Page 17 of Knotting Hill (How I Met My Monster)

Bella

When I blink my eyes back open under the dappled sunlight of the garden I’m still catching my breath. My pussy trembles with little waves of remembered pleasure and Will gives me a few more long slow licks as if he can’t bear to stop, either.

I want so much more than his mouth on me. But when I reach for him, he stops me gently. “Not here. I’m sorry. I should never have taken such a risk.”

I smile, sitting to kiss him softly as I rearrange my skirt. “I’m not sorry.”

His expression is tight when I pull away, and there’s still such hunger in his eyes. His eyes flash orange in the sunlight and his teeth are sharp. I can tell he’s right on the edge. I really want to see him when he lets loose.

“My hotel?” I stand and pull him to his feet and he doesn’t let go of my hand, just watches me, searching my face.

Eventually, he nods. “You’re sure?”

“If you think I’m afraid of your wolf, you’ve got it all wrong,” I tell him. “I want your wolf.”

I can tell I’ve said the wrong thing, but Will gathers our things and we walk back to the train station. Instead of the metro, I call my town car and the driver meets us outside the station. We climb inside. Will only hesitates for a moment once the doors are closed. The tinted windows protect us from the eyes of people on the street, and I press the button to put up the privacy screen between us and the driver and climb into his lap.

“Bella!” His tone is surprised, but his hands jump to my waist as I straddle him, grinding a little on the hard bulge there.

His eyes flutter closed for a moment.

“I want you, Will. All of you. Wolf. Man. All of it.”

His breath is uneven. Hell, so is mine. My pussy is quickly throbbing with awareness again as I remember the pleasure he gave me and think of what it will feel like to do the same to him.

If I thought he’d be comfortable with it, I would open his trousers and take him into my mouth in the back of the car, but I know he wouldn’t.

Instead, I stay in his lap and lean in, dragging my lips along his throat and over his ears.

I love how they’ve grown pointy as his excitement grows.

He groans. His cock throbs between us and a little surge of excitement runs through me.

When we kiss, it’s every bit as heated as that night in his kitchen. My need is probably making a wet patch on the front of his pants and I can certainly feel him pressing insistently against me.

His tongue slicks against mine. He tastes of me still. A little musky and familiar. It drives me crazy.

I tangle my hands in his hair, wishing we were naked. Wishing he was inside me. My clothes feel claustrophobic when all I want is his mouth and hands on my skin.

Claws prick at my hips. The hair on his chest where his shirt is open is thicker than before. I run the tip of my nose through it, inhaling him, desperate for everything.

Finally, the car stops.

Will and I pause and let out shaky breaths, looking at each other.

“You’re coming up, right?”

His voice is a low growl. “I don’t think I’ve got a choice.”

In the elevator, he presses me against the wall and kisses me deeply. When the ping sounds and the doors open, I have a leg wrapped around his hips and I’m basically ready to climb him.

He pulls back, though, and adjusts my dress.

My mind is a fog of lust by the time I have the door to my suite open. So I don’t think twice about the new black suitcase in the hallway until I hear a noise. “Is that you, babe? Where have you been? Roksana says you’ve been impossible to get hold of, so I couldn’t let you know I was flying in today.”

I freeze.

I know that slow drawl. I’d know it anywhere. Probably half the world would. My ex,

Austin Kane is not as handsome in person. His features seem somehow bigger on his face in real life than they do on the screen. Maybe that’s just because I got to know the guy behind the Hollywood heartthrob and I found out he has a huge ugly streak the gossip rags don’t talk about.

“Austin. What are you doing here?”

Behind me, I feel the heat of Will’s body. He’s standing close. A low growl makes me cringe, thinking what this must look like to him.

“Babe, don’t be like that.” Austin walks around the corner from the living area. He’s dressed in gray sweatpants and a casual shirt like he lives here, then he steps toward me like he’s about to kiss me until he spots Will. “What the fuck?”

His face loses the wide smirk most people take for charm. He reels back.

I’m still too stunned to form the right words. How did he even get in here? I’m sure as hell going to have the head of the staff member who let him walk all over them.

I can’t really blame them, though. I’ve watched first hand as Austin throws around his fame and celebrity status, making people do what he wants.

“Bella, what’s going on?” Will’s voice is pitched low, for only me to hear.

Austin’s expression turns into a sneer of contempt. “Yeah, Bella. What’s going on? Who is this loser? Did you order room service? The place could use a bit of a spruce up, I suppose.”

My mouth drops open. Who does he think he is, talking to Will like that?

“Austin, you need to leave. Now!”

He steps closer. “No, I think this loser needs to leave, and you need to tell me what the fuck you’ve been doing.”

My instincts make me spin in time to see Will shifting. His body grows. His clothes rip as his shoulders widen. Rapidly, he towers over me. Over Austin and I. As his face lengthens, he bares sharp fangs and lets out a threatening growl.

I throw my hands against his huge furry chest and push. Not that it does any good. I don’t have the strength to stop him advancing on Austin, as he continues to glare at my ex over my head.

Austin is apparently as stupid as the guys in the cinema. “What the fuck, Bella? A fucking monster? Is that what you’ve stooped to? That’s disgusting. Tell him to leave. Now. No girlfriend of mine is a monster fucker.”

“Girlfriend?” Will looks between me and Austin for a moment, his huge shaggy head twisting backward and forward.

“No. It’s not like that.” I’m desperate. I need him to understand. There isn’t time to explain.

“The fuck it’s not.” Austin grabs my arm. He yanks me toward him.

Will lashes out, plucking Austin off his feet by the front of his shirt.

“No! Will!” If Will hurts Austin, the authorities will lock him up for years. Austin’s lawyers will make sure of it. “Don’t hurt him!”

There’s a rip. Austin’s shirt tears and he drops to the floor with a cry.

Will is standing frozen, staring at me.

Then he throws back his head and howls. The sound echoes through the suite. It raises goose pimples on the backs of my arms.

Before I can say anything else, Will runs from the room.

“Wait!” It’s hopeless. He’s faster than I am by a mile. By the time I get out the door into the corridor, only the slamming of the fire escape stairs lets me know where he’s gone.

I round on Austin. “How dare you? We’re over. You know that.”

He picks himself up off the floor, and dusts off his sweatpants like he can restore some of his dignity that way. “We’re not over. We were just taking a break.”

“No, you said that. Not me. I said we’re over, and we are so over.”

“Don’t be like that. What? You’re going to tell me you’d rather that animal than a guy like me?”

I stare at him. I don’t even know where to start. “I’d rather a bear than you, Austin. I’d rather anyone or no one. I’m going down to reception, and if you’re not gone by the time I have this sorted, there will be security called. You’re lucky I don’t involve the police. Get your stuff and get out. And don’t ever try to call or see me again.”

I don’t wait for him to respond. Not a single thing he could say or do would make this better. I really hope he hasn’t fucked things up between me and Will.

I pull out my phone in the elevator on the way down to reception. I’m not going into the suite while Austin is still there. I’m not that dumb. I don’t trust him anywhere there aren’t security cameras filming. My hands shake as I type out the message to Will.

Bella: so sorry. I can explain

I wait a few moments, but there’s no response. I guess he’s probably still shifted. I’ll sort out the room first, then I’ll call him and explain.

But an hour later, when I’ve been promised a room at another hotel, and I’m in the car on the way there, I call and Will doesn’t answer.

I call again and still nothing.

I’m just about to try a third time when it buzzes in my hand with an incoming call. Roksana. She would never call me at this time unless it was urgent. Reluctantly, I pick up. “Hello?”

“Bella, are you sitting down?”

“Uh, yeah. What is it?”

“When we hang up, I want you to put your phone in airplane mode and stay offline until I call again, OK?”

A horrible cold feeling creeps into my toes and fingers. “Why?”

“There’s a breaking story. It’s not good. We’re going to have to go into damage control.”

Suddenly, heat flares where there was cold a moment ago, and the back of my neck is sweaty. “What kind of story?”

“Bella, are you cheating on Austin?”

I have to swallow down the bile that rises in my throat like bitter fruit. “I can’t cheat on Austin, Roksana, because we’re not together. You know that!”

With silence on the line, I’m mentally cursing Austin. How is it possible he can still be screwing with my life?

“That’s not what people are saying.”

“God damn it!”

“Just stay cool, Bella.”

“No. How am I supposed to be cool? This asshole has no right to tell people we’re still together. I should have done that interview when we broke up.”

“I’m sorry, Bella. I still think it was for the best. We were trying to protect your reputation.”

“Fuck my reputation.” My voice is too loud. My driver glances back from the front seat. “Fuck everything. All of it.”

“Bella, I know you’re upset.”

“You’re damn right I’m upset. Can’t we do anything about this?”

Roksana sighs. “I’m working on it. I promise. The best thing for now is to lay low and avoid social media. Avoid any media if you can. I’m arranging a flight home, and we’ll get you back to the US as soon as possible, so we can plan our next move.”

We end the call and I drop my phone into my lap. I know she said not to look and I know I won’t like it, but I have to see.

As soon as I google my name, three articles pop up with similar headlines: Interstellar Actress Caught Sleeping Around In London.

There are pictures, too. Ones of Will and me on the street outside the comedy club. Of Will and me holding hands, and one of Will on top of me in the park.

It’s a good thing I’m not in public. Because the words that come out of my mouth are not what I’d want on record. Who took that photo? God, it’s awful. There’s no question what’s going on. My one consolation is that you can’t see my pussy. Will is in the way. But he’s clearly between my legs in a very compromising position.

“Oh no,” I whisper. “Oh no. No, no.”

I know what will happen now. There will be a flood of stories, of slander. I’ll be called names.

I switch off my phone and throw it onto the floor of the car. I don’t want to look. I don’t want to know. I can’t bear it.

Worst of all, someone will dig up the old videos, and they’ll be splashed around all over again. Just when things had died down.