by Vivian Lux
His fingers spread wider and this time his pinkie caught the sensitive peak, sending a spark through my body. A little sound escaped my lips before I could catch it.
"Thank you," Jules said.
"For what?" I was breathless and my brain didn't seem to be working properly anymore.
He chuckled. "For answering my question."
I licked my lips. "Now what?"
Before he could say anything, my stomach growled.
"Oh that's lovely."
"You'd better not be making fun of me considering it's you're fault I didn't get anything to eat."
He shrugged. "Well then? Let's go get you some food."
"Here? I can't go back in there. Not after the stunt we just pulled."
"So come with me. I saw a place on the ride over here. Looked terrible." He grinned and extended his hand.
I hesitated. Boundaries. Distance.
But his hand closed around mine again, and suddenly there was no distance between us at all.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Jules
It was the kind of place you could smell before you could see it. I'd passed it on the mad drive up here - tailing August like I was James fucking Bond himself - and pegged it for an old fashioned greasy spoon. The heavy aroma of frying oil hung around it in a cloud. I bet it was one of those places that had different kinds of pie rotating inside of a glass case.
I was right. Thank God and all the saints a-fucking-bove, I was right, because now I got to watch August Waverley devour a slice of bright-red cherry pie.
She slid her fork down through the whipped cream first and licked it greedily from the tines. Then she broke the crust and let the cherries ooze out onto the plate before scraping them up with the side of her fork. The way her lips closed around that bite of cherry pie had me ready to write an entire rock opera in their honor. I was transfixed.
She sat up straighter, looking suddenly alarmed, then dove for her purse. When she emerged with her phone in her hand, my heart sank a little. Partly because I wanted to keep watching her eat, mostly because I didn't want to share her with whoever was on the phone. But I was attempting to not be an asshole. At least, not an asshole to her. Eric could go fuck himself.
"All right, love?" I asked as she read the message on her screen.
Her shoulders rose in a deep sigh as her fingers flew over the keypad. "My brother," she said by way of explanation.
"Which one? You have a lot of them"
She set her phone down and glanced at it again. "I'm talking to Leo, who's the oldest after me about Tate, the middle guy."
"He's the one having trouble at uni?" I ventured.
She shot me a grateful glance. "Yeah," she said. "I asked Leo to see about getting in touch since I hadn't heard from him in a few days." She shook her head. "That's not like him. He usually checks in twice a day."
"Maybe he's too busy shagging sorority chicks," I teased, reaching for an extra fork.
She batted my hand away from her pie. "My little brother is pure as the driven snow, thank you very much."
"Aye love. And so am I."
She rolled her eyes. But to my surprise she put her phone away. "You have a point," she said slowly.
"Ah love, I know what that cost you to say that. To admit I'm right."
"I didn't say you were right, I said you have a point," she corrected with that little just of her chin I was falling in love with. "He clearly needs some space, since he's not calling me back." She sighed again and then shrugged and picked up her fork, attacking the pie with renewed vigor. "It's just," she said, pausing to lick a bit of cherry from the corner of her pinkened lips. "I keep having this weird feeling, you know? Like there's more to it." She shook her head. "Probably just being a control freak."
I feigned shock. "You?"
"Hush it." Another bite of pie disappeared into her mouth and a slow, mocking grin spread across her lips. "Oh, sorry," she said. "Did you want some pie? There isn't much left."
I chuckled and held her gaze. "I am definitely in the mood for something sweet."
She shook her head and glanced at her phone again. "We need to be getting back," she sighed. "You guys are looping vocals tonight."
I shrugged. "I don't do vocals, love. No need for me to be there, really." I shot her a grin. "I was only going to be there for moral support. Planned on grabbing a 12-pack and heckling Hudson."
"That's terrible."
"Well, and I also planned on seeing if I could wear you down." I grinned and reached out to scrape my fork against her plate. "But it seems I've already accomplished that goal."
She grinned tightly. "You're the worst. What if they need you?"
"For what?"
"I don't know, to keep time or something."
"That's what the click track is for."
I slid my hand across the table and tried to take her hand but she moved it away. "Well I have to be there, anyway, so..."
"No, love. You actually don't. No other manager on the face of the planet is this wrapped up in the day-to-day of studio-life."
The corner of her lip twitched. "What are you saying?"
"Nothing bad of course." This conversation felt like a plane spinning into a nosedive and I was trying my hardest to yank up on the controls. "It's just... you keep trying to treat this process like a business, you know? With the schedules and the time-tables and the bloody wake up calls. This is rock and roll, love. We're trying to make fucking magic and to do that you sometimes just need to take a bloody day off and shag someone you fancy." I winked.
She pressed her lips into a thin, white line. "See, this is it. Right here."
"What is what?"
"Why I don't date fucking musicians." She stood up. "You think it all just happens? That this shit just magically comes together? No, you smug Brit, it's because I work my bloody ass off for you guys. And that's exactly what this is, work. We work together." She shook her head. "And it's a giant mistake to get involved with someone you work with."
I stood up. "So make a fucking mistake for once, love."
Her eyes flashed.
"I'll tell you what," I said. "I'm going to let you walk away from me again. You've got two directions you can head. One is out that front door. If you do that, I'll drive you back to the cabins and drop you off without laying a hand on you, you have my word. But that'll be the end of it. No more games."
"And what's the other direction."
I leaned in closer. That flush was spreading across the tops of her tits and I knew if I pressed my hand to her heart it would feel like she was running as fast as she could. But she was standing still. Staying.
"The other direction is to the bathroom, love," I told her, brushing my lips past her ear. "You head in that direction, I know you're ready to fuck everything up. Make the best mistake you could make."
She shivered a little. I could feel the heat rising off her skin and it was only the fact that we were standing in a half-empty restaurant that kept me from tearing off her clothes. "Ready to walk away?" I asked her, before I lost control and just threw her onto the table and fucked her right here.
"Mmm," she hummed. Not a real word. Not yes or no. She was still protecting herself. Still playing.
"Calling your bluff, love," I said. And deliberately stepped back.
She looked at me, eyes darting all over my face like she was trying to read me like a book. "Close your eyes," she suddenly demanded.
I had to chuckle. "Still trying to control it?"
"Give me a head start. Count to thirty."
I held her gaze for a moment. And then I deliberately closed my eyes. I took a deep breath. "One..."
I heard her walk away. "Two." The clink of glasses. "Three." I strained to hear a door, any door. "Four." A waitress greeted the couple waiting in the booth behind us. "Six." Was that the front door opening? "Seven." Was that someone coming in or going out? "Eight, Nine, Ten," I sped up the counting as my heart rate increased. "ElevenTwelveThirteenFourteen.
" How fucking stupid was I to agree to this?" "Fifteen..."
"Fuck!" I growled and opened my eyes, scanning desperately for August's flame-red hair. She was nowhere to be seen.
Heart sinking, I started making my way to the front door. I pushed it open and looked for her silhouette in the van.
She wasn't waiting in the passenger seat. Or the driver's.
I turned and sprinted headlong to the bathroom door.
Chapter Twenty-Four
August
I wrenched the lock back and flung open the door.
He was standing there, breathing hard like he'd been running. When his eyes met mine, I felt my whole body shiver in anticipation. They were too dark. Too dangerous. If I looked too long I might fall in and never come out again. But I couldn't look away.
"All right, love?" he rasped.
I stepped back from the door. "I still don't date musicians."
"Fine. I can respect that. " He stepped forward, wedging his foot against the door. "But you never said anything about getting fucked by one."
Heat pooled in my belly. His eyes were black pools and I was drowning without even trying to make it to the surface. Just falling deeper into the abyss.
"Then what are you waiting for?" I taunted.
He lifted his hand, brushing up into my hair in a touch that was almost feathery, and I remembered that this was the man who played the drums so delicately in 'No Promises.' The skill in his touch made me shiver.
Then he closed his fist around handful of hair and yanked me to him. His mouth slammed into mine, silencing the snarky comment that had leaped to my lips and it died away completely the second his tongue found mine. Before I had any idea of what I was doing, I was raking my fingers through his hair, tangling them in his curls and pulling him closer to me.
He backed me up, slamming the door shut behind him and locking it with one quick motion. He paused for one second, searching my face for an answer.
I launched myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck in a half embrace, half chokehold. His mouth found mine again and his kiss was an all-out assault on my senses, but I pushed back, matching him in intensity. Our tongues swirled, sparring for dominance, until I pulled back with a gasp.
"What are we doing?" I demanded indignantly, even though I knew. I wanted to hear him say it.
He shrugged out of his jacket, letting it fall to the floor before taking my face in his hands. "I think it's pretty fucking clear what we're doing," he growled, taking my lower lip in his teeth.
I hissed around his mouth. "You're a pain in my ass."
"You need to be spanked so hard you can't sit down, love. Then you'll know what a real pain in the ass is." He growled as he dragged his lips down my neck, his teeth nipping, his mouth sucking and I sagged against him, turning my head to give him my neck as I peppered his collarbone with teethmarks.
But it wasn't enough. I needed more. I was out of control. I was making a huge mistake and instead of fighting it, I was rushing headlong into it, and the idea of fucking everything up was so exhilarating that I yanked my T-shirt over my head and shrugged out of my bra. "You're the bane of my existence," I hissed, pressing my naked tits against him to give him more skin to suck, and sink his teeth into. "You make my life hell."
He slid his hands up my thigh and under my skirt. I groaned when his finger slid against my slickness and sank my teeth into his chest. I helped him as he tugged my panties down to my ankles, not even caring that the seams popped and ripped. He gathered the fabric of my skirt in his fist and used it as leverage to yank me against him again. I slid my hands down his flat stomach and down the front of his jeans. He hissed as I closed my fist around his cock and I loved having him at my mercy.
"I can't stand to even look at you," I taunted him, sliding his hand between my legs. His eyes widened at how wet I was and then darkened as I wrapped my leg around his waist. With a growl, he reached into his back pocket and pulled a condom out of his wallet. The sight of him unrolling it down his length sent a downward rush through my core. I had to wrap my arms around his neck to keep from sagging to the floor.
He cupped my ass cheeks, lifting me higher in position. "Fuck you," I hissed as he pressed the head of his cock at my entrance.
"Go right ahead," he invited.
I wrapped my leg tighter around his waist and we both gasped as he slid inside.
He drew back a little before he thrust, slowly at first, letting me feel him. The he sank in, all the way to the hilt and then held himself there.
I groaned, wiggling around him, needing him to move. "Go!" I begged. "Do it!"
"You like me in here? You like my cock inside of you, love?"
"Fuck you."
"I am fucking you," he retorted, slamming into me with everything he had.
I yelled, wrapping my leg tightly around him and drawing him even higher. "You are," I moaned. "Now fuck me harder!"
Chapter Twenty-Five
Jules
Everything I had. That's what I was giving her.
The harder I fucked her, the tighter she clung to me, pulling me inside of her so that I felt like our skin fused together.
"August..." Her name came out of my mouth without me meaning to. I wanted to say something more, but her name and,"Fuck," were all I could manage, the only words that made any sense right now. What the fuck was I doing. What the fuck were we doing? Fucking in a dirty diner bathroom...this wasn't right, this wasn't what I wanted.
But I wanted her. And if the only way to have her was to slam her up against the tiled wall and let her rake her nails down my back, then so fucking be it.
"I want to hear you," I told her, sliding my hand down in between her legs. My thumb found her clit, and I rubbed in tight circles in time with my frenzied thrusts. She squeezed her eyes shut, her whole face straining with the need to keep silent. She arched into my hand, grinding herself against me as I fucked her, hips bucking as I felt her muscles tightening around my cock. "Open your eyes," I growled when I knew she was starting to lose control. "Look at me and say my fucking name when I make you come."
Her eyes snapped open and blazed at me, but she clamped her lips together, denying me the sound of my name. With a growl, I thrust higher, making her yelp, her lips falling open as I massages her clit with the heel of my hand. "Fuck," she whimpered, and I could feel the muscles fluttering inside of her,
"No. That's not my fucking name." I rasped. "Close. But not it."
She silenced a scream, swallowing it back down into her throat. She shook her head wildly, her curls bobbing frantically. I slowed my thrusts, deepening each stroke. Her lips fell open and I felt my cock twitch, and that white heat start coiling in my belly. Watching her, seeing her fall apart like this, I wasn't going to be able to hold out for much longer. I bent and sank my teeth into her shoulder, growling in a voice I barely recognized as my own. "Say my fucking name, August."
"Jules!" Angry. Giving in. Surrendering. And suddenly she was coming, her head thrown back, her teeth gritted together, she squeezed her eyes shut and let out a strangled noise. As if she was trying to resist this.
As if she was trying to resist me.
"Fuck," I snarled, pulling out.
Her eyes flew open, and she glared at me indignantly. "Where the fuck are you going?"
"Nowhere," I told her, grabbing hold of her hips, I spun her around. "I told you I was going to spank you," I reminded her. "Only reason I'm not taking your across my knee is there isn't enough room in this place.
"You wouldn't dare."
"You underestimate me, love." I brushed my hand over her smooth, round, ass cheek. "In fact, I think that's been your problem all along."
I lifted my hand and cracked an open-palmed slap across her ass. A shocked, "ah," fell from her lips, but before she could react any further, I spread her legs wider and slid into her from behind.
She was my hell, but she felt like heaven. "Yes," I hissed, as I sank back inside of her,
"Fuck," sh
e yelled again, reaching back to grab hold of my hips, wanting me to give her everything I had, but still wanting to control it. "No, love. This round I'm in charge." I grabbed her hands and and pinned them against the wall, high above her head. With one hand I held her there, while I pressed the palm of my other hand against her clit. Holding her there, thrusting in time with my strokes on her clit, while she swallowed little yelping noises each time I slammed into her from behind, I lost control.
"August," I growled, nipping at her earlobe. "You're mine," I told her. The words sounded so fucking right that I repeated them each time I fucked into her, "You're mine, you're mine, you're mine," and then she was coming again, hot and wild, her back arched and it was too much for me to hold back any longer, and I came harder than I'd ever come in my fucking life.
For one beautiful moment, I was holding her as she slumped back against my chest. Her head lolled heavy on my shoulder. I bent to kiss her on hers.
She whirled around, her expression unreadable. I didn't know if she was ready to kiss me or slap me, but it was sort of a mixture of both as she slammed her mouth it to mine. She kept her eyes open, watching me as she took my lower lip. Watching me as she bit down until my eyes widened. Then she pulled back, smiling, and I knew that was her way of marking me, telling me that I was hers.
Fucking finally.
I turned and grabbed a paper towel out of the dispenser and ran it under the hot water. I handed it to her. She said nothing as she cleaned herself off. Only lifted her chin when she was done.
"All clean," I nodded.
Her lip twitched. "Like it never even happened."
"You want to pretend that? We back to playing games now?"
She didn't answer me. "I'm going out first," she said instead.
"Whatever you want love," I said.
She nodded silently and slipped out the door. I waited, holding back, wondering if she'd understood me. She probably thought I was agreeing with about leaving the bathroom one by one so no one saw us together. But I meant so much more than that.
