While she was trying to think of a flirty way to agree with his suggestion, he tipped her face back and dropped an ardent kiss on her lips. When he drew away, she could have drowned in the depth of his gaze.
“Holy shit,” she whispered.
“What?”
“You’re going to make her fall in love with you more.”
“She’s not in love with me.” He darted a look her way. “She doesn’t even know me.”
But I know you, Jonathan Gold. You’re a gorgeous, talented, bossy man who lost his virginity learning where sex and music intersect. The song ended, and they let go of each other like letting go of a spell.
“Wonder where the guys went?” he asked, scanning the chatting groups around them.
“I’m not sure, but your fangirl’s gone. She’s probably crying in the bathroom.”
“Awesome work.” He squeezed her hand before he let it go. “It was nice kissing you instead of arguing with you for once.”
“I like arguing with you. It makes our quartet better. But you’re fun to kiss too,” she added.
Fun? That wasn’t really the right word. All around them, Hollywood people drank and socialized, not realizing how crazy things were. Jonathan, the first violin and her usual nemesis, had kissed her and gotten her all riled up. Her pussy was riled up, so even if they’d vanquished Jessa, they had another problem on their hands.
Jonathan led her over to Steve and Ethan. The guys teased them some more, kissy-kissy, ooh, sexy violinists, but Jonathan only held her hand and smiled, and stood beside her in a way that broadcast ownership. Every so often, he touched her waist or her shoulder in an easy, possessive way.
Jessa left the party with one last jealous glance at Ruby, a fake smile pasted on her face to disguise her disappointment. As for Ruby, every time Jonathan touched her, her nerve endings—and her imagination—came alive, which wasn’t a good thing.
The Gold Quartet wasn’t supposed to be a hookup market. She had to remember that, especially when three of its members were so good at turning on the charm.
2.
When they were settled at the hotel, Ruby paced her room for a while, then went down the hall in a tee and pajama pants and knocked on Ethan’s door. He opened it with a smile.
“Somehow, I expected you tonight. Come in.”
“I have to warn you,” she began. “I’m not here to get busy. At least I don’t think so.” She sat on the edge of his bed and put her head in her hands. “I’m feeling confused.”
“Let me guess. Playing Jonathan’s girlfriend tonight got you going in a way you didn’t expect.”
She looked up at him. “I’ve always had a low-key fascination with Jonathan. I mean, who doesn’t? He’s a great violinist and an amazing leader. I look up to him.”
“Yeah.”
“But tonight, when he kissed me and danced with me, it started to feel way beyond fascination territory. I was having full-on arousal. I think he knew it, too.”
Ethan sat beside her and offered a comforting embrace. “I’m sure he knew it. Steve and I could see it from across the room. But that’s okay, right?”
She gawked at him. “No! It’s not okay. You and I—”
“You and I are friends with benefits.” He pulled her closer, kissing her forehead with lingering affection. “I’m not upset. I’m not jealous like Jessa. I’m happy you got turned on, because Jon’s a great guy. Honestly, I’m surprised it took this long for something to spark between you, considering how Dom he is.”
“What?”
He laughed at her shocked expression. “I know you lust for the dominance stuff. You like when I manhandle you and tie you up. Jonathan’s into that same shit, except a little more hardcore.”
A little more hardcore? Ruby stared at him. “How…how do you know this?”
“I’ve seen him out in the scene. He’s into leather bondage more than rope. He’s really into dominance and submission, you know, sexual obedience—”
“Sexual obedience,” she yelled, then clapped a hand over her mouth. “I can’t. I can’t.”
“You can’t believe it? I mean, think about it.”
Oh, she was thinking about it. All the signs were there, if she’d only noticed. The exacting way he ran the quartet, the direct looks he gave her and other people, even the authoritative way he used his hands. Or maybe she only realized the signs now because of her heightening fantasies.
“He does BDSM scenes in the same clubs as you?”
“Sometimes. I mean, Chicago’s a big place, but I have a sense what he’s into by the maso bunnies he hooks up with.”
“Maso bunnies?”
“Kinky girls who are into pain and leather, dominance and punishment.” He chuckled at her shocked expression. “I did tell you that you knew more kinky people than you thought.”
Her imagination was going crazy. Pain and leather? She pictured whips, cuffs, and crying, orgasmic submissives willing to do anything for Jonathan. Why did she feel jealous of them? Oh God, she was so jealous. “Who are all these ‘maso bunnies’? I’ve never seen Jon with anyone.”
“You haven’t been in the right places,” he said with a laugh. “Speaking of maso bunnies…” He raised an eyebrow and tweaked one of her nipples through her top. “Based on our experiences together, I think you’d enjoy getting adventurous with Jonathan. I’m pretty sure he’d enjoy tormenting you.”
“I can’t hook up with Jonathan.”
“Why not?”
She laid back on Ethan’s bed and blew out a breath. She wanted to hook up with Jonathan, if what Ethan said was true, but…
“That would make me a slut, right? Getting busy with not one, but two members of your string quartet is classic slutbag behavior. I couldn’t do that.”
He tsked and laid beside her, propping his head on his hand. “You’re not a slut. I hate that word. Let’s substitute sexually curious, or sexually adventurous. Maybe sexually magnificent. Whatever you are, I adore you.”
She studied his intent blue eyes, looking for his angle. There wasn’t one. “You wouldn’t be jealous if I hooked up with Jonathan?”
“Hell yeah, I’d be jealous, because I’d rather you hook up with me when you’re in one of your moods.” He slipped a hand between her legs, caressing her cleft through her sleep pants. “But I wouldn’t be angry-jealous.”
“Are you telling the truth? Because I don’t want to mess up our quartet. Remember? We had that conversation when you and I first got together.”
“Yes, I remember, and we didn’t mess up the quartet, did we?”
She squirmed as his roving hands stroked up to her breasts. “No, Sir, we didn’t.”
“In fact, we’re doing better than ever. More bookings, more reviews, more exposure. We just came from a Hollywood party. We’re comped in thousand-dollar-a-night hotel rooms in freaking L.A.”
“Okay, okay,” she admitted as he pushed her legs apart. “My fears were unfounded.”
“Honestly, I think speaking each other’s sexual language is good for the quartet. If a chance with Jonathan comes up, you should take it. As for your current horniness…” He rested his hand over her pussy, teasing but not quite touching her clit. “We could do something about that right now, if you like.”
She smiled at the seductive glint in his eyes. “What a kind offer. I guess you brought your rope?”
“I never go anywhere without my rope, babe. Never know when I’ll find a horny girl to torment. I think you could use a tight, scratchy knot right against your clit tonight, for starters. We’ll see where that leads.”
“Oh, no. A scratchy knot sounds so cruel.” She meant that it sounded delicious, and she spread her legs wider to let him press his thumb against her throbbing button.
Soon, Ethan was relieving some of the horniness she’d built up over Jonathan. She didn’t get back to her room until morning, and when she plugged in her phone, she found a message from her “pretend” conquest.
Thanks again f
or the help tonight, he wrote. I forgot to tell you that you’re fun to kiss, too.
* * *
The four of them flew back to Chicago that afternoon, and everything went back to normal. Daily practices, the normal arguments about musical interpretation or thematic phrasing, and the comfortable camaraderie they’d always shared. Jonathan was back to being the leader and occasional slave driver, coming down hardest on Ruby for any missed notes in their practices. It was as if the party in Hollywood had never happened, which was probably for the best.
But Ruby remembered their shared moments vividly, at the worst possible times. She remembered the way his body had felt against hers when they’d danced, and the way he’d massaged her nape when they kissed. She thought about what Ethan had told her, about Jonathan’s passion for bondage and sexual obedience. She’d wanted to ask for more information about that fetish—sexual obedience. It could encompass so many things. So many delectable things…
Nothing can happen between you and Jonathan, she reminded herself. You don’t like him. You don’t.
But she did like him, especially when she fantasized about him being a leather-and-bondage Dominant. His curt authority, his scolding and commands during rehearsals took on a whole new suggestive element that made her squirm. She wondered what he was like when he demanded sexual obedience.
A week later, when Jonathan asked her to stay after practice, he sounded dominant as hell. Not only that, he made the request while pinning her with his deep amber gaze.
Oh Lord. His authoritative voice, the voice she’d known for five and a half years, somehow made her heart start racing now that she thought of him as that kind of dominant. Pull it together. Don’t be a slut. Or sexually curious, or whatever.
Ethan smirked at her from behind his music stand as he and Steve put away their instruments. She closed her rehearsal binder, trying to act nonchalant. What did Jonathan want to talk to her about? Her messed up notes during the Rachmaninoff?
“Hey,” she said, turning to face him. “What’s up?”
“Two things.” He leaned back in his chair, his priceless instrument balanced on his lap. “First, I wanted to update you on Jessa. She’s giving me the silent treatment on social media, and hasn’t lingered outside my apartment all week.”
“That’s awesome.” She felt happy for him, and proud of her part in the charade. “I guess we were convincing.”
“Definitely convincing. I’ll count it as a final victory when she unfollows me everywhere.” He put his violin in its case and looked back at her. “I was thinking we could take some photos for social media to speed up the process. You know, shots of us hugging or playing around post-rehearsal?”
“Yeah!” Ack, that sounded too enthusiastic. “Maybe some selfies?”
“Sure. Bring it in.”
Next she knew, his arm was around her, and he was planting a kiss on her cheek. While she grinned like a maniac, he raised his phone and snapped a photo of them. It was off center. She was afraid she looked wild-eyed. She just felt so overwhelmed to find herself in his arms once more after keeping a careful distance.
“Here, you idiots.” Steve came over and took Jonathan’s phone. “Do it again, and I’ll take the photo.”
Jonathan kissed her a second time, warm and close. Since he was kissing her cheek, her expression was in the picture, and she was sure she looked way too happy about it. It’s for the photo, she told herself. To get Jessa to leave him alone.
“Why don’t you kiss her on the lips?” Steve teased. “Lay one on her like you did at the party?”
“No,” said Jonathan. “I’m not making Ruby-porn for you.”
Ethan laughed, picking up his viola. “You’re all crazy.”
“Here.” Steve gave back Jonathan’s phone and dug out his own, handing it to Ethan. “Take a picture of me kissing Ruby. I can use it to get rid of my stalkers too.”
“You love your stalkers,” Ethan said, but he took the phone. Steve made as if to kiss her, then licked her cheek while she writhed in disgust.
“Ewww.” She nudged him away. “Wipe your spit off me.”
“Okay.” He licked her again. “Like this?”
Jonathan pushed them apart. “Are you a cellist or a savage, Steve? Is there a difference?” He turned his attention back to his phone. “Ruby, I’m posting that photo now, okay? It’s just a kiss on the cheek, so there’s plausible deniability if our friends ask what’s up. But Jessa’s going to hate it.”
“Which is kind of the point.” She looked over his shoulder at the picture. It was a beautiful capture—intense, hot, and kind of edgy, just like Jonathan. She’d log on later and download a copy for herself.
“One more thing,” Jonathan said, as the other guys were leaving the rehearsal suite. He pulled Ruby to the side. His firm touch, his body and closeness, started her imagination rolling again.
“What thing is that?” she asked. Is it the thing between your legs? Because I’ve been thinking about that a lot.
“The Rachmaninoff today.”
Shit, she’d forgotten. She really had fucked it up. She’d meant to put in more practice before the piece came up in the rehearsal schedule, but she’d spent too much time daydreaming about Jonathan and his pervy fetishes over the past week.
“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” she began.
“You were almost a half-beat behind in some of the passages. You can’t do that. They’re not hard notes.”
She rolled her eyes. “They are hard notes, but I’ll fix it.”
“There are only four of us on that stage. If someone’s fucking up—”
“I know, Jonathan.”
“There are only two violins, two, and our harmonies need to be in perfect accord. Do we need to practice it together?”
“No, I’ll get it.”
He lowered his voice, even as his scolding grew in intensity. “Is this because of last week in L.A.? Because we danced together, kissed a couple times? You think I’ll let you get away with shit playing now?”
She gazed at him, thinking about things like dominance and punishment. “I think that less than ever, Jonathan.”
His regard sharpened. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Ethan told me about you.” She didn’t know why she blurted that out, but once the words were there, she had to follow them with more words, or Jon would start scolding again. “The two of us were talking about you kissing me, and Ethan told me about your dominant sex thing, but I already knew. If you want the truth, that’s why I was off in rehearsal today, and why I haven’t practiced enough over the past week.”
“What do you mean?” He blinked at her. “It upsets you, to know that about me?”
Not a denial from him. Not a dodge. She couldn’t think of a reply. She felt stripped bare by his imperious scrutiny.
“So you’re just going to bring up this shit and leave it there?” His lips pursed, the ones that had kissed her a minute ago. He put his hands on his hips. “Okay, you know about me. Well, I know about you too, Ruby. Guys talk. I know you’re a masochist, that you like more pain than even Ethan is into, and I’ve been thinking about that for a lot longer, but I haven’t been playing Rachmaninoff like shit.”
In his impatience, in his directness, she felt something between them shift. He wasn’t looking at her—or scolding her—as the head of the Gold Quartet. No, he was sexually frustrated, too.
“You never play like shit,” she said, keeping her tone even. “Everything about you is perfect and…masterful.”
“Masterful?” He made an impatient sound. “What has Ethan been telling you?”
“I keep thinking about the way you kissed me.” She said it fast, just flung it out there. “I mean, that was intense.”
“It was.”
“It makes me wonder what else is intense about you.”
He looked up at the ceiling, then back at her. “I wonder about you, too, since you’ve been hooking up with Ethan and his rope. I wonder what you like
, what you don’t like. I wonder how you’d react if I did things to you that…that you didn’t like.”
“You’d enjoy it.”
They both knew she was right. And she knew how she’d react if he did things she didn’t like. She’d get hot, like when Ethan spanked or teased her. She’d be panting for Jonathan, hoping for more.
“Exactly how sadistic are you?” she asked.
“Oh, Rube. Are you sure you want to ask that question? It might lead you somewhere you don’t expect.”
“Like your dungeon?”
She didn’t expect his laugh, his smile. “You think you could handle my dungeon?”
Now she was the one whose eyes widened. “Wait, you really have a dungeon?”
“I live in a walk up, Ruby. Aren’t most dungeons underground?”
“I don’t know.”
She didn’t know anything at this point. She didn’t know where to look, where to put her hands. She didn’t know what to say next. Jonathan was the one who spoke.
“How masochistic are you?” he asked, flipping the line of questioning.
She blinked. A flush rose in her cheeks. “On a scale of one to ten? Or…”
“How do you like your pain? How far do you like to go?” This time he asked in a serious voice. They were serious questions.
“I don’t know,” she admitted. “I haven’t pushed many boundaries yet. But I mean…” She swallowed hard, forcing herself to hold his gaze. “I’d be up for pushing some boundaries. I mean…if you wanted to…” She could feel her cheeks turning red. “Have you really been thinking about me…like that?”
“Maybe.” Jonathan rubbed his bottom lip, then let out a sigh. “It’s complicated.”
“In what way?”
He glanced at his phone, at the photo Steve had just snapped. “You know what, Rube? This conversation needs a little wine. Come to my place for a while and I’ll drive you home later. At the very least, we can work out that Rachmaninoff.”
Ruby wasn’t sure if working out that Rachmaninoff would be enough to satisfy her at this point.
“Okay, sure,” she said out loud. “I’ll get my violin.”
A Quartet of Pleasures Page 6
