Savaged Vows: Savaged Illusions Trilogy Book 2

by Jennifer Lyon

  What was Beth doing? Justice watched as she ripped the comforter off the bed and stomped past him. She undid the lock, pulled open the door and threw it out in the hallway. After shutting and relocking the door, she stood there, panting.

  For one second, he drank in the sight of her. She had on the same dress she’d married him in. Ivory, with a single jeweled strap that started at the top of her left breast, snaked over her shoulder at an angle and ended in the middle of her back. The dress molded to her curves—curves he loved. Tonight, her hair was down, and she’d done something to tame her slightly kinky waves into big soft curls. She looked hot.

  But watching her handle that girl in his room? “That growl in your voice made me hard as hell.” He advanced on her, all caution forgotten. Oh she wasn’t leaving him. Nope, she’d fought for him. He knew her—if her plan had been to leave, she’d be gone.

  “What growl?”

  “The possessive one.” They were in the small hallway that opened into a dressing area and bathroom. But he couldn’t look away from his fiery beauty or forget the way she’d claimed ownership of him. “You threw the bedspread out.”

  She tilted her head up, challenge riding her gaze. “That chick’s ass was on that bed.”

  Feral need yanked him to her. He sank his hand in her hair, staring down into her furious eyes. “Say it again.”

  “What?”

  “I’m yours. Say it.”

  “You’re mine. I don’t share. Not this.” She grabbed his shirt, dragging it up.

  He released her hair to tug the shirt off, then regained his hold.

  “You want to get onstage and be everyone woman’s wet dream, that’s fine. But this…” She tore open his belt, undid the snap on his pants and shoved them down his hips.

  Justice hissed as her hand wrapped around his hard length. He was so hyped up, he surged into her hold. “My cock?”

  “Yes. And your heart. They’re mine.”

  He shuddered, the words more powerful than even her touch. He slammed his mouth over hers. Some part of his brain tried to remind him she was pregnant, but his more primitive side ruled. Clutching a handful of her dress, he wrenched it up while thrusting his tongue against hers, feeling the wet slide, as her fingers worked his dick.

  Heat seared his balls.

  But it wasn’t enough. Seizing the edge of her panties, he tore them off her. She was his. She’d claimed him, now he had to have her. Bending his knees, he lifted her and pressed her back against the door.

  “What I want is you. No one else, Beth.” With his hands beneath her thighs, he spread her legs wide. “Now. I’m going to fuck you wearing the dress you married me in.”

  She guided his erection to her opening.

  Wet, luscious skin bathed the head of his dick. A groan tore from his throat, but he didn’t look away. It took everything he had not to ram inside her, claiming her. “The dress you vowed to love me in.”

  “Justice.”

  “You did this.” He pushed in, her sweet heat clamping around his cockhead. “My super-smart, organized, romantic wife turned into a fiery hellcat when an invader tried to claim me.” He thrust in, all the way, seating his cock in her. He stared into her eyes, her glasses magnifying a hot desperation that he alone could satisfy. It made him feel like a god. “There’s no one else. Only you.” He needed her to know that, to believe it.

  She moaned, her thighs squeezing his waist. “Harder.”

  Oh hell yeah. She needed this, begged for it, propelled them to a savage mating as he gripped her thighs tighter, pulled out and plunged back in a primal urge to give her everything. Thrusting, pounding, driving himself in to sounds of the wet, fierce mating, which merged with their pants and groans.

  Heat and pleasure chased down his back, his balls tightening at the feel of Beth, her slick, snug pussy milking him. “Give it to me, baby. Now.” He tilted her hips, hitting the deepest, most sensitive part of her.

  Beth slapped her head back against the door. “Yes. God.” Her fingers clawed his shoulders.

  Every scratch burned into his nerve endings, scrambling his sensors. She was marking him. That thought exploded, sending waves of wild heat through him.

  “Justice!” She bowed, fingers digging in, thighs clamping him as she rode his cock and detonated, coming hard.

  He thrust in one more time, and his world imploded. Burying his face in her soft neck, he lost himself in the fires of his orgasm.

  * * *

  Two weeks later, Liza approved the promo for an upcoming pay-per-view event for one of SLAM’s biggest fighters. She’d checked and double-checked, and every change Sloane had asked for was done.

  “Thanks, guys,” she told the marketing team, and headed out of the office.

  After taking out her phone, she marked that off her list. She’d pushed hard this morning, coming in early and working nonstop. Her heart tripped when she glanced at the time.

  Twenty minutes until noon.

  Justice and the guys were in New York, appearing on Chatterbox. This was huge. “Expired Hero” had slowly inched up the charts, but it hadn’t broken the top one hundred. This could do it, no it would do it. When Fury Run appeared on the extremely popular talk show six weeks ago, their numbers had surged on music charts.

  Liza stepped into the elevator, glanced at her reflection in the shiny panels and pressed a hand to her belly. At three-months pregnant, she wasn’t showing yet, and her black-and-white dress still fit. How long before she couldn’t hide it anymore? At work, only Sloane and Tess knew.

  The elevator stopped, and Liza dropped her hand and headed into the reception area of the executive floor. She’d been Sloane’s full-time administrative assistant for about six weeks and loved the challenge. Especially since her morning sickness had faded away, and she was a bit more energetic.

  Tess looked up from her computer. “Sloane’s plane landed a half hour ago. He’s coming into the office. He has a meeting with his lawyers at two and wants all your real estate market research ready, and you’ll accompany him.”

  Liza crossed to the kitchenette and eyed the freshly made coffee. Bummer, but she’d cut back. Instead, she grabbed a bottle of water and her lunch of sun-dried tomato and pasta salad. “I finished it this morning and have it all ready.” Sloane moved fast when he made a decision, and Liza’d had a hunch he’d like the property for the new gym he wanted to open in Chicago.

  “I’m going to eat lunch in the conference room, if he gets in and needs me.” There were TVs in there so she could watch Justice.

  “I’ll tell him, and I’ll be there in a few minutes. I’m excited.”

  “Me too.” Liza headed to the huge conference room. An oval table stretched down the middle, surrounded by cream-colored leather chairs. One wall had several big screens on it. Liza snatched up the remote, turned it on and muted it.

  Her phone vibrated with a text from Em. Are you watching?

  Just turned it on. You?

  Em: Of course, I’ve told everyone at the TV station here that I know Justice Cade. Emily wrote copy and worked in production on the local San Diego news channel. I’m almost a celebrity today. We have it on.

  Nerves buzzed in Liza’s belly as she texted back, I’m going to call him, talk later.” She switched to FaceTime and made the call.

  “Hey.” His image filled her screen.

  The sight of him tugged hard in her heart. She missed him so damned much. “I wanted to wish you good luck. You guys are going to be awesome.”

  “We better be. This is huge, Beth. They get something like four-mil viewers. We go on in…” he glanced away, then said, “…eight minutes.”

  She smiled, feeling his energy crackling through the phone. “You’ve got this, Rooster. Just go out there and sing.”

  Before he could answer, another voice broke in with, “Justice, we need to walk to the stage entrance.”

  Obviously Justice wasn’t alone. Liza repressed her annoyance with Christine’s intrusion. Truthful
ly, the pushy-as-hell business manager was doing her job. Getting Savaged Illusions this gig on Chatterbox was a tremendous coup. “Go show the world your amazing talent. Love you.”

  “Love you too, Beth. Miss you.” He disconnected.

  Even after two weeks without him, it didn’t get any easier. But she’d see him in Florida the weekend after next, if all went well. Then a couple weeks after that he’d fly home for her ultrasound.

  They’d hopefully find out the sex of their baby.

  But right now, Chatterbox was starting. Liza put her phone down, unmuted the TV, then opened her Tupperware container and took a bite of the pasta salad.

  The hosts walked on, and the audience cheered and clapped. Liza settled back in the leather chair.

  The door opened, spilling in Tess with her lunch, followed by Sloane.

  “Wow, you made good time from the airport,” she said to her boss. “I sent the real estate market research to your email. Are you preparing an offer today?”

  He sat at the end of the table and thumbed through his phone. “Very likely.” While reading, he asked, “Justice on soon?”

  She assumed he was looking over the information she’d compiled. “Yes.” Her nerves ratcheted up. Chatterbox did everything live. They went on at 3:00 p.m. in New York, which made it noon here in California. If the performance had any problems, even technical glitches, they were screwed. The audience tended to love it though. Some technical glitches went viral and ended up selling more units. Please let it go well.

  In the back of her mind, playing on a loop, was the Late Night with Alicia memory when the talk show host had blindsided the band with a video of Gene Hayes. But that wasn’t going to happen this time.

  “Today our first guest is Savaged Illusions!”

  Liza shifted her focus to the sixty-inch screen. This was it, the pivotal moment that would take Savaged Illusions into the top hundred sales. The guys ran out onto the stage, and all five of them headed straight to the audience, fist bumping the few guys, shaking hands with the girls.

  The camera zoomed in on River as he eased an older woman to her feet and kissed her cheek.

  She squealed in delight as he held her arm to retake her seat.

  Liza sighed, falling half in love with River. Damn, that was a camera-perfect moment brimming with authenticity. It was so like River to do something just like that.

  The guys returned to the stage and found their spots to perform.

  “Well, after that exciting entrance,” the host said, “here now to perform their single ‘Expired Hero’ from the new album is Savaged Illusions!”

  The camera closed in as they launched into the song.

  Liza turned up the sound, filling the conference room with Justice’s powerful voice wringing out the anger of how the world only wants you when you’re a hero, not a mortal man. She could feel the agony and rage. Goose bumps popped out on her arms as they hit the chorus.

  A close-up of Justice’s hand around the mic showed his bare ring finger. That gave her a pang, but she told herself it didn’t mean anything—they’d agreed to keep their marriage quiet.

  “They’re amazing,” Tess said.

  Liza glanced over her shoulder and smiled, pride filling her chest.

  Once the song ended and they cut for commercial, Liza breathed a sigh of relief at the band’s flawless performance. When the show returned, they were all seated around a table. One of the two hosts, Wayne, started off with, “You guys have been steadily climbing the charts with ‘Expired Hero.’”

  “Thanks, we have awesome fans,” Justice responded.

  The audience cheered again. Then Wayne said, “You also have some enemies. Jagged Sin’s labeling you guys liars and traitors to rock. All the headlines are describing the battle between your two bands as a rock feud.”

  “They can call us names all they want,” Simon responded. “They’ve demonstrated they’re sore losers. I have the scar to prove it.” He touched the white line slashing across his cheek.

  Good, Liza thought. Remind the audience that Ace and two other members of Jagged Sin were arrested after jumping Simon in a parking garage.

  “It’s pathetic,” River added. “Jagged Sin can’t win on their own, so they have to resort to underhanded tactics.”

  “It’s been quite a year for you all,” Wayne commented. “But especially you, Justice.”

  “That’s an understatement,” the other host, Toby, added. “Your girlfriend was stabbed and your father, a homeless veteran, arrested for the crime. It’s like a soap opera. People can’t make this stuff up.”

  Liza hissed in a breath, tension gripping her neck and shoulders.

  Justice nodded. “It was pretty surreal. But all that’s behind us now.”

  “You’re the one who caught the real attacker.” Wayne turned to the screen behind them, the one showing Justice with a bleeding Hans up against a wall in Screech’s Nightclub.

  Liza fisted her hands, her food forming a lump in her stomach.

  Toby added, “How is Liza now?”

  Justice ignored the picture on the screen. “She’s fine, my father’s name was cleared, the real attacker is in prison, and life is good again. Now we, my band and myself, are able to do what we love most, get onstage and perform for our fans. Isn’t that right, Lynx?”

  She mentally high-fived Justice for skillfully turning the topic back to their music and including another band member.

  “Exactly,” Lynx answered. “Our concerts on this tour have been close to sold out, and we’re having more fun than ever onstage.” He glanced over at River. “And offstage, am I right?”

  River fist bumped him. “Our fans like to party, and you know…” he turned his dark eyes to the camera, “…we like to party. Even Serious Simon here loosens up around our fans.”

  Simon smirked. “Serious? Well, compared to you clowns, I guess I am.” He shook his head. “When I signed on for lead guitarist, I didn’t know I’d also be the clown master, but someone has to keep you guys in line.”

  The audience laughed.

  Gray leaned forward. “Simon has a weird clown phobia.”

  “And Gray is our biggest prankster,” River said. “Do you have that video?”

  “What video?” Simon demanded.

  Gray flashed a smile so beautiful, Liza felt like she was right there in the room with them.

  “The one I gave the hosts,” Gray answered. “To show how we break up the monotony of the long rides on the tour bus.”

  Wayne snickered, and Toby said, “Let’s roll the video.”

  On the screen appeared a large bus with the words Savaged Illusions and their logo across the side. The camera swung around to a close-up of Gray at the steps.

  He waved then put a finger to his lips in a signal to be quiet.

  The camera view shifted to the inside of the bus, showing a camel-colored couch and small table across from a tiny kitchenette, and settled on a walkway lined with paneling. A door opened, and a man walked out wearing a pair of pajama bottoms.

  Liza slapped her hand over her mouth, recognizing the video. Justice had sent it to her a few days ago. It was Simon wearing black bottoms, his back tanned and thick with muscles. He turned his head slightly, and the overhead lights caught the white scar running along his right cheek.

  A second later, Simon reached a set of bunks set into the side of the bus. Both the top and lower bunks were closed off by individual dark-brown curtains.

  Simon bent slightly—getting a nice shot of his tight butt in those soft cotton pants—reached for the first curtain on the lower bunk and wrenched it back. “Umph!” His back snapped straight, muscles bunched, and he jumped back. “What the hell?”

  The camera panned in on the neatly made bunk with a garish, man-sized clown lying there.

  Justice, Lynx and River burst into the frame, laughing their butts off. The video stopped, and they went back to the live studio.

  Wayne grinned. “You want to rethink that clown-ma
ster title?”

  Simon raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I got even. We have the best road crew, and they helped me set it up. During sound check, Gray walked to his piano, and the second he passed by, the clown sprang up out of it like a jack-in-the-box.”

  River said, “The clown is traveling with us on the tour bus now. We’ve named him Savaged Clown and are finding interesting locations to take pictures with him and post them.”

  Wayne jumped in. “You guys are having a lot of fun on the road, and it shows. But there are challenges.”

  Toby nodded. “Going back to your ordeal with Liza’s attack. Liza seems to polarize the rock community with her past, and let’s be frank, she was attacked by someone who hated her for her involvement with Gene Hayes.”

  Justice’s face tightened, a slight tic forming in his jaw.

  “Are you concerned she could be hurting or hindering your career?”

  Liza gripped her fork in her fingers. These questions lurked in every interview, a time bomb waiting to explode.

  “No,” Justice said, his tone measured, then his eyebrows drew together, and he leaned in, looking into the camera. “But truth be told, I am a little worried about that clown. He’s getting a lot of hits on social media. He might be trying to knock me off and steal my job as lead singer of Savaged Illusions.”

  The audience roared with laughter, breaking the tension, and the interview ended on a high note.

  “Those boys are doing so well,” Tess said, wrapping up the crumbs of her sandwich. “You must be really proud, Liza.”

  “I am.” She closed up her pasta salad container and breathed out a huge breath, releasing tension she hadn’t even realized she’d been holding. Savaged Illusions performance and interview had been flawless.

  And there’d been no sign of her deepest fear—Gene Hayes. Maybe he really was going to leave her alone. He wasn’t going to be able to ruin Justice’s success, Liza’s life or their marriage.

  Chapter 14

  Justice’s eyes burned with grit, but his adrenaline kept him wired. They’d boarded a plane after Wednesday’s performance, hit New York, did the TV show, hopped another flight, and now they were in a Houston hotel for the night. After their concert tomorrow, it was back on the bus to make their way through Texas.