Kiss Me Deadly (12 page)

“Smooth move, Casanova, but we’re still watching you,” Midian gave him a warning.

He ignored it. Sam came out in a sexy off the shoulder top, leggings and a pair of fuzzy bright pink socks, carrying a fuzzy blanket. The idea of her sitting in his lap with a blanket did nothing to quell his imagination, all the dirty things he wanted to do to her beginning with licking the expanse of skin from her shoulder slope to her neck.

“So much better.” She jumped on the chair and leaned back against him, covering herself up.

“I’ve missed this part of our past,” he murmured in her ear.

“So long as you remember the rules, hands where I can see them.”

His friends broke out in guffaws as did her bandmates. He shrugged. “Whatever you want, meerkat. You’re the boss.” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew the guys wouldn’t let him live them down. Sameera flashed him a mega-watt grin, worth all the future ribbing in the world. How long had it been since he felt happy, content, chill? A long time. Too long of a time for sure.

The shift in dynamics was damned interesting. They’d come a long way from the rebels during their first and second tour. Perhaps it was the girlfriends that made them take pride in their belongings more, a clean bus, clean food, less drunkenness. For him it was seeing Sameera’s face when he woke up in the hospital after his close call with death. He never wanted to cause or see that pain etched in her soul again. Hell, he hadn’t sobered up a hundred percent, but began working out to get rid of the anger riding his back instead of turning to the bottle. She deserved more than who he was when Miles died, even though the struggle to retreat back to his prior ways when life became too much for him still existed. Jimmy fiddled on his phone with Sam tucked into his body. Bills had to be paid. His inability to trust anyone to do if for him meant he’d taken on the bothersome task himself. Hitting the send button to transfer money into his mother’s account took some force, he wanted nothing but to deny her, though the thought of her going to her ex-husband made him do a good deed. Maybe he’d get into Heaven after all.
Not
. For sure the devil kept an empty seat for him.

“Quit jostling me,” Sameera grumbled.

“I’m paying bills. I’ll be done in a few.”

“You need an assistant to handle that for you.” She turned to look at him. “Why haven’t you hired one?”

“We have a personal assistant for the band. I don’t need one for my personal life. Well, except to get out of sticky situations. My life is private. I can do my own bills, pay my own taxes.”

“Shhh. There is a movie playing,” Vin grumbled.

The corners of his lips turned up in a smile he couldn’t fight off. Who’d have thought Vin’s hard ass would enjoy a sappy chick flick.

“Next she’ll make us watch The Notebook, or some other pansy movie.”

“Eight hours of chick flicks sounds like a party to me!” Sameera cackled evilly. Jimmy smashed her with a pillow. “Behave before they believe you’d put them through that torture.”

“I can’t believe we’re moving. I mean I can feel it, but I’ve never been so comfortable in a vehicle of any kind before, well except for the plush plane.”

Jimmy nodded while watching the movie progress. In silence, the group sat together and watched the love story play out. Sameera’s breathing accelerated during the action packed scenes. When love scenes played he caught the flush of embarrassment on her face, especially with his bros making smooching noises and vehemently protesting the tenderness playing out. The ghost of the ex freaked them all out, he had to admit. But, they suffered through for Sameera because watching the movie made her smile and he’d be damned if anyone took that ray of sunshine away from him.

Giggling woke him from his nap. He swiped his hand across his face and felt a thick stream of orange goop. A growl tore from his lips as he jumped up and stormed to the bathroom to take a look at the damage. “Cheese wiz? That’s all you got, meerkat?” He washed the image of a penis and balls off his face and dried off.

“Could have been a sharpie. I owe you from your last prank on me. Don’t worry, the images are only up on the band pages and fan forums.” A sing song voice reverberated from the main room.

Jimmy stalked from the bathroom to find Sameera pointing her camera phone at him, standing behind Vin and Midian. “Waging war can be disastrous to your health. Take them down, meerkat.”

“Too late.” She jumped from between the guys and headed into enemy territory. Shea and Jackson picked her up and carted her to him. Jimmy tossed her over his shoulder and strode to her bedroom. “Time to pay the pied piper.” He slammed the door shut, locking everyone else out. At least the room no longer smelled of sex. She must’ve sprayed an entire canister of air freshener.

“I was just kidding put me down.” She huffed, beating against his back.

Jimmy dropped her down on the satin comforter. With her flushed face and wide eyes, he wanted to strip her naked and savor every inch of her delectable body. A heady tension rocketed through the room. Jimmy ghosted a hand up her chest, his fingers coming into contact with the frantic beat of her heart. Desire pooled through her. He leaned over to brush his lips over her parted ones. One taste wouldn’t hurt. His resolve would kick in. One sample of her soft sweet lips drove the need for more. Their tongues meshed. Swallowing her groan of pleasure, he dove deeper into the sweetest taste, the one he couldn’t forget. Her hands came around him, drawing him closer to her body.

Sameera needed to know who was in charge of their little unclarified relationship. He slipped his hands up her rib cage, reveling in her soft skin. “War has only one winner.” A soft nip here and there had her body softening under him. Strong thighs blocked her from moving her arms while he dug in, teasing and tickling without mercy. Her peals of laughter filled the air. He didn’t stop at her rib cage. He grasped her feet and brought her to breathless tears.

“N-not fa-air.” She fought for breath in-between peals of incessant giggles.

“Hey sweetheart, if it tickles that much, he don’t know what he’s doin.” Vin pounded on the door.

“You thought I was going to have my wicked way with you on the first night?” Jimmy ignored Vin and chuckled in her ear. “Tell me you give up on the prank wars. I’ll give you clemency, make you feel damn good.”

“Never. I will not concede.” Sameera’s soft intake of breath clashed with her strong spoken words.

“You sure you wanna start this, meerkat? You are vastly outnumbered on this bus.”

She fought to sit up and wiggle out from under him. Strategic movements prevented her from sliding free, though his hand ended up cupping a breast. Her nipples pushed against the restraints of her thin shirt. Jimmy reached down and sucked the barrier covered flesh into his mouth. Under him she squirmed.

“Jimmy.”

“Concede to ending the pranks I have no doubt you’ll pull on everyone?” He flicked her bud with his tongue. Sameera’s pout came close to disarming him. The twinkle in her eye told him she knew damn well the effect of her not smiling did to him.

“No. I’m the only girl on this bus. Gotta get my kicks somehow.”

Jimmy sighed. “Okay. Don’t come crying that you haven’t been warned.” He climbed off her body.

“I’ll just go make dinner for everyone then.” Sameera licked her lips and roved her gaze over his body, lingering a bit too long on his wood.

“You go do that, meerkat.” Jimmy chuckled, fixing her bedding. For one last parting shot, he launched a pillow at her, knocking into face. She scrambled around him and grabbed a book from off the bed, but not before he noticed the cover.

“You dirty little girl. Is that a smutty novel? And under the pillow? I could see a sex toy there but a book?” He snatched said book from her hand. “Pain and Pleasure, an exploration of S and M lifestyle with short erotic works.” He thumbed through the pages, bypassing a manila envelope tucked in as a bookmark.

“Stop.” She snatched the book from his hands. “Cat told me to read this. She must think I need some…”

“Meerkat, anytime you want to explore the darker side of pleasure let me know. I’ll be happy to step in and give new experiences a try. You know I love how you scream my name. We can grab a sex swing, some candles, a paddle with holes in it, vibrating panties and a pussy pump.”

“I’m good. Thanks. Just a bit of light reading, don’t go getting all kinds of fantasies.” She tucked the book back under her pillow and shoved the envelope in her pocket.

Jimmy didn’t miss the way she snuck out the letter. He let her secrecy slide for now. Sameera couldn’t hold a secret in for long, she never could, and he hoped that hadn’t changed. He quirked a brow at her in question and watched her deflect, stuffing her hand in that pocket.

“I’m gonna go start dinner.” She backed slowly out of the room, dropping her gaze from him. If he didn’t know then she had some major secret, her flighty departure sealed it for him. He’d get her to talk with his persuasive ways.

Chapter Seven

“Dinner is ready.”

Jimmy’s stomach rumbled. “It’s about time. We’re dying for a taste.” The aroma of her food teased them. Craig pulled over at a rest stop for the guys to get some air and stretch their legs. Jealousy ripped through him as she gave their driver her signature smile. A smile once reserved only for him. When she sauntered over to give him his plate, the driver’s hand remained on Sameera’s a second too long for his taste.

“I made butter chicken with saffron rice. I didn’t make the naan bread here, but did make the roasted bell pepper hummus to go with and some samosas with spiced ground hamburger, onions and chives.” She handed the driver a bottle of water. “If you’d like more please let me know. I made plenty.”

“Thanks, Sam. It’ll be nice having real food again. We stop most of the time for a quick bite when we can or just snack on premade sandwiches and junk food.

“No problem. You’re up here making sure we get to our destination safely, the least I can do is cook, and I love to. The natives are restless, I better go feed them before they go cannibalistic on us.”

Jimmy heard Craig laugh at Sam’s sense of humor and grit his teeth. Finally, she bounced back to them, gifting them with her smile this time, and all was right with the world. “You made my favorite dish.”

“Yes, because it’s always about you.” She dished up a plate for him and handed him a bottle of root beer.”

“Did you make that mango yogurt drink?” he asked. She swiped the bottle back from him and handed him a bottle of the sweet drink. “You spoil me, babe.”

“Not your babe and everyone loves this drink.” She ladled plates for the remaining members and set them down before them. “The dessert is in the fridge. I made a tub of Nariyal Ladoo a coconut ball made with condensed milk, khoya and filled with chopped cashews and almonds. They may look like cookies to those who haven’t had them.”

“They are the shit. Her ma used to make them when we were kids. Fuck, I loved the sweets she used to sneak to me.”

“We know. We’ve been living on her cooking for a year.” Midian grinned. “Sam loves this dish.”

“I think you should put some of her dishes in your restaurants, Jackson.”

“No shit. My mouth just witnessed a flavorful explosion of bliss.” Jackson sighed in pleasure.

Sameera cracked up. “That sounds downright dirty, Jackson.” She grabbed a plate for herself and found a spot to sit.

One by one, the guys went to the containers and dished up second helpings. Jimmy grabbed a container of sweets for himself and dished up his plate with more goods. “The way to a man’s heart is through his—”

“Hey, no dick talking at the dinner table.” Shea recorded some beats while he ate.

Jimmy snorted. “I was going to say stomach, dick douche.”

“No need to be extra polite around me. Don’t forget I was raised next to this Neanderthal and lived with my bandmates for a while until they found their own spots.”

“That’s news to me.” Jimmy glared at the trio in her band. Hell no, he wasn’t down with Sameera living with others, aside from the female persuasion.

“Shut it and eat your dessert.” Sameera slapped him on the leg as she sauntered by with a swing of hip, drawing his gaze to her ass, and upped his craving to taste her nectar for dessert. She knew too, she popped the coconut dessert into her mouth and let out a sigh of delight so sweet, his dick throbbed.

“I’ll uh, start cleaning up.” He moved away from temptation and submersed himself in cleaning up the area. Shea worked with him, by grabbing a trash bag and collecting the disposable plates, utensils and empty containers. “How much of those yogurt drinks did you bring?”

“Three cases.” Sameera popped another treat into her mouth and pulled out her ringing phone. She turned her back to Jimmy and the guys, walking to the backroom.

“Bet it’s the girls calling to check in and see how she’s handling being on the road with us.”

As Craig pulled the bus back on the road, ensuring they arrived on time, Garrick signaled for them to gather around him, leaning in like a football huddle.

“We need to remember she’s a girl and try to be tidy. Limit
letting them rip
in her presence and use the odor remover in the bathrooms after we take a dump.”

“We figured it’d be like when Care Bear and Perfect Princess were here on the bus with us.” Shea chuckled.

“It’s pretty much common sense. We can’t do nothing to hide the stench of dropping a good load, but we can try not to make her vomit,” Garrick reiterated.

“Some of us do have some manners,” Midian said, provoking Jimmy to wipe the smirk off his face with a fist. Garrick put his hands on Jimmy’s chest, pushing him down into a seat, then sat blocking his exit.

“You know the deal, Jimmy, respecting space is important. We can fuck around, but at the end of the day there are eight of us cohabitating together.”

“You six can cohabitate together. I will be bunking with Sam.”

Garrick ran a hand through his hair.

“Let it go, bro. He’s going to fucking do what he wants.” Shea advised their leader, and went back to creating beats.

“How can you work with everyone all around?” Vin asked. “I would never be able to on a bus.”

“You get used to creating on the fly when the bug hits you.” Shea leaned back with his drum sticks and stretched. “I can’t help it now. We need new material for the next album.”

Feminine laughter pierced their conversation. They all looked to the back of the bus. “Girls,” they all replied in unison.

“Wonder what’s so funny back there?” Shea nudged Jimmy.

“She isn’t just your regular girl. She’s Sam and there’s a difference.” Jimmy grabbed his bag and headed to the back of the room. “See ya’ll in the morning.” He left them to do whatever. The closer he got the higher the giggling sound became. At least he remembered to knock first. When he opened the door, Sam shot him a frown.

“I didn’t say enter.” She turned back to her laptop.

Dropping his bag, he bounced on the bed and grinned into her camera, crashing her face time. “Hey, ladies.”

“Hey, Jimmy,” Catalina and Dominique waved. Sameera rolled her eyes at his intrusion.

“I will talk to you two tomorrow.”

“Good luck with your first show tomorrow. I bet it’ll be amazing. Goodnight. Tell Midian, Major and Vin goodnight for us.”

“Will do.” Sam clicked off her laptop and rounded on him. “What are you doing here?”

“Crashing. Your band mates will take some getting used to.” Jimmy laid back on her pillow. “This is so much better than the bunk. I never used this room. Now I know why Garrick had dibs over everyone, stingy fucker. Me bunking gonna be a problem?”

“I didn’t realize you were afraid of them. I’ll protect your virtue.” She opened the door. “Mid and Major, Vin. Cat and Dom say goodnight and wish us luck tomorrow. Oh and Jimmy is having a hissy fit at having to share me. He can’t handle bunking with the guys so he’s gonna bunk with me. I did chase all the monsters away when we were kids. I promised to protect his—”

Jimmy stopped her word vomit with a hand clapped over her mouth. She struggled as he scooped her up and tossed her on the bed. “You are going to pay for that.”

“What?” she asked in feigned innocence. Pretending to be oblivious to what she set in motion.

“He should call her mama.”

“That’s sick man.”

Jimmy growled at Shea and Vin’s voices talking shit on the other side of the door. “You’re gonna be calling me daddy, babe.” He gave her a wicked wink and tugged her under him. “Who is going to protect your virtue? I’m the wolf that will devour it, that’s a promise.”

“There will be a barrier between us. A line of pillows. I will sleep under the sheet, you will sleep on top.”

“Sam, dear Sam. You forget who makes the rules. We will do it your way tonight, but I make no promises for future nights, or naps.”

“Whatever.” She twisted a strand of hair and rolled to her side to face him. “So what will it be like? How does everything get to the arena?”

“Probably the same as your symphony. We have semi-trailers carrying all our equipment and staging. The road crew will make sure everything is set up and good to go. Trish will set up interviews or radio opportunities for us, handle wardrobe and anything else that crops up. She is great at what she does.”

“Hmm. Well, I handle the blog and website for Final Regret. I update daily, along with the other social media. Gives me something to do to pass the time.”

Jimmy ran his hand up the curve of her hip. “Yeah? Good. If it becomes too much we have a team who takes care of that. Traveling by bus isn’t as glamorous as people think. We used to travel two hundred sixty days a year. A lot of hotel stops, and life on the go. No real time to decompress. Being on the road takes a toll. Now we try to fly more or have a few days between gigs, not only to make it there, but to have time to unwind or fly up people we want time with.”

“I’m scared and excited. This is going to be so different for me.” Sameera’s voice softened as he continued to stroke her side. In the past he loved being able to touch her wherever she’d let him.

“You’ll love it, meerkat. You already know you were born to perform. Don’t sweat anything.”

Sameera bit her lip and released it. Jimmy wanted to reach up and suck the pink flesh into his mouth, but refrained. Having her next to him, just chatting relaxed him.

“I don’t know.” She flipped onto her back and stared at the ceiling. This,” she motioned around the bus, “is a lot to take in. This must cost more than a house payment. How do you get used to this, hotel suites and fans.” Sameera tucked her hands under her head and crossed her ankles. “Jimmy, this is so far from what I’m used to. With the symphony, we flew and showed up at the venue to practice the evening or morning of our performance. I’m going to go from performing classic music for five or six thousand people to twenty-two thousand or more people. What if they don’t like us? What if they hate us? I don’t even know how to prepare for that. Being booed, or chased off stage.”

“Trust us, meerkat. If Garrick and the rest of my band didn’t think you and the members of Final Regret were not a good fit for us, you wouldn’t be here. Our past has nothing to do with the reason you’re doing some open spots for us. You are already known in a different genre of music as a successful musician. For you to doubt your talent or our trust is offensive. But I know what it’s like to be nervous before going before a mass of strangers. Just remember you have us behind you offering our support. All you have to do is take your sassy, sexy self out there and rock the shit out of everything. Let loose, like I’ve seen you do before and I promise you—they will fall in love with you and your guys. You are a triple threat musician. A classically trained musician, a vocalist and a lyricist. Not to mention you speak a zillion languages and can dance. Art isn’t defined by what you know, it’s defined by what you create and evoke out of people. I should have Garrick set you up to do our song acoustic.”

“You always know what to say to either make me feel better or piss me off.” Sam nudged him with her elbow. “Thanks.”

“Enough to win a kiss?”

“Mmm. Maybe that could be worked out.” The bed vibrated under them. “I think you’re phone is ringing.”

Jimmy withdrew his phone from his back pocket. “Sup, Trish.”

“Hey, just wanted to give a heads-up. I added a new security member to the team for Final Regret. Someone named Jacob, says he knows Sameera and her guys. I ran a check and he is a good addition. He passed clearance pretty fast, had some great references from the local police station and previous employers. He’ll check in with you at the venue tomorrow for his assignment.”

“Whatever you say you’re the boss.” Jimmy ground his teeth. He remembered Jacob who had his handprints all over Sameera’s ass at the black lit party and his tongue shoved down her throat. He wondered what Jacob’s end game was and wouldn’t like his presence not one bit.

“Oh, and one more thing. We think it would be a good promo for Final Regret if we play on your past with Sameera. You know how you taught her guitar and everything she knows. A riff off would be cool. I’m sure she knows all your parts or can pick them up. Make it good. Steamy good. A perfect way to introduce the band to the world.”

“Did you talk to Garrick about this?” He nudged Sam. “Trish wants us to have a riff off to introduce you to the world.”

“Of course I talked to Garrick. I have to go. Try not to get into trouble while you’re on the road. The other assholes have women to keep them in line. You now have three new buddies to get drunk with and I happen to like the mostly sober you you’ve been. So stay that way.”

“Yes, Mom.” Jimmy chuckled. Sam wrinkled her nose at him, giving him the questioning gaze. He lifted his finger to her to finish his conversation. “Goodnight, Trish.”

“What was that all about? I saw your face tense up and your poor teeth, if you keep up that grinding, you’ll need them fixed.”

“Your friend, Jacob, from the party we went to, is your band’s new security guard. I don’t know how he got in, but I will make sure he keeps his relationship professional. I don’t like him, Sam, and it’s not just because he had his tongue jammed down your throat. He weaseled his way onto the tour. How well do you know him? ”