Riptide (Rock Stars, Surf and Second Chances Book 2)

by Michelle Mankin

  As if she could sense my discomfiture, she turned to glance my way. Instantly straightening, she murmured something to Linc before moving toward me. I felt tears resurfacing.

  “Hey,” she greeted, her brow furrowing as she studied me and the man behind me. “Did you just get here? I didn’t see you guys earlier. You look really pale. Are you ok?”

  “No,” I reached for and grabbed her hand. I needed someone’s sympathetic touch to ground me. “But I did see the proposal. It was beautiful. You’re beautiful together, you and Linc, I mean. Congratulations.” I clung tighter to her fingers. “I need to go home.” I need to talk to you privately, I pleaded silently with my eyes. “Can you take me?”

  “Oh honey, sure. Only can you wait a minute? I promised Linc I would sing his favorite song.”

  “‘The Last Night of the World’,” I guessed, the song she had been singing when they had first met.

  She nodded. I felt heavy hands fall on my shoulders. Ramon reaffirmed his presence as if I could ever forget it. I gulped, tugging my hand free from hers while attempting to shrug from his grip.

  “No, that’s alright.” I understood. I didn’t want to ruin her evening, but I couldn’t stay. A song about finding love, but not being allowed to keep it would shred the rest of my control.

  “I’ll take you.” Vassel addressed me, but he aimed his stare at Ramon.

  “No way in hell.” Ramon told him, his hands digging into my shoulders. He turned me around to face him. His expression reminded me of the fury of the breakers on a stormy day. “Fuck off!” he snapped additionally at Vassel, before returning his glittering gaze to me. “C’mon. We’re leaving.” His grip sliding to my upper arm, he steered me back into the crowd. He didn’t move slowly. I had to jog to keep up with him. He didn’t stop until we reached his vehicle. He popped the locks, but he didn’t open my door this time. Instead, he turned me and pressed me backward into it, holding me in place with his hands on my shoulders again. It wasn’t a painful grip, but it was inescapable.

  “You told Simone you weren’t ok. What do you need, Karen? Tell me. I’ll take care of it.”

  I need to rewind what just happened, I thought. I needed to recapture the feeling of optimism between us. I need a new beginning, one in which he could care for me the way I cared for him.

  I needed the impossible.

  “I don’t need anything,” I said without inflection. “I just want to go home.”

  “You’re coming home with me.”

  “No. I can’t,” I sputtered. “My parents are waiting up for me.”

  “Karen.” His dark eyes held more power to stay me than his grip. “You were being more honest about what you needed down at the cliffs when you came apart in my arms. I agreed to your proposition. But I’m not doing all the back and forth drama.”

  “You’re not doing a lot of things,” I grumbled. “The list just keeps getting longer and longer.”

  His lips curved, and the clouds in his expression disappeared. The pressure in my chest eased. “Call your parents. Explain however you like, but you’re spending the rest of the night with me.”

  Chapter Forty-One

  Ramon

  I listened to Karen talk to her parents as I drove. It didn’t seem like she had to do much explaining. I think they knew better than she did the way I felt about her.

  “Where are you staying?” she asked after she had tucked her cell back into her bag and dropped it back on the floorboard. Her gaze skittered away when I tried to hold it.

  “I’m not staying at a hotel if that’s what you’re asking. I bought a house here in OB a few years ago. I thought you knew.”

  She shook her head, her beautiful windblown hair skimming her shoulders. I couldn’t wait to sink my fingers into it while I was deep inside her again. I couldn’t wait to have her again period, no matter the stipulations. I had been so lost in imagining it that I’d almost let her get away from me earlier.

  Not taking her right to my house after fucking her had been a mistake. No way in hell was I going to give any opening to some other guy to give her what she wanted. Especially a pendejo like Vassel.

  She stared out the window, twisting her hands in her lap while I stole glimpses of her. “You live in the Sunset Cliffs?” she asked shifting to look at me as I turned onto the Boulevard with that name.

  “Yeah.” Thankfully she had broken the silence that had grown somber between us.

  “The houses are so pretty,” she commented wistfully. “I used to dream about owning a home here.” I remembered. But that wasn’t something I would admit. Not anymore. Not when I’d allowed myself to believe we meant something more to each other than just a fertilizing fuck. “They’re so expensive.”

  “All of California real estate is pricey,” I reminded her.

  “I know, but…” She gasped when I put on the blinker.

  “Holy shit. You live right on the water.”

  “Across the street, but yeah.”

  “You paid more for this than Offshore.”

  “It’s a good investment.” I nodded. “There’s only so much coastline. Right?”

  She didn’t respond to the rhetorical question. She stared at the house as I opened the gate and twisted her head to keep it in view as I parked around the back.

  “I’ve noticed this house before. It’s been completely remodeled recently.”

  “Yeah.” I killed the engine. “I’m not patient enough to do something like that myself. So after they finished, I paid them the asking price.” I got out and came around to open her door. She looked down at our joined hands as I helped her out. I pretended that the connection didn’t mean anything to me, like I would pretend that I hadn’t purchased this particular place with her in mind.

  I led her from the entryway through the downstairs room I used for recording music and up the straight staircase to the main living space. The view wouldn’t be as spectacular with the sun already down but as I tugged her toward it I knew she could envision how it would look as morning broke. She let go of my hand when she saw the wall of floor to ceiling windows. Cutting straight through the living room, she had her hand on the pocket doors outside before she turned back to seek permission. “May I?”

  “Why not? Comes with the deal.” I raked a hand through my hair.

  “Thank you. I’ll keep that in mind.” She seemed a little less enthusiastic to experience the view after my stumbled reminder, but I knew she loved it when she stepped out onto the deck that ran the entire length of the house. “Incredible,” she said, tipping her face into the offshore breeze that lifted her hair and tiptoeing quickly across the stamped concrete. She stopped at the clear glass half wall resting her elbows on it. Eyes on the ocean, she took a deep breath. I moved beside her. We both ignored the dark rattan furnishings, each preferring the proximity to the ocean that the railing afforded.

  “If I owned this, I would never go inside. I would sleep out here.”

  The thought had crossed my mind a time or two. “Too many bugs.”

  “Yes, but the ocean so close you can almost feel the spray.” She sighed. “You were right. This is a great investment.”

  I nodded, but it wasn’t the monetary aspect that had been the deciding factor for me. It had been imagining her reacting just like this. “Would you like to see the rest?”

  “Maybe later.” She kept her gaze on the water. “If you don’t mind I’d like to stand right here a little bit longer.”

  “Sure.” I backed away. “I’ll leave you to it. I’ll just run and take a quick shower.”

  “Ok.” She didn’t turn, and I watched her for a moment longer before I ducked into my bedroom. Standing under the spray, I reflected on how serene she seemed there at the rail. It was the same look she had whenever she was on her surfboard. I tried to suppress the surge of satisfaction I felt. I knew I had to tread very carefully because deep down I wanted nothing more than to keep her here forever.

  “You’re turn, mami.” I padded
barefoot across the deck and pressed my lips into her neck.

  “Hmm.” She shifted her head to the side reflexively giving me better access, and I took it before her eyes could shutter and she remembered the nature of the agreement between us. I kissed her pulse point, then slapped her on the rear.

  “Hurry along, mamacita.” She might not acknowledge it, but I could never allow myself to forget that this was play acting between us. “I want you naked and in my bed before midnight.”

  She blinked, ducked her chin to her chest and scurried back inside the house. I moved to take the place she had vacated at the rail. I placed my hands on the glass where hers had rested only a moment before, forcing my misgivings to settle, seeking the answers to them from the unfathomable seas.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Karen

  The peace of the sublime sea evaporated when my own personal Poseidon materialized, shirtless, jeans half unbuttoned on his narrow hips. The words ‘in my bed’ and ‘naked’ echoed in the marble couple sized shower. Shutting off the water, I stepped from the cloud of steam, dried off and wrapped myself in a plush bath towel.

  Nervous again, pulse pounding hard, I padded hesitantly across the blonde hardwoods that ran throughout the entire house. Not a single rug. No knickknacks softened the masculine interior. No woman’s touch anywhere. I got the impression that it was rare for anyone but him to be in the house. Was Dominic’s father right? Did Ramon’s fame completely isolate him?

  “Hola, mamacita.” Ramon sat up from where he’d been lounging on the bed, clicking his cell off and setting it on the nightstand. His eyes flared as they ran the dewy towel wrapped length of me.

  My cheeks heated.

  “I thought I said naked?”

  I nodded but felt awkward about shedding the towel with no shadows to conceal me. I concocted a quick plan. I would do it after I climbed beneath the sheets.

  “What are you doing?” he asked, thwarting my effort before I’d made it halfway to the bed. He moved unexpectedly fast, untwisting the towel and snapping it away. I gasped as cool air rushed across my skin. It took conscious effort not to try to cover myself. One moment passed and then another without a word from him. I glanced over my shoulder to discover his heated gaze practically burning me through like a laser beam.

  “Yeah, mami. That’s what I was waiting for.” He took a step closer. “You looking at me through those pretty eyelashes. Provocative as hell and you probably aren’t even trying.” He came around in front and reached for me, his hand brushing my cheek on its way into my hair. His contoured chest came into contact with my breasts as he reeled me to him, his fingers curling possessively around my nape. His skin was warm and he was hard everywhere I was soft. I succumbed to the spell of the erotic tableau. Staring directly into his eyes, I knew I wanted more. I wanted to feel the scrape of his stubble. I wanted to trace his sculpted lips with the tips of my fingers. I wanted to familiarize myself with the features that I had known so well over the years as a friend but never touched as a lover.

  I lifted my hands.

  “No, mi cielo.” He stopped me, his long fingers completely enclosing my wrists.

  I dropped my gaze, feeling the sting of rejection burning my cheeks.

  “You know the rules.”

  “Yes, but honestly I don’t understand why I can’t touch you,” I muttered.

  “So we don’t forget what this is.” His words pricked my heart like sharp little barbs. I lifted my eyes to look at him. His gaze as unyielding as the fingers latched around my wrists offered no clue to his true feelings.

  “Ok, fine,” I whispered, deciding that he must have more than an inkling how easily I could get the wrong idea, especially being here with him in his own home. Why hadn’t he taken me to a hotel? That would have gone a long way toward making this feel impersonal. Maybe he just didn’t want to be seen in public with me. Unable to deny the unwelcome crawl of mortification, I yanked free and took a step backward. I didn’t want to be naked while he reminded me yet again that I didn’t rank with him. I crossed my arms over my breasts and turned my gaze to the huge California king bed, wondering where I would find the courage to go through with this.

  You’ve already done it once. Maybe you’re already pregnant. Besides, this is Ramon. He’s being an ass with his rules. Why should I put up with it anyway?

  “Hey.” Ramon took my chin and turned me toward him. “Where’d you go all of a sudden?” His voice was gentle. His eyes had grown soft. He almost seemed like he really cared.

  “Nowhere. I mean, thank you for the reminder. I’m sorry I forgot.”

  “So fucking soft.” He stroked the back of his hand across my cheek. “Like silk but warmer as if you’ve just come in from the sun.” He studied me a long moment. His approving words momentarily stemmed the tide of my unease.

  “Could you turn off some of the lights?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because I want to look at you.”

  “But it makes me self-conscious.”

  “Karen,” he said as if exasperated. “Don’t pretend that you don’t know how hot you are. You weren’t prom and homecoming queen for nothing.”

  “That doesn’t mean anything.” Especially when it came to him.

  “What do you mean? Of course it does.”

  “So just because the fan magazines say you’re the sexiest rock god alive, does that make it so?”

  “I see your point.”

  “Then will you turn off the light?”

  “Hell no.” He moved closer, stopping only when his body was near enough to mine that I could feel his heat, smell his scent and appreciate the striations of darker and lighter chocolate in his eyes. “Besides, I want you to see how much it turns me on to look at you.”

  He reached for a lock of my hair, rubbing it between his finger and thumb. “Silky. Such a pretty color. I’m imagining right now how it will feel wrapped in my grip as I pound my cock into you.”

  My nostrils flared as the image he described appeared in my mind.

  He released the strand. It swished soft as a whisper over the skin at my clavicle. He traced my brows with his thumbs while staring deeply into my eyes. “When I see your face,” he said low, his warm breath ghosting over me, “And I think how delicate you are, how feminine, yet with a subtle strength it makes me want to bend you to my will and maybe,” he pressed the pad of his thumb into the seam between my lips, “make you beg for it a little.”

  My eyes flared. He had me longing for him and he knew it, too. I saw it in his darkened gaze. I flicked my tongue out, licking the edge of his thumb.

  “Yes,” he hissed and then grinned slowly. “I believe I will make you beg. In fact, that’s a promise.” He brought the thumb I had licked to his mouth. He sucked on it while I stared, then he painted my nipple with it. It was my turn to pull in a quick breath. He repeated the procedure on the other breast. Both my nipples drew achingly tight, the air drying the wet and making them even harder. Desire made my pulse pound between my legs. I shifted feeling the slick glide between my inner thighs, thoroughly turned on even though he had barely touched me.

  “How wet are you?” A grin spread across his face as if he could read my mind.

  “Why don’t you find out for yourself?” I licked my lips wishing he would kiss me.

  “Do you still want me to turn the light off?”

  I shook my head, the ends of my hair brushing my skin just above the swell of my breasts practically making me moan, fully aware of how badly I wanted his mouth on them. I was already close to pleading.

  He traced my curves. I shivered. “Your hips make me want to grip them for leverage so I can sink my cock inside you deeper. And I want those legs wrapped tightly around me while I give it to you again and again.” He grabbed my ass in a grip hard enough to sting, then soothed the mark of his hand away with a soft caress.

  “Ramon.” My fingers were curled into fists. “No more teasing.”

&nbs
p; “Yes. More.” He lowered himself so he could fasten his mouth around the tip of one breast, sucking it deep and then switching to the other. I began to tremble with the effort it took to stand still and keep my hands off of him. The insistence between my legs was a constant throb now. He straightened giving me a view of his face, stark with hunger of his own. Eyes on mine, he began to unbutton his jeans. My mouth went dry as his cock sprang free.

  “You’re so big,” I breathed.

  He chuckled with masculine satisfaction. “You had my cock at the beach.”

  “Yes, but I didn’t…”

  I yelped as I flew through the air. I had been staring and didn’t anticipate him lifting and tossing me into the center of his bed. My hair tumbled into my eyes. Before I finished brushing it aside, he was pressing my shoulders back with both his hands and climbing on top of me. His jeans gone, his skin burned everywhere it touched mine. He gathered my arms, lifted them over my head and pressed both my hands into the pillow.

  I arched my back off the cool sheets so my nipples could find surcease for their ache against the hard planes of his chest. He liked my creativity and my tits, too. He told me so.

  “I wanna hear you say my name, mi cielo.” With a pointed glance, he left my hands where he wanted them to stay above my head, spread my knees apart with his thigh and moved between them. I felt a rush of heat dampen my folds as he stared at my exposed pussy.

  “Ramon,” I whispered. “Please.” I tried to turn my head aside. Every light in the room blazed, but his stare felt hotter.

  “Look at me,” he commanded, his voice persuasively low.

  “Good girl,” he praised, his eyes heavy lidded, and I felt feverish as I watched him stroke himself before positioning his glorious cock where I wanted it.