Sinners On Tour 06 Sinners at the Altar (4 page)

Chapter Five

Myrna seriously needed to get a bigger car. Her pink ’57 Thunderbird convertible coupe did not seat four comfortably. Hell, it didn’t seat three comfortably. Brian, Trey, and Sed sat hip to hip across the white leather bench seat, leaving Myrna to sit on their combined laps and smoother them all with the huge skirt of her gown. Layers of satin did not mix well with the brutal Vegas heat. Still she had no doubt that she hadn’t chosen this dress—it had chosen her—so she’d had no choice but to claim it as her wedding gown. To hell with comfort and practicality. She was getting married to fucking Brian “Master” Sinclair—in her opinion the greatest guitarist who ever lived. She was determined to look beautiful for him even if she died of heatstroke.

The car pulled into a drive-thru wedding chapel, the rumble of Jace’s Harley following behind them. As they sat in line waiting their turn, Myrna fidgeted with her engagement ring. She’d vowed never to get married again. How had she fallen into this trap? Oh God, what was she thinking? This would never work. Brian was a rock star; she was a college professor. Their worlds were on opposite ends of the spectrum. How would they ever manage to stay together when they’d be forced to spend so much time apart?

Brian’s hand covered hers and squeezed. She looked into his eyes, and her concerns instantly evaporated.
This
was how she’d fallen. Exactly this. He was wonderful, and she was incredibly lucky he hadn’t given up on her. And they
would
make it work. They would. She wouldn’t give up on him, on
them
, ever.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“I’ve fallen.”

“And I can’t get up!” Eric said from the back of Jace’s motorcycle, which sat idling next to the car’s passenger side.

“Eric, we’re going to have to gag you, aren’t we?” Sed said and reached out of the car to make a grab for him. Eric jerked back just in time.

“I have a gag,” Jace said. “But it’s back on the bus.”

If Myrna didn’t love these guys as her surrogate family, she would have clobbered them all. “Guys, today is all about me,” she said, “so shut the hell up.”

Brian chuckled and lifted her hand to his lips. He kissed her knuckles. “That’s one reason I knew I had to marry you.”

“Because I’m bitchy?”

“Because you don’t treat my band mates like rock stars.”

“She does bitch at us,” Trey said.

“Constantly,” Sed added.

“And I, for one, like it very much,” Eric said.

The car in front of them pulled
away, and Brian eased up to the window. Jace moved the motorcycle next to the car and shut off the rumbling engine. They were greeted by Elvis Presley. Well, a pretty good imitation of him. Elvis slid his large, white-framed sunglasses down his nose and offered a wide smile.

“I say-uh, welcome to the Chapel of Rock, baby.”

“Fitting,” Trey said.

“Do you
got the paperwork, baby? We need a license to make it legit.”

Brian handed Elvis the marriage license they’d picked up at the bureau that morning. “Best sixty bucks I ever spent,” Brian said.

While Elvis did whatever it was he needed to do with the marriage license, Brian slid up to sit on the trunk of the convertible with his feet resting on the front seat. He drew Myrna up to sit across his lap, wrapping one strong arm around her back. He took her hand in his free hand, holding it gently. She stared into his eyes, and his encouraging smile made the entire world melt away. This was really happening. She was marrying Brian Sinclair. Becoming his wife. Forever. Her smile widened until her cheeks hurt.

“Is this man your hunka hunka burning love?” Elvis asked.

Myrna laughed. “I’ll say.”

“Does this woman have you all shook up?” Elvis asked.

Brian grinned. “Yeah, she does.”

Elvis broke into a decent rendition of “Love Me Tender.” Sed joined him in the second chorus. By the time Elvis finished, the entire band was accompanying him at the top of their lungs, even Brian. Myrna couldn’t stop laughing. How many women could claim that Elvis and Sinners serenaded her on her wedding day? Only her. And as obnoxious as it was, their willingness to make fools of themselves on her behalf meant the world to her. At the end of the song, Myrna hugged Brian and whispered into his ear, “God, I love you... and your stupid band too.”

He chuckled. “That’s good, because you’re stuck with us for life.”

And where that idea had once terrified her, a lifetime suddenly didn’t seem long enough.

She looked up into Brian’s intense brown eyes, her throat tight with emotion, her eyes prickling with tears.

“Do you have vows you want to recite to your baby?” Elvis asked.

Words tumbled from Myrna’s lips like toppling dominos. All the things she’d been afraid to voice, to
feel
, since she’d first met Brian, poured out in one rush of emotion.

“I don’t know how you knew what I needed more than I did. Or why you refused to give up on me. I’m just so very glad you didn’t. You loved me when I didn’t want to be loved. Lifted me when I didn’t realize I was down. Gave me so much I was too stupid to take, too afraid that I’d come to need you and lose myself. I thought that by loving you, I’d become weak. I know now that loving you doesn’t make me weak, Brian, it makes me stronger.” She tugged his hand against her chest over her pounding heart. “I know I’ve hurt you more than once, and I don’t know how to make that up to you other than trust you with my heart and love you the way you deserve to be loved. That’s what I vow. I vow to love you and tell you often. I vow to stay beside you no matter what the future brings. Have faith in you. In us. I also vow to be true to you—heart, mind, body, and soul—and
never
cheat on you with Sed.”

Brian laughed and touched her cheek. “Never?”

“Never. I want only you. Need only you. Always.”

She turned to look at Trey, who looked more than a little nauseated. She wasn’t sure if the nausea was due to his head trauma or the fact that she was so openly committing to Brian.

“Ring?” She extended her hand in Trey’s direction. He dropped Brian’s thick platinum band in her hand. Myrna took Brian’s left hand and slid the ring onto his ring finger. “With this ring, you’re stuck with me, because I refuse to ever let you go.”

He grinned, his eyes turning skyward with a look of elation. How could any woman resist a man who was so overjoyed by her expressions of love? Brian should have been married years ago. She silently sent a word of thanks to Sed for being such a jackass and destroying Brian’s previous relationships. In a strange way, she owed Sed one. Or twenty. Hopefully, one day she’d be able to return the favor and help him find a woman who truly made him happy—as happy
as she was with Brian. Boy, would that be a tall order to fill.

Waiting for the words he would say to her, Myrna suppressed the urge to hug Brian. She didn’t want to distract him. She needed to hear what was in his heart.

Brian cleared his throat and stared at Myrna’s chin. “Trey was right: I should have written this down.”

“You wish you would have listened to me now, don’t you?” Trey said.

“Just tell me how you feel, baby,” Myrna encouraged, stroking Brian’s hair behind one ear until he looked up at her again.

“I think I’m better at showing.”

She lowered her eyes to hide her disappointment. It probably didn’t help that his four band mates were witness to the verbalization of his feelings. She knew he loved her; that was good enough for her. He could tell her when they were alone.

Brian tucked a finger under her chin, and she lifted her gaze to meet his.

“I thought I knew what love was, that I understood its depth, its importance, its beauty and the happiness and the heartache it brings.” He huffed—a small sound of amusement. “I wasn’t even close. When I look at you, I see radiance. I know pure happiness. Everything else pales in comparison. The thought of living a single moment without you tears me apart inside. Just when I think I love you as much as possible, you open your heart to me a little more, and my love expands—grows—wanting to fill every emptiness inside you.”

“You have,” she whispered. And that was just it—the reason she could love him forever. This moment wasn’t the ultimate expression of their love; it was just the beginning. As long as they continued to nurture what existed between them, their affections would burn brighter, lift them higher,
bring them closer. Grow.

“I love you, Myrna.”

He snatched her ring from Trey’s palm. She slipped her hours-old engagement ring off so he could slide her wedding ring onto her finger.

“With this ring, I claim you as mine and give my heart to you. Forever.”

He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed the ring he’d just slid in place. She didn’t need the material possession. Didn’t need the piece of paper that legally bound them. Didn’t even need the ceremony before witnesses. The only thing she needed—to know this union was sacred and forever—was the look of love on Brian’s handsome face. She carefully slipped her engagement ring back on her finger—keeping her wedding ring nearer her heart—so she didn’t drop the expensive thing with her trembling hands.

“I now pronounce you husband
and uh-wife,” the Elvis justice of the peace said. “I say-uh you may kiss your beautiful bride.”

Myrna wrapped both arms around Brian’s neck and met his lips with tenderness that quickly burgeoned into insatiable need. There was more to this kiss than a mutual sharing of pleasure. It was a physical expression of their love. She let the emotions take her, holding nothing back, knowing this man was incapable of intentionally destroying
her. He
could
destroy her, but he wouldn’t. She trusted him completely. As her last defenses crumbled, she wondered why she felt victorious instead of defeated. She’d lost. She’d given in to him, yet she’d won so much for herself in return.

Oh God, she loved him so much, she could just go on kissing him forever.

The guys offered their congratulations. Sed pounded Brian on the back. Eric cheered. Myrna continued to kiss her husband until everyone but Brian was complaining. Even the Elvis impersonator was trying to hurry them along. The kiss consumed her, not with lust, though that physical spark between her and Brian was still strong and true, but with love.
This
was what she’d been fighting? What she’d been afraid of? What a fool she’d been. She pulled Brian closer, wishing that she could dissolve into his body and truly become one with him.

When they drew apart at last, she stared into her husband’s eyes and knew he was counting on her to be his rock. His life on the road was not an easy one. That stability he craved in his life? She could be that for him. She could. And he could be everything she’d been denying herself for far too long.

Chapter Six

Brian gazed down at his wife—his
wife
—spread across the bed in the tour bus’s bedroom. The wide skirt of her white gown concealed all but the three-inch heels on her feet and one trim ankle. She had the tip of her index finger trapped between her teeth and a seductive smile on her lips that said,
I’m all yours
. Damn, she was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. She deserved better than a wedding night on a tour bus.

“We could go to a hotel right now,” he said. “A penthouse suite.”

“You have a concert in three hours.”

“So?”

She chuckled in a way that made his balls tighten with need. “Once I get started with you, husband of mine, I’m not going to stop. Which is bound to start a fifteen-thousand-fan riot on the streets of Las Vegas when you miss your gig.”

“What if I’m ready to start with you now, wife? Fuck the consequences.”

“Come lie beside me,” she said and patted the mattress next to her curvy hip.

Damn, that dress was as sexy as it was beautiful. It was as if it had been made
specifically for her.

He kicked off his shoes and crawled up onto the bed beside her. She deftly flipped him onto his back and pressed her luscious breasts against his chest as she kissed him.

She drew away and stared down into his eyes. He lifted a hand to trace the contour of her cheek with his thumb. She smiled and then cuddled up against his side, her head resting on his shoulder, her hand splayed over his belly.

“Where are we going to live?” she asked.

The idea that they would be separated for even an hour made his chest ache. “You’re finishing out the summer on tour with us, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, but that’s only six more weeks. How long will you be on tour after that?”

“Until almost Thanksgiving.”

Her hand curled into the fabric of his crisp dress shirt. “I don’t want to live a day without you, but I’m not ready to give up my career either.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. I know you love your work.”

“Some of it,” she said, her voice wavering with uncertainty. “I’m not sure if my unconventional ways of thinking will ever be embraced by my peers.”

“I’ve always wondered why you specialized in human sexuality.”

She laughed. “Seriously?”

“Just curious.” He knew she didn’t like to talk about herself. She was very guarded about certain aspects of her life. Especially her past.

“Because I love sex. The way it feels. How much it influences people. Its wondrous variety. I’m sure you already know that.”

Oh yeah, he definitely knew she loved sex and all its variations. He’d never met a woman who appreciated sex more than Myrna Evans. Erm, Myrna Sinclair.
Sinclair!
His hand moved to the back of her head to press her closer to his chest. He could scarcely believe she was his wife now.
His.

“But there’s more to the subject than just hands-on experimentation. I like to study how it affects people—physically, emotionally, spiritually. It’s biology. Psychology. Sociology. I never told you this, but I use guitar riffs in one of my classes and have my
students discuss the sexual nature of rock music.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, and do you know whose riffs evoke the strongest sensual response?”

He lifted his head to look at her.

“Yours. The way you play is like sex on strings.”

He chuckled. “Especially since you came into my life.”

“You’ll have to play for my class sometime.”

“Sure. I’d love to see where you work.”

“I’m probably being selfish, but do you think it’s possible for you to live with me in Kansas City when you’re not on tour?”

“I have this album to—”

She lifted a finger to hush him. “And then I’ll consider quitting my full-time job to start a family. I really want to keep working one more year. I’m excited about the groupie project I’ve been working on this summer, but it’s time for a change. As soon as I finish this project, I want to do some other things.” She snuggled closer to his chest. “Mostly I want to have a baby with you.”

Stunned speechless, Brian’s vision blurred. Had he heard her correctly? She wanted to start a family?

“Unless you don’t want children,” she said, obviously mistaking his dumbstruck silence for hesitation toward the idea. “I know you’ll make a great father, Brian. Even though it’ll be tough to raise a family when you’re on the road so much, you’ll be there as often as possible. I realize I’ll have to do a lot by myself while you’re gone, but the thought of making a baby with you and carrying him or her inside me just makes me happy.” She covered her lower belly with both hands and tilted her head to look at him. “Brian?”

Make a baby with Myrna? Yes, please. He was ready to start immediately. In one swift motion, he rolled her beneath him, covering her body with his and cupping her lovely face between his hands.

“You make me so happy, Myrna. I can’t wait to start a family with you. Can we start right away?”

A brilliant smile lit her features, but she didn’t immediately start flushing her birth control pills down the toilet. “We should wait a few months to get pregnant. It would be best if I deliver the baby at the end of next May, when the school year is over. That would make the most sense.”

He chuckled. “My logical little sex professor.” He kissed her. Honestly, he was surprised she’d made this decision so easily. It was as if her admission of love changed her entire outlook. He was glad he’d been patient with her and hadn’t pushed her too fast or too hard and driven her away. It was nice to get something right and be rewarded for it. “That makes perfect sense, baby. I think it’s a good idea. I also think I need to practice baby-making right now. I love you so much my dick is hard.”

She laughed. “Sweetheart, you don’t need any more practice. You’re already at the top of your game.”

“Then it’s time for the next inning.”

There was no way he was letting her put him off until after Sinners’ concert. He needed to deepen the connection between them. To lose himself in her. To lessen the ache in his groin. The woman was trying to kill him.

“Hey, Myrna,” Eric called from just outside the door. “We got it—come see.”

She smiled at Brian. “I’m hungry,” she said. “How about you?”

“I hope you mean you’re hungry for sex.”

“I’m always hungry for sex. Who do you think you married today?”

He grinned. “You. I married you.”

When his hands began to wander over the smooth skin of her bare shoulders, she twisted from beneath him and climbed from the bed, tugging on the skirt trapped beneath his body.

“Come on,” she said. “The guys have a surprise for you.”

“Is that why you’re still in your dress? You’ve been waiting for the guys to do something stupid.” He forced himself from the bed, his hard-on-from-hell uncomfortable in his pants.

“They went to a lot of trouble to get this surprise for you. They want to celebrate with us.”

“I’m going to fucking kill them all. I don’t want to celebrate with them; I want to celebrate with you.”

“Well, I’m going to celebrate with them. You can stay in here by yourself if you want.”

Damn woman, knowing how to get him to do exactly what she wanted him to do. She opened the door, and Brian caught sight of Eric in the corridor, holding a decorated white cake.

“What do you think?” Eric asked Myrna.

Brian joined her in the doorway. The square cake had a pink ’57 Ford Thunderbird printed in the icing. On the trunk of the car was a little sign made out of frosting:
Just Married to the Band
.

“Uh, no,” Brian said. “She’s just married to
me
.”

“When you marry a band member, you always marry into the band,” Sed said, his deep voice a bit gruff.

“I love it, guys! It’s perfect,” Myrna said. “Let’s all have some.”

Eric, preening like a peacock, placed the cake in the center of the dining table. “I told you she’d love it,” he told Jace, who was sitting in the booth looking like he was going to hop out of his skin at any minute. Dude needed to get laid in a bad way.

“Where’s Trey?” Myrna asked.

“Sleeping.”

“Sleeping?” Myrna drew back the curtain of his bunk. Trey was curled into fetal position around his pillow. Myrna leaned down to brush his bangs out of his face. He didn’t stir. “I’m worried about him. How long was he unconscious last night?”

“A few minutes, maybe.” Attempting to get a better look at Trey, Sed leaned closer to Myrna.

Brian tensed. He doubted that he’d ever get over his aversion to having Sed near his woman. He trusted Myrna, but women had a way of losing their panties if Sed so much as glanced at them. And Brian knew for a fact that, currently, Myrna wasn’t wearing panties. One less line of defense against Sed the Fuckinator.

“Should we just take him to the hospital?” Sed said, flexing his huge biceps.

Brian was satisfied when Myrna didn’t swoon at the sight of his impressive guns.

“I think I can hold him down until we get there.”

Trey’s eyes drifted open, and he pinned Sed with a look of disgust. “I heard that. I already told you I’m not going to any hospital. I’m just a little tired. What’s the big deal?” He sat up in his bunk and went white as a sheet.

“Trey...” Brian said.

“Don’t you start on me too.”

When Trey stood, he swayed slightly. Brian wrapped an arm around him and ran his free hand over the back of Trey’s head where that overzealous asshole bouncer had cracked him in the skull with a bat the night before.

“The swelling’s gone down since last night,” Brian said. “But you still have a lump.”

“See, I’m fine.”

“Trey, I think you should get this checked out.” Brian stared into his best friend’s eyes, willing him to agree.

Trey lowered his gaze after a long moment. “I’m fine.” He leaned around Brian, instantly alert when he spotted what Eric had set on the table. “Is that cake?”

“With strawberry filling,” Eric said. “They didn’t have cherry.”

Trey beamed. “You asked for cherry? For me?”

“Myrna told me to,” Eric said.

Trey tugged Myrna into his arms. “Hey, baby, where have you been all my life?”

When he tipped her backwards and then upright again, she laughed.

“Let’s see,” she said. “BFE, Missouri.”

“Wish I knew where that was.” Trey squeezed her against him, rocking back and forth.

“Between a soybean field and a farrowing house.”

“What the fuck’s a farrowing house?”

“Where piglets are born.”

Trey made his impish face. The one that got him anything he wanted. “Sounds cute.”

“Smells bad.” Myrna snuggled closer to Trey. “But you smell good. New aftershave?”

“Some fan sent it to me. If you like it, I’ll give it to Brian.”

Watching Trey and Myrna touch and tease each other didn’t make Brian jealous in the least. Truth be told, it turned him on more than a little. He wondered if Myrna had any interest in another threesome. He knew Trey would be game.

“Are we going to cut this cake?” Eric asked.

“It’s tradition for the bride and groom to cut the first piece and feed it to each other,” Jace said.

Myrna released Trey and turned to grin at Brian. “Yeah, that’s what they do with it.
Feed
each other.” She laughed wickedly.

Brian lifted an eyebrow at her. Did she intend to shove it up his nose? “Don’t even think about it, Myrna.”

“Think about what?”

“Dipping your nipples in that frosting. I won’t be able to keep my tongue off them.”

Her mouth dropped open.

No doubt imagining what she’d look like with her breasts covered in frosting, Eric did an about-face and repeatedly banged his head against the thin wall behind the booth.

Sed pulled open a drawer and handed Myrna a knife. She took Brian’s hand in hers and tugged him toward the cake. Hands combined, they drew the knife down into the cake and cut a slice to share. Brian lifted the piece with his fingers and fed Myrna a bite. She then did the same for him. As much as he liked to play around with her, he was glad she allowed him this moment of tender romance. He was kind of a sucker for it. He swallowed the bite of cake and kissed her, the sweet taste of her lips fueling his desire again. After he’d removed all traces of frosting from her delectable lips, he pulled away.

“I love you,” she said before flashing her most devilish grin. “But save some of that tongue action for my nipples.” She swatted his ass playfully before she took up the knife again and waved it around at the guys. “Who’s next?”

“What do you mean?” Eric asked.

“Well, I’m marrying into this
band
. Doesn’t that mean I should share cake with all of you?”

Brian grinned, glad his wife got along so well with his band mates. Many a band had fallen to ruin because a significant other didn’t understand the dynamics between band members. Myrna got it. And the guys adored her. He couldn’t ask for a better situation. Well, maybe if Myrna agreed to go on tour with them indefinitely. But he wouldn’t ask that of her just yet. Her job was important to her and therefore important to him as well. But if she came up with the idea to quit her job immediately, he wouldn’t object. They had the next six weeks together at least. He planned to spend every moment of them in her arms. The rest of the world would just have to get along without him.