by Joy Eileen
“Alright, rockstar, it’s a date.” I kissed him to seal the deal.
He slipped his tongue into my mouth, rolling over so he was on top of me, and pinning me to the bed. “Are you ready for me?” he rumbled, his voice harsh from desire, making my blood roar with lust.
I nodded, unable to speak from my passion-filled haze. He slid his hand down my stomach until he reached the hem of my panties, dipping into my wet folds. He thrust his finger easily into me, my body accepting him. Pulling his finger out, he began rubbing the sensitive nub pulsating for him. I squirmed under him, not knowing if the sensation was too much or not enough.
“I love you so much,” Kill said before assaulting my mouth while pushing his fingers in and out of me and stroking my clit with his thumb.
Desperate lust rushed through my veins. My fingernails dug into his shoulder, and I was sure I was making marks. My mouth tore from his as my tongue trailed down his neck before settling at his collarbone. I bit down on it, marking him again. His fingers became frantic the more aggressive I became. His teeth nipped and sucked on my sensitive skin, marking me as I had him.
My breath was harsh as his thumb circled over my clit. He threw me over the edge of ecstasy when his finger hooked inside me, hitting the spot that drove me crazy. I bit down on his shoulder, my fingers embedded in his skin as my body exploded in a mind-numbing orgasm.
He quickly yanked my panties down and threw his boxers off with a growl. My mind slowly came back to me, and a wicked thought took center stage.
I placed my palms on his chest and pushed him over until I was straddling him. The sight of his pure masculine strength made me want more.
Slowly, I impaled myself until I sat fully on top of him. His breath rushed out as I trailed my palms over his chest. His hands held my breasts as I started to glide up and down on his thick shaft. I waited until I was at the very tip before descending down to the hilt. His hands left my breasts, taking hold of my hips, digging his fingers into the skin as he tried to set a faster pace.
“Sorry, Killer. This is my show.”
A grin, vaguely resembling a grimace, took over his face. His grip eased as sweat formed on his forehead. I rotated my hips, grinding my swollen flesh against him. The friction helped create sensations that sent me closer to my release.
“That’s it; keep going. You are so fucking hot grinding that hot pussy on me.” Kill's words were my undoing. The coiled pressure exploded all around me, gripping him inside me. I slumped over him, my muscles liquid, my heart surrendering to him. Kill's hands locked on my hips as he rocked them over him, his pace quickening with every thrust. His movements became frenzied until I felt him tense under me. A groan tore from him as he emptied himself with spasms deep inside of me.
“So much for me taking care of you,” I mumbled. I wasn't too upset, especially after the two earth-shattering orgasms I’d just had. Kill chuckled as he pulled me close to him.
“Sorry, I can’t help but get carried away when I'm with you. Don’t worry though; you're taking care of me. Just seeing you walk around, hell, just thinking about your sexy ass, is enough to get me off.”
“Stop while you're ahead. If you keep going, you're going to start sounding like Jet.”
He shuddered. “I thought your dad was going to kick his ass when he called Martha lickable.” He laughed lightly.
“I know. Thank goodness Martha stepped in, although they seemed to be getting along right before he left."
“Yeah, I kind of told your dad we aren’t sure how many times he was dropped on his head as a kid.”
“You didn’t?” I said, as Kill kissed my forehead.
“Well, it's close to the truth,” he replied, turning bright red.
“You're awful.”
“Yeah, but as soon as I told him, he was a lot more lenient toward Jet. I'm going to miss this, Slick,” he whispered sobering up from his laughter.
“I'm going to miss this too, Killer.”
He needed to leave in order to explore his dream, but it wouldn't stop the hurt it left behind.
“You're going to have to call me every night and talk me to sleep. You're like my own personal Ambien.”
“I'll be your own personal Sandwoman, at your beck and call whenever you need some shuteye.”
“Well, I'm also going to need you to be my own personal phone sex operator.”
I shook my head and laughed before answering. “Alright, make a list of my different roles I'll be playing.”
He tugged at my chin. The sincerity in his eyes took my breath away. “You're all I want. I love you.”
He leaned forward and kissed me until I was panting with need, my body forgetting it had been completely satisfied moments ago.
“I love you too.”
I kissed him again, harder, and when he entered me it was slow. We took our time, caressing each other, knowing in a month we wouldn’t have the ability to touch each other whenever we had the urge.
CHAPTER 21
I skipped downstairs, feeling light, the ulcer medication already working its magic on my system.
I stopped at the bottom of the stairs. The whole household seemed to be dressed and waiting for me in the living room.
"What's going on?"
“What? We aren’t allowed to go say goodbye to them? I never took you to be a selfish girl,” Van said, coming over and hugging me.
"Yeah, Faith. They’re our family too." Jet explained.
Love, warm and comforting, wrapped around my heart. My new little family accepted my dad and Martha as their own, and life felt complete.
“You don’t know how happy this makes me,” I uttered, blinking to keep the tears back.
“Besides, I have to get one more look at Martha the hottie before she flies out of my life,” Jet said, inciting a smack to the back of his head from Amy.
Leave it to Jet to save the day-or at least my mascara. We split up into two cars so everyone could go.
I ended up in the backseat with Jessie. Her eyes were puffy, as she hid them behind her sunglasses. I squeezed her hand, and when she turned her head, sadness poured out of her.
“What's up?” I whispered, so no one else could hear us.
She snagged her phone out of her purse and texted me, so we didn’t have to worry about eavesdropping.
I need to break up
with him before he
leaves for the tour.
Frustration simmered up my spine. How could she not see how much Van truly loved her? There was no getting through to her, especially right now with the tour only a month away.
Are you sure?
She nodded her head and put her phone back in her purse, ending our conversation.
When my parents came through the lobby, their faces expressed the shock they were feeling at seeing the entire group of us. Just like me, I don't think they were expecting everyone to show up and see them off.
Martha broke out of her stupor first and hugged everyone good morning. She chattered happily, telling us what a great surprise we all were. My dad hugged me tightly before grabbing everyone individually and hugging them too.
We went to a restaurant by the airport, milking as much time as we could. The only tension came from Jessie and Van. Martha tried to pull them into our conversation, but they both seemed to be walking on eggshells, landmines everywhere in their relationship.
Kill held my hand under the table and squeezed it reassuringly. I assumed I would feel just like Jessie when the tour was finally announced, but hope had burrowed in my heart and taken root.
My dad asked me about Trent, and I felt guilty I hadn't thought about him since Thanksgiving.
“Did you call Trent when I was in the hospital?” I asked.
“I had Amy call him and tell him what was happening. He wanted to come to the hospital. I had her explain you were only allowed one visitor at the time, and your dad refused to leave your side.”
“But at one point, everyone was in the room with me,” I said, confused.
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Kill's face turned a slight shade of pink, and he seemed to be fighting the formation of his half smile.
“You're so bad,” I scolded, kissing him on the cheek.
“What can I say? He brings out the jealous beast in me.”
I was momentarily stunned by his bluntness. “Believe me, you have nothing to be jealous about,” I confirmed before digging into my omelet. Martha had given strict orders that no one ordered waffles.
We procrastinated as long as we could. Tears flooded my eyes as we piled back into our cars.
“We’ll see you at graduation,” my dad said, pulling me close when we reached the airport.
“That seems like forever away,” I whined.
“We can cancel the cruise if you want,” he replied, a worried look on his face.
He and Martha were going on a cruise for Christmas. They left the day after and didn’t come back until New Year’s Day. While sightseeing, Martha had rattled on about renovating the house when they got back. This made June the only time I would be able to see them again. I shook my head. I refused to have them change their plans, just because I would miss them. “I’ll see you in June.”
It was Martha's turn to hug me tightly.
“Take care of my dad,” I said to her. I knew this was unnecessary to say to her. The love between them was clear and comforting.
“You take care of yourself,” she said sternly. “And don’t let your head mess up your relationship with that boy. He loves you and would do anything to keep you happy.”
We both glanced over at Kill, who was talking animatedly to my dad.
“I know he would, but I love him enough to want him to be happy too,” I answered, thinking of the one text message I’d sent that changed their lives.
“If you want it to happen, all you have to do is have a little faith.” She kissed the tip of my nose and seconds later they were walking away.
“How are you holding up?” Kill asked when we’d climbed into the car.
"I'm okay," I answered, leaning my head on his shoulder.
“Hey, I wonder if we'll do a gig close to them. We could invite them to the show, and Eugene could go over the security stuff he was telling us about,” D said as he drove us away from them.
Jessie stiffened in the seat next to me, and I noticed Van’s shoulders rise with tension.
“That would be awesome. We could get you girls out to some of our shows too when you can get away from school,” Kill said, running his fingers through my hair.
“I don’t know. I'm going to be really busy next semester trying to get everything done so I can graduate. I don’t see any reason to leave Portland,” Jessie snapped, her voice quivering. I reached over to grab her hand but she let her hand lay limp in mine until I let it go.
“I could come back between gigs to see you,” Van interjected with an upbeat attitude.
“No promises, Van. From what the tour company said, we'll be on the move constantly, trying to get our name out there as much as we can.” Van shot D a look that should have made him catch on fire.
D was either unaware, or didn't care of the trouble he was starting as he turned onto our street. As we piled out of the car a light rain misted the air.
Jessie and Van stopped in the driveway, while the rest of us hurried into the house. Before I shut the door, I watched as they stood arguing with each other, oblivious to the rain. Kill pulled at my arm to tug me the rest of the way into the house.
"There's nothing you can do. They're going to have to figure it out by themselves."
His words rang true, but I sent them positive thoughts before I clicked the door shut. I cuddled with Kill on the couch, both of us drinking hot tea and watching TV.
Van came in later, his shoulders slumped in defeat. When he lifted his head his eyes glistened with unshed tears. “I don’t know what else to do. She won’t listen to me, and I can’t keep up with this yo-yo relationship we have. I've never given up on someone before, but nobody, not even D, has made things this hard.”
He sat down on the couch next to us, placing his elbows on his knees and burying his face in his hands.
I rubbed his back, wishing I could take his pain away. “I’m sorry, Van. I hate to say this, because I love Jessie, but I understand if you can’t do it anymore.”
He looked up as his face twisted in pain. “I don’t know what else to do,” he reiterated.
“Come on. I know what will cheer you up.” Kill stood and held out his hand to help me up.
“No, man. I think I'm just going to stay in,” Van said, sinking back into the couch.
“Too bad. You’re coming with us, and you need to trust me on this one.”
Van’s face went hard for a second, like he wanted to argue, but he gave up on the notion and followed us to Kill’s car.
“Where are we going?” Van asked when we started driving.
Kill sang along to the radio, ignoring him as we drove, his thumb rubbing over my knuckles as if he didn't have a care in the world.
Van must have recognized where we were when we pulled into the back parking lot. A genuine smile graced his face, melting away some of the pain from his eyes.
“Dude, when did he get back?” Van asked Kill, already climbing from the car. His strides ate up the pavement until he’d reached the big metal door and began to bang on it.
“He texted me last night, wanting to know if we were playing tonight. I told him about the tour, and we figured you would want to get yours finished before we left.”
The door swung open, revealing a tall, skinny guy in ripped black jeans and a black button-up shirt with a Nothing More emblem on the front. His arms were covered with bright tattoos, some of them slithering out of the collar of his shirt and crawling up his neck. He gave Kill and Van a knuckle bump and that weird half-hug, half-pat thing boys seem to always do. He looked over at me, and then back to Van.
“Is this your girl?” he asked, grinning widely at Van.
Van shook his head, and Kill pulled me to his side.
“Taze, this is my girl, Slick, but you can call her Faith.”
Taze’s mouth dropped open in astonishment as he looked back and forth between me and Kill. He pulled himself together quickly, allowing his face to split into a huge grin.
“I never thought I’d see the day. It's nice to meet you, Faith” He shook his head like he was trying to put pieces of a puzzle together.
"It's nice to meet you too," I replied, shivering as the rain soaked into my jacket.
“Well, come on in. Get out of the cold. I can’t wait to hear this story,” Taze said, moving aside so we could walk inside.
My ears picked up on a strange buzzing noise coming from behind one of the polished black doors that were inset in the bright-red walls. The floor was tiled in a black-and-red checker board pattern, the bright lights above gleaming off its surface. I’d never been inside a tattoo parlor, but from my assumption I was inside one now.
“So, you here to get finished up?” Taze asked, looking over at Van.
Van nodded, shrugging out of his hoodie.
Taze locked eyes on me and Kill. I could tell by the way he was studying us he was having a hard time seeing Kill with a girl, whom he claimed as his own.
“Yeah, I want to have it finished before we go on tour.” Van's eyes lost their excitement when he mentioned the tour.
“I'm so fucking happy for you guys. You're going to be amazing. I can’t wait to see you up onstage when you hit the big time.” Taze took Van's hoodie and hung it on a hook outside one of the doors.
He shuffled us into one of the rooms, where a plastic-covered massage table sat center stage. There were pictures of various tattoos on even more various body parts covering the walls. They showcased the amazing art that had been created inside the walls. I walked over to study the pictures. The bright colors of some of the tattoos were brilliant, but my eyes were drawn to the black-and-gray pieces.
“Did you do all of these?” I ask
ed, still studying the wall.
“Yep, are you in the market?” Taze asked from behind me.
I shrugged as I turned, the thrill of putting something permanent on my body sending a shiver of excitement down my spine. Van had stripped off his shirt and lay sprawled on his stomach atop the massage table. This was the first time I’d noticed the tattoo on Van's back. His large back had the outline of a set of drums in the middle of an empty stage, surrounded by a set of tattered and torn curtains, reminding me of an old, abandoned theater.
“I've never thought about getting one,” I answered as I took in the detail on Van's back. “But looking at the talent on your walls, I could see myself being swayed.”
Kill seemed surprised. “Always keeping me on my toes aren’t you, Slick?” Kill kissed me quickly on the lips.
“Alright, where the hell did you find her?” Taze asked as he readied his ink.
Before Kill could answer, a girl walked into the room. She looked completely out of place in a tattoo shop. Her long sandy-blonde hair was pulled back into a low pony tail, and she wore a pink sweater with a pink lace shirt peeking out, a pair of tight white jeans, and a pair of awesome pink heels to pull it all together. Her face was beautiful, and she looked like she’d fit in better at a sorority house than in a tattoo shop.
“Hey, babe. I thought you were going to help me study,” she said, looking at Taze.
He immediately abandoned his station to kiss her firmly on the lips. She turned bright red with his attention, and I liked her on the spot.
“Hey, Stace. How’s nursing school going?” Van asked, propping up on his elbow so he could talk to her.
“Oh. Hey, Van. Hey, Kill. It’s good. I'm actually done with my bachelor’s degree and working on my master’s now.”
“She’s not only cute, but smart too. I found my keeper,” Taze said, not seeming to care that the guys were witnessing him turn goo-goo eyes on his girl.
“Shut up,” she said, kissing him on the lips. "I'll be at the front if you need me.” She tried to look annoyed by his attention, but was failing miserably.
“I always need you, baby,” Taze answered trying to grab her again.
She looked over at me and rolled her eyes. “Boys,” she said, making me laugh.
