Rock Me (New Adult Romance) (5 page)

“Earth to Shayla,” Aimee said, giving me
a friendly push. I shook myself to find two amused blue eyes looking at me.

“Sorry A, I’m a little sleepy.”

“No doubt. I nearly had a heart attack
when I saw you crawl in at 7 a.m. I’ve never seen somebody fall asleep so fast.
I got through, like, three episodes of
Pretty Little Liars
while you
were out.”

A stab of guilt hit me. While boys were
definitely distracting, my friendship with Aimee came first. “I am so sorry, A.
This is
our
trip to NYC. I shouldn’t have wasted the morning sleeping
off my crazy adventure.”

Aimee gave me a quizzical look. “No Shay.
Even though I am a little worried about this Liam character, I’m actually proud
of you.” I shot her a
I don’t believe you
look. “No really,” she
protested. We’re here to take chances and that’s exactly what you’re doing.
There’s no way I’m gonna come down on you for that.” We grinned at each other
suddenly and then went in for an impromptu hug.

“Have I told you lately that you’re the
best?” I said, shaking free.

“I don’t mind hearing it again,” she
teased. “That said, you are
mine
this afternoon! We’re going to shop,
eat, and walk until we drop. You up for it?”

I nodded vigorously. I was definitely
ready for some old-fashioned girl time after my intense night. We proceeded to
do a thorough review of Uniqlo, a Japanese chain with cheap and trendy clothes.
I bought a cute pink short sundress with white polka dots and Aimee picked up a
long maxi dress with tie straps and a wild pink flower print.

We ducked into a coffee shop for
way-too-expensive fancy coffee drinks and dark chocolate cherry cookies before
continuing to explore the pretty streets and try on clothes we could never
afford to buy.

After a couple more hours of shopping we
were famished so we veered into Chinatown to meet Felicia at her favorite
Vietnamese restaurant, a first for us.

Over steaming bowls of pho (broth with
beef, rice noodles, and veg) Aimee and I laughed as we attempted to use the
awkward plastic chopsticks. Felicia recounted her day. She’d spent it trying to
talk down Black Dawn from publicly replying to a bad review.

Then Liam called. I felt familiar
butterflies in my stomach but they were friendly butterflies this time. He told
me he had a surprise for me. I was loath to leave Felicia and Aimee, though, so
I asked him if he wanted to join us at dinner first.

Within 10 minutes he was at the table,
ordering his own bowl of pho. Felicia and Aimee could not keep their eyes off
him, a fact that was almost embarrassingly obvious. He was casual in a leather
jacket and a white shirt, his long brown hair swept to the side, looking his
usual nonchalant and very attractive self.

He sat next to me, his arm draped over
the back of my chair while he chatted with Felicia about Black Dawn and the now
infamous review. He calmly advised her that it would blow over within a day and
that the band just needed to assert their ego. I felt proud of his level head.

I couldn’t contain my curiosity. 
“You mentioned you wanted to go somewhere tonight?”

Liam cleared his throat and looked at
Felicia and Aimee with mild embarrassment.

“Yeah, I wanted to take you to the
Slipper Room.”

Felicia’s eyes widened. “Ooh. I’ve always
wanted to go there. Everyone’s talking about it. Didn’t
The New Yorker
just write them up?”

“Uh, what’s the Slipper Room?” I asked.

“Kinda a weird place to take a girl on a
date, though,” Felicia commented, one of her perfect eyebrows arched.

“Well, now it’s more of a group outing,”
Liam shot back, with a smirk.

“OK seriously guys, where are we going?”
Aimee cut in.

“Don’t get your panties in a twist,”
Felicia said. “You girls want to see something you’d never see in Minnesota?
Well, get ready.”

* * *

The music was thumping as we walked into
a huge airy space. The room was stuffed with tattooed men and women with
fashionable haircuts plus groups of very pretty and very loud gay men.

What really caught my attention though was
the nearly naked woman on stage. Yes,
naked
. Aimee and I stared,
bug-eyed.

“Uh, where are we?”

“Welcome to the Slipper Room, ladies,”
Liam replied, grinning. “And welcome to the re-birth of burlesque.”

We were definitely
not
in
Minnesota. I’d never been to anything like this. Heck, the only place I’d seen
a woman naked in public before was my gym’s locker room. I suddenly realized
why Felicia had thought this was a weird place for a date. Despite this, there
were still plenty of guys and girls sitting together and holding hands. It was
blowing my mind.

We found a place to sit near the back.
Liam brought me a drink, which turned out to a delicious combo of gin and
elderflower liqueur. I sipped it, eyes widening.

“If you’d left it to me, I would have
ordered a Sex on the Beach,” I joked.

“Hey, I’m never going to knock sex on the
beach,” he returned, eyes dancing. I could feel myself turning scarlet and
turned my eyes to my drink.

The performances were completely
scandalous. Women in sparkly outfits, heels, and long gloves paraded around the
stage. But the acts were hardly sexy—the women struggled to get out of
their sequined dresses and some could hardly dance.

But boy were they funny. They performed
tricks and wore themed costumes based on old surfer songs, indie, and classic
rock. There wasn’t a lick of AC/DC. One woman even performed as if she was a
marionette.

But what most caught my attention was
that most of these ladies were chubby or even overweight. Their cellulite,
wobbly bums, healthy tummies, and full thighs were all on display. At first I
was too embarrassed to really look at them but soon I couldn’t stop staring at
these women who looked pretty much like me but with better make-up, higher
heels, and, uh, less clothing.

“I can’t believe this,” I finally said to
Liam. “People pay to see these shows?”

He shrugged. “It’s crazy popular. My buds
always want to come here. Plus, I’m told the cocktails are pretty great.”

My mind struggled to compute this. “Do
men find this, uh,
arousing
?” I said this last part in a whisper. Liam
smiled broadly.

“I dunno. I think it’s more about the
ladies doing their thing, you know? But the guys here definitely appreciate
their killer curves and attitude. Personally, I love seeing these ladies let
loose.”

I gave Liam a cock-eyed look. “Liam, did
you bring me here so I’d feel more comfortable with myself?”

“Of course not,” he said, looking a
little too casual. I held his gaze. He sighed. “Well, it was a long-shot, but
yeah. I was afraid you’d think I was some perv or something. I was hoping all
the other chicks here would put you at ease.”

I smiled. “I’m a bit sheltered but I’m
not a total prude,” I countered. “I actually feel comfortable here.” A wash of
gratitude came over me. “I really like that you were thinking of me.” I paused
for a moment. “Do
you
find these women attractive?”

He leaned closer. I could see the gold
flecks in his eyes and smell the sweetness of his breath. “I love this
type
of woman. But the only woman I’m specifically interested in is right in front
of me.”

He held my eyes for a moment and then
kissed me. I felt like his lips were scorching my own, there was so much heat
behind it. Without thinking I pressed in for more. He gently caressed my tongue
with his, taking his time. I could feel my body melting as he started gently
caressing me while kissing me more and more intensely. His hands moved to my
waist and pulled me closer. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he
finally whispered in my ear. His breath tickled me, sending shivers down my
spine. All I could do was nod before he picked me up and practically carried me
out of the theatre.

* * *

He quickly ushered me through the lobby
of his hotel and into the elevator where he proceeded to kiss me
again—this time on my neck and ears, all while discreetly running his
hands over my body. I was already on fire. I leaned into his kisses, my hands
on his very nice butt. As much as I didn’t want the elevator to stop, I
couldn’t wait to get a little more privacy.

His room was an intense mix of lemon
yellow leather, zebra print textiles, and dark wood. He hesitated for a moment
at the door as I stood in the middle of that impressive room. It was dark, as
he hadn’t yet turned on the light.

I turned to face him. “Shay I need to be
honest with you,” he said, concealed in the shadows. He looked imposing, a bit
dangerous, sexy. “I really want to make love to you.

That said I don’t want to do anything you
don’t want to. So you gotta tell me because right now I just want to make you
so exhausted you may never stand again.”

I could barely hear the rest of it
because all I could think about were the words ‘make love to you’ and ‘never
stand again’.”

“I think we’re on the same page,” I
gulped. “Come here. Please.”

He smiled and stepped out of the shadows
while taking off his leather jacket. He was so tall that my head only came up
to his chin. He gently stroked my hair, his eyes on mine, and then ran the back
of his hand down my cheek. After a moment, he suddenly pulled me to him, crushing
his lips against mine.

I was aware of nothing but his need and
mine. He ran his hands down my body, gently cupping my behind and pushing me
even closer against him.

His hands began to roam all over my body,
caressing my breasts, then running a hand up my leg and under skirt, causing me
to gasp.

“You are so beautiful,” he whispered in
my ear, before pressing me against what was a very substantial hard on. My
breath caught. There was definitely a lot of
him
in there.

He continued to run teasing fingers under
my dress, stroking my thighs and cupping my bottom. He took off his shirt and
my eyes widened to see his well-formed pecs, flat abs, and well-defined arms
covered in tattoos. I ran my hands his muscular torso. He was warm and soft and
hard at the same time. My mouth went dry with desire. Other parts of me, well,
they weren’t dry at all.

I fiddled with his belt, clumsily opening
his pants. His eyes were liquid with desire as he watched my every move. His
pants dropped down to reveal a spectacular bulge in his very tight and small
black underwear. My eyes went from the bulge to his face. I could see in his
eyes the force of his desire and an equal amount of restraint. I wanted a bit
more of that desire.

I tentatively reached out and stroked him
through his shorts. He was incredibly hard and
large
. I felt the need to
really get things started. I pulled him out of his shorts, knelt, and put him
in my mouth. I gently licked and sucked. His breathing deepened considerably.

“Oh Shay,” he groaned, gently caressing
my head as I stimulated him. He tasted salty and the skin of his shaft was like
velvet. I worked at him as he moaned, his legs bucking. He gently helped me up
after a few minutes.

“Not fair,” he whispered. “I’m completely
naked and you haven’t taken off a thing.”

“We can fix that,” I said slyly. “But lay
down on top of me first.”

“Shy?”

I shrugged slightly, looking down. “I’m
not perfect.”

He nodded and gently led me to the bed. I
reclined back and he lay on top of me, careful to rest his weight on his forearms.
We kissed passionately and moved together, enjoying feeling each other so
close. He then untied my dress in the back and pulled it down and off me. He
kissed the tops of my breasts passionately.

At first I squirmed a bit, aware of the
softness of my thighs, the roundness of my belly, my big bum. But he didn’t
seem to notice, as he was so busy kissing first my breasts and then my tummy,
my legs. He kissed everywhere, passionately covering every squishy bit with his
eager wet mouth.

He moved down to between my legs, kissing
me there through my underwear. I could feel a wash of heat and I squirmed
impatiently. But he kept torturing me, first planting soft kisses and then more
insistent ones. He moved aside my panties and inserted a very wet tongue into
my most sensitive place. I gasped audibly, holding his head with my hands.

He began working at me, kissing, sucking,
and tasting my most tender folds and spots before working tenderly on my clit,
building me towards ecstasy. Breathless, I eventually pleaded, “I can’t take
any more Liam. Please, I want you inside of me.”

He climbed up, removing my bra and
planting a couple more tortuous kisses on my swollen nipples. He moved off for
a sudden and then I heard a foil packet ripping and then felt the welcome
hardness of him against the very softest part of myself.