I held her hands in my own and she sobbed silent tears before she composed herself and we finished our meal together.
It was ironic because so much had happened during the tour that was memorable. I chose to remember the countless episodes of mind blowing sex I had with Kaz and Talia’s painful confession that night in Auckland at a Maori restaurant, which happened on the last official day of the tour.
THE MOMENT WE arrived back in L.A., I wanted to get on my knees and kiss the dirty cemented ground for finally being home but I settled for a sigh of relief and a wide smile across my face as Kaz and I held hands. The plane came to a halt and the pilot asked us to remain seated but we were free to remove our seatbelts. I unbuckled mine and threw my arms around my fiancé.
“I am so happy to see this place you have no idea.”
He chuckled before his lips grazed mine quickly. “Me too. Home sweet home.”
I wrapped my body around his in the back of the Cadillac Escalade as we enjoyed one another’s company. I still hadn’t processed what it meant to be back home because L.A. had officially become my home. I was engaged to Kaz and we were in no hurry to plan a wedding date. Both of us wanted to rest for a month and then finally emerge from our little cave that consisted merely of the two of us but alas, that wasn’t possible.
We had exactly two days to rest before Laurel, Damira and I would have to get together and start working on the project that would take up a lot of time. Laurel and I had thousands of photos to go through while Damira had to edit her documentary down to just two and half hours. Laurel and I both agreed to help her because we all remembered the tour and with it being so fresh in our minds, we knew what parts would be interesting and which ones would make for lackluster viewing.
Of course we all looked forward to the work but we had no idea it was such a huge deal until Dominic Stenfeldt informed us they planned to sell commemorative, hard-back editions of the photos as coffee table books. Laurel and I would both get credit since she had taken up a lot of slack for me, especially toward the end of the tour. That freaked us out a bit but not as much as poor Damira, when she found out what he planned to do with her documentary.
The Waltz Brothers Studio—which also owned paid cable channels—planned to acquisition the documentary so Dominic had hired professionals to help her get it in tip top shape. They would also be selling blu-ray and DVD copies of the documentary after it aired so the tour would make Introspect Records more than a pretty penny once it was all said and done.
However, at that moment, all I wanted to do was focus on Kaz and I. We had plenty of time to stress about all that but it wouldn’t be in the back of our Escalade as we kissed and caressed one another.
“Do you realize we get to sleep in our own bed tonight and not a freakin’ hotel? We get to watch my big screen television and drink Macallan 30 in a residence and not some nameless, luxury suite. I am looking forward to getting back to normal and settling into day-to-day life.” He shook his head in amazement. “I am so grateful to have you by my side.”
I slid my silky arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. “So am I, baby. I love you so much.”
His blue-green eyes met mine before he kissed my lips and whispered against my lips, “I love you too.”
Chapter Seventeen
To Live & Love in L.A.
KAZ COULDN’T HAVE been happier if he’d tried.
He sat in a meeting along with the rest of Scarlet Fever and Winter’s Regret as Dominic talked figures and how much money they had brought in over the last six months.
It was hard work but with the money they’d made, everyone would be sitting pretty for a very long time.
However Kaz also knew Dominic and the man was already discussing their future projects while they were still trying to recover from a tour that had taken a powerful toll on their bodies and their state of mind. The record executive was a perfectionist and a slave driver but he never pushed any of his artists any harder than he pushed himself. This was the main reason why Kaz had so much respect for the man.
There would be no resting on their laurels and they all knew it.
“So, when are you guys going back in the studio?” the music executive inquired.
Kaz stared directly into Dominic’s eyes. “Give us six weeks to prepare. Talia and I are still writing songs plus she has her own band to think of and re-recording the first two Winter’s Regret albums.”
“Will you be okay re-recording the tracks on the first two Winter’s Regret albums and working with Kaz on new songs?” Dominic questioned, genuinely concerned with her health and wellbeing.
“I don’t understand why she has to re-record tracks I sang just fine the first time around,” Seth responded in a snippy voice.
He looked better than he had in a long time, Kaz observed though he realized it only partly had to do with him being clean and sober. His skin was a healthy peaches and cream and he’s gained weight but he was still lean in a black Jimi Hendrix tee shirt and a pair of slightly baggy indigo jeans.
“Talia is re-recording the albums because you have been demoted,” Dominic said in a cold voice. “Plus the fans have requested versions of the first and second album where she is singing—not you. They want her versions of the songs since many of the lyrics she re-wrote to fit a female vocalist. You co-wrote the songs so despite who is singing, the albums will return a handsome profit for you and it’s not like you don’t need the money. Promises wasn’t cheap and you paid for your own care. I didn’t think I would have to remind you of this. Not to mention the bill in Demark, which Introspect Records paid, but will come out of your cut. You didn’t fulfill your contract so you should be happy you’re being compensated at all.”
Dominic then turned toward Talia and smiled. “I don’t want you running yourself ragged, especially in your delicate condition.”
Seth paled noticeably as Jaden sat up in his chair and placed his tattooed arms on the table.
“I’m fine, Dom. My obstetrician gynecologist has assured me I am healthy as a horse and I have nothing to worry about,” Talia replied in a calm voice.
“What fucking delicate condition?” Seth questioned belligerently.
“She’s pregnant, you fucking asshat. She informed you while you were in rehab—you don’t remember?” Jaden’s tone reeked of condescension and disgust.
“I suppose a congrats is in order, Seth.” Dominic smiled though it never reached his eyes. “You’re lucky to have such a woman on your arm if you ask me.”
“Seriously, Dom, I will be fine and can do everything that is required of me. My cousin has agreed to be my PA so she’ll make sure my schedule is planned accordingly and I can fit time in to work with my own band. Most of the songs for our third album are finished. I wrote them on tour. It’s only a matter of tweaking a few lyrics here and there and getting the music written. I think this album will rock harder now that we have two guitarists and it’s up to Seth and Kris to work out who wants to do what but I trust their judgment the same as I trust Linx and Niko,” Talia explained in a no-nonsense voice.
The young woman was not only ambitious but had her shit together and regardless whether she was pregnant or not, she wasn’t going to let it stop her from fulfilling the duties she’d assigned for herself.
Kaz both admired her and envied her because he remembered being that focused at one time but that was before Syd had come into his life and turned it completely upside down and inside out.
Not that he would give up one moment of being with Syd just to merely care about music and nothing else. However this wasn’t something he had to worry about as far as Talia was concerned because the heated looks she and Jaden exchanged convinced him nothing had changed.
Kaz was happy to wrap up the meeting and as he walked out, he caught up with Jaden who stood next to Talia’s silver Range Rover. They spoke animatedly and she finally said something before she leaned in and kissed him. He waved as she took off and she waved back before she tore out of
the parking lot of the Introspect Records plaza.
Jaden began to walk over to his black Hummer H2 before he spotted his brother and ran over. “Are you headin’ home to Syd?”
Kaz nodded wordlessly. “I see that whole ‘cooling it’ once you two got Stateside didn’t work out. What does Seth think?”
“I could give a fuck what Seth thinks—he and Talia don’t live together anyway. She just bought a home two blocks from mine in the Hollywood Hills. They aren’t officially broken up but they are taking a ‘break’,” Jaden said sarcastically as he used finger quotes. “I don’t care. Faith is staying with her parents in Calabasas and she doesn’t think we should see each other at the moment so, technically, neither of us are cheating when we aren’t with our spouses.”
“I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“Did you know what you were doing with Syd?” Jaden snapped. “She was supposed to be a piece of ass on the side and now look at you, all pussy-whipped and shit. Then you try to tell me what I should be doing with my life? Brother, you better cool your tone with me because I have been free, white and over twenty-one for a while now and I don’t need you to tell me what I can and can’t do with the woman I love.”
“It truly is that easy for you?” Kaz leaned against his car after he turned off the alarm. “What about Faith? I thought you two were so in love?”
“Faith is a beautiful and sexually aggressive woman. I like her a lot and maybe it borders on love but at this point, Faith and I were more about lust than anything else.” He paused to light a Marlboro. “With Talia, I can share shit with her I haven’t told anyone else except you. She knows as much about the club as you do and only because I wanted to chase her away. I didn’t want to fall in love with her, don’t you get that? I was trying to scare her away with the info about the club and the drugs but she’s fucking fearless and I love that about her. She isn’t scared of anything and don’t you know that first night she had to perform, she was so nervous but you would have never known it.
“Seth is not a good guy. Those songs he’s being paid for? He didn’t write them. They’re poems Talia used to send him when they were teenagers and he was still back in south Boston while she lived with her mother and step-father in Connecticut. The name of the group? Her idea. He stole everything from her and if I can get her away from him then I’m happy to help.”
“Yeah but we both know her being involved with the MC is going to be a lot more dangerous, Jaden. You aren’t half in—you’re a full member of Lucifer’s Saints. Does she know what that means to get involved with a biker?” Kaz questioned incredulously.
Jaden laughed before he dragged from his cigarette. “Yeah. She spent the first ten years of her life in south Boston. She can handle it and she will eventually be my old lady. Maybe not right now but I will make sure it happens. I don’t want Faith anymore and Talia finally sees Seth for who he truly is.”
Kaz nodded before he embraced his brother quickly. “Take care of yourself, bro, and if you break Talia’s heart, I will fucking end you. She’s too good for you too, you know that, right?”
“Hell, she’s too good for all of us rabble rousers but she’s still around. I love her, bro. I have never felt like this for anyone.” Jaden’s amber eyes looked off into the distance. “I understand how you feel about Syd because I feel the same way about Talia. Without her, I am nothing. She’s seen me at the lowest of the low and it never once scared her away. The woman cleaned up my piss, shit and vomit and never complained once. If that isn’t true love then what the fuck is?”
“I can’t argue with you there, brother. Was it when you were detoxing off the Oxy?”
“Yeah and I didn’t want any of that methadone shit. I just wanted to get off it and be clean for her. I didn’t do it for her but for myself because I wanted to remember every smile we shared and every time we fucked with clarity. I smoke a little chronic and may have a beer here or there but no coke or Oxy what so ever.” He smiled brightly. “She finally beat the Cox family curse. Our baby is healthy and growing perfectly. A little boy. I can’t wait to experience all of this with her and not be in some kind of drug fueled haze. Life is good and with her, everything is always the way it should be. I wouldn’t trade her for anyone else.”
Kaz smiled. “I gotta go. Syd is at home waiting. This is one of her blessed off days and we are having a nice candle lit dinner. I’ll arrange a conference call between you, me, Grant and Will tomorrow so we can get our schedules synced and decide when to start recording Nothing Lasts Forever. Is that cool with you?”
“Yeah, tomorrow works. Talk to you later.”
He waited until his brother actually got into his vehicle before he hopped in his own Hummer H3 and turned over the engine.
L.A. traffic being the perpetual nightmare it was, it seemed to take him forever to get home. Sydney ran over and threw her arms around his neck. She kissed his lips and clung to him.
“Whoa! What’s all this for?” Kaz greeted out loud.
Syd stared into his mesmerizing eyes, her steel blue irises bright with happiness and relief. “Well, Xander is going to be staying with us for two weeks starting tomorrow. Damira and Kris are eloping in Vegas so we have your son for two whole weeks.”
Kaz couldn’t help but smile before he said, “And you’re cool with this?”
“Why wouldn’t I be? It gives me practice since I am pregnant…again.”
His heart dropped slightly. He wanted to have a baby with Syd but he was worried about it happening so soon after she’d had a D&C performed. It had been months but he wasn’t ready for her to lose another baby.
She seemed to sense his trepidation. “I waited because I didn’t want you to be worried about me. I’m six weeks and although I’m not out of my first trimester by six whole weeks, my obstetrician gynecologist thinks I should be fine. We’re home and I’m not under any stress—”
“What about that goddamn book?” he inquired coolly.
“What about it? Laurel said she would pick up the slack. She just wants us to have a healthy baby and that’s what I want too.”
Kaz kissed her lips and led her up the stairs. “Do you think if we make love, we’re putting the baby in danger?”
Syd glared at him incredulously. “I doubt it. Come on, dinner won’t be ready for at least an hour. Let’s go have some sweaty, passionate sex!”
He adored her enthusiasm and immediately picked her up.
They couldn’t get to their suite fast enough. He kicked the door closed and kissed her passionately, their tongues touched and he wanted to melt inside her and be one with her forever. Kaz had doubts at times during the tour where he truly wondered if he was in love with her or if it was just the thought of conquering every inch of untouched flesh.
Now they were in each other’s arms and he slid her jeans off, panties included and allowed his right hand to explore between her legs, he knew it was the woman he adored and always wanted to be with until death separated them. He couldn’t imagine being without this strong woman who didn’t allow anyone to take advantage of her yet she had a heart that was huge and generous.
She sat up, slipped off her white peasant blouse and black lace bra.
Kaz didn’t know what he wanted to do first: play with her breasts or tease her until she came all over his hand.
Syd made the decision for him as she tackled him onto the bed and as soon as he slid out of his jeans, she grabbed his cock and soon her warm mouth surrounded him, teasing his length with a tongue that could work magic. He positioned her on top of him until her juicy mound faced him and he suckled on her clit while two of his plunged in and out of her depths.
It didn’t take long before they were both crying out in mutual ecstasy but for different reasons. Although he’d brought her to a mind-numbing orgasm that had her whole body shaking over his, she teased him and refused to let him come, even after she’d grabbed lube and began to massage his prostate from the inside with two carefully chosen fingers worki
ng their way in and out of his anus.
Kaz had successfully turned her into a freak like he was though she was still much more subdued than him. They had perfectly good sex regardless but it was Sydney who always wanted to try something different and she enjoyed taking the reins in the bedroom.
It was much too easy for him to grab her by her hair though he was careful not to hurt her and pull her upright. Once he did this, he merely gripped her by the waist and moved her further down his body until he plunged into her with one easy thrust of his hips and began to punish her with deep, intense strokes that were neither soft nor gentle but far from painful for either one of them.
Falling Into Love Page 19
