stilled when she set eyes on his cock. “That’s a very nice instrument you have there, rock star.”
“Just wait till you feel it,” he said, rolling on the condom he’d snagged from an old stash on his way in the door.
“I’m dying to,” she sighed, back to gyrating her hips. He grasped them firmly to stop her, gripping her with the same claiming energy he felt charging through his cells. Her eyes widened a bit, and then her face relaxed into a smile. “My God, where did you come from?”
“I’ve been wondering the same thing about you,” he said, letting her feel his weight on top of her. “You ready?”
“Never readier.”
He wanted to go slowly, but his consuming need for her halted that idea in its tracks. Next time, he thought above the roaring in his head. He positioned himself and entered her in one forceful thrust.
“That’s it,” Kiki moaned. “God, yes. That’s it. That’s it!”
It felt heavenly. Better than he’d even imagined. It took all of his control not to drive himself forward in pursuit of his own pleasure, and he could tell by her face that she’d been transported to a similar place. As he moved, her legs went around his waist and her hands went to his ass, pushing him in deeper. He could already feel a thin sheen of sweat coating his body, the result of passion and forced restraint. It felt so good that he never wanted it to end, he wanted to fuck her until his party was over and the guests had cleared out and morning came. And then he wanted to do it all over again.
“Fuck me harder, Dev,” Kiki cried breathlessly, her eyes hooking into his like talons. “Give me everything you have. Everything. Please.”
She’s there with me, Dev thought triumphantly. His to bring to the same heights of ecstasy he knew he was about to rise to. At his mercy.
Or was he at hers?
He slid a hand up her neck and over the bump of her slightly pointed chin. When her lips parted, he pushed his fingers inside her mouth. She made sweet sounds of greed as she sucked them. He quickened his pace, feeling the promising heat build at his center. Her moans spurred him on as their bodies slid, skin against skin. They were too perfect together. As different as their bodies were, they were made to move as one, made to leave each other gasping over and over again. And it made no sense that he was thinking that way. Who was this woman he suddenly wanted to know everything about, to feel the same desire that was consuming him? An hour ago Kiki had been a temptation, half an hour ago an object of lustful anticipation, ten minutes ago the best fuck he could remember. But now, as she pitched beneath him with a sharp cry and her pussy tightened hard enough to bring him over the edge with her, all that filled his head were three little words: more of her.
“EARTH TO DEV,” Alex said, waving a hand in front of his face. “Nicola will be here in a few minutes. You want another beer?”
Like an earsplitting record scratch, Dev’s mind snapped back to the moment: Pablo’s bar, late afternoon on the patio, a casual drink with his little brother.
And two days before his descent into hell.
Remembering that night with Kiki had been so much more pleasant—even if it did fill his entire body with frustrated, overheated longing.
“Sure,” Dev said to the waiter, trying not to look over his shoulder as he slid his bottle across the table. Because that was where the bar was, which also happened to be where Kiki worked. Not that she was here today—ever since their night together three weeks ago, she seemed to have developed the magical power of avoidance. And on a three-square-mile island that they both called home, that was nothing short of miraculous.
“Hey,” Alex said, working his thumbnail under his beer label. “Did I tell you Brissoli’s being sued? By one of your party guests—the son of the judge, I think.”
“Good for him,” Dev said dully. It wasn’t the first time he’d wondered if things might have turned out differently with Kiki if Brissoli had never happened. It should have been a perfect night—a gathering of Dev’s friends, along with Alex and his girlfriend Nicola, to celebrate his thirty-sixth birthday. The same night he’d been with Kiki. That part had been a dream, but the next morning they’d all been pitched into a cold and dark reality. John Brissoli, hungry for fodder for his celebrity-chasing website, had found the perfect target with Moretta. This tiny island of only ninety-two estates was where celebrities came to get away from the spotlight, and they paid dearly for that privacy, but occasionally the bottom-feeders still crawled onto land. Brissoli had not only crashed Dev’s party, he’d managed to get photos of several of the guests in compromising situations. Drugs, sloppy drunkenness, sex in risky places—he caught all of it that night, including footage of Dev and Kiki’s encounter in the studio. In the end he, Kiki and Alex had managed to head the disaster off, but it had taken a serious toll on all of them. Dev didn’t think it was any coincidence that he’d barely laid eyes on Kiki since.
“Just in time. I ordered you a margarita,” Alex said, looking up to greet Nicola. She kissed him passionately on the mouth and sank down into a chair between the two men. Dev gave her a quick grin to hide his irritation, which had nothing to do with Nicola herself. A month ago Alex had come to Moretta on business and ended up meeting his dream girl. It wasn’t that Dev wasn’t happy for them, it was just that things were so damned simple for Alex: meet a woman, decide she was the one, cue happily-ever-after.
Things could never be that easy for Dev. Being the fifth-bestselling recording artist of all time had always made relationships complex. In the beginning the female fans had done the trick, but he’d left that scene behind a while ago. Sure, he still let them hang around, but it was more out of habit—and loneliness, if he was completely honest with himself—than anything else. A stretch of celibacy had followed after that, when he found himself less willing to spend time with anyone he saw as temporary. Ready for a real relationship but without the right woman to fill the role, and that mostly came down to a matter of trust. Finding someone he wanted to go to bed with every night was one thing, but in his experience, finding a woman who wouldn’t fuck with either his head or his money was an even bigger problem.
Until Kiki. The girl who’d handled the sex-tape scandal like a pro, who clearly had no interest in fame or fast money, who’d been in his corner every step of the way. The girl he’d broken his year of celibacy for, who drove him to obsessive, cock-stiffening thoughts every night when he tried to sleep.
It was torturous.
“Alex tells me you’re off on tour in a few days,” Nicola said, plucking the menu from between the salt and pepper shakers.
Dev felt himself crash down to earth yet again. The tour. His heart slammed once, twice in his chest. “Yep,” he said with simulated lightness. “Back to the grind.”
“We’ll miss you.”
“Speak for yourself.” Alex grinned.
“Aren’t you supposed to be gone?” Dev asked his brother in annoyance.
“Nicola keeps asking me the same thing,” Alex said, cupping a hand around her face. “I’m still trying to convince her to move back to LA with me.”
Dev’s
