Her nose burned and tears threatened as his words took up more space in her heart. For years she kept him at bay, refusing to give in to the desire they shared, and for what?
Chapter Seven
What was running through that head of hers? Concerned, Christian pulled her back down and kissed her again in an attempt to soothe her distress. His arms encircled her, and he gently rubbed along her spine before sliding down to her ass. “What is it?”
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
“You look as if you’re about to cry again. That’s not nothing.”
“Just letting my head get in the way is all.” She kissed him again, a long lingering meeting of lips that left him ready to explode. “Now make love to me.”
He cupped her ass, lifting and lowering her with each thrust. “You’re in charge, sweetheart. Sit up and take what you want. Ride me hard.”
Her heavy desire-filled eyes seemed to gobble him up and his stomach clenched in response. Heaven was having her hands on him, her fingers circling his nipples, her hair dusting across his skin.
She inched her way up until she rose above him. Her blond hair cascaded over one shoulder making her look like the goddess she was. A desperate yearning slowly surfaced, making Christian realise now that he’d opened the door between them, one night with her would never be enough. Every sexual encounter he’d had lead up to this one moment. He wanted her, needed her, on a primal level and could only hope she felt the same way.
He trembled as she rose and fell above him. His need to touch her again overwhelmed him until he couldn’t stand it any longer. He lifted his hands and cupped her breasts in his palm, pinching her nipples between his fingers, elongating them into taut peaks. Her mews of pleasure spurred him to ask her for more. “Give me your hands.”
She did without question and when he placed them on her breast, she didn’t pull away.
“Now play with them, honey. Do what I was doing.”
She did, tweaking her nipples, pulling and twisting them until Christian thought he would explode. God, what a beautiful sight she was.
His fingers dug into her hip and brushed across the scar from her accident, reminding him how her past would forever be a part of her. His pace increased. “I’m so close, baby,” he groaned. “I want you with me when I come.”
She let go of her nipples and lowered her hands to his chest. Using him for leverage, she shifted her position forward. Her heavy lids began to close.
“No, sweetheart, keep them open. Look at me.”
Again, she followed his direction. Their gazes locked and her mouth parted on a sigh as her walls clenched around his shaft. “Christian!” she gasped as her orgasm grew, claiming her until she could do little more than shake as her body convulsed with pleasure.
Hearing her say his name in the throes of the moment was too much. He snaked his hand through her hair and pulled her down to him, fusing his mouth to hers. Ravenous for her, he devoured everything she gave him until he thought he’d drown in her. Leveraging his feet against the mattress, he pounded into her until his body exploded, releasing years of need and pent up frustration into her welcoming body.
After what seemed like an eternity lingering in the bliss they’d created, he finally slowed his thrusts until sheer exhaustion demanded he no longer move. She came to rest on top of him, her body limp and satisfied. To have her draped across him limp like a rag was the best feeling in the world.
His dreams hadn’t come close to the reality of making love to Holly. Never again would he be satisfied to bed another woman. Not when everything he needed in his world lay within his arms.
* * * *
Bright light filtered through the sheer curtains of the one window in the bedroom, creating a warm glow against Holly’s eyelids. Not wanting to get up but knowing she needed to, she opened one eye and scanned the room before opening the other to her new reality.
Hard, warmth against her back had her turning her head slightly to catch a glimpse of a still very naked Christian snoring lightly into his pillow. So last night hadn’t been some vividly realistic dream after all. Careful not to wake him, she tossed off the covers and with less grace than she liked, slid from the bed. After a few moments of careful searching, she managed to find all her clothes and quickly dressed.
Maybe it was good that she had some time to consider what had happened before he woke. While she’d be the first to admit to enjoying the entire experience, it was an action totally out of character for her.
She pushed her hair from her face and silently slipped out of his room. The moment she stepped into the hallway the aroma of freshly brewed coffee teased her senses, promising her the jolt of caffeine she needed to clear her head.
Expecting to find the coffee pot set on a timer, she nearly skidded to a stop when she spotted Seth sitting at the table eating a bowl of oatmeal. Spoon half way to his mouth, he looked up and smiled. “Good morning.”
Oh God, he knows. Heat flooded her face as she worked to gather her scattered thoughts. “I-I thought the coffee pot was on automatic.”
“It is.” Seth nodded towards the carafe. “Help yourself.”
She poured herself a cup and rejoined him at the table. Might as well get the awkwardness over. “I’m guessing you know I slept with Christian last night.”
He smiled over the top of his mug. “I doubt much sleeping was actually done.”
The heat in her face increased. “Seth.”
He leaned across the table, his lips stopping millimetres from her ear. “Next time I may just have to invite myself into the mix. Christian may be in love with you, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t had a few fantasies of my own about finding you in my bed.”
A slow shiver rippled through her body as his words took root. Seth had fantasies about her?
Unsure of how to reply she lifted her mug and proceeded to take a long, slow drink, enjoying the warmth as it slid down her throat.
“Can you deny that the thought of having sex with me and Christian turns you on?” Seth reached out and brushed a knuckle along her cheek. “We both know there is a kinky streak in you.”
Her body reacted to his words and warmed under his touch. Instinct had her slapping his hand away in a sorry attempt to keep her emotional footing. “I do not.”
He chuckled and reached over to pick up her now empty mug to take it to the sink. “Oh yes, you do. I realised you had one back when we shared an apartment and you walked in on me having sex with Chelsea Moore.”
The memory of that moment came flooding back with his words and Holly couldn’t help but smile. “I remember that day. I left work early because I didn’t feel well. The last thing I expected was for anyone to be home that time of day, let alone being going at it like rabbits on the kitchen table.”
Seth’s grin widened. “True, but you didn’t scream in shock and go running from the room like I expected. Instead, you quietly backed away from the entrance and even watched for a second before you disappeared into your room.”
Shock had her eyes widening. “You saw me?”
“I did. That’s when I knew you were kinkier than you let on.”
“I…I was just curious. I’d never seen two people having sex in real life.”
“It was more than curiosity, hon, and next time you stay over I plan on doing more than sleeping alone in my bed.”
A fierce ripple of desire raced through her system. Would there be a next time and if there was, what would it be like to have sex with both Christian and Seth? Anxious to change the subject before she revealed too much, Holly pushed from the table and stood. “So, how long have you guys been back?”
He chuckled at her attempt to steer the conversation in another direction, but didn’t call her on it. “A few weeks.”
“What made you guys come back here of all places?”
“Christian wanted to spend some time with his folks and little brother.”
“Makes sense, but…” She motioned to the room. “Why
are you here and why rent this place instead of staying with his parents?”
“For privacy mostly. Our fans and the media would expect us to stay with Christian’s folks and actually staked out their place when we first announced we were taking a hiatus. In order to keep them out of the spotlight, we rented this place and they come here to visit.”
“That explains why Christian is here, buy why did you come back with him?”
Seth shrugged. “I don’t have any real ties with my family and Christian’s folks practically raised me, so it only made sense. I’m just sorry we couldn’t have met up with you a few weeks earlier.” He arched a brow. “You know, we won’t be here much more than another month or so.”
She nodded. “I figured as much. You guys are just waiting for Rally to finish rehab, right?”
“Something like that,” he replied before dropping his spoon into his now empty bowl. “Honestly, I don’t want the asshole back. Neither does Christian for that matter.”
“Does the record company still have that much of a hold over you guys that you can’t make any decisions for yourselves?”
“They used to when we were first starting out, but not anymore.”
“What’s different now?”
“Two million copies of Wicked Desire and sold out concerts for the last year and a half is the difference.” He pushed the bowl away and rested his elbows on the table. “You see, hon, they signed us for a three record deal, which with the completion of this tour we’ve fulfilled. If they don’t hear us out, we can simply choose not to sign back with them.”
“But then you’ll be without a record deal.”
“Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong.” He picked up his bowl, pushed from the table, stood and walked to the sink. “We’ve already had executives from other labels talking to us. In the six weeks since Rally entered rehab we’ve had offers from at least three other labels wanting to write a deal. Right now, Sanctuary is hot and we can pretty much call the shots.”
“That’s fantastic, Seth, but you two shouldn’t be piddling around here in a rented duplex when you could be out looking for another guitarist.”
“You see, that’s the thing.” He walked across the kitchen, pulled a fresh mug from the cabinet and poured himself another cup of coffee. “We’ve already picked out the next guitarist.”
A quick stab of jealousy landed directly in Holly’s stomach. “You have?”
He nodded. “We’ve talked to Collin and Nick about this and we all agree that we want you to come back to the band.”
She froze, her gaze locked on Seth. “What?”
“We want you back in the band,” he repeated.
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” She motioned to the hallway. “Before last night?”
Christian stepped into her line of sight, the look on his face hopeful. “Because if you said yes to the band, we knew you’d say no to me—to us.” He closed the distance between them before taking her hand in his. “And I couldn’t stand the idea of having you choose the band over me—again.”
She yanked her hands out of his grip then lifted it to her head and pressed a thumb and finger against her temple to rub at the beginnings of a headache. Confusion racked her brain even as anger began to well deep in her chest as she slowly realised she’d been duped.
“Let me get this straight. You were going to ask me to come back to the band, but first you wanted me in your bed because you knew if you tried it the other way around, I’d say no—is that correct?”
Seth nodded as Christian shoved his hands in his pockets. “Pretty much.”
Her nose stung as tears burned her eyes. She’d trusted him, given her body over to Christian unconditionally. To find out that they’d both deceived her was almost too much.
“Holly?”
Eyes full of tears, she looked up at Christian. “I want to go home—now!”
Chapter Eight
Christian snuck a glance at Holly while he drove along the two-lane highway on the way to the address she’d provided. They’d been on the road nearly twenty minutes and she hadn’t said a word since her demand to go home.
Despite her refusal to speak, tension washed off her frame in waves that threatened to drown him. Knowing she’d need more time to absorb the new twist in their relationship he hadn’t meant to spring the band invitation on her so soon. Apparently, he’d forgotten to discuss that little tidbit with Seth.
The sad fact remained that by rushing into the situation they not only breached her trust, but also may have very well ruined any chance the band had of her returning. Even if she was angry, this silence was killing him. “Holly.”
“Don’t talk to me,” she snapped.
The pain and anger in her voice nearly undid him. He’d waited so long to have her back in his life. To know he may have ruined everything with his bad judgement twisted his stomach into knots. “You can’t just close me out.”
Her head jerked to the side and she shifted on one hip to look at him. “Watch me.”
Oh, man! While he knew how stubborn she could be, he’d forgotten about her temper. “Even after what took place between us last night?”
Pain flared in her eyes, telling him that their encounter the night before had meant something to her.
“You lied to me.”
He glanced back to the road, noting the upcoming turn as he slowed the vehicle. “I may not have told you everything, but I did not lie to you.”
“Oh, really?” she countered. “So what do you call intentionally withholding information in order to achieve your goals?”
He made a left off the main road onto a lane leading to a small grouping of houses. “Okay, I’ll admit that maybe Seth and I could have handled the situation better.” He pulled into the driveway, put the SUV in park and turned off the ignition.
“So now I’m a situation to be handled?” She grabbed the door handle and flung open the passenger door. “Real nice, Christian.”
“Hol—” She slammed the door on his words. “Damn!” He banged a palm against the steering wheel then pushed open the driver’s door. No way was he going to let her walk away like this. “You are not a situation.” He practically ran to catch up as she stomped up the deck steps all the while rooting in her pocket for her keys. “And I resent you putting words in my mouth.”
She turned on him, her face red with anger. “And I resent being treated like one of your fucking groupies.”
Anger flared through his system and he grabbed her by the biceps, his face inches from hers. “Don’t you ever say that again! You are not a groupie.”
She shoved at him. “You’ve lost the right to touch me.”
He let go as if her words burned him. “Holly, be reasonable.”
“I am being reasonable. As far as I’m concerned, what you and Seth did was sneaky and underhanded. Obviously, you don’t give a damn about my feelings. Otherwise you would have told me about the band offer first.”
“That’s not how it is.”
“Then how is it, Christian, because I’d really like to know.”
“I love you.”
She froze with his words, her eyes going wide with shock.
He reached for her. “I know it might be hard for you to accept, but it’s true. I love you, Holly.”
“Y-you haven’t seen me for five years. How can you claim to love me?”
He shook his head. “Time is irrelevant. I might not have thought this situation through, but that’s only because I couldn’t bear the thought of you choosing the band over me, again.”
“Well, now you don’t have to worry about either happening.” She slid the key into the lock and turned the handle. “Goodbye Christian.”
* * * *
Forty minutes later Christian walked back into the house to find Seth pacing the living room, cell phone to his ear. “Yeah, I understand perfectly. I’ll be in touch.”
He flipped the phone closed and raked a hand through his hair before he turned and spotte
d Christian. The look on Seth’s face told Christian something very wrong had happened during the time he’d been taking Holly home.
“What’s going on?”
“Rally’s gone.”
Christian tossed the keys on the table and stalked towards Seth. “What do you mean he’s gone?”
“At some point in the last twelve hours he walked away from the rehab centre.”
“I don’t understand. He’s there under court order and can’t check himself out.”
“He didn’t check himself out, Chris. He walked away. Nobody knows where he is, but when they do find him, he’s going to jail.”
“So what? We didn’t want him back anyway.”
“Yes, but management says that the record company has officially washed their hands of him. They’re scouting out new guitarists for the band.”
A quick jolt of panic hit Christian. “They can’t do that.”
“That’s a matter of debate. When I told management that we were looking for a guitarist ourselves, I was given an ultimatum—find somebody in the next two weeks or the record company would. If we reject their pick they’ll drop us from the label.”
Christian shrugged. “While I’ll admit that throws a small wrench in the cog, what does it really matter if they drop us or not, especially when we have three other labels wanting to take us on?”
Seth turned, picked up a newspaper and tossed it at Christian. “That’s what makes it matter. Apparently we didn’t go as unnoticed as we thought yesterday.”
Christian glanced down at the page and his heart all but stopped. There on the front page of the entertainment section was a photo of him and Seth holding hands with Holly while walking through the park. Next to it was second photo only this one had Collin and Nick walking out of The Music Place, a music store owned by famous rock guitarist Evan Weir.
The headline above the photos said it all. “Sanctuary not such a safe haven after all.”
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