Page 59 of The Producer: Aaron

“Don’t bother to go home tonight,” he adds so menacingly that it makes my skin crawl.

When he finally walks out and closes the door behind him, the breath comes out of my lips in a trembling sigh. My hands are still tight to my skirt, grasping it in a vise that can tear a hole if I let them. I’m so shaken that I can’t even get up. My brain is clouded by fear and adrenaline. I can’t formulate a coherent thought, but of one thing I’m sure, if I don’t do what he wants, everything I care about will be destroyed.

***

The hotel room is like all those in which I have stayed in: anonymous, decorated with neutral colors, and apparentlyluxurious, but if you look closely, it’s nothing more than bland furniture.

After leaving the studio, I didn’t even go and get something from Aaron’s house. I just slipped into a taxi and asked the driver to drop me off at the Hilton. I held back my tears until I closed the room’s door behind me, then I slipped into the shower and stayed there until the last hiccups left my chest.

Now I linger behind the glass door that leads to the small terrace overlooking the pool watching some people enjoy the evening at the tables that surround it. There are not many, but enough to give life to a place that would otherwise be empty and impersonal.

Aaron’s father’s words come to mind, the disgusting feeling of his eyes on me, his threats. I can’t comprehend how the man I’ve lived with for the past few months could have grown up with such a nauseating human being as his father.

A slight knock on the door makes me turn around and I walk to the door wrapped in my bathrobe and open it to receive the meal I ordered. I’m surprised to find Aaron in front of me with a worried face.

“How did you find me?” I ask in a whisper, the words of his father echoing in my chest.

If he discovers that Aaron has come here, he will destroy everything he has built over the years.

“Why are you locked up in here? Is it because of what happened today?” It is enough for me to hear his voice to start crying again.

His arms wrap around me tightly, and as he closes the door, he accompanies me to the bed, where he sits and drags me onto his knees. His embrace is so full of affection that I can no longer control myself. I can’t tell him about his father, and this thoughtscares me because I realize I’ve fallen in love with him, and the mere thought of letting him go kills me. But I can’t let his father destroy his dreams, so I cling to him and enjoy his embrace for as long as possible.

“Dakota, please talk to me,” he whispers in my ear with what sounds like terror in his voice. “I know about Serena, and some of the crew told me they saw my father get out of your trailer. Please, talk to me.” His voice is broken.

His words freeze my chest. He knows about his father. He thinks he threatened me, thinks he hurt me physically. I look up at him and find terror and despair in his eyes. I saw how fervently he told me to stay away from him, and not knowing what happened today is making him run out of breath. As much as I want to save him from his father’s threats, I can’t leave him in doubt that he put his hands on me. So I tell him everything that happened, from Serena making a scene to his father’s visit, about his threats and why I decided not to go home tonight.

I feel him tense, trembling with anger, but the words that come from his lips are the most reassuring I have ever heard.

“I swear to you on my life that my father will never approach you again. He won’t hurt you, do you understand?”

He lets out a sigh of relief, perhaps because he realized that, no matter how much fear I had, no matter how much his tone made my skin crawl, his father didn’t go any further. He didn’t threaten me personally.

“What if he decides to hurt you? To shut down your company?” I ask between hiccups.

I feel him inhale deeply and take a few minutes before answering me. I think he also realized that his father is serious and could carry out his threats.

“He’s threatened to do so many times but has never followed up on the words. He’s too attached to the money to shut down the only thing that works about that company,” he says, and I feel the conviction in his voice which makes me sigh in relief.

A flood of emotions stirs inside me and the fear fades, giving way to the incredible tenderness that Aaron is pouring on me as he strokes my hair and holds me in an embrace that speaks of stability and protection.

“Aaron? Do you want to make love to me?” I look up at him.

His eyes are charged with a tenderness I’ve never seen before, and his lips arch in an almost shy smile. He closes the distance, kisses the tip of my nose, and then rests his lips on mine.

It is a sweet kiss, different from those we have exchanged so far but no less intense. His tongue touches my lips, and the shiver that runs down my back makes me groan into his mouth. The kiss that follows is sensual and takes its time to brand every single cell of my body with the feelings that permeate this moment.

Until now, we have fucked, given vent to the carnal attraction that consumes us inside, but this goes beyond physical attraction. Our hearts are bound by an almost palpable feeling.

Aaron slides me off his lap before standing and striping off his clothes without letting his gaze lose sight of mine. He’s stripped himself not only of his clothes but also all of the walls he had built around him over the years until he stands vulnerable in front of me. The power he’s giving me right now almost scares me. He is giving his heart to me and it’s my decision to protect it or make it bleed.

Slowly he lowers himself on me and kisses me again, savoring my every breath, every touch of my fingers on his skin. With my hands, I explore his chest and sculpted abs, then return to hisshoulders and lay a hand on his neck. The vein under my fingers beats madly as if his heart can’t stop its run.

He unfastens my bathrobe and lets it slip from my shoulders before kissing my lips and then down toward my neck, breasts, and belly. It is a slow, sensual descent, full of a desire he struggles to hide, but he never lets it take over. Aaron is used to taking everything he wants, doing it with determination, and dominating every situation, even when he is between the sheets. That’s why he leaves me amazed when he lowers himself to take a condom from his trousers and hands it to me.

My hands tremble as I slide them over his erection. Aaron notices and grabs my hands, guiding me in my movements, accompanying me in this intimate moment but letting me dictate the pace.

He sits back down on the bed, and pulls me onto his lap, letting me wrap my legs around his hips as I slide on his erection and let him fill me to the brim, taking my breath away. His arms envelop my body, holding me tight as I move, allowing our pleasure to mount slowly. His hand slips through my hair, clenching the strands in a fist as he leaves a trail of kisses on my neck and my shoulder, and then climbs back up to my face and lingers for a long moment.

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