No Matter What (24 page)

“Can we go now?”
 
She started to kiss his neck and he felt the excitement start to build up inside him.
 
He’d waited so long for this.
 
So long.

“You sure you want to leave now?” he asked, letting his hand slide down from the small of her back, knowing this was it, this was almost it.
 
He was almost there.
 
She nodded.
 
“Come on then, beautiful.”
 
He took her hand, leading her away from the party.
 
“Let’s get out of here.”

When they got to her suite, Michael opened the door but let
India
go in first, and it took just seconds before she threw herself back into his arms with a little squeal of delight.

The room was lit by what must have been hundreds of candles, vases of flowers were everywhere, music was playing softly in the background, and it just looked beautiful.
 
The most romantic thing she’d ever seen.

“
You
did all this?” she asked, still smiling.

“Well, not me personally.
 
But I asked the hotel to arrange it.”

She gave another little squeal and hugged him again, kissing him quickly.

“Nobody’s ever done anything like this for me before, Michael.
 
It’s beautiful.
 
It’s perfect.”

He looked at her, her face glowing with happiness, happiness he’d created.

“
You’re
perfect,” he whispered.
 
And he meant it.

She felt as though she’d been plunged head-first into some ridiculously crazy romantic film because she’d never thought she’d ever find anyone like Michael.
 
After all, this kind of thing only happened in the movies she starred in, didn’t it?
 

She stroked his cheek with the back of her hand, kissing him gently, speaking with her mouth still resting against his, knowing exactly where this was all going to lead and she had no intention of hanging about.
 
She wanted him.
 
He wanted her.
 
What was the point in waiting any longer?

“You are making it so easy for me to love you, Michael Walsh.”

Another kiss, then she stepped back from him, unzipping her dress, and he watched as it slipped slowly down over her breasts, over her hips and thighs, falling to the ground and she kicked it away, standing there in front of him, naked except for those sexy-as-hell boots.
 
She’d been naked under that dress all along.
 
She really was any living man’s wet dream and he was about to live that dream, after all this time he was finally going to know what it felt like to be inside her.
 
No more wondering, no more pretending.
 
He was this close to making love to her.

He couldn’t take his eyes off her as he walked over to her, pulling her against his still clothed body, feeling her against every inch of him as he kissed her, her hands pulling at his clothes, freeing him up to make every dream he’d ever had come true and he wanted it to last forever.
 
He wanted every second of this night to stay etched in his brain for the rest of his life because he still couldn’t believe it was actually happening.
 

But, as she lay back on the bed, opening those perfect legs and inviting him into paradise, he knew he was slap bang in the middle of his very own fantasy.
 
She still had the boots on and that was turning him on even more as he positioned himself over her, her legs wrapping around him as he kissed her again, the kisses becoming harder and faster and he just wanted in, just wanted to go where he’d dreamed of going for so long but he held back, touching her gently, listening to her moans as his fingers explored the heaven he’d soon be entering.
 
A warm and welcoming heaven that he knew he’d never want to leave.

She arched her back and cried out quietly as he finally put himself inside her, ending that ache for him that had begun to take over.
 
He was pushing gently and she pushed back with her hips, raising them up to press against his before pushing down and letting him go deep, her arms up above her head, her eyes closed.
 
She’d never known it could feel this way, never known it could feel so beautiful.
 
With Kenny sex had always been hard and fast - had they ever really made love?
 
But with Michael - with Michael she was feeling like this was the very first time someone had ever touched her this way.
 
He was making her skin tingle and her heart race as he held her against him, moving inside her, and she just wanted to hold onto him, to keep him where he was because he was a part of her now.
 
It felt so right, so beautiful, and she felt tears start to slowly fall down her face, tears that he gently kissed away, whispering that it was ok, everything was ok, and she just felt the most overwhelming love for him, something so strong and so powerful that it scared her.

She didn’t want it to end.
 
She didn’t want to have to leave this feeling of it being just the two of them, she didn’t want to go back to the real world.
 
She didn’t want to let him go.
 
She didn’t ever want to let him go, and he wasn’t putting up any kind of fight because he just wanted to lie there with her exactly like this, to live inside her, to look at her forever.
 
She was his obsession.
 
He couldn’t, wouldn’t live without her, not now, not ever.
 
The last few years had been building to this, from the second he’d seen her he’d needed to have her and now he was here, now he was with her, loving her just like he’d always dreamed of doing and it couldn’t have been more perfect.
 

With another harder push he felt her body jerk in his arms, her hips thrust up against him as she cried out his name and he watched her face, her perfect face with the tears falling slowly, as that final climax built up inside him too, something he was trying so hard to prolong so as not to have this end.
 
But he couldn’t do that forever, so he closed his eyes and buried his face in her blonde hair, letting her hold onto him and stroke his skin as their breathing got faster and faster, the end hitting both of them like a head on collision.
 
If he never had sex again he wouldn’t care because he didn’t think it would ever be like this with anyone else.
 
He didn’t even want to find out.
 
He’d just been to heaven and now he couldn’t settle for anything less.

He rolled over onto his back, pulling her against him, kissing her forehead, his arm tight around her shoulders, and she snuggled in next to him, resting her head on his chest, listening to his still fast-beating heart.
 

For a second her mind wandered back to the times when she’d sat in the cinema back in
England
, watching him up there on the screen, thinking what a great actor he was but never harbouring anything other than admiration for him.
 
Never in her wildest dreams had she ever even wondered what it would be like to hold his hand never mind have him kiss her.
 
Unlike Kenny – her fantasy man and movie star idol.
 
Yet she’d fallen head first in love with someone older, wiser and altogether more perfect.
 
But, despite that, she was scared.
 
With Kenny everything had been free spirited and uncomplicated but this, what she was feeling for Michael, this was intense, this was frightening.

“Are you ok?” he asked, gently stroking her hair, kissing her quickly.

She responded with a longer, slower kiss, turning to lie on her side, resting her body against him, carefully running her fingers over his mouth, just looking at him for a second.
 
She’d never really stopped to look at him before, not properly.
 
Not when he’d been her director and not even when he’d been her co-star, but now she wanted to take him in, to know every line on his face, to look deep into his eyes and see the man she was in love with.
 
There was something about him, something so very, very different.

“I’m fine.”
 

He smiled and her heart did a little back flip.
 
It was like being back in high school, that’s what it felt like.
 
Who knew somebody could do this to another person so out of the blue?
 
She hadn’t expected anything like this to happen tonight, she wasn’t even sure she’d ever expected anything like this to happen between her and Michael at all, but now, well, now she was just glad that it had.

“I didn’t hurt you, did I?” he whispered, his fingers stroking the small of her back, moving down to rest on her thigh.

She shook her head.
 
“No.
 
You didn’t hurt me.”
 
He had the most beautiful mouth.
 
Why hadn’t she ever noticed that before?
 
He had the kind of mouth she wanted to kiss for hours.
 
Maybe they could find a day when they weren’t busy and do just that – kiss for hours.
 

“What are you thinking?” he asked, her naked breasts touching his skin and he felt it all starting up again, that desire and need to love her once more.
 
Just looking at her could do that to him.
 
She’d wrecked his concentration, invaded his head and he knew he’d never be the same man again.
 
She’d changed him.
 
Forever.

“I’m thinking that ... I’m terrified, Michael.
 
I’m scared.”

He looked at her, the tears she’d cried when they’d made love had stained her face but she still looked like the most beautiful woman in the world to him.

“Scared?”

“Of us.
 
Of this, of how I feel.”

“Oh, baby ... why’s that making you scared?”

Should she open herself up to him so completely so soon?
 
But after Kenny she wanted to be honest, she wanted him to know exactly what she was feeling so there’d be no mistakes, no misunderstandings.
 
If he didn’t feel for her what she was feeling for him then she didn’t know if she could go any further because that might only end up hurting her more if it never happened.
 
But the thought of walking away from him now was something she couldn’t bear to think about.
 
It hurt to even imagine it.

“I’m scared because I think I love you, Michael.
 
I feel like I’ve ran head on into a brick wall here and this isn’t what I planned to do today ... fall in love with you.
 
I didn’t plan to do it.”

He stroked her cheek, losing himself in her words, words he’d dreamed of her saying for God knows how long.
 
Sometimes he felt his life had only really begun the day she’d walked into it.

“There’s no need to be scared, baby.
 
Because I love you too, I love you like you can’t even begin to imagine, and that’s all that matters, isn’t it?
 
That we love each other.”

She looked into those piercing blue eyes and felt herself giving way again, giving into him as his fingers stroked her skin, his mouth on hers, and all she could do was whisper “
yes
” before she was lost in his kiss, wanting nothing more than to be with him.
 

Michael Walsh was a very persuasive man, and she was mind-blowingly, head-over-heels in love with him.
 
End of story.

CHAPTER 16

Charley stepped out of the car, closely followed by Jimmy.
 
These days she was always closely followed by Jimmy, or one of Jimmy’s various bodyguards and henchmen.
 
How her life had changed since that one night with Kenny Ross.
 
Well, it hadn’t even been one night, had it?
 
One kiss, some harmless flirting, not even sex, but she should have known that Jimmy would find out, she shouldn’t have been so naive, because from that day on she’d begun to realise just what she’d got herself into with Jimmy Cash.
 
He may have been in
Las Vegas
at the time it had happened but he’d certainly made sure Charley had been looked after.
 
She just hadn’t been aware of it.

He’d made sure someone had been keeping an eye on her at all times.
 
They’d seen her with Kenny that evening three years ago, given Jimmy a full report - complete with pictures - and he’d returned from Vegas to make sure her life would never be the same again.
 
Oh, he hadn’t kicked her out, dumped her or made sure she never worked for him again, that wasn’t how Jimmy Cash worked.
 
No, Charley wasn’t going anywhere, not without him, or someone in his place, anyway.
 
Ever since that night he’d made sure she was watched at all times, never went out alone and always, but always did what Jimmy said.

She was his now and his alone.
 
Although he had absolutely no qualms whatsoever about sending her out to work in his movies or model for his magazines.
 
But whereas before she’d had choices – what she would and wouldn’t do and who she did it with – Jimmy had now stripped her of any decision making in that respect.
 
She no longer had the loose fame that came with being a number one porn star, he’d made sure all those perks and privileges had been taken away.
 
Charley now did whatever Jimmy wanted her to do, when Jimmy wanted her to do it.
 
She’d been thrown headlong into the world of hard-core porn by a man she’d thought had loved her but now realised only wanted to control her.
 
She was his possession, his plaything, his toy, and she had no choice because, if she tried to leave, he’d have her killed.
 
That’s what he’d said and she had no reason to disbelieve him.
 
She’d seen things she’d never dreamed she’d ever see, heard the way Jimmy talked, and it scared her.
 
She wasn’t willing to call his bluff.