Pool Girl: A Forbidden Slow Burn Romance Read online

  If anything, I feel more of a connection to him than ever before. Him opening up his life story to me was unexpected. Especially the part about him having to become a porn star to escape a life of poverty— there are other ways he could have done it, like theft or armed robbery, but he didn’t choose those paths. He took the legal route, although some might say not the moral route. As far as I’m concerned, he’s an upstanding member of society.

  And now, it’s my turn. I’m choosing to become a dancer with Cullen—with House of Stars—because it’s my way of climbing out of the gutter. I want to do this, even if some people judge the choice.

  I know Cullen understands and that makes me feel as if I can trust him. When he asks me about myself again, I tell him. I tell him about my dreams of being a dancer, of my mom’s sudden passing, of my struggles to make ends meet, of my disaster of a love life, of how Taylor has always been there for me.

  He listens and asks questions and seems genuinely interested in what I have to say. I very rarely share so much about myself, but this man seems to want to know everything.

  Glancing at his watch, Cullen sighs. “It’s getting late. I should get you home.”

  Of course, I don’t want that. I’m enjoying myself, talking with him, being on this pseudo-date, sharing our lives. But I know he promised to get me home early.

  I nod.

  He stands and comes over to me, holding out a hand to help me up. We stop by his friends’ table, and they tell me again how good it was to meet me.

  Rick slaps Cullen on the back, and I hear him say, “You were right, Cullen. She is a star.”

  I blush as Cullen grins at me and leads me outside with a hand on the small of my back.

  We pause outside the door.

  “I can drive you home,” he says, his face handsome even under the blinking neon light of the bar’s signage. “Or,” he continues, “we could walk.”

  “Thank you,” I say with a smile, pleased that he’s remembered how much I like to walk places whenever possible. “I’d rather walk. My apartment isn’t too far from here, you know.”

  He smiles, and we head south, toward my apartment building, where I know Taylor will be waiting eagerly for every detail. I feel my face flush as he slips his hand into mine and I try to stifle my grin.

  We walk in comfortable silence, and soon we’re at the front of my building. The glow of the street lights creates the perfect mood lighting, just like in the movies.

  “Thank you for a lovely evening,” I say, turning to face him. If I'm honest with myself, I’m hoping he’ll kiss me. His salt and pepper hair glints in the light. He’s got a carnal look on his face. His eyes don’t seem to be focused on me. They seem to be looking through me.

  Cullen smiles warmly, replying, “Thank you for your company. I’ll see you tomorrow for training?”

  “I’ll be there,” I confirm.

  Before I can think too much about it, I stand on my tiptoes and pull him into a hug, which he accepts. When he pulls away, I can see a growing lust in his eyes, and for a second I’m not sure if he’ll kiss me or bite my head off. Internally, I mark it as a win.

  Softly but with a bit of a low rumbling growl, “Good night, Gemma.”

  “Good night, Cullen,” I call over my shoulder as I enter my building.

  He’s still standing there when I start up the stairs, a smile plastered across my face…and his.

  Chapter Fourteen: Cullen

  I can’t believe it. It’s real…finally.

  I stand before the fully renovated hotel turned nightclub. HOUSE OF STARS is splayed across the top of the building in bright neon.

  There’s activity in and around the building. It’s not the renovation team. It’s the newly employed staff. The activity isn’t as feverish as it was two to three days ago. We’re all set for the grand opening, which is tomorrow.

  I take in a lungful of air.

  Gemma. She’s been exceptional. It’s been three weeks since I went to her former workplace to apologize for my inappropriateness and she agreed to come back. She’s learned everything that Zinzy taught her with remarkable speed and the girl has a natural grace and ability to demonstrate the techniques with ease. She’s a natural.

  When my partners came around to see her dance, they were astounded at both her beauty and the talent with which she moved her body around the stage.

  Gemma. Such beauty. Such softness. Such sensuality. The forbidden fruit.

  Not to mention, now that I’ve gotten to know her, I want her all the more. She’s fiery, resilient, driven, and all kinds of sexy.

  But I gave her my word. I promised to be a gentleman. Since my apology, I’ve not touched her. Still, I can sense the sexual tension between us. It’s there, and I can’t do anything about it.

  I gave Gemma and the other dancers the night off. They’ve been working so hard for three weeks, putting in as much as eight to ten hours a day. Their dedication was as much inspiring as it was fun to watch.

  Frank, the night club’s manager I hired, appears at the main entrance. He’s holding a manila folder in his hands, tapping it gently with his fingers, and looking right at me.

  I know what he wants. We agreed to do some final preparations tonight, including allocations, new wage structures, and PR—pretty much everything concerning tomorrow’s opening.

  As I lean on my Range Rover a feeling of accomplishment and pride well up inside me. In the space of a little over a month, so much has been accomplished. It feels good to be the boss of such a great team.

  As I push off to meet Frank, he doesn’t speak as I approach. He only turns and leads me into the building. We pass into the club, through the dance floor, and head to the bar area, where the bartender is cleaning glasses and making some final arrangements for tomorrow’s big night.

  “Where do you want to do this, Frank?” I ask as we pass into the hallway.

  “Your office,” he says, opening my door for me to walk in.

  I head straight for my leather chair and fall into it. It’s only then that I feel my exhaustion. Shit, can I have this meeting now? I don’t think I can spend the next three-and-something hours listening to Frank.

  Frank perceives my tiredness and my unwillingness. He says, “We’ve got to do this today, Cullen. Otherwise, we won’t be paying your dancers their new rate. And your star dancer, Gemma? She’s not going to get paid for last week…”

  “Okay, Frank,” I say. “No need to resort to threats. Let’s do this and get it done.”

  Frank begins the meeting. He talks it all through as most of the plans he’s made seem perfect. It’s why I brought him from Los Angeles to run House of Stars. He’s that good.

  In fact, I don’t have any input, except to give him the ‘Go Ahead’ on the several promotions he’s come up with to keep business coming in. With Frank running this place, the debt profile doesn’t seem so much. Frank is confident that we can break even within six months, while still paying salaries from the profits.

  “That’s about it,” Frank says. “Everything looks good.”

  I lean back in my chair. “Really? Nothing can go wrong?”

  Frank smiles. “Well, unless your girl, Gemma, fucks up, I say we’re good.”

  “Well, let’s hope she doesn’t,” says a voice in the doorway.

  I look up, and I see that it’s Gemma. She’s wearing the same white dress she wore on her first day of training.

  “We need to talk,” she says.

  Chapter Fifteen: Gemma

  Cullen and Frank both stand at the same time. I’m just focused on Cullen. I have his undivided attention. Good. I thought the dress might get his attention.

  “Gemma,” Cullen says. “Is something wrong?”

  He looks panicked. It does nothing to detract from just how delicious he looks. You’d think that after all this time working with him, I’d get used to it. Not really.

  And the fact that he has insisted on not exploring the tension that has built between us sinc
e the first day winds up my insides even more. Sure, I’ve enjoyed getting to know Cullen. It just makes him all the more attractive to me. But how can he ignore the spark between us? Does he really think our age differences will matter?

  Every time he held me, I prayed he would go further. Do something. Take my clothes off. Treat me like one of his sex kittens in one of those movies he made. It didn’t take Taylor and me long to find one of his movies, and I have to remind myself how lucky I am to be first in line for him. But he’s been a perfect gentleman. I don’t want to throw myself at him. I want him to want me.

  Sure we’ve had a few brief brush-ups over the last three weeks. But it was nothing substantial. Cullen seemed to have gotten a grip on himself. Hell, I was beginning to think those sparks we felt weren’t sparks at all. But then he kept on sneaking glances when he thought I was too caught up in the music to notice.

  “Nothing,” I say in reply to Cullen. I remain in the doorway, my eyes sliding lazily to Frank.

  Frank gets the message and begins to pack his things. “We’re done, Cullen. See you tomorrow.”

  As he approached the door, I move to the side as I say, “Hi, Frank,” as he passes by.

  “Hi, Gemma,” he replies and vanishes.

  It’s just Cullen and me left. He looks at me, at my body, looking me up and down, tracing my curves and licking his lips unconsciously. When he catches himself, he jerks his head away from me, embarrassment burning on his face.

  “I gave you the evening off,” Cullen begins. “You don’t have to be here until tomorrow afternoon…”

  “I know,” I reply. “I needed to see you.”

  He waits for me to continue, furrowing his brows in confusion. Finally, he says, “What did you want to see me for?”

  I try to keep my breathing steady. I feel my knees start to shake. I’ve already decided I’m going to do this. I can’t take the heat anymore.

  I sigh. “I wanted to say something.”

  Cullen nods. He comes around to the front of his desk and sits on the edge.

  “I don’t want to talk here,” I say. “I want to talk outside—actually, I want to talk on the dance floor. One last dance, you and me. Before I go out on stage tomorrow night.”

  Cullen doesn’t look as excited as I’d hoped. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea. I need you rested for tomorrow’s performance.”

  “Just one dance and I’m gone,” I say. “Please. Cullen.” A pout is forming on my lips.

  After a moment, he nods.

  I lead him to the dance floor. The club is deserted by this time. The bartender has turned in for the evening. Frank is gone. Most of the lights are switched off, except the muted red lights over the dance floor that I turned on, on my way to his office.

  “I don’t think this is such a good idea, Gemma,” Cullen mutters, hesitating at the edge of the dance floor.

  I ignore him for the moment. I pick up the music controller and set the music. It’s a song with a medium tempo that we’ve used to practice a lot of times.

  “Let’s dance,” I say.

  “Gemma…”

  I take his hand and pull him to the center of the dance floor. He wraps his arms around my waist, and I wrap my hands around his neck. I’m pressed tightly against him.

  I feel like every cell in my body is electrified. I’ve held back for so long. I’ve held out on him. Not anymore. I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind and go wherever my feelings take me.

  Sure, it might be challenging to work through my past. It may take a few more tears and time, yes. I’m sure there are some things from Cullen’s past that he needs to work through, as well. I’ve shared a few more details with him over the past three weeks about my experiences with men. I’ve been skirting around the worst, but I think he understands more now. Someday, I’ll tell him everything, but for now, I think I’ve worked through enough to embark on this journey with him.

  I want him, and nothing will get in the way of that.

  Our dancing becomes more sexual as the song progresses. Soon, he spins me around, and he’s wrapping his arms around me again, his dick pressed hard against my ass. He holds me tightly. I raise my arms above my head. Right where we left off before. He brushes his hands lightly over my breasts, and I shiver in his arms, pleasure coursing through my veins.

  “Gemma,” he whispers into my ear. “We can’t do this. I can’t hurt you again.”

  This is the moment of truth. I twirl around in his arms and look up into his eyes. “I was never hurt. Not by you…I just…It was just difficult for me to wrap my head around what I felt between us, I’ve never felt like that before.”

  Surprise appears in his eyes, then a hint of understanding. He hesitates in his footing, but then he continues dancing. “And now?”

  “Now, I want this as bad as you do. I don’t care about our age difference. I can feel it’s right,” I say.

  He unbuttons his shirt, and I help him slide it off his shoulders. It reveals just enough hair on his tanned and muscular chest to make my breath hitch. He hears me and holds me tight against his body, so my nipples harden as I feel the heat from his chest.

  Before I know it, he’s kissing me. Our lips lock, and he pulls me even tighter against him. I moan into his mouth and taste his kisses. I can tell there’s experience behind that tongue and I want more. I want him to make me scream. When we break for air, we stare into each other’s eyes for what seems like an eternity, and he starts to pull up the hem of my dress as I go for his belt.

  He pulls back and says,“Stop!”

  For a moment I can’t believe what I’m hearing. Is he going to be a gentleman tonight? I’m surprised when he takes my hand and leads me down the hallway to the Screen Room. My head starts spinning, and I’m wondering if this is really going to happen?

  He opens the door and flips a twitch, presses a few buttons on the panel next to the door and all four screens and one cover the ceiling; each one comes to life.

  “Where would you like to do this? Name it. Anywhere in the world.” He says, an excited, boyish grin in his eyes.

  “Anywhere?”

  “Name it.” He says. I look down at the bulge growing in his pants.

  “Under the ocean,” I say.

  “As you wish…Princess.” He says as he clicks a button and the screens all turn blue. Suddenly, it looks like we’re standing on the ocean floor. We see a 360-degree view underwater of fish swimming over coral reefs with a deep blue sea behind them. The sight and sound of rolling waves overhead through the surround sound speakers.

  He takes my hand and leads me to the round bed in the center of the room, the blue light turning the red satin sheets into a haze of purple. He pulls me close, the blue waters swirling all around. He turns towards me and starts again right where he left off. Those deep, experienced kisses are soaking my panties. His kisses work their way down my neck and over my dress to my breasts. He lightly bites my nipple through the fabric, and I let out a moan. I don’t pull back this time. Instead, I lean slightly into it. Savor every second.

  I try and hold back from ripping his pants off because that saying runs through my mind, “you never get a second chance to make a first impression,” and I want this to be memorable.

  He reaches down with one hand and finds my pussy, putting pressure on it through the fabric. His experience tells him I’m wet. He inhales deeply. Then he reaches around and grabs my ass, pulling me in closer. My tits rub against the hairs on his chest, and I moan again, he’s so hard.

  He pulls up the hem of my dress and lifts my dress over my head. I don’t object. I’m left wearing only my G-string and high heels. I don’t feel exposed; I feel genuinely sexy for the first time in my life. His chest is bare and his belt his gone.

  It’s my turn now, and I work at getting his jeans off. His cock is hard and ready as I struggle with unzipping his pants. His full cock springs out at me, and I’m pleased he’s not wearing underwear. I take it in my hand and admire its length
and girth. I’m wondering if I’ll be able to handle this thing. He turns and sits on the edge of the bed, leaning back on his hands so he can watch as I kneel in front of him and completely remove his pants and spread his legs wider apart. I lightly kiss the tip of his cock and can taste him already. I take it further into my mouth. Lightly rolling my tongue around the tip of its head. I can really taste him now. My tongue is working its way down the underside of his shaft, pressing more firmly as I go. First impressions. I really want to jump on him and fuck him hard.

  I know I’m better than that.

  I take his whole dick in my mouth and swallow it to his balls. I choke a bit, but that doesn’t stop me. He’s moaning louder now and I feel him take hold of my shoulders and bring me up towards him.

  He’s on top now, looking down at my naked body. He kisses me softly at first. I can feel his eyes on me as he kisses me. I feel the heat between us as our legs intertwine on the bed. He presses me hard against the red satin sheets.

  I look in his eyes, and I know that the sweet, affectionate Cullen I’ve gotten to know over the last few weeks is gone. On top of me right now is The Animal.

  I feel a shiver run through me. Sure, The Animal has done this a lot of times with a lot of different women. But I can tell this isn’t just routine for him. This is the result of all our pent-up passion between us the last few weeks.

  I shut my eyes as he parts my legs and moves downward, squeezing my tits, licking my nipples, teasing them with his fingers, making them stand at full attention.

  He moves further down, kissing, licking as he goes. His stubble tickles my belly.

  And then his tongue finds my clit. He licks slowly in circles; both of his hands are on my breasts. I look down to see he’s looking up at me. I can barely contain myself. This is sexy as fuck.

  He moans as he discovers my sweetness. My knees bend, and I place my high-heels on his shoulders to give him full access. I arch my back. Oh, it's so fucking glorious! I’m not sure what exactly his tongue is doing at this point, but his fingers are digging into my boobs, pinching my nipples into hard nubs.