Chapter 8

Chapter Eight

Faina

I feel like I woke up in some crazy Hallmark holiday film—obviously, a smutty one—but one where fantasy takes flight and reality is suspended and the girl spends the week with the world-famous, insanely gorgeous, and incredibly good-in-bed rock star. The rock star who never fails to make her smile or fill her with butterflies or remind her how she deserves better than she’s gotten.

But, with that incredible movie, I have to remind myself that even though I’m technically that girl, it isn’t real. And unlike with Hallmark, Dex and I won’t have a happily ever after. Despite what the tabloids are now saying. My phone started lighting up like Rudolph’s nose with texts from friends back home as well as Ava.

So even though he doesn’t know it, I’m taking measures to safeguard my heart. That means no lingering in bed. It means sex without intimacy after. Because while I may be suspending reality for a while, I refuse to get hurt twice in the same week.

At some point, I’ll have to figure out my next steps, but that will have to wait until after the holidays. For now, the bonus of all this is that Brooks hasn’t called me again, so that’s likely done and over with.

“Where are we headed, princess?” he questions, putting me in the passenger side and then running around to the driver’s side and getting in. He starts the car with the press of a button and then turns to me.

“I was thinking a gondola ride,” I tell him. I saw a brochure for them on the counter of the shop he dragged me into, and I looked it up quickly on my phone when he was using the bathroom, and it sounded incredible.

“A gondola ride?”

“It climbs up the mountain and gives you views of Yellowstone Park and the Tetons.”

He blinks at me. “You mean the metal box contraption that is suspended hundreds of feet in the air and is only held there by a metal cable as it climbs up into the mountains that are covered in snow?”

“Yep. Sounds great, right?”

He’s staring at me as if I’ve grown three heads before his eyes. “Great isn’t quite the word I would have gone with.”

“There’s a restaurant at the top.” I bounce my eyebrows. “I believe it serves alcohol.”

He flashes me a wicked grin. “Are you trying to get me pissed?”

“If that means drunk, then possibly. But come on, it’ll be fun. And beautiful. And quite frankly, you owe me.”

He squints at me. “I owe you? How do you mean?”

“The world thinks I’m your favorite flavor, and judging by the pictures, I’m no longer vanilla.” I slide out my phone, pull up the tabloid link Ava texted him, and show him the picture of us making out by the antler arch. This is a different picture than earlier. “Evidently, we put on quite the show for the townspeople.”

He grins at the picture, not the least bit put off by it. “Did you read the caption?”

“Unfortunately, yes.”

“They’re already declaring us in love.”

My lips form a flat line. “I’m aware.”

“And a couple.”

“I see that.”

“Not just a holiday fling,” He starts reading the article, “Sources close to the couple claim their relationship is already serious. Childhood sweethearts Dex Chapman and Faina Spencer appear more than a little cozy together during their holiday escape after reuniting only weeks after Chapman’s very public breakup. Could this be a second chance at love for Britain’s premier rocker?”

He rubs a finger along his lips that dip down at the corners. “Only Britain’s premier rocker? Why not the world? I sell far more in the US than I do in the UK. Hell, I sell out bloody stadiums.”

I make a noise in the back of my throat. “I think you’re focusing on the wrong side of this. They only mentioned a recent breakup. No arrest. No scandal. No cheating. The PR rep in me is loving this for you and thinks you should make another IG post that perpetuates this notion. But as the woman you’re appearing more than a little cozy with, I’m nervous this will all blow up in our faces.”

“And you think being trapped in a cage suspended high over a mountain range is the way to fix that?”

I shrug. “Certainly, can’t hurt.”

“I beg to differ on that.” His eyebrows scrunch, and he tilts his head. “Wait, who are these sources, and how does the press already know we knew each other as kids?”

“My money’s on Ava.”

He belts out a laugh. “You think your sister turned state’s evidence on you?”

I toss my hands up in the air. “Who else?”

He catches a lock of my hair and starts running the strands through his fingers. “True. Will has the flu, which means Ava is bored and spending too much time on her phone. And it would never occur to Will to speak to anyone about my love life, nor would he care enough to. My agent and manager know nothing of you, and I don’t currently have a PR manager, as we know.”

“As we know.”

He gives my hair a tug and treats me to his crooked smile. “A gondola ride and a drink then, eh?”

“At least one.”

“Gondola ride or drink?”

“Yes.”

In a flash, he’s yanking me toward him, and his mouth crashes into mine. A groan splits his lips, and then his tongue is trying to do the same with mine, begging for access. This kiss is different than all the ones before it. This kiss is an apology for the pictures and articles. It’s a plea for me to stay and stick this out with him regardless. It’s a kiss that says we might be in a bit of a mess, but we’re in it together.

“Forget why you’re starting to think this is a bad idea,” he says, clearly reading me. “Forget the tabloids and the nonsense of the outside world. Get lost with me here, princess. I promise I’ll take care of you. I won’t let any of this reflect poorly on you. Ever. I just don’t want you to run.”

Despite my desire for distance, I melt into him and kiss him back, wordlessly capitulating to his every demand. I am lost with him here. And I have no plans to run.

It’s too late for any of that anyway, and frankly, I still don’t have any place to go.

He holds my face in place, kissing me soundly, and then in my next heartbeat, he’s backing us out of the driveway and steering us toward the ski resorts. We park in the lot, and then with both of us all bundled up, he takes my gloved hand and leads us toward the line of people waiting to get on.

“Oh, hell fucking no.”

I laugh. “Don’t tell me the Dex Chapman is afraid of heights.”

He stares apprehensively at the gondolas as they shoot into the air, swaying ever so slightly as they do.

“Heights? No. Enclosed spaces dangling like a worm on a hook? Absolutely.”

“I’ll protect you.”

He shudders, his head shaking ever so slightly. “How long is this ride you’re dragging me on?”

“Twelve minutes or so.”

“Too short to have sex,” he declares, and the woman in front of us turns around with a blazing scowl. “What?” he says to her plainly. “It is.”

She glares at him until recognition lights her face. “Are you Dex Chapman?”

He gives her his most charming smile. “That depends on your angle. Fan or press?”

She blinks rapidly. “Fan. Huge fan!” She spins and grabs her friend’s arm, yanking on it and forcing her to turn.

“What?” her friend snaps, shaking off the grip on her arm. “We’re next.”

“Bethy, look. It’s Dex Chapman.”

The other woman’s eyes round. And then she screams. Like at the top of her lungs, sounds as though she’s being murdered on the streets scream. “DEX! OH MY GOD! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!” She launches herself at Dex, who manages to catch her without toppling over into the snow. She squeezes the life from him, and then her friend rips her away for her own shot.

“Can we have your autograph? And a selfie? And your firstborn?” She laughs in a way that suggests she’s kidding, when I think we all know she’s anything but.

Dex chuckles good-naturedly. “Yes, to everything. Except the firstborn, of course. I’m hoping my lovely childhood sweetheart over here will do that for me. You know, since we’re in love.”

That son of a bitch. I stomp on his foot, and he throws me a Cheshire grin.

“Oh, hi.” Both women finally realize I’m standing here in the cold beside him. “Yes,” the first woman continues. “We saw the pictures. How cool is this? We’re never anyplace these things happen. Are you really together? I mean, we know what happened with your ex.” She cups her hand over her mouth, staring all around as she says the last part.

Dex laughs it off. “None of what you saw with my ex was as it happened. She was a cheating, miserable snake of a human. But who cares about her? I’ve reunited with the love of my life. What’s more Christmas than that?”

“You slimy motherfuc—” He cuts me off with a searing kiss, and my knee immediately comes up, landing straight in his balls. He oomphs and then grunts into my lips, squeezing my arm as his face twists in pain. “You deserved that,” I say against his lips.

“I did. Thank you for not going full force, but that love bump still hurt. It’s the situation we’re in, princess. Might as well have a bit of fun with it.”

I shake my head, and he smiles, stealing another kiss, and then suddenly our gondola arrives, and the line shifts ahead, even as everyone has their phones out, taking pictures and videos and likely posting them across the planet. Awesome.

If he isn’t the most playful, gorgeous, infuriating ass on the planet…

“Dex! You get to ride with us!” Bethy is still shouting, but Dex’s eyes are all over me.

Dex drops his hand to her shoulder and leans in conspiratorially. “Actually, love, would you mind terribly if we took up the box of death—I mean, gondola alone? I want to try and prove my twelve-minute theory wrong.” He gives the women a wink and that dimpled smirk, and they swoon accordingly. “You know how new love can be, especially over Christmas.”

“Sure! Of course. Wow. You really are insanely gorgeous.”

“Aw, thank you, darling. So are you. And to show my appreciation...” He slides a marker out of his pocket along with a notebook and starts scribbling things down as the guy running the gondola urges us on. Pieces of paper tear, and then he’s handing one to everyone around us, all the people who were about to board the gondola with us. “Here. These are for you. That’s my manager’s business phone. Give him a ring, and tell him I told you to send each of you a promotion box. Make sure you give him the code I put on there, or he’ll never believe you.”

Eyes light up like New Year’s in Times Square, and no one argues about the two of us cutting the line and taking a box meant for at least twenty by ourselves. Frankly, I don’t either. Once again, I find myself needing a moment. It’s only been a day, and yet everywhere we go and everything we do ends with us making a scene in one fashion or another.

Everyone takes their turns with selfies, and Dex never rushes anyone. He’s all smiles and easy laughs, and I realize he loves this. He loves connecting with fans. And he’s good at it. That’s why the world turned against him so quickly. He has a bad boy, sex god reputation, sure, but he’s never been a bad man. He’s good to his fans and does charitable work and is generally considered a good human.

So the notion of him cheating and unnecessarily hurting a man sat all kinds of wrong with his fans. Vindication is priceless and when he turns his magnetic eyes on me, I can see the gratitude and joy in them. A warmth I’m unfamiliar with spreads through me, lightening my chest and curling a smile up my lips.

Dex tugs me onto the gondola, and then the door swooshes closed, and we’re encased in delicious heat that makes me shiver and sigh at the same time. Then I turn on him, only his hands are already out protectively.

“Remember, if you get me with a second shot to the bollocks, it’ll only hurt you tonight.”

“I can’t believe you did that.” My arms flail, even if I’m having a hell of a time fighting my amused grin.

“Will you break my nose if I tell you this might, in fact, be the most fun I’ve ever had?” He takes a cautious step in my direction just as the gondola shoots forward, propelling us up into the air. He grabs onto the glass wall, his eyes wild with fear. “Christ, princess. Look at all that.”

I stare out the window, taking in the sweeping snow-covered mountains and breathtaking landscape. “I should break your nose.”

He moves carefully in behind me, pressing his chest to my back and wrapping his arms around my body, his chin on my shoulder as he holds me, and we lean against the window.

“What good is living if you can’t have some fun with it? We only die once, and in case you’ve missed it, I subscribe to the carpe diem model.”

“Clearly I never took Latin.”

“But you’re learning all sorts of new languages today.”

I sigh and then laugh lightly. “I don’t want to be old when I’m this young, and I’m all for fun, but it’s getting out of hand.”

“It is,” he agrees. “I know it is. I sort of feel as though I got early parole from prison, and the taste of freedom is perhaps a bit too intoxicating. I tend to get swept up in the moment and carried away with myself. Right now, quite literally. Fuck, we’re high. Jesus, what the bloody fuck did I let you drag me into?” His grip on me tightens.

“I thought you said you weren’t afraid of heights.”

He pants out a short, choppy breath. “I lied, didn’t I? You wanted to go on a bloody gondola into the mountains, and I wanted to make you happy because you’re insanely stunning when you smile at me. Not to mention, if I’m being honest, I don’t think I could ever say no to you, so here we are,” he rambles as if he can’t stop the words from pouring out. “Me, two seconds from having a massive panic attack. You, angry and gorgeous and ready to chop off my cock and feed it to the local bears.”

I cough out a laugh, and I don’t know if it’s the fact that he got on this gondola with me even though he’s afraid of it just to make me happy or the fact that seeing the world from this vantage point naturally brings about an inner peace, but I relax against him.

“I’m not going to chop off your cock. Or break your nose. I’m just not as comfortable being the center of attention the way you are. Of the two of us, Ava was the sun, and I was content being the moon, and that hasn’t changed.”

“Ah, but the moon you can stare at. The moon won’t burn your eyes with her beauty.”

“Dex—”

“I’ll cool it,” he promises. “At least I’ll try.” He sucks in another breath. “Fucking hell, how high are we? I can barely breathe in this thing.”

I remove my gloves and do the same with his, stuffing both into my coat pocket, and running my fingers on his hands, which are now clenching my waist as if he’s holding onto me for dear life. He might be panicking, and I do feel bad about that, but I’m entranced by the snow falling and the earth at the base of the mountain growing smaller.

“Try closing your eyes.”

“Right. Sure. Like that will somehow trick my mind into forgetting I’m in a moving box thousands of feet above the ground and am likely about to plummet to my death. ”

“Didn’t you mention something about sex and trying to prove yourself wrong with the twelve-minute window?”

He puffs out a laugh, his face diving into my neck as his lips start to kiss and suck on my skin even though he’s still breathing hard, practically hyperventilating. “I do perform well under pressure, but we’ve already wasted precious minutes. Perhaps I’ll just make you come to atone for yet another public scene I dragged you into. Are you still mad?”

“No,” I admit.

I stopped being mad when he gave me that look right before we stepped on, and I forgave him the second he started to panic at the height. No one’s ever done anything just to make me happy or smile.

“It’s never dull with you, is it, Dex?”

I can feel his smile against me. “Nope. Never. You should see me on stage.” His hand slides in front of me, unzipping my jacket. My hands move to the glass, splaying out in anticipation. My heart picks up a few extra beats as nerves and excitement war within me.

“I have,” I tell him, my breath hitching as his hand starts to sink into my leggings and beneath my thong. My hands press firmer against the glass, suddenly needing support when my knees feel like they’re about to give out on me.

“Oh?” he remarks, surprise in his husky voice. “When was that?”

“Two summers ago, when you came to Boston.” I gasp as he circles my clit, and then plunges two fingers straight into me.

“Mmmm. So fucking tight and wet.” He plies my neck with kisses. “I wish I had known you were there. Did you like the show?”

“No.” The word comes out as a moan. “I hated it because I hated you.”

He chuckles, biting my earlobe. “Yet you purchased a ticket to my concert.”

His fingers continue to pump in and out of me, slowly, as if we’re not climbing higher, and time is on our side. “I went with a friend and never told her I knew you.”

“Well,”—he licks a trail up my neck—“she certainly knows you do now.” He quirks his fingers inside me, pressing firmly against my front wall while his thumb presses in on my clit at the same time, making me cry out. “It’s only us in here, princess. You can scream as loud as you want. I want you naked so badly. I want you naked and wet and begging for me to fuck you. But for now, I want you so loud that every animal and human within a thousand miles knows what my name sounds like as you scream it.”

Only I can see we’re getting closer to the summit. I can see the peak in the distance, close enough that soon people will be able to see us. “Dex… oh god!” I whimper when he starts working my clit and thrusting in and out of me faster with every go. My body is shaking as heat curls through me, my fingers pawing at the glass. “We’re nearly there. People will see soon.”

“Is that what you want? People watching as I make you come?”

Fuck. Is it? The thought makes me moan, and my toes curl in my boots. It sends a rush of wet heat straight to my core. He feels it and groans, rubbing his hard cock against my lower back. I want it inside me. I want to feel him fuck me again so badly I can hardly stand here.

“Oh, princess. I think part of you would like that very much, and we can play with that a little later. But for now, if you don’t want them to see you come, then you better do it quickly because we’re not getting off this gondola until your cum is coating my fingers.” His other hand comes up, wrapping around my neck and holding me against him without cutting off my breath. “This isn’t going to be enough for me. Touching and kissing and smelling you. I need more. I can’t get enough; I have to have more.”

“Me too,” I pant, as his fingers play with my pussy the way he plays his guitar, skillfully and coaxing. He’s groaning, thrusting into me with his hard cock as he ups his pace, rubbing furiously against my swollen clit. The noise is wet and sloppy, and I want more. So much more. I want to rip his clothes from his body and take his cock in my mouth. I want to lick every line and crevice and ridge of his abs and chest.

But in return, I want his mouth and hands all over me. The way they were just a couple of hours ago. He’s stoked a fire in me I never knew was burning and now I’m a new woman.

I reach behind my back and grip his cock, squeezing it until he hisses out a harsh breath, right against my ear. The sound is so hungry and primal, that it sends me over the edge in a rush.

“I’m going to come,” I warn him seconds before I do. Shaking and writhing and trembling. I’m loud as he wanted me to be, but now the threat of being heard is very real, and he uses my jaw to turn my face and kisses me fiercely, suffocating my moans and whimpers.

“That’s it. You’re coating my fingers, and it’s so fucking hot. I’m throbbing for you. You feel that? It’s your dripping pussy doing that. Your cunt is mine, Faina. Fucking all mine.”

I ride his hand, grinding into it, needing more as my orgasm goes on and on. His filthy possessive words, along with where we are and what we’re doing, have my body in hyperdrive.

“More, Dex!”

“Naughty fucking girl.” He fucks himself into my hand, and I moan into his mouth. “I’m going to drag you into the bathroom of the restaurant and then force you onto your knees. My sweet little princess is going to swallow every inch of my cock. Aren’t you, love.”

“Yes!” I gasp for air as my eyes roll the back of my head. No one has ever spoken to me this way, and it’s exactly what I want. I want to make someone depraved and greedy. I want them to be so hot for me that they don’t know how to hold back.

After an eternity, I’m utterly spent, practically collapsing against the glass just as the gondola slows at the top of the summit.

“Holy shit,” I gasp, my head turning and my eyes opening, taking in the mountain top through the glass. The car comes to a stop with a smooth jolt that stirs me back to where we are. Dex’s fingers slide out of me, and he releases my neck, turning me around, and then he slides one finger in my mouth, making me suck myself clean off it, and then he takes both fingers that were inside me, and I watch as he sucks them.

Fuck, that’s so dirty and so hot. I lick my lips, tasting my cum just as the doors of the car slide open, and a burst of frozen air hits us. But before we can exit, his mouth comes down on mine, kissing me ravenously, both of us tasting me on each other.

He pulls back, but I’m still dazed, my legs like jelly beneath me. I lick my lips, and he purrs at that, dragging me into his side and then leading us off the gondola.

“Land at last, though I imagine this contraption is the only way down?”

“Unless you want to ski.”

“Not a snowball’s chance in hell, little elf.”

Our boots crunch in the firm snow, and the wind whips wildly around us, making us both huddle closer together. He turns me and zips up my coat for me, then takes our gloves from my pocket and puts mine back on me first and then his. I blink and try very hard not to overthink how caring and tender that gesture is when he didn’t even do it to be so.

He did it because he wanted to make sure I wasn’t cold.

“This was your grand idea?” he asks, tucking me back into his side and walking us toward the restaurant. “Freeze us to death? My cock was long and thick and aching for your mouth, and now the poor bloke is crying, begging for warmer climates.”

I giggle lightly. “Is my mouth not considered a warmer climate?”

He gives me a side-eye with a raised eyebrow. “You get very playful after you come.”

“So I’m learning about myself. It’s all new for me.”

He stops short and twists me until I’m standing before him, my back now to the restaurant I’m anxious to get inside.

“What does that mean? So you’re learning?”

I tilt my head, squinting against the bright, cloudy sky. “I don’t understand your question,” I admit.

“You’ve had orgasms before. Right?”

“Of course.”

He blows out a plume of vapor in the form of a relieved breath. “Fantastic. You had me worried for a moment there.”

I shrug and we start back off. “But only with myself before you.”