Turn up the Tempo (Lyrical Odyssey Rock Star Series Book 4)

by Charli B. Rose

  This song was different from the other one I’d started composing days ago. The groove skeleton of this song matched the thump of my heart when I thought about Brittany. I supposed it was only fitting that a song inspired by her would have its foundational root in the exact cadence she made my heart beat. I added the chord tones I heard in my head. My foot tapped the tempo, and I let the rhythm take over.

  Lyrics began to mold themselves around the groove.

  Eventually, I set my bass aside and grabbed my guitar. I plucked the melody underlying the words that expressed feelings I couldn’t verbalize. Things I couldn’t admit. Couldn’t even consider.

  As I played and composed, need rose in me, raging like a starvation. With each caress of the strings, I envisioned stroking along her flesh, eliciting a song from her instead.

  ♪ All I Ever Need by Austin Mahone

  Desire rose to a level I could no longer ignore. I set everything aside and took the stairs two at a time. Quiet reigned upstairs. Hoping she’d just moved to the pool house, I jogged across the yard. When I walked by the French doors on the side of the building, I saw Britt inside, moving smoothly across the floor.

  Noticing her bare feet, I toed off my shoes when I crossed the threshold. Behind Brittany was a wall of mirrors, throwing her sensual reflection back at me from every angle. Her eyes met mine in the glass, but her steps didn’t falter. She continued to move and seduce me.

  She beckoned me closer, and like a moth to a flame, I sauntered over to where she danced along a wooden rail attached to the mirrored wall. The music dropped to a sultry beat. My hands reached out to grip her hips. They gyrated beneath my touch.

  Britt and I danced across the floor with our bodies wedged together in the most sensual dance I’d ever bared witness to. My cock throbbed behind my zipper where her thigh brushed against me. Unable to resist, I wrapped one hand around the nape of her neck then I lowered my mouth to hers, devouring her in a kiss. I drew her fuller lower lip between mine, giving it a nibble and suck until my mouth vibrated with her groan. Our tongues tangled, stroking and licking in a kiss hotter than any fire. It singed my cells.

  Greedy fingers lifted my shirt over my head then scraped lightly along my torso, tracing the dark lines of the tattoo on my right pec. Her gaze tick-tocked, searching mine. When she found whatever she was looking for, her fingers slipped to my waistband and unsnapped my jeans. Then they dipped inside, wrapping around me.

  I stripped the clingy, cotton material from her legs. Her panties clung to her damp skin for a few moments until I coaxed them from her too. The T-shirt and sports bra covering her top half were quickly tossed to the floor, out of our way. With my hands clutching at her naked flesh, I waltzed us into the corner. I hoisted her up onto the perpendicular wooden rails forming a ballet barre in front of the mirrors.

  Chapter 19

  Britt

  The smooth wooden rail dug into my bare flesh where Brooks held me balanced on the narrow perch designed to aid in balanced, fluid movements—definitely not what we were doing. But that slight bit of discomfort was rapidly erased when soft lips crashed into mine again. Kissing this man was an out-of-body experience. I didn’t know how else to describe it. It was flying and falling all at once.

  One touch of his lips to mine made me ravenous for more. No matter all the things in my mind that were shouting for me to resist the forbidden fruit. But I was worse than Eve in the Garden of Eden. I didn’t want to nibble the apple and share it with someone else so we could sin together. No. I wanted to devour it, fruit, stem, core, seeds and all, then incorporate its very delicious flesh into my cells to keep forever.

  With my fingers and feet, I pushed at the rough denim covering Brooks’s lower half. His hands were too busy tweaking and kneading my sensitive flesh, turning me into a wanton, writhing mess of burning need to help me dispense him of the rest of his clothes. My nipples had stiffened into hard peaks, the skin around them puckering with the strain of forcing the sensitive flesh into turgid tips.

  Finally, I managed to slide his jeans and boxers low enough to free the part of him I ached to touch. When I wrapped my fingers around his pulsing erection, his mouth divorced mine on a groan. His lips traveled in a path of bites and nibbles down the column of my throat. Perfect teeth bit the tender spot along my collarbone with just enough pressure to make me see an erotic galaxy of stars sparking to life beyond my eyelids.

  ♪ Stars by Sixx A.M.

  Nimble fingers dove between my thighs, stroking and parting my folds to make room for him. He faltered and fumbled for a moment, but I was too far gone to even pay attention. My world had narrowed to him, me, inside, now.

  Finally, he tilted his hips and thrust up into me. Our collective moans were synchronized. Having him inside me, moving there, touching places that had been branded by him, felt even better than I remembered. Much better than my erotic dreams at night were.

  As he pushed me higher and higher, I tightened my thighs around him, crossing my ankles against the small of his back, not wanting to let him get too far from me. His fingertips bit into my hips as he tried to hold me in place when his thrusts should’ve pummeled me into the wall.

  Harsh pants ripped from his chest when he lifted his face from my neck. “So good,” he groaned with his forehead pressed against mine. “Your pussy squeezing my cock feels like heaven, angel.”

  The look in his stormy eyes was enough to finally shove me over the edge. I tightened everything inside me, fully intending to drag him along with me.

  When we stepped out of the shower, Lyric looked at me with accusing eyes from the bathmat. Brooks laughed loudly as he peered down at her. “What did she do to you, pup?” he asked the dog.

  “She’s mad because every time I get in the shower, she cries to get in with me. And I told her that I’m not big on sharing my showers.” I grabbed a towel and started to rub the water from Brooks’s chiseled frame. I’d take any excuse to touch him. His body flexed and rippled beneath my touch. I loved it.

  “So, she knows you’re a liar because I didn’t hear any complaints from you a few minutes ago when I was all up in your shower space,” he said in a raspy voice. He wrapped his damp arm around my back, drawing me up against him. Unable to resist, I ran my tongue over his tattoo.

  I shifted back, causing his hand to drop to my butt. He gave it a squeeze.

  I winked, finally commenting on his observation. “Something like that.” I wrapped a towel around myself and stepped out of the tub. Then I scooped up the pup. “Forgive me, scamp?” I asked, holding her face up to mine.

  She wiggled excitedly until she was able to reach my face. Wet puppy kisses were liberally applied to my face. I giggled and pulled her away from me. “Crazy pup. What did I tell you about licking?”

  “What did you tell her about licking?” Brooks asked in a growly voice from behind me.

  “Oh … I … um … told her I wasn’t a fan of all the licking.” My face heated as I recounted the one-sided conversation I had with the dog.

  Brooks’s eyebrows shot up. “Is that so? You really have been lying to the dog. ‘Cause in the shower, not only were you a fan of the licking, your fingers yanked my hair to make sure I licked you right where you wanted me to. And you were begging for more.” His fingers wrapped around me, disappearing under the fold of terrycloth I’d tied around my torso. “Do you remember what I’m talking about or do I need to refresh your memory?”

  Before I could speak up, my stomach rumbled loudly. After a round in the studio then one in the shower plus all the dancing beforehand, I was starving.

  He swatted my backside. “Need sustenance?” Brooks asked with a chuckle.

  “Yes please. I’ll see what’s in the fridge,” I said as I tugged a shirt over my head.

  “How about I order us some dinner?” he offered.

  “Mmm. Japanese?” I asked eagerly.

  “Perfect. What do you want? Steak, chicken, shrimp?”

  “Chicken with noodles, all
the veggies except mushrooms. Extra yum-yum sauce,” I rattled off my order.

  “No fungus for you?” he teased.

  “Definitely not. And if you want to kiss me again tonight, you’ll skip the mold too.” I leaned up on my tip toes and planted my lips on his.

  “Lucky for you, I don’t like mushrooms either,” he murmured against my mouth.

  “It’s like we’re kismet or something.” I pressed one more quick kiss to his mouth. “I’m going to let the pup out while you place our order. Then you can find something for us to watch.”

  “You want to Netflix and chill with me, angel?” he mumbled from behind me as he slipped on his jeans sans boxers. He yanked up the zipper but left the snap open. I licked my lips.

  Good grief, how was I ever going to think about anything other than his delicious body separated from me by a mere layer of denim?

  He quirked his eyebrow at me, waiting for me to answer. Heat stole across my face over having been caught staring. Flabbergasted, I swallowed hard and managed to choke out, “Something like that. But you have to feed me first.”

  He chuckled darkly, prompting me to grab Lyric and flee to the backyard, hopefully to cool down for a few minutes at least.

  After letting the fluffball scamper across the yard enough to wear herself out, I herded Lyric back into the house. She disappeared up the stairs while I made my way into the living room to see what Brooks had found for us to watch.

  The screen was paused with no identifying features, just a black screen. Brooks lounged in the corner of the couch. When I stepped by him, he reached out lightning fast and yanked me onto his lap. His nose dragged along my neck.

  “Food should be here in about fifteen minutes,” he informed me.

  “Great. So, we have fifteen minutes to kill.” I ground down against him with my butt. Beneath me, his cock was stirring to life.

  “You’re going to kill me, angel,” he growled.

  My head tipped back as laughter spilled out. “I think someone is quite happy to rise to the occasion.” I gave another pointed wiggle of my hips, causing his breath to hiss out.

  “Be still,” he commanded, clamping his hands on my hips to stop my movement. “We’re going to talk. The food will arrive. I’m going to fix our plates. We’ll sit together and enjoy a meal while we watch TV. Maybe if you’re a good girl, I’ll kiss and touch you and work you up into a frenzy. Then, when you’re a writhing, panting mess, I’m going to strip you bare and taste every single inch of you. There won’t be a taste bud in my mouth that isn’t intimately acquainted with the unique flavor of you, angel. And after all that, do you know what I’m going to do, angel?” he whispered.

  My mind had stopped working somewhere in his descriptive accounting of our coming evening, so all I could do was shake my head dumbfoundedly.

  His index finger tipped my chin up, closing my mouth, which apparently, had fallen open at some point.

  “After you’ve come on my fingers and my tongue, and you’re a dripping mess, I’m going to bury my cock so deeply inside of you there will be no way your internal cells aren’t imprinted with the memory of my presence forever. And I’m going to enter your body repeatedly, claiming you with each thrust, until you shatter around my cock at least once. And when I’m satisfied that you’re seeing the heavens behind your rolled back eyes, angel, then I’m going to fall into heaven with you. Then we’re going to take a nap and wake up for a repeat. Understand?”

  “Uh-huh,” I managed to mutter, nodding like a bobble head on a bumpy country road.

  “Glad we cleared that up. Now, I was wondering about the dance you were doing when I came into the pool house earlier. That wasn’t the same singer you were choreographing to days ago. So, did you find more dance work?” He tucked my hair behind my ear. The touch was so gentle it did something to my insides. Something beyond making me want the satisfaction he brought my body. I stuffed the confusing emotions down.

  “Yeah. Dub’s assistant choreographer, Will, has been lining up music videos here and there for me. They seem to like what I come up with on my own for the most part, so I get to create the routines. It’s been great.” I glanced up, fully expecting his eyes to be glazed over like most people’s got whenever I gushed too much about dancing. But Brooks’s gaze was focused and intense, like he felt as if whatever I was saying was the most important thing in that moment. It was a heady feeling.

  “Anyway, I’ve gotten to create for several upcoming video releases in a couple of different genres. I never imagined I’d be doing something like this.” I really couldn’t contain my happiness at the direction my professional life was taking. It was more than I could have ever dreamed of.

  “You’re a natural, angel. Anybody who’s ever watched you move would know that. You were born to dance.” The sincerity in his tone made tears clog my throat and my nose burn as I fought to keep from turning into a crying heap. Tears were men’s kryptonite, and I desperately didn’t want to ruin our night.

  I dropped my head to the crook of his neck and wrapped my arms tightly around him. Drawing comfort from his presence was such a foreign feeling to me that it just made my emotions ramp higher.

  “Hey, what’s wrong, angel?” His long fingers stroked up and down my spine soothingly.

  When I finally got hold of myself enough to risk peeking at him, I raised my head. “No one has ever seemed to understand that need inside of me. The need to dance. To create art through movement. Not even my dance teachers growing up,” I whispered.

  A dopey grin tipped up his lips. “Maybe it just took another creative type to recognize what shines in you.” He shrugged.

  Before we could delve any deeper, the buzzer sounded, indicating someone was at the gate. Brooks stood with me in his arms. The expression on his face said so much. And part of me wanted to explore those unspoken things. Part of me wasn’t afraid, but a big part of me was scared shitless.

  The buzzer sounded again. Brooks gently lowered me to my feet. Meanwhile, Lyric came bounding down the stairs, yipping like the excitable pup she was. She darted to the door behind Brooks. He pressed the button to allow the gate to open. As he opened the door to pay the delivery guy, Lyric leaped against his legs.

  A teenager stood on the porch with a couple of bags. Delicious aromas wafted in my direction as Brooks traded a handful of bills for the bags. Lyric made a jump for one of the bags.

  “Cute dog,” the delivery guy said. “What kind of toy is that? I’m always looking for new things to entertain my dog.” He squinted his eyes as he examined Lyric closely.

  Brooks set the bags on the table in the foyer then stared down at her. “What the hell?” He dropped to his knees and untangled strips of neon purple from around Lyric’s face and snout. When he finally freed her, he lifted his hand, showing us the doggie toy.

  One of my missing pair of panties. A thong. See-through satin and purple lace.

  Embarrassment made me turn beet red.

  The delivery guy burst into laughter. “Skimpy undies. I’d have never guessed they’d make a good dog toy.”

  Brooks snatched his hand back, hiding my panties behind his back while I covered my eyes in mortification.

  “Keep the change,” Brooks said, nudging the guy out of the doorway.

  I grabbed the bags of food and fled to the kitchen.

  A few minutes later, Brooks waltzed into the room, my purple thong spinning on his finger like a helicopter. I snatched them from him when he got close enough and shoved them into my pocket.

  “That was so embarrassing. Dawson and Izzy didn’t warn me the dog was an underwear thief. She’s stolen several pairs already,” I rambled as I eased two plates down from the overhead cabinet.

  “You’re so sexy when you’re embarrassed. But I could’ve killed that kid for the way he looked at you. Like he was imagining you in nothing but that purple thong,” he grumbled. He kissed the top of my head and then walked over to the silverware drawer. He handed me two sets. “Now go sit down.
I told you I’d fix our plates.” He swatted my left butt cheek to get me moving.

  With a tiny yelp, I scurried to the couch.

  “You want wine, Dr. Pepper, lemonade, water, something else?” Brooks called from the kitchen.

  “Hit me with a D-P,” I shouted, sinking to the floor in front of the coffee table.

  “Angel,” Brooks growled in warning.

  It took me a minute of processing what I said to figure out why he responded the way he did. “D-P as in Dr. Pepper. Not … uh … you know. Get your mind out of the gutter, you perv,” I shouted, completely mortified once more.

  Shaking his head, Brooks set a glass of fizzing soda in front of me and another at the empty spot next to me. He moved back to the kitchen and returned seconds later with plates in each hand.

  “That smells so good,” I groaned as I leaned over and inhaled the steam rising from the mountain of food in the center of my plate. Grill seared meat. Slight nutty scent of sesame. The floral, fruity aroma of soy sauce. The sweetness of onions. My stomach rumbled loudly.

  “I’m sorry. I should be ashamed for letting you get so hungry. Go on, dig in.” Brooks speared a chunk of steak and a sliver of zucchini and popped it into his mouth.

  “I wasn’t complaining when I was working up an appetite. No need for you to feel bad.” I popped the lid off the little cup of yum-yum sauce sitting on the edge of my plate. Holding it over the center of my plate, I drizzled the Japanese secret sauce all over the veggies and noodles and chicken. When no more dripped out, I used my fork to rake out the last drops of the creamy condiment.

  “There’s another cup of that in the kitchen if you want some more,” Brooks offered, a smirk tipping up his beautiful lips.

  “No. This is good. I’ll need that cup for the leftovers tomorrow.” I stirred everything around, making sure to get sauce on each morsel of food. Once I was satisfied, I twirled a forkful of noodles then stabbed a chunk of chicken and some veggies. The flavors burst on my tongue as I chewed. “Mmm,” I moaned. “This is so good.”