Lick

Which was when the doorbell rang, making a low, mournful sound that echoed in my heart and groin. “Nooo.”

“You’re fucking joking.” David’s face screwed up and he gave the tall double doors the foulest of looks. At least I wasn’t alone. I groaned and gave him a tight full-body hug. It would have been funny if it didn’t hurt so much.

A hand rubbed at my back, sliding beneath the hem of my tank to stroke the skin beneath. “It’s like the universe doesn’t want me inside you or something, I swear,” he grumbled.

“Make them go away. Please.”

He chuckled, clutching me tighter.

“It hurts.”

He groaned and kissed my neck. “Let me answer the door and get rid of them, then I’ll take care of you, okay?”

“Your towel is on the floor.”

“That’s a problem. Down you hop.”

I reluctantly loosened my hold and put my feet back on firm ground. Again the gong-like sound filled the house. David grabbed a pair of black jeans out of a bag and quickly pulled them on. All I caught was a flash of toned ass. Keeping my eyes mostly averted might have been the hardest thing I’d ever done.

“Hang back just in case it’s press.” He looked into a small screen embedded beside the door. “Ah, man.”

“Trouble?”

“No. Worse. Old friends with food.” He gave me a brief glance. “If it makes you feel any better, I’ll be hurting too.”

“But—”

“Anticipation makes it sweeter. I promise,” he said, then threw open the door. A hand tugged down the front of his T-shirt, trying to cover the obvious bulge beneath his jeans. “Tyler. Pam. Hey, good to see you.”

I was going to kill him. Slowly. Strangle him with the overpriced thong. A fitting death for a rock star.

A couple about my parents’ age came in, laden down with pots and bottles of wine. The man, Tyler, was tall, thin, and covered in tats. Pam looked to have Native American in her heritage. Beautiful long black hair hung down her back in a braid, thick as my wrist. They both wore wide grins and gave me curious glances. I could feel my face heat when they took in the lingerie and clothing strewn about on the floor. It probably looked like we’d been about to embark on a two-person orgy. Which was the truth, but still.

“How the hell are ya?” Tyler roared in an Australian accent, giving David a one-armed hug on account of the crock-pot he held in the other. “And this must be Ev. I have to read about it in the damn paper, Dave? Are you serious?” He gave my husband a stern look, one brow arched high. “Pam was pissed.”

“Sorry. It was—ah, it was sudden.” David kissed Pam on the cheek and took a casserole dish and laden bag from her. She patted him on the head in a motherly fashion.

“Introduce me,” she said.

“Ev, this is Pam and Tyler, old friends of mine. They’ve also been taking care of the house for me.” He looked relaxed standing between these people. His smile was easy and his eyes were bright. I hadn’t seen him looking so happy before. Jealousy reared its ugly head, sinking its teeth in.

“Hello.” I put out my hand for shaking but Tyler engulfed me in a hug.

“She’s so pretty. Isn’t she pretty, hon?” Tyler stepped aside and Pam came closer, a warm smile on her face.

I was being a jerk. These were nice people. I should be profoundly grateful not every female David knew rubbed their boobs on him. Damn my screaming hormones for making me surly.

“She sure is. Hello, Ev. I’m Pam.” The woman’s coffee-brown eyes went liquid. She seemed ready to burst into tears. In a rush, she took my hands and squeezed my fingers tight. “I’m just so happy he found a nice girl, finally.”

“Oh, thank you.” My face felt flammable.

David gave me a wry grin.

“Okay, enough of that,” Tyler said. “Let’s let these lovebirds have their privacy. We can visit another time.”

David stood aside, still holding the casserole dish and bag. When he saw me watching he winked.

“I’ll have to show you the setup downstairs sometime,” Tyler said. “You here for long?”

“We’re not sure,” he said, giving me a glance.

Pam clung to my hands, reluctant to leave. “I made chicken enchiladas and rice. Do you like Mexican? It’s David’s favorite.” Pam’s brows wrinkled. “But I didn’t think to check if that was alright with you. You might be vegetarian.”

“No, I’m not. And I love Mexican,” I said, squeezing her fingers back though not as hard. “Thank you so much.”

“Phew.” She grinned.

“Hon,” called Tyler.

“I’m coming.” Pam gave my fingers a parting pat. “If you need anything at all while you’re here, you give me a call. Okay?”

David said nothing. It was clearly my decision if they stayed or went. My body was still abuzz with need. That, and we seemed to do better alone. I didn’t want to share him because I was shallow and wanted hot sex. I wanted him all to myself. But it was the right thing to do. And if anticipation made it sweeter, well, maybe this once the right thing to do was also the best thing to do.

“Stay,” I said, stammering out the words. “Have dinner with us. You’ve made so much. We could never possibly finish it all.”

David’s gaze jumped to me, a smile of approval on his face. He looked almost boyish, trying to contain his excitement. Like I’d just told him his birthday had been brought forward. Whoever these people were, they were important to him. I felt as though I’d just passed some test.

Pam sighed. “Tyler is right, you’re newlyweds.”

“Stay. Please,” I said.

Pam looked to Tyler.

Tyler shrugged but smiled, obviously delighted.

Pam clapped her hands with glee. “Let’s eat!”

CHAPTER NINE

Warm hands pushed up my tank top as the sun rose. Next came hot kisses down my back, sending a shiver up my spine. My skin came to immediate goose-pimpled attention, despite the truly horrible time of day.

“Ev, baby, roll over.” David whispered in my ear.

“What time is it?”

We’d all gone downstairs to the recording studio after dinner for a ‘quick look’. At midnight Pam had bailed, saying Tyler could call her when they were done. No one anticipated that being anytime soon, since they’d opened a bottle of bourbon. I’d stretched out on the big couch down there while David and Tyler messed around, moving between the control room and the studio. I’d wanted to be close to David, to listen to him play guitar and sing snippets of songs. He had a beautiful voice. What he could do with a six string in his hands blew my mind. His eyes would take on this far away look and he was gone. It was like nothing else existed. Sometimes, I actually felt a little lonely, lying there watching him. Then the song would end and he’d shake his head, stretch his fingers, returning to earth. His gaze would find me and he’d smile. He was back.

At some stage I’d dozed off. How I’d gotten up to bed I had no idea. David must have carried me. One thing was certain: I could smell booze.

“It’s almost five in the morning,” he said. “Roll over.”

“Tired,” I mumbled, staying right where I was.

The mattress shifted as he straddled my hips and put an arm either side of my head, bending down over me, covering me.

“Guess what?” he asked.

“What?”

Gently he pushed my hair back off my face. Then he licked my ear. I squirmed, ticklish.

“I wrote two songs,” he said, his voice a little slurred, soft around the edges.

“Mmm.” I smiled without opening my eyes. Hopefully he’d take that as being supportive. I couldn’t manage much more on less than four hours’ sleep. I simply wasn’t wired that way. “That’s nice.”

“No, you don’t understand. I haven’t written anything in over two years. This is fucking amazing.” He nuzzled my neck. “And they’re about you.”

“Your songs?” I asked, stunned. And still dazed. “Really?”

“Yeah, I just …” He breathed deep and nipped my shoulder, making my eyes pop open.

“Hey!”

He leaned over so I could see his face, his dark hair hanging down. “There you are. So, I think of you and suddenly I have something to say. I haven’t had anything I wanted to say in a long time. I didn’t give a fuck. It was all just more of the same. But you changed things. You fixed me.”

“David, I’m glad you got your mojo back, but you’re incredibly talented. You were never broken. Maybe you just needed some time off.”

“No.” From upside down, he frowned at me. “Roll over. I can’t talk to you like this.” I hesitated and he slapped my butt. The non-tattooed cheek, lucky for him. “Come on, baby.”

“Watch it with the biting and spanking, buddy.”

“So move already,” he growled.

“Okay. Okay.”

He climbed off me onto the other side of the mammoth mattress and I sat, drawing my knees up to my chest. The man was shirtless, staring back at me with only a pair of jeans on. How the hell did he keep losing his shirt? The sight of his bare chest brought me to the dribble point. The jeans pushed me right over. No one wore jeans like David. And having caught a glimpse of him without them only made it worse. My imagination went into some sort of sexual berserker rage. The pictures that filled my head … I have no idea where they all came from. The images were surprisingly raw and detailed. I was quite certain I wasn’t flexible enough to achieve some of them.

All of the air left the room. Truth was, I wanted him. All of him. The good and the bad and the bits in between. I wanted him more than I’d ever wanted anything before in my life.

But not when he’d been drinking. We’d already been there, made that mistake. I didn’t know quite what was going on between us, but I didn’t want to mess it up.