The Rocker Who Cherishes Me

by Terri Anne Browning

  The personal training had paid off, because Liam was twice the size he had been on Valentine’s Day when I’d seen him last. Linc’s hard workout regimen was keeping my cousin and bandmate clean so I would be eternally grateful for Linc. I loved Liam like a brother.

  But that wasn’t going to save him if he got in my way right now.

  “What did you say?” I murmured.

  “I said, back the fuck up. The room is full of little kids and every one of their fathers will hold you down and destroy you if you start a fight in front of their kids.” His words made me able to rein in most of my control, but I still had murder on my mind. It wasn’t the first time I’d killed a man, but it would be the first time I’d have done it with pleasure. Liam’s next words, however, cooled my rage to a small simmer. “And you don’t want to chance Marissa getting hurt, do you?”

  My eyes snapped back to Marissa who was standing just a few feet away. I could reach out and pull her into my arms, hold her for the first time in a million years. I wanted to do it so fucking bad. But the way she was standing there, glaring at me with her own rage making her glorious body tremble, I knew that she would probably be the one to commit murder if I touched her.

  “Mari…” She flinched at my use of the name only I have ever used. The sight of that flinch was like swallowing a glass of bleach, the effects were the same. My gut twisted in pain and my insides started to burn with poison. I cleared my throat because it was suddenly clogged with emotion. “Can we talk?”

  “I have nothing to say to you.” She clenched her hands into fists, and I wondered if she was imagining pounding them against my chest or maybe knocking my lights out with a punch to the jaw. I deserved both from her and would have welcomed the punishment if it meant that she would have forgiven me. “Except to tell you to stay the hell away from me.”

  She might as well have told me to stop breathing. I would have been able to do so for a few minutes, but then instinct would take over and I would breathe on my own. That was how it was when it came to her. I would try to go against nature and keep my distance, to protect her from all my stupid shit, but then instinct would take over and I would have to be close to her. I’d finally accepted that.

  After I’d fucked up to the point that the woman who had once loved me just as much as I loved her, now hated the sight of me.

  Chapter 4

  Marissa

  I was still shaking with lingering rage as I tossed random foods onto a plate. The smell of the food didn’t even register. It could have been sawdust for all I cared. Grabbing a bottle of Voss, I carried my dinner to the nearest table that had someone I didn’t mind listening to talk while I stabbed at my food rather than eating it.

  Luckily for me it was with Lana who was sitting with Harper, Dallas, and the lead singer of Alchemy, Bishop. They all smiled when I took the empty chair between Dallas and Harper. Dallas’s smile turned into a frown when she saw that I wasn’t smiling back. “What did he do this time?”

  “Nothing,” I told her, forcing a smile. “I don’t want to talk about it,” I rushed to tell her when she opened her mouth to call bullshit. “Where’s Cannon?” I asked to distract her. All you ever had to do to change the subject with Dallas or Axton Cage was to mention their adorable baby boy.

  Dallas’s face lit up and she glanced over her shoulder to where a playpen had been set up. “He’s sleeping. I don’t know how he can snooze through all these people talking, but he is his father’s son.”

  “Drake says that Axton could sleep through a hurricane,” Lana said with a laugh before taking a hearty bite of ribs smothered in BBQ sauce. She licked her lips, then started sucking on her thumb. Apparently when you were six months pregnant you had to make sure you got every last smear of whatever you were eating. “So I can get why Cannon would sleep through this craziness.”

  “Someone please distract my husband,” Harper muttered as she glanced over my shoulder. She was frowning hard, and her jaw was clenched. “I have no idea what is going on with Nat, but she and Devlin are about to tear each other’s hair out… Well, what’s left of Nat’s hair. Seriously, why would she cut it that short? I can just see how Stella is going to react when she drops Jenna off tomorrow.”

  Lana’s eyes widened when she followed her sister-in-law’s gaze. “Holy shit. I didn’t even notice her. I thought she was just as obsessed with her hair as Drake is with his. Oh, damn. The Stevenson brothers just zeroed in on little sister drama.” Lana scooted back her chair and stood as quickly as her ever growing belly would allow. “Harper, maybe you should try and talk your man into some bathroom action. He seems to like that shit so much it’s liable to distract him for a good thirty minutes.”

  “And have Jesse’s wrath rain down on my head?” Harper shook her head but followed Lana as they both went to catch their husbands before they could reach the very obvious arguing couple by the buffet.

  Even from where I was sitting I could see the pain in Devlin’s aquamarine eyes as he kept staring at Natalie’s short hair. I’d thought that Natalie had cut her hair to make her feel like she was starting a new chapter in her life. Now, I could tell that she had done it just to punish Devlin Cutter. I didn’t really blame her for wanting to hurt him over and over again¸ because yeah, she’d been doing plenty of that. Maybe she hadn’t gone out and started sleeping around to get back at him, but she’d sure as hell made statements with some of the things she’d done in the last year or so. Not that I was taking up for Devlin, because I wouldn’t do that. Not when he had basically shattered Natalie to the point of no return. But that didn’t mean I liked to watch him being in pain.

  Looking away, Dallas and I locked gazes and shared a knowing look. Other than Emmie, we were the only women who knew what was really going on with Natalie because she had sworn us all to secrecy. Drake and Shane were close with both Devlin and Zander and if the Stevenson brothers found out what had happened last spring then it would be the end of those friendships… And Devlin’s and Zander’s lives. That Natalie cared enough about saving their sorry skin, had to mean she must still care about both a lot.

  Before everything had turned sour last year, Natalie and Zander had been good friends, but friends was all it was ever going to be because Natalie was blind to anyone but Devlin. Zander, however, hadn’t been able to accept that and had made the bet with Devlin. And when it looked like Devlin had won that stupid bet, Zander had ruined Devlin’s relationship with Natalie by spilling the beans about the bet.

  Glancing back toward the buffet where Devlin and Natalie were still having a whispered argument, I saw that Lana had easily distracted Drake. He was now wrapped around his wife with his hands rubbing over her distended belly where yet another daughter was growing. Lana murmured something that had the big man laughing, his blue-gray eyes sparkling with happiness. I could remember a time when Drake rarely laughed, when his eyes were bloodshot and almost yellow because of all the Jack Daniels he consumed on a daily basis. It melted my heart to see how happy he was now, to see his eyes clear and alight with peace that his little family had brought him.

  Harper had locked onto Shane, and was standing on tiptoes to whisper in her husband’s ear. He was grinning and nodding his head, but his eyes kept straying toward his sister every few seconds. The smile would dim until Harper would whisper something else. After a moment she started tugging on his hand, leading him toward the back where the bathrooms were. Obviously Lana’s suggestion had worked…

  “You think this is easy for me, Nat?” Devlin suddenly demanded loud enough for the entire room to hear him. “Well, it’s fucking not.”

  Shane froze and shot around to glare at the man talking to his sister across the room. Harper grabbed onto his arm tighter. “Leave it alone, Shane,” she told him but he extracted his arm carefully so he wouldn’t hurt her then started toward his sister. “She can handle it.”

  Drake’s attention had also been caught and his head snapped up at the sound of Devlin talking the way he had to hi
s sister. Drake and Shane might not have had anything to do with their sisters growing up, but as soon as Jenna and Natalie had come back into their lives they had more than made up for the brotherly love and protectiveness.

  As the two brothers quickly gained ground between the OtherWorld drummer and their sister, I pictured the entire room turning into a blood bath that would really screw up the peace of the upcoming tour. I bit my lip, suddenly wanting to hide under the table.

  Dallas stood up so quickly I didn’t have time to blink. “Hey, Axton and I wanted to share our news with y’all,” she informed the room at large, practically yelling the words.

  It worked because Shane and Drake paused to look at her. Even Devlin and Natalie were distracted by her so that they turned to face her. Dallas glanced around for Axton who was frowning at his wife. “We do?” he said as he sat down his glass of tea and crossed to her. “I thought we weren’t going to say anything right now.”

  “Now’s as good as any, babe.” She gave him a tight smile. “It’s okay. We wouldn’t have been able to keep it a secret for much longer anyway.”

  Axton rolled his hazel eyes. “Fine. Okay.”

  “What’s going on?” Emmie demanded as she and Nik stepped forward, her son hanging off her hip once again. Jagger was such a momma’s boy. “What? Are you two..?” Her eyes widened as a look passed between her and Axton. “No. No way.”

  “Yes.” Axton nodded, a huge smug grin splitting his face. “Dallas and I are pregnant again. Baby number two will be here the first week of December.”

  The room erupted with cheers and congratulations. Nik shook Axton’s hand and Emmie hugged Dallas, both of them laughing. I was stunned because Dallas and Axton’s son had just been born in February. It was now the end of May. They hadn’t waited long to start back at it like rabbits, that was for sure. Laughing, I stood to hug the couple. Dallas’s arms tightened around me as she glanced at something over my shoulder, and I knew who she was looking at.

  Harper.

  When I turned I couldn’t help but bite my lip at the flash of pain that crossed Harper’s gorgeous face for a moment, only to be quickly replaced by a huge grin just before she tossed her arms around her best friend. “You dirty whore,” Harper said and laughed as she hugged Dallas tightly. “Did you even wait until the doctors gave the okay, or were you spreading your legs the first night you got home from the hospital?”

  “Shut up, bitch,” Dallas snickered as the two danced around while continuing to hug each other for another moment. But then Dallas’s grin faltered and she stepped back from her friend. “I’m sorry, Harp.”

  “Stop.” Harper shook her head, stopping whatever apology Dallas had been about to make. “Just because I can’t have a baby doesn’t mean that you need to feel bad about being pregnant. Don’t let my hang-ups put a damper on what should be a happy time for you and Axton. I’m so excited for you, Dallas… Do I get to be godmother again?”

  “We wouldn’t want anyone else, Harper,” Axton assured her as he wrapped his arm around his wife’s still tiny waist.

  I glanced away from them, blinking back tears. Harper Stevenson was truly the strongest person I knew. Bishop, who’d been sitting there watching the whole scene with guarded eyes, caught my gaze. Seeing my tears he grunted and handed me his napkin. I’d only met the grumpy-looking singer a few times, but he’d always been nice to me. He seemed like a private person, with little sign of a sense of humor. Bishop reminded me of Wroth in those regards, so it was little wonder that I found him curious.

  “You okay?”

  I offered him a small, teary smile. “Yeah, I’m good. Just get a little weepy from time to time.” I lifted my bottle of Voss to my lips and took a small sip of the water. “How have you been, Bishop?”

  The man shrugged and I took a moment to glance over what I could see of him since we were sitting on opposite sides of the table. He wasn’t conventionally handsome; his face was more often than not expressionless, and his features were on the plain side. His body was lean—very lean—with only a few muscles here and there with little definition. But it wasn’t his looks that got him noticed. It was his freaking voice, and the way he brought a song to life with each word he sang.

  I knew for a fact he wasn’t skinny because of drugs. Since Emmie had signed on as both Trance and Alchemy’s manager she did monthly drug tests. It was her stipulation for every member of every band she managed. I was pretty sure she did it so that it didn’t hurt Liam’s feelings so badly since she wanted to keep a close eye on his continued recovery, but also because she didn’t really know or trust the two new bands she was dealt with. Drug addicts were liabilities and Emmie had a new and quickly rising reputation to uphold.

  “I can’t complain,” Bishop finally said after a moment or so of silence. “How about you, beautiful?”

  I felt my cheeks fill with pink when he called me beautiful. I wasn’t used to men calling me that. At least not very often. Wroth had on a few occasions, but they had been so rare that each one of them had felt like a caress. At the thought of Wroth, my eyes unconsciously moved through the room until I found him standing against a wall with his hands thrust into his pockets. His dark gaze was glaring up at the ceiling, his jaw clenched as if he were still mad. No doubt he probably was. It was hard to get Wroth’s anger to completely evaporate unless I was there to soothe his ruffled feathers.

  He must have felt my gaze on him because his gaze slowly lowered and then locked on me. My heart clenched and I boldly held his gaze for a moment before finally, out of self-preservation, lowered my eyes. Memories of a time when I thought my world couldn’t be more perfect flashed through my mind, pausing for a moment on one of my favorite memories…

  The day after the Panama show, after the night I’d gotten the first true kiss of my adult life, found me exhausted. I hadn’t slept for more than a few hours on the bus. My mind had refused to shut down as I had gone over every last detail of that kiss a million times. Damn, but Wroth Niall had blown my mind with that kiss and every kiss that had quickly followed.

  My mind was still on that kiss as I walked into my hotel room to discover it was a suite with two bedrooms. I hadn’t been paying attention when Natalie had passed out room keys, my mind still stuck on last night. But as soon as I realized that I was going to be sharing a room, I’d known who my roommate was going to be. Wroth wasn’t going to let anyone else bunk with me. He was too overprotective.

  With my heart beat suddenly racing at the thought of sharing the suite with the man I could still taste on my tongue, I moved through the sitting area of the room and took a seat on the long couch in front of the flat screen. From one of the two bedrooms I could hear the water already running from Wroth’s shower. My exhaustion was surprisingly gone now and I felt wired, as if I’d drunk too much Monster.

  “Rissa?”

  I glanced up at the sound of my name coming from that rough voice. “Hi,” I greeted him, feeling surprisingly shy all of a sudden.

  Dark espresso eyes skimmed over me from head to toe and it felt as if he had physically touched me the way my skin seemed to suddenly bead with goose bumps and I was unable to repress a shiver. My own eyes were doing some traveling of their own. I’d expected his hair to be wet since I’d heard water running, but it wasn’t. He was still wearing the jeans and T-shirt I’d seen him wearing earlier, both of which fit him perfectly. The T-shirt was stretched over the wide, hard planes of his chest. The jeans hanging slightly off his hips, giving just a tease of a glance of tanned flesh between the hem of his shirt and the top of his old jeans.

  “I’m running you a bath, sweetheart.” He crossed to the couch and offered me his hand.

  Running me a bath? Oh goodness! I bit my lip, trying to hide my excitement and the way his words had made my heart melt as I put my hand in his big rough one. Long fingers wrapped around my hand, trapping it in his, and he gave a small tug, urging me up. Without a word I let him lead me into what must have been the master bedroom and
into the connecting bathroom.

  The scent of warm vanilla and honey filled the room as the huge bathtub filled with bubbles came into view. When we reached the side of the tub, Wroth released my hand and turned off the water. When he straightened, he caught me around the waist and pulled me against his hard body. Before I could guess at his intentions, he lowered his head and brushed a soft kiss over my parted lips. Tears burned my eyes at his gentleness. I’d never seen him be this tender in all the years I’d known Wroth. That he was being this way with me didn’t surprise me, but it did make me fall a little deeper for him.

  “Take your bath, sweetheart. I’m going to order us an early dinner and we can relax for a few hours before we have to head over for tonight’s show.” His nose nuzzled against my ear, making me tremble with a desire that was starting to incinerate my body from the inside out.

  With another soft kiss to my lips, he left me alone in the bathroom. I stood there for a long moment, still savoring the feel of his lips on mine. Without even realizing what I was doing, I lifted my fingers to skim across the slight dampness from his kiss, massaging his essence into them. For several minutes I stood like that, until with a happy giggle I started taking my clothes off.

  Sliding into the water was pure nirvana. The water temperature was perfect. Not so hot that it would burn, but just enough to release all the tense muscles that had bunched up over the last few days. The sweet smell of the bubble bath relaxed me further and I dunked my head under the water, enjoying the bath like a little girl might for just a moment.

  Lifting my head, I smoothed my wet hair back from my face and wiped water from my eyes. When I could see again, I gasped at the sight standing in front of me. Wroth had returned from ordering room service and had gotten rid of most of his clothes. His boots, socks, jeans and shirt were gone, leaving him standing in front of me in nothing but a pair of black Hanes boxers. Damn, but he should have been the rep for those freaking boxers.