How the hell was I going to be able to work a relationship with Taylor Vaughn, when I refused to leave my cousin in the dark? I had some thinking to do, but things would work out, because I wouldn’t let anymore heartache befall me. We’d both had enough of that between the two of us to last a lifetime.
Chapter 26
Taylor
It was nearing three o’clock in the afternoon when we arrived at the venue. Braxton was sitting in a lawn chair by the bus, a baseball cap pulled low over his eyes. I assumed he was asleep, but once he heard the Tahoe come to a stop, he pushed the bill of his cap up and out of the way, greeting us with a small smile.
“How are the parents?” he asked.
“Same as always,” I shrugged, but the shit eating grin didn’t leave my face as I watch Cora head through the back door of the venue. She’d already bitched me out for having her back late, and the guys were going to give her hell for not being there on time. I just told her that I was the boss, and they could just get over it. That got me an eye roll that had me kissing the sass right out of her in the backseat.
“You look like a lovesick fool,” Ace teased, stepping off the bus.
“That’s because I am,” I admitted, proudly. “She’s finally mine, and I’m not letting her go.”
“I hate to be the one to address the big, fucking elephant in the room,” Cash said, narrowing his eyes at me. “But how the hell are you going to steal her away from Kane?”
“That, I don’t know,” I admitted.
“Well, you need to figure that shit out,” he replied, slapping my back as he walked past to go inside.
“He’s right,” Braxton agreed.
“I’ll talk to her,” I said, hoping they’d just shut up and let me have a moment where I could just enjoy the fact that Cora was mine and there were no issues with her health at present.
A hissing sound caused us to look up toward the gate. A sleek, black tour bus rounded the corner, announcing that our opening band, Witch’s Spawn, was arriving right on schedule. Ace tossed his empty water bottle in the trash and walked with purpose toward the bus as it came to a stop just on the other side of ours.
It seemed that Grant “Ace” Ryker had been a little overly helpful with the lead singer of Witch’s Spawn, Pressley Pittman. The last few shows, I noticed how he would go out of his way to talk to her, even going so far as to sit out by the soundboards during their show. His eyes never left the stage, even when several female fans would basically throw themselves at him as he made his way through the crowd.
Sure as shit, Presley rounded the front of the buses and Ace was there, showing his charm and smiling like a fucking dog in heat. The sexy lead singer just smiled and answered whatever he was asking, taking a moment to wave to Braxton and me as we stood watching our fearless leader slobber all over her. As soon as they were in the building, Braxton and I laughed until we both had tears in our eyes.
“He’s next,” Braxton chuckled, jutting his chin out toward our singer. “First you, and now him. I’m never letting a woman lead me around by my balls.”
“Oh, but it’s so satisfying when they do,” I teased, bumping shoulders with the man who never cracked a joke. It was nice to see this side of him. He was always very brooding and stoic, never dropping his hard ass features.
“Go find some work,” he griped, settling back into his usually grumpy self. “I’ll meet you inside.”
It didn’t take long before Coraline took a break for dinner. The venue catered our food for the night. They had their own cook and he served whatever the hell he wanted, but we were not complaining. Hamburgers and hotdogs were always welcomed when they didn’t come from a fast food joint.
I’d just made myself and Cora a plate when she drug herself over to the couch, looking exhausted. “Thank you,” she mumbled, accepting the plate I handed her. She made quick work of her meal, before laying on her side and resting her head in my lap. It was only six o’clock, and we had an hour before doors opened, so I let her sleep, but I wanted her comfortable. She’d only been out of the hospital three days. And as much as I wanted to demand she stay on the bus, I knew that she would kick my ass for suggesting such a thing.
I made my excuses and picked up my girl, carrying her out to the bus. When I reached our bunk, I carefully laid her down and whispered for her to scoot over. I pulled off her tennis shoes and made quick work of my own. I climbed inside and closed my eyes, happy that I could get some rest before the show.
Tiny fingers danced across my chest and immediately flicked my nipple piercing, causing my cock to harden painfully in my jeans. “If you keep doing that, we will never go inside.”
“Hmm,” she moaned, pressing a kiss to the cross tattoo on my side.
“I love you,” I whispered, pulling her closer. “I want to talk to you about something.”
“Anything,” she mumbled, her eyes blinking away the sleep.
“I want you to stay on with us,” I said, dropping the bomb that we all were worried about happening. “I know you are Kane’s, but baby, I don’t know if I can let you go away from me for that long.”
“I know,” she exhaled, reaching up to run her fingers over my jaw. “And I’ve been thinking.”
“Yeah?” I asked, hopeful.
“I think, for now, I’d like to do both,” she paused, pressing a finger to my lips when I started to protest. “Just for a little while, Taylor. Rita is ready to take over for me. I think I can get her trained during the first leg of their next tour. After that, I will be yours. I’ll work with you and when we are free, we could maybe go to a resort and spend some time…alone.”
“I’d like that very much,” I replied, smiling like a damned fool, but I didn’t care. The pressure of worry eased off my chest and damn, it felt good knowing that she’d be mine.
“I have another request,” I said, worried how my next question would go over. We hadn’t talked about the baby. Well, not in detail, and I knew it bothered her that she didn’t know what the baby’s sex would’ve been. It bothered me, too. I needed closure.
“What?” she asked, propping herself up on an elbow. I rolled to my side and mimicked her pose, so that we were eye to eye.
“I would like to get a new tattoo,” I paused, inhaling deep. “I’d like to get a small pair of angel wings on my wrist with “Angel” underneath them…for the baby. I know that we will never know if it was a boy or a girl, but I’d at least like to give it a name. I think Angel would be perfect.”
I felt her body shake, seconds before I heard the heart-shattering sob that wrenched from her chest. My arms immediately wrapped around her, pulling her as close to my chest as I could without hiding her under my skin.
“I’m sorry. Maybe I shouldn’t have said anything,” I said, rocking Cora in my arms and letting her cry against my chest.
“No…no,” she said, shaking her head. “I love it, Taylor. I never thought you’d want to name the baby.”
Hooking a finger under her chin, I pulled her to where I could look into her hazel eyes. Seeing the tears in them killed me, absolutely gutted me.
“Don’t cry, baby,” I begged. “I want to do it after the show tonight. I have a place that’s only a few blocks from here and I know the guy.”
“I want one, too,” she admitted. “Can I get the same one?”
“Matching, yeah?” I asked, hopeful.
“Yeah,” she smiled.
“I think that would be amazing,” I said, pressing my lips to hers. They tasted of her tears and love. I couldn’t even tell you how long we stayed in our embrace before Ace came out to the bus, cursing for all he was worth. We were late, and it was time to get back to work.
“After the show?” I asked as we walked hand in hand through the doors.
“Yes,” she smiled, standing on the tips of her toes to kiss my cheek. “Go, play your heart out and let’s get started on our life together.”
“On it, boss,” I laughed, smacking her ass as I made my way up
on the stage. Looking over my shoulder, I tossed a wink at her and found my mark on stage. The lights came up and I smiled the entire night, knowing that the little pixie was mine.
As we emerged from the tattoo parlor, I flipped over our joined hands and stared at the tiny reminder of our combined love. The tattoo wasn’t much, but it was enough to remember our Angel.
“I love you, Coraline Maddox,” I said, taking her face gently in my hands. “It’s time for us to move forward. No more running, right?”
“No, Taylor,” she agreed, shaking her head and looking at the matching angel wings on our wrists. “No more running. I love you.”
“I knew you would,” I chuckled, picking her up and spinning her around on the sidewalk outside of the tattoo parlor.
I kissed her in front of the world to see, because I’d finally found my place in the world, next to the stubborn little roadie who owned my heart.
Epilogue
Taylor
Four months later…
A week. That’s all we had to get my shit packed up into boxes and moved to Los Angeles before we were due back on the road. I’d put my place up for sale a month and a half ago after confiding in Cora that I needed to get away from Seattle and start over. When she told me that she wanted to stay in L.A. so she could be close to her cousin, I told her that I would start looking for a place near her condo. She laughed at me and told me that I didn’t need to do that because we already had a place, and she had plenty of room to store all of my equipment. So, in not so many words, Coraline Maddox asked me to move in with her and I happily agreed.
“Where the hell is Kane?” she growled, almost losing her balance reaching for some cups on the top shelf of my kitchen cabinet. I rushed up behind her, placing my hands on her hips to steady her. The little pixie couldn’t reach the shelf from the ground, so she climbed up on the counter and stood there like she owned the place.
“He said he’d be here in an hour,” I responded, sliding my hands from her hips upwards, slipping them under her shirt. Her soft skin met my fingertips and I looked up to see her beautiful hazel eyes darkening as she watched my hands move around to her stomach.
“Oh, really?” she smirked. I felt her body shiver and I knew it had nothing to do with the cold.
“Come here,” I barked, a little harsher than I’d intended.
My lips crashed down on hers, nibbling and demanding entrance. When I felt her tiny tongue press against mine, I was lost. We’d only been home twenty four hours and there had been hardly any packing done since we’d quickly realized we didn’t have to sneak out to the bus for a fast romp in the bunks. My bedroom furniture was already broken down, the mattresses lying flat on the ground, but that didn’t stop us. Hell, I’d taken her against the wall three times already.
“We need to hurry,” she breathed against my neck.
Wrapping an arm around her waist, I lifted her off of her feet and made quick work of her jeans, pulling them off in one fell swoop. I did nothing more than yank my fly down before entering her swiftly. I carried her to the kitchen table, which we’d found was the perfect height, and thrust deep several times. Soft mewls escaped her lips when I pushed her shirt and bra up around her neck. When she lifted her hands above her head, I paused in removing her shirt right to the point that it covered her eyes. My left hand grasped her tiny wrists, pinning them to the table.
“Feel, Cora,” I hissed, biting her earlobe and finding pleasure when she let out a soft gasp. “Let me love you.”
“Please?” she begged.
My lips found a rosy nipple, biting and sucking on it until it peaked tightly against my tongue. Repeating the process with the other one, I felt her clamp down on my cock and I knew she was close.
“Come for me, Cora,” I demanded. “Come on, baby.”
“Help me, Taylor,” she said, thrashing her head from side to side. “I…I can’t.”
“You better come before your cousin gets here,” I warned. I smiled to myself when I heard her gasp. The idea that we could get caught caused her to pause. I pumped faster, urging her to let go. When she kept moving her head from side to side, I used my other hand to reach between our bodies and circle her clit, pressing hard when I felt her go liquid around my cock.
“That’s it,” I said. “Come for me, Coraline.”
“Yesss,” she screamed, her release striking just as a fissure of awareness crawled up my spine. I felt myself let go and I collapsed when my body was finally spent.
We hurried to get cleaned up and thankfully we did, because her cousin showed up earlier than he’d said. I finger combed my hair and walked to the door, laughing when he walked in and looked at the place.
“What the hell have you two been doing? You should’ve packed more than this by now,” he cursed, glaring daggers at me. I could only laugh. “Oh, God! I really don’t want to fucking know.”
“Let’s get to work,” I chuckled. “Thanks for coming over.”
“Yeah, well,” he scoffed. “Once you move to Los Angeles, I’m going to have to remember to call you ahead of time, and not just show up at Cora’s place unannounced.”
“Yeah,” I said, slapping him on the back. “That might be a good idea.”
We worked for the better part of three days, throwing out things I wouldn’t need and packing the things I did. The last night in my old house was not a sad night for me. It was a beginning…a beginning with the little pixie roadie who’d stolen my heart and gave me something to live for.
The End…
About Theresa Hissong:
Theresa is a mother of two and the wife of a retired Air Force Master Sergeant. After seventeen years traveling the country, moving from base to base, the family has settled their roots back in Theresa’s home town of Olive Branch, MS, where she enjoys her time with family and old friends.
After almost three years of managing a retail bookstore, Theresa has gone behind the scenes to write romantic stories with flare. She enjoys spending her afternoons daydreaming of the perfect love affair and takes those ideas to paper.
Look for other exciting reads…coming very soon!
Fatal Desires (Fatal Cross Live! Book 1) Page 16
