Tainted Heartbreak (Tainted Knights Book 3)

by Terri Anne Browning

  “I’ll take a slice,” Axton Cage called.

  “Breakup cake tastes like dying dreams. I bet it’s delicious,” Zander Brockman laughed, causing his other bandmates to snigger. “Cut me off a chunk, kid.”

  “Excuse me,” Emmie muttered. Getting to her feet, she left, with Nik and Jesse right behind her.

  Standing, I grabbed my phone and walked around the table, taking the seat Nik had just vacated beside Amara. As soon as I was in my seat, she leaned into me. I caught her hand and laid it on my thigh as her friend asked what was going on with Jace.

  “Riles!” Amara admonished. “It’s not our business.”

  “Oh please, it’s going to be all over TMZ by tomorrow night if what I think just happened really happened. Jace St. Charles is—was?—dating Kin Montez. Her daddy is some hotshot director who has been in the hot seat for having an affair with some up-and-coming tart who was in his latest flop of a movie. He admitted to the affair, the airhead wife ‘forgave’”—she made air quotes—“and they are living happily ever after once again. So, of course, TMZ and the like will be all over the fact that his daughter is going through a breakup with Jace Fucking St. Charles.”

  Shane and Drake, sitting on either side of Riley, were nodding even as pieces of cake were set in front of them. “True,” Shane agreed. “Montez is a dick, but his wife loves any attention the media wants to give her. Even if it’s because her husband was cheating. It puts her front and center, and she eats that shit up.”

  “But Emmie is already on damage control,” Drake assured us. “No one will hear a peep about this if she can help it.” His gaze went to Riley then Amara, a warning in his blue-gray eyes. “Unless you two open your mouths.”

  The two chicks shared a quick, meaningful look that had me curious as hell before shaking their heads adamantly. “No worries there, dude,” Riley assured him, and I released the breath I hadn’t realized I was holding. If these two were looking for a story to sell to the tabloids, one had fallen right into their lap, ready-made. Whatever this was I was feeling for Amara, I wouldn’t throw my friend under the bus for her. “I don’t want any reason for my name to pop up on anyone’s radar. Right, Mar?”

  “I don’t need my name floating around in the tabloids or social media sites,” Amara said with a nod. “And while I’m happy to hear all the gossip anyone wants to tell me, I don’t repeat anything I’m ever told.”

  “Riley, Amara, would you two like a piece of this stupid cake?” Santana called down. “Cash?”

  Amara and I shook our heads, but Riley was already accepting a slice. Amara turned her hand over in my grasp, her fingernails biting into my leg through my jeans. I had to shift to rearrange my aching cock. The smirk that lifted her lips told me she knew exactly what her touch was doing to me.

  I leaned my head down until my lips were barely an inch from her ear. Her shiver only made my blood burn hotter. She was just as affected as me, and she wasn’t fighting it any more than I was. “Want to get out of here?”

  Her nails dug deeper for a moment, as if she couldn’t wait, but then she went still and her gaze shifted to Riley. I turned my head to look at Riley, but her attention was divided between what Shane was saying to her and her cake.

  Drake caught my gaze. “She’ll be fine. We’ll make sure she gets back to her hotel.”

  I nodded just as I sensed Amara relaxing. Grabbing the little bag I bought her earlier, she stood and walked around the table. She whispered something in the other girl’s ear that had her eyes narrowing as they turned on me with a silent warning. I lifted my hands in self-defense, and she grinned.

  “Okay, Mar. See you tomorrow,” Riley told her as she turned her attention back to her friend. “Be careful.”

  I didn’t waste another minute. Standing, I took Amara’s hand, and she practically skipped beside me to keep up with my long strides toward the nearest exit. Out in front of the restaurant, I caught her around the waist and lifted her into me.

  Her head was already lifting as mine descended, and our lips collided together. I swallowed her whimper of surprised pleasure, both of us falling headfirst into whatever the hell this was between us. Nothing and no one had ever induced this feeling deep in my gut. The feeling that had been gnawing at me from the moment I saw her standing in front of the guitar tent before she even turned and crashed into me eased, only to turn into a ravenous hunger that was starting to consume us both.

  Out of breath, she lifted her head. Her kiss-swollen lips parted, silently asking for another kiss. But I knew if I kissed her again, we wouldn’t make it back to the hotel where I had checked in before going to the festival earlier. I set her back on her feet and tucked her head under my chin. Clenching my eyes shut, I tried to get my body to calm the fuck down.

  When I trusted myself again, I pulled out my phone and got us an Uber. Amara’s arms linked behind my back, and she pressed her ear to my chest. I touched my lips to the top of her head as we waited for our ride.

  Twenty minutes later, we got out of the back of the car in front of my hotel. By the time we got to the elevators, she was kissing me again, and I was powerless to keep my lips and hands to myself any longer. This late, not many people were around, so the elevator was empty as I backed her up against the far wall and locked her in place with my hips.

  “Cash,” she moaned, arching her neck to give me better access. “We’re not moving.”

  Cursing, I released one hand on her ass to punch the right button for our floor. The elevator jerked into motion, and I latched my lips on to her neck again. Her whimper made my cock flex against her center, and even through her jeans and my own, I could feel the heat emitting from her pussy. I cupped her there, pressing the heel of my hand against her clit just as the elevator doors opened.

  Knowing a bed was only seconds away, I caught her by the hips, and her legs wrapped around me automatically. She buried her face in my neck, nipping just under my ear and making me snarl in frustration when it took me a few tries to get the door unlocked because my damn hands were shaking so fucking hard.

  The distinct sound of the door unlocking was music to my ears. “Thank fuck,” I groaned as I opened the door and kicked it shut before carrying a giggling Amara to the king-sized bed in the middle of the room. There was no finesse in the way I dumped her on the bed and followed her down. My usual charm and skill were absent in the face of the hunger that was eating a hole in my gut for this girl.

  If she noticed or even cared that I was incapable of taking my time, she didn’t call me out on it. Amara seemed just as lost in the moment as I was. She tugged my shirt up, but when I didn’t try to help her, she gave up and started working on my belt. Her fingers expertly maneuvered the snaps and zipper, and for a split second, I wondered how many other guys she had practiced that move on.

  Irrational jealousy made my moves jerky and rough, but she only moaned as I unfastened her shorts and pulled them down her legs along with her panties. Thoughts of any other guy she might have been with in the past evaporated from my mind as I got my first look at her pussy.

  “Is every part of you perfect?” I muttered aloud, tracing my thumb over her glistening lips, spreading her open so I could get a peek at her clit.

  She jerked at the skim of my fingertips over her opening. She pushed her hips up toward me, seeking a firmer touch. “No one is perfect,” she panted out. “Especially not me.”

  “Whoever told you that bullshit needs their eyes checked.” Everything I had seen of this chick was perfect. From her fawn eyes and burnt-sienna hair sun-kissed with streaks of auburn and golden blond. Her nose was slightly upturned, and those damn lips with the rounded cupid’s bow and slightly plumper center on the bottom were going to haunt me the rest of my life.

  She sat up, pulling her shirt over her head as she went. Reaching behind herself, she unsnapped her bra and sent it flying across the room. Now that she was completely naked, I knew I hadn’t been wrong. “Fuck,” I groaned, filling my hands with her breas
ts. “You’re so goddamn beautiful, Dreamer.”

  Amara pushed me onto my back. Grasping her hips, I pulled her on top of me. “I bet you’ve seen plenty of chicks more beautiful than me.”

  “No.”

  “Liar.” But she smirked. “Riley was in the same room with you not half an hour ago.”

  “She’s not my idea of perfection.”

  The smirk disappeared. “But I am?” she whispered.

  I rolled us until I was on top and lying between her spread legs. My cock flexed against her inner thigh, reminding me that it was in agony, but Amara seemed so unsure of herself right then, all I could think about was convincing her of just how beautiful she really was. “It wasn’t your fault that you walked into me today,” I confessed, and her brows lifted. “I saw you standing there, this dreamy look on your face as you looked into that tent. I couldn’t look away, couldn’t force my legs to move. One look at you and I couldn’t think about anything but finding out your name.”

  She bit back a laugh. “You know you don’t have to say things like that, right? I’m a sure thing, Graves.”

  I cupped her pussy, teasing her clit with my thumb. “You can’t see what I see, so I’m not going to argue with you. But I need you to know something.” She gasped as I sank my middle finger deep into her wet heat. She lowered her lashes, but she couldn’t hide how much she liked what I was doing. I touched my lips to her temple, then her ear. “I can see beyond the top layer, beautiful girl. I see all of you, and I really like what I see.”

  Amara’s breath hitched, and she turned her head to catch my mouth in a kiss that turned off my brain altogether. My clothes disappeared, and then I was sinking into her perfection as soon as the condom was on. Her nails bit into my ass, begging me to give her everything I had. I felt her pussy clench around my shaft, sucking me deeper into her sweetness.

  She held all the power here. Over what we were doing. Over me. I felt helpless and out of control, but at the same time, I’d never felt more alive. I would have paid with my soul then and there for this never to end. My senses were heightened, my mind a blank to everything but her. My heart felt like it was going to pound right out of my chest as she looked up at me through thick lashes and moaned my name.

  “You feel so good inside me,” she cried, her body practically humming with her approaching orgasm. “Oh God, oh God! I’m so close.”

  As she began to come apart, I had to stop or I risked following her, and I was having too much fucking fun to go off any time soon. Feeling her spasming around my cock was nearly my undoing. Pulling free from her tight heat, I fell onto my back, pulling her on top of me once again as I pushed up inside her again.

  Her arms trembled as she put her hands on my stomach to steady herself, her thighs still quivering from the intensity of how hard she’d just come. “Now that was perfect,” she said with a grin.

  “Baby, you haven’t seen anything yet. I’m just getting started with you.”

  Chapter 5

  Amara

  The heartbeat under my ear woke me from the deepest, most peaceful sleep I’d ever had. I shifted my head on Cash’s chest, and his arms tightened around me. An ache deep inside my body began to pulse, and when I shifted my hips, I realized why it was so intense. Cash had fallen asleep still inside me.

  His lower body pushed into mine, both easing and intensifying my ache as memories of the night before flooded into my now wide-awake mind.

  I couldn’t remember a time when I’d come more than once with a guy before. But Cash had given me multiple orgasms while holding himself back for what felt like hours. Every time I could sense him getting close, he would pull out of me with a groan that sounded like it was physical torture for him, and we would switch positions or just kiss for a while. By the time he’d finally let himself go, I was exhausted and barely holding on to consciousness.

  From the change in his heart rate, I could tell he was awake. “What time is it?” I asked groggily.

  “Around six, I think,” he murmured, kissing the top of my head. “Try to sleep a little longer. I’m enjoying this too much to do anything else right now.”

  I cuddled against him, and his body reacted instantly, his cock hardening inside me and making me squirm. “You sure about that?” I teased. “Feels like you could definitely do a few other things right now.”

  One of the hands he had resting on my back stroked down my spine and over my hip. I shivered, my inner walls clenching around him and making us both groan. “Fuck, Amara. I’m insatiable with you.”

  I lifted my head to meet his gaze. “You make that sound like a bad thing.”

  There was something in his eyes that melted my heart then and there. “Maybe it is. I don’t really know, because I’ve never felt something this powerful for anyone in my life.”

  It was a surreal moment. This guy I’d just met the day before was deep inside my body, which was already so amped up that I could easily come at any minute. I wasn’t sure if I was dreaming or if this was actually happening. I hoped it wasn’t a dream, because a part of me was almost desperate to hear the words he was speaking.

  “In a few hours, you’re going to leave me for fuck knows where. I don’t even know where you and Riley live, damn it. And all I can think is that if I stay like this, if I refuse to move or let you go, then I won’t lose you.” He swallowed hard, and I knew in that moment I was done for.

  It wasn’t possible to feel something this strong this fast. It wasn’t normal or realistic. My brain was telling me this couldn’t last; it was just a one-night kind of thing. I’d known that going in, and I knew it now. But I also knew this wasn’t just a crush, and I was already more attached than was emotionally healthy.

  But I didn’t care.

  I liked this guy. More than liked. My heart was already involved—which was stupid, even for me—but I didn’t give a single fuck.

  “I’m a student at Caltech in Pasadena,” I told him, and his eyes widened. “Riley goes to UCLA, and our apartment is in West Hollywood.” I sucked in a shuddery breath and took a chance. “We…we don’t have to say goodbye.”

  Something in his face changed, but he didn’t say anything, and after a moment I could feel my cheeks burning with embarrassment. Shit, he’d probably just been feeding me some bullshit line he said to every chick he fucked. But that’s what I got for putting myself out there.

  With a growl, he flipped me onto my back, making me squeal. He pushed back into me, and the squeal turned into an achy moan. Buried deep within my body, he touched his lips to my ear. “My apartment is in West Hollywood too. How the fuck have you been only minutes away from me all this time and I didn’t know it?”

  “Cash…”

  He pressed me harder into the mattress. “We could have been together already. All it would have taken was one time. One look, Dreamer.”

  “Why are you mad?” I panted out, my nails biting into his hips in a silent plea for him to fuck me harder.

  He buried his face between my breasts. “Because it’s a fucking waste. Because we could have been together for fuck knows how long now.” He jerked his head up, and the intensity of emotion in his eyes made that warm feeling in my stomach ignite into an inferno. “Because a part of me has been missing my entire life that I didn’t even know about until I saw you.”

  Tears pricked at my eyes, and I hurriedly blinked them back. “Cash,” I whispered on a sob. “Stop.”

  “I want to be with you, Amara. I want to see what the future holds for us.” He brushed his lips over my damp eyes when a traitorous tear spilled over my lashes. “Let me be a part of your future, baby.”

  “You’re insane, you know that, right?” But there was a smile teasing at my lips even as another tear ran down my cheek. “But I want those things too.” I swallowed hard, knowing this was probably a big mistake. I would have to tell him about my parents. About my stepfather. Eventually. But that was further down the road. Maybe it wouldn’t even get to that point.

  I
just wanted a little more time with him.

  Just a little.

  That wasn’t asking too much, was it?

  After all the shitty things that had happened in my life, why couldn’t I have one good thing for a moment in time?

  --

  It was hours later before we actually left the hotel. My phone had died sometime during the night, but Riley had gotten Cash’s number and started blowing up his phone. My friend was worried about me and was demanding to see me with her own eyes.

  Everyone was at IHOP, and the smells of bacon and pancakes made my stomach ache the second the Uber dropped us off in the parking lot. There was a huge table in the back that our people were already taking up, making other diners stare in fascination at their craziness. The Demon’s Wings and OtherWorld guys were stuffing their faces right along with Kale and Sin. The Blonde Bombshells were mixed in among the rock legends, with Emmie at the head of the table just as she had been the night before.

  Riley was the first to see us coming, and she jumped to her feet with a glare on her face. “You were supposed to be here half an hour ago,” she complained.

  “Relax, Riles. I’m here now.” I hugged her. “What’s going on with you anyway?” I muttered for her ears only. “Everything go okay last night?”

  “Shane and Drake kept me company all night, and I ended up crashing on their tour bus.” She pulled me away from the others. “Lin has been blowing up my phone left and right. She couldn’t get hold of you, and even though I told her your phone died, she was half hysterical.”

  A bad feeling was already creeping up my spine. “Her parents or mine?” I muttered.

  “She wouldn’t tell me.”

  “Okay, let me see what’s going on. Can I use your phone?” She was already putting it in my hands before I could even finish the question and pushing me toward the door. “Please, just get her to shut the fuck up.”

  “Yeah, yeah.”

  “Amara?” Cash was in the process of taking one of the two open seats between Zander Brockman and Wroth Niall, but he stood when he noticed I was on my way toward the door again.