He kissed me again, and this time it was almost animalistic. He growled into my mouth and it sent electricity coursing through me. I wanted him so badly it ached.
I almost fell over when the door opened. I yelped, smoothing my clothes down and patting my hair, trying to hide the blush on my face. Garrett Wood was standing in the doorway. His eyes went from me to Maddox and back to me again, and a grin tugged at his lips.
“Did I interrupt something?”
“No,” I stammered. “Not at all. Just finishing up Maddox’s hair and makeup for the show.”
“Right,” he said, catching Maddox’s eye in the mirror. “Just finishing up, eh?”
“Careful,” Maddox growled. His voice sounded predatory, almost territorial. It sent another shiver down my spine, and Garrett seemed to understand. He shrugged and sat down, and I tried to take a deep breath. I turned to my makeup as Maddox ran his hand along the outside of my thigh.
Garrett was looking at his phone, paying no attention to us. Maddox kept his hands on me as I started doing his hair and makeup. He wouldn’t need much, just enough so that the studio lights wouldn’t make him shiny. My heartbeat slowed as I got to work, and I was almost able to ignore Maddox’s loaded looks.
I was almost relieved when Morgan walked in. She looked a bit flushed, and a few seconds later Vee and Carter appeared.
Veronica glanced at me and her lip tugged upwards. My eyes widened, and I glanced at Carter. He just looked at Morgan. There was definitely tension in the air, but I wasn’t sure who was tense with whom, or if it was just my crazy, sex-addled mind playing tricks on me.
“Good, everyone is here.” Morgan said in her most business-like voice. I could always tell when she was in ‘work mode’. “Carter, I’ll get you to jump in to the seat so Lacie can do your hair and makeup. Garrett, come with me, you need to check your gear at the studio.”
“You’re the boss,” Garrett replied, and he got up to follow her out. Maddox relinquished his seat, looking me up and down once more before Carter took his spot.
Finally, with Maddox farther away, my heartbeat could slow down and the burning need between my legs might dull enough for me to do my job.
Chapter 11 - Maddox
The rest of the band and I seemed to have an unspoken agreement to behave ourselves. We didn’t say anything controversial on The Morning Show, and we played our set the way we used to play together. Just beyond the studio lights, I could see Lacie’s blonde hair. Having her there made me feel good. It made me want to do well on the show. I guess I just wanted her to be proud of me.
Carter and Garrett seemed to agree. Garrett especially seemed different. He was usually our boisterous lead singer, always saying and doing things to get himself in trouble. But this morning, talking to Mark and Michelle, the hosts on The Morning Show, he seemed almost normal. We plugged our new album and said all the things we were supposed to say.
Like the flick of a switch, something had changed. The self-destructive path that we’d all agreed on for six months had shifted.
We were driven from one interview to the next. All day long, we promoted our album, played songs for various news outlets, TV shows and radio stations, until finally we ended up on a late-night show.
“I didn’t know these were filmed so early,” I said as Lacie dabbed my face with some skin-colored cream. She made a noise of agreement.
“Doesn’t seem like such a late show, hey?” She said absent-mindedly.
My hands drifted up her thighs and I saw her shiver. She took a deep breath, speaking in a low voice so Garrett and Carter couldn’t hear.
“You’ve behaved yourself so well today,” she grinned, working intently and not meeting my eye. “Just keep it going for a little bit longer.”
“What if I don’t want to behave myself?” I growled, and Lacie shivered against me. She looked at me, her eyes shining bright.
“You’re insatiable.”
“Only when you’re around.”
Her lips parted, and she put down the brush she was using. She glanced around the dressing room at my bandmates and was about to say something when my phone rang. I looked down and saw my lawyer’s number flash on the screen. I sighed.
“I have to take this,” I said. Lacie nodded and stepped back so I could get up. I slipped out the door and around the corner.
“Hey, Hillary,” I said with a sigh.
My lawyer chuckled. “You don’t seem happy to hear from me.”
“I haven’t found a wife yet, if that’s what you’re wondering,” I said, and as the words left my mouth, a terrifying and bewildering thought entered my head. I hadn’t found a wife, but I had found a woman like no other. Could Lacie…? I shook my head, trying to listen to my lawyer.
“Well, you’d better get a move on. Your sister Maggie is petitioning to have the entire will thrown out. You’ll get nothing if you don’t get married within the next couple weeks.”
“I told you, I don’t want any of it. Let Maggie keep it.”
Hillary sighed. “Maddox, listen to me. I’ve drafted a prenuptial contract that gives your bride-to-be a hundred thousand dollars. Your parents were worth billions. It wouldn’t be right to give it all to Maggie. Your personal worth is in the millions, sure, but it’s only a tenth of what your parents had.”
“I know how much I’m worth,” I spat.
Hillary’s voice softened. “I was your parents’ friend as well as their lawyer. If you give up on this, you’re giving up on them.”
Something broke in my chest. My parents had died suddenly, before I could try to mend the distance between us. I’d always thought they saw nothing in me. But if they had written me into their will, even with this stupid marriage clause, maybe they did care?
Hillary sighed. “Maddox, I know this is hard. I know you loved your parents even though you had a complicated relationship. They just wanted to see you happy.”
“And marrying someone I don’t know just so I can get some money… that is supposed to make me happy?”
“Well, if it doesn’t, you can see it as a ‘fuck you’ to your parents and your sister. Maybe that will resonate with you more than thinking that they cared.”
I couldn’t help but chuckle. “You know, Hillary. It does resonate with me. My whole life is a big ‘fuck you’ to everyone who thought I’d fail.”
“Good. So marry some lucky girl and make yourself a billionaire.”
I looked up as Lacie came out of the dressing room. She nodded to the bathroom door across from me as if to explain why she was there.
“Hey, Hillary. I gotta go,” I said. She said something but I didn’t hear it. I hung up the phone and intercepted Lacie as she walked.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt,” she said as she stopped in the hallway in front of me. “I just needed to pee.”
“You didn’t interrupt a thing,” I growled. I tilted her chin up towards me and pressed her lips to mine. She wrapped her arms around my neck and I pulled her into me, backing into the restroom where she’d been heading. The door closed behind us and I pressed her against it, reaching up to lock the door.
When I pulled away from her, Lacie’s eyes were shining bright. They were like two emerald orbs staring up at me and it sent a thrill through my whole body. She grinned.
“I’m not really a ‘sex in the public bathroom’ kind of girl, you know,” she said with a raised eyebrow.
“This isn’t a public bathroom. We’re on private property.”
She rolled her eyes. “You know what I mean.”
“I already told you, Lacie,” I said, kissing her lips softly. “I’m not going to fuck you until I have you laid out on a big bed with rose petals underneath you. I’m going to treat you like a fucking queen.”
She sucked her lip between her teeth, running her fingers through my hair. “So what are we doing in here?”
“I needed to touch that sweet little pussy of yours,” I growled. “My pussy. Haven’t felt it all day.”
I unzipped
her jeans and pushed them down to her thighs, dragging my fingers up through her soaking wet slit. I growled.
“So wet,” I whispered, brushing my lips against hers as my fingers slid up and down between her legs.
She moaned. “Wet for you,” she replied breathlessly. I growled, sinking my fingers inside her as she moaned. Her eyes closed and her beautiful lips fell open as she leaned against the closed door. I held her up, kissing her and tangling my fingers into her hair as my other hand worked between her legs.
Her sweet little pussy gripped my fingers so tight it made my cock throb. I couldn’t wait to plunge it deep inside her, but I would wait until I could treat her like the angel she was. I worked her clit with my thumb as I groaned. Being inside her, even just with my fingers, was the best feeling in the world.
“Come for me, angel,” I purred into her ear as she whimpered. “Come for your rock star, right here in this public bathroom like the fucking dirty girl you are. You think you’re not this kind of girl, huh? Be a dirty girl for me and come all over my hand.”
She moaned. I worked my fingers faster, feeling her tremble as her hot breath came in short gasps. I caught her lips in mine, kissing her hard as she trembled against me.
“That’s it, Lacie,” I said. “Come for me. Come hard and show me you’re mine.”
“Maddox!” Lacie gasped. Her hands gripped me tight as her body contracted. She moaned again, trembling in my arms as I brought her over the edge. I kissed her hard, not taking my hand away from her sweet nectar until her body relaxed and she gently pushed me away.
“How do you do that?” She breathed, her eyes wide and glassy. “How do you make me feel so good?”
I pulled her jeans back up, giving her ass a light smack. “I told you already, Lacie. It’s because you’re mine.”
“I want to be all yours,” she breathed. Her cheeks flushed red immediately, and she smiled shyly.
I thought of my conversation with my lawyer, and I laid a soft kiss on her lips. She shuddered against me, holding on to my shoulders as she kissed me fiercely.
When we pulled apart, I smiled at her. “Soon, baby girl. The right way.”
Chapter 12 - Lacie
My head was spinning. Maddox headed back towards the dressing room as I went to the mirror to make sure I looked presentable. My chest was still heaving up and down and my cheeks were flushed. I straightened my clothes and took a deep breath before following Maddox.
Why did it feel so good when Maddox said I was his? I’d never been into that kind of thing. I’d always thought of myself as independent. But with Maddox, it felt good to melt into him. It felt so, so good to give in to everything that he said. I wanted to be his. I wanted to belong to him.
I stumbled back into the dressing room and Garrett’s eyes pierced through me. When he grinned at Maddox, I blushed. I tried swallowing the flush back, motioning for him to get in the makeup chair. If I was working, maybe I would stop thinking about the orgasm I’d just had in Maddox’s arms, pressed up against the bathroom door.
“How many times a day do you have to touch up my makeup?” Garrett complained, winking at me. I stole a glance at Maddox and my cheeks burned hotter. I turned to Garrett.
“As many times as you appear on camera,” I shot back, finally meeting Garrett’s eye. There was laughter in his eyes, so I raised my eyebrow in challenge. “And for the next week, that’s multiple times a day. I heard you loved having women all over you, you shouldn’t be complaining.”
Garrett laughed and shrugged. His eyes glazed over, as if he were thinking of something important. I frowned, wondering about the glances I’d seen between him and Morgan. Was it possible…?
I shook my head. Just because Veronica and I had been swept off our feet by these stupidly handsome and sexy musicians, it didn’t mean Morgan was, too. She was the responsible one, after all.
We were all flying to New York the next day, so as much as I wanted to stay with Maddox, I had to go home. I’d have to pack and make sure that my mother had everything she needed for the three days we’d be away. Maddox gave me a long look as I was leaving, but neither of us had the opportunity to sneak away again.
I jumped in to the car with Veronica and sighed.
“Can’t wait until I can afford my own car,” I said. “Thanks again for driving me all the time.”
“We work together, and I live like ten minutes away from you,” she laughed. “It’s okay, really. I know that with your mom being sick you don’t have much extra money. I like our car time,” she laughed. “Sometimes it’s the only time we have to talk!”
I nodded, and Vee looked at me. Her voice softened. “When are you going to ask Morgan for a raise?”
“I’m not sure she can give me a big enough raise,” I laughed bitterly. The past couple days had been a whirlwind. Meeting Maddox had made me momentarily forget how bad my troubles were at home. It was just me and Mom, and she was depending on me.
My heart contracted. Vee could sense it, and she reached over to squeeze my hand. “It’ll work out,” she said.
“Yeah,” I replied, staring out the car window. I took a deep breath. “So, are you excited for New York?”
Veronica smiled. “Stoked.” She glanced at me. “What’s going on with you and Maddox, anyway? You’re always looking at each other and I’m pretty sure your cheeks are just permanently red now.”
I blushed, and then cursed my stupid cheeks.
“Well what about you? You disappeared with Carter for a while today.”
It was her turn to blush, and I laughed. “Did you notice anything funny between Morgan and Garrett?”
“What, like a power struggle?”
I giggled. “That’s one way of putting it.”
“She would be turned on by that kind of thing.”
I laughed. “Well hopefully they hook up, and Morgan can relax a little. She hardly talks to us anymore now that Marcus is up her ass trying to ruin her life.”
Vee laughed. “When did you get such a dirty mouth? I feel like I’ve heard you swear more in the past two days than I have in the past two years.”
“Hanging around with too many rock stars,” I grinned.
We pulled up outside my house. I looked at the peeling paint and the roof that needed replacing and I sighed. I wouldn’t be moving into a mansion in the hills anytime soon, especially if my mom’s illness didn’t get any better.
“See you in the morning,” I said.
“I’ll leave my car at home but I’ll get the taxi to pick you up tomorrow, and we can head to the airport together.”
“Next stop, New York,” I laughed, waving goodbye to Veronica. She drove off, and my shoulders slumped. I turned back towards the house and took a deep, calming breath. I put on the happiest face I could and trudged up towards the house. As soon as I walked in, I heard my mother’s voice from her bedroom.
“Lacie?”
“Hey, Mom!” I called out, dropping my bag by the door. I balled my hands into fists, steeling myself to go see my mother. She was practically bedridden these days, and it was getting harder and harder to handle. Her headaches were getting more intense, and I knew the glioblastoma—brain cancer, if we were calling a spade a spade—was getting worse. If we couldn’t get the money for the treatment within a couple weeks, I’d be watching her wither away in front of me.
I shook my head. I couldn’t think that way. Something would come up.
“Hey, Mom,” I said, letting my eyes adjust to the darkness of her bedroom. I padded on the carpet and sat on the edge of the bed. There was the stale scent of sickness in the air, and I brushed my mother’s hair off her clammy forehead. “How are you feeling today?”
“A bit better,” she lied. She stretched her lips into a smile. “You’re heading to New York tomorrow, aren’t you?”
“Yeah,” I said, and my heart squeezed. Every moment away from her seemed like it was a bad idea. I didn’t know how much time she had left.
“I didn’t
see you yesterday.”
“I was working late,” I lied, thinking of my time with Maddox as a flash of guilt passed through me. How could I explain that to her?
“You work too hard.”
“Once I get my pay check this week, I should be able to afford the down payment for your treatment.”
My mother patted my arm and shook her head. “You shouldn’t waste your money on me, Lacie. You should live your life.”
My chest compressed until it hurt, and my throat closed up. “Sounds like you’re giving up,” I croaked. My mother shook her head.
“I’m just being a mom,” she whispered.
I kissed her forehead and stroked her arm until she fell asleep. Then, I tiptoed out of the room and started packing.
Maybe a few days away would be a good thing. I could spend time with Maddox, clear my head, and come back with renewed strength. Then, I could figure out how I’d make the second payment for her treatment.
My phone buzzed, and Maddox’s phone number flashed on the screen.
See you tomorrow. Sleep tight xx
I smiled and read the message over a few times. I wondered if he knew how much those five words meant to me.
Chapter 13 - Maddox
It seemed unfair that we got first-class flights while Lacie and the rest of the team were back in cattle class. I’d never considered that before, but watching Lacie walk down the aisle of the plane towards the back made me frown. I looked around for an empty seat near me, but they were all full. And as much as I could turn on the rock star charm, I wasn’t sure I could get a free first-class seat out of it.
It wasn’t a long flight, though, and I knew I’d be taking Lacie up to my suite at the Ritz-Carlton in New York at end of the day. That thought alone would carry me through the flight.
I could hardly contain myself anymore. I had to have her. Tonight, in my suite, I would make her the queen that she truly was.
Halfway through the flight, I saw Carter get up from his seat. He had a devilish expression on his face, and he disappeared into the bathroom behind me. I thought nothing of it, until I heard something. I turned my head, craning my ears over the sound of the engine.
Maddox: A Bad Boy Rock Star Romance (Rock Hard Book 2) Page 5
