Bad Reputation Page 10

  “So, how’d you sleep last night?” he asked, seeming to know the answer since he broke into a giant smile that crinkled his eyes. Peyton grinned. She’d never seen that boyish look on him before.

  “I didn’t,” she admitted.

  “Me neither,” Connor said, lowering his voice when one of the assistants swam near the boat. “Listen… I don’t know if you were drunk or not last night but – ”

  “I wasn’t,” Peyton interrupted. “I told you I wasn’t and I meant that.”

  “Okay. Fair. I guess I should’ve known since you didn’t come up to me this morning with some speech about how you regret everything and last night shouldn’t have happened.”

  Peyton’s lips twisted up into a smirk. “Did you anticipate that I would?”

  “All day.”

  Peyton smiled, peering out at the water to make sure that no one was watching their private conversation. “No,” she sighed, biting her lip as she stared down at her thighs. “What happened last night happened. I’m not going to try to take back the things I said or did because I meant them. At the time.” She looked up just as Connor’s eyebrows furrowed. Even his frown was alarmingly sexy.

  “So the things you said were true yesterday. How are they feeling today?”

  Peyton looked him – at the genuine curiosity in his blue-grey eyes. She never thought that it was possible for Connor Schaffer to look even the tiniest bit vulnerable. “The same,” she answered, watching him try but fail to suppress his look of relief.

  “That’s…” He nodded, squinting in the sun for a few seconds before grinning wide and letting go of a deep breath. “That’s good to hear.”

  “Yeah?” Peyton cocked her head with a smile. “Why?”

  “Because I haven’t thought about anything but you in ten hours,” Connor replied. “And I don’t think I can go one more without being able to touch you the way I did last night.”

  Peyton sucked in a sharp breath, his words launching her right back into last night’s state of hot, dizzy breathlessness. Shit. She couldn’t let the others see her like this. “Connor – ”

  “Yes or no.” He stopped her before she could start. “You told me last night that you wanted me. Do you?”

  “Yes, I want you,” Peyton exhaled as she rose from her seat in frustration. Connor followed as she escaped inside the boat.

  “Then why are you about to tell me that you can’t do this?” he asked, his voice trailing her up the stairs. Peyton clenched her jaw.

  “It’s complicated.”

  “It’s not remotely complicated,” Connor laughed straightaway. “It’s stupid and I’m sure it has to do with Kensie. She has a crush on me and you can’t have anything she wants. No, you can’t have anything she so much as thinks she wants because… I don’t fucking know, you’re holding onto some guilt over bullshit that probably wasn’t your fault to begin – ”

  “Yes, fine, you’re right,” Peyton hissed, pushing through the door that led to the room farthest from the stern of the yacht, turning as Connor shut it behind him. “It’s not my fault but it is my problem. You don’t get it. I owed my life to Russell even before I screwed up Kensie’s. What was it – I think it was two hundred-thirty grand that my mom stole from him before disappearing off the face of the Earth. It might’ve been more. Actually, it was definitely more once you factor in all the money it took to take me in, put me through school, college, buy me presents when it was my birthday. Basically act like the family I never had.”

  “Russell hardly treats you like family, he treats you like an indentured servant,” Connor said bluntly. Peyton eyebrows flashed but she tried not to let his assessment get to her.

  “Well, that’s the life my mom made for me.”

  “No, Peyton. Christ, your life isn’t something that’s already written. You’re allowed to do things to change it. Any day you can start. You just don’t because you’re too scared at this point.”

  “And you’re telling me this right now because you want to fuck me, not because you care.”

  Connor threw his hands up. “Christ, can I say anything without you throwing that in my face? Trust me, I’m not the type of guy to so much as look at a girl if I don’t give a shit about her. If I’m not getting sex from her when that’s all I want, I’m gone. That’s the asshole you read about. I don’t pretend or sugarcoat or lie. I don’t care enough to do that shit,” Connor said, his eyes fiery but freezing Peyton in place. “I’m telling you all of this because I care about you. I don’t know why but I do. You do everything in your power to be a pain in my ass but on the few occasions that you let yourself laugh around me, I can’t get enough. I really can’t. I’ve never wanted anyone more than I wanted you last night. You were so fucking… happy and you were the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen. Shit, on a regular day, you’re the most beautiful girl in a given room and that’s when you’re stressed out, anxious and panicking about something stupid Kensie did. But when you’ve got nothing else plaguing your mind, nothing to think about but yourself, you can take anybody’s breath away. And trust me, you do.”

  The hitched in Peyton’s lungs. She blinked at Connor, taking him in with his words. His handsome features were already so damned gorgeous but they were even better tinged with passion, urgency. There was a spark in his eye, a flush to his lips. His chest heaved in a way that made those deep lines of muscle ripple with every hard breath. For once, he’d abandoned his usual calm and cool. He was stripped bare before Peyton and it made her breathless, her heart beating wildly, with no regard for how her body could handle it.

  Shit. Suddenly, no matter how hard she thought of Kensie, Peyton couldn’t deny herself. She did want Connor Schaffer.

  Desperately.

  As her gaze fell to his sculpted lips, she imagined them once again on her skin. She wanted to tell him to fucking do it – to just kiss her already, but she was utterly tongue-tied.

  So instead, she moved slowly backward towards the bed, beckoning him with her eyes.

  She watched his Adam’s apple bob, the heat in his stare calming to make room for anticipation as she brought herself closer to the plush bed behind her. Once she was perched on the edge of the mattress, Connor stood still before her, his wolfish stare raking up and down her body, delivering a rush of heat to every inch of her skin. Peyton eyed him as slowly, she twisted the hem of her tank top, feeling the cool air hit her as she tugged the cotton further and further down her chest.

  “This again?” Connor feigned torment. Peyton smirked.

  “So you can continue where you left off,” she offered softly, still pulling and stretching her neckline so tight that her breasts fought against the thinning fabric, threatening to spill at any second and unleash Connor’s wildest beast.

  The second her breasts sprung free, a savage growl escaped his throat.

  Peyton gasped as Connor pushed her back on the bed, sliding one arm under her back and arching it to bring her breasts to his lips. Flicking his tongue, he teased her, drawing slow, languid circles around her tight nipple before taking her into his mouth. Peyton moaned as he sucked, his groan vibrating against her skin and prompting a deep throbbing between her legs. She squirmed, feeling so wet so fast that she could barely keep track of what was happening.

  Jesus. How was this possible? Connor’s mouth on her skin already felt better than any man had ever felt inside her. She was actually fully satisfied with that sensation alone. But then his hand reached under the skirt of her sundress. Deftly untying the side of her bikini bottom, Connor peeled it off till his fingers could trail along the slickness between her thighs. Watching her closely, he slid them gently inside of her.

  “Oh God.” Peyton gripped handfuls of the sheets, her fists pulsing and her body bucking lightly as he tunneled within her, longer and deeper with every stroke. Her back arched tighter as his mouth moved down her body, his jagged breath grazing her ribs, her stomach, her hip bones then finally, between her legs. Her jaw dropped as Connor sank to a kneel,
his free hand gently pushing her thighs apart. Peyton gasped, his hot breath hitting her in a way so tantalizing she was sure she’d go actually crazy if she had to wait another second. “More,” she pleaded, her muscles clenching as she felt the heat of his mouth coming closer and closer.

  “Tell me what you want.”

  Peyton chewed her lip, refusing to say it till he slowed even the thrust of his fingers inside her. “Connor…” she pleaded, grinding her hips.

  “Say the words, Peyton,” he murmured wickedly. “Tell me what you want from me.”

  She whimpered, resisting for another two seconds before breaking.

  “I want you lick my pussy,” Peyton begged in a tortured whisper. She thrust her hands in her hair as a groan rumbled from the depths of his chest. “Now, Connor, please,” she moaned, never so desperate in her life.

  Writhing on the bed, she heard Connor’s sexy laugh before feeling the first long, hot stroke of his incredible tongue.

  “Oh my God,” she gasped, instantly, throbbing where she’d felt him. Torment knit in her brows as she covered her own mouth with her hand, watching Connor draw back for a second to simply look at her. He wet his perfect lips, a devilish grin spreading them as he studied her pink cheeks and writhing body. One hand still pumping inside her, the other untied his trunks, releasing his hard cock from its confines. He grinned as her reaction to his size flushed immediately in her lips. Watching them quiver, he gripped his shaft and stroked slowly, soaking in the sight of her agonized pleasure. “Connor, please, more,” Peyton whispered hastily, raising her hips and tearing impatiently at the ring of crumpled sundress around her waist. But that only mesmerized his hungry eyes into staring for longer. “Connor, please. Please, it feels so good, please,” she breathed hastily. Finally, with a crooked smile, he relented.

  “Okay, baby.”

  Baby, Peyton repeated in awe just as she felt Connor’s tongue press against her swollen clit. She gasped as he began circling slowly, torturously.

  “Connor…” Peyton clamped her hands over mouth, her abs clenching as his tongue steeped her deep into a world of unbelievable pleasure. As she bucked, he held her down by the hips, keeping her still for his mouth, and lapping greedily as he pumped his fingers inside her. He moved in a rhythm, every second of his touch eliciting some kind of reaction from her.

  “Mmm.” Connor groaned against Peyton, sending an electric buzz through her body. It rippled forcefully through her, arching her back so hard that the top of her head touched the mattress. “Holy shit, Connor…” Her pleasure was tinged with panic as his tongue replaced his fingers, sliding deep inside her.

  Oh.

  My God.

  Peyton twisted the sheets. There were stars – actual stars in her vision as he brought her closer and closer toward the edge. Fuck. It felt too dangerously good, like he was going to make her scream. Every second had the last one paling in comparison, and Peyton knew it wouldn’t be long before the world shattered into a million pieces around her.

  “Connor, I… I’m think I…”

  “Come for me,” he growled before licking up the length of her pussy and sucking her clit.

  With that, his name tore from her lips, a year’s worth of ecstasy quaking in her delirious voice. Even as she came down from her bliss, she moaned, the aftershocks pulsing forcefully through her body.

  But finally, she relaxed back into the mattress, her limbs wrapping instinctively around Connor as he climbed on top of her, pressing his lips against hers and sweeping his tongue through her mouth. Exhausted, elated, Peyton kissed him back, tasting herself as she reached down to return the unimaginable pleasure he’d given her.

  Nipping his lower lip, she wrapped her hand around his rock hard shaft, feeling his breath hot against hers, growing short and ragged as she pumped him from root to tip. She loved the sound of his deep grunts and groans as she brought him closer to a finish. When it came, Peyton watched Connor clench his teeth and fall apart in her hands, practically growling as he pumped the heat of his pleasure onto her skin. Her mouth fell open as she soaked him in, almost as aroused by his climax as she had been by her own.

  When he collapsed onto his back beside her, she stretched out with a content sight, naked aside from what she’d coaxed out of him. Staring at the ceiling, Peyton bit back a smile.

  She didn’t recognize any of these sensations. She felt oddly powerful and on top of that, filled to the brim with satisfaction. As Connor began trailing his fingertips along her skin, she closed her eyes. Fuck, she cursed, realizing at once what she’d been missing for so long and what she’d never be fine without again.

  13

  The final night on the island was spent throwing an inaccurate, probably offensive, Ireland-themed dance party, as the cast would soon be flying to Dublin and Wicklow for the first week of shooting. Since they were the only green things available, all the girls wore grass skirts with their bikini tops, dancing around the bonfire and drinking dry stout. At some point, since Kyle and Jackson had both chugged a beer and performed their tragic interpretations of Irish jigs, it became a game for the girls to try and lure Connor up to do his. But he consistently declined despite their offers of cigars, beer or their own flirtatious lap dances.

  “I’m going to embrace my German side tonight,” he declared, relaxing on the oversized chair that he sat in like a king on his throne.

  “You’re three-quarters Irish!” Isabel protested. But Connor stayed put, waiting till everyone was good and drunk before he tugged on Peyton’s grass skirt as she passed him by.

  “Hi.” She cocked her head good-naturedly, trying to look unsuspicious to the others. “What’s up, party pooper?”

  “Shit, if you’re calling me a party pooper then I should really reevaluate my life,” Connor pulled harder on her skirt till she sat tepidly on the arm of his chair. “No one’s looking,” he murmured, running his fingertips along the smooth skin of her lower back. He peered up at her. “You know when they all go to Ireland, you’re going to spend the week with me at my duplex,” he said, as if that were some fun fact she happened not to know.

  “Really,” Peyton lifted an eyebrow, amused. “How do you know I’m not going to Ireland too?”

  “Because Russell’s going to babysit Kensie and I saw that your name wasn’t on the flight.”

  “Okay then, Sherlock. But why aren’t you going to Ireland?” she countered, trying to keep the subject far from New York and Connor’s duplex. His place attracted more paparazzi than Kensie and her friends did on a Friday night. The last thing she needed was to be spotted there. “You’re the writer. Don’t they need you?”

  “The scenes they’re filming there are short. They won’t need rewrites. And I need a vacation because when they get back I’ll be going to all these frilly events and premieres that I normally keep a very safe distance from.”

  “Why?”

  “Your uncle. I said I’d take Kensie and talk about the movie here and there. Plant the seeds of publicity.”

  “Mm. Fun stuff.”

  “Yeah.”

  Peyton dug her toes in the sand. “I wish I could go to Ireland. I mean not with these guys,” she clarified with a laugh. “Just someday. To travel without Kensie. Not that I don’t love her I just – ”

  “You know you don’t have to explain to me.”

  “Right. Forgot.”

  Connor leaned back in his chair, gazing at the grass that cascaded around Peyton’s smooth, tanned thighs. He reached to touch them for a second but snatched his hand back as if suddenly remembering that they could be seen. “So, if you could go anywhere right now, where would it be?”

  “Tuscany.”

  “That was fast. Why?”

  “Sunflowers.”

  Connor laughed. “Okay then.”

  Peyton flashed him a look. “You don’t know how beautiful sunflowers are until you’re standing in a field of them and there’s nothing but sunflowers for as far as you can see. In every direction,” she
said, her voice dreamier than she meant to let it sound. “It’s like you’re surrounded by a million baby suns.”

  “I believe that’s why they’re called sunflowers.”

  Peyton rolled her eyes. “Fuckin’ Connor. I hate you.”

  He broke into big grin, visibly charmed despite her words. Head cocked, he sat forward. “Tell me why you love sunflowers.”

  “I don’t know. I had sunflower wallpaper in my room growing up.”

  Connor was dubious. “That’s it? Didn’t you ever get to see a field of them?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  Peyton narrowed her eyes at him, wondering if he actually cared. “I don’t… really tell this story often,” she murmured, feeling it come forward from the very back of her head.

  She had good memories of sunflowers when she didn’t think too far about the anecdote behind them. But as she gazed at Connor and his handsome, surprisingly undivided attention, she found her lips starting to explain away.

  “Okay, well. When I was nine, we went to Tuscany because my Aunt Bree said she and Russell would pay for my mom and me, so of course my mom jumped on that opportunity. But I got sick when I got there. It was just the flu but I spent the whole week in the villa with the nanny and sometimes Kensie if my aunt let her stay home to keep me company. So on the last day, since I was finally feeling a bit better, everyone told me to pick where we all would go. And I said the sunflower fields,” Peyton said, finishing her story with a shrug. Connor gave her an odd smile.

  “That’s it?” he asked. “And then what?”

  “And then I saw the flowers and they were beautiful. And I ran through them with my arms stretched out and sat in the middle of the field for an hour with Kensie while our parents got bored and hung out in the car.” Peyton laughed, looking down at her wiggling toes when she thought about how happy and carefree she and Kensie were back then. They still played board games and neither even had a phone yet. It would be another few years before they started caring about boys. Peyton shrugged. “It was just so bright and beautiful. I still think it’s gotta be physically impossible for someone to stand in a sunflower field and not be happy.”