by Selena
“If I’m yours, then show me you’re mine,” I said, yanking his belt undone. “I’m not sharing you with a bunch of fangirls.”
“I never asked you to,” he said, rolling over onto me. His mouth crushed down on mine, and I bit at his lip hard enough to taste blood. He growled and yanked up my skirt while I shoved down his jeans. His hardness filled my hand, and a shudder of desire rocked through me. I squirmed under him, opening my legs, hungry to feel him inside me. To be part of him, to let him be part of me again.
I gripped his cock, my cheeks flushing with desire at the raw heat of it, the demanding hardness. “Then fuck me like I’m the only one,” I demanded.
He shoved my underwear aside, and with one quick thrust, he was inside me, filling me. I cried out, arching up against him as he ground me into the dirt. My hands found their way under his t-shirt, and I raked my nails down his back, over his tight, round ass. His muscles flexed as I gripped him, driving him deeper as I thrust my hips up against his. He growled and slammed into me harder, his palms braced on the grass as he drew back and then filled me again and again, filling me in a way I hadn’t known I needed so badly until he’d come back into my life.
I opened myself to him, giving myself to the moment, to the anger and pleasure that gripped me. I ground my hips up against him shamelessly, my heels digging into the grass as my body begged for more, for his cock to fill me in ways his empty words couldn’t. He growled in response, pounding me back to the ground with a brutal thrust that made my core clench in protest. I cried out, and he pumped into me in a frenzied, desperate rhythm, as if he could somehow erase what he’d done if he just fucked me good enough. As if his body could prove the truth was a lie, as if it could turn back time and undo the things he’d done.
“Come for me, baby,” he said, and his pelvic bone crushed down on my sensitive bud. My body responded to the command in his voice, and I cried out again, the warm evening shimmering around us as I climaxed, my nails still dug into his skin. Warmth filled me as he came, and I gasped, unable to catch my breath as waves of pleasure rolled through me in quick, blinding spasms. When I finally started breathing again, the world came back to me, and I saw the most beautiful man I’d ever seen leaning over me, his breath coming as hard as mine, his eyes filled with warmth and concern and a love that made me ache.
Brody’s lips touched mine so softly I could hardly stand it, and he slid a hand under my head, cradling it. “Are you on birth control?” he whispered.
I laughed shakily. “Now you ask.”
“Better late than never. And if you’re not, I don’t think I mind.”
“I am,” I said, frowning. He’d probably given me twenty different STDs, but a baby wasn’t going to be one of them.
“So you’ll come with me?” he asked, picking a damp lock of hair from my forehead. “I need you, Laney Tucker. Please come with me.”
I hesitated, my heart still pounding against his, both of us damp with sweat. “I’ll come,” I said at last. “How long are you going to be there?”
“I don’t know,” he said. “We’re making a new album. How long can you stay?”
“I’m taking a year off before grad school,” I said slowly. “But I was planning to travel.”
“Come with me,” he said. “I’ll be on tour. And I can take you anywhere. I just want you there with me. We’ll figure something out, Laney. We’ll make it work. I’ll make it work. I promise.”
“You make a lot of promises, Brody Villines.”
“Only to you,” he said, kissing my nose. He pulled away slowly, rolling over onto his back.
The air was suddenly too cold, the distance too far. I scooted over to him and lay my head on his chest. “If you ever cheat on me again, I’m going to rip your balls off with my bare hands,” I said, running my hand down his stomach.
“Noted,” he said, lifting his hips to pull up his jeans with his free hand.
I laughed. Maybe I wouldn’t get to make all the rules to this game. And if I couldn’t resist him, maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing. Everyone had at least one weakness. He didn’t seem able to resist me, either.
And I was having sex again. Orgasms, even. I’d forgotten how good they were. And Brody had definitely gotten better. I had to admit, as much as I didn’t want to think about it, that all those fangirls had been good for something.
August
eighteen
Brody
I couldn’t believe my luck. Several times, as I packed my bags, I had to stop and wonder if it was real. I was getting a solo deal, and Laney Tucker was back where she belonged—mine again, after all this time. It had been so easy, as if she’d been waiting for me to come home and claim her all these years. I suppose she had.
She wasn’t like anyone else I’d ever known, but she was still a girl, after all. Even she wasn’t immune to my charms, to the rock star allure.
When I had packed and said goodbye to my parents, I took the H2 out of their garage and down the winding drive to the gate. The media wasn’t hanging around anymore, which was both good and bad. Good for me, bad for my career. Once they forgot about you, you were toast. Unless you made a comeback.
And Brody Villines was about to make a comeback. It had only been a few months, but it felt like forever. This time, I’d be making music the way I wanted—or at least closer to the way I wanted—and Laney would be there with me, a reminder to avoid temptation, a reminder of the cost.
I turned right and followed the flat dirt road to Laney’s. For a second, I let off the gas, hesitating. If I went knocking on her door, and she’d changed her mind, I was going to lose my fucking mind. But I pulled into the drive anyway, because the thought of going to Chicago alone was worse than the chance that she’d say no.
Pulling onto the gravel parking area, I shut off the engine and circled the house to the front door. I knew better than to come over and get Laney without paying her parents the proper respect.
Mr. Tucker opened the door. He’d revoked my right to call him by his first name when I’d started dating his daughter. He was tall, though not as tall as I remembered, with light brown hair and a large red mustache.
“Come in,” he said, standing aside.
“Thank you, sir,” I said, stepping into the foyer.
“I hear you’ve come to take my daughter off to the city,” Mr. Tucker said. “I guess I always knew this day would come, but it’s still too soon.”
“Oh, Daddy, don’t be dramatic,” Laney said, appearing behind him. She took his arm and pulled him aside.
Blair came sashaying in and hooked an arm around Laney’s waist. “I, for one, am happy this day has finally come,” she said. “Could have come a little sooner, if you ask me.” She gave me a wink. “Now you take good care of her, you hear? I better not get news of any funny business.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I said.
“Oh, come here and stop that ‘yes ma’am’ nonsense.” Blair stepped forward and pulled me into one of her thorough embraces. “Now,” she said, pulling back and looking up at me. “You going to stay for breakfast?”
I gave Laney a questioning look, but she shook her head. “I already ate.”
“I think we’ll be on our way, then,” I said. “But thank you for the offer. Rain check?”
While I loaded her bags, Laney went to say goodbye to her horse. When she came back, she was glowing. “I don’t know if I like that look on your face when I didn’t put it there,” I said, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her in.
Laney smiled and stood on tiptoes to give me a quick kiss. I flattened my palm against the small of her back, pressing her body to mine. “You better stop that,” she said, but she was grinning. “My parents are right inside.”
“I don’t care,” I said. “We’re not teenagers anymore. Besides, this big car has advantages.” I pulled her behind the vehicle, my lips already skimming over hers, dropping to the hollow of her throat.
“Quit,” she protested, pushing at m
e weakly. I trailed my lips up her neck to her ear, and she dropped her head back, sighing.
“You’re the one who needs to quit teasing me,” I said. “If you let me keep this up, I’m going to have to fuck you up against the side of this car.”
“If you keep this up, I’m going to have to let you.”
I growled and nipped at her earlobe. “Don’t tempt me.” Giggling, she tried to pull away, but I pinned her against the car. “You think that’s funny? You think I won’t do it?”
“I have no doubt you would,” she said. “But you were tickling my ear.”
“In that case,” I said, smiling and leaning towards her ear again.
She wiggled free and ducked sideways out of my grasp. “I guess we’ll have to save the Hummer sex for another day.”
“If you call it that, I don’t know if I can wait.”
“Hummer sex,” she said, grinning. When I lunged for her, she darted around the back of the car with a shriek. I shook my head and climbed into the driver’s seat. Breathless with laughter, Laney climbed up in the passenger seat. “My goodness, this thing is huge,” she said, leaning out to snag the door handle.
“You know it, baby.”
“You know people will say you’re compensating.”
“And you know I have nothing to compensate for,” I said, smirking at her. “What everyone else thinks doesn’t matter.”
“I don’t think you’d drive a Hummer if you didn’t care what people thought.”
“Oh, yeah? Why’s that?”
“They’re pretentious eyesores.”
I shrugged. “I like being up high, away from the crowd. I’ve had it mobbed before, and trust me, you don’t want to be in some cute little convertible when people are literally trying to tear off pieces of your car as souvenirs.”
“Wow. I hadn’t thought of that. Am I going to have to deal with that?”
“Depends,” I said, glancing sideways at her. “Are you going to go public as my girlfriend, or sit back in the shadows and avoid the shit storm?”
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
“I’ll get you some bodyguards either way.”
Laney laughed and craned her neck as we passed between the seemingly endless rail fences bordering the pastures on either side of the dirt road. “I don’t think I’ll need a bodyguard.”
“You never know,” I said. “What if some crazy kidnaps you for ransom?”
“Then you’ll kick his ass?” Laney asked, grinning.
“Her ass, more likely.”
“I’d like to see her try,” Laney said. “If one of your groupies comes up to me, I don’t think I’m the one you’ll need to worry about.”
A few minutes later, we pulled up in front of Grampa Othal’s house. He’d been discharged, but he had around the clock care from the best private nurses in the state. Anyone else would have been in a rehab facility, but Othal wanted them to come to him, not the other way around.
I climbed out, then went around to open Laney’s door and help her down from the high seat in the H2. “I guess you haven’t totally forgotten your manners while you’ve been away,” she said.
“I told you, I’m going to take care of you,” I said, lacing my fingers through hers as we made our way up Othal’s front steps. I stopped on the front porch and turned to face Laney, squeezing her hand. “I meant it. I take care of what’s mine. And you’re mine, Laney Tucker.”
I searched her blue eyes for understanding. She swallowed and nodded, dropping her gaze. Before releasing her hand, I pulled her in, circled her shoulders with my arm, and gave her forehead a quick kiss.
Inside, the big house was bright as always, decorated opulently with wood and leather everywhere. Vases of late summer wildflowers graced the tables instead of the hospital flowers. Othal wouldn’t like to be reminded of his weakness. From our left, the steady beep of a heart monitor gave away his location and served as more than enough of a reminder.
I led Laney into the living area, where Gramps sat propped up on a cot that looked exactly like a hospital bed. But he was wearing a flannel shirt and his face was freshly shaved. A nurse sat in a chair nearby, reading on her device.
“You look good, Gramps,” I said, stepping forward to hug my grandfather.
“I look like garbage,” Othal said, his voice slurred. One corner of his mouth was turned down from the stroke, and wetness glistened in the wrinkles there from the trickle of saliva leaking out.
“Fine, you look like garbage,” I said, grabbing a napkin off the tray beside the bed to dab at Othal’s chin. “But you don’t look like dead garbage, so that’s an improvement from the last time I saw you.”
Othal grinned with all but one corner of his mouth. For one terrible second, I thought I was going to burst into tears in front of my tough old grandpa and my girl. But I took a deep breath and laughed instead.
“And who’s the girl you brought me?” Othal asked, peering around me. “Is this my new nurse? Damn, each one is better than the last. I’m going to have to keep firing them until they bring me a Kardashian.”
Laney laughed and stepped forward to hug him. “You’re sweet, Gramps,” she said. “But it’s me, Laney Tucker, from next door.”
“I know that,” Othal said. “I’m just joshing you. What are you kids up to this morning? Out for a drive?”
“I got a call from my manager,” I said. “He wants me to do a solo album.”
“You got a deal with a label yet?”
I couldn’t help the smile of pride from finding my face. “I think so.”
“I don’t suppose it’s country? Because I’ve still got ties.”
“No country, Gramps.”
“That’s too bad,” Othal said, lifting a big hand and pointing at me with a gnarled finger. “I always said you’d make a good country duo, the two of you. Could have been the next Johnny and June.”
“There’s still time,” Laney said. “You never know.”
“You get her on your record,” Othal said, shaking a finger at me. “She’s got the voice and the looks. Not everybody’s got the right combination.”
“She’s the whole package,” I agreed.
“I ever tell you I offered to get her plugged in with some of my Nashville people after you left?”
I shot Laney a look, but she’d put on a poker face. “No,” I said, turning my attention back to Othal. “I didn’t know that.”
“I did,” Othal said. “But she wasn’t having it. Y’all two always were a stubborn pair. Couldn’t keep you apart once you made up your mind to be together.”
“I guess not,” I said, taking Laney’s hand. “Because here we are, together.”
We stayed a bit longer before bidding Othal goodbye. I leaned in to hug him, and though my grandfather’s hand shook slightly when he reached for mine, his handshake was still firm.
nineteen
Laney
“This is where we’re staying?” I asked, looking around the spacious high-rise apartment we had managed to get to without too much fuss. A few people had seen Brody and run over to get selfies and hug him, but it hadn’t been too bad. I thought I could handle it. And the apartment was gorgeous—all clean lines, stainless steel appliances, and a killer view.
“Did you think we’d be in a motel on the south side?” Brody asked, coming up behind me and putting his arms around me. “How many times do I have to tell you I’m going to take care of you before you believe me?”
“Maybe a few more,” I said, wiggling my bottom against him.
He growled and rubbed his chin against my neck. “You better stop that, or I’m going to have to take you to the bedroom.”
Pressing harder against him, I squirmed around even more. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep. I know you’re going to call your manager first thing.”
“Then you don’t know me as well as you think,” he said, bending to scoop me up. He threw me over his shoulder, and a little shriek escaped me as he ran into the bedro
om and tossed me on the bed. Pouncing on top of me, he pulled my hands over my head and nuzzled my neck until he found my ticklish spot. He mercilessly rubbed his scratchy chin against it and growled against my ear until I was giggling uncontrollably.
“Stop, I can’t breathe,” I gasped at last, and he pulled back and looked down at my face with amusement.
“All this writhing around is making me want to do a lot more than tickle you,” he said, his hips grinding slowly against mine.
“What about your phone call?”
“Fuck Nash,” he whispered, bending to press his lips to mine.
“I don’t know if that’s allowed,” I teased. “But I guess if you’re okay with it…”
“Never.” Still holding my hands over my head, he stroked my cheek with his free hand. “You’re mine, remember? All mine.”
His lips found mine, and I tried to remind myself again that this wasn’t real, that I didn’t feel anything for him except hatred and revulsion. But it was no use. His mouth skimmed my cheek and a shiver ran through my body. Once again, I was helpless to stop my body’s response. Worse, he seemed well aware of it. With a grin, he sat up and tugged at my shirt, drawing it slowly over my head and dropping it to the floor.
His mouth met mine again as he leaned down to give me a taste of his tongue, just enough to make her want to scream when he pulled away a second later. After peeling off his own shirt, he slid onto me again, smiling down at my face. “I think I owe you,” he said. “I’ve been waiting for this since we left Kentucky.”
I’d been waiting for three years. But I’d die before I admitted that to him. When he reached under my back, I arched up, letting him unhook my bra and then slide it over my arms.
“You’re so beautiful,” he said, his mouth moving from my ear, down my neck. My nipples hardened against him as his chest skimmed across mine. His warm hand cupped my breast, massaging it gently before taking my nipple between his thumb and finger and giving it a little tug. A jolt went through me, as if an invisible tie led directly from my nipple to my clit. Brody grinned and did it again, watching my face for reaction. I gasped and reached for him, wanting him inside me again.