Fallen for Rock (11 page)

Chapter Nineteen

‘Drink?’

Mike brandished two champagne flutes and a chilled bottle of Dom Pérignon.

‘Wow. You
are
organised,’ I teased, momentarily bypassing an answer. Mike chuckled.

‘Well, yes and no. Yes, because I hoped you’d join me here tonight, ever since I first set eyes on you this afternoon. And no, because I always have a chilled bottle of this stuff at the ready. Because…’

He shrugged. I
loved
the way he looked when he shrugged, all cute and innocent. ‘…well, might as well make the most of all of this while it lasts. You never know what’ll happen next.’

‘You’re only starting out,’ I protested. ‘Surely this is only the beginning?’

‘You’d hope so, wouldn’t you? But—’ He shrugged again, and I barely resisted the urge to hug him.
Vulnerable
. He looked vulnerable all of a sudden.

‘Anyway, that’s way too deep. Life’s too short, let’s simply enjoy ourselves.’ The double entendre hung between us, and I picked it up deliberately.

‘Do let’s.’ I took a glass and held it up for him to fill.

While he busied himself with the bottle, I regarded my surroundings. This dressing room was amazingly cosy, with a couple of armchairs and a fat sofa in addition to the dressing table topped by a large mirror. The exposed light bulbs surrounding the mirror were turned down low, and the atmosphere was seductive.

Tssssss-shhhhhhh!
Mike popped the cork with expert flourish and tipped the neck of the bottle straight into my glass to collect the froth. He poured himself a drink and clinked my glass for a toast.

‘To here and now, and to a beautiful woman.’

‘To here and now,’ I echoed, ‘and to a man with a golden voice.’

Mike grinned. ‘You like my voice, do you?’

‘I do.’ I paused infinitesimally before launching myself headlong into the seduction game. ‘A voice like yours makes me go weak at the knees.’

Mike put his glass on the coffee table.

‘Does it now?’ he murmured, and I couldn’t answer. He took my glass away and stood in front of me, arms down, breathing heavily.

‘Does it now?’ he repeated.

I nodded subtly.
Yes
.

He took a step closer until our bodies touched. With his right hand, he lifted my chin until he could look me in the eyes, and our gaze locked. My heart was racing, and I was sure he would be able to hear it. My breath came short and hollow.

Slowly, ever so slowly, Mike moved his hand along my jawbone until it came to rest at the nape of my neck. His touch was warm and light as a feather, and goosebumps spread all over my body from the point of caress. The man was an expert, that was for certain.

Mike’s left hand rested against the small of my back, and he pulled me closer into him, leaning slightly so that his mouth would be level with my ear.

‘I don’t know where you came from,’ he sang softly, ‘and I don’t know where you’ve been, but you’re here tonight, and you’re mine…’

His fingers stroked the dip at the back of my neck while his thumb caressed the skin underneath my ear. His breath was warm and moist against my face, and I swooned. Mike tightened his hold around my waist, and still he continued singing.

‘Be mine tonight, let me hold you tight, just you and me…’

As his song turned into a whisper, he touched his lips to my face, planting kiss after little kiss on his path to my mouth until we finally connected. I reached up eagerly and wrapped my arms around his neck, holding his head with both my hands so that he shouldn’t pull back. I could feel his appreciative smile in the curve of his lips against mine. Quickly, and surprising myself as much as Mike, I darted my tongue out to reach for his, and the contact was electrifying.

Mike pressed harder against me, his tongue pushing into my mouth now, his lips hot against mine, his hands raking my hair, pulling me tight until neither of us could move.

I forgot all about who I was, or where I was, or who I was with. Stars exploded behind my eyes, and I rode high on instinct. Whether this sensation lasted minutes or seconds, I didn’t know, but all of a sudden, Mike ended the kiss and broke our connection. Without a word, he scooped me up into his arms as though I weighed nothing. Two, three steps across the room, and he reached the sofa. He laid me down carefully and drank me in with his eyes while he knelt down on the floor beside me.

‘You’re so beautiful.’ His voice was heavy with emotion, and I shivered.

‘Thank you.’ I sounded husky and brazen, quite unlike me, but I liked it. I lifted my arms behind my head and stretched languorously, invitingly. My chest rose as my hips pressed lower into the sofa, and Mike groaned.

‘Don’t do this again,’ he warned. ‘I can’t vouch for my actions.’

‘Is that so?’ I breathed, and stretched some more.

Mike’s eyes widened, and he exhaled sharply. His pupils were dark pools of lust, and there was a dangerous spark in his irises that told me we had crossed a point of no return.

By way of response, I lifted my hips and moaned softly. Mike swallowed hard. I was enjoying the effect I was having on him. I felt wanton and powerful, and the feeling was intoxicating and addictive.

For a second, neither of us moved. My chest rose and fell with my breath, and there were pointy little peaks where my nipples strained against my bra.
Find me. Free me. Bite me.

Mike’s eyes lingered on them for a little while, but he gave a barely perceptible shake of the head and looked away. Abruptly, he placed his hand on my tummy, and the sudden heat of his skin against mine made me gasp. Slowly at first but with considerable determination, Mike slid his hand down and down, inside my trousers and my underpants. The tension was unbearable, and I closed my eyes.

‘
Sheesh!
’ I inhaled sharply with surprise when Mike plunged a couple of his fingers deep inside me while his thumb tickled my climax point. Involuntarily, my hips rose and bucked, but Mike pushed back with his hand, thrusting deeper inside still until I was dizzy with pleasure. I could feel myself growing slick in response to his touch, and his fingers slithered and pushed harder. At the same time, his free hand alighted on my chest, tweaking first one, then the other nipple through my top and bra.

‘Mike…’ My voice seemed to come from very far away, a small cry almost, sexy yet dreamy.

‘Shhh.’

Mike rubbed and tickled until I was on the brink of explosion. And quite suddenly, he stopped. His fingers left me. I let out a moan of protest and opened my eyes.

Mike sat back on his haunches and smiled at me.

‘You enjoyed that.’ It was a statement, not a question, and I declined to answer. Mike didn’t require one. Slowly and suggestively, he licked his fingers, the very fingers that had been inside me, and I was mesmerised. Never had I seen anyone do such a thing and derive such pleasure from it. I had always thought the idea was rather gross, actually. But Mike seemed to get off on it.

‘You taste good.’ Another statement that I couldn’t reply to.

‘I want some more.’ Mike looked at me briefly, his eyes flickering with a question as if seeking consent, but I didn’t know what he wanted, so I merely smiled. Deftly and very expertly, Mike undid my trousers and slid them off me. Within a matter of seconds, I lay there half naked and very exposed.

Instinctively, I pulled up my knees a little, and the pose felt good. Immediately, Mike’s mouth came down on me hard and hot. His tongue found my touch point and licked at it, sending me spiralling out of control. I brought my hands down on his head and held him hard against me. Suddenly his fingers were inside me again, and the impact sent me over the edge. A soft scream filled the room, and it took me a moment to realise that it was my own cry of pleasure as I came.

But Mike wasn’t done. While I was still reeling from my climax, he slipped my top over my head and unclasped my bra.

I kept my eyes closed while I tried to collect myself. I could hear Mike breathing heavily and the sound of his zip being undone. There was rustling and ripping, and still I lay there, naked, breathing hard.

‘What are you doing?’ I finally asked, feeling disconcerted by the extending pause.

‘Just… You know.’

I opened my eyes and looked at Mike. He was half turned away from me, crouching over the table but evidently fully naked. Muscles rippled in his back and neck, and I longed for his body to lie down on mine. On the back of his right arm he had the most extraordinary tattoo of a flower, or possibly a star; or it might have been the sun, or a burst of fire. I really didn’t know what it was, but it was stunning. It was
attractive.

I badly want to reach out and touch it, but Mike swivelled on his heels and faced me. He grinned widely and waved a brightly coloured foil wrapper at me.

‘Safer sex and all that.’

‘Oh. Of course.’ I smiled inanely, pulling my thoughts away from my fascination with muscles straining under skin art. More fool me for not ever thinking this through.
Safer sex
. Thank goodness one of us was being sensible. And how odd that it wasn’t me.

While I was still deliberating my sensational oversight, Mike had slid the condom on and suddenly, he was upon me, lips on lips, hands on my breasts, and his hot, hard manhood pushing inside me with fast, urgent movements. He consumed me whole. He was everywhere, and our bodies melted into one. If I had come before, that climax was nothing compared to the sensation of him inside me and, unbelievably, I came again, and again. I lost all control as my body rose and fell with pleasure, and Mike kissed me hard and harder still to stifle my cries of passion. Moments later, he started bucking and writhing, and he ground himself into me powerfully, almost painfully, until he found his release.

‘Mmmmm Emily,’ he breathed into my ear as his body relaxed after his climax. ‘You really are something else.’ He kissed me softly on the lips and rested his head on the cushion next to mine, closing his eyes. ‘Please stay around for a little while.’

Chapter Twenty

‘Emily.’

The unfamiliar voice penetrated my consciousness, but only barely just.

‘Emily, my sweet, it’s time to get up. We’ve got to go.’ The voice became more urgent, and I pried my eyes open. In a flash, the happenings of the evening came back to me and—

I smiled. Somewhere at the back of my mind, I had worried that I would feel regret or shame or embarrassment when all was said and done, but none of those sentiments was present. I felt good.

‘Mike.’ I reached out my hands and pulled his face down for a quick kiss. Suddenly, I noticed that he was fully dressed, and I sat up hastily, pulling the blanket that mysteriously covered me more tightly around my chest.

‘Hey.’ Mike sat down with me and wound a lock of my hair around his fingers. ‘You look like a wanton sex goddess.’

‘I
feel
like a wanton sex goddess,’ I replied before I could stop myself. Mike grinned.

‘However.’

He rose to his feet again and pulled me up with him. ‘We have to go. It’s time to get on the road.’

‘Oh.’ My heart sank, which was ridiculous. I had known all along that the evening would come to an end. It was just…well, after
that
performance and the ensuing little snooze, I found it difficult to adjust to reality.

‘Of course. I know. I’ll… I’ll get dressed.’

I cast around for my clothes, which turned out to have been scattered all over the place. As I bent to retrieve my undies from the back of the sofa, Mike grasped my arm.

‘Emily—‘

‘No worries,’ I interrupted him before he could offer me a trite comment.
That
I couldn’t deal with. ‘It’s fine. Cor, wasn’t this fun? Maybe we could…um…do this again sometime. When, you know…you’re next in town. Or something.’

Cringe!
I couldn’t stop prattling on. And had I really offered myself for another ‘go’, just like that?

‘I’d like that,’ Mike whispered softly. ‘In fact, I’d like that very much.’

Of course you would,
my cynical side muttered fiercely, but there was something in his eyes that stopped me from saying it out loud. He looked stricken.

‘Mike—‘

‘Emily, don’t go. We’re off to Glasgow now… Why don’t you come with us?’

‘You what?’

‘Come with us, rock chick. Why not? It would be so much fun. Oh.’ His face fell. ‘I suppose you got work and stuff…’

‘No. No, I don’t.’

‘You don’t?’

‘I don’t. I’m…I’ve had to take some holiday. I’m free. From work, I mean. For a week.’ I was rambling on again, this time carried away by the wild notion of going on tour with this man and his band.
Could I? Should I?
Was he serious?

Mike’s eyes lit up like a Christmas tree. ‘Really? Are you serious?’

‘Are
you
serious? I mean, it would be awesome, but I wouldn’t want to be a burden, or be in the way or anything. I really don’t know how any of this works…’

Was I being too easy, suggesting that I might accept his invitation?
Then again, who cared? I was free. I was old enough. I could do as I pleased. I could go with this band and be crazy for a week. And afterwards, I would never have to see them again. It wouldn’t matter if they thought me a hussy, or a groupie, or a tart, or all of the above, as long as I was doing it for me, not for them.

But you have no clothes with you. You don’t even have a toothbrush. No toiletries. Nothing, except what’s in your handbag.
Gosh, what was it with the killjoy side of my brain? Had she always been there, ruling my life and stopping me from doing exciting stuff? Was
this
why I had ended up earning shedloads of money, owning a fancy car and a swanky apartment, but with no boyfriend and nary any friends? Well, she could go stuff herself. She was officially fired.

‘I’m serious. I’d like you to be my guest.’ Unaware of my inner turmoil, Mike spoke with a quick urgency. ‘It’s a bit of a road trip, I’m afraid. We’ll be travelling on the tour bus most nights. It’s not all fancy hotels and fine dining, but…well, I’d love you to come along for the ride. For as long as you can. Or like.’

He gripped both my hands and held them tight. ‘Say you’ll come. We could have so much fun!’

For fun, read sex
, I mused, and my whole body tingled with the notion.

‘Okay. Yes. Cool. If it’s really no problem. I…um…well. Yes.’

Oh my God. I had properly jumped off the cliff, and I was in free fall, quite possibly without a parachute.

‘Great. Great!’ Mike jumped to his feet. ‘We have to leave in about ten minutes. Are you okay as you are, or would you like to freshen up?’

I snorted. ‘You have a great insight into the female mind, don’t you?’ Abruptly, I clicked. I pointed a gun finger at him. ‘You’ve done this before, haven’t you?’

How silly of me. Of course he would have done this before. Many times, probably.

‘Many times,’ Mike echoed my thoughts, completely deadpan. ‘Occupational hazard. But that doesn’t mean I don’t cherish your company!’ He grinned and nodded his head at a door in the corner. ‘The shower’s through there. There’s a stack of towels and stuff, go help yourself.’

‘Okay. Um.’

Awkward moment!
‘Right, I’ll be quick, five minutes tops.’

‘Great. I’ll come and pick you up.’

‘Pick me up? Where are you going?’

Mike rubbed his hands together, coming across all business and matter-of-fact all of a sudden. ‘I’ve got to talk to Adam. He…errr…’ Mike cleared his throat. ‘He likes to know when we bring company.’

He couldn’t have said anything worse to make me feel embarrassed after all.

‘If it’s a problem—’

‘It’s not a problem. Quit worrying.’ Mike blew me a kiss. ‘I’ve got to let him know, is all. Standard procedure. Can’t just bring random strangers on tour, you see.’

‘But I
am
a random stranger.’

‘Are you kidding? You’re
not
, not anymore.’ He produced a devastating smile like a naughty boy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

‘I’ll tell him you’re my new girlfriend.’