by K. K. Allen
“First rule,” I say, squirting some oil on her chest.
“There are rules?” she asks, her eyes wide.
I grin. “Yeah, babe. My game, my rules.” I eye her, silently telling her I mean business. “First rule. Your eyes stay open. I want you to watch everything I’m about to do to you.” I lean down to make sure I get the point across so that I’m at her ear. “No matter what. Other than blinking, your eyes stay open. Got it?”
She nods, and I hear her swallow.
I chuckle and move back to a sitting position, rubbing in the oil around her rib cage and then up to her chest. Her breasts are full and firm and ready as I flatten my hand over one, tweaking her nipple when I get there. I can feel her legs spread further apart below me. I lean forward, letting my length push into her belly as I kiss her deeply, giving and taking all at once. Her groans become moans and then whines as she jiggles on the cuffs.
She’s already going crazy and we’ve just begun our little game. My lips move from her mouth to her neck and then down to her breasts. As I suck on her nipple, she moves beneath me. I look up and see that her eyes are drooping to a close, so I bite gently down, making her gasp out a scream.
“Eyes open,” I command. “Don’t make me tell you again.”
Her eyes open wide and her breathing quickens. Exactly how I want her. Panting and restless. It’s going to feel so good when I unleash on her. But the torture leading up to that moment is what makes it so satisfying.
I lather her in even more oil, massaging it into each breast, then her stomach, and then her legs, one by one. My hands are slick when I slip a finger down her center and into her entrance, finding her depths and flicking fast as she gyrates below me.
“So wet, babe. What are we going to do about this?” I add a second finger and listen as she moans.
My other hand palms her stomach, moving down it until my thumb covers her clit. It’s intensity I’m going for, and I know I’m succeeding when her mouth parts and her breaths become pants. When her eyes find mine again, they’re dark and needy. Her stomach muscles and skin ripple as she clenches and unclenches, going crazy under my touch.
I bite my lip and scoot down the bed so my mouth is directly above her slick opening. “Eyes open, babe. I’m about to eat your pretty pussy, and you’re going to watch me.”
Then I taste her, licking from the bottom of her slit to the top before licking my lips. She shudders beneath me. I blow on her gently, causing another scream to leave her mouth.
“It’s too much, Wolf.”
I chuckle again and shake my head. “I’m just getting started, babe. Don’t make me give you rule number two.”
She pouts and looks at me with need in her eyes. “There’s more?”
I nod and kiss her pussy before sucking her clit into my mouth. I let go and grin. “You can moan, talk dirty, tell me harder, softer, more. You can scream. I don’t think you’ll be able to help that. Other than that, no talking.”
She takes a deep breath and bites down on her lip. I want to laugh again at the desperation on her face. Instead, I concentrate on tasting every inch of Lyric’s clit as I pump her with my fingers. Flicking my tongue and sucking her into my mouth again, I can feel her tense and relax beneath me.
She lets out a gurgled scream as I drive her over the edge with my mouth. I don’t go easy on her. Not tonight. I torture the first orgasm out of her, slowly at first, and then when I feel her about to unravel, I unleash hell, pumping furiously.
Her convulsions seem to last forever as she shakes and screams like no one can hear her. She throws out my name like a curse word, only making me want to punish her with another orgasm.
“You’re trying to kill me,” she pants.
I laugh at her urgency. “No, babe. No one’s dying today.”
She throws her head back in frustration, moving her pelvis up so it grinds into my face. With my hands, I push her hips down on the bed and then run them up her torso, my mouth latching onto her breast again. “I’d flip you over, but I’m not taking those cuffs off. This is too much fun.” I grin and move so that I’m in between her legs.
“I need you,” she says.
This time, my confidence goes out the window. Her pleading reaches into my heart and squeezes. She’s so damn beautiful.
The water from the pool has dried on her skin, but the moisture of her body’s sweat has replaced it. She’s glistening, and I can practically see every inch of her tingling.
I can’t stay away anymore. I hover above her and lean into her mouth to kiss her as I slide in between her legs. She moans happily into my mouth.
My thrusts are slow and deep, and I pull back for a second to look her in the eyes. She’s looking back at me with a love so deep, so pure, that I’m caught in the moment. This woman is it for me. She’s my everything.
Before Lyric, music was my everything, but as much as I loved it, it became a way to fill a dark void of depression within me. I suffocated in my music because it was better to drown in that than in darkness.
Then Lyric came along, and she not only filled my void with light, but also gave music a new meaning. My music may have been good before, but now, it breathes life.
My eyes are still locked on Lyric, my body still rocking deeply into hers. Before I think about it again, I remove the handcuffs and bring myself back down to her lips, kissing her hard as she moans and wraps her arms around me, running her fingernails up the length of my back. I need Lyric’s touch as much as she needs me inside her right now. We suffocate each other with tightly woven limbs, our oiled bodies moving as one. Not a crack of air between us.
She removes her mouth from mine. “Is the game over?”
I look at her again and smile. “No games, babe. I just needed you to touch me.” My nose skims hers, my heart pounding like a fucking gorilla on its cage. “I love you.” I push into her again and growl into her neck, “So fucking much.”
She bites down on my skin and reaches around, feeling for my ass and squeezing. “I love you too.” Her legs spread even wider and she pushes me deeper inside her. Holy fuck. When her muscles contract, I’m ready to come.
We move together, fucking like there’s no tomorrow as she greets each of my movements. I’m warning her of my release and she nods, telling me she’s ready too.
It doesn’t take long before we’re swallowing each other’s moans and she’s begging for the world to end, just one more time.
Chapter Nineteen
Lyric
I’ve never felt so loved in my life. Wolf reaches a deeper part of me that has nothing to do with his skills in the bedroom. He touches my soul. He shows me love, even in his need for a release. Every single time. I don’t question it.
I’ve never questioned Wolf’s feelings for me. It might have taken me longer to get here, to this point where trust solidifies our connection, but the journey was necessary. Now—I’m never letting him go.
As I watch him sleeping soundly next to me, gently snoring and drooling ever so slightly, all I can think about is how crazy I am for this man. He’ll take care of me. Put my needs first. Never hurt me. Never make me question his love. He’ll stand by me during the lowest points in my life. I want to do all those same things for him.
I grab my silky, silver robe from the bathroom and walk down to the kitchen, where I find Terese standing by the toaster, yawning, coffee brewing beside her. Alice here, too, prepping ingredients for breakfast at the island. The rest of the house is silent, everyone still sleeping off the late night of partying.
“Hey, Alice,” I say before turning to Terese. “Hey, sexy,” I greet her. “Late night?”
Terese groans, grabbing her stomach in pain. I laugh, sympathetic but amused.
“Never drinking again,” she moans.
Grinning, I grab some ingredients from the refrigerator. “Is that right?”
She shakes her head. “Probably not, but saying that is supposed to make me feel better, right?”
I nod, w
ide-eyed with sarcasm. “I’m making eggs. Want some?”
“How many, dear?” Alice asks, giving me a warning look that tells me I better not argue.
“Two for me. Scrambled with cheese, please.” Alice nods and turns to Terese.
Terese holds a hand up and shakes her head. “No, thank you. Toast and coffee for me. But Derrick might want some if you have leftovers.”
“I’ll make extra,” Alice says. She cracks a half dozen eggs and lets them sizzle on the stove while chopping up some vegetables and throwing them on a separate skillet. As she slides a pan of bacon in the oven, I lean back against the counter where Terese is sipping her coffee lazily.
“So, what are we doing tonight?” I ask her. “Double date, right?”
Her posture straightens and I can see her eyes lift excitedly. “You up for it?”
My smile grows, realizing that I am. The chance to spend the evening with my boyfriend, my best friend, and my best friend’s boyfriend—who also happens to be Wolf’s best friend— sounds perfect. “I am.”
Terese grins. “Derrick said he’ll figure it out with Wolf and they’ll surprise us.”
My gaze floats to Derrick and Wolf, who are wandering into the living room right on cue, in animated conversation. I almost can’t believe I’m here. For the first time in a very long time, I’m happy.
Wolf catches my gaze from across the room and winks at me before returning to his conversation.
“You coming to the studio today?” Terese asks as she grabs her coffee off the counter.
I take the plate Alice has just made for me and nod. “I’ll be there later this afternoon. I’m going to work in the office this morning. Crawley had all the Europe information, so I’m scrambling to put the pieces together.”
“Okay. Maybe I’ll hang here today and go in with you later. I’m in Miami, for heaven’s sake. My skin should be bronze and glowing by now.” She winks at me and takes her coffee out onto the deck.
I take my plate outside to join Terese in the outdoor lounge. It resembles a living room, with white and tan striped chairs and couches arranged in front of a wood fireplace. From here, there’s a view of the clear blue infinity pool and the white sand beach beyond that.
The mansion is set in a cove in Coral Gables with the shore of the beach about a hundred yards away. There’s a line of palm trees separating the edge of the pool from the shore, except for a slight gap where the sidewalk leads to our private beach. The sky is almost free from clouds, and we can hear the waves rushing the shore as the morning breeze flutters through the palm trees.
Terese and I chat about our days in Vegas and promise we’ll take the boys to visit soon. Now that everything is out in the open between Wolf and me, I’m looking forward to so many things. Vacations together. Traveling. Writing. A future—whatever that may consist of.
I fill Terese in on what’s going on with my dad and Destiny, and although she knows about the strained relationship I have with my mother, she’s still appalled.
“The only reason she still has a following is because of the album that saved her career six years ago. You’re telling me you wrote the entire thing?” Terese asks, incredulous.
I nod, amazed that I don’t have that sinking feeling I’m used to whenever I talk about Destiny. My mother’s betrayal hasn’t left my mind; it’s more like the weight of it all just bobs like a buoy unanchored in the middle of the ocean, simply drifting with the currents as I wait for my father to return with news that will free me from this hell.
“She hasn’t been able to come up with anything decent since, and before that, she was a joke in the business.” Terese is still going off, unable to comprehend how a mother could take advantage of her daughter like that.
She’s criticizing my mother, and here I am agreeing with every word. I should feel compelled to stick up for Destiny, but I’m done. She’ll never change.
“Maybe she’s having some sort of midlife crisis,” Terese says, her face twisted up like she doesn’t believe her own words.
I pick at my food with a fork and sigh. “I don’t care to know the reason why anymore. I just want my songs back. I think it’s time I start falling back in love with what I’m passionate about. Letting her take that all away from me was the worst thing I ever did.”
“So. ‘Dangerous Heart,’ huh?”
I smile. “Yeah.”
“How did that happen if you weren’t sharing your music with anyone?”
I fill Terese in on the rest. About how Wolf found the lyrics by the pool and put them to music. The way it felt to hear him sing my words to thousands of people that night in San Diego. She’s wide-eyed throughout my entire story.
“No fucking way.” She laughs. “I can’t believe you just gave him the lyrics. I would have at least gotten my share of royalties.”
I laugh. “I know. He and Crawley were both shocked. The guys still don’t know it was me, but I’m going to tell them.”
“What?” Terese screams this time, and I laugh so hard, tears spill down my eyes. She stands up and waves to the guys through the open sliding door.
“What are you doing?” I whisper in horror.
She looks down at me in a challenge, daring me to fight me on this. “Look, if you want to do this right, the guys need to know. Right now, so I can witness their reactions.”
Clearly confused, the guys start filling out the patio. Wolf takes a seat beside me, giving me a strange look. My face must be beet red. Terese looks at me, asking for my approval. I know she wouldn’t say a word if I asked her not to, but I’m ready. I give her a nod.
“I have an announcement,” Terese tells everyone as they spill out onto the deck. “Lyric Cassidy has been keeping something from you all. So has Wolf.” She glares at him. “Lyric gave me permission to spill the beans, so brace yourselves for this one.”
I bury my head in my hands while Wolf tries to get my attention. I can’t even look at him.
“I know who the writer is behind ‘Dangerous Heart.’ And the last three songs you all started playing on tour.” I look up finally to see Terese pointing down at me.
Everyone grows silent at first, and then the silence turns into hushed whispers as the guys make the connection, and then … it’s all-out pandemonium.
“What?”
“Why the hell didn’t you tell us?”
“We should have known. Her name is fucking Lyric for Christ’s sake.”
“Babe, you okay with this?” Wolf is asking me, his strong arms pulling me close to him. I hear the concern in his voice, and I nod.
He smiles at me, and I can’t help but smile back. “That’s my girl.” He looks up at the guys and raises his hands as if in surrender. “Now you know why I fell in love with the girl. And I was legally bound to silence, so you can’t be mad at me for keeping it a secret.”
“Shit, Lyric. Why didn’t you want us to know?” Derrick asks, taking a seat next to Terese.
I sigh. “It’s really a long story. Let’s just say, people in the business have a habit of disappointing me, and it was just something I wanted to keep to myself.” I nudge Wolf and laugh. “But this one here was nice enough to give me an out. Instead, I signed the song over in exchange for his silence. I’ve kept my songwriting a secret for so long, but I’m done hiding it.”
Chapter Twenty
Wolf
Lyric has not only come out of her shell, she’s ripped it apart and stomped on the pieces that once sheltered her. I love everything about this side of her. Happy, free, and exposed to the world. At least, she will be when Mitch Cassidy is done destroying Destiny Lane.
It’s late in the afternoon and we’re about to head back into the recording booth when Lyric bursts into Studio Gold, a trail of girls behind her. Misty, Terese, Melanie.
They all look eager about something, but it’s Lyric who I’m focused on. She’s holding her phone and I notice her hand trembling slightly. But it’s the expression on her face that quiets us immediately. Just the
sight of her flushed cheeks and wide eyes, and the sound of her fast, heavy breathing make my heart flip and then flop in my chest.
“This just came in from my dad,” she says. She takes a deep breath and reads off the message on her phone. “Record label is in agreement. Destiny Lane is toast when she gets to their office. She arrives tonight, and they are ready for her.”
I can’t describe the relief and happiness that rushes through me the moment I realize the battle is over. Lyric’s songs are safe, and Destiny can’t touch her. My smile stretches so wide, the corners of my mouth ache. The room explodes in celebration.
I lift Lyric into the air and swing her around before pulling her close and crushing her mouth to mine. This is how things should be. The music. The love. The friendships. This is our family. As dysfunctional as it might be, it’s perfect.
The afternoon recording session is flawless and full of energy. We put the final touches on “Dangerous Heart,” and I’m so happy Lyric is there to witness it. She’s humble, but I know her well enough to recognize the pride in the moisture glistening around the rims of her eyes.
We wrap with a half dozen bottles of Ace of Spades champagne, a gift Mitch left behind, knowing he was going to miss this. Vana passes champagne flutes around the room as Lorraine pops the cork like a badass, howling as the stopper shoots across the room, almost hitting Hedge in the head. He ducks just in time and howls along with her. Liquid spills down her hands, so she does what any respectable musician would do and laps it up with her tongue, not wanting to waste a single drop.
Lyric is laughing, wrapped in my arms right where she belongs while we toast. The only person missing in this perfect moment is Mitch.
“We’re done a day early! Fuck yeah!” Hedge offers in his usual overly confident tone. He’s got an arm around Melanie, rattling her a little as she chugs back her flute. When a drop of liquid falls down her chin, she glares at Hedge and smacks his stomach with the back of her hand.
