Aftershock (28 page)

When he lifted his head, his lips were slick with her juice.

“Syd, Syd, Syd.” He ran his tongue seductively over his lower lip. “God. You are just so amazing.”

Without warning he flipped her over and began a similar assault on her back. Neck first, that place at the nape that drove her wild. Then little kisses and licks the length of her spine. When he began peppering slow kisses over her, she squirmed and pressed her hands against the bed and lifted her hips in an attempt to push herself up to him. He gave a soft laugh, a low rumble against her sensitive flesh, and tightened his grip on her hips.

When he drew the tip of his tongue through the hot crevice of her buttocks, she cried out in pleasure. She tried to move her legs apart, silently urging him to move his mouth lower but he seemed determined to torment her until she couldn’t stand it anymore. As carefully as he kissed and licked his way up the front of her legs, he was even more meticulous with their backs. She was sure flames erupted from behind her knees as he made love to them with his mouth.

“Please,” she begged, gripping the pillow. “Please, Rick.”

Every nerve cell was on fire, every pulse point throbbing. She needed him inside her. She watched impatiently as he dug a condom from his jeans pocket and rolled it on.

“Bend your knees,” he told her.

She did and dug her heels into the bed. Then he was over her, his hands bracketing her head. His penis prodded at her entrance and stopped just inside. When his eyes met hers, she was sure he could see clear to her soul.

“Let me have all of you,” he urged. “Don’t deny this anymore.”

The little voice inside her, told her she couldn’t run away from this emotional explosion between them anymore. As much as she’d tried to fight it, there it was. He’d found his way into the thing she’d held onto for so very long.

Her heart.

And captured it.

Oh, God!

Moonlight streamed over him like some magic silver curtain.

“You have me,” she said, tearing away the last barrier.

Then he rolled his hips and, with one smooth movement, thrust completely inside her. Automatically she lifted her hips up to meet him, tilting herself enough to take him deeper yet.

“Jesus!” The word whistled through his teeth.

Again he held still, staring down at her. She could no more have closed her eyes than told him to pull away.

“You belong to me.” Not a question. A statement. “Don’t ever try to deny it.”

“Okay,” she whispered.

He drew in a long breath and began a slow in and out glide, eyes still locked on hers, every thrust a punctuation of what he’d said. As he moved, he whispered to her in the darkness. Sweet words, hot words, loving words. Words that spiked right into her heart and lodged there permanently.

“I could lick you forever and never get tired of it. I want to go to sleep every night with you in my arms and wake up the same way in the morning.”

“Me, too.” The words slid from her lips without her even realizing it.

“I want this always, Syd. You’re my heart. My soul.”

The slow, torturous motion pushed her up and up to the brink of an explosion and kept her at the edge until her body screamed for release and fulfillment. She heard herself beg him. Wrapped her legs around him to pull him in tight and lifted her hips up to him. But the deliberate slide and drag never varied in its tempo.

Slow only worked for so long, though. She could tell the moment his control snapped. His rhythm sped up and he pounded into her, harder and harder. She felt the tautness of his muscles as he drove for control, determined to hold himself back and wait for her. The moment her cunt began to squeeze around him, he gave it up and let the orgasm take them both.

Sydney was sure a giant fist had grabbed them up and shook them until their bones rattled, until every muscle clenched and unclenched. It seemed to go on forever, until she had no air left to breathe, until her heart threatened to pound out of her chest. They roared through space, tumbling and twirling, wondering if the sensations would stop, praying they wouldn’t.

At last, the intense shuddering subsided, leaving them both sweat-slicked with only the barest ability to breathe. Sydney was sure she’d never be able to move again. It surprised her when she had the strength to lift a hand and stroke his hair. Caress his cheek. His eyes were closed now and his breath a soft breeze against her skin. She could have stayed like this forever, satisfied and replete.

And cherished.

With every whispered word, every thrust of his body, every touch, Rick Trajean had sent her a message.

I love you.

And, silently, she answered him.

I love you, too.

***

The jangling of the phone on the nightstand jolted Sydney out of a deep sleep. Eyes still closed, she reached over for the receiver and listened to a recorded voice tell her it was time to get up. Her mind received the message but her body protested, big time.

Five more minutes. Just five.

She lay there for a moment with her eyes closed as she tried to unscramble her brain.

Connect with Mickey, so he knew to take the band out the back way this morning.
Check.

Make sure he texted the guys not to go into the lobby area of the hotel.
Check.

Pull up the coverage of last night’s concert and check the overnights on iTunes, Twitter, and Facebook.
Not yet
. She’d do that on the plane. Then she could share it with the guys right away.

She shifted her body in bed and it protested in several places. The memories of the night before with Rick surged through her brain.

Oh, God! I did it again
.

Forcing her eyes open she hitched herself up in bed and looked around. Of course the room was empty, a situation that left her in the momentary grip of conflicting emotions. She wanted to wake up with him wrapped around her. Have him make slow, delicious love to her. Whisper the same words so she knew they were real. A great way to start the day.

Every day!

Something had changed last night. Whatever simmered between them had erupted to a full boil. It wasn’t just her body that capitulated to him. Now he had her heart. And, oh, that was dangerous.

This was all so new to her. She clutched the sheet to her, as if strange eyes in the room watched her, and tried to make sense of what she’d gotten herself into. Not in a million years had she ever expected to meet a man who rocked her world the way Rick Trajean did. Oh, sure, in the beginning she’d insisted it was sex. Nothing more. The way she’d laid it out for him after the first night. They had to be once and done.

She had spent so much of her life locking up her emotions and guarding her heart, she had no idea where to go from here. She only knew she couldn’t turn away from Rick anymore. Deny the deep emotional connection between them.

Now, she wanted it all, Rick
and
The Plan.

No, Janine. He won’t derail me. I’m going to show you how to have it all
.

She closed her eyes and smiled when she remembered his loving words, his warm touch. As she sat there, her body hummed from the way he’d made incredible love to her last night. No, she didn’t intend to run from this anymore. Going back to his room last night had been the smart thing for him to do. She could only hope no one saw him in the corridor. Time for the two of them to have a long talk about how to deal with their situation. She didn’t want anything to detract from the band’s unprecedented debut.

So how should they handle it? Should she talk to Linc first? To Butch? Would they pull her away from the tour and assign Lightnin’ to someone else? She didn’t think she could handle that. With so much of herself invested emotionally in both the band and the tour, it had become important for her to stay with them. And do her job.

Could she keep what she felt under wraps? Could he? Would a word or a gesture accidentally give it away to others? She worried the most about Macey Schreiner and others like her. They could destroy both her and the band out of sheer viciousness.

Part of your job to figure it out, Syd
.

Yes. Her job. Focus on that and worry about the rest later.

She checked the clock and realized she had just over an hour to dress, eat something, and be downstairs for the ride to the airport. Then the flight to Tampa.

With the band.

And Rick.

Was he as eager to see her again as she was to see him?

God, could I sound any more like a teenager?

She ordered coffee and toast from room service then headed for the shower. Still foggy from sleep—or lack of it—her head filled with memories of the incredible night, she nearly missed the note on the vanity.

Wanted to leave this where you’d see it. Last night was about so much more than sex. You know it and I know it. I want this, Syd. We’ll make it work. ILY.

PS. Text me when you get up.

Rick

She stared at the note, reading it again.
ILY.
I love you? He’d said everything but those words last night, but she hadn’t really needed them. Everything else he said, everything he did, gave her proof of his feelings. They had to find a private place to talk. Work out details. She would not allow them to be fodder for gossip bitches.

Going back into the bedroom, she picked up her phone from the nightstand.

ILY2. Tlk early aftrnn?

She hit Send. In less than a minute, the reply came back.

Okay. C U on the plane
.

For the first time since she began this journey, The Plan wasn’t the most important thing in her life. Not that she could or would abandon it. She was a professional. She could still do her job and do it damn well.

But first, she had to get dressed.

***

Rick stood in the rear service area of the hotel, stared at the text message, and swallowed a smile. Maybe they couldn’t say the actual words to each other yet, but this was good enough for now. It showed him he hadn’t misunderstood anything about last night. She might have fought him on it before, but last night told him she had the same feelings he did. The text certainly validated it.

So what did they do about it? He’d been so focused on getting her to admit they had something more than hot sex, he hadn’t thought beyond that. He snorted. Yeah, him. The great Rick Trajean. The planner. The guy in control.

This morning, on the spur of the moment, he’d written
ILY
on the note he left her.
I love you.
Now wanted to kick himself for doing it like that instead of telling her in a proper setting. He’d promised himself he’d tell her when he believed they were both ready but, after last night, he didn’t have one ounce of doubt left. He did love her. He hadn’t gone looking for this, hadn’t expected it. Maybe hadn’t even wanted it. But there it was and he wanted to embrace it. He only hoped she didn’t think he was stupid for telling her this way.

But then she texted back
ILY2
and he wanted to shout
Yes!
  He had all he could do to control himself.

He wondered if she’d ride to the airport with them. They’d be in the van with the rest of the band. Could they keep the others from feeling the vibes between them? Stop themselves from exchanging silent messages? And what about on the plane, when there would be twice as many people?

Quit driving yourself nuts. You’re an intelligent adult. You can handle it
.

“Hey!”

Mickey Farentino’s foghorn voice broke into his thoughts. He looked up from his phone and saw the rest of the band move toward the exit. Mickey had texted each of them they’d leave the same way they arrived to avoid a repeat of the day before.

“Huh? Oh, sorry. We ready to roll?” He stuck his phone in his pocket.

“If you’ll move your lazy ass.” Mickey laughed. “Still jazzed from last night? I don’t blame you.”

Mickey would be transporting Lightnin’ to and from hotels and airports on this tour the same way Deep Blue River’s road manager transported them. The sound men and road crews for both groups would manage the truck holding all the equipment. Rick was relieved those arrangements didn’t sit on his shoulders anymore.

“I’m good,” he assured the road manager as they walked down to the delivery parking area. Then he laughed. “Although I don’t think any of us have taken it all in yet. Not completely.”

Mickey looked over at him as Rick climbed into the shotgun seat. “Let me just say, kid, that I’ve been doing this more years than I’d like to admit. I’ve worked with a lot of exceptional bands. Dynamite bands. But it’s been years since any of them came out of the gate the way you guys did. You know why? Because you’ve got the goods. A sound that really rocks people and songs they can’t get out of their heads. Did Butch, Sydney, or anyone, give you the overnights yet?”

Rick shook his head. “No. I figure she’ll go over it with us on the plane.” He looked at the road manager. “She is flying with us, right?”

“Oh, yeah.” He laughed. “Sydney will be sticking to you guys like glue.”

Exactly how I want her stuck to me
.

“She riding to the airport with us?”

Mickey shook his head. “She’ll leave through the lobby and take the shuttle. It’s better that way.”

She was all he could think about as they rolled down the freeway. She had become so embedded in his mind, his soul, his heart in such a short time. He still had trouble processing all of it. Sydney had insisted they keep this private for now, a wise decision. And not only because of what the media reaction would be. He wasn’t ready to share what they had with anyone else yet. After the tour, they could sit down and make plans. Talk about what came next for them. Discuss their future, because they damn sure had one. Together.

Lost in thought, he didn’t realize Mickey was talking to him again.

“Oh, sorry, Mick. What were you saying?”

“You’re either in love, in lust, or concentrating too hard on tomorrow night’s concert. Which is it?”