Jamie stared at the man behind the drums. There was something dark about him, a sadness she recognized. It was like she was looking in the mirror all over again. “How are they all this gorgeous?”
“Right?” Lo agreed, “and they rock.”
Jamie wasn’t normally into grunge, but there was something about Lithium Springs. Maybe it was the hot as sin lead singer, or maybe it was because this was her first night out in months. Either way, she was drawn to them. Jamie’s legs pushed forward until she reached the base of the stage. She stared at the three men in awe, captivated like everyone else in the room.
Tiff appeared behind them, carrying a tray with two shots of whiskey and two of the Swedish fish. “These are from Ryder,” she said. “He told me to tell you that if you need anything else to let me know.”
Jamie and Lo lifted the drinks off the tray. Turning towards the stage, Jamie mouthed a thank you to the lead singer. Ryder winked, never missing a beat.
“I take it that’s her, the hot bartender?” Lo grinned.
“Yup,” Jamie said, draining the red shot.
Lo raised her glass. “Lucky bitch.”
Music infiltrated Jamie’s bones as the set rolled on. Watching Ryder play was the greatest foreplay she could have ever imagined. She wanted him, wanted to feel his fingers plucking at her nipples the way they plucked at his guitar. She wanted to feel the vibrations of his voice while his head was buried between her legs. She told herself she wanted him because he was hot, and because he could sing, opting to ignore the butterflies she felt whenever he looked at her.
And he never stopped staring.
Ryder’s gaze never seemed to strayed too far from Jamie. Every time she moved, his eyes followed. He watched her, as if spellbound, while everyone else was fixated on him.
Though the crowd was modest, everyone in attendance felt the energy in the air as the three men on stage bared their souls. They were witnessing greatness. Lithium Springs was destined for more than dive bars in Seattle. It wasn’t a matter of if they would make it, but a matter of when. They had that thing, the it factor, the spark. They were ordained by some higher power; instruments of the gods, and Jamie felt their blessing in her veins.
She was playing with fire, but that didn’t stop her fingers from sliding down her collarbone, over her damp skin and between her breasts. Her green eyes drifted up to the stage and she smiled, happy to find him still watching. Ryder quirked a brow as he strummed his guitar and sang about sex and drugs. Jamie slipped her index finger beneath the lace fabric of her shirt, flashing him her breast before quickly covering up again.
Ry’s eyes widened in shock, and he stumbled through the next few lines of the song. The drummer took over, banging out a solo that sent the crowd into a frenzy. Ryder chuckled, shaking his head in apparent amusement. She was affecting him the same way he affected her.
“Thanks for dragging my ass out tonight,” Jamie yelled, throwing her arms around Lorena’s neck.
“Anytime,” Lo grinned, “let’s go get another drink.”
Jamie agreed and they walked over to the bar. Lo ordered another round of drinks as they slipped onto a pair of barstools. “Have you made up your mind yet?” Lo asked.
“About what?”
Lo tipped her head in Tiffany’s direction. “Which one you want.”
Instead of answering, Jamie opted to avoid the question. “I can’t feel my lips.” She was doing it again, being reckless and self-destructive, but she was powerless to stop it. She knew what she wanted, it was the same thing she always wanted, the forbidden. Ryder was lithium and she was desperate for a dose.
“That means it’s working,” Tiffany grinned. She sat a glass in front of each woman before swaying to the other end of the bar. Jamie eyed her ass as she went.
“Was she flirting with you?”
“I doubt it,” Jamie lamented. “She seems pretty enamored with Ry.”
“And he seems pretty enamored with you.”
“I showed him my tits,” she confessed, and Lo giggled. “Another drink is probably a terrible idea.” Probably? Try definitely. So far tonight, Jamie eye fucked the bartender and flashed the lead singer of the band. More alcohol would eviscerate what was left of her critical thinking skills.
“Man the fuck up, you only live once,” Lo chided.
Jamie had been fully prepared to give Lo shit for YOLO’ing her, but before she could speak her stool spun around, and she found herself face to face with Ryder. “Yeah, Kitty Cat, man up.” He pried her legs open, creating a home between her knees. A wave of goosebumps broke out across her damp skin.
“I think I owe you one.” Jamie handed him the shot and he swallowed its contents in one gulp. Leaning over her, Ryder sat the glass on the bar. His body covered hers. His shirt was wet, drenched with sweat, and visions of their damp bodies colliding in a dark room bombarded Jamie’s brain. The feel of his weight on her made her thighs quake.
“How’d you like the show?” he asked, his hand coming to rest on her hip. “I know I enjoyed it.” Hazel eyes focused on the swell of her breast. His gaze was so hot, she feared her shirt would burst into flames.
“You gonna introduce us to your girl, Ry?” Javi asked, pushing his shoulder as he walked by. He took a seat in the vacant stool next to Lo, and CT, the drummer, grabbed the seat next to him.
Ryder quirked his brow, waiting for Jamie to tell them her name, but she was stubborn, and more than a little freaked out by them referring to her as his girl. Extending her hand, Jamie chirped, “I’m Kitty Cat.”
They exchanged pleasantries as Ryder thumbed circles around her lower back. The five of them chatted for a bit, and not once did Ryder let go of her.
She was surrounded by him.
The fucking butterflies in her stomach went into hyper drive.
“I want you,” Ry murmured against her soft skin.
Jamie pushed him back—but not away. “People in hell want ice water.”
It was strange, not because he was a stranger, which he was, but because being with him felt as natural as the sun on her skin and the wind in her hair. He reminded her that even after everything that happened last fall, she could still feel. And she fucking hated it; this vulnerability, feeling things like warmth and protection. It was unsettling. In Jamie’s twenty-four years on the planet, all she ever knew was sorrow, but twenty minutes with this man and she felt safe.
“We killed that shit,” Javi yelled leaning over the bar. He was playful, like he saw the world through rose colored lenses, just like Kensie, her roommate.
“I just wish there was more than thirty people here,” CT added, signaling for a round of drinks.
“Nah,” Ryder disagreed, and kissed Jamie’s shoulder, eliciting a blush. Again with the fucking blushing. “All that stuff will come when the time is right. You can’t rush the climb.”
“Did you just quote Miley Cyrus, motherfucker?” Javi asked. Everyone within earshot erupted into fits of laughter.
“It’s a good song,” he defended. ”No, fuck that, it’s a great song.” He looked down at Jamie, tipping her chin up with his thumb, “what do you think?”
“About the song or the sentiment?” she asked. She agreed with the sentiment, life was about the journey, living in the moment, and being present. She chanted that shit daily. The song, however, was trash. Ryder’s hazel eyes penetrated her green. He was staring into the abyss of her soul and Jamie worried he could see her drowning. “Why do you keep looking at me like that?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably.
“Like what?”
“Like that,” she said pointing at him, “you’re doing it again.”
“I’m just trying to figure out why you’re so sad.”
“What makes you think I’m sad?” She leaned into his touch. She was sad, but she thought she was doing a better job of hiding it.
“Because I can see you,” he replied, resting his forehead onto hers. The act was intimate, as if they were alone in a quiet room,
not in the middle of the bar with their friends sitting two feet away. It was as if he’d always known her.
“I didn’t realize I was invisible to everyone else.”
“I didn’t mean it like that smart ass, I’m just wondering what your trying to bury under all this whiskey.”
“I think I liked you better when you were talking about my vagina,” she snorted, pulling back from his embrace. If he knew how fucked up she really was, he’d run.
Ryder grabbed her by the waist and pulled her ass to the edge of the stool, “Are you going to let me see it?”
Jamie shrugged, the jury was still out. She wanted him, but she didn’t want the complications. She didn’t want the feelings. Something in her gut told her sex with this man would never be casual, and casual was all Jamie could handle.
“I can buy you dinner first, if that’s what you want,” he added with a grin.
What did she want?
That was the million-dollar question. Ryder was hard and masculine, but he brought out a vulnerability in her she fought her whole life to suppress. Jamie was the strong one, she didn’t know any other way to be.
Tiffany, on the other hand, was soft and sensual. With her it would be fun. Light and easy, just the way Jamie liked it.
Hard or soft?
Pink or blue?
Easy or complicated?
“Are you ready to go?” Lo asked, interrupting her inner monologue.
Jamie nodded eagerly. Thankful to her friend for reminding her of a third option: getting the fuck out of there. “Yes, please,” she said attempting to pry Ryder’s hands from her hips.
“Don’t leave.” It wasn’t a question. Ryder wasn’t asking her to stay, he demanded it. “I know you want me, too. I can feel your body trembling with anticipation. Why are you fighting it so hard?”
“I can’t ditch my friend.” It was a weak excuse; one Jamie knew wouldn’t hold up as soon as it left her lips.
“My boys will take care of her. Javi, make sure Kitty Cat’s friend gets home safely.”
“Sure thing, homie,” Javi smirked, draping his arm around Lorena.
“But—”
“I’ll be fine, Kitty Cat,” Lorena assured.
Jamie narrowed her eyes at the traitorous jackass, silently calling her a bitch in every language she knew.
Puta.
Teef.
Hündin.
Tik.
“Good. Now, that’s settled,” Ryder said, forcing Jamie to look back at him. “I’ll ask you again. What do you want?”
Jamie inhaled, and exhaled slowly, tilting her head towards the bartender. “I want her.”
“Tiff?” Ryder asked, confused. Jamie nodded, running her hand down his hard chest. His body was a thing of beauty. “But, what’s in it for me?”
Jamie swirled her tongue around his Adam’s apple. “If you get me her, I’ll let you pet my Kitty Cat.”
Ryder was having an out-of-body experience.
One minute he was standing at the bar, dry humping his latest obsession and the next minute, he looked on as a Ryder-shaped shell made the impossible, possible. He was a lucky motherfucker.
Luck.
If you asked Ryder ten years ago if he considered himself lucky, he would have laughed in your face. When you grew up where he grew up, with the father he had, there was no such thing as luck. There was only life, death, and music. But there he was, standing between the legs of the sexiest woman he ever laid eyes on, after performing on stage with his two best friends, negotiating the terms of a threesome.
Yeah, he was a lucky bastard.
Kitty Cat had balls bigger than most men he knew, sitting there, writhing underneath him, asking him to help her get some pussy.
Ryder groaned into her neck. The skin there was warm and sticky from dancing. He wondered how warm and sticky she’d be when his dick was buried deep inside her body. “How did I get so fucking lucky?”
“You’re about to get even luckier,” she said in a voice so needy it was like she was talking directly to his cock. Every move this woman made affected him. She exuded sex; wore it like a second skin. Unlike Tiff, and so many of the other bitches he came across, and came across, Kitty Cat didn’t have to try to be sexy, she just was. There was something in the way she carried herself. She wasn’t timid or unsure, a little sad maybe, but mostly there was courage.
His little kitten was brave. His intuition confirmed the moment she flashed him. Ryder saw a lot of shit in his life, so much shit that nothing surprised him anymore, but nothing prepared him for the sight of her perky pink nipples staring up at him on stage. Thank fuck for CT. He hoped to God the drummer didn’t see what had him flustered, but he was grateful to him for sensing his fuck up and improvising.
Reluctantly, Ry tore his mouth from the blonde’s neck, “Tiff, babe.”
“What’s up?” she asked walking over to them, her hips swinging as she moved. It was annoying how hard she tried to entice them. She didn’t care which member of the band she fucked, she just wanted to be fucked. There was no denying she was hot, but her desperation was a turn off. Still, Kitty Cat wanted her, and he wanted Kitty Cat, and fucking Tiff wouldn’t be the worst thing he’d done for a girl.
“When’s your next break?”
“I…uh,” she stammered, looking at him in confusion. He never actually said much to her past his drink order. He prayed his previous indifference wouldn’t come back to bite him on the ass now. “I don’t know, why?”
“My little kitten wants to play and I can’t seem to tell her no.” He smiled a smile that was guaranteed to make her panties melt. Kitty Cat snorted into his chest. She saw right through the bullshit grin on his face.
“Play?”
“With you,” he clarified, spanking the giggling blonde hard on the ass. “You asked for this, remember?” he whispered. She rolled her eyes, but it shut her up.
Realization washed over Tiffany’s face, as she looked from the blonde to Ryder and back again. “It’s not busy. I think Lira will be okay by herself for a little bit.”
Thank fuck, he groaned internally. Ryder needed to be inside Kitty Cat, and now that Tiff was down, all that was left were the logistics, “Dave’s office?” he suggested. Dave was the owner of the bar, and he was cool; the guys used his office as a makeshift dressing room, but Ryder wasn’t so sure how cool he’d be with him fucking two women on his sofa.
“He left about an hour ago. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him.”
“Excellent.” Ryder lifted the blonde off her stool, and Tiff whispered something to Lira, the other bartender, before ducking under the bar.
“Take care of my friend, Javi,” Kitty Cat called as Ryder laced his fingers with hers, and dragged her forward. She reached for Tiffany’s hand. The three of them looked like they were field trip buddies.
“Where the fuck are y’all going?” CT asked incredulously. He looked to Javi for backup, but the bass player was too busy with Lo’s tongue to notice or care.
“To the back for a bit,” he tossed over his shoulder, pulling the train forward.
“With both of them?”
Ryder raised a brow towards Kitty Cat. He wanted her to know it wasn’t too late to back out, hell, he preferred it. Tiff was hot, he’d enjoy fucking her if he had too, but he wanted the blonde and the thought of sharing her with anyone made him a little nauseated.
Her eyes traveled the length of Tiff’s body, and she nodded, chewing on her lip, “With both of us.”
This girl was going to make him blow his load before he even got his dick wet.
“Can I watch?” CT asked amused. He knew Ry better than anyone, and he already knew the answer, but for whatever reason he and Javi, loved fucking with him. There wasn’t anything he could do about Tiff, but CT? Over his dead body.
“Fuck. You. Asshole.” He punctuated each word guiding the pair of giggling girls through the bar behind him. Their hands explored each other’s bodies as they made their way through the
dimly lit room. The bar was dead, but every eye in the place was on the three of them. Their mission was about as transparent as Scotch tape.
Ignoring the stares, Ryder tugged the train along until they reached Dave’s office. The room was dark and damp. Humidity from the main bar and their combined lust permeated the air. A cheap plywood desk sat in the middle of the room, one of those Target or Wal-Mart specials, and a metal folding chair was tucked neatly behind it.
The girls stumbled backwards, falling on the old brown sofa that was pushed up against the back wall. Ryder locked the door and watched with hooded eyes as Kitty Cat straddled the bartender. Her hands kneaded Tiff’s chest, but her eyes were locked on his. She stared at him as if he were a predator, and in that moment, he was. Kitty Cat, with her smart mouth and plump little ass, was his prey, and Ryder had a nasty habit of playing with his food.
He swaggered over to the couch in four long steps, his gaze never wavering. It was as if their souls collided. He never felt more alive in his life, even the high of being on stage didn’t compare to how he felt when Kitty Cat looked at him like that. The girl had the power to destroy him. Oh, but what a beautiful tragedy it would be.
Kitty Cat’s lips quivered as he towered over her. “I’ve wanted to kiss you all fucking night,” he said, pulling her up off Tiff’s lap and onto her feet.
“No kissing, not the lips on my face anyway,” she added with a grin.
Tiffany came up behind him, and wrapped her arms around his torso while Kitty Cat moved to unbutton his pants. It was cute, they thought they were in charge. Tsk-tsk, he scolded, “I’m the conductor of this train. Kitty Cat, since you wanted to play, take her clothes off.”
His little kitten didn’t hesitate, pushing Tiffany on the couch, she yanked the tiny, black tank top over her head. Tiff’s double D’s spilled out and Cat lapped at her nipples, licking, and sucking and biting.
Ryder was six-two, lean with curly blond hair and he played guitar. He turned down more pussy than most bastards would see in a lifetime, but watching Kitty Cat in action was a thing of beauty. The word hadn’t been invented for how hard he was. That’s what she did to him, the sight of her on her knees reduced him to a fucking teenager. It was so bad he had to rub his dick through his jeans just to take the edge off.
Lithium Waves: A Lithium Springs Novel Page 2