Tudor Redemption (Tudor Dynasty Book 4) (21 page)

We shook hands and sat down. I sat next to
Beth and let Jim talk with Ethan about his tour, and most interestingly, his
new record label. I smiled at Ethan, and then Beth. That made me proud.

A few minutes into the interview, Jim
turned to me. “I was blown away by your performance earlier. I’ve had a chance
to listen to your CD. Phenomenal stuff. I was hoping to get to talk this
evening, but Beth explained. I look forward to an interview regarding it. And
both of you.”

“It’ll be my pleasure, Jim. Just contact
the office, and we’ll set something up.”

I was sitting enjoying my brew after Jim
finished, waiting to leave the sanctity of this room for mingling with the
masses. An altercation or disturbance at the door made me cringe as I heard a
voice I’d hoped I’d never have to hear again.

Julia, shoving past Beth and Jim. She
walked over to me in heels and shoved a business card in my face. “Since you’re
giving interviews, I demand my turn.”

“Hello, Julia. I see some things haven’t
changed,” I said quietly. I peered at the card. “The Los Angeles Underground?
Never heard of it. Not surprising though. I can’t imagine your skill set is
good enough for anything but a gossip rag.”

“Just give me a damn interview, Damien.”

“Sweetheart, I’m not giving interviews
here tonight. I’m here as a guest of Ethan Maverick. Nothing more.”

“Save that crap for someone else. I saw
you on stage.”

“Oh good, your eyes still work. You need
to read my lips. I’m not doing interviews tonight. It will be a cold day in
hell before I sit down and talk to you about anything. Now, if you’ll excuse
me.”

I started to turn away from her. Needed
to. My temper was going to flash any second if she didn’t get out of my space.

She decided to try another angle. “Wasn’t
that a Rypp Tyde song you did this evening? You know I still manage them.”

“Yes, it was, and your point would be?”

“Think about it long and hard before you
perform any of their tunes, Damien.”

“I believe I wrote or co-wrote ninety-nine
percent of the material they used. Go try your commando tactics with someone
else. I’ve nothing to say to you. If you want to talk, contact my attorney. I
believe he straightened you out on this matter once before. I’m sure he’ll be
glad to give you a refresher course. On your dime, of course.”

Julia never did know when to shut up and
leave things alone. “No problem. We’ll just see how hard you fall. I’m sure the
media will just love to talk to me.”

“And what are you going to say? That I
took off and disappeared, leaving you with two teenage daughters? Yeah, I didn’t
think so. This conversation is over.” I turned and faced the window.

“I see the rumor’s true.” I heard her say
from behind me. “I always knew you were keeping something from me. And here he
is, standing in front of me.”

“Don’t flatter yourself, Julia. I could
say the same of you. You’ve always been too caught up in yourself to think
about anyone else around you. Hell, you haven’t even asked how Court and Britt
are. Too self-absorbed. Well, don’t let the door hit you in the butt, because
it might break coming into contact with that fake ass.”

“This isn’t over,” she hissed.

I couldn’t bear to turn around. I saw
Ethan’s reflection in the window. It was taking all he had to hold it in.

“She’s gone,” I heard Beth say, as she put
her hand on my forearm.

“I thought I was going to have to get
security to haul her out. She thinks she can waltz right back in after all
these years and get a piece of the pie. Unbelievable. No, actually with Julia,
it’s right on cue.”

Ethan passed me a beer. “Here, I think you
need this worse than I do. I have to say though, you handled her well.”

“I had plenty of practice.” I shook my
head. “She didn’t even ask about her own daughters. Totally self-centered and self-absorbed.”

Just like Alana. At that very moment, I
wanted to grab Beth, and get out of here. The adrenaline rush that was coursing
through my veins was powerful. What I needed was to take Beth back to our
suite, strip her naked, and bury my cock as far as I could. I needed to fuck. I
needed to fuck her hard and get my frustrations out. But I didn’t want to scare
her. This was one side of me she hadn’t seen. Alana had, but she was into that
sort of sex. She’d thought that’s what sex was all about. Julia too. I needed
to get them out of my brain forever.

My god! Where was this coming from?

We followed Ethan out into the club.
People naturally flocked to him, just wanting to get near him. Beth and I sort
of stood to the side and watched. I was pretty damn impressed and proud.

A fella around my age that I recognized as
a DJ walked up to us and asked me if I was Damien Tudor. I nodded my head. He
shook my hand and began going on about how great my CD was. Said it was in his
hot rotation. I felt Beth squeeze my hand.

So much for my trying to stay low key. As
the night wore on, it kept happening again and again. I glanced down at Beth
and could tell by the way she was standing that she was getting tired.

“Do you want to go sit down someplace? You
look beat.”

“It’s been a long day. I think it’s
catching up with me.”

“That’s understandable. We’ve been on the
go since early this morning.”

I was about to lead her to a table so she
could rest her bone weary feet, when Ethan approached us. “You two ready to go?”

“We can wait until you’re ready,” Beth
said.

“I’m ready. My motto. I stay an hour at
these functions. Not a minute longer.”

“Excellent motto to have in this business.
Lead the way,” I replied.

After a relatively quiet ride to the
hotel, we said goodnight to Ethan.

“Enjoy your day tomorrow. I’ll see you
around five.”

“See you then,” I replied.

I watched as Beth walked up to him and did
her usual hug and kiss. It was nice to see the bond they shared. I had it with
my daughters, but we had been thrown into a portion of it. With Ethan and Beth,
it was different. They’d been alone together from the beginning.

“I think it was quite a successful
evening, even with the Julia incident,” I remarked as we entered the elevator.

“Yes, it was. You were well received
tonight, and the CD hasn’t even been released. I’m excited for you.”

When we reached our suite, we kicked our
shoes off and collapsed on the sofa.

“Dame? You do realize we never ate dinner
this evening. In fact, we haven’t eaten since we left Seattle.”

“No wonder my stomach is screaming.”

“Mine too. I usually try to eat before one
of Ethan’s shows. Never know what the back stage spread might be.”

“True. I never looked. I had other things
on my mind.”

“How about I order us a sandwich from room
service?”

“That’s not exactly how I envisioned us
spending the rest of our evening.”

She giggled. “If we stay up much longer,
we’ll see the sun rise.”

I glanced at the clock on my phone. “Damn,
it’s later than I thought. Mini bar? Any snacks in that carry on of yours?”

“Yes, I think we can survive until
breakfast on what’s available. Don’t think we’ll starve.”

“Good. Would you mind bringing me a beer,
babe?”

“Even better. How about we move this to
the bedroom, turn on the TV, and chill out. While I’m taking a shower, you can
drink your beer, ravish some snacks, and find us a movie.”

“Deal.”

I climbed up on the bed with a beer and
assorted snacks. I flipped on the TV, trying not to watch Beth as she paraded
in front of me in nothing but her underwear. At this point, it’d been such a
long day, my earlier urges of fucking her senseless were no more than a distant
memory.

At some point in what was left of the
night, I woke up, finding Beth sound asleep under the covers. She’d covered me
with a blanket and let me sleep.

Quietly, I swung my legs over the side of
the bed and stripped out of my clothes. I lifted the covers and crawled in
behind her, wrapping my arm around her waist. Her hair smelled clean, and I
caught the faint scent of citrus. My fingers quickly found her breasts, and I
began rolling the nipple of one between my thumb and finger. She moaned in her
sleep, rubbing her bottom against my now flaming hard on. I wrestled with not
what to do, but how to do it.
 
I wanted
to bury myself as deep inside her as I could. I needed to lose myself in her.

Slipping the covers back, I slowly rolled
her onto her stomach. I grabbed my pillow and, raising her abdomen with my free
hand, I slid the pillow under her. Not quite where I needed her to be, so I nudged
her legs apart. Positioning myself behind her, once again I lifted her abdomen,
tilting her bottom. I pressed my cock against her wet entrance and bore into
her until my balls lay against her. I heard her gasp as I attempted to go farther.
Then, I withdrew and began fucking her like it was our last time.

I didn’t know what she was feeling. She
stayed quiet. In the midst of setting a rhythm, I felt her raise herself as she
thrust herself against me.

Leaning over her back, I told her all
sorts of filthy things, hoping to drive her even more wild than she already
was. I could tell by the way she was clenching her muscles around my cock that she
was close to an orgasm.

“Dame...” she whispered.

“Come on, baby. Fuck me. Let me feel you
grab my dick with that sweet cunt of yours.”

“Dame...I’m going to come...”

I reached between us and rubbed my thumb
against her nub before pinching it, sending her wildly over the edge. She
bucked against me, and I knew I wasn’t far behind her, but I didn’t want to
stop.

I kept thrusting in and out as she began
to go again. Knowing my own orgasm was seconds away, I swirled my finger and
thumb over her again. I grabbed her hips with my free hand and began driving
into her until I felt my balls draw up and the ride to my orgasm finished. It
came with such force I became unaware of anything but the pleasure. Beth was
grinding herself against me in an attempt to find her own relief. Feeling some
of my own cum trickling out of her, I wet my fingers and spread it all around her
nub and folds, causing her to scream in release.

Collapsing on top of her, I raised myself
up just enough to keep from crushing her. Madly, I began kissing her, our body’s
still connected.

“I love you Bethie,” I whispered. “Always.”

“I love you too, Dame.”

Finally I withdrew and lifted myself off
her. I lay back on my back and drew her as close to me as possible. She pulled
the covers up over us.

“You okay?” I asked, kissing the top of
her head.

“Yes, that was quite a way to wake up.”

“You didn’t like it?” I would be crushed
if she didn’t. This wasn’t like any sex we’d had in the past. The first few
times had been out of lust. This was raw sex. I wanted to know every inch of
her. I was claiming her.

“Yes, as a matter a fact, I did. It was
different.”

“Good.”

I was hard again and far from satisfied.
Kissing hard, we explored each other with our tongues. I covered her body,
pushing her legs apart again with my knee. Her eyes flew open as I guided my
cock to its prize and, slowly this time, made my way in.

“What’s going on with you?” she asked
breathlessly as we once again established a rhythm.

“Nothing, other than I can’t get enough of
you.”

“Caveman, huh?”

“I love you, Bethie. You’re mine. Do you
understand? There’s no turning back for us now, baby.”

“Dame?”

“What, sweetheart?”

“Shut up. Make love to me.”

“My pleasure.”

Finally sated, we clung to each other in
the predawn light. I held on to her tight, not wanting her anywhere but next to
me. “Marry me, Bethie.”

“You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes, dead serious. I know we’ve talked
around the subject, but I want this. I want to marry you.”

“And how would you suggest we pull this
off with your family and all.”

“Is that a yes?” I whispered.

“Perhaps. I’m just curious as to how we
pull this off without pissing someone off.”

“We elope. Go to Vegas and get married. We
can fly the girls there to meet us. Have Ethan come along. Just the five of us.”

“You mean now. We leave after Ethan’s
concert and head for Vegas. That’s what you want?”

“More than anything.”

“This is crazy.”

“Give me one good reason why we shouldn’t.”

She didn’t say a thing. Then began to
giggle almost uncontrollably. “I can’t. I can come up with no reason at all.
Other than this is craziness, Damien Tudor. Elope? At our age?”