The Treble With Men

by Smartypants Romance

  She rolled her eyes. “That’s not how it works. You’ve loved me from the beginning. I loved you too, but I wasn’t ready. We just needed to figure a few things out. It took time, but we’re here now.”

  “This is all that matters.”

  “Agreed.” She kissed me. “We should probably go back out there. Your adoring fans await.”

  “I just need one more minute.” I slid my hand up the back of her shirt and rubbed over the soft skin there.

  “Just a minute?”

  “You’re right,” I nuzzled her as I lifted her shirt off her head. “I need forever.”

  Chapter 42

  You play beautifully.

  KIM

  Devlin’s hands roamed everywhere. Our mouths came together. All our love was poured into our kiss. Our hungry tongues explored each other. He held me tight, my arms wrapped around his shoulders. We kissed until we could hardly breathe. I still buzzed from the performance. It was in the greedy narrowing of his eyes. My body shook slightly. His did too. There was always that high after a show. This time it was more powerful than any drug I’d ever tried. I was on fire for this man after months of waiting and temptation and very little release.

  We broke and I leaned back to take him in. His hair was ruffled from my hands. His onyx eyes glinted as they studied me. He was a sight to see in his suit.

  “What are you thinking?” he asked.

  I tilted my head and let my gaze drag slowly over his body. “How handsome you are. How amazing that suit looks on you.”

  His cheeks flushed as he cast a look down.

  “I was thinking that it’ll be a shame when I throw it on the floor,” I finished.

  When he lifted his head again, he was biting his bottom lip. “Oh, yeah?”

  A thrill tickled through me. “Oh, yeah.”

  I reached forward to undo the button on his suit jacket. I pushed it off his shoulders. He slowly began to unbutton his shirt. He took too long. I pulled his dress shirt out from his pants and started on the bottom buttons.

  We kissed clumsily while my fingers made quick work.

  “The door is locked, right?” he asked as I shoved off his shirt and tossed it on the chair next to the desk. It was a small office, a little disheveled from disuse, but it would be big enough.

  “Don’t care.”

  He smiled against my mouth. “Our families are out there.”

  “Nobody will find us. Secret room.” I kissed along his jaw, loving the way his beard burned my skin, and knowing it would leave a mark.

  I bit at his earlobe and licked his neck. I was wild for this man. My hands explored his huge chest and shoulders.

  He gripped my upper arms and growled. “Hang on.” He took a deep breath and stepped away.

  I groaned. On his way to the door he stopped and pulled a small silver packet from the drawer and set it on the desk. I bit my cheek to hide a smile.

  “I’m just going to check.” He locked the door and leaned back against it. Standing there shirtless and straining against his dress pants, I could hardly stand. He licked his lips. His eyes ate me up. “What am I going to do with you, Kim?”

  “Anything,” my voice came out as a husky whisper. “Everything.”

  I was leaning back against the desk, wearing entirely too much clothing. He took two steps to close the distance. He slowly pushed the see-through shirt off my shoulders. He kissed the exposed skin of my neck and collarbone. He pulled off the camisole underneath and my lace bralette with it.

  With both of our tops exposed to the cool office air, we embraced again. I loved the way my soft body felt pressed against his hard chest.

  His large, callused hands slid up my ribcage to cup my breasts. He lowered his head to take turns sucking on each nipple. “I love these. I haven’t stopped thinking about them. About the time they bounced on top of me as you made yourself come.”

  “Shh. Less talking. More touching,” I breathed, but only because I was already so hot. I couldn’t take much more.

  He grabbed a handful of my ass. “But you like the talking, too.”

  I sucked his bottom lip into my mouth, biting it gently before releasing it. “Good point. Both. Both is good.”

  He brought his mouth back to mine as he slid my pants and underwear down and off my hips. I kicked out of my heels and across the floor with the remainder of my clothes.

  He stood back to look at me. He ran a hand over his mouth. “Fuck.” He let out a slow breath. “I’ve waited so long for this.”

  “Me too.” I leaned back against the desk, spreading my legs slightly to let him take his fill. “Your turn,” I said, glancing at his bulge.

  His pants and shoes quickly joined the pile of discarded clothes. When we came back together, we were sloppy and rough. Our bodies collided as our lust boiled over. No more waiting.

  I loved every second of it. We kissed deeply as he explored my body, testing to see if I was ready. I was very ready.

  “Turn around,” he said in a stern voice.

  Heat flooded me. I grew somehow languid and tense with anticipation at the same time. I did as he’d commanded. He came up behind me and pulled me close. The heat of his body encompassed me. His erection nudged at my bottom. I thought I might collapse against the desk.

  “That night I massaged you, we were like this, remember that?” His hands rubbed knots from my shoulders as he spoke.

  “I remember a little more clothing,” I whispered.

  “Do you have any idea how hard,” he pushed himself between my legs, not entering me, just teasing, “it was for me to not touch you like this?”

  I panted and let my head fall back on his shoulder. He palmed me and pulled gently, but not too gently, at my nipples.

  “You wanted it too, didn’t you?”

  I swallowed. “Yes.”

  “You drive me crazy. You know that?”

  “You pushed me so hard,” I groaned.

  He was grinding against me, spreading my slickness around.

  “Not nearly enough. Not even close. I want you so bad.”

  I arched my back as he continued to tease. The action caused him to slip into me without warning. We both gasped. He pumped once. Twice. Then pulled out.

  “Shit, sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to do that yet.”

  “I don’t mind.” I reached down to touch myself. I was already so close.

  He groaned as though in pain. He thrust one more time.

  “Not like this.” He grabbed my wrist and brought my fingers to his mouth to suck on them. He hummed in pleasure as he did. “Turn around. I want to see your face when I make you come.”

  I did as commanded. I was all about making choices in my life now. I was in command of who I was. But I’d be lying if I said being controlled by him wasn’t everything. He lifted me onto the desk, rolled on a condom, and slid back into me without another word.

  We moaned as he dropped his forehead to mine. Our bodies thrust, mine matching his motion for motion.

  His gaze held mine. “Come for me, Kim.”

  “So. Close,” I panted.

  He shifted and grabbed my thigh to lift it higher on his hip. Something about the angle worked. He pressed right where I needed him to. I came without warning, shocking us both.

  I relaxed my fingernails from digging into his shoulders. I was wrong if I’d thought I would ever get enough of this man. This was only the beginning. Even now, as he pumped toward his own release, I felt myself reaching toward another peak. There was so much to do with him, so much to try and explore. Now that Pandora’s box had been opened, my curious mind was only too eager to explore the possibilities. He gripped both my knees and hefted them higher. I pressed back onto my palms to find balance. His muscles flexed and glinted with sweat as he rocked back and forth, picking up speed. He looked magnificent and took me over the edge a second time.

  “Kim,” he called my name as he came. His head was thrown back, the tendons in his neck strained. Now that was an i
mage I wanted rendered in marble.

  It took a minute before he seemed to return to his body. His breaths eventually evened out as he lowered my legs gently and brought my upper body back to him. When he did, he cupped my face to drag a thumb over my bottom lip.

  “That was amazing,” he said before kissing me deeply.

  We broke the kiss but only to catch our breath.

  His forehead was against mine. He seemed to like the connection it brought, and I liked looking into his eyes. I didn’t mind the sweat; if anything, it reminded me how freaking naughty this all was. He was still inside me and hard.

  “You’re so sexy. I knew it’d be like this with you,” he said.

  “You did?” I asked, clearly fishing.

  “Yes. You’ve always been so full of curiosity and passion. It was all locked down inside you, but I knew it was there.”

  “You’ve freed me,” I said holding his gaze and pouring all my love into it.

  He kissed me so deeply that an aftershock shuttered through me. I clenched on him and he groaned. He broke the kiss and started to pull out. His gaze focused on where our bodies connected. I watched amazement come over his face, the high color in his cheeks, the sweat on his brow. This man was beautiful. Inside and out.

  I gasped when he pushed back into me.

  “Sorry. I just—”

  He pumped two more times. Controlled but strained.

  “Again?” I asked breathless.

  His pace picked up. “I’ve waited so long.”

  This time it was faster, dirtier, sweatier. I was slick. Our bodies were so slippery, I had to hold on tight as he used me and I used him in return. We both came again in seconds. This time when he finished, he pulled out right away.

  “If I don’t get out now, I may never leave.” He threw the condom in the trash and grabbed a towel near a punching bag in the corner. I may have watched his amazing ass the whole time.

  “There’re worse things in life.” I smiled at him.

  “It makes walking tricky.”

  “We’d figure it out.” I shrugged.

  He came back to me and handed me the towel. “God, I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  After we’d cleaned up and started putting on our clothes, I gestured to the large punching bag. “Hey, what’s with that?”

  He followed my gaze as he did up the last button of his shirt. “Anger issues. I’ve been working on them for a while. Only recently I realized I was never really angry.”

  “You were scared.” I finished for him.

  He stepped back to me and grabbed my hands. “I was. I was always afraid to lose everything. But then I had a taste of what it really was to lose everything. When I pushed you out of my life—like I’d pushed away everything else of importance—my worst fears were realized. I was alone. I had nothing. You were with someone else.”

  “I’m so sorry,” I said. “I was so scared too.”

  He nodded sadly. “It’s all the past now. The only thing that matters is this moment.”

  “You’re right.” I grabbed his hands in mine. “Now that we both truly understand that, we won’t go back to a place where the past has so much power over us.”

  “Thank you for coming back to me.”

  “Thanks for risking your career to show me your love.” I put my head on his chest. His heart beat loudly against my ear.

  “Not being with you almost killed me.”

  I nodded against him. Then looked up into his eyes. “You brought Kim Dae back to life.”

  Chapter 43

  The Next April

  KIM

  “What are you doing?” Devlin asked from the doorway.

  “Just going through some of these boxes. Deciding what to keep.” I sat back on my heels, where I’d been kneeling.

  “Why do you sound sad?” He was at my side, pulling the shoebox out of my hand. He brushed back my hair to kiss my temple.

  “I’m not sad. Sentimental, I guess. It’s my curse.” I sighed dramatically.

  “I can’t believe you kept all these.” He flipped through the old notes with tender care.

  “I couldn’t quite bring myself to get rid of them.”

  “I like that about you. It makes me happy that they meant so much to you.” He held my gaze, a small furrow between his brows. “Want to hear a joke?”

  “Always.”

  “What did one musician say to the other?” he asked.

  “What?”

  “Nothing. He left a note.”

  I snorted a laugh. “Terrible. I love it.”

  He gently turned my face back to his. “Tell me why you’re sad.”

  “I’m not sad.” I nestled into his hand. “I’m happier than I have ever been. It’s just hard not to think about the what-ifs. What if I’d sought out who sent the notes? What if you’d told me? Imagine if we’d met before I ever even met Roddy?”

  His face hardened before relaxing into a sad smile. “It wasn’t our time.”

  “I can’t believe he lied to me about sending them, and for so long. I can’t believe I trusted him.”

  “Why would you have any reason not to trust him? There’s nothing wrong with trusting people you care about. It’s not your fault he turned out to be…”

  “Just the worst.” I shuddered.

  He scowled. “I never trusted him. Even back then.”

  “Well, you were right.” I sat back on my palms when my legs started going numb.

  “Speaking of—apparently, his parents are in some financial trouble. That was why he pushed so hard for the tour. He was living beyond his means. His business is screwed. Markus Savagno and Caroline Tetch have both dropped him.”

  “Really? I was wondering why the check I got came from his parents.” I wasn’t surprised. Not really—you could only be two-faced for so long until people caught on. “He all but told me he was the reason Carla missed that performance. The one that got me my first solo.”

  “Scumbag,” he grumbled.

  “I was so willfully blind to it …”

  “Hey, stop. If these notes are going to upset you, you shouldn’t read through them.”

  “I just think about all the time wasted.”

  He grabbed me and pulled me into his arms. “You know we can’t think that way. Everything that led us to this moment was worth it. If I had to stay away a hundred years just for five minutes of your time, I’d take whatever I could get.”

  My heart fluttered in my chest. “Thankfully, we have all the time in the world now.”

  “I love you.”

  “I love you, too. Thanks for cheering me up.”

  “Always.” He grinned. He lowered his head to kiss the area behind my ear that was quickly becoming my favorite spot. “Then I get to do this.”

  “Hmm. I also like this.” We kissed deeper.

  Our hands roamed each other’s bodies greedily. Soon we were on the floor, mostly naked. He slid into me and I gasped. We panted and ground against each other. Every time was better than the last.

  “Why can we never make it to a bed?” I asked a few minutes later, now dressed and under control.

  “Beds are overrated.”

  He helped me to stand and we looked at all the boxes still stacked in his foyer.

  “We better get going. Or we will be very late. We can finish unpacking your stuff later.”

  “Screw unpacking, I want to do that again.”

  “I could handle that.”

  His eyes drifted to the box of notes, half spilled from our fooling around.

  “What’s this?” he asked handing me one of the notes.

  “That’s the note you sent while I was in rehab.”

  “I didn’t send you a note in rehab. I was already on tour and I didn’t know about all that until later.”

  I blinked at him in surprise. “Really?”

  “Really,” he said.

  We bent our heads to read the note, now seeing noticeably different handwriting. �
��Just keep playing.”

  “I’d just assumed it was you. Well, the author of the notes.”

  He shook his head.

  “Huh.” I shoved the notes away. “Not important. Let’s get going. We need to tell Andy-Dick about our plans.”

  “I regret telling you I called them that,” he said.

  “It’s hilarious. They’re all right though. At least they love our idea for a Christine Day/Erik Jones concert.”

  “Of course they do—it’ll sell out in minutes.” He squeezed my hand. “I had an idea. What if we donate all of our portion of the proceeds to help teens who have gotten addicted to drugs? Help them get on a better path.”

  My heart swelled in my chest. Just when I didn’t think I could possibly love him more. “Genius. I know Ford has a lot of connections for just that sort of thing. I’ll text Suzie tonight. My rehab changed my life, but not everybody can afford that level of personalized help.”

  He kissed my forehead.

  “It’ll be so weird to perform as them now,” I said.

  “People love a good love story. Plus, they’re just our stage names. Not who we are. It helps to keep it separate. Being on stage with you is all that counts.”

  “Ditto.” I held his face and looked deep into his eyes. “You know, none of that mattered to me. Your big tough guy act, the pop star background. Everything I love about you, is you.”

  “Once I understood that, none of the other stuff mattered to me either. Thank you for loving me.”

  I hugged him before he slid into his leather coat. “Mmm. You smell good,” I said.

  “The weather is perfect.” He glanced out an open window.

  “Let’s take the bike then.” I grabbed my own jacket as I tugged him along.

  “Really?” He let me pull him outside and into the garage.

  “Yes. I miss it.”

  He gave me a look before handing me a helmet. “Let’s go, beautiful.” He winked at me and I felt sixteen again. But in the good way.