Strings of the Heart (36 page)

When I shut the door, Jake raised his brows at me and then winced in pain. “You look like hell,” he mumbled, as he rubbed his forehead.

“Yeah, some crazy fucker punched me,” I replied, with a wry smile.

The corners of Jake’s lips turned up a little. “Guess we’re going to give Darla a run for her money in the makeup chair tonight, huh?”

“Yeah, I think she’s going be pretty pissed at us.”

“Have a seat,” he said, motioning to the couch across from him.

After I eased down onto the sofa, I glanced expectantly at him. “Your right hook is pretty intense,” I said, trying to ease the tension that hung heavily in the air.

Jake chuckled as he flexed his fingers. “It’s been a long time since I’ve had to throw a punch. I wasn’t sure I still had it in me.”

“So glad I could help get you back in the ring.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jake replied.

We sat in an uncomfortable silence for what felt like a small eternity. Finally, I bit the bullet and went straight to the heart of the matter. “Look man, I’m really fucking sorry you had to find out about Allison and me the way you did.”

Jake cringed. “Yeah, me too.”

“We really haven’t been dating behind your back, Jake. It was only yesterday that we came together as a couple. I had every intention of coming straight to you and openly discussing my intentions toward Allison, but she wanted to wait. She felt certain of how you would react and wanted a little time for us to enjoy some happiness before shit hit the fan.”

Jake gave a small smile. “I see.” He then leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. “So Allison gave me her side of the story. What do you have to say?”

“Just that I’m sorry.”

With his brows shooting up in surprise, Jake asked, “That’s it?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know what else to say, but that I’m so fucking sorry. Our friendship has always been in the forefront of my mind, so I feel like shit for keeping Allison and me a secret from you. I don’t want my love for your sister to fuck with our friendship, man. But sometimes you can’t help the path your life takes, and when it comes to Allison, mine derailed in the best damn way possible. She’s one hell of an amazing woman, and I can’t help but love her with all my heart.” When Jake remained uncharacteristically silent, I continued on, “Trust me, I fought like hell not to give in to what I was feeling. But I’m sorry if I’m a selfish bastard for finally deciding that
her
happiness and
my
happiness meant more than how you could have felt about us.”

Jake weighed my words. “How am I supposed to believe that you’re not going to break her heart?” he questioned. Before I could respond, he continued on. “I mean, you’ve barely had any long-term relationships since I’ve known you.”

Cocking my head at him, I countered, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I could have said the same thing to you when you decided to date Abby.”

Jake grimaced. “Are you and Allison
ever
going to stop throwing Abby’s and my relationship in my face?”

“No, because it’s the only thing I can think of to get you to see reason. In so many ways, our relationships are similar. I’m hoping that fact will help you to see that you have nothing to be worried about. I’m going to love Allison as completely as you do Abby. I will honor her and protect her all the days of my life.”

“That last bit sounded like wedding vows.”

I shrugged. “Maybe it did. We’re not planning on running off to Vegas anytime soon. We have a lot to work on in our relationship before we get married. Plus, she’s still young. I want her to be able to finish her degree and get established in the fashion world before I tie her down.”

“I won’t lie that it does make me feel better to hear you say that. But at the same time, there’s still worry in the pit of my stomach. I just don’t want to think that in a couple of months you’re going to get tired of Allison and leave her.”

I shook my head furiously. “How could I, Jake? Every day I discover something new about her, and I can’t wait to get to spend more time discovering every little quirk she has. None of us can predict what the future holds, but I promise you that I will work my ass off to make her happy.”

Jake stared at me for a moment. Then he exhaled noisily. “I guess she could have picked a worse guy to fall in love with,” he mused.

“Easy there,” I countered, with a smile.

“You know I will have to kill you if you ever hurt her again.”

I held my hands up. “I’m willing to take that chance.”

Jake shook his head. “You’re really fucking sincere about this, aren’t you?”

“You act surprised?”

“I guess I expected to hear Allison profess her love for you. It just seems surreal that you’re really sitting here before me claiming you love my sister.”

“It’s the truth. Each and every word of it.”

Jake pursed his lips before easing forward on the couch. After he rose to his feet, he threw his hand out. I couldn’t help staring at it in surprise. “Then welcome to the family.”

“You really mean it, man?”

He gave me a genuine smile. “Yeah, I really meant it. Since we formed the band, you’ve been my brother. One day in the future, you can be my brother-in-law.”

I returned his smile. “Fuck, yes.” I rose off the couch. Instead of shaking his hand, I reached over to hug him. “I love you, man,” I said.

Jake squeezed me tight. “Love ya, too, bro. Still wanna throttle you good but I love ya.”

I laughed. “I’m sorry—really fucking sorry.”

“Yeah, well, for now, I think it would be best for you to continue riding on Jacob’s Ladder’s bus.”

Pulling away, I stared at him in shock. “And why the hell would I want to do that?”

He scowled at me. “I just can’t hack waking up in the middle of the night and hearing you two going at it, okay?”

Oh, hell no. I could not believe after all that had been said and done, Jake was still acting this way. “You’ve got to be shitting me? We just got together. How would you have liked it if after you and Abby started dating, her brothers demanded she ride Jacob’s Ladder’s bus, rather than with Runaway Train?”

Crossing his arms over his chest, Jake replied, “I would have told them to fuck off.”

I cocked my brows at him. “Oh really?”

His scowl grew even deeper. “Can’t you for one second imagine what it’s like for me?”

My mind went to Ellie and what it would be like if things were different with her. I guess Jake had a point because I sure as hell wouldn’t want to have to see or hear her getting busy with a dude. At the same time, I wasn’t ready to give up my intimate time with Allison. We’d had so few chances to really be together. “Maybe we can find a compromise. Like what if Allison came with me some nights on Jacob’s Ladder’s bus?”

Although his expression told me that he didn’t like the thought one fucking bit, he did manage to bob his head. “Yeah, I guess so.”

Since I knew how much it pained him, I replied, “Thanks, Jake.”

He jerked his chin to the door. “Think we should go out there and put Allie-Bean out of her misery? I’m sure she’s pacing the floor all worried that I’m about to kick your ass again.”

“Excuse me? Who said you kicked my ass? I thought we were pretty even,” I countered.

“Dream on, McGowan,” Jake replied, with a grin.

“You’re such a smug motherfucker.”

“Damn straight.” He then opened the door. After stepping outside, we saw Allison and Abby leaning against the wall across from us. Allison gnawed on her fingernails while Abby wrung her hands. At the sight of us, their brows rose in unison.

“Well?” Allison asked tentatively.

Jake glanced at me before he spoke. “Not that my opinion really matters, but I guess you can date this ugly bastard if he makes you happy.”

Allison squealed with happiness before throwing her arms around Jake. “Thank you, Jake. Thank you for accepting us!” She kissed his cheek before pulling away to bound over to me. As I wrapped my arms around her, Jake took Abby into his arms. He spoke softly into her ear, and by her changing expression, I knew he was making things right between them.

After they walked on ahead of us, I kept my arms firmly around Allison. She felt too good to let go of yet. “Oh Rhys, I don’t think I could ever be happier than in this moment!” Allison exclaimed, the decibel of her voice almost busting my eardrum.

“Me too,” I said, closing my eyes to savor the feeling of holding my love—the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I never imagined that I would know this feeling. Although having been around my bandmates had shown me that marriages could be good, happy, and wonderfully life-altering, I had always felt embittered by my parents’ sham of a relationship. But now that I had the right woman by my side, I no longer felt that way. I was truly and completely changed.

Pressing herself tighter against me, Allison leaned up to whisper in my ear. “I’m all for finishing what we started earlier, if you are?”

As she rubbed her pelvis against mine, I groaned. “Oh God, yes.” Just as I brought my lips to hers, a roadie cleared his throat in front of us.

“Uh, sorry to interrupt, but Frank said he needed you guys onstage again.”

With an extremely frustrated grunt, I pulled my lips from Allison’s. “Be right there,” I mumbled.

Instead of looking disappointed, Allison only stared at me with a beaming smile. “I better go check on the twins.”

“After the show, I’m not taking no for an answer.”

She laughed. “And I don’t plan on putting up a fight.”

“Hmm, you make me so fucking happy,” I replied, before bringing my lips to hers again. Just as we were getting hot and heavy, Jake’s voice broke up our happy reunion.

“Get your lips off my sister and get your ass up to the stage!”

Still kissing Allison, I raised one hand and flipped Jake off. “Douchebag,” he muttered. Frankly, he could call me all the names he wanted to as long as I had Allison. She was my heart, my soul, and my world, and I was one lucky bastard to have her.

A
s the sunlight streamed across my face, I woke slowly to the gentle sway of the bus driving down the interstate. Stretching in the bed, I found myself wrapped in a cocoon of sheets, along with the man I loved. For the past two days, Eli and Gabe had taken pity on Rhys and me and given us the bedroom on their bus. Well, I say pity. I think some money might have been exchanged to ensure our privacy. It was glorious getting to sleep with Rhys without having to worry about anyone barging in or Jake freaking out. Not to mention we had room to move as opposed to being cramped into a roost.

Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Rhys was still sound asleep. Wanting to give him a naughty wakeup call, I shifted in the bed before sliding the sheet down to his knees. While he remained dead to the world, his cock strained with its usual morning blood flow. I took it into my hand and stroked it a few times, bringing it to full mast.

After kissing a slow, wet trail down his chest and abdomen, I slid his hardness into my mouth. Rhys’s eyes remained closed, but his brows furrowed as if he was trying to decide whether he was enjoying real life or a dream. I continued to bob up and down on his erection, suctioning the tip and giving special attention to the sensitive head. At Rhys’s groan, I felt the slickness between my thighs begin to grow. His eyelids popped open. Rising up on his elbows, he stared down at me in surprise. With my eyes, I conveyed the message that there was nothing else in the world I wanted to be doing than sucking him off. “Oh fuck, Allison. You sure know how to wake a man up,” he murmured, a pleased smile curving on his lips.

I continued stroking him with my hands and tongue. With my free hand, I cupped his balls, causing Rhys to groan again. His head fell back against the pillow while he thrust up his hips to fill my mouth even farther with his dick. As I continued to suck and lick his straining erection, Rhys’s hands came to my waist. When he started lifting me as if I weighed nothing at all, I stilled my movements, letting him fall free of my mouth. After emitting a gasp of surprise, I let Rhys turn and then slide my lower body across his chest. He eased me up on my knees where my pussy was directly over his face, and we were in a delicious 69 position.

Giving him head had already turned me on so much that there were beads of moisture trickling along my inner thighs. Rhys flattened his tongue against my skin and licked me dry. “You taste so fucking good,” he said, his voice vibrating against my core.

I moaned when his tongue began to lick and suck my clit. Once again, I took his erection in my hands and stroked it up and down. When my hungry mouth sucked him inside again, Rhys groaned against my clit. The vibration caused me to shiver. His fingers came to spread me open to give his delicious tongue better access. He plunged deeper and deeper until I was moaning and groaning against his dick. Finally, it grew to be too much, and I pulled away, crying out as I came in hard shudders.

Rhys’s hands once again came to my waist. He gently turned me around to where I was facing him, my core rubbing against his dick. I rose up on my knees to straddle him better. Once I was in place, I took his erection in my hand and guided him to my ready entrance. As I slid inch by inch down on him, I whimpered as his fullness filled me. Glancing down at Rhys, I watched as he closed his eyes and bit his lip. “You feel so fucking good around my dick,” he murmured.