Rock God (Hearts of Metal Book 3) (26 page)

Before she could melt in his arms, the strong voice made itself known again. “Only if you’ll be
my
groupie at the romance conventions.”

He laughed as he removed her jacket. “Are men even allowed at those things?”

“Yeah, but they’re usually outnumbered.” She leaned over, him, brushing her breasts against his chest as she picked up his list. “This one will have a historical costume ball. If you don’t come, I’ll be stuck dancing with the topless cover models. Then again,” she teased, “maybe that won’t be too much of a hardship.”

“I’ll show you a hardship,” he growled as he gripped her hips and ground them against his. Then he took her lips in an all-consuming kiss and there was no more to say.

Or so she’d thought. In moments they’d pulled off each other’s clothes, but when Dante saw the small rainbow tattooed just above her right hipbone, he sucked in a sharp breath.

“It made me think of that song you sang to me,” Shayna whispered, then she gasped as his tongue flicked across the tiny bands of color.

His smile eclipsed the vivid hues. “Shayna Gray, I love you.”

He entered her in one smooth thrust. “I love you,” he repeated.

Shayna clung to him, her eyes welling up with tears of joy. “I love you too, Dante Deity—Rock God.”

Hours later, when they were panting and replete, Shayna ran her fingers through Dante’s hair. Her heart continued to thud in awe of her new happiness.

“Thank you, Dante,” she whispered.

“For what?” he asked sleepily.

She smiled. “For giving this romance author a real happily-ever-after.”

Epilogue

Shayna stood beside Kat and Kinley, behind one of the sound engineers, watching Dante and his band take the stage after Rage of Angels took their bow. To Shayna’s surprise, after a long talk with their lead singer Dante had forgiven the band and allowed them to join the tour. Her heart fluttered at his nobility and kindness as she fixed her gaze on him. He looked so beautiful and godlike that she couldn’t believe he’d been snuggled up with her only this morning.

As the crowd roared and Dante’s rich voice filled the arena, Kat laughed at the blissful look on Shayna’s face. “No one will ever do it quite like him.”

Shayna grinned and admired Kat’s gorgeous engagement ring. Her band and Klement’s, Bleeding Vengeance, had played the last set, and Klement had shocked everyone when he nudged the singer away from the microphone and publicly proposed to her.

Kinley nodded. “Yeah, but Quinn’s voice will always be my favorite.”

“Duh,” Kat said before turning back to Shayna. “Are you still taking notes on the show?”

Shayna nodded and held up her notebook. Kat and Kinley ran a heavy metal fan website and had hired her to be a guest blogger, along with Quinn’s little sister. She’d learned a lot about a journalist’s perspective, which had improved her posts on her own author website.

Truly, her relationship with Dante and her involvement in the metal world had wrought unfathomable results to her career. She’d toured countless cities for book signings, and this weekend they’d also be attending a romance convention. Her appearances gave her more opportunities not only to interact with her readers, but also to overcome her shyness. Now that confident voice came consistently from her mouth instead of remaining in her head. That left more room for her book characters to talk to her.

After Dante finished the opening song, she cheered along with the crowd. He turned to give her a heart-melting smile before returning to the microphone.

“This next song is a new one I wrote, inspired by an awesome book I read. I dedicate it to the author, Shayna Gray.”

He looked back at her again and winked at her startled expression as a medieval style guitar melody played. Then Dante’s velvety voice poured forth like warm rum. He sang of a knight whose lands had been seized and how he’d taken up a lute and become a minstrel, though never losing sight of reclaiming his birthright and the heart of the woman he loved.

Shayna gasped. He’d written a song about her book! Tears filled her eyes as she watched him raptly. Was it possible to fall even deeper in love with him?

After the set was finished and Dante lifted her into his arms and claimed her lips in a mind-bending kiss, she concluded that it was.

“Did you like my song?” he asked.

“It was incredible,” she breathed.

“Good, because I’m going to perform it at the costume ball at the convention tonight.” He chuckled as she gasped. “If pictures get out in the metal magazines, I’ll probably get teased, but I don’t care. Your publisher thinks it will be brilliant.”

“I think
you’re
brilliant.” She caressed his cheek.

“Well, I couldn’t let Klement be the king of romantic gestures.” He pulled her into his arms. “Not when I’m with a romance author.”

Thinking of Klement’s proposal, Shayna wondered when her own was going to come. Rosa had asked Dante if they were engaged yet when she texted him about his mail and told him which rooms she’d dusted while they were gone. Dante had read the text aloud to Shayna with a secretive smile.

“Not yet,” he’d said before texting her back.

He kissed her one more time before heading backstage to greet his fans and sign autographs while Shayna posted pictures of the concert on Facebook and Twitter.

Finally it was over. As Dante led her out to their rented car to head to the convention, she couldn’t help but think of the first concert where they’d met. How far they’d come.

He stopped so suddenly that Shayna almost tripped. “Son of a bitch,” he whispered.

Shayna followed his gaze to see Quinn’s sister, Chrissy, getting into Bleeding Vengeance’s tour bus with none other than the lead singer, Cliff Tracey, who was reputed to be a total manwhore.

Dante continued to glare at the bus. “Quinn’s going to be furious.”

“Are you going to tell him?” Shayna asked.

“The old me would have,” he said. “Now I think I’ll let him handle his own business. I’m occupied with you.” He grinned. “Besides, Chrissy’s a grown woman—and who ever knows how this sort of thing will work out?”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Formerly an auto-mechanic, Brooklyn Ann thrives on writing romance featuring unconventional heroines and the heroes who adore them. An author of historical paranormal romance in her critically acclaimed Scandals with Bite series, urban fantasy in the cult-favorite Brides of Prophecy novels, and contemporaries in the Reader’s Choice Award–Winning Hearts of Metal series, she provides love for the broken and strange.

She lives in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho with her son, miscellaneous horror memorabilia, and a 1980 Datsun 210.

ALSO BY BROOKLYN ANN

The Hearts of Metal Series

Kissing Viciöus

With Vengeance

Did you enjoy this book? Drop us a line and say so! We love to hear from readers, and so do our authors. To connect, visit
www.boroughspublishinggroup.com
online, send comments directly to
[email protected]
, or friend us on Facebook and Twitter. And be sure to check back regularly for contests and new releases in your favorite subgenres of romance!

Are you an aspiring writer? Check out
www.boroughspublishinggroup.com/submit
and see if we can help you make your dreams come true.