by Frank, Ella
“Hell yeah.” I leaned in so they could take a couple of selfies with their phones. “See you guys soon.”
I walked off to a chorus of “Thank you, Halo” and “We love you!” but before I could reach the SUV Viper was waiting in, another couple of paparazzi jumped in front of me.
“All dressed up tonight,” one of them said. “You got plans?”
“Yup,” I said.
“Care to tell us about them?”
I grinned. “Nope.”
The door to the SUV opened, and Viper stuck his head out. “It’s fuckin’ date night. Bugger off.”
As the paparazzi turned to get a picture of Viper, I moved past them, rounding the back of the SUV to get in on the other side. Once I was inside, Viper slammed the door shut, and I laughed.
“‘Bugger off’? What are you, British now?”
“I like to know how to say ‘fuck off’ in every country. I should’ve thrown in a ‘wanker,’ too.”
I shook my head as Viper reached for my hand and tugged.
“You’re too far away.”
When I scooted closer, he put his hand on my thigh and inclined his head toward mine. His breath was a whisper on my lips as he said, “You look devastating.” Then his mouth was on me, and I opened immediately, savoring the slow, thorough way his tongue explored every inch of me as if he’d never kissed me before. When I shivered from the contact, Viper pulled away long enough to say, “I love that,” before he took my lips again.
I let myself get lost in him, in the way his mouth moved against mine and the way he cupped my neck, holding me to him like I was a valuable he couldn’t bear to part with.
“Damn. You have a way with welcomes,” I said, when I finally pulled away to catch my breath.
Viper grinned and ran his thumb over my swollen lips. “I plan on giving you one hell of a finale later.”
“I hope so. You think I got all dressed up for you not to put out?”
With a laugh, Viper laced his fingers with mine, and as the car came to a stop, I peered out the darkened window, trying to see where he was taking me. Wherever it was, there wasn’t a paparazzo in sight.
Aria sat at the top of a five-star hotel with a prime view of the Empire State Building, lit up tonight in various shades of blue. As we entered the spacious room, the first thing I noticed—other than the stunning view—was that the restaurant was entirely…empty.
“It’s a pleasure to have you join us tonight, gentlemen,” a fastidiously dressed man said as we walked inside. “We hope that you’ll have a pleasant dining experience at Aria. Please follow me.”
As the man led us down the stairs to one of the tables situated in the center of the restaurant by the windows, I whispered, “Did you rent this whole place out, or did they have an outbreak of food poisoning that’s keeping people away?”
“Angel, do you really think I’d let anything dangerous get past those lips of yours?” Then he seemed to think that over. “Well, except for me.”
I chuckled and took a seat across from Viper. Menus were already laid out in front of us, along with a bottle of white wine chilling.
“This evening, we’d like to offer you our signature experience, a ten-course meal accompanied by our finest wine pairings.”
I glanced over the menu, willing my stomach not to growl at all the delicious food mentioned. Viper looked at me, a question in his eyes, and I nodded.
“Sounds good,” he said, handing the host our menus, and as he walked off, a waiter approached to open the bottle of wine for us. Once he left, I raised a brow at Viper.
“Feeling fancy tonight, are we? Suits, wine, a killer view at a starred restaurant. If I wasn’t yours already, I’d think you were harboring a pretty serious crush.”
“I am.”
“But you already have me.”
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll never stop trying to win you over, Angel. Not ever.” Viper’s eyes darkened, the look on his face one that always made my pulse race. It was the knowledge that someone so tempting, so confident, so sexy, was infatuated—and in love—with…me. How could Viper, someone so resistant to falling in love—hell, so resistant to a second date—do such an about-face? It was as if once he’d made up his mind, once he proclaimed his feelings in front of everyone the night of the prerelease party, he’d never had a second of doubt, not about me or us or what anyone else thought.
I reached across the table for his hand and squeezed. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“I know. I’d find you.”
With a laugh, I lifted my glass, tapping it lightly against his before taking a sip. In the periphery, the lights of New York glittered, but the only thing I had my eyes on was the man in front of me. He wasn’t in all black tonight—a shocker—but wore a fitted navy suit, though he’d left off a tie and had undone the first few buttons of his shirt. His dark hair was tucked behind his ear, showing off the strong cheekbones and the stubbled jaw I loved to brush my lips across. Viper was so beautiful to look at that it hurt sometimes, and it made me wonder why, out of everyone in the world, he’d chosen me. Because that was definitely the way it’d gone. I sure as hell wouldn’t have been brave enough to choose him first.
Viper hooked his foot behind mine, his lips quirking, though he didn’t call me out on staring at him. He was staring right back.
“This is nice,” I said, and took another sip of the slightly fruity wine. “What’s the special occasion?”
“The special occasion is I’ve fucking missed spending time with you without the others around all the damn time.”
“You sure it’s not that you wanted to see me all dressed up?”
“As good as you look in that suit, Angel, that’s definitely not the reason. I can’t wait to take it the fuck off you.”
My cock throbbed, making me shift in my chair as Viper’s grin widened.
“So why not just have dinner at your place? We could be naked…”
Viper growled, and then his eyes fell behind me and he quickly placed a napkin in his lap, trying to hide the way his dick obviously was having the same reaction to me as mine was to him. As the waiter approached with our first round of food, Viper said, “You’ll see.”
“I’ll see? You mean there’s more than this?”
Viper shrugged and sipped his wine. I didn’t get a chance to ask him any more, because then the waiter launched into details about our first course, and we focused our attention on the mouth-watering food in front of us.
What else did my insane—but gorgeous—boyfriend have up his sleeve?
Nineteen
Viper
DAMN, THE ANGEL looked fine tonight. Not that I’d expected anything less. But sitting across from me with the candlelight between us and the lights twinkling from the bustling city outside, Halo looked like a million fucking dollars. No. Scratch that. He looked better than any amount of money ever could.
Earlier this week when I’d gotten the call that Halo’s piano was complete, I’d set into motion the perfect dinner, place, and night for my man. I wanted this to be a moment in Halo’s life that he would never forget, one that blew every other night so far out of the water. And so far, so good.
We were about halfway through the elaborate ten-course meal, and when the waiter brought out the elk tenderloin and set it down in front of us, Halo grinned at me and shook his head. His eyes were sparkling, his cheeks were slightly flushed from the wine, and when the sommelier brought out the next bottle to fill new glasses for this particular pairing, Halo leaned over the table and said, “I’m going to be lucky if I can stand after this if they keep filling my glass.”
I chuckled and reached across the table, loving when he automatically met me halfway, interlacing our fingers. “I’d be more than happy to carry you if you need some help, Angel.”
“Good to know,” Halo said, and when the sommelier finished, he cleared his throat.
“I— Sorry,” he said, and offered up a shy smile as he looked between the two of u
s. “I don’t mean to intrude on such a lovely evening, but I’m about to switch out with a colleague of mine, and before I go, I just wanted to say congratulations to you both on Corruption hitting, and staying at, number one for so long. You must be thrilled.”
Halo aimed that winning smile in the man’s direction, and because I didn’t want to seem like a rude fucker, I did the same. But figured mine probably looked more like a semi-scowl than a smile.
“We are,” Halo said, as he sat back in his seat and looked at the name on the man’s badge. “Thanks, Edward.”
“Yeah, thanks, man,” I said with a tilt of my chin, and as Edward took a step back, he bumped into the empty table behind him.
“Oh, whoops. Sorry. And you’re welcome. Anyway, I hope you have a great night.”
Halo waved, but couldn’t help his chuckle as he said, “You too, Edward.”
As Edward hurried off, Halo looked back at me, that same genuine smile on his face. Always so damn polite, and sweet. The angel’s approachable disposition was something his fans were falling in love with as much as his music and gorgeous face, and I couldn’t blame them. They were all the same reasons I’d fallen in love with him too. I was just lucky enough that I’d had him to myself first.
“Charmer,” I said as I picked up my glass, and Halo did the same.
“Me?”
As we clinked and took a sip, I kept my eyes on his and nodded. “Mhmm. Poor Eddie practically fell at your feet just now.”
Halo scoffed as he put his glass down and inspected the meal in front of him. “I don’t know about that. I highly doubt meeting me is going to make anyone fall at my feet.”
“Are you kidding me?” As I stared across the table at that beautiful head of golden curls, the broad shoulders under a fitted black suit jacket, Halo looked up from his plate with his knife and fork in hand and froze. The look in my eye clearly conveyed just how wrong I thought he was. “Angel, if I didn’t know you already, I’d be calling all over New York trying to find out who I needed to pay, fuck, or screw over to get a one-on-one with you.”
Halo’s mouth fell open, and then he let out a soft laugh that made me smile. “You say the sweetest things.”
I shrugged as I picked up my utensils. “It’s the truth.”
“Hmm,” Halo said as he cut into the tenderloin, his eyes still locked with mine. “That’s hot.”
“So are you. Jesus. If you want the other four courses after this, you need to stop looking at me like that.”
Halo laughed at my frustrated tone but luckily took pity on me, as he popped the mouthful between his lips and chewed. The elk was tender, and something neither of us had had before, and as our plates were cleared away, Halo raised his glass back to his lips and finished off the rest of his wine.
“The food here is delicious. Have you been here before?”
I sat back in my chair but made sure to keep our feet connected under the table. If I couldn’t have my hands on him, then I wanted something in contact. “No. I actually asked Levi for a recommendation.”
Halo’s eyes widened a fraction. “Really?”
“Trust me. No one is more shocked than I am.”
“That you asked him for help? Or that you actually like him, period?”
So I wasn’t the most open person when it came to change. But considering what a motherfucker Brian had been, there was no way I’d been about to hand my trust over to someone blindly. But over the past couple of months, Levi Walker had proven to be one of the best decisions we’d ever made, and when I’d been looking for a place to take Halo tonight, I knew Levi was the man who’d know best.
“Yeah, he’s okay,” I said.
“Which means you like him.”
“It means he’s okay.”
Halo grinned and reached for his water. “I think he’s pretty awesome.”
“In that case, I hate him.”
Halo shook his head as he put his glass down and fingered the linen tablecloth. “Liar. But seriously, he’s been great, don’t you think? With the band? With us? He never makes me feel uncomfortable like Brian did.”
“Agreed. We should’ve kicked that asshole to the curb a long time ago. But he’s gone now, and yeah, Levi is great,” I said, and really meant it. He’d handled the press following Tonight with Jaime Jones, the album release, and the Rolling Stone cover reveal like a boss. He’d had security set up for Halo and myself, and all in all, things had been pretty smooth, considering our faces were splashed all over every entertainment and music channel and magazine right now.
Halo was the new “it” guy in the industry, Fallen Angel was the hottest band on the planet, and Levi had managed to give us some semblance of normalcy in our lives. That made him my favorite fuckin’ person around—not that I’d ever tell him that. I was quite happy with the little love/hate dynamic we had going on, and so was he.
“Sooo,” Halo said, as he looked around the empty restaurant and then brought his eyes back to me. “Are you going to tell me what we’re doing after dinner? Or is it still a secret?”
Flirty angel. Halo knew exactly what he was doing to me as he ran his eyes down to my mouth and licked his lips.
I arched an eyebrow. “It’s a secret.”
Halo pursed his lips, and fuck, I really wanted to taste them, more so than the dessert that was brought out two courses later. It was all I could do to get through the rest of the items left on the menu without saying to hell with it, shoving everything off the table, and reaching for him, but when the final dish was finished and Halo dragged his thumb across his lip and sucked the chocolate truffle from it, I groaned. Enough was enough. I was only human.
I tossed my napkin on the table and got to my feet, and as I did, Halo looked up at me with a knowing light in his eyes. He knew exactly what mood he’d provoked over the last fifteen minutes, and when I reached his side of the table, I put a hand on top of the pristine linen and one on the back of his chair. Then I leaned down until my lips brushed his and said, “If you don’t get up from this table right now and come with me, I’m going to bend you over it and make you come for me instead.”
Halo’s eyes fluttered shut as his lips parted on a soft groan, and I got the feeling he wouldn’t have objected in the slightest if I’d decided to go with plan B. I flicked my tongue over his lower lip, and when he craned his head back, offering more of himself, I almost caved, but then I remembered why I’d planned this night in the first place. I had something extra special to give to my angel tonight, and while I knew he would be the best thing I would eat in this restaurant if I took a bite, I would save that particular delight for later.
“Angel…” I whispered, as I took his face in my hand, and when Halo’s gorgeous eyes opened and locked on mine, I said, “Come with me. The night’s not over yet, and there’s something I want you to see.”
Twenty
Halo
WHEN WE LEFT the restaurant and got back into the car, Viper put a blindfold over my eyes.
“It’s that secret?” I said, as the world went black.
Viper rested his hand on my leg, and I could hear the smile in his voice as he said, “Just a surprise, Angel. You can’t see, can you?”
“No, so you better not let me trip and fall. A broken leg would be pretty damn inconvenient for the tour.”
“I’ve got you.” His words were a whisper in my ear, and then his lips, soft and warm, brushed across the side of my neck. I tilted my head to the side to give him better access, and even though I wore a blindfold, I closed my eyes and focused on his touch.
The wine we’d had at dinner buzzed through my veins, and a sense of contentment like I’d never felt before meeting Viper came over me. He made me feel alive, always providing a dangerous thrill while at the same time giving me a safe haven to come back to.
“We’re here,” he said, then kissed my lips before checking that my blindfold was secure. “Keep this on until I take it off.”
“So mysterious.” I knew he could
see the wide grin on my face as he helped me out of the car and kept his hand in mine. As he led me forward, I tried to place where we were. Obviously still in the city, judging by the short ride from the restaurant, as well as the familiar sounds of traffic moving around us. The salty and sweet smell of roasted nuts filled the air—not that that helped me pinpoint where we were, since those carts were all over the city.
I could feel the difference in the air and the way the sounds of the street became muffled as we must’ve stepped inside a building. Viper kept close to me, keeping our bodies touching as he led me through what felt like a maze.
“Are we at your apartment?” I said.
“Why would you think I’d blindfold you for that?”
“Because you’re a kinky bastard who likes to be in control.”
Viper chuckled. “Well, you’re not wrong about that.” A few moments later, he stopped. “Take two steps up here.”
I carefully did as he said, and then we were moving again, my mind whirling with where he could possibly be taking me. I didn’t hear any other voices, and wherever we were felt still and quiet, undisturbed except for our footsteps.
“Well, we’re not at a concert,” I joked.
“No, we’re not. Not yet.” Viper drew me to a stop, and then I felt him move in front of me. He took my other hand in his and squeezed gently, and for some reason, a team of butterflies unleashed in my stomach.
“Are we here?” I asked.
“We are.” There was a long pause as Viper’s thumbs brushed across my knuckles, and I got the feeling he was…nervous? What did he have to be nervous about?
“There’s something I’ve been wanting to give you for a long time. Even before we started talking about the tour, I could see you so perfectly, all lit up, everyone’s eyes on you and unable to look away. I wanted this to be something that would show you off to the world. This is the first time thousands of our fans will see you, our angel…my angel.”
As his words trailed off, Viper reached around to untie the blindfold, and as the darkness drifted away, his face came into view. I was right before—he did look slightly nervous, but excitement flickered in his dark eyes. Behind him, I could see a pair of familiar sound and lighting boards, and beyond that, the vast room of the warehouse we’d spent every day the last couple of months rehearsing in. Before I could ask Viper what we were doing there, he inclined his head to the right, and I followed his gaze—and froze.