“Good?”
“So good.” The breathless quality of her voice was intoxicatingly sexy.
“More?”
“God, please.” Begging, she pulled at me.
That was all it took. I flipped one leg over my shoulder for a better angle and leverage. Soft pants and the slapping of skin were interrupted occasionally by a moan or gasp.
Pounding into her, I hung on the verge of conscious action, enough that I could watch her expression for signs that I was going too far. Not so much that I wasn’t aware that no other woman had fit me like a motherfucking glove.
“Fuck, Stella.” I was on the cusp of one of the best orgasms of my goddamn life. Tingles started in my spine, gathering in my balls as I swelled with each plunge into her warm, welcoming depths.
I knew she sensed what was coming because her eyes lost the lust-induced glaze as they sharpened on me. Her nails scored the flesh of my back where she could reach. “God, Logan. Yessss. Fuck me. Come in me.”
Though I thought I was thrusting like an out of control madman, her words proved me wrong. Because when she asked for more, I gave it, thrusting harder and faster until her pussy damn near strangled my cock with how tight it got and I fucking lost it.
Roaring like the animal I was, I emptied into her pulsing heat. I barely noticed the sounds of satisfaction bursting from her as I continued to push my come into her. I never wanted to stop. It was that fucking good.
By the time my brain started working again, I’d dropped to my elbows, where I could wrap my arms around her without crushing her beneath me. Dusting kisses to the hollow of her throat and along her chest, I licked the salty taste of sweat from her skin. Knowing I’d been the one to work her up to that was as satisfying as any drug that had ever pulsed through my veins.
“I love you.” Her fingers tangled in my sweat-soaked hair.
“I love you too. More than you’ll ever know.” Each word was a promise that I pressed to her flushed flesh. She’d become the single most important thing in my life.
“I’m scared to go back to Seattle with you tomorrow.” Her words a mere whisper, she continued to run her fingers through my hair.
Still buried deep inside her and loath to leave her, I pulled my mouth from her body and met her gaze. “Please don’t be—they are all going to love you. You’re a good person. Beautiful on the inside and out.”
“It’s not that.” She turned her head to the side.
“Look at me,” I coaxed. “What is it?”
“It’s my parents. I don’t want to see them.”
“You won’t have to see your parents. If you don’t want to, then we won’t. If we run into them accidentally, we turn the other way and walk off.” There was nothing I’d make my wife do that she didn’t want to do. “Hell, if you want, I’m perfectly happy with having you meet my family and then keeping you busy in my apartment every day, all day. Well, except when I have practice or we have a show.” With a grin, I shrugged a shoulder and gave a teasing bite to her jaw.
The giggle I had been trying for snuck out and caused her to wiggle, dislodging me from the warmth I wanted to move in to. We both groaned at the loss of our connection.
“Hmm, I guess that means we need to get cleaned up, because I can feel the mess we made running between my legs.” Her cute nose was wrinkled, and I laughed.
Leaning down until my breath brushed her ear, I whispered, “If I was still hard, I’d push it back into you.” Then I raised my head again to judge her response. The blazing red that covered her face at my crude words made me fight a smile. Instead, I kissed her.
“You’re so bad.” She spoke against my lips.
“But you love me.”
“Yeah. I really do.” The beautiful tip of the corner of her mouth sent my heart soaring like it did every fucking time.
Hating to leave the bed, but knowing we needed to get moving, I nudged her. “Come on, babe. We need to get packed because we have to head to the airport early in the morning. But don’t shower. I love the thought of you covered in me. Besides, I’m just going to get us messy again before we go to sleep.”
Eyes wide, she gaped at me open-mouthed.
Fuck if I didn’t get us dirty as hell before we fell into an exhausted slumber late that night.
“Hanging By a Moment”—Lifehouse
I was terrified to return to Seattle. Seattle was like a giant closet full of skeletons—not comical cartoon ones either, but scary, ugly, vicious ones.
There were so many ghosts there that I’d blissfully hidden from for years.
The thought of possibly running into my parents had me nearly in a panic attack. I’d never wished for my anxiety medication more than when the plane’s wheels touched down at Sea-Tac International Airport.
It had been years since I’d wanted or needed it. Not since the first six months in Boston. Which had made me happy because the thought of becoming addicted to them or anything else terrified me. Moving to Boston had been the best thing I could’ve done for myself. It was like a miracle drug that allowed me to breathe without the weight of my past on my chest.
Logan’s smile was so bright and excited that I tried to push the panic away. Tried counting. Tried breathing deeply.
When none of that worked, I squeezed his hand. He glanced sharply at me and his smile softened. “Hey…, it’s going to be fine. They will love you as much as I do. I promise you.”
He’d misinterpreted my distress, and I didn’t feel like correcting him. I nodded and pasted a big grin on my lips.
Our plans had changed drastically after we’d ended up impulsively married in Vegas. Initially, I was supposed to fly back to Boston and he was to fly home to Seattle. Our little trip through one of Vegas’s overnight wedding chapels changed that.
We’d discussed me going back to Boston to pack, but he’d convinced me to return with him and he’d hire movers to pack my things under Kinsley’s supervision. Everything had happened so fast.
I’d planned to quit the restaurant since I’d gotten the full-time editing job, but not right away. Once again, plans changed, and I’d called to tell them I had a family situation in Seattle and wouldn’t be coming back.
It was sort of the truth.
“We’re heading over to Levi and Poppy’s first. I asked my parents to meet us there because I had a surprise for them.” Childlike mischief shone in his summer meadow eyes.
“I still say we should’ve given them some warning. We should’ve called or FaceTimed them. Even a text would have been nice.” Chewing on my lip and twisting my purse handle, I watched the carousel for our bags.
A few minutes later, we walked hand in hand out to the long-term parking to his truck. When we started to close in on a big jacked-up Ford, I crossed my fingers that it was where we were headed. “Wow! This is yours?”
“Yeah. She’s a bad bitch, huh?”
“That’s an understatement!”
Leaving my suitcase with the extended handle reaching for the sky, I walked around the beast of a truck. White, beautiful, shiny, with huge-ass tires and matte-black wheels. Did I mention it was big? I’m talking B. I. G.
“How do I get in?” Arms akimbo, I stopped to stare at the door handle that seemed impossibly out of my reach. Let’s face it, I wasn’t a very tall person. I was five inches over five feet, but trying to put my foot in the step to get in the cab would damn near be like putting my foot in a horse’s stirrup. A big horse.
Knowing my mouth was catching flies and my eyes were bugging didn’t mean I could control that shit. I wanted him to drive me around in the giant truck for at least an hour before we went to see his family. Hell, I wanted to drive it.
Except it had been so long since I’d driven that it probably wouldn’t be wise. I’d probably wreck the damn thing.
“Here.” He reached up and opened the door, and the scent of leather rushed me. Then he let me use his hand for leverage to climb up.
Yes, he offered to lift me up, like the g
entleman he always was, but what fun would that have been? Instead, he humored me as I hefted my ass up into the massive monster.
As I sat there running my hands along the dash and over the slick surfaces, he loaded all of our bags up in the back. Inside, with its black and gray leather trim and stitching, was a dark contrast to the bright white outside.
Much like the man who drove it.
Inside Logan there was a darkness I hadn’t known existed, but he didn’t scare me. He worried me. I wanted to fix all his broken and jagged edges. I wanted to take away his pain and whatever had caused it. I literally fell more and more in love with him every day.
I was pulled from my musings when he hopped effortlessly up into the driver seat. The crooked grin I’d always loved was turned in my direction as he started the truck. The roar of the motor and exhaust was ridiculously sexy to me.
It brought back memories of when I was a little girl and my dad would let me hang out at his shop while he worked on customizing other people’s vehicles to look like this beauty.
Swallowing with difficulty at the memory, I wondered if I’d run into them while I was here. Seattle was big and it was unlikely, but the slim chance had me struggling to manage my emotions.
“Ready?” The calloused fingertips that traced over the back of my hand sent shivers racing along my spine.
Gathering all my scattered thoughts, I inhaled deeply and smiled back at him. “Yeah. Well, as ready as I’ll ever be without a big fat dose of anxiety meds.”
He didn’t laugh as I’d intended, just looked out the window, then put the truck in drive and we made our way out of the airport.
Silence reigned for several miles before he finally broke it. “So what area of Seattle are you originally from?”
“Lower Queen Anne. You’re from up by Broadview, right?” I wasn’t from the wealthier area of Upper Queen Anne up on Queen Anne Hill. My family had a modest home.
“Yeah. Up by Carkeek Park.”
Nodding, I gazed out the window at the changes that Seattle had undergone in the four short years I’d been gone. “Your parents still live there?”
“Yeah, same house I grew up in. What about your parents? Are they still here?” The hesitation in his voice made me feel bad for cutting him out of those details of my life the last time he’d asked.
“I honestly have no idea. We haven’t spoken since—well, since before I left for college.” That was the honest-to-God truth. When I left Seattle and all the bad memories behind, I didn’t look back. But this was where Logan called home, so I planned to look at the city with fresh eyes and with the plan to make new memories.
“You haven’t spoken to them at all?” Shock was heavy in his words, but I continued to watch out the window, not meeting his eyes.
“No.” The whispered word was heavy.
His hand wrapped warmly around mine. Blinking away the tears that threatened, I fought for control.
We traveled for a while with the sound of The Kenny Wayne Shepherd Band playing softly in the background. For a guy who played heavy metal, he had eclectic taste in what he listened to. Since leaving the airport we’d had everything from heavy metal to country filtering out of the sound system.
“We’re almost there.” I sort of recognized the area, but I hadn’t really been paying attention.
“Where do they live?” Curiosity had me sitting up straighter as I studied the increasingly luxurious neighborhoods and homes we were passing.
“In Broadmor. They bought a big old house and had it completely remodeled. It’s really gorgeous. Levi wanted Ian raised out of the city and in a more private area.” He said it like it was no big deal.
“Holy shit! That had to have cost a fortune! Those houses there are no joke.” Thinking about the expensive neighborhood we were heading to had me even more nervous than I was before. I knew the guys had money, but the reality of how much was really starting to sink in.
Chuckling, his gaze flickered to me, then back to the road. “Yeah, it’s pretty fancy.”
“Jesus.” Palming my face, I wondered what I’d gotten myself into.
“Relax, babe. They put their pants on just like you do.” His shoulders shook with mirth, and I swatted said shaking shoulders.
“It’s a little different.”
When we pulled up in front of a huge heritage home, I was slack-jawed in amazement. The house was mostly brick with an archway over the front door and a brick pathway from it to the sidewalk of the curving street. It had a ton of character, and I loved it.
“There’s a house not far from here that I’ve looked at. It’s not an old home like this, but it’s really pretty. Built in 2006 as opposed to 1929.” He laughed as he put the truck in park. Then he frowned as he noticed all the vehicles in the driveway. “Fuck.”
Taking in all the vehicles, I bit my lip before turning to him and releasing it. “I take it there’s more than your parents here?”
“Yeah. Every-fucking-body is here, it looks like. Goddammit.” His reaction was confusing.
“Um, aren’t they your friends?”
“Friends.” He snorted. “Well, most of them, yeah. But Aiden and I had a falling out after Boston. The show we were at the day you and I became friends again.”
Flipping my hand so I held his, I channeled every bit of optimism I had and squeezed. “Well, maybe I can help you mend some bridges.”
“We shall see. Don’t hold your breath for it though.” He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.
Before we could even reach the door, it flew open and his brother stepped out, followed by a beautiful woman I knew from the gossip sites to be his fiancée, Poppy.
“Hey, little brother! How was Vega…sss?” Vegas was drawn out to where it was about five seconds long as he stared at me. More people pushed past them.
Curious faces looked me over from head to toe before recognition shone in his mom’s eyes. “Stella!”
Linda rushed toward us, first hugging and kissing Logan, then turning her attention to me. “Oh, look at you! Even more beautiful than on that phone thing. I can’t believe he brought you to see us.” She was clasping her hands in front of her, and I pulled my lips between my teeth as my cheeks heated.
“Umm, thank you?” It came out like a question, and Logan laid his arm over my shoulders and pulled me close to drop a kiss on my head.
“What are we doing standing out here? Why don’t we all go inside? The food is probably almost done. We have ribs slow-cooking, and everyone brought sides.” Poppy spoke up from the doorway.
Amidst chattering from his mom, we moved as a crowd inside. Logan talked quietly to his dad, and Poppy asked me how my trip was.
“It was great.” I was as nervous as hell, and my voice shook.
Entering a bright and airy living room, I saw Dominic, the drummer, sitting on a couch with a woman with long, shiny black hair and exotic features. Standing by the fireplace was Aiden, the tall, sexy lead guitarist. He was also the current nemesis of my husband, and the narrowed gaze he gave me had me fidgeting uncomfortably.
In another area of the house, I could hear children playing.
Stepping into the room was a young woman. Following close behind was a dark-haired woman who looked too much like the lead guitarist, Aiden not to be his mother. Then a shorter woman who I guessed was maybe Dominic’s mom.
“Welcome home, Logan, how was your trip?” The young woman looked at him with something in her eyes I recognized immediately. Adoration.
The wheels in her head must’ve been spinning as she watched him step up behind me and wrap his arms around me. A painful flash was gone quickly, but not fast enough that I missed it.
“You know the band members, right?” Logan asked me. I nodded.
“That’s Autumn, Dominic’s wife, Maggie, Aiden’s mom and Addison, his sister.” He motioned to the young woman and her mom. “Then Gia, is Dominic’s mom.” She waved at me with a smile. Addison looked slightly ill as she stared at me.
<
br /> I was beginning to get an idea of what the issue between the two band members might be.
“Everyone? I wasn’t planning on this being a band event, but I want you all to meet Stella. My wife.”
Oh shit. I hadn’t expected him to jump right in and make the announcement, but there it was out in the open.
The first one to respond was Addison, who covered her mouth as she gasped and her eyes rounded in horror. Turning and pushing past her mother, she raced from the room. With a glare to Logan, Aiden rushed after his sister.
Everyone was sitting around blinking like owls. This wasn’t going exactly as Logan had planned. Worry flooded me and my stomach churned.
“Congratulations.” Dominic’s wife congratulated us first. One by one the rest followed as hesitant smiles broke out around the room.
I wasn’t sure why everyone was acting so awkward, but it was making me want to go sit in the truck until Logan was ready to leave. When Linda and Mac approached us, Logan hugged me, then gave me a kiss on the temple. “Let me go try to talk to Aiden. Mom, Dad, will you stay with her?”
He sounded resigned and tired, and I was so sorry for him.
“Of course, son.” Mac agreed, but he didn’t look happy about Logan’s decision to go charging into the lion’s den.
He gave his mom a hug and whispered something in her ear, then followed the route Aiden had taken. Watching him walk off, it was as if there was a giant jawbreaker stuck in my throat, choking and suffocating me.
“Well, this is a surprise.” Turning toward her, I braced myself to be attacked or at the very least berated for being a money-grubbing whore who duped her son into marrying her.
“I’m sorry. It was, well, umm, pretty spontaneous.” God, I was going to kill my husband when we left here. I’d be a widow and in jail before the day was over. I’d tried to tell him we needed to prepare them before we arrived, but nooooooo.
“It would, uh, appear that way.” She gave a brilliant smile that didn’t quite obliterate the concern I saw in her eyes. “Umm, when you guys got married had you been doing anything?” Her tone was evasive.
No Treble Allowed: A Straight Wicked Novel Page 16
