by Claire Adams
“There was a time I couldn’t tell which way was up
but then you waltzed into town,
turned my whole world upside down.
You showed me love, you showed me grace,
now every day I want to chase
the love I never knew that I was after.
All I want is this beautiful disaster
that has me acting like a fool
because I’m so in love with you.
I want to be your happy ever after.
My beautiful disaster.”
Her eyes widened, and I held onto her, hoping she understood what I was trying to say. I sang the rest of the song, never breaking eye contact with her until the last note had finished.
“Please, give me another chance,” I said softly, holding my hand over the mic. “Just one more chance, that's all I'm asking for. If you’ll give me that, I’ll give you anything.”
“Oh, Owen,” she murmured, reaching her hands up to rest on each side of my face. “This is the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me.”
I beamed, leaning down to press my lips to hers. It was a sweet kiss that shook every cell in my body. I pulled back, still smiling at her, then turned to the crowd, uncovering the mic. “Well, what did ya think?”
The crowd erupted into a frenzy and I laughed, mainly because I was so damn happy. Nalia laughed, as well, and I hugged her before releasing he, kissing her on the cheek. “How about another round of applause for Nalia everyone! Oh, and by the way, she's an amazing piano player. Would you like to hear her?”
They cheered as I looked over at Jeremiah, who was already moving the keyboard in place. The guys and I had already talked about it earlier, about giving Nalia her first real chance to wow the crowd. We all knew she could do it, she just had to take that first step – and what better time than the present?
She looked shocked as the guys placed the keyboard a few feet from her. I pushed her toward it. “This is your chance,” I whispered into her ear. “Knock 'em out cold.”
“I-I can’t,” she protested as I sat her down on the stool.
I kissed her forehead, which elicited another cheer from the crowd. “You can, I promise. I know you can. Just do what you do best, and they won’t know what hit them. You're going to be awesome, babe.”
She swallowed, flexing her fingers, and I stepped back, swelling with pride as I waited for her to blow them away.
The first few notes filled the crowded venue, and the crowd immediately fell silent, Nalia’s concentration on the keys as her hands began to fly over them was mesmerizing. I closed my eyes and allowed the notes to wash over me, thinking of how damn lucky I was to have found her when I did.
She didn’t know it, but she’d saved me. She’d saved me from myself. Saved me from a lifetime of searching for something to fill a void that I now understood only she could fill.
This woman was my beautiful disaster. She’d come into my life like a whirlwind and completely rearranged everything, shown me that what I thought was a perfect life needed to a little calamity. And, it was indeed beautiful. I didn’t plan on letting her go, ever.
I watched from the edge of the stage where I had moved to so that she was front and center. She finished the last notes and for a moment, the crowd remained silent. But then they erupted into wild cheers, and I knew exactly what they were feeling. It was the awe I’d felt the first time I heard her play.
Looking stunned, she rose from the stool and bowed, her cheeks blooming with excitement. They loved her, but not even close to as much as I did.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
Nalia
I couldn’t believe the crowd was clapping and cheering for me. Just one little song had gotten them worked up into a frenzy. After bowing once more, I hurried off of the stage, meeting Owen on the fringe of it.
“You were amazing,” he exclaimed, wrapping me up in a big hug. “God, you astonish me. You just blow me away every time I see you perform.”
“Thank you,” I said, a little dazed at what had just happened. Had he really told me he loved me? I could feel it in his voice, and I could see it in his eyes. It had been there all along; I had just been trying to ignore it to keep myself from opening up. But there really was no denying it.
The last two months had been sheer torture to work so closely with him but to still have to maintain that distance between us as we each did our best to keep it professional. I was so tired of pretending, though, that I didn’t care. I needed him, and that was all I could think about at that moment. Rising up onto my toes, I leaned toward his ear and whispered to him, “I love you, too.”
He threaded his hand through the back of my hair and kissed me like I had never been kissed before. I pulled back and smiled. “Now, Mr. Young, I need for you to go out there, give those people an encore, but only one.”
“Why only one?” he asked, tilting his head curiously at me.
“Because we have some time to make up for. And you are mine tonight. I need you, Owen.”
He stared down at me, surprise and hope flaring in his eyes. “Are you sure? This wasn't a ploy to, I mean, I didn’t do this to make you-”
I cut him off, my fingers trailing over his cheek. “You aren’t making me do anything, Owen. Now get your ass out there so we can go.” I winked at him.
***
Owen grabbed my hand, pulling me out of the venue and into the waiting limo, barely shutting the door before his lips were on mine. “Oh God, Nalia,” he gasped between the kisses. “It’s been so long. So very long. I've missed you so, so badly.”
“I know,” I answered, my hands reaching under his shirt to touch his chest, groaning as his hands found my breasts. “I've missed you so much, too. I can't believe we've waited so long to do this.”
I couldn’t touch him enough; every time I did, it sent an even more powerful thrill shooting through my body. He laid me down on the seat, not caring if the driver could see us, and slid kisses down my body, inching up my black skirt in the process.
“Owen,” I managed to gasp weakly as his lips found my inner thighs, my hands finding his head. I wanted him so badly that at the moment, even I didn't care if the driver could see what was going on. Of course, he couldn’t. Owen had pressed the button for the privacy screen.
He pushed up my skirt and pulled aside my already soaked panties. A shudder of pleasure rushed through me as he tugged them off of my legs. Once they had been removed, he moved in immediately, his eager tongue beginning a gentle exploration. With each tentative probe or lick, he nearly had me jumping off the seat. I felt as if I might explode with pleasure at any moment.
“Oh God,” I moaned, clenching my fingers into his hair as he swirled his tongue around my swollen clit. “I can’t, oh God I just can't, not here, not now.”
“Shh,” he said, raising his head briefly from its position between my legs before giving me another lick. “I want to taste you, Nalia, more than anything. There's no way in hell I can do that if you’re trying to get away from me,” he said with a grin as grabbed my waist to hold me still.
I whimpered, closing my eyes as he suckled on my clit, sending small jolts of passion through my body. I moaned, gasped, and arched against his touch, every inch of me on fire for him as he worked with an almost desperate hunger. My body exploded into what felt like a thousand pieces a moment later.
He kissed me down there one more time before sliding back up my body, his hardness pressing almost violently against his pants. “As much as I would like to bury myself in you right now,” he said softly, pressing a kiss on my lips, “we're out of time, babe.”
Embarrassed that I hadn’t noticed the car had stopped, I scrambled up and straightened my skirt, my knees weak. With waves of pleasure still gushing through my veins, I tried to process what had just happened. Oral sex in the back of a limo had to be a first for me. For him…well, it didn’t matter, did it? I was going to be the only woman for him from now on.
After I was decent, Owe
n opened the door and helped me out, his hand on my lower back as we entered the hotel together. “I am going make love to you all night,” he whispered softly in my ear as we walked through the lobby. “I am going to make love to you until you scream my name – and then I'm going to fuck you.”
“Stop it,” I laughed, pushing him sideways, my heart light.
He flashed me a bright smile as we reached the elevator, wrapping me in his arms as soon as we were inside. “I’ve been dying to hold you for months, do you know that?”
I laid my head on his chest, enjoying the moment together. “I’ve missed you, Owen. I’ve missed us.”
“Me, too, babe,” he answered, kissing my forehead. “Me, too.”
The elevator doors opened, and we stepped out, walking hand in hand until we reached his room. He fumbled with the key and then pushed the door open so I could step through first. As soon as he shut the door, though, I stripped off my shirt and practically tore off my bra, hearing his intake of breath as it hit the floor next to him. I didn't want to waste any more time; we'd already done our fair share of that over the past few months. Arching a brow, I looked at him. “Well, aren’t you going to join me?”
“Hell yes,” he growled, reaching for the hem of his shirt. I peeled off my skirt and wet panties, stepping out of my shoes as I headed to the bathroom where a deep, stone inlaid shower awaited.
There wasn’t a moment of time wasted in turning on the shower and stepping in. By the time he stepped into the shower next to me, I was already drenched, enjoying the heat of the water pouring over me. I turned to meet his stare, drinking in the sight of him before me once again. Just being close to him would have been enough to get me worked up, but having his wet naked body so close was overwhelmingly arousing.
“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said softly, his eyes traveling slowly down the length of my body, his hands gliding up the sides of my hips until they came to rest cradling my face. “I can hardly believe you’re mine.” He closed the gap between us, pressing my body against his, connecting his mouth tenderly with mine.
“I am, Owen. Only yours.”
He groaned, sliding his hands back down to grip my hips, lifting me up as I squealed with laughter. My laughter was replaced with moans of pleasure as he pressed me against the stone shower wall, angling his hips to meet me and drove himself home without hesitation.
“Oh my God,” I gasped, shuddering as he filled me completely, stretching me to accommodate him.
“Hell yes,” he answered, his grip on my hips tight. “You're so fucking wet, Nalia. God, you feel good.”
I moaned and leaned down, biting his shoulder as he pounded into me, all of the time wasted over the last two months melting away in seconds. He started to pump faster and faster, and I screamed his name as an orgasm claimed me. Seconds later, I felt his throbbing cock pulsate violently inside me, the intensity of his orgasm evident on his face.
For a moment, we just stared intently at each other, the sound of the water cascading over our bodies the only sound aside from our harsh breathing. Then he laughed, lowering me to the floor. “Damn, that was quick. Amazing, but quick.”
I laughed, giving him a saucy smile. “I'm sure it'll be longer next time,” I teased as I reached for a washcloth.
“Longer and harder,” he promised, smacking my ass.
We lingered, taking time to help each other with the hard to reach places before rinsing off and shutting off the water.
“Come on,” he said, pulling a towel from the rack and handing it to me before taking one for himself. “I need to do something I’ve been thinking about for over three months.”
I arched an eyebrow. “And what might that be?” I asked.
“You’ll see,” he retorted playfully.
We quickly toweled off and walked to the bedroom together, falling into the bed with a sigh. He gathered me in his arms and pulled me against him, his warmth enveloping me. “I’m beat,” he said, his breath ruffling my wet hair. “Do you think we can stay in bed all day tomorrow?”
“We can do that, but I can’t guarantee that we would sleep,” I said with a laugh, linking our fingers together. “Is that the something you need to do?” I was deliriously happy at the moment, barely believing this was my life, that all of this could be real.
“Actually, it’s part of it.”
“What’s the rest?”
“Falling asleep with you in my arms,” he said with a yawn, placing a soft, warm kiss to my temple. “We have to make up for lost time.”
“We certainly have a lot to make up for,” I replied with a flirtatious smile.
He turned me over and brushed the hair out of my face, his eyes full of tenderness. “You know I'd give the world to keep you happy, Nalia. You're everything to me, absolutely everything.”
I traced a finger gently down the side of his face. “I don’t need the world, Owen. I just need you.”
“I can make that happen.”
“Though, a new piano wouldn't hurt my feelings, either.”
He laughed, leaned in, and pressed his lips against mine, pleasure exploding through me as we began a long, deep, passionate kiss.
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
Owen
I sat before the guys who, for the better part of twenty years, had shared my life. Guys who probably knew more about me than I knew about myself most days. It had been a few months since we had wrapped up the tour. A tour that had been the most successful and well-received tour we'd ever done. Social media had been all abuzz with fans talking about how well we'd played, album sales had shot through the roof, and rock magazines were calling it the comeback of the decade. It would be crazy to call it quits now that we were on this high, but the reality was that all good things had to come to an end.
“I appreciate you guys making it over today. I know everyone is busy, so I’ll try to keep it quick. I’ve been giving this a lot of thought, and I know when we first decided to go on tour that it was supposed to be a long-term commitment,” I started, clasping my hands loosely in front of me.
“But, as I know you all are aware, some things have changed. And while being with you guys and jamming out these songs has been the best fucking experience of my life, I...I just feel like it’s time to take a step back and reevaluate some things. I want to turn my attention to my future, which is the record company and Nalia, of course, but I figured you guys already knew that.”
Nalia and I had been inseparable since the last concert of the tour. I would have never guessed how happy it would make me to wake up every morning and see her lying beside me with that gorgeous smile spread across her beautiful face. I was a lucky man. I loved her more than I thought was possible to love anyone, and I could not wait to make her officially mine.
“So you’re pulling out?” Jeremiah asked softly, no expression on his face.
“Yes and no. I'm saying we won’t be doing any touring. And since we're at the top, what better time for me to pull out? Better to do it now than to fade into obscurity and start putting out a string of lackluster albums because my heart isn’t in it. No, I think that now is the right time to make this move. So yeah, as amazing as it's been, it’s time for me to start a new chapter in my life.”
“Well,” Talon said, slapping his hands against his knees. “I don't know if I agree with you fully on this, bro, but I can understand why you're doing it. Touring is hard on the body and the mind, and, I never thought I'd say this, but I for one am looking forward to some downtime.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Jeremiah agreed with a shrug. “I want to do some real traveling, not the kind followed by having to do gigs every night. You know, like those guys on TV who go to the craziest places on earth. See the world before I’m too old to get out of the chair.”
“Man, I’ve been wanting to focus on writing more,” Jay added. “Having the tour be a success just puts me in a better position to do that.”
“So, you’re not all disappointed?” I asked, surprised by the
ir responses. I had been expecting some resistance and maybe even a little resentment at least. We had poured our heart and souls into this tour — it had been a year in the making with a lot riding on its success. And a great success it had been. Naturally, I had assumed they would all want to press on and continue riding the wave of that high.
They all looked around at each other and then shook their heads, Talon giving me a grin. “Nah, man, it's been real, it's been amazing, but for now, we're good. I mean, shit, it was only a matter of time, anyway. We're all getting older. It’s time to move on to greener pastures, even though where we are right now is pretty damn comfy.
“I've been thinking of spending a year or two in Europe, actually. Maybe I’ll play some jazz. I'd like to explore the scene there and just have a bit of a change in my life. You know, see a new place, meet new people, play a different kind of music.”
“That sounds really cool, Talon,” Jeremiah remarked.
“Well, I guess that’s it then,” I announced, standing. “You’re all more than welcome to use the studio whenever you want if you want to record anything new. My studio is your studio, and you guys all know that. I've always got time for you guys, always. We're brothers, through and through, and we always will be, whether Bleeding Heart is going or not.”
Talon shot me a knowing look. “Brothers or not, before I drop by the house, I’ll make sure to call first.”
I grinned. “You do that.”
After saying our goodbyes and making plans to get together for a cookout, I walked them out to their cars and then headed back downstairs where I had left Nalia playing the piano earlier. I had asked her to come with me when I talked to the guys, but she’d refused, insisting that it should just be between them and me. I hated to admit she was right, but she had been on point about that.
Pausing in the doorway, I watched her tinker with the keys, her hands drifting over them. No matter how many times I looked at her, I couldn’t get over how beautiful she was. My heart almost seized in my chest as I thought about how close I had come to losing her. I’d been an idiot to ever think I could live without her. As impossible as I’d once thought it was, I’d become utterly grateful for every day I spent with her. And, I had never been much of a religious man, but when I held her, I knew there clearly had to be a God.