Forever Red (27 page)

My fingers ached to touch him, to trace the pictures on his skin. I almost cried in happiness when he adjusted, pulling my legs higher on his back, shifting his weight to his elbows, and freeing my hands to run over his back. I could feel the muscles move under his skin, taught with need as he pushed us each closer to the edge.

“Fucking Christ.” The words were no more than a whispered groan, and if his mouth hadn’t been next to my ear, I wouldn’t have heard them. He moved again, slightly, sliding a hand between us as he picked up his pace. A calloused thumb – from picking his guitar probably – found my clit. A few flicks was all it took and I was yelling his name, nails shredding his back as I tried to hold on through the eruption.

He didn’t stop. My orgasm only seemed to make him determined to give me more. His finger moved against me as he increased to an almost unbelievable pace. When his teeth latched onto my neck, I came apart again, unable to do anything but call his name over and over and hold on. I didn’t realize when he moved his hands under me, pulling me into him with every push, but when his mouth covered mine and his fingernails embedded themselves in my ass, I knew he was close.

He bit my bottom lip as he found his release, pounding into me over and over, even after I was sure he was done. When he collapsed onto my chest with a satisfied sigh on his lips, I cradled him in my arms. His skin was covered with a thin layer of sweat, but I ran my fingers up and down his backbone, smiling to myself every time he shook.

Too soon, he pulled out, wincing as he did, and went to dispose of the condom. He was back before I knew it, carrying a giant blanket. He opened it, spreading it over me before he climbed in behind me and pulled me into his arms. One hand slid under my head, the other over me, and then one leg moved between both of mine. I smiled into the darkness. This was how we’d always slept. Some things never changed.

We didn’t talk, but I knew he was awake because his fingers moved back and forth over my hip in a comforting manner. I didn’t know what to say. That had been so much better than anything I could have fantasized about. I wanted to open up. Tell him I still loved him. I knew he’d think it was because of what we’d just shared so I stayed quiet. My eyes grew heavy, and as much as I wanted to stay awake and enjoy the time I had with him, I couldn’t fight the exhaustion.

One night was definitely not enough. I wanted more. I needed more. Those were the last thoughts I had before sleep came.

Holy fuck. I was fucked. Totally, absolutely, sincerely fucked.

Watching Lia, listening to her cry out my name, and feeling her fall apart in my arms was addicting. Holding her, having her fit into me perfectly the way she always had, was surprising. But remembering the look on her face when I’d tried to eat her, and how horrified she’d looked before I realized that she was trying to tell me I couldn’t, was mind blowing. Had she really kept a promise that she’d made to her fifteen-year-old self? Had no other man tasted my pussy?

My pussy
. The thought surprised me. But that’s exactly what it was. Mine. She’d been mine since I’d taken her in the back of my truck fourteen years ago. I’d had to bite my lip until it bled that night just so I wouldn’t tell her I was in love with her. Tonight, I’d done the same, just to keep myself from verbally vomiting shit that would have her running away as fast as she could. I slid my hand from the roundness of her hip down to the soft red curls, dipping my middle finger between her folds. This was
my
pussy. She was mine. She just didn’t know it yet.

When I’d stared down at her beautiful body earlier, I had realized I needed to take it easy on her. She was so fucking small, seemed so innocent that I hadn’t wanted to scare her. She knew that the teenager she once loved was gone, and by the look on her face earlier, she knew that I was the furthest thing from abstinent you could get. I had thought we’d be worlds apart now.

But I’d been so fucking wrong. This woman would be able to take anything I gave her. And she’d beg for more.

Fuck me. I had no idea how in the hell we would make it work, but I’d lost her once. I sure as shit wasn’t doing it again.

If I hadn’t been so goddamn exhausted, I would have woken her and gone for round two. I was dying to hear her scream my name, feel her nails dragging down my back, her insides clinging to me as she came. Instead, I pulled her closer. Holding her tight, listening to her steady breaths, I closed my eyes and let sleep take me.

*****

I don’t know how long I was out, but it wasn’t long enough. I sighed angrily, wondering what had woken me and tried to crack my neck before I remembered where I was, and why I was in my bedroom on the bus. I reached for Lia, but the bed was empty. No.

No. She wouldn’t leave me in the middle of the night. I pushed off the bed, looking around for her clothes. They were gone. I grabbed for mine, realizing as I lifted the shirt over my head that my hands smelled of her. The realization pissed me off.

I jerked open the door, planning to wake the whole house to find her if I had to when I barreled into her. A very surprised Red startled in surprise, her hand flying to her chest, a string of screamed curses flying at me.

Then she glared. “You scared the fucking bejesus out of me. Where in the hell are you going so fast?”

I didn’t even have the energy to answer. Instead, I grabbed the back of her head and pulled her into me, leaning down for a kiss, bruising her lips against mine. Pulling away, I scooped her into my arms and carried her back to my bed. Kicking off my boxers, I pushed her backward so she was lying down and yanked the denim from her legs.

“Why in the fuck did you get dressed?”

She laughed at me but sat up enough to take off her own shirt, understanding I needed her naked. “I had to pee.”

“You don’t need pants on to take a piss.”

Rolling her eyes, she eased back on her elbows, watching me. “I didn’t know if we were alone.”

I smiled, tossing my shirt onto the pile of our discarded clothes before sliding over her. My girl didn’t want anyone to see her naked but me. Even if it was obvious we’d been in here fucking like rabbits, she didn’t want to chance anyone seeing her. Usually, the women I’d been with had no problem showing themselves off to the world, and half the time, they wanted my bandmates to join our fun. Lia was so fucking different.

I lowered my body down to hers, nestling myself between her legs and dropped a quick peck onto her lips, intending it to be a goodnight kiss. Her arms wrapped around me, pulling the rest of me down, and deepened the kiss. With a sexy groan, she lifted her legs over mine, trailing her toes down my calves and back up. 

I didn’t need any more encouragement. Shifting my weight to my left arm, I explored her body with my free hand. My thumb found the little scar on her shoulder, a souvenir from the chicken pox she caught from Mike when they were ten. I knew, without looking, that there was a little brown mole below her ribs. The middle finger on her right hand was slightly bent because it never healed straight after she broke it in a field hockey game. And on the outside of her left thigh was a long jagged line, courtesy of a piece of metal that scraped her when she was jumping out of my truck when we were seventeen.

I found all of these little imperfections that made her
her
; plus, discovered new ones as well. There were little stretch marks on her hips, almost so faint you couldn’t tell they were there. There was also a thick section of raised skin on her side and another on the inside of her wrist; I could tell they weren’t very old simply by the feel of the skin. I wanted to know how she got them. Shit, I wanted to know everything about her.

Pushing myself away from her just long enough to roll on protection felt like an eternity. She welcomed me back, sucking my bottom lip into her mouth and arching against me, silently begging me for more. She gasped as I entered her slowly, gripping me from the inside as if she didn’t ever want to let me go.

I knew this part of her, too. I knew I fit perfectly inside her, two pieces of a puzzle made whole only when connected. I knew that she would cling to me in a way no woman had since, milking me until I couldn’t last a second longer. I knew the sounds that she would make, ones that weren’t exaggerated for my benefit. I knew when she was about to come apart beneath me.

I increased my pace, letting her moans guide me as I pushed us both closer to the edge. I needed to touch her, though, to watch her. Clutching her hips as tight as I could, I flipped us. Lia sat up, smirking in an extremely sexy way before she adjusted slightly. And then, she moved.

Not an awkward and bouncy move. No. She fucking rode me like it was what she was born to do. Every single thought I had was gone and only one thing crossed my mind. Lia was still the sexiest thing I had ever seen. I reached up, filling my hands with her glorious tits, twisting each nipple between my fingers. It only made her move faster and within seconds, I was ready to explode. I held out as long as I could, thankful when I felt her walls tighten around me, and I yanked her mouth to mine, swallowing her cries as I fell over the cliff with her.

*****

I tried to ignore the almost constant vibrating and annoying ping of my cell phone. I wanted to keep my eyes closed, cuddle closer to the redheaded bombshell gracing my bed, and pretend this moment would never end. But after a few minutes, I gave up. Someone needed me; apparently, enough to bother me the morning after a concert, even though everyone who had my number knew that was a sin punishable by death.

Easing my arm out from under Lia’s head as gently as I could, I grabbed my jeans and searched through the pockets for the evil little piece of technology. How, when it needed to be charged every few hours, had it not run out of battery and died sometime in the night? Finally finding it, I held it close to my face and unlocked my screen, surprised at the lack of notifications. No one had called. When I heard the ping again, I realized it wasn’t me someone wanted to talk to.

Looking around the small space, I tried to figure out where Lia would have left her phone. I didn’t want her to wake up yet – I had big plans for her, and most of them revolved around her being in that bed. Finding the iPhone in her purse, I thanked God that she didn’t have it password protected.

My eyebrows rose in surprise when I read the screen. Forty-seven text messages, fifteen missed calls, and four voice mails. I snapped my eyes to the beautiful women snoring softly in my bed. Panic rose before I could stop it.

I didn’t know anything about her anymore – not really. Was there a guy somewhere, worried about her, wondering where his girlfriend was? Did she belong to someone else?

I narrowed my eyes at the thought. I wasn’t naïve enough to think that the majority of the women who had warmed my bed over the years were single; I didn’t ask and they didn’t offer that kind of information. Lia wasn’t some groupie who came on to me at an after party, though. I didn’t ask if she had a boyfriend, only because I expected her to tell me if she did. Her friends hadn’t said anything about a man in her life – but, then again, they’d never told me what had happened to freak them out at her apartment the morning before.

I pulled up my boxers and with one last look at the woman in my bed, headed to the living area. Sitting at the table, I cursed myself quietly before unlocking Lia’s phone and snooping. Surprisingly, the messages were all from different people. Apparently, my ginger was quite popular and everyone wanted to wish her a happy birthday.

I felt like an ass. Not only had I just gone thru her phone, I’d forgotten what day it was. Playing with her phone for a few more seconds, I started to form a plan in my mind. Then I tucked the device away and got busy.

I was sliding food onto plates when the birthday girl, looking exhausted but completely relaxed (and satisfied), stumbled out of my bedroom an hour later. She’d found a clean pair of my boxers and had paired it with one of my tee shirts. I loved how she looked in my clothes. I grinned at her, setting breakfast on the table before pulling her into my arms.

“Happy birthday, beautiful.” I kissed her quickly. “Hungry?”

She arched an eyebrow, smiling only when I held up a familiar Styrofoam cup. “You went to Dunkin Donuts for me?”

“No.” I sat down, motioning to the seat across from me. “But I had Sam go. What better way to start the day?”

She took a small sip, testing for temperature before taking a giant gulp. Her eyes closed briefly as she moaned in delight. Then she smiled again as her gaze drifted over my bare chest. “Oh, I can think of something.”

I ignored the quick increase of my pulse and the pang of longing in my dick. Smiling around my own cup, I laughed. “Woman, I’m too fucking old for all-nighters. You exhausted me. Let me at least refuel.”

She pouted playfully, sliding into the bench across from me. Chuckling at my breakfast choice, she picked up the bagel and bit a large piece off. “I can’t believe you remembered,” she mumbled around a mouth full.

“Onion bagel with strawberry cream cheese is the strangest fucking combo ever. I could never forget.” We ate in silence for a few minutes while I debated my approach. “Tell me about you.”

For a second, I thought she’d refuse as she contemplated my demand. “What do you want to know?

I set my cup down, leaning forward over the table. “Everything.”

She frowned, adjusted her legs on the seat, and then started talking. Over the next few hours, I learned about the woman she’d become. We didn’t talk about the past, or about the people we had been, avoiding all topics that seemed unpleasant. Every now and then, she’d ask me questions, which I gladly answered, but then I’d turn the conversation back to her.

She made me laugh just as much as she always had. I was happy to find the adult version was just as comical as the teenager had been, laughing at her observations of her own life. Almost everything about her surprised me. I never would have imagined the teen that hated everything about high school would choose to become a teacher and surround herself with seventeen-year-olds all day.

I tried not to look too relieved when she said she was single and that she’d never gotten serious enough about anyone to contemplate marriage. She wouldn’t tell me about her most recent ex, saying only that it was a good thing it was over. I hated the haunted look she had in her eyes when she talked about him and how she suddenly developed a nervous tick when I asked about him. She wasn’t telling me everything, but I didn’t push. She could keep her secrets for now.

She lit up when she talked about her godsons. She thought the earth revolved around the two of them, even though she didn’t have kids of her own. Her friends were her entire world. She giggled as she described them and some of their crazy shenanigans. I’d never seen anyone or anything as fucking breathtaking as she was when she smiled.

I missed this. Lia and I had always had a friendship unlike anything I’d ever experienced. I loved Molly. Hell, I loved her as much as I loved Nik and Nat. She was my little sister in every way but blood. But we’d never had the same kind of connection that Red and I had. It was both a relief and a nuisance to know we still had the bond after years apart.

We’d not only finished our coffees, but also an entire Box o’ Joe and were lounging together on the couch when someone knocked on the door. I was surprised they’d all left us alone as long as they had. But I wasn’t ready for it to be over. I wanted our little bubble to be ours for just a few hours longer. A look of disappointment crossed Lia’s face, too, so I knew she felt the same way. I threaded my fingers through hers as I told the person on the other side of the door to come in.

“Sorry, bro.” Noah bounded up the stairs, obviously not sorry at all. Grinning at Lia, he winked. “Happy birthday again, beautiful.”