She cried out softly, which only urged me to continue, knowing exactly what she liked, driving her crazy with my piercing. And right as I knew she was on the brink, I pulled back. She raised her head, her breath coming in short bursts, and glared at me. I just grinned back.
“Not cool,” she said, shaking her head, as I stood and stripped out of my clothes.
Emily watched me the whole time, and it took me a second to realize that she was touching herself. I saw her getting close again and knew what she was doing, so I reached out and grabbed her wrist, stilling her hand.
Shaking my head slowly, I said, “No princess. That’s my job.”
She pouted as I shook my head, but she moved her hand. I leaned down and kissed the tattoo on the inside of her wrist – a colorful flower with the words All You Can Do Is Jump circling it. They were my lyrics, and she’d gotten them tattooed on her wrist when we’d been broken up. I had the two lines that came before that one on the inside of my forearm, and I liked to think that before we figured out how to be together, we’d already been linked in so many ways, and that was just one of them.
I moved my hand to her waist and trailed it up her stomach to her ribcage to the words I knew were etched there. I freaking love that she wanted to tattoo my words on her skin. It was so hot in so many ways, and over the summer she’d gotten Without You I’m Nothing, the first line of Without You tattooed onto one of the most sensitive places of her body, trailing down her ribs. I’d held her hand, and her eyes had leaked tears throughout the whole process, but she’d been firm that it was where she’d wanted them.
I ran my thumb down the length, having done it so many times that I didn’t even need to lift up her shirt to know exactly where they were. When I looked up at her, I saw that she’d been watching me with a small smile playing on her lips.
“My job,” I repeated softly, and she just nodded.
“Fine, then I get to choose how,” she said, her voice rough, as she stood and pulled her tank top off over her head, revealing the words that I’d just traced. Then she unhooked her bra and let it drop to the floor. She ran her hands up over her bare breasts and bit her lip as she looked at me, knowing exactly how hot she was when she did that.
I grinned. I liked when she took charge. “What’s your pleasure?” I asked, as she shifted her hands to her hips, looking up at me in a defiant, sexy way that made me want to quit stalling and dive right in.
“There’s something I’ve always wanted to try in this room,” she said, stepping around me. She walked to the corner of the couch and glanced back at me. “You see, the arm of this sofa is higher than most, and it’s wider.”
As she said it, she bent over at the waist and stuck her ass in the air, and my jaw slackened just enough for her to know that I hadn’t been expecting something so brazen. Apparently she was getting back at me for throwing her on top of the desk at the radio station the week before.
She looked over at me expectantly. “Are you waiting for an invitation?”
Holy shit, that’s hot.
“Uh, no,” I said quickly and in two seconds flat I was behind her, my hands on her hips as she wiggled her tight little ass closer to me.
I figured I’d tease her just a little more and leaned over to trail kisses down her back, as I ran my finger between her legs. She pushed back against my hand, so I pushed into her, as I continued to kiss my way over the expanse of her soft skin. When I reached the bottom of her back, I sunk my teeth in gently, biting her on the hip.
“Zack,” she groaned in a really hot way, as she looked over her shoulder, eyes pleading. I knew she wanted more. I loved that she wanted more.
Figuring I wouldn’t goad her any further, I slid my finger out of her. Then I pushed forward and sunk as deep into her as I could go. She cried out, making the sexiest sound I’d ever heard, so I pulled back and sunk back in again.
“Oh my God, baby. That feels amazing!”
“Yeah?”
“Hell yeah. Are you sure this room is soundproof?”
“I’m sure,” I grunted out as I started to move again. “Feel free to be as loud as you want.”
And for the next few minutes she didn’t hold back. Knowing how close she was, I reached around her hip with one hand and stroked her evenly in time with my thrusts, and soon she was toppling over the edge, crying out my name.
“Again,” she said, soon after she recovered, so I smacked her lightly on the ass.
“Getting greedy?” I teased.
“Only for you,” she said breathlessly.
“I can live with that,” I said as I increased my rhythm.
Within a few minutes, she was on the verge again, and I was right there with her. One more thrust, and she was calling out to God as I collapsed on top of her, my front against her back, the two of us a sweaty, satiated unit.
“How was that?” I breathed out.
“So good,” she groaned, her voice muffled by the couch cushions. “I think I’m just going to go to sleep right here, right now.”
I chuckled. “With me still inside you?”
“Sure, why not. It would make for a nice way to wake up in the morning.”
“Oh, princess. I love when your mind goes to that dark and dirty place that I just knew was there when I met you last summer.”
She laughed lightly. “Yeah, well, I just needed a bad boy like you to bring it out of me.”
I thought back to the summer before when I’d tested her to see just how far I could push her. When we’d first met, she was so sheltered, but there was this moment when we were standing by my motorcycle, and she turned on this completely sexy vibe that I wasn’t sure she even knew she was exuding. Then she continued to toy with me all night until I finally relented and gave her what she wanted.
And what was supposed to be a one-night stand or a summer fling actually turned out to be the best thing to ever happen to me. I just didn’t know it at the time.
“Zack?” she questioned when she no doubt felt me getting hard again.
Just thinking about the first time I’d seen her naked, the first time she’d let me in completely, had me all excited again.
“Once more?” I asked since I was already inside her.
“Yeah,” she said eagerly.
Then I pulled out.
“Hey, what’s the big idea?” she asked, turning to look at me.
“Turn over,” I told her. “I want to look at you this time.”
As sexy as it was to take her from behind, I loved looking into her eyes when I made love to her. And since we’d already checked off the rough and dirty portion of the night, I planned to take things nice and slow this second time around.
Before Emily I’d never made love to a woman. I’d always just had sex, even with Jen. But this was different. Emily was going to be my wife, and there were some times when it was just better to slow down and be in the moment with someone versus rushing to the finish line.
Chapter Fourteen
Andrew
I rode the elevator down to the lobby with a smile on my face, even though I was tired as hell. Cole and I had stayed on the phone until two in the morning again. It was the same pattern we’d repeated for the past four days. Recording had been brutal, and we were putting in long hours, without any days off, but nothing got me more energized than crawling into bed and talking to him each night.
I’d never experienced anything like what I was experiencing with him, and we weren’t even in a physical relationship. I never thought it was possible to be that intimate with another person without sex, but we were doing it. And it was a damn good thing we were too, because we weren’t exactly starting off stable what with doing long distance and all. Not to mention it was my first relationship with a guy.
But quite honestly, when I talked to him, when I thought about him, I didn’t think about our genders. It was more about being comfortable with someone and getting excited to hear their voice and their laugh and to share things with them. It was exactly
like every other relationship I’d ever had, but it was so much more.
As I had drifted off to sleep the night before, I started to really think that maybe this was the way it was supposed to be all along. Maybe what I’d been so afraid of wasn’t so scary after all. What was scary were the very real things I was starting to feel for a guy who I barely knew. I’d never in the past believed that loving someone could happen so fast, but the things I felt for Cole, beyond anything physical, were intense and overwhelming, but they were also so incredibly real.
Just his voice made me feel comfort, like I’d known him forever. The things we’d talked about were things I never would have shared with anyone else so early on in a relationship, but with Cole it felt like we’d been together all along. It was almost like he was this missing part of me that I didn’t know was missing. I knew it was cheesy as hell to think things like that, but I couldn’t help it. Each night I’d hang up the phone feeling this mix of exhilaration and contentment and pure happiness that I’d never felt before in my life. And I knew I was dangerously close to falling head over heels for him. I just hoped he felt the same way, because I was already at the point where not having him in my life would be devastating.
“Hey guys,” I said as I approached Derrick and Leo who were standing by the front doors waiting for Zack to pick us up.
It was ironic that my friends had no idea why I’d been in such a good mood in the past few days, but I wasn’t ready to tell them. As much as I want them to know about Cole and how happy he made me, I was completely afraid. He wasn’t visiting until Friday, so I told myself I had plenty of time.
“Hey man,” Leo said, nodding his head as he took a sip of the coffee he was holding.
Derrick turned around slowly and glared at me, causing me to raise my eyebrows in surprise. Then he took two steps back and shook his head as his lip turned up in a sneer.
“Who pissed in your Corn Flakes?” I asked him, leaning forward to shoulder check him playfully.
“Don’t fucking touch me,” he growled, taking a step back.
I put my hands up in surrender. “Sorry, dude. I was just messing around.”
“Whatever. I’m not taking any chances with you.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“You know what it means,” he said.
“No, I don’t. What exactly did I do to you?”
Then I realized that he must have talked to Jen, and my heart sank. For the past few days, I’d almost been on pins and needles waiting for Derrick to find out about me and Jen, and by default me and Cole.
Shit, I so wasn’t ready for this.
“Just stay away from me,” Derrick hissed, and he was reacting exactly how I’d feared.
“Okay, what the hell, guys?” Leo asked, stepping in between us. “You were fine at dinner last night. When exactly did you get into a fight?”
Derrick was still shaking his head and sneering at me.
“He’s pissed because I broke up with Jen last week,” I said, not looking at Leo.
From my peripheral vision, I could see his eyebrows shoot up. “You did? Why?”
Derrick laughed a short, non-humorous laugh. “Cause he’s in love with a fucking guy.”
Leo looked at me. “A guide? Like a tour guide? That doesn’t even make any sense.”
In any other setting, I would have laughed, but I just couldn’t find humor in Leo’s misunderstanding of what Derrick had said. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath knowing that he was disgusted by how I was choosing to live my life. Fuck. I knew this was going to happen.
I turned to look at Leo, hoping he’d be more open-minded. If he wasn’t, it might be Zack against them if they wanted me out of the band, and even Zack couldn’t win that on his own. We were a democracy. But, my secret was out there now, so it wasn’t like I could lie about it.
“A guy,” I said, enunciating the word clearly for Leo. “His name is Cole. I met him a year ago, we hooked up, then I saw him again when we were in Tampa, and I guess we’re dating.”
I didn’t guess. I knew. Cole had agreed to be exclusive just a few days before, but calling him my boyfriend out loud was something I hadn’t done yet, and I didn’t want to freak Leo out any more than I already might have.
“Since when are you gay?” he asked, as Derrick made some sort of grunting noise under his breath.
I turned to look at him, and he glared at me, so I turned back to Leo.
“I’m not gay, I’m bi, and I’ve probably always been that way, but I never acted on what I felt. Now I have, and I’m actually pretty happy – or I was until five minutes ago. So yeah.”
“That’s fucking disgusting,” Derrick said, shaking his head.
Leo was looking at me speculatively. “And you really broke up with Jen? For a guy you don’t even know?”
“I know enough. He’s a good guy,” I said, looking him right in the eye. I wasn’t going to back down. “And I didn’t want to hurt Jen. I just, I knew it wasn’t right. This thing with Cole feels right.”
“Fuck that. I don’t want to hear it. Last week, I was naked in front of you, you son of a bitch, and you were probably checking out my junk, wanting to get on your knees and suck me off.”
My jaw almost dropped. “No, I wasn’t,” I defended, appalled that he’d even think that. “Trust me, Derrick, I am not attracted to you in the slightest. I wouldn’t blow you if you were the last man on earth.”
“Fuck you. I saw you looking. You’re fucking sick.”
“I was only looking because it was in my goddamn face,” I growled out, his reaction starting to piss me off. “Wear clothes when you’re around other people if you don’t want them staring at your junk.”
“I didn’t think I needed to worry about that with my best friend, but I guess I was wrong. You’re fucking si–” Derrick started to say, but Leo cut him off.
“Shut up, Derrick,” he said, stepping up so he was looming over him.
Leo was tall, like 6’5”, and Derrick was only 5’ll”, but he stared up at Leo like if it came to blows, he’d fight him.
“Don’t tell me to shut up,” he countered, so Leo slammed his finger into Derrick’s chest.
“I will, and you’ll do it, because Drew’s your best friend, man. You just said it. He’s your family, and we don’t treat family like that, you hear me? If he wants to be gay, who gives a shit? Be happy for him.”
“I’m bi,” I interjected, but neither of them paid any attention to me.
“He’s not my fucking family,” Derrick hissed. “But my sister is, and he broke her heart – for a dude. He’s a fucking fag.”
It was then that Leo’s fist swung out and connected with Derrick’s face, sending him to the ground in a heap.
“What the hell is going on?” a voice from behind us said, and we turned to see Zack standing there looking perplexed.
Leo turned around as he shook out his hand. “Derrick’s an intolerant dumbass, and Andrew’s gay,” he said passively.
I breathed a sigh of relief that he wasn’t fazed by what I’d revealed. Even though what Derrick said had me all twisted up inside, because I wasn’t any different than the guy I was yesterday. He was completely judging me based on an assumption of a stereotype. And to make matters worse, I really hadn’t checked him out. He wasn’t my type, if I even had a type. I was still trying to figure that out.
I looked over at Derrick who was holding his nose as blood seeped between his fingers and onto his shirt. Leo’d likely broken it. And even though Derrick was an intolerant dumbass, he was still my friend, so I hoped he was okay. And I needed to prove to him that I was still the same guy I’d always been. I was sure he was just freaking out. He just had the worst way of showing it.
“You okay?” I asked him, and he just glared at me.
“Did you know Drew was gay?” Leo asked, looking at Zack expectantly since Zack hadn’t reacted to what he’d shared.
“Actually, he’s bi,” Zack corrected him.
“You did know,” Leo said, looking surprised.
“Yeah, he told me last week,” he said, as I stepped up to Derrick and stuck my hand out to help him up, ignoring his glare.
“Don’t fucking touch me.”
So I kicked him in the side. “Fuck you then,” I told him. “You’ve known me for nine years, you asshole, and guess what? I’ve been bi that whole time. I even hooked up with Trent Gillis in high school, but never once have I hit on you. Just because I’m into guys, doesn’t mean I want you. Contrary to popular belief, you’re not all that great. I put up with you and all your bullshit because you’re my best friend. So you have a choice to make. You can either keep being my friend, because I haven’t changed, or you can be a prick and end our friendship right now. I’ll let you choose.”
And with that, I turned and walked out of the hotel, leaving Zack and Leo to deal with Derrick. I’d already said my peace.
When I got to Zack’s truck, I opened the back door and slid all the way across the backseat. I expected to see Emily in the front seat, but she wasn’t there. I wondered what had happened to her. A few minutes later, Zack, Leo and Derrick came outside and silently climbed into the truck.
Leo sat in the back with me, so I shot him a look. He just shook his head, telling me to stay quiet for now, so I sat back against the seat and looked out the window, feeling like shit. I could only hope that Derrick would come around. I didn’t want to lose him as a friend. But if he couldn’t accept me for who I was, we weren’t going to be friends, and going on tour with him seemed like the last thing I wanted to do.
Chapter Fifteen
Zack
This was not how I wanted to start my day. We had a serious recording session, and Andrew finally seemed to be back to normal, but now I had to worry about Derrick.
Broken Fairytales Series Box Set (Broken Fairytales, Buried Castles, Shattered Crowns) Page 76