Sienna used the key Toby had given her to get into his rented penthouse. The aroma of something succulent hit her as soon as she entered the apartment. Toby was in the kitchen, and she could see the table on the balcony set with candles.
“What are you doing here?” she asked. He turned from the stove and Sienna’s heart lurched. “What happened to your face?” She threw her purse on the bar and ran to him.
“It’s nothing,” he answered. He planted a kiss on the side of her head and continued sprinkling spices into the Dutch oven pot bubbling on the stove.
“You’ve got a bandage above your eye and your cheek is purple and blue. That seems like a bit more than nothing to me.”
“Don’t worry about it. I just had a talk with an old friend.”
Sienna felt her blood beginning to boil hotter than the liquid in the pot. “Toby, if you did what I think you did.”
“I told you not to worry about it. Kick off your shoes and go chill out on the couch. I’ll get you something to drink.”
This was not even close to the end of this conversation, but Sienna was too exhausted to think about arguing with him right now.
“What about Aria’s performance? Doesn’t she have two tonight?” The show had already aired in prime time, with Aria capturing nearly forty percent of the airtime.
“The second performance doesn’t start until ten o’clock,” Toby answered. “So, I decided to treat you to dinner after your long day.”
Sienna’s heart melted at the sweetness of his gesture. Draping her suit jacket over the seat of a bar stool, she sent him a tired smile. “What are you making?”
“Gumbo.”
Cue mouth watering.
“Oh God, Toby, thank you. I am so in need of comfort food right now. I’ve been on my feet all day.”
“I heard.”
“I’ve made more promises than I could ever hope to keep. Aria had better be up to this.”
“Don’t worry about Aria. Now, sit down.” Toby motioned toward the sofa. A minute later, he came from the kitchen with a glass of white wine and handed it to her. He sat on the other end of the sofa, pulled her feet onto his lap, removed her shoes and began massaging the arch of her foot.
Eyes closed, Sienna groaned as she took a sip of wine. His thumbs felt like heaven on earth as they moved in tiny, circular motions up and down the center of her aching feet.
“Have I told you how grateful I am to have you in my life?” Toby asked.
“Hmmm,” she managed to murmur. She didn’t want to talk. She just wanted to feel.
“You are amazing, Cee Cee. The way you turned this whole thing around? I don’t know what I can ever do to repay you.”
“No payment necessary.” She lifted one eyelid. “Except for your bill to Mulholland, Davis, and French, of course.” She grinned, then closed her eyes again. “There were some scary moments today. I was sure we were going to lose all our sponsors. But, thankfully, some of them stayed on.”
“With a lot of arm twisting from you.”
She nodded, took another sip of wine. Toby continued his ministrations on her tired feet, and Sienna sunk deeper into the sofa cushions. “We’ve got to make sure Aria lives up to her new expectations. It will probably be hard for her, since it’s not her true nature to be a bad girl.”
“Well, she has no choice now.”
“She did make this bed upon which she must now lie—pun very much intended,” Sienna said. “And, of course, everyone will be looking to see if Isaac Payton is lying in it with her.”
Toby growled. “Don’t mention Payton.”
She raised one eyebrow. “You better hope he doesn’t press charges.”
“He won’t.”
He trailed the heel of his hand up her foot in a strong, sure swipe. Sienna moaned.
“I don’t want to talk about any of this anymore,” she said. “I just want you to rub my feet until I fall asleep. Wake me up when it’s time to leave for the club.”
She finished off her wine, leaned back onto the throw pillow and draped one arm over her eyes. Relishing the feel of Toby’s strong fingers working over her feet, she hardly noticed when his hands moved to her ankles then to her calves. He played along her legs, moving his thumbs over her achy muscles in those sure, circular motions that should be submitted to the U.S. Patent office.
A wisp of breath caressed her jaw just before soft kisses traveled down her neck. The hand that stroked her left calf moved up to her inner thigh, gently squeezing. His other hand moved to her stomach, where Toby pulled the silk shell from the waistband of her skirt and worked his way underneath her top. He rubbed his hand over her stomach, his other inching even higher up her thigh to where the top of her stockings met skin. Toby fingered the stocking’s lacy edge as his tongue trailed a path along her collarbone.
She should stop him, but she didn’t want to. Her guard was way down tonight. And he was making her feel way too good.
“God, you’re soft,” he whispered into her ear.
“You too,” Sienna murmured.
She felt his deep chuckle rumble in his chest. “No, I’m not. I’m the complete opposite of soft.”
“Well, your hands are soft. Your touch, that’s soft. It’s just,” she paused to yawn, “what I need.”
“I’m happy I can be what you need,” Toby whispered as his mouth came to within a breath of hers. He moved the last inch forward and captured her lips in a kiss so sweet, so gentle, it touched her deep within her soul. Sienna sighed into his mouth, breathing in his remarkable scent as his tongue pistoned in and out of her mouth. His hand moved impossibly high up her thigh, almost touching her most private possession. Then it did touch, a light feathering against her rapidly dampening panties.
A familiar panic began to rise in her throat. Sienna tried to push it down. This was Toby. He would never hurt her. He wanted to pleasure her, to make her feel good. She could trust him.
But her body and her mind were at war, and the memories of years ago were winning.
When Toby moved her panties to the side and touched her flesh, Sienna shrieked, kicking and nearly falling off the sofa in her haste to distance herself from him.
“Baby, what’s wrong?”
She looked over at him, at the concern in his eyes, and it was her undoing. The years of fear and anxiety boiled over, and she could no longer stave off the deluge of tears that overflowed after being buried for so long.
Toby hurried to her side as the sobs racked her body. He ignored her attempts to push him away, gathering her in his arms and rocking her like a frightened child.
“Sienna, talk to me, please.”
She tried, but the words caught in her throat. She had never told another soul about what had happened that night. The shame was too great. That she had allowed someone to do that to her, and in her drunken stupidity, had done nothing to stop it.
But she wanted to tell Toby. She needed to. Toby would help her past this. God, she wanted to finally get past this!
“He hurt me,” she said.
“Who?” he asked, his hands rubbing up and down her back.
“A…a boy, back when I was in school.”
Sienna felt Toby stiffen. He captured her by her shoulders and pulled her slightly away. His eyes were more intense than Sienna had ever seen them. “What happened?” he asked.
Everything spilled out of her in a rush of words she had no control over.
“It was the night of my debutante ball. I got drunk at a party and he took me behind the house into an alley. And he…he forced...” She could hardly talk as the memories came flooding back. His rancid tongue being stuffed down her throat. His rough fingers pushing up into her body. If she had not broken away from him, the damage he would have done would have been so much worse.
“You were raped?” Toby asked, his voice low and deadly.
Sienna shook her head. “He never got that far. I got away before he could do that, but, oh God, Toby he still hurt me.” She grabbed onto his shoulders as the tears continued to flow like a dam had burst behind her eyes. “I was so scared. He held me against the building and forced me to kiss him. Then he tore away my dress and used his fingers to…”
“To rape you,” Toby said.
“It wasn’t—”
“It was rape, Sienna. Son of a bitch.” His anguish-filled voice rented the air. “Why didn’t you tell me about this?”
“How could I? You were gone. You’d already left to become the big basketball star. I didn’t have anyone I could tell.”
“You mean he got away with this?”
“I tried to tell my mother, but she wouldn’t listen.” Sienna hiccupped. “She didn’t want to believe any of her friends had children who could do something like this.”
A torrent of curses came from Toby in a barely controlled rush. “I can’t believe you’ve been living with this all these years.” He grabbed hold of her and held on tight. “I am so sorry.” He kissed her temple, smoothing her hair back from her face. “I’m sorry you’ve had to deal with this by yourself. And I’m sorry you got stuck with Sylvia as your mother. She doesn’t deserve the daughters God gave her.”
“Well, maybe Tosha,” Sienna choked through a teary giggle.
Toby shook his head. “Even Tosha is too good for her. And stop trying to make light of this.”
“I’m not,” Sienna said. “Well, maybe a little. It makes it easier to deal with.”
“Who was it?” Toby asked. “Who?” he asked again when she didn’t say anything.
“It doesn’t matter.” Sienna shook her head. “You’ve done enough fighting for today. Besides, this is my battle to fight.”
“The hell it is. You’ve been fighting it by yourself long enough.”
“No, I’ve been running. I’m not going to do that anymore.”
“Tell me who—”
“Toby.” She put her fingers to his lips. “Please, let’s not talk about this anymore.”
His reluctance to let it go was palpable, but he remained quiet. He held her, rocking her back and forth in his arms while he continued to run his hand along her hair and down her back.
The sense of relief at finally letting go of the secret that had haunted her all these years made Sienna weak. It was amazing how instantaneous the weight lifted from her shoulders. To have her best friend, her soon-to-be lover, here to comfort her was more than Sienna could have ever asked for. She could not remember a time when she’d felt so safe, like nothing could ever get to her.
And she felt free. Free to experience all the things she had not allowed herself to feel all these years. She was ready to experience them with Toby.
“Toby?”
“Hmm?” he murmured, still rubbing her back.
“I’ve never been with anybody before,” Sienna admitted in a hushed tone. “You know, intimately.”
His hand paused for a moment, then resumed with soothing strokes. “That’s understandable after what you went through. I would expect being intimate is the last thing you’d want.”
“Don’t take that to mean I’m completely ignorant about sex. I’ve mastered the art of self-gratification. I’m sure I’ve had more orgasms than many of my married friends,” she sniffed through a tearful laugh. “But I’m ready to learn what it’s like to really be with a man. We have to take things slow,” she quickly cautioned.
Toby remained silent. Sienna could feel the beating of his heart escalate as her head rested against his chest. She wanted to say something, but with his silence ringing so loudly throughout the room, Sienna figured she’d said enough.
“I told you before I would never do anything you didn’t want me to do.”
Relief washed over her like the last big tidal wave after a raging sea storm. “You’re willing to take your time?”
He captured her face in his hands and nudged her chin so he could look her in the eyes. “However long it takes.”
She smiled up at him, pressed her face into his open palm. “Then can you please show me what the big deal is when it comes to sex. In my experience, it’s awful.”
His smoky eyes were intense, almost scary. “Forget what you’ve experienced. Put it out of your mind and never think about it again.”
A wan smile broke across her face at his words, and she nodded. But Sienna knew she would never truly forget. That night was permanently etched into her brain, the fear a part of her soul.
But, just maybe, Toby could help her create a new memory, one that could push the other into a dark, unreachable corner of her mind.
“The first and most important lesson,” Toby said, “is the kiss. When you can get just as much pleasure from a simple kiss as most people get from an entire night of lovemaking, then you know you’re doing something right.”
He captured her lips. Slowly, expertly, he moved his mouth over hers, parting her lips with his tongue and ravishing the inside of her mouth. His tongue traveled with a persistent knowledge that caused Sienna’s body to tense with anticipation. Warm and reassuring, his tongue invaded her mouth. The rhythm was intoxicating, in and out, then around and around his tongue swirled.
Sienna felt the pressure begin to build deep in her belly as Toby showered her with fevered kisses.
“The next thing you have to do,” he whispered, “is learn how to accept my touch.”
He trailed his fingertips along her arm; a light dusting upon her skin. As Toby’s mouth returned to hers, Sienna lost the ability to concentrate. She couldn’t decide which to pay attention to, his mouth or his hands, which had just found their way to her stomach. He pushed up the hem of her silk shell and scooped his hand under, massaging her rapidly warming skin. His hand inched closer to her breast. After the slightest hesitation, he finally captured her breast in his palm.
Sienna moaned.
“Are you okay with this?” Toby asked.
“Yes,” Sienna managed as stars danced behind her closed eyelids. His attention felt so good.
“Can I go a little further?”
She nodded. She felt Toby shift under her, and she opened her eyes. “What are you doing?” she murmured.
“Just trust me.” He’d grabbed two of the throw pillows from the other end of the couch. “Pick your head up a bit.” He fitted the pillows under her, freeing the arm that he’d used to cradle her head against the arm of the sofa.
He gently pushed her shoulders down. “You have to do three things for me.”
“What’s that?” Sienna ignored the tremor of panic that tried to surface. This was Toby. She had no reason to be afraid.
“Close your eyes, relax your body, and trust me,” he said.
She would trust him. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt her, or scare her. He wouldn’t do anything she didn’t allow him to do.
Yes, she would trust him. She would trust him to give her the kind of pleasure she’d always dreamed of receiving from a man. If any man could do that for her, it was Toby. Sienna took a deep breath, loosened the muscles in her arms and legs, and closed her eyes.
“I’m yours,” she said, turning her body over to him. “Do with me as you will.”
She felt Toby shudder underneath her. “Make sure I’m the only man you ever say those words to.”
“I promise,” Sienna laughed. “Now get to work.”
Be careful what you wish for. The old saying taunted her once again.
She’d wished for pleasure, but what she got was so far beyond anything her mind could ever conjure. Sienna wasn’t sure she could survive much more. Using nothing more than his hands, lips, and tongue, Toby turned her body inside out.
He kissed her from the tip of her head and up and down each arm, paying special attention to the sensitive spots at her wrists and the inside of her elbows. He nipped his way up her neck as his hands played over her breasts. Without a word spoken between them, they mutually decided it was time for her top to go. Once he’d rid her of her silk shell and she lay before him in nothing but her lace bra, skirt and stockings, Toby took a few moments just to stare at her.
“You are one of the sexiest women I’ve ever seen.”
Sienna laughed at the awe she heard in his voice. “If you sound any more amazed, I’m going to be more disappointed than flattered.”
“I just never imagined you would look like this. You are incredible.”
There wasn’t a woman she knew who wouldn’t love to hear those three words spoken with such sincerity.
“Thank you,” Sienna answered, just as sincere.
She needed to hear his praise just as much as she needed to feel the pleasure he was lavishing upon her. Probably more. After her mother’s years of neglect, having someone tell her she was amazing and actually mean it meant more to Sienna than Toby could possibly know. And to have someone pay attention to her body, to want to make her feel all the incredible sensations he created, was enough to make her weep.
Toby trailed his fingers along the scalloped edges of her bra as he dipped his head for another kiss. Sienna was aware of his other hand that had found its way to her knee. He rubbed it, then smoothed his palm over her thigh. His tongue pushed its way into her mouth while his hand moved her bra to the side, exposing her sensitized breasts to the cool air. The other hand moved further under her skirt, squeezing her inner thigh.
His tongue plunged in and out, over and over. His fingers played with her nipples, the pad of his thumb moving in hurried circles, forcing the nub into a hard pebble.
“Toby,” Sienna sighed, clenching her hands at her sides. The pressure building within her escalated with each sweep of his tongue.
Toby dipped his head to her other breast and pulled her nipple into his mouth. His tongue swirled around the diamond hard bud. He closed his lips over the tip and pulled, then opened his mouth and sucked her nipple into its warmth.
“Oh, God. Toby, please.” Sienna didn’t know what she was begging for, but she needed something to happen. Her body was on the brink of exploding.
But Toby would not be deterred. He continued his sensual assault, teasing her body with his teeth and tongue, licking a path from the feverish skin between her breasts down to her belly button, then back up again. Sienna tried to breathe past the tightening in her chest. It was almost painful, but the pleasure Toby’s skillful mouth summoned overrode any protest her mind thought to utter.
Toby raised his head long enough to ask, “Are you still okay?”
“Yes,” Sienna cried out.
“Good,” came his muffled reply as he nipped at her throat, “Because this is where it gets really good.”
Sienna didn’t think anything could possibly feel better than what he was doing. Until his fingers moved her panties to the side and slipped inside of her.
Her body bowed at the sensation, all-consuming in its intensity.
“Oh. My. God.”
“Shhh,” Toby whispered.
Sienna’s eyes rolled back in her head. At the moment, her entire reason for existing centered on experiencing the pleasure radiating from the core of her body. With confident strokes, Toby’s fingers glided in and out of her while the pad of his thumb massaged the tight bundle of nerves that screamed for his touch.
His mouth on her breasts, his fingers expert motion; it was too much to withstand. Sienna ebbed and flowed along the river of sensation, cresting with the intense wave of desire as she cried out, her body trembling.
She tried to remember where she was as she came down from the sensual high.
“That was pretty amazing,” Sienna said with a satisfied purr. She opened her eyes to find Toby staring down at her. She couldn’t interpret the expression on his face. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because that was pretty amazing,” he answered after taking a deep breath.
“I don’t think I can move,” Sienna admitted.
A smile drew across Toby’s face. “You don’t have to. Stay here. Sleep. I’m going to get ready for Aria’s second performance.”
Sienna sighed. “I’ll get ready in a minute.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Toby answered. “You’ve had a long day. You need to rest.”
Sienna wouldn’t argue. It would take another hour before she could make herself get up from the sofa. She felt a blanket being drawn upon her, but in another minute she was asleep.
***
Jonathan tried to get control of himself as he practically dragged Ivana from the car, but she seemed all too willing to let herself be led astray by his eagerness as she hurried behind him. As soon as they were inside, he penned her against the door and claimed her lips. Once he’d convinced her to just allow this to happen, she’d let her guard down completely and turned into the willing woman that came to him in his dreams. Gone was uptight Ivana. She’d been replaced by a woman who knew what she wanted, and wasn’t afraid to tell him.
He stripped off his jacket and began unbuttoning his shirt, all while still kissing her. Ivana followed suit, pulling away from him only long enough to pull her top over her head.
“No bra,” Jonathan groaned.
“I never wear one,” Ivana told him. She pulled her skirt and panties off in one motion.
A tortured tightness drew across his chest. “Woman, you are going to kill me.”
“Not until you make me come at least twice,” she asserted, kicking her shoes off.
“I’ve got a brand new box of condoms in the bedroom. I’m going for a dozen times.”
“Fine with me,” she said as he pulled her to him. Jonathan picked her up and Ivana wrapped her legs around his waist. They attacked each other with frenzied kisses as he carried her to his bedroom.
Once there Jonathan deposited her on the bed and went to the waistband of his pants, but Ivana stopped him.
“Let me do this,” she said, pushing his hand to the side.
Jonathan surrendered himself over to her. “Have at it, baby.”
She knelt before him on the bed, worked the belt free from the buckle and slid it through the loops. She unfastened his pants and hungrily pulled the zipper down, then pulled his pants and silk boxers down his thighs.
He needed to be on that bed. Now. But when he tried to join her there, Ivana halted his progress.
“Not yet,” she said. “I want to do something else.”
Before Jonathan could figure out what she was up to, she cupped him in her hands and pulled him into her mouth.
His knees buckled.
Throwing his head back, he groaned, shoving his hand in her hair and holding onto her head. His entire body began to tremble with the incredible sensations shooting through his bloodstream as Ivana licked up and down the length of him. Jonathan pulled away from her before she sent him completely over the edge.
“What’s the matter?” she asked.
He shook his head. “It’s time for me to take over.”
The smile that curved the corners of her mouth was so damn delicious Jonathan had to stop himself from charging onto the bed. Instead, he went for the slow, seductive route. After waiting all this time for a taste of her, he was determined to relish every single minute of this.
Ivana lay back on the bed, waves of wild, luxurious hair fanned across his pillow. It was a picture straight out of his dreams.
“God, I want you,” he breathed.
“I want you, too,” she said.
Stepping out of the pants that were still around his ankles, Jonathan grabbed a condom from his dresser and covered himself. Then he crawled up the bed and nestled his body into her incredible softness.
“I think it’s about time we give each other what we both want.”
***
Toby stood in the background, as far away from the crowded stage as he could get. It was a blessing straight from heaven that Aria’s tangling with Isaac had not blown up in their faces. Instead, the incident had written Aria’s ticket to superstardom.
Toby had just learned that while he had been teaching Sienna the various uses of the human tongue, Isaac Payton had ended his silence, making a statement about what had really happened Wednesday night. In an exclusive interview with a local reporter, Isaac admitted he’d taken advantage of a slightly drunken Aria. He also confessed that while the rendezvous did not go any further than the embrace the cameras had captured, he would be there with his hat in hand if the future star ever decided to give him the time of day.
The story had been picked up by every legitimate, tabloid and entertainment news network around the country, and Aria’s online votes had skyrocketed. She would probably take up tomorrow night’s entire episode.
By humbling himself before the nation, Isaac had just secured Aria’s future. Winning the competition wasn’t a necessity anymore. Hell, if it wasn’t for the contract he’d signed, Toby could pull her out of the show and Aria would still be at the center of everyone’s conversation.
Reign Supreme, the hip hop club where Aria was performing tonight, had reached capacity limit, and the line still stretched outside the door with people hoping to get a glimpse of the music world’s newest star.
Toby’s cell phone rang. He’d had fifteen voicemails from the biggest record labels and movie executives in the business. Word got around fast in this industry. He pulled his phone out and checked the screen.
Ah, no record executive here.
“You’re awake,” he said by way of greeting.
“I think I am,” came Sienna’s lazy reply.
Toby inched out of a side door to get away from the clamor of the crowd, who still waited anxiously for Aria to take the stage for her second performance.
“It was hard to leave you sleeping there,” he said.
“Why didn’t you wake me before leaving for the club?”
“You didn’t need to worry about making it out here tonight. You’ve done more than enough for one day. The turnout is amazing,” Toby said, gazing back toward the crowd still trying to push their way into the capacity-filled club’s front doors. “You turned all of this around, Sienna. I still don’t know how I’m going to repay you for what you’ve done.”
“You did a couple of hours ago.”
Toby laughed at the sultry amusement in her voice. “I got just as much pleasure from that as you did, so I’m not sure it really counts.”
“You couldn’t have gotten nearly enough. You could still walk and talk after we were done. I was as helpless as a baby.”
“You were beautiful,” he said. And he meant it. She’d made the most breathtaking picture, stretched out on his sofa like an exhausted angel.
“Maybe we can go a little further when you come home later?” she said, her voice barely a whisper.
His stomach tightened. “Only if you’re ready.”
“I am,” she said.
Her softly spoken declaration sent a spear of heat shooting down his spine.
“How is everything going over there?” she asked. Her quick subject change caused Toby to wonder if she really was ready for what she’d suggested.
“The biggest crowd this place has ever seen,” he answered. “You probably haven’t heard about this, but Payton made a public statement earlier this evening. I hate being indebted to that bastard, but I owe him for twisting this into a positive spin. His name has a lot of clout.”
“You don’t owe Isaac Payton anything. He’s getting just as much publicity from this as Aria.”
“Yeah, but he could have made Aria look like a slut who put out for anybody. I’m surprised he didn’t do just that. It would fit his image better than making her into some innocent he took advantage of.”
“Don’t think about Payton, okay. Just be grateful that all of this is working out in our favor. Well, at least in yours and Aria’s favor. I still have no idea what Allen plans to do about this. I’m probably out of a job.”
“How can you be out of a job if you’re America’s newest sensation’s full-time publicist?” He asked as he headed for the parking lot.
“What?”
Toby dodged another set of people on their way to the club. He walked between the rows of cars parked haphazardly in the parking lot.
“Aria is the hottest thing out there. I’m going to need you full-time.”
“I don’t know, Toby. We’ll have to talk about this later,” she said.
There would be very little talking when he saw her later, but Toby decided not to mention that. It would definitely be one of those actions speak louder than words situations.
He checked his watch. “Aria should be going on in another couple of minutes. I need to get back into the club.”
“I’ll see you later.”
“You most definitely will,” Toby answered.
Sienna disconnected the line before he could say the words he really wanted to say to her. Then again, it wasn’t something he wanted to say over the phone. When he told Sienna he loved her for the first time, Toby wanted to be there to see her face.