I Saw You (24 page)

The force of my thrust had her ass bouncing on my cock. Glorious sight.

“So close.” Her tiny hand came down and pressed down on her clit, just held it there while I continued to fuck her. The power of each thrust causing her fingers to rub the engorged bundle of nerves. A tiny fingertip caressed my cock on the next dip inside and a shiver ran up my spine.

From head to fucking toe, I pulsed with each soft touch.

Slim panted above me, her body coiled tight as the waves began to crash. Just one more touch and she’d explode. Pulling her neck, I brought her body back against my chest and kissed the skin right below her ear.

“Rub a little harder,” I growled and then smirked when she complied, a docile doll in my hold.

“Fuck,” it came out as a choked moan while I bit into the sensitive flesh there. Her pussy walls contracted, and another rush of wetness coated me. “Oh God.” This time it was a hoarse cry of pleasure. Arianna’s arms sagged, fell to her sides while I chased my own release.

Three quick pumps of my hips and the first spurt of come left my tip. Another wave of pleasure pounded through her while I emptied my balls deep inside her tight cunt. Pleasure fucking thrummed through every cell in my body and for a second, I felt weak in the knees.

“Jesus…”

“Christ,” she finished for me, her body leaning heavily against my own. With as much care as I could manage, I brought us down to the floor and draped her tired body over mine.

“How the hell do I let you go tomorrow?” I spoke softly, my hand running small circles over the tattoo over her ribs. For a long time there was nothing but silence. She never responded, and I didn’t press for more.

My own eyes grew tired and I closed them, thinking she’d fallen asleep. Just for a few seconds, when I heard it, low and almost inaudible.

“You don’t.”

“Again, creeper?”
Slim was cuddled up to my side while I tried hard to ignore the swelling of my cock near her heat. She had her eyes closed and a sweet smile on her lips. Natural and soft, she was everything I found perfect in the world.

“Hush, you. I was watching the sun come up and thinking.” To be more precise, about what she confessed while almost asleep.
“You don’t.”
Had she meant to say that? That beyond all the craziness that was my life at the moment, she wanted all the “mores” I did?

“What’re you thinking about?” Arianna’s lips skimmed up my neck before laying a tiny kiss on my collarbones.

“Move in with me.” Fuck, if I didn’t mean that. Never have truer words passed through my lips. It was right for us.

“Be serious, babe.” She giggled while tracing a single finger over my navel. It was something she did; play with the fine hairs that led to my dick whenever we lay in bed. After I’d made love to her. After the disaster that was my new mini-studio remodel, I’d taken Arianna to my bed and devoured her. There wasn’t an inch of her left untouched—without proper worship while she came around my length. “You can’t mean that.”

Relaxed and sated, it was while I held her in my arms that we talked—when she opened up to me the most. Behind all that bravado was a woman who didn’t fully trust me, and I understood that.

Something else I’d be rectifying soon.

“Dead serious, beautiful.” The hand splayed over her back traveled lower and squeezed her ass. “I want to wake up like this every fucking day. Handful of you and all.”

Her lips quirked up in a sexy smile. “You want me to move in? As in together?”

“Are you going to make me beg?”

At this, she let out a loud laugh and turned over onto her back, escaping my hold. “You don’t beg, Chester.”

“For you, I’d do anything.”
Look at me now, the perpetual bachelor chasing after one woman’s skirt.
Because goddamn, this girl in my arms owned me. Complete and without change, I wanted her with me. Always.

“Come down for my family reunion in two weeks?” she hedged lowly, her fingers resuming their tracing over my skin, slow passes up and down my arm. “Let them meet you, and we’ll take it from there.”

Trepidation filled me then, not because I was afraid of what her family and friends would think, but because we could be seen. The next two weeks were set to be hectic with final changes being put on the album, a re-recording of the song I wrote for her, and a few meetings with the label itself.

Our tour was set to kick off two months from now, and the dates had been set. Our first show of the southeast leg of the U.S. tour would be in Miami. Slim didn’t know this, but I’d planned something special for us. By then, there would be no more lies.

No more hiding us.

“I’m not sure that’s the best idea…” Her face fell, and she turned away from me. Back to my chest, she snuggled, but I felt that invisible wall being put in place. Sometimes it felt like our relationship was an uphill battle—one wrong word on my behalf, and we’d tumble to the ground. “Hey, stop. It’s not—”

“No worries, I get it.
Ashley
blah, blah, blah,” Arianna interrupted while patting my hand before turning to get off the bed. Her foot touched my floor, and she reached over for the discarded shirt of mine I’d tore from her body the night before. Somehow I managed to toss it atop a small lamp on my nightstand. “All is understood….maybe next year, right?”

“I’ll make it up to you.” Didn’t miss the eye roll from her. “Maybe we can squeeze in a small getaway before I leave on tour? Just you and me?”

“Sure.” Stretching her hands up, Slim pulled the shirt over her head and then placed her hair in a sloppy ponytail before grabbing her phone. “You get on that.”

What the fuck had just happened? We’d gone from would you consider moving in, to now ignoring me. This meet the family couldn’t be that important; I’d already met her parents, and they liked me.

“When’s the reunion?” Tone terse, I threw my legs over the edge of the bed and followed her example, walked right into the bathroom while she began to brush her teeth. I stood beside her at the double vanity and cleaned my own. “How long do I have to be gone?”

“Not a single day.” She smiled around a mouthful of toothpaste. Bending, she spit and then rinsed. “But I’ll be gone for a full week to the Bahamas. Leave in two weeks.”

“What’s that supposed to mean, Ari? I’ll be gone?”

“That means exactly what it states. My persona will not be in the U.S. for a full seven days while I travel with my family. See or talk to you when I get back.”

“So this isn’t in Miami?”

“No.”

“I’m coming.”

Arms crossed over her chest, Slim glared me down. “No, you’re not.”

Mimicking her stance, I towered over her and delighted in the way her nipples tightened. “Yes.” She opened her mouth to protest, but I stopped her with a finger over her lips. “I’m sorry, and I’ll be honored to meet everyone. Being a dick to you this morning was not on the agenda…” lifting her up onto the granite counter, I stood between her parted legs “…fucking you was. Forgive me?” Puppy dog eyes and all for the full effect.

“Don’t want you to go now,” she grumbled petulantly. “Here I go into all this work to make the trip memorable and private—all for the sake of that bullshit relationship—and once again I’m placed on the back burner. I’m not your main concern.
Ashley
is.”

“Can I tell you a secret?” I whispered low, my lips skimming the shell of her ear. “But you can’t tell anyone. It’s a special secret between just us.”

Tilting her head to the side, she gave me more room while taking in a shuddering breath. “Please.”

With the tips of my fingers, I brought her face back up toward mine. Our eyes met. “I love you. No one else, just you.”

“Chester, I—”

“Shhhh,” I crooned, lips softly pressed against her. “I love you, Slim. No woman could ever say that. You’re my first.”

“Fuck.” She sniffed, her eyes becoming glassy with unshed tears. “I love you, too.”

“Now…” Wiping the fallen tears from her eyes with my thumbs, I smiled down at her. “Can you please say I can come to the reunion, so I can fuck you after? Make love to my girl one last time before she leaves for her home.”

That mischievous twinkle was back in the jade orbs I loved so much. “Yeah, but only on one condition.”

“What’s that?”

“You remind me that I’m yours more than once. All day until it’s time to leave.”

“Done.”

I Saw You…

No sooner had I dropped my girl off and pulled out of LAX than my phone rang. Jesus Christ—this girl had perfect timing. Five rings and the call stopped, only to begin again.

“What?” I barked into the phone while merging onto the expressway back home. Traffic was hectic on the 405 while I headed toward the 101, assholes trying to cut everyone off. No matter the time of day, Los Angeles traffic on this specific highway was a nightmare.

Sure, I could’ve sent her home on a private plane, but nothing was available for the specific time we needed. Her business needed attention, and the call Gabriel made this morning didn’t help one bit. A fight had broken out last night, and there was some minor damage to the VIP area upstairs. Things had to be replaced, and her signature was needed on the C.O.D. for payment.

“Care to explain the meaning of the email I just received from Brian?” Haughty and with a bite of anger, Ashley returned my more than happy greeting. “What do you mean we split up almost two months ago!”

“Just as it states.” Why would she continue to make this more difficult than it needed to be? And then, something popped into my mind. “Did you think—take our so-called relationship for more than what it was? An arrangement between the two of us?”

“No.” A petulant whisper, one I didn’t buy one bit. “It’s just that you promised me that this would be taken as a delicate situation. That I wouldn’t be left out to dry.”

“And are you? Because, Ash, you have your job. No one is taking over that position, nor am I looking to substitute you as my best friend.”

“Feels that way.” From her side of the line, I heard a man’s a voice. “Give me a sec, this is about work.”

“Who’s that?” Already knowing the answer, yet here she was giving me shit for announcing we were through when that dick was beside her. “Forget it.”

“It’s not what you think.” Ashley hurried to excuse herself. “He came to pick up some old shit he left here.”

The scenic route down the 101 did nothing to calm the raging fury that coursed through my veins. Here she was, my best friend, making my life a living hell while sleeping with that piece-of-shit abuser. Repeatedly, I’d hurt my girl for the sake of not losing her. Our relationship was that of mutual interest.

I got women to back off.

She lived the life of a rock star’s girlfriend.

E-fucking-nough.

“The statement will be released right before we head off on tour. I want this over and done with…no more waiting to placate you. It’s time I live my life and you live yours.” With that, I hung up the phone and tossed the device somewhere behind me. Didn’t give a fuck where it landed.

Between a rock and a hard place, I was being torn in two, and it wasn’t fair.

Total silence encased my car’s enclosed quarters. Just my thoughts and myself; how I came to be in the spot I now found myself in. Why I thought that in the end this would all work out.

Bullshit. Somewhere deep within the recesses of my mind, I had an idea of just how Ashley felt. The clues had been there all along, but I’d been selfish and let my needs override logic. Maybe I was the son of a bitch everyone thought I was.

Ten minutes into self-loathing my phone rang. Her ringtone blared. Slim was calling and I couldn’t pick up. She’d been at the airport now for about an hour and should’ve been up in the air.

Pulling onto the side of the road, I reached behind me and found the device. Two voice mails, five texts, and the one phone call from Arianna. Ashley had effectively blown up my phone looking for a fight she wouldn’t win.

Pressing her name in my contacts, it dialed and went straight to voicemail. Twice more I called with the same end effect, me listening to her sweet voice telling me to call back. To leave a message and wait for her return call.

Okay, there was another way to find out just what was happening. Opening the LAX website, I typed in her flight info and confirmed she was now in the air. Thirty minutes behind schedule, but now up in the air. She’d called me to say goodbye.

Fuck, I missed her already.

I couldn’t go home. Not now. Pressing down on the gas pedal, I flew the rest of the way down to Santa Barbara and then to the studio. What should’ve taken two additional hours, I did in one.

Open the gate, Mike. ~Chester

Within minutes I was outside the studio’s parking garage waiting for Mike to finish opening the metal gate. With a short nod once open, I turned into the empty lot, squealing tires. Save for one familiar Harley at the end of the lot, there wasn’t a soul to be found.

Not that I blamed them, but being here and writing was something Cris and I did more often than not. Putting to paper how I felt was therapeutic; a release of sorts.

Inside I found Cris strumming a guitar, a beer on the table in front of him and his bare feet propped up. Cool as a cucumber, he was the poster child for relaxation, eyes closed while he hummed the melody to Slim’s song.

“Took you long enough, Ches…ter.” He cracked one eye open, a smirk in place. “You owe me dinner.”

“Fuck I do.” Knocking his feet from atop the seat next to him, I plopped down beside him and looked up. Took in a deep breath and tried like hell to release a tiny bit of the pent-up tension that still bubbled beneath the surface. “What’re you doing here anyway? We didn’t have anything pending.”

Still smirking, he tossed me a beer from the small cooler beside his foot. “Thought you might need a friend.” At my incredulous look, he shook his head. “One…” he ticked off his fingers “…Arianna went home today. Two, and this is the biggest one, Brian forwarded the email he sent Ashley to all of us. I’m expecting her to throw a tantrum and give you shit.”

“Too late,” I mumbled and twisted the top from my bottle. Taking a long pull, I let the hoppy drink quench my thirst. “Already got an earful. She’s pissed, and I’m an asshole for falling in love.”

“Fuck her.” At the venom in his tone, I looked over and was more than a little shocked by the fierceness in his expression. “Don’t let go of something that could be amazing when she wouldn’t do the same for you. Remember that ex-boyfriend of hers? Ring any bells?” Not that I wanted him gone for romantic reasons, but I begged her to walk away when I noticed his aggressive/control tendencies. She never listened, until one day it was too late. “Ashley has been spoiled by you, yes, but her behavior comes from selfishness. It’s more than clear that you don’t love her, yet she’s trying all she can to take that opportunity from you. So yeah, I said it…fuck her.”

“Anything else?” Came out harsher than I intended, but he understood the pressure I was under and rolled his eyes.