Ranger Knox (Shifter Nation: Werebears Of Acadia Book 1)

by Meg Ripley

  “In about ten minutes, you can have sex with me again,” she suggested. “If I’m going to make a bad choice, I might as well get full value for it.” I chuckled and kissed her sweat-sticky cheek.

  “I will give you bonus value for your bad choice,” I told her. “Ten minutes. Just you wait.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  “Time to start thinking about waking up, everyone!” I groaned, wrapping my arms tighter around Olivia’s waist and pressing my face against her shoulder in protest. I had no idea what time it was, other than too fucking early. “Radio interview in two hours, folks. Check in at the hotel in an hour.”

  “Jesus fuck, Hannah, shut the hell up!” I felt Olivia shaking with laughter at the sound of Jules’ voice from two bunks over.

  “If you’re not out of your bunk when we park at the hotel, don’t blame me when Ron dumps a bucket of ice on you,” Hannah countered. I started chuckling too, my hands wandering up to Olivia’s tits, naked under the sheets and blankets.

  “Check-in at the hotel in one hour,” I murmured lowly in her ear. “That’s enough time to fool around and get a cup of coffee.” I rubbed my thumb against her nipple slowly, back and forth until it hardened under my touch. “What do you say?” Olivia squirmed against me, a soft half-moan leaving her lips. Her hips pushed down, her ass rubbed against my already hardening cock.

  “Everyone---everyone is going to know what we’re doing,” she said, her breath catching in her throat as I let my other hand slide down between her legs.

  “Not if you’re quiet,” I pointed out, nibbling at the sensitive skin just under her ear.

  “They’re like…five feet away,” Olivia murmured, even as my fingers slipped and slid between her slick folds.

  “You’re already turned on,” I told her, keeping my voice playful. “I mean, if you enjoy waiting until we get to the hotel…” I nipped at her earlobe. “I’m fine with letting you get dressed and taking care of myself…and watching you squirm in the lounge while you try to pretend like you’re working…”

  “You’d jack off with the rest of the guys less than five yards away from you?” Olivia’s voice rippled with amusement; she shuddered as my fingers found her clit and started rubbing.

  “I’d jack off with them in the same room,” I told her. “In fact, I’ve done it. We had to share hotel rooms last tour.” Olivia chuckled, a soft little moan leaving her throat as she began to move, rubbing against me, trying to get better contact with my fingers against her clit.

  “If—if I didn’t have…really…really good evidence—to the contrary,” she said, panting, “I’d think…there was something to those rumors…” I laughed, sliding one finger inside of her slowly.

  “No privacy on a tour,” I told her, working my finger in and out slowly, feeling her muscles flex around me. “I told you that the other day.”

  “When you had me up against a wall…backstage…” Olivia shook her head. “Good thing I was wearing a skirt.”

  “Why do you think I got you that way?” I slid another finger inside of her. “Much, much easier than sneaking back to the bus.” I turned her face towards me and kissed her on the lips. “Come on, Liv. I can feel how much you want this.” My thumb swiped against her clit, and her muscles tightened around my fingers inside of her, clamping down. “Everyone already knows we’re fucking.” I felt her hesitate for just a second longer; but then she turned in my arms, looking up into my eyes.

  “If you make me scream, I’m going to write an article about you being the gayest gay man ever,” she told me, her lips twitching with the start of a smile. I laughed and slid my fingers out of her, covering her body with my own and bringing my mouth down to hers. I kissed her hungrily, shifting down between her legs.

  “I’ll save making you scream for the hotel. After the show.” I guided the tip of my cock up against her, rubbing up and down along her labia. I could hear the guys tumbling and climbing out of their bunks, but Olivia’s wet heat felt way too good against my throbbing, aching-hard cock. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, and thrust into her slowly, filling her up inch by inch. Olivia moaned, pressing her face against my neck, her arms tightening around me as I slid deeper and deeper inside of her. “See? You can’t expect me not…not to try for this…when you feel this good,” I murmured, my lips right up against her ear. I dipped down to her throat, kissing and nipping and nibbling as we both started moving together.

  Olivia kissed me over and over again; she buried her face against my neck, against my shoulder, even as she pushed her hips down against mine, meeting every thrust, taking me deeper while her muscles rippled around me. Her legs wrapped around me, her knees moving up to my ribs, and I started gradually moving faster and faster inside of her. I let my mouth wander all over her face, neck, and chest; I latched onto one nipple and then the other, sucking and licking. Olivia twisted and writhed underneath me, her fingernails digging into my back. I could feel her getting closer and closer to orgasm, the tension mounting in her body. I wanted—needed—to hold back just long enough to feel her start to come. I held back as I thrust harder and faster inside of her, kissing her over and over again, swallowing down her moans and the little muffled cries that left her throat.

  All at once I felt the tension hit its highest point and then she shuddered underneath me. The last of my self-control dissolved as I felt her muscles clamping around me, flexing in fast spasms that made it impossible for me to hold back. I groaned against her lips, waves of pleasure coursing through me as I came deep inside of her. I kept moving for as long as I could, thrusting hard and fast as my whole nervous system crackled with orgasm. Finally, the spasms started to abate, and I half-collapsed on top of Olivia, barely holding myself up on elbows and knees.

  “Hey! Nicky, Liv! Get out here before the coffee’s all gone,” Alex called from the lounge. I laughed, shaking my head, and pressed a lazy kiss against Olivia’s cheek.

  “See? No privacy.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “So far, Jules and Mark are both out of the pot,” Dan said, settling into his seat in the lounge. “That just leaves me and Alex to duke it out over the money.”

  “You’re going to have to wait two months after the tour for that,” Alex pointed out.

  “Not if she breaks up with him right at the end of the tour,” Jules countered. “Then he wins by default.” A few feet away, I watched Olivia working on another piece for the magazine.

  “What happens to the money if all of you are wrong?” She asked idly, not even looking up from her screen. “I mean, what if two months passes after the tour and Nick and I are still together?” Four other sets of eyes turned to look at me.

  “What are you looking at me for?” I shook a cigarette loose from my pack and brought it to my mouth quickly, fumbling with my lighter for a moment before I could get it lit.

  “I’m just trying to figure out if you’re really serious about going the distance,” Dan said, shrugging.

  “Same,” Alex agreed.

  “I wanted to see if you were going to start blushing. I was totally right,” Mark told me with a smirk.

  “Everyone else was doing it, so I figured why be the only one left out?” I rolled my eyes at Jules’ deadpan.

  “I’m not trying to get, like, a confession of love or something,” Olivia said, finally glancing up from her laptop. “I’m just curious about the status of the betting pool if everyone loses.”

  “Money goes to Nick,” Alex ruled.

  “But he didn’t even bet!” Mark scowled at him.

  “Technically he did,” Dan said. “He bet without actually putting money on it that he’d…like, make it last or whatever.”

  “You’re just saying that because you still have money on the line. Nick didn’t put any money in so he shouldn’t win any money either.”

  “But you can’t have a betting pool with no winner,” Jules pointed out.

  “We should ask someone in the mob,” Mark suggested. “They probably h
ave betting pools where no one wins.”

  “Right, because based on Alex’s status with the Miami drug dealers, they’re totally going to cooperate with any of us if we start asking questions about illegal gambling.”

  “You could ask one of those casino places,” Olivia suggested, turning half of her attention back onto her computer. “Though they’d probably say the house keeps the money. And there’s no house here.”

  “Do you want me to get the money or not?” Olivia glanced at me and grinned.

  “Ah, she’s fucking with us,” Jules said, grinning even as he shook his head. “She’s trying to get material for her articles.”

  “A fight in the band over money would be a good scoop,” Dan agreed.

  “A better scoop would be catching Jules drunkenly grabbing Mark’s ass,” Alex said. “Anyway, I vote that if Nick’s able to keep his dick away from strange and actually manage to keep Olivia satisfied…” everyone snickered, “then he’s earned the money.”

  “You’re just saying that because you’re the only one in the band with a girlfriend slowing you down, and you want to bring Nicky into your shame,” Jules suggested. He shrugged. “Whatever. He can win the money if he manages not to chase her off two months after the tour ends.” Olivia glanced at me, one eyebrow raised.

  “I’ll split the money with you,” I told her, grinning. She rolled her eyes.

  “I’m not just going to stay with you for money, you know,” she said.

  “I know,” I told her, nodding. “But the money’s a good bonus, don’t you think?” I saw her lips twitch even as she struggled not to look at me.

  “We’re about fifteen minutes from the hotel,” Ron announced, coming into the lounge from the back room on the bus. “Check-in should be smooth, but I want to make sure you’re all ready when we get there. We have a pretty tight schedule today.”

  “Nick’s got an even tighter one,” Jules noted quietly. He shot me a little grin. “He’s got to fit in fucking Olivia at least three more times today.”

  “Whatever you guys do in your free time, as long as you’re not getting arrested for it, is none of my business,” Ron said, holding up his hands. “But we need to go over the schedule. You’ve got the radio interview in about an hour and a half; that’s going to take up at least an hour. Then we go to the venue, set up while you guys talk to another radio station on the phone, and sound check. You get some time after that for dinner and hanging out, and then the show.”

  “And then back to the hotel, debauchery—except for Alex and Nicky—and on the road tomorrow?” I rolled my eyes at Mark’s question.

  “Back on the road tomorrow,” Ron confirmed. “You’re all getting a day off in another three days, though.”

  “So, if you don’t want to spend your entire day off doing laundry, might as well get some of it done tonight,” Hannah suggested.

  “Alex can do it,” Jules said, grinning at our lead singer. “He’s going to be on Skype or phone with Mary all night after the concert anyway.”

  “Not all night,” Alex protested. “Just for a little while.”

  “Says the guy who was on the phone with his girlfriend for six hours yesterday,” Mark said.

  “In any case, busy day today, travel day tomorrow. Make the most of the time you have.” Hannah shrugged and turned to head to the back where the luggage was.

  “We’re right around the corner from the hotel,” Ron said. “Get ready to check in.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  “Are you going to give me the spare room key, or am I going to have to knock?” Olivia rolled her eyes at my question, grinning slightly even as her cheeks lit up with reddish-pink.

  “Only if you don’t lose it this time,” Olivia said quietly, shifting her backpack on her shoulders as we walked towards the elevators. Her hotel rooms were separate from ours; the magazine booked and paid for her stays on the road. I told her more than once in the month and a half since the tour started that she could save them the trouble and the expense by simply staying in my room, but she insisted that she wanted to delay her bosses finding out about our relationship as long as she possibly could. “It was embarrassing to have to pretend like I lost my own key to get another spare.”

  “People lose keys all the time,” I pointed out, glancing around briefly before I brushed a lock of her short hair out of Olivia’s face. “Especially when they get absolutely bombed on champagne.”

  “That was your fault,” Olivia told me, wagging a finger in my direction. “I am not the one who smuggled an entire case of champagne out of the venue.”

  “Hey! It was on the rider, and if we didn’t drink it, it was just going to go to the crew there. I left the beers behind for them.” Olivia punched the elevator button and snickered.

  “Right. Playing champagne-pong in the hotel rec room was totally the only proper thing to do,” she said.

  “You’re the one who decided to up the ante by making it strip champagne-pong,” I pointed out.

  “On round four, after you got me bombed,” Olivia insisted. She stuck her tongue out at me. The elevator chimed and we both stepped on quickly.

  “It’s not my fault that I’m so much better than you at champagne-pong,” I told her. The doors closed behind us and I took advantage of being alone with Olivia to lean in and kiss her quickly on the lips. “Besides, if I remember correctly, there was enough champagne left over for some fun experiments…” I cupped one of her tits through her clothes and gave it a quick squeeze. “I seem to recall you enjoyed the bubbles fizzing against your clit.”

  “Here,” she said, giving me a little push away from her and slapping a cold plastic rectangle into my hand. “Don’t lose it this time.”

  “If I do I could just invite you over to my place,” I suggested with a smirk.

  “I’m not explaining to my boss how I lost another card,” Olivia said, shaking her head.

  “You’re partying with musicians,” I pointed out. “These things happen. It makes your reports more realistic if you participate.” Olivia chuckled, shaking her head.

  “You are a terrible influence,” she told me, poking me in the chest.

  “I am the best possible influence for you,” I said. “After all, if it weren’t for me, how would you have learned that you prefer vaping pot to smoking it out of a bong?”

  “Or that spicy foods are a terrible idea if you’ve already gotten drunk to the point of nausea?” Olivia shook her head again. “This is on tour. I don’t really expect this to last, Nick.”

  “Why not?” I moved a little closer to her. “We started out before the tour did. We can last after it.”

  “Is that really what you want?” She looked up at me and I had to make myself look at her eyes instead of her eyelashes, her lips, the pink in her cheeks. “You’ve done a great job of not hitting on anyone else…at least as far as I’ve seen,” she said. She licked her lips and it almost ruined any chance I had for focusing on her words. “But in another month or two, you’re going to get bored of me.”

  “You?” I snorted, shaking my head. “How can I get bored of someone who goes into every experience totally fresh?”

  “We’re running out of first times,” Olivia pointed out. “Just about the only drugs you haven’t managed to score for us are coke, meth, and E.”

  “I don’t do the first two anymore, and E you really need to have a full night to enjoy. Preferably at a club somewhere.” I kissed her forehead. “You’ve smoked out with me what—five times? And every time it’s like it’s new to you. I know you smoked before—no one takes a hit that big without coughing up a lung if they’re a newbie. So it’s just who you are.”

  “We’ve also done so many things sexually that we’re going to run out of new things to try there,” Olivia pointed out. We got off the elevator and started down the hall. “Face it, Nicky: you’re all about novelty, and when that wears off, you’ll get the itch again. I’ve made my peace with it.” I reached out and grabbed her hand, stopp
ing her in the hallway.

  “I want more than novelty now,” I told her lowly. “I want you. You’re excited, interested, engaged.” I smiled. “How many times do I have to tell you that it’s you I want, not just the ‘hard to get’ woman?” Olivia took a deep breath.

  “I’ll believe it when I see it,” she said. She stood up on the balls of her feet and kissed me lightly. “Now let’s get our stuff put away so we don’t throw off Ron’s precious schedule.”

  I walked Olivia to her hotel room door and went further down the hall to my own room; the rest of the guys had gone up already, but I’d waited for Olivia to check in, loitering in the lobby. She was right; Ron was all about our schedule while we were on tour. He especially wanted to take advantage of the increased press this time around, since Alex had made us media darlings. So, every date on the tour there was guaranteed to be at least two interviews with two different radio stations, along with some kind of promotional opportunity after the show was over—and of course, Olivia’s coverage of the tour was a constant thing.

  I thought about the way things stood between Olivia and me. We’d been on tour almost two months; I’d managed to keep from even really looking at the girls who made their way backstage. Jules, Mark and Dan had managed to score about a dozen times since we’d first left for the tour—I’d stuck by Olivia. The question is: is she right? As soon as the novelty wears off, are you going to start getting that itch? Looking for something new, something fun and exciting, something mindless? I pulled my dirty clothes out of my suitcase and tossed it aside, sorting through what little I had clean to change before the radio interview.

  I stripped my clothes off and threw them at the laundry bag. I didn’t think it was just novelty. The more time I spent with Olivia the more interesting I found her. Maybe that’s because she’s not just some dumb bimbo you’re picking up to sleep with once and then never see again. I grinned to myself, tugging a pair of jeans up my legs. But what if she’s right? What if it’s just exciting right now? What do I do when we’ve exhausted all of the possibilities? A second later, though, I was shaking my head again. As if two people could ever exhaust all the possibilities of things you can do in bed. I threw on a shirt and grabbed a jacket to wear over it—radio studios always seemed to be either freezing or sweltering. I pulled my shoes on and headed for the door, checking to make sure that I had all the things I needed: phone, keys, cigarettes, both key cards, and wallet. Apart from that I wouldn’t need much of anything that wasn’t in my backpack on the bus. Things will work out, I told myself.