'No sarcasm, no telling me that I should be grateful that a big star like you deigns to stay in my company?'

Her expression darkened and she got to her feet. 'I'm trying to be gracious here.'

'Yeah, I got that. I'm still in shock.' He moved his coffee off the couch and on to the countertop behind his head, just in case.

Her hands came to rest on her hips. 'Would you prefer me to get mad at you?'

He tilted his chin to look up at her. 'I'm not sure. It's kind of nice having you grovel, but . . .'

Her fist missed his cheek by a whisker. He caught her wrists and pulled her down on to his lap. She struggled to get free.

'Dakota Scott, you are a pain in the a.s.s.'

'Yup, I haven't changed, still the same old guy.' He nipped her ear, avoided the snap of her teeth and kissed the corner of her mouth. 'Still want to make love to you all night, too.'

She stopped wiggling. He froze as she framed his face with her hands. 'I haven't put you off?'

'Not at all. I'm looking forward to all that money I'm going to make when I sell my story.'

She smiled at him, her real smile the one that came straight from the heart. Her hand slid down toward his groin and she cupped him. 'If you do that, I'll cut your family jewels off.'

He slid his hand over hers, pressed their entwined fingers over his rapidly hardening flesh. 'If you do that, you'll be a very sad woman.'

She kissed his mouth, kissed him until he strained against her luscious lips, eager for more. When she moved back, he struggled to breathe. Her fingers worked the snaps of his shirt, baring his chest.

'How about we compromise?'

'I like compromise,' Dakota said hoa.r.s.ely as she started on his belt.

'You don't sell my story and I keep having s.e.x with you. How does that sound?'

He slid his hand into the back of her hair and brought her mouth down to his. 'Just fine to me.'

Chapter Eleven.

Dakota opened one eye and quickly closed it again. Life was weird. Three days ago he'd been alone, happy and looking forward to seeing his horses again. Now he lay in bed, his body being used as a mattress by a Hollywood child-star who had a temper and a wicked sense of humor to match his own, and he'd never felt so content.

He stroked Robyn's long hair and she moved restlessly against his naked chest, her mouth grazing his nipple. He jerked and his c.o.c.k filled out and rubbed against her stomach. How come he felt more for her than for any other woman he'd met? She made him as mad as fire, yet he still wanted her with an obsession he hadn't believed he was capable of.

Maybe that was it. Maybe being able to get mad at her and not feeling he always had to be perfect was a good thing. He kissed the top of her head, moved his hips as his c.o.c.k thickened and lengthened against the satin of her skin. The question was, how did she feel about him? She liked his lovemaking, he was sure of that, but the rest of him? The pleasant, amiable cowboy? He wasn't so confident about that.

'Stop thinking so hard.'

Robyn's raspy whisper made him jump. He looked down into her sleepy face. 'Good morning, honey.'

'Go back to sleep, Dakota.'

'OK.'

He kissed her mouth, slid his tongue deep until she started to respond. They'd made love three times in the night and he still wanted her. He slid his hand down to her p.u.s.s.y, found her wet and ready for him. Her fingers closed around his wrist.

'You are insatiable.'

'Yeah.'

He kissed her again, swirled his fingertips over her c.l.i.t and l.a.b.i.a, opened her to his touch. With a satisfied grunt he moved down her body, pushed her knees wide and settled his mouth over her s.e.x. G.o.d, he loved using his tongue and teeth on her, loved the way she shoved her p.u.s.s.y into his face so that all he could do was breathe her in, swallow her cream and enjoy.

Her hand threaded through his hair and cupped the back of his head as he lapped at her. He teased her c.l.i.t with the tip of his tongue until it was hard and hypersensitive. She moaned and bucked her hips. His c.o.c.k drilled a hole in the mattress as his body rocked in time to the rhythm of his mouth.

'Dakota . . . that's so good.'

'Let's make it even better.'

He levered himself away from her and reversed position, straddling her until his c.o.c.k hovered over her face.

'Suck my c.o.c.k, honey, make it good for me too.'

He lowered his hips, moaned against her p.u.s.s.y as her mouth closed over his thick wet shaft. She started to suck him, long smooth pulls keeping him deep in her throat, making him shudder with pleasure. He returned to his task of making her come, matched his more delicate strokes to the demands of her mouth.

He thrust his tongue deep inside her and she rocked against him, grinding her swollen wet p.u.s.s.y into his face while she climaxed. He kept licking as she continued to suck him until he could no longer keep either rhythm. His hips jerked and his whole body shook trying to maintain his composure. He came hard, his come flooded down her throat as she came again against his mouth.

He rolled away from her, his heart beating so fast he thought he might need a paramedic. 'You are a dangerous woman, Ms Sparrow.'

She came up on one elbow and turned to look at him. 'That isn't my real name either.'

He studied her for a long moment, his brain still focused on his d.i.c.k. 'I suppose Robyn Sparrow is a bit too much to swallow.'

Her smile was complacent. 'I'm good at that.'

'Swallowing?' He smiled back, felt his c.o.c.k twitch. 'I noticed.'

'My real name is Robyn Cooper, but no one calls me that anymore.' She frowned. 'I think my mom had it legally changed to Sparrow at some point, I can't remember.'

He touched her cheek. 'It's OK, I'll try not to call you Ms Sparrow in public. Wouldn't want to attract a crowd.'

'That's unlikely. I'm pretty much washed up in Hollywood terms.'

He made himself more comfortable, came up on his elbow to rest his head on his hand. 'Didn't you make another show after Sparrow's Nest?'

She grimaced. 'Yeah, Robyn's Quest, it was supposed to be all about me becoming a teenager and setting out with my own band to tour the USA.'

'So what happened?'

'Me. I didn't show up on time, I was a total b.i.t.c.h, I didn't know my lines, I had tantrums about the color of the food . . . You name it and I did it. Every Hollywood cliche about spoilt young stars, I tried it out. Eventually, the studio lost patience and canned the show.'

'Why didn't anyone stop you?'

'By then I was surrounded by people whose best interests lay in keeping me happy so that they got paid. They didn't care about me, only about what they could get out of me.'

'What about your mom?'

Robyn shrugged. 'She was too busy shacking up with her fourth husband to care about me. She'd gotten what she wanted out of me and I was no longer important.'

Dakota stared at her. Despite her calm tone he could tell she wasn't unaffected by her experiences. How could she be? Abandoned by those who should've looked after her and indulged by a group of people out for themselves it was a wonder she was still functioning. He glanced at her wrists, saw the scars that hadn't quite disappeared. Coldness settled over his gut.

'Did you try to kill yourself?'

She shrugged and returned her gaze to the ceiling. 'A couple of times in my late teens. It wasn't much fun.'

'Yeah, I know.'

She turned to stare at him, reached for his hand. 'G.o.d, Dakota, I forgot about your mom. I didn't mean to make you remember all that s.h.i.t.'

He swallowed hard. 'It's OK, I asked you.'

'It's not, but one thing I can promise you is that you don't have to worry I'll do that while I'm with you. I realized life was way too valuable to throw away.'

'How did you do that?' he whispered. 'How did you get to that place?'

She held his gaze. 'Because someone I love showed me how precious life really is and it was enough of a shock to make me reconsider how stupidly I was behaving.' Her mouth quirked at the corner. 'And I was always stubborn. I refused to do what everyone expected me to.'

He stared at her with new respect. She'd survived more than he had and come through it. h.e.l.l, she deserved to be a bit touchy sometimes. It was probably how she'd dealt with all the c.r.a.p.

'Stop looking at me like that,' Robyn said.

'Why?'

'Because you're making me nervous.'

'You make me nervous all the time; you constantly keep me on my toes.'

'But that's because I'm a b.i.t.c.h.'

'You're a p.u.s.s.y cat.' He smiled at her and she scowled back.

'I like being a b.i.t.c.h.'

'I noticed.' He took her hand, brought it to his mouth and kissed her palm.

She sighed and let her hand lie in his. 'Dakota, you know you're way too nice to me, don't you?'

'Yes, ma'am.' He kissed her fingers, drew her thumb into his mouth and slowly sucked it.

Her breath hissed through her teeth. 'The thing is, I don't want to hurt you and I know I will.'

'How the h.e.l.l can you know that?'

'Because that's who I am, that's what I do.'

He released her hand and sat up. She continued to study him, her eyes half wary, half hopeful.

'Maybe things will be different this time, honey.'

'Because you're so perfect?'

He smiled slowly. 'You see? I told you you'd see it my way sooner or later. I am perfect. I am a G.o.d.'

'You're delusional.'

He swung his legs over the side of the bed, banged his knee on an open drawer and cursed. 'I can't wait to get out of this horse trailer, that's for sure. I hate this lack of s.p.a.ce.'

'Where will you park this thing in LA?'

'At the studio where they're making the commercial. Jay a.s.sured me they had the s.p.a.ce.'

'And you're going to sleep in it while you work?'

He stood up and stretched, grimaced as his bones cracked. 'No way. They've got me a hotel room.'

'Oh.'

He turned to look at her. She was pleating the bedcover with her fingers.

'What's up?'

'I'm not sure exactly where I'm staying when we reach LA.'

He sat back on the side of the bed so that he could see her face more clearly. 'Don't you have an apartment or something?'

'I have an apartment, but I'm not sure if I'll be welcome back there.'

He chuckled. 'What did you do? Set fire to it?'

She didn't smile back. 'It's not what I did, more of who still lives there.'

'Let me guess, the sleazebag ex who can only get it up once a night.'

'Yeah.'

He took her hand, felt it trembling. Unaccustomed anger threaded through him. He tried to calm down, to keep his questions casual. 'Does he own the place?'