But sex has never felt as good as that before.
Theneedthat had overcome me the second our lips touched had been inescapable, and I’d known the burning underneath my skin wouldn’t ease until I’d made her come.
Did I still need to be touching her?No.
Was I going to stop? Alsono.
She looked too good to resist.Wild blond waves framed her face, flushed cheeks, and slightly parted, swollen pink lips.
And thenhehad to go and ruin it. I narrowed my eyes at Mark, wondering why the fuck he was in our dressing room rightnow.
But he just glared at Matilda, his lip curling up in disgust. “What was that out there?” he demanded.
My hand halted mid-stroke on her calf. I didnotlike the tone he took withher.
“What do you mean?” Matilda fiddled with the hem of her sweatshirt.
“You know what I mean.”
“Mark, please, can we just leave this—”
“No. You embarrassed me in front of the whole channel. Everyone knows that we were together, and you’re just rubbing—”
Her eyes widened, the color draining from her cheeks. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“I’m not sure if your eyes work, buddy. ButIkissedMatilda,not the other way around. She didn’t do anything,” I interjected. He narrowed his gaze before disregarding me completely.
“The channel is going to be pissed, too, so well done for that.” He changed tactics. It was clear as day he had zero ammunition other than being a territorial asshole. My fingers twitched against Matilda’s legs, itching to hit something.
“And why would the channel care? It will probably help their ratings,” I stated.
His face flushed a deep red, while his hands clenched at his sides. He’d clearly expected to find Matilda here, toss out some half-baked accusations, and rely on her guilt to do the rest.
“This is a family-friendly show. We don’t need viewerscomplaining because she’s”—he glared at Matilda—“acting like a whore.”
This douche had better be joking.I sat up straighter, holding his gaze.
“You speak to her like that again and I won’t be so fucking civil with you.”
He laughed humorlessly, shaking his head at my comment but keeping his eyes trained on Matilda. “You’ve got yourself a new defender now?”
Matilda swung her legs off me and rose from the sofa. I followed, offering my silent support.
“What’s wrong with you? Are you actually calling me a whore because wekissed? We’re not even together anymore, Mark. Why do you care?”
Pride welled up inside of me. She was standing up tohim.
He barked out a short laugh. “Because I write your paychecks. You have to do what I say.”
Heat flared in my chest, my lips parting in disbelief at his pathetic, desperate words. Was he really stooping so low as to use that as leverage? Matilda hesitated for just a moment before pressing on. “We didn’t break any show rules, so we’re fine.”
Although her tone didn’t hold the same edge as mine, she spoke with a finality and tenacity that made mesoproud ofher.
“It might not be in your contracts, but I can get you kicked off the show faster than Luca can land himself in the headlines with yetanotherscandal. I’m not sure theDirty Dancingproducers consider being fired from a national TV show as ‘fixing your image.’ ”
That was like a bucket of ice water. We needed to tread carefully here, as neither of us could afford to be kicked off the show.
I kept my face neutral and unbothered, not wanting to give him any ammunition. Mark’s gaze flickered between us, anger flashingin his eyes when they settled on Matilda. “Or is that what you want now? Drugs and orgies?”
