Blush

by Anne Mercier

“What is it? What's wrong?“ I ask her.

  She shakes her head. “Nothing. I'm so sorry to intrude but watching you two together, it's inspiring. One day I want to find a love like that.“

  “Like what?“ Ethan asks.

  “True, deep-down-to-your-soul love where your partner doesn't even have to mutter a word, you just know what they need and give it to them without hesitation. I was going to offer to help Mrs. Russo-Kingston, but I watched as her husband helped her. He just knew.“

  I smile brightly at Mist. “Thank you for that, Mist. You don't know how refreshing it is to not have someone fawning all over us, especially the guys. They're amazingly good looking and built and really great guys and since you have gone above and beyond, I think you should come sit next to me and join in our chat.“

  “Oh, I couldn't,“ she looks back toward the counter and kitchen.

  “Don't you worry about that, darlin',“ Ben tells her. “Come sit. We'll make sure everything is good with your boss before we head out.“ He pats the seat between him and me and I grin as Mist loses the battle.

  I've barely begun eating my burger when Ben hums in approval, closes his eyes in bliss as he bites into his chocolate éclair.

  I snicker. “Good?“

  “Oh man,“ he all but moans. “So good. Where did you get these? Somewhere nearby?“ he asks Mist who blushes prettily.

  “Uh, no. I made them.“

  “You're fucking with me.“

  “I assure you I'm not,“ she sits up straighter in defense. “I make all the baked goods for the café.“

  “I didn't mean to offend you,“ he murmurs, “these are just so fucking incredible.“

  “Oh, well,“ she straightens the nonexistent wrinkles on her faded jeans.

  “Say,“ he begins, looking at me with a glimmer in his eyes. My eyes widen in response as I bite into a French fry and he winks.

  “Hmm?“ she asks.

  “Tell me a little about yourself, Mist.“

  She eyes him warily, and rightfully so. “What do you want to know?“

  “Are you married? Significant other?“ Meggie interrupts knowingly.

  “Oh, well, no. It's just me and my sister.“ The way she says “sister“ leads me to believe she doesn't much like her sister.

  “Do you like it here in this town?“ Kennedy asks.

  She shrugs. “I guess. I'd much rather be back in the city. When my mom died five years ago, my sister got custody of me so I was forced to move to Bumfuck Egypt.“

  Ethan snickers. “What would you say if we offered to help you change that?“

  She narrows her eyes. “What are you getting at? I'm not that type of girl.“

  “Good to know, Mist, but not at all what I meant,“ he reassures her.

  “What do you mean?“ she asks.

  I sigh. “Oh for fuck's sake. You all suck at this so bad.“

  Jesse chuckles. “Let the master take over.“

  “Damn straight,“ Cage agrees.

  “What they're wanting to know is if there's anything tying you down to this Bumfuck Egypt town?“ I ask.

  “No.“

  “Nothing? What about your sister?“

  “She's a nightmare. I've been trying to save for years to get out of that house and away from her and her pig of a husband.“

  Ben's eyes narrow. “Has he hurt you?“

  She shakes her head. “No, but not for lack of trying.“ She gasps and covers her mouth. “I shouldn't have told you that.“

  “It's alright, darlin',“ he reassures her. “You like to bake?“

  “I love it. It's all I've ever wanted to do. Bake and cook.“

  “From the taste of everything, you're damn good at it, too,“ Spenser throws in.

  “Seriously,“ Sera moans around a forkful of chocolate cake.

  “I'm glad you like it.“

  “No, nuh-uh,“ Meggie corrects. “We don't just like it, we love it.“

  “And that's why we'd like for you to come on tour with us to do the cooking and baking,“ I finish, taking a sip of the malt Jesse's holding up for me.

  “Really? You're not just messing with me?“

  She looks so hopeful I could hug her and never let go. This gorgeous girl with amazing blonde hair and freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. Those eyes, much like Trace's emeralds only a bit lighter, sparkle with hope.

  “No kidding, Mist,“ Ben tells her. “Want to come with us?“

  “Right now?“ she asks incredulously.

  “No time like the present,“ Jace encourages.

  Her mouth presses thin as she thinks. I already know she's going to say yes so when everyone looks to me for clues as to what to do I just shake my head. Let her get there on her own, I think. She has to do this on her own.

  She nods. “What's the pay?“

  “A hell of a lot better than what you're making here,“ Ben tells her.

  She nods again. “Yes. I'll accept the job. I need to stop home and get my things.“

  “Are there things you can't leave behind?“ Damian asks, knowing we're going to likely run into trouble in the form of a pig of a brother-in-law.

  “There are. A few keepsakes from my mom and grandma. Then there's Noodles.“

  “Uh, can't you just make some fresh noodles? Why do you need those?“ Xander asks, scratching his head.

  She laughs and it's such a lyrical and light laugh it's infectious and all of us are smiling along. “No, no. Noodles is my dog.“

  Cage groans and I snicker.

  “What kind of dog?“ Carmen asks.

  “She's a Shih Tzu.“

  Meggie bounces. “Those are so adorable!“

  “An ankle biter,“ I hear Ethan murmur, then he grunts in pain. His eyes widen in surprise as he looks to Mist.

  “Oh, I'm so sorry. I was adjusting and I slipped.“ The lie is so skillfully done I can only watch in admiration.

  Ethan grunts.

  “What do you say we pay this bill and go collect Mist's things before we get too far off schedule?“ Cage directs.

  “Sounds like a plan,“ Jesse agrees.

  “Thank you so much,“ Mist whispers.

  “Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life.“

  —BERTHOLD AUERBACH

  HELL. I HAVE a feeling we're going to have one hell of a fight on our hands when I see the car parked in the driveway of a typical suburban home. Suburban home in the middle of nowhere. Seems a bit odd, especially since it's the only one like it in this neighborhood. The other houses are either ranch style or older two-story Victorians that were likely built at the turn of the century. The newly built houses are across the tracks with the green lawn and porch swings.

  “Something tells me trouble is on the horizon,“ Cage murmurs.

  I nod. “Something tells me all is not what it seems.“

  Damian grunts and tucks his 9mm into the back waistband of his jeans. I lift a brow though I'm not really surprised. Damian has that look about him, the dangerous one that has you feeling both safe and cautious when he's near. As I just said, all is not what it seems.

  “How are we going to do this?“ I ask.

  “We,“ Damian says, moving his finger between us, “are not doing anything. I will go in with Mist and help her with anything she needs. I'm expendable. You aren't.“

  “You aren't either,“ Lucy cries.

  “I'll be fine, Luce. This isn't my first rodeo,“ he tells her.

  I'm thinking that's an understatement.

  “Mist, darlin', what's your full name?“ Ben asks and I see Cage lurking close behind.

  “Misty Maria Castillo.“

  Cage enters what I think is Misty's name into his phone, likely doing a background check. Better late than never.

  “I'll go in with you, Misty,“ Damian tells her. “Do you prefer Mist or Misty?“

  “Misty. It was a typo on my nametag at work and my boss was too lazy to fix it.“

  Damian nods. “Alrig
ht, let's go get your stuff.“

  We wait a good ten minutes before Damian holds the door open for Misty, who has a large bag hanging across her body and a tiny dog head is poking out the top.

  “Oh, look!“ Meggie croons. “Noodles!“

  Cage groans.

  “Knock it off,“ Meggie chides. “The dog isn't going to like you if you don't remain positive. They sense these things.“

  “I just don't want it pissing all over the bus.“

  Misty steps onto the bus. “Noodles will piss on the bus, but in a litter box. Noodles is litter trained.“

  “Clever baby.“ Meggie bounces over to pet the dog, who immediately licks her hand. “Oh, aren't you a handsome fella. Aren't you just the sweetest!“

  “It's a dog,“ Cage deadpans. He looks at the dog and when the dog looks back at Cage, he starts growling—the dog, not Cage, though I wouldn't put it past the dude to growl a little bit.

  “See?“ Meggie tells him. “He knows.“

  “Good. Then he knows to stay over there instead of over here.“ Cage crosses his arms.

  “It's not nice to be disrespectful to animals,“ Misty chides as she sets her bag down.

  “How'd it go?“ Cage asks Damian.

  “Fine. He works nights so he's asleep. It was in and out without trouble.“

  “Let's hope it stays that way.“

  Damian nods then hands Cage a sheet of paper.

  Cage smirks. “Nice. With this and the plate number we should find out just who this asshole of a brother-in-law is and what his story is.“

  “I don't know his story,“ Ethan begins, “but I'm pretty sure you all are going to guarantee it doesn't get a happy ending.“

  “You got that right,“ Damian responds and Xander starts singing You Got That Right by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

  When we get back to the other buses, we all climb aboard the one we want and we head on down the road.

  “We will need to stop at the grocery store sometime soon,“ Misty begins. She continues telling Damian and Cage what she wants when I pull Lucy into the bedroom.

  “Time to take your pills, Cupcake.“

  “It's not too bad yet but adding in the ibuprofen will help I'm sure,“ she says just before she swallows the pills with a mouthful of water.

  “So you're feeling okay?“

  “Hmm, yeah. Maybe a little tired.“

  I nod. “It was a long night last night.“

  She nods back.

  “I'm sorry, Lucy. For not paying attention and for not thinking.“ I run a hand through my hair. “Honestly it just doesn't register anymore when I'm being groped unless you're the one doing it.“

  “I saw you laughing with them and you grinned when she started rubbing your cock.“ She crosses her arms, uncrosses when she remembers the cast, then toes off her shoes. She climbs onto the bed, propping a pillow up against the wall, and she leans back against it.

  “The only reason I grinned was I was amused. She assumed I was hard for her. If she knew me at all she'd know that I don't get hard for anyone but you anymore.“

  She looks at me skeptically.

  “I'm serious. You can parade a line of naked women in front of me and I won't get hard. I can't say I won't if they're rubbing on me because it's the body's natural response, but it won't be voluntary. But flash even a glimpse of you, and I'm hard as stone.“

  “Really?“ she cocks a brow.

  “Really.“

  “Can you help me take this sweatshirt off?“

  “Sure.“

  When we get it off she points across the room.

  “Go stand over there.“

  I have no idea what she's doing right now, but I'm not going to deny her request.

  “Take off your clothes except your boxers. Oh, and lock the door.“ I smirk.

  I do as she asks and stand before her in my boxer briefs.

  “Right now, you're not hard.“

  “Nope.“

  “Okay. Let's see what this does,“ She lifts the hem of the tank top and I suck in a breath as her belly ring glints in the sunlight. I can feel my cock twitching, starting to get hard, all from a glimpse of a sliver of skin of my wife's stomach.

  “Wow,“ she mutters.

  I nod. She lowers her shirt, grabs one of her magazines and holds up a photo of a scantily clad model. The woman is gorgeous, no doubt, and before I met Lucy, likely I'd have jacked off to that picture in my bunk late at night between shows. But now? Nothing. In fact, I'm getting soft.

  Lucy blows out a breath and her mouth forms a perfect “O“.

  She reaches for her laptop. I start to go to help her, but she holds up a hand. “I don't want to skew the results.“

  I chuckle.

  “Alright, baby.“

  She gets her laptop booted up and finds a very naked busty blonde spread out in an alluring fashion leaving nothing to the imagination.

  I shake my head. Not anymore.

  Her gaze lowers to my cock as she closes the lid to the laptop. Her eyes on me is all it takes to get my body to react. Her eyes meet mine and I lift a brow. She pulls her socks off and wiggles her toes. Those little rings she has on her toes are fucking sexy as hell. Jesus. Is there anything that isn't sexy about my wife? My cock leaps when I think of her as my wife.

  “What did you think just then?“

  “I was thinking, is there anything that isn't sexy about my wife?“

  “Huh.“ She gets up on her knees and starts to pull her pants down.

  “And, I'm hard. Just like that. Just at the mere hint of your body.“

  She nods and bites her lip. “Help me?“

  I pull the curtains closed and join her on the bed. “Think you can be still? Let me fuck you how I want to? How I need to?“ I ask, but it's not really a question and she doesn't offer up an answer. “If you can't, then I'm going to tie you down, baby.“

  Her breath catches and I meet her gaze again as she settles back, allowing me to pull her pants the rest of the way off.

  “Does that turn you on, Lucy?“

  She nods and I nod back. “Good. I wish we had more privacy. There are things I'd like for us to try.“

  She stiffens.

  “Baby, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to take your ass. I need to. I need all of you, to make all of you mine but I'm not going to hurt you and you're not prepared. That's something we'll have to prepare you for physically. Emotionally you know I love you and I will never, ever abuse you in that way.“ I trail a finger down her cheek, over her shoulder, down her arm. I reach for the hem of her tank and pull it carefully over her head.

  “Jesse?“

  “Yeah, Luce.“

  “Can you do me one favor? I know you like to be in control of everything in bed and I love that. I do. It gets me so damn hot I can't even tell you.“

  “But?“ I ask when she bites her lower lip.

  “But, can you fuck me hard so I can come and then we can take our time? I just need you. I need to feel how much you need me and I need to feel you come inside me.“

  It's my turn to suck in a breath. I swallow hard, now harder than granite, and I lift her bra over her head. I ease her down onto the bed and slide her panties slowly down her thighs.

  “I can smell how aroused you are. Jesus, Lucy.“

  She blushes. “I can't help it.“

  “I think I told you once before, I don't want you to help it. I want you to keep doing it. Everything you do, it's perfect.“

  “I'm not perfect, Jesse.“

  “You're perfect for me.“

  Her eyes well with tears and I lean in and press my lips to hers. “I love you so much, Lucy. I'll never be able to tell you how much I feel for you. Words will never be enough.“

  She rests her palm against my cheek. “I can see it. Right now. In your eyes. In your expression.“

  “Then you must feel for me exactly the way I feel for you.“

  She nods. “I love you. You. Not the teenage crush version of you. Not th
e rockstar that everyone sees on stage. Not the man in charge of the show. Not the sex symbol. But you. Every single part of you, every facet, combined. I love the entire package, flaws and all.“

  I press a soft kiss to her lips, hoping to deliver some of what I'm feeling for her in my kiss. My heart is soaring, it's so full of love for her, so happy she loves me as much as I love her. So happy she's my wife.

  “I can't wait,“ I whisper and strip off my boxers.

  “Don't wait.“

  “You can't move, Luce. Promise me. I don't want our loving each other to ever hurt you.“

  “I'll try so fucking hard.“

  I chuckle then position myself between her thighs. She lifts the sheet over my backside and I lift a brow.

  “Just in case. Xander.“

  One side of my mouth kicks up in a grin. “Good idea.“

  I position the head of my dick at her opening, sliding it up and down her wet slit, circling her clit. “So wet for me. I love how wet you get for me.“

  I hold her gaze as I slowly slip inside her, just the tip, then pause.

  “Jesse,“ she breathes. That sound. That sound right there. It's heaven. It's like choir angels singing. It's what makes me whole, hearing how much she loves, wants, and needs me. How she loves when we come together as one.

  I push forward slowly, then pull back, working myself deeper, slowly, so fucking slowly. “Hold still, Luce,“ I whisper as she wiggles her hips.

  “I need you all the way inside me, Jesse. Deep. Until you can't get any further inside of me.“ I hesitate. I don't want to hurt her. “Please.“

  “Rest your cast on your chest. Yeah, like that.“

  I lift her legs over my shoulders, my cock only about a third of the way inside her.

  “We need to be quiet back here with Misty being new and you can't move. Let me do it all. Trust me to love you right?“

  She nods.

  “Ready?“

  She nods again and I slam my lips down onto hers as I thrust deep into her. God, nothing feels better. Nothing has ever felt this good. Heat and velvet and love. I pull back and slam forward again, then again, and one more time then hold.

  “Can you feel me, Lucy?“

  “I feel you.“

  “There is no more two. Just one.“ I pull nearly all the way out and slowly slide into her wet walls. “You feel so fucking amazing. It keeps getting better.“