Siren's Song

by Alexi Raymond

  “Headed back to the van?” the officer asked her, a smile playing on his lips.

  “Yep! Taking this one with me, though.” Sarah hooked Victoria’s elbow and led her between the cops, stopping to whisper to them, “She’s dating the lead singer.”

  Victoria glanced at them, hoping to see their faces pale and apologies coming at the ready. Instead, they shrugged and went back to guarding the barricade.

  “How the hell did you do that?”

  “I told you, I’ve been here on and off all day.”

  Sarah led her to the other side of the van where they could grab food and chat without watching curious fest-goers and crowd members stare at them.

  “I don’t really want to eat, Sarah. I just want to see Gabe.”

  Victoria pulled against the gentle tugging and stopped before the open van doors. Sarah popped a piece of bread in her mouth. “And you will. But they’re on stage, they’ll be down in a second.”

  She paced nervously in the space between Sarah and the nose of the van. She had so desperately needed to see him, she hadn’t thought of what she would say or how. The crowd let up a small cry, and Victoria noticed Amelia heading toward the van. Arms out, Victoria wrapped the small girl in a hug. A question nagged at the back of her mind. “How much of that was you?” she whispered to her.

  “It was Gabe’s. I just had the idea of how to do it. Oh! And to tell him to quit being an idiot that one night.” Amelia smiled, and Victoria felt any anxiety she had held about the girl fade away. Amelia was definitely in her corner.

  “Thank you.” Victoria squeezed Amelia’s hands and then ran toward the shadow she saw trailing behind the rest of the band members.

  *

  She was running at him and then launching herself at him, all in a matter of a few seconds. Her arms wrapped around his neck and her legs around his torso. Gabe took a step back at her force but held tightly, breathing in her scent. His breath hitched, overcome with emotion. When he’d finished the song and looked up to find her leaving the crowd, he’d panicked.

  He had suddenly been sure that the song was a mistake, and she would never forgive him. The show had to go on, but he was glad it was the finale. His heart felt like it was torn in two, performing after it wouldn’t have been easy. Whispered words of encouragement from Ti fell on deaf ears, even as he’d clapped a hand on Gabe’s shoulder when coming off the stage. Gabe had lingered on the last few steps off the stage, wondering if he had done the right thing. The story made for a great song, but if he’d lost her, the song wouldn’t matter. He’d never sign a deal over it or promote it if it had caused him to lose her.

  The relief he felt at her weight against him was heaven. He stroked the back of her hair, relieved laughter bubbling from his lips. As soon as he put her feet on the ground, her mouth was over his. Soft lips consumed by a devouring appetite. Gabe kissed her eagerly, rubbing her back as he held her tightly against him.

  “I saw you leave. I thought I’d lost you,” Gabe whispered to her, watching her eyes.

  “How did you know? How did you know all the things I felt?” His eyes were reflected in unshed tears; his summer storm.

  “I felt them too, Tori. Our small talk that first day at the restaurant. You’ve had me intrigued since the beginning.” He wondered how she didn’t know. How it was possible she had really doubted his feelings for so long. Though he hadn’t always been the best at showing how strongly he felt, either.

  Gabe looked to the sky. Stars sparkled above him, the constellations clear. Rain would have been the perfect ending to the night. A smattering of cool drops against the heat of the night, light thunder rolling in their ears, and lightning glittering across the sky. Slender fingers caressed the side of Gabe’s face.

  “What are you looking for?” Victoria whispered to him.

  Gabe shrugged, his hands loosely placed on her hips. “I guess I was expecting a storm.” The small disappointment he felt in not seeing his fairy tale ending was nothing compared to the happiness he felt with her. A throat being cleared near them brought him back from the very public display of affection he’d entered.

  “Hate to break it up, guys, but there’s a guy here to talk to us.”

  Gabe swung behind Victoria, his hands flat against her belly, pulling her tight against him. “Interview?”

  “Agent.”

  Gabe stiffened, his grip instinctively tighter. He couldn’t let her go now, not now that he had finally really gotten her. She turned in his arms and faced him.

  “Gabe, this is huge!” Excitement glistened in her eyes; her hands moved up his body and soothed over his jawline. “What?” Her strong stare must not have picked up the mixture of feelings he was fighting through, but he was almost positive that his blank expression didn’t show the excitement she’d expected to see.

  “Talkin’ ain’t gonna hurt, bro. Come on.” Ti motioned for Gabe to follow him to the agent.

  “I don’t want to lose you.”

  *

  Victoria laughed. “Gabe. Didn’t you hear the man? ‘Talkin’ ain’t gonna hurt.’ Now go on.” She cupped his jaw and looked deep into his eyes. He was tense, his body rigid, and she could see how torn he was. Her lips paused over his cheek, and she felt it. Her heart exploded with pride and excitement. “I love you, Gabe. Now go on. I’ll be here when you get back.” She kissed him before turning him and giving his ass a smack of encouragement as she pushed him toward his friend.

  After all of the confusion and doubt, there was no better feeling than freedom. That moment was life. Liberum Esse. The freedom to be together, to sing, to dance, to pray for rain, the freedom to love.

  Epilogue

  It felt like only days ago that Victoria had been moving boxes out of her apartment, clearing drawers, and creating a new space for her new life. And yet here she was only half a year from that day and moving more boxes—in, this time.

  “Where is the one place in this apartment no one is going to touch anything today?” Gabe’s beautiful, dark blond eyebrows were knitted together, his face stone-serious.

  Where would that even be? She only had one bedroom, the living room, kitchen, bathroom…all places people would be, especially on moving day. “Oh! There’s only one place I can think that no one will be in. My closet.”

  Gabe brushed his hand across her jawline, holding her chin. “Our closet.”

  The room swayed as she swooned. He was just too perfect. And he was all hers. Her rock star, lover, best friend, support, everything. “Ours.” She smiled back at him, pushing up on tiptoe to brush her lips against his.

  Fingers interlocked, she walked him through the bedroom to the closet. The door slid open, and she peered inside. Well, that was one thing she’d forgotten to do. “I’ll have to clean some of this up.”

  “Nah, it’s cool. I don’t need clothes.” He shrugged nonchalantly, a sly look spreading across his face.

  Victoria slapped his arm playfully. “Oh yes you do if you’re going to be Mr. Big Shot out on tour!”

  “Ouch.” He grabbed at his arm, faking serious injury. “You better make it better, now.”

  With a laugh, Victoria kissed his biceps. She loved the feel of his muscle against her lips, hard but still willing to give.

  Sarah’s voice cut across the room. “What the hell did we just walk in on?”

  “I don’t know, but if you could have stayed quiet, there might have been a show.” Ti ruffled the top of her head.

  “Yeah, yeah, we were trying to decide how much clothing Tori’s going to need to ditch so I can have some room in this closet. We can’t possibly fit anything else in there.”

  “All right, enough about my closet, and out of the bedroom. Since you two are here, I’ll assume the moving truck is too?”

  Sarah raised a hand in salute. “Yes, ma’am, ready to report for active duty.”

  Thank God. Victoria couldn’t wait to have Gabe all to herself. Having his things moving into her home, knowing he’d be with her every
morning, brought her great peace. Of course, he refused to live rent-free, so his half of the rent and utilities would help a lot too. Especially if he was going to be gearing up for a tour with the record label, Victoria wanted to cut her shifts back at the diner and spend more time with him. It was going to suck, having him traveling around the country and doing all the fun press junkets that came with the music industry, but it was his dream, and it was finally coming true. She’d be happy enough waiting for him to come back and satisfying her cravings for him with phone calls and messages throughout the day. It wouldn’t be easy, but it was doable.

  * * * *

  Gabe collapsed on the couch. After schlepping boxes out of the truck into the apartment and finally being able to dig through them for his essentials, he was plain wiped.

  “Don’t tell me on our first night living together you’re going to sleep?”

  “Tori, you’re joking. I’m so tired. It would be like zombie sex. Meaningless zombie sex, all for the sake of it being our first night living together.”

  “Well…not when you put it that way.”

  His Tori pouted, brushing a towel across her shoulders to wipe up excess water from her shower. They’d discovered she had a slight allergy to dust in the midst of all the boxes and rearranging that had taken place during the day. The poor thing had sneezed and wheezed until he begged her to stop working and clean up so she would feel better. No more work was getting done anyway. Even he had plucked his guitar off the bed and played a little before Troy and Burke waved their good-byes. In the quiet of his new home, Gabe crashed on the couch, waiting for her to be ready for bed.

  He took in the sight of her, his muse. She squeezed her hair out with a towel. Shorts and a tank top covering her body. Moving in together had been a great idea.

  “What?” She eyed him suspiciously.

  “You don’t want zombie sex, do you?”

  “Um, no thanks.” She turned from him and walked into the bedroom.

  With energy he didn’t realize he had, Gabe sprang off the couch and pounced on her. She shrieked as the weight of his body crushed her to the bed. “Gabe!”

  “No zombie sex, but you had to let that tank top get all clingy, didn’t you?” He eased up, allowing her to roll over, though still pinned beneath him.

  Her eyes were gorgeous, full of the passion that came with storms. Water from still-wet hair rolled down her face. “So you noticed?” She bit down on her lip.

  Gabe laughed as he kissed her. She was his siren all right. He couldn’t resist a single song she sang to him, even if it wrecked him every time.

  As he slid his fingers under her tank top to lift it over her head, a loud thump came from the closet.

  “What was that?” Victoria tried in vain to cover herself.

  “I’ll check it out. I had to balance a box or two on hangers, something probably fell.” Gabe lifted off her and went to the closet, ready to catch whatever box had come loose from its precarious position. As the closet door opened, Gabe’s jaw dropped. “Seriously?”

  Sarah smiled under her blush from inside the closet, encompassed by Ti’s arms. Glancing from him to Victoria, Sarah smiled. “Umm…hey, think I can borrow this shirt?” She plucked at a shirt behind Ti.

  “In my closet?” Victoria sat on the bed, arms crossed over her chest.

  “Well, I mean…it didn’t happen, so I guess…kind of…in your closet?”

  Ti beamed ear-to-ear at Gabe. “Hear that? It didn’t. Close the door, bro, I think I can get her to go all the way.”

  Sarah made a gagging noise. “Yeah right, after those smooth moves?” She took a step out of the closet. “Phew, feels good to breathe again. Almost forgot what fresh air felt like.”

  Gabe repeated himself. “Seriously?”

  Ti slapped his shoulder. “All right, all right. We’re going home.” He swatted Sarah’s ass on his way to the door.

  “Hey! We don’t have a home, remember?” Sarah shook her head. “And there’s no we!” She chased Ti through the living room and out the door.

  Victoria covered her face, her shoulders rising and falling with a soft laugh. He made his way back to her and uncovered her face. “Seriously?”

  “Oh, like you didn’t know it would happen. Let’s just be glad they’re getting it out of their systems now before Ti comes back with crazy STDs.”

  “What?”

  “Gabe. I’m not dumb. I know you guys will have insane amounts of women all trying to stake their claim, and I trust you. I know you’ll be fine. But Ti? Ti is a single guy that likes to have fun. I hope he’s safe.” She climbed under the covers, snuggling into the pillows.

  “What about Sarah? If you’re so sure he’s going to sleep with half the country, won’t she be upset?”

  Victoria patted his spot on the bed. “Nope. She’s a bigger horn-dog than he is. Now, if we’re done with them, I think I had some zombie sex to look forward to?”

  He crawled onto the bed, whipping the covers off her and then swooping down to steal both of their breaths with a kiss. “Zombie, my ass.”

  The End

  Publisher’s Note

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  About Alexi Raymond

  Alexi Raymond lives in Indiana with her husband and kittens. She can be found tumbling at gymnastics class, beating up the boys in a wrestling ring, and filming sports for her local TV station when she’s not on the couch talking to the people in her head!