One Night with Sole Regret 01 Try Me (9 page)

“I have some time after breakfast,” Gabe whispered
in her ear. “Are you planning on sticking around until the bus
leaves?”

“Do you want me to?” she asked.

“That’s a stupid question.”

“You don’t want to fuck in the sauna, do you?” She
crinkled her nose.

Beside her, Adam inhaled sharply and then started
choking. The guy who was sitting on his opposite side pounded him
on the back. Adam’s chains rattled in time with the pounding.

“Are you okay?” Melanie asked.

He nodded, still coughing, and reached for a glass
of water. He knocked it over when his attention diverted to Nikki,
who danced into the room, positively glowing with happiness. Or
maybe her face was rosy from all the time spent in the sauna.
Everyone at the table stood in unison, piling fancy cloth napkins
on the puddle of water spreading across the table. Nikki trotted
across the room and wrapped her arms around Gabe’s neck.

“Did you have fun with Mel?” she asked, giving him
an affectionate squeeze. She tilted her head to the side, grinned
at Melanie, and offered her a little wink.

Shade stopped behind her and cleared his throat.
Nikki untangled her arms from Gabe’s neck and hugged Shade around
the waist, resting her head against his broad chest like a docile
kitten. He cupped the back of her head in one large hand.

“I suppose you thoughtless assholes didn’t bother
ordering for the rest of us,” he said. Melanie couldn’t tell who he
was looking at, because he was wearing his damned sunglasses again.
She wondered if he wore them to bed. And while fucking in the
sauna.

“You’re the only asshole I see here,” Adam said and
sat in the booth again. He tackled his omelet with vigor.

There was an uncomfortable moment where everyone
stared at Shade, and then, when he didn’t engage further with Adam,
they all sat down again to continue their breakfast. Shade sat next
to Owen, who shifted closer to Kelly to make room. Nikki perched
herself on Shade’s knee.

“Where are you heading next?” Nikki asked.

“Dallas,” Shade answered.

“Can I come with?”

“Not this time, kitten.”

Nikki’s bottom lip jutted forward, but Shade
squeezed her shoulder, and she smiled again. Though Melanie had
told the guys that Nikki wouldn’t want Shade to share all the dirty
details of their night together, Melanie was sure she’d be getting
an earful of naughtiness on their drive back to Wichita.

The waitress delivered Melanie’s cranberry juice and
Gabe’s cup of coffee before insisting on an autograph from Shade.
He obliged her and then ordered for Nikki without asking her what
she wanted. Melanie watched her friend for signs of distress, but
she looked as pleased as an honor roll student receiving a shiny
gold star.

Gabe squeezed Melanie’s knee. “She’s a big girl,” he
whispered into her ear. “She can take care of herself.”

Was her concern for her friend that obvious? Rather
than deny that she was obsessing over Nikki’s personal life,
Melanie took a sip of cranberry juice. Gabe slid his hand up the
inside of her thigh. When he brushed her mound with the side of his
hand, she sucked juice down her windpipe.

Her hacking resulted in vigorous whacks on the back
until she finally stopped coughing and her rescuers—Gabe and
Adam—were satisfied that she’d live.

“I’m fine,” she assured them, fearing they’d
fracture her ribs if they kept at it.

This time when Gabe’s hand disappeared beneath the
table she maintained her composure. At least outwardly.

Her breakfast arrived and though she was hungry
enough to gnaw off her own arm, it meant that Gabe pulled his hand
out from under the table to use his utensils. She instantly missed
the feel of his fingers against her. Every touch delighted and
unsettled her. She was going to have a difficult time saying
goodbye to him.

Wanting to have him to herself for as long as
possible, she made short work of her exquisite meal. The filet
mignon practically melted on her tongue. Her eggs were covered with
a hint of buttery sauce that delighted her taste buds with an
explosion of flavor. Nikki stole her cup of fruit and began to eat
it with her fingers. With rapt attention, the rest of the band
watched Nikki suck and lick strawberry juice from her fingers.
Shade cupped her breast and rubbed his thumb over the tip.

“You’re getting me worked up again, kitten.”

“Good,” she said in a slow purr.

Melanie checked to make sure Gabe wasn’t gawking at
Nikki—he wasn’t—and focused on her plate. Nikki had unintentionally
gained the interest of Melanie’s dates in the past. At least,
Melanie was pretty sure it had been unintentional. She didn’t want
Gabe to be sucked in by Nikki’s blatant sexuality as well.

“Is your kitten up for a gang bang?” Adam asked.

Before Melanie could punch him in the mouth, Nikki
shifted forward, giving Gabe, Melanie, and Adam a straight-line
view down her shirt. She’d lost her bra at some point since Jack
had given them that backstage pass.

“I’m getting all the banging I can handle from
Shade,” she said. “Though I would be okay with Mel joining us. I’m
craving taco.”

Melanie’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No
thanks,” she squeaked. Was Nikki really into girls or was she
playing at it for the sake of these rock stars and their perpetual
hard-ons?

Nikki laughed and sat up straight on Shade’s lap. “I
tried, baby,” she said to him. “She’s too much of a
goody-goody.”

“What about that waitress?” he asked.

Melanie expected Nikki to refuse, at the very least.
And if not that, to tell Shade what he could do with his
suggestion. She sure as hell didn’t expect Nikki to climb off
Shade’s lap and whisper, “I’ll go ask her.”

He slapped her on the ass as she trotted off toward
the kitchen.

“Don’t use her like that,” Melanie sputtered as soon
as Nikki was out of earshot. “She’s going to get hurt again.”

“She just wants to have a good time,” Shade
said.

“She wants someone to
love
her. Desperately.
And I know that someone isn’t you.”

“How do you know that?”

“You just want her to fulfill your twisted
fantasies.”

He smirked at her. “Sweetheart, all my twisted
fantasies have already been fulfilled.”

Sweetheart?
“Don’t patronize me,” Melanie
growled.

“He pisses me off too,” Adam grumbled. “Thinks he’s
hot shit.”

“Nikki knows we’re just having a good time,” Shade
said. “You’re the one who can’t separate sex and love. Stop
projecting that onto your friend.” He turned his head toward Gabe.
“Tough luck, dude. She’s hot and all, but I’m glad she landed on
your dick and not mine.”

Melanie’s jaw dropped. She didn’t even know what to
say to that. Gabe’s body tensed. A muscle in jaw tightened as he
clenched his teeth together. For a second Melanie thought he was
going to punch Shade in his smug face.

“So am I,” he said. He tossed his silverware onto
his plate with a loud clatter, chugged his glass of water in three
long gulps, and then stood. He extended a hand toward Melanie. “I
need to be alone with you right now.”

Stunned, she stared up at him. The intensity in his
expression made her heart melt and her panties ignite. If she
hadn’t been confusing sex and love before, she sure as hell was
now.

She placed her hand in his and rose to her feet,
never taking her eyes off his.

He led her to the elevator and used his card to send
them toward the top floor again.

“Something wrong?” she asked him.

“No. I just want to show you something.”

“What kind of something?”

“The surprise I mentioned last night.”

She racked her brain for memories of what he was
talking about, but came up lacking. “I don’t remember. What
surprise?”

“I have a little hobby,” he said. “It’s sort of
perverse.”

Her muscles tensed. “Good perverse or bad
perverse?”

“You’ll have to tell me.”

“Gabe . . . ”

“Don’t look so freaked out. If you like me enough to
put up with my band mates’ bullshit, this will be easy.”

She wasn’t so sure.

He took her hand and kissed her knuckles. “I think
you’re going to find this to be a treat. Of course, it’s still a
prototype.”

Her thoughts swirled with confusion. “A
prototype?”

He flushed, and she had to stifle the urge to kiss
him. She loved to see him flustered.

“I have this hobby,” he said quietly. “I build
things.”

“What kind of things?” She was picturing some
lifelike android or a drumstick polisher.

“Things that make a woman feel real good.”

She was already feeling real good, but had to wonder
what he thought would intensify her experience. “What? Like sex
toys?”

“I guess that’s what you’d call them. Does it weird
you out? I’ve used my creations in the past, but I’ve never told a
woman I designed them. I thought
maybe . . . since you know I’m sort of a geek
in wolf’s clothing . . . ”

And that’s what she liked best about him—the geek
hiding just beneath the surface that only she seemed to appreciate.
“Are you just going to show me or are we going to actually use
them?”

“I have a couple new ones I haven’t tried out yet.
How do you feel about being a test subject?”

“Your test subject?” She already knew he could make
her come like no one else.

“You can say no,” he said.

As if the thought of refusing had even crossed her
mind. Gabe Banner brought out her adventurous side and she couldn’t
wait to see what he showed her next. She wrapped her arms around
his neck and rubbed the tips of her nipples against his chest.

“Let’s see what you’ve got, Dr. Kink E.
Inventor.”

He laughed and nuzzled her neck, making her giggle
with ticklish delight. “I’m glad you’re up for some
experimentation. I promise you won’t regret it.”

She slid a hand up the soft strip of hair at the
center of his head and tugged him closer, her throat closing off
with unexpected emotion. Her sole regret was that her time with him
would have to end far before she was ready to let him go.

Chapter 9

The elevator let them out on their floor. A mixture
of anticipation and trepidation settled in Melanie’s belly. She
reminded herself that Gabe was a fantastic lover and that they
didn’t have much time left together. If these toys of his were
important to him, she wanted to be open to them. Open to him.

Apparently her willingness to participate excited
him. He had her shirt halfway off before they made it into the
suite and all the way off by the time the door shut behind them.
Her bra followed.

He cupped her breasts. “You have the perfect nipples
for this,” he said.

“For what?”

“I’ll show you.”

He shifted behind her and drew her back up against
his belly, massaging her breasts and suckling the side of her neck
as he slowly walked her toward the bed. His hands moved to her
belt. He had her naked and sprawled across the mattress in less
than a minute. He paused to stare down at her.

“You’re beautiful,” he said.

She smiled at him. “You make me feel beautiful.”

Gabe watched her for a long moment. “I think we’ll
try two things at once. I want you screaming my name. You’ll never
have to fake an orgasm with me.”

He was practically grunting like a cave man.

She grinned up at him. “Is that some sort of macho
vendetta against my girlie bits?”

“Damn straight.”

He opened his suitcase and rummaged around until he
found two packages securely wrapped in thick canvas. He laid them
on the bed beside her and unwrapped the first. Three thin chains
formed a Y-shape. Each end of the chain had strange-looking clips
attached—one clip was larger than the other two and had some sort
of suction cup affixed to it. Melanie lifted her head to get a
better look, but couldn’t even guess what the contraption was
for.

“This is why you have perfect nipples,” he said.
“Exactly the nipples I had in mind when I dreamed this up.”

“What is it?”

He didn’t answer her. Still fully clothed, he
climbed up onto the bed and straddled her thighs. He cupped her
breasts in both hands, rubbing her nipples with his thumbs until
they pebbled under his attention. He fastened one clip to her left
nipple and the other to her right.

Her back arched off the bed. “Oh!”

“Are they tingling?” He tugged the chain.

“Aching.”

“Must not have a good connection.” He removed one of
the clips and wet her swollen nipple with his tongue. She held the
back of his head to keep him from moving away. While the clip on
her nipple was stimulating, it in no way compared to the warm, wet
pleasure his mouth gave her. He pulled back and returned the clip
to her wet nipple. A delightful tingle swept through her flesh.

“Wow!”

“It’s working?”

“It feels sort of like when you stick your tongue on
a nine-volt battery.”

“Do you like it?”

It felt different from anything she’d ever
experienced. “I think so.”

He went to work on wetting her other nipple, tilting
his head so he could hold her gaze as his tongue flicked against
her sensitive skin. When he had both clips in place, they released
rhythmic pulses to both breasts. He tugged the chain between them,
and Melanie’s womb tightened.

“Gabe! I think I’m almost there.”

“I don’t even have it all the way on yet,” he said.
“Try to hold back.”

She’d never had a man tell her not to come. She
tightened all the muscles between her legs, longing for something
inside her to alleviate the throbbing ache, and clung to the covers
in torment. She tried focusing on the top of Gabe head instead of
the maddeningly pleasure flowing through her body, but it was no
use. “Oh God,” she cried.