by Grace James
“Like everything else in your life?” I teased gently, but inside I was glowing.
He smiled. “Yeah, pretty much. Everything apart from you, that is.”
I gave him an incredulous look. “I’m pretty sure this –” I gestured back and forth between us with my finger “– is mainly on your terms, mister.”
“No, Princess. With you, nothing had ever been on my terms. You’ve always held all the cards.”
I was stunned – I didn’t see things that way.
But one look in his face told me that he sure did.
48
The police did come talk to Blake later that day but, like he had predicted, it seemed like they were just going through the motions. One of them even asked for a selfie with him before they left.
I talked to my family that day, too. They asked a million questions which pretty much all centered around the same thing: what the hell was I doing giving Blake another chance after what happened last time? But after I assured them that we were taking it slow (I may have stretched the truth a little there) they calmed down just enough to stop texting me every half hour.
Over the next week, the press ran more stories about me and Blake.
And I was stupid enough to look at them, despite promising myself I’d never do that again. But, like I said, when it’s you it’s hard not to.
One gossip site named me – Blake’s two-week anonymity timescale turned out to be way too generous. Another claimed that Blake and I had met for the first time when he and Derren “selected Las Vegas music venue, The Academy, for their impromptu show” – so they were way out. Yet another ran a story that stated that I was his high school sweetheart and went into great detail about how we broke up due to my infidelity. Wrong again.
But even with the doubts of my family in the back of my mind, and the media intrusion, I was happy. Like, crazy, dancing on the ceiling happy.
For about a week.
49
I sat between Blake’s muscular legs, my back against his front, as the sun beat down on us. The smell of burning steaks drifting across the patio didn’t make it any less relaxing as we lay together on a sun lounger in Kane’s back yard.
“This is so nice,” I murmured.
He made a sleepy noise of agreement and continued to massage my bare shoulders.
We’d spent the last couple of hours around Kane’s pool with the other guys, Hayley and Nick – who was right then attempting to rescue the steaks from the flames of Kane’s barbeque. “They’re cremated,” he said, stabbing at them with a skewer.
“Aw, shit,” Kane grumbled. “I knew I should’ve called Cathy to come over.”
“Who’s Cathy?” I asked, wondering if he had a new girlfriend I didn’t know about.
“Maid-slash-housekeeper-slash-cook,” he reeled off. “Hired her last week.”
“And she’d just come right over if you called out of the blue?”
Blake snorted. “The stacks he’s paying her, she’d be here before he even hung up the phone. You should’ve done that by the way, dude, those steaks would’ve been good right around now.”
“Yeah, whatever,” Kane grumbled. “Didn’t see you offering to help.”
I felt Blake shrug behind me.
“Hey, you’re a good cook,” I said, tapping his knee with my fingertip.
He whispered into my ear, “Yeah, but if I get up to help everyone’s gonna see my boner.”
I stifled a giggle; I’d been feeling the evidence of his arousal against my lower back since just after I first lay down with him, fresh from the pool, ten minutes before.
Nick abandoned the steaks to their fate and came to sit down on the lounger next to us. “Aiden called this morning and asked when we can send Halogen over for him to listen to,” he said to Blake. “You want me to send it how it is or you wanna play with it some more?”
“I’m not happy with the vocals on the bridge,” Blake said, still rubbing my shoulders. “We’ll re-record them tonight when Amy’s at work, then you can send the WAVs over.”
A shriek from across the pool drew everyone’s attention to where Danny was swimming with two ‘friends’ that he’d made during the week that he had been in town. Sabrina and Kennedy were apparently big fans of topless tanning, cosmetic surgery, and Danny – who at that moment, possibly because he was aware everyone was looking, took the opportunity to motorboat Sabrina.
Derren let out a loud snigger as Nick and Kane chuckled; I felt Blake’s chest shake behind me and knew he was laughing, too – but silently. I nipped his side playfully and said, “What’s up, chuckles?” to see if he’d admit it.
“My cock,” he muttered into my ear. “‘Cause your little bikini is fucking torture.”
Grinning, I said, “Nice deflection.”
“Ugh,” Hayley groaned from the sun lounger next to ours where she was reclining, looking incredible, in a vintage-inspired emerald green two piece. “If Danny brings The Collagen Twins over with him again tonight, I’m going out. I can’t deal with another night of, Oh my God, Danny! Spank me with your drumstick!”
We all cracked up at her impression as ‘The Collagen Twins’ continued to shriek and splash Danny, oblivious to the conversation we were having.
“Southern Verve are playing The Academy,” I told her. “Come watch.”
“Ooo, yeah, I might,” she agreed.
“If you’re messing with Halogen tonight I wanna re-take a few parts on the second guitar while we’re at it,” Derren piped up, turning the conversation back to the song.
“Cool,” Nick replied, nodding. “I’ll text Aiden and tell him we’ll shoot the WAVs across late tonight or first thing tomorrow.”
“What’s a WAV?” I asked.
“Wicked Awesome Vocal,” Blake said making the others laugh.
“One day your head’s going to get so big you’ll just float away like a weather balloon,” I joked. “What is it really?”
“It’s a Waveform Audio File Format,” Derren said. “Basically, just the song in a file you can send via email or put on Dropbox or whatever.”
“So, you have a song done already?” I asked, surprised. They’d only been in the studio a few days.
“Yeah, well, we got two done,” Blake said, finally stopping the shoulder massage to wrap his arms around me and – probably not that subtly – press my back down harder on his erection. “But Halogen’s pretty much there, the other one’s still rough.”
“That’s quick, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, I guess, but we already had them all figured out. It was just a case of laying them down.”
The sudden buzzing of my cell on the little plastic table next to our sun lounger made me jump. I knew before I even looked that it was Mel calling me again. I’d been dodging her calls, sending her a few texts instead to put her off, because I knew that when I finally did talk to her she was going to give me hell over getting back together with Blake.
“Just talk to her, Princess” Blake said, obviously seeing the display of the cell over my shoulder. “Tell her what’s what.”
I glanced back at him and nodded; he was right, I couldn’t avoid her forever. Bracing myself, I swiped my thumb across the screen to answer. “Hey,” I said, a little too perkily, as I put the cell to my ear. “How’re you doing?”
Mel’s no-nonsense voice immediately sounded down the line. “Don’t act like you haven’t been ignoring me, it’s insulting.”
I started to push myself up off of Blake, holding the phone away from my mouth to whisper to him, “I’m going to take this inside.”
As soon as I moved, his hand went to his crotch to readjust the bulge in his shorts. I couldn’t stifle my giggle, and he shot me a look that said, Just you wait.
“Are you THERE?” Mel demanded.
“Uh, yeah – look, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to ignore you. I’ve just been –”
“Bullcrap,” Mel cut me off. “You totally meant to.”
I sighed as I walked throu
gh the sliding glass door into Kane’s kitchen. “Okay, you’re right. I just wasn’t sure how to explain and I knew you’d be…um…opinionated.”
“‘Opinionated’? Is that another word for ‘bitch’?”
“No!”
“Right.”
“Oh, come on, I would never call you a bitch.” I reached the kitchen island and leant my elbows on the cool, white surface.
“Nooo, that’s true. You’d just call me OPINIONATED instead.”
“Mel, I’m sorry. I just needed to take a minute to get it straight in my own head before I explained it to anyone else. Me and Blake…you know it’s complicated.”
“Yeah, I know – which makes you and him suddenly being all over the internet sucking face even more crazy. Have you seen him since?”
It was then that I realized that all Mel had to go on was what the media had put out there.
“Well, actually, we’re sort of dating,” I told her. “So, yeah, I’ve seen him…a lot.”
Silence.
“…Mel?”
“I’m here…I’m just processing…”
I started to play it down. “It isn’t a big deal, we’re just seeing how it goes –”
The sliiiide and click of the glass door behind me made me jump. Turning around, I saw Blake standing there in all his half naked glory – the guy knew how to rock a pair of board shorts – but the slight narrowing of his eyes told me he’d heard what I’d just said.
“Sure,” Mel said, her complete disbelief evident. “You’re ‘just seeing how it goes’ like it’s no biggie? Yeah, no, I don’t believe that and neither do you.”
Her words, combined with Blake’s stare, made me wince inwardly. “Well, that’s what’s going on,” I said into the phone.
She paused again.
As I waited for her to talk, Blake started to move towards me slowly, his eyes never leaving mine.
“Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” Mel finally asked when Blake was only a foot away.
“Yeah – I mean, pretty much.”
“So, in other words, ‘no, not really’?”
I opened my mouth to answer but right at that moment Blake closed the final distance between us, his hands going to my waist as he pushed my back against the island and nuzzled into my neck, skimming his teeth over my pulse.
“Do you trust him?” Mel’s voice sounded in my ear.
Blake’s dark hair brushed against my cheek as he landed open mouthed kisses on my neck, working down to my collar bone while his hands shaped my waist, his fingers gripping my flesh hungrily.
“Yes,” I managed. “I mean, it’s only been a couple of weeks, but –” I stopped short when Blake suddenly, and roughly, pulled my red bandeau top down enough to expose the peaks of my breasts. Then his hot tongue landed on my left nipple, circling it and then drawing it into his mouth. I bit my lip to stop from gasping into the phone.
“What changed?” Mel inquired. “What did he do to make you do a complete one-eighty?”
“We talked a lot and he’s been…” Blake gave my nipple a final flick of his tongue before moving his attentions to the other “…he’s been honest, and sweet –” I stopped talking as Blake straightened up and kissed me full on the mouth, pressing his warm, hard body against mine.
“Well, no matter how many sweet gestures he makes, that guy should come with a hazard warning – you know that, right?”
Blake heard that. Even if his ear hadn’t been so close to my phone, I would’ve known by his reaction. He broke our kiss, pulling back to look me dead in the eyes while he waited for me to answer.
So…no pressure…
“Um, as my therapist, aren’t you supposed to be trying to make me feel positive?” I asked, trying for light-hearted.
“No, I’m supposed to help you face reality.”
Abruptly, Blake grabbed me tighter and started to maneuver me around the island. I pulled my cell away from my face so that I could whisper, “What are you doing?”
He didn’t answer. Instead, he leant in and kissed me hard as he continued to walk me backwards towards the door at the other side of the kitchen – the one that led to the garage.
“Amy, I’m not saying all of this to be harsh,” Mel continued, oblivious to the fact that one of Blake’s hands was delving into the back of my bikini bottoms and groping my bare ass.
I broke our kiss long enough to mumble, “I know,” before Blake’s lips were back on mine.
He hurried me into the huge garage and flicked on the light switch. The immaculate paintwork of Kane’s six highly-polished cars gleamed as the florescent lighting blinked to life above us. I only registered my surroundings for a second, though, before Blake slammed the door shut behind us and shoved me back against it, his mouth devouring mine in a wicked kiss.
I arched into him, lifting a hand to trail up the thick column of his neck and into the back of his hair.
His hands were on my hips, holding me firmly in place while he ravaged me with his tongue –
“Are you still THERE?” Mel asked, when I had apparently been quiet for too long.
“Mmhm.”
“Look, I just want you to remember that he comes with a world of issues. You can’t forget that.”
Blake stilled. He’d clearly heard that little comment, too.
Pulling back a little, he released his hold on me and pressed both of his hands flat against the door on either side of my head. His eyes glinted fiercely under the cold lights.
“I’m not going into this blind,” I said gently. I was talking to the man in front of me as much as I was talking to Mel. “I know him. I know who he is.”
“And who is he? Aside from the guy who SNUCK out of your bed in the middle of the night and left town for YEARS? Or the guy who’s ploughed his way through more women than Hugh Hefner has in a lifetime?”
Blake’s jaw tightened as a scowl cut across his features.
Lifting my hand – the one not holding the phone – I clasped his wrist, rubbing my thumb softly over the ink covering his pulse.
“Yes, that’s who he is,” I said – there was no point denying it. “But he’s so much more than that, too.”
For a moment, there was silence, both on the other end of the call and in the garage, and then I heard Mel sigh. “Well…okay then, I guess. I’m not gonna fight with you. Just – please – be careful. I don’t want to see you hurt like you were last time.”
Before I could answer, Blake snatched my phone away from me and put it to his ear. “She won’t be,” he said sharply, before jabbing his thumb against the screen, ending the call.
I was staring at him, mouth slightly open, when he tossed the phone onto the utility counter next to us. “You didn’t have to –”
“Gonna fuck the doubt right out of your eyes, Princess,” he growled, right before he forced my head back against the door with the intensity of his kiss.
The next second, his hands were everywhere – kneading my ass, squeezing my boobs, tugging on my nipples, raking through my hair as he stepped closer and pressed me hard against the wood.
My lower stomach clenched at the feel of the straining heat in his board shorts. Immediately, I slid a hand down to grasp his cock through the material. Blake grunted and I felt him tense – then I let out a little gasp of surprise when he suddenly palmed my ass and lifted me up, coaxing me to wrap my legs around his waist. As soon as I did, he pushed away from the door and turned, striding toward a sparkling, grey Dodge Challenger.
Never breaking our kiss, he set me down on the hood, then shoved my top down completely to gather around my waist. He lavished attention on my breasts, sucking and licking, before gently pushing me back so I was lying on the cool metal. Next, he pulled my bikini bottoms down and off, then dropped his head between my thighs. He explored every part of me, trailing his hot tongue between my folds, circling my entrance before lapping inside, then flicking it softly over my clit while the very tip of one of his fingers barely teased thr
ough my wetness.
My whole body was tingling with pent up pleasure, my legs shaking, by the time he slooooowly pushed a single digit inside of me.
Involuntarily, I bucked against his hand, murmuring nonsense. His finger kept stroking me and teasing me, keeping me on the edge as he started to move up my body, kissing over my stomach and breasts to my neck.
I skimmed my hands over his powerful chest and abdomen, seeking the waistband of his shorts so I could free his cock. It sprang forward into my hand, scorching hot and hard, like heated iron wrapped in velvet. I started to play with him, working my hand up and down, until he moved forwards with a groan.
I guided him inside me, loving the feeling of him stretching me, moaning as he gradually filled me…
When he was buried to the hilt, he lifted his head and locked his eyes with mine. “Stay with me,” he breathed as he started to thrust into me. “Let me see those beautiful eyes when you come.”
I bit my lip to try and keep quiet as he started to slam into me harder, as my inner muscles started to flutter in delicious agony.
He slipped his hands underneath my back to curl around my shoulders, stopping me from moving further up the hood of the Dodge while he plunged in to me over and over.
My mouth dropped open in a silent scream when I came apart, and it took everything I had to keep eye contact with him – but it was worth it. As I clamped around his huge cock, I saw the moment he started to come. His shoulders bunched; the cords stood out on his neck; his jaw clenched to contain his animal growl – it was so damn hot that my orgasm just kept going and going…
Eventually, Blake’s thrusts slowed to a shuddering stop…but my inner walls were still pulsing gently around him every few seconds, like my body just didn’t want to let him go.
His lips slid into a lazy smile as he gazed down at me. “Like fucking storm clouds,” he muttered, quietly. “Most amazing thing I’ve ever seen.”
50
Hayley: Can you come over? I’m still fighting a losing battle with this damn seating plan for the wedding. I need help! AND the guys are driving me nuts! Whose idea was it to record this damn album in MY HOUSE anyway? I wanna murder them all!