Beat of the Heart

by Katie Ashley

  Finally, Mia cleared her throat. “I guess we better get back before they send out a search party, huh?”

  Seeing the opportunity to lighten the mood, I grinned. “I’m pretty sure they know what we’re doing out here—or what we were doing.”

  She made a face. “Fabulous.”

  “Come on,” I said, holding out my hand. We made our way up the riverbank in silence. Although I wasn’t saying anything, my mind was whirling with what I thought I should say or do to ease Mia’s pain. When we got to the four-wheeler, I handed her back the keys. “You drive.”

  “I don’t want this out of pity, AJ,” she countered.

  Damn, just when I thought she couldn’t get any more stubborn, she did. “Oh Christ, that’s not it at all. Okay?”

  She eyed me, and the keys, for a few seconds before she snatched them out of my hand. After she sat on the seat, I slid in behind her. She cranked up as I wrapped my arms around her waist. Peeking at me over her shoulder, she grinned. “Watch it with the happy hands.”

  “You mean like this?” I asked, as I reached up to cup her breast with one hand while the other slipped between her legs. She squealed and slapped at my hands. I chuckled and then brought them behind me to rest on the back bar. “Better?”

  She grinned. “Yes. But if it gets bumpy, I’d rather you hold on to me than fall off.”

  “I’d rather hold on to you, period.”

  “Then behave and you can.”

  “Yes ma’am,” I replied, bringing my hands back to wrap around her waist. I nestled my head into the crook of her neck, inhaling the sweet scent of her damp hair. As we started jostling over the bumpy road, I tightened my grip around her. When we got back to the stables, loud voices and laughter echoed back to us from the fire. In the twilight, I reached out to run my fingers over her tattoo. She sucked in a deep breath. “It’s in Italian, right?”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “What does it say?”

  “The first line says ‘Ciò che non ci uccide, ci rende più forte’—‘What does not kill us makes us stronger’.”

  I rubbed my finger along the next line. “And this?”

  “‘Dal buio verso la luce’—‘Out of the darkness and into the light’.”

  When I moved to the third, she said, “’La mia famigla e il mio Dio sono il mio rifugio e la mia forza’ —‘My family and my God are my refuge and strength’.” I slid my finger down to rub on the fourth line.

  “‘Essere sinceri con se stessi’—‘To thine own self be true’.” Peering over her shoulder, she smiled. “I minored in English, and I kinda have a thing for Shakespeare.”

  I returned her smiled. “You and Jake will get along great. He’s obsessed.”

  “The next one is Shakespeare, too. ‘Non è scritto nelle stelle per tenere il nostro destino, ma in noi stessi’—‘It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves’. You know, we Italian’s take the stars and destiny pretty seriously.”

  Leaning over, I kissed along the dark lines. “It’s beautiful, amorcito mio—the design itself, down to every last word.”

  “Thank you.”

  After a few seconds of silence, I got off the four-wheeler and helped Mia off. “You ready for some s’mores now?”

  Mia nibbled on her lip. “Can you give me a few minutes to freshen up?” At what I imagined was my confused expression, she said, “I don’t want to show up all red-faced from crying.”

  “Oh,” I murmured with a nod. “Sure. Come on.” Placing my hand in the small of her back, I led her up the hill to the barn. Grabbing my keys, I unlocked the front door and held it open for her.

  Mia stepped inside and gasped. She turned around several times—her expression one of awe. “Wow, the girls weren’t kidding about this place. It’s amazing.”

  I gazed around the massive open room. “Yeah, it is. Jake’s contractors did a pretty amazing job transforming it.”

  “Can you get my bag from the car?”

  “Yeah.” I motioned over to the ladder. “The master bedroom and bath is upstairs. Go on up there, and I’ll bring our stuff.”

  “Thanks, AJ,” she replied, before leaning over and pecking me on the cheek.

  I hustled down to the car and back for our bags. I was out of breath by the time I got back to the barn. After I lugged her suitcase up the ladder, I found her sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands.

  “Mia?”

  She jerked up her head up and gave me an apologetic look. “Sorry.” She rose up from the bed and grabbed her bag. “I’ll hurry.”

  “Take your time. I’m going to get out of these wet clothes.”

  When Mia disappeared, I went downstairs to retrieve my bag. I changed into a dry T-shirt and shorts. After I finished, I began pacing around the bedroom, waiting for Mia to come out of the bathroom. Even over the music from down at the bonfire, I heard water running and then the buzzing hum of a hair dryer. After she had been in there a long time, I fought the urge to go check on her. Finally, after what felt like a fucking eternity, she came out. My heart kick started again at the sight of her. She’d totally redone her hair and makeup, and she’d changed into a strapless, red sundress. She looked so fucking beautiful, it made my heart clench. Her dark hair tumbled in waves over her bare shoulders. Her newly applied ruby red lipstick made her plump lips all the more kissable. And needless to say, my cock surged against my zipper.

  Framed in the doorway, she stared at me. We stood unmoving and unblinking as the conversations from the guys floated back up to us along with a steady thumping bass. I knew in that instant that what had been discussed down by the river had deepened our relationship, or whatever the fuck it was we had going.

  When the song changed over to Bob Marley’s No Woman No Cry, electricity crackled in the air between us. I held out my hand. “Dance with me?”

  Her brows rose in surprise. “Now? Here?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay,” she whispered. She closed the gap between us and slipped her hand into mine. I pulled her flush against me, resting my other hand on the small of her back. Closing my eyes, I took in the delicious scent of both her shampoo and her perfume. We swayed in silence to the music. When it got to the part in the song about how everything was going to be okay, I pulled away to stare into her eyes. “It really is going to be okay. You know that, right?”

  Her bottom lip trembled as tears pooled in her eyes. “Even though I shouldn’t, I believe you.”

  “Believe in me, Mia. Believe in us.”

  A single tear slipped down her cheek, which I caught with my thumb. “Are we an ‘us’, AJ?”

  “I’m down for it if you are.”

  She shook her head. “It’s only been two weeks.”

  I snorted. “Fuck the amount of time. I know what I’m feeling.”

  “But I’m confused as hell. I’ve never fallen this fast,” she admitted.

  “Me either. You know, Jake and Abby were in deep after a few days, and look at them. Brayden and Lily knew each other since they were kids, and there’s grew over time. Love is still love—it doesn’t have a time limit.”

  Her dark eyes widened at the insinuation of love. “I do think I’m falling in love with you, AJ.”

  As pansy as it sounds, my heartbeat accelerated at her admission. I couldn’t believe this amazing woman actually wanted to give me the time of day, least of all be falling in love with me. I’d never met someone who was my match in and out of the bedroom. “Good. Cause I think I’m falling right back.”

  The song ended, and Unchained Melody began playing in its place. I could tell Jake must’ve put some of his mom’s old mix CDs on the stereo system.

  “You know, you never sang to me in Spanish last night.”

  “That’s right. I didn’t.”

  “Will you sing to me now?”

  “This old song?”

  A faint smile danced on her lips. “Please.”

  “Lemme see if I can remember th
e words,” I lied. The last fucking thing I wanted to admit to Mia was that I knew the song by heart. The truth was I’d been forced by my mother and sister to watch the movie Ghost way too many times. If she knew that, she’d probably demand for my man-card to be revoked.

  With my lips hovering over her ear, I began to sing. “O mi amor, mi cielo, yo sufro por tu adios. En mi soledad el tiempo se va tan lento si tu no estas aqui.”

  Mia tightened her arms around me, almost molding her body flush against mine. Closing my eyes, I focused not only on translating the lyrics, but making sure I was giving enough emotion in delivering them. I knew I was doing a pretty good job when a content little sigh came from Mia. When she braced one hand on my shoulder and used the other to draw lazy circles on my back, it was my turn to sigh. After the song drew to a close, I pulled away to peer down at her. “So how did I do?”

  “Amazing,” she murmured. Untangling herself from my arms, Mia started walking backwards to the bed. When her legs bumped against the mattress, she crooked her finger at me. My brows rose in surprise. “Really? Even after you just spent twenty minutes getting ready to be seen again?”

  She laughed. “Yes. You proved my theory right about singing about Spanish.”

  At the thought of her being wet, my dick surged against the zipper of my shorts. With a groan, I pulled my shirt over my head and tossed it to the floor. “Well, you know I’m never going to argue with a chance to fuck you senseless.”

  When I pulled her into my arms, Mia’s expression grew serious as she brought her hand to my heart. Pressing it firmly against my pec, she whispered, “Make love to me, AJ.”

  The touch of her fingers on my skin, along with her words, caused the beat of my heart to accelerate beneath her hand. “Anything you want, amorcito mio,” I murmured, before crushing my lips against her hers. There was an urgency to it I hadn’t experienced with her before. It was like we were both trying to figure out how the screwing we had done in the past switched over to lovemaking. As I deepened the kiss, Mia’s hand slipped down my bare chest to the button on my shorts. Although I wanted nothing more than my dick to be freed, I knew if we were lovemaking, it was too fast. I reached between us to grab her hand. “Not yet,” I whispered against her lips.

  Her eyes widened, but then she nodded. I brought her hand back to my chest, over my heart. My fingers came to intertwine in the long strands of her dark hair. It felt so silky smooth against my skin. As my tongue tangled against hers, a burning in my chest started to grow.

  “Hey AJ!” Jake called from outside the barn.

  “Fuck,” I muttered before pulling away from Mia. Fucking cockblocker! This seriously couldn’t be happening—not now. Not in the middle of our big moment. I stalked over to the window, threw it open, and stuck my head out. “What?” I growled.

  Jake gave me a shit eating grin. “Get your ass down here. It’s time to do Jude and Melody’s bedtime song.” I opened my mouth to argue, but Jake shook his head. “We always do this, man. You can fuck Mia’s brains out when we’re done.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “Fine, douchetard. We’ll be right down. And you better hustle your ass back to the fire because I’m going to punch you for that last comment.”

  Jake only chuckled and started shuffling down the hillside. After I slammed the window, I turned back to Mia. “Sorry about Jake being a dick.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “It’s okay. He’s your band-mate and loves to give you shit.”

  “Unfortunately, yeah.”

  “So this ‘bedtime song’ must be pretty fucking amazing to take you out of my bed right now?”

  Although I felt like an absolute pussy, warmth flooded my cheeks. “It’s hokey as shit really.”

  Mia’s eyes brightened. “I do declare that you are blushing, AJ Resendiz.”

  “No, I’m not.”

  She grinned. “Yes, you are.” On her knees, she crawled to the end of the bed and then sat back, waiting expectantly for me to explain the bedtime song.

  I exhaled noisily before raking a hand through my already messed up hair. “Fine. Here it is. This one time when we were all up here hanging out, Jude was like six months old or something, and he wouldn’t go to sleep. Bray and Lily were at their wits end, so Rhys, Jake, and I decided we should sing to him—Hey Jude to be exact. He went out like this.” I snapped my fingers. “So whenever we’re all together and not on the road, we sing for him and for Melody before Bray and Lily take them for their baths and shit.”

  Mia’s hand hovered over her mouth. I didn’t know whether she was going to bust out laughing or start crying. “Aw, baby, just when I think you couldn’t melt my heart more, you tell me that story.”

  I grinned. “So does that mean you’re in for us picking up where we left off when I get back?”

  She laughed. “Oh yes. But you’re not going alone.”

  “I’m not?”

  “Nope, I’ve got to see this ‘bedtime song’ performance for myself.”

  Oh fuck. “Seriously?”

  “Mmm, hmm.” She hopped off the bed and came over to me. “Why do you look so pale, AJ?”

  “You know exactly why.”

  She smiled. “And I’m loving every minute of it.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Come on. Let’s go before Jake comes back to aggravate the hell out of me.”

  “Should I bring my tambourine?” she asked with all seriousness, as we headed out the door.

  “Smartass,” I replied, before smacking one globe of her very perfect, round ass.

  I woke up to blinding sunlight streaming through the windows. Stretching in the bed, I glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. It was after eleven. AJ and I had slept way too late. Of course, after the bedtime singing performance, I couldn’t wait to get him back to the barn.The first time we’d gone at each other like always—the ripping off clothes, heavy breathing, moaning, and skin slapping echoing through the room kinda screwing.

  But then something had switched over in the both of us. The next time was slow and sweet like we had started before we were interrupted by Jake. I felt more connected to him than I ever had before, and it was both exhilarating and scary as hell. After we finished, we lay entangled in each other’s arms talking and laughing until the early morning before we finally fell asleep.

  AJ snored softly on his stomach on top of the sheets—his fine, bare ass on display in the morning light. Snuggling closer to him, I ran my fingertips up and down his back. When he still didn’t stir, my mind went back to last night around the bonfire as he and the guys sang to Jude and Melody. I’d been floored when after taking my seat next to Lily, Melody had scrambled out of her mother’s lap and made a beeline for me. “Hold me, Mi,” she’d demanded. I’d quickly picked her up and let her burrow into my arms. She’d once again wrapped her fingers around the strands of my hair.

  Then, I watched in absolute amazement as the guys put on quite the cover of Hey Jude. I wondered what their fans would have thought about seeing them jamming around a bonfire in the middle of the sticks—Brayden on guitar and singing the lead, with AJ and Jake harmonizing. They even got us all singing on the “Nah nah nah nah nah nah” part.

  Once again I glanced over my shoulder at the clock. I knew it was time we got up and moving. I leaned over and kissed AJ’s cheek before lightly smacking his other one. “Wake up, sleepyhead.”

  “Mornin,” he said, in a hoarse voice.

  “Did I wear you out last night?”

  He chuckled as he rubbed his eyes. “I think you did.” Peeking at me through his hands, he added, “But I’m always up for another round.”

  I laughed. “Not happening for several reasons.”

  “Like what?”

  “First of all, we have to be up to the house at noon for lunch, remember?” Last night before we left the bonfire, Abby had invited us to both breakfast and lunch, but then she recanted her breakfast invitation citing how AJ was not a morning person.

  “A quickie would
remedy that one.”

  I shook my head. “Second reason—we ran out of condoms, remember?”

  “I bet Jake has a few left in his goodie drawer.”

  “What?”

  Rolling over, AJ opened the top drawer on the nightstand on his side of the bed. He started rifling through the contents.

  “What exactly is in there?” I asked, propping up on my elbows.

  AJ continued rummaging around. “Hmm, here’s a cock ring,” he announced, holding it up and spinning it around on his finger.

  I wrinkled my nose in disgust. “Don’t even think that I’m letting you use that with me when I don’t know who it’s been on.”

  He chuckled. “Party pooper.” He shuffled around some more before producing a set of handcuffs, and warming body oil. He raised his brows questioningly at me.

  “The body oil, yes. The handcuffs are marginal.”

  “You’re questioning the handcuffs when you tied me up on our first date?”

  I laughed. “I remember.”

  He tossed the items onto the bed before returning to his quest. “Hell yeah!” he exclaimed, producing a sheet of four condoms.

  I rolled my eyes. “Only you would get excited about that.”

  He dove over to cover me with his body. “I could give two shits about the rubbers. It’s what I’m going to do to you when I’m wearing them that I’m excited about.”

  He reached in to kiss my neck when I stopped him by gripping his shoulders and pushing him away. “Babe, you can’t start anything up right now. I don’t want to disappoint Abby about lunch.”

  Groaning against my collarbone, AJ lifted his head. “She probably wouldn’t mind if we were a little late.”

  “But between yesterday at the waterfalls and last night, I’m starting to wonder if I can walk.”

  An impish grin curved on his lips. “I like that. It totally compliments my dick.”

  “Of course you would. Now go get in the shower. I wanna grab something to drink first. All this sex has dehydrated me.” I nipped at his bottom lip before rising out of the bed.

  “Only if you promise to join me after.”