Renegade (Bad Blooded Rebel Series) (4 page)

“Ryder,”
I whispered, my eyes filling with tears again.

“Do
you like it?” he asked.

My
fingers instinctively reached out and lightly touched his newly tattooed skin.
“It’s beautiful. I can’t believe you did this,” I said, my voice cracking.

“Why
wouldn’t I do it? Everleigh, I love you so much. You’re it for me. I wanted
Jake to put your name on my ring finger to show you that you are my whole world,
gorgeous.”

Tears
were still spilling from my eyes as I leaned in and kissed him. I didn’t care
that Jake was watching and snickering…I couldn’t believe he did this. I had
always thought when someone got a tattoo of their significant other names it was
bad luck, but seeing my name on Ryder’s ring finger in beautiful black script
made my heart feel so full. “I love you so much,” I said.

“Love
you too,” he repeated.

Jake
cleared his throat. “Okay, are we done with the PDA? I need to clean up and
that’s kind of hard to do with you staring at Everleigh like you’re about to
knock her up in my chair,” he laughed, nudging Ryder’s arm.

I
pulled back from him so Ryder could stand. “I’m sorry, Jake,” I said.

“Don’t
apologize to that ass clown, Evie,” Ryder said, smiling. “You ready to head
home?” He looked at me with eyes full of desire.

I
shivered. “Definitely,” I said, and he cocked his head to the side and grinned.
“But first I need to pay Jake for my tattoo.”

Jake
shook his head and held up his hands. “Oh no, babe, this one was on the house.
Ryder’s my boy and even though I’ve been teasing the shit out of him all night
I’m happy to see him settled down with a sweet girl.”

“Oh
no, Jake, I can’t do that. You took time out of your schedule to do this for
me. Please let me pay for it,” I said, holding out the cash Ryder had given me
a few weeks ago. “Take it.”

Jake
smiled and shook his head again. “No way, babe.”

I
turned to Ryder and stared at him with my mouth hanging open. “How hard is it
for someone to take this damn money from me?”

“Why
are you trying so hard to get rid of it?” Jake asked me, laughing. I told him
the story of how Ryder gave it to me as a tip with his cell number stashed
inside it and he laughed even harder. “Damn dude, you must have been off your
game. Sounds a little desperate to me.”

“Fuck
you, Jake. Evie’s not a groupie or a rock slut. I had to do something a little
out of the ordinary to get her to call. Who the hell cares anyway? It worked,
didn’t it?” he asked, pulling me into his side.

I
looked up at him and smiled. “Yes it did.”

“Hey,
listen, we all need to get together and hang out while you and the guys are
still in town,” Jake said, and he reached out his hand to Ryder. I stepped to
the side and let them have their man hug.

“Definitely,
bro. Thanks for getting us in tonight.”

“Not
a problem. You know you are at the top of the list, dude. Everleigh,” Jake
said, turning to me, “it was really nice to meet you. Thanks for letting me do
your tat. It looks bad ass on you.”

I
leaned in and gave him a friendly hug. “Thank you for making it special. It’s
perfect, Jake.”

He
gave me a quick squeeze. “You’re very welcome, beautiful. Don’t forget your
aftercare instructions. I’m sure Ryder can help you out if you need it,” he
said.

“Thanks
again, man. I’ll call you soon,” Ryder said, giving Jake another back pounding
hug and we left the tattoo studio arm in arm.

Later
that night we were lying in bed together naked and wrapped in each other’s
arms. The snow was still falling outside as our breathing returned to normal.
It had been tricky to make love when both of us had brand new tattoos but we
managed just fine.

“So,”
I asked, lying on my side and tracing one of the tattoos on his sculpted chest
with my fingertip, “you and Jake seem to have a strange friendship. How long
have you known him?”

Ryder
chuckled and kissed my hair. “I’ve known Jake for six years. We were touring with
Eternal Down at the time and their lead singer Jagger is Jake’s cousin. I was
looking to get a piece done for my dad and Jagger suggested I check him out, so
I did. The rest is history.”

“Do
you two usually joke like that? I’m surprised you didn’t punch him when he
admitted to checking out my boobs,” I said, feeling redness creeping into my
cheeks.

Ryder
sighed and ran his fingers through my hair. “I wouldn’t worry about him, he’s
harmless. Whenever we were in New York we all used to hang at clubs together.
Jude, Jake, and I all had a little rivalry going when it came to how many girls
we could get in one night. Jake and I used to try and land the same girl and
made it a competition to see who could get her first. He’s a really great guy
but he was just trying to push my buttons since I’m off the market,” he said.

“He
seems cool, but I have to admit it made me feel a little weird. Ever since the
incident with Scott-”

“Shh,
Evie,” Ryder said. “We don’t have to talk about him. That prick will never
touch you again.”

“I
just…ugh, I don’t know. I just feel like even though we are here in New York
Scott can still get to me somehow.”

Ryder
sat up and looked at me. “Everleigh, he is still in Muncie. He cannot get to
you. Trust me on this,” he said.

“I
do trust you. I just know that even though he’s still there he’s out of jail.
Danni is there alone and Trish is by herself at my house. I’m sure he knows by
now that I’m gone and I have a feeling he might try and find me. It wouldn’t be
hard,” I admitted.

“Let
him come. If he so much as tries to touch you again he will be going back to
Muncie in a body bag,” he said, his jaw clenched. “Let’s not talk about that
fucker anymore. I want to spend the rest of the night getting lost in you.” As
Ryder began to kiss his way down my neck all thoughts of Scott were tossed out
of my head. I really hoped Ryder was right and that Scott couldn’t hurt me
anymore but I couldn’t shake the feeling that the attack in the club was just a
sneak peek at what was to come.

Ryder

The
alarm on my cell phone went off and I groaned. I could feel Everleigh’s
gorgeous body wrapped around mine and I smiled before I even opened my eyes. I
was about to turn my alarm off and say fuck the recording studio and spend the
day rolling around in bed with her but before I could I felt her moving. “Come
on, time to get up rock star,” she whispered, kissing my bare chest.

Everleigh
started to sit up but I held onto her. “No…just ten more minutes. Don’t make me
move,” I whined like a child.

“Don’t
be a baby. You have to be at the studio by nine so you need to get a move on.
I’ll go start the coffee,” she said, wiggling out of my arms and climbing out
of bed. “Is there anything you want for breakfast?”

As
I watched Everleigh move to the dresser I’d bought for her I sat up and rested
my head against the headboard. “Yes. I want your sexy ass back in this bed. I
want you lying on your back with those awesome legs in the air and my face
between them,” I said, looking right at her.

She
shivered and I could see goose bumps starting to form on her skin. “Ryder…we
can’t. Come on, don’t say things like that, you know what it does to me.”

“Of
course I do…you know I never play fair. Come back to bed, baby,” I pleaded.
“Let me get a taste of you before I have to go.”

I
could see that she was tempted but she also wasn’t one to be swayed when it
came to my music. She had become so supportive of the band lately and wanted
this album to be finished as much as we all did. However, judging by how she
was glaring at me I wasn’t going to win this one. “Ryder, we have all the time
in the world for that, just not this morning. If you get there early enough
maybe you guys can be finished in enough time for us to have some fun later,”
she said, winking at me.

As
she slipped into a pair of black panties and one of my old tee shirts I knew I
wasn’t going to get lucky this morning. I groaned in defeat and dragged my ass
out of bed. “You don’t have to make me breakfast this morning, Evie. I’ll just
grab something on my way to the studio.”

Her
brows furrowed and she frowned. “Are you sure? It’s really no trouble.”

“I’m
sure, but thanks,” I said, walking to her and kissing her lips lightly before I
grabbed a pair of boxers from my top drawer. “You know, there’s still time for
you to get dressed and come into the studio this morning.”

She
walked into the bathroom and pulled out a toothbrush. After she put paste on it
she ran the toothbrush under cold water and said, “I don’t know, Ryder. I told
you that I am afraid I’ll be a distraction.”

I
turned on the shower nozzle and as I waited for it to get warm I said, “Evie,
I’m telling you that you won’t be. In fact I really want you to hear the new
stuff we’ve been working on.” I stepped to her and stuck my bottom lip out.
“Please?” I was actually desperate to get her out of the apartment today
because I had planned on surprising her at the studio.

Everleigh
thought Danni was flying into New York City this weekend but I knew she’d been
lonely in the apartment so I had arranged for Danni to fly in today. Her first
stop after leaving the airport was going to be the recording studio. Hopefully
her arrival would not only make Everleigh happy but Beau as well. One more day
of his whiny attitude and I was seriously going to punch him.

She
quickly finished brushing her teeth and spit out the paste into the sink.
Sighing, she said, “Okay fine, but if I’m in the way you have to tell me.”

I
crossed my finger across my chest in an X shape. “I promise to tell you if you
are being a pain in the ass.”

“Thank
you. I’m going to let you get your shower and I’ll go get ready,” she replied
as she quickly kissed my lips.

“You
know, you could join me. It would save time and conserve water,” I said,
cocking an eyebrow.

Her
mouth turned up in a smile and she said, “Yes and it would make you about
fifteen minutes late to the studio because you wouldn’t be able to keep your
hands off of me.”

“I
don’t give a shit if I’m late, Evie. Let them wait a few minutes,” I said, my
voice lowering an octave. I grabbed her hand and pulled her toward me. Before
she could protest I pulled my shirt from her body and tossed it to the floor.

I
thought she would try to convince me to be a good boy and be on time to the
studio. Instead she quickly slipped out of her panties and pressed her
beautiful curvaceous body against me as she slid my boxers down my waist. I
grinned and pulled her into the large walk-in shower where we made love against
the cold tile walls.

An
hour later I was in the recording studio getting ready to record my vocals for
one of the last songs that would be on the album. I wrote it a few days after I
first met Everleigh and I was nervous for her to hear it. It was called “Haunting
Me” and it was the first ballad that Bad Blooded Rebel would be releasing.

Rick
and Stanley had expressed concern over us “going soft” but I didn’t give a shit
if they liked it or not. The only person in the world I wanted to impress was
Everleigh.

Before
the guys and I headed into the recording booth, Everleigh gave me a kiss. “Good
luck rock star. Just pretend I’m not here,” she said. “I think I’m going to
call Danni while you are busy.”

I
touched her arm to stop her. “Wait, Evie. Can you listen to the song before you
call her? I kind of wanted your opinion on it.”

Smiling
brightly, she answered, “Really?”

“Of
course. Go take a seat at the mixing board and when it’s over tell me what you
think,” I said, kissing her forehead before I walked into the booth.

The
guys were already waiting with their instruments and Jude gave me a smile. “So,
you finally got her in the studio, huh? How many times did you have to lay the
pipe on her to get her to agree to come?”

I
flipped Jude off. “Shut the fuck up, man. I didn’t need to do that. I just
simply asked and she said yes.”

Kris
looked in Everleigh’s direction and smiled. “She looks like she’s doing okay,”
he stated. “She seems happy here with you.”

I
grinned at him. “I hope so, man. There are no words to describe how much I love
that girl out there.”  I stepped toward the microphone and placed the
headphones around my neck. “I actually have a good reason for bringing her here
today though.”

“Yeah?
And what’s that?” Beau snapped, irritatingly plucking a few strings on his
guitar.

I
sighed at his shitty attitude. One more day of this and I was going to kick his
ass hard. “Well, I know she’s been bored and hasn’t wanted to leave much
because I make John go with her everywhere, so I am flying in a little surprise
for her today.”