by Fiona Archer
“I see that.”
“But just to let you know, if you stay, that floor is going to be hard to sleep on.” And with that, I settled into a sweet spot of the comfortable hotel bed and knocked out.
Chapter Three
Jack
I didn’t sleep. Not one wink.
I sat next to her bed and stroked her hair, my eyes never moving far from her. If she only knew everything!
My phone rang, and I quickly answered. “What?”
“You fix your shit yet?” Jim asked, and I took a deep breath.
“What do you want?” I groaned.
“Luka called,” he shared. “Time to hit the road, man.” I could hear the excitement vibrating in his voice, and my heart froze in my chest.
“What?”
“Road time. You know that lovely pop singer who just dropped her new album?”
“You don’t mean—”
“Yep! She asked if we could open for her. National-freaking-tour Jack!”
“National tour.” I wiped my face.
This was it.
This was everything the band had worked for.
Everything Chrissy believed we could do.
I looked at her, her back still to me, and I swallowed.
“I can’t go,” I said to myself, knowing I meant it. There was no damn way I could leave her now. Not like this. I had to fix us before I could think about touring.
“What?”
“I can’t go.”
“Okay, I think I need to call you a fucking ambulance because short of you having a stroke, man, I don’t know how you could say what you just did.”
“Chrissy and I…” I didn’t have the words. Words always felt like they fell short. It was why music was so fucking important to me. It was how I could show her what I felt. What she meant to me.
“Jack—”
“I gotta fix this, Jim,” I whispered harshly, looking away from her for a moment. “She’s… you know what she is to me.”
“Man… you don’t go, means none of us go. You’re our lead vocal,” he reminded me.
“I know,” I rasped. “But she’s my life. Music doesn’t make sense without her. She’s my home and my rock and my calm—”
“Does that make you my storm?” she asked, and I turned to look at her.
She had turned in bed and fuck me she looked so damn cute. Soft and warm. I just wanted to tuck her into my lap and hold her forever.
Chrissy put her hand out, silently asking for my phone, and I handed it to her. I would give her everything and anything. All she ever had to do was ask. It’s why I had started to bust my ass so much the moment we met Luka and the record label. It was finally time for me to take care of her, yet I hadn’t even done that right.
“Jack’s going to have to call you back.” I could hear him saying something, but she ended the call, never taking her bright blue eyes away from me.
“Music doesn’t make sense without me?” She was looking at me like she hadn’t seen me in a long time, and I licked my lips, knowing in my gut this was my one chance.
“I’m sorry. I’m so fucking sorry, Chris.”
“Answer me.”
“Not a fucking note.”
“You don’t have to, you know?”
“Don’t have to what?” I frowned.
“Say that.”
“The truth?” I pressed, and she blinked. I could see she was trying to see if I was being honest.
“You could easily say sayonara and bang a bunch of groupies and end up with some Victoria’s Secret Model.”
“What the fuck would I want with them?” I asked, taking a chance at losing my balls and sitting on the bed next to her. My hands had a mind of their own and held her face gently. “You’re it for me.”
“Really? Because if this is about feeling obligated to keep me around because I was there from the beginning—”
“There wouldn’t be any of this without you,” I pointed out and leaned my forehead against hers. “Fuck.” I cursed and closed my eyes tightly. I was tired and fucking terrified of losing my woman. The one woman on earth that was for me. My best friend.
“That birthday you reminded me about? The one with the homemade cupcakes and fucking coupons?”
“Yeah?” she frowned.
“I knew before, but that day, Chrissy… I knew you were the woman I was going to marry.”
“Funny, three years later and you haven’t asked,” she sassed, and I smiled. I liked her mouthing off. It was part of why I loved her so damn much.
“I haven’t had a pot to piss in until a couple of months ago,” I reminded her, and she rolled her eyes.
“I’m not that type. I didn’t need—”
“I know you don’t. I did.” I pulled away but still held her face with one hand and scooted her closer to me, until she was straddling my lap. “I wanted to know I could give you the life you deserved. That’s why I was ready to give it all up back then. Do you remember?”
“Of course I do! The band was your dream—”
“Hell, we wouldn’t be the band we are now if it hadn’t been for you. Remember how none of us liked Jim? But you believed in him. Now we write songs together.”
“Jack—”
“Ask me what the first thing I bought was when that check cleared.”
“I know what you bought. A custom guitar I still haven’t seen.”
“No.” I stood, shook my head, and shimmied us out of bed. “I swear.” I laughed, looking around the small hotel room.
“This wasn’t how I wanted to do this. I had plans and if I hadn’t been so damn focused on that, then I wouldn’t have fucked up, not that that should excuse forgetting and messing up your birthday.”
She looked up at the ceiling, silently praying to the heavens for patience, and I knew this was my moment.
I kneeled in front of her, holding a pink pouch in my hand, and waited for her to look at me.
Chapter Four
Chrissy
“What are you talking about?” I exclaimed but gasped as I took in the sight.
Jack was on one knee.
No.
That couldn’t mean what I thought that meant. Right?
“Jack,” I whispered.
“There was no guitar.” He shook the bag, and something fell in my palm, but I couldn’t look at it. My eyes were pinned on him.
“You are my sun and moon. My stars and bright white clouds, Chrissy. Music doesn’t make sense without you next to me. Not behind or in front of, but next to me. You say my dreams are coming true because the band’s getting famous, but my dreams came true when you walked into that little dive bar in Pasadena and took a chance on some wannabe guitarist who could hold a note.”
“Oh my God.” My free hand went to my lips and tears fell.
“I should have done this the moment I bought it, but I wanted to… I wanted to give you that fairytale moment. Be the prince who maybe hadn’t been able to give you everything before but when you looked back to me asking you to be my wife, I had been able to give you the perfect memory. I wanted to be your Prince Charming, not some frog.”
“Oh, Jack.” I shook my head.
I pulled on his hand, and he stood, taking the cool metal in my hand into his fingers. His hand in mine, his eyes melting my heart.
“Marry me, Chris. Marry me because you love me, and I love you. Marry me so we can be each other’s partners in crime. Each other’s biggest fucking cheerleader.” His words sank in, and I realized how terrified he looked.
“Jack.”
“I know it feels like I was a selfish asshole, and maybe I was, but—"
“Yes.” I whispered, and his body locked tight, his eyes searching mine.
“Say it again.”
“Yes!” I nodded and laughed. “Yes. I’ll marry you.” I smiled and squealed when he picked me up and spun us around.
“Yes, you said yes, right?” he asked, setting me down on the ground. “No take backs.”
“No refunds or exchanges either, mister.” I poked his chest.
“Thank fuck.” He growled, and his lips touched mine, and it was like a lit match landing on gasoline.
His lips were rough and demanding, and I yielded. Our tongues danced and dueled. Teeth scraped. Our hands were a blur as we made quick work of getting rid of every piece of clothing. We tried to move to the bed but landed on the floor with a hard thump.
We laughed and looked at one another for a moment I knew we’d both remember.
Laughter soon turned into moans when his mouth touched mine and our hands roamed. Jack’s strong body took its place between my legs and we were one. Both of us were like stars falling from the sky. Racing furiously to explode on the ground. We wanted to leap off a cliff of pleasure that we could only find with one another.
“Mine.” He growled, biting my lip as he flipped us around and I rode him. “Mine,” he repeated, biting my neck, and I whimpered.
“Yours.” Words faded, and only the sound of our heavy breathing and bodies connecting echoed around us.
He sat up, and I locked my knees around his narrow waist. My hands around his neck and his around my waist, he went in deeper, hitting just the right spot, and I knew we were at the point of no return. We simultaneously flew into ecstasy, as we held on to one another.
We sat there with my legs wrapped around him, breathing one another’s air. Still inside of me, we were closer than two people could be as we fought to breathe. His lips touched my forehead, and my eyes fluttered closed.
“I’m sorry, Chrissy. I love you more than all the music in the world, baby.” I hid my face in the crook of his neck and breathed in his scent. We both probably needed a shower and a toothbrush, but he felt like home.
My home.
The past was ours, and the future was bright.
But that very moment, it was my own fairy tale come true. Jack Meany wasn’t my prince. He was my king. Not that I would say that to him. There was no need to give a rockstar an ego boost.
Copyright 2020 Mayra Statham
About Mayra Statham
Mayra Statham lives in Southern California with her hubby, three kids, and doggy. When she isn’t writing happily ever after’s, she’s reading them! She loves hearing from readers whether on social media or email! Feel free to contact at [email protected]!
Books by Mayra Statham
In the mood for a holiday reads?
Check out Merry & Bright OUT Dec.1st
Naughty Kisses - Coming 12/14!
Mistletoe Wishes
Cookies & Kismet
Right Men Series:
Lie
Steal
Cheat
Drink
Mountain Lakes Series:
Booked & Hooked
Towed & Owned
Roasted & Toasted- Coming 2021
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Adoring Alexis
by
Michelle Mars
Prologue: Logs
From: [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Re: Glad to see you’re okay
Hey Jack,
It’s been a roller coaster ride watching everything going on between you and your alien. I was happy to read that human relocation is indefinitely on hold. Such a relief. It sounds like an interesting story. As you can imagine, every vampire I know is celebrating, for obvious reasons. What a disaster that would have been.
As you might recall, my two-year vampire-rebirth anniversary is tomorrow. Once again, thank you for helping me through your blog and friendship to find my new normal. My story may be different than yours, but I was still a newly-made, orphaned vampire. Your site was/is a life saver. I’m grateful.
In honor of my rebirth, my best friend, Alexis—who thinks she’s being slick—is planning a surprise for me. What she doesn’t know is that I have plans, too. I’m finally making my move. Wish me luck. I hope I’ll continue to hear good things from your blog or the news. If you need anything, don’t forget we’re all out here and ready to help.
Otherwise, everything is pretty boring around the good old STL. Well, as boring as my life ever gets.
Yours,
Sean
Chapter One
Kindling
The day Sean Butler died was a fucked-up day to figure out he was in love with his best friend.
He loved a rush—fast cars, skydiving, biting bad guys, and firefighting—but his rush of feelings was something he hadn’t been prepared for.
His best friend, Alexis Cavill, was his ride-or-die. He’d known for years that he loved her. How could he not? They’d been inseparable ever since their last names landed them together in the school line-up. Their pictures graced every yearbook side-by-side, with coordinating outfits, shared poses, or even high-fiving across photos. So… he’d always loved her. But when he realized he was in love with her, that rush was more exciting and more terrifying.
When he thought of telling Alexis he was in love with her on the same day he told her he was now a bloodsucker, well, that seemed like pretty bad timing. “Hey, I know we’ve known each other almost our whole lives, but now that I stare at the pulse in your throat longingly, I also love you and want to share my non-life with you.” Yeah. Every woman’s dream declaration.
Two years later, he still hadn’t figured out just how to tell her how he felt. Was he supposed to say it before or after she stole bags of blood… for him… from her job… in a mobile blood donation truck… where she was a phlebotomist? He hated that she did that for him, but since he didn’t want to brainwash and bite any undeserving people, he had to supplement in-between hunting for douchebags with the occasional iron-rich to-go bag. It just felt wrong to lay down feelings, while she was forced, out of loyalty, into a life of crime.
On top of that, what if she didn’t want to be a vampire? Or what if she wanted kids? They both liked kids, at a distance, that is, but most people eventually do want some. At least, that was what society said. You grew up with some magical clock poised to hit you in the head when it was time to procreate. The fact that he had never been hit by that clock in all his thirty years didn’t mean that it wouldn’t have ever happened. Right? And while Alexis had never seemed to have been smacked upside her life with the clock didn’t mean she would want to forgo having that as an option. Right?
After two years of loving her and suppressing his desire to turn her neck into his own personal Slurpee as she rode his cock, he’d decided it was time. Time to confess and hope that it didn’t ruin everything between them.
Twenty-two years of friendship on the line, but no pressure. He attempted to look at it as just another one of his thrills. He was leaping away from the safety of the airplane and free-falling. He was going to hope his tandem partner didn’t disconnect their harnesses leaving him to plummet alone. Way to psyche yourself out, dumbass.
He must have grunted at that thought because Jared, another firefighter with his crew, yelled over the siren noise, “Did you say something?”
Well, damn. He knew better than to bring his baggage with him once the alarm went off. Rookie mistake. So he replied, “No. Just cleared my throat. Sorry.” It was time to focus. No more distractions. As the fire truck sped through the streets, he set it all aside. He could focus on his future with Alexis…later.
Chapter Two
Pit
Fifteen minutes earlier…
Alexis looked at her reflection in the mirror of the dressing room with the godawful lighting and wondered if her dress said, I’ve wanted you for a long time, and it’s killing me to just be your friend,” or if it said, I’m a damn fool
for ruining the best friendship I ever had. Probably a damn fool, but she wasn’t backing out now. She’d put off admitting how she felt for too long. Everything had always been so easy between them, but lately—okay, not that lately, more like ever since he told her that he turned into a vampire—things had been shifting.
What had always felt like the most solid and fundamental relationship she’d ever had with her BFF had started to feel uncomfortable. Ill-fitting even. Where she used to be able to curl up with him on the couch and heckle bad reality TV, she now found herself keeping a couple of inches distance. It wasn’t because he was a vampire—though, admittedly, that had come as quite a shock. Who could possibly imagine they would end up resembling one of her beloved paranormal romances?
The real problem was that she had to keep her distance or else she would pounce on him. Not like she used to in a friendly way. No. More of the Take me, bite me, fuck me until my soul exits my body variety. Definitely not what friends do. Definitely. Not. Why was she doing this again?
Alexis caressed her fingertips over her neck on the very spot she’d dreamed, many times over, about Sean biting her. She’d speculated about how it might feel. How he might feel. His teeth. His mouth. The pain. The pleasure. Since he’d told her about his heightened vampiric senses, which included smell, she’d kept her distance and her thoughts mostly in check when he was near to avoid the inevitable panty wetting.
Panty wetting was definitely on her to do list that night, though. She bit her lip and attempted to clean up her thoughts as she felt her panties grow damp. Good thing there was no hot vampire best friend around now.
Her reflection didn’t help her damp situation any, because—she had to say it—she was a vampire’s wet dream. The one-shoulder dress design highlighted exactly where he should direct his mouth. No one ever accused her of being subtle. The dark red was set off stunningly against her dark brown skin. It clung to her breasts and the flair of her hips, curved around her slightly rounded abdomen, and showcased her ass like any good mini-dress should. She’d caught Sean staring at some of her assets longer than he used to, with what she hoped was longing or at least desire. She could work with desire.