DARE You, Dare Duet, Part One: Billie and Sawyer: Unchained Attraction Series

by Shandwick, K. L.

  Fortunately for her, my mothering instinct kicked in and the guy she was with behaved like an ass at the precise moment I was present. With each mile of distance I put between Cherri and Wiggy, I knew I'd done the right thing.

  * * *

  Luckily for Cherri, her uncle, Stan, was full of concern. Not only had he wanted to go after the guy who'd taken Cherri away from home, but he was also worried she had been harmed.

  Cherri reassured him she was well, using the shoes Wiggy bought to demonstrate how well he'd considered her needs. I almost scoffed at her comment, but kept my mouth closed because I knew deep down the girl was saving face, and I could understand that.

  Clearing out every bill in my purse and the emergency stash from my wallet, I passed all six hundred and eighty- four dollars to her. At first, she was reluctant, and a flash of shame flitted across her face until I reminded her she needed her fare to get back to her mother. When I asked if she wanted her uncle to pay, she shook her head and hugged me.

  Sawyer hung back while we talked, then I saw him walk over to the front desk. When he struck up a conversation with the young, pretty front desk attendant, it was clear to see how attracted she was to him.

  As they spoke, her body language communicated her interest as she smoothed her hair, touched her lips with her fingertips, and mirrored his movement when he cocked his head.

  An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach again, not because I saw her as competition, but because I felt that from Sawyer's perspective she should be.

  My confidence had been shaken by the junkie on the bus, and if I was honest, by the tour bus itself. It had made me imagine wild nights with groupies and copious amounts of alcohol. It was a life I'd never been exposed to and one I knew I didn't want Colby around.

  When Cherri and her uncle left, I knew that was the easy part of my extra trip that day, and I took a deep breath, dug deep for some courage, and wandered across to Sawyer.

  "Hey." There was no hint of malice or frustration as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my lips.

  "I've checked us in here for tonight. We're not going back to the bus." Hearing what he'd done filled my body with relief because I'd been preparing to tell him I wasn't going back. I smiled, grateful for his perception and how willing he was to make me feel valued after everything that had happened earlier in the day. At least he had the maturity to know the scene I'd walked into had left me feeling inadequate and unable to relate to.

  Glancing back toward the front desk clerk, I didn't miss the narrowed, suspicious way she regarded me and instead of playing down my involvement with Sawyer, I slipped a hand under his jacket and snaked it around his waist.

  "Thank you," I replied gratefully. I pressed another kiss to his lips.

  "Remind me to make you grateful more often," he teased, as he wrapped his arms around me. My weekend bag crashed to the floor and he held me with his hands clasped at my lower back. "I think it's time we got this visit back on track. What do you say?" he asked, his eyebrow raised in amusement. I had plenty to say, mostly that I didn't feel I deserved him and what the fuck was I doing? I kept those thoughts to myself and nodded.

  Leading me into the elevator, he pressed the keycard against the pad and selected the twentieth floor. When we entered the hotel room, Sawyer placed the card in the socket by the bathroom door and turned on all the lights. The room we'd been given was quite the opposite of the one on the bus that had made me feel dirty and degraded.

  "It's perfect," I mumbled. I dropped my bag and wandered across the mini-suite. Looking out from the high floor gave me a feeling of calm. "Thank you for understanding," I said, turning to face him with an apologetic smile on my face. Shrugging off his jacket, he threw it on the California king-sized bed.

  "I didn't at first …" His brow creased as he thought about it. "Understand," he clarified. "Perhaps because touring this way has been my life for so long. Living with my bandmates is just part of the deal, I mean, but I get it. I should never have suggested you come with us. It's probably the worst idea I've had in a while." He snickered as his arms wrapped around my body again. He turned me to stand my back to his front and I looked out of the window again. "Guess I didn't want to wait until the tour was over to see you again."

  The words had barely left his mouth before he pulled my sweater aside and peppered kisses between my shoulder and my neck. Turning back to face him, I kissed him properly this time, with all the passion I had in me. Moments later we tore eagerly at each other's clothing, peeling recklessly at each layer in our effort to reach the warm smooth flesh we both longed to touch.

  "So fucking beautiful," Sawyer whispered, his voice almost breaking, the desire evident in his tone. "Let me love you," he muttered in a husky voice, and his choice of words temporarily stunned me. I felt the weight of his penetrative stare, which conveyed how much he meant his words. Too soon.

  My mind shunned his comment, thinking it had been a throwaway comment in the heat of the moment, but my heart immediately yearned for it to be true. Despite everything that had happened between us with his absence and my horrible experience with his bandmates, I knew I felt the same.

  Once undressed, Sawyer gently stroked over every inch of me in a deliberate attempt to smooth the tensions from my day. It felt soothing at first but this quickly turned amorous. The way he made me forget my past, feel desired, and filled me with hope and desire was unlike anything I'd known before.

  Even though I'd only been in Sawyer's attentive company for a short amount of time, I felt adored and he'd showered me with affection. It taught me Logan hadn't loved me in the way I was meant to be loved. For these reasons alone, I'd already decided if this attraction between us wasn't forever, at least I would know how it felt to be desired thanks to Sawyer's apparent unbridled lust.

  The way he took me in bed this time was slow and tender. It felt almost too intimate when his studious lust-filled eyes stared intensely to mine. They'd held the same heavy look of desire as the first time we'd been together, but they were soul searching at the same time.

  Afterward, we lay silently and continued to look at one another in the afterglow, while the connection between us felt strong. Sawyer continued to touch me like he couldn't help himself and gently drew his fingertips up and down my back.

  About ten minutes later, I watched him swallow hard and take in a deep breath before he shifted up on one elbow and looked down at me with a serious expression on his face. "I know you think I'm crazy, but if I told you I was in love with you, would it freak you out? If I'm being truthful, I'm freaking myself out a little."

  My heart stuttered and then leaped wildly, but his words explained so clearly why Sawyer had slowed everything down and I'd felt worshipped when we'd had sex this time. I knew if he was willing to put himself on the line, then I should at least be honest about my feelings as well.

  "Not really, but it may have been better to wait until you were more in control of your feelings," I suggested with a smile.

  "I am in control. I'd never tell someone I loved them in the height of passion and I'm not telling you this because we just slept together. I wanted desperately to say it this afternoon back at the airport, and now … Well," he shrugged, "I couldn't wait a minute longer. I don't want to do this without you knowing how I feel about you."

  I was building up my courage to tell him how I felt when he frowned and spoke again.

  "You're not going to tell me we're not meant to be together, not after this," he muttered, moving across me and curling his arms around my head. Any lingering resistance I felt about being with Sawyer disappeared. I knew it was no longer how I felt, and all that mattered was how we made things work. "I meant what I said, Billie. I love you."

  A wave of emotions ran through me all at once, making my heart swell and my chest tighten until it felt so full, I could hardly breathe. A small voice at the back of my mind told me to hold back on my feelings, but when I looked at his expectant face I knew I needed to be honest with him. Even if w
e couldn't make it work, he deserved to know I felt the same.

  "I think I love you too."

  "Think?" he asked with a frown, brushing my bangs away from my forehead.

  "I … I do. I love you more than I feel I should. I know that's not what I'm supposed to say, but this …us …this feels crazy, wild. You are like no one I've ever known before."

  "Thank God. Your ex is a dick. He didn't deserve you, Billie. I knew that the first time I met you. Normally I'm not as judgmental, but sometimes I meet someone and I get this feeling … it's an instant dislike. I've never been wrong yet, and I had it with Logan."

  "Ah, but I'd already told you what he did. That would have swayed your opinion."

  "No, it wasn't because of that. I like to think I can rise above what someone else says. It was the whole way he disregarded your feelings and tried to belittle you in front of me that put me off." For a second, it looked as if he thought he'd said too much, and he let out a deep breath. "Anyway, how did the awesome way I ravished your body bring us back to that fuckwit?"

  I chuckled. "Sorry, I think I made reference to him." Sawyer pressed his fingertips to my lips and silenced me.

  "Billie, I know this is too fast for you, but I think we're supposed to be because neither wants to pass up this attraction."

  "True," I conceded, taking his head between my hands and brushing my thumbs through his short soft beard.

  "Let me get used to us, Sawyer. I've never wanted anything more, but I want time to know myself, to shake off these reservations I have, to …" I hesitated. "I was going to say get used to them. Your bandmates, I mean, but I'm pretty certain I'll never get used to the way they live and the comments they make, and I won't have Colby around them."

  Shifting to the side, he rolled away from me and lay on his back, one hand on his torso and one hand behind his head. Letting out another long sigh, he turned his head to the side and faced me. "I know. Taking you to the bus was a crazy idea, but I work with those guys. It doesn't mean I like them."

  Regarding me through narrowed eyes like he was thinking, he eventually blew out another breath and cradled my head with one hand.

  "This is where I can't see our lives coming together. They're a huge part of your life. You tour how much of the year?"

  "Four months, give or take," he replied. His usually bright eyes were dull with concern for what that could mean for us. I imagined his thoughts took him back to what happened with his brother and his ex. A third of a year.

  "I may be overthinking, but if this gets serious, any relationship would have to be very sound to survive all that time apart." I knew he’d told me his tours lasted a few weeks at a time, but over a year the disruption could be substantial if we were to live together, and my thoughts turned to Colby.

  "Stop stressing. We'll make it work," he told me, as he threaded his fingers in mine. "I'm pissed those guys couldn't hold it together today, and I can't walk away from them even after that, but I saw how uncomfortable they made you feel. I don't want you ever to feel that way on account of me. Would you rather skip the last couple of gigs and go home?"

  I knew he wanted to share his music with me from the discussions we'd had about bands and music on Skype, and I guessed it must have crushed him to think I'd take him up on his offer to leave. I wanted to see him play with his band too, but I also knew that since I had arrived Sawyer's loyalties had been split and he had a job to do.

  The last thing I wanted was to be a distraction, but I also knew I couldn't be around Wiggy without starting a fight between them.

  "I don't want to let you down and I want to see you play," I mumbled. "I'm trying, but I need time to adjust. Perhaps I can come with you tomorrow and head home before the last show?"

  "I'd love you to come and see us in action, but I get it. Those guys can be too hard to handle," he stated and sighed in resignation. Rolling onto his side again, he turned me away from him and pulled my back into his front. Spooning me tightly, he breathed a contented sigh. A smile curved on my lips. "I'm coming," I stated firmly.

  "Sleep. I'm gonna need you rested by morning. I love morning sex," he mumbled playfully, as he kissed my hair and nuzzled his chin on the top of my head. As Sawyer fell asleep, I exhausted myself trying to think of an instance when Logan had considered how I felt and when he'd accepted what I wanted as readily as Sawyer did. I fell asleep before anything came to mind.

  Chapter Nineteen

  "Damn," Sawyer cussed when he slumped breathlessly and dragged his sweat-drenched body up the bed. He flopped heavily onto his chest beside me. My knees ached from kneeling and I rolled onto my side to face him, stretching out my cramped legs and arms like a satisfied cat.

  "I love seeing you like this," he said, rolling onto his side to join me, and staring directly at me again. I smiled.

  "What?" I asked when I became unnerved by the weight of his stare.

  He shook his head. "Nothing. I'm just looking," he said, nonchalantly.

  "At?"

  "You. Wondering how I managed to charm you into going out with me … what I did that got you here … and at the same time, thinking about how far we've come so quickly."

  "Yeah?"

  "Yeah, that, and how gorgeous you look freshly fucked," he chuckled. He wrapped a strong arm around my waist, slid it down to my butt, and edged me closer.

  "This woman stinks after last night and this morning."

  Bending is head closer he sniffed and chuckled. "You do. There's nothing like the smell of fresh cum in the morning."

  "Eww." My eyes widened in shock as my jaw gaped. "You're gross, you know that?"

  "Yeah, I do," he chuckled again. "But you love me anyway. You said so yourself last night."

  "Yeah, that," I replied, quietly and wondered how I'd uttered those words so easily when it had taken me months to say them to Logan. "But a girl can change her mind," I teased, pushing my reservations aside.

  "I know, but not my girl," he said in a whisper with a smile on his lips. The contact between us felt as intimate as it had been when he was inside me, and hearing him call me 'my girl' made my heart flip over in my chest like a lovesick teen.

  "Really? You're that sure of yourself?" I joked.

  Sawyer's warm smile faded when he contemplated my question. "No, I'm quietly confident we'll be incredible together …but not overly so. I'd be a fool to be that complacent. I just know in here there is something special going on for us," he said, placing his palm against his bare chest and then tapping my chest with his index finger.

  "Then don't let me down,", I said, quietly. My message carried echoes of residual hurt from my past. Taking my hand in his, he clasped our fingers and held them slack.

  "Go on take them out," he said, nodding at his fingers. The instant I tried to pull them away his fist tightened its grip. "Never. I'm never going to let you go, and I never thought there would come a day I would say this to any woman, but I'll take you any way I can get you."

  "Sawyer …"

  "I know the liberty I took with you may have been impulsive. I mean, it hadn't occurred to me at all that I wanted to kiss you until I saw that haunted look on your face when your ex was coming toward you from behind me, but when I did and I felt the passion in you when you kissed me back, I never wanted it to stop.

  "Did it ever cross your mind that was only to make Logan jealous?"

  "Sure, and it's about the only time I've been thankful he was ever in your life, but I was being honest when I told you I had wanted to spend more time with you. If I'd asked you out on a date after hitting on you like that, I knew I wouldn't have stood a chance. Meeting you once may have been chance, but when it happened again on the opposite side of a city where millions of people live? Well, I need to give credit to the universe for arranging that one. I'm telling you, I have a good feeling about us. And I'm a patient man."

  "You have your band and—"

  "I won't always be touring with them. It's four months of the year. The rest of the time will be o
urs." Hope swelled in my chest and I had to admit his confidence in us appeared unshakable. I hoped he was right because only time would tell if we would go the distance.

  * * *

  The morning flew past and after a quick room service breakfast we headed to North Dakota in a tiny chartered plane.

  It wasn't the most pleasant journey in the cramped four-seater aircraft, and a far cry from the first-class seat Sawyer had booked for me to fly to Minnesota.

  Nevertheless, we thankfully arrived in one piece and picked up the car that took us to the concert venue where DisKord would be playing that night.

  Nerves knotted my stomach about facing his bandmates again, not because I was afraid, but because I just didn't want them to dampen the glow from the time I'd spent with Sawyer.

  We arrived at the music hall at 5:45 p.m. and I waited in the car for Sawyer while he checked in with the guys and made sure everything was up to speed. Afterward, we went for an early dinner alone.

  Leaving it to the last possible minute, it was almost 7:30 p.m. before we arrived backstage to meet up with his band.

  As we stepped through the dressing room door, Wiggy was the first person I saw. His beady vacant eyes met mine in that instant and his lip curled up in a sneer. He threw me a look that would have curdled milk and dropping his gaze from me he turned his attention to a new, very young, and equally, skinny girl sitting next to him on the old cracked leather couch he sat on.

  I held my breath at the smell of stale nicotine hanging over him and cringed internally at his ability to move on from Cherri in less than a day. Tapping the skinny girl's shoulder, he beckoned her closer with a nod of his head to his groin. The poor girl's eyes lit up, her face instantly brightening as she straddled Wiggy's knees and sat firmly straddled across his lap.

  Flashing her a salacious smile, he grabbed two handfuls of ass cheeks and began to grind up into her. My stomach rolled when I noticed his fingertips blanch while he held her firmly on top of himself, but his bleary-looking, suspicious eyes stayed focused on me.