MoreThanWords (18 page)

He threaded his fingers through the hair closest to her
face. Their descent was slow, purposeful. The restaurant, their audience,
disappeared. His fingertips grazed her cheek and she tipped her head, putting
her cheek in his palm.

“I’ve missed you,” she said, putting her heart in his hands
too. “So much.”

“Be my Valentine, sweetheart. Today and every day after.”

* * * * *

Most of tables were empty when Travis clicked his guitar
case closed. A few late-night couples huddled here and there, oblivious to anybody
but their own Valentine’s Day date. He knew the feeling—his eyes hadn’t left
Calli more than five minutes the entire evening. Once he’d gotten his hands on
her, literally, he’d determined not to let her get away again. Not ever, if he
had the option. Not until they’d had a chance to talk, if nothing else.

He’d snagged an empty chair and deposited her in front of
the stage. Ninety minutes later, that’s where she remained, those big,
beautiful eyes following him as he packed up. She’d missed him? He paused for
another long look at his buttoned-up siren, grinning when her pretty face
turned pink. If she let him, he planned to show her exactly how much he’d
missed her.

“Want to wait inside while I bring my car to the door?” He
still didn’t know how she’d done it—gotten here, beaten the fear. He’d seen
firsthand what happened when she went outside after dark. Yet she’d gone to the
hospital after the attack. Now this—out at night in a busy restaurant, strictly
for fun and looking sexy as hell.

“Not unless you’re parked six blocks away, in which case,
yes, because these shoes are more the standing-around-looking-stylish kind, as
opposed to the easy-to-walk-in type.”

His eyes traveled over her shapely calves to the spiky
heels. Mile-high strappy purple things he couldn’t imagine having to take two
steps in, though he was in no hurry for her to take them off. Unless her
preference for garters and stockings had changed, she wouldn’t have to.

He shifted his eager cock, not all that discreetly, if
Calli’s smile was indication. Didn’t bother him. Let her see how she affected
him simply by sitting there. Fair warning for the rest of the night. He
collected his stuff, then his woman, pulling her up from the chair.

She glanced at their joined hands. “Does it hurt?”

“Not right now.” He squeezed as proof. “Is this your way of
telling me that I played like shit tonight?” Cool air greeted them when they
left the restaurant behind and stepped out into the night. In the dark and she
was still okay. Glowing, even. So incredibly beautiful.

“God no. You were amazing…I had no idea. I mean, I knew you
must be good, but…” Her hand slid free of his and wrapped around his waist
before delving lower to fondle his butt. The eyes focused on his were filled
with naughty. “You officially have a new number-one fan. And like a good
groupie, I plan to do whatever it takes to seduce you, Mr. Graham.”

The clicking of her heels on the asphalt stopped as they
reached his car. He set his guitar aside. Caged her against the cold door with
his arms. “No need for formality, sweetheart. Call me Travis.”

“Okay…Travis.”

He groaned and leaned into her. Too many days and lonely
nights had gone by without hearing her say his name. Those wicked high heels
added about four inches to her height, but he still had to dip his head to kiss
her luscious lips. Warm and sweet, they parted for him. He stroked into her
mouth, her tongue meeting his and urging it deeper.

The clink of metal echoed in the near-vacant lot. Between
them, she’d deftly unbuckled his belt, opened his button and lowered his
zipper. She fished him free of his boxers. Curled her soft fingers around his
aching cock and slid her fist up and down with deliberate, torturous slowness.
Fucking hell, another minute of this and he’d be done for.

“Let me take you home, make you come all night long.”

“After,” she said, then went to her knees and sucked him
into her mouth, right there in the middle of the parking lot.

“You don’t have to do this here…” He breathed another curse
as she tongued pre-cum from the tip. “We can get in the car first.” She giggled
around his cock. He let his head fall back and thanked the heavens above that
she didn’t take him up on the offer.

His breath made clouds against the crisp night air. He
looked down at the dark-haired goddess making love to his cock with her lips
and hands. Sucking and licking him as if she’d been starved for him. Her eyes
fluttered open and met his—practically silver in the moonlight. He lifted his
right hand from the car, ran it through her hair.

“Mmm-hmm,” vibrated around his cock. Again when he wrapped a
section of silky strands around his fist.

Hell, he felt her smile as much as he saw it. Staring up at
him—
into
him
—with wide eyes, she let him pop free of her lips.
Her tongue darted out to tease his steadily leaking slit.

“This is one of my favorite parts.” She licked the drops,
sucked him between her lips nice and hard, then returned to orally caressing
his cock head between words. “But I love it when you’re deep in my throat too.
When you’re past the point of no return, throbbing in my mouth. Feed me your
cock, Travis. Let me take you over the edge.”

“Anything to make you happy.” He smiled and pushed into her
mouth, slowly, savoring the soft, warm suction as she welcomed every inch. If
he closed his eyes, thought about something else, he could hold out longer.
Another time. Right now he didn’t want to blink. Didn’t want to miss a fraction
of a second.

She nodded, nostrils flaring when he cupped her head and
brought her closer. She sucked him greedily, her tongue swirling around his
cock while her fingernails dug into his ass.

“Fuck, too good, too good…” he bit out as his knees buckled,
his cock pulsing in satisfaction. He slumped over her. Stroked her hair.
Shuddered when she released him with a final lick. “Come up here.” He helped
her to her feet, brushed his fingers up the delicate column of her neck and
cupped her face between his hands. “All the times I dreamed we’d be together
again, a blowjob outside, in the dark, was never the way.”

“Are you disappointed that I went groupie on you out here in
the cold instead of waiting until we got to a safe, warm bed?”

“Disappointed that the woman I love is the hottest, sexiest
groupie in the world—not a fucking chance.”

“Good. Now take me home and make me come all night long.”

Chapter Twelve

If he’d given in to Calli back at her apartment, they’d be
naked right now. Kissing at minimum, probably a hell of a lot more. Not…this.

“See, staying at my place would’ve been easier and less, um,
hair-raising.”

Another tumbleweed of black cat fur rolled to its feet as
Calli’s Chihuahua and his once-fluffy cat completed circuit two hundred
fifty-four around his small open-concept apartment.

“No, this is good. We’re going to be together, so they’re
going to be together.” He wrapped his arms around Calli’s waist and pulled her
ass snug to his groin. “And it looks like Kersh is finally getting tired. Or
maybe he’s hungry from burning off two days’ worth of kibble. Either way, I
think he’s going to give PC a break in ten laps or less.”

The top of Calli’s head pressed into his chest as she tipped
her face up. “PC?”

“If anybody’s going to be your Prince Charming, it’s going
to be me.” He yanked them both backward to avoid a head-to-leg collision with
one of the tan and black streaks. “Plus, PC and I had a man-to-dog chat while
you were packing a bag. He said Charming was cute when he was an indoor dog,
but now that he’s a dog on the street, it’s a little embarrassing.”

“
My
dog told
you
he prefers PC to Charming?”

“That he did.”

“Uh-huh.”

God, she was cute when she got that saucy look. He spun her
to face him. “You think I’m making this up?”

“Yes, Mr. Hot Rock Star Stud, I think you’re full of shit.”

“Care to wager that I’m not, Ms. Secret Sex Kitten?”

She wiggled closer, eyes widening at the hard mass pressing
against her belly. “You love playing games, don’t you?”

“When they get you out of your clothes, yes.”

“No need to bet to make that happen.”

He stopped her hand on the top button. “Whoa. Out of your
clothes the way
I
tell you to, sweetheart. I want you to strip while you
dance for me. You’ve owed me an erotic dance since our first Scrabble game.”

“I don’t dance, I’ve told you that.”

“If you’re right about your dog, you won’t have to worry
about it.” Much as he hated to put space between them, he walked to one end of
the room, motioning her to go to the other. “On three, we’ll call him.” Ballsy
move, now he just hoped it’d work.

“One, two, three—” Both names filled the room. The Chihuahua
hit the brakes mid-loop, looked from Travis to Calli, even gave his feline
nemesis a glance. For a split-second, it could’ve gone either way. Then,
victory.

“Oh my god, I can’t believe he chose you. What a little
traitor.”

Neither could he. He’d still take it. “This way to my
bedroom, sweetheart. Bring your best moves.” He grabbed his acoustic and bit
the inside of his cheek. Hard not to grin when she had her arms crossed and her
bottom lip sticking out.

“How long have you lived here?” She set her bag on the floor
while doing a quick scan of the room.

“Two years.”

“Oh.” Her eyes swept over the bare white walls. Took in his
low bed with its plain navy duvet, the boxy dresser, an assemble-it-yourself
special. “My bedroom must drive you nuts, all the colors and pillows
and…stuff.”

“Not at all. I never bothered to do anything with this place
because it didn’t matter. All I do here is—”

Calli waved her hands in front of her face. “Stop.”

“Is sleep. Alone. Well, other than Kersh.” He dropped the
guitar on the bed. Grabbed her by the waist and tugged her close. Too much
tension in her body—because of him. His past, their history, his mistakes with
both. “I’ve never brought a woman here. You’re the first,” he nudged her hair
aside to kiss her neck, “and the last.”

“Why, are you planning on moving?”

Funny girl. “Yeah, somewhere with a yard for our dog.”

“What—you—
our
dog?”

God, she was adorable when she sputtered. “Not tonight. But
if I don’t make you crazy—”

“Crazi
er
, you mean.”

Is that really how she saw herself, still? He pulled her
onto the bed with him, on their sides and face-to-face. “You’re not crazy.
Never were.”

“We both know I was. But I’m getting better.”

“Getting? You beat it.” He put a finger to her lips before
she could jump in. “Don’t even try giving credit to the pills you told me
about, or the therapy or anything else. It was all you walking out of the
restaurant tonight. Head up and no hesitation. Beautiful.”

She pushed his finger away with a kiss. “Thank you.”

A bit of tugging and he managed to get her rubber-band of a
skirt high enough to palm the satiny skin of her ass. It’d been way too long
since he’d had his hands on her body. Having his cock in her mouth an hour ago
was fantastic, but not nearly enough. The fifty times he’d kissed her since
then weren’t enough, either. He wedged his quadriceps between her thighs.
Pulled her close as he could get her and tasted the lips that’d made him see
stars on a starless night.

“Yeah, you certainly weren’t afraid of the dark in the
parking lot.”

She giggled and cupped a hand over his bulging fly. “So you
like the new me.”

“I loved the old you, Calli. Whether you’re inside or out,
I’m crazy about you.”

Her lips parted as if to answer, only to close again. His
gut, his heart, her incredible eyes—all told him she felt the same. Not that he
deserved her after the dick he’d been. Fate had stepped in, allowed him to save
her from a psycho. A huge stroke of luck and coincidence had landed him this
third chance with her. No fucking it up this time.

“I’m still in shock about that son-of-a-bitch, Barros. I
should’ve killed him, wish I had.”

“I get chills thinking about it…what would’ve happened if
you hadn’t been online that night, if I hadn’t given in to my moment of
weakness and invited you to play, if you hadn’t accepted…” Hair fell over her
face as she trembled in his arms.

He tucked it behind her shoulder, letting his hand linger in
its softness. “Barros wouldn’t have had a chance to get near you if I hadn’t
screwed up in the first place. I would’ve been there to protect you.”

“Not every night. Not the nights you went on the road.” She
twisted out of his arms and off the bed. “If it weren’t for me, you’d be
onstage at some huge club right now, or in a studio recording tracks for the
album deal Black Box just signed.”

“You know about that?”

“Of course I know. I cyber-stalked you after we broke up.
Both times. It’s a girl thing.”

“I think it’s an
us
thing.” Wrong time to smile, but
he couldn’t help it. They were quite a pair. Had been from their first meeting
online.

“They took your name off the website right after the attack.
I kept checking for it to go back up, but it never did. After all the work you
did for that band, onstage and behind the scenes, those bastards replaced you
the second you got hurt—because of
me
.”

Charging to his defense—he really didn’t deserve her. “It
wasn’t as bad as you think.”

“Don’t be nice. I cost you a huge opportunity, your music
career.” She’d yanked the skirt back in place, buttoned the top button. Now she
was working on buttons that didn’t need fastening, just to avoid looking at
him. “I don’t blame you for walking away after that night in the hospital…”

What the hell? “You did the walking, sweetheart. Out of my
room, out of my life. A couple of impersonal texts to check on my injuries,
then that last one where you very politely let me know you were moving on.”
Somehow he’d gone from lying on his bed with the woman he’d been missing for
months to standing in front of her with smoke coming out his ears. “But after
what I did that night in the club, then the way I took advantage of you in the
hospital, I didn’t blame
you
for not looking back.”

Her eyes snapped from the floor to his face. “I forgave what
you
almost
did in that bar. On the spot. You didn’t accept it.”

“You’re right. I wasn’t ready to be forgiven.”

“I tried to hate you for it. Came close for a couple of
days. I even decided you were right—about me deserving better. I did. I do.”

“Good.” He deserved every word. Hated them, but deserved
them.

She reached for his shirt, hesitated. Looked at him through
those long eyelashes and the thick bangs dusting her eyebrows, then slid her
fingers between the buttons. “You know how difficult it is to have a serious
conversation with you when I can see your sexy tattoos through this thin white
shirt?”

What the…? Calli ought to come with warning labels, the
woman could change direction so fast. Not that he minded in this case. She’d
taken him from hot under the collar to hot all over with a fingertip touch, a
look and a comment. Half a dozen buttons later, the shirt was on the floor at
her feet. Maybe he flexed a little too.

“There. Now you can get back to being serious.” And damn it,
she’d better hurry up. The flush on her face and shine in her eyes was getting
to him, fast. With every flick of her tongue over her lips, he got ten seconds
closer to telling her they’d talk later. Much later.

“I, uh…can you stop popping your pecs for thirty seconds and
let me focus?”

Busted. “Want me to turn around?”

“As if that’ll help. Your back is as hot as your front.” Her
eyes dropped to his low-slung jeans. “Well, almost.” A little shake of her head
and her eyes returned to his face. “God, I can’t even remember what I was
talking about.”

This had to be the best make-up fight in the history of
making up. “About my mistakes. The way I blew it by taking advantage of you in
the hospital, pushing things too fast.”

The cutest indignant snort popped from her mouth. “You did
not
take advantage of me in the hospital. I’m the one who sexually abused a
seriously injured man, blew out his stitches while riding him to oblivion—”

“We’re talking about me, right?”

“Travis.”

“Watch it with the name calling, or we won’t get through
this serious part before I tear those buttons open and get started on the
making-you-come-all-night part.”

She rolled her eyes and laughed, and it was the sweetest
sound in the world. “Can I finish?”

“Many times, that’s my plan.”

“You’re so bad.”

He caught the hand she poked him with and held it over his
heart. “But I’m trying to be better. I stand by what I said that night—you
deserve a good man. I want to be him.”

“Then don’t change a thing.”

And they were back at serious. “I fought those damn
painkillers as long as I could after they sewed me up again, but you didn’t
come back. I passed out. Slept for hours. And when I asked about you in the
morning, you’d gone. No goodbye, nothing.”

“I couldn’t. I knew once it sank in about your hand, you’d
resent me. Maybe worse.”

“You didn’t give me a chance. Not to be angry, not tell you
that I wasn’t.”

“I texted you. Aside from answering my questions, you didn’t
say…anything.”

“Like that I was in love with you?” He grabbed her by the
hips. Yanked her to him. “Oh, wait, I did that. In person, in the hospital. You
ignored it.”

“You were loopy on drugs, it didn’t count.”

“Unless they pumped me full of Viagra, it was pretty obvious
I was in control of myself.”

Her mouth ticked up the tiniest bit at his last statement.
Maybe at the memory—he hoped. Then it was gone.

“I cost you so much…why would you want to be with me?”

“Sweetheart, you
gave
me so much. I was so sick of
being that guy, I hated myself, hated everybody around me because all they
wanted from me was a party guy from a rock band. I left Black Box, not the
other way around. I’d wanted to quit for months, but I didn’t have the balls to
do it, to go out on my own. The songs I played tonight, the ones I wrote—that’s
the music I want to make. You’re my muse, Calli. For my music, for me, as a
man. Everything’s better since I met you. Even if you don’t want me—and I sure
as hell don’t deserve you to—I’m not going back.”

There was barely an inch between them. Could’ve been a
canyon. Her eyes traveled his face, slowly taking in every line and piece of
stubble. Could she see the truth, how much she meant to him?

“You were afraid of the dark too.”

He had to laugh. “I pour my heart out in that eloquent
speech and you sum it up in one sentence.”

“I have a way with words, what can I say? I’ll let you use
it for a song, as long as I’m in the credits.”

If any other woman had suggested, even jokingly, that he
write a song—hell, sing a song—for her, he’d have sneered, then run in the
opposite direction. Those days were done. He sat on the corner of the mattress
and dragged his Taylor acoustic onto his lap.

“Let’s try it out. See how it feels.” He scrubbed his hand
along his jaw while searching his mind for a starting note. Shit, his face felt
like sixty-grit sandpaper. If he’d half a clue he’d be near Calli, he’d have
lost the scruff. “I’ll shave this.”

“Don’t you dare—not until I try
it
out to see how it
feels. Against my nipples…and my thighs.” With shaky hands, she popped the top
button of her blouse. Travis had laid himself out there for her—her turn next.
“Play something. I can’t give you that dance I owe you without music.”

With his dark hair, soft hazel eyes, sort-of-dangerous five
o’clock shadow and those ridiculously sexy tattoos covering two-thirds of his
upper body, Travis was already a ten on the hottie scale. But when he
smiled—that genuine, soul-deep smile that seemed to light him up from the
inside out—he became completely irresistible. She’d do anything for
him…including her first-ever striptease.

He started to play. Nothing familiar, but whatever song it
was, it was perfect for the job.