Bad Blood (Rock Goddess Reverse Harem Book 5)

by Romy Lockhart

  I offer the photographer and he takes a bottle after a second’s hesitation. My Goddess light travels into him as our fingers touch. I see he’s as in love with Zura as she is with him and I have to smile. I can fix this. It won’t take much, just a few words to this guy when Zura can’t hear us.

  I take drink from my own bottle and then put it down, getting out a miniature bottle of wine. Spilling water on Zura’s clothes won’t force her to go into the bathroom, but putting a red stain on that gun-metal grey skirt just might.

  I don’t speak as I pour the dark liquid into a glass. I know from previous conversations that this isn’t the worst thing Zura’s ever seen a rock star do. Day-drinking is on the mild end of the scale. She’s had interviews with men who snorted lines of coke all the way through, like they were punctuating their sentences with it, and one guy who let a groupie finish blowing him in front of her before he’d agree to start the interview. If he hadn’t been the hottest property on the scene at the time, she would have walked out. I still can’t believe she didn’t.

  Anything I say could be put into print, so I don’t mention what I’m doing. I don’t try to make excuses. I just bring my glass over and get ready to be clumsy.

  Her gaze drifts to the photographer as I sit down, allowing me the perfect opportunity to spill without raising her suspicions. I tip the glass and it sloshes onto her skirt, dribbling onto the champagne colored carpet below. For a second I freeze, then I remember I could buy this damned hotel if I really wanted to. Replacing their carpet isn’t going to be a big deal.

  “Oh my God, I’m so sorry,” I say with a gasp as Zura’s attention snaps back to reality.

  She looks down grabs a pack of tissues from her purse. “It’s fine.”

  Damn. She doesn’t look the slightest bit bothered by the stain.

  “I’ve had worse things spilled on me,” she tells me with a twitch of her lips.

  “I’ll get club soda. Maybe we can stop it from staining.” I get up, putting the glass down carefully on the coffee table.

  “It’s honestly fine. I’ve been meaning to replace this suit.”

  “Two minutes in the bathroom, and you’ll be all good.” I hope. I’ll feel bad for ruining it if not, considering Zura’s not the kind of woman who accepts gifts even if they’re apology related. Ugh, I did not think this through.

  She gets up after a second’s hesitation, and I breathe out a small sigh of relief. I lead her to the bathroom, and she motions me to come inside after I give her the bottle of club soda. There’s something in her eyes that makes me swallow hard. I close the door over, wondering what’s up. Somehow I doubt she’s going to just tell me about her thing with the photographer. What does that leave?

  “I’m not going to ask about the polyamory,” she tells me, keeping her voice low.

  She’s not? Wait. Why is she whispering? Oh, right. She left the tape recorder running.

  “You’re not?” I’ll be honest, I expected it to be scandalous enough to become the main point of interest for every interviewer I need to suffer through this week.

  “Your love life is your own business.” She starts to sort out the stain. “I’m sure you’ll get enough questions about that from everyone else.”

  “Thank you,” I tell her, my hand going to the door handle. Now I really owe her one love-struck photographer. “I can get you something else to wear if that doesn’t come out.”

  “It’ll be fine,” she tells me. “Give me a couple of minutes. I need to freshen up anyway.”

  I leave her to it and walk quickly back towards her guy, who gives me a suspicious look.

  “What’s your name?” I ask as I approach and lay my hand on his arm.

  “It’s Joe,” he mutters, frowning. “Why?”

  My Goddess light flows through him as I meet his eyes. “Zura’s in love with you, Joe. She’s just too proud to admit it. You’re going to have to make the first move.”

  His slack expression turns euphoric. “She is?”

  “You’ve suspected her feelings for a long time. Don’t let doubts get in the way. She’s pushing you back because she doesn’t know how to handle what she’s feeling. Tell her how you feel and she’ll start to open up.”

  I step back quickly and he blinks slowly a handful of times before he shrugs off the feeling that something strange just happened. I spilled those words into his unconscious. He’ll remember them when the time is right. I sit back down and smile at Zura when she returns.

  “It actually came out,” she tells me as she sits. “So, are you ready to keep going?”

  I glance at the recorder and curse inwardly. When she plays that back she’ll hear what I said to Joe.

  “Actually, can we start fresh?”

  She seems surprised, but picks up the recorder and clears her throat as she rewinds it, and stops it.

  “Ready?” she asks, her fingers ready to hit record.

  I nod, the tension draining from me as she puts the recorder back down. Joe is watching her carefully as she restarts the interview. My earlier nerves are gone. She’s not going to ask about my guys, and she’s going to have one of her own by the time the day is done.

  Chapter Thirty

  Eli

  Nick can’t seem to sit still while Eden’s interview is going on in the next room. He paces over to the door again and leans up against it, listening. If I hadn’t brought up that her interviewer might be digging for information, she might not have told us to stay in the bedroom, and Nick would probably be out there already poking his nose into everything.

  I’m not interested in hearing what they’re saying. I know Eden’s going to be careful now, guarded. She slipped up telling them she has four lovers when only three of us are really with her. She won’t want anyone discovering the truth. At least not until she figures out for herself what she really wants.

  I know what her plan is. It seemed to reassure Nick. I’m not so sure that’s how things are going to play out. I may not have known Eden for as long as he has, but I know she has feelings for Logan. I don’t know what it means for our situation, but I don’t think it’s going to be as simple as replacing him with someone else.

  Nick sighs and steps back from the door. “I can barely hear a thing.”

  “You can read it when the magazine comes out next week.”

  He grimaces. “That’s too long to wait.”

  “I’m sure Eden will tell us all about it.” Though not straight away, considering that would probably feel like she was being interviewed again immediately after she just went through one inquisition.

  “When she’s ready.”

  “What do you think about her plan?”

  His swift change of subject takes me off guard. For a second I wonder if he has the same doubts I have, then he fills in the silence.

  “I can’t believe one of her options is a woman,” he goes on, a familiar glint in his eyes. “How hot is that?”

  I smile in spite of myself. “She isn’t thinking about choosing Arianna.”

  “Well, maybe I can talk her around,” he says, grinning a little.

  I seriously doubt it, but let him dream. “Do you know the guy she mentioned?”

  He starts to shake his head and then nods. “Actually, I do. Met him a couple of times but he never stayed long when he came in to the club with whichever band he was in at the time. Seemed kind of quiet. Not a drinker.” He shrugs. “Probably a nice enough guy.”

  Better than Logan, then. It wouldn’t take much. I try to shake off the animosity just thinking about the guy spreads through me. I get the feeling it’s not going to matter how much I dislike him, not in the long run. Eden’s heart rules her. If she truly loves him, we may all be stuck with him.

  “Well, that’s good.”

  “I guess. I still think we should talk her into giving Arianna a chance.”

  “Even if she’s a Dark Forces Goddess?”

  Nick grins. “I do like a bad girl.”

  “She won’t be
yours,” I remind him.

  “I know that. Doesn’t mean we wouldn’t get to enjoy watching them together.”

  “You’re terrible.” I’ve never met someone with such an unflappable one-tracked mind.

  “I’m just saying, it could a lot of fun. When am I ever wrong about stuff that could be fun?”

  He has a point. I never would have thought up the double-penetration scenario he led us into in that limo, but it was a lot more than just fun. “The choice is Eden’s.”

  Truthfully, I’d be more comfortable with another guy. A woman might complicate things. Especially if she turned out to be even half as kinky as Nick. I don’t want things to change that much.

  What does that leave?

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Logan

  I dreamt of Eden last night. Of being in bed with her, and the psycho Sheriff. The one who killed me, the one who was so against Eden taking me as her fourth. I watched him kiss her, watched his hand slide down the flat of her stomach. I watched her face as she turned to me, gasping before pressing her lips to mine. His hand clamped onto my wrist and I let him guide it to her swollen clit, then lower, into the hot, wet sheath of her pussy. His own thick fingers followed mine inside, and she shook under us as we stretched her out, moaning in ecstasy against my probing tongue.

  I awoke sweating, breathing hard. My dick was rigid, and I could feel it throbbing. Then the guilt kicked in, and the lingering lust subsided quickly. Fuck. This must be a side effect of being one of her men. If I thought I could walk away without consequence, I must have been crazy.

  I get up and head for the shower, switching off my alarm. It’s not due to go off for an hour. My stomach growls and I wonder idly if Skyler has any food in her fridge. Somehow, I doubt it.

  The hot stream of water helps to clear the dream from my head. I shouldn’t be so desperate to fall into another woman’s bed. Not after everything that happened with Diana. Not even for the first woman I ever loved, the only woman I thought I ever would.

  I wonder if it’s ever going to stop. If this is just because Eden made me hers, is it only an initial reaction? Or am I going to suffer dreams for the rest of my damn life? To want her and not be able to have her will drive me insane. It did before. Why should this be any different?

  “Shit,” I murmur as I turn off the water and get dried off.

  This isn’t going to go away. I’m going to have to talk to Eden. To find out if she can reverse what she did. To ask her to let me go. The thought leaves a hollow feeling inside.

  She doesn’t want me. She made that pretty clear.

  I have to walk away. That’s the only option here. I thought I could do it without ever seeing her again. I should have said no to the job when I found out it was Skyler. I could have. I didn’t because somewhere, deep down, I desperately wanted to be around Eden again.

  It’s so fucking pathetic. I leave the bathroom and get dressed. I pick a protein bar out of the bag with my clothes and tech in it, after checking Skyler’s fridge confirms there’s nothing resembling food inside. She has a bunch of promo shit to get through this afternoon, and it’s unlikely that we’ll be stopping to eat. I stuff a couple of the bars into my jacket pocket for later. Skyler might be able to exist on air and alcohol, but a man needs to eat.

  Eden always got that. She knew what I liked and she made sure there was plenty of it around. It went both ways, but I was paid to look after her so that could easily be taken as an extension of my duties. Not that it was. I never once cooked or ran baths for any of my other clients. At the time it didn’t seem like she noticed, but being with her and finding out my feelings weren’t one-sided made me realise she did. It hurts like hell to think of that now.

  We love each other, why can’t we be together?

  It’s because nothing’s ever that simple and I know it.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  Eden

  They’ve barely been gone two seconds when Nick slips out of the bedroom. He comes toward me with purpose and I just know whatever he has planned is going to mean re-doing my hair and make-up before I go to my next interview.

  “Let me take my clothes off before you get any big ideas,” I tell him. I plan to wear it to the next interview, which is a radio thing and won’t involve any pictures being taken.

  “No big ideas today, Eden. I just want to make you feel good before you leave.” He kisses me carefully, lightly, working his jaw to open my mouth and caressing my tongue with his. The minty sweet taste tells me he was just chewing gum before he came out here.

  His fingers slide under my skirt and pull down my panties. His hands push the skirt upwards and then he moves back, his smile quickly turning into a grin as he sinks to his knees in front of me.

  “What about Eli?” I realise he hasn’t left the bedroom.

  Nick looks up at me. “I get this quickie. He gets you all to himself tonight.”

  All to himself? I shiver in anticipation, as Nick leans forward and starts to kiss my inner thighs. His kiss had already dampened my panties. His tongue discovers this and he moans in appreciation, stroking the front of his jeans before bringing his hands around to grasp my ass while he circles my clit with his tongue, swirling against that sweet spot with expert precision.

  “Oh Nick.” I run my hands through his hair, holding tight as the first wave of pleasure crashes over me. I come against his mouth, bucking as he continues to lick. It feels so good but if he doesn’t stop soon, I’m going to be too shaky to walk. I’m still sensitive from being penetrated by both of them last night. My nerve endings are on fire.

  “You taste so damn good,” he murmurs as he moves back, licking at his lips. “And you glow like the Goddess you are after you come.”

  He pulls my panties back up and smooths my skirt back down, before getting to his feet.

  “I’m hitching a ride with you but security will need to come with us. I need to check on the bar, see how things are going with the new management. So I’ll be getting out before you get to the radio station.” He puts an arm around me. “Ready to go?”

  I kind of wish we had more time to get naked, but I guess we should... “What about Eli?”

  “He took a call from work and he’s got some stuff to check into for that. I promised him I’d bring back my laptop after I check the bar.”

  “I hope it’s nothing about Catherine.” I’m probably worrying over nothing, but that said, there’s not usually anything exciting going on in Haleton so what else would they be calling him about?

  “It’s something to do with the guy she got to burn down a building.”

  “The guy she then got Logan to kill?” This really isn’t settling my worries. I take a step toward the bedroom door and Nick pulls on my hand.

  “You’re going to be late,” he reminds me.

  He’s right. And considering it’s a live interview I really don’t have the option to be a diva about it. I’ll call Eli as soon as it’s over. I pick up my purse and we leave.

  At least Skyler’s going to be there.

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  Logan

  Skyler doesn’t bother to tell me the interview is a joint thing with Eden. I shouldn’t be surprised, and neither should she. Yet her shocked stare tells me she either completely forgot I’d be here with her friend, or she didn’t even think about it. I shift my gaze so I don’t stare back. It’s hard not to with the short skirt and see-through red top she’s wearing. She’s always stunning. Dressed provocatively she’s difficult to ignore, but I’m going to have to try.

  I concentrate on the job I’m supposed to be doing. Even if it’s all bullshit. Sky doesn’t really need me and I don’t buy that she feels more comfortable with someone who knows. The woman is twisted. She always has been. She has me working for her because she gets some kind of amusement out of it. Whether that’s at the expense of me or Eden, I’m not sure yet.

  I let my gaze drift to the guy Eden walked in with. He’s a bodyguard, but I don’t recogn
ise him. Could be new. Could be with a different company. I wouldn’t know, and I’m not about to ask. She doesn’t need protecting. She’s more powerful that any weapon I’m carrying, and no bullet can kill her.

  “Nice top,” Sky tells Eden, as she takes her arm and they walk into the sound booth.

  They leave us outside the door. I watch through the glass panels, trying not to stare too obviously. She looks happy, though her smile saddens when she glances my way.

  This is too fucked up. I turn away. I should ask to be reassigned.

  No, I need to talk to her. I need her to cut me loose. She doesn’t want me, so she can’t just let me stay one of her men. She needs to let me go.

  My heart starts to pound harder. I don’t want her to let me go. I want her to pull me closer, to be a part of her life.

  That’s crazy talk, and besides, it doesn’t matter what you want. She’s calling the shots. And she doesn’t want anything to do with you.

  Fuck. I swallow and try to just focus.

  The guy next to me glances me over and nods suddenly. “I know you.”

  “Yeah, well, I don’t know you.”

  “You were Eden’s bodyguard for years. What happened?”

  I laugh. I have to. “It’s a long story.”

  He can tell by my tone it’s also one I don’t want to tell. He shuts up and I try to keep my thoughts from spiralling. I’m trapped right now, between the fantasy of what I want and the reality of what I have. I can’t let my desperate desires take me over. Not again. Never again.

  It doesn’t matter what I want. I can’t force Eden to love me.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  Eden

  I don’t know what I was thinking. Of course Logan was going to be there. He’s Sky’s bodyguard now. I feel weird for not being able to pull myself together enough to just say hi. She gives me a sly smile and I frown at her as we go inside. I want to tell her off for hiring him, but I can’t talk while we’re with our interviewer. That’s the kind of scandalous shit these guys live to unearth. Giving it out to them on a plate is a bad idea, even if I’m silently fuming at Sky.