by Penny Dee
“To break up with me?” he asked desperately.
His words were like ice water on the face.
“Break up with you?” It was the most absurd thing I’d ever heard. I shook my head. “Why would I want to break up with you? It was just some stupid argument.” None of this was making sense. I looked at his beautiful, sad face and felt a another surge of fear. “Heath, what’s going on?”
Now he looked confused.
“You’re not here to break up with me?”
I shook my head.
“Heath, you’re scaring me. Why would you think I was here to break up with you over some stupid fight we had?”
He walked towards me. But instead of sitting on the bed, he sat on the floor with his back to the mattress. Then, without a word he dropped his head to his hands.
Puzzled, I kneeled next to him and removed his hands from his face, holding them in mine. Tears welled in his eyes. But there was also something else there, something I didn’t recognize on him.
Fear.
“Baby … please tell me what is wrong with you,” I whispered.
He hesitated, struggling to find the words.
“I saw you.” His glittering eyes found mine. “Today. I saw you.”
“What do you mean?”
“Back in California.” He looked at me and the anger returned to his face. “With Colton.”
My brain rushed to process this muddled conversation. “Wait. You came home today?”
“I wanted to surprise you. To apologize for our fight. So I took an early flight. Then I saw you …” His eyes filled with sadness. “When were you going to tell me you were back with Colton?”
Whoa … what?
“Back with Colton…? Oh my God, this is crazy.”
It was almost as if I had stepped into this conversation mid-conversation. None of it made sense. Why would Heath think I was back with Colton? Unless … oh hell …
“You saw Colton kiss me,” I said.
His eyes flared across at me. “I saw you kiss each other.”
Mine flared back. “I didn’t kiss him. He kissed me.”
“I didn’t see you push him away. From where I was sitting it looked pretty mutual.”
His words made me frown. I sat back from him, startled by his lack of faith in me.
“I don’t know what you think you saw, but if you think I kissed him, you are wrong. Yes, Colton kissed me. But did I kiss him back? No. Did I get back with him? No. Do I want to? No.” I raised my chin, slightly. “I guess you didn’t stick around long enough to see me punch him in the jaw for it either.”
His eyes shot to mine. “You hit him?”
A small smile flickered at my lips. “Floored him. Then I told him I didn’t want to get back together. That I couldn’t.” I bit my bottom lip. “Because I’m crazy in love with someone else.”
“You’re still in love with me,” he whispered. More to himself than me.
“Crazy in love with you.”
To my surprise his face suddenly crumpled. He pressed his hands to his eyes and then ran them down his cheeks with a moan.
“You’re really not going back to Colton…?”
“Is that what all of this was about?” I asked, confused by the sadness still in his eyes. “You thought I had stopped loving you over a stupid argument and was getting back with Colton?”
When he nodded I straddled him and took his face in my hands, holding him close to my lips. “I’m sorry you thought that. But I love you Heath. I promise you. I’m all yours.” I kissed him but there was still a hesitation about him. I pulled back. “Are we okay?”
He kissed me, this time deeply. He reached up and cupped my face in his hands, his big fingers firm against my jaw. His moan ignited the usual response between my thighs and I pressed harder against his jeans. As our kiss grew in momentum he rolled us, planting my back to the floor as he slid between my legs. His kiss was magnificently tender and passionate, his mouth and tongue keeping perfect rhythm with mine.
I sighed and shifted beneath him, pressing myself against the places that mattered in an attempt to quench the need growing inside me. Pleasing moans rumbled from his throat, pushing me forward, urging me onwards. My body pulsed; my pelvic muscles throbbed, feeling empty and wanting to be filled.
But to my complete disappointment, Heath abruptly ended our kiss and dropped his head to my chest.
I thought I heard him murmur, “I can’t do this tonight.” But I wasn’t sure. Things were weird. Really weird.
The day had rattled him and I didn’t want to push him. We were in unfamiliar territory, especially Heath, and I didn’t want to pressure him with a hundred questions.
He looked up at me. His eyes a dark blue. “I think I’m hung over.”
“How much did you drink last night?”
He sat up and entwined his fingers through mine. “It’s not from last night.” He looked down, his lashes fanning his cheeks. “After I saw you and Colton … let’s just say the flight back to Vegas is a bit of a blur.” He drew in a deep breath as if the thought physically hurt him. “When you got here I wasn’t taking a nap … I was passed out.”
“You drank enough to pass out?”
His dark brows shot in as he stared at my fingers entangled with his. “I just wanted it to stop hurting.”
I waited ’til I could see the blue of his eyes before I spoke. “I’m here now.”
He looked exhausted as he said, “I can’t believe how lucky I am that you’re mine.”
“Nothing is going to take me away from you.”
He looked down at our fingers entwined and whispered, “I hope so baby. I really, really hope so.”
Chapter Fifteen
HEATH
I didn’t tell her for any other reason than I’m an asshole and I wanted one last night with her. I’m a selfish ass, I know. But once I told her, she would break up with me and never let me see her again. And I couldn’t blame her. I was a cheating jerk and didn’t deserve her.
Keeping it from her tonight wasn’t the right thing to do, I knew that, but I needed something to hold on to once she was gone.
But my selfish intentions were quick to work against me because everything she did reminded me of just how much in love with her I was. It made my heart ache and I spent the night in agony, knowing she would stop loving me when she found out.
How could I have done this to us?
To her?
Despite my hangover I didn’t want to sleep. I wanted to savor every last moment with her; because in the morning I would tell her and she would walk out of my life forever.
But sleep crept up on me. Lying with her in my arms I was overcome with an incredible peace like I had never known, and in my contentment I fell asleep.
I woke up with a start, just as dawn was breaking across the city.
Harlow was in a deep sleep beside me, her breath quiet, her beautiful dark lashes fanning her cheeks. As I gazed down at her my body physically ached for her.
How on earth was I going to live without her?
For the briefest moment I considered not telling her, but immediately vanquished the thought. That wasn’t who I was. I may have been a lot of things, but a coward wasn’t one of them. There was no other option but to man up and admit that I had fucked up the best thing that had ever happened to me.
When Harlow stirred I kissed her gently on the top of the head and settled next to her, holding her warm body against my chest, breathing in the subtle scent of her, hoping to permanently etch it onto my senses so I could remember it when she was gone.
My stomach ached at the thought. I didn’t want her to hate me. I didn’t want her to leave me. Being with her made me a better person. She soothed my restlessness and turned an indifferent, angry man into a decent human being. But my insecurity had unraveled it momentarily, just long enough for me to fuck it all up.
Her gentle lips brought me out of my deep thoughts. She was looking up at me through sleepy eyes, her p
erfect mouth turned up in a small, contented smile.
“Hey,” she whispered.
“Hey, yourself.”
She curled her warm body around mine and I felt myself respond. She closed her eyes and her hand slid along the length of my chest and across my hips, brushing over my boxers, as a delicious hum escaped her throat.
Wandering fingers slid under the waistband and inside my boxers, wrapping warmth around me as she gripped me and began to slowly stroke. Another contented smile slid across her lips when she felt how hard she was making me.
Pleasure pulsed through me and I moaned. Instinctively I raised my hand to brush her hair from her shoulder and trace an invisible line down her throat to her breasts, sighing as a sweet, pleasurable pulse began to beat beneath her fingers.
I bent my head to kiss her mouth and she murmured against me. Short sweet kisses grew deeper and longer. As another pulse of pleasure shot through me, I sealed my lips over her mouth in a long lingering kiss, savoring the moment and how amazing she felt against my lips.
She stopped stroking and took my hand, placing it between her thighs where my fingers slid easily into her wet warm body. She sighed softly and I groaned, desperately wanting to be inside her. I rose up and kicked off my boxer shorts in one swift movement and moved myself between her legs, positioning myself against her.
As she looked up at me, her eyes heavy lidded with desire, I gently, slowly, pushed into her.
She sighed and moaned, then licked her lips as I pulled back, only to push back into her, deeper and right to the hilt. She gasped and moaned, and adjusted her hips to wrap her legs around me, pulling me deeper into her. The pleasure stalled me and I stopped to catch my breath. The sensation was incredible. Her skin was so warm. So smooth. So wet. As she raised her arms to engulf me in her embrace, she pulled me tightly to her, which forced me deeper into her.
Pleasure filled every part of me. Like nothing I had never known. And I had to squeeze my eyes shut to fight off the urge to come. I wanted it to last. I wanted her to feel how I was feeling right at that moment. So I thrust deeper into her, making her cry out, but then stopped, and pressed myself hard against her.
Cupping her face in my hands I looked into her warm eyes.
“I’m so in love with you Harlow,” I said gently, meaning every word like I had never meant anything else.
She smiled softly and her long lashes were a gentle fan as she blinked. “I love you too.”
When I felt her pulsate around me, physical pleasure and love collided within me, forcing me to draw in a deep breath. If she kept doing that, I was going to come. But that wasn’t what this was about. I needed her to know just how much she meant to me.
“I want you to know that I’ve never felt this way. You make everything worthwhile.”
We made love then. Slowly. Purposely. Taking our time. Every movement purposeful. Every stroke penetrating deeper and deeper. I had never had sex without protection and the sensation was mind blowing.
As Harlow’s breaths came quicker she raised her hips to meet the slow grind of mine, her hands running up my back, her nails gently grazing my skin as she came closer to the edge. My name dropped breathlessly from her lips, “Oh Heath.” And her eyes closed tightly as she pulsated around me, her tight wet body throbbing against me. Her neck tilted upwards and her back arched, her hands gripping into my shoulders and the sheets around us.
One more thrust into her and I was gone. I squeezed my eyes shut and stars cartwheeled across my brain. All the oxygen in my lungs escaped and my body stiffened as the most incredible pleasure overwhelmed me. Warmth and light drugged my senses. Joy and ecstasy seeped into every pore. Goddamn.
My head fell to her neck and I buried my face in the warmth of her skin. “Oh baby,” I shuddered, spilling into her in what had to be the longest orgasm in my life. I didn’t move. Couldn’t move. I was paralyzed by the euphoria that overwhelmed my brain.
We were both still as we caught our breath and our bodies cooled. Finally, I raised my head and she looked up at me with lazy contentment. Christ, I was so in love with her, it hurt.
We stayed entwined for the longest time, with me still inside her.
When I finally went to move she held me still with her legs, pinning me against the slick skin of her naked body. She clenched and released around me, the slippery warmth of her muscles furling and unfurling, making me harder.
Slowly. Without words. We made love again. This time lazily, our bodies working together in a perfect, slow rhythm. She came again, clutching the sheet around us and moaning. My orgasm came as a surprise, from out of nowhere, to completely devastate my already hazy brain.
Afterwards we lay sprawled, exhausted and naked, on the bed. I was spent. Stoned by the magic we had created. Twice. I didn’t even know that was fucking possible.
“Today is your big day,” she finally murmured, her arm draped across my chest.
My fingertips swept across the length of her smooth limb but paused as I realized I had completely forgotten about our performance at the festival today. Since Harlow arrived I had been too caught up in telling her what a cheating loser I was to even think about Vengeance’s performance at the festival.
“Are you nervous?” she asked.
I turned and looked her in those fucking amazing piercing eyes, and shook my head. “No. I haven’t really thought about it.”
She smiled. “That doesn’t surprise me. You take everything in your stride. I wish I had half of your confidence.”
The love I saw looking back at me gave me brief hope. Maybe she would understand. Maybe when I explained the situation … the misunderstanding … the pain … thinking she had gone back to Colton …
“Baby, I need to tell you something.” I felt my heart thunder against my chest.
She cocked a brow. “You look so serious.” She grinned but it faded when she realized I was serious. “Is everything alright?”
“Being here with you, it’s perfect …”
Her eyes softened and she smiled sweetly. “We are pretty perfect together.”
“Yesterday, when I saw you with Colton, baby it killed me—”
“Heath, nothing is going to come between you and me. I love you.”
She smiled that amazing smile and I just couldn’t do it. I just couldn’t bring myself to tell her what a jerk I had been!
Fuuuuuuuuck!
It felt too good, lying across from her, seeing her look at me like that, seeing how much love she had for me, seeing how incandescently beautiful she was. I couldn’t do it. The words weren’t there. I looked for them, I really did, but that smile …
She sat up and her dark hair cascaded over her smooth shoulders.
“Okay mister rock star, you need to hit the showers. This is your big day. You need to be ready.” She winked and ushered me off the bed.
Under the shower I let the hard spray of water wash over me, hoping it would wash away some of the guilt consuming me.
Christ, it was getting harder to tell her. If I waited for the right time … well, there wasn’t a right time to tell the girl you were crazy about that you had cheated on her with a girl whose name you didn’t even know.
I had missed my opportunity to say something today. Now I needed to mentally prepare for the show and get my headspace right. It would have to wait now, until tomorrow. I shivered. Fuck.
The shower screen opened and there was Harlow, perfectly naked in front of me. Flawless and alluring, her dark hair fell around her face and tumbled in waves down her back. Every perfect, amazing inch of her naked body was smooth and tanned. And the look on her face. Goddamn!
Despite my guilt. Despite my shame at not telling her. The glorious sight of her made parts of me pulse and grow. Again.
As she stepped into the shower her eyes fell in that directon and her mouth curled into a sexy closed-lip smile. She looked up and her bright green eyes glittered with wickedness. They rolled over me like I was a delectable piece of dessert that she
was about to devour.
“Again?” I laughed as she reached for me.
Her tongue slid up the length of my neck. “Again, and again, and again,” she whispered.
Hell, who was I to argue?
* * * * *
HARLOW
Vengeance performed a late afternoon time slot just as the sky turned a soft shade of pink and gold. It was a magical time of day. The searing summer heat was cooled by a breeze that blew across the music festival, bringing an atmosphere of excitement amongst the 20,000 strong crowd.
Piper and I watched from the sidelines, perched on stage risers. When Vengeance appeared on stage the crowd erupted with appreciation and goosebumps covered every inch of my skin.
From the moment he opened his mouth, Heath owned them. His voice was powerful, his pitch clear, his tone perfect. His charisma won the crowd over as he spoke to them in between songs, usually whipping them into a frenzy and leaving them wanting more. It was easy to see that this was a band that was going to conquer the world someday. And it was hard not to grin like a fool as I watched my man strut his sexy ass across that stage.
Their set was only fifty minutes and it went by so quickly. But the crowd wasn’t finished with them. Twenty thousand people chanted as one, demanding an encore: Vengeance, Vengeance, Vengeance.
So the guys obliged with another two songs. And Heath’s dimples were deep as he walked back on stage to a thunderous applause.
When they finally came off stage, he was pumped. But I didn’t get to see him straight away. People—industry types—flocked to them. Piper and I watched from our vantage point on the stage risers as they talked with their manager and several people I didn’t know. Heath looked up and caught my eye. He winked and smiled.
When he finally got to me he stepped between my legs and I wrapped them around him tightly as he stretched up to kiss me.
Piper squealed and leapt off the riser into Jesse’s arms, who then whisked her away to meet a singer from one of the headlining bands.
“Come down here and kiss your man properly,” Heath said.
