The Complete Rockstar Series (41 page)

“Kate! What’s it like being the other woman?”

“Kate! Are you dropping out of school to join Dax on his next tour?”

H
oly hell
.

The pack gets closer and closer until Brittany and I can no longer move. I resort to being polite so I won’t break down crying in front of them.

“Please. Let us through. We just want to get home.”

It doesn’t help. The extremely personal, and mostly untrue, questions keep hitting me rapid-fire like bullets sprayed from a machine gun. It’s been less than two minutes since we’ve stepped out of the building and I’m nearly in tears from the stress. The blood pulsing behind my ears is so loud I can barely hear Brittany threatening the reporters with bodily harm if they don’t let us through.

“Get out of here!” A thunderous voice booms across the quad. “This is completely out of line!” Muffled curses erupt from the direction of the bellowing. Coach Russo pushes his way into the tight inner circle amid a sea of protests.

He stands directly in front of Brittany and me and addresses the reporters in his loudest
‘don’t fuck with me’
voice. “You are harassing my players and causing a disturbance on campus. I will call the police if you don’t allow us through!” He puts one hand on the back of each of our necks, guiding us through the crowd towards the safety of the athletic building.

Once the door is shut and the frenzy locked out, Coach turns to speak. “They’re not allowed inside the buildings on campus without permission, but the public areas are fair game.” He gives me a strange look and turns to Brittany. “Miss Cavanaugh, you may go out the back entrance. Miss Campbell,” his piercing gaze hits me again, “come with me to my office.”

Brittany stares at me as if silently asking if I’m okay.

Nodding, I let her know it’s fine. “Go ahead, Brit. I’ll talk to you later.”

She’s hesitant, I can see dozens of questions in her eyes, but eventually she turns and goes down the hallway in the opposite direction. Inhaling deep, I follow Coach Russo to his cramped, messy office.

“Sit.” He points at a chair covered with equipment. I move each item to the other one, now overflowing, and drop down heavily once it’s clear. He is a terrible slob.

Coach sits behind his desk, clasping his fingers in front of his mouth in a steeple. “So. Want to explain whatever that was I just saved you from?”

I stare at my hands,
so
not wanting to discuss Dax or my private life with my coach.

“Kate,” he says in a softer tone. “What is going on? Are you in trouble or something?”

My head snaps up to meet his concerned face, his dark eyes shining transparently with his desire to help.

“I’m not in trouble, Coach.”

He sighs, sitting back in his chair, which emits a loud squeak as it bears more of his weight. “You’re not going to tell me, are you?”

I shake my head, my eyes filling with tears.

“Alright. But I can’t have reporters accosting my players. If you need something, ask.”

“Right, Coach.”

“I’ll walk you out the back to make sure there’s no one there waiting for you.” He stands up and joins me on the other side of his desk. Coach Russo isn’t a large man, just an inch or so taller than me. His skin is a dark olive and his hair jet black and curly, giving away his Italian heritage almost as much as his last name.

“Thanks,” I whisper, my voice cracking.

He nods, opening the door to his office so I can exit first. We walk to the back of the building in silence and I relax my tense muscles when I see that the only people outside are a few members of the track and field team, warming up for practice.

“It’s clear. Go home, rest, and remember, Kate, you can talk to me about anything. You girls are my responsibility.” His dark eyes shine with concern.

“Yeah, thanks Coach.”

I hurry back to my flat to call Dax. When I get there, I find over thirty messages on the answering machine. After playing the first two and realizing they’re all from nosy reporters, I delete the rest without listening.

Sitting on my bed, a bed Dax and I have made love in countless times, I wonder how long this thing with him can possibly last. Dax and the other guys are becoming more and more famous every day. Their first album is a huge success, debuting at number thirty on the Billboard list. As the tour progressed and singles were released, it now rests comfortably in the top ten.

Tired and still freaked out by the incident on campus, I kick off my shoes and lay back, arranging my pillow beneath my head. Without thinking, I turn and inhale the other pillow, the one Dax uses when he stays over. His scent is long gone, having been six weeks since he was last here.

Depressed, I close my eyes, willing the rock that’s sitting in my stomach to go away. I must fall asleep, because the next thing I know, someone is dragging a hand down my cheek. My eyes fly open and my heart begins to pound.

“Dax!”

He gives me a crooked grin, yet his eyes look wary, as if he’s waiting for me to scream or yell at him. I fling myself at him, wrapping my arms around his broad shoulders and tucking my face against his neck.

“You scared me half to death!”

His large arms surround me, squeezing me into his chest.

“Sorry angel. You didn’t answer the door, so I let myself in,” he whispers into my hair. I gave him a key a while back so he could come over after a late gig or recording session and not bother Abby.

“I missed you so much.” I try not to choke up or cry. I don’t want to ruin this moment with my tales of horror with the media.

“Me too, angel. Me too.” Dax leans back, cupping my face in his hands. Despite his determination to keep everything shuttered up behind a strong front, he seems on the verge of breaking down as well. I’m about to ask what’s wrong when his mouth crushes against mine and all rational thoughts fly right out of my mind.

D
ax

I
didn’t realize
how worried I was that Kate would never talk to me again until I had her in my arms, my tongue sweeping into her mouth for that familiar taste. After six weeks of tense phone calls and moments where I thought she’d get sick of the bullshit with Lila and the other photos and chuck me for good, I’ve got my girl where she belongs. With me.

Mine. I won’t let Lila or any of my shit hurt her.

Rule 5—Defend what’s yours.

The thought of losing Kate sends fear skittering down my spine. Desperation takes over and I push her back on the bed, covering her with my body as I devour her sweet mouth. In between moaning, sloppy kisses, and frantic pawing, we manage to strip off our clothes.

“Jesus, I missed this,” I groan into her mouth as our naked skin comes together. We grind against each other, reveling in the reconnection after time apart.

“Dax.”

It’s a whisper from her lips. Just a quiet sigh. Yet the sound of it kicks my instincts into overdrive, sending molten desire coursing through my veins. My skin feels so hot, I wonder if I’ll end up burned from the inside out.

“Need you,” I mumble back, trailing small bites and licks down the side of Kate’s neck to her breasts.

“Me too,” she says breathlessly, obviously feeling the same urgent need.

I fumble to get a condom out of the nightstand and on as quickly as possible. Once ready, we waste no time. It’s been so long that foreplay is not on today’s menu. Thrusting in deep and hard, I hiss from the tight heat of Kate’s body as she moans loud and long.

“Fuck. Feels so good.” The groans and curses fall out of my mouth unconsciously as she lifts her hips to meet mine.

“Faster, Dax. Harder.” Kate is panting loudly, her hands pulling at my shoulders in a bid to get me to give her more.

I know my self-control is shit, but with Kate, I try even harder so I’m not the selfish asshole that hurts her. I always worry about freaking her out with the power I want to unleash when fucking. Kate’s begging for it though.
Fucking begging me to go harder.
My willpower will only hold up for just so long.

Propping up on my knees, I take one of those long, toned, legs and throw it over my shoulder. I get a tight grip on her hips, my fingers pressing in so hard she might end up with bruises. Then, I fuck her as requested. Hard.

After the first solid thrust, Kate’s hands shoot up above her head, landing flat against the headboard to keep her from hitting it as I pound into her over and over. The sound of skin slapping on skin is drowned out by her loud keening and my vicious snarling. All I can think of is “mine” as I lay claim to her gorgeous body.

Sweat trickles down my temples, dripping off and rolling down my chest but I don’t stop. I can’t stop. Watching Kate’s face contort with ecstasy as she takes every bit of my brutal fucking is one of the most erotic things I’ve ever seen. My name falls from her lips like both a curse and a prayer as she comes, sending me over the edge. With one final, ruthless drive, intense heat explodes from the base of my spine and I roar with my release.

“Christ.” I collapse over her in a heap, forgetting to hold up my considerable weight. “Fuck, sorry.” As I start to roll off in fear of squashing her, Kate wraps her arms and legs around me, locking me in place.

“No. Don’t move yet. This is… it’s perfect.”

“I don’t want to hurt you, Kate.” My lips find hers, brushing over them lightly. I use one hand to push her tangled hair back from her face.

Kate’s green eyes trap me in place, the honesty in them stunning to see. “You would never hurt me, Dax. Not physically anyway.”

I’m about to ask what she means when the front door slams shut and her flatmate Abby calls out, “Hey Kate! Want to grab a bite?”

Kate squeals and I yank the duvet up as the bedroom door swings open. “Whoa! Sorry!” The door closes and Abby starts giggling from the other side. “I forgot you were coming back today, Dax. I’ll just… ummmm, change up and leave you two alone. ‘K?”

Laughing, Kate answers. “No. Don’t worry, Abby. We’ll have something to eat with you.” She glances at me to see if this is okay. I nod, willing to do whatever she wants as long as we’re together.

“I’d rather spend the rest of the week in bed, but we will have to eat at some point,” I say. Kate shoves my arm jokingly, apparently thinking that I’m kidding.

I’m not.

She hops out of bed to clean up, moving to throw on some clothes and somehow the strange comment Kate made is forgotten. My eyes are glued to that lithe, naked body, effectively wiping every other coherent thought right out of my head.

K
ate

“
S
o
, how’s uni, Kate?” Adam asks, talking with his mouth full of hamburger.

We got takeaway and invited the band over so we could catch up without interruptions. I couldn’t be more thankful. Watching gorgeous women hit on my boyfriend in a crowded restaurant isn’t very high on my list of things I’d like to experience. The guys are definitely becoming more recognizable.

“Gross, Adam,” Abby mock-whines, shoving against his shoulder playfully.

Ever so slightly, but enough that I notice, Hawke’s posture stiffens when Abby flirts with Adam. She’s
so
Adam’s type, gorgeous, blonde, and very Ellie-like. Abby is only teasing though. She’s told me Adam is not even close to what she likes in a man. Too bad for Adam, I guess, but good for me. I don’t need him shagging and ditching the best mate I have in California. She’s turned him down enough times that he’s given up trying.

“Classes are good. We’re a definite for the tournament this year. Now we just have to see if we win the PAC-10.” I take a big sip of my drink as Adam half-listens to me while ogling my flatmate.

“Hey,” Dax says playfully, reaching across the coffee table to lightly punch Adam on the arm. “When my girl is talking, you could at least look at her. You
did
ask her a question.”

“Don’t get your knickers in a twist, Davies. I’m listening.” Adam swings his gaze over to me. “When’s your next game? I’d like to watch you play. All this time knowing you and I’ve never seen you on the pitch.”

“That’s a great idea,” Gavin adds with one of his killer smiles. The kind that makes me think the man should be modeling posh watches or expensive men’s wear. He’s bloody gorgeous. Literally achingly beautiful.

“Dax?” I turn to see what he thinks of going to my last regular season game. It’s a big one, against California, one of our big rivals.

“I thought you’d never ask, angel. I’d love to see you play.” He leans in for a quick kiss, his hand skimming over my knee.

“Dirty, dirty, boy,” I whisper in his ear as his hand moves up my thigh.

“So are we going?” Gavin asks.

I glance around the room. Adam and Gavin are excited, Abby is smiling like crazy, Hawke is, well, being Hawke—staring at his food with a blank look on his face. Dax, the sexy thing, he’s moving his hand higher and higher up my leg and pretty soon we’ll have to kick everyone out so we can get naked again. Six whole weeks without sex has my hormones on a hair-trigger.

“I’ll have five tickets left at the box office,” I tell them. “Unless…” I pointedly look at each of the guys, “you want to bring someone with you.”

Hawke’s head snaps up, the disinterested pouty look replaced by a sly smile. “Maybe.” His eyes betray him when they flick over to Abby for the briefest of seconds.
Is he trying to make her jealous?

“Right, okay. Adam? Gavin? Either of you need an extra?”

“Nah, I like to keep my options open,” Adam laughs.

“Of course,” I answer, my tone dry.

“Gav?”

His cheeks redden slightly. “No. I just want to see you play, no distractions.”

Poor Gav. The stupid promotions team at their label, including that cow Lila, has told him not to
flaunt
his sexuality because it detracts from female fans’ fantasy of him. God forbid he be seen with a man in public.

I would have told them to buggar off, but it’s not my call to make.

“Okay, so six tickets. It’s Saturday at three. I’ll leave them under my name.”