Bad Reputations: A steamy, celebrity romance (The Breaking Through Series Book 1) Read online

She moistened her lips, her heart starting to race as her last conversation with Ellie and Gwin played again in her head. Every thought she’d had in the last forty-eight hours pointed to this second and she breathed slow, trying to make sure she said things right.

  In the end, she decided to just show him.

  She leaned in and placed a kiss on the dead center of his warm lips. But he didn’t move. His breath, cool and male, fanned across her face and she left her mouth where it was, the sudden horror that she was doing the wrong thing cycling through her. Finally, she leaned back and rolled the taste of him between her lips. “I’ve been thinking about what happened between us the other night. I think I was wrong.”

  He stood still, arms at his sides, his scent of fresh forests and spring breeze lingering on her skin. “Tell me more.”

  If she got this wrong, he’d be out of here, and she couldn’t possibly carry this on by herself. Risking everything, she reached up to place both hands on his shoulders. Standing on tiptoe, she leaned in. “Make love to me.”

  His Adam’s apple moved in a swallow. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his eyebrows lifted. He burned to touch her as much as she burned for him. It was written all over his face. “What’s changed?” he asked.

  She looked into his eyes. “I’ve realized that what you’ve been saying right from the start makes so much sense.”

  His jaw moved, but he said nothing.

  “I don’t know how to act like the sexy woman you believe is part of the real me, because I haven’t made love for so long. In the last few days with what happened with Trent and the way you’ve shown you have faith in my choices, I’ve begun to feel I can trust you. And you shared something very personal with me just now that confirms I’m in really good hands. I told you right from the beginning that if we were going to get through this together, I needed to trust you. Now am, and it could make all the difference.”

  He didn’t move, so she ran her hands down his arms, the swell of individual muscles bunched beneath his shirt, the warmth of his skin as her fingers drifted lower. “How can I achieve a sexual awakening on my own? I need a willing partner, and I think you’d be perfect.”

  “You’re talking about something temporary, right?”

  “Just for the next eight days.” He was actually considering it. Her blood heated.

  “And when it’s over we part as friends, not with any regrets or skeletons that could be aired in public.”

  “As long as I can trust you not to tell anybody about this either now or when it’s ended.” Her pulse beat high in her throat. “I can trust you, can’t I?”

  His eyes flashed as he took a step forward and pulled her to him, his palms on the bare skin of her back sending beats of heat through her body. “You’re sure you want this?”

  She slid her hand down the smooth cotton of his shirt and tipped her chin up to look in his face. “Even more than pie.”

  “Then of course you can trust me.” He pushed a piece of hair back from her shoulder. “I’d have as much to lose if we get this wrong.”

  She sucked in a breath. Anticipation and something else beat in her belly. Something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She was going to be seduced by the most desirable man on the planet. Right now. Quite possibly on this kitchen floor. “I want you, Blake. Now. Here.”

  He tilted her chin back and brought his lips down on her mouth, and she sank into the fleshy warmth of his kiss. His tongue teased along her lips and she opened herself to him, reveling in the sweet taste.

  While his mouth worked magic, his hands moved higher until his fingers tangled in her hair.

  “I want to feel all of you,” she breathed.

  “Me too.”

  Mouth hitching in a grin, he grabbed the edges of his shirt and pulled it over his head. When his gloriously naked top half was revealed, Kirin’s jaw fell slack as her eyes were riveted. If she’d thought he was the eighth wonder of the world with clothes on, then his broad, bare chest was the ninth, his powerful shoulders the tenth, and his washboard stomach leading to narrow hips took every place from eleven through twenty.

  “Now you.” He took a step closer and laid both hands low on her hips, his fingers sneaking under the tight fabric of her top until they found bare flesh.

  She sucked in a breath as he started to peel the top up and over her head. And then, inch by agonizing inch, he revealed her body.

  Blinded for a second as the fabric dragged over her face, she squeezed her eyes tight and flicked them open to see Blake’s hungry eyes grazing her body, his face reflecting her own desire. He threw the top aside, then grinned, sexy and slow.

  “What?” Kirin said. “What is it?”

  “The bra, it’s not what I expected.”

  She looked down at the plain white cotton bra and lifted her arm across her chest, but he held both hands by her sides. “You’re teasing me.”

  A thumb swept her jawline. “Teasing? Never. You couldn’t be more perfect.” He stepped closer, and when his fingers played across the soft fabric covering her breasts, she gasped.

  “I haven’t seen the panties yet.” His thumb trailed a line down her stomach ’til he reached the waistband of her skirt. “And I don’t like to be kept waiting.”

  Ripples of anticipation raced across her midriff, then fanned lower as he eased the skirt down and over her hips. His eyes stayed locked on hers while he pushed the fabric lower, and she stepped out of the skirt.

  “I guessed they’d be matching, though.” He ran a hand swiftly across her white panties and then cupped her face. “You’re beautiful.” He leaned in and kissed the skin of her neck, lifting the curtain of hair, and his lips roamed free. Desperate to taste him again, she pulled him closer. Hot and hungry, his mouth crushed hers, and he pushed her back into the counter.

  His hands played wild over the plains and valleys of her torso, and in turn she moved palms over his muscular back. He lifted her onto the countertop, the soft cotton of her panties slide across the granite. A knife went clattering to the floor and a bowl of salt upended and spilled across the counter.

  She smiled into his lips before he guided his tongue into her mouth. He groaned as her thighs wound around him and he pulled her to him.

  “Are you disappointed?” she whispered. “That it’s not black lace.”

  “Surprised.” He lowered his head to inspect her bra more closely. “Certainly not disappointed.”

  The cotton cup was thin enough that her arousal was obvious, the erect bud of a nipple peeping through.

  “I could wear black lace if you wanted me to,” she whispered.

  “The white cotton’s doing plenty for me right now,” he said. “And it’s all you.”

  “You’ll tell me what to do, won’t you?” Kirin whispered. “I’ve never known if what I was doing was right, and it’s been a really long time, and I’ve only known my husband.”

  The thought of him teaching her, finding out what she loved, sent a heated shiver down her spine.

  “Oh, I think we can cover a few things.” He laid a kiss on her breast.

  She closed her eyes as the sensation of Blake’s mouth on the cotton covered nipple caused her to moan. While his lips worked, his fingers pushed the straps of her bra down until the cotton cup fell forward and her breast was revealed.

  “What if someone saw us,” she murmured as his mouth joined the fleshy rise of her breast.

  “You’d like that?” His breath on her damp skin scrambled her thoughts. “I can carry you over to that window and lay you out on the seat for everyone to see.”

  The thought of having sex with Blake in a public place, of him doing things to her that only she could see and feel while other people were oblivious, caused the dampness at her center to become a slick.

  “Well….” she began, but he put a finger over her lips and then replaced it with his mouth. “You talk too much,” he said. “And think too much.”

  She kissed him back, deep and long and powerful, reveling i
n the closeness, in the feeling that she was with someone whose only focus was on her..

  His stubble grazed her mouth, and she sucked at his lip as if it were the flesh of a tropical fruit. “We can stop if you’d like,” he said, as his hand trailed down her chest, then on to her belly button, and finally to the soft cotton of her panties. “Just say the word and we can stop right there. Lesson one doesn’t have to be all the way.”

  His hand ran along the top of the elastic. “Ummmmm.” Paralyzed by the sensations flowing through her, she could say nothing more.

  “What did you say?” His breath tickled her ear as his finger moved around the edge of her panties. He stroked the soft, delicate skin of her inner thigh, and she moaned into his neck. His hand slid around to the front, and he began to stroke the aching part of her.

  “I, ahhh…” she groaned.

  “I didn’t hear you.” His finger began a rhythmic circle.

  Heat rushed to her center, and a feeling of being outside her body took hold. “I said you’re good at this.” She could hardly moan the words out, the pressure of his finger increasing, the fire spreading to her belly and the tops of her thighs.

  “The best.” Suddenly his finger slipped under the fabric of the panties and the bliss of his skin against the most delicate part of her was torture.

  “Give me everything,” she said, “I want all of you now.”

  “No protection,” he said. “And I’m not going to leave you here while I go upstairs. Besides, the first time is all about you. Come closer.” She gasped as he slid her forward.

  “Are you okay?” He leaned closer and captured her lips in a kiss at the same time as he slipped a finger inside. Her cry was muffled in the warmth of his mouth, and all she could concentrate on was how her muscles welcomed his finger at each thrust.

  The rhythmic scrape of his chest hairs against the bare skin of her breasts was sweet torture. And she moaned.

  “Let yourself go,” he whispered. He thrust faster with his fingers, and with each new movement she felt herself tighten. She closed her eyes and let the sensations he was creating in her body build to a crescendo.

  He placed his thumb on her clit, and she felt as if she could rocket across the kitchen. As he pushed deeper, his thumb moved in firmer and firmer circles until she couldn’t tell which part of him was touching her where.

  “Oh, God, Blake.” Her mouth dried and beating waves coursed through her.

  “I’ve got you, baby, I’ve got you.” His finger thrust, and the press of his hand on her back deeper as he held her.

  He kissed her neck, and she could feel the urgency in his movements, knew that he could feel her release coming. When it did, she held on tight as wave after wave of pulsing warmth overtook her until she shuddered in his arms. She rested her cheek against Blake’s chest and let the pleasure beat through her blood.

  Her breathing slowed, and she drifted back, Blake lifted his head from her shoulder and his probing gaze held hers.. “Are you okay?”

  “Okay?” She smiled, remnants of heat still pulsing through her center. “You could say that. I didn’t quite expect to go from 0 to 100 during lesson one.” She reached over and retrieved her top from the knife block. “And I didn’t expect it to be all about me.”

  He smiled. “Eight days and eight nights? I’m sure there’ll be time in there to find some pleasure together.”

  She moved to put the top on, but he stilled his hand on her arm. “Don’t,” he said. “I want to look at you some more. I’ve never had a mostly naked woman sitting on my counter with only a string of pearls on.” She squirmed. It was one thing to have Blake do what he’d just done, but to sit naked in his kitchen and talk felt all wrong.

  “I don’t feel that comfortable,” she said, suddenly aware that her stomach was folded over on itself when she sat this way. Before she could move, he’d cupped a breast in his hand but kept his eyes on her face. He grazed his thumb across her nipple while he spoke. “I want you to feel safe around me, Kirin. Confident enough to tell me what you want and what you like. If you prefer to put your clothes back on after making love, that’s fine. Just know that I’ll be imagining these beautiful breasts, thinking about the next time I can touch them, and remembering the taste of them on my tongue.”

  “Oooh!” Another powerful surge of warmth raced through her and she took a steadying breath. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  Before he could start anything more, Kirin pulled the top over her head, then slid off the counter and reached for her skirt. “That’s certainly a nice image to leave with.”

  “Stay the night,” he said as she began to look for the shoes she’d kicked off. He was lounging against the opposite counter now, a hungry look in his eye, as if he already had lessons two through five planned out.

  “Really, we don’t need to carry this on today. It’s Sunday tomorrow. We should collect ourselves. There’s only one more week to get things done.”

  “Which is exactly why you need to stay here tonight. We don’t have much time.” His green eyes darkened. “And we have a lot of work to do. We could spend the day in bed tomorrow. And anyway, you owe me some pie.” His mouth quirked.

  She met his gaze and grinned. “For some reason, I just don’t feel stressed anymore, and my hunger seems to have gone away completely. Shall we say same time, same place tomorrow for lesson number two? And if you play your cards right, I might even cook you dinner.”

  8

  “My God, Kirin, do you know how stunning you look?” Lucy sat across the table in a bar the following afternoon and stared open-mouthed. “I thought I was choosing your wardrobe from here on in. Where’d you get that dress?”

  Kirin smiled. “At a little store close to my house in Santa Monica.” She had one eye on Lucy and one eye on her mother flirting with the barman. Candi had turned up just before she’d left to meet Lucy, so she’d invited her for a drink, too. They’d chosen a tiny place in Venice Beach, and it was still only late afternoon, so there were very few people around. There was only one other couple in the bar, and they were outside on the deck.

  “I’ve looked in the window of that store a million times, but I’ve always been terrified to go in,” she said. “Those sale assistants look like well-clothed gazelles, and I’ve always felt like such a fashion chump. After I’d gone through the new publicity shots with Alex this morning and they weren’t as bad as I’d thought, I got the courage up. I love it too.”

  She brushed her hand over the silky fabric of the tangerine halter neck dress. It whispered when she walked, and she loved the way it floated on her skin. For the first time she could remember, she was experimenting with showing off the tops of her arms, her waist, and a little cleavage. A pair of enormous gold hoops in her ears and a thin white belt to complement the look. She couldn’t wait to show Blake. She’d arranged to meet him at his apartment later, and the thrill of anticipating lesson number two swam in her veins.

  “And your hair’s stunning, too!”

  Coming from the always radiant Lucy, it was such a beautiful compliment that Kirin glowed. They’d kept in touch since the clothes fitting, and Lucy had texted a few times and suggested new designers and new looks that might suit her. It was lovely to be out having a drink together. It was her first time in public since the Larry Williams disaster, and she was determined to hold her head high.

  “I might not stay around with you gals for too much longer.” Candi had arrived back from the bar with a tray of colorful cocktails. “Miguel’s invited me to a salsa party tonight, and I’m tempted. I’ll need to go home and change. He’s a few years younger than me, but what the hell. Which reminds me…” She put a glass in front of Kirin and perched on a stool. “I hope you’ve taken that gorgeous young Blake to bed, Kirin. Shouldn’t let a set of abs like that go to waste.”

  “Mom!” Fire surged to Kirin’s face, and she shot a look at Lucy from under her lashes. “Don’t talk like that!”

  “Nobody is
listening, and don’t worry about Lucy.” Candi swiped a hand in the air. “She and I already talked about Blake while you were away in the bathroom, and we think you two would be darling together.”

  Kirin reached a trembling hand for a drink, then put the glass to her lips. “Can we at least keep our voices down?”

  “Lucy explained about him not wanting to be with a celebrity,” Candi whispered, “but I’m sure we could get him to change his mind. He’d make beautiful babies. I knew that about your father as soon as I saw him.”

  Kirin tried not to grit her teeth as she spoke quietly. “Mom, someone like Blake would never be interested in a relationship with a woman five years older when he could have his pick of women. Right, Lucy?”

  Her new friend looked at her intently but said nothing.

  “Honey, I’m not saying the guy would want to be with you forever—none of them ever do. I just hope you’re using him to your best advantage while you have him, that’s all.”

  Despite the cool slide of the cocktail, Kirin’s throat dried to dust. “It’s . . . it’s not like that,” she stammered. “He’s working for me, helping me with my image.”

  “And what an amazing job he’s doing.” Lucy jumped to her defense. “It won’t be long before you don’t need Blake Matthews anymore. You’ve chosen this beautiful dress yourself, done your hair just right. Blake’s skills can only go so far, and then it’s up to you to run with it.”

  Kirin’s body thrummed at the memory of the skills Blake had impressed her with last night. “We’re on a deadline, anyway,” she said, throwing a frown at her mother. “The contract is only for another week.”

  Candi sighed. “I just don’t understand you girls today. There’s a handsome man rolling in dollars, and all you can think about is your career.”

  “I hired him to help me get my career back on track, Mom, and that’s all.”

  “Well, he’s done a better job than I gave him credit for. You haven’t been yourself since you left Joe. You’ve got a whole new sparkle in your eye the last couple days.”