Blush (16 page)

“Seriously,“ Sera moans around a forkful of
chocolate cake.

“I'm glad you like it.“

“No, nuh-uh,“ Meggie corrects. “We don't just
like it, we
love
it.“

“And
that's
why we'd like for you to
come on tour with us to do the cooking and baking,“ I finish,
taking a sip of the malt Jesse's holding up for me.

“Really? You're not just messing with
me?“

She looks so hopeful I could hug her and
never let go. This gorgeous girl with amazing blonde hair and
freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks. Those eyes, much
like Trace's emeralds only a bit lighter, sparkle with hope.

“No kidding, Mist,“ Ben tells her. “Want to
come with us?“

“Right now?“ she asks incredulously.

“No time like the present,“ Jace
encourages.

Her mouth presses thin as she thinks. I
already know she's going to say yes so when everyone looks to me
for clues as to what to do I just shake my head.
Let her get
there on her own
, I think. She has to do this on her own.

She nods. “What's the pay?“

“A hell of a lot better than what you're
making here,“ Ben tells her.

She nods again. “Yes. I'll accept the job. I
need to stop home and get my things.“

“Are there things you can't leave behind?“
Damian asks, knowing we're going to likely run into trouble in the
form of a pig of a brother-in-law.

“There are. A few keepsakes from my mom and
grandma. Then there's Noodles.“

“Uh, can't you just make some fresh noodles?
Why do you need those?“ Xander asks, scratching his head.

She laughs and it's such a lyrical and light
laugh it's infectious and all of us are smiling along. “No, no.
Noodles is my dog.“

Cage groans and I snicker.

“What kind of dog?“ Carmen asks.

“She's a Shih Tzu.“

Meggie bounces. “Those are so adorable!“

“An ankle biter,“ I hear Ethan murmur, then
he grunts in pain. His eyes widen in surprise as he looks to
Mist.

“Oh, I'm so sorry. I was adjusting and I
slipped.“ The lie is so skillfully done I can only watch in
admiration.

Ethan grunts.

“What do you say we pay this bill and go
collect Mist's things before we get too far off schedule?“ Cage
directs.

“Sounds like a plan,“ Jesse agrees.

“Thank you so much,“ Mist whispers.

“Music washes away from
the soul the dust of everyday life.“

—BERTHOLD AUERBACH

HELL. I HAVE a feeling we're going to have one hell
of a fight on our hands when I see the car parked in the driveway
of a typical suburban home. Suburban home in the middle of nowhere.
Seems a bit odd, especially since it's the only one like it in this
neighborhood. The other houses are either ranch style or older
two-story Victorians that were likely built at the turn of the
century. The newly built houses are across the tracks with the
green lawn and porch swings.

“Something tells me trouble is on the
horizon,“ Cage murmurs.

I nod. “Something tells me all is not what it
seems.“

Damian grunts and tucks his 9mm into the back
waistband of his jeans. I lift a brow though I'm not really
surprised. Damian has that look about him, the dangerous one that
has you feeling both safe and cautious when he's near. As I just
said, all is not what it seems.

“How are we going to do this?“ I ask.

“
We
,“ Damian says, moving his finger
between us, “are not doing anything. I will go in with Mist and
help her with anything she needs. I'm expendable. You aren't.“

“You aren't either,“ Lucy cries.

“I'll be fine, Luce. This isn't my first
rodeo,“ he tells her.

I'm thinking that's an understatement.

“Mist, darlin', what's your full name?“ Ben
asks and I see Cage lurking close behind.

“Misty Maria Castillo.“

Cage enters what I think is Misty's name into
his phone, likely doing a background check. Better late than
never.

“I'll go in with you, Misty,“ Damian tells
her. “Do you prefer Mist or Misty?“

“Misty. It was a typo on my nametag at work
and my boss was too lazy to fix it.“

Damian nods. “Alright, let's go get your
stuff.“

We wait a good ten minutes before Damian
holds the door open for Misty, who has a large bag hanging across
her body and a tiny dog head is poking out the top.

“Oh, look!“ Meggie croons. “Noodles!“

Cage groans.

“Knock it off,“ Meggie chides. “The dog isn't
going to like you if you don't remain positive. They sense these
things.“

“I just don't want it pissing all over the
bus.“

Misty steps onto the bus. “Noodles will piss
on the bus, but in a litter box. Noodles is litter trained.“

“Clever baby.“ Meggie bounces over to pet the
dog, who immediately licks her hand. “Oh, aren't you a handsome
fella. Aren't you just the sweetest!“

“It's a dog,“ Cage deadpans. He looks at the
dog and when the dog looks back at Cage, he starts growling—the
dog, not Cage, though I wouldn't put it past the dude to growl a
little bit.

“See?“ Meggie tells him. “He
knows
.“

“Good. Then he
knows
to stay over
there instead of over here.“ Cage crosses his arms.

“It's not nice to be disrespectful to
animals,“ Misty chides as she sets her bag down.

“How'd it go?“ Cage asks Damian.

“Fine. He works nights so he's asleep. It was
in and out without trouble.“

“Let's hope it stays that way.“

Damian nods then hands Cage a sheet of
paper.

Cage smirks. “Nice. With this and the plate
number we should find out just who this asshole of a brother-in-law
is and what his story is.“

“I don't know his story,“ Ethan begins, “but
I'm pretty sure you all are going to guarantee it doesn't get a
happy ending.“

“You got that right,“ Damian responds and
Xander starts singing
You Got That Right
by Lynyrd
Skynyrd.

When we get back to the other buses, we all
climb aboard the one we want and we head on down the road.

“We will need to stop at the grocery store
sometime soon,“ Misty begins. She continues telling Damian and Cage
what she wants when I pull Lucy into the bedroom.

“Time to take your pills, Cupcake.“

“It's not too bad yet but adding in the
ibuprofen will help I'm sure,“ she says just before she swallows
the pills with a mouthful of water.

“So you're feeling okay?“

“Hmm, yeah. Maybe a little tired.“

I nod. “It was a long night last night.“

She nods back.

“I'm sorry, Lucy. For not paying attention
and for not thinking.“ I run a hand through my hair. “Honestly it
just doesn't register anymore when I'm being groped unless you're
the one doing it.“

“I saw you laughing with them and you grinned
when she started rubbing your cock.“ She crosses her arms,
uncrosses when she remembers the cast, then toes off her shoes. She
climbs onto the bed, propping a pillow up against the wall, and she
leans back against it.

“The only reason I grinned was I was amused.
She assumed I was hard for her. If she knew me at all she'd know
that I don't get hard for anyone but you anymore.“

She looks at me skeptically.

“I'm serious. You can parade a line of naked
women in front of me and I won't get hard. I can't say I won't if
they're rubbing on me because it's the body's natural response, but
it won't be voluntary. But flash even a glimpse of you, and I'm
hard as stone.“

“Really?“ she cocks a brow.

“Really.“

“Can you help me take this sweatshirt
off?“

“Sure.“

When we get it off she points across the
room.

“Go stand over there.“

I have no idea what she's doing right now,
but I'm not going to deny her request.

“Take off your clothes except your boxers.
Oh, and lock the door.“ I smirk.

I do as she asks and stand before her in my
boxer briefs.

“Right now, you're not hard.“

“Nope.“

“Okay. Let's see what this does,“ She lifts
the hem of the tank top and I suck in a breath as her belly ring
glints in the sunlight. I can feel my cock twitching, starting to
get hard, all from a glimpse of a sliver of skin of my wife's
stomach.

“Wow,“ she mutters.

I nod. She lowers her shirt, grabs one of her
magazines and holds up a photo of a scantily clad model. The woman
is gorgeous, no doubt, and before I met Lucy, likely I'd have
jacked off to that picture in my bunk late at night between shows.
But now? Nothing. In fact, I'm getting soft.

Lucy blows out a breath and her mouth forms a
perfect “O“.

She reaches for her laptop. I start to go to
help her, but she holds up a hand. “I don't want to skew the
results.“

I chuckle.

“Alright, baby.“

She gets her laptop booted up and finds a
very naked busty blonde spread out in an alluring fashion leaving
nothing to the imagination.

I shake my head. Not anymore.

Her gaze lowers to my cock as she closes the
lid to the laptop. Her eyes on me is all it takes to get my body to
react. Her eyes meet mine and I lift a brow. She pulls her socks
off and wiggles her toes. Those little rings she has on her toes
are fucking sexy as hell. Jesus. Is there anything that isn't sexy
about my wife? My cock leaps when I think of her as my wife.

“What did you think just then?“

“I was thinking, is there anything that isn't
sexy about my wife?“

“Huh.“ She gets up on her knees and starts to
pull her pants down.

“And, I'm hard. Just like that. Just at the
mere hint of your body.“

She nods and bites her lip. “Help me?“

I pull the curtains closed and join her on
the bed. “Think you can be still? Let me fuck you how I want to?
How I need to?“ I ask, but it's not really a question and she
doesn't offer up an answer. “If you can't, then I'm going to tie
you down, baby.“

Her breath catches and I meet her gaze again
as she settles back, allowing me to pull her pants the rest of the
way off.

“Does that turn you on, Lucy?“

She nods and I nod back. “Good. I wish we had
more privacy. There are things I'd like for us to try.“

She stiffens.

“Baby, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to
take your ass. I need to. I need all of you, to make all of you
mine but I'm not going to hurt you and you're not prepared. That's
something we'll have to prepare you for physically. Emotionally you
know I love you and I will never, ever abuse you in that way.“ I
trail a finger down her cheek, over her shoulder, down her arm. I
reach for the hem of her tank and pull it carefully over her
head.

“Jesse?“

“Yeah, Luce.“

“Can you do me one favor? I know you like to
be in control of everything in bed and I love that. I do. It gets
me so damn hot I can't even tell you.“

“But?“ I ask when she bites her lower
lip.

“But, can you fuck me hard so I can come and
then we can take our time? I just need you. I need to feel how much
you need me and I need to feel you come inside me.“

It's my turn to suck in a breath. I swallow
hard, now harder than granite, and I lift her bra over her head. I
ease her down onto the bed and slide her panties slowly down her
thighs.

“I can smell how aroused you are. Jesus,
Lucy.“

She blushes. “I can't help it.“

“I think I told you once before, I don't want
you to help it. I want you to keep doing it. Everything you do,
it's perfect.“

“I'm not perfect, Jesse.“

“You're perfect
for me
.“

Her eyes well with tears and I lean in and
press my lips to hers. “I love you so much, Lucy. I'll never be
able to tell you how much I feel for you. Words will never be
enough.“

She rests her palm against my cheek. “I can
see it. Right now. In your eyes. In your expression.“

“Then you must feel for me exactly the way I
feel for you.“

She nods. “I love you. You. Not the teenage
crush version of you. Not the rockstar that everyone sees on stage.
Not the man in charge of the show. Not the sex symbol. But you.
Every single part of you, every facet, combined. I love the entire
package, flaws and all.“

I press a soft kiss to her lips, hoping to
deliver some of what I'm feeling for her in my kiss. My heart is
soaring, it's so full of love for her, so happy she loves me as
much as I love her. So happy she's my wife.

“I can't wait,“ I whisper and strip off my
boxers.

“Don't wait.“

“You can't move, Luce. Promise me. I don't
want our loving each other to ever hurt you.“

“I'll try so fucking hard.“

I chuckle then position myself between her
thighs. She lifts the sheet over my backside and I lift a brow.