Surrender to Me (9 page)

Lucas

I know that the way I just acted with Becca was completely against everything I had decided to do.  I want her to come to me, and I definitely don’t want to have her for the first time as a quickie after I’m pissed off from a shitty meeting.  I can tell that she senses something is up with me, but I really don’t want to tell her what it is.

My entire meeting involved listening to everyone and their mother tell me that I’m being impulsive and careless bringing her here and on tour with me.  Then, to make it even better, Samantha showed up and they kept trying to convince me to do more duets and shit with her.  Not to mention, as soon as she slinked away, everyone started throwing out endless suggestions about how she would be great, not only for me, but for my career.  Nothing was accomplished and I was almost two hours late to meet Becca.  When I got here I was so pissed off from everything, that when I saw her, I just wanted her to ease all of the emotions waiting to burst out.

The door handle jiggles and I’m thankful that I remembered to lock the door.  I ease Becca back down and give her a minute to straighten out her clothes and hair.  When I open the door Jackson is standing in front of me. 
This day just keeps getting better.
  He’s standing in the doorway holding my sweatshirt.

“Hey Becca, you left your jacket in the studio.”  The way he smiles at her makes me want to kill him. 
What the hell had she been doing in the studio with him?

I snatch it from him.  “Thanks, it’s actually mine.”  I let go of the door and watch it shut right in his cocky face.  I turn around to face Becca. “Why were you hanging out with Jackson?”

“I wasn’t hanging out with him; I didn’t even know that he would be here.  I was sitting in the truck in the parking lot and I was just going to wait for you.  He offered to sign me into the building and let me wait upstairs with him.  I get that you guys don’t like each other, Luke, but you really need to calm down and trust me a little bit.”

She’s right.  I’m so protective of her, though; to be honest, I don’t even know where it all came from.  “I
do
trust you, I just don’t trust him.  He’s been after me since he had his first hit.  He’s gone after the same songs as me, worn the same kind of clothes…shit, I’ve even caught him going after girls I’ve hooked up with.  He isn’t a good guy, and I don’t want you to get caught in our fight.”

“Luke, I know but I just need to tell you –“

The door opens again and this time it’s my producer and my band.  Thank God, because right now I need to blow off some steam and music is one the best ways to do it. 

“Hey Luke, she joining us for the session?”

I look at the producer and nod my head.  He takes out a copy of the studio’s Non-Disclosure Agreement and hands it to me.

“Listen, babe, it doesn’t matter.  I trust you, okay?”  She nods her head.  “Okay, I gotta get to work.  It’s policy here that I have to have you sign this, okay?”  She grabs the pen from me and signs the agreement without hesitation.  I walk into the booth, saying hi to all the guys as they set up.

The entire time I’m recording, I keep looking at Becca and can tell she’s really enjoying herself.  We’ve been working for about three hours and have one more run through to do before we’re finished.  Casey, my drummer, approaches me during the break.  “Hey Luke, is that the girl everyone’s talking about?  The one you’re bringing on the tour with us?”

Not him, too!
  I do
not
want to have to explain myself to one more person.  “Yeah, why?”

“Calm down man, I just didn’t believe it at first when everyone was saying you were getting serious with some girl.  So, how does it feel to be in love?”

My head snaps up and I look at him like he has four heads.  “What are you talking about, Casey?  I never said I was in love.  Sure, I like the girl, but we’re still getting to know each other.”  Casey just might be the
only
person in the band I feel comfortable talking to about relationships.  He’s married with two kids, and his wife Sara is a sweetheart.

“Let me tell you something, time doesn’t mean shit.  You could know the person for five minutes or five years, but either way, love happens when it wants to, not when you plan it.  I knew Sara was ‘the one’ the first time I met her.  Our relationship might have happened a lot sooner if I hadn’t freaked her out and told her then and there, but either way, I knew.  I saw the way you were watching her, Luke, and the way that she was looking back at you.  Just remember, there isn’t some kind of magic formula for how and when you’ll fall in love.  It happens when it wants to and you have to be smart enough to pick up on it.”

He walks back to the drum set and sits down.  The producer announces that after this we’re finished for the day and starts the countdown to let us know we’re going to begin recording.

Am I really in love with her?
  I look back over at Becca and she’s talking to one of the assistants, laughing and smiling.  When I start to sing, though, her eyes immediately find me and we don’t break eye contact until I sing the last word.

Casey slaps me on the back as he’s leaving.  “That little show definitely just proved it Luke.  I hope you’re ready for the wild ride, because if you aren’t, love will chew you up and spit you right back out.”

We’re leaving for the tour tomorrow and there’s a big party tonight.  I really don’t want to go, but when I tell Becca that I think we might stay in for the night, she almost looks disappointed.  Desperately wanting some alone time with her before we leave for the tour, I compromise with her and tell her we’ll go to the party to ‘make an appearance’ and then we’re coming home.  Thankfully, she agrees.  The party is at the newest ‘it’ club and I can’t care less, but she seems so excited that it makes me smile.

The VIP section is roped off and already full of people.   I lean down close to her ear.  “What do you want to drink, babe?”

She looks up at me and smiles.  “Um, I’m not really sure.  Why don’t you pick something for me?”

I stop the waitress and order water for myself, since I’m driving, and ask her to bring Becca some kind of a fruity drink.  I stop and say all of the obligatory hello’s to the people I’m supposed to while I’m waiting for our drinks.  The waitress arrives with our drinks and I take off to find Becca.  Once I find her I see that she’s sitting on one of the couches arranged around the section.  That asshole Jackson has just walked up and is sitting down next to her.  He’s like a damn vulture; I can’t leave her alone for a minute.

When Becca sees me coming, she gives me a look that makes me regret my decision to wait for her to make the first move.  I want her so badly that every muscle in my body aches for her.  She stands up when I get closer and walks over to grab her drink, giving me a kiss when she reaches for it.  I need to learn to relax a little with her because I know jealousy isn’t something she likes.  When I look back to where she was sitting just a few seconds ago, Jackson isn’t there anymore.

The music in the club is pumping and Becca’s on her third drink.  I can tell she’s feeling the alcohol, and every time I look around, some asshole is staring at her.  I can’t control the fact that I want to kill any guy that even looks at her.  This feeling makes me think back to what Casey had said to me about love not having a certain timeframe.  Becca’s standing in front of me with her ass pressed against me as she starts to sway to the beat of the music.

Her hands grab mine and she puts them on her hips as she continues to move with me.  She leans back against me and sighs; I’m really not sure how much more of this I can take.  My hands dig into her hips as I try to hold onto what little self control I have left.  She turns her head to the side and kisses me, running her tongue along the seam of my lips.

Then she gives me a coy little smile and leans closer to my ear so only I can hear what she’s about to say.  “It’s been so hard for me not to give into you, Luke.  I don’t know how much longer I can last.”

That’s it.
  I grab her hand and lead her out of the club.  While we’re waiting for the valet we can still hear the music and Becca continues to move against me.  She kisses me again, and this time it’s me who’s whispering into her ear, although it sounds way too rough to be a whisper.  “Baby, I’m warning you, if you keep it up I will pull you into that alley right there and take you against the wall.”

She gazes up at me through her long lashes.  “Promise?”

Thank God the valet pulls up with my car, because I’m just about to show her how serious I am.  The drive to my house usually takes close to an hour, but we make it in a little over half.  When I pull up and go to open her door for her I can’t believe that she’s passed out.  I thought she had just been enjoying the scenery.  There’s no amount of cold water that’s going to fix what she did to me tonight.

Rebecca

My head’s pounding and what little light that’s filtering in through the window is quite possibly the worst kind of punishment I’ve ever received.  I scan the room and don’t see Luke, but there’s a glass of water and a couple of aspirin on the bedside table.  After I take the pills and drink all the water I try to think back to what had happened last night.  I only had three drinks; they must have been poured pretty heavy.

As I’m still trying to put the pieces together from last night, the door opens and Luke walks in.  He has no shirt on—which is a sight in itself—and his basketball shorts hang low, exposing that sexy V that makes me want to pull them down and see where it leads.  His body is dripping with sweat and his muscles are so tight from whatever exercise he had been doing.  When my gaze reaches his face again he has a smirk that lets me know I’ve been caught looking.

“Hey, sleeping beauty.”  He walks over and gives me a kiss.  Who knew someone can smell so good even when they’re covered in sweat?  “I’m gonna take a shower.  We need to leave in about an hour because I have a show tonight, okay?”

The only thing I can do is nod my head because I don’t trust myself to speak.  Luke’s show tonight is at some all day music festival in San Francisco.  He told me yesterday that he wasn’t a fan of closing these kinds of shows because by the end of the show everyone is really drunk and things get pretty crazy.

When we arrive at the venue, the size of the crowd is so much more than I expected.  Luke keeps a tight hold on my hand.  It seems as though he had to always be touching me today in one way or another.  After last night, the sexual tension between us is so high.  We barely had any time alone today, though; by the time we’d both showered it had been time for us to meet up with everyone else.  We drive around by the back and they lead us to Luke’s dressing room.  Once we’re in and the door is closed, he takes my hand and leads me over to the couch.  Luke sits down and goes to pull me down to sit next to him.  I decide to be a little bold, though, and sit down on his lap facing him.  I can see the fire in his eyes ignite; I want him so badly right now.

His hands run up my back and find their way into my hair.  He pulls my mouth down to his and kisses me…hard.  Someone knocks on the door and shouts that he has a half hour until he’s due to go on.  He drags his teeth over my lip, groaning when our mouths separate.  “You make me so damn crazy, Becca.”

I smile, loving that I’m able to affect him as much as he affects me.  “I can’t wait to see you perform tonight.”

“I’m sorry, but you can’t.  There isn’t any section gated off like at the other shows, babe, and I don’t want you in that crowd.”

Before I can protest, the door opens and one of his band members, I think his name is Casey, walks in.  “Shit, sorry Luke.  They wanted me to come find you so we can get our microphones and everything set up.”

“Okay, Casey, I’ll be there in a minute.”  Once the door closes, he turns back to me and kisses me one more time.  “I’ll see you in a little bit, okay?”

I’m a little irritated by this, but nod my head and climb off his lap.  He gives me a kiss goodbye and leaves me looking like a redheaded step-child who was told to sit in the corner. After about fifteen minutes, I can hear the MC announcing the guys and I want to go watch them so badly that I’m trying to come up with reasons why I should go against Luke’s warnings.  I have my pass around my neck so if it’s too crazy out there I can always leave and come back here, right?  I decide to get up and go check things out; it’s easier than I thought it would be because the bouncer at the pit area sees my pass and lets me straight through.  After a little work on my part, I find my way close to the front.  Watching Luke perform is amazing; you can tell he throws every part of himself into each and every performance and doesn’t hold back at all. They’re on their fifth song and the crowd loves every minute of it.

All of a sudden, I hear yelling and look to my right to see that a fight has broken out.  I try to make my way back toward the bouncer, but everyone seems to start moving as numerous other fights break out around me.  Everyone is yelling and pushing, leaving me scared with no idea what to do.  I look up to the stage and at that moment my eyes connect with Luke’s.  He’s definitely shocked to see me, but before I know what’s happening, I’m pushed from behind and fall to the ground.  There are so many people here that no one notices, and before another thought crosses my mind, I’m being trampled.

Lucas

The crowd is crazy tonight and I’m so glad I had Becca stay in the dressing room.  Being up here performing and feeding off their energy is one thing, but even I wouldn’t want to be down there tonight.  Everyone is completely hammered from partying all day and I notice a fight starting to break out; all I can do is shake my head.  There are always at least a couple of fights in the pit, usually because someone spilled someone else’s beer.  I keep going, though, hoping it will all calm down and blow over.  It’s not getting better—it’s getting worse—and fights are spreading throughout the crowd.

Then I see her. 
What the hell is Becca doing out here?
  I’m just about to signal to security to get her when she disappears into the crowd.  I stop singing and just stare, waiting for her to come back up.  “Becca!”  The band stops playing and Casey runs up to me.  “She’s in the crowd, Case.  I need to get to her.”

Before he can stop me, I’m jumping down from the stage and trying to make my way through the crowd.  People are going crazy; half of them don’t even notice what’s going on, and the other half are trying to rip my shirt and hold onto me in whatever way they can.  All I can focus on is finding her, though.  I look back up to the stage, trying to figure out where I had seen her last, when I see a flash of blonde hair about five feet in front of me.  I run over to her; she’s curled up in the fetal position on the floor, covered in scratches and cuts.  These animals must have been fucking stepping on her.  I bend down to pick her up and fight my way through the crowd with her in my arms.  I catch the attention of the bouncer that’s trying to stop people from getting backstage and he attempts to help make a path for me.

Once I get away from the crowd, I run to my dressing room and lay Becca on the couch; she’s passed out and covered in dirt and blood.  I can’t tell where most of it is coming from at first, and then I realize there are multiple cuts all along her arms and legs—some deeper than others.  After checking her out, I feel a little better knowing that she doesn’t have any serious wounds.  I move up to her face, cradling her head.  “Becca, wake up.  It’s me…you’re safe.  Please, just open your eyes.”

As I’m trying to wake her up, Casey comes through the door.  “How is she?”

“I don’t know, Case, I can’t find anything more than small cuts and bruises, but I can’t wake her up, either.  Did you call the medics?”

“Yeah, they’ll be here in a minute.”

Casey disappears into the bathroom and returns with a wet washcloth.  I take it from him and start to rub the dirt and blood from Becca’s face.  “Becca, come on babe, open your eyes.”  I notice her lashes flutter just the tiniest bit.  “That’s it, baby, come on.”

When she opens her eyes and sees me she looks so scared.  “What happened?”

“Several fights broke out in the crowd and you got knocked down.  I’m guessing from the way you look right now that they trampled all over you.  I thought I told you to stay here, babe.”  I know she doesn’t need me to be chastising her right now, but I wish she would have just listened to me.

“I know.”  Her voice sounds so fragile and shaky, and it seems like she’s trying to hold the impending tears in.  “I’m sorry, Luke, I just wanted to see you.”

Again, the door opens and this time two female paramedics walk in and ask to examine Becca alone.  There is
no
way I’m leaving this room right now.

“Luke, why don’t you hop in the shower now?  That way, if she needs your help later you’re already good to go.  Let them do their job, man.”  I look over at Casey, knowing he’s right, but I still don’t like it.

I walk over to Becca and let her know if she needs anything to call for me.  By the time I’m done getting cleaned up, they’ve checked her out and report to me that she’s lucky to have just minor cuts and bruises.  However, they
do
tell me that they think she’s bruised her ribs, too.  When they give her the all clear I bend down to pick her up so I can get her back to the hotel.

“I can walk, Luke.”

I peer down at her and press a kiss to her forehead.  “If you think I’m letting you go for even a second, you’re out of your mind.”

The car ride over to the hotel seems to take forever but it’s probably only because I’m so anxious.  I just want to get her back to the room and make sure she’s really okay.  My heart is still beating a thousand times a minute from the fear of seeing her getting sucked into the crowd.  When we get to the hotel the damn paparazzi are crowded around the entrance waiting.  I call the hotel and explain the situation to them and they agree to let me use their delivery entrance in the back of the building.

Once we get to the hotel room I put her down on the bed and go to grab her a change of clothes.  “Do you want me to help you into the shower, babe?”  She shakes her head no and walks off into the bathroom.  She hasn’t really said anything since we left the venue, and I have no idea what to do to help her.

The entire time Becca is showering all I can think about is the fact that tonight could have turned out a lot worse.  I don’t know what I would have done if she’d been seriously injured.  Even though I haven’t known her very long, there is a special connection between us.  I feel like I’ve known her my whole life, and I’m completely comfortable with her.  I’ve never been that person who believed that you could fall in love with someone in less than a month, but now that I’m in this situation I know it can happen.

I hear the shower is no longer running and relax when I realize she’s almost done.  I hear what sounds like crying and knock on the bathroom door.  “Becca?”  No answer.  “Becca, please answer me, babe.”  The door opens and she’s standing there with only the towel wrapped around her and I can tell she’s been crying.

I take her hand and pull her into my arms.  “What’s wrong, babe?”  Her eyes are trained on the floor and she isn’t responding to me at all.  I put my hands on both sides of her face so I can look her in the eye.  “Baby, please talk to me.”  There are tears running down her cheeks and it’s killing me that I can’t ease her pain right now.  I bend down and kiss each tear that falls, hoping that there is some way I can help her. 

She gazes up at me and says, “I was standing in front of the mirror and I guess just seeing all of the bruises and cuts made everything seem so much more real.  When I got pushed down it was probably one of the scariest times of my life.  It was like no one even had a clue I was there; they just walked on me like I was a part of the floor.”

I wrap my arms around her, holding her close to me, hoping that I can make her feel safe again.

“I can’t believe you jumped into the crowd, Luke; you could have really gotten hurt.  Why would you do that?”

Is
she serious?
  I place both of my hands on the sides of her face.  “Becca, I went after you because I care about you.  I know we haven’t been together long, and this might sound crazy, but I think I’m falling in love with you.  I would do
anything
to protect you and keep you safe.  In those few moments when I couldn’t see you, my heart was beating out of my chest and I couldn’t breathe.  You’re so much more important to me than you realize, baby, and if I have any say about it, you will
never
experience any kind of hurt again.  I’m here for you and I am
not
going anywhere.”  I gaze deep into her blue eyes and know that she is my undoing—I’m way past falling in love with her—I
am
in love with her.  Can I really say it to her this soon, though?  Or will it scare her off?  I look in her eyes and it’s almost like I can see that right now she needs comfort.  I take a deep breath because this will be the first time I have
ever
said these words to someone outside of my own family. “I.  Love.  You.”

Another tear slips from her eye before she crashes her lips against mine.  “I love you, too, Luke.  I would have never believed that it could happen this fast but I can’t imagine my life without you in it.  When you’re around I feel happier and when I’m in your arms I feel like nothing can touch me.  You are my safe haven, the place that I never want to leave.”  I see a blush creeping into her cheeks and she smiles at me.  “I want to be yours completely, Lucas Masterson.  I want you to be my first and my only.”

Fuck.
  I can’t believe she’s asking for this now.  What if I hurt her?  I’m about to tell her that maybe we should wait when I look into her eyes. Not only do I see love but I see
desire
; if this is what she wants, I’ll do everything I can to make it the best night of her life.  I brush my thumb over the cut on her cheek and bend down to kiss it.  “Okay, as long as you are sure this is what you want, baby.”

She smiles at me.  “I’ve wanted this since our first date, but now I know I’m ready for it.”

That’s all I need to hear.
  “I’m gonna go slow and be gentle, Becca; I don’t want to hurt you.”  I kiss her neck until I come to a spot on her collarbone that’s already starting to bruise.  I place another kiss there and she sighs and leans into me.  “The first thing I’m gonna do, Becca, is kiss every bruise and cut on your beautiful body.  Then I’m going to make you mine, baby, and I can’t tell you how much I’ve been waiting for this.”

She wraps her arms around my neck as I begin my slow journey down her body.  When I reach the towel that’s still wrapped around her, I lead her toward the bed, lay her down on her back and gently remove it so I can examine every inch of her perfect body.  I smile at her before lowering myself on top of her to continue kissing every reminder of what happened tonight.

I’m ready to make Rebecca Chase mine, and I know now that there is no way in hell I am
ever
letting her go.