Chasing Perfection: Vol. IV Read online

  “Okay,” DeVon said. “Mayflower has pictures of you and Carr. What else is there, Landon?”

  DeVon was right. If it had just been Landon and Jarrett having a meal or walking around together, there wouldn’t have been a story. Mayflower would’ve put the pictures online or sent them to TMZ for speculation, but no one would’ve cared. Every other day, people were posting pictures of Landon having lunch with some supermodel or actress. He was a friendly guy and the fact that he was seen with different women all the time only helped enhance a ladies’ man reputation, something Mirage didn’t encourage or discourage.

  “Jarrett came by and we ordered some pizza,” Landon said. “I didn’t think anything of it because we were in the house. The curtains were closed and there’s a gate that keeps people away.”

  I could picture the house in my head. Even though Landon was now a bankable star, he hadn’t gone crazy with that first paycheck and bought some massive, million-dollar mansion. What he had done was get into a nice place in a gated community. Mirage had checked it out and their security was good. I couldn’t figure out how anyone had gotten pictures of Jarrett and Landon that were compromising at all.

  “Did the pizza guy take the photos?” DeVon asked.

  My lawyer wheels started turning, thinking of the legal action we could take against the person who’d taken the pictures as well as the pizza place.

  “No.” Landon frowned. “I went to get the pizza and I was just wearing a pair of shorts.”

  I had a feeling I knew where this was going.

  “Jarrett was wearing a little less when he came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me right before the door closed.” Landon’s cheeks flushed.

  “Shit,” DeVon breathed. “And that’s what Mayflower got a picture of?”

  “That and pretty much everything Jarrett has to offer.”

  “Well, Jarrett’s already out, so at least we don’t have to work with his people on this one,” I said. “That means it’s pretty much your choice as to how we handle this.”

  “Mayflower said we’ll have to pay a million dollars to keep the pictures out of the press,” Landon said. He gave me a pleading look. “I’m not ashamed of who I am, Krissy, but I can’t come out like this. Whoever Mayflower gets those pictures to will spin some sort of sleazy story. I’ll be a joke. You know I don’t take myself that seriously, but this is different. Jarrett’s a nice guy and I don’t want him getting caught up in this.”

  I reached over and took Landon’s hand between both of mine. DeVon put his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

  “You can’t pay him,” Landon said, turning to look at DeVon.

  DeVon shook his head. “I’m not going to, but I am going to kick his ass.”

  I rolled my eyes, but there was only affection in my voice. “We’re not going to pay because I’m going to take care of it.”

  “Really?” The hopeful expression on Landon’s face made him look much younger than he was.

  “Hey, I’m a badass lawyer, remember?” I smiled at him. “I handled divorces in New York. I think I can deal with one slimy LA paparazzi.”

  “Thank you,” Landon said, relief evident in his voice.

  I was still smiling, but inside I was seething. I despised the paparazzi. It was one thing if people were out in public, but even then it was iffy. To spy on someone at home...that just pissed me off. And then to try and blackmail such a nice guy as Landon just because people couldn’t handle him being a gay action star...Oh, I’d handle Mayflower, all right. And he’d be lucky if I didn’t ruin his already shitty career while I was at it.

  “Are you going to be okay?” DeVon asked. “You want to come over for a drink?”

  “No.” Landon shook his head. He suddenly looked as tired as I felt. “I just want to go home.”

  “You do that and leave Mayflower to me,” I said. “I’ll keep you posted on how things go.”

  Landon nodded and stood. DeVon and I did the same. We watched our friend leave. When the door closed, I sighed.

  “This sucks,” I said.

  “It does,” DeVon agreed. “I wish people would just stop being assholes about people’s personal lives. Like who he loves changes whether or not he’s good at his job.”

  I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed. “Have I told you lately just how much I love you?”

  He put his arms around me and hugged me back. “Yes, but I always like to hear it.” He kissed the top of my head. “Now, let’s go home.”

  Chapter 5

  DeVon

  This situation with Landon was bothering Krissy more than she let on. I hated it, too. Landon was a client I also considered a friend. In the months since Krissy and I had started dating, the three of us had become even closer. I knew she hadn’t been happy that I’d agreed to help Landon keep things quiet, but she hadn’t said anything. We agreed that it was Landon’s choice, but we both hated that it was something that even had to be considered.

  Krissy was quiet on the ride back to the house and I knew she was thinking about how she was going to deal with things. I still wanted to handle Mayflower my way, but mostly because I was itching to punch the bastard’s smug face. She was definitely more qualified to handle things like this simply because she had been a lawyer. Granted, that was divorce and not entertainment, but she thought like a lawyer either way.

  I reached over and took her hand as we walked into the house. It was funny, I thought, how just her living here made this place feel more like home than just a house. I’d hired a decorator for both the apartment and the house when I’d first bought them and she’d done a great job, but it had never really felt like me. Gradually, Krissy had been changing things so that every place looked lived in. Before, the only part of the entire house that I’d given a personal touch was my bedroom and that was because that had been the only place where it was only ever me.

  Until Krissy.

  There wasn’t much I could say she was my first or only for, but there were two. She was the only woman who’d ever slept in my bedroom. In what was now our bedroom. Any women who’d slept over in the past had done so in a guest room. Without me. After we’d finish, I’d always retired to my room and leave the women a note and cab fare. The drawers that had once held envelopes of money and notes were empty. The guest room was just a guest room.

  The only other thing that was exclusively hers was what I suddenly needed to feel. Me inside her, nothing between us. Skin against skin. Delicious friction and heat until I exploded inside her, filling her. She was the only person I’d ever had that with. The only person I’d ever trusted enough.

  “Come on.” I pulled her towards our room. “Let’s finish our vacation on a good note. We can worry about the whole Landon thing tomorrow. There’s nothing we’re going to do now anyway.”

  She still looked tired as we walked down the hallway, but the gleam in her eyes said she wanted me as much as I wanted her. That wasn’t surprising. We seemed to always want each other. Tonight, I was going to do something we didn’t do very often. No kink, no rough stuff. Just me making slow, sweet love to her until we both came and then fell asleep in each other’s arms.

  When we stepped into the bedroom, I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her back against me. I nuzzled the side of her neck, breathing deep the scent of her floral body wash and of her. My cock stirred. Just being close to her, smelling her, it was enough to make me hard. I pressed my lips against the hollow just under her ear.

  “I want you,” I whispered.

  “I want you, too.” She pressed back against me a little more firmly and then reached for the bottom of her shirt.

  I put my hands over hers. “Let me take care of you.”

  She nodded as her hands dropped to her sides. I felt her entire body relax against me and a surge of love and protectiveness went through me. I still had a hard time believing just how much I loved this woman.

  I took the hem of her shirt in my hands. “Lift your arms.”

&
nbsp; She did and I slowly peeled her shirt off of her. I kissed her spine at the base of her neck and then undid the braid she’d been wearing for our trip. I massaged her scalp as I ran my fingers through her thick, dark hair. I loved her hair. Loved seeing it spread out on a pillow while I was stretched out above her. The feel of it on my thighs when she was going down on me. The weight of it in my hand when I took her from behind.

  “Mmm.” She moaned as I worked my way down her neck to her shoulders. “That feels good.”

  I slid my hands down her arms and laced my fingers between hers. I pressed my lips to her shoulder, then over the dark mark I’d made on her neck the other night. My chest tightened. I loved that she let me do that, loved that she did the same to me. I released her hands and slid mine up her stomach to cup her breasts. She was wearing plain cotton, chosen more for comfort during our trip than for sex appeal, but it didn’t matter. She was sexy no matter what she was wearing.

  The thing I liked the best about this particular bra, however, wasn’t the cut or fabric. It was the fact that it had a front clasp, which made undressing her from behind all the more appealing. My fingers made short work of the hooks, years of experience allowing me to manage all but the trickiest of women’s garments with little thought. My hands caressed the soft skin as it was exposed and I used my teeth to pull first one strap, then the other, off her shoulders.

  She took in a shuddering breath as my fingers gently rubbed over her hardening nipples. I’d been rough with them during our vacation and I knew they were sore. Sometimes, that meant I’d be just as rough, drawing out gasps of painful pleasure as I pulled on them, but not tonight.

  My hands dropped to her waist, quickly undoing the button and zipper to her jeans. I didn’t take them off, though, not quite yet. I wrapped one arm high around her waist, my hand covering one breast. The other hand, I slid beneath the waistband of her pants and then beneath her white cotton panties.

  “DeVon.” She moaned my name as my fingers slipped between her folds.

  My cock hardened. Damn. I loved hearing her say my name like that. It was as good as when she screamed it.

  I rubbed my fingers on either side of her clit, putting just the right amount of pressure on that little bundle of nerves. A shiver ran the full length of her body. I began to make small circles across the top of her clit, smiling as Krissy’s body began to jerk against mine.

  “I love how you respond to me,” I murmured. I sucked her earlobe into my mouth, nibbling on it as I continued my ministrations to her clit. It didn’t take long for her to make the breathless little sounds that I knew meant she was close to coming. “I’ve got you,” I whispered in her ear as she let herself go.

  Her body stiffened and I could feel the tips of my fingers getting wet as she soaked her panties. She made a frustrated noise as I pulled my hand out of her pants. I reached up and brushed a finger across her lips. Her mouth opened automatically and I slid my fingers inside. My eyes closed as she began to suck her juices from my fingers, each pull going straight south. Her tongue swirled around the digits in her mouth and my cock pressed painfully against my zipper.

  I took a step back, removing my fingers from her mouth and dropping my hands to her waist. I took her panties down with her jeans and helped her balance as she stepped out of them. When she was completely naked, I motioned for her to lie on the bed. She slid backwards across the comforter and leaned against the pillows. Her fingers twitched and I knew she wanted to touch herself, but she wouldn’t do it, not unless I gave her permission. I smiled at her and removed my clothes, dropping them on the floor with hers.

  Without a word, I crawled up the bed, loving the way she watched me, how her gaze caressed every inch of my body. She licked her lips and I groaned. I’d gotten head from a lot of women, but no one else’s mouth had felt like hers. Soft velvet heat. Wet, flexible tongue. I was too big around for most women to take all the way to the base, but she did it, sometimes holding herself there until I lost control and spilled down her throat. She was the only woman who’d ever been able to make me lose control.

  I spread her legs and stretched out between them. I always made sure she came at least twice, even if I spent hours edging her, making her wait and beg for relief. I wasn’t going to do that tonight. Neither was I going to torture her with multiple orgasms, forcing her to climax over and over until she pleaded with me to stop. As much as I enjoyed doing both of those things, tonight I was keeping it simple.

  I lowered my head and ran my tongue along the sensitive skin that glistened with evidence of her release. She moaned, her hands brushing through my hair as I began to make love to her with my mouth. I dipped my tongue inside her before moving up to her clit. I wrapped my lips around it, sucking gently while flicking the tip of my tongue across it. She tugged on my hair, sending signals that should’ve been pain but were more pleasure racing from my scalp.

  My cock throbbed, begging me to bury myself inside her, to thrust into her tight, wet heat until I exploded. I ignored it. She came first.

  Her hips bucked up against my mouth but I kept the slow, steady rhythm. Long, broad strokes with the flat of my tongue. Deep explorations. Firm pressure on her clit. And then she was coming, crying out my name and pushing my face harder against her. I let her ride out her orgasm, coaxing every last drop of pleasure from her until her hands fell away.

  I crawled up her body, our bodies barely touching until I settled between her legs. I propped myself up on my elbows so that my full weight wasn’t on her. She looked up at me and wrapped her legs around my waist so that her heels rested on the backs of my knees. Our eyes met and I surged forward. Her mouth opened in a silent cry, her pussy spasming around my cock as I filled her. She was still my perfect fit. Tight enough that the sensation of entering her that first time was always intense, but not so much so that it was a fight to get inside her. I gave her a moment, and then began to move.

  My strokes were deep, but slow, and I didn’t rush, didn’t pound into her until she was writhing beneath me. As our bodies moved together, I lowered my head until my mouth covered hers. My tongue pushed between her lips, mimicking the movements below. Her tongue curled around mine even as she wrapped her arms around me, pulling me down against her.

  Our bodies were flush together as I thrust into her, rubbing against her clit with every stroke. Her nails dug into my back and I felt her body begin to shake. I broke the kiss, wanting to see her face when she came. Her eyes were dark and wild, a brown that was almost black. Her skin was flushed, her lips swollen from my kiss. They parted and she cried out, her back arching as she came. Her pussy squeezed my cock almost painfully and I pressed my face against the side of her throat, calling out her name as pleasure rushed through me. My hips jerked against her as my cock pulsed and emptied deep inside her.

  We lay there for a moment, our breath hot and heavy against each other’s skin. I could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the rhythm complementing my own. We both shuddered as I slid out of her, and I had to take a moment before I could get to my feet. I headed into the bathroom to clean up and returned with a damp cloth. She was already half-asleep as I gently wiped her off. When I finished, I tossed the washcloth into the hamper and then slid Krissy under the sheets before climbing under myself. I pulled her close, her back against my chest, and she was asleep before we’d even fully settled.

  I kissed her temple and tightened my hold. I’d never imagined that my life could be so perfect.

  Chapter 6

  DeVon

  I woke up about a half an hour before my alarm would’ve gone off and it took me a minute to realize why. Krissy wasn’t in bed next to me. She was in the bathroom and I could hear her getting sick.

  Concern broke through the fog of sleep surrounding me and I climbed out of bed.

  “Babe,” I called softly as I headed for the bathroom. “You okay?” I always thought that was a stupid question to ask someone who was obviously throwing up, but I couldn’t really think of anythin
g else to ask.

  “Yeah.”

  I winced at the reply. Krissy was the kind of person who hated to show weakness, even when sick, so she’d never admit how bad she felt, but I could hear it in her voice. Still, I knew she wouldn’t want me just barging in, and she’d be honest if she needed my help or not. Yet another of the ways the two of us worked well together.

  “Do you want me to come in?”

  “No,” she sighed. “Not really anything you can do.”

  “Do you want me to call off and stay home with you?”

  “No.”

  The toilet flushed and then I heard running water. I waited. A couple minutes later, the door opened. She was pale, her hair a mess from sleep, but she was still the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. She pulled on her robe and gave me a weak smile.

  “I think it was a combination of airplane food and jet lag,” she said. “Just give me a couple hours of sleep and I’ll be good to go.”

  I kissed her forehead, but didn’t try to help her into bed. I’d learned last December not to do that unless she asked. She hated being coddled when she was sick.

  I glanced at the clock as she settled back against the pillows with another sigh. “I’m going to go ahead in early if you don’t want me to stay.”

  “That’s fine,” she said. Her eyes were already closed. “I might be a little late.”

  “Get some rest,” I said. “Call me if you’re not coming in so I don’t worry.”

  She nodded. “Love you.”

  I smiled even though she couldn’t see it. “I love you, too. Feel better.”

  I didn’t wait for a response because I knew she was already asleep. I headed into the bathroom to shower. She was still sleeping when I came out and I checked on her again before I left. I really hoped this was exactly what she said it was. I hated seeing her sick even more than I hated being sick myself. And it wasn’t just because I didn’t want her to be miserable.