The Price of Love (Rockin' Country Book 2)

by Briscoe, Laramie

  Hannah shivered when he moved the hair back from her neck and then attacked the side with his mouth, nipping and biting the skin there. Tipping her head back slightly, she gave him more room to work, the invitation to take it a step further. Her mouth opened as she felt his long fingers tangle in her hair and exert pressure, pulling it back further for him.

  “You like this?” he questioned as his other hand slid down her neck, stopping to cup her breast before moving further down her body. His fingers played with the hem of her skirt at her thigh before diving under. “You didn’t answer me.”

  Hannah couldn’t. Her throat felt like it had closed, and all she could do was nod and make noises. She reached out and gripped the table hard as his hand encountered the barrier of her panties. He pushed them aside and she moaned.

  “Answer me, or you don’t get it.”

  “Yes,” she whispered. “I like it.”

  He groaned then, removing his hand from where it was and moving it to her hip. He toyed with the string of her underwear there, before flexing his wrist and yanking, ripping them off her in the process. The next moment he was pushing on the back of her head.

  “Bend.”

  His command was terse, and when she didn’t follow through quickly enough, he layered his strong body over hers, pressing her against the coolness of the table. His hands went to her side where her arms lay and grabbed them, stretching her across the surface and then curled her fingers around the edge. “You hold on here,” he instructed, his breath hot against her ear.

  She nodded, not sure if he wanted her to speak. It didn’t matter anymore when he plunged hard into her, causing a sound she’d never heard from herself to rip forth out of her throat. She heard a similar one come from his.

  “It doesn’t last long with groupies,” he warned, his voice deep and dark in her ear. “I only care about one thing and that’s getting off, but with you, I’ll make sure you get yours too.” He licked the edge of her ear, nipping at her earlobe.

  Hannah wasn’t sure she could handle this, the feelings that were coursing through her body. He owned her; it wasn’t sweet, it wasn’t intense like normal, this was more animalistic than anything she had ever felt before in her life. “Reaper,” she breathed out, the choppiness making it sound like it was ripped from her body.

  “What did you say?” he asked, his fingers digging into her hip, bringing her fully flush with his body.

  “Reaper,” she moaned again.

  It was as if her calling him Reaper in that moment caused something to break inside him. He hauled her up from the table and plastered her back against his chest, never stopping the rhythmic thrusting into her body. Without warning he felt his body tighten and knew that it was going to be over, he couldn’t stand having his wife like this. She trusted him, more than he ever thought she would, and it did things to him, things that he couldn’t control. “Sorry,” he apologized as he pumped inside her body, biting her neck when the feelings became too much.

  Her breath was heavy as she felt the warmth spill out of him and into her body. She needed more, and she needed it now.

  “I got you.” His hand trailed from her hip to where they were joined.

  “Feels good,” she told him, her bottom lip between her teeth. Her hand trailed down her body and pressed his harder into her.

  “Show me how you want it.”

  She pressed his hand harder into her, pumping her hips against the touch there, going after what she wanted. “Faster,” she breathed.

  He complied with her request, using his other hand to palm her chin and tip her neck back so that he had free reign. When his lips landed at the sensitive spot where her neck and shoulder joined, she lost it. Thrusting against him, she dug the nails of her other hand in his forearm where she had been holding on.

  “You okay?” he chuckled, minutes later when their breathing had almost returned to normal.

  “I think I’d like to be your groupie again sometime,” she giggled.

  “Anytime you want, baby. You’re the best groupie I ever had.”

  Chapter Eleven

  * * *

  “I think you need to switch up that line right there,” Shell told Hannah as they sat at the soundstage, rehearsing for her upcoming tour that would start in a few days.

  “With the one before it?” Hannah asked. “It was an ad-lib to begin with, but I think you’re right, it sounds a little forced.” She reached down and made a note on the paper she had in front of her. “If y’all want to stop for lunch, I’m good with that.”

  Everyone agreed that they could use a short break, and Hannah took the opportunity to have a seat next to Shell.

  “You would never know that you have a CD coming out today. You don’t even look nervous.”

  “I am, oh trust me, I am. Did you not hear me getting up every hour last night?”

  “I thought so, but you know how I sleep, I figured it was just me having those weird dreams,” Shell laughed.

  “No, it was me. I called Garrett like five times last night, and each time, he answered, even though I could tell he was tired. So I stopped calling him.”

  Shell glanced at her friend and could see the dark circles under her eyes. It was obvious she’d had a hard night. “Been a long couple of weeks, hasn’t it?”

  Hannah nodded, tears in her eyes. “Spending that long stretch with him made this harder. I was afraid that it would, but I didn’t think it would be this much harder.”

  “I’m sorry about all the shit I’ve been putting you through,” Shell blurted out.

  Hannah shook her head. “What do you mean? I don’t understand.”

  “You know,” Shell sighed. “When you first met Garrett, I knew he was it for you, because I know you don’t give up your heart easily, I know you don’t let people in easily, and I know your feelings aren’t superficial. When you have them, they are yours and they are genuine. I knew right then that I would be second in your life.”

  “Shell…”

  “No, give me a second. That was hard,” she smiled. “Because we’ve been all each other had for so long. I was always the person that you deflected to. I helped you make decisions and I helped you navigate through this crazy life that the two of us lead. It was weird for me when you got married and I was no longer the person that you asked those questions of. I was a bitch about the house, and I’m sorry. You were right.”

  “You are one of my best friends in this world,” Hannah told her, hugging her around the neck. “But you have to make room for Garrett. I want nothing more than for you to love him the way you love me. I want you to coexist with him, not make it difficult for me to spend time with my husband.”

  “I get that now. Jared yelled at me over it.”

  “Jared yelled at you over that?” Hannah giggled. “How did he know?”

  Shell blushed. “Oh, I went to him, all pissed off at you and spouting off about what a brat you were and how you were all up Garrett’s ass and all this other stuff. He got mad at me and said exactly what you said. That I was being a bitch, and at some point, I had to let you make your own decisions. I’m sorry.”

  “I can’t believe Jared said that to you.” She laughed, holding her hand over her mouth.

  “Well believe it, sister, because he did.”

  “I do agree that maybe I could have decided to go about telling you the changes I wanted to make in a different way, but I didn’t know how to approach it, and I surely didn’t want you angry with me. As long as you’re still my BFF, I’m good. I don’t want the marriage to ruin the friendship.”

  “It’s not going to,” Shell assured her. “I know my place now.”

  Hannah shook her head. “No, I never, ever wanted you to know your place. I hate how that sounds.”

  “I don’t mean it the way you’re taking it. I’m saying I realize that I still have a place, it’s just not where it was before.”

  The two of them lapsed into a comfortable silence before Shell winked. “You are still
giving me the house, though, right? Cause I totally have plans for your room.”

  “Oh my God.” Hannah shook her head. “Yeah, we’re still looking for a house. I actually found one that I love last night online. I’m hoping that Garrett and I can go tour it soon. I contacted the agent last night, but he’s aware that we might have to tour it separately.”

  “I hate that for you, that so much of your firsts are separate.”

  “It’s the life that we chose to live.” Hannah glanced at her wedding ring and pushed it around on her finger. She wanted to call him but knew that with the time difference, he wasn’t yet awake.

  “Still sucks. Jared and I go through it a little, but we both know that if I wanted off, I could request it and you would let me do it.”

  Hannah opened her mouth to answer but stopped when she noticed a delivery man with what looked to be two dozen roses. “Can we help you?”

  “I’m looking for Hannah Thompson,” he read from the card.

  Not many people called her by her married name, so she wondered who had sent her this bouquet. “That’s me.” She stood up, pulling her hair behind her in a loose ponytail.

  “If you could just sign here, these are for you, ma’am.”

  She smiled when he called her ma’am. “Thank you so much. Your momma raised you with good manners.”

  He blushed and handed her the vase. “She did raise me up right. Congrats on all your success.”

  “Thank you,” she called as he left, searching for the card he had read off of. “Now who sent these to me?” Once she found it, she pulled it out of the bouquet and sat the flowers down on the ground, opening the envelope.

  Hey babe!

  Congrats on the #1 on iTunes! FaceTime me later so we can talk!

  Love,

  Garrett

  “It’s from the hubby, and he said I’m the top spot on iTunes right now. I haven’t even thought to check all day. I know that’s crazy, but you know I’ve been all about this rehearsal.”

  Shell was already on her phone. “Damn, girlie! He’s right! Congratulations!”

  “Thank you.” Hannah grinned, a bright smile on her face. She never expected any success, so when she got it, it was all the more exciting for her. “I wasn’t sure how well it would do since we did almost zero promotion.”

  “The name Harmony Stewart is an auto-buy for most people, and your fans are amazing. They don’t need months of promo; they just need to hear that you have new material out.”

  For that she was grateful and knew that she was so lucky and blessed. She worried that the break would change that. “Do you think they’re going to forget me while I’m gone? I’ve talked a big game, but I’m kind of worried about it.”

  “No, they aren’t going to forget you! They stalk your social media pages to see what you’re doing with that hot hubby of yours. When you start posting more with him, they’re going to be happy for you. There’s always going to be people that are pissed, no matter what you do, but there are also people that are going to be extremely happy for you. Let’s focus on those people.”

  Hannah quickly sent a text to Garrett thanking him for the flowers. She knew that he was awake if he knew she was in the top spot on iTunes, and that meant he’d either woken up early to check or he’d been up most of the night. Either way, she appreciated it more than she could say. “Have you decided what you’re going to do?” she asked Shell, pushing her bangs back from her face.

  Shell smirked. “Jared invited me on tour with him for some of the time. We’re still in that kind of awkward stage—you know, where we don’t know if we want to spend that much time together. But I also looked at some college courses online.”

  “Really?” Hannah squealed. “That’s awesome, Shell! What are you thinking of studying.”

  “Believe it or not, business management with a focus on the music industry. Belmont’s got a program. I feel like if you don’t want to do this anymore, I could take a young up-and-coming artist and not let them get into the bullshit that we did. That’s still a way off though, and I’ll need to look at program requirements and all of that stuff. It’s what I’m seriously thinking of doing.”

  Hannah hugged her friend. “I’m proud of you, and I’m so happy we’ve been able to get over this. I was worried when I told what I wanted to do, and the last thing I want to do is to ruin our friendship. I hope you understand that.”

  “I do. I had to get my head on straight, and you can thank Jared for that.” Shell tightened her arms around her friend. They had been through so much together, and it was always going to be her first reaction to protect Hannah and to try to do what was best for her, but it was time now for Hannah to fly. It was time for her to find her own place, and that place would always be with her husband, just like Shell was beginning to learn that her place was with Jared.

  “Enough of this mushy stuff. We have a few more songs to run through.” Hannah wiped her eyes.

  Before they could get the band rounded up, Hannah’s phone rang, and she saw the face of Garrett on the screen. She excused herself to the hallway and answered. “Thanks so much for the flowers, they’re gorgeous,” she told him before he even said hello.

  He laughed, the sound deep in her ear. “My pleasure, babe. I’m excited for you.”

  He sounded tired, very tired. “Have you been up all night?”

  “Well, we got done recording around two a.m. our time, and when I got home, I knew iTunes would be updating from your side since it went live at midnight. I saw that it was already climbing, and I got excited, and then I couldn’t stop myself from watching it like a hawk. I’m so proud of you. I think I’m more excited for you than for myself,” he admitted.

  “You should get some sleep. It’s going to be a very long day for you if you don’t,” she told him, but the smile on her face was huge. To know that he’d taken the time to do that, that he’d been excited for her, caused her heart to warm. This was one of the reasons she loved him so much.

  “I’m about to, but you know it’s never the same without you here.”

  That melted her heart too. “Eight more weeks and then you’re going to want me to go away.”

  “Never. I’m counting down those days. I can’t wait to have you with me.”

  “Speaking of being with me.” She twirled a strand of her hair around her finger. “I have a house I want you to look at in Brentwood. I sent you the link last night, but I didn’t know if you had checked your email. The realtor said that he could show it to us separately or he could try to fit us in at the same time. I warn you though,” she grinned, “it’s expensive.”

  “How expensive are we talking, and do you like it from the pictures?”

  “It’s gorgeous from the pictures,” she sighed. “It’s in the millions of dollars range,” she whispered.

  “How many millions of dollars are we talking?” he asked, his voice holding an amused tone.

  “Ohhh, around two-point-two-ish.”

  He laughed full on then. “Han, the house I live in here is a couple of million dollars too. Houses are more expensive here. It’ll be good, we’ll check it out.”

  “Okay, then,” she sighed. “It’s a lot of money.”

  “That we have together. This is the home that we’re going to live in together in your hometown. We’ll be fine,” he soothed her nerves.

  “Let me know what you think of it. I do love it, but if you’re looking for something different, please let me know. I gotta go back to rehearsal.”

  “Okay, have fun, babe, and congrats. So much congrats.”

  “Thank you and please get some sleep.” She blew a kiss into the phone, telling him that she loved him.

  When they hung up, she went to her personal email account; snagged a picture from the photo shoot they’d done together and uploaded her favorite picture. Hash-tagging it lucky girl, she smiled brightly. Her happiness was with him and she needed everyone in her life, including him, to know that.

  Immediately, her p
hone went nuts, and she couldn’t help but giggle at the comments from the women about Garrett. She loved it because she agreed with every single one of them.

  The next eight weeks needed to get here and be gone.

  Chapter Twelve

  * * *

  Hannah moved her head in a circle on her neck and then turned in the chair that she sat in, moaning as her back cracked loudly.

  “Damn, did that feel good?” Shell asked, looking up from the bowl of cereal that she was eating.

  The first few days of touring and sleeping on the bed in her tour bus always killed her back. “Yes, it’s that freakin’ bed. It’s always so uncomfortable the first few days. How are numbers looking?” she asked Shell as she dug into the bowl of fruit that sat in front of her.

  “Great, better than I think anyone expected. You’re holding steady on the charts that are updated daily. I heard from the record company today, they are thinking you made top five on the all-genre Billboard, which would be your best showing ever. We’ll find that out tomorrow. Every show so far has been sold out. Every single post you make on social media is blowing up, and the song has hit the top ten on the country chart. All in all, this has been an amazing release week. The record company is beyond happy.” Shell looked at her friend. “But are you happy?”

  “I’m excited that this has done everything we wanted to do, but now I’m getting nervous.”

  “What in the world for?”

  “It’s exceeding expectations. You and I both know that when expectations are exceeded, they want to extend tours, they want to add on dates and do more promotional appearances. What if they try to fight me exercising my clause?”

  “That’s not going to happen. You said yourself that your lawyer said it’s iron-clad.”