Hell, all of her captivates me.
Those eyes widened as she spotted me. Her gaze locked with mine, and her face drained of color. The guy at her side that I’d momentarily forgotten seemed to sense her distress and moved closer, glancing in my direction.
Justin Jones. Avery’s twin.
Fuck me.
Apparently, I was getting a taste of my own medicine. At least Marcus Anthony wasn’t around to gloat. For once in my life, I empathized with the dude. But just as I’d seen him do with Avery, I was going to do whatever it took to get Lace back.
I stared at Justin, giving him the glare that clearly said you’d better move away from my woman or I’ll take you out in the back alley and work you over.
He raised an auburn brow. I’d seen Avery do that same thing when something amused her.
I sauntered toward Lace, wedging myself between them, shutting Justin out completely.
Amuse yourself with a view of my backside, motherfucker. That’s all you’ll be getting. You can’t have her.
“Bryan,” Lace whispered.
The sound of her voice had the usual effect, only worse because it had been so long. Too long. I wanted to wrap my arms around her and fill my lungs with her addictive sweet vanilla scent.
“Lace.” I put my hand on her arm instead. I had to touch her, needed to feel the warmth of her skin against mine.
She swallowed. “What are you doing here?” she asked, a trembling uncertainty in her voice.
“Mary flew us all in for a meeting,” Dizzy said quickly, glancing at me.
Good save, Dizzy. I shot him a grateful look. The all he referred to meant everyone but me. I’d been in Vancouver a while, making sure Lace was safe while giving her the space and time she said she needed.
But that was done. I was done. I couldn’t do the sidelines shit anymore.
“Oh, but I thought . . .” Disappointment dimmed the light of expectation in her expression. Her response gave me a boost of hope.
“Aren’t you going to introduce me to everyone?” Justin asked from behind me.
This dude was pissing me off. I wanted him g-o-n-e.
“I think you know who I am.” I turned to him, my eyes narrowing, but Dizzy defused the situation.
“Justin, hey,” he said, pointing to himself. “I’m Lace’s brother. The antisocial dude, as you’ve probably guessed, is Bryan. I’d keep my distance from him for the time being, if I were you.”
While Dizzy played nice, launching into a discussion about opening power chords and rock ballads, I zeroed in on Lace.
“Babe.” I moved closer, using the low, soft tone on her that always made her eyes darken. “I need to talk to you.”
It worked again. Her pupils dilated, and she swayed toward me as she licked her lips.
“All right,” she whispered. “Where? When?”
“Now.” I wanted to add the stipulation that we do the talking while we were naked, but I figured that might defeat the purpose of actually, you know, talking. “Can we take a walk?”
“Sure,” she said to me, then turned to her companion. “JJ.” She thumped his arm, and he focused on her while rubbing where she’d thumped him.
What a wuss. Babes hit harder than that in Southside.
“I’m taking off with Bryan.”
Justin gave me a narrow-eyed look. “Okay.”
I gave him the same shit back, wanting to just lay him out cold. No warning. But I figured that would be as counterproductive as the naked thing. And not nearly as fun.
“I’ll see you later,” Lace said over her shoulder as I steered her away.
That pissed me off. Justin had hogged enough of her time. I was back officially, and I was making my move. I wasn’t going back into the shadows again. It was Lace and me center stage as a couple from now the fuck on.
“Did you have a nice flight?” Lace asked as we stepped outside together through the door the uniformed hotel attendant held open for us.
“Huh?” It wasn’t the cool breeze that distracted me. It was how pretty she was with the twinkling lights from the topiaries sparkling in her golden hair.
“The flight. With the guys.” She gave me a funny look. “You know, from Seattle to here, Vancouver.”
“Oh, well, about that.” I rubbed the back of my neck with my left hand. My other was on her lower back where it was going to stay.
“What’s going on?” She stopped on the sidewalk and turned to look at me, tilting her head.
“How do you mean?” I took her hand, since her back was out with us being face-to-face now.
“You rub your neck when you’re nervous.”
Ah, so I did.
“Just spit it out, Bry.”
This exchange reminded me of so many conversations we’d had walking home from school, in alleyways before shows, or bars after performances, or on the beach with stolen snatches of time, just the two of us.
“Where do I start?” I asked, not pausing for her answer. “How beautiful you are? How much I missed you?”
“I missed you too,” she said softly with a wistful expression.
That was promising. So was the spark of fire within her heart-arresting amber eyes.
“What’s the story with your hair?” I blurted.
“You don’t like it.” She ducked her chin.
Stepping closer, I wedged a finger under her chin and gently lifted her head. “It’s flattering. I’m sorry. It’s just very different, very short.”
“I needed a fresh look to boost my confidence.”
“I understand,” I said, remembering how she changed her clothes to project her mood. Why not her hair too? “But you needed nothing but yourself. You can do anything you set your mind to.”
“Not the SAT.”
“Maybe not that. What the hell use is that stupid test, anyway? But fashion, you kick its ass.”
I swept my gaze over her. The wrap dress she wore looked like an entire multipack of watercolors spilled onto crushed velvet. It clung to her curves. The thigh-high black suede boots she’d paired with it lengthened her already long legs, and her choker was flirty and sexy.
Distractingly so. It reminded me of the one she’d worn to prom.
“You look like a Vogue runway model from the sixties.”
“Thank you, Bry.”
“Just speaking the truth.” My voice went rough as I read a whole bunch into her shortening my name. “Mintage Vintage is your place like Janet’s used to be back in Southside. Armani is your second favorite.”
“How do you know all that?” she asked, her eyes searching mine.
Shit. I needed a cigarette bad right now, but I didn’t have any on me since I’d been trying to quit.
“I visited Armani recently. But I haven’t shopped at Mintage in days.” She narrowed her gaze. “You didn’t come in on the plane today with my brother, did you?”
“Huh-uh.” Busted, I shook my head.
“How long have you been here?”
“Let me ask you something first. Do you have it straight in your head that you can do anything you set your mind to, and that you’re way too good for me, and not the other way around?”
“How long, Bry?”
“Two weeks.”
“Holy shit!”
“I wanted to be sure you were safe.” My brows drew together. “I don’t like how chummy you are with Avery’s brother.”
“I got that part. JJ’s not into me that way. You have nothing to worry about.”
“Why don’t I have anything to worry about?” Holding her captive with my gaze, I placed my hands on her slender shoulders and walked her backward, right into the alcove doorway of a French bakery.
“Because . . .” Trailing off, she licked her lips.
My gaze dipped, and as I imagined kissing her, my cock jumped. It had been rock hard from the moment I’d laid eyes on her.
“Because you love me.” I met her gaze again, my eyes blazing with that truth. “Like I love you. Like I�
�ll always love you. There’s been no one in my bed since you got on the tour bus. There’s never been another woman inside my heart but you. There will never be anyone else who owns me heart and soul like you do.”
“Oh, Bry.” Her eyes widened.
“I can breathe now that I have you. I want to breathe now.” I framed her face in my hands, plunging my fingers into the silky softness of her shortened hair while sweeping her creamy cheeks with my thumbs. “Apart from you, my life is terrible. I have to remind myself to get up, get dressed, eat, at least try to go through the motions.”
“Yes, all of that.” Her eyes bright, she nodded. “It’s like that for me too.”
Encouraged, I continued. “I fucked up, Lace. I know you have self-worth issues. I get it on two levels, first because I know you so well, and also because I have some of that same emotional baggage from growing up the way I did in the same place as you.”
“I know. Truly, I know.” She covered my hands, pressing my fingers deeper into her skin.
“Getting you, I should have affirmed you, supported your decision.”
“Thank you,” she said, her voice thick with emotion. “That means a lot to me.”
“I’m your prince. I faltered when I should have stayed at your side. But I’m here now, and I’ll never leave. Can you forgive me?”
“Yes, I can. Easily.”
I swallowed hard. Lace’s forgiveness meant the world to me. “You said once that something you always admired about me was that I always try to do the right thing.”
“I don’t know anyone more honorable than you, Bry.”
I gave that a nod as if it weren’t a big deal, but my heart was on fucking fire. “From now on, all my efforts to do the right thing are for you. Your dreams are our dreams. My dreams are yours. What the hell does it matter if I stand center stage at Madison Square Garden, Wembley, or anywhere else, if you’re not there to watch and share those triumphant moments with me?”
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
Lace
“I love you, Bry.” I lifted onto my toes. In my four-inch heels, I didn’t have as far to go to reach his beautiful mouth, but it felt far, too far, and too long since I’d kissed him.
“I love you, Lace.”
He said my name low and soft, the way I craved. The way I’d dreamed of him doing for weeks, the way I’d imagined when touching myself and thinking of him. Something I’d stopped doing early on, because it made me too sad and lonely.
He angled his head one way, and mine went the other. His eyes were a flash of metal with a hint of alpine green. His breath was humid, a tease before the headlining moment.
I sighed when he pressed his firm lips to my slightly parted ones. That tiny seam was all the welcome he needed. His wet tongue speared between my lips.
I drove my hands into Bryan’s hair, grabbing fistfuls. Crushing my breasts to his hard chest, I sucked on his wicked tongue. His hands dove low and he grabbed my ass, lifting me and pressing me harder into the glass door behind us. The kiss was hot. He was hot. He set me on fire.
In Orlando, his taste was hope. Here in Vancouver, it was a homecoming.
He ripped his mouth from mine. “I’ve gotta have you now.” His gaze electric gray with crackling green, he shifted me in his hold while twisting the doorknob to enter the shop.
There was only one person inside, and it smelled like freshly baked bread.
“Can I help you?” the employee asked from behind the counter.
Bryan nodded and gave him a determined look. “Yes, I’ll take one of everything in your display.”
The young worker’s white paper chef hat nearly fell off his head. “That’s a lot of money.”
Bryan glanced meaningfully at the swing door. “If you look the other way while I take my girlfriend in the back, there’ll be a twenty percent tip on top of the bill just for you.”
“I, uh, I don’t know,” the guy stammered. “I just got this job. I should ask my boss, but he’s not here. No one is, I—”
“Dude,” Bryan bit out. “I love her, and we just got back together. I haven’t seen her in weeks.”
“Okay. Okay.” The guy’s eyes went wide. “I get it. My girlfriend’s overseas.”
“Done,” Bryan said, already on the move.
In a couple of long strides, he pushed through the swinging door with me in his arms. Here, there, anywhere I could have him, I wanted him. Inside the kitchen that looked cleaner than any I’d ever seen, he went straight to the butcher-block prep table and set me on it.
“Here looks good,” he said.
His hands diving into my hair, he cradled my head and silenced my protest with a searing kiss. My hands went under his shirt, my fingers tracing contoured muscles and smoothing over his velvety skin.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his voice ragged.
Breaking the kiss, Bryan stared at me. His gaze was hot enough to incinerate my clothing, but instead he grabbed the plunging neckline of my dress and tugged. Hard. The knot that tied the dress together at my waist gave way. The two opposing sides unraveled, and so did I when he put his mouth on me.
He kissed me hard and deep, setting me on fire. Ripping his mouth from mine, he rained kisses down my neck and then lower still, shaping my swollen breasts in his talented hands while I praised him for his efforts.
“That feels so good.” My fingers tangled in his hair as he sucked one nipple until it throbbed, and then the other.
“You’re my every fantasy fulfilled,” he said when he eased back.
I didn’t doubt his claim, even though I was perched on a bakery counter, my dress open, the wet lace of my bra stretched taut over my tits. Between my legs, behind another scrap of lace, I was wetter still and throbbing.
His gaze piercing, Bryan unbuckled his belt. I grabbed the hem of his black T-shirt and pulled it over his head. The ink of his tattoo sleeves glistened on his toned skin. Beneath the bright industrial lights, every defined muscle bulged.
“Did you get more buff while you were away?” I asked, staring at him with wide-eyed wonder.
“I worked out, or I played my guitar every time I thought of you.” His gaze narrowed. “And I thought about you all the fucking time.” Holding my gaze, he unbuttoned and ripped his jeans open.
“I thought about you all the time too,” I said, and swallowed as he yanked the denim and his black boxers down his muscular thighs. His gorgeous cock sprang free.
Licking my lips, I lifted my gaze to see him stalking closer, his intention clear. He dipped his fingers in my lace thong and whipped it down my legs. My pussy and all the rest of me quivered. He placed his hands on my thighs and drew me toward him, spreading me open.
“I’m on the pill and clean,” I said abruptly, wanting no delay in him taking me and nothing between us. “I was tested in the hospital and had to get retested before I signed with Black Cat.”
“I had testing of my own for Black Cat.” His eyes practically glowed with heat. “I’m clean too.”
“All right then.” When I reached for him, stroking his thick length with eager hands that trembled, he groaned and precum spurted from him. “I want—”
“Next time,” he growled. “I have to be inside you now.”
As he positioned himself, I watched . . . we both did. I moaned as he slid inside me, all the way to the hilt.
“You’re so tight and wet,” he said, grinning darkly.
“Because you’re so hot.”
“Because you are.”
Grabbing my hips, he began to move. I planted my palms on the wood, trying to hold my position, but his thrusts were so powerful the table moved, the legs scraping across the floor with each thrust.
“Oh, Bry,” I said, pulsing around him. Each time he stroked inside me, he made me hotter and wetter. My tits bounced. My body tightened. My breaths quickened. “I’m close,” I said, panting as I warned him.
“Thank fuck.” As he drove into me again and again, his expression was tight and hi
s eyes wild. “Lace, babe, come,” he growled.
I was already there. As he stiffened, I wrapped my legs and arms around him and held on tight. Flying with him, we went up and over the edge together. Hope, homecoming, and us combined.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
Lace
Standing in the Sutton Place lobby, I watched Bryan leave the building with that loose-hipped saunter of his, and I trembled with the control it took not to chase after him.
What’s going on?
What is he up to?
Why is he leaving?
I turned to Dizzy, the questions on my lips.
Reading my expression, my brother shook his head. “Huh-uh. I’m sworn to secrecy.” He hugged me. “Bryan told you he has an elaborate surprise planned for you, so trust him. Don’t look so worried.”
I drew back and took in a deep breath.
“He’s the one?” Justin hooked a thumb over his shoulder. “The guy you said you’d never get over?”
“Yes.” I nodded, though I’d practically forgotten that he was even there.
Bryan had a way of eclipsing everything. He’d certainly changed everything with his return, saying the things he had, looking out for me from afar for weeks, and looking out for me on a much more intimate level just moments ago. He was going to have questions from his credit card company about the bill from that bakery, for sure.
“Looks to me like the feeling’s entirely mutual.” Justin shook his head with a smile and kissed my cheek. “Happy for you. Call me later, after the surprise. I’d like to hear about it.”
“All right.” I managed a small smile of my own before turning back to Dizzy. “That all your luggage?” I glanced at his guitar case and backpack.
He nodded. “All that’s important, anyway. Me and my guitar.”
“Okay.”
I imagined Bryan probably traveled the same way. For as much success as the guys had had, they all still wore T-shirts and jeans. Making music was their motivation for their career choice. The money, the fame, and the rest were a distant consideration. Or at least that was the case for my brother and Bryan. We certainly weren’t going to need a bellhop.
The Complete Tempest World Box Set Page 51