Page 24 of Desire

I lower my head into my hands when I finish speaking. I don’t think I’ve ever voiced so much displeasure at the Hollywood life to anyone before. I hated it in so many ways. New Orleans was a breath of fresh air to go back to. It’s peaceful, and I can walk around the streets without having camera flashes going off in my face.

Maybe I’ve made a mistake doing the dance show.

It will put me back in the spotlight.

My breath quickens in panic.

No, I can’t go back to all of that.

Leo pulls my hands away from my face, and cupping the bottom of my chin, he presses his lips passionately against mine. My panic recedes as I lose myself in his kiss. It’s full of the emotion we’re both feeling. The affection between us has been developing with every dance and the time spent in each other’s company getting to know one another again.

Eventually he pulls away but rests his forehead on mine.

“Why did we ever lose contact with each other? Our lives could have been so different. I could have saved you from him.”

“No, fate decreed we had to part for a while, to grow and learn. We had to experience life separately before we came back to each other as better people.”

“I’ll never hit you.” Leo pulls me into his lap, and I allow him, savoring the heat of his body and enjoying the touch of a man for the first time in a very long while without the fear of him hurting me.

“I know,” I whisper back.

Turning my head toward the clock, I see it’s late in the evening. The film was a couple hours long, and we’ll need to be up in less than five hours for training.

“Why don’t you stay here tonight?”

“Here?” Leo tilts his head and looks at me, trying to read the meaning behind my words.

“I can’t promise you anything, Leo. I mean intimacy wise. I don’t know if I’m ready to welcome a man that far into my life, but what I do know is I don’t want you to leave my side. I want you to hold me all night. Be beside me when I wake so I know none of this is a dream, and I really am safe in your arms again.”

Leo doesn’t reply. He stands and holds his hand out to me.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

Chapter 12

Leo

If I hadn’t already developed feelings for Elise, after watching her in that film, there’s no doubt I’d have immediately fallen for her. It was strange—I knew it was her because it looked like her, but in every other respect, the woman on the screen was a different person from Elise altogether. It showed what a wonderful actress she is. I can see why she was Oscar nominated for that role.

I’m sad she had to walk away from acting because of her ex-husband, but I can understand what she meant when she said she didn’t miss the fame side of it. The celebrity was one of the reasons I was reluctant to do the dance show in the first place. I didn’t want to have that added pressure on me. I’d seen what it had done to some of the other participants in previous years. One season, a dancer on the show married his professional partner, but they split the following year when he fell for the celebrity he’d been paired with. The pressure on him was unreal. Having an affair wasn’t good, but he didn’t deserve the intrusion into his private life that he experienced—none of the parties involved did. I was especially nervous about being the new boy on the show, but so far, it’s been all right. Long may it stay that way.

Settling Elise down into her bed, I climb under the sheets in just my workout pants and pull her against my body. I’ve been hard for most of the evening. I can’t help it when Elise is around. She’s sexy as hell, and I’m a hot blooded man. However, I’ll respect what she said to me. I would never push her any further than she wants to go. I’ll just have to jack off tomorrow before we start training. Maybe I could nip to the bathroom now and rub one out?

“What are you thinking about?” Elise inquires as she lays her head on my chest.

“Man things.”

She chuckles softly.

“I’ll never understand a man’s brain. It really does work differently from a woman’s. I was once asked if I could take on the role of a transsexual. I said no because I didn’t think I’d do it justice. I was glad I didn’t in the end because the person who did do it was awful in the part, and they haven’t acted in Hollywood since. It’s far too judgmental there to survive bad reviews.”

“I think you would have been great in the part. Men are simple creatures really. Give us food, drink, and sex—we’re happy.”

Elise falls silent and doesn’t reply to me at first.

“Am I being unfair asking you to stay here without giving you anything in return.”

“No, not at all. I’m enjoying just being here with you, Elise. Yes, you can probably feel my dick has other ideas, but that’s because he really likes you. I don’t have to listen to him, though. All I want to do is hold you and show you how much I adore you.”

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