Damon saw me staring at him. He raised an eyebrow.
What? He mouthed silently.
Nothing, I replied, suppressing a smile.
It looked like Damon had taken my words to heart. He was trying, for Ian's sake, to be pleasant around his brother's girlfriend.
"We were thinking of hitting a club," Cameron told Hope. "Get a few drinks to celebrate your arrival."
"You don't need to celebrate just because I'm here," Hope said.
"Shh," Cameron said in a fake whisper. "We're just using you as an excuse to get hammered."
Hope laughed.
"Do you really need an excuse for that?"
"We haven't gone out on this tour yet," Cameron said. "We've been too busy. But I know a guy who owns a club in this town. I can get us the VIP treatment."
Ian turned questioning eyes to Hope.
"I know we were planning on spending some alone time together…"
"No, it's fine. Besides—" Hope leaned up to whisper in Ian's ear. His grin turned wicked. I was pretty sure I didn't want to know what she was telling him. Probably something dirty.
Normally I would have been uncomfortable at the thought. Now that August and I had been together, I couldn't help but wonder what sort of dirty, naughty things we could get up to in the dark, secluded corners of a busy club.
The thoughts made me flush.
"What are you thinking right now?" August asked me in a hushed, teasing tone. "Your face is red."
I let my fingers wander, briefly brushing his.
"Maybe instead of telling you, I can show you later?"
I was amazed at my own audacity, but the fiery look that flared up in August's gaze made me glad I'd said it.
I turned back to Ian and his girlfriend, only to find Hope staring at me and August, a small smiling playing on her lips.
I quickly brought my hands back to my lap.
August and I hadn't discussed whether we would tell anyone about us. I was perfectly content with the two of us keeping it quiet for now. I didn't know how the other guys would react. It could have been judgment, disapproval, or teasing. Either way, I didn't want to deal with that while I was still navigating this new relationship.
But from the way Hope's eyes were shining as she looked at the two of us sitting together on the sofa, I had a feeling at least one person had figured it out.
"If we're going out, let me get dressed up into something appropriate," Hope said.
She was wearing a blue cotton dress with tights. Did that mean I should change, too? I hadn't packed anything I would imagine girls wore to clubs; no short skirts or tiny tops.
"Cassie, let's get ready together," Hope chirped.
I blinked.
"What? Why?"
"'Cause it's fun. We can do each other's hair and makeup. Come on."
I was still flummoxed as Hope grabbed my hand.
"Great," Cameron moaned. "This is going to take hours."
"Give me thirty minutes," Hope promised.
She dragged me to one of the large bathrooms, lugging her suitcase behind her. Shutting the bathroom door behind us, she turned to me, eyes sparkling.
"So. You and August?"
Chapter Nineteen
I let out a half-cough, half-squeak as Hope guessed the one thing I'd wanted to keep secret.
She laughed.
"It's okay. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."
"Are we that obvious?"
"If you don't want the others to find out you and August are together, you don't have to worry. Men are oblivious."
"Thanks," I muttered.
"Am I right by guessing you don't have any club clothes?"
"Do leggings and baggy shirts count?"
"You look about my size," Hope said, eyeing my chest and hips. "I'm sure we can find you something."
Ten minutes later I was wearing what Hope called seven-dresses-in-one.
"It's my go-to outfit," she explained. "The skirt can be worn long or short and the top can be as low cut as you want."
I looked down. The top certainly was low cut, showing off my cleavage in a spectacular way.
"This thing makes my boobs like huge." I turned and examined how close to my butt the hemline stopped. "And my legs look like they go on forever."
"That's the magic of this dress."
Hope put on a short black skirt and a shimmery halter top. Neither of the two of us looked scandalous. Our important bits were covered in all the right places. Still, the outfits accentuated our natural assets.
"What do you usually do with your hair?" Hope asked. She had just finished putting hers up into a high ponytail.
I touched the loose strands falling around my face self-consciously.
"Um. This?"
"How about an updo?" she suggested. "The club can get really hot. The last thing you want is sweaty hair sticking to the back of your neck."
Sitting on the edge of the bathtub, I let Hope mess around with my head.
"I feel like Sandy in Grease," I said.
"Hm, it's more like the Breakfast Club." Hope absent-mindedly poked another bobby pin through my hair. "We're not turning the good girl bad, we're turning the weird girl—"
Hope cut herself off with a choked cough.
"Not that you're weird!" she hurried to say. "Just that, you know, you're the artsy type, is all. I'm sorry," she flushed. "I didn't mean to insult you."
I laughed at the horrified expression on her face reflected in the mirror.
"It's okay. I've been called a lot worse things than weird."
The flush on Hope's face slowly went away as she put the finishing touches on my hair, parts of it braided and twisted and pinned to the back of my head. I stood in front of the mirror.
"Do I look okay?" I asked nervously.
"August will want to throw you on the bed and rip your clothes off," Hope declared.
"Was that the whole point of this?" I asked.
Hope gave me a cheeky grin.
"Only partly."
Exactly twenty-eight minutes after we entered, we stepped out of the bathroom.
Ian's eyes went wide, then narrowed, a devious expression on his face. I wondered if Hope got the idea of having clothes ripped off from experience.
Cameron whistled.
"Looking' good, ladies. And on time too. Impressive."
"Are going now?" Noah asked.
I looked to August, anxious about his reaction.
His eyes roved all over my body, from my chest, to my hips, to my legs, and back up again. Slowly, carefully, as if savoring every detail.
Damon lowered his phone, already on the line with the taxi company.
"The cab can only hold five," he said.
"Cassie and I can take a second cab," August said immediately.
Hope's grin widened. The guys didn't seem to give it a second thought.
"Let's go guys," Hope said. "We can head down and meet the cab now. August, Cassie, you guys head over when your cab comes. That work?"
"Yeah. That definitely works," August murmured, not taking his eyes off me.
I shivered at the heat in that gaze, warmth flowing from my cheeks, down my stomach, to the apex of my thighs.
A single look and I was ready to rip my clothes off myself.
The others left. It took less than a second for him to cross the room and bury his hands in my hair, ruining all of Hope's hard work as he kissing me roughly.
"You look fantastic in that dress," he murmured against my lips.
"Better than my leggings?"
"Those are hot, too." August growled into my mouth. "Fuck, I can't wait to watch you come on my cock."
I flushed, taken aback and turned on at the same time. My insides pulsed, thinking about it.
"I don't know," I said playfully. "You've got a pretty talented tongue. I'm not sure anything can top that."
His eyes turned heated, a carnal glint behind ice blue.
"Is that a challenge?"
He placed his hands on my hips. He kissed me slowly, deeply, my nose filled with the virile scent my body now came to associate with August.
I returned the kiss, opening to him, allowing our tongues and lips and teeth to explore one another. He ran his tongue along my upper lip. I melted into him. He chuckled as he once again used my weak spot against me.
I clung to him tighter, that strange urge returning, the urge to hold on and never let go.
August moved his fingers from my hips to my breasts. He pinched one stiff nipple through my dress, tweaking and rolling between thumb and forefinger, before switching sides to play with the other. I moaned and squirmed at the onslaught.
"I hope you don't like this dress too much," he murmured against my lips.
"Why?"
"Because I'm going to tear it off you if you're not naked in five seconds."
"Don't, it's not mine," I gaped into his mouth. "It's Hope's."
"Then take it off before I rip it off."
She had been right.
I threw the dress and my bra hastily to the floor. He stared at my breasts, rabid hunger in his gaze as he saw me bare. He attacked one nipple with his mouth, sucking hard. I gasped. He played with the other before switching, sucking the left and tweaking the right. The sensations went straight from my chest to my very center.
While his mouth was occupied, I snuck my hands under his shirt, exploring his chest and abs. Running my nails lightly down smooth skin, I felt his muscles ripple. They flexed and shifted delightfully under my fingertips. I lifted the hem.
Now that I was so close and had permission to touch, I traced that tempting V shape of his lower torso. I used my thumbs to trace those lines from his hips and lower, until my fingers reached his belt. Fumbling, I unbuckled it and reached for the button on his jeans.
August took just enough time away from licking and biting my breasts to take off his shirt and kick off his pants, leaving him in his boxers.
A rapidly hardening length rose upward. With my mouth near watering, I wrapped my fingers around him through the fabric. He groaned, dropping his head into the crook of my neck. I stroked squeezed gently. He groaned again. Those sounds, the proof of his pleasure, inflamed my core. Wetness dripped between my thighs, my panties becoming damp.
Slowly, I reached inside his boxers. I lightly gripped him again. Silken skin over hard steel was a revelation. He pulsed and throbbed under my hands, the same way my insides pulsed and throbbed. Needy. Wanting.
I was empty. Aching. I needed something to fill me. And I knew there was only one thing that could satisfy that craving.
I tugged at his boxers.
"Off," I demanded.
"So eager to have me inside you?" he murmured into my skin.
"Yes," I nodded emphatically, no shame whatsoever.
He bent down to remove his boxers, as I had commanded. I took the moment to wriggle out of my own panties, lowering them to the floor. When I looked back up, I stopped and stared.
August's lean, toned body stood tall, with his cock jutting outward, ragingly hard and weeping at the tip.
I wanted to taste it. I wanted to taste him. I craved it as much as I craved his lips, his kisses.
But that was for another time. He grabbed his jeans and rooted around in the pockets, pulling out a foil packet.
With his hands on my hips, he urged me forward until we were steps from the sofa. He pulled me down into his lap. His naked cock rested between the valley of my thighs. The tip bumped against my belly, absurdly large from this angle.
He saw my wide eyes and paused.
"What is it?"
"How are you going to fit?" I blurted.
"Don't worry." He took himself in hand, using the tip to circle my clit. I moaned, tremors shooting through me. He smirked, heated and wicked. "I'll make sure you take it all the way."
My inner walls pulsed with need at those words, begging to be filled.
"I want you," I breathed.
He ripped open the foil and rolled on protection. With two hands under my thighs, he lifted me up. The tip of his cock nestled between my folds, teasing at my entrance.
I took in shuddering breaths, anticipating. My wetness dripped down his cock, turning it slick and glossy.
My legs trembled as slowly, ever so slowly, he eased me down. His cockhead pushed through my entrance. I gasped at the intrusion as I parted around him. He continued pushing in, inch by inch, letting me get accustomed to his size.
It felt like the slide down took an eternity, like I'd been trying to take his cock for days. And I was relishing every world-shattering moment.
Finally, he was seated fully within me. I was back down in his lap, our thighs touching.
With a hand buried in the hair at the back of my head, he made me look him in the eyes.
"Tell me what you're feeling."
I swallowed hard. He didn't move, just sat there as I fluttered around him, small spasms gripping and squeezing.
"I need you to fuck me."
His eyes blazed, hot and bright. He rolled his hips, pulling out. In one sharp movement, he thrust back in.
I cried out, clinging to him.
"Like that?" he murmured, "You want me to fuck you like that?"
"Yes," I managed to say through a shaky voice. "Just like that."
With a snap of his hips, he plunged into me, again and again. I choked and gasped and cried out as he drove himself inside me. The flared head of his cock dragged deliciously against my inner walls, reaching places that had never been touched before.
I moaned his name. He gripped the back of my neck and smashed his lips to mine. The kiss was fevered, hot and wet. The thrust of his tongue matched the thrust of his cock inside me.
I shuddered in his arms as pleasure began to overtake me. He clutched me to his chest, so close I could feel his heart beating wildly against mine.
I whined and strained, clenching my thighs, fisting my hands, so close to the edge, but not quite able to fall over.
August pressed a thumb to my clit, rubbing in hard, rough circles, the small nub slippery wet.
That was all I needed. I shrieked as I tumbled off the ledge into the abyss, my world becoming dark even as unbearable pleasure raced through me. My lungs failed to work and my limbs failed to move as every bit of me tensed up, bearing down hard on August's cock, so hard I thought I might squeeze him out.
But he was firmly lodged within me. He groaned into my ears, finding his own pleasure as I pulsed and throbbed around him.
A distant part of me mourned that I couldn't feel him spill himself inside me, filling me up until I overflowed. The more practical part of me knew that wasn't the best idea, for many reasons.
Still, as his cock twitched and jerked, slowly softening, I longed for a day when we could be together, skin to skin, nothing held back, no barriers between us.
My breathing slowly returned to normal as I gathered my wits about me. My thighs burned from the exertion. Our skin gleamed with sweat.
I thought I'd felt content that morning we'd woken up together. Now I knew what real contentment felt like. And August had been the one to show me.
When the ache in my thighs became too much, I slowly tried to extricate myself from his grip. August clutched me to his chest with ragged breaths, breathing into my neck. I smiled to myself.
Maybe I wasn't the only one who didn't want to let go.
Chapter Twenty
After a quick clean up, August and I made our way to the club, fashionably late.
Loud music assaulted my ears the moment I stepped through the club doors. A blast of warm air from sweaty body heat hit my face. Strobe lights blinded me. I blinked as my eyes adjusted.
The place was packed with people drinking, chatting, and dancing — or to be more accurate, grinding and groping each other.
Someone jostled me as I stood in the entrance. I stumbled forward, nearly h
itting a tall woman in front of me. August caught me before I could cause a domino effect. He wrapped his arm around me, keeping others from bumping into me.
"How are we going to find anyone?" I shouted in his ear.
"Look up."
Following his finger, I saw a crowd of people in what looked to be a private room overlooking the dance floor, many of whom had brightly colored hair and alternative hairstyles.
Squeezing through the throng of bodies, avoiding feet and elbows, we ascended the stairs to the second floor and made our way to the lounge.
The party had started without us. No one thought to ask where we'd been.
I recognized some members of the opening band, but most of the people were strangers. Cameron and Damon were laughing with them and slapping them on the back. They could have been old friends, or they could have been random people they'd invited up from the dance floor.
"Cameron does love a party," August said.
I spotted Hope waving to us from across the room. She and Ian had situated themselves in a corner with some leather seating. They sat so close to one another she could have been sitting in his lap.
I didn't want to intrude on their privacy, since they no doubt wanted some alone time, but August saw her waving and guided me over. He kept his arm around my waist even as we approached.
I hoped Ian would take the flush of my cheeks as just from the heat of the club. August could have had his arm around me for a number of reasons. To keep me from tripping in my heels, to keep us from getting separated in the crowd.
I hoped he didn't read too much into it. When August and I told the guys, I didn't want it to be in a loud, busy club full of strangers. What if Ian disapproved and got upset? I didn't want an audience for that.
Because I wanted their approval, and badly, but I wasn't sure I'd get it. Not if they were still mad that I'd kept part of August's secret from them.
Nervously, I took a seat across from the pair. August sat beside me, sharing a love seat. That wasn't too suspicious, was it?
"Did your cab get lost?" Hope asked innocently, although I detected a mischievous glint in her eyes. "It took you a while to get here."
Hard Rock Deceit: A Rock Star Romance Page 12
