Sticks (Black Addiction #2)

by T Gephart

  “You started it, you plied my body with all of that—” She waved her arms in front of my chest. “So there was no way I would do anything but ask for it. This was your plan all along so it doesn’t count.” She tipped her chin defiantly.

  “I did no such thing.” I scoffed, wondering how the fuck she was pinning it on me. “And what the fuck does all of that—” I mimicked her hand action over my chest. “—mean? I didn’t hypnotize you with my cock.” Pretty cool trick if it were possible, but it wasn’t. I knew this because if it were true, we would have had sex the day I met her, and not months after.

  “So we have a stalemate then.” She folded her arms across her chest, which pushed up her boobs. I tried not to look because if I did, I would have agreed to anything.

  “Which means, what?” Keep your eyes on her face, keep your eyes on her face. “We’re still allowed to jerk off, right?”

  “Would you have had sex with me if the answer would have been no?” She tilted her head as she waited for me to answer.

  “I would have given up jerking off just to kiss you tonight.”

  The words came out of my mouth before I’d had the chance to change them. Call me a pussy, but it was the absolute truth. That kiss would totally have been worth keeping my hands off the snake for a week.

  “Why do you have to go and be so sweet?” Her face softened into a smile before giving me a pop in the arm with her fist.

  “Sorry.” I shrugged, the punch—if you could call it that—more of a tickle than a hit. “I’m still high from the buzz. Give me a few minutes and I’ll say something inappropriate.” I grabbed her waist and brought her closer.

  “You want to stay over?” She bit her lip as her hands ran down my shoulders—the sensation really fucking nice.

  “Is that so you can hear me say something inappropriate?” Wanting to make sure I wasn’t misreading the situation.

  “No, it’s so we can do that again.”

  Situation had not been misread.

  “Oh, yeah?” I shot her a grin, wondering how many times I was going to be able to make her come tonight. “You just can’t keep away from all of this huh?” I grabbed her hand and ran it down my chest.

  “It must be hormones because I don’t remember it being this good the first time.”

  “It’s not the hormones.” I brought my face closer, my lips inches away from hers. “I am just that good.”

  “And . . . he’s back.”

  It was hot.

  My body was overheating like the internal furnace had been turned up to maximum. But it wasn’t a freak fire consuming my bed whole, it was a Joey blanket that had wrapped itself tightly up against my skin.

  “Too hot,” I whispered in his ear, loving the feel of his hands on me but hating the sensation of dying. Perhaps I was already on my way to Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised of anything right now.

  “Ah, babe. You want sex again?” He kissed my shoulder and moved his hand to my breast. His erection already awake and poking me in the hip.

  “No, I just need some air.” I was finally able to breathe as he loosened his grip, still maintaining contact while allowing me my freedom.

  “And then sex?” He laughed in my ear as the kissing moved to my neck. “You know we denied ourselves too long. That wasn’t healthy. Whose stupid idea was that anyway?”

  “Um. Yours.” With my free hand I poked him in the chest, the same chest I spent the better part of the night licking.

  “No, mine was the no sex with other people. I’m pretty sure you’re the one who didn’t want this.”

  Who remembered anything any more? It seemed like we’d made a whole bunch of bad decisions. The first being that I didn’t want this as much as I had. Or that what had happened between us was just sex. Maybe it had been just sex in the past, but it wasn’t anymore. I had feelings for him, and while I admit it was the ones that tingled in my girlie parts that were running the show tonight, it had been the others that had asked him to stay. The hours when he’d held me, a calm I hadn’t felt in weeks.

  “Clearly I was crazy.” I nestled up closer to him, ignoring that my body was still an inferno. The need to touch him was greater than my personal comfort right now.

  “And I was crazy to agree.” He nipped at my shoulder, his teeth grazing my skin. “I like this situation a whole lot better.”

  “Because you had sex?” I turned, wondering how much of this was because he was sex drunk.

  “No, because I have you.”

  It would have been easy for him to say something silly. An innuendo. But he didn’t. Instead he locked eyes with me and kissed me slowly, his hands sliding over my body.

  “It’s not the sex I wanted, it was you,” he whispered between kisses.

  Oh hell.

  I was either going to cry or launch myself at him, and I wasn’t sure which would be better at this point. My emotions went into overdrive as I tried to process what he was saying.

  There had been a change. One I didn’t think was possible so hadn’t even hoped for and now I was holding my breath that it would last. That this latest infatuation with each other could be something more. Because it wasn’t just about us anymore. It was bigger than that, with the little person inside of me relying on us not to fuck up the only chance for this baby to have two parents that got along.

  “We need to take this slow, Joey.” I swallowed hard, hoping I wouldn’t cry. “No matter what happens with us—”

  “Shhh.” He put his finger against my lips, silencing me. “If you think I would let anything bad happen to you or the baby, you’d be mistaken. I know you’re scared. I’m freaking the fuck out too. But when I say I’m all in, I’m all in.”

  He was so sure. I don’t even know how because I had no idea what the hell we were doing. I knew that he’d been kind and considerate and that I wanted to be around him. I knew that I could be myself and he’d never once asked me to change. And I knew he made me laugh more than anyone.

  “Just don’t ask me to marry you again.” I laughed, for the first time not really sure if I wouldn’t want to in the future. The idea might not be so crazy.

  “After the last time I’m still nursing my ego.” He kissed me, his lips teasing me from the place where I doubted this. Where I doubted us.

  “Go to sleep,” he mumbled against my hair, his finger gently trailing along my shoulder.

  “I thought you wanted sex?” I yawned as my eyes slowly closed. My lids had already decided they’d been open long enough.

  “Yeah, I do. Always.” His husky voice filled my ear. “Which means I’ll still want it in the morning. So sleep.”

  I didn’t fight it.

  I couldn’t.

  Every part of me content as I floated away.

  ***

  “Aren’t you going on tour soon?”

  It was weird to see Joey in my kitchen, even stranger to see him wearing only boxer shorts waving a spatula around the morning after he’d slept over. But he’d decreed he was making breakfast and I wasn’t telling him no. I was fairly sure I was done saying that word to him. It was better for all involved when I just said yes. It certainly made me a lot happier if the smile I was wearing was anything to go by.

  “Yeah, which is why I need to get things squared away.” He dug around in my kitchen looking for a skillet with the box of Bisquick in his other hand. “I’m setting up a bank account for you and the baby. So if you need something while I’m gone, you’ll be taken care of.”

  Ugh. Reality check.

  “Joey, I don’t want your money. I’m fine.” I slid off my seat at the breakfast bench and pulled out the skillet he’d been unable to find. “Just call me lots so we can have phone sex.”

  “Unless you want to reconsider my offer of coming on tour, the account is happening. Just for once don’t be a hard ass,” he said as he swatted my ass with a tea towel.

  “Fine.” I threw up my hands in defeat, knowing it wasn’t worth the argument. “Open the account, and I
’ll drain every last cent on hookers and Colombian blow.”

  “That’s the spirit.” He gave me a wink as he pulled out a mixing bowl, ready to make pancakes. “And I will still call you for phone sex because I’m that much of a giver.”

  “This kid is completely screwed with us as parents, you know.” My hand unconsciously went to my belly as I laughed.

  Joey stopped with his all important breakfast preparation as he watched my hand, his eyes locked on my fingers before they came back to mine. I quickly pulled my hand away feeling a little stupid that I’d been caught. I wasn’t even showing really, other than looking a little softer around the edges, I still looked mostly the same. Except for my boobs. But they’d always been on the larger side.

  “I beg to differ.” Joey set down the bowl and walked up behind me, his hand flat against me where mine had been. “Our kid is going to be the coolest kid in the universe.”

  With his other hand he brushed my hair to the side so he’d have access to my neck, his lips pressed on my naked skin the minute the path was clear. His kiss so gentle, yet sensual my nipples pebbled against my shirt.

  He didn’t stop with just one kiss; his lips moving up and down the curve of my neck slowly yet deliberate.

  “I thought you were making pancakes.” My body melded against his, loving the feeling of his hand on me.

  “I will, but I have something more important to do right now.” He continued to kiss me while his hands decided to take a world tour across my body.

  “And that would be . . . ?” I closed my eyes as he sucked on my neck, hoping like hell his answer was get me naked. Even if it wasn’t, I would still be ending up that way.

  “You’re a smart girl, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.” He spun me around in his arms so my body was now facing him. “I’ll even give you a clue.” His lips came down on mine hard, kissing me so fiercely I couldn’t have answered him even if I’d tried.

  Not that I tried.

  Instead, some primal desperate groan worked its way out from between our mouths, my hands doing their own world tour.

  He was so hot. It’s what had attracted me to him in the first place. The perfect balance of sizzle and cool that most rock stars strived to achieve, he had it all without even trying. His just-been-fucked brown hair was just a few shades darker than his eyes, like they’d been paint-matched at The Home Depot for maximum impact. All of which played second fiddle to his blinding, devilish smile. That face of his was a menace, guaranteed trouble, which was only helped along by his body. That was something else that got my attention.

  He was solid, toned and athletic. And while he wasn’t bulked like a body builder, his muscles were no less clearly defined. He was a modern day work of art—absolutely beautiful—paired off with a complete goof-ball personality. It was that contradiction which finally won me over, which had taken me from daydreaming about him as a fantasy to wanting him as a lover.

  But even with all of that, it still didn’t even come close to how much I was attracted to him now. The well of feelings I had for him multiplying with each new day. It was amazing, and I was terrified.

  “God, I want you.” He pulled off my sleep shirt, the one I had barely been wearing an hour, and kissed my newly-exposed skin. “I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything as much as I want you.”

  My eyes closed as his lips wrapped around my nipple, my brain trying not to derail with all the stimulation—his mouth only part of the problem. The hard-on pressing against my stomach, the bigger concern.

  “I want you too,” I mumbled back like an idiot, unable to think of anything more original or intelligent to say.

  “Thank fuck we’re on the same page.” He laughed as he palmed my breast and rocked me against his erection, the sensation making me giddy.

  “Actually, I don’t think we are.” My hands moved down his back and gripped the waistband of his boxer shorts needing to get them off. My fingertips paused only for a second from tugging them violently down past his hips.

  He didn’t seem to notice; a mission of his own taking up most of his time as he pulled a similar maneuver on my shorts, the thin cotton tumbling to the floor.

  “No panties,” he murmured with appreciation as his fingers swept my core. “Damn, you’re so wet.”

  As much as I had been enjoying his talented fingers, I pulled away knowing in another minute they’d own me. Not that it was a bad thing usually; the idea of losing myself in the screaming orgasm I knew they’d provide was actually really nice. But I had other plans right now and they involved my mouth and his cock, and watching him come apart before I did.

  He resisted, trying to pull me back as I sunk to my knees in front of him, pushing him against the cold, hard granite counter top.

  “Fuck,” he growled as I slid his length into my mouth and sucked. My hands wrapped around his shaft and twisted toward my lips before making their way back down.

  “Kenzie.” My name was all he managed to say, his fingers twisting in my hair.

  My mouth was busy, alternating between sucking him hard and swirling my tongue around the head of his cock. My hands gripped him tight as I continued to play.

  “Babe, you keep that up and I’m going to need to come.” He looked down on me as my teeth grazed the sides of his girth, my intention not to stop or even slow down.

  “Seriously, Kenzie.” He squeezed his eyes shut trying to resist the orgasm I could feel building in his cock, his hands moving to the counter top where they white-knuckled as he gripped.

  “I’m not stopping.” I slipped him out of my mouth long enough to say the words before going back to licking him, my tongue working every single inch of his length.

  “Babe, I want to be in you when I come.” His hands reached down and grabbed my arms, pulling me to my feet. A pop came from my mouth as the suction was broken which seemed to send him wild.

  “I wasn’t done,” I protested as he captured my mouth with his own and shoved down his boxers the rest of the way.

  “No, you weren’t.” His lips moved to my throat as he guided himself to my entrance. “And I’m not being done until you are.” With one swift thrust he was inside, filling me completely as my body tried to adjust.

  “Joey.” My arms wrapped around him tight as he moved slowly out and then quickly back in, the mixture of the push-pull making me insane.

  “I need to be in deeper.” One of his hands reached down and cupped my ass pulling me closer, the angle hitting me just right so that I had started to pant in anticipation.

  “Yeah, that’s better.” He smiled, pleased with his effort. “So. Much. Better.” He thrust in deeper after each word.

  “Yes.” The word had come from my mouth but was in a voice I didn’t recognize as I met each of his rocks with one of my own, my body primed for the explosion.

  “That’s it, baby.” Joey kissed me hard as I splintered, my legs feeling like Jell-O, barely able to hold my weight. I wasn’t worried about falling though, with his strong arms gripping me as he had his own detonation. Our bodies fused together with heat and sweat as they pulsed through the wave of euphoria.

  “Mmmm.” He went back to the soft slow kisses that had started this escapade, his hands holding me tightly against him. “You’re more delicious than pancakes.”

  “I hope that doesn’t mean I’m not getting breakfast because I’m still hungry.” I nibbled at his lower lip only partially telling the truth. Food could wait, but I wanted more of him.

  “Then I’ll feed you.” His hands wandered from my ass, pressing gently as they moved up my back. “Pancakes, my cock—whatever you want, baby.”

  “Holy shit.” Rusty let out a low whistle. “That looks like it could be Joey, I’m not sure though. It’s been a few days since anyone has had visual confirmation.”

  By a few days, Rusty meant five. Which is the exact amount of time I spent wrapped around Kenzie, both in and out of bed. It wasn’t all sex—although it seemed like we were making up for some lost time�
��we did lots of normal stuff too. Grocery shopping, a movie, dinner—respectable stuff with our clothes on. Of course most of the time I was imagining them off, but I’d had a lot of practice in waiting so the slow burn was worth it.

  “I’ve been busy, asshole, and Max has kept me in the loop so I know I haven’t missed anything important.”

  As much as I didn’t care if the world fell apart around us—seriously, who gave a shit if it ended right now as long as I was with her—I wasn’t going to be totally irresponsible. Max knew where I was and what I was doing and filled me in on any band stuff that was going on. Which lucky for me wasn’t much so I hadn’t had to tear myself away from her, that was, until today.

  “How’s it all going?” Angie was multitasking with her son in one hand and a stack of papers in the other. The little dude giggled, giving his mom a hard time as his little fat fingers tried to grab at stuff. Jase was busy with his own band’s biz so the little guy was joining us today.

  “Really good. Things are really good.” I couldn’t have hid my shit-eating grin if I’d tried. “You want me to hold him for you?” My head tipped to the kid who was squirming in her arms.

  “Um.” Angie looked between me and Zack—the little guy a perfect mix of his father and mother. “Sure. That would be great.” She tentatively handed him over in a move I knew wasn’t easy for her. She was like a lioness with her cub when she was with him, and I was starting to understand why.

  “I’ll be careful, Angie.” My arms wrapped around his little body and brought him in close. His wriggles tapered off as I rocked him slightly against my chest.

  “I know you will.” Angie smiled, her eyes staying on her boy as she sat down in her chair, something she hadn’t managed since we’d started this meeting.

  “Well, fuck me.” Rusty shook his head in utter disbelief. “Max, you feeling okay, buddy? Because the other two members of this band have been abducted by aliens or something.”

  “Not sure, Rus. All of you guys pairing off and procreating, I’d say I’m the only one unaffected by this epidemic.” Max laughed as he leaned back into his chair. “Not that I mind, it’s kind of badass to see everyone happy. Might have to look into it for myself.”