Page 32

Chapter 32

Sunset Strip

VANESSA

I peek around the cupid statue, sighing in irritation. Keenan is still on the phone! We’re supposed to leave. The limo arrived twenty minutes ago to pick us up. My glam team has already cleaned up and cleared out after spending hours turning me into a red-headed Marilyn Monroe. All I have left is my grand entrance, and Keenan is being uncooperative. Frowning, I try to hear what he’s saying as he paces the foyer, agitation coming off him in waves.

“You assured me security would show up with the limo, Rachel, and I don’t see them. I’m not taking Vanessa to a public event where she’s the main focus of screaming humans without a security contingent.” He pauses, listening before snarling, “I don’t care if it is the premier, she’s not going.”

Oh, I don’t think so! He is not about to cancel my very first movie premier ever.

Lifting the voluminous skirt of my gown, I step out from behind the Cupid statue and clear my throat. “If you refuse to take me to my red carpet, I’ll call Pinky. She’s all the protection I need.”

Keenan looks up, his frown disappearing as his mouth falls open.

I smile like a satisfied cat who got her mouse. Now this is the reaction I was hoping for.

I drop my skirt and pose against Cupid, giving him the full effect. My new stylist thought we should go with a show-stopping look for my introduction to the world, choosing a plunging tulle and emerald green gown. The peekaboo skirt gives hints of my bare legs and the halter top leaves the space from my neck to my belly bare. I feel like a goddess.

“You are a goddess.” He presses the end button on his phone, shoves it into his pocket and rushes up the stairs toward me, nearly knocking me over as he wraps his hands around my waist.

“Careful,” I whisper. “Don’t crush the dress.”

He groans. “I want to touch you all over.” Bending his head, he inhales. “Fuck, you smell like rare prime rib cooked by the best royal chef.”

Giggling, I say, “Thanks, now let’s go.”

His gaze is worried. “I hate exposing you to so much risk. It goes against my nature to allow you to walk into a crowd of people where anyone can get to you.”

I palm his cheek, savouring the softness of his beard. “My love, you are an amazing husband and protector, but this is what I’ve spent a lifetime working toward. This night, this moment, is my dream, and I’m not missing it. In order to find my place in this industry I’ve had to read a lot of terrible scripts, try out for a lot of terrible parts, try out for some great parts and watch them go to other actors. I’ve avoided the seedier side of the industry, which meant giving up on parts that I would’ve been perfect for. Now, I’m connected to something spectacular, a Wesselman film, and I can’t let this opportunity pass. My entire career is on that red carpet tonight, I have to go.”

I read the understanding in his head, but he still resists the thought of leaving the house. “What about your life, Vanessa? Isn’t that more important? I love your passion for acting, but I love you more and I can’t control a crowd.”

I go up on my toes and press my lips to his, whispering, “You don’t have to control anything, Keenan. You’re my husband, not security for the event. You just have to be with me at my first movie premier.” I lean back, admiring him. “We can’t let tuxedo Keenan go to waste, he’s too delicious.”

He shakes his head, but he’s softening. He wants me to have my every heart’s desire, which means I get my red-carpet moment. I hate that he’s worried, that he won’t be able to relax until we’re home, but I can’t live my life locked in a mansion. Okay, well, I can live my life locked in a mansion, and would if it were up to him, but I don’t want to! I want to shine and I want Keenan to shine with me.

Gripping his hand, I pull him down the stairs. “Let’s go see what kind of a limo Rachel sent. I asked for one with a hot tub, but I don’t think she took me seriously.” I yank open the front door and step outside, catching sight of a sleek black limousine. “Wow, it’s so big!”

I climb in the back while Keenan speaks with the driver, asking him for credentials, giving him instructions on what route to take to the venue and what speed he should drive at.

“There’s a mini bar in here and everything!” I open the skylight and stand up, waving a bag of premium salted peanuts at Keenan. “No hot tub, but I think we’ll be comfortable. Come check it out.”

Keenan waves at me, then stares down the driver. “One tick above the speed limit and we’ll be talking.” He bares his teeth before climbing into the back with me.

“Don’t mind him,” I say to the driver through the open partition as he settles into the driver’s seat. “He used to be my bodyguard, which makes him pretty strict about security.”

The driver is a man in his mid-twenties, wearing a classic black suit, sunglasses and a hat. “No problem, Ms. Bedalia. I’ll get you there safely.” He hesitates before adding in a rush, “It’s really nice to meet you. I’m a huge Zach Wesselman fan and I can’t wait to see the movie.”

“Really?” Excitement bubbles up inside me at getting to meet another Wesselman fan. I move to the seat behind the cab so I can hear him better. “Did you see Vendor’s Gold? It’s my favourite.”

He nods emphatically, taking his sunglasses off and turning to face me. “Vendor’s Gold is awesome. I loved the ending where Adele jumps off the cliff and the audience is left hanging. Did she live or did she die? That’s what I love about Wesselman. He makes you think.”

My mind races as I try to figure out how to get him tickets to the premier. “What’s your name?”

He extends his hand through the partition. “I’m Ryder. Limo driver and aspiring –”

Before he can finish, the partition moves, sliding up and breaking our handshake. I turn a glare on my wolf whose finger is depressing the button.

When I raise an eyebrow, he says gruffly, “I need at least another month of you to myself before you’re allowed to pick up another stray. I don’t like sharing.” He narrows his eyes at the now closed partition. “Especially with young males.”

Unable to stay annoyed, I launch myself at him, lifting my skirt and climbing onto his lap. “It’s because you’re a grumpy 729-year-old, isn’t it? You’re jealous some young pup is going to steal me away.”

He tips me over onto the seat and settles on top of me. “He’d have to go through me and I make a formidable enemy.” He drops his face into my cleavage and caresses me with his lips.

“You’re crushing my hair,” I whisper, pulling his head up to mine and kissing him, slipping my tongue inside his mouth.

He groans, his arm banding around me, pulling me flush against him so I can feel every hard inch of his muscular body, including his erect penis which is pressed into the vee of my thighs. “Your dress too.”

He runs his lips over my cheek, causing a rush of tingles wherever he touches. The contrast between his light caresses and his hard grip on my waist, the thrust of his leg between mine, makes me squirm beneath him.

“You’re messing up my makeup,” I gasp as he presses increasingly harder kisses to my neck, eventually nipping the delicate skin beneath my ear. I forget my hair, my make-up, everything as I arch into him.

“I want you, sweetheart,” he says, his voice strained. “I want to stamp myself all over you.”

I cling to him, digging my nails into his shoulders. “Do it,” I whisper.

He doesn’t need further urging. He never does. Once my wolfman gets the green light, it’s go time.

In one swift move, he sits up, bunches my gown in a fist and lifts me onto his lap. He arranges the skirt of my gown so it covers both our legs before reaching underneath and pressing his fingers against the crotch of my silk panties.

He makes a strangled sound. “You’re soaked.”

“For you,” I whisper, kissing his jaw and biting his ear.

“You don’t need these.” He tears the panties away, drawing a yelp from me as I feel the sting.

I’m about to tell him off for ripping my brand-new panties, but he distracts me with a tongue in my mouth. Moaning, I cling to him, dueling him for dominance. I want to feel him, all of him. I try to shove my hand into his shirt and when I can’t get to his skin, I try to pull the buttons off.

He pushes my fingers away and opens them himself, grabbing my hand and pressing it against his pecs. The touch of his hot skin, the crisp hair matting his chest, the beat of his heart, it makes me dizzy with anticipation. I rain kisses onto his face, neck and shoulders, everywhere I can reach.

Gripping my thighs, he pulls my hips closer as he unbuckles and unzips himself. He leans back into the seat, thrusting up inside me in one smooth move. I cry out, my head tipping back as pleasure shudders through me.

Once I’ve adjusted to the size of him, I grip him with my thighs, rocking on top of him, his bruising hands guiding my hips. Everything around us fades as my green eyes cling to his golden ones, silently speaking of our pleasure and love.

“Oh god, I’m coming!”

“I’ve got you.” His voice is guttural as his arms anchor me, his hips pistoning into me.

I tip my head forward, biting his shoulder to keep from screaming as my orgasm washes over me.

Keenan does the same, biting my shoulder hard enough to make me jerk as he comes, grunting against me.

He continues to hold me as I melt on top of him, his hands the only thing keeping me upright.

“You bit me,” I mumble.

“Not the mating bite,” he quickly says. “Don’t worry.”

I frown and lean back to look at him. We’ve never talked about the mating bite, mostly because it’s never come up, but I know about it. It solidifies the bond between mates, making it easier for them to track each other anywhere on the planet.

“Why not the mating bite?” I ask.

He lifts me from him and I blush as a trickle of semen runs down my thigh. Keenan ripped my panties so I can’t put them back on. Just as I think it, he tucks them in his jacket pocket. I grab a handful of Kleenex and clean up as best I can.

“The mating bite will hurt you,” Keenan says as if that explains everything.

I read that it would hurt but not anything I can’t handle. “Lots of things hurt, Keenan. My period cramps hurt, yet there’s nothing you can do about that. Just because something hurts doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it.”

“That’s exactly what it means.” He runs his fingers through my once carefully arranged curls, fluffing them before trying to fix them. “And I believe the witches have a potion for period cramps. I’ll ask Magdalene about it when I see her next.”

I take his hand, stilling his ministrations. “Keenan, I’m serious. I don’t want to die before we’ve taken the final step in the mating bond.”

He looks at me, his eyes guarded. “What if the bite is the thing that hastens your death? You told me deepening the mating bond could bring forth the curse. Brenna is proof. She died a few days after I bit her. I can’t take that risk again.”

My heart breaks for him and I touch his face, caressing his bearded cheek. “I’m not Brenna, but I have pieces of her inside me and all the bits of me want you to complete our bond. Even if it brings my death about sooner. I want to be connected to you in every way possible.”

He stares at me. “We’ll talk about it tonight, after the premier.”

“Yay!” I clap my hands. “Too bad it’s not like in the movies where a wolf bite turns me into a werewolf.”

Before he can answer, the partition slides open. “We’re about to arrive, Ms. Bedalia.”