Driving Tempo

by Raine Thomas

  Her eyes widened when she saw his naked torso for the first time. Not only was he totally cut, his chest and shoulders were nearly covered in tattoos, and shiny metal gleamed off a nipple piercing. When he bent his head towards her breasts, she saw that his back was equally covered in ink. She couldn’t have been more shocked.

  Or more turned on.

  She didn’t think about his tattoos or piercings after that. She thought about his lips. She thought about his tongue. She thought about his clever fingers.

  She thought she was going to lose her mind if he stopped what he was doing to her.

  As though sensing her thoughts, he rose up to claim her mouth again. She lifted her hips to press against him as their tongues mated, seeking relief from the sensual torture he was imposing on her. He pressed back, their bodies mimicking what they both wanted.

  She reached down and unfastened the button of his jeans. The zipper went next. Her hand slipped in and ran along his hard length through his boxer briefs. His responding groan had her positively aching for him.

  Their mouths didn’t part as their hands maneuvered beneath the clothing covering their lower bodies. She gasped against his mouth when she felt his fingers on her. Just a single brush of his thumb had her quivering beneath him. She knew it wouldn’t take long before he sent her over.

  Wanting to give him equal measure, she grasped him firmly in her hand. She stroked him as his hips met the desperate rhythm of hers, using her thumb to caress the spot that had him growling in approval. Moisture trickled along her palm, telling her he was close.

  She was too. If Sage moved his fingers one more time—

  Pleasure exploded through her. Light sparked behind her eyelids as the orgasm crashed over her. She didn’t know if she cried out or screamed or if all of that was in her head. She barely registered Sage’s answering shout as he gave a final thrust in her hand and then shuddered heavily against her.

  Her next conscious thought was that Sage was lying on top of her...and it felt exactly right. Everything with him was always like this. She could only hope he felt the same.

  Would he feel guilty about doing this with her?

  He stirred, pushing himself up on his elbows and meeting her gaze. His wide smile told her he wasn’t feeling very remorseful. Her heart beat freer with giddying relief.

  “That was incredible, Rose,” he said, brushing his lips against hers. “I’ll admit that I didn’t expect our first kiss to go quite like that.”

  She laughed. “No kidding.”

  “I’d also like the record to show that I’m not usually so embarrassingly short on stamina,” he added as he reached for a towel and began cleaning both of them off. “That’s never happened to me before.”

  She smiled. “Duly noted. And in full disclosure, it’s never been like that for me either.”

  A knock on the door disrupted the moment. “Pillow talk later,” came Keith’s voice. “Quit hogging the only handy sex spot.”

  Rosemary jerked into a sitting position and straightened her swimsuit. Sage rolled his eyes as he rose and tossed the used towel into the dirty towel bin. Rosemary got to her feet, grabbing any towels they might have touched and tossing them in the bin too.

  “Have a little self-control, Con Man,” he called out as he retrieved his shirt and glasses and put them back on. To Rosemary, he said, “Guess we’re busted.”

  A laugh escaped her. He smiled and reached over to fix her hair. The tender look in his eyes had her heart pole-vaulting around in her chest.

  “I look forward to our second kiss,” he said in a low voice.

  “Me too.”

  He brought his lips to hers one more time and then opened the door and stepped out of the shed. She trailed after him, trying to look blasé about having been caught in a compromising situation. Keith stood a few feet away, Sydney standing slightly behind him looking nearly as red-faced as Rosemary surely was.

  Keith’s vivid blue eyes settled on Sage. “You kids have fun?”

  “About as much fun as you’re apparently about to have,” Sage replied.

  “No one’s having that much fun,” Keith drawled as his hand glided around Sydney’s waist and pulled her closer to his side. “You two being careful?”

  Sage frowned. “Huh?”

  “I mean this isn’t usually your thing. Do you have any flak jackets for the little general?”

  Rosemary muffled a laugh by pressing her face into Sage’s chest. She felt him heave a sigh.

  “First, there should be no ‘little’ in that sentence,” he said. “And second, while I appreciate your concern for our well-being, we don’t anticipate needing any flak jackets.”

  Rosemary tried not to let his statement bother her. In reality, nothing had changed after what they had just done. Sage hadn’t said he was no longer planning on a future with Kaila. He hadn’t made Rosemary any promises or even hinted that he might down the road. He had said he was thinking about things.

  Well, maybe she needed to give him more to think about before this tour ended.

  One of Keith’s dark eyebrows lifted as he glanced from Rosemary back to Sage. “Uh-huh. Just see me when the time comes.” He started walking past them into the shed, tugging Sydney along behind him. “Now if you’ll excuse us...”

  The door closed behind them. Rosemary fought more laughter over the entire exchange. When Sage looked down at her and saw her expression, he issued a chuckle of his own.

  “We have no boundaries around here,” he said.

  “That’s okay. My friend Monique is the same way. It’s nice that all of you care about each other so much.”

  “It has its moments.” A feminine moan from inside the shed had them exchanging glances. “Guess we better rejoin the others.”

  “I think you’re right,” Rosemary said as another sound issued from beyond the closed door.

  She took Sage’s hand and headed back to the pool. She was glad to see that the cameras were focused on the other band members at the moment. It crossed her mind that they might pick up some of the noise from the towel shed.

  If so, she prayed she hadn’t been quite as loud as Sydney or she knew she’d never live it down.

  Chapter Fifteen

  “You were totally louder,” Lily teased her sister later that night.

  She snorted on a tipsy giggle when Rosemary groaned and covered her face with her hands. They were sitting side-by-side on the loveseat in Lily and Dane’s hotel suite. Sydney and Noelle, who had been invited to participate in their girls’ night, sat on the sofa across from them. Several bottles and glasses decorated the table they were using as a footstool.

  “I don’t know,” Noelle said, slanting a look at Sydney. “It was pretty close.”

  “How would you know?” Lily joked. “You had your ears covered the entire time.”

  “It’s like listening to your brothers have sex,” Noelle complained.

  “Eww,” they all said at the same time.

  “Exactly.” Noelle lifted her glass of tequila and orange juice as though toasting them and took a long swallow. “Now, whose turn is it?”

  “Mine,” Lily declared. They had been taking turns asking questions that they all had to answer. “I think we’re all drunk enough now for me to ask this one. Though probably not you, Syd.”

  “Hey,” Sydney argued. “This is my second drink, and that’s two more than I’ve had in years.”

  Lily snorted again. Two drinks in more than seven hours wasn’t really drinking at all. But Sydney was smiling and her eyes were shining, so maybe the alcohol was affecting her a little.

  “All right then. This is less a question than a share. First time stories.” She turned to Rosemary to begin the response cycle.

  “Ugh,” Rosemary said, making a face that had all three other women laughing. “Kyle Drummond. I met him in a marketing class I took at a local community college when I was nineteen. We dated for a couple of months and then went for it.”

  “How’d it
go?” Noelle asked.

  “Let’s just say that was the one and only time we had sex. The chemistry just wasn’t there. Even though it was my first time I could tell that much.”

  “Must have made the class awkward after that,” Sydney commented.

  “We had finished the class by then, thank God,” Rosemary said. “How about you, Noelle? Did you know it was girls for you from the get-go or did you ever try riding a stick?”

  Lily choked on her drink. Sydney’s mouth fell open. Noelle laughed so hard her glass tipped precariously until Sydney reached over to right it.

  “God, I see why Sage likes you so much,” Noelle said when she caught her breath. “I experimented with guys and girls. Fooled around with some girls in my early teens before I really knew what the hell sex was. We just called it ‘playing doctor’ or whatever. Then once I learned more about the mechanics, I gave it a whirl with Tony Neil in the backseat of his Dodge Charger my freshman year of high school. It wasn’t as bad as most stories I hear. He got me off first. That’s more than I can say about some of the other partners I’ve had.”

  Lily smiled. She was glad Noelle had joined them. It was fun getting to know her better. The time they had spent together in the past had always included Dane, and they would never talk about things like this around him.

  “Your turn, Syd,” Lily said, taking a sip of her Lemon Drop Martini.

  As expected, Sydney’s face turned pink. “Well...it was with Keith.”

  Lily saw Rosemary’s eyes go wide and knew she was considering Sydney’s age. Noelle quirked an eyebrow but didn’t seem overly surprised. Lily wasn’t surprised at all.

  “Really?” Rosemary asked. When she got Sydney’s nod, she pressed, “And?”

  Sydney shrugged and took another sip of the pre-mixed margarita she’d been nursing. “It was amazing.”

  “Come on, Syd,” Lily said. “This is full disclosure. Circle of trust. Time to share.”

  If possible, Sydney reddened further. “He was really, uh, attentive.”

  “He got you off?” Noelle asked in her blunt way.

  “Oh, yes,” Sydney said with a satisfied smile. “Four times.”

  Now it was Lily’s mouth that fell open. She wasn’t alone in her reaction. Noelle and Rosemary looked equally stunned.

  “Damn,” Noelle breathed, drawing out the word. “Four times? Holy shit. Respect to Con Man.”

  “Yep,” Sydney said with a laugh. “Now it’s your turn, Lily.”

  “How am I supposed to follow that?”

  “You started this one,” Rosemary reminded her. “Now wrap it up.”

  “All right,” Lily said, tossing back the last of her drink. “But I’m regretting this now because mine is by far the most embarrassing. It’s also a horrible cliché. Brian McAlister, senior prom, a room at the Days Inn. It hurt like hell. The only good thing was that he was done quickly. Like record time.”

  Everyone laughed, even Lily. “I called Dane afterward,” she added between giggles. “He had to listen to me cry for thirty minutes.”

  The laughter leaped into hysterics at that. Noelle had to put her glass down to avoid spilling. Lily wiped a tear from the corner of her eye as she tried to get herself back under control.

  “Your turn, Rosie,” she said.

  Rosemary settled back into the loveseat cushions and rested her glass of vodka and cranberry juice on her stomach. “Hmm. Let’s see. How about your most awkward sexual encounter? First time stories don’t count.”

  “Oh, that’s easy,” Noelle said. “Before I met Mandy, I got caught by my parents having sex in their RV. They walked in on me servicing a groupie.”

  “That’s a doozy,” Lily agreed as she leaned forward and prepared a new drink. “Let me guess, Syd...this afternoon in the not-so-soundproof towel shack?”

  “Got it in one,” Sydney said with an embarrassed smile. “I blame the piña colada.”

  Noelle snorted. “I don’t know. The promise of four orgasms would have me open to semi-public sex.”

  “Oh, Lord,” Sydney said, fanning herself. “You’d better be right about that circle of trust.”

  “Afraid of being the envy of women everywhere if this gets out?” Rosemary asked with a wiggle of her eyebrows.

  Lily elbowed her sister in the side. “Don’t worry, Syd. The only ribbing you’ll hear about this will be from us, and you have plenty of ammunition to hit us right back.”

  “On that note,” Sydney said, “what’s your awkward story, Lily?”

  “Okay.” She sat back with her fresh drink and took a sip before continuing, “The second guy I had sex with wanted to try this position he read about in a magazine. Halfway through, my legs cramped up so hard I cried out from the pain and his roommate came charging into the room. I could barely get myself straightened out and covered up.”

  Rosemary slapped a hand over her mouth but it didn’t mask her loud laugh. “Oh my God,” she said through her hand.

  “Did you call Archer that time too?” Sydney wondered.

  “Hell no,” Lily said, earning more laughter from everyone else. “Save me, Rosie. What’s your story?”

  “Sorry, Lil,” Rosemary said, her voice rich with laughter. “My most awkward moment was when Timothy Ketterman called out his ex’s name the one and only time we had sex.”

  “Ding, ding, ding. And Lily is once again the big winner,” Noelle said, reaching for her glass and lifting it in another toast.

  Lily made a face at her. “Har har.” She glanced at her sister. “What’s with the hit-it-and-quit-it sex stories? Two guys with only one go each?”

  Rosemary lowered her gaze, making Lily feel rotten for teasing her. “Yeah. My luck with guys hasn’t been all that great. Monique calls me a One-Hit Wonder. The only three guys I’ve had sex with only lasted one time each.”

  “You mean...you’ve only had sex three times?” Noelle asked.

  Rosemary nodded.

  Lily reached over and rubbed her arm. “What happened the last time?”

  “It was a photographer we worked with a lot on our events. He didn’t tell me that he was leaving for a job in Europe until after we’d had sex. He just went. I never heard from him again.”

  “What a fucking pig,” Noelle declared.

  “Amen,” Sydney added.

  Lily scooted closer to Rosemary and put an arm around her. “You deserve better.”

  “Thanks, Lil.”

  “You have better in Sage,” Sydney said. “You two seemed pretty happy with how things went today.”

  Rosemary met Noelle’s pointed gaze and then focused on her drink. “Yeah.”

  “Did you two—?” Lily stopped herself, feeling like she was prodding too much.

  “Not full-on,” Rosemary replied. “Just testing our chemistry.”

  “And it was just as hot as I told him it would be,” Noelle said with a satisfied smirk. “He’ll realize he’s been wasting his time pining for Kaila.”

  Lily’s eyebrows lifted. “Is that what you want?”

  “Yep,” Noelle said without hesitation. “None of us particularly like her. She’s never bothered to get to know us. She barely seems to tolerate us when she attends band events, which is hardly ever. There’s no way she’s miraculously going to start supporting Sage’s career choice. I think she’s been waiting all this time for him to come to his senses and realize he wants to do something different with his life.”

  “So why is he pining for her?” Sydney asked.

  Again, Noelle and Rosemary exchanged a look before Noelle said, “You’d have to ask him. Now, enough serious stuff. Let’s find out the strangest places we’ve each had sex.”

  They continued with their Getting to Know You questions—not all of which involved sex—for another hour before Noelle left to get some sleep in her room. Thirty minutes later, there was a knock at the door. Lily rose and looked out the peephole as she had been instructed by Ryan, who stood out in the hallway. Keith waited on the other side. />
  “Uh-oh, Syd.” Lily called out. “Looks like your girls’ night is coming to an end.” She opened the door. “Hi, Keith.”

  She wondered if she’d ever be able to be around him again without thinking of Sydney and her four orgasms.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?” he asked as he entered the room.

  She was too tipsy to even be embarrassed. “Like what?”

  “Like you’ve never met me before.”

  “Circle of trust,” Sydney blurted as she hurried towards the door.

  “What?” Keith asked.

  “Nothing,” Sydney assured him, leaning up and brushing her lips across his. “Guess it’s time to call it a night, huh?”

  “Yeah. Did you behave yourself?”

  “A little.”

  “Then that means you didn’t behave a lot.”

  Lily easily sensed what was brewing between them. “Okay then,” she said, walking back over to the door and pulling it open. “Too much testosterone in here. It’s starting to feel like a scene from Fifty Shades. Out you go.”

  Keith and Sydney immediately headed to the door. Lily didn’t think they even remembered she was standing there.

  “Did you read Fifty Shades?” Keith asked Sydney as they moved out into the hallway.

  “Yep.”

  Keith’s answering roguish smile had Lily closing the door on them and blowing out a breath. “I seriously doubt they’re going to call it a night any time soon,” she said as she moved back into the living area.

  Rosemary laughed. “Lucky Sydney.”

  “Indeed.” Lily took her seat beside Rosemary, angling her body so she faced her sister. “So now that we’re alone, why don’t you tell me how things are really going between you and Sage?”

  Her forehead furrowing, Rosemary said, “I wish I knew. It’s all so confusing. He’s a great guy. We definitely have something. I just don’t know what.”

  “Has he said he’s still waiting for Kaila to commit to him?”

  “Before this afternoon, that was still the plan. But he said some things today that made me wonder.”

  “What things?”

  “He said I was making him consider why he’d been holding out hope for a future with her. He needed some time to think it all through. Then we kissed and, well...”