Endearing.
Yet, she was Hollywood’s sweetheart, a woman who could expertly transform into someone else at a second’s notice. He’d come to learn that actors were an odd lot. Many of the best gave too much of themselves to roles, sacrificed themselves to the flames of a brilliant performance. They won accolades, but lost a bit of themselves with each role.
But as he examined Gia standing there, looking nervous and excited at the same time, Seth suspected there was something different about her. When she wasn’t acting, Gia possessed one of the most candid, pure spirits he’d ever witnessed. It’d been what had drawn him to her from the start, even though he hadn’t fully understood it at the time. Was that why she could absorb a role so utterly? He wasn’t saying she was a blank slate, far from it. If anything, her strength was the one clear, steady note of her character. Maybe that’s why she could transform at a moment’s notice, and then bounce back so quickly to being the hardworking, practical girl with a plan?
Thinking about her career aspirations to become the biggest and the best struck a bad chord, creating friction in him. Maybe he was kidding himself by imagining her as an exception.
It was so damn hard to say with Gia, because she was so exceptional.
There was one thing that was certain, and that was that he wanted her like hell.
She wore a white belted robe and her hair was down, falling around her back and shoulders in loose waves. Her feet were pinkish-hued from the hot shower, the vision of their nakedness surprisingly sexy. It looked like she’d taken a blow-dryer to get most of the wetness out of her hair, but some strands were still damp. Her full breasts looked soft and inviting beneath the terry-cloth robe. Seeing her lush, natural feminine beauty exposed after it had been under wraps for so long sent a jolt of lust through him. His cock twitched. He took a step toward her, his nostrils flaring slightly when he caught the fresh, citrusy scent from her washed hair.
“Uh . . . tea,” she said awkwardly. “I found some tea bags in the supplies you brought. I just put on the kettle. Do you want some?”
“No. Not tea,” he said. Her eyes sprang wide when he placed his hands on her waist and lifted her. She made a startled sound as he plopped her down on the granite countertop across from the stove. He immediately reached for the belt of her robe and unknotted it. He had a sharp urge to see her exposed. Undone. When he glanced up at her, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw her stunned expression.
“No time like the present,” he told her before he deliberately parted her robe, still holding her stare. He glanced down. His smile evaporated in a second. She was naked. “You are such a good girl, Gia,” he murmured, arousal pounding through him when he saw her smooth, glistening skin and svelte curves. It was like opening the most erotic, beautiful gift in the world. She might have been startled by his actions just now, but she’d known what was going to happen after they both showered.
“No time like the present,” she whispered. He glanced swiftly into her clear, shining green eyes, seeing the reflection of his own need there. Parting her legs with his hands, he stepped between them. He nuzzled her neck.
“Your hair is so beautiful,” he said distractedly, surrounded by her scent. He delved his fingers into the thick, soft waves, gathering it at her nape with one hand. He tugged gently. Her head fell back, bringing her ripe, pink lips within striking distance. His cock stiffened with amazing haste.
Jesus. Gia’s mouth. For the past two years, every dream and fantasy lover’s mouth always took the shape of it.
“I can’t believe some jerk actually encouraged you to cut this,” he added thickly, squeezing her hair in his fist, his stare glued to the target of her mouth. His cock throbbed when he saw her small smile.
“He’s not really a jerk. He was just acting like one at the time,” she said throatily.
“He was probably struck stupid because he was in the presence of an amazing, gorgeous woman,” he muttered before he seized her mouth forcefully. She whimpered when he penetrated her depths, suddenly voracious for the sensation and taste of her . . . abruptly starved to experience full possession when it had been denied to him for excruciating hours.
For years.
Her fingers delved into his hair and clutched at one of his shoulders. Gia’s mouth was not a thing a man could take in half measure. Kissing her was a pleasure akin to much more flagrant sexual acts.
Kissing Gia was as serious as it gets.
Realizing he was getting drunk on her, he leaned back, his gaze latched on to her parted lips. He let go of her hair and grabbed the collar of her robe. Slowly, he eased it off her shoulders and arms, hearing his heartbeat in his ears, feeling it throb in his cock. He dropped the robe in a pool of cloth around her ass.
Anticipation building in him, cutting at him from the inside, he opened his hands along her firm thighs and skimmed them over her supple hips. He molded his palms around her taut curves.
“I forgot how well you fit me,” he said, spellbound. His hands glided up to her narrow waist and delicate rib cage.
“I forgot how well you touch me,” she whispered. He glanced up into her face, snarling slightly when he saw her dazed eyes shiny with arousal. Jesus. She was real and she was right here and she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever se
en. Lust lanced through him, too powerful to contain. He cupped her breasts from below. The globes were round, but extremely firm and thrusting. Her nipples were large and pink, the vision of them like a distilled sexual stimulant.
“You use a body double for your sex scenes.”
“Yes, for the full-on nudity,” she admitted shakily. He shaped her breasts to his palm, his sexual focus intense . . . rabid. She cried out softly when he lightly pinched both nipples at once, loving watching the delicate crests tighten and feeling the sensation of them hardening beneath his fingertips. He’d never seen nipples this large that were so sensitive.
“I knew it,” he said starkly. “I knew that wasn’t you I saw up on that screen.”
She made a soughing sound when he circled her nipples teasingly with his fingertips. “I didn’t realize you’d ever seen me in a movie.”
He glanced up and met her stare. He’d seen her all right. Only because he hadn’t been able to stay away, despite his self-lectures to do precisely that. His restraint had worked at times.
Other times, he had succumbed.