PartyStarter Page 10
A familiar silhouette caught her eye, deep in the crowd, and she stumbled, losing her footing for the briefest of moments. Julia craned her neck, peering into the darkness. It couldn’t be…could it?
There! Those shoulders. That stance. It had to be. But what in the hell was he doing here? Either some dumb fuck was gas lighting her, or Jack was actually at the party. Julia tripped over her own feet again, too distracted to pay any attention to what her appendages were doing.
Jesus! She was going to have to shape up. At this rate, she was going to end up getting booed off the stage—and that had never, ever happened before. She certainly wasn’t going to let it happen now.
But that green. She knew that color, knew it like she knew her own name. The tiniest bubble of hope formed in her chest. If Jack was here, she could talk to him. Explain things. Maybe make him understand. She had to at least try.
Without warning, the music ended and a surprised gasp echoed through the ballroom. The spotlight brightened and Julia glanced around the room, baffled. Exclamations of surprise sounded from various points around the ballroom.
“No, no, no,” Mick Sweetham’s voice boomed through the speaker system. Julia turned toward the sound of Sweetham’s heavy boots thumping on the floor, and watched him approach the platform again, shaking his head.
The bubble of hope in Julia’s chest popped, her heart plummeting to the very pit of her stomach.
Oh, hell.
Sweetham climbed up to join her, draping a long, wiry arm over her shoulders. A low, confused murmur of conversation rippled through the crowd, punctuated by the occasional drunken shout.
Julia pasted what she hoped was a sexy smile on her face. “What’s the matter, Mick?”
“Well, y’see, luv,” he said, the words languid and low, “that was just all wrong. It wasn’t right at all.”
Panic bubbled in Julia’s chest. Oh, sweet God, he hated her and she was about to get fired. Ricky would kill her. And then she’d kill herself. Her reputation would go down the toilet. Goodbye, career.
Cries of disagreement came from the partiers, and Julia clung to those sounds like a drowning woman holding fast to a life raft. At least they didn’t all hate her.
She forced a happy tone into her voice. “What do you mean, baby?” She turned to the crowd. “You guys were digging it, weren’t you?” Oh, God, please say yes.
A bellow of approval came from the masses.
Thank you, sweet baby Jesus.
“See, Mick?” She mentally crossed all of her fingers and toes.
Sweetham nodded approvingly. “Well, yeah, that lot liked you well enough, but the truth is, something’s missing, luv.”
Julia blinked. “Missing?”
Sweetham grinned at her, his face contorting into a mask of ecstatic pleasure. “Yeah. See, we heard all about your last couple of events. Especially about some bloke named Stone.”
The crowd whooped at an eardrum-shattering level.
Julia choked on her intake of air, as though her heart had just rebounded back up into her throat. She coughed before turning to Mick’s mic.
“Uh, yeah. Stone was my partner for a couple of gigs.” Her voice broke and she coughed again. “He was pretty amazing.”
Sweetham chuckled. “Ah. That he was, luv. That he was. And because Mick Sweetham knows all, I also know that despite the fact that you two started apart, you’re meant to be together.” He gave Julia an exaggerated, enigmatic wink.
Julia’s thoughts whirled as though caught up in a cyclone. All of this mysterious nonsense was making her crazy. What in the hell was Sweetham talking about?
“Well, luv? Are you meant to be together?”
Julia took a deep breath, swallowing past the enormous lump in her throat. What the hell, time to lay it all out on the line. “I think so. Yes.”
The throng screamed its approval.
“But,” Julia continued softly, “I’m not sure if he would agree with me or not.”
“Well,” Sweetham laughed roughly, his voice seasoned by years of cigarettes and heavy drinking, “why don’t we ask him?” He made a motion with his free hand and the DJ started a classic rock track heavy with guitars and drums. A secondary spotlight flickered on, illuminating a group of people near the front of the platform.
As one voice, the crowd let out a gasp of astonishment, bodies shifting and shuffling, necks craning to get a better view of just what was happening. As the knot of revelers in the limelight loosened, the sound evolved into cries of delight.
Jack.
Jack.
Julia stood speechless on the platform as Jack stepped forward, looking like something out of one of her kinkiest dreams.
His longish hair was slicked wetly back, and a couple of days’ worth of stubble darkened his face. Black leather covered his chest and encased his legs, gleaming as though the garments had been painted on. He was sin personified, dark and rough, the embodiment of rock-’n-roll. His expression was dangerous and intent, his eyes glowing with green fire.
And he looked at Julia as though she were a bedtime snack.
A hot flush traveled over Julia’s body, her bones feeling as though they were liquefying inside of her limbs. Dark spots appeared in her vision, and she forced herself to take a deep breath before she passed out, trying to remember how to breathe properly.
Beside her, Mick Sweetham crowed with self-congratulatory laughter. “Stone Ridge!” He bellowed into the microphone. “Fuck me,” he repeated, “I can feel the fire between these two from here. Can’t you? C’mere, mate.”
The crowd shouted its approval.
Jack moved wordlessly toward the platform, his steps slow, deliberate. Predatory.
Julia gulped in another breath, not knowing whether to be frightened, aroused or a combination of the two. Heat pooled low in her belly, her pussy aching with need even as her legs trembled.
Jack’s gaze remained on her, never faltering, until he stood directly before her.
“Jack…” The word slipped out of Julia on a breath.
“Don’t talk,” Jack murmured. “Just dance.”
He grabbed her hips, pulling Julia tight against his pelvis. His body was rock hard against her, and she let out a squeak of surprise before the rush of adrenaline rocketed its way through her body. Jack ground his hips against her, sliding his arms around her back.
Julia melted faster than an ice cube in the summer sun. Surrendering to Jack’s control she allowed herself to be directed and moved wherever he led.
The atmosphere in the ballroom exploded with rocketing excitement. Bodies writhed and gyrated on the dance floor, infected with Jack’s energy and power, but Julia was only peripherally aware of anything else going on in the room. And even that awareness was fading further away every second that Jack touched her, leaving only the two of them and the music that thundered around them.
His mouth landed on her throat, his lips hot against her skin. Julia’s eyes fluttered shut and she focused solely on the sensation of Jack’s touch, the tongues of flame he trailed over her flesh. The beat of the drum and the scream of the guitar reverberated through her body, primal, wicked, relentless.
This was all that mattered. Nothing else.
Julia ran her hands over his superheated skin, slightly slick with perspiration, tracing the curves of his muscles, the taut flesh of his hard body. She needed him again, craved him. Felt his need and desire in his touch, in each caress.
Fingers slipped dangerously close to her breast and her painfully aroused nipple and Julia let out a soft squeak. She reached in to find his hand and slid it fully onto her breast.
Fire ignited in her pussy, heat both wet and hot singeing her sensitive skin.
The frenzied mass shrieked its approval, the temperature in the room rocketing up what had to be another ten degrees.
Jack’s hand vanished from her breast, and he arched her backward before clamping his lips around her nipple. The friction of the lace and his tongue against her s
kin sent waves of dizzying pleasure through her core and Julia’s breath caught in her lungs.
Suddenly she was upright again, Jack’s mouth rough against hers, his kisses demanding and invasive. Julia answered his unspoken questions, her own kisses hungry and needful. Time slowed, each second an eternity, each heartbeat an eon.
One hedonistic melody blended into the next and Jack and Julia danced on, the platform their own carnal show.
Slowly, the world returned to normal. Julia had no idea how many songs had played but the mood of the room changed, mellowed. The driving rock beats ended and a slow, sexy dance track played, sensuous and hypnotic. Julia nestled closer to Jack, inhaling the scent of raw, sexual man, becoming intoxicated by his essence, the rapid staccato beat of his heart in tune with hers. They swayed gently back and forth to the beat, euphoric and dreamlike. She forced her eyelids open, glancing briefly around the platform. Sweetham stood at the center of a tight circle of people, all deep in enthusiastic conversation. The guests were focused on each other now, a tangle of arms and bodies lethargically grinding against each other.
Julia took a deep breath.
“Jack?” Her voice sounded hoarse, unused.
“Hmm?”
“I’m sorry about the other day.”
“I’m sorry, too.” Jack’s voice rumbled in his chest. “I thought you were having a good time with me.”
“I was. It was more than that, though.”
“Was it only Ricky and his damned contest?”
“Not entirely. I thought you only ever wanted to win.” She knew her tone was slightly accusatory, but she needed some answers.
Jack shrugged. “I did. In the beginning. But then the more I performed with you I realized that didn’t matter as much to me. I just wanted to keep seeing you. Keep watching you dance.”
A dizzying thrill rippled through Julia’s belly. She gave a soft, wry laugh.
“At first I only wanted to win, too. But then I wanted to be with you all of the time.”
Jack’s arms tightened around her, and Julia felt a tremor run through his limbs.
She hesitated for a brief moment, the slow-moving synapses of her brain finally allowing random thoughts to jell. “I didn’t actually win this gig tonight, did I?”
“Does it really matter, either way?”
Julia thought about his question for several heartbeats. “No. I guess it doesn’t.” She leaned back to look into his eyes. “How did you end up here tonight, anyway?”
The corner of Jack’s mouth quirked upward. “Take a guess.”
Inspiration struck, sending a number of puzzle pieces clicking into place and Julia chuckled softly. “Jordan. Damn that sneaky little bastard.”
They swayed languidly for a lifetime of slow, easy breaths.
“You aren’t going to run away on me this time, are you?”
She shook her head, a tiny wave of embarrassment washing over her. “No.”
“Why, Julia? Can you tell me why?”
She exhaled softly. “I got scared, Jack. You scared me to death. You made me open my eyes and look at things differently. I was so certain that I needed to be on my own to be successful and have my career and you showed me life didn’t have to be that way. It’d been me, myself and I for so long I didn’t know any other way. All of my preconceived notions and ideas were blown away.” She paused for a moment and took a deep breath. “Did Ricky tell you about Jeremy?”
“No.”
“Before the whole party starter thing I was trying to get into acting. This guy named Jeremy and I decided to partner up to make an indie film on our own. Well, not long after we made the decision his ego swelled with all of the attention he was getting from very eager wannabe starlets. He decided that he wanted to make a porn film instead of the script I wrote.” Threads of anger wove their way into her voice and she tore them away. “I told him I refused to make porn and he fired me. Told me he was in charge now, he was doing things his way, that the film was no longer my baby and that I could take a hike.”
Jack kissed the top of her head. “Wow. Sounds like a great guy.”
Julia let out a snort. “Great’s not the word I’d use. Anyway, he came in, took over, and kicked me out. And I trusted him, Jack. We were supposed to be a team. It was several months after that that I was introduced to Ricky and we came up with the Party Starter idea. He promised me it would be my baby, so you can imagine how I felt when he dropped that bombshell about having you as my partner.”
“I can clearly imagine. I’m sorry you went through that stress. I’m certain he didn’t mean it, and I absolutely didn’t.” He pressed his lips to her temple. “And do you still want to be alone?”
Julia closed her eyes and reveled in the warmth and strength of Jack’s arms. The stress she’d been carrying had vanished, the knot of anxiety in her stomach gone. She felt better than she had in as long as she could remember. Hell, nobody could predict the future, but it was time to take chances.
“No,” she whispered in his ear. “I want that partner full time. You in, Stone Ridge?”
“Hell, yes, I’m in. That’s a deal I want to make.”
A bubble of laughter rose up Julia’s throat. “There’s only one last important thing, Jack,” she said.
“What’s that?”
“You promised me some time ago that you would make my headboard rattle. I need to see if you can actually come through.”
Jack growled softly against her cheek. “Just show me the bed and you’ll see how hard I can bang it.”
Julia shivered with anticipation. “There’s one in the suite that’s been reserved for me. We’re done performing at five in the morning. Think you can wait that long?”
“I’d wait forever.”
Julia’s breath caught in her throat. “You would?”
“Yeah. Unless I can figure out a way to make you come right here on the dance floor again.”
Julia squirmed against Jack teasingly. “I’ll take that bet and throw it right back at you.”
Jack stopped in his movements and cupped her head in his hands. His eyes intense, he lowered his mouth to hers. “You’re on. Let’s get this party started, Puss.”
About Kris Starr
Kris lives in the wilds of northern Canada with her two daughters and science geek husband. She spends her time attempting to control household chaos, indulging her crafty side with various knitting, sewing and miscellaneous handmade projects, and creating stories for Ellora’s Cave and other publishers. Kris has been writing since the age of ten, beginning with a Nancy Drew-style mystery story featuring herself and a couple of her friends. Future leanings became clear, however, when she started penning naughty stories for high-school friends featuring Scott Baio, Rick Springfield or any member of Duran Duran.
Kris welcomes comments from readers. You can find her website and email addresses on her author bio page at www.ellorascave.com.
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Also by Kris Starr
Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis IV anthology
Higher Learning
Seeing is Believing
Sweet Tart
Print books by Kris Starr
Ellora’s Cavemen: Dreams of the Oasis IV anthology
Shrink Wrap anthology
Ellora’s Cave Publishing
www.ellorascave.com
Party Starter
ISBN 9781419943621
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Party Starter Copyright © 2013 Kris Starr
Edited by Elizabeth London
Cover design by Dar Albert
Photos: Kirill Kedrinski and Redav/Fotolia.com
Electronic book publication January 2013
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