Chapter Eleven

Kaiden

Ipace around outside the set like a caged lion, four steps in one direction, six in the other. What the fuck is taking so long? They've been filming for an hour already. How long can it possibly take for them to get this scene marked and over with?

Luca closed the set for it. I have a feeling he did it to keep me out here. The rational part of my mind is grateful to him for that. The less rational part is mad as hell. My little star is in there right now, and she's pregnant with my kid. I can't see her. I can't touch her.

I don't even fucking care about Abel or the camera crew. None of them even register. None of them even matter. All I can think about is my shining star and how goddamn badly I want to be the one putting my hands all over her right now.

A thousand versions of the scene run through my head, each dirtier than the last. In every single one, she's with me, and this isn't a movie. I have her spread across the candy counter, eating her cunt while she's coated in sugar. I drive into her, fucking her from one orgasm to the next while everyone watches. She moans for me…begs for me. Screams my name repeatedly as I drill her tight cunt harder, faster.

I pace faster, a growl rumbling in my throat.

My hands clench and unclench. Sweat drips from my brow.

"They're together," a familiar voice whispers from behind me. "Like together together."

"Wow. She could do so much better. Have you seen his scar? Dreadful."

"Seen it? I talked to him," Loraine says.

"You didn't!"

"I did. He's quite rude. I don't know what she sees in him."

"Well, it's not his looks," her friend says.

"Or his personality."

"They won't last. As soon as word leaks, she'll drop him."

Jesus Christ.

My stomach clenches in disgust, white-hot anger pulsing through me. I wheel around, having heard more than enough. I have no idea what I'm going to say, and I don't get the chance to find out. Loraine and her redheaded friend slip around the corner, their heads bent together as they whisper back and forth.

"Fuck," I snarl, scrubbing a hand down my face. The action doesn't erase their words. It doesn't erase the yawning pit in the middle of my stomach, either. The shit they just spewed is mild compared to what other people will say once word about our relationship leaks.

I know because I've heard it all before.

Freak. Scarface. Krueger. I didn't disappear for the fun of it. I got sick of seeing my picture online and reading the endless parade of comments. I know what they're putting Laura through now because I've been there. People can be vicious, especially in this town. Especially when they think no one is looking.

Now, Laura will hear the same names. She'll endure the same whispers. Only, it'll be worse for her because she has more to lose. Because her heart is so goddamn big. What they say about me will wound her, hurt her. How is that possibly healthy for her or the baby? How is any of this healthy for her or the baby?

I'm the last goddamn thing they need in their lives.

"You know what I really hate?"

I glance back toward the set to find Scarlett Cassidy watching me with her head cocked to the side. Her brunette hair is pinned back from her face, her white blouse shimmering beneath the lights. She looks regal and composed, every inch a star. She doesn't stare at me in pity but with fire in her amber eyes. She heard every word Loraine and her redheaded friend just spoke.

"What's that?" I ask.

"People who have nothing better to do with their time than talk about things that are none of their business." Her lips compress into a thin, disapproving line, her amber eyes narrowed after Loraine and her friend. "In my experience, they're never worth the time we waste internalizing what they've said."

"You're probably right about that," I say quietly.

"Laura is glowing. If you're responsible for that, good for you." Her lips tip up into a small smile. "I hope jealousy eats the catty bitches alive while she's living her best life."

I jerk my chin in a nod of thanks, not sure what to say to that. Scarlett doesn't wait around for an answer. She sails past me, her heels clicking across the floor as she continues on her way to wherever she is going. I watch her for a moment and then expel a sharp breath.

Shit. Maybe she's right.

I let this fucking town and the people in it chase me into the shadows last time, let myself become a shell of the man I used to be. My scars defined me; their words buried me. I lost myself. Lost everything.

But I'm not that man anymore.

I'm Laura's now. She dragged me out of the shadows and breathed life back into me. Little by little, she reminded me what it means to live…to truly live. I'm on a film set again because of her. I'm facing my fears because of her. I remember the man I used to be because of her, the one I buried long ago. And that man? He wouldn't slink away. He'd fight.

He'd fight like hell.

So where the fuck is he right now?

By the time Laura emerges from the set an hour later, the wild tangle of emotions running through me has cooled. The yawning pit of anxiety has settled, my doubts falling silent again. I'm settled, my course set. I know what I need to do now, and the framework of a plan is in place.

Laura may kill me when she finds out, but it needs to happen. To protect her and the baby, it's the only thing I can do. It's what I need to do.

"Hey," she says, walking straight into my arms.

I pull her into me, cradling her gently. "I missed you."

"Having someone else's hands on me didn't feel right, Kaiden." Her somber eyes meet mine. "I didn't like it."

I brush my lips across her forehead. "Then maybe I should erase the memory of them, hmm?"

"Yes, please."

I chuckle at how politely she says this. She's so full of grace that it bleeds out of her. I hope to God she never loses that. No matter what the world throws at her, I hope it never turns her bitter or hard. I hope she's always this fiercely gentle and powerfully bright. I hope our child is just like her.

I sweep her up into my arms and stalk toward her trailer, more than willing to erase this memory for her. If this is the last time I get to touch her before everything changes, I want it to be here…in the place where she reminded me that there is magic in this world.

She sighs in contentment, wrapping her arms around my neck.

Scarlett was right. She is glowing. Goddamn. How did I miss it? She's the brightest little star in this town, but every day since I met her, that shine has intensified. It pulses in the air around her, stamping her with a luminescence that's impossible to miss.

Please, don't let her lose it, I pray.

"I love you," she says, reaching up to cup my cheek in her palm. She doesn't shy away from my scar. Since day one, she hasn't shied away from it. She places her hand over it, her fingers gentle, her gaze soft. As if to remind me that she loves all of me, that she accepts all of me.

I don't say anything until we're in her trailer and she's sprawled across the bed in her elf costume. She's supposed to look adorable in it. Instead, she looks entirely too sexy. I yank my shirt over my head, kick my boots off, and crawl onto the bed with her.

"You're my magic," I murmur, leaning down over her.

Her lips curve into a soft smile. "Your magic?"

"My Christmas magic."

"You hate Christmas." She runs her fingers through my hair, tousling it.

"I hated the reminder of everything I lost," I murmur, raining kisses across her face. "I hated being alone. I hated watching the world go soft when it felt so goddamn cold to me."

"Kaiden," she whispers.

"It's not cold anymore, princess." I kiss each corner of her lips, lingering as I reach for the buttons on her top. "I'm not cold anymore."

Her eyes light up, my little star glowing brighter than the sun. "Then burn with me, Kaiden," she breathes, clutching me to her. "Make me forget everything but you."

"Gladly." I seam my lips to hers, undressing her between long, languid kisses that have her eyes turning dark and her lashes fluttering. I take my time, running my hands over every inch of skin, worshipping her the way she deserves. I don't fuck her. I love her.

By the time she's naked beneath me, she's trembling, her chest shuddering with each soft exhale. Lips replace hands as I drive her higher, whispering sweet words of devotion into her skin. Every damn word is the truth. I do worship this beautiful little star. She is a goddess. My heart does beat for her and her alone. The surgeon might have repaired it when I was a kid, but she healed it and brought it back to life.

"Kaiden!" she cries, back arched, hands reaching for me as I part her folds and lap at her clit. Somehow, she's sweeter. Her juices flow like wine across my lips as I eat her like we have all the time in the world. I don't concern myself with anyone outside this trailer. They don't fucking matter. They never did.

She comes in a heated rush, her sweet voice breaking on my name.

I free my cock, lifting her into my lap.

Her nails score my back as she sinks down on me.

"Oh, God. Oh, God," she chants, her face buried in my throat as she writhes in my lap. "What are you doing to me?"

"Making you forget everything but me." I run my lips across her forehead. "Burning with you." Lift her up my cock. "Loving you." And then slide her back down.

She sobs my name, clinging to me as I take her slowly, so goddamn slowly it hurts. She's a priceless weight in my arms, a heavenly vise around my goddamn heart. The tightest grip around my cock. Every part of her is perfect. Every part of her is mine.

We fall together, her sheltered in my arms and my heart even more firmly in her hands.

Neither of us worries about her sex scene again. In one perfect moment, it simply ceases to matter at all.