The Director (Hollywood Nights) Read online

  She was breathless, “What?”

  “You’re tempting me, trying to get me to take over. I know you like it that way. I do too, but I want you to do this. I want you to know what it feels like to be trusted the way you trust me with your body.”

  She had to admit, “I’m nervous.”

  “Start here,” he whispered and moved his hand to touch his own lips.

  Shay leaned down and let her lips press against his. She licked the soft flesh, teased his lower, then upper lip before enveloping both of his lips with hers. She wanted to devour him. She flicked her tongue as he opened his mouth to let her in. She caressed his tongue with her own in soft, delicate motions. She explored his mouth fully, licked his teeth, nibbled his lips, and then finally let the man up to breathe. He was, heavily.

  She kissed his jaw. She made sure to lick the length of his throat from his collarbone to his chin. The feel of her tongue sliding over his chin and down to his Adam’s apple was something she would probably not be able to do again for a while since she doubted he would shave again anytime soon. His hands moved to his sides and she noticed that he tugged a bit at the sheets. It wasn’t easy for him to let her do this.

  Feeling empowered by his reactions, she traced his collarbone with her fingers, paid attention to every little detail, freckle, and muscle his chest and arms had to offer. She eventually wound up at the wrist, the one with the slanted scar. Her thumb stroked over the line. She looked at him and he looked at her cautiously, uncertain. She pressed her lips to the mark and he exhaled a deep breath.

  His expression revealed more than she had expected about the mark. She remained focused on the task at hand, but had a renewed interest in the complete story behind how that scar came to be. She tortured him the way he had done her on so many occasions. He could spend more than an hour exploring her. She wasn’t as patient, but she was trying to be.

  When she crawled down his body and pushed his legs apart so she could settle between them to lick and caress him, she watched the sheets gather at his sides in his hands. He gripped them tighter in his fists as she made slow, purposeful licks from the seam of his scrotum to the tip of his dick. After tormenting him to the point that he had pulled the sheets loose from the mattress, she decided there was probably never going to be a second chance to do something crazy to this man. He would likely never let her hold the reigns again.

  She began sucking him, licking, teasing in the ways he liked best. Since implementing the distraction policy for his smoking, she could make him come within moments when necessary. It had been necessary a few times, such as the dressing room, the bathroom at a restaurant, the library stacks, and the spot behind the coffee shop. They had become reckless. The thrill of getting caught was fun while it lasted, but then they did get caught. Fortunately, by an older man who didn’t recognize either of them. It put the brakes on the public exploits.

  She tried to sneak the lube out as best she could. He was doing his best to hint that he wanted her to make him come without actually saying it or moving his hands to help her as he often did in some of the more visible situations.

  No matter how far gone he seemed to have been, his attention came back with a snap the moment she pressed a finger across the bud of his anus. He breathed out the words, “I trust you.”

  She didn’t tell him that after he had mentioned the intern and his thorough examination, Shay had actually been curious enough to look it up. She made quick work of the warming lubricant she had selected from the box. She began near his testicles, the perineum, and then the rest of the area surrounding his anus.

  She always kept her nails short, clean, and snag free. It was necessary for this move, though that was never her rationale for maintaining them in that state. It was easier to manipulate fabric and sew with short nails. This event was just a perk for all of her time maintaining them. She enveloped his cock with her mouth as she pressed into him. Slowly, until she found the prostate. When she touched it he moaned out loud. His body shivered.

  Her confidence fueled by the reaction, she began caressing it gently. He mumbled incoherent words. She began pressing slightly against it, quicker, firmer, until he erupted. She knew they called it milking the prostate because it released more seminal fluid than a normal orgasm, but she was totally unprepared for just how much. Normally able to swallow it down, she had to let go and watch the rest of it spill out and over her hand.

  He took a breath and said, “I’m dizzy.”

  She could feel the complete satisfaction of what she had done to him wash over her. She let her finger slide gently from his body. The sheets were a rumpled mess around him. He was sweating, breathing as though he just crossed a finish line at the Olympics, and smiling lazily with a glazed, satisfied expression.

  “I might have to examine you more often.” She quipped.

  He shook his head no. She frowned. He said, “I’m useless to you now. Look at me. You still have on all of your clothes.”

  “I’ll be right back.” She bounded off the bed and headed to the bathroom. She made quick business of cleaning her hands up and then returning to the sated man half asleep in the bed. “Hey.”

  He grunted as he looked at her through lidded eyes. There had never been a sexier man than Jed Gunner. “Do you want to give me a hand or just watch?”

  His eyes opened fully. He bit his lower lip and said, “I’ll watch. And give you directions.”

  “I hear you’re a good director,” she quipped.

  “I’m the best.”

  Chapter 15

  She knew Jed had been acting a bit stressed. He worked hard and still made time for her. She knew he had stopped smoking, but he still “craved” a cigarette now and again. She didn’t mind. Easing Jed’s cravings in the afternoon meant he would last longer and demand more from her that night. He hadn’t had a craving in at least a week. Not since she asked Frankie and Jonas to stay with them when they came to visit.

  Shay looked at the box and realized she hadn’t brought it out in a while for them to play. After thinking about it a moment she decided they hadn’t been intimate at all in a while. She worried that he might think she was taking advantage of the situation. After all, he paid for everything. She would start rehearsals soon for her role in the play. They were almost finished with the casting. She didn’t make a fraction of his income, though she wasn’t sure how much he made, she knew it was considerably more than her.

  Against her will, Jed had insisted on increasing Bailey’s salary and adding Shay to the roster. Bailey had proven invaluable. Once the girl had accepted her place in his life, she quickly moved on to dating the manager at a posh hotel. She didn’t think she needed any help. Of course, as work picked up on all fronts for both of them, she was glad he had been so considerate. She was sure when the bras became available that her income would be respectable. In the meantime, she didn’t want him to think she was just freeloading.

  “Jed.” She looked at the man standing in front of the stove. He grunted; it was his normal response. “When are you going to let me contribute?”

  He looked up from the masterpiece he was working on and briefly around the open space before returning his focus to the food. “I think you contribute quite a bit.”

  “That’s not what I’m talking about and you know it.” She had spiced the place up a bit. She hung photos and art in different places, added pillows and throws to the couch, she even painted a few walls.

  “Ugh.” Was his response.

  “I’ve lived here for months now and I still don’t pay for anything,” she said and crossed her arms.

  “That’s not true.” He kept perfecting whatever he was working on as he talked.

  “What have I paid for?” She stood there defiantly. He spoiled her. She was getting used to it and didn’t want him to think she was ungrateful for it.

  “You paid for all of the paint, those pillows, you pick up groceries sometimes, and take-out. Nothing about you being here has changed my expenses.”
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  “You paid for Bailey,” she reminded him.

  He glanced at her and then his attention went back to the stove.

  “No response?”

  “My brother, his wife, and an infant will be arriving within the hour. They are staying here, at your invitation and not a hotel, and now is the time you want to get into this?”

  Her gut clenched. She just wanted to contribute, but she had pissed him off. In all the time they had been together she had not seen Jed Gunner truly angry. She suspected his temper was at a simmer along with the sauce he seemed to be struggling with.

  “Damn it!” He pushed the concoction aside and began turning off the stove. He reached for something and somehow his arm touched the side of one of the hot dishes and he pulled it back with a, “Shit!”

  Shay moved closer to him. He took a step back and then moved to the sink to put the burn under cold water. She said, “Let me see it.”

  “I’m fine.”

  “You are not fine. What is it? You’re mad about something more than our conversation. I’ve never seen you like this before.” She touched his elbow and he pulled away from her again. Now her feelings were genuinely hurt. “Jed?”

  “You don’t want to do this now,” he said simply.

  “Yes,” she demanded. “I do. You need to tell me now. You’re mad at me for something and I need to know what it is. I don’t want to be worried about what I say or do when they get here.”

  “Here,” he said. “When they get here. Specifically, in this house. My sanctuary, the place where I still have work to do. A place I could escape to if I was tired and not feeling like taking in a movie or listening to one more story about the color of my niece’s shit.”

  Well that about summed up why he was mad. She hadn’t considered any of it. She didn’t even hesitate to tell them they could stay there. They were his family, and unlike her family, he really enjoyed being around them. It seemed odd to her for them to stay in a hotel when he had the room. “I…”

  “I can’t believe you insisted they stay here without even asking me how I felt about it. You know how stressed out I’ve been trying to get this project off the ground. Now, everyone is going to know how stressed out I am because I won’t be able to enjoy time with them and then come home and deal with it privately.”

  She had no idea he was this worried about the recent job he had taken. “I don’t understand. I thought you were really enjoying this…”

  “I am, Shay. You just don’t get it. Every one of these films has the potential to be a disaster. I haven’t had a flop, ever. That means the expectation for me to turn out brilliance each time is increasing. The hope that it fails increases with people who wanted this job.” He exhaled, shook his head and said, “I know I shouldn’t be mad at you for telling my little brother he can stay here. You haven’t been in this family long enough to know we always say yes if someone asks to stay, but we are never the one to ask them to.”

  All she could here was “in this family” over and over again in her mind. She was suddenly aware that her status as girlfriend had somehow reached its limits. Living with him was the same as marrying him. At least in Jed’s eyes. She realized that a little too late. If her feeling had been hurt by his withdraw, surely he was feeling a few stings over her decisions and requests.

  “I’m sorry,” she said and took a fortifying breath. “I was a little too excited that they were coming to town. I had no idea you felt this way about the project. You always seem to take everything in stride. I knew the extra time you spent working on it meant you were a bit stressed out, but I thought that was due to the deadline not the work itself.”

  He looked at the small red line on his arm and not at her.

  She continued, “I won’t say anything about contributing again either. I didn’t mean to insult you.”

  “You didn’t insult me,” he said quietly. “It hurt. I want so much for you to realize everything I have is yours too, and you…”

  She stepped closer and looked at the mark on his arm. It would leave a faint scar. She didn’t miss the symbolism of the situation. Their first real fight and he was the one left with scars. She said gently, “I just want you to know that I am here for the right reasons. I don’t want you to ever, for one second, think I am here for anything other than you.”

  “It never crossed my mind,” he said as he allowed her to pull his arm up to her lips to kiss the red welt.

  “Well,” she smiled as she looked up at him. “I’m also here for the sex.”

  His lips moved to a partial smile.

  “And the food.”

  He wrapped her in a hug and she melted against him. She said, “I’m sorry.”

  “I should have told you, but I know you have a lot on your own plate right now. I’m proud of everything you are doing. I want you to be able to do what you want with what you earn. I know you’ve had to worry about finances in the past. I don’t want you worried about that now.” He kissed the top of her head. “I need to start over on that sauce. It’s terrible.”

  Just like that it was over. He had made his point and said his piece. Shay decided when her money started coming in she would find things to do with it that would continue to make him proud of her decisions. There are a lot of struggling actors out there. Maybe she could find a way to help some of them.

  ***

  When Frankie and Jonas arrived, Shay knew instantly that they probably needed a hotel rather than the condo. They looked exhausted and within ten minutes of being there, it was already time for the baby to eat. That meant Frankie, a first time mother, had to stop eating to feed her.

  “She eats every two hours,” Jonas said. “No matter what. She has not slept for longer than two hours at a time. They said it will get better, but I don’t think it will. It was supposed to already be better by now.”

  “She takes after you,” Jed said before his next bite.

  “Me?” Jonas looked offended. “I was a good baby. Mom said so.”

  “Janice,” Jed corrected. “Janice was a good baby. You were adorable, but a hellion. I was there. I remember.”

  “I’ve tried everything to get her to sleep longer,” Frankie said. She cleared her throat and added, “Your mom mentioned you had a way with Jonas…I was hoping you would tell me what you did.”

  “I held him.” Jed said.

  Shay looked at him. He was just a kid himself. Taking care of other people seemed as much a part of Jed’s DNA as his eye color.

  “For how long?” Frankie asked. “I mean I hold her a lot.”

  Jed shrugged.

  Shay suspected there was more to it than that.

  It wasn’t long before she found out. Frankie and Jonas had arrived in the evening and after dinner they had both practically passed out on the couch watching television. The baby woke up and Jed moved to get her. He carried the child around while he heated up the bottle and then he fed her. After she was done eating, he didn’t put her down.

  “I’m going to go do some work.” He headed off to the office with baby Justine. Shay had to admit, they sure had a thing for alliteration.

  She finished the movie, left the sleeping parents in their respective places, and went to the office. She smiled. He was reading to her. Not a kid’s story, it was another article related to the homeless issue in New York. This documentary was proving to be especially difficult for Jed because it wasn’t another country, another place where people might not have resources or know any better. It was in his front yard and he was struggling with it.

  Justine wasn’t struggling with the complex issues of America’s homeless at all. She was asleep, her little head on his chest, over his heart, and he was reading. Surely a little Jed was reading simple books back then, but since it was the voice, the rumble, the heartbeat that soothed, Shay realized the content didn’t matter.

  He had read to her on many nights as they lay in bed. She would fall asleep sooner than she wanted to under that steady voice. He really had no idea jus
t how amazing he sounded. The reason many of his documentaries worked was because of his commentary. Jed liked to research an issue and display a variety of perspectives. He was fair and honest. She admired him for so many reasons.

  “You should record some children’s books for them to take with them.” She moved closer to him and he made room for her on his lap. Shay stroked the baby’s back. She could imagine them with a child. He would be a good dad. She would be a good mom. Only, she wasn’t thrilled about the diapers, the crying, and the constant feeding. Not to mention two of the most energetic people she had ever known were knocked out on a couch from exhaustion.

  “Maybe.” Jed smiled. “I don’t know if I want to make it that easy for him.”

  “Then do it for Frankie.”

  “We’ll see,” he said. “Did you see them? They are exhausted.”

  “We definitely need to get a That’s Life segment while they are here.” Shay grinned. “Janice doesn’t seem as tired or crazy.”

  “She has Buddy.” He said as if that explained everything.

  Shay wasn’t sure exactly when she too fell asleep in Jed’s lap, only that he nudged her and said, “Hey, I need to get up. My legs are falling asleep.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Time for bed.” He looked at his niece and said, “And time for food.”

  Shay looked at the clock and realized the baby had slept for almost five hours. She had slept for almost two. He passed the baby to her and then made a great production of moving his legs around and stretching them.

  “Hey,” she said playfully. “You’re going to give us a complex over here. We are not that heavy.”

  “No,” he agreed. “I’m sure it’s the chair not the ladies.”

  She squinted with a playful glare his way. She carried little Justine to the living room where her parents had only shifted around on the couch. Shay looked at Frankie and thought she looked relatively comfortable under one of the throws with one of the pillows Jed thought were useless propped up behind her head. Jonas, the poor thing, was going to have a neck ache for sure. He apparently did not share his brother’s views on decorative pillows. Jonas had them stuffed everywhere around him trying to make himself comfortable on the couch.