“Isn’t she beautiful boys?” I hear loud screams and catcalls, and I can’t hold back a nervous giggle. Jesse lets out a devilish laugh before speaking again. “Put those thoughts out of your head fellas, she’s all mine,” and with that he turns and wraps me up in a full-on panty-melting kiss that would make even the coldest of women burst into flames. “Crazy about you baby,” he professes before breaking into the lyrics of Runaway Train.
The love that I’m feeling s’got me going insane.
My heart’s beating faster than a runaway train.
Was lost to the bitterness, and blinded by shame.
Your touch was my healing I’ll forever be changed.
Destroying the heartache, erasing the pain.
I’m jumping the tracks to board this runaway train.
Take me now, take me as I am.
Made a vow, I'm sticking to our plan.
I’m frozen in place beside him as he sings the poetic words to me and I can’t help but fall deeper in love with him. He has just announced to five thousand people that I am his wife, and that he loves me, making it officially public. And in that simple gesture, it becomes real.
After the serenade was over, I returned to my spot behind the curtain to watch the remainder of the concert. Before long the two-hour set was over and they were about to exit the stage when pandemonium set in. People rushed the stage and I watched helplessly as Jesse and the band were rushed off the opposite side of the stage by hotel security and Charlie. I moved quickly to try and find someone from the crew that I recognized so that I could be directed to Jesse.
Fans were screaming wildly and somehow one of them managed to make her way backstage, when she saw me her face twisted into a nasty snarl as she made her toward me. I turned, intending to make my escape, but was attacked from behind.
“You bitch! He’s in love with me!” she screeched and pulled wildly at my hair. Her hand came around the side of my face and I felt the sting of her palm as it smacked my cheek. I twisted away, trying to remove her hand from my hair, and we tumbled to the floor. I wasn’t afraid of a fight, but this girl was out of her mind with jealousy. I didn’t know who she was, or if she even knew Jesse, but I also didn’t want to stick around to find out. I kicked away from her, scrambling to put some distance between us, but she was determined to keep me down. My leg extended one last time and I felt my boot make contact with her head. I climbed on top of her and held her hands down, and tried to pull myself together
“I don’t know what he sees in you anyhow you ug--” Her last words were cut off when my fist came in contact with her jaw. The next thing I knew, I was being pulled back.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Whoa, calm down sweetheart, it’s just me,” he said, pulling me close. My body shook uncontrollably with rage. “Shh, it’s okay baby. Come on,” he said, dragging me towards a nearby room. Once inside, he placed his hands on my shoulders and I peeked up at him, embarrassed by my outburst. “Are you okay?”
I drew a deep breath, letting it out slowly, “I’m sorry, she just made me so mad.” My fists remained balled at my sides.
“What are you sorry for?” he asked, stroking my hair. “You didn’t do anything wrong baby.” I simply nodded before laying my cheek against his chest, letting the sound of his heartbeat settle my nerves. We stood there for a few moments before he spoke again. “All better?”
“Yeah, I think so,” I made a feeble attempt at a smile, pulling back to look him in the eye. I felt I owed him an explanation. “She provoked me. She screamed and pulled my hair and then smacked me in the face. I don’t normally go around punching people.”
“I think you were within your right to do what you did. No need to apologize.” He took my chin in his hand and carefully inspected my reddened cheek. “I hope you know she was totally out of line, and wrong. When you're near me,” he touched his lips softly against mine, “you are all I see.” He gripped my face in his hands, his thumb stroking gently over my cheek, before crashing his mouth onto mine, devouring me as if he had been starved of my affections. Our mouths were pressed together, as our hands roamed over each other’s bodies, lost in the moment and totally forgetting where we were. We were brought back to reality by someone clearing their throat behind us.
“Excuse me Jesse, but everyone is waiting.” Spoke an unfamiliar female voice. I turned my head to see a woman standing in the doorway, waiting for Jesse to respond, the same woman I had seen leaving a room after Jesse. I was suddenly very curious to know who she was. Acting quickly, I thrust my hand toward her in greeting.
“Hello, I am Rhyann, and you are?” I smiled politely.
“Pamela Davis, Nate’s wife,” she said, gripping my hand daintily. I couldn’t help but notice the red lipstick covering her full lips. “Follow me.” I looked back at Jesse and he gave a lopsided grin, he knew what I had been up to and obviously enjoyed seeing it blow up in my face. He was lucky that I had calmed down from my earlier confrontation or else I may have throttled him for his smugness. Pamela led us to one of the rooms backstage and as I entered I heard voices calling out their congratulations. The room had been decorated with white lights and stars, assorted food items covered three long tables and on one lone table in the corner stood a beautifully decorated wedding cake. I pivoted around to find Jesse grinning from ear to ear at my reaction.
“Is this why you didn’t want me coming with you this afternoon?” I asked, unable to hide my rapidly growing grin. I have the best husband in the world.
“Guilty, I wanted you to be surprised,” he smirked, guiding me over to the table with the cake. “Besides, it gives my crew a chance to get to know you better.”
We reached the table and the small crowd began to gather around. Pamela carefully cut two slices of cake and it became obvious to me that we were expected to feed each other cake. I reached over, grabbing a small portion of the delicious looking treat, while Jesse did the same. I offered a bite to Jesse, taking great care not to drop any on his black shirt, hoping he would be equally respectful. He lifted a heavily frosted piece to my lips and I leaned forward slightly, ready to accept, and in one swift motion what should have landed on my waiting tongue ended up smeared over the lower half of my face. My first instinct was to stomp my foot and yell at him, but realizing that would only make me look more ridiculous I smiled sweetly before reaching an arm around his neck pulling him in for a kiss while using the other to pick up the remainder of cake on my plate. He broke apart from the sugary kiss, unsuspecting of my plot, and opened his mouth to speak just as I brought my left hand up with the hunk of cake. Just like that, we were both covered in creamy white frosting mixed with bits of cake crumbs. We looked ridiculous, yet happy. This sugar coated man standing before me makes me feel things that I haven’t felt before, he makes me laugh even when I feel like crying, he makes me feel beautiful even when I feel inferior, but most of all, he completes me.
After we cleaned up we spent the next few hours hanging out with Jesse’s, and now my, extended family. The evening was filled with good music and great food. I had been sitting in the corner talking with one of the roadies wives, she was going on and on about the struggles of raising a small child while pregnant with another. I listened intently for a while but soon found myself scanning the room for Jesse, silently willing him to come and rescue me. He wasn’t anywhere to be found.
I politely excused myself and made my way through the crowd, asking various people if they had seen him recently. I entered the adjoining hallway and headed toward the green room, hoping to find him there. My hand was on the door when I heard muffled voices on the other side, one of them was unmistakably Jesse’s but without seeing her face I wasn’t sure who the woman was.
Unfortunately, it didn’t take long to figure it out.
“I’ve missed you so much Jesse. I’m so sorry baby. I love you so much. Why the hell did you have to go and get married? Surely she can’t please you like I do.” Jesse mumbled something inaudible as I inched close
r. “Just stay with me a few more minutes, she’ll never have to find out about us. We can still get together behind her back. You know you still want to be with me. You know I’m the only one that can satisfy you. In case you forgot, let me remind you.”
"Amber, stop." Jesse replied in a hushed voice.
I pushed the door open and saw them, locked in the middle of a passionate kiss. His hands were at his side and she had one hand on his waist while the other was stroking him. The mystery woman was Amber Sky, the only other woman Jesse had been in love with. My heart sank. He had waited five years to hear her profess her love. Why had she chosen this moment to finally tell him? Would he believe her? How would he respond now that he was married to me? He told me that I was the only one for him.
I stumbled back, bumping against the doorframe, and let out a garbled cry. Jesse’s head snapped around and he pushed away from Amber, moving toward where I stood. I turned to make a run for it but changed my mind when I saw the smug look on her face, reminding me of the woman who had assaulted me just hours ago. Damn these women thinking they had claim on my husband. He was mine. He had publicly professed his love for me and I had every right to take what was mine.
“Ryann, this isn’t what it looks like.”
“Get your hands off my husband you whore,” I snarled. She guffawed rudely and sauntered over to where I stood. I calmly moved myself between her and Jesse, effectively staking claim.
“It’s only a matter of time before he comes crawling back to me. He always does. He’ll get bored with you, and when he does, I’ll be waiting.” She reached out an arm in an attempt to touch Jesse one last time but I caught her by the wrist and held it firmly.
“I’m only going to say this once, so pay attention. If you come near him again, regardless if he seeks you out first, and I find out about it,” I pause as I move my face closer to hers, “I’ll kick your scrawny ass. Am I making myself clear?”
She gave me a nasty glare and stepped back. “Goodbye, for now,” she trilled, blowing a kiss on her way out the door.
“Bitch,” I muttered after her. Jesse placed a hand on my arm and I pulled away in anger.
“Babe--” he began.
“No,” I cut him off. “Don’t say a word.” I spun on my heel and marched toward the exit, needing to put some temporary distance between us. “I need to be alone.”
“Rhyann?” he pleaded as I continued walking. I wasn’t sure if I wanted him to follow me or leave me to myself. I made my way slowly back to our suite and slipped quietly inside, feeling a bit uncertain of my hasty retreat. Should I have given him a chance to explain? Trusting men wasn’t my strong suit. It wasn’t like me to hand it over so freely, and yet that was exactly what I had done with him. Somehow, it had been different with him.
I was in the bedroom taking off my clothes when he came through the door. “Rhyann!” he called, as he made his way to the bedroom. He came over and took me by the arms. “Why did you run? You didn’t give me a chance to explain.”
“What is there to explain Jesse? The woman you’ve loved all these years finally admitted that she loves you. I saw you two kissing. She was practically giving you a hand job in there! I’m sure you want to run back to her arms now. Go ahead, I’m not going to stop you.”
“You are my wife, remember? I want to live happily ever after with you. I just told five thousand fucking people that I'm in love with you, doesn’t that prove anything? She means nothing to me.” He reached out a hand to touch me and I pulled back again.
“No,” I shook my head. “You don’t get to touch me after she touched you. I need you to you stay away from me for a bit. I’m not sure I can trust you right now, and if there’s no trust,” I threw up my hands, “then maybe our wedding was a mistake,” I cried big, ugly tears.
I felt Jesse pull me backwards and I instinctively brought my fist around to punch him. I would have made contact with his nose, but his reflexes were quick, and he caught it, grabbing both of my wrists. He held them firmly behind my back and brought his lips to mine, giving me a rough kiss. I fought hard against him and tried to pull back, but he had me pinned against him. His lips claimed me once again, and I couldn’t help myself, I responded by parting mine for his tongue to slip inside. I teased mine with his, leaning further into his body, and felt him start to loosen his hold on me. I smiled against his mouth before biting down hard on his tongue.
“Fuck!” he groaned, reaching for his mouth. I took that opportunity to try and escape. I ran quickly, nearly reaching the living room, before he caught up and grabbed me from behind. The momentum of the two of us colliding propelled us forward and we both crashed to the floor. Thankfully, Jesse twisted his body to take the brunt of the fall, and I landed mostly on top of him. He cursed loudly as his shoulder made contact with the hard marble. I scrambled to get back up, but he reached out, wrapping his arms around my waist, and pulled me on top of him. I looked into his eyes and they were dark and wild, just like the night of Stefani’s party, and I couldn’t resist him any longer. I crushed my mouth against his and all of the anger I felt came out in that one kiss. I teased my tongue along the front of his teeth before slipping it inside his warm and waiting mouth. I slid my hands down and tore at the zipper of his pants, lifting the hem of his shirt to yank it over his head. I pushed him back against the floor and danced my tongue over his defined pecs, before moving back to his mouth. I laved my tongue slowly against his and ran my hand back and forth along his length. He sat up, and before I knew it I was on all fours. He stripped the leather roughly from my body and, without care, entered me from behind.
“I love you,” I whispered softly, as he rammed his fullness into my needy body. I wasn't sure if he heard me, but he didn’t respond. No other words were spoken. Gone was his usual tenderness, this was rough and dirty. This was angry sex. Both of us went in knowing that, I just prayed we would come out unscathed. I bucked wildly, crying out incoherently while he continued to move deep within me, moaning heavily against my ear. His fingers found my swollen sex and soon I screamed his name as I climaxed around him.
When it was over, we collapsed to the floor, completely exhausted. I moved my hand to his in an attempt to heal any damage that may have been done, but he brushed it off, instead choosing to roll over and wander into the bathroom to take a shower. I brought my legs up around me and felt the effects of our encounter spilling down my leg.
Do not cry. I scolded myself, brushing away a tear as it escaped.
I got up slowly and walked into the smaller bathroom. I looked in the mirror at my reflection. I was a hot mess. My shirt was torn and my hair was plastered to my forehead with perspiration. I had just begun cleaning myself up when I heard a soft knock on the door.
“Can I come in?”
“I don’t think so. I need to take a shower,” I replied hoarsely, sliding down to the floor with my back against the wall.
“Rhyann, we need to talk about this. I really don’t want to do that with a door between us. I want to see your face.” He rattled the doorknob. “Please.” I remained silent, and after a few moments he continued talking. “I’m sorry about being so rough with you. You just made me so angry. You wouldn’t listen to me. I don’t know what to do here Rhyann. I’m crazy about you. I'm in love with you and I don’t want anyone else.”
“Go away.” My voice quivered. “Please. I told you I can’t do this right now.”
“No!” his hand slammed hard against the door and I jumped. “So just like that you’re going to bail on me? On us?”
“I’m broken, Jesse. I have fears about love and some serious fucking trust issues, and tonight you crossed an invisible line that I am not sure I can move past.” The thought of losing him was more than I could bear, but not knowing for sure if I could trust him the way he needed me to scared the hell out of me.
“Please go away. I just need some time to think,” I pleaded softly. “I can’t compete with her. I won’t. I’ll only lose.” Silence…
&nbs
p; “Rhyann, open the damn door!” he pounded harder this time. “I’ll fucking break it down! You don’t have to compete with her. Please, I need to see your face. Don’t do this baby. I don’t love her anymore. I love you. I love you so much it hurts. I’m begging you, please talk to me.”
My Only Regret (Twisted Fate Book 1) Page 16