Bassist Instinct (The Rocker Series #2)

by Vanessa Lennox

  “You are in my way, I made it past everyone else, and you are not going to stop me,” she said, not going to be intimidated by this big man.

  “I already did, cupcake,” he smiled unable to help himself, she was too much.

  He seriously just called her cupcake, he needed to be humiliated. She smiled sweetly at him and smoothly moved left and he moved to intercept easily but she was already on the other side of him. She had martial arts experience, he realized, just as she managed to slip by him completely and get through the door. What the… he grabbed her around the waist and she squeaked, not expecting it. He lifted her off her feet and she began to defend herself in earnest when Fiona intervened, saving him from embarrassment, he was pretty sure.

  “Tess! She’s okay, Sam, she can come in,” Sam gently put her down and she turned and glared at him before stepping the rest of the way into the room.

  “What happened?” Tess said. “Are you okay?” She hugged Fiona and then stepped over to Tate’s bed. He grinned at her. “You big faker, you’re fine.” She rolled her eyes at him.

  “Well, to be perfectly honest, my head feels bloody awful, but yes, I’m fine. I’m waiting for my clothes, and then we can go.”

  “Tate, you’re wearing your clothes.”

  “Ah, so I am. You got past yon monster at the door pretty easily, you’ve been keeping up with it, have you?” Tate said impressed.

  “He called me cupcake!” She grinned. “But yes, I have been keeping up with it, I love it. I found a group at school, and I do that a few times a week, but I also have a sifu on 31st St.”

  “What’s a sifu?” Fiona asked.

  “A tai chi master. She’s wonderful.”

  The door opened again and Christie, Ryan, Genna and Connor came in. All the color had drained from Christie’s face and she ran to his bedside. Tess hopped up and went to her mom and Connor. “He’s fine,” she whispered to them over Christie’s exclamations.

  “Do you know what happened?” Genna asked her, but Tess shook her head.

  “He wants to tell us all at the same time, I bet.”

  “Well calm down and I’ll tell you, Christie, I’m fine. Ryan, take your woman off me, mate,” he said and they laughed.

  ***

  Outside Sam straightened his clothing from the episode with the lovely Tess, whoever she was. Man, what a spitfire.

  “Tess just owned you, didn’t she, Cuba?” Edgar said from a few feet away.

  “I didn’t want to hurt her, you know,” he said and Edgar laughed.

  “Uh-huh. A few years ago she and her brother were under my protection, and she sat in on a Tai Chi class I was teaching. She never looked back, now she’s as good as I am, hell, maybe better.”

  “She’s pretty good, quicker than I was expecting,” Sam agreed. “Who is she?” Edgar shook his head.

  “Sorry man, they are very private. If she wants you to know, she’ll tell you.” Sam nodded. That wasn’t that uncommon. There was a noise down the hall and Sam saw a couple of rock stars and their entourage head toward him. Sam looked at Edgar.

  “She’s with them?” He asked and Edgar nodded very slightly and opened the door for Christie and company.

  ***

  “We never got lunch, are you starving?” Tate asked as they left drove away from the hospital toward Volta Place.

  “I’ll just whip something up at home,” she said.

  “Let’s order in, if you don’t mind my company.”

  “I’d love your company, if you’re not tired of mine,” she said but he put a finger on her mouth and shook his head.

  “Yours is the only company I want.” He looked at the backs of the two heads in the front seat and realized they would be everywhere he wanted to be alone with her. He sighed.

  They pulled up to her house and made it safely inside without incident. Tate sat on the sofa and promptly fell asleep. Fiona made tea for herself and sat next to him grading papers from the previous week. Tate stirred and moved so that his head was in her lap and she absently ran her fingers through his soft blond hair as she read from her laptop which she perched on the arm of the sofa, trying to avoid the big bump on the back of his head.

  Liam came in from the garage and took in the scene. He turned the fire on and sat on the table across from her. “Sam filled me in, how are you?”

  “Shaken, not stirred,” she said quietly and he laughed softly.

  “Let me see your arms,” he held out his hands and she pulled up her sleeves to show him. There were livid hand prints there. “Aw Fifi, I’m so sorry this is going on.” Liam looked at Tate’s head. “He came through in a big way for you, didn’t he?” She nodded.

  “He didn’t even hesitate, he saved my life and got hurt in the process, and was making jokes as he was lying bloody on the tarmac.” She looked down at his inert form. “I am so impressed,” she whispered. “God knows what would have happened to me if he hadn’t been there.”

  “You’re okay, Fifi.” Liam didn’t want her to lose it, but he’d forgotten how strong she was. She met his gaze.

  “I’m absolutely fine, I just don’t like the fact that I put Tate in danger.”

  “I’m going to order some pizza, do you know what he likes?”

  “I have no idea, but I’ll text Tess, she knows everything.” Liam walked into the kitchen and Fiona shifted to pull her phone out of her pocket.

  “Pepperoni,” Tate said and rolled his head to see her face. “Go back to scratching my head, love, it’s the most stimulating thing I’ve ever had done to me.” She chuckled. “Impressed, huh? That’s doing something stimulating to me, too.”

  “Really impressed, never more impressed,” she began softly.

  “Are you falling in love with me yet?” His words were playful, but he was so directly on target that she choked as she inhaled. She literally choked on air.

  “A little bit,” she said. His eyes were like lasers, centered on hers. He finally looked away and sat up. She would have given anything to know what he was thinking, but she was pretty sure she had just frightened him, he was probably going to leave. What kind of loser tells someone they love them after knowing them three days? The worst kind. He probably thought she was after him because he was a rock star. She hid her face in her hands and he took the one closest to him and pushed up her sleeve to reveal the handprint on her forearm.

  “Christ, Fi,” he whispered and pulled her into his embrace. “That was too close.”

  “You should probably go,” she managed to say without crying. His body went rigid and he slowly pulled away from her. She had turned her head away and he touched her chin with a finger and brought her face back around so she’d look at him.

  “Do you want me to go?” She couldn’t answer that question. “Because I don’t want to leave you. I’m going to kiss you, Fi, and when I’ve done, then you tell me to go or stay, aye?” Again she was silent, but he seemed to take it as assent and he kissed her. He eased her back on the sofa and ran his hands up her sides to her neck as his tongue explored her mouth with a delicate firmness. He was gentle until he was demanding and she felt her body respond like never before. She pulled him to her hard with her fingers digging into his shoulders as her hips came off the sofa to meet his.

  “Stay,” she breathed the plea into his mouth. Maintaining eye contact he moved her down the sofa so that they were lying lengthwise, and he pulled her hips to his and kissed her. He took a fistful of her silky hair and gently tipped her head back so he could nibble and lick and kiss her long neck only to find himself drawn back to her beautiful lips, his other hand was working its way up the back of her sweater to deftly undo the clasp of her bra. She moaned softly as his hand came around to the front and found her breast, and gasped as he ran his thumb lightly over her pebbled nipple. Her back instinctively arched and pressed into his hand and she felt something build deep within her, something wild and joyous. When he dragged himself away she mewled like an angry kitten and he put his teeth together on
her lower lip making her moan out loud and inhale sharply. He very nearly embarrassed himself right there on her leather sofa.

  “Our first time is not going to be on your sofa,” he said hoarsely.

  “Then come to my bed,” she said equally hoarse, and he kissed her again.

  “I want you Fi, so much I ache for you, but I want you uninhibited, not with your brother in the next room, and the bodyguards doing whatever it is they do. Christ Fi, they heard that moan you just made three doors down.” She bit the lip he had just bitten that had her thrashing half under him and he had to drag his eyes away from her little white teeth biting that juicy lip. “You’re so beautiful,” he put his thumb to her lip. How could anything be so soft? He looked deeply into her eyes. How were they so blue? When the doorbell rang he was so startled he fell off the sofa and Fiona make a squawking sound and turned beet red.

  Liam must have known what they were up to because he gave them plenty of time to prepare themselves before he came out to answer the door and take the pizzas from the delivery boy. By that point she had run her fingers through her hair and refastened her bra. Tate was standing, but his jeans were feeling way too tight in the crotch. Fiona’s mouth was clearly well kissed, and Tate smiled at her. She bit her lip again and went to move her laptop which was teetering dangerously on the edge of the armrest.

  “You look like we got up to more than what we actually got up to,” he said grinning at her. She laughed running her fingers through her hair again in an effort to tame it.

  “I feel like a teenager getting caught by her parents. I keep forgetting I’m an adult when I’m with you,” she said sitting back down on the sofa and he laughed.

  “I’ve been putting off growing up, but maybe it’s time.” Liam came back to the entrance with a couple of pizza boxes and a six pack of Heineken beer.

  “I hope pepperoni’s okay,” he said. Tate nodded and Liam handed him a beer. Fiona hopped up to get plates, but Sam came in the room with plates and napkins and crushed red pepper. She sat back down. Liam handed her a beer, and his Swiss Army knife, already opened to the bottle opener device and she looked at it long enough with a blank stare that Tate took it and the beer from her and opened it for her. He then opened his own and handed the Swiss Army knife back to Liam, turned to Fiona and touched his bottle to hers. She smiled at him and he winked at her.

  Liam tried not to watch, but it really was oddly compelling. Fiona was an entirely different person with Tate than she had been with Dean. She was having fun with Tate, flirting and blushing, and fooling around on the sofa, which was not her style at all. Or maybe it was her style, Dean only crushed the playfulness out of her. Dean was a good looking guy, and ten years younger than Tate, but he was inflexible, and kind of pedantic. He couldn’t remember that last time he’d seen her so happy.

  “Any plans for tomorrow?” Liam asked her.

  “Dinner with the Flemings,” Fiona said and watched as Liam’s eyes went round.

  “Alasdair Fleming?” Liam asked and she nodded and swallowed.

  “But aside from that, I don’t have any. I should do some planning for next week.”

  “I have a thing, but it shouldn’t take too long,” Tate said reaching for a second piece of pizza, and putting one on Fiona’s plate, too. Sam was sitting quietly watching them, chewing methodically.

  “Why are you picking the pepperoni off the pizza?” Liam asked watching her.

  “I don’t like it.” Tate leaned over and gathered her pepperoni off her plate and ate it, grinning at Liam.

  “Since when?” Liam asked.

  “I don’t know, birth?”

  “Why don’t you like it?”

  “It’s too greasy,” she said. He stared at her.

  “Give it a rest, mate,” Tate wiped his greasy fingers. “More for us.” He grinned at Liam.

  “More for you, you mean, I don’t see you sharing it,” Liam said and they both laughed.

  “You can have it off the next piece if she has one. She’ll be full after half of this piece,” Tate said.

  “You two need to stop talking like I’m not even here,” she glared at them, but they only smiled back.

  “She’ll finish it now that you said something,” Liam said.

  “Put a tenner on it?”

  “Damn right I will,” he went for his wallet and pulled out a ten dollar bill. Tate smiled at him and slapped his on top of it on the table.

  “She has to eat the whole piece, aye?” Tate said to Liam.

  “Yeah, yeah, she will, just to vex you, mate.” Liam stressed the word mate again and grinned. He knew his little sister better than anybody. Sam shook his head and Tate winked at him.

  “Really? You guys are doing this?” Fiona said.

  “It’s done, love, eat up, I know you’re hungry, I heard your stomach rumble earlier,” he had such a great grin. She didn’t know if she could finish the second piece of pizza now that she thought of it. Liam was finishing his third piece and Tate was deciding on his fourth. She muscled through the piece and slowly chewed and finished the thick crust, then licked her fingers, smiling at Tate.

  “Done and done, I’ll take those two tens,” Liam said, but Tate whipped them up in no time.

  “No you won’t, she didn’t eat the whole piece,” another stunning grin.

  “Uh, yeah, I’m pretty sure she just did,” Liam said.

  “Sorry, mate. Sam, can you tell the man who won?”

  “Tate did, sorry McBride.” Both Liam’s and Fiona’s mouths fell open.

  “And how is that?” Liam asked.

  “Tate ate her pepperoni, man,” Sam said and laughed. “He had you at go.”

  “Fuck! You sly bastard.” Tate just smiled. Fiona sat back laughing and felt her swollen abdomen.

  “Ugh, I just gave myself a food baby for that.” She laughed and Tate leaned over and kissed her.

  “I’m off, love. Thank you for the lovely day. Finish up your grading and get some rest, and let’s do it all again tomorrow.”

  “Oh, you’re leaving?” She sounded bereft. Tate stood up and pulled her off the sofa. They went to the kitchen and closed the door.

  “I should go,” he touched her cheek with one finger. “My head is throbbing and that’s not the only body part making a nuisance of itself.” He kissed her cheek. “I have a thing with the lads tomorrow, but I’d very much like to spend the rest of the day with you.” He looked hopeful. “And you did say you’d have dinner at the Flemings’.”

  “Yes, I’d like that, too.”

  “Good. I’ll phone or text. I’ll send you the snaps I took today, too.”

  “Okay, thanks,” she smiled and then her face changed. “Wait, you took pictures all day.” His eyes got big, too.

  “You’re a genius,” he said and he pulled her back into the living room and pulled out his phone.

  “Tate might have pictures of these guys, Liam, he took pictures all day.” Liam stood up just as Tate sat down. Sam moved the pizza boxes out of the way and sat across from Tate and Fiona.

  “I’m sending them to your phone, too.” Her phone made the message sound and she opened the files. On the fifth picture she saw the side of the man’s face.

  “He’s in this one,” she said and Tate leaned over to look.

  “That’s him,” he said.

  “Send it to me,” Liam said. She did, and Tate made a growling sound.

  “Got you, you fecker,” he said. “The last one, which was really the first one I took, he’s looking right at you, love.” She caught his eye and shivered. The look on the man’s face was the most frightening thing she’d ever seen. She saw his hunger and viciousness and she began to panic. Tate put his arm around her and pulled her close. She handed Tate’s phone to Liam and suddenly felt very cold and terrified. “Your hands are like ice.” Tate held them in his. “Can I make you tea, or draw a bath?”

  “Excuse me,” Liam stood and walked toward the kitchen. “I’m sending these on, we’ll find ou
t who this guy is.”

  “I’m going to bed,” Fiona said, suddenly shaking like a leaf. Tate picked her up and cradled her shaking form up the stairs to her room.

  “Christ lassie, what can I do for you?” He placed her gently on the bed. “A shower? A bath? Tell me.”

  “I just want to get under the blankets, I don’t want to get wet.” He knelt before her and took her shoes off, then kicked off his own.

  “I’m getting in with you until you’re warm, okay?” She nodded, her teeth clacking together.

  He pulled the duvet back and she crawled in, hesitated and undid her bra, flinging it on to the chair next to the bed. Tate took a deep breath. The bright red lacy underwear had been on her body, and he was practically cavalier in taking it off of her earlier. He made a note to himself to go slowly next time and savor everything. He climbed in behind her and pulled the duvet back over them both, cradling her shaking body against him.

  “I’m so scared. It suddenly hit me how bad this is, Tate.”

  “I’ve got you, my love. I’ve got you,” he whispered into her hair.

  His head throbbed with every beat of his heart and the frightened woman trembling in his arms smelled so wonderful he knew he’d never sleep a wink, and yet he thought he’d died and gone to heaven. After twenty minutes she stopped the wracking shakes, and after thirty they were both sound asleep.

  A few hours later Tate woke to Fiona thrashing. She was curled around him, her face pressed to his chest and she whispered “No, no,” over and over.

  “Fiona love, wake up, it’s okay, you’re safe.” Her head shot up.

  “Don’t touch me, Dean.” She sounded shocked and afraid and tried to pull away from him.