by K. A Knight
“I don’t know, I just had a feast,” he whispers, before kissing me again.
I grin as I pull away, and he groans but helps me back into my trousers. I watch as he runs his hand through his hair, shoving it back and it instantly returns to its style like it dare not do otherwise.
“Come on then, Harpy, let’s feed you.” He twines our hands together again and we leave the forest with a sleepy satisfaction winding through me.
After we finish eating and pack all the food back up so it doesn’t attract wild animals, we feed and water our animals, which Rex let out when we stopped for the night. They have free rein and can do what they want, they aren’t prisoners after all, they are family. Fluffy bounds off, no doubt to go and hunt or play, and Sid, his new sidekick, follows after him. I see Bubbles and Rumple slither under a wagon to curl up and sleep, while Tiny heads back to his wagon after saying goodnight to everyone.
A yawn splits my face, so I quickly grab a roll and place it on the ground near the fire before lying down with my feet facing the flames. I spot the others doing the same and I end up between Rex and Jessie, with Nixon and Alcide on either side, and Blain between Nixon and Jessie.
My eyes close almost instantly, feeling safe surrounded by my family and warmth from the fire, and I must fall to sleep because the next thing I know, I wake up to someone whispering my name.
“Rhea.”
I hear it again, so I crack open my eye and frown. A tanned, muscular arm is thrown over my chest and legs are tangled with mine from where I have flipped onto my back in my sleep. I glance over to Jessie to see he is curled up into my side, fast asleep—his legs are the ones tangled with mine. I follow the arm across my chest to Rex and where he is snoring next to me. Thinking I am hearing things, I close my eyes again and snuggle further into my men.
“Rhea, wake up,” the voice calls softly.
My eyes snap open again and I struggle to a sitting position. Rex’s arm drops to my lap as I search for the owner of the voice. I spot Alcide at my feet, sitting next to the fire and watching me.
“Huh?” I ask dumbly.
“Thought you wouldn’t want to miss it.” He shrugs.
“Miss what?” I yawn, scrubbing my eyes. It feels like I have only been asleep for a moment, but it must have been a couple of hours because the fire is dying out and my back is sore from not moving.
“Look up,” he whispers, and he tilts his head back to the stars, so I do the same and my eyes widen in shock, fully awake now.
Awe fills me as I watch the meteor shower taking place above us. It’s so beautiful. “It’s astounding,” I murmur.
“Thought you might like it,” he replies, and I glance at him to see him watching the stars with a peaceful expression on his face.
“You’re right,” I say, before looking back up. My neck starts to ache so I lay back down between my men, and watch the sky come to life. I feel Alcide’s hand wind around my ankle, and know he is showing me he’s watching it with me.
Tonight has been perfect, an escape from the pressure and spotlights of our lives, like the peace before the storm...
The Wild Boys
A Wild Ride
POV’s from the guys when they first met Gabby, takes place in The Wild Interview
Chapter 1
Liam
The music pounds through my body, and my heart races in time to the beat as I lose myself to the music, pushing my body to its limits. We have been practicing all day, but it doesn’t seem to be getting better. Something about this whole routine seems...off. Not that I will ever tell Blake that. Emmett stumbles into me when he turns the wrong way as we fall to the floor to grind against it, and we both go down to Bake’s annoyance.
“Again!” he yells, getting to his feet and moving to the starting position. The music cuts out and starts up at the beginning again as I jump to my feet. Reaching down, I offer Emmett my hand, and he grabs it and pulls himself up.
Getting into our opening poses next to each other, I throw him a worried look behind Blake’s back. “It’s not getting better. At this rate we won’t be ready for tour,” I mutter.
Emmett nods just as our cue hits. Focusing my mind on the music, I let my body take over and go through the moves I know by heart, rolling to the beat as we dance across the stage to the music. My eyes catch on Mark and someone talking at the side off stage, but I have to spin away to keep up with the routine so I put it out of my mind and focus on finishing by dropping to the floor. This time Emmett and I don’t hit each other.
The music is turned down as we all climb to our feet and look at each other. Blake doesn’t look happy and I can’t blame him. The routine is good, all of his routines are, but I feel like we need...more. We need something to blow these women away and this isn’t it.
I hear a noise, and my head swivels to the side to see a grinning Mark pushing a woman onto the stage, before he disappears back into the wings. My eyes move to the woman and stay there. My heart skips a beat and I have to shift, uncomfortable from the wood I instantly got. Fucking hell, she’s beautiful. My mouth goes dry as I run my gaze down her curvy body. The tight, grey skirt is showing me all her curves, and tanned skin flashes as she stumbles before us.
Her blue silk blouse gapes at the top, displaying her plump breasts, which are straining against the loose material. Her hair is cut short and frames her face. She is simply stunning, that’s all there is to it—big plump lips, round stunning eyes, and high model worthy cheekbones.
She looks like a wet dream in a corporate package—fuck, those curves. My eyes drop to them again before my signature grin turns up my lips and I step towards her.
“You lost, Angel?” I wait until she looks at me, her eyes wide and filled with shock as I rest my hands on my hips. Her eyes run down my body, and her tiny pink tongue darts out to wet her bottom lip, almost making me groan out loud. Does this woman even know how fucking sexy she is? When her eyes rise to mine and she arches her eyebrow, her eyes filling with confidence, I get my answer. Yes, yes she does...why is that so addictive? That confidence I see there, turning me on until I almost get jealous when she flickers a look at the other guys. Fuck, I know what we all look like, they are attractive men, she could have her pick, but for some reason that only makes me want to work harder. Words tumble from my lips to get her to pay attention to me again. “‘Cause I could help you, if you know what I mean.” I wink, running my hand down my sweaty chest, her eyes follow the movement before snapping back to mine, a fire starting there. One that might not just burn me, but consume me.
Chapter 2
Emmett
“I think even the plant over there knows what you mean,” the woman in the tailored suit taunts, her hip cocking out as she faces down a flirting Liam. Usually by now the girl would be giggling and batting her eyelashes, already his, but this one traces down his body and looks him back in the eye like she has seen—and heard—better. It makes a grin break out across my face. It’s exactly what Liam needs, to be knocked down a peg. I find myself watching her, wondering who she is. She’s beautiful, that’s for sure, but not really my type. As attractive as she is I don’t feel any stirrings, which is good seeing as though Liam looks like she just held up a sign declaring her a challenge for him to tackle. Instead, I take in her business wear and confidence—why is she here? Is she from the board? From the venue?
The guys start to laugh and I join in, pulled back into the moment as I reach across and smack Liam across the back.
“Sorry, angel,” she mocks, “but I’m here for business, I’m your new manager. Gabrielle Menro, nice to meet you.”
Well, shit, a woman manager? This should be fun.
“No fucking way,” Liam blurts, watching her open-mouthed.
Oh yes, this will be fun. Maybe I should get some popcorn.
Chapter 3
Blake
Manager? Her? No fucking way. Has the board lost their minds? She is either really good at her job or the board is testing us with h
er. Poor girl is going to get eaten alive. Stepping forward, blocking the guys’ views of the girl, I tilt my head down and glare at her. When her eyes move to me it almost sends me stumbling back, like I was just hit with a sledgehammer, but luckily I manage to stay still. It doesn’t matter how good-looking she is, or how much I wonder what she looks like under that suit, she can’t fucking stay. It will only cause distractions and we can’t afford that now. This is our big chance and one woman isn’t worth losing our contract, not even one whose curves have me imagining mapping them with my tongue.
“You’re telling me those office bastards hired some woman to try and manage us?” I scoff, crossing my arms. Her eyes run across my chest, and I grind my teeth together to fight off the heat racing across my skin in her gaze’s wake. Something enters her eyes then, a new confidence, a fire I didn’t spot before, and I find my mouth staying shut even when I want to knock her on her sexy round ass and march her right out of here.
I can’t remember a time I was speechless, but faced with this...this spitfire, I am and I don’t like it. She has to go.
“Yes. It seems you have a reputation problem—” Leo laughs then and I throw him a glare to try and shut him up, but he just shrugs. She looks back at me, one eyebrow arching like she’s preparing for battle. “As I was saying, you have a problem. I’m here to fix it. We can either do that on good terms or bad. Because I am not leaving, this is my job, I’m your new manager. The sooner you get used to that, the better. You don’t have to like me, but you do have to listen to me.” She smiles at me then, all sweet and soft, like she isn’t ripping me a new one in front of my men. “I can make you guys better than you already are. I can take you all the way, but I need you to work with me. Sound fair?” she finishes, holding out a tiny, perfectly manicured hand to me.
I almost laugh. She has an attitude and a half, and even faced with my anger she isn’t backing down. It’s appealing as hell, which only means I’m right, she can’t be here. She is already causing problems. Gabriella has to go before she ruins all the hard work we have already done.
“We’ll see,” I growl, storming past her and ignoring her outstretched hand. I’m going to call those stuck up bastards and get them to fire her straight away. A little voice in the back of my head tells me I don’t really want to do that, but I push it away.
Chapter 4
Kingston
“Drama queen,” Gabriella mutters, making us all laugh as Blake storms off.
“Don’t let him hear you say that,” I suggest.
Her eyes run down my body before they meet mine again, and I find myself falling into those depths, swallowing hard as my smile drops away. I’d have to be blind not to notice how utterly entrancing she is—those legs that go on for days and curves that have me aching, but when she opened her mouth and sassed Blake back, I found myself even more interested. Not something you should be thinking about your new manager, but that little smile and those fiery eyes has me thinking of things a man like me has no right to think about.
“Gabriella, was it?” I ask, my voice deep from my thoughts.
She nods. “Gabby,” she corrects, a smile turning up those lush lips. I find myself returning her smile, her happiness almost addicting.
“Nice to meet you, ignore Blake, he’s a drama queen like you said. I’m Kingston, that’s Damon.” I jerk my head to my friend next to me, who is silently watching Gabby, his eyes filled with interest. That alone makes me falter. I haven’t seen Damon interested in a girl since...well, a long time, but he is looking at her like he is imagining getting her all sweaty. Damon is the oldest of us and also the one I worry about the most. The others think I’m a softie, but everyone deserves love and I worry that he won’t open his heart to anyone new after it was broken. He is my brother and I want to see him happy. Who knows, maybe Gabby could be that for him. Or maybe I’m just a romantic that believes in love at first sight...definitely lust at first sight when it comes to Liam.
Chapter 5
Leo
“I’m Liam, Angel,” Liam introduces himself.
“I’m Emmett,” our blond-haired brother calls with a friendly smile.
My eyes drag back to Gabby, Gabriella. Her name rolls through my mind and for a moment, I forget everything but the woman in front of me. Her eyes slide to me, waiting, so I step forward and take her hand, her skin is like silk and I suck in a lungful of her sweet, strawberry scent as I lean down and press a gentle kiss against her hand. “Leonardo,” I say gruffly, before stepping back.
Instantly, guilt spears through me and I wince, what am I doing? Flirting with another woman, not just another woman...our new manager. I swallow back the lust I shouldn’t be feeling and look away when I hear footsteps, but my eyes move to her again, those mixed feelings filling me. Not a good sign, maybe Blake is right. It’s dangerous to have such a beautiful, confident, successful woman in our midst...not just for them, but for me too. Because the first thought I had when I saw her was that I wanted her. She wiped every thought of Kelsey from my mind. I forgot my girlfriend and that was just from looking at her—what it be like spending every day with this woman?
Kingston is always going on about love and soul mates, and right now I’m wondering if he’s right, because I can’t seem to stop myself from wanting her, even though I know it’s wrong.
Chapter 6
Damon
“Great, now you’ve met everyone, so let’s show you the ropes,” Mark calls, and Gabby looks over her shoulder at him, where he’s grinning as he leans back against the wall, no doubt enjoying our suffering.
It feels like the air has come back into the room, like I have been working on autopilot since the day...well, since I can remember. Heat races through me...is that lust? Fuck, I had almost forgot what it felt like to want a woman, to have my dick get hard without me having to force it just so I can let off some steam. You would think stripping for a living and meeting screaming, horny women would be a fantasy, but I do it for the dancing, to lose myself for just a moment, to forget how fucked up I am. Then she comes in, all golden skin, fire and beauty, and I want her. I want her so fucking bad it hurts. I’ve been hard since she stumbled onto the stage and opened her sweet little mouth.
Dirty thoughts are constantly running through my head and I can’t help but burn the image of her body in this tight suit into my brain. Manager, that means I have to follow her orders. I don’t fucking care, I’ll do whatever she asks if it means she stays. Blake might have other ideas, but I have my own, and it involves Gabby on her back with my head between her thighs.
Probably not good workplace thoughts, but I don’t care, they can fire me. Or she can, but when her eyes meet mine, I know she wanted me to...maybe even more than me. Not that I care, she could want the entire show as long as she still wants me, still looks at me. I can feel Kingston throwing me looks, that man knows more than he should. He sees me like no one else and no doubt he hasn’t missed me shifting the tent in my pants or my staring at her.
“Let’s do it, then I think we need to go through your schedule for shows. We don’t have a lot of time to get ready and if some of what I’ve heard is true, we have some major damage to fix.” I can see her going through all the things she needs to do in her head, making plans, figuring us out. She wants this to work, she wants this job and all our messed up problems.
Well, baby, you are going to get them, just not in the way you imagined. It’s going to be a wild ride.
Mother Hen
A bonus scene set directly after The Wild Interview
Gabby
Coughs rack my body once more, my battered lungs protesting as pain stabs my chest, my eyes watering as I try to catch my breath. A soothing hand strokes up and down my back as I gasp for breath, reminding me that I’m not here alone.
Two days ago I was trapped backstage in one of our venues when a fire broke out. I was lucky that one of the guys managed to break in a get me out before I was killed. I managed to escape without any burns, b
ut damaged my lungs and windpipe from smoke inhalation.
Finally able to take a deep breath, I carry on packing my pyjamas in my bag and swipe away the tears leaking from my eyes, before Blake sees them and thinks I’m crying, but I’m not fast enough.
“I told you you’re not ready to leave the hospital!” His loud voice makes me wince, my head is already pounding. The room fills with groans as they get ready to hear Blake’s argument…again.
The guys have been with me non-stop since I woke up, taking turns to leave to get food, make calls, and stretch their legs, so I haven’t spent a moment alone. I’ve told them off for it, but secretly I’m pleased. My dreams have been plagued with me being trapped in a black room, with smoke filling my lungs as I struggle to find my way out. I haven’t told them as much, but I know that I have woken them up with my screaming—not that I can really scream at the moment, my vocal cords are damaged from the fire. The doctors have assured me that they will heal with time, and in the meantime I just sound like I’ve smoked sixty cigarettes a day for my entire life.
Blake’s angry pacing has me glancing up towards the door where he has stuck his head out and is harassing one of the nurses.
“She’s coughing, she isn’t ready to be released yet,” he demands, and I see Leo and Liam roll their eyes. Kingston and Damon are sitting on either side of my bed, the former with a book propped open in his lap as they wait for me to be discharged.
