by Eden Summers
Blake broke the connection, his face a mix of anguish and undeniable lust.
“He only needs two,” Sean sniggered.
Blake rested his forehead against Gabi’s, their chests heaving together in a fierce rhythm. Then without warning, he turned, her ass grasped in his hands and walked them into the side stage corridor. The area was dark, silent, and led to a small room in the back. He rushed them inside, kicking the door shut with his foot.
He collapsed against the door, pulling her body with him. “I can’t do this,” he murmured. “I can’t say goodbye.”
“Shh.” She placed a finger over his lips. “Then don’t.” She couldn’t stand to hear it anyway. “Every day will bring us closer to where we want to be. It’s only a matter of time.”
She loosened her legs from his waist and let her feet fall to the floor. Her mouth found his, her tongue licking his bottom lip. A growl rumbled in his chest, enticing her to do it again and again. “Show me how much you love me,” she begged.
“Gabi.” Her name was a plea. “I’ll never be able to show you. You’d never believe me.”
She ignored the heartache in his tone and ran her lips down to his chin, then along his jaw. She nuzzled his neck, sucked his skin into her mouth, marking him.
He sucked in a breath and ground the hardness of his shaft into her pelvis. His hand worked between them, fumbling in his pocket, pulling out a condom. As he undid his belt buckle, she kicked off her shoes and yanked at her pants, lowering them to the floor along with her underwear and kicking them away.
They grasped at each other, their hands and lips and tongues stroking and rubbing and caressing. He lifted her off the ground, placing her bottom on the small waist-high table and pushed between her legs.
Gabi fisted his shirt in her hands and raised the material, dragging it over his stomach and pecs until he quickly placed the corner of the condom packet between his teeth and yanked the shirt over his head. He pulled down the front of her silk camisole, exposing her bra and lowering the cups to grasp her breasts in his hands.
He groaned, working the underwear covered erection that peaked from his opened zipper, against the apex of her thighs. “Touch me.”
She complied, lowering his underwear to expose the heavily veined skin of his cock and taking it in a tight fist.
He hissed and dropped his hands from her breasts, ripping open the condom packet with his teeth and spitting the wrapper to the floor. “This isn’t gonna last long.”
“Good,” she panted. She wanted hard and fast and brutal.
He sheathed himself with fierce jerks that made her pussy clench. Gripping his cock in his fist, he placed the head of his shaft at her entrance, and in one savage thrust he sunk home, tearing a cry from her throat.
She clung to him, her hands gripping his taut biceps as her legs encircled his waist. The table rocked with his movements, pounding against the wall, harder and harder.
“Oh, Blake… Oh…” She closed her eyes, delirious with lust.
He reached for her bra again, lowering the cups to tweak her nipples. Pleasure speared down her center, pooling in her sex, making her buck against him.
“Gabi,” he warned, one hand leaving her breast to trail around her back and grip her hair. He tugged, exposing her neck, making her helpless.
The bang, bang, bang against the wall increased as his head lowered to her shoulder. She wanted to come, she was right there, on the cliff’s edge but she wouldn’t go without him. Not this last time.
She tilted her head, moving her lips to his ear. “I’m a slave to the way you fuck me.”
He pulled tighter on her hair, causing her core to clamp down on his cock.
So close. Oh, so close.
“Angel.” The endearment was a breath this time, softly spoken against her skin.
Her body broke out in goose bumps, the tingling sensation starting at her neck, spreading over her chest, and finally sinking to her core, pushing her over into the peak of ecstasy. She sucked in a breath, moaned his name, and held on while wave after wave of pleasure pulsed through her.
“Fuck,” Blake yelled, holding her tighter, sinking harder while they both moved together in orgasm.
She writhed, arching her back, raking her nails down his skin until the haze of lust started to taper and their movements calmed, slowed, then stopped.
“Every minute will feel like a week without you beside me.” He pulled her into his chest, cupping the back of her head with his palm. “It’s going to be he—”
A light rap sounded at the door and Gabi stiffened.
“I’m sorry, guys, but Gabi’s car is waiting,” Leah said.
“We’ll be out in a minute,” Blake spoke over his shoulder.
This was it. The moment they’d been dreading. Her heart threatened to crack under the weight of inevitable loneliness. She circled his ribs with her arms, hugging tight. “I don’t want you to come to the airport with me.”
“What?” He jerked back and stared down at her, his eyes frantically searching hers.
She didn’t want an audience for their goodbye. She needed to do it here, while things were perfect. Intimate. “Let’s do this now. That way you can help the guys set up, and you won’t have to go all the way to the airport and back.”
“Fuck that, Gabi. I want to go with you.”
“Think about it.” She placed a palm against his cheek and rested her forehead against his. “There will be hundreds of people. It will be busy and messy and rushed.” She shook her head. “I don’t want that.”
They were both hurting and Gabi preferred to suffer in private than have the threat of paparazzi or screaming fans barging in on their goodbye.
He stepped back, gripping the condom before pulling from her body. “Give me a minute.” He disposed of the condom and zipped up his fly, fastening the belt while she scooted from the table and tugged on her underwear and pants. After righting her clothes, she looked up to find him standing tall, his dark, tortured eyes staring back at her.
Wordlessly, he opened his arms and she went to him, falling into them, feeling his love and adoration cover her like a blanket. He kissed her hair and held her close, not letting go. “We’ll see each other in a few weeks,” he promised. “Once the tour is over, I’ll be on the first plane back to you, OK?” He grabbed her shoulders and pulled back so he could peer down at her. “We’ll make this work.”
She nodded her head. “I know.” She was determined to make their relationship last, no matter how hard the path would be. The comforting fact was that she could see the same determination mirrored in Blake’s eyes.
“And we’ll be able to talk the same as we always have. That won’t change.”
She smiled at him. He was beginning to ramble and it was cute. “I know.” She ran her hands around his neck, committing every detail of his face to memory. “I don’t plan on letting you go easily.”
He grinned. “I don’t plan on letting you go at all.” He placed a gentle kiss on her lips before retreating with a sigh. “Where are your things?”
Her heart clenched. “Leah was taking care of them.”
“OK.” He reached for her hand. “Let’s do this.”
She straightened and shook her head, blinking away the moisture that began to form. “No. Say goodbye to me now. Please. I can’t handle doing this in front of the others.”
His hand squeezed hers and his Adam’s apple bobbed with a deep swallow. “God damn it, Gabi. This is so fucking hard.”
She raised her chin and shook her head. “No, it’s not. We’re not going to let it be hard. We’ll just do it quick and painless, as if we’ll see each other again tomorrow.” She stepped into his body and smiled up at him. “I’m going to kiss you, and then I’m going to walk away.”
He peered down at her for a long moment, staring at her hair, her eyes, her mouth. “All right.”
Gabi licked her bottom lip and slowly reached up on tiptoes. “I love you, Blake Kennedy.”
&n
bsp; He grinned for the briefest moment. “I love you, sweet angel.”
She placed her mouth against his, and her nose began to tingle with the threat of tears. The kiss was feather-light, tender, and with all the strength inside her, she pulled away.
“Bye,” she whispered and turned in his arms to leave.
Her feet were heavy, her limbs aching as she took the first step. His hand gripped hers and pulled her back, ripping a sob from her chest. He tugged her into his arms and cupped her face with his palms. His lips smashed against hers, hard, doubling her heartache, multiplying her pain. Their tongues tangled and her hands went under his shirt needing the warmth of the expanse of skin above his heart.
She clawed at him, sweeping her tongue back and forth over his, loving the way he cradled her lovingly in his hands. Tears blazed down her cheeks, scorching her from the outside in, only increasing the way her stomach somersaulted from passion and equal parts misery.
Their lips parted on a heated gasp, and she didn’t allow herself to falter. In a heartbeat, her hands were out from under his shirt, and she was striding from the room.
“See you soon, angel.”
I told my parents about you. Gabi pressed send on the text message and seconds later her phone rang.
“Hey, angel. I miss you.” Blake’s voice sounded tired.
“I miss you, too.” She missed his voice, his touch, his love, and barely twenty-four hours had passed. “And thank you for the lilies. The florist delivered them this morning.”
“I hope you liked them.”
“I always do.” Blake had sent her flowers three years in a row and each time it gave her strength to face the day.
“So what happened with your parents?”
She inhaled and slumped back onto the bed. They had acted according to plan—apprehensive, protective, and disapproving. She hadn’t planned on telling them about Blake, had argued with herself all Tuesday night about it. But when she arrived at their house on Wednesday, she knew she wouldn’t get through the day without releasing the bubble bursting to break free.
If she couldn’t be with Blake, then she needed to talk about him. And it wasn’t like her parents couldn’t use a distraction. She’d gone with them to the cemetery, had held her mother while she sobbed at Greg’s grave, and watched her father stand tall and proud as he focused on his son’s headstone. Gabi had made morning tea, helped with lunch, then cleaned up the mass of dishes to start again at afternoon tea. And when they sat down for another coffee, the words flittered from her lips. “Mom… Dad…I’ve met someone.”
“I told them I’m seeing someone.”
“And?” He growled, “Come on, sweetheart, you’re killin’ me.”
She chuckled. Nothing was sexier than that guttural sound he made. “I suppose it ended better than expected.”
“Which means?”
She could hear banging in the background, guitars being tuned and people shouting. “Are you working? Is this a bad time?”
“Christ. No. Just tell me!”
“I can hear noise in the background. I don’t want to disturb you.”
“We’re about to do a full rehearsal with the supporting band. I’m not playing for over an hour, though, so tell me. Now, woman!”
OK, she’d procrastinated long enough. “My parents were…concerned about your career. Which I suppose is warranted. What parent wants their only daughter dating a rock star? In the end, though, I think I won them over. They want to meet you… Well, I think dad actually wants to grill you until you cry, but at least he didn’t vow to get out his shotgun.”
Silence.
“Blake?”
“That’s great.” His tone said otherwise.
“I don’t understand. I thought you wanted to meet my parents.”
“I did… I do.” Awkward silence. “Now that it’s actually going to happen, I’m kinda shitting myself.”
Her cheeks lifted with a wide smile. “I’m not looking forward to it myself. But you’ll be fine. They’ll love you. Eventually.”
“Ha ha. Very funny. I gather you didn’t tell them how we met or what I look like.”
“Uh, yes and no. I told them we met online.”
Gabi cringed, remembering the way her father responded, “I hope it wasn’t one of those cheesy relationship sites.”
She’d wanted to smile and say, “No, Daddy, the website was all about drug addiction.” Instead, she bit her tongue.
“I told them the basic details. Your career, where you live, and most importantly that you make me happy. For now, that’s all they need to know.”
Baby steps were the key.
“Well, I’m glad they know. Did today go all right otherwise? I’ve wanted to call you every second.”
Gabi closed her eyes and rested her head back on a pillow. Anniversaries were always tough. This year had been worse because of her ping-ponging emotions and the way her heart yearned for Blake’s comfort. “I got through the day.”
“I wish I was there with you.”
She crinkled her nose and pressed her lips together. Not a single tear had fallen down her cheeks today. She wouldn’t start blubbering now. “I wish you were here, too.” God, how she wished he was here. A simple hug from Blake would soothe everything, the exhaustion, the heartache, the grief. “Remind me again, how long until you finish your tour?”
***
“Too long, angel. Too god damn long.” Blake stared at the grey cement floor and focused on the image of Gabi in his mind. The hours apart had made him determined. He was going to make his life a fucking fairytale, all for her, the woman he loved—his best friend.
His first hurdle was Michelle. He’d stayed awake until early morning, writing a list of contacts, making calls to the US and asking favors from people who owed him nothing.
Thank god for the celebrity status draw card.
People had vowed to keep an eye out for potential acting positions. Some even offered to look in different media avenues that might appease the demon bitch.
“Will you call me before you go on stage tomorrow?” Gabi asked.
“Definitely.” He toed a stone with his black boot and watched it roll along the floor. This distance shit really sucked. How the hell did Ryan do it? “I’ll call you first thing in the morning and every fifteen minutes afterward, if you want.”
He’d do it too, if he thought she wouldn’t grow tired of him in the process. He was dying to be with her again. Even the lingering scent of her shampoo on his hotel pillows drove him insane. Housekeeping had wanted to change the sheets this morning, and he’d had to turn them away, clinging like a little bitch to the one piece of Gabi he had left.
Her laugh echoed through the phone, the feminine, free-spirited sound warming his heart and shattering it all at the same time. “I think once before the show will be enough,” she said. “It’s already too hard to concentrate on anything other than you without the promise of calls every fifteen minutes.”
He couldn’t concentrate for shit. The band’s promotional obligations had started this morning with radio and television interviews, and Blake had been too distracted when asked, “What have you been doing since arriving in Australia?”
Apparently, “Gabi” wasn’t the correct response.
Leah hadn’t been amused. Not that it changed her already sullen mood. She still hadn’t recovered from her argument with Ryan, and neither one of them would talk about it.
“I’ll let you get back to work.”
Gabi’s voice kick started his heart into a faster tempo. All night his conscience nagged at him to tell her about Michelle. The few hours sleep had only increased its potency. He couldn’t do it now though, not on the anniversary of her brother’s death. Blake probably wouldn’t tell her until they were face to face again, and hopefully then the problem would be resolved. No, it would be resolved. He’d make sure of it. Until then, he had to deal with keeping the information from her.
“OK. I’ll speak to you soon.”
“I love you, Blake.”
One side of his lips lifted in a grin. He’d never get used to hearing that. “You know, angel, I think that one actually counts.”
“It always counts when I say it.”
He sure hoped so, because right now her love was the only thing keeping him sane.
“I don’t want your pity job, Blake.” Michelle bitched over the crackling cell connection.
After a week of waiting for one of his contacts to pull through, he’d finally got the call. The part wasn’t much, a small stint in an upcoming paranormal sitcom, but it was a job. A paying job, and something that would get Michelle’s foot in the door…and out of his ass.
“We made a deal, and I’m sick to death of waiting. I’ve got nothing. Nothing, Blake! No money. No job. No social life. Either be here the day after your last concert—and yes, I do know when that is—or the deal is off.”
Blake clutched the hotel balcony railing and ground his molars until his jaw threatened to pop. “Don’t push me, Michelle. You seem to forget, I’m not the only one that’ll be publicly shamed with those images.”
Her threat had shadowed him for too long, making him edgy. It didn’t help that he was already falling apart from being away from Gabi. He found it hard to breathe when he wasn’t around her and he didn’t want to break her heart by postponing their catch up at the end of the tour. “Take the fucking job.”
“You take the fucking job!” she screeched.
How the hell had he ever been attracted to this woman? She was bat-shit crazy.
He closed his eyes and silently counted to ten, letting the slight Adelaide breeze ease his anger. Reckless Beat was flying to their final tour destination of Perth tomorrow for a week of performances. That gave him seven days to find a way to calm the wicked bitch of the West and get his happily ever after. Call it intuition, but whenever he thought about Michelle, and in return Gabi, a deep unrelenting ache settled behind his ribs.
“Fine. I’ll keep looking for something else,” he snarled.
“No, you won’t. That wasn’t the deal. I will find the acting position I want. Your job is to get my face back in the magazines.”