Anyone But You

by Jerica MacMillan

  Paralyzed by the pleasure shooting through me, my back arching involuntarily as I let him have his way with my body. “Unghh,” is all I manage to get out.

  He lifts his head and chuckles, pulling the fabric aside to expose my nipple to the air. He blows on it, making it tighten up even more, and then engulfs it with his hot mouth once again.

  Sweet baby Jesus, how did I manage to go without this for the last several days?

  “Don’t stop,” I plead.

  And like a bastard, he swirls my nipple with his tongue and releases it.

  Fuuuck. No.

  He chuckles, leaning up to give me a swift kiss, and then reaching behind me to undo the clasp. I flop back on the bed as he pulls my arms out of the straps, and I lift my hips so he can remove my leggings.

  Letting out a string of curses and filthy promises, he slides his hands up my inner thighs, spreading me wide and lowering his head to my pussy. His tongue swipes across me, and we both groan.

  “You taste so fucking good,” he mutters and licks me again. Then his fingers drive inside me, curling up so hard my hips follow his hand, and he sucks my clit like that with me hanging from his fingers which curl into my G-spot. In almost no time, I’m right there, right on the knife’s edge of the most intense pleasure. “Oh god oh god oh god,” I babble. “I’m so close. So fucking close. Don’t stop don’t stop don’t stop.” And then I explode. White lightning dances over my nerve endings, making me convulse with pleasure, my vision going dark.

  He slows, relaxes his hand, giving me long licks to extend the pleasure and bring me back down before withdrawing completely.

  Whimpering at the loss of him, I open my eyes to watch him roll on a condom. And then he’s back, nudging my thighs apart with his knees, lining up, and sinking inside me.

  The stretch of my oversensitive tissues is exquisite, and having him inside me again makes me feel whole for the first time in days.

  That’s what the feeling of being with him has been all along. Rightness. A sense of belonging. Acceptance. Completeness. Like I don’t have to fit into some mold of who I’m supposed to be. I can just be me.

  It’s freedom.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” I tell him for the hundredth time, wrapping my arms around his shoulders and hooking my ankles behind his back, my heels pressing into his ass.

  He lowers himself to his elbows and fits his hands under my shoulders. “You don’t have to miss me anymore,” he says, pulling back and driving home. He kisses me, his tongue matching the pace of his fucking.

  I meet him thrust for thrust, stroke for stroke, urging him on, wanting him to chase his own pleasure. I came so hard that I’m still sparking with the aftershocks, and every time he bottoms out inside me, another flash of pleasure zips through me.

  Groaning into my mouth, he breaks off the kiss, his hips moving faster. “I can’t hold back much longer,” he whispers.

  I stroke the short, soft hair at the nape of his neck. “Don’t. Don’t hold back at all. Give me everything.”

  He rears back, propping himself up higher for better leverage, pounding into me now, his face pulled tight with concentration. “Fuck,” he mutters. “Fuck, Viola. You undo me.” And then his hips stutter, losing their rhythm and finesse, and he grinds against me as he comes. This beautiful, flawed man, giving all of himself to me.

  It’s a gift. A treasure that I hold close to my heart. Even more beautiful because I know he’ll do the same for me.

  Epilogue

  Mason

  Marcus hands me a beer as I claim a seat on the end of his couch. “Another one for the books,” he says, settling next to me.

  We clink bottles and each take a pull. “I can’t believe we’ve finished another tour. How long before you guys are done with the next album?”

  He shrugs and drums two fingers on his leg, glancing at where Danny is snuggled on the loveseat with Ava. A shrill squeal pierces the air as Maddie and Eli chase little Mila. She looks like she might topple over at any second, but her chubby little legs just manage to stay under her as she careens through the house and collides with her dad’s legs. With a laugh, he scoops her up.

  Marcus hums. “A few months, at least,” he says, answering my question. “There’s no big rush. We all need some downtime.”

  Nodding, I take another pull of my beer, thinking of all the ways I’ll enjoy spending that downtime. Viola officially moved into my place last year, taking all her things out of storage and putting them in my condo. But all her stuff is still in boxes in the guest bedroom. We could’ve unpacked them at any point over the last year when we had time off, but with the prospect of going back on tour always hanging over our heads, we spent as much time relaxing and luxuriating in each other’s presence as possible.

  Now, though, it’ll be at least six months before another tour starts up. Probably more like a year. Yeah, we’ll have appearances and performances here and there in the interim, but mostly we’ll all lie low and rest. Like Marcus said, we all need the downtime.

  Marcus nudges me and gestures at Danny and Ava and their kids. “You thinking you might join the parent club soon?”

  Startled, I snap my eyes to Marcus. “What?”

  He shrugs like he didn’t just throw me a curveball. “I mean, they look so happy, don’t they? And there’s already a nanny along for the tour. We could just add her to the tour staff instead of making Aaron and Danny foot the bill. Maybe hire another person, since there’ll be more kids. Hell, there’s probably another one on the way already. Kendra said Sam’s been puking every day for the last week.”

  My eyes go wide, and I shake my head. “Feel free to add to the daycare we’ll drag on tour if you want to, man. But I’m good with the way things are.” Plus, I’m not sure Viola would still want to be our assistant if she were pregnant, much less after having a baby. That would be … rough.

  Not that it’s even come up. We’re happy, just the two of us. I try to envision a future version of us with a baby, but I can’t quite make it work. Maybe someday? But Viola’s never mentioned wanting kids.

  With a laugh, Marcus drains his beer and stands. “Don’t overthink it, dude. I was just curious.”

  Frowning, I watch him wander over to Kendra where she stands with Sam and Viola in the kitchen. He wraps his arm around her and gives her a kiss, leaning close to say something that makes her laugh.

  With a big smile on her face, Viola heads for me, slipping onto my lap and putting an arm around my shoulders. With her other hand, she smooths her fingers across my brows, then cups my cheek and pulls my face to hers for a chaste kiss.

  When she pulls back, she examines my face with a soft smile. “That’s better. No frowning. It’s a party. We’re having fun together to celebrate the end of another successful tour before we all go our separate ways for a while.”

  I chuckle. “Not that separate. We all live in the same building.”

  She shrugs. “True. But if the breaks we had are much to go by, we won’t see each other much for at least a month.”

  “Good point.” I pull her in for another kiss, still unable to get enough of her even after over a year together.

  She settles in more comfortably, surveying the others as they talk and laugh and drink. Sam’s drinking ginger ale, and Aaron’s doing the bulk of the work with Maddie, getting her snacks and drinks and intervening when she gets a little too bossy with Eli and Mila. Maybe Marcus is onto something.

  I turn my attention to Viola, trying to decide if she’s watching the kids with longing in her eyes. Does she want babies?

  But she’s paying more attention to Kendra and Sam over in the kitchen than the kids.

  “Sam’s pregnant,” she confirms like she could read the question in my thoughts.

  “Oh yeah? Is she happy about it?”

  Viola nods, her eyes still on Sam and Kendra. “Yeah. It was on purpose.”

  “Cool.” I swallow hard, not sure if I should ask the next question or not. “What abou
t you?”

  She splutters out a laugh, looking at me. “No. I’m not pregnant. I’m pretty sure you’d know if that was even a possibility.”

  The tips of my ears heat up, but I forge on. “No, I know. That’s not what I meant. Do you ever … do you want kids?”

  Her smile falls away, and she studies me. Then she lifts one shoulder in a shrug. “Maybe someday? I don’t know. Not right now, though. Why? Do you?”

  Breathing easier, I shrug too. “Same. Maybe someday, but not right now.”

  “Good,” she says, laughing a little. “I’m glad we’re on the same page.”

  Wrapping my arms around her, I hug her closer to me, slouching down a little more to settle us both more comfortably. We are on the same page. And we have been for a long time.

  Yeah, we’ve had some ups and downs. And we’ve both been talking to therapists to work on communication and healthy boundaries. But mostly, it’s been smooth sailing.

  Pressing a kiss to the side of her head, I smile, watching everyone around us. This, all of us together, this is our family. And it’s the best family I could ever ask for.

  The Arrangement—Coming late Summer 2020

  One minute my career is tanking ...

  The next I’m clawing my way back to the top.

  The catch?

  It’ll take marrying a guy I just met in a bid to rehab my bad reputation. As long as I take him with me.

  But what starts as a business arrangement quickly turns into more. The raging chemistry between us can’t be denied.

  When I no longer need him, my agent encourages me to cut him loose or risk losing the career I married him to save.

  But that means not only breaking my promise to him, but also giving up the man I love.

  Do I choose my lifelong dream? Or the love I didn’t expect? Why can’t I have both?

  Click here to preorder now!

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading Mason and Viola’s story! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I know so many people have been looking forward to Mason’s story for so long. I hope it lived up to your expectations.

  If you liked it, please go leave a review somewhere. I’d appreciate it so much!

  Some people have already asked if this is the last Cataclysm book, and the answer is yes, it is. Everyone else has their story already. Though I wouldn’t be opposed to doing some kind of spin off if there’s a character somewhere who you love and want to see get their own story. Send me a message or shoot me an email and let me know, and I’ll keep it in mind for future reference.

  The good news is, there’s a free bonus scene for you if you’re not quite ready to let go of Mason and Viola. Download it here. It asks for your email address, but you’ll only get emails from me if you click the box saying you want them. Otherwise it’s just for Bookfunnel to email you the download link.

  Though if you want to keep up to date with new releases, I recommend clicking the box.

  Sadly, this is the last book in the Cataclysm series. If you haven’t read the other four books, you can get them here.

  So what’s next?

  I have another rockstar romance series called Songs and Sonatas, and the last book in that is called The Arrangement. It’ll be out in late summer, once editing and all that jazz is done. It features one of the members of Golden Enigma, the band that opened for Cataclysm in this book. (They got a brief mention early on.) Click here to preorder it now.

  In the meantime, you can get caught up on the Songs and Sonatas series. The first book, Double Exposition, is an opposites attract romance between a former one-hit-wonder heart throb and a classical violinist (who was a fan when she was a twelve-year-old). Click here if that sounds like your cup of tea.

  I also have a college football romance series that I love just as much as my rock stars. The first book, Summer Fling, is an opposites attract/short term fling romance that’s full of banter and is lots of fun. Keep reading for a sneak peek, or click here to grab it now.

  Thanks for reading!

  Until next time …

  Jerica

  As always, I have to say thank you to a few people for helping create this book.

  Thank you to Deb and Leslie, my diehard editing team who don’t let me get away with being lazy with my descriptions or word choices.

  To my Book Club members and my Book Junkies, who are always enthusiastic about my word count screenshots, cheering me on, and helping me with everything from naming characters to picking cover pictures.

  To my ARC readers who take the time to read and enthusiastically review my books.

  And last but not least, thank you, dear reader, for coming along for the ride. Knowing you’re out there waiting for whatever story I’ll dream up next keeps me going when the words don’t come easy and the story doesn’t flow. Thank you.

  Keep in touch!

  Don’t forget to claim your exclusive bonus scene: https://dl.bookfunnel.com/jlp2fy3d4w

  Here are the best places to keep up with me and what’s new:

  http://www.bookbub.com/authors/jerica-macmillan

  http://www.goodreads.com/jericamacmillan

  http://www.facebook.com/jericamacmillan

  http://www.amazon.com/author/jericamacmillan

  You’re also invited to join my closed reader group on Facebook, Jerica MacMillan’s Book Junkies.

  Or, if you want to speak to me directly, feel free to email me at contact@jericamacmillan.com.

  Did you enjoy this story? Please leave a review at Amazon, Bookbub, or Goodreads!

  Jerica MacMillan is a lifelong reader and lover of romance. Nothing beats escaping into a book and watching people fall in love, overcome obstacles, and find their happily ever after. She was recently named a semi finalist in Harlequin’s So You Think You Can Write 2015 contest.

  Jerica is living her happily ever after in North Idaho with her husband and two children. She spends her days building with blocks, admiring preschooler artwork, and writing while her baby naps in the sling. Sign up to receive updates on her reading and writing life at www.JericaMacMillan.com.

  Cataclysm

  Anything You Need

  Shouldn’t Want You

  Everything I Want

  Just For Now

  Anyone But You

  Songs and Sonatas Series

  Double Exposition

  Development

  Recapitulation

  Broken Chords

  Counterpoint and Harmony

  Overtones

  Reverb

  The Arrangement

  Players of Marycliff University

  Summer Fling

  Close Quarters

  Always You

  Unsaid Things

  Coping Skills

  False Assumptions

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at Summer Fling

  Chapter One

  “Hey! Watch it!” Abby shouted at the oversized asshole stumbling through the room with his buddies, drinks in hand. He didn’t even bother turning around. Fuming, she switched her red Solo cup to her other hand, shaking off the Jack and Coke that had spilled all over her thanks to the inconsiderate jackass now howling in the middle of the room. What a moron.

  She glanced down in disgust at the dark stain all over her pink tank top that skimmed over her curves and made her feel effortlessly pretty. She’d paired it with her favorite denim shorts and the new gladiator sandals she’d scored on clearance just a few days ago. And now they were all equally covered in sticky brown liquid.

  With a sigh and a roll of her eyes, she started to weave her way through the crowd of drunken Marycliff University students to find the kitchen. It was a big frat house on the edge of campus—she couldn’t remember which one with their strings of incomprehensible Greek letters. Actually, it’s not that she found them confusing. She just didn’t care. At all. The rooms all led one into the other like a big maze. She’d ended up somewhere near the front of the house where D
ouchey McDoucherson and his crew were still howling and knocking into anyone and everyone. The kitchen was at the back. Megan, her roommate and best friend, had dragged her there as soon as they got to the house to get drinks. And then they went in search of Isaac, the reason Megan had wanted to come tonight.

  He was her boyfriend? Fuck buddy? Abby wasn’t sure. All she knew was that Megan desperately wanted her to come along as her wing woman, and then promptly abandoned her as soon as she caught sight of Isaac.

  One thing for sure, this was the absolute last time Abby let Megan convince her she’d have fun at one of these parties. Abby wasn’t a frat party kind of girl. She’d much rather stay home and watch a movie or read a book. Small parties with people she knew were fine. But this collection of drunken idiocy and shameless grinding?

  No thanks.

  She finally managed to break through the throngs and find the kitchen, as stuffed with bodies as everywhere else. A breakfast bar with cups and drinks scattered across it dominated the room. The real attention grabber was the keg and another group of morons, with a central moron doing a keg stand. Abby elbowed her way through the crowd, uncaring who she bumped into anymore, trying to get to the sink to clean up as much as possible. Fingers crossed they stocked paper towels here. The prospect of spending the rest of the night sticky didn’t sound appealing, especially considering she’d probably have to walk home since she’d come in Megan’s car. She’d be a walking bug magnet like this.