“Sleep,” she whined.
He chuckled. “You need something edible. I can’t have you starving and sleep deprived. It would break my heart.”
She moaned. “That feels amazing.”
“Glad to help. Let’s see. We are in Louisiana. There is boudin, gumbo, seafood, and I’m sure a burger joint is near.”
“I’ll start with coffee.”
“You can’t live off coffee, my love. Are you allergic to anything?”
She shook her head against his thigh. “All I need is fifteen more minutes.”
“Yeah right.” He brushed his mouth against her exposed ear. “Sweet dreams princess.”
He tucked her in and then she was out again. This time floating through time and the screams of the crowd moving closer to the stage. Hands extended in the air singing along and rocking to the music as Marques swayed from side to side. Then his eyes settled on hers and with an index finger he beckoned her forward. The red chair appeared and her heart raced as she took a step toward the stage and a firm hand grabbed her shoulder snatching her body in a jerking motion.
“…you’ll never see our daughter again…” She swung at his booming voice. “No!”
“Princess, wake up. You’re dreaming. Wake up.” He dropped to the bed. “You’re okay.”
Brione nodded. Her worst nightmare. She couldn’t look into Marques' eyes with Stewart’s promise ringing in her ears. “What day is it?”
“Saturday.” He used his thumb to dry her tears. “Want to talk about it?”
She shook her head. “I need to use the bathroom.” She got up and walked to the restroom locking the door behind her as tears slowly found their way down her cheeks.
“Baby, let me in.” He jiggled the handle.
“I’m okay. It was just a dream.”
“Please?”
“What time is it?”
“5:57.” His agitation vibrated through the door.
“Oh, crap.” She had a scheduled call with Kayla in three minutes. Stewart needed no ammunition to revoke her request for this summer. She opened the door and went to his room brushing past him.
“Brione what’s going on? Talk to me, baby.”
“I’m fine. Honest. I need to make a call.” She patted the bed near where she slept and only felt the covers and sheets. She used both hands and continued to the foot of the bed. Still nothing. Time was ticking. “Where’s my phone?”
He pointed to the end table on the other side of the bed. He stood, watching her every move.
“I’ll be right back.” She turned to head out the door and backtracked and kissed him softly to ease the concern she saw written across his face. “Give me a second.”
She ran through the bus and stepped outside. The temperature outside was much hotter than the interior of the bus. They were parked in a campground. She noticed a park a short distance away and walked in that direction.
She dialed the number by memory. Please play nice. The line connected. She took a deep breath looking at the bus. She could see Marques’ frame walking back and forth on the bus.
“Hello.” Her stomach clenched.
“Good evening Mrs. Bradley is Kayla available?”
“She’s right here.” She let out a deep breath tilting her head to the sky. Thank you. She could hear Mrs. Bradley’s voice but her words were mumbled like she was covering the receiver.
“Moommmmmy.” The squeal of joy in her voice made Brione’s heart swell.
“Oh, my goodness gracious is that my big girl.”
“Yes, mommy.” Her smile bounced through the phone line and across thousands of miles.
“I miss you, baby.” She clinched the phone to her ear holding back the tears. “How are you?”
“Good.”
“How are you enjoying the summer?”
“Good.”
“Only good. What is great about it Sweet Pea?” She placed the call on speaker phone and crossed her legs on the table top.
“Hum…I went to the zoo.”
“You did? And what did you see?” She basked in the sound of her daughter’s voice, telling her about the animals they saw at the zoo. How they rode a train. Then she had popcorn and cotton candy. She only had two more years before Kayla started elementary school, which made now the perfect time. She could eventually attend school in Houston.
“And Mommy guess what?”
“What Sweet Pea?”
“Daddy bought me a dog.”
“He did?” A cold knot formed in her stomach. “When sweetie?”
“Yesterday.”
“How do you feel?” She calmed her racing heart and focused on keeping her voice steady.
“Good.”
“Time to tell her goodbye Kayla,” Mrs. Bradley said on the other end.
“Bye Mommy.” Her heart cracked a little more at the sound of sadness in Kayla’s voice.
“Bye baby. I’ll see you really really soon.”
“Promise?”
“I promise Sweet Pea. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
Her vision blurred. “How much?”
“I love yoooooouuuu….”
“This much this much this much this much,” they said in unison over and over again until Kayla erupted into a fit of giggles.
“I’ll call again in a few days.”
“Okay, bye Mommy.”
“Bye baby let me talk with Grand-Mere.”
“Yes, Brione.”
“Is it true? Did Stewart buy Kayla, a dog?”
“Yes.”
“But she’s allergic to cats.”
“That’s why he got a dog. She’s fine. He keeps it outside and at his house.”
“What did her pediatrician say?”
“Nothing,” she said tightly.
“Did you consult him?”
“That’s enough Brione. She’s fine. If you have an issue with it talk with Stewart.”
“I’ll do that.” She disconnected the phone and dialed Stewart only getting his voicemail.
She then placed a call to the pediatrician. What is he thinking?
Marques paced the length of the bus like a caged lion. He'd heard Brione wrestling with the covers before her screams broke out. He had settled in the recliner and pulled out a book to keep from waking her again. He looked through the window as she sat down. The look of pure joy covered her face replacing the terror he saw moments before. Who’s she talking to?
She brushed away her tears and her features turned animated. She talked with her hands as she balanced her cellphone on her knees.
He turned from the window with a whisper of jealousy at the recipient of that smile. He glanced once more over his shoulder and decided to give her some privacy. He went to the room to shower. They had agreed to spend time together in Miami but not once did he ask her about whether she was seeing someone. He couldn’t imagine that she was since she’d agreed to spend two months with him traveling in a bus.
Did he care?
Yes, he cared.
He didn’t dabble with another man’s woman. It wasn’t his style. Too many fish in the sea, as Cameron liked to remind them. Marques undressed and started the shower. He turned on the music with one last fleeting thought of the woman making him smile. He never had a reason to be jealous of another man. He had money, a career he loved, the best family and friends a man could possess. But he wanted her too.
Not for a night or a week. He shook off the thought. Fame and love don’t mix. Fame and love were a recipe for disaster. He entered the shower and let the water run down his body. It was hard to push thoughts of her aside especially after sampling her mouth yesterday. Never had a woman, besides his mother and sister, taken such care of him. She took care of everything. She worked twenty-four hours straight to ensure his show went off without a hitch. And it did.
She even scared off Sam. He saw the questions lingering in Brione’s eyes but she didn’t let it keep them from giving his fans the best show. Then his family.
They loved her.
She did it for the company, he reminded himself. “Yeah right.”
Marques lathered his body knowing it was a stretch. Brione was working for the company but in his heart, he knew it was who she was. Plain and simple. She delivered and he owed her. Sam’s parting words almost overshadowed all their hard work. He was more than his family name and yesterday he proved it. Now he only had seven more shows before the world would hear what he had to offer.
He also enjoyed seeing Brione relaxed. No checklists or running around. She sat with Lauren and Mom laughing, she even took a picture or two. He stepped out of the shower and dried off. He threw on a t-shirt and some shorts. He wanted to warm up her food before she came back inside.
He pulled the door open and Brione stood on the other side. The animation gone with tear stains down the side of her face. “What is it?” he begged.
“I recall someone winning our bet.” She smiled. Not with her eyes. She reached for the hem of his shirt, her hands snaked underneath.
“I won but not on a tour bus in the middle of Louisiana. It’s not my style.” It was hard to remain coherent when he felt her fingers tracing the crevices of his abs. Something was flickering in the depths of her eyes and his heart ached to erase it. To bring back her feistiness, her real smile, her laughter.
“How about we pick up at our ‘to be continued’?” Brione's hands feathered around his waist to his back and inside his shorts. She was vulnerable and taking advantage of it would make him an ass.
“Princess…” Her hot hands squeezed his cheeks. He groaned. “Let me feed you and if you want to—”
Her hot little hands swerved to the front and wrapped around his hardness and it grew as she made a fist around his shaft. She began moving it back and forth.
“Make me forget.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Marques gathered Brione in his arms and held her tightly. She wanted nothing more than to get lost in him. He didn’t hesitate as his mouth covered hers. Closing the door behind them, he walked them to the bed not releasing his firm hold on her.
“Baby we can talk about it.”
She shook her head, tired of talking, tired of arguing, tired of pleading, tired of fighting. She wanted to feel more of what he freely offered. Love. Not love, she tried to push that thought aside as he lowered her to the bed. Glancing up into his eyes it was all she saw looking back at her. It can’t be.
New anguish seared her heart. But she could not have him. He wasn’t hers to have. She closed her eyes as panic rioted through her, every time his gaze met hers, her heart leapt to her throat.
Her life was too complicated.
“Are you shutting me out, princess?” His voice had an infinitely compassionate tone.
She remained silent afraid to look into his eyes again. It showed what her heart whispered as she watched him sleep last night, and while he laughed with his father. How could she love him and not tell him the truth? But the truth could mean placing him in danger too, just thinking of it shattered her. The duality of her life had her going mad.
His mouth brushed her ear. “Tell me and I’ll do it.”
“Make love to me.” She let her heart speak and the rest would have to take care of itself.
His mouth covered hers as she gripped a fist full of his white t-shirt. He smelled of soap and Andrew. Not manufactured or store-bought. He slipped his hand behind her lower back and pulled her body against his as his knees crawled them further up the bed.
In the outer perimeters of mind, she heard his song playing around them. The universe had some explaining to do. His finger trailed her jaw and turned her face toward his.
“We don’t have to do this love.”
“Andrew, please—” her voice broke.
An internal struggle raged, and Marques' need to erase any traces of her pain won. A battle to soothe the pain in her voice while making her mind, body, and heart his.
“Don’t move.”
He left the room and closed the outer door separating the bunk hall from the lounge. Reentering the stateroom, he locked the door behind him. She remained on the bed and he turned back to start the shower for her.
“For the record, this is a bonus.” He removed her glasses and placed them on the end table.
“I like the sound of that.” She sat up, her eyes watching his every move. He increased the volume of the music. Crawling across the bed behind her. He slowly pulled her shirt off and hooked his fingers under her bra straps. Kissing softly across her shoulders as he unfastened her bra and cupped the heavy undersides of her sweet mounds.
He straddled her body, her back to his front, pressing forward until his manhood settled between the fold of her thick backside. She gasped as he squeezed and caressed her. Forgetting was a tall order and a gift he would not take lightly.
The steam filled the room. She arched her back thrusting her behind at him and he pressed again loving the sweet sigh as her head fell back to his shoulder. He rocked into her and her body fell in tempo.
Thrust, press.
“Your breasts are just the right fit for my hands. Did you know that?” he whispered in her ear.
Thrust, press.
“I want you to feel my hands, squeezing, and pulling at your sweet nipples and my fullness pressed against you.”
Thrust, press. She gave a breathy moan. He smiled as he nibbled on the hollow of her neck.
“That’s it, baby.” He ran his hand up her thigh in search of her treasure. His fingers slipped past her panties aiming for the secret part of her. “You’re so wet.”
He slipped inside. Her thighs clenched around his hand as he stroked and petted her. “I think you like that.”
She made a soft sound full of need. He thrust a second finger inside and rested his palm on her jewel. She gasped and pulled away sending his full erection deeper against her. A shudder passed through him. He freed her breasts and latched tighter around her waist, she arched into him.
Desire pulsed through his veins, wanting nothing more than anything to be inside her. But to erase meant he had to consume every part of her.
Their hearts raced in sync. Their breaths mingled.
“Andrew…” Brione gripped his thighs.
“Yes, love.” He made a smug sound of male pleasure as she felt her walls tighten around his fingers.
“Andrew…”
“I have to make sure you’re ready. Are you ready princess?”
“Yes…” His command over her body had her ready to beg for release. He was all she wanted, all she could think about. “Please…”
And when she thought it could get no sweeter, no hotter, his wicked hand pressed deeper. Each deliberate plunge pushed past her loneliness. Past her fear. Her heart hammered in her chest, his insistent hands had her teetering on the edge.
Her breath hitched in her throat and the urge mounted as the powerful sensation gathered at the door of her heart.
“What are you doing to me?” she cried.
“Making you forget.”
He thrust and liquid fire consumed her. She shattered into a million delicate pieces, singing his name in a throaty surrender.
“This is the just the beginning.”
Chapter Thirty
He bathed her, fed her, and now she was curled up in his bed asleep. Marques put on some jeans and went outside. He sat at the same picnic table and placed a call. Her hot and cold feelings toward him would end starting with a little digging.
“Hello.” The line connected on the third ring.
“Got a second?”
“Sure. Let me slip out. Imani, I need to take this call.” He heard them kiss and before he’d tease but not today. Not since Brione had him in knots, not knowing if he was coming or going. Recalling his name on Brione’s lips only made it worse. He had no interest in anything beyond the tour. He knew it was fear and his shaky past with women didn’t help.
“Everything cool, it’s after midnight?” Damian asked.
> “It’s Brione.” He rubbed a hand over his face.
“What about her?”
“Everything.” He let out a long frustrated sigh.
Damian chuckled. “My father always believes starting at the beginning is the most logical place.”
“You would bring logic into this conversation. Nothing about this is logical.” He looked off into the distance. It was a clear night, the full moon was high, and the stars filled the sky. “I need your help.”
“I got you Baby Brother. But I need you to be specific.”
“I need you to look into Brione’s past.” A stab of guilt simmered in his chest.
“The best way to get the information is through the source. You know how I do it.” Marques heard the warning behind Damian’s words.
“I tried, and she’s not budging. I think she’s in some sort of trouble and she won’t tell me.”
“Give me what you have on her.”
They talked for a while as he filled Damian in on the details. He honestly didn’t know much. They hired her on the strength of Eliana’s word, and Brione’s work ethic had exceeded their expectations. This was different. He knew Damian could if worth discovering, and then some. He was a lawyer first, a real estate developer second, but he should moonlight as a private detective. His ability to uncover details—good and bad—was legendary. His partnership with RSE solidified their familial bond and Marques’ ability to trust him with this task.
“I need you to keep it between us. Brione and Eliana are best friends. I don’t want to interfere, but I can’t shake this eerie feeling.”
“I’ll keep it between us under one condition. Keep the bodyguards. Tell them to keep an eye on her too.”
“You got it.” He felt better already.
“Are you sure?”
“I want to know everything.”
“Fairness in the situation would mean talking with her and letting her divulge her secrets.”
“I tried. I'm done trying.”
“What if you don’t like what I find?”
Rockstar Secrets (Forbidden Chords Book 1) Page 14