Authors: Tina Donahue
Mitch wasn’t a shrink by any means, however it didn’t take
Sigmund Freud to know Connor was speaking about Nikki, not the fictional Eve.
“Where’s that in your book?” Alex asked, paging through it.
Connor ignored him and the restless murmurs moving through
the cast and crew. They clearly wanted to get on with this and go back to bed.
“Tempt her,” Connor instructed, “as she’s tempted you. Make
her believe you’re sincere, as she’s pretended to be with you, but don’t give
in. Toy with her the same way she did with—”
“We got it, all right?” Mitch said, cutting Connor short
before he said something else he shouldn’t. “Let just do this.” Cupping Nikki’s
face, Mitch lifted it, his heart catching at the sadness in her eyes. He winked
to assure her everything would be all right. Somehow, he’d see to it.
She gave him a wan smile.
“Let’s make a film,” Connor muttered.
Nikki gave it her all, not having to pretend, not wanting to
give up on Connor no matter what he’d just said about betrayal and being unable
to trust. She’d seen his depth of feeling when they’d been staring at each
other. She’d felt it when he’d smoothed back her hair. In that instant, she’d
pierced his barrier. Surely it wasn’t impossible for her to bring those walls
down. All she needed was time.
Precisely as he wanted, she struggled to reach Mitch’s cock,
her tongue straining to lick him, every part of her aching to smell his skin
and thick bush. He allowed their separation for a moment, then swore and moved
closer, his warm, silky crown brushing her lips.
“No, dammit—cut,” Connor snapped. “Make her work for it.”
Mitch growled, “There isn’t a guy on Planet Earth who’s
going to do that. Your reasoning is nuts.”
“It’s his film,” Nikki said.
Connor turned his fury on her. “I don’t need you defending
me, all right? I don’t want you to—ever.”
“Hey,” Mitch warned.
“It’s okay,” Nikki said, her cheeks stinging from Connor’s
admonishment. Tears pricked her eyes. She’d apologized for being such a stupid
fool when they were young. She kept doing everything she could to prove she’d
changed. What else did she have left?
“I was only trying to be nice,” she explained, speaking more
calmly than the pain in her gut should have allowed. “I am capable of that, and
I can see you believe it, no matter how you’re acting.”
“Of course he does,” Mitch cut in. “We’re all just tired and
irritable. The sooner we get this thing made the better.”
“I’m ready,” Alex offered.
Connor returned to the spot where he’d been earlier. “Do it
my way. As I directed.”
“We will,” Nikki promised. She gave Mitch a pleading look
not to say anything else.
He bared his teeth at the ceiling, then stood where his
brother had ordered.
Good boy. What Connor wanted her to do might not have been
easy, but it was possible. Soon, Nikki had Mitch’s crown in her mouth, her
tongue teasing the small slit, tasting his pre-cum’s saltiness.
On cue, the extras gathered on either side of him, stripping
hurriedly, their cocks erect. Some of their shafts were quite long. Others
surprisingly thick. All of them rising from a tangle of pubic hair and
demanding her attention. As Eve would have done, Nikki gave all of her passion
to her master, bringing him to an explosive climax.
Mitch roared his pleasure.
Connor ordered, “Lick him clean.”
Gladly. Nikki tongued every trace of cum from Mitch’s cock,
moaning at its texture and taste. She lapped his balls and the insides of his
thighs, then snuggled her face into his groin, enjoying the rasp of wiry hair and
the scent of sex.
He panted, “Enough.”
Never. She wanted last night back and all those years she’d
missed with him and Connor.
Having these moments, Nikki indulged herself in scene after
scene.
In the Great Room, the extras chained her to the mahogany-paneled
wall, arms above her head, legs parted widely, candlelight illuminating her
mouth and torso. The position caused Nikki’s breasts to spill out of the
bustier and allowed a full view of her smooth cleft and lips. The cast reached
out to touch her pussy and nipples, shoving each other aside so they’d be the
closest to her.
Mitch moved through them like a Viking invader, intent on
taking what he desired. His stubble scraped Nikki’s cheeks and chin, his kiss
ravished, hands roamed, leaving none of her unexplored.
For hours they filmed, resting only briefly at the request
of the crew, extras or Mitch.
Through it all, Connor reserved his comments for what he
wanted to see in his film, his previous irritation gone, replaced with cool
detachment. He looked through Nikki rather than at her, much as she’d done to
him in school. Even though she’d always realized how awful it must have been
for him and Mitch, only now did she understand the totality of her actions.
The reality sapped what remaining energy she had. The extras
weren’t faring much better. Their sighs were loud, their cocks going soft as
they slouched in chairs arranged in a semi-circle around her, indicating to the
audience that she would now see to their carnal needs.
“Maybe we should cut,” Alex suggested, sounding desperate to
do so. “We’ve been at it all day. We’ve got tons of shots. More than we’ll ever
need. It’s getting dark. Everyone’s tired.”
“You got that right,” Mitch moaned. “I can’t take much
more.”
Nikki smiled. Out of camera range, he lay face down on the
floor, arms folded beneath his head.
“Is it okay?” Alex asked Connor.
He regarded Mitch, then looked past her.
“We can do some more tomorrow,” she suggested.
Connor remained turned away. “Call it,” he said to Alex,
then left the room.
“Ah, sure,” Alex said, then mumbled, “Cut.”
En masse, the cast and crew filed out, heading for their
rooms to sleep or the kitchen to eat.
In spite of his fatigue, Mitch pushed to his feet, helping
Nikki to hers. He touched the edge of the bustier. “Let me get you out of this
damn thing.”
“I can do it.” She cradled his face, rubbing the pad of her
thumb over his bristly upper lip. “I’ll join you upstairs after I take off my
feathers and glitter, okay?”
The lines at the corners of his eyes deepened with his tired
smile. “You better or I’ll come looking for you.”
“Will Connor be joining us?” A foolish question, she knew,
but Nikki couldn’t keep from asking.
If Mitch had any reservations, he didn’t show it. “He wants
you as much as I do, always has. He’s missed you as much. He’s stubborn and
dumber than a rock sometimes—”
“Hey.” She pressed her fingers over his lips. “Don’t say
that.”
Mitch moved her hand away. “Whatever I say doesn’t mean I
wouldn’t die for him, because I would. There are just times he needs a smack
upside his head or a few minutes alone to think things out. Believe me, he’s
probably doing that now. What happened between all of us last night isn’t
something he or any man could forget. All right?”
She hoped. “I’m looking forward to the rest of the evening.”
“Me too. I’ll get some grub and bring it upstairs for all
three of us.”
A half hour later, Nikki had scrubbed her face and body
clean. Wearing the silk robe from yesterday, she bounded upstairs, at the very
least expecting Mitch to be in the room. Connor would be a bonus. Neither of
them was there. The tray from last night was gone, the bed made by
someone—possibly a housekeeper—she hadn’t seen.
Downstairs, a few of the cast and crew were enjoying grilled
steaks and beer in the dining room. Several more guys were in the kitchen,
where Mitch had been heading so he could bring them some grub.
He wasn’t in here either.
“Can we get you something?” Alex asked.
Just my guys.
“No, I’m fine.” She forced a smile. “I
was heading for Connor’s office.” Maybe he was still alone. Maybe she could
talk to him. Maybe it would help. “He does have one here, right? I was looking
for it, but got lost. This is such a huge place.”
“No shit,” Felipe said, then pointed his beer bottle to the
left. “Connor’s office is that way down the hall, last door.”
“Thanks.”
To the men’s credit, they gave her sweet, innocent smiles
even though they’d seen her nude and fucking like an escapee from an all girls’
school attending her first frat party.
The office was well away from the bedrooms and public areas.
From the end of the hall, Nikki heard Mitch and Connor’s raised voices. They
were arguing? About her? What else?
Leave. Now.
She couldn’t. Padding closer, Nikki stopped at the edge of
light spilling from the opened door.
“You were being a prick,” Mitch said.
“You’re entitled to your opinion.”
“Not opinion. Fact.”
“I was directing my fucking film.”
“And you couldn’t do it with a little consideration?” Mitch
asked. “I don’t want you talking to Nikki like you have been. She’s sorry, all
right? She’s put up with your shit again and again and again this weekend to
prove that. Time to be a big boy and give her a fucking chance.”
Nikki flinched at something hard smacking down. A book?
Connor’s fist on a desk?
“Like you’ve done?” he asked.
“Hell yeah.” Mitch sighed loudly. “What’s with you? You went
at her last night like you’d never seen a woman before or you missed her as
much as I have, then afterward you shut down. Why? And don’t you dare tell me
you don’t want her because that’s shit and you know it.”
“So I wanted her, so what? This was about sex, Mitch. Only
sex. I chose to have some fun just like any other guy and I did. Now I’ve had
my fill. It’s over. I don’t want to see her again. At all. Ever.”
A wave of dizziness hit so hard, Nikki placed her hand on
the wall for support.
“It’s not over for me,” Mitch said.
Connor made a sound of disgust. “You’re actually saying you
want her to keep working at the club or in my films? Uh-uh. Not going to
happen. You bulldozed me into this weekend, but that’s all. As half owner of
our company, I vote no to her being around. She’s through as of tomorrow when
we’re finished filming.”
“I don’t give a fuck if she works at Wicked or in your
precious movies. Hell, I didn’t want her to from the beginning, no different
than you.”
“Then what you’re saying is you intend to start dating her
or have her move in with you. Or are we planning an engagement and wedding
here? She did all that crap to both of us, she came back only because she
needed us to help her, to be her friend when no one else would, just like in
high school before she suddenly became popular and you—”
“That’s not true,” Mitch snapped.
“What isn’t?” Connor argued. “Her waiting to come back until
she was up against the wall financially or her being the same person she was
when we first met her? If you honestly believe she’s changed, then why didn’t
she contact us when she was in college and was supposedly past all that teenage
crap, or during her good years when she and that jerk she was married to were on
top of the world?”
“Maybe she was ashamed at how she acted. Maybe she figured
you’d behave like a goddamn SOB. “
“Maybe she didn’t care then like she doesn’t care now.”
“Connor, dammit, don’t do this.”
“Do what?” he growled. “Look out for our own best interests?
You sure as hell aren’t. You keep siding with her over me.”
“I’m not siding with anyone.”
“Sure you are.”
“I want her, okay? I love her. Always have. Always will. And
if that means going against your code of honor or whatever the hell you call
it, then so be it. Do what you want, but if you say one more unkind word to
her, if you even look at her the wrong way, you and I are through. You’re no
family of mine, got it?”
Nikki’s hand flew to her mouth, muffling her moan. She’d
never wanted things to reach this stage or to ever come between them.
She hurried down the hall before they could realize she’d
heard their argument.
It’s over
, Connor had said.
He was right. Always had been. What she’d done didn’t
deserve their forgiveness and no way would she allow Mitch to make a bad
decision that would affect his relationship with his brother.
She didn’t have that right. After so much foolish hope,
Nikki finally knew what she had to do.
Chapter Twelve
Wearing his “everything’s just great” face, Mitch entered
the bedroom, a tray of goodies in his hands.
The mattress was empty. Nikki wasn’t sitting in any of the
chairs.
He turned slowly, scanning the monstrous room, all the
plants she wasn’t hiding behind, and then he sniffed, catching her fragrance.
Not what remained from last night. This scent was stronger, as though she’d
applied more perfume to herself as she had in one of the film’s scenes, running
it beneath each breast, around her areolas, the tips of her nipples, the length
of her cunt.
Maybe she was in the bathroom. Hoping for that, eager as all
hell, Mitch headed that way. “Nikki?”
She emerged naked, her forehead and cheeks shiny without the
makeup, freckles exposed, her hair freshly washed, her eyes brimming with
tears.
Oh shit. Had his damn brother come up here and yelled at her
while Mitch had been in the kitchen throwing together their meal? “What’s
wrong? What happened?”
She stepped back. “Nothing. Why? I’m fine.”
Bull. “You’re crying.”
“What? No. Something was in my eye.” She swiped at them.
“Probably a lash.”
“It better not be that stupid glitter.” He put the tray down
and cupped her face, studying her reddened eyes. Tears spilled from them.
“I’m okay,” Nikki whispered. She moved into him, slipping
her arms around his torso, the side of her face on his shoulder. “Make love
with me, all right?”
Did she honestly believe she had to ask? Mitch ran his hand
down her smooth back, resting his fingers on the dimples above her cheeks.
“You’re not too sore?”
“Are you?” She held him even harder, her mouth to his neck,
her breath heating his skin. “Do you want to forget about it and just sleep?
It’s okay if that’s the way you feel. I understand.”
“Yeah, I can tell.” He eased her hold on him and leaned back
so he could see her face. Nikki kept her head down, though not enough to hide
how she sucked her bottom lip. “What happened…did someone say something to
you?”
“No.” She sagged back into him, caressing him once more. “I
just wanted to make love with you again before the night was over.”
Hell, it had barely begun.
He swept Nikki into his arms, carrying her to their bed.
Even after she was on the mattress, she didn’t let go, clinging to him as she
hadn’t done earlier. It didn’t take a mind reader to know what was going on
with her.
“Connor will be up later,” Mitch lied. No way was he going
to tell her what his brother had said or that the fool didn’t want her at the
club any longer. He’d work things out, somehow. Now wasn’t the time to go into
that. “He’s talking to one of the crew about something. Shit that couldn’t
wait.”
“Make love with me,” she whispered.
Mitch stretched out beside her, cuddling Nikki instead.
“Everything’s going to be okay. You do believe that, don’t you?”
“Not if you don’t fuck me right now.”
“Hey.” He placed his hands on either side of her face and
pushed to one elbow so he could look at her. The desperation in her expression
matched what he’d heard in her voice. “We’re not going to fuck, we’re going to
make love just like you said, remember?”
Her grin wobbled. “Vaguely.” She grew serious. “Do whatever
you want. You’re my master.”
“Connor and I both are,” he corrected, continuing to
pretend, hoping for the best. “And don’t you forget it.”
She giggled at him, rubbing the tips of their noses
together. She sighed contentedly as he entered her.
“Does it sting?” she murmured.
Like crazy. The last time he’d been this sore was in college
when women—the really hot ones—began throwing themselves at him because they
hadn’t known about his sorry past, how he and Connor had lived in squalor with
their grandmother. His tees and jeans hadn’t been designer then, but they were
new and always clean, the same as his dorm room and later his apartment. “Don’t
worry about me.” He kissed Nikki’s throat, damp with perspiration from the
sticky weather. “I’ll work through the pain.”
“No.” She dug her nails into his back. “I don’t want to hurt
you ever.”
“Then quit clawing me.”
Immediately, she stopped and rubbed the areas she’d scraped.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean—I didn’t want—I shouldn’t have—”
“Hush.” Mitch quieted her with his kiss, both tender and
deep. He made love to her not as a horny guy who needed relief, but as a man
who’d been drifting too long and finally found sanctuary.
His shelter was within her eager caress and willing body,
the halting breaths she took, the moans that poured from her, followed by a
series of gentle sighs. He kissed the corners of her eyes, tasting a trace of
her tears’ saltiness. He eased out, then slipped back into her repeatedly,
creating a gentle friction between them that built too fast. The noise of his
body smacking into hers soon filled the space, along with their huffing
breaths, her whimpers, his groans. He wanted to hold off forever, but shouted
his release within minutes, mere seconds after her, resigned that it would have
to do.
Until the next time.
With Nikki and him, at least, there would always be that.
* * * * *
Mitch slept without interruption or dreams, jerking awake
for no reason he could discern. He squinted at the outside light, the sun
finally making an appearance in the nearly flawless sky. Plump white clouds
hovered on the horizon not daring to get closer. Dropping back to the mattress,
he reached for Nikki, wanting her again.
Twice more he’d taken her last night. The truth was, they’d
never been separated. While he waited for his cock to re-inflate the second and
third time, he’d remained deep within her cunt, their bodies joined as they
should be, his kisses lazy and exploring, matched by hers. They necked as
they’d once done in her parents’ garage.
She didn’t ask about Connor, why he’d never joined them.
Mitch hadn’t mentioned his brother again. In a way, he’d been grateful Connor
was still being a pigheaded fool. It allowed Mitch to have Nikki all to himself
for a change, to be the sole man responsible for her whimpers, sighs, laughter
and wanting moans.
He rolled over, fully expecting to land on top of warm
female flesh, but got a pillow instead. Tossing it aside, he frowned at the
empty bed, chairs, room.
“Nikki!” he hollered, figuring she was in the bath when he
needed her sweet little ass back here.
Mitch called for her once more, but still didn’t get his
wish. Pushing to one elbow, he listened for water running in the shower or the
toilet flushing and got the irritating wail of gulls instead. Had she gone
downstairs to get them breakfast? Had Connor cornered her in the kitchen,
spewing his venom that was nothing more than his fear of her hurting him again?
Oh shit, not that. Mitch was halfway to the bedroom door
when he stopped. On the accent table to the right were folded sheets of paper
with his name scrawled across the top. Even after all these years, he
recognized Nikki’s handwriting and had to force himself to pick up the note
she’d clearly left.
From inside it, a wallet-sized photograph spilled out. Mitch
turned it over, staring at his and Connor’s likenesses at their high school
graduation. They looked younger than he remembered them being, and more alone
than he wanted to recall, standing within a mass of people, unnoticed by them.
They held their caps in one hand, their diplomas in the other, both of them
glancing at something off camera, as though they’d hoped their mother would
somehow show up or their grandmother might have changed her mind and decided to
attend the event.
You were there that day?
he’d asked Nikki earlier.
Yeah. I even took pictures. It was all I had left of you.
Mitch swallowed. He opened the papers.
I’ve carried this picture with me since the day you guys
graduated,
her note began.
I wanted you to know that you weren’t alone.
I was there. Too afraid to do anything about it, but I wouldn’t have missed
that ceremony for anything in the world. I was so proud of both of you. So
happy at what you’d accomplished.
I’ve always loved you, Mitch. Connor too, but it isn’t
enough, not after all these years. I realize that now.
My presence has created nothing but problems between the
two of you. It kills me to see that happen, to hear you say anything unkind to
each other, and I can’t allow it to continue. You guys are brothers, family,
that’s what matters. Don’t ever let any woman, especially me, get in the way of
that.
I’ll pay back every cent you’ve so kindly given me.
Please take whatever I’ve earned from my night at the club and for the film as
the first installment. I’m going to send you monthly checks. I’ve calculated
the payments on the next sheet of paper with the current interest rate I’d be
paying a bank. It’s only fair and I want you to have it. I won’t lie, it will
take a while for me to retire the balance, but I will pay you back in full.
Please be happy, Mitch, that’s all I ask. Make certain
Connor is too. Find a woman who adores the two of you equally, as you so well
deserve, and brings you nothing but joy.
- Nikki
Connor was in the dining room, his plate filled with the
bacon, eggs and grits he’d made but had no appetite for. He was pushing the
food from side to side on his plate when Mitch strode into the room and moved
past, a wad of papers in his fist.
Turning in his chair, Connor watched his brother go to the
side door and step outside. Through the window, he saw Mitch pacing the drive,
his cock swinging back and forth with each step. When he came back in, looking
as if he wanted to punch something, Connor broke the uneasy silence. “If you’re
looking for the guys, they cleared out an hour or so ago. I told them the
filming was over, that we have enough shots for two films, maybe—”
“The car’s gone.”
It took Connor a moment to change gears. “What car?”
“Our rental, what the fuck else? You saw Nikki take it?” he
snapped. “You let her go? Or did you give her the goddamn keys and order her
out of here?”
Connor pushed to his feet so quickly he had to catch his
chair before it fell over. “What in the hell are you talking about? I haven’t
seen or talked to her since yesterday at the end of filming when you and
everyone else were in the room. I thought she was still upstairs with you as
she was all last night.”
“Read this.”
He looked at the papers Mitch had shoved into his chest, not
wanting to touch them. Whatever anger he’d been nursing against Nikki took a
backseat to his sudden apprehension. His stomach rolled. Sweat broke out on his
chest.
“Look at this,” his brother insisted, holding out a
photograph of them at their graduation.
Connor stared at their likenesses. “Where’d you get that?”
“Read the fucking note. Now, dammit.”
He forced himself to open the papers and got as far as the “
Connor
too”
part, before he mumbled, “She was actually there that day?”
“Hell, yeah. She’d never stopped loving either of us, just
like I kept trying to tell you, and now she’s gone, Connor.” Mitch gestured to
the papers. “Go on, read what she wrote.”
He did, studying her spreadsheet, showing the payments with
interest she’d be making. Her words about family and not wanting to create
problems between them played repeatedly in his mind.
“Happy?” Mitch asked.
“I swear I didn’t say anything to her after you and I
argued.” He’d thought a lot of bad shit, but hadn’t said it, couldn’t. He’d
kept hearing Mitch’s arguments in his mind, recalling the way Nikki had smiled
when he’d brushed back her hair, her gratitude for him treating her with a bit
of kindness and respect. Most of last night, he’d lain awake, debating whether
to join her and his brother. Like Nikki, he’d been too afraid to make the right
move.
Mitch put out his hand. “Give me your phone.”
“You’re going to call her?”
“Read the damn note.”
“Are you blind?” Connor shouted. “I did.”
“The back of it.”
He turned the papers over.
Please don’t try to find me,
she’d
written.
I don’t want that. I want you guys to forget me for good and to be
happy.
He handed his phone over and reread the beginning of her
note.
Mitch tapped his foot impatiently, then stopped, the cell to
his ear. “Hey,” he said. “It’s me.”
Given his casual greeting, Connor figured it wasn’t Nikki
he’d called.
“Need a favor,” Mitch said. “I want you to go over to
Nikki’s apartment. The address is on her employment—what?” He listened and
sighed. “I know how early it is, Shoshana. I need you to do this for—huh?”
Again, he listened. “Doesn’t matter what happened, hon. I need you to go over
to her place and keep her there until I arrive. Do not let her out of your
sight. Call me the minute you get there. It shouldn’t take you more than
fifteen minutes. Bye.” He ended the call and made another.
“You calling Nikki?” Connor asked.
“I already tried that upstairs on my phone until the fucking
thing went dead. She didn’t answer and her voicemail isn’t on. So no. Hi,” he
said to the person whose number he’d punched in. “This is Mitch Ward. Has Nikki
Blaine been there this morning to book a flight off the island? She said she
was going to. Is she still at the airport?” He listened, then said, “Sure, I’ll
wait.”
Connor bumped into his chair, getting out of Mitch’s way as
his brother strode past, pacing the length of the room. When Mitch reached the
hall door, Connor asked, “Did she say anything to you last night while you two
were together?”
Mitch stopped mid-step, then pivoted and advanced. “She was
crying when I got upstairs.”