Anything You Need (Cataclysm Book 1)

by Jerica MacMillan

  Because whatever else happens, I can’t let her leave. I can’t let her walk away from me or push me away again. Blaire’s right that the only thing I’ve wanted since she broke up with me is to get her back. To understand why she did what she did.

  I understand now. If I let her walk away, then I’ll only have myself to blame for the rest of my life, and I’m not willing to do that.

  Especially not now that I have her in my arms again.

  Forcing myself to be patient, I wait, keeping one hand on her waist, but not speaking while she stands with her head leaning back against the wall, her hair disheveled from my hands while we were kissing just now, her eyes closed as she thinks, a double line of consternation between her brows.

  I want to lean forward and kiss it away, but right now I don’t know how she’d take that.

  Finally she opens her eyes, but the lines don’t smooth out. “You’re going to need to walk me through this.”

  I nod.

  She crosses her arms over her chest, adding another barrier to the space between us. “What is this? I don’t understand what’s happening here at all.”

  I hold her eyes with mine, flexing my fingers that rest on the curve of her waist. “This is me not letting you walk away from me. Not again.”

  Her eyes move between mine, gauging my sincerity. “But I hurt you,” she whispers. “You’re mad at me. You wouldn’t even look at me tonight.”

  I tilt my head to the side. “Actually, I couldn’t take my eyes off you tonight. Yes, you hurt me. But you still hold my heart. And I don’t think I could take it back even if I wanted to.”

  Her lips part, her chest rising as her breath catches. Her arms slip a little, drooping, not crossed so tightly. “But … but I thought this was goodbye.”

  I lean in, closing some of the space between us, shaking my head. “Do you want it to be goodbye?”

  She reaches up and slides her hand over my cheek. “No. I’ve never wanted to say goodbye to you.”

  I slip my hand behind her, drawing her against me. “Then don’t.” And I kiss her again. This time when she opens, it’s an invitation, not an assault. Our lips and tongues slide together, eradicating our time apart, all thoughts of goodbyes, relegating it all to painful memory.

  I nudge her thighs apart with my knee, and she sighs when I press against her, her fingers twining into the hair at the nape of my neck, fingernails scraping against my skin.

  Tired of standing in the entryway, I sweep her up in my arms. Her fingernails dig into my neck as she clutches at me, breaking our kiss.

  I smile down at her. “Since you’re not leaving, and this isn’t goodbye, I think we should get a little more comfortable.”

  She laughs, the sound a little watery still, but a smile pulls at her puffy lips. “I think so too.”

  Entering the bedroom of the suite, I set her on her feet, turning her to face the bed, my fingers gripping the zipper at the neck of her dress and pulling. As the fabric slowly gaps apart, I dot her spine with kisses, just like the first time I ever got to undress her.

  With the zipper all the way down, I push the fabric over her shoulders, and she wiggles it down, stepping out and turning to face me, her hands sliding under my jacket and pushing it off my shoulders. I catch it before it hits the floor, folding it and tossing it on an overstuffed chair in the corner. Kendra tugs on the bowtie, undoing it and leaving it loose around my neck as she deftly undoes the buttons.

  I let my eyes trace over her, the pretty pink satin bra and panties almost the same color as her lips. Though those are darker now, swollen from our kisses. The back of my finger brushes over her nipple, peaked and hard under the smooth fabric, making it even harder. Hooking a finger in the cup, I tug it down, smiling to myself when the edge of her areola comes into view. “You match.”

  Her eyes fly to mine, her fingers stilling halfway down my shirt. “What?”

  I step away from her hands, pulling the tails out of my pants, yanking the shirt over my head, and tossing it aside. Reaching for her again, I pull the cup of her bra farther down, exposing her nipple completely, bending to tongue it and suck it into my mouth.

  She gasps, clutching my head to her breast. When I straighten, I reach behind her and unhook the bra. “Your bra and panties. They’re the same color as your nipples. Lay back. Let me see if anything else is the same color.”

  She blushes, and I tsk, leading her over to the bed and guiding her to sit on it. “None of that. Your blush makes your skin pinker. You’ll ruin the effect.” I catch her hands when she reaches for my belt, holding them away as I lean over and kiss her. “Lay back. Let me see you. I promise that’ll come off soon enough.”

  Biting her lip, she nods, her eyes bright, but this time with lust instead of tears. Which is what I want to see. She leans back on her elbows, scooting back and pulling her legs up on the bed.

  With my hands on her ankles, I straighten her legs. “Lay all the way back.”

  She gives me a long look before sinking back onto the pillows behind her, lifting her hips when I hook my fingers in the waistband of her panties so I can pull them down. My hands run up her inner thighs, spreading them apart, and she sighs when I spread her open.

  I run the tip of one finger from her opening up and over her clit, making her squirm. “Nope,” I say quietly. “You’re already darker here. And so wet. I think you might be a little turned on.”

  Her low chuckle turns into a gasp when I kiss her clit, my finger sinking inside her as my tongue circles where I just kissed. “God, I’ve missed this.”

  “Me too.” Her voice is soft, drifting over me like a blessing.

  And I don’t just mean licking her or fingering her or making love to her. I’ve missed the way she gives herself to me so completely, opening up her body, heart, and soul to me. Letting me have all of her.

  Climbing up her body, I press her into the mattress, the hard ridge of my cock settling between her thighs, and I can’t help but grind myself there, not caring that I’m getting her slippery juices all over my pants. I frame her face with my hands and press a kiss to her lips, smoothing my thumb over her brows when that wrinkle forms between them again.

  I give her one more soft, lingering kiss before pulling back and staring down into her eyes. “I love you, Kendra. I’ve loved you for as long as I’ve known you. I’ve always hated seeing you with other guys, but I dealt with it because I had no real claim to you. Not like that. These last few weeks have been torture, because I knew, deep down, that you still loved me. And I knew that you were keeping something from me. That killed me. We’ve never had secrets between us. Never told each other lies. Don’t do that to me again, okay?”

  Her brows smooth out and her hands snake between us to cup my face in return, her fingers reaching into my hair and rubbing against my scalp, her eyes wide and solemn, holding mine. “No more secrets. No more lies. Not between us. Ever again. I promise.” She pulls my face to hers, sealing her promise with a kiss.

  When I deepen it, sliding my tongue past her lips to dance with hers, she wraps her legs around my hips and rocks against me, making me groan into her mouth. I tear myself away, panting, and disentangle myself from her so I can get rid of these damn pants.

  As I’m undoing my belt, she props herself back up on her elbows, her hair even more disheveled, completely falling out of its classy updo, her legs spread and waiting for me. I can’t take my eyes off her.

  I shove my pants and underwear off together, leaving my socks inside my pants in a heap on the floor, gripping myself and giving my hard cock a slow stroke. “I was going to tease you for a while. Make you wait as penance, but dammit, Kendra, I’d be punishing myself too. And I’m tired of being separated from you.”

  Chapter Forty

  Kendra

  I lift my arms in silent invitation. He crawls over me, covering me with his body, his skin soft and smooth under my hands, the head of his cock nudging against my opening.

  He places a reverent k
iss on my lips, then lifts his head, his dark eyes holding mine as he slides inside me. We let out matching sounds of desire and fulfillment as his hips meet mine.

  His head dips, his lips find mine again, and we stay like that for long moments.

  When I flex my hips up to meet him, sliding my leg along the hard muscle of his thigh, hitching it over his hip, he lets out a rumbly groan, my own chest vibrating with the sound. He moves inside me, slowly, drawing out our reunion.

  His lips skate over my jaw and down my neck as I arch my head back, moving with him, lost to the sensation of him inside me, over me, around me, his stubble scraping the tender skin over my collarbone, his teeth nipping at my earlobe, his muscles flexing under my hands, against my inner thighs.

  Each time he presses all the way inside me, I clench my inner muscles around him, gasping at the way it intensifies everything. He lifts his head, his eyes holding mine, his dark hair falling over his forehead, moving a little faster now.

  “You feel so damn good,” he mutters. “I need you there with me.” He dips his head for one more kiss, quickly thrusting his tongue into my mouth in time with his hips. One hand moves down my body, stroking my side, finding its way between my legs. He moves back enough so he can stroke me, his fingers providing just enough pressure and friction to dial up my arousal till I’m right on the edge.

  Now my muscles are tightening without my conscious direction, and he picks up the pace, bracing himself on one arm, hammering his hips into me as his fingers strum my clit.

  “C’mon, baby,” he growls. “Show me how good we still are together. I’m right there with you. I love you. Come with me.”

  And that’s all it takes to push me the last fraction of an inch off the cliff, both of us flying into blissful oblivion together.

  It takes a moment to come back to myself, and when I do, Marcus is collapsed on top of me, pressing me into the bed. He lifts his head and kisses a tender line from my shoulder to my mouth. Brushing strands of hair back from my face, he examines me again, committing this moment to memory. When his eyes meet mine, they’re brimming with love. He drops a soft kiss on the tip of my nose. “You are perfection. Imagining life without you is like imagining life without music. Impossible.”

  Wrapping my fingers around the back of his neck, I pull his mouth to mine for a brief kiss. “I already told you I wouldn’t hold back from you again. You’re stuck with me for good now.”

  He grins. “Just what I always wanted.”

  “Me too.”

  Epilogue

  Danny

  I slouch in the corner of the couch as Marcus updates the band on the performance of our two lead singles and the label’s projection for album sales. “So far new singles are outperforming the ones from our first album. We’ve hit the Billboard top twenty with both of them, and got up to number four with the second one.”

  “See, Aaron?” interrupts Blaire. “And you were all pissy about having that song added last minute. Look where it’s gotten us.”

  He grumbles, “Yeah, yeah. I already apologized for acting like an asshole. What else do you want from me?” Looking at Marcus, where he stands with Kendra tucked against his side, the two lovebirds now inseparable, Aaron shrugs. “It seems heartbreak is good for your writing mojo. Does this mean that Kendra’s going to need to rip your heart out again to get a third album out of you?”

  Marcus chuckles. “Fuck off, Aaron. I wrote most of the album when Kendra and I were together anyway. I’m sure we’ll be fine.” Redirecting his attention to all of us, he continues. “We’re going to have to start doing our press tour soon, do the late night show circuit, and get ready for our concert tour. That means lots of traveling again. So we’ll need to discuss where we want to go and how we want to handle our travel arrangements this time based on what we learned on our last tour. I for one am pulling to have a little more downtime between shows, even though I know sometimes that won’t be possible. But sanity is high on my priority list as well as not wanting to murder everyone in sight by the end of the tour.”

  “Two years is too long,” I volunteer. “At least not without a lengthy break in the middle. Like three months minimum. Six would be better. That would also give us a chance to do some writing and not end up in the situation we did this time. Like, I’d be good with six months on and three months off for a couple of years. Write in the downtime. I think that’d help with your sanity-saving slash not-turning-into-a-mass-murderer plan too.”

  Marcus grins at me and nods. “I’m good with that. Anyone else?”

  “Can we get a plane this time?” asks Mason. “Tour buses sound cool in theory, but they actually suck. And since I’m assuming we’re having an extra along this time,” he gestures at Kendra, “I’d rather not have to listen to you two humping in the bunk above me.”

  Kendra blushes, but Marcus just chuckles. “We’d definitely claim one of the bottom bunks. Too much risk of falling out of the top. We don’t need any sex-related injuries making it to the press.”

  “No shit,” mutters Blaire.

  “I can’t make any promises,” Marcus continues, “but yeah, I’d prefer a plane too. Or at least stopping in hotels more often than not if we end up using the bus.”

  I straighten up at that. “If you’re bringing Kendra, I want to bring Eli.”

  All the sound seems to leave the room and Marcus swings his gaze to me. “You want to bring your two-year-old on tour?”

  “He’s finally calling me Daddy and asking for me instead of my mom. I don’t want to lose that again. He was scared of me for the first few weeks I was back this time. I want my son to know who the fuck I am.”

  Everyone stares at me for several long moments, and I’m about to open my mouth to say this is non-negotiable when Blaire pipes up, ever the peacekeeper. “I can help with him.”

  Marcus turns to her. “You already have too much to do on tour. You don’t have time to be a babysitter too.”

  She shrugs. “Eli’s a good kid. I’m sure we can manage.”

  I roll my eyes. “I’ll bring my parents. Or hire a nanny. It’s not like I’m expecting the roadies or Blaire to babysit while we’re on stage. But I want him on tour with me. If you can bring your girlfriend, I can sure as hell bring my kid.”

  Marcus levels a cool look at me. “For one thing, my girlfriend doesn’t need a babysitter, so it’s not exactly the same thing. And for another, no one told you no. I just think we’re all a little surprised and trying to process. But if your parents are willing to come, or you decide to hire a nanny, I don’t see why Eli shouldn’t come. I’ll leave it to you to figure out the details, but keep in mind that their expenses come out of your check, not the band’s account.” He points a finger at me.

  I flip him off. “Like I don’t know that.”

  “Alright, that’s all I needed to cover. Anyone else have any business? No? Great. Blaire will be in touch with the press schedule. Have a good afternoon, everyone.” And like that, the band meeting is over, everyone talking at once.

  I stay on the couch for a minute, watching everyone, amazed and relieved that I didn’t get any pushback about Eli. Ever since we’ve been in the studio recording the new album, I’ve been trying to figure out how to convince everyone that bringing him along won’t be a problem.

  Now I just need to convince my parents to come with us. Somehow I think that will be a much harder sell.

  Dear Reader,

  Thank you so much for reading Marcus and Kendra’s story! I hope you enjoyed it.

  I realized I’d never written a friends-to-lovers romance before and wanted to try. Mash it up with a fake relationship to fend off a slimy, snake of an ex and here we are.

  If you liked it, please go leave a review somewhere. I’d appreciate it so much!

  I know you’re wondering about the next book. Danny’s book is coming in early November, 2018, if all goes as planned. It’s another fun one—a single dad and the nanny with the added complication of going on tour with a
two-year-old in tow. Be sure to join my Book Club to be the first to know when the new release comes out. You also get a free book just for joining!

  If you’re still in the mood for some rockstar romance, check out my Songs and Sonatas series. The first book, Double Exposition, is a romance between a former one-hit-wonder heart throb and a classical violinist (who was a fan when she was a twelve-year-old). Keep reading for a sneak peek, or click here to grab it now!

  Jerica

  Like all of my books, this is the product of my overactive imagination.

  But I couldn’t bring these stories into the world without a lot of help from other people.

  Thank you to Deb and Leslie for polishing my words and making sure everything is coherent and makes sense.

  Thank you to Danielle and Stasia for helping me with the cover design.

  To my ARC readers for taking the time to read and review my books, thank you.

  To my dedicated readers and my Book Junkies, thanks, as always, for coming along on this journey with me.

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