Front & Center (Book 2 of the Back-Up Series)

by A. m Madden

  “Yes and no. I also love what I do, but it can be torture as well. This is my third tour. I can’t see myself doing this for much longer.”

  “What would make you leave?” Scott asks.

  “A family. If I had a wife and kids, I’d be in corporate behind a desk.” Dylan glances up at me briefly before looking down into his beer.

  An uncomfortable silence falls over us until Jack turns towards me and asks, “Are you ready to see some of New Orleans?”

  I nod at his question.

  “You guys gonna continue drinking the day away?” He asks, looking directly at Hunter. In response, Hunter picks up yet another shot and downs it.

  “Oscar, do you mind leaving?”

  “Of course not. It’s my job.” Oscar is always extremely professional with us.

  “You two better not be shitfaced for our show tonight.” Jack says to his band mates before standing and pulling me up as well.

  “Can’t promise that.”

  Jack shakes his head and leads us out onto the street that is crowded with tourists. The daylight hits me, causing me to squint. “I feel like we’ve been in a cave for hours.”

  “Me too. I needed air.”

  Jack, Oscar and I walk down the narrow streets of the French Quarter. I feel strange having Oscar trailing us like a chaperone. I hold my tongue anyways. We stroll into shops and Jack buys me a few little trinkets as souvenirs. I buy my postcard marking this stop on the tour. When we get to the Mississippi, he hands his phone to Oscar. “Can you take a picture?”

  “What’s gotten into you?”

  “We need to build memories to tell the grandkids some day.”

  Oscar takes a shot of us with the river behind us.

  “Great pic, you two. You are going to make gorgeous babies.”

  Oscar’s words thrill me. Having children with Jack is a prodigious event I cannot wait to occur in our future…now more than ever.

  Jack nuzzles my neck and whispers what I am thinking. “I can’t wait for you to have my babies.” His words send shivers down my spine and instantly turn me on. He may as well have asked me to fuck him right here on the side of the Mississippi.

  “I’m done sightseeing.”

  He smiles at me and responds, “Well, yay.”

  It’s about twelve minutes later when Jack and I stumble through our hotel room door, clamoring to try and remove our clothes while still attached at the lips.

  He kicks the door shut with his foot before pulling away breathlessly. “God, I need to be inside you so bad.”

  “Stop talking.” I rasp before pulling him back to me. The burn he started at the river has become an unbearable throbbing in between my legs. I yank off my clothes, and then assist in helping him remove his. Once we are completely bare, I push him to sit on the edge of the bed and straddle his hips.

  I lower myself onto his shaft and he curses under his breath. I feel the same way. The fullness takes over my senses, the pressure instantly relieved. My insides are ablaze with pure ecstasy. I tangle my fingers in his hair and cover his mouth with mine. His moans rumble through me, further igniting my fire.

  I take complete control over the situation, unashamedly using him to pleasure myself. I move over him repeatedly until a painful tightening begins low in my belly. It spreads to my core, controlling me completely. His breathless pants in my mouth indicate how close he is getting. I take his entire length and bury my face in his neck, fingers still tangled in his hair and surrender to my climax. It seems to go on forever and drains me completely.

  Jack mumbles something against my neck and tenses beneath me as he digs his fingertips into my back, holding me flush against him. Once he slackens his grip, I remove myself from him and crawl onto the bed.

  “I feel so used.” He says, smacking my ass playfully.

  “Sorry, baby. I need to take a quick nap.” I murmur, my eyes closing heavily.

  He aligns his warm body behind mine, pulling me close to him. His arousal is still obvious on my backside. I wiggle closer and he grumbles, “Knock it off or I’m fucking you again. Sleepy or not.”

  My giggle prompts him to slide his hand around my body towards my breast. He runs a fingertip around my nipple, and it responds under his touch. He tugs my earlobe between his lips and whispers, “Still sleepy?”

  “Hmm, yes.”

  “Buzz kill.”

  “Just give me a few minutes.” I mumble and bury my head in the pillow.

  He traces a finger down my back over my ass and repeats the pattern on the other side. His touch causes me to break out in chills. Still struggling with an internal battle within me, between sleeping and attacking.

  I turn to face him, still conflicted when he lifts himself and pulls the comforter over my body. The warmth and coziness I’m engulfed with, as well as his gentle caresses, take hold of my subconscious and I drift to sleep.

  Chapter 21 - Jack

  I can stare at her for hours. It still amazes me that she has managed to completely alter me as person. She has profoundly changed my life. How can that happen? I was never one to believe in soul mates. I was too ignorant to know that when you found the person you fall in love with, you lose all control. I was stupid to think that I could avoid it, that I would always call the shots.

  I meant what I said to Hunter at the night of our engagement. The thought of ever losing her brings with it a panic that permeates every fiber of my being. My love for her is irrefutable, undeniable. It’s a fear I’ve never known before, an anxiety that cripples me. I memorize the lines of her face, her swollen lips. Her beauty takes my breath away.

  I gently run the pad of my thumb across her bottom lip and she stirs slightly before opening her eyes. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “About an hour.”

  “I need to shower.”

  “Me too. I’ve been waiting for you.” I wiggle my eyebrows comically.

  She giggles and stretches lazily. The comforter falls away, exposing her from the waist up.

  “Baby, you are so beautiful.” I bend to take her nipple in between my lips. She buries her fingers in my hair, holding me to her breast. “We don’t have much time.” I say, before taking her other nipple next. My actions are belying my words, until I reluctantly pull away.

  “Let’s shower.” I lift her and carry her into the bathroom.

  “Multitasking again?”

  “It’s what I do.” Seconds later, we are under a warm stream of water, lathering, groping and stroking each other wild. I wrap myself around her, pressing her against me from head to toe. My cock protruding between us is the only space I am allowing. I hold her head in my hand, tilting it up to search her eyes with mine. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too.”

  I cover her mouth with my own, devouring her lips. She opens and gives me access, which I readily take. My tongue probes and mingles with hers. While kissing her passionately, I lift her and gently slide into her warm channel. She accepts every inch of me.

  Her iron grip on me further escalates my salacious intentions. Her moans drive me wild as I pump faster and harder. She doesn’t have to use words to tell me she is close. I can feel it. I can feel her taking hold and not letting go. She cries out as I hit her sweet spot over and over. My primal grunts echo off the tile walls of the shower.

  “Fuuuuck.” I croak as I empty into her with every spastic thrust I make.

  “Holy hell.” She whispers into my neck. “You truly are going to be the death of me.”

  “I can say the same to you, Mrs. Lair.”

  “We are out of control.”

  “So?” She unlatches her ankles and straightens her legs. Still keeping a tight grip on her, I slowly and regretfully pull out. “I can stay in you all day.” I admit my thoughts.

  “That would be interesting.” She smiles and wipes the drops of water out of my eyes. “We’re pruning.”

  I look down at myself and smi
rk. “Speak for yourself.”

  I watch as she follows my gaze and purses her lips trying to contain her laughter, but she fails miserably. I shrug and hand her a towel, helping her step out of the shower.

  “You’d think Little Jack didn’t just get some.”

  “You really need to come up with a better name, baby.”

  Her eyes on me have me growing stiff once again. She shakes her head, “Does he have a mind of his own?”

  I laugh at her comment. “Unfortunately.”

  She smacks my chest. “Stop. We have to get ready.”

  While we scramble to get ready for rehearsals, she suddenly stops and says, “How about J.J.?”

  “What?”

  “Jack Junior.”

  “That would knock out calling our son J.J.”

  She shoots me a look.

  “Fine. J.J. Happy now?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good, now hurry up and put some clothes on, or J.J. is going to get restless.”

  

  Leila and I walk through the lobby of the House of Blues, and she keeps looking around, taking everything in. “I can’t believe we are in the House of Blues.” she says for the eighth time.

  She looks up at me and frowns. “Aren’t you impressed at all?”

  “Sure.”

  “But we are in the House of Blues.” I can’t help but laugh at the look on her face. “Let’s get you a House of Blues postcard.”

  By the time we get to the stage for rehearsals, the guys are congregated on stage animatedly having a vociferous conversation.

  “What’s going on?”

  “We’re top ten!” Hunter yells at us.

  “No shit?”

  “No, man. Jen just called Dylan. We’re fucking top ten!”

  Leila and I exchange wide smiles. “This is surreal.”

  “I know.”

  Dylan appears with a bottle of champagne. “Congratulations, you two.” He pats my back and gives Leila a quick hug.

  “Which song?”

  “Committed and High Life.” Scott beams. “Two…two fucking top tens!”

  Dylan pours out a round and raises his own cup to make a toast. “You guys should be really proud of yourselves. The studio couldn’t be happier with your success. I spoke to Louis this morning. He would like to extend his congratulations. He also would like to tell you all there will be a celebration planned for us in Miami.”

  “Woo hoo!” Hunter yells.

  Dylan grins at Hunter’s enthusiasm. “You can invite anyone you like. Transportation costs will be on the studio. One more bit of good news.”

  We all wait expectantly at what Dylan is about to share. “You guys will have some special guests here tonight. Jessie, Liam, and Cruz from *Bayou Stix are attending.”

  “Are you insane?”

  “Nope…Jen called to tell me. They are on a tour break while Jude is on his honeymoon and heard you guys were playing tonight. They will be coming backstage after the show to meet you all.”

  “HOLY SHIT!” Hunter roars and starts twerking to non-existent music as Leila falls into a fit of giggles.

  “Jack, man…*Bayou Stix! Do you remember all the nights we sat listening to their CDs on our roof?”

  “Yeah, Hunt. This is pretty amazing.” It’s true. It is amazing. It’s sometimes hard to wrap my brain around all that is happening to us. These guys deserve this…we all do. Their excitement is palpable, and it’s infectious. I watch my best buddies celebrating this awesome news and my fiancé being passed around among them, forcing her to join in their antics.

  I also witness Dylan turn towards Leila while smiling warmly. There is sadness in his eyes as he watches Leila dancing with Hunter animatedly. Dylan looks away and locks eyes with mine. He turns and leaves us to our celebration.

  What I just witnessed disturbs me. Our tour manager still has feelings for my fiancé. I trust Leila implicitly, but it upsets me knowing he still wants her.

  As the group resumes their loud, boisterous celebration, Leila pulls away from Hunter and comes towards me still laughing.

  “He’s crazy.” She frowns and asks, “You ok?”

  “Yeah, I’m fine.”

  “I can’t wait to talk to my dad about Miami.”

  “Hey, I sort of have a confession to make.”

  She looks up worried. “What’s wrong?”

  “I was going to surprise you. I already invited our parents and siblings to Miami.”

  She bites her bottom lip before responding, “Um. I know.”

  “What?”

  “Evan told me.” She looks up wide-eyed. “Sorry, baby.”

  “I wanted to surprise you.”

  “It’s the thought that counts.”

  “Damn, Evan.”

  She drags me closer to the festivities. “Come on. We need to celebrate.”

  After a few toasts and a short unproductive rehearsal, Leila and I retreat to our dressing room to get ready for the show.

  I am no longer allowed to solicit sex before our shows. Apparently, her routine takes longer than mine, and I was cutting into her prep time. I don’t see what the big deal is. She’s gorgeous and doesn’t need all that fussing. When I said as much, she impatiently explained that having sex minutes before performing was messing with her frame of mind. She uses the time before our shows to relax and mentally prepare herself. I was upsetting that balance.

  Whatever.

  So now I sit in a corner, like a punished toddler, watching as she goes through her preshow routine. It’s been hard as fuck. Knowing she is sitting there, practically naked, messes with my own frame of mind. By the time we hit the stage, I want to bend her over Hunter’s drum set and fuck her senseless. It does add an element to our show, having me walking around horny as fuck. I’ll give her that much.

  “Hey, babe?” I call over to her while she is applying her makeup.

  She looks up with her doe eyes and my cock twitches in my jeans.

  “Fuck. Don’t look at me like that.”

  “Like what?”

  “Like you have no clue how much you are torturing me right now.”

  She smiles devilishly. “Ok, I won’t look at you at all.” She looks down at her cluttered vanity smirking. “What?”

  “What?”

  “Jack, you just were about to ask me something.”

  “Oh, yeah. Um, do you think Dylan still has feelings for you?”

  She snaps her eyes to mine in the mirror. “What? Why would you ask me that?”

  “Just the way he looks at you.”

  “He doesn’t look at me a certain way.”

  “Yeah, he really does. I was curious if he’s ever mentioned your relationship after we left New York.”

  She levels me with her gaze and shakes her head. “He’s been nothing but professional with me. Jack, he also really cares about both of us…not just me. He is a friend and nothing more.”

  I walk towards her and place my hands on her shoulders. “Babe, I’m not bringing this up because I suspect something is going on between you. I just was curious if he’s ever discussed his feelings with you.”

  “No. But if he were to, I would reiterate what I said in New York.”

  “I know.”

  The announcer gives us our ten-minute warning over the PA system. This is always her cue to get dressed. She kisses me chastely before she heads for the bathroom. Leaving me swimming with thoughts of what would have happened, if she and Dylan had started a relationship instead of us. When she emerges, I’m neck deep in a visual of Leila holding a baby with sandy brown hair and big blue eyes.

  “What are you thinking about?”

  “Nothing.”

  She wraps her arms around my waist, skimming them up my back soothingly. She looks incredible in her tight jeans and fitted top. Her topaz eyes search mine for an indication to my thoughts. Her lips beg to be kissed.

  “You’re lying. You have this scowl on your face like you just tasted something awful.
”

  “Just the opposite, babe. The scowl is from the lack of tasting something sweet and delicious.”

  “Liar.”

  I slant my mouth over hers in a searing kiss. “Mmm, delicious. Not quite what I really wanted a taste of, but it will suffice for now.”

  Our five-minute warning is announced. She shakes her head subtly and says, “Saved by the bell.”

  “I can accomplish a lot in five minutes.” I wiggle my eyebrows as she puckers her brow.

  “No way.”

  “Buzz kill. Come, let’s go tear up the House of Blues.”

  Chapter 22 - Leila

  “Is this like a bachelorette party?”

  “No. It’s just me and the girls hitting a club and having a girls night out.” I walk over to him sitting in a chair in the corner. Our hotel room is gorgeous. The studio went all out for us here in Miami. Jack is dressed in dark denim and a grey cotton t-shirt that always drives me wild. The color is an exact match to his eyes.

  He opens his arms, giving me access to his lap. “Don’t you trust me?”

  “Of course I trust you. It’s every cocksucker walking around with a major hard-on that usually frequent dance clubs in Miami that I don’t trust.”

  “You’ve never been to Miami.”

  He shoots me a look, causing me to laugh.

  “Sorry. Babe, we will be fine. No one will come near me with Juan trailing us. Please don’t worry.”

  Juan is a huge hunk of a man. Oscar requested an addition guard from *Orion to escort us tonight. He convinced the studio he couldn’t be in two places at the same time. Because of his sheer size, Oscar explained Juan would be better to escort the ladies tonight and Jack reluctantly agreed. But he is most definitely not happy about it.

  Jack claims the man has the hots for me. How he can assess that after a ninety second introduction is absolutely ridiculous. I didn’t want to further upset him. So instead, I slowly unzipped his jeans and lowered to my knees as he kept ranting about the way Juan’s eyes focused on my body instead of my face. Once I wrapped my lips around his cock, he stopped talking.

  Unfortunately, the effect of my blowjob has definitely worn off, because he’s restarted his rant.