The Treble With Men

by Smartypants Romance

A second later, I chucked off the blankets and ran into the hall. The lights flickered with the next flash and crash. I yelped and gripped the wall. I wasn’t scared. It had startled me. There was a difference. This was fine. I was totally fine. I might just wander the house to see if Devlin was awake or go to the music room and play. Not that I needed company but—

  Another flash and rattling boom.

  “Eep!” I quickened my pace. The living room was the central point of the house. I’d make my way there and decide what to do next. Where did Devlin sleep? Not that I was going to bother him; I just wanted to make sure he was around.

  He had to have a bedroom. An image of him hanging upside down like a bat in his music room flashed through my eyes. But no, if anything, he probably didn’t sleep. He probably just hunched over his giant piano composing brilliant music while the rest of us mere mortals slept.

  The living room was cold and dark. The fireplace sat empty. The whole room loomed large in the dark. Thankfully, his fancy house was full of motion detecting lights. The first few scared me but after feeling my way into a couple rooms the automatic lights brought me comfort. If I could find the remote for the sound system, I’d play some loud music and wait for the storm to blow over. It wouldn’t be like I was alone at all.

  Despite the lights coming on and the sound of crashing rain against the windows, I was still very aware that this was a huge house. Somebody else could be living here, and I wouldn’t know. Devlin had to have people who cleaned and cooked while he locked himself away for hours at a time. What if he had a humpbacked assistant that would come lurking around a corner, dragging a leg behind him?

  Chills wracked my body. Seriously, where the cluck was this man’s room?

  I hated how scared I felt. I hated that I was basically a little child. I hated that I wished more than anything I was home where I could knock on my parent’s bedroom door. I was an adult, for crying out loud. An adult who was so sick and tired of being alone.

  A loud thump somewhere behind me injected me with adrenaline. The lights flickered again. Back-up generator. It would be fine. I wouldn’t be in the dark. I made my way back to the fireplace and picked up a fire poker. Gretchen had instilled the comfort of wielding heavy objects in me.

  Another thump and soft shuffles.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered.

  My fear ratcheted up to brain-clogging hysteria.

  Something was getting nearer. I backed up until I was tucked behind the corner of a long hallway. Only one way in. Along with a wicked sense of curiosity, I had been cursed with an overactive imagination, and now all I could picture was a serial killer that had been hiding in the house for months headed toward me with murder on their mind.

  I gripped the poker tighter, ready to swing. My body rocked forward, ears pricked and desperate to catch the serial killer’s arrival.

  More footsteps. I held my breath. The element of surprise was all I had on my side now. When the stranger was right upon me, I took a deep breath in. I jumped out and bellowed like I was facing off a mountain lion, the poker straight out in front of me.

  “ROAR!” I yelled.

  I wasn’t sure actually saying the word roar counted, but it got the job done. My assailant jumped a foot in the air away from me.

  “Ah!” Devlin screamed.

  I screamed.

  We both screamed … but there was no ice cream. We took each other in. He squinted at me with one eye closed, and his T-shirt was on inside out and backwards like he’d gotten dressed in the dark. He wasn’t wearing pants. Boxer shorts, yes, but that was it. He was practically Porky-pigging it.

  The lights were on. I wasn’t hiding. We made eye contact. He had to know it was me.

  But surprising us both, a full second later, he screamed again.

  It was not a manly shout. It was a high-pitched scream that some might say resembled that of a little girl. It’s me. I am some. I would say that.

  I dropped the poker out of pure shock at his terror. As my heart slowed down, a smile grew. Laughter bubbled up from deep in my chest.

  Devlin clutched a hand to his chest, his eyes wide. Backing into the wall behind him, he bumped into a short ornamental table, jostling a potted plant and knocking a small figurine over. Startled, Devlin yelped in fright and jerked away.

  At this point, my arms were wrapped tight around my middle. The laughter came so hard, I was silent.

  “Kim?” His voice was ragged and sleepy. “What’s going on?” After what felt like years of blinking at me while I laughed my face off, he finally seemed to fully register it was me. I couldn’t handle it. He was so dopey. Not at all the broody Devil of the Symphony now.

  I shook with silent laughter. I just couldn’t stop hearing his girly little scream on a loop in my head.

  “Are you—are you laughing at me?” he asked.

  “Your scream—” I gasped out.

  “You scared me.” He scratched his head, drowsy with sleep.

  “Yeah, but then you screamed again.” My voice went up as I spoke. “Even after you saw it was me,” I gasped out, still fighting the giggles.

  “I was confused—” he said.

  “Like a Disney Princess.”

  The corner of his mouth lifted. “That’s sexist.”

  I sobered long enough to say, “You’re right.” I nodded seriously. Then on a tight, controlled breath I added, “Disney princesses are made of tougher stuff these days.”

  I breathed deep. No more laughing.

  “Okay. Okay. I was sound asleep. I’m so glad you find this hilarious.” His voice was fake-stern but his eyes softened with amusement.

  “And again when—when you hit the table. Don’t forget about that. You yelped!”

  His voice took on a wry, self-deprecating tone. “Well. You can never trust these tables. They jump out of nowhere.”

  That was it. I was lost to another fit. My back slid down the wall until I rested my head on my knees. The post-terror adrenaline and Devlin’s unexpected reaction had made me a little loopy. Every time I thought I had my laughter under control, I’d picture his oh-so-manly jump and the cycle just started again. My cheeks hurt from so much smiling.

  Devlin chuckled a little as he shook his head. He slid down the opposite wall until we were facing each other in the hall. One lone light shone above us.

  “I’m not used to company,” he said.

  My face muscles twitched with the effort of composure. Finally, I collected myself enough to breathe deeply and wiped the tears from my cheeks.

  “I’m never going to forget that for as long as I live,” I vowed.

  “I’m here to entertain.” He had his back to the wall, one leg bent to his chest, the other leg sprawled out in front. He watched me like he thought I was the funny one. He looked half-asleep and wholly adorable. “If you ever tell anybody I screamed like that, they’ll never find your body,” he said, his tone dead serious.

  “Five minutes ago, that might have scared me.” I grinned across the short distance between us. “But that was before I heard you yelp.”

  He shook his head and then rested it back against the wall. The action jostled the small statue on the table and it fell over the edge, hitting his leg.

  He jumped again and without a sound, clutched his hand to his chest. He glared at me, his face braced for my reaction.

  I was lost to another fit of laughter.

  Chapter 20

  You aren’t alone.

  Devlin

  Kim’s eyes had heavy shadows under them, and she could hardly hold up her head. Her skin was so pale it looked like it might shatter if kissed. The last few minutes had really taken it out of her.

  “Why aren’t you sleeping?” I asked.

  She made a face where she scrunched up her nose and lips. Thunder crashed and her whole body tensed.

  “Are you afraid of the storm?”

  “I’m not afraid,” she said. “I just couldn’t sleep through it.” She yawned. “Then you scared me
.”

  “I scared you?” I asked in a flat, sarcastic tone. “I live here. You were the one wandering around setting off the security cameras.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Security cameras?”

  “Yes. But don’t worry, they’re only set when we’re sleeping or not home. They’re motion activated.”

  Her eyes widened. “They weren’t going during the SWS meeting, were they?”

  I kept my face blank and watched her. No. They hadn’t been recording, but now I sort of wished that they had been. What had those women been cackling about? At least the bathroom incident happened after that. I shuddered to think what they would have thought of the eyeful that Kim got.

  Finally, after a minute of letting her sweat it out, I said. “No. Privacy and all that.”

  “Right. Of course.” She let out a breath and looked so boneless she might need carrying up to her room.

  The image of her asleep in my arms again tightened my chest with something like longing. I recalled holding her like that before, how trusting and innocent she’d been in her sleep. It was a far cry from her uncontrollable giggling a minute ago, or the Kim that challenged Wes at dinner.

  “Hey, remember when you morphed into a praying mantis and yelled like one of those screaming goats?”

  “I remember.” I flared my nostrils.

  “Good times.” She yawned again.

  “Praying mantis?” I asked.

  “Yeah,” she said. “When you jumped. Your arms sort of tucked up like this.” She mimicked what I thought looked a lot more like a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

  “It was a real hoot,” I said flatly.

  After a minute, she sighed and looked around. “I’d be scared all the time if I lived in this big house all alone.”

  “It’s not so bad.” My chest tightened. There were times, more recently, that the emptiness of this house got to me. I’d imagine what it might be like to sit by the fire with somebody. Or hear the soft hums of another person in the next room. But it was my choice to be here. I was happy being alone.

  This time, her yawn was so big her jaw cracked.

  “You need to go to bed,” I said.

  “I know.” She didn’t move from the wall. She scratched her nose, a stall tactic I was beginning to recognize when she debated whether or not to say something. “I just—I had some rough nights in rehab, where I was alone and I dunno …”

  “You aren’t alone,” I said. “But neither of us are asleep.”

  “True. Can I ask a favor? And can you just agree to it without hearing it?”

  “No,” I said instantly.

  “Pleeeease?” She dragged out the word.

  “I’ll never agree to anything without hearing it first. That’s how people end up with a tattoo of a platypus on their ass.”

  “I feel like there’s a story there. We’ll circle back to that later.” As she spoke, she thumbed the worn fabric on the knee of her sweatpants—my sweatpants. “I just don’t want to sleep alone.”

  If she didn’t want to sleep alone that meant … “Uh,” was all I managed.

  “It’s not that I’m scared.”

  “You said that already,” I said.

  “I just don’t want to be alone in my room. Don’t read anything into it.”

  “Okay.” I swallowed.

  “I can sleep on your floor?”

  “My floor?” my voice cracked.

  “I’m sorry. I know this is weird.”

  “It’s not weird. I just—” Boundaries, boundaries, boundaries. She was taking a blow torch to all the walls holding our roles in place. I had to tell her no. I had to be strong. Lightning flashed again and her whole body tensed. She was exhausted. I was exhausted. There was really only one way to ensure we both got sleep.

  Five minutes later, Kim and I stood at the side of my bed, staring down at the king-size with equal looks of hesitation.

  “Okay.” Kim broke the tension first. “We could let this be awkward, but let’s be honest, we’re both so far past that point that it would serve no purpose. It’s a sleepover and we’re both so tired.”

  “And the bed is a king,” I added. “I could build a wall of pillows.”

  “I’m about to pass out face-first on this bed. You could probably give me that platypus ass tattoo and I wouldn’t even wake up. Let’s not worry about pointless walls.”

  I cleared my throat, not thinking about her ass. Nope. I said, “Me too.”

  We both got under the sheets. What did she think of my room? It was unadorned. A giant bed in the middle of a giant room that I fell into every so often. More often, I slept on the couch downstairs in the studio. No personal touches decorated the walls or sat on the dresser. Just bare. But the bed, at least, had top-of-the-line, high thread count sheets that felt like butter. Before I turned off the light, I caught her nestling deeper into the sheets with a soft smile on her face. A rumble of thunder, farther off now, didn’t even disturb her.

  “Why do you hate being alone?” I asked in a low whisper.

  “Why do you love being alone?” she murmured in a slurred voice.

  Being alone wasn’t something I actively chose. It just happened that way. Years of people showing their true natures. Not knowing who to trust. Traveling. New places. It was just easier that way.

  “I don’t,” I finally said.

  The soft sounds of her deep sleep were her only reply.

  Chapter 21

  I hear you playing in my dreams.

  KIM

  My body felt too hot. My skin was covered in a damp sweat. It was too soon to wake up. I was still too tired. Not all of my senses worked yet. My mind balanced on a thin line of consciousness. But something had woken me. Something I hadn’t felt in a long time.

  Lust, all muddled and confusing. It was like being drugged. I couldn’t really tell what was happening, but I knew I wanted sex. My body craved weight pressing down on it, filling it. My hips rocked trying to find relief that wasn’t there. My nipples were rock hard; my breasts ached to be teased.

  I was on fire. I was pressed against a source of incredible heat igniting me from the inside out.

  Desperate for relief, I turned on my side to rub my body closer to the source of heat. Had I ever felt this level of arousal? It was the type of horniness that came from watching something naughty. There was an over-arching sense of dread that I couldn’t pinpoint. Dread wasn’t the right word. A fear of being caught. Like a ticking clock warning time was running out. A thrill …

  My back arched. This was wrong. I shouldn’t be doing it. But why not? It felt so good. The sense of wrongness only fueled the lust burning through me.

  But I couldn’t stop.

  Realization that I wasn’t alone drifted into my still waking brain. I registered a massive muscular body beneath me. A thick thigh flexed between my legs. My fingers clenched on muscles. I dug my nails deep into hard flesh. Hands rubbed up my arms and down my body, squeezed my ass. Pulled me closer. I was sweating now. Panting. A rigid length rubbed against my hip. If I could just reach it, shift it closer so I could … my hand found its destination.

  A moan escaped me as I continued to rock.

  The form under me stiffened.

  Then the rest settled in. The thunderstorm. The sleeping arrangement.

  I froze, stock still.

  The body under me shuffled, causing me to fall slightly off. The light clicked on. Devlin and I shot apart.

  “Oh my God!” I clutched the sheet to my chest. Not that I knew why. I was fully dressed but my nipples were still hard, my breasts heavy with fading desire.

  Devlin shook sleep from his head. “Shit,” he mumbled. He glanced to me, still clutching the sheet. “Are you okay?”

  “I don’t know—”

  His gaze followed mine to his lap and he quickly covered himself with a pillow. But not before I saw the massive hardness barely restrained by cotton boxers. I sucked in my lips.

  “Sorry—I was sleeping,” he said. His hair w
as ruffled, and his eyes were squinting.

  “No. It’s okay. I just woke up.” My cheeks flamed red.

  I was humiliated. But at the same time … unsettled. Restless. And I was still on fire.

  Even in the dim light of the table lamp I could see color in his cheeks. His chest heaved. We were panting and our gazes met. We both looked away quickly.

  “Shit,” he repeated. He ran a hand over his face. “Kim. I’m so sorry. I don’t—I was sleeping,” he repeated.

  I bit my cheek to keep from smiling. “I was too. It’s okay. It was a dream. I was dreaming and then I wasn’t.”

  I studied the bit of space on the bed between us. There was dampness in my underwear, and I recalled how I had been grinding against him. I was embarrassed but maybe not as embarrassed as I should be. Had he felt the dampness from my arousal on his leg? God, what was wrong with me?

  He was taking deep breathes with his eyes closed.

  “I was dreaming too,” he said.

  I would pay good money to know what he’d been dreaming.

  “This was an accident,” I said.

  “Yes. I wouldn’t have—”

  “It’s okay.” I smoothed my hair before twisting it up into a quick bun. I slept with it down and could only imagine how it looked. He watched the action closely before looking to my lips and then eyes.

  “We were both sleeping,” he said almost in question.

  “Yes. Definitely sleeping. It was just. I think—I mean, we’re human. And I don’t know about you, but it’s been a while for me.” I clamped shut. I really needed to stop talking.

  He cleared his throat. “Yeah, I just—”

  “Just what?” I asked too quickly.

  “I mean yeah, it’s been a while for me too.”

  “It has?”

  He gave me a look.

  “Sorry. Don’t answer that. Boundaries,” I mumbled.

  “I knew this was a bad idea,” he said softly, almost to himself.

  “The storm …” It had shaken me more than I had wanted to admit, but the second we’d climbed into bed together I’d fallen right asleep. I’d slept better than I had in ages. It was like our bodies had just made a decision in our sleep for us.