by Elle Viviani
“And so big.” She strokes her other hand down my chest, her nails lightly scoring my skin before resting on my abs. Her mouth moves to my nipple and pauses. Her lips feather over it, then lower.
A nip of pain, followed by the slick slash of her hot tongue.
Autumn looks up at the sound of my sharp intake of breath. “Ready to play?”
I’m all for drawing out the pleasure in bed, but as Autumn rubs her slick center down the length of my throbbing shaft, I know I may have met my match.
I grip her arms and yank her down next to me, a throaty moan leaving her lips as if I was already inside of her.
“Goddammit,” I mutter, realizing the power Autumn has over me. The sultry, challenging look in her eye makes me lose what is left of my patience.
I launch off the bed and grab my pants, pulling out my wallet and flipping it open. I find the condom, tear it open, and slide it on. I had planned on taking her slowly. I told myself to be gentle with her. But as my nostrils fills with the heady scent of her and my tongue tastes her sweet juices on my lips, I’m pushed to the edge.
I kneel down on the bed and plant my hands on either side of her. She stares up at me, cheeks flushed, lips parted, begging me to give us both what we need. My knees push her legs open wide, and then wider still. She writhes beneath me, eyes drunk with desire, her lips red from where I ravaged them. Her breasts are so full and round that I can’t help but lean down and take one peak with my eager mouth. Her hands fly over her head and grasp the sheets as I scrape my teeth over her sensitive tip.
“So sweet.” I reach up a hand to restrain her wrists and use the other to position myself between her legs. And then I enter her in one hard stroke, so powerful that she cries out.
I still inside of her, worried that I’d gone to far, but before I can ease out, Autumn rocks her hips into mine, her soft curves working to take me deeper. Her hands open, then clench while she arches her back against the white sheets.
My eyes close as her inner muscles begin to pulse around me, the feeling so intense and pure that it overpowers me. My senses are captured by the soft swell of her breasts against my chest, the sweet fragrance of her dark brown waves, and the wet heat of her arousal against my shaft. All I can do is focus on the beauty writhing under me as I begin to match her movements, thrust for thrust.
She gasps as the need builds inside of her. A slow, blissful smile curls up her lips as she closes her eyes and begins to moan. Watching her give herself up to the bursts of pleasure swirling within her, setting fire to her body, pushes me past my limit.
No longer holding anything back, I thrust into her hard, over and over, until we’re both panting with uncontrollable need. Our sweat-soaked skin glints under the bright moonlight that streams in through the window.
“Now, Autumn.” Her eyelids flutter back at my command, pupils so dilated that her eyes are black instead of brown. “Now.”
She explodes under me, around me, her walls convulsing from the orgasm crashing over her. My head snaps back as I release inside of her and give myself over to a climax that rocks us both.
We lay together for a long time after, holding each other close as we catch our breath. I’ve never felt so tired and content and satisfied in my entire life. I thought tasting Autumn was the best thing I could ever feel. But when I’d experienced all of her, I knew I was wrong.
“You’ve ruined me for any other man,” Autumn pants.
I lift my head from the crook of her neck. “What makes you think you’re ever going to be with another man?”
She smiles up at me. “I guess I didn’t think about it.”
My eyebrows raise as her gaze dips between my thighs. “Consider yourself mine because I consider myself yours.”
I look up and am surprised to see I’m still holding her arms above her head. I had planned on being gentle, of staying in control, instead of taking her without any thought at all to what she’d been through tonight. I quickly let her go and lean back.
“Did I hurt you?”
She shakes her head. “No, but I wouldn’t have said no if you did.”
The look she gives me has me ready for round two.
I ease onto my side, sliding the condom off and dropping it into the waste bin next to the bed.
“Come here,” I say, wrapping my arms around her as she draws up close to my chest. Her fingertips begin to outline the tattoos on my chest as she settles into my shoulder.
“It’s beautiful, but it must have hurt,” she says, slowly tracing the inked band around my ribs with the tip of one finger. It hurt like hell, but it was better than the pain I felt I every day without Autumn. Better than the pain of battle, of losing brothers in arms tour after tour. “What does it mean?”
I never shared the meaning of my tattoos with anyone before. But Autumn was different. I never could refuse her anything.
“The strength of a warrior.”
Her finger moves across my ribs, up my torso, to my left pectoral. “What about this star pattern just below your collarbone?”
“It’s called a Vegvisir, a Norse symbol that protects travelers through rough times. It’s there to—” I force myself to say it “—protect my heart.”
She presses her palm over the tattoo. I can see the sadness behind her eyes as she looks at me. “From me?”
“Autumn,” I begin, but stop as she moves onto her hands and knees. She leans forward and presses a kiss over my heart, right above the tattoo.
I can’t speak, I can’t move, I can’t do anything but pull her close so I can kiss her. I had spent most of my life on guard against disappointment, pain, and vulnerability. But when my heart throbs under Autumn’s palm, I realize it has a new owner: the very person I had guarded it against. Being with Autumn made me want to stop running, and it made me want to give in to a dream I swore never to let myself believe again.
“Thank you,” I say when I finally let her go. She presses one more soft kiss to my lips and then settles back onto my shoulder. I could stay like this forever, never wanting to let go.
I’m slipping into sleep when her hot breath flutters over my sweaty skin again. “You said you were mine earlier. Is that true?”
I open my eyes to find hers on me. The smile on her lips a few minutes ago is gone. “I always have been.”
“So this wasn’t a one-time thing?” she asks quietly.
Drawing my elbow up under me, I prop myself up and stare down at her. Her hair fans out around her like an angel. “Never. I’ve wanted you for as long as I can remember, and now that you’re in my arms, you’re never leaving them.”
The smile returns as she runs her fingertips lightly over my nipple, the one she teased with that sweet mouth of hers. “I’ve waited so long to hear you say that.”
“And you’ll keep hearing it because it’s the honest to God truth. You’re mine, and I’m yours.”
With a contented sigh, Autumn lies her head back down onto my shoulder and closes her eyes. When she pulls me closer, my entire body craves her softness, her warmth. I already know that I’ll never, in a million years, get enough of the woman falling asleep in my arms.
The thought is still on my mind as I lie back down onto the soft duvet, rest my palm over her beating heart, and close my eyes.
The sun hasn’t come up by the time we wake up. Sometime during the night, Autumn turned around to face me, and seeing her gorgeous eyes blinking back at me when I open mine is the most beautiful sight in the world.
“Hey, you,” Autumn says, her voice husky with sleep. “That was quite a night.”
I draw the pillow up around my head. “You mean when a drunk, hostile fan shoved you off the stage?”
She shoves her face into her pillow. “I still can’t believe that happened.”
I rub my palm over her bare back, enjoying the feel of her skin against mine. “Are you alright?”
She nods. Her face turns to me. “I just wish I had said something when he came up on stage. I did not invi
te that lunatic to sing with me.”
“I know.” My fingers drift across her shoulder blades. She shivers slightly under my touch. “I was moving to intercept the moment he stepped on stage.”
“How’d you know?”
“You.” I reach out and trace the curve of her chin before thumbing her bottom lip, still plump from my kisses. “I could tell something was wrong long before he took your arm.”
Closing her eyes, she leans into my fingers and sighs. “You know what I want to do today?”
“What?”
Her eyes open and find mine. “Spend the morning with you on the tour bus before my concert tonight.”
I lace my fingers through her hair, drawing strands between my fingers before letting them drift back down onto the pillow. “And what are we doing on the tour bus? It’s a three-hour drive to Philly.”
“Oh, I’ve got that all figured out.” With a yawn, she lifts her arms over her head and stretches out. My gaze follows the sheet as it slides across her smooth, tanned skin until it ultimately falls to the bed. “We’re lying in bed.”
“Your tour bus bed is minuscule,” I say, my eyes locked on the peaks and valleys exposed to my wakening eyes.
“We’ll make it work.”
I move a little closer. “And Dolly takes up most of it.”
“She’ll abdicate her throne for you.” Autumn sits up and turns to me, halting my advance. “So, what do you say? Feel like spending the morning with a friend?”
“Friend?” I lean forward and wrap an arm around her soft waist. “You’re not my friend, Autumn. You’re my girl.” She gasps as I begin to tease the sensitive skin just below her breasts. “And I can’t think of anything I’d rather do more than spend three hours in your arms.”
“And Dolly’s,” she adds, biting her lip as my hand moves up to cup her breast.
“I thought you said she’d give up her side.”
Her eyes flutter closed as my palm begins to knead her softness. “I never professed being a stern momma. Her daddy lays down the law.”
“Her daddy?”
Autumn’s eyes open slowly as my hand stops. “You. You’re part of our family.” A line pops up between her eyes as I stare at her, not saying a word. “Bryce?”
I answer with my mouth, bringing it to hers and holding her lips captive in a long, meandering kiss. My hand begins to move again, and when my thumb grazes her erect nipple, I’m rewarded by a moan of pleasure.
A few minutes later, Autumns rips her lips away from mine and glances at the clock next to the bed. “Wait, we have to take showers and get ready! The the bus leaves soon.”
“When does it leave?” I ask in a strained voice. This woman is going to kill me.
“Two hours.”
I grab her hips and pull her to me. “That’s plenty of time.”
“For what?”
Five seconds is all it takes for me to press her back against the mattress, climb on top of her, and knee apart her thighs. Her legs wrap around my waist as I press my lips, then tongue, against her delicate skin.
“For getting dirty before we get clean.”
Chapter 23
Autumn
“You know, I think we singlehandedly kept Mr. Stephensen in business with all the studying we did together in high school.”
Bryce looks up from the duffle bag at his feet with a shirt clutched in his hand. “Who?”
Zoe had come by a few minutes ago with an updated ETA—and a threat that she’d break down the door if we didn’t meet it. After promising her my firstborn that I’ll be ready to go when we rolled into Philly, I sent her away with the important task of finding me a replacement manager. Zoe is a-frickin’-mazing, but asking her to be my assistant and interim manager for the next two weeks is just plain cruel.
I crawl up off the bed onto all fours, taking the sheets with me. Bryce and I had been true to our word and stayed in bed all morning. “You know, the sweet old man who owns High Five Coffee Bar in Asheville? We practically owned that table by the window.”
“Right.” He goes back to rummaging through his bag. “The guy who always slipped you a free brownie.”
“They were for you, too.”
Bryce laughs. “No way. One smile of yours had that man scrambling.”
I frown as Bryce slips on the dark jeans he just yanked out of his bag. I better get my ass in gear, too, if I didn’t want Zoe picking the lock in five minutes. But first…
I get up and let the sheet slip to the floor. Bryce’s eyes dart to my newly exposed skin instantly. Doing my best Beyoncé strut, I close the gap between us and lean forward, bringing my lips to his ear. The roughness of his stubble on my cheek makes my senses hum.
“I didn’t really want to study, you know. All those times I came to you asking for your help, I just wanted to hang out with you.”
I watch the tendon’s chord and pop in his neck.
“You don’t say?”
“What, can you fault me for wanting to be close to you?”
“Not at all.”He grabs my waist and pulls me to him. “Because I only said yes to sit across the table from you.” He nods when my eyes widen. “I don’t think I learned a damn thing because I couldn’t keep my attention from wandering to you.”
“Really?”
Not missing a beat, Bryce brings his lips down to mine. His mouth is so warm against mine, so skilled that I wonder how I’ll ever keep my head around his man.
A loud smack on the door breaks us apart. “Are you two ready?” Zoe yells.
Bryce and I both glance at my lingerie-clad body. I make a beeline for my closet. “Almost! Two minutes!”
I heard muffled muttering as Zoe walks away. Hell, at least she walks away and doesn’t hack through the wall.
Bryce smirks at me as I throw on the first skirt, shirt, and leather jacket combo that I find. One glance in the mirror tells me it’s pretty bad.
I scowl at his barely-concealed laughter.
“It won’t matter what I chose once Kendra and Billie sink their talons into me.” I flick an invisible speck of dust off my lime green shirt that reads WILL SING FOR DONUTS (a gem). “This is just to get me from the bus to the dressing room.”
Exactly two minutes later, I’m walking down the steps of my tour bus. I only get one glance at an empty parking lot before I’m yanked back up the steps. “What the—”
Bryce grins down at me as I stare up at my captor. “We didn’t get to finish our moment back there. I think I’m still owed a kiss.”
An honest-to-God giggle escapes my lips like I’m some thirteen-year-old groupie. “I can fix that…”
Zoe pokes out inside the bus and looks up. “Oh God!”
She snaps her head back and retreats to the safety of the parking lot. “Uh, as much as I love the view from down here, boss, there’s only so much of your upper thigh I can take. Shall we?”
Bryce and I step apart, reluctantly but necessary. I don’t care if Zoe see’s us together (although, it seems like all she saw was a whole lotta skin), but I haven’t figured out to announce this to the public yet. To my fans.
I remind myself to corner Michaela the first chance I get as I trot down the steps, praying to God that I don’t flash anyone.
“Alright, Zoe, I’m here so you can calm down. What’s the—”
My jaw drops when I see what Zoe’s wearing. The navy blue skirt suit hangs awkwardly off of her small, but curvy frame. “Why do you look like a circus ringmaster?”
She scowls as she tugs at the starched collar. “This is called a power suit, thank you very much, and it makes me look professional. Cody always wore them.”
“Yeah…” I eye the boxy thing with distaste. It looks nothing like the jumpsuits and Converse High Tops I’m used to seeing her in.
“Just be yourself, Zoe. I have faith in you and your ass-kicking skills, Hil Dawg power suit not required.”
“Okay.” She nibbles her lip. “If you’re sure, then I’ll go—”
> “Autumn!”
We look around as Carter runs through the equipment being unloaded from the vans.
“Carter? What’s wrong?” I ask, fanning my eyes against the sun as he skitters to a stop before me.
“I’ve been trying to call you all day. Cody’s not answering his phone.” Carter doubles over and tries to catch his breath.
Zoe and I look at each other. I step forward and clear my throat. “That’s probably because I fired him last night.”
Carter’s head snaps up. “What?”
I clear my throat. “Creative and…personal differences. Zoe’s representing me now, and in charge of tour logistics.”
Carter raises his eyebrows as he turns to my power-suited employee. “Then you get the fun task of dealing with a canceled show.”
“WHAT?” Zoe and I cry in unison.
The roaring in my ears deafens me. I take the last few steps toward the bench and collapse into it, leaning against the cold wooden slats and forcing air into my lungs.
“I got here an hour ago, “ he continues, “and no one was here. They said your manager called this morning and canceled your show.”
We all turn to Zoe, who immediately shakes her head.
“No way. I did not do this. I’ve been looking through resumes and corralling you all morning!”
I hold up a hand before she goes into freaking out mode. I’m already there, so I know how it feels. “Don’t worry—I know exactly who did this.”
Bryce stiffens next to me. “Jensen,” he murmurs.
“Yes. Cody Jensen.”
Looks like someone’s not going to leave quietly.
I jump up from the bench, whip out my phone, and stalk away from the group. I pull up his name in seconds and tap the call button.
“Autumn?” Zoe says, slowly walking toward me like I’m a dangerous animal. “What are you doing?”
The call goes straight to voicemail. Works for me.
“You’re the worst human being ever,” I yell into the phone. “I guess I didn’t make myself clear last night. You’re done. Out. As in, no longer on my team. So, stop messing with me, Cody or I’ll sue your lying ass right outta Nash—”
