Author’s Note: A little something that came to me last night after reading that slow burn scene in Red Carpet Diaries yesterday. Mmm, yum. 😍 I am LOVING their chemistry and tension and I am hoping they drag it out for as long as possible. Something about the forbidden aspect between Hunt and MC is so satisfying and I don’t want to rush it!
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Thomas flipped through the pages of the script spread across the antique desk in front of him, scribbling notes and questions along the edges. While the script of the Last Duchess was already complete, after today’s run-through he needed to ensure he had his thoughts well-documented before he experienced any other lapses in concentration. This was his first movie in three years, his re-debut into the Hollywood scene after his little hiatus … he could not afford to release anything less than spectacular.
He leaned back from the desk, rolling his head from side to side and stretching his arms overhead. He glanced over the intricate silk comforter on the ornate four-poster bed, his eyes drawn to one of the few obviously modern items in his chamber of the Portaviran castle. The neon green light of the digital clock read 11:23pm. He knew he must retire shortly for the night and get some rest. The cast and crew needed their director in tip-top shape when they commenced production at 9:00am tomorrow morning. He reluctantly surveyed the pile of papers and, with a heavy sigh, started assembling them in the appropriate order.
He sauntered into the bathroom and turned on the faucet as he unbuttoned his shirt and slipped it over his broad shoulders. He leaned down over the sink, splashing the cool water over his face to wipe away the grime and fatigue of the day. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror as he straightened up, turning his head to study the maturing man before him. While he was still in good health and hadn’t noticed any gray hairs yet, he was on the downward slope to forty now. He was no longer a young man with the world at his fingertips and a promising future before him, now he was a man in his prime, already a success … yet were all the awards and the money and fame enough? He had been plagued with a sense of emptiness lately, yearning for that companionship that he had so long brushed away.
He continued his undressing in the bedroom, neatly folding his jeans and draping them over a hanger to hang in the antique armoire in the corner. He could feel the pull of exhaustion toying with his head as his thoughts flitted over the production earlier that day. He knew he shouldn’t dwell on it, for at the end of the day they had filmed a successful scene filled with the tension and angst he was looking for. Yet, he kept returning to that moment on the Cordonian mountainside, when he had stood in for just a quick minute as Chris’s character … the desire in Candace’s deep brown eyes, the palpable electricity in the air between them as he stood only inches away, the plump pink flesh of her lip between her teeth as she nibbled it nervously. Oh, she was quite the actress alright, that Candace Taylor … so good she had almost convinced him in that moment that there was something real between them. Thomas shook his head in dismay, scolding himself for lingering on these ridiculous recollections for a moment too long.
He slipped under the heavy covers of the grand bed, allowing himself to sink into the lush mattress and relax under their comforting weight. He inhaled a deep breath and closed his eyes, willing himself to relax and allow his fatigue to pull him into the folds of sleep. However only moments later he realized his eyes were open, tracing the delicate embroidery of the canopy hanging above his bed. Despite his exhaustion, his mind was racing and kept returning to rest on the memory of Candace’s heavy gaze. What if that moment was not all a figment of his imagination? What if she was able to act so convincingly because it was not all an act? And if she felt it too … would he be willing to break his own rules, to let her in?
Thomas slammed his eyes shut and shifted in the bed to his side, nuzzling his face into the pillow and searching for sleep. But try as he may, he could not push the one thought from his mind that he dare not repeat out loud. For now that his soul had seen a glimpse of hers in their intense stare, he feared that he would not be able to resist breaking his rules if given the opportunity.
END