FascinatingRhythm (4 page)

Maybe he sensed something, because he lifted his head and
spoke, “Don’t hold back. I want to hear everything.”

“I can’t—can’t—”

Reaching up, he stroked her waist. “Yes you can. Please. I
like it.”

She believed him. She wouldn’t have believed anyone else. He
treated her as if there was no difference between them. She loved that. People
either tried to ignore her deafness or they exaggerated their response to her,
turning to face her straight on, enunciating deliberately and slowing down
their speech. Hunter didn’t. He did what he had to but no more and he did it in
a natural way. She’d never felt awkward with him before, and now was definitely
not the time to start. So she smiled and nodded and stroked his shoulders,
enjoying the way his powerful muscles flexed and stretched as he returned to
his task.

It didn’t take long. When he sucked her clit right into his
mouth and then tickled the end with his tongue, she lost her mind. When he
sucked it harder, then suddenly released only to pull it into his mouth again,
she fell apart.

Shards of delight arced through her, spiking up her spine,
invading her until she couldn’t help but cry his name and reach for him.

When she came back down to earth, he’d sheathed himself and
was waiting, his forearms on either side of her head. She realized he’d watched
her ride out her orgasm. His cock was poised at her entrance, barely breaching
it. When she opened her eyes, he drove in, filling her completely.

Her back arched of its own volition, pushing her up to him,
angling her pussy for his invasion. She grabbed his biceps, anchoring herself
as she lifted her knees to hug the side of his body from his waist down,
bracing her body against his when he drove deep inside her.

“Don’t close your eyes.” He gasped after the first two
words. His eyes were dark with passion once more, but she was close enough to
see the ring of clear blue surrounding the pupil like a protective shield.

No, she wouldn’t. She wanted to watch him, to enjoy every
minute of this, to recall and enjoy again—in the near future. She refused to
let any negativity in.

He drove in and out of her willing body, watching her
avidly. “That’s great timing,” she said.

“Drummer,” he answered. Even now they could share a smile.

Tightening his arms around her waist, he rolled them so she
ended up on top. “I want to touch these.” He curved his hands over her buttocks
and guided her movements. Her turn to prop her elbows on the bed and to drive
back as he thrust up. His cock rubbed against the most sensitive skin of all,
driving her relentlessly toward another climax. She pushed her hair back behind
her ears so his face remained unshadowed by it and watched him as he slowly
lost control, working her as if he didn’t know how to do anything else.

That feeling growing slowly, warmth building to an inevitable
climax, surged and pulsed. Toes curling, reaction screaming through her, Sabina
threw back her head and cried his name.

An increase of heat told her it was his turn, and quickly
she turned her attention back to him. He let her see, didn’t hide anything from
her as he met her gaze and shattered.

She fell onto him, let him hold her close, their sweaty
bodies gluing together. Giving out a helpless, panting laugh, she made a
confession. “The best yet. The best ever.”

She wasn’t sure what he said in reply. He mumbled something
against her neck and she felt the vibration. He finished whatever he was saying
with a kiss and then cupped the back of her head and guided her lips to his.

He tasted of her. Still kissing her, he rolled them over
again so she lay on her back and then he withdrew from her body. Even though
she knew it was necessary, she didn’t want him to go. After one more swift,
tender kiss, he swept the covers aside and got out of bed. “Don’t go anywhere.”
He touched a finger to her lips and went to the bathroom, returning in less
than a minute.

When he got back in, he kissed her as if greeting her after
a long journey. She loved it, took him in, but already real life was invading
her thoughts. “When do you leave?”

Regret entered his eyes. “Thursday. But I came here with a
purpose. I want to ask my mother to come to the concert, and I want you to come
too.”

She bit her lip, worried about what she felt she had to say.
She’d seen it in the past, so why should now be any different? “She’ll say no.
She can’t hear you, so why do you want her to go?” Reaching up, she cupped his
jaw. His incipient beard prickled her palm and nearly made her smile in
pleasure, but she repressed it. Now was not the time.

He turned his head and kissed her palm. “I know. Stupid of
me, but I want her there. This is a great time for the band, it might even be
our peak. I want her to see it. I want her there to see the applause and the
audience. Malmö is a huge arena, and I’m proud of what I do.”

The vehemence of his speech made her release the smile she’d
been suppressing. “But you know she’ll refuse.”

A touch of sound pierced her senses, as it did sometimes.
Not words, but a warm rumble. “Do you have a low voice?”

“People have said so.” He grinned. “They also say I don’t
talk much. It’s true, I don’t say a lot normally. You make me chatter like a
magpie.”

A laugh broke free from her chest. “And I can’t hear what
you’re saying. Although I can sense something sometimes.”

He went up on one elbow, leaning over her to curve the other
arm around her waist. “You can hear?”

Swallowing, she wondered if she should tell him the truth.
“A little. I don’t tell people, because some of the deaf would refuse to use me
as interpreter. They won’t associate with people who have even nonfunctional hearing,
like me. It means I can speak better than a lot of deaf people.”

He frowned. “They shouldn’t do that. Why won’t they accept
you?”

“Because I’m hard of hearing, not completely deaf.” She
shrugged. “It’s what it is.” And meant she had an important choice to make.

He kissed her and they lost a few minutes. When he would
have bent to her again, she put her hand on his chest and held him off.
“Uppsala University Hospital pioneers the treatment of the deaf.”

He went still, staring at her, blue eyes intent. “I know
that.”

“The scientists there can restore hearing.”

“Cochlear implants. I know that too.” A spark of
understanding lightened his expression. “You’re having a cochlear implant?”

She shook her head, her hair clinging to one cheek.
Tenderly, he moved the strand away. “I don’t want one. When I lost my hearing,
I was nearly ten, the result of an infection, not a genetic trait or a
mal-form-ation.” She’d had to take a run at that word. “When you hear, the
little fibers in your ears respond to the sound and transmit the result to the
brain, which interprets it. I had nerve damage.” He nodded but didn’t interrupt
her. “Uppsala has a new operation. They can insert new fibers that work as well
as the ones lost. A transplant. I went for tests and they said I was very
suitable. They’re very keen to operate, but they emphasized that it’s a
pioneering operation and it might not work.”

He swallowed. She adored that he didn’t immediately tell her
to have it, as most hearing people would. That was why she wanted to share this
information with him. A hearing person who understood that the choice wasn’t
that clear-cut. “My mother won’t like it. Does she know?”

“She knows I’ve been chosen as a suitable candidate. She
said I should think about it for myself, but she’s doing her best to show me
that I don’t need it. And if I do have the procedure, she won’t have any more
use for me.”

“What does the procedure entail?”

“The actual operation doesn’t take long. The fibers are
intelligent, bionic if you like, and they should develop and learn on their
own. My hearing would improve. I’d have to go back for checkups and tests as
part of the ongoing studies, it’s part of the agreement.” She touched his
mouth, melting a little when he kissed her fingertips. “If I have the operation.
I’ve not decided yet.”

“Because you will change your world.”

She nodded.

“Are there risks?”

She had to tell him, though she doubted even he would know
what it meant. “I would probably lose my hearing completely if the procedure
failed.” She made a grimace, trying to make light of it. “What I have isn’t
very useful though. More of a problem.”

“It’s probably more useful than you realize.” He did
understand, after all. “And you’d have to change your way of life, wouldn’t
you?”

Deaf separatists claimed that a deaf person changed
fundamentally when he or she had implants. It changed their personalities and
perhaps the people they were meant to be, the people they had created in
themselves. That was only one objection, but it had persuaded a lot of people
not to go ahead.

“I don’t think I’ll change who I am, but how can I know for
sure? I have a good life, Hunter. Do I really want to change it? And what would
I do if I did? There are a lot of compensations for the deaf. We’re not
bombarded by sound all the time. I love waking up and hearing peaceful silence.
I know my family can’t understand that.” She smiled. “At least they don’t treat
me like I’m made of china anymore.”

“They used to do that?”

Laughing at the memory, she watched his face relax into
softer lines and was glad. “All the time at first. It helped for a couple of
months, until I got into my new routine and then it started to get on my
nerves. I got them all learning FSL with me and then things improved.” She
paused. “Over a few months, my hearing will come back fully if the procedure
works. With a cochlear implant, it is an electronic kind of sound, it means you
can communicate verbally. I don’t want that. If I’m going to do it, I want my
real hearing back. This operation can offer that.” She touched the back of her
ear, where the scar would be if she went ahead. So many ifs, she shouldn’t
worry.

With a wry smile, he kissed the outer rim of her ear and
leaned back again so she could see him talk. “You don’t have to do anything you
don’t want to. You don’t have to join my mother’s new political party, and you
don’t have to have the operation.”

“I won’t join the party anyway, because of my job.
Interpreters should try to be impartial. I haven’t made my mind up yet.” Still,
she loved to hear him say it. That was what she wanted to hear. “When they
offered me the possibility, I was confused. My family sees it as a cure, which
it is in a way, but what will I be? The same person? Someone different?”

“You’ll be you.” He cupped a breast and stroked her nipple,
bringing it right back to attention. She moved toward him so he could do more,
loving the intimacy. “Whoever you are, whatever you choose to do, I’ll be your
friend. I won’t abandon you again.”

Tears sprang to her eyes. She laid her hand over his to stop
his movements. This was too important for her to allow him to distract her.
“Then you admit that’s what you did?”

He lowered his gaze, stared down at her body, but she didn’t
feel the least embarrassed. She could still see his lips move enough to read
them. “Yes I did. I thought it was for the best. You needed to be here. I
couldn’t take you with me.” He paused, swallowed. “Sabina, I found more that
night than I dared dream about, but what could I give you? An itinerant
musician’s life on the road? I didn’t know what would happen to me and I didn’t
want you waiting for me. I couldn’t offer you anything. I didn’t want to give
you hope.”

Lifting his chin, he met her gaze. The bleakness in his made
her cup his cheek again, stroking it, touching his ear with the tips of her
fingers. “Then you succeeded,” she said.

“Forgive me?”

“Would I be here if I didn’t? I forgive you.”

A smile wreathed his face, lighting his eyes and curving his
mouth. “Thank you.”

Relief surged through Hunter, so powerful that it swamped
him. He hadn’t realized just how much that had weighed on him until she said
those three words. Her eyes met his fearlessly, and he could see the truth
written there, that she wasn’t saying it to please him. She meant to give him
her forgiveness, and it sliced through him like a clean cut from a scalpel,
lancing a festering wound he’d tried hard to ignore.

And ultimately failed. Pushed it back every time it reared
its ugly head. Told himself he was doing the right thing. Over the last few
months, ever since Murder City Ravens’ manager had told them he’d arranged a
concert in Malmö, he’d thought about finding Sabina and begging her
forgiveness.

He could never forget that midnight hair and the way it
sifted through his hands like the finest silk. How soft her skin felt under his
hands. Fuck, how she tasted. Nobody, and he hadn’t exactly stayed celibate, had
taken the shock of those revelations away from him. They’d only had one night,
and then he’d fled. He’d always planned to leave, but not like that. She’d
scared him off, the intensity of his feelings for her that first night and the
terror that he’d never go anywhere, never do anything if he stayed for her.

At the time he knew he couldn’t ask her to join him. She was
starting a promising career, interpreting different languages for the deaf,
working at a high level thanks to his mother’s influence. Living in a London
bedsit, working gigs in pubs where they were sometimes paid in beer—how could
he ask her to do that? But how could he give that up?

Together with the terror that had haunted him most of his
adult life. The fear of going deaf, a fear he couldn’t control, that made him
ashamed.

“I’m so sorry.” Even that made relief surge in another wave.

“Prove it.” Her eyes heated and he knew what she wanted.

Now that he could do. In spades. Already thirsting for
another taste, he took her mouth, reveling in the way her lips fit against his,
the way she welcomed his tongue, gave him her own. He wanted to kiss her all
night, but then he’d be denying himself other treats.

Reluctantly, he broke the kiss, pulling away slowly, opening
his eyes to gaze into her rich, dark-chocolate depths, her eyes such a
startling contrast to her pale skin and her black hair. Her cheekbones, high
and prominent and her firm jaw, not the delicately pointed kind but determined,
giving her face strength instead of a fairytale sweetness.

He moved down to the places he knew she liked, and those he
had yet to discover. Down to her breasts, sucking her nipples one after the
other until they became hard, crinkled peaks and she was moving restlessly
under him. His cock had risen as if it hadn’t fucked anyone for years,
straining against her leg. He couldn’t stop himself pushing, a primal instinct
that gave him the tiny amount of alleviation he needed until he got inside her.

This is for her.
To show her how much he’d missed
her, to prove to her that he wouldn’t repeat it. That when he left this time,
he’d keep in touch, stand her friend. She needed friends, ones who would be
with her whatever she decided, to accept her and her choices without question.

He moved down, ignoring the demands of his increasingly
desperate cock. Anybody would think he’d never gone all night before.
Tonight—no chance. He’d be lucky to get inside her this time before he went
off.

He curved his hands around her waist. So slender, but not
skinny. When he’d known her before she was too thin, but now she had sleek,
satiny skin and a nice softness in the right areas. He kissed around her navel,
loved the way she shivered when he kissed the little dip just beneath her
hipbone. So he did it again, and loved it even more when she cried his name
softly.

He lifted his head and met her gaze over the lovely profile
of her breasts. “What do you want, Sabina? Tell me.”

“I want—I want—”

He spelled it out with his fingers on her stomach. Unlikely
she could interpret it, but the touch made her squirm some more. “What do you
want me to do?”

“Touch me—kiss me.”

Loving the way she said “kiss”, like a sigh, he kissed the
soft skin on her belly. Then, supporting his arms on his elbows, held up his
hands so she could see them and signed, “Where do you want me to kiss you?”

She shuddered and spoke. “My-my pussy. Lick me, Hunter.”

As if he could resist that, even had he wanted to. He’d tasted
her before, but concentrated on bringing her up and over the edge, wanting to
send her wild because he’d been desperate to get inside her. This time he took
pains to explore her properly and memorize the places that seemed to send her
wilder quicker.

Her clit of course, but he’d avoid that for now. The inner
crease, the path to her entrance. He investigated that, tried lapping right
down and then teasing her, flicking his tongue just inside.

She lifted her legs and rested her feet on his shoulders.
She had such small feet compared to his huge ones, dainty and tipped with
pretty polished nails. He’d noticed earlier when she’d slipped off her shoes.
Wondering if she liked her toes sucked, he decided this wouldn’t be the last
lovemaking session tonight, because he doubted he could manage that this time.

Sabina working her toes against his skin in a sensual
massage drove him on and he stopped teasing, opened his mouth wide and took her
in, covering her clit and her vagina. Listening to her cries, better than any
lyric, he worked his tongue inside her, scooping out her juices to claim for
his own, rubbing his lips against her clit to urge her higher, faster. Maybe
twice. Oh fuck, she tasted so good. More tart than sweet, all sexy, tempting
woman.

When she dug her toes into his shoulders, he knew she was
close. Even more because her clit pressed hard against his upper lip. He
sucked, enjoying the sounds she was making. She made more juice. He took it,
drank it down, taking gulps from her.

Like a heartbeat, he absorbed her, accepted her and drew
strongly on her. Until her pussy tightened around his tongue and she screamed
as she came. He counted the pulses, committed them to memory, felt the extra,
double beat at the end. Music echoed around his head and he knew where he’d put
that double beat, what he’d do with it. For her, even though she might never
hear it, or recognize it. How could he describe this? Regrets that she couldn’t
hear too crept into his mind but he banished them. He’d tell her when he could,
share it with her.

His inner adolescent had subsided, thank fuck, enough to
concentrate on pleasing her before he let himself go. He was tempted to stay
there and bring her up again but his cock was too insistent.

Lifting away with some reluctance, he enjoyed the sight of
her flushed face, her mouth full and red, her eyes darker than usual. She
lifted her feet away from his shoulders when he came back up the bed and leaned
over to grab protection from the nightstand. He wanted in her now.

His little witch had other ideas. She caught him off
balance, rolling him over. At first, instinct taking over, he fought back, but
only for an instant. Before he realized she wanted to do something to him and
he let her have her way.

He lay on his back, staring up at her. Her pretty breasts
moved as she sat, gazing at his cock. Licking her lips in a way that made him
groan, she glanced down at his cock and just swiped her finger across the tip,
collecting the drop of essence that had collected there. Lifting the digit to
her mouth, she sucked it as if it were the best dessert in nature. She took her
time, watching him all the while, tempting him to lift her and push her down on
his straining dick.

When she opened her other hand, he saw she’d already swiped
a condom. She’d torn open the packet so all she had to do now was to tip out
the fine latex and smooth it over his cock, which she did with loving care. So
much that he was groaning by the time she’d finished, his brow beaded with
sweat, and not because the room temperature was too high.

Wanting a woman as desperately as this came as a delicious
surprise, one he never expected to feel, even for Sabina. He’d imagined the
intervening years had tempered his passion for her. He was wrong. Her slight
hesitation when she spoke, that glorious body and her distinctive, lovely
features all drove him to complete distraction.

She always would, he knew that now. No way could he change
that. But he had to remember she couldn’t come with him. He couldn’t lay a
claim to her. When they were done here, he had to let her go. He wanted her in
his bed every night until he had to leave. He was already mentally going
through the tour dates to see if he could fly over to visit her while they were
in Europe.

More of this. He’d follow her like a devoted pet if she’d
give him this. The way she looked at him, her sweet, pretty breasts, the way
she caressed his cock—everything.

When she lifted herself up on her knees, he watched her
avidly, loving her engorged clit and the way it peeked through its protective lips.
Like her breasts, it was pretty. The prettiest he’d ever seen. Her nipples
tilted, pointing out and up, and her skin gleamed in the light of the bedside
lamps. Unable to resist, he grasped her waist and lifted.

She laughed, delight ringing around the room as she kept
hold of his cock, guiding it to her pussy as he brought her back down.

Her inner walls enclosed him, enveloping him in her hot, wet
spell. His head went back against the pillows and he gave a wordless cry as she
sank down, down, down, until her pussy met his balls. She wriggled. He moaned,
then found his voice. “You are amazing.”

She returned his scrutiny with a smug smile. “I am, aren’t
I?”

Then she started to move. Planting her hands on his chest,
she began the rhythm that would take them both high. Her knees tightened
against his rib cage and her hands pressed down on him. He could support her
easily but he wouldn’t have complained if she’d weighed more or threatened to
squash him as she fucked him. “I’m yours, to ride and to take whenever you
want.” He meant it too.

“When you’re on stage?”

“If you want to.”

“When you’re in your mother’s house?”

That gave him pause, but not for long. “In her office, on
her desk if you ask for it.”

She laughed again. What a great sound. As was her voice. She
had an accent, to his ears definitely Icelandic, as if she were a nymph born of
ice. Her pale skin emphasized his whimsical thought. Her voice had a slight
nasal tone, not as pronounced as most deaf people but she’d just explained that
to him. Occasionally her tone varied, louder or softer than she’d probably
wanted, but he loved that too, because it made her distinctively Sabina.

He lifted his knees, sliding his heels down the bed to give
her support, but she chose not to take it. Instead, she bent forward and
increased her pace. Their bodies slapped together. Every time she came down on
him her ass pounded his balls, sending ragged strikes of sensation deep into
him, up and around and
fuck
, she was good.

Harder and faster. He held her steady, watching her breasts
bounce, and let her have her way. “Oh fuck, you’re killing me.”

“Good. Count it as revenge.”

If this was revenge, it was worth leaving again for six
years. Almost. Reaching up, he cradled her breasts, tender and delicate,
savoring the jiggle when she slammed her body down onto his.

Close, so close now. But she was too. Her body tensed and
she straightened, lifting her hands from his chest and flailing until he caught
her hands in his, holding her steady.

Did she know she screamed so loudly when she came? He adored
that, hearing her cry and knowing he’d driven her so crazy.

Hot liquid flooded his balls. No more, he couldn’t take it
and when that clenching started again he grabbed her waist, sat up and held her
tight while he pulsed deep and sure inside her.

Almost as soon as they’d finished, he wanted to do it again.
But that was his problem. She was obviously exhausted, snuggling into him
limply, letting him cradle her close.

This time when he went to the bathroom, he took her with
him, letting her walk but holding her close, almost carrying her.

He used one hand to switch on the shower, waiting until the
water had warmed. That gave him time to pull off the condom and dump it in the
toilet, something she barely noticed. She had one arm around his waist and
followed him into the shower.

Hunter enjoyed washing her. It was a glass shower, the doors
frosted up to waist level, fading into clear glass above, a design he liked and
noted for future reference. He had a decent apartment in London, one of the first
things he’d bought when the band had sold enough of their first album to pay
themselves a salary. He’d like glass like this there, so he could see Sabina as
she showered and she could have fun teasing him with glimpses of her body. Oh
yes, he’d get her in that apartment for sure. It became his new ambition in
life.

Now he concentrated on washing her as gently as he could.
Reaching up, he adjusted the shower so it fell in gentle rainfall instead of
the needle point he preferred in the mornings. He needed something to wake him
up, although since he’d stopped drinking to excess, he didn’t need it so much.

Disdaining the washcloth, he grabbed the soap labeled
jasmine and used it to work up a lather between his hands. He started with her
pussy, as gentle now as he’d been ruthless before, probing gently into every
nook and cranny, pushing inside her slightly. The waxed skin felt so good under
his hands, not a hint of stubble to scrape against his palms. “That is the
definition of feminine,” he told her, and received a sleepy smile in return.
She’d half closed her eyes, but although his cock responded to the sexy, sultry
gaze, he ignored it. She was obviously past tired and while he knew she’d
welcome him for a third bout, it could wait.