by Cari Quinn
Cooper brushed a kiss over my temple. “And look at you. In a fucking amazing band with all our friends, kicking ass.”
I smiled as I reached up behind me to hook my hand around his neck. “Ricki helped me get in with Jamie and Lindz. She opened that door for me to walk through.”
“That was her on the phone?”
“You didn’t try to listen?”
“Of course not.” I could hear the frown in his voice. “I turned on some music on low inside so I couldn’t. Though I figured it might be her when you said I love you. That’s reserved for just a few.”
Reserved for you too.
She’d thought I was on my way to falling. But the trip was so much shorter when I loved him already.
Had loved him for so long.
This was just a different side to us. Something new and big and overwhelming. All the feelings I’d had for him before were shifting and changing and growing. It was almost like I didn’t have enough room inside for them all.
Riding shotgun with them was fear. Losing him would be like losing everything.
“Throughout these last couple of years, you’ve been always by my side.” I stared out into the dizzying array of lights and lifted my voice above the rising wind. “Am I being greedy?”
He didn’t laugh at me, just nuzzled my jaw. “Stealing happiness wherever you can isn’t being greedy. You deserve as much as anyone else. Hell, I do too.”
Gently, he turned me toward him, his dark eyes dancing with the myriad lights of the city below us. “I’m not going anywhere. No matter what. I’ve been waiting for you.”
My heart literally quivered. I’d never felt that sensation before. “Someone like me?”
His lips twitched. “No, you yourself. From practically the first, it was always you for me.”
I rested my hand over his chest, registering the quick unsteady beat of his heart. Just like mine. “Ricki said you look at me like a bowl of whipped cream.”
“She’s not wrong.”
Heat flared in my eyes, a dangerous precursor. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wasn’t brave enough.”
I laid my head over my hand on his warm flesh. “You’re the strongest, bravest man I know.”
He released an uneven breath and cupped the base of my head in his hand before pressing a kiss to my hair.
So many unsaid things passed between us in that moment.
Trust. Affection. Even love.
I just didn’t know if it would be the kind that could sustain us, or if we would burn out in a scorching rush. Despite what he said, he couldn’t know either. We just needed to have faith and go forward.
Together.
Part of that was being honest, even when I wished I could pretend none of this was even happening. I wanted to dive into Cooper and not come up for air.
“Ricki is meeting me tomorrow. Mal’s coming too. We’re meeting at Angel P’s. I know you and Cole will be there, as will their bodyguard.” He didn’t speak as I reached up to smooth out the furrows in his brow. “I know it’s killing you to let this happen. To not call Lila and demand she find some tower she can hide me away in.”
“Forget Lila. I’d build you the tower myself with my bare hands, and then wait beneath it for you to let down your hair so I could climb up with you.”
I managed to smile. “Rapunzel was blond.”
He fingered my curls. “Red is the prettiest.”
“Charmer. Where did you get fairy tale knowledge?”
“Little sister who begged me to read them to her until she was like ten.”
“Lucky sister. I always wanted siblings.” I laid my head on his chest again, my favorite place in the world. “When faux Priscilla called, I was dreaming I was walking with a little girl. She had ringlets just like me. My blue eyes.”
“Our daughter would be beautiful.”
I didn’t breathe. Didn’t move.
I’d probably misheard him.
There was being all in, and then there was forever. Marriage and family and little girls in lacy dresses.
“You okay?” He rubbed my back.
“Yes.”
“You sure? That was more a squeak than an actual answer.”
“I’m just hearing things. Probably took in water during my shower.”
He nudged me back from him, his expression entirely too serious. “I said our daughter.”
“So, not water in my ear then. Good to know. If I fall over, just try to grab me before I take a header off the roof, okay?”
The corner of his mouth ticked up. “Did you miss the part it’s always been you for me? I want the whole thing. A family. Kids. I’m hoping you want those things too, but they’re not deal breakers. If you want to live in sin, I can handle that too.” He tucked his fingers under my chin and tilted my face up to his. “The only non-negotiable part is you.”
I swallowed over the lump in my throat. “The little girl… I think she was me. We were walking toward a rainbow. A sign the pot of gold still exists after the storm, if you keep looking.”
“Oh. Well, hmm, about those Yankees then.”
I grinned and pressed a kiss to his Adam’s apple. “I do want all those things. I always have. Ricki was talking about getting pregnant tonight, and I was jealous. My life isn’t in any place for that. But someday, maybe it will be.” I angled my head. “Someone didn’t tell you that you’re not supposed to say stuff like that to chicks because they’ll want too much.”
“I’m not saying it to a chick. I said it to my best friend. And go ahead and want more. I did.” He slid his hand down beyond the hem of his T-shirt to my panties. “I do.”
I really should not be encouraging this behavior. We had so much to talk about. I needed to know what he found out on his search for Priscilla. I wanted to get his guarantee he wouldn’t fuck up the meeting tomorrow with some caveman-type shenanigans.
And yet, his long fingers were sliding down, making such interesting patterns on my skin. Sliding under to where I was already getting damp and hot for him.
“Oh, yeah? Do tell.”
“Spread your legs.”
“We’re outside.” Which did not stop me from obeying his command.
Intentionally, I didn’t look down. This far up, there was so much farther to fall.
And not only physically.
“We are.” With his other hand, he drew up the shirt. “You’ve made this as baggy as a dress by pulling it over your knees. Guess you’ll just have to keep it.” He leaned down to razor his teeth over my earlobe. “Think anyone can see me touching you right now? Someone in another building maybe. Or some tabloid journalists hovering in a helicopter, trying to get a shot.”
I had closed my eyes, but I heard no telltale sounds of a chopper. I didn’t mind pretending though. “Looking for a…juicy story?”
“Mmm.”
I opened my eyes and took a quick look over his shoulder. The possibility of our bodyguard seeing something he shouldn’t was a different story, however. “Cole?”
“Watching TV. Paying us no mind. And even if he was, I’m blocking you.” He slipped his hand into my panties. His index finger parted the folds of my now very wet pussy and skated over my clit.
I tried to relax. “I’m choosing to believe you’re right.”
“You want to get off?”
“Is that even a question?”
“Fuck, I can’t get enough of you.” He bit my shoulder and a thrill shot down my spine to throb between my thighs. “Whomever’s watching is about to be very jealous.” As his finger sank into me, I let out a low moan he caught with his mouth. “God, you’re ready already?”
“Did I mention my sex drive stays on max?”
“That drawer mentioned it for you. You’re lucky I let you take out that vibrator long enough to sleep, since that remote is now my new prized possession.”
“Let me? Hello? I get to say.”
“You do, but we know you’d say yes.”
&nb
sp; As his finger was currently driving me wild, I had to concur.
“I wouldn’t mind using one of those toys on you out here. I’d spread you out on a towel by the pool and drive you crazy until you screamed. Or maybe I’d try two on you at once. Fill you up back and front. How much can you take?”
“Enough that you need more fingers inside me.”
He obliged, but first, he turned me around until I was facing the city. “Hold your shirt up for me.”
I sucked in a breath. This was getting real. At least we were really high up. No one could see.
Probably.
I hiked up his shirt, but I didn’t stop at my waist. I hauled it over my breasts and the warm breeze caressed my stiffening nipples so sensually that a moan slipped out.
“Such a good girl. Now you get rewarded.”
Two of his fingers sank into me and his thumb circled my clit. His calluses added an extra layer of friction and I squirmed, feeling impaled in the best way.
Then he removed them long enough to add another layer to my torment by pushing his other hand down into my panties from behind. “Good thing you’re so wet,” he murmured, gliding between my swollen lower lips. “I’m not prepared out here.”
But I’d made plenty of wetness for him to borrow. A second later, his coated finger nudged against my ass. I clenched instinctively and clutched the shirt, letting out a slow breath while he used his other hand to leisurely pump his fingers into my pussy. Slow sweeps over my clit pushed me to the edge and left me suspended. And that lone finger teasing my ass tested my boundaries and then blew right past them.
“Okay?” He sounded as breathless as I was. That steel column in his sweats was doing all the talking for him, and I kept rocking back against it, even though that pushed the tip of his finger just a bit farther inside.
I liked that too.
“So much more than okay.” I arched my back when his fingers picked up the pace.
“Look at those. So fucking beautiful.”
I turned my head slightly, and his gaze was riveted on my tits. I shuddered under his ministrations, my only regret that I couldn’t repay him in kind.
“You just need to come. Let me watch. Let the whole city watch.”
His words detonated inside of me, the blast of heat curling in my belly exploding outward. He didn’t stop fingerfucking me as I came, and that fingertip in my ass was a steady welcome pressure that made the orgasm go on and on.
“Cooper.” I said it over and over while I dragged my nails down his forearm. His fingers just did not stop.
I slumped against him, and he chuckled, dark and dirty. “Next time we do this, I’ll be on my knees. I have to taste you when you come.”
My answer was something along the lines of, “oh my God, holy fucking shit,” and he only laughed harder before he spun me to face him and took possession of my mouth once again.
When we finally had to take a moment to breathe, he brushed back my windswept hair and tipped his forehead to mine. “Let me take care of you, Teag.”
I nodded and curled into him.
We needed to talk. To coordinate a game plan for tomorrow.
And right now? None of that mattered at all.
This was what mattered. Tomorrow be damned.
Seventeen
I was in deep.
I’d never gotten the whole dudes watching women sleep thing before. It was pretty much a basic human activity.
That was before I’d fallen for Teagan and realized some crazy-ass people wanted to hurt her. The band too, purportedly, but she seemed to be their current target.
Now I couldn’t get enough of watching her while she was unconscious. I wanted not to sleep myself so I could keep an eye on her.
Knowing Cole was sleeping in the guest room helped, of course, but nothing was the same as knowing I had her back.
And her front and all the rest of her.
With my head propped on my hand, I studied her. Her heavy lashes dusting her freckled cheeks, her reddish-gold hair spread across the pillow, the pale pink of her mouth with the shadow of more pink beneath it from my scruff. More marks from my facial hair darkened her pale skin. The tops of her breasts, her throat, definitely between her legs.
She didn’t have any tattoos. Only freckles dotted her skin—and what I’d carelessly done to her. Including that interesting little bruising bite mark just below her ear.
I didn’t want to cause her even a moment’s discomfort. But I sure as hell didn’t mind the world knowing she was mine.
Even if she hadn’t voiced the words yet to anyone but me. And maybe Ricki, but that I couldn’t say for sure. I was too honorable to eavesdrop.
But not too honorable to keep from fucking her into unconsciousness with my hand over her mouth so Cole wouldn’t hear her cries when she came.
She stirred, so I murmured to her and tugged the sheets up over her shoulders. Her lips tilted upward, and she mumbled something before she drifted away again.
I rolled out of bed and did some stretches to loosen up the kinks. She wasn’t the only one who’d been put through her paces. But unlike Teagan, I had to shove all that aside and have my wits about me while I made a phone call I really did not want to make.
She’d done something she felt was necessary when it came to handling the call from Priscilla, and I was doing this for the same reason. She’d had a hell of a lot to deal with in the last couple of days. I might be stubborn and prideful, but I would never risk her.
I was smart enough to know when I was out of my depth. And I would take steps to correct that, even if asking Chuckles for anything was akin to chopping off a hand. But to ensure Teagan’s safety, I would.
All I wanted was for her to be safe and happy.
I pulled on my sweats and grabbed a fresh shirt from the drawer. Teagan already had a habit of taking mine, but not clean ones. Whatever one I pulled off ended up stretched over her curves. I couldn’t say I minded.
I snagged my phone and headed down the hall to the music room, the one place I was certain not to be overheard. On the way, I checked in on Cole in the living room. He was doing something on his phone despite it being near the buttcrack of dawn.
Those security types went twenty-four/seven. I was counting on it.
I went into the soundproofed music room that held the piano I’d gotten for a song and my drum kit and a couple of vintage guitars I’d picked up on tour over the years. I aimed right for the battered 50’s style leather couch I’d brought with me from my last place. The songbook I used to collect the riffs that banged around in my brain was open to the piece I’d been messing with the last time I was in here.
It was called Crimson. Three guesses who’d helped inspire that bit of chaos-driven madness on the drums. It’d take on a whole new flavor now.
I closed the frayed notebook that had seen a hell of a lot of miles on the road.
Just like me.
I didn’t waste time. I had Noah’s number in my phone due to one of Lila’s mandates that we should be able to reach him whenever we needed to. I hadn’t memorized it, and I’d been tempted to not take the number, period. What were the fucking chances I’d ever call Noah Jordan for one goddamn thing?
Yet here we were.
Noah answered on the second ring. “Dallas?”
His voice gave nothing away. Neither would mine.
“Something’s up. I need your discretion.”
“With the band?”
I wanted to toss sarcasm back at him but I managed not to. “Yes. Specifically Teagan. And Zane indirectly, but it all centers on her.”
“This is about the spiked drink.”
“Yes. What do you know?”
“Not enough. Lila has only a few details. You didn’t give her much to work with.”
“I can’t put Teagan’s safety on the line. I can’t and I won’t.”
“The people involved are your bandmates and your record label.”
“Yeah, and I love all of them as fam
ily. I’m not worried about them spilling the wrong thing. For all we know, we have a leak. The more people in on this, the bigger the chances something can slip out to the wrong person. I won’t risk Teagan. I also won’t apologize for it. So, either you hear me out, or we’ll pretend this call never happened.”
“I’m listening.”
“Friday night, we hung around the VIP area of the club after the show. All of Brooklyn Dawn and their significant others, some of Warning Sign and same. I went to the bar to buy drinks for Teagan and myself, though I ended up just getting one for her. I ordered a Blue Shark instead of a Blue Lagoon, which she was already drinking at the table. The bartender started flirting with me. Blond and brown, five-six, approximately one-twenty. Said her name was Priscilla Jones.”
“Got it.”
I heard the scratch of a pencil and knew he was taking notes. “I mentioned something about being in the band, and she got excited, and then she asked about Teagan. Fucking hell, she asked about Teagan specifically. I didn’t mention her, but she made it seem to Teagan like it was a coincidence she was in the band. How could I be so damn stupid?”
Noah wisely chose not to comment.
“My head wasn’t in the game.” I braced my elbow on my knee and scrubbed my hand over my face.
“The fire.”
“Yeah, but not just that. This isn’t really any of your business, but I want to cover all my bases. Teagan and I hooked up that night.”
“Congratulations. Do you want me to put that in the case notes?”
I didn’t know whether I wanted to laugh or punch the guy. Possibly both. “Look, put whatever you want. I’m not telling you to brag. It’s private. But what happened with us influenced the other events.”
Quickly, I told him the rest. How Zane was dared by Jamie to drink Teagan’s left-behind drink when we were dancing. Why we didn’t return to the table. Waking up the next morning to bail out Zane from jail after he’d stolen a car, gotten a tramp stamp, and God knows what else.
“And at no time did you think you should tell your manager what was happening?”
“She called us before we could.”