BETRAYED: A Hollywood Alpha Billionaire Romance (Los Angeles Lights Book 3) Page 3

  “What is it?” I asked while tears filled my eyes. “Please, tell me everything is okay right now. I don't think I can handle any more horrible news.”

  Zack slowly looked up from his phone, his mouth pressed in a thin line and his face grim with anger. The eyes that were once filled with passion just moments ago were now fiery with rage, the sight of them putting me on edge instantly. I gripped my phone tighter. I knew this wasn't just bad news. Whatever he was told had put him into a terrifying internal frenzy and he was stifling it as much as possible so he wouldn't explode. I watched him toss his phone into the fireplace where the embers immediately began to melt the plastic, the phone case curling back slowly as it dissolved. The smell filled the room and made me gag.

  “I have to go for a run,” said Zack flatly.

  “Please, tell me what happened,” I implored. “Maybe I can brainstorm a solution while you're running.”

  At the suggestion, Zack's eyes softened. He lowered his head, squeezed his eyes shut, and weakly walked over to plant his face into my shoulder. He heaved a sob briefly before sitting back up and kissing my forehead.

  “You are too good to me,” he whispered. “And I regret so much having ever been involved with Rita. She is a manipulative and sick creature who will do just about anything to hog her fifteen minutes of fame. I wish I never knew her.”

  Although it was relieving to hear these words, I was also saddened by them. Zack was stricken with grief over this past relationship and he was still cutting the strings that she persisted to sew between them. I ran my fingers through his matted hair.

  “What has she done?” I asked even though I wasn't sure I was prepared to know.

  “She's kept a copy of our tape and is threatening to post a screen shot of it on her blog if we don't return immediately. She's breached our agreement. I am so...”

  Zack's words trailed off as he growled angrily. I took a step back. Immediately remorseful, he took my hands in his and pleaded with his eyes for me not to pull away.

  “I'm sorry. She's made me feel like I'm a monster and I have no idea how to handle this. I need to go run and I shall return.” he explained.

  I nodded with understanding, still holding my own news inside my chest as he turned to change form. I touched his shoulder before he began and told him about Maya.

  “She needs me,” I said between sobs. “We have to go back. I can't lose her. She's like my sister.”

  Even though Zack was facing the window, I knew his eyes were full of empathy. I could feel him tensing beneath my touch as the news settled in his brain, sealing the fate of our attachment to LA forever. We would never be able to leave that dreadful town, not unless we died. The thought had crossed my mind of a romantic suicide note, but I quickly shoved it away. No one did that anymore. It was selfish.

  “I will be here when you return. Be safe.” I said and pulled my hand back.

  As his bones cracked and shifted, I turned to go make coffee in the kitchen. I took a mug down from the cabinet and rinsed it out before pouring some of the soothing hot liquid into it. Behind me, I heard scratching. I turned to find Zack stuck at the front door in his wolf form, his left paw attempting to turn the knob. I had to laugh. I set my cup down and walked over to help which he responded with a few licks to my hand. I patted his head and he ran off into the darkness of the night, the freezing cold meeting my naked body with a bite.

  I watched Zack through the window as he ran, jumping high into the air and stopping to howl a few times. He seemed so happy in this form, so natural and free. I wonder how often he would be able to change if we moved out of the city? I pictured us happily planting seeds in a field, raising a pack of pups and teaching them how to sustain themselves. We could live off the riches of the land and be more content to pluck gold corn from the ground instead of money. I sighed, thinking that was likely impossible at this point. We were on the verge of being separated. I just knew it.

  5.

  It wasn't long before Zack returned from his journey through the snow, his coat coated with bits of ice and leaves. I helped brush him off before he shook the bits off, causing me to yelp and giggle. He shifted back into his human form and laughed, pulling me into a filthy embrace.

  “You smell disgusting!” I yelled as he nuzzle my face with his nose.

  “So, let's shower!” he suggested. “I want to see you naked again.”

  Zack playfully grabbed my bottom as he led me towards the bedroom, my exposed body a playground for his fingers to explore. We hadn't even gotten through the door before he had picked me up off the ground and pressed his swollen member inside me, hot with longing after such an exhilarating run through the forest. The stress of everything melted away as he propped me up on the sink so he could turn the knob for the shower. As the water heated up and filled the room with steam, he took my lip between his teeth and tugged, the primal urge to make love stronger than ever between us.

  I gladly relinquished power to him, feeling the deep desire to have him completely take me over so he could take all the stress away. My body succumbed to his touch as his mouth devoured every inch of skin available, his tongue lapping at my neck and trailing down to my nipples that he suckled. His breathless urgency was apparent as he pulled me from the counter and carried me carefully into the shower where he pressed me against the wall under the stream of water. Delighted, I wrapped my legs around him and pushed my hips into his, rolling them over and over against him. Zack moaned under the spell of my rocking and pressed his lips harder into mine, a signal that he was eager to be inside me deeper.

  Carefully, Zack lowered my legs down to the ground and flipped me around, pushing me hard into the wet tile. He uttered words against my flesh in a language I didn't understand, something I had never known about him, and suddenly I was groaning and grinding wildly against his massive cock. Before pushing into me, he growled and bit into my shoulder. I wailed, grabbing a chunk of his hair and pulling while his teeth sank into my flesh. He released my shoulder and rubbed his cock against my vulva, the sheer girth enough to make me groan as he penetrated me. I held onto his hair for leverage as he slid in and out, his hands grasping my hips tightly so we wouldn't slip.

  My face was pressed up against the tile and I bit hard down on my lower lip as Zack thrust into me from behind. It was the craziest sex we had ever had and I was loving every moment of it. He slid his hand up my chest and to my shoulder where he clamped down to hold me in place so he could pump harder. My chin was starting to hurt from being pressed against the wall, but I wasn't so much concerned with that as I was with the growing pressure inside my pelvis. I could feel Zack twitching with every thrust, his cock tensing as he pressed deeper inside of me. He reached around my waist with his left hand and started fingering circles around my clitoris, alternating from rubbing me there and running his fingers down between my soft flesh. When I started moaning louder, he pumped faster and our moans reached a crescendo that echoed through the bathroom.

  In mere moments, I was convulsing against the tile as Zack continued to pound me from behind, my orgasm blossoming from the center of my pelvis and growing into waves of bliss that flooded my entire being. His own orgasm turned into long, heavy grinds that ended with him shaking and howling against my backside. He was pressed hard into my body, the sheer force of him causing my body to shudder with delight. As he pulled out, I could feel his warmth run down my inner thigh, quickly washing away with the steaming water from the shower. My body felt limp from the pleasure, and I tried to regain my breath.

  “Baby,” I whispered through the water raining from the shower. “What did you do to me?”

  Biting his lip, he smiled drunkenly and pulled me into an embrace.

  “I fucked you, that's what,” Zack said playfully. “Did it feel good?”

  I nodded into his shoulder, stricken speechless by the amazing encounter that left us both panting for air. For the remainder of the shower, he carefully scrubbed every inch of my body, massaging the frot
hy soap bubbles into my skin as he worked. He smoothed his fingers over my tense shoulders and helped me to relax further by massaging them. After our delightful shower, he toweled me off and carried me to the room where he wrapped the sheets around my naked body.

  “But what about returning to LA?” I asked as he crawled into bed next to me.

  “We can head out in the morning. Let's rest first and come up with a game plan.” he replied, wrapping his strong, tanned arms around me.

  Feeling much more calm, I curled up into Zack's embrace and was lulled to sleep by the sound of his heart beating against the inside of his chest, his skin warm and buzzing still with the electricity of utter bliss.

  * * *

  When daylight seeped through the blinds, I woke to the sound of breakfast being made across the cabin. The smell of caramel coffee filled the air and beckoned me to the kitchen. Zack was still nude and cooking us food while whistling some random song to himself. I grabbed a mug from the cabinet and poured some coffee, welcoming the warmth against my lips that traveled down into the pit of my stomach. It radiated through my body and I sighed.

  My delight was broken by the realization of our predicament: we had to return to LA today. Maya was still in the hospital and Rita was threatening exposure of a sex tape. I almost didn't want to return in fear of these things. If we didn't go back, they wouldn't exist and we wouldn't have to worry about it ever again. But that's not how this worked. Zack would still face dire consequences and I might lose my best friend. Reality crash down on me hard.

  Zack served my plate and kissed my cheek, the motion bringing me back to his beautiful brazen body standing nude before me. I felt horny again.

  “How did you sleep?” he asked as he sat down at the table.

  “Fine. I just wish we didn't have to go back,” I said between small nibbles.

  “It'll be okay,” Zack said reassuringly. “We will handle this together.”

  I nodded, confident as long as he was confident. While Zack was by my side, I could handle anything. I didn't want to be so worried, but the thought of losing him to a lawsuit while losing Maya to an accident was unbearable. I couldn't lose them both, but I knew one of them might leave. I rolled my eyes at my own insecure thoughts and finished my food before we got dressed to start packing up again. I didn't bother to fold anything, but just tossed them carelessly into bags and rolled them out the door to the truck that was waiting to take us back down the hill. The driver commented that he had just brought us up the previous afternoon. I sighed heavily in response.

  The flight back to LA was even more depressing as it was mostly Zack and I playing cards to pass the time. He glanced up at me a few times in hopes of conversation, but I was angrily concentrating on my cards and not in the mood to make small chat. I just wanted to see Maya. I knew we had to come up with some sort of plan, but what good would that do? Rita was clearly going to use whatever she could to manipulate Zack back into her life and I was simply a pawn for her fame. Clearly the feminist writer had lost. It just wasn't meant to be.

  Frustrated, I slammed my cards down on the table and started yelling.

  “I don't understand why we have to do what she says when we are the ones in control!” Zack was shocked at my sudden violent outburst and raised his hands in surrender to get me to calm down, but I wouldn't concede. “We should be telling that bitch what to do, not the other way around!”

  My screaming turned into sobbing and my knees buckled, causing me to hit the carpet with a heavy thud. Zack was immediately on the ground next to me, rocking me back and forth while wiping the tears from my flushed face. I was still babbling through the rattling cries of pain because I couldn't handle anything right now and I didn't want to. Facing Rita would mean defeat and seeing Maya mangled would only make me sick. In fact, I was about to vomit right now. I stood quickly and ran to the nearest trashcan to empty the contents of my stomach. There goes breakfast.

  While heaving, Zack rubbed my back and assured me that everything would be okay. But would it? Would it really? I argued with him for a while until I started getting a headache, realizing speculation was absolutely futile in this situation. I had to face what was ahead with my head high and my face stern. It was time to put my bitch face on. I had to be relentless and strong.

  After my little vomit fiasco, the plane landed and we immediately drove to the hospital to see Maya. I took the flight of stairs by two's – somehow, this was faster to me than the elevator – and ran down to room 37 where Maya was sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed. The monitor next to her beeped rhythmically while an IV dripped fluid down into her veins. She looked awful. Her face was puffy and red in all sorts of places and I could hardly tell if she had a left eye. Part of her arm was wrapped in bandages and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know why it was like that. A nurse approached me as I sat next to her on the bed, explaining some of the paperwork I had to manage. When I was finished, I turned back to Maya whose right eye stared at me with relief and shock.

  “Maya!” I cried while leaning forward. “Are you okay? Can you breathe?”

  Maya heaved and coughed violently, her voice scratchy and unable to level out enough for me to understand her. I stroked her arm gently, telling her it was okay if she couldn't talk. She pointed to the cup next to her bed which was filled with water. I held it up to her lips so she could sip it and then set it back down when she was done. Even though she hadn't asked, I explained the situation with Rita and she nodded softly along.

  “I know...” she wheezed. “That reporter...was trying to get a copy...”

  My eyes were wide.

  “Are you serious?!” I cried.

  Behind me, Zack's face was full of rage. I knew what he was thinking: we had to go to Rita right now. There was a possibility that these two incidents were entirely related, that Maya had tried to phone me in warning and was met with violence. I was now twice as determined to grab Rita's throat and rip out her vocal chords so she could never speak of this mess again. I reassured Maya that it would be okay and went to speak to the nurse, telling her to alert me if her health dipped at any point. For now, she was fine and she would make a decent recovery as long as she rested. Assured of Maya's health, I grabbed Zack by the arm and we ran back to the stairs.

  Our car was waiting for us out front and we hopped into the backseat, barking for the driver to head to Rita's mansion where I knew she was waiting for us to arrive. On the way, I pulled down the car mirror and applied my best layers of make-up. If she wanted a shit show, I'd give her one, and I'd look fabulous doing it.

  “Baby,” Zack said from my left. “You look so sexy when you're determined.”

  I smiled in response, powdering my nose quickly and winking at my own reflection.

  “You bet your ass I do,” I said confidently.

  I have never felt so strong in my life. I was about to set the record straight and I would make sure to do it properly so she would never mess with us again. While admiring my make-up, I noticed a bite mark on my right shoulder that I hadn't noticed before.

  “Sweetheart, did you really bite me that hard?” I asked, running my fingers over the raised skin. “This looks pretty deep.”

  Zack leaned over to inspect the mark, brushing small flecks of dried blood away from the area. He shrugged.

  “It doesn't look that bad,” he commented as I poked at the skin.

  “It's just so...bright.”

  Before I could say anything else about it or even apply some cover up, we pulled up in front of an elegant staircase leading up to two bright white doors – Rita's mansion. A man in a black suit was already at the door, ready to let us out of the car. I thanked the man flatly and marched up the steps, the doors swinging open before we even reached the top. Rita was waiting for us in the middle of the front room wearing a white summer gown that dragged along the floor. I regarded it with some mild interest, wondering how much it would rip if I stepped on it.

  “Skylar,” she said opening her arms. “You
look absolutely darling. It seems the mountains did you some good.”

  “Shove it, Rita,” I spat angrily. “Your terms were clearly defined and you violated them. Every copy of that tape was to be delivered as defined and signed by you. Violation of these terms results in termination of your role in our production.”

  Surprised, Rita raised a thin eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. Zack waltzed up beside me, his head high up in the air and a smile plastered across his face. I watched as he wiggled his eyebrows at Rita who sneered in response. The sight of it caused my bitch face to turn into one of utmost confidence, my red lips curling up at the corners in triumphant joy.

  “She's right, darling,” Zack spat. “If you have any copies left, they are to be delivered immediately or your job is terminated.”

  A maid began walking into the room, but turned about when she saw the expressions of our faces, likely not wanting to disrupt the intense staring contest in commencement. Rita tapped a hidden heal against the marble floor, wondering exactly what leverage she had here. It suddenly dawned on me what I could do to save the entire situation. It wouldn't have the greatest outcome, but it would save Zack.

  “You lose in either scenario, Miss Rita,” I said sweetly. “If you release the video, you lose your role in the production and you lose Zack.”

  I waved over at Zack like he was a prize and he began to chuckle.

  “You effectively send him to jail for the rest of his life, destroy your reputation as the most delectable creature in Hollywood, and you won't work another day in your life...with dignity, that is. At best, you would land a role in cheap, amateur adult films for your incredible performance on that tape.” I clapped my hands together for dramatic effect. “And my, what an 'o' face you make, sweetheart.”

  At this point, Zack was laughing so hard that he was hugging his sides on the ground. Rita hadn't realized this little hole in her plan and now she was standing with her mouth agape, all of her power drained from the situation. I snapped my fingers in the air and held out my hand, still smiling.