The Rock Star Next Door #1

by Cole, Starla

  Jewel set the glasses on the counter and caught his eye. She seemed happy, excited, and this was infectious.

  Rage slowly twisted the stopper. It didn’t want to give at first, but he felt the tension building in the bottle as it moved. “I think it’s going to —” He didn’t get to finish as the top came out and champagne spilled out over the top.

  “Oh!” Jewel cried and stuck the glass near him. He tilted the bottle and let the bubbling liquid splash into the crystal flute.

  When they were both full, he set down the bottle and lifted his glass. “To not getting screwed by a label,” he said.

  “To success,” Jewel corrected and lifted hers.

  “Same thing,” he said, and they laughed and clinked the glasses.

  Now he wasn’t sure what to do. He wasn’t much of a champagne drinker, but Jewel seemed happy and delighted, wandering the room with the glass in her hand like she belonged in such a situation, surrounded by fancy furniture, at the top of a glitzy hotel.

  He wanted these things for her. He could give them to her, if he played everything right.

  She paused in front of an enormous painting of a woman and her small daughter. “This is beautiful,” she said. “Reminds me of your mom. I remember Christina.”

  At his sister’s name, Rage felt his heart squeeze. “It’s been a long time.” His little sister had drowned in a friend’s swimming pool when she was only five. Once again he was glad for Jewel, someone who knew his whole history without him having to say a word.

  “It does look like them,” he said. “They were always the tow-heads of the family, when dad and I got the dark hair.”

  Jewel reached out for his hand and squeezed it. “It’s just you and your dad now. Don’t forget about him.”

  “I won’t. He always says he’s glad Mom could be back with Chris.” Another squeeze.

  Jewel turned into him then, her head on his chest. He wrapped his arm around her back, his heart thudding. They had never been this close not ever.

  He set his glass on a little table next to them and ran his fingers through her hair. How to do this, and do it right? He could feel her heart beating too, out of sync with his. Also fast. She was feeling it too, he could tell.

  She pulled away, just a little, to look up at him, and squeezed her hand around his again. He hadn’t seen that look often, not from the girls who came on to him now, who were all about moving fast and getting to the main event. And he hadn’t seen it on Jewel much either, even when she had been moon-eyed over one guy or another in high school.

  But her expression was a lot of things at once, tender and fiery and hopeful and expectant. He didn’t think consciously about what to do but just followed instinct, and leaned down, close enough to smell her shampoo and her own unmistakable scent, of home, of familiarity.

  His lips brushed against hers, lightly, still something that could pass for friendly, testing how she felt about it. She seemed tentative too, curling her free hand against his chest, as if she might push away at any moment.

  He held them there for a long moment, just a light caress of mouth on mouth.

  Then she relented, just a touch, relaxing the tiniest fraction, and he couldn’t stop it now, his hand behind her head, pressing her into him, a crushing kiss that delved deeply into her mouth, tongues clashing, their heartbeats clanging against each other.

  Rage didn’t think ahead, just relished this moment, reveled in it, fearful she might pull away and stop them. She let go of his hand and curled her arm around his back.

  This was all he’d ever dreamed of since he’d been old enough to know what he was feeling.

  9. Jewel: Giving In

  Jewel clung to Rage, drowning in the kiss. He wasn’t familiar at all to her now, all muscle and hard edges, smelling like a man and not a boy-teen, confident and bold.

  His fingers slipped through her hair, holding her tight, his mouth exploring hers. She’d been swept away by a kiss a time or two, but this was a whole different level of intensity, as if she’d opened the door to a closet whose contents she knew intimately and yet, it surprised her with its color and depth, as if she’d never seen any of it before.

  Rage walked them forward toward the bedroom. He didn’t break the kiss, but his hands moved to her waist, holding on to her, making sure she didn’t stumble.

  Jewel knew if she was going to choose another path, if she was going to stop this thing he’d started, they’d started, then the time was now. She broke the kiss, sucking in air, and he halted, waiting.

  “Rage?” The new name came easily to her now.

  He dragged her against him again, back to where her cheek pressed against his white shirt. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I don’t know what this is.”

  She turned away to walk over to the bed. “Sit down. Sit here with me.”

  He perched on the edge, but brought her close, between his legs, and pressed her into his thigh to sit on him. His head went to her chest, like a boy getting comfort, and her heart splintered.

  “You think we’re confusing things?” she whispered into his hair. “Mixing up how much we’ve missed family with ... other things?”

  “Maybe.” His voice was muffled against her shirt. “I’ve thought about it every way. When you left for London I thought it was a good thing, that maybe I’d love some other girl now that I wouldn’t have to compare them to you.”

  Holy hell, he’d been doing that? Jewel searched through memories, especially there at the end, when she was still living at home and he was a seemingly ordinary teenager with an obsession with his guitar. But yes, she could see it now. He’d always watched her, been completely on her side on everything. He forgot about Matt completely when she walked into a room. The friendship with her brother must have been a means to her end.

  She just hadn’t felt that way about him, not with the age difference mattering like it had back then, plus living at home, with their parents watching them.

  “We haven’t done anything. Just a little ... kiss. It’s nothing.” But she knew better. Something had started. And that ache inside her wasn’t going to give up easily. Nobody had ever looked at her the way Rage was right now. He knew everything about her, from her awkward stages to her terrible singing voice. He’d seen her grow up, witnessed every spectacular fail. And yet he was right here.

  Now he was standing up, setting her away from him. “You’re right. We can stop this, stop it now.” He took a couple steps away, and everything in her rebelled. What if this were the one true thing? If she’d dated a dozen boys already and nothing had even come close to feeling like this, maybe it never would again.

  Jewel stepped back in, her heart thumping so hard that she could feel it in her throat. “I think I want this. I mean, I know I do. I see you so differently —”

  She didn’t even finish before he was back on her again, taking her mouth greedily, hands on her hips and clasping her tight against him. His erection was hard against her belly and the fire licking through her made her head rush.

  He left her mouth and trailed his lips along her jaw bone, down to her throat. When she groaned, he reached behind her to cup her bottom, pulling her against his hips so he could grind into her.

  God, everything about him was so hard and masculine. She’d never dated anyone like this, so sexy and bold. She had always picked sensitive thoughtful boys like Ethan, who didn’t inspire this level of need. Why had she done that? What was she afraid of?

  His hands moved to her waist band, flirting with the bottom of her tank, and grazed her skin. The contact was so electric that she jumped, pushing against him, and with that encouragement he yanked the shirt up and over her head.

  The air conditioning kissed her shoulders even as his hot mouth crossed her collarbone. He pulled the bra strap aside with his teeth, nibbling his way down, and when the cup fell away, his lips closed over her nipple.

  She cried out, her legs weak, clinging to his shoulders. He wrapped his hands around her back, keeping her stea
dy, sucking deeply, and the heat overwhelmed her.

  Jewel walked backwards until her legs bumped into the bed and pulled him down with her. They separated on the way down and Rage rolled on his side, tugging at her bra to unlatch it and toss it across the room.

  Now she was exposed and he just looked at her, taking in each breast, cupping one reverently. “I never spied on you, not once, but I wanted to see you. I’ve thought about it so many times. I’d spend the night at your house and want to sneak to your room.” He bent down to kiss each puckered nipple. “You are more beautiful than I could even have imagined.” His eyes found hers. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

  He ran his hand down her belly, thumb encircling the hollow of her navel. “Can I undress you? Just look at you?”

  She nodded, feeling dumbstruck. He seemed so in awe of her, like she was some incredible prize.

  He took his time now, popping the button to her jeans and taking the zipper down slowly, revealing her stomach and the lace of her panties. His fingers slid just inside the edge, and Jewel felt sparks flying. She needed him to touch her so badly.

  Rage shifted down, tugging off her ballet flats. He wrapped his hands around her ankles, smiling when his fingers easily went all the way around. His palms slid up her shins, crossed her knees, and worked their way up her thighs. She writhed on the bed, needing contact, and he turned his hands, letting his thumbs push between her legs, pressing the seam of her jeans into her.

  Jewel heard herself moan, and now she was so very wet. “Rage, please...”

  He chuckled lightly and yanked the unzipped jeans wide, peeling them over her hips. She lifted her pelvis and he pulled them down, leaving the panties.

  Jewel relaxed into the bedspread, loving the feel of the cool satin against her skin. His pace was torture, but exquisite, and she’d never imagined an encounter this heated, this charged.

  Rage picked up her bare leg, kissing the inside of her calf. He worked his way up, taking nipping bites as he got past her knee, then graduated to full suckling as he rose up her thighs.

  Jewel gripped handfuls of the comforter, dying for more, praying he’d move faster. He looked up at her a moment, a devilish smile playing across his face, then he was there, pressing his mouth into her mound, his lips separated from her skin only by the thin panties.

  She cried out again, lurching up, so he put his hands under her, lifting her hips so he had better access, jaw working against her folds. Just when she thought she’d have to rip the panties off herself, he reached around and snapped the lace. The satin fell away and now he was in, his tongue spearing her, and Jewel was seeing sparks again.

  He added a finger, then two, and focused his tongue on her clit. Her pelvis rocked with his rhythm and she let herself go, forgetting who he was, what anyone would think, and just dove into the pleasure of the moment.

  He paid attention, adjusting when she relaxed and pushing faster when she spiraled up again. The pulsing started deep inside and she could barely say, “I’m going to come” when it rushed at her, the spasms against his mouth, the world cracking in two, and her voice echoing off the walls of the hotel. She couldn’t come down, held suspended in that airy space, her body clenching and releasing, still moving against his mouth, until slowly, carefully, she drifted like a feather falling, the stars settling around her.

  Rage lay his head against her belly. She reached for his hair, twining her fingers in with the jelled spikes. She’d never experienced anything so intense.

  “We can stop now,” he whispered. “Bring it down a notch. You just got here.”

  But she wanted to do everything. She wanted him inside her, to fill her up, to complete the bond. “I want you,” she managed to get out, despite her throat being so hot and dry. “I want everything with you.”

  10. Rage: Desire and Disaster

  Rage felt dumbstruck. Jewel wanted him too? Everything he’d thought about since he was old enough to know which tab went into which slot was happening.

  He ran his hands up her thighs, smiling at how she glistened now. Hearing her cry out like that had been amazing, worth every girl he’d fumbled with to know what to do when he finally got to her.

  He wasn’t going to argue, and ripped his shirt over his head and kicked off the black boots. The belts some costume coordinator chick had insisted he wear jingled when they hit the floor.

  Jewel sat up now, pushing his hands away as he went to unzip his fly. Shit, she wanted to do it herself. His cock jumped for the millionth time in the last hour. This was actually going to happen.

  Her hair spilled over her shoulders, but he could see straight past her chin to those luscious breasts and flat belly. He wanted to touch that little thatch of hair below again, make her arch her back like she had earlier.

  But she was yanking on the snap of his pants, dragging the zipper, and tugging it all down. He sprang free right in front of her face and he almost lost it when she closed her hands around his cock. He kicked at the pants, still on his ankles, and got them free as she started working the shaft.

  She cupped his balls and leaned in. He didn’t even have time to anticipate her action when those lips closed over him and he had to hold on to her shoulders. She slipped down, taking him in, and her hair tickled his thighs as she moved up and down, slowly, agonizingly, driving him fucking crazy.

  Rage looked down at her dark head, the thick strands falling down her back just short of that sweet little ass. He could barely stand it and knew he’d blow the whole wad if he didn’t slow her down. The fact that she’d jumped right in and gotten down to business made him so hot for her that he wasn’t sure he’d make it ten seconds when he got inside her.

  He gritted his teeth to let her go on just a moment more, her soft lips surrounding him, his cock bumping the back of her throat, her fingers grasping the base. When he couldn’t handle any more, he lifted her up by the shoulders and pressed her back down on the bed. Certain positions got to him more than others, so he chose carefully, lying on his back and pulling her over to straddle him.

  “You sure?” he asked again. God, she was fucking beautiful, her hair cascading over her shoulders and curling around those breasts.

  Jewel nodded and crawled up his body on her hands and knees. Her legs fitted on either side of his hips, her hands by his ears. She leaned down and kissed him, her nipples brushing his chest. He grasped her head, taking her hard against his mouth. He could do this forever, and the anticipation of slipping inside her was intense. His cock was pressed against her skin where she straddled him, trapped between her pussy and his belly.

  She lifted her ass in the air, creating a gap between them, and he sprang up toward her. She reached down to guide him in.

  He bumped against her and she slid down, just to the head and everything in him tensed as he waited, on the precipice of pleasure. She held him there, pulsing against him, a half-smile on her face. Rage reached up to run his thumb across her cheek. He never dared touch her in all those years they’d lived side by side, other than a playful punch on the arm or the rare hug when she left for long periods. Now she was his, all of her was his.

  She slid further down, taking her time, and opened wide. Rage could feel his heart beating in his dick. Half his blood supply had to be inside her right now, those tight walls that encased him all the way now.

  A small “Oh!” escaped her and then she was moving, up and down, still leisurely, but in rhythm. Rage concentrated on her face, her closed eyes, the hair brushing his chest. His hands held on to her hips, squeezing, letting his thumbs stray closer to where they joined. He had to focus on other things, let the pleasure spiraling up stay in the background, so he could keep control. God, he just wanted to plant it in her, buck hard, and spew. But he had to be careful. She seemed too delicate, so petite and fragile.

  Jewel opened her eyes and tucked hair behind one ear so she could look at him. “I can’t believe I’m looking down and seeing you.” She ran her hands along his arms and crossed his c
hest. “You’re incredible. Not what I expected at all when I walked into that concert hall.”

  Her rhythm had slowed, so he pulled her down against him and neatly rolled them over so he was on top of her. She wrapped her legs around his back, and he sped things up, rocking into her until her eyes closed again and she gripped handfuls of the bedspread in her fists. “Rage, Jesus,” she said. “It’s incredible.”

  He focused on pumping into her, her breasts moving up and down. He sensed the shuddering feelings around his cock as she built up. He fingered one of her nipples, watching it harden and elongate. God, he could do this forever, he wanted it forever. His control was slipping, but shit, he realized they hadn’t talked about things. “Jewel, are you on the pill or anything?”

  Her eyes flew open. “Yes. I am.”

  She seemed alarmed, so he slowed down. “You still okay?”

  She nodded, but he could see the glistening of tears.

  “No, no you’re not.” Shit. She was feeling bad about what they’d done. Damn it. He shouldn’t have pushed. He should have let her be. “I’m sorry, Jewel. I should have had more self control.” He braced his hands on the bed and shifted so he could pull out of her.

  But she squeezed her legs around him, preventing him from going anywhere. “I just have to get used to this. I’m not a one night stand sort of girl.”

  “There was that guy Rob.”

  She half-laughed. “Oh, right. That guy.”

  “You picked a winner that time. Ripped jeans, chains, spiked hair, attitude.”

  Jewel reached up to tweak his hair. “Not so different from someone we know.”

  “I don’t THINK so!” Rage pushed down into her again, causing her to gasp. “I don’t call you ‘Bitch Babe.’”

  Jewel sucked in a breath as he thrust into her. “Say it again.”

  He floated above her a moment, then crashed into her and said, “Bitch Babe.”