Rock Me Two Times

by Dawn Ryder

  What a good girl was.

  A decent girl.

  She’d always ignored the darker side of her nature. At least until Syon had ripped into her world and set it loose. What did that make her? She wasn’t sure. Only that she felt closer to him than to any other person on the globe.

  * * *

  “I should have said dinner,” Syon groaned when the alarm went off at noon.

  “That or we shouldn’t have watched the sun come up.” Kate kicked at the bedding and stumbled toward the kitchen. “Coffee.”

  She wasn’t sure if it was a demand or a plea, only that it was an absolute necessity. She held a mug under the machine for the first half cup before putting the pot in place and taking the mug into the bathroom with her. She headed for the second bathroom in the suite, because Syon was in the shower, and she needed to get herself together.

  Just the idea of meeting his parents woke her up.

  It was a bolt of fear that also left her giddy.

  She fussed over her clothing, looking for something just right.

  “Perfect.”

  She turned to find Syon in the doorway. His hair was still slightly wet but styled back from his face instead of spiked out. In place of his normal leather was a pair of jeans and a cotton shirt.

  Kate turned to show him the front of the dress she was wearing. Several others were lying on the bed where she’d tossed them after vetoing them. This one had a scoop neck that didn’t show off too much, tapered in at the waist, and fell in a loose skirt to just above her knee. She’d slipped into some ankle boots with a low heel.

  “Are you sure you want me to come?” She could have bitten off her tongue for voicing her insecurity. But as usual, with Syon, she lacked all sense of control.

  “Yeah.” He held out his hand for her. “Double sure when I see that you’re taking it so seriously.” He looked at the discarded dresses. “My dad’s going to mess with you though, and my mom is going to try to decide if you’re knocked up.”

  “I’m not going,” Kate groused at him, turning to look at her reflection again, specifically at her waistline.

  He came into the room and put his arms around her from behind. She was wrapped in his power again so easily. “Yes, you are,” he whispered against her neck. “I need you to.”

  She drew in a deep breath, feeling like something had hit her in the chest. Syon was watching her in the mirror, a soft sense of vulnerability in his eyes.

  She melted.

  “So what’s for lunch?”

  He kissed her neck again before capturing her hand and pulling her toward the door. The elevator ride down was quick and quiet.

  But Cid stepped up as they entered the lobby. “Word with you, mate?”

  The implication was clear. Cid wanted her to shove off.

  “I’ve got a lunch date with my parents, Cid.”

  “Yeah, about that.” Cid tried to crowd her.

  “Kate’s coming,” Syon said as he stepped to the side to make sure there was room for both of them.

  “Got the car waiting for you,” Cid offered smoothly. “But this thing with Kate…it’s rather new, isn’t it?”

  “I pay you to manage the tour, not my personal life.”

  Syon tried to take off, but Cid cut him off, stepping up close so their words didn’t drift. “It’s all the same thing. I explained that to you before I agreed to take Toxsin on. You take the girl, the tabloids get wind of it, and suddenly, you aren’t the stud any longer.”

  Syon’s fingers tightened around hers.

  For a moment, she thought she imagined it.

  But she didn’t.

  “Deal with it, Cid.”

  Syon’s voice was low, but that didn’t keep her from hearing how menacing his tone was. A clear warning from the hard, business side of his nature. Cid’s eyes widened, but he covered his shock with a smile and a pat on Syon’s shoulder.

  “Have a blast,” the road manager said as he stepped aside.

  Syon pulled her along beside him, but she felt Cid watching them. Several of the polo-shirted guys lined the walkway from the hotel doors to where a tinted-window SUV was waiting. Even at noon, there were still a scattering of fans hanging out in the hope of gaining a glimpse of their idols. Paparazzi came out of the foliage, snapping away with their cameras as they worked the telephoto lenses with expert fingers.

  The car door shut behind Kate, giving her a barrier to take refuge behind. She let out a sigh before she realized Syon was watching her.

  “Does it wig you out?” he asked, retreating behind a stony expression.

  “Ah…what part?”

  His eyes narrowed. “Cid again.”

  “He is pissing on his turf a little aggressively.”

  Syon snorted. “Not sure I care for the visual, considering I’m the ‘turf’ in question.”

  Kate shrugged. “Better than me saying he’s humping your leg. Because he is.”

  His expression turned hungry.

  “Stay.” She had a single finger pointed at him, and it felt like she was trying to hold a grizzly bear back with a cheese knife. “I am not meeting your parents with my wits dulled by your kisses.”

  He made a low growling sound.

  Kate reached for a can of soda sitting in the center console and shook it up, fingering the tab and pointing the opening toward him. He laughed, but the sound was dark and dangerous.

  “Until later,” he promised.

  * * *

  “I’m a bit confused,” Syon’s mother drawled out in a sweet voice that was nothing more than a different sort of aggression. She fixed Kate with her blue eyes and fluttered her eyelashes innocently.

  “I thought I saw pictures of her over one of the other band member’s shoulders. But now you’re telling me this is your girlfriend?”

  “You can’t believe everything you see in the tabloids, Mom.”

  “Hmmm…I suppose,” his mother said as she tore off the top of a sugar packet and dumped the tiny grains into her iced tea.

  Syon reached beneath the table and squeezed Kate’s hand. His mother didn’t miss it.

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake.” She put down her iced tea a little too hard, and some of the dark liquid sloshed over the rim of the glass. “What am I doing wrong now? I can’t ask a legitimate question when I know for a fact that I saw a picture of this woman over your drummer’s shoulder? I’m being too difficult, is that it, Kevin? Too demanding in expecting the woman you bring home to meet your mother be more than one you pass around your band?”

  “Now, now,” Syon’s father interceded. “You know what the psychologist said. Kevin has sensitive boundaries.”

  Syon’s mother nodded at her husband. “I think sensitive is too mild a word.” She took another sip of her tea and fixed Kate with a look. “So what do you do, young lady?”

  Kate had no idea what she ate for lunch. Syon looked like he didn’t taste his meal either. When the check came, his dad tried to pay it. By the time they were back in the car, Kate found herself looking at her cell phone.

  “That was the longest two hours of my life.”

  Syon had leaned his head back and closed his eyes. He stiffened as her comment sunk in.

  “That was an attempt at levity,” she said.

  Syon opened his eyes and looked at her. “I guess it was a lot to ask you to sit through that.”

  Kate moved closer. Syon caught her head and put it on his chest. For a long moment, they just sat together, the sound of the car engine the only noise.

  “I liked it,” she said at last.

  “Bullshit.” Syon released her head and looked out the window.

  She climbed onto his lap and cupped the sides of his face with her hands to bring his attention back to her.

  “I did,” she said firmly. “I see where you get your passion from. Your mom has a definite streak of eccentric in her.”

  Syon snorted. “She’s that, alright.” He closed his arms around her, holding her for another long mo
ment. “But you couldn’t have enjoyed that.”

  “I enjoyed knowing you wanted me to see it…Kevin.” In a way, it was cool to see him being treated like everyone else, his parents calling him by his birth name.

  Understanding flashed in his eyes, and something else, something very vulnerable. They were standing on that uncertain ground again. That place where what they felt didn’t make a whole lot of sense.

  It was a damned scary place to be. Uncertain to say the least.

  “And I’m relieved,” Kate added.

  Syon lifted an eyebrow. “How so?”

  “If you ever meet my mom, you’ll understand.”

  His lips curled. He leaned forward and kissed her. She melted into his embrace, enjoying the way her senses took over.

  Because it was a lot less scary than thinking.

  Chapter 6

  “You rock, Kate.”

  Taz was excited. His speech took on a slight Asian accent as he turned and looked at himself in the full-length, three-sided mirror she had set up in her makeshift shop.

  “I love it.”

  He did. Kate watched the way he stroked the lapels of the Loki jacket. She’d even made the under jerkin and pants for him.

  “You got all the details.”

  “You guys aren’t putting up with me for my good looks. My partner deserves some credit. He got all the leather and trim. Percy is a detail queen.” Kate gave credit where credit was due.

  Taz shot her a grin. “You’re pretty cute, for not being Asian.”

  “Thanks.”

  “Got to go show Drake,” Taz said. “He’s a comic book hound too. He’ll be smoked that he didn’t think to ask you for something. Should warn you, he likes to be a pirate.”

  “I’m here if he wants something.”

  Taz took off, his pace brisk.

  Kate took a moment to look at her design book. The Loki jacket was there, drawn out with notes. She’d changed it just a little and then knocked out some limited-edition jackets to be sold at designer cost. The contracted rights would be put to good use. Drake liked to be a pirate? She smiled as she started to sketch out a jacket.

  But her neck was killing her. Stiff from too many hours bent over her machines and cutting table. She rolled her shoulders as she stood up and tried to work some of the stiffness loose.

  Kate closed up her design book and went back to sorting through the hides, to decide what project to start next. The costume rack was filling up. She enjoyed looking at the growing number of pants on it. Now that the immediate concern was covered, she could turn to doing detail work. She toyed with slashing, making up samples to show to the band members for consideration. The day wore on, the hotel becoming quiet as everyone made their way over to the arena where the concert was going to be held. She checked the time, making sure she wasn’t running late.

  “We need to talk.”

  Kate looked up, the note in Cid’s voice warning her that the road manager was in the mood for a fight. One look at his face, and she was certain of it. He wasn’t afraid to assert his authority.

  Piss on his turf, you mean.

  But that didn’t necessarily make him a turd. Life was a competitive sport. Everyone had to scratch out their spot and defend it.

  She laid down her scissors. “Yes?”

  “Are the terms of your contract unclear?” he began.

  Kate didn’t even blink. “Not a bit.”

  Cid made a wide gesture with his hands. “Oh, I think there is a huge discrepancy. You don’t seem to understand what you’re here to do.”

  She pointed toward the rolling rack of finished pants. It was sectioned off by performer, and she’d even added one of the vests Ramsey was so fond of.

  “If there is a problem with my production rate—”

  “There’s a problem with the fact that you’re in here making costumes when I’ve hired you to make stage clothing,” Cid fired out. “Taz doesn’t need to be wasting his time playing adolescent dress up. We don’t have room on this tour for someone who doesn’t have their attention focused on what brings in the money.”

  “Oh, I’m focused.”

  Cid was every inch the asshole she’d decided he was. The need to pound her down was glittering in his eyes.

  But she wasn’t going to take it.

  “If you want an accounting of my time, I’ll give it to you. Including overtime, which”—she lifted her hand when he tried to interrupt—“is clearly outlined by the terms of my contract. I have produced more than sufficient product, and what I do in my off time is a private matter between me and my client.”

  “You work for me,” Cid insisted.

  “During the allotted hours only. Because travel time is part of my hours,” she said. “I’ll get you that time sheet.”

  She picked up her shears and looked back at her cutting table. It was a bold move, but slightly more professional than telling the jerk off. He stood there a moment.

  “Better be in my inbox by the end of the day.” Cid stormed out of the suite.

  Asshole…

  She’d never met a more fitting subject for the word. What worried her was how crafty the road manager was. He’d planned his little shakedown for when Syon and the rest of the band were doing sound checks. There was also the fact that not a single member of his entourage was in attendance. Which was a real rarity. Cid liked to have someone ready to fetch his cappuccino; that was for sure.

  No witnesses.

  His word against hers.

  Something tingled on her nape, a feeling of foreboding that she had trouble shaking free.

  Well, she wasn’t going to worry about it.

  Nope.

  After all, she was a warrior princess.

  * * *

  “Kate, my dear.”

  Kate was suddenly wide-awake. Percy only called her “my dear” when he was going to unleash a life lesson on her.

  “What’s wrong, Percy?” More importantly, what details did Percy know?

  “There is rather more of you on the pages of Roadkill’s newest issue than I’ve ever seen,” her partner delivered in a dry tone.

  “Roadkill?” she asked, trying to place the name. A memory stirred. “I am going to kill Cid!”

  Syon lifted his head and sat up, giving her a hard look. She spun around and stood up as Ramsey appeared in the doorway.

  “I’m going to pull his balls off,” she said into the phone but directing it toward Syon.

  Percy attempted a mediation. “Now, Kate, do I have to remind you of how many cameras are on you when you travel with Toxsin?”

  “I was in a closed room. With a locked door.”

  “Oh.” Percy made a low sound on the other end of the line. “In that case, his nuts have it coming.”

  Syon suddenly plucked the cell phone from her hand. “Percy, Kate will get back to you.”

  He hung up as Kate turned on him. “You don’t end my calls.”

  “When you’re contemplating castrating my road manager, I do.”

  Syon tossed her dress at her, and she realized she’d been standing there in nothing. She was too mad to care. “That film crew has plastered nude pictures of me in their monthly issue.”

  Understanding flashed through Syon’s eyes.

  “Wait, how’d they get a shot of your tits?” Ramsey asked.

  Syon’s lips twitched, a smug look entering his eyes. Kate’s temper sizzled.

  “We were in a closed room. The door was locked,” she hissed. “The terms of the contract concerning the use of my image sure as hell don’t extend through locked doors!”

  Syon nodded. “I know. I’ll talk to Cid about it.”

  “I don’t need you to fight my battles for me.” Kate propped her hands on her hips. “I can tell Cid he’s an asshole all by myself.”

  Ramsey snorted. “I believe her.”

  “I told you, Kate, privacy—”

  “Yeah, is a casualty, but I was doing a fitting on you.”

  “What?
” Ramsey looked up from a cell phone he’d pulled out of his pocket. He pointed at the screen. “This look was missing from my fitting.”

  Ramsey turned the phone toward her, giving her a view of her bare torso, a saucy smile, and her own hands on her breasts.

  “That’s because she’s my girlfriend,” Syon said.

  Kate snorted.

  Syon swung his attention back to her, and his gaze had gone hard. “Take a hike, Rams.”

  “Later.” Ramsey was gone, leaving her with Syon.

  She was halfway into the dress, but Syon plucked it from her hands and pulled it off.

  “My girlfriend,” he repeated.

  She stepped back, the warning in his tone chafing her. “I’m a little preoccupied with the issue on the table.”

  “I’ll deal with Cid.”

  She moved around the bed and grabbed another dress that had landed on the floor sometime the night before. “I dealt with him before, and I’ll—”

  “Over what?” Syon asked pointedly.

  Kate managed to get the dress on, but she didn’t feel very secure.

  Ha! Try hanging over an abyss…

  Yeah, that was about the way she felt, but she wasn’t going to admit it. Syon was distracting her as it was, slowly stalking her across the suite.

  “Over what, Kate?”

  He wasn’t going to drop it, but the topic was at least a diversion from the idea of having to define their relationship status.

  “I made something for Taz,” she informed him.

  “The Loki suit?”

  She nodded. “Cid got in my face about it. Accused me of not being focused and understanding the terms of my contract, and helping Taz ignore his responsibilities.”

  Syon nodded. “And you did…what?”

  She sent him a satisfied grin. “I quoted my contract and sent him a time sheet. I made the Loki suit on my own time. I like Taz.”

  “But you didn’t tell me that Cid got in your face.”

  “That would have been unprofessional,” she answered.

  His lips rose into a menacing smile. “Because I’m your boyfriend.”

  She drew in a stiff breath, but a second later he had her crowded against the wall. He wasn’t actually touching her but had his forearms braced on either side of her shoulders.