Everything She Needs (The Everything Trilogy) (36 page)

“Go on ahead, I’ll just get that and be right in,” I said to Cody. The guys headed to the dressing room. I turned to go in the direction of the bangle. I saw a glint near the black curtain in the corner at the backdrop.  As I got near it the lighting on stage went off as the club music was taken over by the DJ again.

I was in complete darkness on stage but had reached my bangle and the curtain to the side just needed to be lifted for me to be off the stage. I crouched down on the floor and felt around.

I felt his presence before he touched me. It was weird, but I didn’t feel afraid knowing someone was there in the dark beside me.

When he touched me and stroked my
cheek, my whole nervous system went into meltdown. Currents of electricity ignited all of the circuits in my body, sending pulses of heat deep inside of me.

I was completely turned on. My heart had been beating fast when we finished the set, but it was off the chart
s now.  A familiar rush of goose flesh sprung up all over my skin. My juices flowed, and I was drenched between my thighs.

The scent of him so near me was alluring. I couldn’t help myself inhaling deeply.  Alfie’s unique scent, along with his touch, sent my senses into overdrive. I felt his breath on my face right before his mouth found mine.

He kissed me hungrily, his tongue probing wet and deep in my mouth, teasing mine for a response, and I was lost, kissing him back with everything I had.

My hands reached up and tangled in his hair
, and he lifted me. My legs wrapped around his waist. I could feel his hardness and what he was feeling… what I did to him.

His hands cupped my ass cheeks
, and he massaged them, pulling me tighter to him and grinding against me, whilst he stole my breath with his kiss. The darkness seemed to heighten the intensity of what was happening between us.

When he broke the
kiss, his voice was husky and low. “Oh, Lily, I love you, I’ve missed you so much. I need you to breathe,” he murmured into my hair. “Did you feel that? Do you feel this?” His mouth traced kisses on my neck.

He took my hand and placed it next to his racing heart. He put his hand over mine.  “We will never be done, Lily, not as long as we do this to each other. Not as long as there’s breath in my body.” In that instant I knew he was right

Cody called out to me in the dark. “Lily, are you over there?” I stiffened and Alfie’s grip on me got tighter.

“Yeah, I’m just talking to someone, I’ll be right there
,” I called back. Alfie eased me down to standing, but pulled me flush against him, his flat palms over my ass pulling me tightly to him.

We were touching from
our head to our knees, and I could feel every single one of my nerve fibers signal to him. He kissed me again, and I couldn’t get enough. I never wanted the moment to end. I reluctantly pushed him back. “We need to talk. I’ll wait for you when you’re done tonight,” he murmured into my ear.

“Alfie, Zack’s out front waiting for me.” He tensed and his arms tightened from his biceps to his wrists, his hands pushing against my back much stronger.

“You need to tell the poor guy he’s wasting his time, it’s us or nothing for you, Lily. I can feel it.  Being with me is your only option.”

Cody called out again, “Are you sure you’re okay, Lily, what the hell are you doing?”

I could hear his footsteps coming towards me. I pushed Alfie away and walked in the direction of his footsteps until we bumped into each other. “I’m here.”

Cody’s voice sounded relieved. “Thank
God, you’re coming back with me, I was the search party.  Lennon was getting worried about you.”

I had just had a timely reminder of what I would be throwing away, turning my back on Alfie and me,  and I d
idn’t think I could live my whole life from this point forward never feeling the way I just had with him.

The whole thing was a mess. We couldn’t be with each other, but we couldn’t seem to live without each other either. No matter how we panned out, I needed to speak with Zack.

I felt bad about hurting him, but I couldn’t let him keep hanging on for me when I knew that he’d be waiting forever. I really liked him, but as long as Alfie was living and breathing, Zack would never have my heart. In fact, even longer than that, and Zack deserved more.

I have no idea how I got through the night
at the club after Alfie’s visit. Zack had his friends with him, and that made things even more awkward. The last thing I wanted was to break things off with him when he was with his friends.

That would have been humiliating for him, but I couldn’t let him kiss me, not after Alfie’s mouth had been on mine. I thought I had been doing a good job of covering my
feelings, but Lennon was perceptive enough to see through my act.

“You need to talk?” I smiled at him, but it was a pleading one. He squeezed my hand. He leaned in and whispered
, “Do you need to get out of here?” I nodded, and he squeezed it again.

He picked his beer bottle up and drew a long swig from it, then set it down on the table. “Okay guys, I’m taking charge here, Lily was off her game today because she was sick earlier. So I’m sending her home.
Partying is off-limits for the next couple of days.” He looked serious, and Zack looked concerned for me, but he scowled at Lennon.

“I’ll walk you to your car honey.” I gathered my things from the dressing room and walked slowly to the car trying to figure out how to tell Zack we were over.

I didn’t have to say anything.  I must have been giving off a vibe that told him, he didn’t need words. “What happened today, Lily?” I looked into his sad eyes with tears in mine.

“I’m sorry
Zack, I met Alfie at the beach, and realized nothing has been resolved between us. My feelings for him are still raw, and I can’t get into another relationship with anyone whilst I still feel that strongly about him.”

Zack nodded
. “Don’t get upset, Lily. It’s always been him, that’s why I haven’t tried to take things further. I was just hoping if I was patient enough that your feelings for me would grow and overtake your feelings for his, but I don’t think that’s ever going to happen." Zack had been with me, even knowing how my heart still belonged to someone else. I felt so bad that this lovely man had wasted his time on me.

He bent and kissed my lips gently
. “If there’s any chance, you both have to try to work this thing out, because you’re not going to be happy with anyone else.”

He kissed me again and squeezed my hand. “I don’t regret a minute of my time with you, honey, just
… be happy.” He smiled affectionately at me, touched my cheek, and turned and headed back inside.

I drove home wondering what the hell I was doing. Zack’s words
were ringing in my ear. “If there’s a chance you both have to try to work this thing out,
because you’re not going to be happy with anyone else.”

As I drew up in the parking lot at home, my cell rang. McCartney ID, it was Lennon. I had joked with him the day I was taking his cell number, saying my
favorite Beatle was McCartney not Lennon and had entered his number jokingly under that.

I turned the engine off and answered my cell as I shoved my things under my arm and locked the door to my car. “Hey. Lily, what’s up? Are you and Zack okay?”  I explained about Alfie.

He’d known most of it anyway, I had told him about Alfie after getting drunk one night and I’d started crying. “Talk to him. Lock yourselves away and try to work it out.  He can’t come between the band, and you can’t function until you resolve this. It’s affecting you, Lily.”

I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “I know
,” I said quietly. 

Lennon sighed deeply.
“You’re an amazing girl, Lily. Don’t let this guy destroy you and don’t let him come between the band.” Lennon was honest enough to express his main worry again for emphasis.

I told him I had agreed to meet Alfie tomorrow. “Lily, we’re here if you need us
,” he told me, and he sounded genuine.  I thanked him, and he ended the call. I took the elevator to my apartment.

My cell rang
, and SEXPERT ID flashed on the screen. I wanted to see him. If I was honest with myself, I had been waiting for him to contact me again since our kiss at the club. I answered, and his low sexy voice swept over me like a warm blanket.

“Hey
,” he cooed. My heart sped up, and my body went into overdrive. Butterflies fluttered inside frantically, outside, my skin tingled with goose bumps, all with that one word.

“I’m downstairs.” If I had thought my heart was beating faster before he said those words, it was pounding in my chest now. “I’m coming up, is that okay?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.” Holly was at Brett’s tonight, and by tomorrow, Jack and Elle would be here. We had little time to be alone to deal with this.

He knocked
on the door softly, and I stopped still and stared at it. On the other side was a man who affected me like no one else ever had. He had caused me so much heartache, destroyed me, and stole my heart.

But he was also the man that taught me what love really fe
lt like. He made me feel pleasure I had no idea was possible and gave me the self-belief to get up there on stage and own it.

I turned the handle and heard the latch click, as I cracked open the
door, he was already pushing me back and moving inside before I had extended it fully. His arm slid around my waist, and he slammed me back against the door, pushing the door closed with our bodies.

He lifted me, and my legs wrapped around his waist as I clung to him, his taut body pressed against mine, his hard erect arousal grinding against my pubic bone. I moaned, “Oh, God.” And he hissed.

I wrapped my arms around his neck as our lips collided. He growled into my mouth, and I swallowed the sound of his passion for me.

We frantically teased and tasted each other with our tongues. He muttered, “Fuck,
you're killing me.” In that moment nothing else mattered.

He broke the kiss and drew his head back, drawing in a deep breath. His eyes locked
onto mine. We were both breathless, panting, my chest rising and falling. He smiled his warm, sexy smile at me, and I could feel the effect I had on him.

His body was trembling.  It hummed with the expectation of what it needed to do, but it was being held back by him as he fought to control himself. My body shuddered when he bent to kiss my collarbone. He let go a soft chuckle.

“You’re so fucking responsive to my touch,” he said, shaking his head as if in disbelief of the effect he had on me. “How can we not be together?” he murmured.  We stood facing each other. He seemed as mesmerized by me as I was with him.

He stroked my hair
, and my hands slid down from his neck and slipped up under his t-shirt, letting my nails rake the skin on his back lightly.

He shivered and smiled again. I was kidding myself. I couldn’t bear to think about life without him in it any more. “
You're mine, no more games, no more anger, nothing between us, Lily. If I have to spend another minute thinking about you in the arms of someone else, I’d rather die right here.” His head didn’t move just the sound of his low, soft, sensual voice. There was no anger or regret in the moment, just two people who loved each other.

He stepped
back, releasing his grip on me. “We
are
going to do this, Lily, but we’re going to do this properly this time.” I bunched my brows not understanding what he was talking about.

“Will you go out a date with me?”

I smirked “Don’t you think we’re way past that, Alfie?”

He shook his head. “No, I think we never actually began at the beginning, Lily. I get it that I have a lot to prove to you.”

I hugged myself. “Is there any point Alfie? You’re going to be in London, and I’m going to be here. I have college and the band…”

H
e put his finger to my lips to silence me. “Stop! I’m not hearing any of this right now. This is about you and me.” He was shaking his head, and placed his hand first on my chest, then on his, to drive his point home.

“We’ve spent the whole year with barriers between us. I wanted to claim you from the moment I saw you, and this time, nothing is going to stop me
from being with you. Everything else is incidental Lily. It doesn’t matter. Music. The band. Nothing.”

He was telling me everything I needed to hear. Everything I wanted could be mine, if I gave it the chance. “Jack and El
le are coming tomorrow, Alfie,“

“
I said nothing is coming…. If they love you, they won’t care that you’re with me, as long as you’re happy, right?”

Before I could find something else that was going to prevent us being
together, he pulled me in closer, and lifted my chin. “I love you, Lily. If it takes ‘hearts and flowers’ to keep you, then I’m all in.” He smiled and kissed my lips so softly.

It wasn’t a deep
kiss, he just pressed his lips to mine. He shifted away from me and released his embrace. “I’ll call you tomorrow.” I felt elated but confused he didn’t want to stay with me.