Tempting

by Crystal Kaswell

  "You're only twenty-five." Miles shakes his head at Tom. "You think you're more mature than him 'cause you convinced a nice girl to marry you?"

  "Yeah. Means I'm doing something right." Tom looks to me. "You gonna make that happen?"

  Last thing I need is more people getting in my business. I shrug with as much nonchalance as I can muster.

  "Nobody's buying that," Tom says. "Especially not me. You looked at that girl the way that pervert over there—" Tom nods to his brother, Pete "—looks at a bass guitar."

  "Why don't you say he looks at her the way Pete looks at his wife?" Miles asks.

  "Because the way he looks at his wife is grosser than the way Ethan looks at Violet. Ethan's not a disgusting pervert like you two," Tom says.

  "Sounds like an insult to me. Don't take shit from Sticks," Pete says. "You can be as much of a pervert as you want to be."

  Miles turns to me. "Don't let the hand cramps stop you, Ethan. That's why man invented the vibrator. It's a tool. Like an amp. Doesn't make you any less of a man."

  "I think the guy knows about the vibrator," Tom says.

  "You're the one saying he's not a pervert," Miles says.

  "Okay, sorry. Ethan's a pervert! Are you happy?" Tom asks.

  "Peachy." Miles blows Tom a kiss.

  Pete chuckles. He tosses me a spare Sinful Serenade t-shirt. "You gonna listen to our bullshit, or you gonna go satisfy your girl?"

  "She's not my girl," I say.

  "Not with that attitude," Pete says.

  The man has a point.

  We have a few hours until we're due back on the bus. As much as I enjoy the company of the Sinful guys, I want to spend that time with Violet.

  I pull the t-shirt on.

  Miles claps. "That's my boy."

  I nod a thanks as I step into the hallway. It's crowded with crew and hangers-on. But I can see Violet in the corner, chatting with Joel. God knows what the drummer is telling her.

  People offer congrats and good jobs as I cut through the crowd. Any other day, I'd stop to soak in the admiration. Right now, I need to be near Violet.

  Fuck, I need to be inside Violet.

  "Excuse me for cutting in." I slide between her and Joel.

  "Hey! Don't be rude. We were just gossiping about you," he says.

  I keep my eyes on Violet's. "Is that right?"

  She nods. "Debating whether or not your ego will get too big to fit through the door. My money's on yes." Her voice is light. She's teasing and she's having fun doing it.

  "Mine too. Not a good debate really." Joel laughs. He leans in to whisper in my ear. "I can keep Kit and Mal distracted for an hour tops if you want the bus to yourself."

  Fuck, when did Joel become such a genius? "Sounds good."

  Violet arches a brow. "Have I become the subject of gossip?"

  Joel shrugs. "Sorry, Valentine. No one is immune. You're still my favorite." He blows her a kiss as he walks away.

  She laughs. "He hasn't changed at all." Her fingers graze my bicep. Then she's tracing the lettering on my t-shirt. "I like your taste. Hot pink is a bold choice for a man."

  "Thanks."

  "Suits your complexion too." She looks up at me. "You know, I heard what Joel said, about us being alone in the bus."

  "Just Joel, being Joel."

  "Oh." She presses her lips together with disappointment.

  "Vi, every inch of me wants to fuck you." I lean close enough to press my forehead to hers. "But I'm not in a rush. I want you to be sure you want it too."

  She looks up at me. "I… I don't want to lead you on, Ethan. It will just be sex."

  She's wrong about that. But we can start with it just being sex. "Okay." I press my palm into her lower back and pull her body into mine.

  She sighs with pleasure as she arches her back. "Fuck." She presses her cheek against mine. "You're making it hard to think."

  I rock my hips so she can feel my erection. "You have no fucking idea how badly I want to pin you to that wall and fuck you until you're screaming my name."

  "Why aren't you?"

  "Don't want an audience." I run my fingers through her hair.

  She leans into the gesture. "I don't want either of us to get hurt. How about some ground rules?"

  "Sounds reasonable."

  "Good." She slides her hand under my t-shirt and drags her fingers over my side and back. "This is just while I'm on tour with you. When I step off the bus in New York, the two of us being friends with benefits is over."

  Gives me eight days to convince her she wants to be mine again. I can do that. "Okay."

  "We'll be exclusive." She looks up at me with uncertainty.

  "You really have to ask?"

  She nods.

  "You're the only person I want." I pin her to the wall. "I'm clean. Always use a condom. Even for oral. You're the only person I've ever gone bareback with."

  She groans with pleasure. "Really?"

  "Yeah."

  "I am too. And I still have an IUD." She drags her lips over my neck. "Okay. No condoms. I don't want anything in the way."

  Damn, why did I wear such tight jeans?

  I'm tempted to fuck her here. With the way she's arching her body into mine, I know she'll say yes. But I don't want an audience. I don't want anything in the way of her screaming my name.

  I slide my arm around her waist and lead her to the side door.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Ethan

  So much for not having an audience. The barricades that form a perimeter around the venue are packed with fans desperate for autographs and introductions. A few women look ready to party. One flashes her bra when she spots me.

  I stand in front of Violet instinctively. Her fingers dig into my sides, pressing my t-shirt into my skin.

  "You really are a rock star now." Her voice is nervous. She tugs at my t-shirt, pulling my back into her chest.

  "Yeah." I nod to the bus. It's a solid thirty feet from the crowd, but I can feel Violet's fingers curling into my skin.

  She's nervous.

  "The windows are tinted. Nobody will see us," I say.

  "Yeah it's just—"

  "A mindfuck?"

  She nods.

  I squeeze her hand as I lead her to the bus.

  Violet looks back to the crowd. There are plenty of women shooting her dirty looks. Actual groupie-types get off on the envy. But Violet's not like that. She does everything she can to deflect attention.

  I pull the door to the bus open for her and lock it behind me.

  The tinted windows keeping people from looking in but they do nothing to obstruct our view.

  Need to shut out the rest of the world. I close the blinds. That's enough to get Violet's shoulders to drop from her ears.

  Violet sits on the couch. Her eyes go to the floor. She crosses and uncrosses her legs. "Are you used to all that?"

  "Mostly."

  She looks up at me. "You like the attention?"

  "On stage, yeah. I'm there to entertain. If I have attention, I'm doing it right."

  "Offstage?"

  "Sometimes it makes me feel good, like I'm important. It's lonely on the road. You've seen the way Mal, Kit, and Joel look at me like their fuck-up little brother."

  "They don't look at you like a fuck-up." Her eyes meet mine. "You're not a fuck-up, Ethan."

  "Lost you, didn't I?"

  "I guess I can't argue with that." She plays with the hem of her short black dress. "Do you tell women you love them?"

  "No, but I have plenty of player bullshit lines, if that's your next question." I kneel on the ground in front of her. "No worse than when we met."

  Some of the apprehension drops off her face. "I really thought you were this generous guy who loved giving back scratches."

  "Who says I'm not?"

  "You offered to get my bra off."

  "You'd already decided you were gonna fuck me that night. I saw it in your eyes."

  "Did you?"

  I n
od as I unzip her boot and peel it off her leg. "You have the same look in your eyes right now." I peel her other boot off her leg. Then the socks. Then my hands are on her smooth skin. Damn, those legs. I could die between those legs.

  She lets out a heavy sigh as I slide my hands behind her knees and spread her legs. "Ethan… I… I've missed you a lot."

  "You say that to all the guys who are about to dive between your legs?"

  "No. I…" She slides her hand into my hair and cups the back of my head. "Fuck, how are you so smooth? I don't know how to say suave shit the way you do."

  "You don't have to say anything. You just have to come on my face."

  She groans with pleasure. "I want to do that. God, I want to do that." She swallows hard. "But I have to say this first. I don't want to hurt you. And I don't want you to hurt me either. No bullshit, okay. It scares me that you're famous now. It scares me that you're rich. That there are a hundred women outside this bus who are ready to drop to their knees to suck you off."

  "I'm only sleeping with you."

  "I know… but I don't know if you're the guy I fell in love with or if you're some rock star playboy douchebag, like you are in the tabloids."

  She looks me up. I nod like the revelation is no big deal.

  "But the way you played for your friend, even though you were nervous, even though it was hard, and you kept acting like it was nothing— that's the guy I loved." She presses her lips together. "God, why am I talking? All I can possibly do is talk you out of going down on me."

  I shake my head. "You can't talk me out of going down on you."

  She lets out a nervous laugh. "I guess since I'm still talking this must be important. I just want to say that I'm not using you, Ethan. This isn't like the other night, after the bar. This is casual, but you do matter to me. And I want to matter to you too. I don't want to be another groupie you fucked on the tour bus."

  "Vi, you have no fucking idea how much you matter to me." I drag my lips over the inside of her thigh. Need to stop talking before I start saying shit that scares her. "Now, I'm gonna make you come until you beg me to stop or until one of the guys is banging on the door for us to stop."

  She nods, but she's still nervous.

  That's okay. I'll help her relax.

  I drag my lips over the inside of her knee until her fingers knot in my hair. Then I go higher, higher.

  I push her dress to her waist.

  Her hands slide around the back of my neck. "Can you get the zipper?"

  She's still shaking.

  I need to slow down.

  I push myself onto the couch and plant my body next to hers.

  Violet turns so her back is to me. I drag my lips over her neck as I pull the zipper down.

  She groans with pleasure.

  Damn, that sound is music.

  Violet peels her dress off her shoulders. She lifts her ass to push it off her hips.

  She's wearing matching underwear—a black lacy bra and thong.

  Fuck, she looks amazing.

  I suck on her earlobe as I trace the outline of her bra. "You wear that for me?"

  "Yes." She shifts onto my lap so my erection is pressed against the flesh of her ass. "Do you think about me?"

  "All the time." I slide my fingers into her bra to tease her nipples.

  She groans and grinds her ass against my crotch. "When you touch yourself?"

  "All the fucking time." I play with her nipple until her groans are heavy with need.

  "Ethan…"

  The way my name falls off her lips makes it hard to keep this slow. Not sure how, but I manage.

  I do away with her bra. "Say that again."

  "Ethan." She presses her neck against my mouth.

  I nibble on her neck as I tease her. My hands are spent. I have to keep my touch light, but that only makes her needier.

  It feels so fucking good having Violet in my hands, making her moan and scream my name.

  I tease her until I can't take it anymore then I place her on the couch and shift onto the floor.

  I want a good fucking look at her.

  I want to taste every fucking inch of her.

  She looks down at me. There's a hint of apprehension in her eyes but it's overwhelmed by desire.

  She wants this.

  Badly.

  I slide my hands around her hips and pull her to the edge of the couch. "Spread your legs for me."

  She does. She looks at me with all the trust in the world.

  Maybe Violet doesn't trust me with her heart, but she sure as hell trusts me with her body.

  Need to prove I'm worth trusting.

  I drag my lips up her leg, from the inside of her knee to the apex of her inner thigh.

  She squirms, pressing her legs against my shoulders, beckoning me to continue.

  Her hands knot in my hair.

  "Ethan, please," she groans.

  Fuck yes. I lick her from top to bottom. I do it slowly, reacquainting myself with every inch of her. She smells amazing. Tastes better. I suck on her lips, the right, then the left, then the right again.

  She pants, rocking into my mouth.

  Right now, Violet is mine. Right now, she needs me more than she's ever needed anything.

  Fuck, do I need her.

  I take my time teasing and tasting her. Her groans get lower, needier. She tugs at my hair to hold my head against her.

  She doesn't have to ask twice.

  I flick my tongue against her clit.

  She gasps with pleasure. One hand goes to my shoulder. Her thighs quiver.

  I do it again. Again. Again. Until her thighs are shaking with pleasure and her nails are digging into my skin.

  She's almost there. I go faster, harder. Her hips buck. Her thighs press against my ears.

  The way her body responds to my touch makes me harder. But she comes first.

  A few more licks and she's there. She tugs at my hair. "Ethan, fuck." She gets louder. "Ethan. God, Ethan." She presses her heel into my back as she comes.

  I can feel her pulsing. Fuck, that's the best feeling in the world.

  I need it again.

  I bring my hands to her hips and I hold her in place as I lick her to another orgasm. She groans with a mix of pleasure and pain. Then it's all pleasure and she's pressing her thighs against my cheeks, coming on my lips, screaming my name again and again.

  Violet tugs at my hair. "I missed this."

  "This or me?"

  "Both."

  I sit on the couch next to her and slide my arm around her waist. "I missed you too."

  I pull her body onto mine, so she's straddling me. My cock strains against her.

  One inch at a time, I enter her. I can feel her stretching to take me.

  Violet sinks her teeth into her bottom lip. Her hands go to my shoulders and squeeze tight.

  She presses her eyelids together. "Fuck, Ethan."

  God damn, she feels good. I bring my hands to her hips and I guide her body over mine. I go slow, until her nerves are gone, until the look in her eyes is nothing but desire.

  Then I go faster. I pull her body closer to take her breast into my mouth. She groans with pleasure, rocking her hips as I suck on her nipple.

  Fuck, the way Violet's moan echoes around the bus, the taste of her skin, the feeling of her folds enveloping me…

  This isn't like with anyone else.

  This is everything.

  Her thighs squeeze against my hips. Her nails dig into my shoulders.

  I let my body lead. I thrust into her, sucking on one nipple then the other. I go harder. Faster. Until she's panting and shaking with pleasure.

  "Come on my cock, Vi," I groan.

  She rocks her hips to match my movements. A few more thrusts and she's there. I watch the orgasm spread over her face. Her eyes close. Her lips part with a long, heavy sigh.

  Her cunt pulses around me.

  God damn.

  I give her a moment to catch her breath, then I lay
her flat on her back, and I thrust hard and deep. She wraps her legs around my waist, rocking her hips to meet my movements.

  Right now, her body is mine. And my body is hers. The two of us are exactly where we belong.

  I move harder. Faster. Deeper. She sucks on my neck. Her groans vibrate over my shoulders and chest.

  Fuck. I tug at her hair as an orgasm overtakes me.

  She groans with pleasure, watching my expression contort as I come.

  I don't stop until I've spilled every drop.

  After I come down, I collapse behind her, wrap my arms around her, and hold her body against mine until we've both caught our breath.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Violet

  After Ethan and I clean off the couch, we squeeze into the much too small tour bus shower. He laughs over my inability to slip past him to reach the shampoo, the bastard.

  "Here, I've got it." He pulls the showerhead from its stand—the thing is detachable—and uses it to rinse my hair.

  "That must come in handy."

  "Getting ideas?" He slides his hand down my torso.

  Yes, but I'm exhausted and I'm pretty sure we've gone well past an hour. Ethan and I had plenty of loud semi-public sex when we were together, but that was when I felt like a part of the band family.

  Joel is going out of his way to make me feel welcome, but Kit keeps staring at me like I'm holding a hand grenade to Ethan's chest. I don't need to wear out my welcome.

  Ethan shampoos and rinses my hair. "You don't have to think about me naked, Vi. I'm naked right here."

  "I'm not." I lean into his touch as he conditions and rinses my hair. "Thinking about Mal and Kit-"

  "Violet, don't do this to me."

  "Not like that." I turn so I'm face to face with Ethan. "What are we going to tell them about us?"

  "The truth."

  Okay… I stare into his blue eyes. He looks earnest. Ethan always looks earnest. There's no reason why I should doubt his intentions.

  "We're having fun." He raises a brow. "Why do you look so worried?"

  I don't know. Something about this feels off. But it's very difficult to think with Ethan's naked, sopping wet body pressed against mine. "Just not looking forward to the third degree."

  "Yeah. It's annoying. Like having two extra older brothers." He shampoos and rinses his hair. "But everyone's glad your here."