Jason Read online

Page 10


  “Are you going to freeze me out tomorrow?” he asked as she put his hands on her waist.

  “Don’t know,” she said, and nibbled at his bottom lip.

  “This is nuts,” Jason said, but lifted her off the counter anyway.

  Mallory wrapped her legs around him as he began to carry them out of the kitchen. “It’s totally nuts,” she agreed. “But I can’t help it. I like it so much, Jason. Don’t you?”

  Jason liked it more than he could say. “I like it,” he said gruffly, and ignored the thought that he ought to be the strong one here, ought to put an end to things before they both did something they would regret. He clearly was not the strong one, because he kept walking, pausing only at the foot of the stairs to put her on her feet. They paused there for a moment and looked at each other. They didn’t need words, Jason realized in a heady moment. Mallory was smiling. He was, too. He wrapped his hand around hers, squeezing lightly.

  She squeezed back. “We’re grownups. We can do what we want.”

  “Right,” he said uncertainly. Because somewhere deep down, Jason knew that what was about to happen was not a game to him. It was a game changer. He was about to opening the door to a whole other universe, and he didn’t know what was behind it or even if he wanted to go through. But the way she was looking at him, with all that desire swimming in her big blue eyes, with that adorably hopeful-yet-nervous little smile, made him feel about as sexy as he ever had in his life.

  Actually, come to think of it, he hadn’t felt sexy in a very long time.

  “So?” she asked. “Do you want to go upstairs? Or do you want to talk about production schedules?”

  Jason bit back a laugh. “That’s no choice.” He kissed her fingers, then wrapped his hand around hers, and lead her upstairs, making her take them two at a time.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  MALLORY DIDN’T KNOW how they got into his room, exactly, because the journey was pretty handsy and intense. But when she opened her eyes, she was in another room with a spectacular view of the ocean and a storm that was still lighting the horizon. There was nothing left of it on shore but a steady rain.

  Jason turned away from her to shut the door. While he did, Mallory looked around the room. His clothes were draped across one of two upholstered chairs in the bay window. On top of a dresser she could see a wallet, some coins, his familiar watch and a pair of sunglasses. The door to the closet was standing open, and a duffel bag, a baseball bat, and what looked like hiking boots were on the floor.

  This was his room, his summer sanctum, she guessed, and she was standing here because she’d confessed her huge crush and was at long last acting on it.

  Correction—she would be acting on it just as soon as Jason stopped talking.

  She slowly turned to face him, surprised by the number of words that were flowing out of his mouth. Was he nervous? He sounded almost nervous. What did he have to be nervous about? He was so handsome, so sexy. He could be a cover model. She’d once said that to Inez, and Inez had punched Mallory in the arm and shouted at her to wake up.

  Well, she was fully awake right now and horny, and she didn’t want to talk. “Jason. Stop talking,” she advised as she took him in, head to foot.

  “What?” He shoved his hand through his hair. “Sorry. I was asking if we should establish some ground rules here.”

  “Ground rules?”

  “I don’t want things to be weird between us after…this.”

  “Stop it. You are totally ruining the moment,” she said. Which wasn’t really true—it would take at least two semi rigs to pull her out of this now. She just wanted him to talk less and kiss more.

  “I am?”

  “You worry too much. That’s my job,” she said, and put her arms around his neck.

  “But you’re not worrying, so I feel like I need to do it.” Jason removed her glasses and put them aside. He smiled at her. “You are seriously cute with or without them, you know that?” He bent his head and kissed her, and an electric current shot through her.

  “I have an idea,” she said as he slid his hands up under her hoodie. “We get down first, then talk about it later.”

  He smiled lopsidedly. “Since when do you talk this way? Don’t answer that.” He kissed her, slow and easy, his lips moving on hers, his tongue tangling with hers. When he lifted his head, he kissed the bridge of her nose and said, “Let’s get down.”

  Those words, spoken with his deep voice, shot the electric thrill into a nuclear category. Her fantasy, her forbidden pleasure, was happening, and she was so on board with it, she could captain this ship. Any qualms she’d had about the appropriateness of this had dissolved in the force of the storm, and she was going to go for broke. For once, she was not going to overthink it. She was going to shut out Inez’s voice from her thoughts, and she was going to keep her hands and feet inside the box and ride this ride.

  But she would have to get her bearings first, because Jason was kissing her fully, his tongue dipping between her lips, his touch warm and heavy. He put his arm around her waist and lowered her onto the bed, his knee between her legs, his body on top of hers. She pushed against him, trying to roll him onto his back, but Jason only intensified the kiss. Mallory leveraged him with her knee, finally succeeding in getting him on his back and then eagerly trying, but unsuccessfully, to take his T-shirt off him.

  “Hold on,” Jason said, holding his arms out. “Take it easy.”

  “No. I’m going for it.”

  He laughed. “Maybe we go for it at the same pace.” He sat up, his hands on her rib cage. “Maybe we agree it’s not a race to the finish.” He kissed her collarbone. “Are you in a hurry?” He kissed the hollow of her throat. “I hope not, because I have some exploring I need to do.”

  Oh. She felt herself melting into his touch. “No,” she said weakly.

  Jason took her head in his hands and kissed her mouth in that way he had that made her insides turn to jelly. Not a moment later, Mallory was tumbling down the rabbit hole of want. Her idea of taking charge and bringing it to him began to slip and slide away. Jason was too good at this. He took off his shirt, guided her hands to his chest. And when she had dragged her fingers over his pecs and down to his waist, he slipped his hands under her hoodie and T-shirt, pulled them over her head, and lowered himself down to take her breast in his mouth.

  So much for taking charge—Mallory was officially putty in his hands…and what big hands he had.

  Jason slowly leaned backward, taking her with him, until he was flat on his back and she was stretched out on top of him. “How’s this?” he asked as he grazed her earlobe.

  “This is fantastic.”

  He suddenly moved, his arm anchoring her around the waist as he very acrobatically put her on her back beneath him. He smiled down at her and Mallory smiled at him. The way her body had heated and her breathing had shortened, she could tell she was in for the ride of a lifetime.

  He put his hands on the waist of her yoga pants and started to inch them down. “Still good?” he purred.

  “Still good,” she answered breathlessly.

  He pushed her pants down and off and tossed them on the floor. In the next moment, he was kicking off his shorts, and revealing how hard and eager he was for her. He braced himself over her so that he could kiss her neck at the point it curved into her shoulder.

  “Get up here,” she whispered, pulling on his thick biceps, urging him to move on top of her.

  Jason grinned. “You’re impatient.”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay then,” he said, and moved up as he slipped his fingers in between her legs. “I’m here.”

  Mallory sucked in a breath and closed her eyes as he moved his fingers on her and in her. “This isn’t fair. I really wanted to take the lead.”

  He leaned down and whispered in her ear, “Next time.” He rolled them again, putting her on top once more. Mallory’s trip down the rabbit hole was now a fast and furious slide into oblivion, She felt like
she was floating in a sea of pure sensation as she kissed him and his hands explored her. He moved them again, his lips now tracing a path down the middle of her body, following that trail with his hands. He dipped his tongue into the valley of her sex. It was an intoxicating, frothy concoction of skin and lips and desire all mixing into one utterly surreal experience. So deliciously earthy and with a promise of the ultimate satisfaction.

  They swam along in their private sea, both of them reaching and stroking, kissing and sliding. It was foreplay and sex in a way Mallory had never quite experienced. It was twinkly and fiery, tender and fervent at the same time. The physical sensations churned with her emotions, truly rocking her world.

  She was deep into that shimmering space when Jason suddenly sat up and groped around the nightstand next to the bed, producing a condom. A moment later, he pulled her into his body and slipped in between her legs. He paused, braced above her. He smiled appreciatively. Even fondly. “You have some pretty amazing sex appeal, too, Mallory Price. You’re sexy as hell.” And with that, he entered her, sliding slowly, giving her body time to accept him.

  The pleasure of him inside her was exquisite. She pitched forward into it, pressing into every bit of his body she could reach or touch, seeking every bit of the sensation he was exciting in her. He caressed her as he moved, slow and fluid at first, his mouth on hers in one long, stupefyingly seductive kiss. He took his time with her, unwilling to rush the climax.

  For Mallory, it was passionate agony. Her pulse beat so hard she could hear it pounding in her veins. Her body was straining for his like a divining rod, her thoughts so focused on reaching a climax it was a wonder she didn’t implode. He began to quicken his stroke in a blur of touch and scent, of length and breadth, of breath and moans. She felt wild beneath him, an animal unleashed from its tether. She bit lightly into his shoulder, kissed his mouth, rocked against him in time to his own movements. She was fully ignited, her release building to a powerful conclusion. Jason muttered something incomprehensible, grabbed one of her hands and laced his fingers with hers, pressing it into the bed. He was moving quickly now with a maddening tempo, until Mallory let herself go with a groan of sexual gratification as her release crashed through her, washing out the months of pent-up desire for Jason Blackthorne.

  Jason gave in, too, thrusting powerfully into her one last time with a moan against her shoulder.

  Mallory felt dazed by it all. It was several moments before she was capable of the slightest movement except breathing. It seemed decades passed before Jason’s voice woke her from the fog. “God, Mallory.” He lifted his head and gazed at her with such an unfathomable expression that her heart raced—she felt the emotions in her that she was seeing in him. Satisfaction, a bit of surprise, more than a little affection.

  Was it really possible that Jason had affection for her?

  She had affection for him. It was hammering away in her chest and curling into a smile on her lips. This was so wrong on so many levels, but Mallory didn’t care.

  She was bewitched.

  “If I knew you were going to turn me on like that, I would have brought you to Maine a long time ago,” he said, and kissed her cheek.

  “If I knew you were going to turn me on like that, I wouldn’t have come,” she said honestly.

  Jason laughed. “Well, baby, the cat is out of the bag.” He dislodged himself from her body, gathered her in his arms, and rolled onto his back, bringing her along to nestle in his side.

  Mallory didn’t want to think about any cats or bags right now. She felt exhilarated and happy. And a little like a sex goddess. This gorgeous man was telling her that she turned him on, and it made her feel vibrant and sexy and very happy to have another go at it.

  Jason’s smile deepened as he looked at her. “You’re beautiful.”

  She laughed. “You’re buttering me up again. You probably have some insane task you want me to do.”

  He smiled, cupped her chin. “I just want you to be here with me in this moment.”

  Her smile went deeper. She had a drop-dead sexy man smiling at her and telling her she was beautiful and that he wanted her here, and there was no place she wanted to be.

  She would think about the consequences tomorrow. Right now, she wanted only to feel this magnificent.

  Jason gave her a funny smile and pushed her bangs from her face. “What are you thinking about?”

  “That I want to do it again.”

  He laughed. “What are you waiting for?” He cupped her face and kissed her.

  Mallory sank into him.

  She was bewitched, all right.

  CHAPTER NINE

  THE SOUND of the phone ringing somewhere far away woke Jason. He opened his eyes and blinked, as the memory of last night came back to him in a rush.

  He turned his head, smiling…but Mallory was not where he’d last seen her.

  He sat up and looked around the room. The bathroom door was open and her clothes were gone. She hadn’t pulled a disappearing act on him, had she?

  He got out of bed and quickly dressed, then headed downstairs in search of Mallory and his phone.

  He heard his phone ring again and sprinted for the kitchen, grabbing it up off the bar on the fourth ring. He looked at the screen, saw several missed calls, then swiped to take the call. “Cass,” he said, suppressing a yawn.

  “This business with Darien is a fucking disaster,” Cass announced gruffly. “It’s hampering my creative flow and I don’t like it.”

  It was hampering everyone’s flow, obviously. “We’re sorting it out,” Jason said patiently. “We can talk about it when we go out today—”

  “I’m not going,” Cass said.

  Jason suppressed a groan. “Cass.” The man could be a royal pain in the ass when things weren’t going to plan. Which, interestingly, they rarely did when making a series, which he would have assumed Cass would have learned that along the way. One had to be nimble and adjust, and one would think a veteran direction would know that. “We have to nail down those locations today. We need to get the lease agreements done.”

  “Which do you want, Jason? A location and a director who can’t even think? Or a director who has had the time to work through the story structure in the middle of all this chaos? Do you want to be responsible for disrupting my creative flow?”

  God forbid anyone touch Cass’s creative flow. “Cass, be reasonable—”

  “I’m being hounded by this Darien Simmons business! My manager has been inundated with calls wanting my comment. How is a man supposed to work? I should never have signed on for this.”

  “Whoa,” Jason said. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?”

  “I said what I said,” Cass said. “I’m not going today and you need to get these reporters off my ass.”

  Jason had the thought he ought to check in with Marlene, his publicist in L.A. There was no telling how many calls he’d missed last night—but he’d been too caught up in Mallory.

  Mallory. Where was she?

  “Are you hearing me?” Cass roared in his ear.

  “Jesus, Cass. Yes,” he said. He hadn’t heard, but it didn’t matter. Among his other trying qualities, Cass also tended to repeat himself like someone’s grandpa.

  “If you could kindly handle this fucking debacle, it would be greatly appreciated,” Cass snapped.

  What did Cass think he was doing? Hanging around the pool? Going down to the club for a doubles match? “I am, Cass,” Jason said firmly.

  “Thank you,” Cass said, and clicked off.

  Jason tossed his phone onto the kitchen bar.

  “Who was that?”

  Jason turned around as Mallory walked into the kitchen. She’d showered and changed, and was wearing a blue pantsuit that reminded him a little of something a prosecutor would wear to court. She looked rested and happy.

  “That was Cass.” He didn’t know if he should do it, but Jason put his hand on her waist and leaned forward, kissing her cheek.


  Mallory smiled but stepped away from him, walking to the kitchen table and his temporary office. Jason didn’t like anyone touching his things—a successful state of disorganization required a certain level of disorganization to be maintained. It was, in effect, his way or organizing himself. Mallory was the only one he allowed to touch his things. Somehow, she knew how to straighten it all out without making it worse for him.

  “What did he want?” she asked.

  “To get his creative flow back, which he says has been grossly affected by the Darien Simmons crisis.”

  Mallory pursed her lips.

  “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “It’s something, I can tell by looking at you. Say it.”

  She gave him a tentative smile. “As a matter of fact, I’ve been wanting to mention a few things. That is, if you don’t mind hearing them.”

  Jason sighed softly. He appreciated her enthusiasm for the project, but they were in a bit of a crunch right now. It felt like the whole project was in revolt against him. “What things?”

  Mallory squared her shoulders as if she was about to impart some devastating news, like his pet rabbit had died. She withdrew a piece of paper from her pocket and opened it. Great. She had a list. “I think there are some things we could do better. Like reduce the clunky transitions between scenes. Enhance the lighting in others—the series is gritty, but it’s so dark you can hardly see it. There have been many instances in previous episodes, which I’ve documented, that could be vastly improved with better cinematography. Our director of photography is top notch, you know, but Cass doesn’t always agree with him.”

  This was not news. Everyone knew that Cass and the DP, Neil Tarrelli, disagreed quite frequently, and usually loudly. Jason nodded, but he wasn’t going to engage in review of the series right now—he was scrolling through his messages and the mess Darien had created. “Maybe so,” he said. “But right now, we have to focus on getting some actors out here to audition and the last two locations locked down. Can you get them out here as soon as possible? Today would be preferred. Tomorrow will work.”