“You are the least self-centered person I know. Your pride is believing you are stronger than you really are and refusing to let those who love you help you. Yes, you lied. Yes, that hurt me. But you did it for a good reason, one that you’ve yet to reveal. If I didn’t believe that I wouldn’t be here. So why, Miriam? Why did you really lie to me?”
“Because I didn’t want you to know how horribly I failed.” My shoulders sagged. “I didn’t want your opinion of me to change. I couldn’t have done what needed doing if you had withdrawn your love from me. Knowing I had it gave me the strength I needed to pick myself back up after I lost everything. More than Mom. More than Bry. You matter the most.”
“Oh, Miriam.” She shook her head sadly. The wiser more mature one. “I’m here now. You have me.” She took my hand. “And you have Juaquin?”
“Yes.” For the moment.
“Does he treat you right?”
“Better than right.”
“Good. Does he know what you’re worth? Does he love you?”
He saw me. He knew me as well as she did, better in a lot of important ways. We understood one another. We were so good together. But he didn’t love me. I couldn’t allow myself to believe that fantasy.
I shook my head.
“If that’s true, then it’s his loss.” Her fingers flexed sympathetically around my own. “I know how much you’ve always cared for him.” She straightened her shoulders and gave me a firm look. “So the porn and everything else that’s all over the internet. What are you going to do about it?” She stared at me expectantly.
“I don’t know, Annie,” I lied once more. I did know. I knew exactly what lay ahead for me, but I was too big a coward to completely sever the cord from her and her faith in me.
Chapter Thirty-One
King
I tapped my foot impatiently on the entryway tile.
“Gracias.” Miriam kissed my mother’s cheek and hugged her. Then she knelt down in front of my grandmother. They exchanged soft words, but I couldn’t hear them.
“Ándale, mamasota. Hurry up.” She was taking an eternity to say goodbye. “You’re not leaving forever. Just going to a hotel for the night. Dale. Come on.”
“Patience, nieto. I would say a bendición.” Abuelita waved me over. I almost growled but dutifully complied. I wanted Miriam to myself, us alone and both naked in the hotel room I had reserved for us after Sager’s advice. But how could I refuse my abuelita?
“God of Grace, bless these two children and the love they have found for each other.” I cracked opened my eyes to see how my queen reacted to my grandmother’s words, but her face was composed, and her eyes were closed. “Through its power may they always hope and believe and endure all things. Amen.”
“Gracias, grandmother.” I leaned down to kiss her cheek. Miriam did the same, then I tugged on her arm. “No more goodbyes.” I hitched the backpack higher on my shoulder. It was light. I had warned my queen that she wouldn’t need anything tonight but a toothbrush.
“If I didn’t know you so well,” I told Miriam once we were outside and I helped her into the passenger seat of the Hummer, “I would think you were stalling. Tassels,” I added. The hem of her crochet sweater hung down into door frame.
“You know better than that.” She swept the offending strings inside the vehicle. “I want as much time with you as I can have.” She peered up at me through her lashes. “I’m looking forward to spending the entire night alone with you, Juaquin.”
Ay Dios mio. I wanted her so badly. My throat went dry. I could only nod to acknowledge her statement. My cock was so hard, it was difficult to walk with dignity as I rounded the hood. Somehow, I managed it, got in and fired up the engine. She cranked up the volume on the stereo, returning the smile I gave her.
“You’re an excellent copilot.”
“Not a hardship to be sitting shotgun beside you, Juaquin.” She glanced away. “Any woman would be honored to be in my place.”
“Thank you, Reina.” I felt her praise pierce my heart. The words I planned to say were ready to flow, but I staunched them. Not here. Not yet. Everything had to be perfect when I told her.
The screaming vocals. The blazing guitars. The kickass drumming. They vibrated the metal cabin as I steered the vehicle through the streets in the direction of the freeway.
“Where are we going?” She shouted to be heard, and I grinned, reaching for the dial and turning the music down.
“The Alexis.”
“Whoa. That’s a pretty fancy address.” She glanced down at herself and frowned. I grabbed her hand and kissed her knuckles. “You look fantastic.” Lacey sweater that fell to her knees. Tank. Jeans shorts. Sandals that drew attention to the length of her legs. Sexy bohemian with a southwestern kick. “I love your style. Though I will admit I prefer you naked.”
“I prefer you that way, too.”
“Excellent.” I grinned.
“But seriously, it’s a high tone hotel. I went there during prom when one of the rich kid’s parents bought a couple of rooms for us to party in. You don’t need to spend that kind of money on me. I’m a sure thing.”
She was anything but a sure thing, at least the type of sure thing I wanted her to be, every single night beside me. But I determined that I would get her there.
“Miriam, I have money now. I know the value of it. I worked hard to get where I am. I want to splurge tonight. Not to impress you, but because I want to make tonight special for you.”
“It already is.” Her lips formed a smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes.
“I feel the same way,” I stated softly. After so many wrong turns we had taken, this felt right. I turned my gaze away from her to focus on driving. The hectic downtown traffic deserved my attention.
I exited the freeway and got lucky with green lights all the way to First Avenue. I pulled the Hummer directly in front of the historic four story turn of the century building. Killing the engine, I swiveled part way around, grabbed the backpack from the floorboard behind me and got out. A light ocean scented breeze tossed my hair around as I rounded the hood to let my queen out of her unconventional chariot.
“Thank you,” she said, and the simple act of her sliding her hand into my outstretched one made my heart pound and my eyes burn with possessiveness.
“Mr. Acenado,” a valet in a crisp black uniform called, drawing my attention from Miriam. “I’ll take your keys if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.” I tossed them to him. Two world tours. A triple platinum album. Yet, I sometimes forgot the drill at fancy hotels, and the fact that strangers often knew me by sight.
Hand in hand, we ducked beneath the awning emblazoned with the name of the hotel, entered it through the glass doors and stepped inside the small but elegantly appointed lobby.
“Mr. Acenado.” A middle-aged woman in a dark business suit abandoned the front desk and scurried to greet us. “I’m the VIP concierge. We’re honored to have you staying with us.” She gestured to her left. “If you’re ready to go to your room, I’ll escort you there personally.”
I nodded and she took us to the elevators, holding the door open for us to enter ahead of her. Once inside, she discretely faced forward, and I took advantage of the relative privacy to pull Miriam close. Brushing the length of her hair aside, I trailed my nose along the exposed column of her neck. I felt her shiver as I planted a soft kiss beneath her ear. We arrived at our floor too soon for me to take things any further.
The concierge stepped out, and we followed once again as she led us down a quiet hall. She stopped at our door, waved a card in front of the pad and entered the suite. We stepped past her, the oceanfront view out the floor to ceiling windows drawing both of us forward.
“It’s beautiful.” Miriam withdrew her hand from mine to get a closer look. “You can see the Ferris Wheel. The water. The market. Everything. It’s very romantic.”
“So the room meets with your approval?” the concierge queried.
“Everything’s perfect,” I asserted, staring at Miriam once more. She still had her back to me, her eyes on the water. I moved toward her vaguely registering the door clicking closed as the concierge left. Sensing my presence or maybe seeing my approach in the glass Miriam turned to me even as I slid my arms around her waist.
“I love how you do that.”
“Do what, Reina?”
“Glide toward me so smoothly. Touch me so gently. Press your body into me. It’s sexy.”
“If you are across the room, I am thinking about closing the distance between us. If I’m not touching you I’m contemplating it. When our bodies are close, I only want them closer. After I have you, I want you again. So if I am sexy, it’s just a reflection of the way I feel about you.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Miriam
“Juaquin.” I lifted my arms and twined them around his neck, my fingers sifting through the thick hair at his nape. “I…” what could I tell him? That he exceeded all my dreams and expectations? No. That would be giving too much away.
“Speechless, huh?” His lips curved. “I can work with that.” He skimmed his fingers along my jaw, tangled them in my hair and tugged, a firm but gentle persuasion for me to lift my head. He lowered his and like the first kiss he had given me, this one rocked me, making my body burn with desire at the same time that it made my heart break. Juaquin was everything I wanted. But this would be goodbye tonight. So I committed everything to memory. The texture of his mouth. The warmth of his breath. The thrust of his tongue. The seductive perfection of him.
I moaned.
He groaned. Lifted. Repositioned his angle. Deepened the devastation. Mouth unremitting. Hands sliding along the sides of my breasts on their way to the narrowing at my waist. Gripping me tight. Holding me. Making me pant. Making me so, so wet.
“Juaquin.” Trembling, I tore my mouth from his. “Enough. Please.”
“What’s wrong, Reina?” He released me, his fingers relinquishing their hold. I stepped back. He stretched his arms out, his palms flipped up and open. He had surrendered immediately to my plea.
“It’s just too much.” Him. Standing there. A body that seemed perfectly sculpted to give me the greatest pleasure. Hair shadowing eyes that glittered like gold. A treasure even more costly. “You’re too much.”
“Ah, for certain.” He grinned, a slow upward glide of the edges of his mouth that arrowed toward the darkness in his eyes. “And I can be much more.” He took a determined step toward me. “Let me be more.” He didn’t pause for my permission. He took what he wanted, plunging his hands into my hair. He kissed me. I didn’t refuse him. I couldn’t refuse him. He kissed me breathless. He kissed me dizzy. He kissed me until my legs turned to liquid and his hands at my waist became the only thing that kept me from melting into the carpet.
“Get in the bed, Reina. Clothes off. Now,” he demanded.
I nodded. Clumsy fingers tangled up in the lacework of my sweater for several frustratingly long moments. I had scratched both my arms with my fingernails by the time I finally managed to get it off. I quickly tugged my shirt over my head and tossed it on the floor.
“Too slow,” he said and came barreling toward me. He grabbed me by the upper arms and tossed me into the center of the bed. My back bounced on the mattress. My breasts jiggled.
“Juaquin,” I sat up sputtering his name, balanced on my elbows as he came down, his body overshadowing me. “Wait. I can’t catch my breath.”
“Then don’t.” He pressed his palms into my shoulders, pushing me backward. He yanked my legs apart. I gave up trying to slow down and grabbed him, my hands on the hard slab of muscles at his hips as he positioned himself between my spread legs. He speared me with his cock in one breath robbing stroke. Head to hilt, he filled me. Only his, completely and irrevocably though he could never know it.
He began to move, and I moved in tandem. He thrust in deep. I lifted to take him deeper. He groaned. The sound of his pleasure made me hot. Whatever he needed, I wanted to give him. He fucked me harder, faster. My pulse sped. My heart raced. My pussy throbbed. I ached. He built it so fast. The heat. The need for release. He lifted my ass, palming my flesh, his fingers digging into my skin hard enough to sting. And I loved it, loved his strength and the way it seemed as though I drove him so mad with lust.
“Juaquin,” I warned. He was so, so hot and his hard cock felt so, so good inside me. “I…”
“Wait,” he commanded, and I did. I was his to control. I crushed the comforter in my grip. He sank his delicious length in deep. He drug himself slowly back out, his eyes closing as he savored the feel of me squeezing him. I shuddered. His handsome face above me, he speared me to the marrow, to the very soul as he went in so deep our heartbeats became one.
“Miriam.” He groaned my name. He didn’t usually speak when he was so close. My eyes fluttered back open. I focused on him, his expression so raw, so compelling, so everything I needed.
“Yes. I know, Juaquin. I know.” If he was everything I needed, I saw that I was the same for him. I dug my fingers into his ass, the edge of my nails scoring, driving him to the brink with me.
“Miriam,” he groaned again. “Mi Reina. My queen.” He filled me. He took us where we both needed to go. Lifted high. Swept away. Together.
* * *
King
“Oh no, no, no.” Looking panicked, she scrambled backward. “We forgot to use protection.” The direction of her gaze moved to where my fluid and hers had dampened the sheets.
“It’s ok, Miriam. I’m clean. Totally. WMO wouldn’t let me anywhere near their star until they did a million tests and had me sign at least that many consents. And I’m never unsafe.”
Until now, I thought.
“I’m on the pill,” she admitted. “All my bloodwork’s negative, too. And I haven’t been with anyone but you since I left California.”
My brows rose. “But your boyfriend…”
“He always stopped things between us before they went that far. He told me he wanted to wait until we moved in together.” She shrugged like it wasn’t a big deal, but it so was.
“So it’s ok.” On my hands and knees I moved forward, grabbed her and flipped to my back, draping her over me and positioning so I could get her onto my lap. Her sexy legs shifted sideways over my own. “Shh,” I soothed, stroking her hair the way I knew she liked. “Settle. There’s no reason to panic.” But her expression remained troubled. It became more apparent than ever to me that I needed to declare myself to her. But I couldn’t concentrate with us both in this bed. Without releasing her, I scooted to the edge of it. I set her on the floor, spanked her perfect heart-shaped rear and shooed her toward the bathroom. “Go get cleaned up. We’re doing room service… before we do it again,” I explained noting the uncertainty in her expression.
“But I might need help reaching certain places.” She gave me that come-hither type of look over her shoulder. My cock stirred. “Just had you, mamasota. And I will have you again I promise you. But first fresh linens and food.”
After room service came and went, she emerged from the shower, a cloud of steam accompanying her. My gaze snagged on her, my steady heartbeats sputtering and nearly stalling completely. In just a white towel her dark hair falling down around her slim shoulders toward those phenomenal curves… well she looked more beautiful than any of those paintings mi hermano claimed were masterpieces. I moved toward her, my eyes blazing, her own sparkling with anticipation as she noted the heat in mine. Both of us knowing that all I had to do to unveil her was tug on that twist in her towel. Only…I stopped short and closed my hands, forcing myself to reach for
her instead. I had bigger plans, long term ones I had to unveil first.
“You gonna eat wearing the towel?”
“No, but I thought that you would want…” She bit her lip. “I wanted…” I sensed her disappointment.
“I do, too, I assure you. But it’s been too long since lunch.” On the bench in front of the bed I saw two white hotel robes. Housekeeping must have laid them out. I snagged one and draped it around her. She shimmied expertly out of the towel underneath the robe. Mi mujer had talent taking her clothes off that I wasn’t going to let her use on anyone else anymore but me.
As she belted the robe she noticed the set up by the windows. The candles. The roses. The food. “Juaquin.” She licked her lips. “Wow. That’s so pretty. You went to so much trouble. But I’m really not all that hungry. Not for food.” She stepped closer, her movements as seductive as they were on stage. I caught a peek of her creamy upper thigh and a tantalizing glimpse of her tits as the front of her robe parted.
“You need to eat.” I wet my dry lips and backed away from the temptation feeling like an idiot even as I reminded myself of the big picture. “I need to do this for you. Let me do this.” It seemed as though we were at odds in our purposes tonight. I kept trying to show her how deeply I felt. She seemed to be resisting. Shaking off the unsettling thought, I reached for the back of one of the chairs and pulled it out for her. “I want to take care of you.” I was determined.
“Alright,” she agreed, acquiescing, sweeping into the gap I left her and taking her seat. I removed the cover on her plate of food before moving to take my place across the small table from her.
“Margaritas and mole,” she exclaimed sitting forward in her chair and lifting her gaze. “This did not come from room service.”
“No, it didn’t,” I confirmed.
“Your mother?”
“The food, yes.” Mi madre boxed it up and I had a delivery service send it over. “The margaritas are from the bar. I gave them a recipe I like.”
Scandalous Beat (The Tempest Rock Star series Book 6) Page 19