HERO (The Complete Series)

by Bella Love-Wins

  “Shit, Amanda. I can’t do this anymore. I made a mistake. I didn’t tell you. I should have. Well, now you know. I can’t go back and change any of it. You want to stay mad? You don’t think I’m worth one chance? Fine.”

  Her jaw clenched. I didn’t want to be an asshole, but I couldn’t deal with it anymore. Not like this. I picked up her bags again and left for the master bedroom.

  “Really?” she called after me. “You’re gonna spit that out at me, then just drop the mic and leave?”

  I spun on my heel to face her when I made it to my room. She was pissed. Her arms were crossed, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring.

  “What else is there to say, Amanda? I fucked up, and you can’t move past it. I can’t force you to get over it. That’s on you.”

  “I’m not the bad guy here!” she shouted. “I’m not the one who stalked you. I didn’t even know who you were before Kevin called me to offer me the interview. I had to Google you.”

  “What do you want me to say? I didn’t realize that following you on social media and being a fan of your career was going to be such a big deal.”

  “It’s not just that!” She railed, throwing her hands in the air.

  “Then what? Tell me. What did I do that was so wrong?”

  “It’s not that you followed me. I mean, you have been messaging me for nearly three years now. I get here, and you don’t mention it at all. Don’t you think that was a little underhanded?”

  “Amanda, it’s not like you sent me naked pics or we had an online relationship. You make me sound like I’m some kind of predator.”

  She chewed at her lip and stared at me. I wondered if finally my point had been made. “You should have told me. You could have said, hey, I’m stonefaceviper79, long-time Roxy Punisher fan over here, nice to meet you.

  “Okay I should have. I didn’t.”

  “Johnny, back at the beginning of my time here, you told me to trust you. If you can’t come clean about something as quote, unquote small as this, then how can you believe I would trust you with anything else?”

  I didn’t have an answer for her. I messed up. I apologized. She refused to let it go. “This conversation isn’t going anywhere.” I ran my fingers through my hair and growled under my breath. “I’ll be over in one of Kevin’s spare rooms tonight.”

  “I told you already, you don’t have to do that.”

  “It’s fine.”

  I walked over to my open suitcases and pulled out some sweat pants. “This is all I need until morning. Have a good night.”

  I turned and left, heading to the front door again.

  Chapter 7 - Amanda

  I let him leave.

  It was only after climbing into bed and shutting off the lights that I finally let myself breathe. Why did this have to be so difficult and awkward and uncomfortable?

  I needed a release.

  I shimmied out of the sweatshirt I had thrown on after my run and tossed it to the side before lying back against the pillows. I let my cool hands run down my warm skin before dipping into the waist of my silky panties. No matter what I told myself, being so close to Johnny—in the car, and at dinner, and even during our blowout—had done nothing but arouse me. As angry as he made me just now, he had smelled so damn good. I fought hard to resist the urge to pull him back into bed with me and nestle into his neck.

  Alone in his bed, his scent still lingered. My cheeks heated up as I imagined a vivid scene of what would happen if Johnny were still beside me. I relaxed against the cool sheets. My body was on fire. I wanted Johnny’s hands on me. I traced my fingers down my sides, slower this time, then back up over my naked breasts. I held back a small moan, picturing Johnny above me.

  He would pin my hands above my head, forcing me to submit to him in a way that both frustrated and excited me. He would caress my body, not stopping until he had explored every inch of me, making me feel like the most beautiful woman on the planet. I shifted on the bed, writhing under my own fingers, fantasizing that they were his, or his lips. I slid my other hand down my stomach, and lower until my fingertips hit the edge of my panties again. I closed my eyes and slipped them under the fabric, enjoying the softness of my trimmed mound. I tensed as my fingers reached my clit, making slow circles around the bud.

  I wanted Johnny.

  Without the arguing. Without the deception.

  I wished we could start over.

  He had such power over me, even now.

  Gasping softly under my own touch, I worked a little faster. I was so lost in the fantasy, my body took over. I slid a finger down to the slick wetness between my folds.

  His fingers.

  They traced circles against my clit. One of his strong, sure fingers would enter me and stroke me, driving me to insanity. His tongue would soon join in, dancing along my lips, circling my clit. He would take it between his lips as he gently tugged and stimulated me, sending me closer to heaven. Wave upon wave of pleasure would course through me, taking me higher and higher, until…

  My body trembled. A moan escaped my lips as I got to an intense climax. I convulsed as a second rush followed quickly behind while I continued to stroke myself. When it released me, I sank back against the pillow, slightly disoriented, letting my body take its time to return to normal.

  With it came the reality of the last four hours. I placed my hands over my face. What the hell was I going to do?

  * * *

  Thoughts of Johnny echoed through my mind for the rest of the night, making it nearly impossible to sleep. Somehow, I managed to get a few hours rest, only to be stirred when my alarm went off. I hit the snooze button a few times and covered my head with a pillow. I had barely been awake for twenty minutes and there was already noise from out in the living area. I dragged myself out of bed and went to the door.

  Johnny’s band members were all out there with the road crew and a small horde of private security. Kevin was with them, but I didn’t see Johnny among the crowd. That did not surprise me—he hated mornings more than I did.

  I did my best to shake off the sense of dread hovering over me like a black cloud, sinking lower and lower the longer I stared at the bunch. We would fly back to LA after the concert, so I showered and dressed quickly, double-checked my room to make sure I had all the essentials packed away, and went out to the living room. I was met with and returned the nods and morning greetings as I passed through the large room to get to the kitchen.

  I met all of the band members before, but nothing had happened past the initial introductions. Johnny didn’t seem that close to them. He rarely talked to or about them, outside of practices and their work in the studio. I glanced at them as they all huddled together around one of the tables. There was Stevey, the drummer; Tony, the bass player; Mike, who worked the keyboard and small percussion instruments; and Luke, another guitar player and backup vocalist. They all seemed nice enough, but it was obvious they were much closer to each other than to Johnny. Thinking back, I remembered what he said about Kevin replacing all the members of his original band. I guess it made sense he had never bothered to get too close to this new group. He probably had no idea whether they would stick around for more than a few years.

  I made it to the kitchen. I was not hungry, but coffee was essential if I had any hope of making it through the rest of the day. Kevin shouted instructions back and forth as they went through technical details about tonight’s performance. Tuning it out was easy. I had very little idea what they had been talking about. I waited for the coffee machine to brew the single serving cup I put on. Johnny made his appearance just as my drink was finished. He said a loud ‘morning y’all’ to the group and made a beeline to me.

  “Morning,” he said, stopping short once he stood facing me.

  “Hi.”

  “How did you sleep?” He moved to the coffee machine I had just finished using. I took a good look at him. He was dressed in jeans that fit him snugly, and a T-shirt that gave a hint of his fit biceps and chest. My eyes
ran his body while he had his back to me, working on making his own drink. Regardless of how my heart and mind felt about him, my body seemed to have the same reaction it always did to his presence. Raw lust and desire.

  “It was fine. You?”

  “Horrible. Kevin snores.” He turned toward the living room. “Ain’t that right, Kevin?”

  Kevin looked over when he heard him, but quickly resumed what he had been doing.

  “Amanda.”

  “What’s up?”

  He was about to put his hand over my shoulders, and stopped himself. “I’m not giving up on you.” He took my hand and pulled me in. “And I’m sorry about last night. I was wrong…again.”

  Before I could think to respond, I heard the familiar “Amanda,” from Kevin.

  “What now…” Johnny muttered. He shot me a sympathetic glance, and I left with my coffee mug to see what my other boss needed.

  “Where’s your bag?” His tone was different today…gentler.

  “They’re in my room.”

  He checked his watch.

  “I’ll go get it,” Johnny said.

  I jerked around, sloshing some of my coffee onto my hand at the sound of Johnny’s voice over my shoulder. “I’ve got to pack my things in there,” he said.

  Before I could stop him, he had turned and was heading to the bedroom.

  The guilt got to me. He was still being the same sweet, protective Johnny he had been from the start. All night long, I had been silently preparing for our next big showdown, thinking of everything I wanted to tell him whenever our verbal sparring resumed. Now, he was sucking all the resolution from me. He reappeared some time later with my suitcases in his hands, and returned to the room for his. Minutes later, Kevin announced it was time to go. We were all heading over to Bellagio to prepare, and would remain there for the day, right up until performance.

  Johnny would not leave my side. On the elevator ride downstairs, he placed his hand on the small of my back. I closed my eyes at the innocent contact. It felt like it had been months since he had touched me. Even once his hand was gone, the residual heat tingled along my spine. I didn’t dare to look over at him—my face was flushed. He had this overpowering effect over me. His touch was like nothing I had ever experienced.

  Downstairs, the two tour buses were waiting for the crew, and several SUVs were parked for the security staff. Johnny, Larry and I stepped into the limo that had been waiting. Kevin and Fred stayed back to get everyone loaded in. When the limo driver moved off, Johnny moved closer to me. He put his arm around my shoulders, not caring that Larry was sitting perpendicular to us in the stretch seats of the limo. I took a while to react, and when I looked over at him, he was staring through the window. I felt a sting of pity as I watched him. He seemed so lonely. I thought about patting his knee or holding his hand. I quickly shook the thought off.

  He turned to me and closed in. “You have no idea how much I want to kiss you right now, Amanda,” he whispered in my ear.

  I let out an involuntary sigh. My body betrayed me already. I had a moment of weakness where I thought about how we were the night before discovering he was stonefaceviper79. Last night I had resolved to keep things from getting physical with him for the rest of my time out here, but right now, there was little doubt we would end up in bed together again. Who was I kidding? I probably couldn’t last another day in such close quarters with him. My body warmed at the thought, and I glanced out the window, already guilty about the fantasies I had conjured up.

  What I needed to remember was that no matter how physical things got between us for the rest of the trip, my heart was off limits. The sooner we both accepted that, the easier it would be for each of us to get back to living our separate lives. I told myself it would be better when I returned to Miami. He would forget about me soon enough. I had every right to be angry with him over the stonefaceviper79 page and the lies, but for whatever reason, it was getting harder to stay mad at him.

  More than anything, I wished he had just told me—or that I had never found out.

  Chapter 8- Johnny

  I was getting through to her. I could feel it. She wasn’t pushing me away anymore. Not physically, anyway.

  Sex would be as good a place to start as any.

  She’s mine.

  A few minutes after we boarded the limo, we made it to the Bellagio hotel. I would perform at the theater-styled stage onsite, which had capacity for two thousand people. My performance was sold out, so I needed to be in the right headspace—a tall order given I had barely slept and Amanda was still pretty upset with me. Fred believed this performance was just as much at risk as the others. With the possibility this stalker could show up, they were not taking any chances. Amanda would be up on stage again.

  I wondered what it would be like with her tonight. Dancing with her on stage at Whiskey River had been incredible—claiming her as mine with everyone watching. She was still mine, and I was going to make sure she did not slip away.

  I had only slept without her for one night, and my body craved her. At this point, I didn’t care what I had to do to get her back. Time was running out.

  I wanted her.

  She had to be mine.

  “Johnny? Let’s go,” Kevin called to me when we walked in. “Are you ready?”

  “Yes. Where’s Amanda supposed to be?”

  “Backstage for wardrobe. Go on, Amanda. The ladies are inside.”

  Kevin’s tone was softer now. I was grateful he was kind enough not to lay into her as he normally did. I didn’t have to tell him why I slept in his guest room last night. He knew from the look in my eyes, and cut me some slack by not giving me the ‘I told you so’ lecture. I followed him to my dressing room to wait for the crew to do their setup. Fred and Larry stayed with us. Amanda went off somewhere backstage. After the crew did an initial setup, I went out for a sound check, and joined the entire group for a catered buffet lunch set up in the green room.

  There wasn’t anything that could keep me away from Amanda. After we all ate and chatted, I asked her to come speak with me in my dressing room. She nodded and followed me, with Larry bringing up the rear. I led her inside, and told Larry to wait at the door before locking it behind me.

  I was not going to second-guess myself around her. I took her hands, lifting them around my neck. Before I could lean down to kiss her, she reached up on her tiptoes and kissed me. I wrapped my hands around her waist and pulled her in tight. All I wanted to do was get closer; bury my nose in her hair; kiss her and put my hands all over her gorgeous body.

  “I want you, Amanda.” I growled into her mouth. “I don’t care who’s watching.”

  She pulled back slightly and looked at me. Her eyes were full of desire—and maybe something else. She tiptoed again, whispering into my ear, “I want you too.”

  I was mesmerized from her voice.

  She let out a breath on my neck and relaxed into my chest. I was not going to miss this chance. I leaned down and swept her up into my arms, carrying her over to the counter at one side of the room. I lowered my head and pulled her hair aside to gently kiss her neck. Touching her again sent me into overdrive. I leaned her back on the counter. She took my hands and placed each one on her breasts. I groaned in response, ducking to one breast, kissing her nipples through her shirt.

  She pressed her breasts into my face, gripping my shoulder and pulling me in. After a few seconds of teasing her, she pushed me away gently and pulled her shirt over her head. She reached back and undid the clasp of her bra, exposing her gorgeous breasts to me. I was already rock hard, and she knew it. Her hand moved down my stomach and cupped my groin through my pants, making it throb with urgent need. My hands roamed on her breasts, and before long, I ducked down again to place my lips on one nipple. I licked and teased and sucked on her flesh, and her legs soon wrapped around my waist, pulling me in.

  “God, I want you so bad, Johnny,” she said, and lifted my head to look in her eyes.

  “Fuck,”
I growled in a raspy voice, surprised and grateful she could forgive me this fully. “Amanda. I want you too. I want to taste you and make you come. I need to be deep inside you.”

  She moaned and kissed me, tugging my t-shirt up over my head. I kissed her back with a fierceness I was already addicted to, invading her mouth with my tongue, claiming every spot I explored.

  “Take me now, Johnny,” she hummed into my mouth. “We don’t have much time. I need your cock inside me so bad right now.”

  I pulled from the kiss and leaned her further back on the counter. My hand slid up to undo the waistband of her jeans, peeling them off her with her panties. I felt so hot, so reckless, our eyes connecting in a dizzying gaze when I bent forward and lowered my head to her mound.

  My strong hands spread her legs wide and pulled her ass forward to the edge of the counter, positioning her to take her pussy with my mouth. I squeezed the top of her thighs and slid my tongue across her folds, and over her swollen clit. It felt like I died and went to heaven to have her again. She looked on as my head dipped and rose between her legs, eyes lost in pleasure. My tongue only left her clit to dip into her soaking wet pussy. She writhed as I continued, bucking her hips for more contact every time I passed over the spot that drove her insane. She spread her legs wider, enjoying the moment, until her body froze for an instant, and shook as she came. I continued to lick and taste her afterwards, feasting on her until she begged me to fuck her hard.

  I stood up and undid my belt and zipper, pushing my jeans and boxers down just enough to unleash my raging erection. She moaned again and spread her legs. I positioned my stiff cock to breach her folds, driving deep into her pussy. I grasped her hips and lifted her ass, sliding my hard cock into her tight, soaked channel. I pulled out slightly, and slid back in. I would have been gentle, but she couldn’t wait. She begged me to fuck her hard. So I let go of all restraint and thrust so deep into her, she covered her mouth to drown out her squeals of pleasure.