by Dawn Ryder
Oh…shit.
Just…shit.
Exactly what she didn’t need, an epic infatuation with a bigger-than-life rock star. She was going to end up like a discarded candy wrapper, one of those little foil chocolate-bar ones, crumpled and tossed aside when he was done devouring her.
And his sweet tooth wouldn’t be satisfied. Nope. He’d move on to another treat before she forgot what it felt like to have his mouth on hers.
Well, she was just going to have to find the strength to say no.
It was really about self-preservation more than morality.
Really.
* * *
He was tired, but it was worth it.
Ramsey didn’t lament the hours of sleep he’d missed out on. He finished showering and walked out of the bathroom nude, through a thick cloud of steam. He went into the bedroom of his suite to see Jewel’s work in a full-length mirror.
It was badass.
The dragon was clawing its way toward his cock, looking like it was going to breathe fire on the appendage.
His cock twitched, beginning to harden as Ramsey started to turn, admiring the way Jewel had inked the reptile along his hipline. It was done in soft shades of blue and pewter, the shading a true mark of Jewel’s skill level. The proportions were perfect too. Moving around the curve of his body to where the back of the dragon was on the flat of his lower back and the tail trailed down over the top of his right ass cheek.
He’d seen his share of ink and knew quality from shit. This was true art. More than that, she’d seen him.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that, except he knew for a fact that he owed fate a massive “thanks.” The members of Toxsin had rules about sticking together when they were drunk, and he’d just had a head-on collision with the consequences of not minding that code. The tabloids would have shredded him, and that would have spilled over to the other band members. It was a lapse in judgement he couldn’t allow to happen again. They’d all worked too fucking hard to let anything take them down even a small amount.
The tattoo was itching now that his skin was dry. He turned around and found some lotion. Honestly, he was avoiding thinking about Jewel. Someone knocked on the suite door across the hall.
“Room service.”
The scent of hot chow made his belly rumble. Ramsey found a pair of pants and slid them on. He wandered across the hall to where Syon and his new wife, Kate, were eating. Breakfast was laid out on the table in their suite. Every sort of breakfast dish you could imagine, from pancakes to blintzes. It was close to four in the afternoon, but they ran on their own schedule when they were on tour. Heavy metal concerts were a night business.
Kate offered him a “Good morning” as he settled in and started rummaging around the grub. She was looking at his hipline above the leather pants he wore.
“Want to see the whole thing?” he asked.
Syon flipped him off but followed the obscene gesture with a grin.
Kate was curled up in a chair, cradling a cup of coffee. “Said the spider to the fly.” She drew off a sip before continuing. “See…I do want to see it, but…” She held a slim finger up in the air. “You’ll likely show it to me if I admit it.”
“It’s too early in the morning to deal with your bare ass, Rams,” Syon interrupted.
“Marriage is making you soft.”
Syon shot him a hot look. “Sure is, over, and over, and over again.”
Kate made a groaning sound under her breath.
“I messed up last night,” he said. “Won’t happen again.”
There was a moment of seriousness in the suite. Taz offered him a two-finger “peace” sign. Drake nodded before going back to his breakfast.
“Going to fill Sammy in on Tia?” Syon asked.
Ramsey shook his head. “I’m not going whining to Sammy. He’s our producer, not my nanny.”
“Tia will run right back to him,” Drake stated.
“Let her. Sammy’s not stupid. He knows what she is,” Ramsey replied. “I’m the dumb shit who let her get me drunk.” Ramsey finished up and tossed his napkin on his cleared plate. “Got to talk to Brenton about stuff.”
Normally, hanging out with Syon was his morning enjoyment. Today, he was focused on making sure Jewel showed up at the concert they had in a few hours. He avoided thinking about how much he wanted her there. So he focused on the idea of her being around when her work was revealed, one artist to another, professional behavior.
Yeah, he was completely full of shit.
What he wanted was to get his hands on Jewel again.
But he took comfort in the fact that he would be helping her career. She deserved it, and he knew firsthand how unfair the universe was when it came to giving an artist a well-deserved break.
And right after he got finished doing the right thing, he could get on with doing what he really wanted.
* * *
Jewel’s phone buzzed with an incoming text around noon. She thought about ignoring it, but even with limited sleep under her belt, she was wide-awake. She reached for it and swiped the screen to unlock it.
Your car will be there at five. Ramsey.
How had he gotten her number? She rubbed her eyes and looked at the screen again, but the text wasn’t a dream.
Guess he had people to do the stuff he didn’t want to deal with. It was a little unnerving.
Another text came in. We’ll be backstage. Someone will bring you through security.
Backstage? Well, it was going to be a premium experience for sure. So long as she didn’t chicken out.
Acknowledge.
She stared at the text, stunned by the formalness of it. A little tingle touched her nape, rousing a memory of how Ramsey looked when he wasn’t hiding behind the bad boy he seemed to think the world believed he was. She got the feeling he was a whole lot more, and that whatever was hidden inside him was also responsible for his rise to fame. There were people who thought success just happened, but she knew it took more than raw talent to make it to the top. You needed a dose of luck and enough brainpower to fuel a solid business approach.
She texted him back. Looking forward to it.
Good.
She heard his raspy tone as she read the text, a tiny ripple of sensation moving along her skin in response.
Wow. Just…wow. The guy was so potent, she felt the effect a full day later.
And through a text message, no less.
Suddenly, moving back into her parents’ home in Denver looked a little more like a good choice, because it would be a shield against her suddenly impulsive nature. Except it would mean tossing in the towel on her dreams of being an artist, and admitting she was a chicken.
Those ideas left her feeling hollow.
So, she’d hang on a little longer. Sometimes things happened for a reason.
* * *
Keeping a car in San Francisco was a luxury.
Rent was super high, which meant garages were income generators if you were lucky enough to have one, willing to compromise on your personal freedom, and willing to use public transportation so you could rent your garage out to someone who needed it.
In many cases, using public transit was easier than trying to drive through the congested streets and find parking when you got to your destination.
Still, there was something about having a car to herself that Jewel admitted she liked and missed.
A whole lot.
She missed it even more keenly when she pushed open the metal security gate and a tinted-window sedan pulled up in the street. It was smooth. Judging the timing was tricky, but the driver was out of the car and opening the door for her without a care for the blares of horns from other drivers caught behind his double-parking job.
She stretched out in the backseat of the sedan as the driver hightailed it back into the driver’s seat and pulled back into traffic. There was a privacy screen between her and the driver, a control panel on the armrest for her to use at her will, and a small s
election of beverages, including ice. But what caught her eye was the little box sitting on the armrest between the seats. It was bound with a scarlet ribbon she recognized. The box was from her favorite bakery. A name tag was affixed to it.
Joan Marie Ryan.
Oh yeah, he had people, lots of folks to dig up her personal life. She didn’t care for the slightly off balance feeling the name tag left her with, so she opened the box and smiled at the two chocolate-dipped strawberries resting inside. The scent rose up, teasing her nose.
It was her normal order. Her indulgence when life was too frustrating or she’d found a moment to celebrate. A little shiver went through her body, but what actually made her the most apprehensive was the idea that he’d set someone to looking into how to please her.
It had been a really long time since someone had spent much effort on trying to make her happy.
She lifted one and bit into it, savoring the combination of strawberry and chocolate. Dark chocolate. Like Ramsey. She hummed softly.
Get a grip, girl. Or he’s going to toss you into the air like a Frisbee.
Well, that could be fun too.
Ha! Only if you want to suffer through the emotional meltdown tomorrow morning.
Truth was such a sharp-edged little bitch. She drew blood with every bite.
The car inched along, going slower as they got closer to the downtown area where the arena was located. Cars jammed full of long-haired fans were blaring Toxsin’s music with their windows down. The sidewalks were full of more fans who had taken the underground trains from their hotels. Summer hadn’t lost its grip on California yet. Even as the sun was setting, it was over eighty degrees, thanks to an end-of-summer heat wave.
The city police had intersections closed down. Officers stood out in the middle of them, directing everyone toward the entrance to the underground parking lot. But her driver cruised through, drawing the attention of those stuck in traffic. The driver knew what he was doing, pulling the vehicle past the “Road Closed” signs and the “Private, No Entrance” warnings. A couple of uniformed officers stepped up to the driver’s-side door. The driver flashed a card at them and was waved through.
It was pretty cool.
They drove up the backside of the huge arena and onto the roof. Jewel climbed out without waiting for the driver, because she was curious. There was a whole staging area on the roof. Three black SUVs were backed in, waiting for a getaway. Hell, there was even a helicopter.
“You came.”
She turned around to discover Ramsey standing behind her. He’d obviously come through the tinted glass doors that led into the area.
And he was very obviously a rock star tonight. His hair was teased and gelled into spikes. There was a sheen to it that caught the light and made it flash black with undertones of blue. Someone had done a brilliant job on his face with foundation and eyeliner.
He voiced what she was taking in. “Performance makeup. Can’t be a blur on stage.”
“I don’t think anyone will miss you, eyeliner or not.”
He closed the distance between them, moving with a fluid grace that was a whole lot more like a prowl than a stride. The guy was off the scale when it came to sheer presence. Her damned toes were curling as he took the last couple of paces.
His dark eyes were full of anticipation. It made her breath catch and her lips tingle when his gaze dropped to them.
He wanted to kiss her.
Hell, she wanted him to do it.
But he left her hanging in that moment, suspended between breaths as she waited to see what the next second would bring. He reached out for her, slipping his hand along the side of her jaw. It was a delicate touch. Like a promise of control when he looked so wild. He was tempting her, teasing her. Although maybe the best way to put it was…baiting her.
“Come on inside.”
“Ah…sure.” Her tongue felt like a wad of half-responsive tissue in her mouth.
Ramsey had started to turn away. He reversed course, sweeping back around and capturing her against his body.
She was suddenly surrounded by him, immersed in sensory overload as his scent filled her senses and the heat from his skin warmed her.
“I want to.” His voice was muffled against her temple.
Jewel shifted back, recoiling as her brain fried and left her at the mercy of her emotions. “Want to what?”
He followed her again. Turning her around in a tight circle to control her attempts to escape—not holding her, just moving so she ran into him as she tried to avoid him. It caused her head to spin. She looked up, seeking out a stationary spot to fix her gaze on.
It ended up being his eyes.
And once she locked gazes with him, the remains of her thoughts scattered.
“I want to kiss you…” He cupped her head, gathering her hair in his hand and pulling the strands just tight enough to send a spike of sensation through her.
A wild, untamed spike.
“Umm…well, that’s not a very good idea,” Jewel managed to force out.
His lips curved softly. “Agreed.” There was a mocking sound to his tone as he snorted. “And that is a first for me.”
His gaze dropped to her lips, his expression tightening; she saw the desire glittering in his eyes. She ended up quivering, pushing against his chest, only to discover she was very much his prisoner.
“But I don’t want you like this.”
She was free before his words sank in. He’d turned away from her, and she realized he was hiding from her.
Don’t ask.
Really, she needed to heed that warning, but she reached out and cupped his bicep, yanking him back as she stepped forward so she could see his face.
She ended up sucking in her breath.
Ramsey chuckled at her, turning all the way to face her and taking one long step to loom over her. “So you want to see? Sure you can handle it?”
His tone was rough.
But what she heard was the challenge in it. “You don’t intimidate me.”
“Yes, I do.” He lifted his hand, reaching out to touch her. She stood her ground, unwilling to let him see her retreat. He ended up tapping her lips with the tip of his index finger.
The connection was electric. She shivered, her eyes sliding closed as she lost all control of her thoughts and just slipped into a bubble of pure reaction.
“Okay…” She stepped back, fighting the urge to pant as her heart raced. “I’m not sure I can handle it.”
“Neither am I.” His eyes narrowed, surprise flickering in them before he captured her hand and turned toward the door.
The doors opened as they approached, and he took her through them as she was caught in her own moment of surprise.
Ramsey, the Mega Rock Star. She expected a fair number of things from him, but uncertainty wasn’t anywhere on the list.
He was a beast.
An animal.
A creature carved out of midnight.
He was so far out of the realm of normal, and yet, she discovered herself drawn to that crack in his shell. The one she was pretty sure he wasn’t happy about her seeing.
It struck her as special.
Maybe “intimate” was a better word. Even if using it set off another warning bell. It made no sense and was really a far-fetched idea altogether. Mega rock stars didn’t play by the same rules as the rest of the world. Feeling connected to him on any level was going to end badly.
Very badly.
Still, she found herself looking at the way his fingers were curled around hers. A tender touch, innocent, and yet her heart rate accelerated. When was the last time a guy had held her hand? Before he’d made a move on her?
Okay, well, Ramsey had made a move on her. He’d embodied exactly what she’d thought he was: cornering her within minutes, laying waste to her morality with the force of his persona in a few polished moves that lived up to her image of him. Yet he hadn’t taken her. No, it had been far smoother. He’d stepped into her path, un
nerved her, baited her, teased her, tempted her, and made sure she was the one tumbling into his embrace.
It was a blast.
A total high.
The only problem with that was the fall to the ground when she came down.
Mega rock stars didn’t leave the sky.
Nope. She’d end up looking up at him from the broken heap she landed in.
Alone.
Chapter 2
Toxsin’s fans were voracious.
The arena sounded alive, groaning and straining as showtime neared. It was like a tangible pulse floating through the air. It was a hundred times more powerful than static electricity.
Ramsey pulled Jewel down a series of hallways, past a couple of intense-looking security posts, and right through doors that had large warnings: “Performers Only. Violators Will Be Prosecuted.” Inside was a huge ready room of sorts, with makeup chairs and mirrors, rolling costume racks, and even a complete set of instruments for warming up.
“This is Brenton, our road manager.”
“Ah, the lady of the evening.” Brenton offered her his hand. Jewel reached out and shook it. He was wearing a black polo shirt with “Toxsin” embroidered over the left bicep. There were several other men wearing the same thing. Some of them had on headphones that covered their ears completely, while others had only clear pig-tail communications devices stuck in their right ears. It was far more organized than she’d expected. Which was a tad shallow of her, because she realized she was judging Ramsey without knowing very much about him. There was an attention to detail that was, frankly, almost military in nature.
“We’ve got your seat reserved. Kate will show you the way when showtime hits,” Brenton continued. “Here’s a little pass to make sure no one stops you. Keep it hidden. Some of the regulars know what it is and might try to snatch it.”
He handed her what looked like a hotel room key card hanging on a lanyard. It wouldn’t be hidden with the V-neck of the dress she’d worn, so she stuffed it into her bra. The road manager was somewhere in his early fifties, with a receding hairline he hid by keeping his brown hair clipped short. He clearly lifted weights, his shoulders and back having that bulky, muscular look. But his grin was easygoing, and there was a twinkle of happiness in his eyes that told her he really loved his job.
