Starlet

“Oh, bondage.” A delicious tingle of anticipation swept through her. She was wet and loving every second of it. “I can play that game.” Collette smoothed her hands along the champagne-hued satin gown she wore. The v-neck plunged nearly to her navel and she knew the hard peaks of her nipples showed prominent through the fabric.

Why hadn’t she seen him before? How could she have missed him? “He’s a good man to tie down,” she said.

“He’s bedding a loon. One of the songbirds here – Pearl, Paris, P something. Last time one of my starlets went after Grant, her face got mauled up by that little bird.” Retta’s dark eyes were serious on hers, all drama gone. “Your looks are far too valuable to tempt fate. Besides,” she added and signaled to Eddie the bartender for another drink. Collette looked on in shock. “I really do like you.”

Absurdly, that touched Collette, but he was simply too good to turn away from. She knew their sex together would be explosive and couldn’t wait to try him out.

“Just once, Retta. Let me see for myself if he’s worth the risk.” Collette started to move away from her dark-haired friend when she felt a hand land on her arm.

“Darling, enjoy the ride, but know when to abandon the wheels.”

“I always do,” Collette winked as she proceeded toward Grant.
Halfway through the throng of groping hands, Bobby Lakes stepped in front of her. An old friend, one of her first in Hollywood, Bobby loved music as well as the perks of acting.

“Beautiful!” His hands gripped her shoulders as he kissed her soundly on the lips. Though his palms were smooth, the fingers of his right hand were roughened from long hours of playing. “I was just going to ask Grant to let us studio pounders grab a hold of the brass. You want to belt out a number with us?”

“You know Grant?” she asked. Did everyone know him but her? What was this world coming to?

“There ain’t many this brass fiddler don’t know.” Bobby flipped his horn with a grin at her.

“Introduce me, will you?”

“Not that you need an intro, but sure, pretty lady.” With that, and a shrug that showed he never understood her anyway, Bobby pushed aside everyone who stood between them and Grant.

Collette stopped just as Bobby got Grant’s attention and he was turning to face her. She grazed her eyes up his body in the naturally sultry way that had landed her the lead in Goddess. It was the kind of look that left no room for misunderstanding. From the get go, she made sure he knew exactly what she wanted from him – and how she wanted him. The rapt attention on his face confirmed she had conveyed her desire.

“Hello.” His voice was husky, rough, but held a tinge of sophistication. It raced along her nerves and Collette repressed a shiver of need.

“Grant, this is a pal of mine, Collette Morel.” Bobby glanced up to the stage as the performers vacated. “Now that the floor is clear, mind if we go up and get in some licks on the brass?”

“Go ahead.” Grant said without taking his eyes off her. She felt Bobby move next to her but didn’t look at him.

“Collette, you coming?” Bobby asked as his feet jittered.
“No.” She smiled but didn’t turn away from Grant. “Go without me.”
“Holler if you wanna join in.” Bobby vanished into the crowd without another word.

“So,” Collette started, “you’re the owner of this deliciously depraved dungeon?”

“Guilty,” he responded as he stepped closer. He was taller than her, much taller even with her heels. Instead of making her feel small, it made her emboldened. “Is there anything I can do to enhance your visit?”

“I can think of any number of…things.” Collette parted her lips and wet them slightly. His eyes dipped from hers to her lips, then back, darkening. If she hadn’t watched him so intently she might’ve missed it. “However.” She dropped her voice though Bobby had began playing and the noise level intensified. Grant obliged her and shifted closer. She didn’t touch him but wanted to. Not yet. “My understanding is there’s a big ol’ taken sign tattooed on your chest?”

“Your information is incorrect,” he said and laughed, a low enticing sound that promised to fulfill all her wants. “That tattoo was removed long ago.” The heat reflected in his eyes matched her own.

“Good,” she said flatly. “Then I am not too late.”

With a wolfish grin, he offered his arm, gesturing to the back of the club. “Would you care for a private tour of my office?”

She raised her eyebrow at his line, but didn’t comment on it. In fact, the look on his face suggested he didn’t care one way or another whether she agreed or not. It intrigued her – she was used to men fawning over her every breath, and this was different. The heat in his eyes, however, never diminished and she wanted to feel that. To be scorched by it.

“I’d love to see what a bootlegger and corruptor of young innocents uses as an office.”

Taking his arm, Collette followed Grant through the gaggle of bodies, most of whom tried to get their attention, many of whose hands wandered along either or both of their bodies. None of whom were successful. He nodded to the massive Chinaman guarding the door and led her inside.

The office was larger than she’d anticipated. Posh, with silk-covered couches, a large carved mahogany desk and even a fireplace, it wasn’t at all something she imagined the smoky exterior to boast. The room looked to be right out of the studio’s top-notch art design department. “Nicer than I’d imagined.”

“I spend most of my time here. Might as well be comfortable,” he answered before pouring two drinks from a decanter he had on his desk.
His large hands cupped the crystal gently, and Collette knew her arousal was far too pressing to waste any more time on preliminaries. She wanted to feel those hands on her. Coming up behind him as he finished pouring the drinks, she slipped her hands under the lapels of his jacket. “You look much to warm in this. Why don’t we discard it?”
A wicked grin crossed her lips as he let go of the glass and allowed her to remove the jacket. Running her hands over broad shoulders and back, she pressed against him and nipped the side of his neck.
“Indeed,” he responded.

Tossing the jacket away, Collette moved her arms under his to unbutton his shirt. She wanted to see him as she stripped him, but this would do equally well. For now. “Men usually say to me,” she whispered against his ear, “‘when I saw you I wanted you.’ Now I know how they feel.”

Grant turned, leaned back against his desk as he pulled the shirt from his pants to reveal a bare chest. “You’re stunning,” he said, eyes sweeping over her body. “And making me so incredibly hard.”
“That’s the point.” Collette knew the grin she sent him was wicked and full of all the things she wanted to do to him. Leaning closer, she whispered, “I wanna play.”

He tangled his hand in her silky hair, pulled her to him and into an open-mouthed kiss. Their kisses were ravenous, devouring. She felt her nipples tighten further, her core seep moisture. Rubbing against him, she moaned. Pulling from the kiss, Collette smoothed her fingers over his mouth and moved to kiss his neck, suckle on the pulse point.
Trailing kisses down his body, little suckles over his Adam’s apple, down his chest in a straight line, she crouched. Smoothing her hands down his thighs, she kissed his belt buckle, then the bulge in his pants, his thigh, even his knee. Coming to rest on her haunches, she pulled each sock and shoe free, then gazed up with her most predatory expression.

“I may explode just from that look,” Grant growled. His hands were fists at his sides but he let her have her fun and didn't try to pull her back to him.

“Oh, no.” The smile never shifted and her eyes never left his. “I need you ripe and ready for me. I want to feel every delicious inch of you.”

Collette stood and stepped back, making certain he could see her clearly. Reaching behind herself, she swiftly unbuttoned the few fastenings holding the gown in place. A moment later, with a swish of sound, the lustrous material pooled at her feet. Stepping out from the circle of fabric, wearing only her pale gold ankle-strapped heels, she sauntered to him.