggled to breathe, but as she opened her mouth and welcomed him inside, Chloe couldn’t find it in herself to care. He was everywhere, his hands skimming her curves, knotting in her hair, and sliding between the mirror and her bottom to squeeze.

When the elevator jolted to a halt he didn’t release her, only pulled up her skirt, wrapped her legs around his waist, and carried her out. Chloe held on to his shoulders, digging her fingers into the solid muscle beneath, her body burning to feel his pressed against it without all the layers.

She was vaguely aware of him shifting her up and pulling a keycard from his pocket, but then his lips were back on hers, devouring her mouth like he’d been starved for her kiss for years. And she felt exactly the same. To deny him now, to deny herself when it’s all she’d wanted for days, would probably break her. Everything else could wait.

Sander kicked the door shut behind them and carried her straight through to the bed. Instead of setting her down, he fell backward, bringing her with him so she landed on his chest, straddling his hips with her legs. The solid length of his erection was in exactly the right place and she ground her hips, causing a delicious friction between her legs.

He broke away from her mouth, gasping, and his gaze met hers. She could see the question there along with the hunger, and without another thought she pulled the dress over her head, baring her naked torso.

“Jesus, Chloe.”

His mouth latched onto her nipple and he rolled the tip between his teeth, causing jolt of lust to shoot down to her swollen clit. She ground her hips onto him again and he growled. In one move he had her on her back, his legs bracketing hers and his muscles bulging through his suit jacket as they held his weight above her.

“Strip,” she demanded, and when he only grinned down at her, she pushed the jacket over his shoulders.

“I can take a hint.”

He rose from the bed and slipped off his clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor. The black boxers were the last to go and Chloe’s mouth watered as her gaze feasted on him in all his naked glory. Wide, defined shoulders tapered down to a slightly narrower waist, but it was the bits in between that made her heart pound.

A fine golden smattering of hair covered his chest and sloped down sculptured abs to the ‘v’ of muscle at his groin. That’s where her throat went drier than a desert. Sander wasn’t as long as Dane, but the thickness of his shaft more than made up for it. Her eyes widened as it seemed to grow harder and thicker under her scrutiny.

But she only had seconds to enjoy the sight of him before all that lush muscle was on top of her again. She ran her hands over the smooth skin on his back as he nibbled the sensitive flesh on her neck.

She ground her hips up, thinking the bloody thong felt more like a chastity belt. He pinned her hips still and he moved to lie beside her on the bed. Trying to control her breathing, she wondered what he was about to do next, but when she looked at him and saw the pain crumpling his expression, her heart almost broke.

“What’s wrong?”

Running a shaking hand through his hair, he said, “We shouldn’t be doing this.”

Probably not, but her whole body ached for him. Had ached for him since the night at The Ivy, and if she was honest, maybe even before then.

“I thought you said you wanted to do this.” She gestured a hand to indicate the room around them. “And it’s not like you hadn’t planned it.”

Sander abruptly sat up and frowned down at her. “I booked the suite before last night. I already had the key when I stopped by on Wednesday. I was going to hand it back before we left.”

Searching his face, she could only find a burning honesty behind his gaze. “Oh.”

“Look.” He rubbed his eyes and let out a sigh before returning his tortured eyes to her. “This is all it can be, and I know you think you might want more, but this is all I can give you.”

Chewing the inside of her mouth, she saw the pained truth in his expression. There was something else he wasn’t telling her, but it was clear he wasn’t going to say anything about it. The only choice she had would be to walk away again or see this through and hope her heart didn’t get squished. Still, thoughts of walking away made a sharp pain lance through her chest and she knew she’d regret leaving forever.

“I meant what I said, Chloe. I never want to hurt you.”

“I know,” she whispered. Linking her arms around his neck, she pulled him close. “I want tonight.” And bugger what happened tomorrow, she’d deal with that when it came.

He slid his hands down the underside of her arms until they reached her back. “Me too.”

This time when their lips met it was so tender her heart swelled. And she kissed him back with all the emotion of the last few days, all the hurt from tonight and all the hunger she felt. All the while Sander’s fingers lightly trailed across her cheekbones, down her throat, across her shoulder blades, and then teased their way down her spine. She arched into him, pressing herself against his glorious muscle, the aching tips of her breasts rubbing against the silky smattering of hair on his chest and lighting a fire of need right down to her core.

Impatient, she tried to speed things up by hiking a leg over his hips, but Sander only trailed those magic fingers down the length of her thigh to the back of her knees where they fondled her in a way that made her gasp. When she broke the kiss to suck in a breath, his lips sought out the sensitive flesh behind her ear and Chloe whimpered against the sensations.

Unrushed, he made his way down to her collarbone, and by then she was absolutely certain she was ready for one of the most intense orgasms of her life. Sliding her fingers into his hair, she let out a sigh when his tongue trailed down the center of her breasts.

Still, he didn’t give any attention to her swollen nipples, instead he nipped the underside of her breasts, causing needy little jolts to shoot straight to her clit.

“Sander!” She tugged his hair and he chuckled.

“I want to make this last.” He lifted his head and looked straight at her.

She could see the hunger burning in the deep navy depths. See his frivolous hold of control in the tense lines around his eyes and taut jaw. “We can get to slow later. I need you inside me now.”

He moved up her body until his lips were a breath away from hers. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she pulled him closer. Surely he felt her soaked knickers through the tiny scrap she wore.

After searching her eyes for a second, he slid a finger under the material of her thong and then inside her. She moaned at the contact, but it wasn’t enough. She needed more. She needed him.

“You’re soaked and I’ve barely touched you.”

He withdrew his finger and she wondered for a second if he was going to taste it again. Instead, he slid down her body and peeled off her knickers at a pace that suited her just fine.

“I need to taste you properly.”

Chloe lifted her head to protest. After all, that was stuff they could get to afterward, but before she could open her mouth he hauled her hips down to the edge of the bed. Crouching on the floor, he lifted her legs so the backs of her knees rested on his shoulders.