Alyssa is reunited with the feeling of jealousy from earlier. Let it go, girl. You knew she was going to have to talk about it. It isn’t her fault. Breathe. There you go. No… Don’t cry, not in front of Jewel. Alyssa tries to subtly clear her throat and it isn’t subtle enough because in the next moment Jewel looks at her and notices that she is fighting back the tears. Jewel pulls her into an embrace and rubs her back gently.
“I’m really sorry it didn’t work out with Vincent… I know how much it hurt to let him go… You just didn’t want to admit it at the time, and I’m sorry I left and I wasn’t here for you after. I’m sorry you were alone.”
“Really Jewel, it’s okay.” Alyssa says as she chokes down her emotions, the main one being the bitterness that she was barely getting over. Bitter at Jewel, Vincent, and the band. Before Alyssa can continue speaking, one of the men that were checking her out earlier walks over.
“Hey. I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but I just wanted to see if I could buy you a drink.” The man’s voice is deep and rusty. He’s got a dark grey beard, a mustache, dark brown eyes and dark hair. Okay, he definitely dyed that crap to look younger. He’s wearing a work shirt and black cargo pants.
“Sure. Alyssa says. I’ll take a beer.”
The man motions to the bartender to get her one and goes to sit down. The bartender hands her the beer and she takes a drink.
“Well, honestly it does you no good to wait for me. It’s a girls’ night.” She says as she gives the man a wink and turns away from him to talk to Jewel again.
Angrily, the man gets up from the seat and walks back over the booth, where he sits and from what Alyssa can see, just grumbles to himself.
Jewel taps Alyssa and tries to silence her laugh, “You haven’t changed a bit!”
“Well, who in their right mind would turn down a free drink?” Alyssa asks innocently.
The bartender butts in, “I don’t blame you, that guy is always here annoying girls. It’s good you got him to go away so quickly, after he’s had a few more he’s definitely a bother.” The bartender nods, but he doesn’t stick around, instead he turns away to wash some of the glasses at the other side of the bar.
Alyssa turns to Jewel with a confused look on her face, “Wonder what that was about.” She questions as she laughs at the awkwardness of the bartender. “That isn’t the same guy that served us before, is it? He must have moved on.”
“Wow. I think you’re right. I didn’t pay it any mind.”
Alyssa nods, “I’ve always been the smart one.” She teases. There is silence for a few moments but then she becomes solemn again and quietly asks, “How is Vince doing?”
“Heck if I know. That guy is not the outspoken type… he’s definitely the quieter kind. Anyway, he seemed to have missed you for a while, about the first week of the tour… But after that, he…” Jewel pauses and takes a couple swigs of beer.
A week is good… but after that? What does she mean? Alyssa thinks as she stares at Jewel attempting to finish her explanation. Alyssa swallows hard.
“Well, after the first week he wasn’t quite so reserved anymore… you know. He kind of just. He slept around. A lot. A lot more than the other guys. But! He has been asking about you, for like the past month. That’s a good thing, right?”
Alyssa swallows and takes a moment to think about it, “Well, yeah. I guess.” She can’t deny the fact that hearing he is sleeping around makes her heart sink deep down into her chest, and sours the pit of her stomach.
CHAPTER FOUR
The girls share a few more drinks at the bar. They both talk about how things have been. Jewel asks about any guys that Alyssa might be dating. Jewel asks if the geeky guy from forever ago, that wouldn’t stop obsessing over her, has finally stopped obsessing. And when Alyssa remembers who Jewel is talking about, she expresses just how relieved she is that the guy has indeed moved on.
“Good, at least I won’t have to scare the life out of that poor guy.” Jewel comments, “Last time we spoke, it sounded like he was getting really creepy.”
“He was more than creepy…”
Jewel changes it up and gets them both a Manhattan, but only to laugh with Alyssa about Dan and Greg from the last time the two had spent time together. They were club managers from the first Seven Ravens concert the girls went to. The guys had hit on them and refused to buy them another beer, insisting that Manhattans were better. Jewel was so pissed they didn’t buy her another beer. The two go on to talk about how they had scored big that day for not having much to start with, just a couple concert tickets and last minute plans. They talk about how much fun the day was and they completely leave out the part about the guys, for Alyssa’s sake, and she appreciates it. The good mood continues on until Jewel’s phone rings and Jewel tells Alyssa to hang on a second while she answers it.
“Hey sugarcakes, I just wanted to know if you’re going to be out for much longer.” Alyssa can hear Ash say over the phone.
Alyssa watches as a smile spreads across Jewel’s face at the sound of her fiancé’s voice. Instantly, jealousy invites itself back in and Alyssa has to take the time to swallow it. She knows there is no real reason to be jealous, but she can’t help but to feel like she deserved a happily ever after too. By the time she’s finally shut it down, Jewel is telling Ash that she loves him and is hanging up the phone.
“Sorry, that was Ash. I try not to ignore him too much, with all the traveling he gets a little worried, especially because the publicity and media try to follow me sometimes, too. Guess that’s the price of becoming popular, well – the price of being engaged to popular. I’ve got nothing on the scoreboard myself.” Jewel pauses for a moment to drink down the rest of her beer, “Hey, do you want to meet up with the band today at the recording studio?” Jewel asks, “It’ll be fun I promise.”
“I don’t know about that…” Alyssa replies.
Suddenly I feel like the roles have been reversed here… instead of me convincing Jewel to come see the band with me, Jewel is convincing me to come see the band with her. The thought makes Alyssa sigh, just a little bit ago everything was for the fun-loving thrill of it all.
“It will be fun. We both enjoyed their music, now you’ll get to be around all the cool recording stuff. It won’t be that bad. Don’t overthink it.”
Alyssa hesitates. Yeah, the roles have definitely been reversed, but maybe she’s right. Plus, it wouldn’t hurt to see Vincent again… We can talk and see what happens I guess. Or, I can just show off my amazing body and make him jealous. Either way it isn’t a bad situation. “All right. I’ll go. But girly, if this goes bad, it’s on you.”
“Good! Let’s go. Ash was hoping I’d be coming back soon anyway. He misses me when I’m gone, he won’t admit it in front of the guys, but it’s true. He’s such a sweetheart when he wants to be. I have to tell you about the time that he took me on our first date, and riding off to the big city together. He’s perfect.”
At the recording studio, Alyssa is amazed by all the equipment. The band is finally hitting the big time, and they’re getting to record in a fancier studio, Alyssa had only ever been to some of the smaller ones that are usually frequented by smaller bands. In the recording booth is Vince. He’s currently working on a solo. Alyssa can feel her heart skip a beat, but sink into her chest all at the same time.
Man… he is super talented… goodness, that man knows how to captivate a girl, doesn’t he? While watching him, she starts to want him, experiencing all of the same feelings she had before he left. She tries to quiet them, but after a few moments she gives up with a discouraged sigh.
Once Vincent notices her and their eyes meet, he starts to mess up the guitar solo. He looks a bit worried but the sound engineers just wave it off. “Don’t worry about it. We’ve got enough great takes already. Don’t sweat it, man.” They tell him through the booth. He looks relieved and wipes the sweat from his brow as he works on getting his stuff out of the booth.
“Hey, I’m
going to go find Ash, so… have fun.” Jewel says as she pokes Alyssa before walking out of the room. Alyssa didn’t have any time to protest or demand that she stay. Yeah, sure abandon me again. Go ahead! For a moment Alyssa debates following Jewel, but she decides not to. She wants to see Vincent.
Once he gets out of the booth, the studio guys get up from their workstation to go work on things back in another room, leaving Alyssa and Vincent alone. She watches as he puts his stuff away, and grabs a bottle of water. He downs it quickly and wipes the rest of the sweat from his brow. They don’t say anything, but once Vincent is done he just stands there, and looks at Alyssa.
I wish I knew what in the hell that man was thinking… why is he being so quiet? Doesn’t he have anything to say? Alyssa bites her lip, she’s starting to feel like the trip is a waste. He doesn’t want to see me. The feelings that came back for me obviously haven’t come back for him. I ripped my own heart out and for no damn reason. I just get to sit here and stare at the guy that I lost.
After a few more moments of standing in silence, Alyssa is about to march off to find Jewel, when Vincent begins to speak up.
“Hi.”
“Uh… hi.” Alyssa replies, and while he hasn’t really said anything, Alyssa can already feel her heart pounding in her chest.
“Well, how are you?”
“I’m okay… you?”
Vincent nods for a moment before shoving his hands into his pockets. “Fine.” His reply is curt and mumbled.
Wow. Man of many words. That’s all he has to say after… after all of that?! Calm down. It isn’t his fault, you know he’s always been soft spoken and a man of few words. Him and his emotions are a bit… off. You used to think it was cute, remember? Alyssa grits her teeth for a moment, and bites her tongue before huffing. “It would have been nice to hear from you…” She finally admits.
Vincent doesn’t respond, but his face flusters to a red and he nods. After another moment he moves in for a kiss, and in that moment Alyssa’s heart skips a beat and she’s unsure if she wants to kiss him. She’s caught off guard.
Do I want to? Should I? Oh my God, he wants a kiss. Do it, damn it. Don’t you remember how amazing he is as a lover you’d be stupid to turn him down. After the few seconds it took for Alyssa to finally decide, she passionately kisses him back. As their tongues have an imaginary battle, Alyssa remembers all their nights alone and she begins to melt. To Alyssa, the kiss seems to last forever, but she doesn’t complain instead she lets herself be whisked away in the moment.
When they finally pull apart, Vincent doesn’t speak and instead he leads her into a room in the back of the studio and he locks the door. Already he is eating her up with his eyes and he wastes no time in closing the distance between them. Quickly, he hoists her up onto a couch and kisses her furiously. Alyssa is so caught up in her raging desires that she doesn’t even notice Vince is taking his pants off. She doesn’t start to notice that clothes are missing until he’s reaching for her shirt. She helps him shimmy it off her and she pulls him out of his.
Vince doesn’t hesitate to lay her down and kiss her body before pushing himself against her panties. As he does so he aggressively attacks her neck and she can’t help but to let out a few moans and she tries to pull him to her. She already wants him inside her, badly. Soon Vince gives in and finishing undressing them both.
As he nibbles on her ear she can feel his hard penis against her opening. Quickly he shoves himself inside her, and he slowly pulls out before hesitantly poking at her opening again. His erection is warm and wet from her vagina and it makes her bite her lip. Then, he grabs her leg and hooks it around his arm as he sinks into her again. Their lips meet momentarily to share a warm embrace before he begins a steady rhythm with her.
“Oh Vince! Vince!... Oh fuck, Vince. More!”
On occasion, Vince speeds up, hitting her quickly and deeply, his wide dick makes her vagina pulse. Then he slows back down and goes at the steady rhythm again. He has amazing.. oh. Oh.. so amazing endurance… fuck. He feels so damn good.
Before long, Alyssa is begging him to just keep going at a quick, hard pace, and their moans fill the room.
CHAPTER FIVE
Alyssa sighs. During sex, they realized the couch was a make-shift bed, the backrest had begun to shift while they were going at it. It caught them both off guard but they were happy to be able to have a bed to lay on afterwards. A tingling sensation covers Alyssa’s entire body, and a smile is spread across her face. As she lies there beside Vince, facing the ceiling, the crux of her elbow is rested over her face. “You’re so damn good in bed.” She compliments. I could have you forever. I wouldn’t need another man. If you just wanted me, too, we could be together. There needs to be some kind of magic spell for this. Cupid, where the hell are you? Alyssa chuckles at the thought, but Vince pays it no mind. He’s so easy going too... Mm, great sex, easy going nature, wild and fiery on stage, and only a little less so off stage. That’s my kind of man.
Vince doesn’t respond to Alyssa’s comment by the time she’s done thinking about it, so she pulls her arm off her face and turns to look at him. She notices that his face has turned red again, and he’s smiling, a genuine smile, but he isn’t looking at her, he is looking at the ceiling like Alyssa was. She knows that kind of smile is a rare sight on a man like Vince. So his expression makes Alyssa smile too. She pokes him a few times and she scoots closer to him to cuddle up.
A man of few words, she thinks as she rests her head on his shoulder. I really missed this, I hope he did too. If he didn’t, there’s gotta be something wrong with him. I’m pretty amazing in bed. For a few moments she just lies there, listening to the sound of his heart as she runs her finger around on his skin. Then, she lets out a content sigh.
Beside the bed is a water bottle and Vince leans over without disrupting Alyssa to open it. He drinks down about half and offers the rest to her.
“Ha. Yeah, thanks. Your endurance leads to some massive fatigue.” She comments with a curt laugh before she takes the rest of the water and drinks it down. Vince takes the bottle back, crinkles it and throws it into the trash can by the door. It bounces off the rim but lands in. Once Vince is done shifting around she gets comfortable with him again. Vince is extra quiet and she can feel a flutter in his heart, the kind that comes with being nervous. She tries to hide her smile. Is he nervous about me? Maybe I’ve got a chance.
While Alyssa and Vince are laying in the bed, they begin to hear voices coming from the room next to them. Alyssa can’t quite make out who is talking, but Vince appears to be trying to listen in on them. After a few moments, he gets up out of the bed and walks over towards the door. He nods his head and starts to gather up his clothes. He gets dressed again, into his dark grey T-shirt and black jeans. He runs a hand through his hair and waits.
Alyssa feels like she should probably do the same, and begins getting dressed. She puts her single shoulder blouse and grey bell bottoms back on. She straightens out the stone necklace she has on and does her best to fix her hair. While Alyssa is getting ready, Vince puts the bed back into the couch position and fixes the pillows that they knocked off. When she’s ready, Vince motions for her to be follow as he opens the door and slips out, Alyssa quietly slips out after him but on the other side.
Wolfe, manager of Seven Ravens and leader of the Grimms, is standing in the middle of the room. He is clearing it of unwanted guests and Alyssa notices that he is pointing a few of them towards the door. Without any complaints, they acquiesce and make their way out. Then the door closes behind Vince and Alyssa and Wolfe glances over at them. For a moment he glares at Alyssa and clearly he doesn’t recognize her. She can feel her heart pound a little harder in her chest from the nervousness starting to rise up. Wolfe’s face is stern and cold. He is a massive man, intimidating in his stature. He towers above the rest of the guys, and is a bit older than they are. He has a spider tattoo on his neck. Alyssa swallows hard. Shit! Bad timing.
The rest
of the band is gathered around, clearly they were getting ready to listen to Wolfe talk about something. Alyssa looks around, chuckles nervously, and shifts her weight. She’s trying to suppress the urge to inch her way back into the other room and just vanish. She doesn’t know if she should speak up or make a run for it. Vince, someone, anyone, say something. I’m not just some random intruder…. I promise. Tell him. Er. I mean. I sort of am, but I’m not!
Alyssa is rushed with a feeling of gratitude and relief when Ash speaks up, “Don’t worry about her, Wolfe. She’s cool.” Thank you Ash. Thank you. If looks could kill, I’d be deader than a guy shot execution style and slipped through a wood chipper. Wolfe doesn’t mess around… Phew. She shivers at the thought. That’s pretty dead. She sighs to let her body’s emotions return to normal. Wolfe makes an annoyed gesture and Alyssa and Vince lean up against the wall. The rest of the seats are already filled.
“Fine, let’s get started.” He spits out. Alyssa doesn’t pay attention to the first part of Wolfe’s speech. Instead her mind is caught up, I just had sex with Vincent. Finally, after so fucking long. I forgot how amazing he is in bed. Gosh, Wolfe was so unhappy, but really I don’t care. I got what I wanted. I could use a beer now though… Alyssa begins tapping on her arm and she snaps back to reality. Wolfe starts mentioning a bunch of names that she doesn’t recognize. H says something about a guy named Jack needing a visit from the Grimms. The rest of the band becomes lively, chipping in their opinions and comments. For a moment Alyssa can’t make out what anyone is saying but then a member cuts in above the rest.
A tall blonde guy that Alyssa vaguely remembers as the Tailor says, “Haha, yeah. Someone’s out there selling magic beans again, eh? Pretty dumb!” when he says this he moves his elbow into the guy next to him, who just glares at him in return. The Tailor’s enthusiasm dies down and he sinks into his seat.
Sold to the Sultan (the Breslyn Auction Club Book 2) Page 10