by K. K. Allen
Wolf moves his mouth slightly away from the phone. “Mitch is filling in for Crawley. We asked for some help in the studio. That’s cool, right?”
My shoulders shake as I laugh quietly. “Yeah, I guess so.” There’s no time to ask more questions, but the thought of my father and Wolf working together on a song I wrote is kind of … amazing.
“How’s Lyric?” My dad asks next.
Wolf catches my half-smile and returns it. “I’m here, Dad,” I say, loud enough for him to hear me.
I can sense my dad’s smile. “Hey, pumpkin.”
“We wanted to talk to you about Destiny,” Wolf explains.
There’s shuffling on the other end of the line and a faint cheer that sounds like it’s coming from Wolf’s band. Mitch chuckles. “Sorry about that. The guys are heading out. Can you two meet me downtown? At the Italian place I used to go to with Lyric. I can get us a private room, and we can talk there. How’s eight-thirty sound?”
Wolf catches my eye, and I nod in agreement.
“We’ll see you there,” he agrees.
I’m off Wolf’s lap and heading down the hall to our bedroom before he even hangs up the phone. Not only am I ready to fight for what’s mine and Wolf’s, but I’m ready to fight this battle with my two favorite men.
On the way to the restaurant, Wolf holds my hand in the backseat, our heads turned in opposite directions. Slow, heavy breaths, air conditioning, and the steady roll of the tires fill the air as we travel down Miami’s side streets. Other than that, all I can hear are my thoughts.
I guess I’ve been in somewhat of a daze since we left the house, wondering what comes next. It’s all so surreal. How yesterday, I could be confessing my story to Wolf as the ultimate announcement of my trust in him, and us. And then to be blindsided by the ultimate betrayal. Again.
We pull up to the restaurant right at eight-thirty on the dot, and my dad is already there, waiting for us in the private dining area. Just like so many of the places I’ve been since coming to Miami, this room is present in more than a few memories of my father. We used to come here for band dinners, birthdays, and private events. He always called me his date, and I felt so proud to be on his arms, or shoulders, or wherever he’d put me. He kept me close, and that’s what mattered.
That’s why my heart shattered so completely when he told me it was time for me to move in with Destiny. I’d never felt that kind of love from her. Not even remotely.
My dad spots us first and is already closing the distance. He wraps me in his embrace, and my lids squeeze together as my heart swells in my chest. He holds me for as long as I let him as he rubs circles at the center of my back. “It’s going to be okay, pumpkin,” he whispers, and that’s all it takes for the first tear to spill as my heart rattles in my chest.
“You ready to talk about this, baby girl? It’s okay if you’re not.”
I take a deep breath, which feels healing to my insides that have otherwise been riddled with pain. “I’m ready,” I say with a nod.
A calm washes over me. As angry as I’ve been at my parents for so many years, my father and I have an unbreakable bond, one I regretfully forgot about until seeing him again. That realization is enough to center me as I step into Wolf’s arms.
After my two favorite men shake hands, a silent exchange of thanks between them, Wolf pulls out my chair directly across from my father and then takes the seat next to me.
A member of the waitstaff comes by to pour our mineral water, carefully filling each glass an inch from the top. “Bianca will be your waitress tonight,” he says. “She’ll be by shortly.”
We thank him and each take a sip of our water, almost awkwardly, as if we aren’t quite sure if we should make small talk.
“Is it okay if we jump right into it?” my dad asks, breaking the ice.
“Yes, please,” Wolf says with a brief laugh. “So, what’s the plan, Mitch?”
“I have an idea, but only if Lyric’s okay with it.”
My heart rate spikes at the sound of my name. I sit taller in my chair and pull my shoulders back, ready to hear my father out. “Whatever we do, it needs to be legal,” I say quickly. “Other than that, I’m ready to fight for what’s mine. I may have been a weak little girl when she stole my songs before, but she can’t get away with it again. It’s not right, Dad.”
“No, it’s not right,” he agrees. “And we all know that talking to her and Crawley won’t do us any good. I think we need to take it to her label. I already made some phone calls. I didn’t tell Soaring what it was about, but I have a meeting with them tomorrow. You two need to stay here and work. Let me handle things in California. At least, I’ll try. I’ll see what they say. I have a great relationship with Alex, the CEO. We’ve worked together for years. He’s not an unreasonable man, and he’s aware of Destiny’s … mood swings. He’s not a huge fan of Crawley, either. And I know the last thing he wants is a scandal on his hands.”
I panic slightly at the thought of my father facing Destiny’s label alone. I should be there. Maybe if they heard the truth from me, they’ll realize she needs to be stopped.
“What will you say?” I ask.
Wolf’s grip tightens against my sweaty palm.
“I’ll tell him the truth: that Destiny is a thief and Crawley is bad for business.” My dad looks determined. “Do you still have the recordings of the original songs?”
Wolf gives me a curious look, his eyes drawn together inquisitively.
Just then, our waitress, Bianca, steps in the room, silencing our conversation as she approaches. Her hair is twisted into a bun and her lips are a rose pink to match the decorative rose barrette in her golden brown hair. A wide smile blooms on her face as she sees us, and I’m not sure if it’s because she recognizes the two men at the table with me or if she’s just a natural smiler. Maybe it’s both.
She greets us and goes over the specials of the day before taking our drink order and exiting quietly. Eyes are on me, so I know they’re expecting me to answer Wolf’s silent question.
I turn to Wolf. “I completely forgot about the recordings until he mentioned it, but I have my original music.” I pause, needing to get something off my chest. “I should mention that I’m not worried about those old songs anymore. I just want to stop her from taking any more from me. Besides, most of what’s in that songbook is Wolf’s, too. We wrote those together, so she’s not just stealing from me this time.”
Mitch nods. “I know, but if we have proof that she did this when you were a minor—stealing from her child and claiming the music as her own under the label’s name—then we win. It’s an easy battle. We won’t even need the recordings in hand. We just threaten to out her for that entire album and sue everyone involved. There’s no way they’ll allow Destiny to move forward with the new songs unless she can prove they’re hers.”
God, I hope that’s true.
Bianca’s back to take our order, and I immediately request a round of whiskey shots for the table. After the last couple of days, we deserve it. And I need it.
Wolf looks at me with wide, amused eyes. I know he likes this side of me, and I don’t want tonight just to be about the Destiny and Crawley drama. We should be celebrating Wolf’s upcoming tour, too.
For the next two hours, we talk strictly music. The latest trends, bands, and videos that are making a splash. Mitch tells us about his decision to take a break and how it’s been a long time coming. We drink and laugh, which is the easiest thing in the world to do with these two men.
I squeeze my dad hard when we say goodbye, and I tell him I love him, which I think makes him tear up a bit. And then Wolf and I leave the restaurant brimming with hope and confidence. I feel it the moment we hit the pavement and walk toward our ride. Everything is going to be fine.
The moment we arrive back at the house, Lyric is on a mission. I follow her to the bedroom and watch as she tears through her bags until she pulls out a tiny black bikini. I shut the door behind me and groan. Sh
e doesn’t even have the thing on yet and I’m already planning how I’ll get it off her.
“What’d you have in mind there, babe?”
Her eyes carry a wicked gleam. “Skinny dipping is out of the question since everyone is home.” She tosses my swim trunks at me and starts peeling off her clothes. “Let’s go swimming.”
Her tits are bare and beautiful in front of me. It’s instinct for me to touch them. I approach and wrap my arms around her from behind. She giggles as I slide my hands up her smooth skin and grab hold of her breasts, squeezing while pushing into her ass with my hips.
“Wolf,” she warns, before turning around and slipping her arms around my neck. She kisses my neck right below my chin. “Swimming first,” she whispers, huskily before I hear her swallow. “And then I want you to handcuff me to the bed and fuck me like there’s no tomorrow.”
She pulls away to secure her bikini top, a flirtatious smile lighting up her face. My hand dips down to my waistband, and I remove my shorts before grabbing my cock and stroking it slowly. “I can do that now, babe. The pool will still be there after the world ends.”
She eyes my length and bites her lip, stifling a laugh. “You better hurry your ass up.” She walks toward the French doors and pushes them open, then takes off running toward the pool. I watch in amusement as she tucks her knees up and wraps her arms around them before landing in the pool with a splash.
Cheers erupt from outside, and that’s when I realize there’s a party happening by the pool. I scramble to pull on my shorts and join Lyric in the water. She’s already doing a lap toward Terese, Derrick, Stryder, Melanie, and Lorraine when I get in. Misty is sitting at the edge with her legs swinging beneath the water as she sips from a beer can, her golden hair streaked with pink highlights. Probably Melanie’s doing.
Everyone else is scattered around the giant yard, drinking, dancing and having fun. It’s the first night everyone seems to be letting loose. Or maybe it’s the first time Lyric and I are going to join them. That is why I booked this place, after all. Every now and then we get time off, but we rarely get time off together.
“Wolf, catch!” Hedge says from the deck. A beer can zooms toward my head and I catch it easily, cracking it open as I walk-swim toward my friends scattering in and around the pool.
Lyric’s all smiles as she slides up to me and wraps her arms around my neck. Her legs lock around my waist and her head tilts flirtatiously. “Hi, sexy.”
My heart beats like crazy, and I’m unable to suppress the smile that breaks out across my face. This side of Lyric is pretty fucking incredible. Confident, sexy … ignoring the weight of the world that could be weighing her down.
“Hi yourself,” I respond. I study her expression for any signs of stress.
She catches my examination and laughs. “I’m happy,” she confirms, reading my mind. “For the first time in a long time, I feel like I’m right where I should be.”
“Because of your father?”
She nods and leans in an inch. “And because of you.” Her eyes move from my eyes to my lips and back up again, almost bashfully. The shit this woman does to me is insane. “You make this big, cold world feel safe when I’m wrapped up in your arms. I’ll never give that up, Wolf.”
My chest swells, heavy with love, adoration, and trust. Trust … the final piece of this crazy relationship we’ve found ourselves wrapped in. I finally feel it. I put my beer down at the edge of the pool and grab Lyric’s face, pulling her mouth toward mine. It’s an innocent kiss. I just want to show her how much I love her after being unable to say those words since the first night they passed my lips. I needed to be sure that she wouldn’t slip away from me again at the next sign of disaster.
Lyric’s hands begin to roam my body—first my chest, then my arms. I love when she feels the need to run her hands all over me, but when she sticks her hand down the back of my shorts and squeezes my ass, I’m pretty sure it’s time to drag her out of this pool.
I deepen the kiss instead, exploring her mouth with my tongue. Sucking, pulling, and nipping at her lower lip as I push against her and groan into her mouth, letting her know what she’s doing to me.
“Hey lovers, get a room.” Terese floats up to us, and I want to growl in protest, but Lyric’s already pulling away from my mouth and turning to her friend.
If it weren’t dark out, my hard-on would be a problem. Thank God for the cover of night. I take a second to breathe and calm the erection that is more than ready to take full advantage of my girl.
A deep chuckle comes from a few feet away. I look up to find an amused Derrick nodding at me with his beer raised in a silent toast. My eyes narrow in his direction, and he laughs knowingly.
“Dude, our session today was the shit. You’re going to love it!” Stryder says, swimming up next to Derrick. He takes a pull of his beer and sets it on the edge.
That’s right. The session today. The one I walked out on. Once again, my mind is in the fucking clouds because of Lyric.
“I can’t wait to hear it tomorrow,” I say. “Mitch said it was great. Sorry I had to leave.”
Derrick waves it off. “Nah, you had shit to take care of. You can lay down the rest of your vocals tomorrow, and that leaves Thursday for final tweaks after Vana mixes a rough cut. You know what that means?” He looks between me and Stryder, eyes bright even in the darkness. “We get a three-day break before we head to Europe. Can you imagine? We can have the biggest fucking party.”
Hedge must overhear us because he lets out a high-pitched whooping noise from the swimup bar several yards away, grabs a fifth of alcohol from over the counter, and begins pouring a round of shots. Maurice, our bartender just shakes his head in amusement.
Lyric turns to the edge of the pool, grabs my beer, and finishes it off before taking a couple of shot glasses from Hedge’s tray and winking at him. Hedge winks back, and I remember the crush he had on my girl. Aside from the other night at the hotel, it never worried me. If anything, it just made me up my game whenever the two of them were in the same room together.
I laugh at the memory and take the shot Lyric hands me. Throwing a look at Hedge, I grin. “Dude, you are way too good at this bartending job. Don’t get any ideas.”
He shrugs. “Someone’s gotta be the life of the party. I’m surrounded by couples that wanna fuck nonstop.”
Throwing my head back, I laugh and point my finger at him. “The love bug is going to bite your ass one of these days. Just you wait. I bet you find yourself a hot European on tour and worship her for the rest of your bushy-haired life.”
Hedge rolls his eyes and shakes his head. “Not going to happen, fuckface. Just cause you have monogamous dick doesn’t mean you need to spread that shit around like herpes.”
“Ironically, it’s the monogamous ones that don’t spread herpes, you shit. C’mon. Let’s take these shots. And then I need to take care of my girl.” I wink to rub it in a little further, not that it actually bothers him. Hedge probably has a girl—or two—on the way to the house right now.
Back in the pool, we toast and toss back our shots. My arms are wrapped around an already tipsy Lyric, her back to my front. I’m slyly walking us toward the edge of the pool. My erection, which is still going strong, is telling us it’s time to take this party inside.
My face moves to her neck so I can nuzzle her wet skin, and then I bite down on her shoulder. “You should know I’ve been hard since you made that comment about the handcuffs. I’m hurting here, babe.”
She laughs and wiggles against me playfully. “Shouldn’t we try to socialize a little? You know, with other people.”
Hell no. I look around. “Looks like everyone is busy. I need you in my bed. Now.” I nip at her shoulder again and snake my hand down her stomach until I’m in her bikini bottoms. I only graze her clit before pulling away.
She tenses, and a tiny breath escapes her mouth. I don’t need to look at Lyric to know she’s frustrated too. That’s when I know I’m winning.
“Suit yourself,” I say, making my way around her to lift myself onto the edge of the pool. “Take your time. Socialize. I have a problem to take care of.”
Chuckling to myself, I climb out of the pool and let myself in the French doors of our bedroom, heading toward the master bath. I’m not really going to take care of myself. I’ll wait for Lyric, but I hope she hurries her sexy ass up or I’ll be blue balling it for a while.
After washing my hands, I leave the bathroom to find my Lyric standing there. The doors and curtains leading to the patio are shut behind her but the bedside lamp is on, illuminating her wet, naked body as she stands next to the bed holding the fuzzy pink handcuffs.
“Fuck me,” I mutter under my breath. The look in her eye tells me she wants this just as much as I do. “You’re trying to kill me.” I walk toward her and grab the handcuffs from her as I take in her perfect curves. Lyric’s body deserves to be cherished. And that’s exactly what I’m about to do.
“Take control.” Her voice is raspy. “Do your worst, Wolf.” She leans into me and places a kiss on my chest as her hands finger the waistband of my shorts. She undoes the string and tugs the material down my waist, freeing my needy cock.
“I want this,” she says, batting her eyelashes, and I almost let go right there.
My beautiful girl is giving up control. Something has changed in her, and I love it. I love that she’s trusting me with everything, especially with pleasing her. But I also know it’s the distraction she’s after. I saw it in the pool, when my reserved girl became a chatterbox, floating from one person to the next. She’s suppressing the hurt, and if she needs me to help keep her thoughts from drifting to the surface, even for a night, that’s exactly what I’ll do.
“I can do that.” I kiss her cheek, careful not to touch any other part of her. Not yet. “Sit against the headboard.”
Her breaths are heavy as she turns to face the bed, but I wrap my arms around her before she can move. “Go slow. I want to see your ass in the air.”