Drop Beat (The Heartbeat Series Book 2)

by Ryleigh Sloan

  “Hey, that was the best part!”

  Fuck she’s cute. “I’ll play it for you later.”

  “Will you sing it for me too?”

  I quirk an eyebrow. “We’ll see about that.”

  “Why don’t you ever sing? You have an amazing voice.”

  I run a hand over my closely shaven head. “I guess I prefer to just play the drums without distractions.” The truth of it is, I don’t like being the center of attention.

  Maddie nods. “I can understand that, but it’s a damn crime people don’t get to hear you sing.”

  I chuckle and get out of the truck. We head inside, my fingers interlaced with hers. Maddie looks around the nearly empty room.

  “Where is everyone?” It seems like she expected us to be mobbed by adoring fans, but we bought the place out for the day. It was worth it to have a couple of hours to just goof around. Don’t get me wrong, we love our fans—live for them, in fact, since they make our dreams possible—but it’s hard to unwind when you’re interrupted every six seconds for an autograph or a selfie.

  The track is three levels, all walled in by Plexiglas lit by electric blue lights so you can watch what’s going on from the bottom level. There are also wall-mounted screens for any blind spots. It’s decorated in checkered flags, and while it’s a little cheesy, we’ve been coming here for years and the staff are pretty cool with letting us be. I head to our usual table in the middle of the room that provides the best view of the whole track. Jeff and Kade’s eyebrows shoot up the minute they see me with Maddie, but they have the good sense not to say anything.

  Josh on the other hand does not. He points to Maddie’s and my interlaced fingers. “No fair, Kel. I called dibs.”

  There’s a collective groan when the words leave Josh’s mouth, and Kade runs a hand through his hair. “Geez, Josh. Get some fucking manners.”

  “Oh, that’s okay.” Maddie smiles at Josh and holds out her hand. “Hi, I’m Maddie. A human being. You know, a person with the ability to make her own choices.”

  Josh has the good grace to blush, and I want to kiss Maddie breathless right now, but Jeff is already looking at me like he has a ton of questions, and it’s probably best to show a little restraint.

  Jeff stands, shoving his hands in his pockets. “Let me apologize on behalf of Josh. We’re happy you could join us.”

  “Yeah.” Kade walks over and pulls Maddie in for a hug. “It’s good to see you.”

  Josh tugs the gauges in his ears. “Jeff’s right. I say stupid shit all the time. I’m sorry.”

  Maddie laughs. “No worries. I tell you what though. If you let me win, we’ll be even.”

  “Fuck that shit!” Josh scoffs. “You’ll have to beat me fair and square.”

  Maddie smiles, but it’s definitely not sweet, and without actually knowing Maddie that well—or barely at all—I can tell she’s about to hand Josh his balls so badly he’ll need to sit down to pee.

  I order drinks, and we suit up. Maddie kills it on the track, wiping the floor with all of us. I hand Josh a beer as he comes off from getting his ass whipped.

  “I want a rerun,” he yells back at Maddie, who’s doing a victory dance next to her go-kart.

  “Sure thing, princess. Just say when,” she quips as she takes her helmet off. Her hair is stuck to her head from sweat, and she runs her fingers through it, fluffing it out. Fuck!

  I turn back to Josh to distract myself. “You let her win?” I know the answer to the question, but I can’t resist Josh’s reaction.

  “Fuck no! She handed me my balls, Kel. I had to try to get them back!”

  “Doesn’t look like it worked.”

  He places the beer on the table. “After lunch. I can’t work hungry.”

  I watch Maddie devour a bacon-and-avocado sandwich like she’s never had a meal before, and it takes all I have not to call it a day to drag her back to my place and fuck her limp. The only thing stopping me is proving to myself that I still have self-control.

  After lunch, we head back to the track. Kade and Maddie are going up against each other while the rest of us sit this round out. Maddie places her helmet on her head and blows me a kiss. I nearly blow her one back, but catch myself just as Jeff raises his eyebrow.

  “What?”

  “Nothing, man. It’s just not your usual thing bringing girls along, that’s all.”

  “It’s no big deal. She flies home tomorrow.”

  “Whatever, man. Not my business.”

  Lap one, Kade is in the lead. Two, Maddie passes him. She’s flying down the slope of the second level to the first when Kade overtakes her. It’s unexpected, and Maddie jerks the steering wheel. Her kart clips the barrier of tires and spins out. Josh curses while all I can do is hold my breath. She rights the kart, and I’m just about to let out a sigh of relief when she skids on an oil slick and we all watch in horror as the kart spins, crashing into the inside barrier.

  I’m out of my seat and beside her kart before she has time to get out. “Maddie, are you alright?”

  “Holy crap, this thing can spin!”

  I pull her out of the kart, whipping her helmet off and pressing my lips to hers, not caring what the guys think. When I pull back, I see the cut on her left bicep.

  “You’re bleeding.”

  She looks down at her cut through the torn overalls. “Oh, how did that happen?”

  “I don’t know, but you’re going to the hospital.”

  “Keller, I’m fine. I’ve had worse. I’ll just bandage it up.”

  Kade walks over and places a hand on my shoulder. “You okay, Maddie? Shit, I’m so sorry.”

  “I’m fine. It’s just a scratch. And you don’t have anything to be sorry for. It wasn’t your fault.”

  Kade grimaces when he sees the cut. “That looks like more than a scratch. I think Keller’s right, you should get it checked out.”

  “It really isn’t necess—”

  “It’s nonnegotiable, Maddie.”

  She rolls her eyes and walks off to root inside her bag. Sure enough, she has a bandage in there. I guess this happens to her a lot. Well, I don’t fucking care. It isn’t happening on my watch.

  “Maddie, either you come willingly, or I carry you out to my truck so we can get you to the hospital.”

  Maddie looks at Kade as she wraps her arm in the bandage. “Is he always so bossy?”

  “Just humor him, okay? If it’s just a scratch, you can go home to South Africa and tell your friends about what giant babies we are over here.”

  We slip out of the overalls, and it takes all my strength not to break land speed records to get Maddie to the hospital. She’s acting like she just got a little scrape when the amount of blood seeping through the bandage tells me it’s a lot worse than that. I want to kill Kade for overtaking her and startling her. I know it’s irrational, but I want to kill him anyway. I don’t stop to wonder why I’m feeling so protective over Maddie. I tell myself that it’s because I’m the one who dragged her go-karting in the first place, and I refuse to give it any more power than is absolutely necessary.

  I pull into an open parking space and stop the truck. Getting out, I round the front and open Maddie’s door, supporting her elbow as she climbs down.

  She pulls her arm free, irritated I made her come here. “I’m not an invalid, you know. It’s just a gash, Keller. I didn’t lose a limb.”

  I grunt something not even I can understand because right now, the only thing going through my mind is having Maddie seen to. I walk us into the ER, heading straight to the reception desk where a woman wearing lime-green scrubs with her name—Chelle—embroidered on the pocket is staring intently at a computer screen.

  “Excuse me, miss, we have an emergency.”

  Maddie rolls her eyes, and I don’t find this amusing at all.

  “Of course you do, sir, or you wouldn’t be here. How can I help?” She’s giving me a patronizing smile, and I feel my sense of humor take another dip.

&n
bsp; “My…uh…” Fuck, how do I do this? Maddie looks at me expectantly, and the smirk she’s sporting lets me know she’s enjoying every minute of this. “Friend. Yeah, my friend hurt herself racing go-karts and has a cut on her arm.”

  Maddie lets out one of those chuckle-snorts, and if I wasn’t clear on her enjoying this before, I am now.

  “Sure thing.” She reaches for a clipboard and hands it to Maddie. “If you’ll just fill this out. How will you be paying?”

  Maddie takes the form and a pencil. “I have travel insurance.”

  “Oh, I love your accent. Where are you from?”

  Maddie smiles warmly at the receptionist, who seems intent on making my life miserable. “I’m from South Africa.”

  Chelle leans forward and taps her gold fingernail on her lip. “You know, my husband, Stan, has been wanting to go to South Africa for the longest time now. How’s the weather?”

  How’s the fucking weather? “Can we do this after she’s seen a doctor, please? There’s a lot of blood.”

  Maddie rolls her eyes again. “That’s just because I’ve been moving it.” She moves her arms and lifts the bandage so I see the cut open.

  Oh fuck!

  There’s a ringing sound, way, way off in the distance, and everything from my peripheral vision inward starts getting darker and darker until there’s a pinprick of light moments before everything goes black.

  Fuck me!

  “We’ve got a fainter!” I hear Chelle’s voice from far away, and then the daintiest of arms go around me as I crumble like a candy wrapper and sink to the floor.

  Well, this is just fucking great!

  ♫

  I wake up in a hospital bed with Maddie holding my hand and my bandmates all smirking at me.

  “You scored me twenty bucks.” Jeff grins at me, and I shake my head, but it feels like everything is loose upstairs, so I quit doing it immediately.

  “You betting on me now?”

  “If you’re gonna wimp out every time you see a drop of blood, I’m gonna try make some money off you.”

  Maddie looks at me. “Is this a thing? You didn’t do this last night when I kicked you on the nose.”

  “You kicked him on the nose? What did he do to deserve that?” Josh asks.

  “Well, he was trying to…”

  I cough, interrupting Maddie’s word vomit before she gives the guys a visual I don’t want them having.

  Jesus, does everything that pops in her head come out her mouth?

  Maddie turns pink, and Kade toys with his lip ring to hide a smirk. “No explanation needed, Maddie.”

  She looks at Kade gratefully, and I desperately try to think of ways to get my dignity back and salvage the situation.

  “How’s your arm? I’m sorry I—”

  “Pussied out on you?” Josh finishes for me. “Don’t worry, Kel, we took care of her while you were out.”

  He looks sincere, and I know that all jokes aside, my boys have got my back when I need them.

  “Can I have a minute alone with Maddie, please?”

  “Having sex in a hospital room is illegal, Kel,” Josh snorts.

  Kade slings an arm around Josh’s shoulder and leads him out of the room. “I’ve got him.”

  They leave and I swing my legs off the hospital bed, my head spinning as I do, but I’m not about to pussy out again. I reach for Maddie and tug her into a gentle hug. “You scared me.”

  “I’m fine. It only took eight stitches. I had worse the time I helped Blair and her papaw fix the south fence.”

  I hug her a little harder to me, and I’m not sure if the fear is because of her accident or because of how I feel about her. Tomorrow she goes back and I can get back to normal.

  “Let’s talk about you passing out,” she suggests, barely holding back a giggle.

  “Be careful, Madison.”

  “Ooh, we’re full-naming again. Should I be scared?” She waggles her eyebrows, and this girl has got me by the balls and I don’t know how to get out of her grasp.

  “I don’t know. When we get back to my place, you can tell me.”

  Her eyes go wide, and it’s my turn to smirk. “C’mon, let’s get out of here.”

  Eight – Proving a Point

  Maddie

  I’ve been teasing Keller about fainting the whole way home. I know that fainting due to the sight of someone else’s blood is a medical condition caused by the vagus nerve getting activated, and has nothing to do with a guy’s man card, but I just can’t resist. So, it’s no surprise that when we get back to Keller’s place, he gets all alpha on me.

  We’re barely in his house when he lifts me and carries me to his room. I’m not gonna lie—him taking charge the way he does really hits me on the fun button, and I’m already wet for him. I’m sure my sass is going to earn me a good hard fucking, and I’m so ready for it. The cut on my arm doesn’t hurt. It’s much less damage than I’ve previously sustained, and besides all that, the doctor numbed me up well and good before giving me the sutures.

  Keller deposits me gently on the bed and takes a step back. He toes off his shoes and socks, then pulls his T-shirt over his head before unbuttoning his jeans and sliding them down his legs and stepping out of them. I drink in every square inch of his hard, toned body. “Undress yourself, Maddie.”

  Well now, if his commanding tone doesn’t do it for me, nothing will, and I make short work of pulling my blue-checkered shirt over my head and slipping the black leggings off. I’d be embarrassed about the whole wet spot I’ve got going in my panties except I know Keller gets off by finding me ready for him, so I bunch them up in a ball and toss them at him.

  He lifts my panties to his nose and sniffs deeply. Oh my combusting vag, that’s the hottest thing I’ve ever experienced. I launch at him like a sex-starved lunatic. He kisses me, our tongues and teeth at war with each other, and all I can think about is having him in me again, but he pushes me back and climbs off the bed. I’m a little whiplashed because I don’t know why anyone would want to stop mid-make-out session—especially the one we just had—but my thought evaporates as Keller walks to the closet and takes out three ties.

  “Huh?” I muse as I watch him while I slip off my bra.

  “Huh?” He looks over his shoulder, confused.

  “I didn’t figure you for a tie guy.”

  “I’m not, I just keep them around for weddings and funerals and…this…”

  He comes back and moves up the bed, the muscles at his shoulders bunching from his graceful crawl. He looks like a predator on the attack, and I’m more than willing to be his prey.

  His fingers trail down my leg to my ankle, and he secures the first tie to my leg and then to the bed. He does the same with my other leg, spreading them wide apart, leaving my wet vag exposed. He licks a lazy trail up the inside of my thigh, and my fun bits start getting the party poppers out in anticipation of the celebration, but he doesn’t go anywhere near where I want him to be.

  Soft, sweet kisses mark my injured arm, and he gently ties the tie around my wrist and does the same to the bed.

  “Is this good, Maddie? I’m not hurting you, am I?”

  I shake my head because my mouth is so dry, I can barely speak.

  “Good. If it hurts at any time, you tell me, okay?”

  I nod.

  He bunches spare pillows under my stitched-up arm, and I think this is the most comfortable I’ve ever been. I’m not gonna say I’ve never thought about being tied up before, but this is way hotter than I imagined it being. Maybe it has something to do with the way Keller is looking at me. The tick of his jaw. Those deep blue eyes of his drinking me in slowly. The way he’s looking at me right now makes me feel like I’m the most beautiful woman he’s ever been with, and I know that can’t be true. I know I’m good-looking enough, but the women Keller has been with have been out of this world. I guess it doesn’t hurt that most of them are models.

  I wait for him to tie up the other hand, but he grabs anothe
r pillow for himself and places it against the foot of the bed before leaning against it and crossing his legs at the ankles.

  I wave my free hand. “You forgot one.”

  “You’re going to need that one.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes. Touch yourself, Madison.”

  Well, blow me down and call me a feather. I don’t move. It’s not that I’m shy—far from it. It’s just why would I pleasure myself when Keller is a few feet away from me and can do a much better job than I’ll ever hope to achieve?

  He slips his boxers down a smidge, his manscaped cock springing free, and starts to leisurely stroke his length.

  “Now, Maddie! Or I will tie you up, flip you over, and come all over that beautiful ass of yours while you pulse and ache for me. Do you want that?”

  It legit feels like I’ve been zapped in the clit. A barely audible moan rushes from my lips, and my fingers make their way to my pussy. God, I’m wet. I’m wet and hot and soft, and my fingers flit over my flesh and feel so damn good. Keller watches me, the rise and fall of his chest spurring me on. Watching him as he strokes himself has got to be the most erotic thing I have ever witnessed in my life. His abs clench and release, and the muscles on his forearm tighten with each stroke. I see his breaths leave his mouth in pants that grow even shorter as he struggles to keep his breathing under control.

  “Stop!”

  I blink.

  My fingers still. “Why?”

  “Because I want to draw this out. I want you to beg me to make you come.”

  Oh, so this is about proving a point. Well damn, I’m all for this game.

  “Circle your clit.”

  I’ve never been one for being obedient, but I do what I’m told this time. I can play nice if the reward is good enough.

  Heat overtakes me, and I feel my chest redden as sensations envelop me. Keller starts stroking himself again, and we get into a rhythm. My head falls back against the pillow, and I sigh. Damn, this feels good.

  “Stop!”

  Ugh, it was just starting to feel really, really good.

  I stop and so does Keller. His teeth trap his bottom lip, and my thighs start quivering uncontrollably.