Rock Star Romance Ultimate: Volume 1

by Olivia Cunning, Jayne Frost, RB Hilliard, Crystal Kaswell, Michelle Mankin, Emily Snow, Athena Wright

  “She’s better than good and you know it,” I replied in irritation.

  “Hmmm, maybe.” The fucker was trying to goad me. The games had barely begun, and I was already tired of them. This deal with Wynne had to work.

  “Are we set on the contract?” I asked while gazing across the tables to the bar where Olivia sat. It seemed like a lifetime ago that we were together. I watched as she swayed back and forth on the barstool and tried to recall that time in my life, but it was all a blur. It was hard to believe that the woman I once cared for and wanted to spend my life with was now a virtual stranger to me. Time and sobriety had changed my entire perspective, and I could honestly admit that I was glad we didn’t end up together. I would have been a shit husband and an even shittier father. Chaz was a dick, but anyone with eyes could see that he loved the hell out of her. She deserved it. Chaz chuckled, and I drew my gaze back to him.

  “You’re the one who’s about to drop four hundred k. You tell me.” I was about to tell him to go fuck himself, when Wynne began to play a hauntingly beautiful rendition of Lauren Daigle’s “You Say”. It was a piano piece that she’d reconfigured for the guitar. Fucking brilliant is what it was. My heart squeezed in my chest as she sang about not being enough. Her blonde hair brushed back and forth across her bare shoulders as she rocked to the beat of the song. I could practically taste her pain as it bled across the audience. I wanted to absorb it, to take it all away, but I couldn’t.

  “I don’t have to tell you shit. Just open your fucking ears and you’ll know she’s worth it,” I snapped.

  “I know what she’s worth. The question is, do you?” he growled in return. Was the fucker really challenging me? Surely not. I cut my eyes to him and arched my brow. He smiled. “Just so you know, I would have paid a hell of a lot more than two hundred thousand.” And there it was. “A word of advice,” he continued, “in future negotiations, don’t be so quick to show your hand. You could have gotten at least five hundred from us. We’re set on the contract, Bro. See you in Austin.” I shook my head as he walked away. The dude was fucking nuts. Good thing he was Olivia’s problem and not mine. I didn’t give a damn who paid, just as long as Wynne signed the contract.

  It took me every bit of the three encores to figure out how to maneuver past the guards. Any other time and I wouldn’t have cared if I was noticed, but with the pending lawsuit and everything else I had planned, I needed to stay anonymous. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. At the last second, I discovered a back hallway that looked like it led toward the dressing room. Halfway down the hall, I heard the doors open and what sounded like a stampede of people heading my way. Shit. Concern turned to panic as I tried the door on my right and discovered it locked. A little further down on the left was a second door. Thankfully, the knob turned and I slid inside right as a crowd came pouring down the hallway. It was some type of janitor’s closet with mops and trash cans, but it would do.

  I can’t say how long I stood there. It was long enough for me to come to my senses and realize that I was acting like a love-sick idiot. This wasn’t me. I didn’t hide in closets. I didn’t hide period. Time to go, I thought. I stepped into the hall right as the dressing room door opened and out came Wynne. Our eyes locked, and I could tell by her expression that she was surprised to see me.

  “Hey, Sexy Girl. You were amazing tonight.”

  She sputtered for a second, before asking, “What are you doing here?”

  “I had to see you.”

  I watched her beautiful face as she struggled with what to say. Finally, she asked, “Do you want to come in? My parents are inside. So is Carrie. You remember me telling you about her. I have—”

  I cut her off. “I can’t.” Her eyes dropped to the floor, but not before I saw the hurt in them. Fuck, I was screwing this up. “Believe me when I say that I want to, but for right now, I can’t. Look, I’m staying two blocks north of here at the Marriott, in room 347. My plane takes off at eleven tomorrow morning.” Gorgeous blue eyes that I’d missed beyond words stared at me. She was confused, probably questioning whether to take me up on my offer or not. Before she could give me an answer, the door beside her swung open and I heard someone say her name. This was my cue to leave. The ball was now in her court.

  At two in the morning, when there was still no sign of Wynne, I gave up. She wasn’t coming. Why should she? I’d completely fucked up her life. I thought about texting her, but what could I say that hadn’t already been said? I could tell her my plans, but that would mean involving her, which is exactly what I was trying to avoid. The less she knew, the better, even if it meant losing her. This whole situation was beyond fucked up. I wanted her, possibly more than I’d ever wanted anything, but I knew that if I let this thing with Ferris, Jayne, and XtBS go, I would never forgive myself. If they could do it to Wynne . . . to me, then they could do it to anyone. They had to be stopped.

  Disappointment mixed with annoyance as I stripped down to my underwear. I thought about my earlier conversation with Chaz and wondered how the meeting had gone. The large neon green numbers on the bedside clock read ten after two. I smirked. Why don’t I text and ask? Chaz liked to play games. I’d give the fucker a game. I scrolled to his number and thought about what to write. That’s when I heard the knock. All thoughts of Chaz flew from my mind as I stared at the door. I was beginning to think I’d imagined it when it came again. Shit. Wynne was here. Tossing the phone on the bed I started across the room, my pulse spiking higher and higher with each step that I took. A third knock came right as I reached the door. Fuck, I needed to get a grip. I took two deep breaths before opening the door.

  “I’ll have you know that I’m too old to be lying to my parents,” Wynne blurted. She was here, right in front of me in her sexy top and ripped jeans. She started to say something else, but lost her train of thought when she caught sight of me in my boxer briefs and noticed my erection. I felt the heat of her stare as she slowly dragged her eyes from my erect cock to my bare chest. They finally made their way up to my face, but by then I’d had enough. Before she told me no, or blasted me with a million questions that I couldn’t answer, I jerked her inside the room and pressed her against the closed door.

  “You’re here,” I whispered.

  She gave me a saucy grin. “I decided to join team crazy.”

  I couldn’t help but smile. “Team crazy?”

  “Team crazy,” she confirmed. “We need to talk.” That’s exactly what we didn’t need. Wynne’s pretty little mouth opened, most-likely to blast me with those dreaded questions. I stopped her with a kiss and felt her lips purse beneath mine. I had to admit, I liked this new saucy side. It took all of one second for me to coax the kiss out of her and another before she was climbing me like a tree. I made sure her legs were secured around my waist before starting for the bed.

  “We should talk,” she murmured between kisses. We should, but we weren’t. Laughter flew from her mouth as I tossed her onto the bed. It quickly faded when she caught the carnal gleam in my eyes. I’d been without her for weeks. Thought about her for weeks. Missed her . . . for weeks. “We can talk after,” she breathily amended.

  I straddled her hips and ordered, “Arms up.” It took a moment for her to unlock her gaze from my cock and obey. As I stripped her blouse from her body, I zeroed in on the outline of her nipples through her bra. I’d forgotten how perfect they were, how perfect she was.

  “I missed you.”

  Her brow arched. “Are you sure it’s me you missed?”

  While slowly circling both nipples with the tips of my fingers, I gave her a lecherous grin. “I missed these beauties, but they’re just a small part of the whole package. I missed the whole package. I missed all of you.”

  Her smile fell. “Sander, what are we doing?” Keep it light, I thought as I leaned down and ran my tongue across her pouty lips. At the same time, I slid my hands under her shoulder blades and unhooked the clasp of her bra.

  “Making up for lost
time,” I said against her lips. Wynne watched with lust-dazed eyes as I kissed my way down to her sexy, sweet nipples. With a loud gasp of pleasure, she arched her back and shoved her hands deep into my hair. Her nails scraped across my scalp as she gave me more than a mouthful of tit. Once I’d paid each one homage, I began to move south.

  Wynne apparently had other ideas, because she suddenly sat up and began tugging on my underwear. “Off,” she growled. I wanted to take it slow, to relish every second. From the look on her face, she was ready to get down to business. She didn’t have to tell me twice. I lifted off of her long enough to strip off my underwear. In a lightning fast move, she shot to her knees and reached for her fly. With the flick of a wrist she had her jeans unbuttoned and her zipper down. As if taking the Nestea Plunge, she fell backwards onto the bed, jerking her pants and underwear off at the same time. The moment I saw her naked body, all thoughts of taking it slow vanished. My cock ached, as in physically hurt. Before the unconscionable happened, i.e., I shot my load on the ugly floral bedspread, I tackled her to the mattress. Our lips clashed as we came together, groaning as our naked parts rubbed against each other.

  “I wanted to take it slow,” I panted.

  “No slow,” she gasped as she wantonly rubbed her pussy all over my cock. Tingles of what was sure to be an epic orgasm bubbled at the base of my spine.

  Before I completely lost it, I managed to pull back. “Fucking hell!” I barked. A moan slid from her mouth as I slipped my fingers inside her tight pussy. As I stroked her into orgasm, she told me all of her secrets, like how much she’d missed me and how she didn’t want to be without me. Each of her little confessions stoked the fire higher and higher.

  “Tell me this isn’t a mistake,” she panted seconds before I rolled on a condom and buried myself inside her. I wasn’t exactly sure what this was, but it definitely wasn’t a mistake. Two strokes in and I was past all rational conversation. Three more and I no longer knew my name. I was exactly where I was supposed to be, the only place I wanted to be. I was in deeper than I ever thought I could be. I was on a sinking ship with no paddle, fucked beyond all recognition, I was . . . in love.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  * * *

  “FREEZE ME”

  Wynne

  I slowly roused to the feeling of a warm hand stroking up and down my back. For a brief moment I didn’t know where I was, and then it all came rushing back. Last night at Percussion. My meeting with Olivia and Chaz. Getting the recording contract from Happenstance. All of this was beyond amazing, but nothing could top seeing Sander again. The hand drifted across my lower back and continued downward to gently cup my ass. Sander wasn’t joking when he said that he was making up for lost time. The man was insatiable. I snuggled deeper into the pillows and smiled. The hand paused mid-cheek squeeze, and my smile turned to laughter. He knew I was awake.

  “It’s about time you woke up,” he murmured. I didn’t have to see his face to know that he was grinning. I could hear it in his voice.

  “Still asleep,” I mumbled. The bed shook with his silent laughter, and I was once again reminded of how much I’d missed this . . . how much I’d missed him.

  As if reading my mind, he said, “I’ve missed you.” My heart felt like it was literally going to burst from my chest with happiness. My sore body protested as I rolled to face him. He was propped up on one elbow. His copper colored eyes glittered with amusement as they stared down at me.

  “I’ve missed you too,” I told him. I loved sexy Sander, but was equally enthralled with his sweet side. He kissed me and I asked him what time it was.

  “A little after six,” he replied. I’d slept for two whole hours. No wonder I was tired. After three amazing orgasms, however, I wasn’t about to complain.

  I rolled to my back and murmured, “I need more sleep.”

  “I need more of you,” he rasped in that sexy-deep voice of his, and just like that, I was instantly wet.

  “What you need is an off switch,” I half-teased.

  “Never when it comes to you.” Warm tingles shot up my spine. I didn’t come here last night for sex. Well, maybe I did, but not just for sex. I wanted answers. I wanted to know what happened, or should I say, what was happening, because clearly something was.

  I opened my mouth to ask but was distracted by the pesky hand that was now inching its way around my front towards my stomach. I stopped it with my hand, and said, “We need to talk.”

  “Mmm, later. Right now, I just want to touch you.” Pesky or not, Sander sure knew what to do with that hand of his. A moan escaped as his fingers slid between my legs and slowly began circling my clit. Magical tongue, magical fingers, magical—

  “I want to feel the heat of you as I plunge my cock deep inside,” he murmured. Words. Definitely magical words. Sander was good at everything, but I especially liked the dirty talk. Not even three hours ago, he had me up on my knees with my chest pinned against the headboard. As he took me from behind with painfully slow strokes, he whispered all of the dirty things he wanted to do to me. It was beyond erotic. It was downright naughty, and I loved every second of it.

  “I love how wet you get for me. God knows I’m hard as fuck for you,” he continued. Tingles turned into sizzling-hot chills as I dropped my gaze to his cock. He wasn’t lying. After two orgasms you would think he’d be limp, or maybe even half-mast, but nope, he was harder than ever. The man was a machine. I started to say something to that effect, but stopped when I noticed the carnal grin on his face. He knew exactly what I was thinking. Unlike Sander, I didn’t have a graduate degree in naughty sex talk, but one thing I did have was the ability to improvise. Grinning maniacally, I surged up from the pillow and locked my lips to his. A surprised grunt whooshed from his mouth as I kicked my leg over his waist and flipped him onto his back.

  “Fuck, yeah,” he whispered, and my clit practically danced in anticipation. That I could make a man like Sander James look at me as if I was the key to his salvation was beyond empowering. It made me want to take risks, to try new things. He made me feel safe. Not only that, but he made me feel wanted. Slowly, I lowered my body to his and licked my tongue across his bottom lip. At the same time, I rubbed my nipples across his chest and ground my clit into his erection. Evidently, this was more than he could handle, because I suddenly found myself flat on my back. Before I had the chance to catch my breath, he had the condom on. His gaze pierced through me as he thrust his hips forward and surged inside. I groaned as my sore muscles tried to accommodate him. Within seconds the pain turned to pleasure. With each stroke the pleasure escalated. In and out, hard and fast, both of us panting for breath. He was punishing me for teasing him. Just the thought catapulted me over the edge, and I broke apart while screaming his name.

  We lay there for the longest time without saying anything—just basking in the glow of what I considered to be the absolute best sex I’d ever experienced. Sander eventually dealt with the condom while I thought of ways to address the elephant in the room.

  We were lying side by side with our hands entwined when I finally decided I’d had enough, and blurted, “I know what you’re doing.”

  His head turned, and I felt his eyes on me. “What am I doing?” he asked.

  I didn’t dare look at him. If I did, I would lose my nerve, so I stared at the ceiling and answered, “You’re using sex to avoid talking to me.” He let go of my hand and the loss of his touch reverberated through me. I turned to find him now staring at the ceiling. “Sander—”

  Cutting me off, he said, “The only thing we need to talk about is us.”

  “Is there an us?” I waited for him to look at me, but he didn’t, and my heart sank.

  A long moment passed before he quietly replied, “It’s complicated.” I immediately thought of Jayne’s comment.

  With my heart now in my throat, I asked, “Complicated as in there’s someone else?”

  His eyes jerked to mine and flared in anger. “What? No. How could you even think
that?”

  “Because you’re not talking to me,” I snapped.

  “I can’t.”

  I sat up and glared down at him. “Can’t or won’t?”

  “Won’t,” he declared in that holier than thou tone that I despised.

  “Why?”

  “Because I don’t want you involved.”

  “Please,” I huffed, rolling my eyes. “It’s a little late for that, don’t you think?”

  “Fine, I don’t want you more involved than you already are,” he clarified.

  “You don’t trust me, is that it?” I knew I was pushing it, but I couldn’t seem to stop.

  “Fuck, Wynne, this has nothing to do with trust. I don’t want you getting hurt.” Of all the things to say.

  “I’m already hurt! Can’t you see that?”

  “Yes, I can! Why do you think I’m trying to protect you?” he shouted back at me.

  “Really? Are you sure it’s me you’re trying to protect, or is it you?”

  Searing me with an angry glare, he sat up, swung his feet over the side of the bed, and stood. “This conversation is over.”

  “Uhh, no it’s not!” As he began to get dressed, panic washed over me. He was going to leave, but not before I got some damn answers from him. “I want to know what happened that night. I want to know why you didn’t tell me that you were being blackmailed. I want to know why you didn’t return my text or come to see me. I want to know what Jayne meant when she told me you’d done this before! I want you to look me in the face and tell me that this isn’t some game to you!” I was now shouting. I’d spent weeks holding it all in. The dam was broken and I just . . . couldn’t stop. Anger changed to tears as I said, “I want you to tell me that you love me as much as I love you!” Sander didn’t say a word. He just stood there staring at me with this look on his face, and suddenly I felt . . . small.