Lowdown and Lush

by Selena Laurence

  He’s just tilting me back onto the table, his hand behind my head, when we hear someone say, “What the fuck?” as a blinding light floods the room.

  Michael yanks me against his chest hard. I’m topless and my bra is askew, so I huddle there, my back to the intruder, who I realize immediately is Walsh. We are in his house, after all. On his kitchen table. About to have sex. I feel my face heat in shame. One day with Michael. That’s all it took. He’s like sex on a stick. No one can resist.

  “Hey, man,” Michael says cheerfully as he strokes my back. “What’s up?”

  “You are,” Walsh responds dryly. “How’s it goin’, Jenny?” he adds. I hear him open a cabinet. “Tam needs a glass of milk. She can’t sleep. I’ll be out of your way in just sec.”

  I open my eyes and turn my head to see Walsh open the fridge and pour milk into a glass before he replaces the carton and closes the door.

  Then Walsh winks at me and says, “As you were.”

  “Thanks, man,” Michael answers as Walsh strolls out of the room.

  Mike

  JENNY KICKS me out of the house after Walsh catches us. But it’s okay. I get home before midnight, take a long shower, stroke one off with images of her in my head, and dream about her all night long. I can’t remember ever being this happy. I feel like the weight of a thousand pounds has been lifted from me. And my last thought before I fall asleep is that maybe Loretta can’t get me after all.

  Studio B becomes the haven it once was for all of us when Lush was still together. Walsh starts to come in nearly every day, saying that all Tammy wants to do is sleep, eat, and watch soap operas, so he’s no use to her at home. I think she’s just so fucking bitchy that even he can’t stand it anymore. Joss stops by a lot too, and at some point, he ends up recording a duet with Jenny. The look on her face when he suggested it was priceless. She still can’t believe that she’s a world-class talent.

  I do manage to get Luc Nellos to come in for two days and we lay down a beautiful track with him playing guitar and singing background vocals. I don’t mind giving up my spot as Jenny’s lead guitarist when I know she’s mine outside of the studio too.

  “Sunshine?” I call as I come back in the studio after walking Luc out to his limo. He’s a good guy, just as eccentric as his super famous father, but a great musician and someone who’d make a great touring companion for Jenny.

  I look around the darkened room until I see her huddled in a corner of the sofa. I approach quietly, thinking she’s fallen asleep.

  “Jen?”

  She sniffs and lifts her head, tears rolling down her face.

  “Holy shit. What happened? Did someone upset you?” I clench my fists, ready to flay some fucking sound tech or backup singer if they made her unhappy.

  She shakes her head. “No. No. No one did anything. I’ll be okay.” She sits up and wipes her cheeks.

  I sit down next to her. “Hey. This is me. What’s going on? Do you not like the album? You didn’t like how the track with Luc turned out?”

  She puts her soft palm on my cheek and looks at me with an earnest expression. “No. None of that. It’s all perfect—the album, the music, you. It’s all perfect, and that’s even more reason why I shouldn’t be sitting around feeling sorry for myself.”

  “Jen, you are not the type to feel sorry for yourself—ever. So I know that’s not what’s going on here. What are you crying about? Tell me before I go nuts. I can’t stand to see tears in your beautiful baby blues.”

  She gives me a sweet smile and looks down at her hands while she talks. “This is all so wonderful. This whole experience. I just can’t help thinking how I wish my family could be here to see it. I mean, my father probably wouldn’t understand any of it, but my mama would love to see this—how they record the music. She loves music. That’s where I get it from. She used to sing in the choir on Sundays and she had a beautiful voice. But at some point Daddy said that the practices on weeknights were taking too much time away from home. He wanted his dinner hot and laid out when he came home and that wasn’t happening when she had choir practice two nights a week.”

  She gives herself a little shake. “Anyway. My brother would be interested in all of this too. He has his own church in Killeen, but it’s a nondenominational, modern place. He has parishioners who are bikers and businessmen and everything in between, and they have one of the biggest choirs in the state. He would love all of this.”

  I pull her head down on my shoulder and stroke her hair. “So why don’t you invite them to come up? Ask your mom and your brother. I’ll pay for it all. They can come for a weekend or a few days during the week and hang out for a couple of sessions. You can show them all around Portland.”

  “You’re sweet, Michael, but you don’t understand. My mother’s never been somewhere without my father. He’d never allow it. Once he’s made a proclamation, that’s it. I’m banished from the family. He won’t budge.”

  “Tell you what. Let’s talk to Mel and Tammy about it? They’ve got an overbearing Italian mother. Maybe they know how to handle shit like this. I realize I’m no expert in family. But you have to promise to talk to me about these things. If there’s something that makes you unhappy, I want the chance to fix it, and if I can’t, I want to find someone who can.”

  She nods and kisses me on the cheek. “Michael?”

  “Yeah, Sunshine?”

  “Will you take me home and stay the night?”

  Jenny and I have been taking it slow, working our way up to something special. It’s taken a lot of self-control on my part, but in some ways, it’s made it all the more special. Making out on Walsh and Tammy’s living room sofa every night is some of the most fun I’ve had in years. Pretty much anything I get to do with Jenny is good by me. But when she asks me to spend the night, my dick stands up to do a happy dance and my heart races with joy.

  “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

  She nods. “I’m ready. I’ve been ready for days. I just didn’t know how to say it. But I want to be with you. I want you…” She pauses and a blush creeps up her cheeks.

  “You want what, baby?” I ask, hardly able to breathe waiting for the answer.

  “I want you inside me.”

  “Fuck,” I breathe out. “Are you trying to kill me here?”

  She runs a fingernail along my arm and looks up at me coquettishly. “I’m trying to make you a lucky boy, Michael. Are you gonna take me up on it?”

  “Damn,” I answer, my heart beating erratically in my chest. “Lead the way, baby. Lead the way.”

  IT’S SIX o’clock when we get to Walsh and Tammy’s. We come in through the kitchen and there they are, Tammy at the stove and Walsh sitting at the island.

  “Hey, man,” Walsh calls out. “You’re just in time. Tam grilled some steak. You want some?”

  He gestures to the platter of food in front of him. Tammy glances at us as she pulls some bread out of the oven.

  “Jenny, how was Luc? Come eat. There’s plenty, and I’m dying to hear how it went.”

  Jenny shoots me a desperate look and snakes a hand to my ass, where she gives it a squeeze. Okay. I don’t need any more encouragement than that.

  “Uh, yeah, guys. Thanks a lot for the invite, but Jenny’s not feeling so hot. I’m going to take her up to her room and get her a couple of aspirin. I think all the loud guitar today plus the stress of working with Luc kind of wore her down.”

  Tammy looks worried and comes over to put a motherly hand on Jenny’s forehead. “You don’t feel warm. It’s just a headache?”

  “Yeah.” Jenny sounds unsure.

  I glance at Walsh, who raises an eyebrow and smirks at me. I roll my eyes at him before turning back to Tammy.

  “Yeah, it’s just a headache. Started this afternoon. But if you leave some food in the fridge, I’ll get it for her later when she’s feeling better.”

  “Okay.” Tammy looks doubtful. She doesn’t trust me to take care of a sick Jenny. With good r
eason. “I’ll stop up and see how you’re doing in a while, Jenny.”

  “No!” Walsh and I say at the same time.

  “It’s fine,” Jenny continues, looking at me and Walsh like we’re crazy. Tammy’s looking at us the same way. “Michael will take care of me. You just enjoy your night with Walsh and I’ll see you in the morning.” She leans over and gives Tammy a peck on the cheek.

  “If you’re sure,” Tammy says, still looking perplexed.

  “See you tomorrow?” I ask Walsh.

  “Yep. I’ll be by before ten.”

  We make our escape, and Jenny can’t help but giggle as we walk through the huge house and up the stairs to the west wing, where the guest rooms are. When we get to Jenny’s suite, she falls on the bed laughing.

  “Oh my sweet Lord. I should feel terrible about that, but it was so funny.”

  “Of all the times for Tammy’s mom hormones to act up. Normally, she’s about as maternal as a pissed-off Rottweiler.”

  “Michael!” Jenny reprimands, smacking at my arm where I’m resting it on the bed, looking down at her. “And what was that with you and Walsh?” she asks, looking at me with suspicion

  “I think he was a little more in tune with our plans than Tammy was.”

  “What, are you guys psychic or something? I swear you, Joss, Walsh, and Colin can have entire conversations just by looking at one another.” She sits up and faces me. “It’s sweet. I’ve never seen four guys who understand each other the way y’all do.”

  I nod my head, things inside me going a little gooey. I’m sort of always a little gooey around Jenny. I’m trying to get used to it.

  “Do you think you’ll ever get back together?” she asks.

  “I think you have on too many clothes, Sunshine,” I leer as I crawl up the bed and hold myself up above her, taking in every perfect feature of her face.

  She blushes and I’m fucking lost.

  I lean down and softly press my lips to hers. “Do you still want this? Here? Now?”

  “Yes.” Her voice shakes, but her skin flushes and her breathing is staccato. “I really want it. I really want you, Michael.”

  I lower myself to her lips again. “I’m going to make this a night you’ll never forget, Sunshine,” I breathe out as I brush my mouth against hers. “Let me show you what all the noise is about.”

  She giggles. “Let’s start the tour,” she whispers.

  I have our jeans and shirts off in flash, and I stand next to the bed, looking at her tiny, white lace bra and panties. Her golden hair is spread across the pillow and her breath comes fast. She’s a voluptuous goddess. An angel begging to sin, and I’m the devil who’s going to sully her. But, for once, I don’t feel guilty. I only feel heat and desire and this pain in my chest that is so sweet I can’t contain it. It comes out my fingertips, my lips, my skin.

  “Come here,” I instruct as I lie next to her. She rolls to face me and I run my hand along her arm and down to her hip. “Here’s how this is going to work. You feel nervous, you tell me. I do something you don’t like, you tell me. You want more of something, you tell me. Are we clear?”

  She bites her lower lip and I nearly come in my boxer briefs—yeah, since I started seeing Jenny, I’ve been wearing underwear. Didn’t want to scare the crap out of her before we even got to the deed.

  “Say it with me. ‘Yes, baby. No, baby.’ Practice a few times so I know you’ve got it.” I kiss her cheeks, her eyelids, her sweet nose.

  “Yes, baby,” she whispers.

  I pull away and look—her are eyes closed, her face a study in passion.

  “No, baby,” she tells me as she puts her hands behind my neck and pulls me back to her lips.

  I chuckle. “I think you’ve got it.”

  As our kiss becomes wet, deep, and dense, I palm her breast, running my thumb over the nipple until it’s as hard as a beautiful jewel. She presses it into my hand and I massage, eliciting a moan from her and a faint, “Yes, baby.” I can’t help but smile into her kiss as she says it.

  Her hands wander to my back, lightly scratching up and down my skin, sending shivers of pleasure along my spine. I kiss her neck, suckling the smooth skin there before I move to her chest. Then I pull the thin fabric of her bra aside and run my tongue over her nipple. I hear her breath hitch before I take the plump morsel into my mouth and suck hard.

  “Ah!” she cries out.

  “Yes, baby, or no, baby?” I ask, licking it and blowing on it to soothe.

  “Yes, baby. Please,” she gasps.

  My grin might permanently stretch the skin on my face.

  I continue to suck, lick, and blow, eventually switching to the other side. Can’t play favorites, after all. At some point, her hips begin grinding against me and her nails dig into my shoulders with more aggressiveness.

  I pull her up to sit and take off first her bra then slowly slide her panties down, tossing them behind me onto the floor with a twirl and a flourish. She giggles, but she’s breathing so hard that I don’t think she can process my efforts at entertaining her.

  I stand and she gazes at me, so warm and trusting that it nips at my gut. I’ve never felt such a responsibility for another human being—ever. I drop the underwear and see her eyes grow wide. She flushes even more when she realizes I’m watching her as she watches me.

  I lean down and grab a condom out of my wallet, which is on the floor with my jeans. Once it’s stowed on the nightstand, I climb back on the bed with her.

  “What do you think? Yes, baby, or no, baby?” I ask again.

  I’m on my hands and knees over her. She runs her nails down my chest and I shiver with delight.

  “I don’t want to disappoint you,” she says.

  “Oh, Sunshine. Not even possible. I swear.”

  “But you’ve done all those…things. I don’t even know how to…you know.”

  I laugh softly. “No, actually. You don’t know how to what?”

  She turns her head to the side so she’s not looking at me. “I don’t know how to give a blowjob,” she grinds out.

  Jesus. She’s so fucking cute.

  “And you think this will bother me why?”

  She looks back at me, frustration oozing from her very pores. “You’ve had all those women. They do that stuff for a living—”

  “I beg your pardon,” I say in mock indignation. “I have never needed to pay for it.”

  She narrows her eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  “I do, baby, and what you need to understand is that just because someone made this feel things”—I take her hand and place it over my cock—“doesn’t mean they made me feel anything here.” I move her hand to press it to my chest, right over my heart. Her eyes grow shiny. “No one but you has ever made me feel it here. And you don’t have to be a porn queen to do that. You just have to be Jenny. I love you, Jenny.”

  She sniffs, and I hesitate, hoping I haven’t said something wrong.

  “I love you too,” she tells me, caressing my face.

  It’s the first time she’s said it back to me. And I think my world just exploded into a million tiny shards. And when it all comes rushing back together in a moment, it’s been rearranged forever.

  I start kissing her again, letting my weight press her into the mattress. Her legs bracket mine, and her hips push up at me. My hard-on is wedged against her stomach and I can’t help but grind against her soft, creamy skin. As we move and press and kiss, I feel her hand work its way between us, and her fingers stroke my cock. They’re so slender and smooth, and her touch is so tentative that I nearly give it all up for a minute.

  “God,” I gasp. “Hold it, Jenny. Please.” I swallow the groan that threatens to erupt.

  She takes me in her hand and squeezes.

  “Yes, baby,” I say. “Now stroke me. Up and down. God, yes. Just like that.”

  I pump into her hand, wondering if I’ve ever felt this good before in my entire life. I slip my hand down between her legs, and run my
finger along her center. Jesus, she’s soaked.

  “You’re so wet,” I growl before I slip a finger an inch or so into her.

  She tenses for just a moment. Then she relaxes, moaning as she squeezes my shaft a touch harder. I slide that finger in farther, feeling how incredibly tight she is. Then I move a second finger in, stretching her as best I can. Her knees come up more, and I know I need to do this before it’s too late.

  “Just a minute, Sunshine,” I whisper as I pull back.

  She releases my cock and I swear to God it weeps from the loss of her touch. As I grab the condom and roll it on, her eyes are on me the entire time. She takes it all in with a little trepidation but also a whole lot of lust.

  I reposition myself, poised at her entrance, then kiss her. “Are you ready?”

  “Just go quick. You know I like to rip off the Band-Aids,” she gasps.

  I don’t answer. I just push in hard.

  She gives one sharp cry. “Ah!” Then I’m in and we both freeze.

  “Fuck. Are you okay?”

  “Mmhmm.” She nods, our foreheads touching. “But I need you to move.”

  “Gladly.” I’m barely able to form the word as I start to pump in and out, feeling like I’m inside a velvet-lined steel glove. She’s so fucking tight. It’s the most incredible feeling in the world. Her luscious tits are jiggling against my chest, and one of my hands is fisted in her silken hair. Her legs come up and wrap around my back, and I pump faster, harder.

  “God, Jenny, tell me you’re okay,” I choke out.

  “Yes. So okay,” she answers.

  I shift to press harder on her clit and she moans.

  “Oh my Lord.”

  Just when I think I’m not going to be able to hold on another second, she tightens even more around me and then she’s convulsing and crying out, “Yes, baby, yes, baby.”

  Fuck. I’ve never come so hard in my life. And the aftershocks go on forever. I think she might have killed me.