by Eden Summers
“We all set for Kansas City?” Pat climbed aboard and sank into the driver’s seat. “Speak now or forever hold your peace.”
“Yeah.” Ryan slid into the booth beside Blake. “Just try and take the turns easy. Leah’s about to have a shower.”
“Leah?” Pat glanced over his shoulder. “Shit. I guess I’ve gotta stick to the speed limit now.”
“I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,” she called from the bathroom.
The bus door closed and the engine burred to life. The steady vibrations coursing through the cushioned seat didn’t help his surge in blood flow. The pulsation damn near killed him. He wondered how long he should wait. One minute? Two? Joining her in the shower was inevitable.
“Don’t bother.” Mitch placed his beer on the table. “I’ve tried getting some bathroom action before and it isn’t worth it. You can barely turn in the shower, let alone swing a dick. Save it until she gets out.”
Ryan glanced over his shoulder to Pat. The driver already had his headphones in place, the music loud enough for him to hear the garbled noise over the hum of the engine. “Don’t forget we’re trying to keep this under wraps.”
“Don’t worry. He can’t hear a thing.”
They were on the road in minutes, the cityscape going unnoticed as he kept his gaze trained on the bathroom door.
“So you’re really doing this,” Blake murmured. “Doing her, I mean.”
He took another swig, and raised a brow. “It’s a bit late to be askin’, isn’t it?”
“Don’t get your cock in a twist.” Blake landed an elbow to Ryan’s ribs. “I just thought you and Felicity might be a thing…”
“No.” He cringed. “Not even close.”
“So you’re all in with Leah?”
“If this is the lead up to warning me away, you can save your breath.” He looked Blake head-on. “I have no intention of hurting her.”
“It’s not her I’m worried about. She’s got bigger balls than all of us. I’m more concerned you’ve taken on a challenge you’re not prepared for.”
He glanced back at the bathroom door, willing it to open. “I can handle it.” At least he hoped he could. Tonight wasn’t a good indicator. His emotions were continuing to spiral, the excitement and frustration over being alone with her a building force. But there was Julie to think about. Grander. Felicity. The paparazzi. Leah’s career. The list was endless.
“Don’t bite off more than you can chew.”
He smirked, an expression borne of determination, not confidence. “Don’t worry. I’m a big eater.”
The click of the bathroom door drew him to his feet. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, twisted the lid and slid back into the seat as she approached in a thin, loose sweatshirt and a pair of cotton shorts. Her hair was loose, her pretty face devoid of make-up. Casual, yet undeniably perfect.
Mitch patted the seat beside him and she sank into the offering, her gaze flittering from one man to the next. “What were you talking about?”
He smirked through another gulp from his bottle. “The weather.”
“The weather?” She gave a coy smile. “Interesting.” She grasped the beer in front of her and sipped, her tongue working her bottom lip in a slow sweep. “What’s the forecast?”
Blake snickered. “I think it’s going to get steamy.”
“And wet,” Mitch added.
Her lips twitched. “I find it hard to believe the two of you are in grown-up relationships.”
“Uh huh.” Blake nodded. “We get to see real boobies.”
She rolled her eyes with a chuckle. “How is Gabi?”
“Round and glowing and absolutely beautiful.” He grinned. “She’s going to be a phenomenal mother.”
“I agree. The two of you will make great parents.”
“And what about you?” Mitch slid his arm along the back of the booth seat. “Do you plan on having brats of your own?”
“Not anytime soon.”
Ryan swallowed over the spike in awareness. He couldn’t deny the instinct to fill his woman with babies. If able, he’d give her a houseful of the little rug-rats. “You’d be a good mother. A hard-ass, but a great mother all the same.”
She met his focus and took a pull of her beer. “I’m too selfish. It’s different for guys. You don’t have to contemplate the loss of a career, or income. Then there’s the lack of freedom. I also like my body the way it is.”
He lowered his attention to her neck, her chest, then back up again. “I like your body the way it is, too.”
There was a beat of heavy silence before Blake cleared his throat. “This conversation took a sharp turn into fucking-awkward.”
Her cheeks darkened as she took another long pull.
“Stop eye fucking,” Mitch muttered. “You’re making me uncomfortable.”
Those high cheeks turned a deeper shade of pink. “I think that’s my cue to call it a night.” She pushed the half empty bottle of beer toward him. “Can you finish this for me?”
He jutted his chin in confirmation as she slid from the booth.
“Which bunk do I take?”
“Bottom left.”
“That’s the vacant bunk?”
He raised the beer to his mouth and did the opposite to Mitch’s request—eye-fucking the hell out of her. “For the moment.”
Her amiable smile turned seductive. A huge curve of luscious lips. That expression made his world stop. His thoughts quiet. Everything else was static. He wanted to wake up to that sight. To fall asleep to it. He wanted to be the cause of every curve of lips and devilish sparkle in her eyes.
“Good night, all.” She started down the aisle and pulled the curtain across to shield the sleeping area from view.
It took five seconds for him to down the remainder of his beer. Another five to finish hers.
“I’ve got a spare pair of socks if you need them.” Mitch slid from the booth, disposed of his empty bottle, and grabbed a new one from the fridge.
“Socks?”
“To shove in her mouth. You never know how loud they’re gonna be.”
He snorted, the bottle swishing into the plastic liner before thunking to the bottom. “She’s not that loud… Only when I want her to be.”
There was another pause, another contemplative silence.
“You two have already fucked?” Blake asked.
Mitch sat forward, resting his elbows on the table. “When the hell did that happen?”
“I don’t kiss and tell.”
“No shit.” Blake’s eyes were wide. “But come on, man, you’ve gotta give us something. Is she as high-strung in the sack? Or is she crazy good?”
The two speculated among themselves while Ryan mentally relived the first night he’d spent with her. Was she high-strung? Hell, no. Nothing was off limits. No place on her body went untouched, no expanse of skin untasted. He’d done things with her, to her, that he’d never done with anyone before. So, no. She wasn’t high strung.
Was she crazy good? He chuckled to himself. He’d never been a guy who was owned by his desires. Not until that night. She’d taken his barely functioning libido and injected it with steroids. She made him daydream about dirty shit he never would’ve previously fantasized about. Leah had successfully found his switchboard and turned all the dials to heightened settings.
“Fuck,” Blake was gawking at him now, his jaw slack. “She’s kinky, isn’t she?” He glanced at Mitch. “Check out the dazed look in his eyes. My boy’s hooked a nympho.”
Ryan smirked. “Like I said, I don’t kiss and tell.” He slid from the booth, ignoring their muttered curses as he strode behind the curtain. Each of the bunks was screened, the heavy material the only privacy.
“Try to keep it down.” Mason called from the television area, his face alight from the glow of the screen. “Some of us don’t want to be scarred for life.”
“Some of us never have the choice when traveling with you.”
“Retaliation is ben
eath you,” Mason drawled. “You’re better than that.”
Better and more concerned about his bedpartner’s reputation.
He didn’t even think Leah would be up for more than a massive cock tease. Not that he’d complain. He was happy to abide by her professional boundaries. He wouldn’t even protest if she wanted him sleeping in a different bunk as long as he got a few minutes one on one.
He flung back the screen to the bottom bunk, his train of thought flying away with the gesture.
Hot damn.
She was lying on her side in nothing but a black lace bra and panties, her hair cascading over a pillow clutched to her chest. She was beautiful. All perfect, creamy skin and curves he wanted to sink his teeth into. She was nothing short of the most mesmerizing sight he’d ever seen. And he didn’t want to ruin it. He didn’t want to climb in beside her and strip this moment from his life.
“How long do you plan on staring?” she whispered.
He gripped the bunk above, holding tight to the wood in an effort to focus. His dick was surging, the throb down south not even close to the pound in his chest. “As long as you let me.” He crouched beside the bunk, sinking to eye level. “Knowing you’re like this, for me, doesn’t give me an incentive to rush.”
She raised a brow. “Knowing your bandmates are mere feet away, listening, should encourage you to move faster.”
“Point taken.” He crawled onto the single mattress, hovering near the edge so he didn’t crowd her. “You’re beyond beautiful, Leah.” He savored the sight of her, from the hair strewn across her shoulders, to the curve of her cleavage, the smooth waist, to her delicious thighs.
“You make me feel beautiful. And it’s not your words that convince me. It’s your eyes.” The tender column of her neck convulsed with a swallow. “You make the world disappear when you look at me.”
“That’s because you are my world. You’re everything.” He raised his hand, letting his finger trail the same path his gaze had taken—hair, cleavage, waist, thighs. Goosebumps erupted over her skin, making all the creamy flesh pebble beneath his touch.
“I want to believe that.”
“What’s stopping you?”
Her slender shoulder budged with a tiny shrug. “There are a lot of things vying for your attention at the moment.”
“And you’re the only one I want to focus on.” He leaned in, nipped her shoulder, and closed his eyes at her fast intake of breath before he lightly sucked the sting away. “Do you forgive me for flipping out earlier?”
“Mmm.” She nodded, her hands finding his shoulders. “But it can’t happen again.”
He wouldn’t make any promises. Not where Mason was concerned. “I’ll make it up to you on our days off.” He nuzzled her neck, her chin. “I have big plans to steal your clothes and hold you hostage in my hotel room.”
Her muscles tensed. It wouldn’t have been a noticeable reaction if he wasn’t right on top of her, breathing her in, feeling every movement. “What is it?” He pulled back and released his tight hold on hope when he found her cringing.
“I can’t spend the days off with you.”
He inched further back, a little destroyed, a little humiliated.
“I need to go to New York with the rest of the guys.”
“When did you decide this?”
Her fingers crept toward his beard, the tentative stroke leading along his jaw. “Two seconds ago.”
He frowned, unsure what he’d done in the last breath to make her break their plans.
“I want to go back and tell my boss I’m in love with you.” She swallowed again, deep and audible. “I’m going to beg to have my contract changed.”
His smile was involuntary, along with the surge of affection pulsing through him from head to toe. “I’m not…” He shook his head, clearing the fuzz. “I’m not sure I heard you right. What did you say?”
Her cheeks darkened again, her blush returning to do unfathomable things to his self-esteem.
“I love you, Ryan.” Her grin was bashful. “And I want to sort out the problems with my boss as soon as possible. I want to get it out of the way, then focus on doing the same with Felicity, so we can finally be together. Properly.”
“Damn,” he whispered. Damn, damn, damn. He’d been right weeks ago. He knew all his problems would dissolve if he was with her. He’d known, yet he never fully contemplated how freeing it would feel to have her love.
“What?” She chuckled. “You didn’t think I was in love with you?”
“I’d hoped… I’d dreamed.” He kissed her, a brief press of lips. “But no, I never thought I’d be lucky enough to hear those words.”
“It’s not luck.” She closed her eyes, her words drifting into his mouth. “It’s fate.”
“You believe in all that?”
“I do now.” She crept into him, deepening the kiss. First, it was the increased pressure of their lips, then it was their tongues. She nudged into him, their pelvises aligning, the hard length of his cock rubbing against smooth warmth as he teetered on the edge of the bunk.
Her fingernails trailed down his back, to his waist, then the elastic of his sweatpants. Her gaze met his as she tugged, wordlessly demanding him to undress.
“You sure you want to do this here?”
“This isn’t the time for chivalry, Ryan.” She smashed her mouth over his, her tongue parting his lips and delving deep. “Get your clothes off.”
He couldn’t remove them fast enough. He was wriggling, flexing, contorting, trying to get naked without elbowing her in the face. His sweatpants were around his knees when her palm grazed along the underwear covering his cock. He hissed in a breath, jerked, and felt himself tumbling backward, sliding beneath the curtain, his ass landing hard on the bus aisle before he could brace for impact.
Fuck. That shit hurt.
He climbed to his knees, and laughter carried over the blood pulsing in his ears. Loud, belly-shaking, masculine laughter.
“Have you got a license to carry that thing?” Mason spoke between gasps.
“Shit.” Sean chuckled. “Be careful impaling her with that. You don’t want to puncture a lung.”
They were staring at the tent of his boxer briefs, not an ounce of remorse.
“Fuck you.” He shot them the bird and shucked his sweats, leaving them on the floor of the aisle. He nudged back underneath the curtain and found Leah’s face buried in the pillow, her body convulsing with mirth.
“Don’t you start.” He poked her ribs, unable to stop himself from chuckling even though his ass felt like he’d spent a week in prison.
She rolled to her side, her amusement coming in gulping hiccups. Yeah, she was laughing at him, but he’d never been more enamored. He’d never been more in love with her than he was right now, her body half-naked, her cheeks flushed, her smile wide.
“You need to laugh more often.” He brushed the hair from the side of her face. “I want to make you laugh more often.”
“You’re doing a great job.” She wrapped her hand around his neck and encouraged him forward. “Now kiss me before we call this quits.”
Quits? Hell, no. “I gave you the opportunity to decline my services earlier.” He smothered his body against hers, leaning her into the side wall of the bus, grinding his cock against the soft lace of her underwear. “No take backs.”
She smiled against his mouth and nibbled his lower lip. “That was before you gave away what we were doing.”
“Don’t kid yourself, gorgeous. They knew what we were going to be doing before you even stepped foot on this bus.”
“Yeah?” She quirked a brow. “And what if I said no?”
“It never would’ve happened.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“I don’t have an abundance of confidence with a lot of things, but your eyes tell me exactly how much you want me.”
She arched her neck with a chuckle. “So your eyes speak of affection and mine scream with lust?”
&n
bsp; “Pretty much.” He pebbled kisses along her throat, to her shoulder, to her collarbone. Each connection increased her breathing and the depth of her nails digging into his skin. “I can already taste how wet you are.” He ran his hand along her waist, over her hip to trail beneath her panties. Her musk scented the air, her desire seeping into his lungs, causing insanity.
He palmed her ass, then delved deeper, sliding his touch between her thighs from behind. Her heat increased the further he came toward her core, his fingertips being scorched as they trailed through the moisture of her folds. “You claim you could’ve turned me down. But I bet I could make you beg.”
She mewled as he entered her, a lone finger sliding into her pussy. Her walls clamped down on his digit, her hips thrusting for more.
“Prove me wrong, Leah.” His mouth closed in on hers. “Say no to me.”
She shuddered, her nails scarring his shoulders.
“Come on. Say no.”
She growled, fucking growled, as he pushed another finger into her heat. He didn’t think she realized how loud she was. At least not until Mason cursed and the volume of the movie doubled.
“Don’t taunt me,” she demanded. “Not unless you want to learn that I can fight back.”
“Not taunting, my love.” He couldn’t contain a smirk. There was no way she was denying him. No way in hell. “Merely trying to prove to myself that you do want me.”
“You know I do.” She shuddered with the next undulation of his fingers.
“I know now.” He stared at her, at the way her teeth embedded in her lower lip and the lust-drunk sweep of her lashes. “But when we’re not together I need to fight against doubt.”
She paused, lucidity sinking back into her eyes. “Are you serious?”
He nodded. “You’re too good to be true, Leah. I can barely believe it when I’m with you, let alone when we’re apart.”
She jerked her hips, making his fingers withdraw from her heat. “Then I need to try harder to convince you.”
With his body still against hers, she wiggled out of her panties, then shoved his shoulder down on the mattress as she straddled him. She was crouched forward, the back of her head against the roof of the bunk, her sweet scented hair dangling in his face as she removed her bra.