Attraction: (A Temptation Series Stand-alone) (The Temptation Series Book 4) (22 page)

‘Want to come in?’ I spoke breathlessly against his neck,
releasing my lips from his and pressing them to his Adam’s apple.

‘Sure,’ he answered with obvious lust-filled restraint. ‘But
first, I have a present for you.’

I looked up at him and smiled brightly.
Carly Josephine
Henkley LOVES presents.
‘Ooh ... what is it?’

Derek released me from his grip and brought his hands in
between our bodies.

Dangling off his finger and gently swaying before me was a
white gift bag with a La Perla logo printed on it.

‘La Perla?’ I asked excitedly.

He just nodded, smiled and indicated with a twitch of his
finger that I accept the bag from him.

‘Where did you get this?’

‘Airport. I’d always wondered why there would need to be a
fancy lingerie shop at the airport. Now I know,’ he said with cheeky raised
eyebrow.

Eagerly, I slid the bag from his finger and peeked inside,
moving the tissue paper to find a stunning piece of black and red lingerie.
‘What is it?’

He stepped toward me, gently coaxing me into the house.
‘It’s what you will be wearing today, Carly. It’s what I will be thinking about
as I sing on that stage, and it’s what I will quite fucking happily remove from
you before we fuck later tonight.’

Stopping at the sound of the words he just spoke, my cheeks
warmed and my pussy meowed.
Yes, it meowed like a hungry feline.
I
smiled boldly and once again peeked into the bag before turning on my heels.
‘Well, best I go put it on then.’

***

Not long after Derek arrived to pick me up, we’d had to
leave so as not to be late to Live Trepidation’s gig at Bar 22. Mind you,
they’d be hard pressed starting proceedings without their lead singer.

I’d been to this particular venue before with Steph and
Jade, as we all loved scoping out local bands. Funnily enough, we’d never
previously come across Live T.

‘Hey, Derek, glad to have you back,’ Lucy said as we
approached the stage upon arrival.

Lucy — together with Bryce, Will and Matt — was setting up
for the gig. She gave him a tight hug and rubbed his back affectionately. Her
reassuring gesture stirred my inner hulk, but I quickly put that to rest by
reminding myself that Lucy was pussyfied and cock-resistant.

She pulled away from Derek and then gave me a quick hug in
greeting as well. ‘Nice to see you again, Carly.’

‘You too,’ I replied as we pulled apart. ‘Derek, I’m just
going to go and sit with Alexis and the kids, all right?’

He leaned over and gave me a quick peck on the lips before
whispering in my ear, ‘Don’t forget, I’ll be thinking about what’s under those
clothes the whole time I’m up there.’

I moved my lips to his ear while gently grazing my cheek to
his. ‘And I’ll be thinking about how you will take it off me and what you will
do afterward. Don’t forget, you have set the bar high.’

He chuckled. ‘Baby, my bar will be high, don’t you worry.’

‘I’m not,’ I said sincerely, as I pulled away from him.

Now directing my attention to the rest of the band, I smiled
and wished them well. ‘Good luck, guys.’

‘Don’t need it,’ Will replied arrogantly. ‘Pure talent does
not require luck.’

‘True,’ I yelled back as I walked away. ‘But pure narcissism
leads to nothing but fapping, so I hope you like self-service.’

Bryce laughed at my response. Will, on the other hand, asked
what narcissism meant.

Winking at him, I then detoured to the bar to get myself a
glass of wine before making my way over to where Alexis and the kids were
sitting.

‘Hey, bitch,’ I greeted her as she picked at a loose thread
on the red and white striped tub chair she was sitting on. Nate and Charlotte
were also sitting in tub chairs positioned around a small wood-slatted table.
They were both quietly playing their iPods.

‘Hi, Carls,’ she responded as she snapped out of her
preoccupied state.

Straightaway, I sensed that she was agitated, but it wasn’t
in a way that had me worried. Instead, her nervous demeanour had me curious.

‘Nice day, huh?’

She looked at me, but her eyes held no direct interest in
what I was saying. ‘Yeah, nice.’

‘Summer, come at me,’ I added eagerly as I sat down,
scruffing Nate’s hair in the process. ‘How’s it going, twerps?’

‘I’m not a twerp, Aunty Carls,’ Charlotte stated with
absolute certainty.

‘I beg to differ.’

She wrinkled her nose. ‘What does that mean?’

‘It means she still thinks we are twerps,’ Nate added without
taking his attention away from his iPod.

‘That it does, and Mum agrees with me, don’t ya, Lex?’ I
asked, wanting to bring their mother in on the fun. She didn’t answer me,
continuing to stare intently at the band who were just about finished with
setting up. ‘Alexis?’ I asked again, this time raising my voice.

‘Yeah, what?’ she snapped.

‘Are you all right? You’ve been off with the pixies ever
since I arrived.’

‘Sorry, I’m just ...’ she leaned in closer to me, ‘nervous.’

Alexis then slumped back in her seat with a terrified
expression on her face.

‘Why are you nervous?’

She quickly glanced at Charli and Nate who both had their
heads down, attention fixed on their iPods. ‘Derek has been teaching me how to
play the guitar, and I’m going to surprise Bryce with a song. I’m freaking out.
I’ve only been playing for a few months.’

‘Fuck off!’ I said out aloud, honestly surprised by her
confession. I knew that she had been getting lessons, but had no idea that
she’d planned to perform at one of the band’s gigs.

Alexis glared at me, then subtly flicked her eyes in the
kids direction. Both twerps hadn’t even flinched.

‘Are you for real? Oh, my god! That’s awesome. So why are
you nervous?’ I asked with excitement, having not heard Lexi sing for years.
She used to sing a lot when we were younger. Mind you, back then I found it
annoying.

‘Oh,’ she deadpanned for the smallest of seconds, ‘let me
guess ... ’cause there’s a whole rooftop full of freakin’ strangers.’

I picked up my glass of wine and sipped it. ‘Who cares?’

‘I do!’ she blurted out as she picked up hers, sipping it
not quite as calmly as I had.

‘Why? Who are you performing for? Them,’ I gestured to the
people slowly filling the space around us, ‘or Bryce?’

She closed her eyes for the briefest of seconds and sucked
in a deep breath. ‘Bryce.’

‘So just play it for him. Don’t even acknowledge anyone
else,’ I explained before sipping my drink again.

Glancing up at the stage, I focussed my attention on Derek
and his bent-over position. He was fiddling around with guitar amp cords and
displaying his sexy as fuck arse for my enjoyment. ‘We haven’t had vanilla
yet,’ I regretfully confessed.

‘Oh.’ Lexi gave the kids another quick glance, checking to
see if they were still occupied with their handheld devices and not catching on
to the fact that their mother and I were now talking about sex. ‘Why not?
That’s unlike you. You normally devour vanilla, then jump right into chocolate
or even rocky road.’

‘I do not,’ I scoffed, blatantly lying. She knew me so well.

‘Yes, you do. There’re not many flavours you haven’t tried.’
This is true.

‘I like strawberry, Aunty Carls. Do you like strawberry?’
Charli asked, her eyes still figuratively glued to her screen.

Pressing my lips together to refrain from laughing, but also
utilising my locked tight lips, I sounded an ‘mm’ noise before I was able to
answer. ‘Yes, Charli, I love strawberry. It’s my favourite.’

‘Mum, what’s your favourite?’

Alexis turned a nice shade of flushed pink. ‘I like vanilla
with sprinkles and topping and chocolate chips,’ she answered quickly.

‘Yeah, me too,’ Charli smiled. ‘Can I have some now?’

This conversation had turned highly amusing. I was now revelling
in the fact that Lexi had to somehow dig herself out of this double entendre
styled discussion.

‘What, Charli?’ Lexi asked, appearing a little flustered.
‘What do you want?’

‘Ice cream.’

‘Oh. Um ... sure.’ She dug out her purse. ‘Nate?’

‘I’ll have what she’s having,’ he replied unperturbed and,
like Charli, not removing his eyes from the little screen before him.
This
is the best doublespoken conversation ever.

I couldn’t help it and started laughing. It was no secret
that I loved watching Alexis squirm during an awkward situation.

She glared playfully at me in return. ‘Here, Charli, go up
to the bistro desk over there and order two ice cream sundaes. Nate, go with
her, please.’

When they were gone, Lexi turned to me, all serious like.
‘Why haven’t you fucked Derek yet? Carls, what’s wrong with him?’

I shook my head, displaying my bewilderment. ‘Nothing, it’s
not him. It’s me.’

‘What’s wrong with you, then? Is your fiery hole singed?’
she asked, nearly choking on the wine she had not long beforehand consumed.

I glared at her. ‘You’re such a bitch. No, I really like him
and I don’t want to screw this up,’ I explained honestly.

Saying it out loud even surprised me.

Alexis pulled my hands into hers and squeezed them with
reassurance. ‘You’re not going to screw this up, Carls,’ she said quietly.

‘How can you be so sure?’ I groaned.

‘Well, I can’t, hon. But I know you, and you’re awesome.
Derek seems to like your awesomeness as well, so just be yourself and go with the
flow. Don’t try to change who you are.’

I sighed. ‘It’s not that simple.’

‘Carly?’ she questioned harshly.

‘Yes,’ I replied, deliberately lacing my tone with
hostility.

‘Do you want to fuck Derek?’
Of course I want to fucking
fuck Derek. Who in their right mind wouldn’t?

Sighing at the thought that I would be doing just that by
the end of this day, I answered. ‘Yes.’

‘Well, that’s fucking great, because I want to fuck you,
too,’ Derek said as he stepped up beside me, a shit-eating grin on his face.
‘How ’bout tonight? My house. I’ll even cook you dinner first.’

I took in his knowing expression, his intent both terrifying
and exciting me beyond anything else I had ever felt sexually.

Leaning closer he spoke quietly, his breath tickling my ear.
‘I won’t bite, Carls, unless you want me to.’

My eyes widened at the visual I was conjuring in my head of
Derek sinking his teeth in my neck. I kind of had a thing for vampires, Damon
Salvatore and Eric Northman my ultimate vamp porn.

‘Sure,’ I answered shakily.

‘Good.’ He stood back up with a satisfied yet cocky look on
his face then turned to Lexi. ‘Alexis, how are you feeling?’

‘As nervous as fuck,’ she answered, holding up her trembling
hands as evidence.

‘Don’t be. The last time we rehearsed you were fine. I will
pick up the chords if you falter. Now, Lucy is going to call Charli up on stage
as soon as our set finishes, then you’ll be next.’

‘Okay,’ she answered.

I was still staring intensely at Derek, eye-fucking him
greedily, and mentally licking his caramel skin. He had flipped a switch and
turned on my Carly-cave, triggering an excited tingle of anticipation deep in
my core.

‘Hope you like chicken. I make a mean satay,’ Derek declared
before placing a quick kiss on my lips. He then made his way back to the stage,
not even giving me a chance to respond or kiss him back, or even cop a quick
feel of his package.

Slowly settling my Derek-daze, I made eye contact with Lexi.
‘I don’t.’

‘You don’t what?’ she asked with a confused expression.

‘Like satay,’ I admitted. ‘But fuck! I’ll eat it for him.
I’ll even eat it off him if he wants.’

Dropping my head to the table, I surrendered to the enormity
that was Dik.

***

Derek owned the stage during the following set in a way that
only a naturally sexy and talented lead singer could own it. It wasn’t just the
fact that his voice had sensual unadulterated sex with my eardrums. No, it was
more than that. It was the way he caressed the mic stand and how he fingered
the strings on his guitar. It was the way he made eye contact with the
occupants of the room. And it was the way he articulated his connection to the
lyrics; his inner emotions poured out of him in the form of intense facial
expressions. It was clear he was a passionate person, dedicated to everything
he put his time into and that was by far his sexiest trait. Well, that, and his
caramel chest and Cockasaurus Rex.

‘When do I get to sing?’ Charli asked, excited and
impatient.

‘Derek said when they finish this first set of songs,’ I
explained. ‘So what are you going to sing, Charli?’

‘I’m going to sing “True Colours”. Lucy has been helping me
practise. I like that song because it’s about rainbows.’
Um ... well,
technically, twerp, it’s about finding inner courage and being yourself, but I
guess rainbows will do.

The music died down and the band began to exit the stage,
except for Lucy. ‘Charlotte, would you like to come up here?’ she voiced
through the microphone.

Charli sprang up like a bloody jack-in-the-box and
enthusiastically made her way up on stage.

‘We have a very special guest here today to perform a song
for you,’ Lucy continued as she adjusted her seated position behind the
keyboard. ‘I’d like to introduce Miss Charlotte Summers. She is going to help
me sing “True Colours” by Cyndi Lauper.’

Charli took a seat next to Lucy and moved the microphone
down so that it was positioned perfectly in front of her mouth. ‘Hi, everyone,’
she said happily, addressing the room’s occupants with confidence.

Lucy started playing the keyboards, and I couldn’t help but
notice how naturally beautiful she really was. I even decided that had I
enjoyed a little lady-licking myself, I’d totally want in on her.