Taut Strings: A Rock Star Romance (River Valley Rebels)

by Gabrielle Sands

  I gasped awake, my core spasming from an orgasm. Turning on my side, I bit the pillow, stifling a moan. I couldn’t believe it. I’d never come from a dream before.

  “That sounded like a good time.”

  I spit out the pillow and craned my neck. Silas was leaning against the kitchen island wearing only sweat pants. Steam rose above the coffee mug between his palms while he watched me have my little episode.

  “Shit. Fuck.”

  “I hope there was a lot of the latter and none of the former in your dream,” he said with an amused smile before taking a sip.

  My face hit the pillow, and I let out an embarrassed groan. “Shut up. I can’t control my dreams.”

  “Yeah. Neither can I,” he added, lifting his boulder-like shoulders and looking away.

  “How are you feeling?” I whipped the covers off and walked towards him, doing my best to keep my eyes off his sculpted chest.

  “Better.”

  “Let me feel your head.”

  He obliged, craning at his waist to lower toward me. His skin was a little clammy, but not nearly as hot as last night.

  Glancing at the clock hanging on the wall above his shoulder, I saw it was nine am. I knew I should leave. He was recovering and didn’t need a sitter, but at the same time, there was nothing waiting for me at home. I had seven hours until I was due at the bar, and everything in me rebelled at the thought of spending those hours alone in my empty house.

  Silas straightened up and cleared his throat, making me realize I’d been touching his forehead for far too long.

  “Sorry.” I dropped my hand. “I should probably go.”

  He placed his mug down on the kitchen island. “Only if you want to. I wouldn’t mind some company if you have nothing else to do.”

  I stared at my bare feet. He seemed to be in a much better mood than last night, and I knew he wouldn’t invite me to hang out if he didn’t mean it.

  The sudden realization that I was standing in front of him in only his T-shirt and a pair of underwear made me flush.

  “Okay, I’ll stay.”

  His eyes flickered down to my legs, and this simple action sent a thrill up my spine. He looked sinfully handsome in the morning, raw and undone from having just woken up. I hurried to grab my jeans off the couch and headed to get dressed in the bathroom.

  When I came out, pants on this time, Silas was wearing a loose tank top and was scrolling on his phone.

  “I’m ordering breakfast. What do you feel like?”

  “Seriously? I can make us breakfast.”

  He raised a brow. “I have butter, an old banana, and a dozen different types of sauces in the fridge. You’d need to be Harry Potter to make something with that.”

  I grimaced. “Okay. Fair point.”

  “Plus, how can you say no to breakfast burritos from Poco Loco?”

  I pretended to think for a second. “You’re right. I can’t. I have a soul.” Poco Loco had the best burritos in town, and I hadn’t had one in ages.

  We managed to get through two episodes of Modern Family by the time the food arrived. I wolfed down my burrito and leaned back against the couch, letting out a satisfied moan.

  “So how did your practice go on Thursday?”

  My post-burrito euphoria disappeared in a matter of seconds.

  “We didn’t have a practice,” I mumbled.

  “Rescheduled again? Liam’s in-laws must be a piece of work.”

  “Future in-laws,” I corrected. “No, we met up. Practicing just seemed pointless after we argued for a while and then decided to break up.”

  Silas sat up straighter on the couch and turned to face me. “Wow. That sucks.”

  “Yeah, that seems to be everyone’s reaction to the news.”

  “But why?”

  I sighed. “All the stuff I expected, to be honest. It’s getting harder for everyone to make the time, and Liam doesn’t want to try anymore. He said some crappy stuff to me, but I don’t think he meant it.”

  “What did he say?” Silas asked, his expression hardening.

  I tugged on my bottom lip with my teeth, trying to decide if I should tell him.

  In the end, I decided I didn’t want to give Liam’s words more power by keeping them close to my chest.

  “I told him how encouraging you guys have been toward me, and that you think Through Azure Skies has potential. Liam dismissed all that and said you were just being nice to me so that I would sleep with you.”

  The tick in Silas’s brow was one of the most terrifying things I’ve ever seen. His face set into a firm frown, while his hazel eyes shone with something deadly.

  “I know it’s bullshit,” I hurried to say.

  “He’s a jealous prick,” Silas growled, “who sure as hell shouldn’t be taking out his own pathetic insecurities on you.”

  Mason had said the same thing yesterday. “I don’t know. Maybe. But who cares at this point?”

  “I care,” Silas said, his voice firm. Then the fury on his face broke. “Adeline. Is that what you thought when I tried to kiss you? That I was helping you and complimenting you only to—”

  “No! No. That’s not what I thought at all.” I told him, my eyes wide. “I know you wouldn’t do something like that.”

  His eyes flickered closed in relief. “What an idiotic thing for him to say. Why would we ask you to record with us if we didn’t really think you had talent?”

  I splayed my hands out. “I know. Honestly, I’m over his comments. But fuck. I just wish all of this wasn’t happening at the same time Molly’s leaving. And I only have a week left with you guys…”

  The sun shone through Silas’s drawn blinds, and bright lines were scattered across the carpet. His hand landed on my shoulder, his touch warm and comforting.

  “What if we got more time?”

  I looked up from the floor, surprised at his question. The guys were eager to head back to LA—I knew that much. “You don’t need to slow down on my behalf. I’m a big girl. I’ll figure my life out.”

  Whether I liked it or not, I had to come to terms with being left alone in River Valley. Prolonging the inevitable was only going to make the eventual goodbyes more difficult.

  “You should take a nap,” I said, changing the topic.

  “I’m not tired.”

  I stood up, suddenly feeling restless on the couch beside him.

  “What do you want to do then?”

  “Want to practice?”

  His question put a smile on my face. “Always.”

  We’d played through a diverse catalogue by the time I had to start getting ready to leave.

  Too caught up in our music, I’d forgotten I wanted to go home to change before work. Silas found an old T-shirt of his somewhere in the depths of his closet that was only about three sizes too large.

  “Damn, you got big since then, huh?” I commented.

  He smirked, and the curve of his lips sent a flock of butterflies through my gut. “I started working out after the whole house fiasco and put on close to sixty pounds.”

  I blatantly checked him out, for once not caring that he knew I was looking. He worked hard for that body, and I wanted him to know that I thought he looked good.

  “You feeling better?” I asked, casting one final look around his place for any of my things.

  “Yeah. Mostly thanks to you.”

  “I didn’t do much.”

  “You came back here.” His gaze was once again intense, all of his attention focused on me.

  This time, I couldn’t stay silent. “Look, I want you to know something.” I took a step toward him. “I didn’t leave that time because you were too intense. Your intensity is… It’s refreshing. It’s real. I like that about you, Silas.”

  There was no more than a foot between us. He watched me quietly, a question hanging in his silence.

  I knew what he was asking.

  Why wasn’t I willing to give this a chance?

  The problem was I no
longer knew the answer.

  I drove to the bar with loud rock blasting in my car, trying not to think about how Silas’s hazel eyes had shone as I left, as if he were looking into a flame.

  I served the regulars on autopilot, slinging drinks left and right, the frantic pace of Saturday night at the Crooked Stool somehow still not enough to rid me of the confusion churning in my gut.

  When we had played together earlier today, it had felt like Silas had crawled into my soul and taken residency. Many times, I caught myself staring at the tattoos on his arms, the images taken from worlds and stories that weren’t our own. I wanted so badly to ask about them, but I felt like that was something I hadn’t earned. I didn’t deserve to know, not when I’d rejected him out of nothing but fear.

  Courage. The word on my arm taunted me as I poured an amber ale from the keg.

  Could I be brave enough to take what I wanted? I thought back to Cole’s earlier words. Room for more. What if it really was up to me?

  The rational part of my brain screamed inside my head. This was not going to end well. We had a week left, and then we might never see each other again. I’d slept with two of his best friends.

  I recited these reasons like a prayer, yet they gave me no relief. Is this what it felt like to watch a hurricane coming ashore? Like no matter what you did, some things were inevitable?

  SILAS

  It was well past one am when the incessant knocking forced me up from the couch. I had been in that weird state between being asleep and awake, when thoughts tended to trail away from coherence into a much fuzzier territory. Seeing Adeline at my door jolted me right back to wide-fucking-awake.

  She looked at me with a devastating expression. She was crying, and the sight of her tears crushed my heart like it was a scrap piece of metal. I didn’t think she’d realized she was crying, because her eyes widened when I reached to brush her tears away.

  “I- I- I-” she stuttered, struggling to get out whatever she’d come here to say.

  I acted on pure instinct and pulled her across the threshold into my chest. “Shh…”

  “I slept with Ezra and Cole,” she whispered into my shirt, her voice so weak I barely picked out the words.

  This is what had gotten her into this state? Did she think I would freak out?

  I pulled away gently, still holding on to her arms as I tried to meet her eyes. She lifted her gaze to my face inch by inch, probably afraid of what she’d see in my expression.

  When at last she registered that I didn’t look mad or surprised, she let out a pent-up breath and shook her head.

  “You knew?” she asked, her voice breaking.

  “I suspected.” She sagged an inch in my arms, and I strengthened my hold on her.

  She bit her lip, her eyes glistening once again. “I thought it would just be a mindless hookup,” she said. “But it wasn’t. It was so much more. And then I realized I turned away from you because I was afraid of exactly that. I was afraid of feeling too much, but who am I kidding?” She lifted her hands to place them on my chest. My balls tightened at the intimate contact.

  “It’s too late for that.”

  Her lips crashed with mine in a ruinous kiss, and the world tilted under my feet. I knew there would be no going back from this, and I was more than ready. I had walked her to the edge of the cliff, and instead of pulling back, she was suggesting we take a running start.

  I slammed her back against the door, the hinges rattling in protest but summarily ignored. My forearms bracketed the sides of her head, boxing her in, so that the only thing she could see and sense was me.

  Her fingers clutched my shirt like it was a lifeline, but that was a fucking lie. We were jumping off with no parachute.

  I took a half step back to tear off my shirt, and her hands quickly found their spot on my chest again. She ran her index finger down the line between my pecs.

  “You’re not too warm anymore,” she whispered, her eyes glued to my skin.

  “I have a feeling that’s about to change,” I told her and closed the distance between us.

  We were at war with our tongues, and when she let out a tiny groan into my mouth, it was like a bomb going off. I jerked away from her, my mind running into overdrive from wild, desperate need.

  She flicked her eyes across my face and licked her lips in anticipation.

  “I’m going to fuck you on the carpet until your knees are raw,” I growled.

  If some part of me was still worried I’d scare her off, that part died a happy death when she pressed every inch of herself against me, signaling her agreement. This close to each other, she had to crane her neck to look at me, the stark difference in our sizes making me so very curious about all the ways we’d fit. When she curled her fingers through my beard and tugged on it, I grunted like a goddamn caveman and lifted her off the ground.

  Her ass was firm under my palms, no doubt the product of countless hours at the gym, and I kneaded the taut flesh between my fingers as I carried her to the living room. My dick was pressed against her groin, and she rolled her hips, my sweatpants doing nothing to dampen the movement. I hissed at the contact, and she intensified her movements, clearly intent on making me drop her on the fucking floor.

  I shoved the coffee table away so hard it crashed into the wall, magazines and remote controls sliding off in a flurry. Adeline tried to look at the damage, but I pulled one hand away from her ass, forcing her to clutch my shoulders even more tightly, and brought her face back to me.

  “Your eyes. On me. The entire fucking time.”

  She nodded, her face flushed. I sank onto the floor and let her slide off my knees, her ass banging lightly against the ground. I took her—my—shirt off only to discover she wasn’t wear a bra underneath. Her nipples were hard and begging for attention. She sank onto her back, pliant under my touch, and arched until my mouth had found a nipple.

  The whimpering sounds she made as I sucked and nibbled my way across her chest were fascinating. The contrast between her soft breasts and firm body was exquisite. I wanted to spend endless hours exploring all of her, committing every detail to memory.

  Her hands found my shoulders, and she tried to push me lower.

  “What do you want?” I growled, a hard bud still in my mouth.

  She groaned and pushed harder. I didn’t move an inch.

  “Words. Use them.”

  She gave me an exasperated look. “I want you to eat me out.”

  My hips crashed into hers with enough force to elicit a cry. “Gladly.”

  I made fast work of her jeans, pulling them off with her underwear so she lay completely bare before me.

  I took a moment to appreciate the fine lines of her body, the two lines that framed her abdominals, the curve of her waist, and the heaviness of her breasts. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen, and that realization hit me hard in the chest.

  “Are you waiting for something in particular, or should I go ahead and get a snack?” she asked breathlessly and cocked a brow.

  I growled, descending onto her. “I’ll give you a snack soon enough.”

  Her pussy was already dripping on my carpet, and all I could think of is that I was never going to get it cleaned again. I licked her all the way from ass to clit, and she shuddered like she was being electrocuted from the contact. I dipped my tongue into her, fucking her with it and making her cry out. She fisted her hands in my hair, grinding my face into her pussy until she held my head in one place and crashed to oblivion right there in the middle of my living room floor.

  “Fuck, Silas,” she moaned as she rode her high.

  I wasn’t going to give her a second to recover. I shoved my sweatpants and boxer briefs down to my knees before plunging into her still-spasming pussy. I nearly came right fucking then. She moaned into my ear, pulling my face down to her neck, where I proceeded to lick and bite and suck on the sensitive skin until I was sure I’d leave a mark.

  When I was fairly certain I wasn’t going
to embarrass myself, I raised myself on one arm and began to move, building up my speed and loving the view of her breasts bouncing in time with my thrusts.

  “Shit,” I suddenly pulled out, earning a disappointed mewl from her. “Condom.”

  Adeline shook her head. “Are you clean?” she panted, trying to catch her breath.

  “Yes.”

  “Then get back inside me right this second.”

  I knew the responsible thing to do would be to ask more questions, but I trusted her, and I couldn’t stand the thought of not being in her. Flipping her over, I entered her from behind, serious about delivering on my earlier promise to her. She fisted the carpet as we slammed into each other, my hands holding her in place by the waist.

  When I felt my release inching closer, I gave her ass a hard slap, and she moaned in response.

  “Touch yourself,” I commanded, watching as one of her hands disappeared between her legs.

  The sight pushed me over the edge, and I came in her with a few final thrusts, my groans making music with the sounds coming out of her. She kept rubbing herself until I felt her spasm around my cock once more, the muscles of her writhing back a fucking work of art.

  After a minute, I finally pulled out, and I felt a primal pleasure at seeing my cum drip out of her. She flipped over and collapsed on the carpet, her knees and elbows wearing an angry pink.

  I crawled over her, placing a kiss on each of the pink marks. Laying down, I pulled her into my chest, suddenly overwhelmed with an emotion I couldn’t quite name.

  “That was—” her voice was hoarse, “—incredible.”

  I nudged at her chin and gave her a deep kiss. The word in my mind was perfect.

  20

  ADELINE

  I woke up with something hard pressed against my behind. Silas’s heavy arm was draped over my waist, keeping me firmly in place, while we spooned together on the carpet in his living room.