More Than Comics (20 page)

She looked him up and down with a flirty smile. “Thanks. I don’t do the whole costume thing.”

“No, me either.” He sat on the stool next to her. “So Hector said you’re moving to Dallas?”

I waved for the bartender to get them whatever they wanted and put it on our tab, and left the two of them alone to talk. Maybe nothing would come of it, but at least I’d tried. They might even be good together—Becca needed a nice guy, and Andy could probably use a little bit of trouble.

I returned to Tara with another round of drinks, and Maddie and Jared joined us after their song was over.

“You two were amazing up there,” Tara said.

Maddie smiled, leaning against Jared. “Thanks. I wasn’t sure I could hit some of those notes but it wasn’t too bad in the end.”

He kissed her cheek. “You were incredible, just as I predicted. We should ask Dan if we can add that song to our set.”

I kicked him under the table. “Dude, no. The last thing we need right now is another song to learn.”

“But I already know the guitar for it,” Maddie confessed, with a smile.

“Of course you do.”

Julie was up next at karaoke, taking on Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” Rocket Raccoon was nowhere to be seen, but Carla joined her on stage and the two of them got tons of whistles in their Poison Ivy and Catwoman costumes as they did the famous dance together. They gestured for Maddie and Tara to join them, but they shook their heads. Instead, Alexis hopped on stage and started doing the dance with the other girls while Kyle cheered them on.

“That’d be a fun song to try to cover, too,” Jared said.

“No more songs,” I growled. “Unless they’re our own.”

He laughed. “Okay, fine. But maybe once the tour is over and the album is done…”

“Pretty sure we’ll have enough to practice as is.”

“When I’m in LA, can I come watch you practice sometime?” Tara asked.

A thrill ran through me at the reminder she’d be living there in a few weeks. “Any time you want.”

“And I want to go to that tattoo parlor you mentioned, too.”

Jared arched an eyebrow. “You want to get a tattoo?”

“Thinking about it. Hector’s going to design something for me in honor of
Misfit Squad
coming out.”

Maddie bounced a little in the booth. “Ooh, I want to get one, too! We can all go together.”

“What will you get?” I asked her.

“I’m going to get a heart made out of a treble clef and a bass clef. Maybe on my wrist. Or my shoulder. I haven’t decided.”

“I still don’t know what to get,” Tara said.

I wrapped an arm around her. “I’ll sketch out a few things while we’re on the road and email them to you.”

“Okay, I—” Tara suddenly pointed at the bar. “Oh my god, look!”

Becca was in Andy’s lap, her tongue down his throat, his hands on her ass. The first couple buttons of his shirt were undone, and the drink next to him was empty. Damn, he’d moved on fast. I grinned, pleased with myself for introducing them. Even if it never went further than tonight, at least they were having some fun.

“Good for her,” Maddie said. “He’s cute.”

“That’s my ex,” Tara said, laughing. “I’m so glad he’s okay.”

“Not jealous?” I asked.

“Not even close.” She slid her hand along my thigh, higher and higher. “You’re the one I want to be with.”

I buried my face in her silky, gold strands. “I can’t wait to get you alone so I can do dirty things to you in that costume.”

“We could go up to my room if you want…”

“Oh, I very much want.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
TARA

O
nce in my hotel room, we couldn’t keep our hands off each other. He grabbed my top hat and flung it across the room before his mouth descended on my bare shoulders. “I can’t decide if I want to rip those clothes off you or take you in them.”

I closed my eyes as he pressed kisses across my neck and nipped at my bowtie. “Julie will be mad if you rip them.”

“Option two it is.” He trailed a finger from my collarbone down to the gap between my breasts.

“Not yet,” I said, pushing him away with a smile. “It’s my turn to touch you.”

His dark eyes flashed with lust, his pouty lips curling in a grin. I moved behind him to remove his military vest, sliding it off his broad shoulders and admiring his powerful back. I ran my hands across his beautiful skin, feeling the strength coiled under those muscles. He turned around, and my gaze lingered on the masculine contours of his chest, drinking in the sight of him.

I took my time, thoroughly exploring every inch of his bare skin, from the definition of his stomach to the swell of his biceps to the darker skin of his nipples. He was so insanely touchable and I couldn’t get enough. I opened his pants and took his length in my hand, loving the soft yet hard feel of him. I was still wearing my fingerless biker gloves from my costume, but, if anything, that only excited him more.

“Fuck, Tara, you turn me on so much.”

“I do?” I asked, even though I held the evidence of it in my hand. But I wanted to hear him say it.

“You always have,” he said, his voice husky. “You don’t know how many times I had to jerk off or take a cold shower after talking with you.”

“God, the thought of you touching yourself while thinking about me…it makes me want you even more.” My lips brushed against his jaw and he caught my mouth with his. He ran his tongue against mine in the most erotic way, making me completely weak in the knees.

“I thought about you too, all the time,” I said, while I undid his belt buckle and eased his pants off. I removed every other stitch of his clothing so he stood before me naked, while I remained dressed.

He groaned. “Tara…”

Before he could say another word I dropped to my knees. He cried out something in Spanish as I slid my lips over his length, flicking my tongue along the tip of him. I stroked his shaft as I licked up and down in one long motion, before taking him deeper in my mouth.

His hands locked in my hair as I glided him in and out, licking and sucking and worshiping him with both my mouth and my fingers. I looked up his long body and saw his head thrown back, his throat exposed, his eyes clenched tight. I had never seen anything more arousing than that image, and knowing I had done that to him made it even hotter.

I dug my nails into his perfect, hard butt, bringing him closer, deeper, working him over completely with my lips and tongue. His hips jerked, his hands tightened, and he muttered that he was close, but I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to do something just for him, to feel the power of making him fall apart for me. And seconds later, he did. I watched it all, memorizing the sounds he made, the way his face tensed up, the way he lost control.

It took a minute for him to recover, but then he reached down and picked me up in his arms in one easy movement. “You are one naughty girl,” he said, giving me a long, thorough kiss before gently tossing me on the bed. “But how is this fair? I haven’t had a chance to play with you yet.”

He slid up my body to brush his lips along the top of my breasts, which were pushed up from the corset. He loosened the laces on the front, just enough to make my breasts burst out of them. The cooler air hit and I gasped, but then his mouth descended on my nipples, warming me instantly. His tongue did amazing things to each one, making me arch up against him.

He dragged off my panties but left everything else on. He definitely liked when I wore costumes. I’d have to remember that…

He gripped my boots and forced my legs apart, placing a tender kiss on each inside thigh right where my fishnets ended. He worked his way up, my mini-skirt inching higher and higher as I opened wider for him. I moaned as his head dropped between my thighs, his tongue flicking along my sensitive skin. He dipped a finger inside me as he sucked and licked, and it nearly sent me over the edge right there.

I spread for him, letting him worship me with his mouth and his fingers, taking everything he wanted to give me. Hector made me feel desirable and powerful and adored in a way that no other man ever had. Like he loved me, but also desperately wanted me.

But soon it was too much and I thought I would burst from the intense sensations moving through me. He had me writhing on the bed, gripping his hair so hard I knew it had to hurt, making me practically scream his name. I fell apart, and he put me back together again.

I wiped sweaty hair off my forehead, trying to catch my breath, while he sat up and moved beside me. I noticed he was already at attention again. “Ready so soon?” I asked.

“Hey, I’ve been holding this in for years.” He played with my bowtie, slowly undoing it and pulling it off my neck. “And going down on you turns me on.”

I pushed against his chest, forcing him to lie back on the bed. I found a condom and got it on him, both of us laughing when I had a hard time getting it over his impressive size. We were giddy, wrapped up in love for each other, in the knowledge we didn’t have to rush because we could do this for many nights to come.

He grinned up at me as I moved over him, straddling his waist. I slid onto him slowly, closing my eyes and savoring the exquisite way he filled me. My skirt was pushed up around my hips, my boots resting on either side of his thighs, my breasts hanging free from my corset. He seemed to love the view, and with my gloved hands pressed flat on his well-defined chest I certainly wasn’t complaining either.

I started to ride him, slowly at first but building into a frenzy. He gripped my butt, helping me along and matching my pace with his hips, and we moved together in a rhythm that soon spiraled out of control. My back arched as the sensations grew stronger, as my body took him deeper inside. Our eyes stayed locked the entire time, and there were no secrets between us, no more pretending, just raw honesty and intimacy. Pleasure swept through me like a tidal wave, threatening to drown me. I let it take me away, and Hector joined me a second later.

I lay against his chest and he circled his arms around me, his body rising and falling with each heavy breath. “
Te quiero
,” I said, and this time he didn’t flinch away. “I know what it really means.”

“
Te quiero, te amo, te adoro
,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Three ways of saying I love you.”

I closed my eyes, relaxing into his warmth. “Mmm, you can speak Spanish to me all night long.”

“Only if I get to do other things to you, too.”

And that’s exactly what he did.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
HECTOR

T
ara and I spent the last day of Comic-Con wandering the exhibit hall together, where many of the vendors were having sales so they didn’t have to drag home all their stuff. She bought me a Red Power Ranger keychain, which she found way more amusing than I did. I got her a mug that said, “Writing Is My Superpower” with a silhouette of a girl with a cape holding a book. I also picked up a few things for my sisters, including an autographed picture of that
Arrow
guy for Yasmine. We signed a few extra copies of our book for Black Hat Comics to sell, and said goodbye to Miguel and the rest of the crew working there.

The day went by way too fast, and was over before I knew it.

Our giant tour bus waited in front of our hotel, with
The Sound
logo and a picture of Dan and the other mentors plastered on the side of it. The band’s home for the next month while we were on tour. All our stuff had already been loaded into it, and we had to hit the road if we wanted to make Phoenix in time for our show tomorrow night.

For the first time, I no longer wanted to go.

I wrapped my arms around Tara, holding her against my chest. “I can’t believe I finally have you, but now I won’t see you for a month.”

She smiled up at me. “We’ve done the online thing for years. One more month is nothing.”

“Yeah, but now I know what I’ve been missing all that time.”

She lifted up to kiss me on the nose. “You’re such a grump. But as strange as it sounds, I think this time apart will be good for me. I need to move to LA on my own and be alone for a while, at least until I’m settled in. The girls will help me if I need anything, but I’m looking forward to being independent, too.”

I nodded. If she was happy, then I was happy. “And then you’ll be in LA and we’ll see each other all the time. I’m already dreaming about the things I want do to you when I get back.”

“God, I can’t wait. Being able to see you whenever I want…what a delicacy.”

I chuckled. “A delicacy? Hey, I'm not a piece of meat.”

“You were definitely good enough to eat last night.”

“Damn girl, if I didn’t already have a million reasons for loving you, you just added another to my list.”

“Aw, I love you too,” she said, drawing me in for a kiss.

“Sorry to break up the party, but we need to get going,” Jared said, wearing a t-shirt that said, “Life’s More Fun With Villains.”

I gave Tara one long kiss, while Kyle did the same with Alexis. Maddie hugged Carla and Julie, then gave Alexis and Tara each a hug, too. We each said our final goodbyes, the girls all teary-eyed, and me pretty damn close to losing it myself. Not that I’d ever admit it.

Jared and Maddie boarded the bus first, holding hands, followed by Kyle. I was the last one to step on, not wanting to be away from Tara for even a second longer than I had to. But as the doors shut she flashed me one of her dazzling smiles, and I knew it was only a temporary parting. She was moving to LA to start her new job, and when I returned we would finally be together.

As the bus drove away, Kyle and I watched the women we loved disappear behind us through the window.

“Damn, I already miss her,” I said.

“I know what you mean. But I lived without Alexis for three years and we managed to find our way back together. After that, I know we can handle one month apart. That time is a drop in the bucket when we have the rest of our lives to be together. And the same is true for you and Tara.”

“There you go, being cheesy again.”