“You think I don’t know that? Look, I’ll take care of Dirk. You just focus on the show, okay? I’ve been dealing with the guy for years. None of this should fall on you.”
Angry as I still was, I nodded thankfully, trusting that his words were true. I wanted to feel like Dirk couldn’t touch me. “Okay.” But Dirk’s shitty directions today weren’t the only reason for my anxiety. “Sebastian, why is Claudette here? I thought they divorced.”
He shook his head. “I don’t know the status of their relationship. Maybe they’re back together, but Dirk wants to bring Claudette on as your understudy.”
“What?” I felt like I’d just been slapped. “Madeline is my understudy. You can’t take that away from her.”
“Which is why I told him no. Jimmy had my back. Claudette’s going back to New York.”
“And that’s it?” I searched his eyes with mine. “And then this drama with her is over? Because I can’t take any more, Sebastian. Your past can’t keep getting in the way of my future. Our future.” I took a step forward in an effort to plead with him, like I had the power to change anything.
“Yes,” he said. But something in his expression told me he didn’t quite believe it. I hoped that was just my paranoia.
Sebastian held out a hand when the elevator dinged. I took it, and we walked down the hall in silence. We stopped at my door while I placed my keycard on the sensor.
“Come to my room,” he pleaded.
We’d been spending every night in his room for the simple fact that his bed was bigger, but tonight, I hesitated.
“You can’t be mad at me because of my past.”
I released my card from the door and turned to face him. He had a point. I still loved him even though I’d never uttered the words aloud.
“So what happens now?” I asked.
Sebastian wrapped an arm around my waist and cupped my cheek with his other hand. “Everything goes on as planned except…” His eyes searched mine as if he couldn’t figure out how to phrase his next thought. “Just watch out for Dirk, okay? Keep your distance. And tell me if he confronts you in any way. Everyone knows we’re together, but we probably shouldn’t rub it in Dirk’s nose. I wouldn’t be surprised if he tried to use it against us. The less ammo he has, the better.”
I swallowed. “Okay. I get it.”
Sebastian pressed his lips to mine before pulling back with a smile. “Now. How about a massage?”
A flight of flutters took off in my chest, and I smiled. “I think it’s the least you can do for me, Mr. Chase.”
He pushed open his door with a grin, gesturing for me to enter. “After you, Ms. Ashley. Feel free to leave your clothes on the floor.”
Chapter 34
Sebastian
My offer to massage Kai had been a purely sexual one, but once I oiled her down and started working on her back, I definitely felt the tension she was carrying. The stress from that day was surely the cause of the bulk of it, which was why I did what I could to relieve her of her aches and pains while my own aches and pains were seconds away from bursting through my knickers.
“Your hands are magical.” Her words sounded like they were floating on a moan. “This is a way better stress reliever than running.”
I adjusted my position, fighting the urge to strip down and give Kai the happy ending she deserved. “Not for me.”
She chuckled. “Want me to do you next?”
I had to bite back the urge to flip her over and fuck her for teasing me. “You’re going to be Jell-O by the time I’m done with you. Do you just want me to work on your back?” I pressed my thumbs on either side of her spine and dragged them down to the top of her bum. I smiled as she wiggled below me.
“I don’t know. You’re the professional. You picked up that fancy massage oil and everything. Do you recommend tending to any other regions?” Her tone reeked of flirtation with a touch of innocence, but I’d quickly become accustomed to Kai’s ways. She loved when I took the lead and surprised her, but only because I knew her boundaries.
“I think it’s better if I show you.” I smacked her bum cheek and watched it jiggle inches from where I ached the most. “Flip over.”
I moved off her, allowing her room to turn then moaning with approval at the goddess on my bed. “Damn,” I sighed.
She was completely naked, her perfect brown nipples hard and crying out for my attention. I ran a hand up her stomach with a feather-light touch, stopping at the peaks of her breasts before circling them with the pads of my thumbs.
“I can see how much pain you’re in. Lucky for you, I know just the cure.”
She grinned and reached for the oil then handed it to me. “Knock yourself out, sir.”
I glared back at her. She was fully aware of the current situation of my arousal, but she was a vixen—one I couldn’t turn down or get enough of.
“Oh, I will.” I poured a generous serving of oil into my palm and patted her stomach with it before smoothing it out on every exposed section of her skin.
When I reached her breasts and started massaging the liquid in with both hands, her eyes fluttered closed, and she moaned like she was in a dream. Fuck me.
“Sebastian.” She practically purred as I slid my hands from her breasts and worked them down to her perfectly smooth center. “That feels so good,” she moaned again as I spread the oil over her sensitive bundle of nerves.
As she sighed and reacted to my delicate touch, I couldn’t stop watching her. Kai was the type of raw beauty I’d never known existed until she showed up in my life, demanding to be taken seriously. I was a fool to think I could resist the pull she had on me. My resistance only made me fall harder in the end. I was definitely a goner—gone over the girl with pink tights and fire in her eyes, gone to the moon in love with a woman I wanted to protect with every fiber of my being.
I slipped two fingers between her legs, taking her the extra mile with a rhythm much like a foxtrot as I fluttered inside her: quick, quick, slow… quick, quick, slow. Finally, the crescendo came, much as in one of my compositions, where I brought her to the edge and held her there for as long as possible… until she couldn’t go anywhere but over.
Her cry of ecstasy soared from her throat as she convulsed around my fingers and practically squeezed the life out my most precious assets. That was probably not the time to tell her that my hands were insured.
I swallowed her final moan with a kiss then bit down on her lip. “You always come harder when you’re pissed off at me.”
She chuckled. “You’re so cocky.”
I pressed my pelvis into her. “I know.”
“Your turn.” She sat up, her lazy eyes locking on mine before pulling my mouth to hers in an explosive kiss I could feel ricocheting in the organ pounding rapidly in my chest. “Lie down, Sebastian.”
I did as she asked, bringing her mouth with me, not ready to part from her flavor. She was like shaved ice served with a layer of sweet cream at the bottom. I thought I’d gotten my fill of all the sugary goodness but then reached the bottom and realized she’d saved the best for last.