The Rock Star Next Door, a Modern Fairytale (44 page)

“And w
hat was the question
, my love
?” His deep, husky voice slid over her
like a warm blanket just as his firm body slid over hers and they merged together in a heady, sensual-sweet reunion.  His cock filled her, bringing Jessie to the sharp pinnacle of yet another orgasm by just the mere contact of hard masculine flesh against the soft, welcoming folds of her core. She was losing it, again, convulsing around his engorged spear and he’d barely entered her.

“Yes . . . I’ll
marry you . . . if--if you . . . still . . . oh--Oh--OH--Oh--oh, yes.”

He moved inside her, pushing forward, retreating. Jessie arched up to greet his thrusts, and wrapped her legs about his hips. How could any wo
man say no to a lifetime of bliss
?

Lex
leaned down and their lips became fused as they shared an earthy, soul shattering kiss. A reunion . . . yes . . . their souls were merging, meeting, embracing, reaching across time and through eternity to become one, become whole once more.

Thunder awakened her. Jessie stirred within the warm cozy nest of his arms. The sound of thunder above them was instantly thrust to the background as searing agony consumed her brain. Jessie moaned and rolled away from her lover’s sides as she clutched her arm. It hurt in ways a body sho
uldn’t hurt. The sharp, throbbing
pain made it feel as if her arm were on fire.

“Jessie?” Lex had sat up and turned on the light. “Oh, shit.” He leaned over her as she clutched at her throbbing limb. “You’re bleeding.” He
said, noting the crimson bloom on her bandaged limb. He jumped up
from the bed and disappeared. When he returned, he had a towel and wa
s pressing it over her soaked
bandage.

She wa
s near tears
. The mor
phine
wo
re
off
while she slept
and
now she was feeling the full effects of
torn, jagged fles
h that met
Darrell’s blade hours earlier.

“
Hold the towel in place.
I’ll get ice, and y
our pain pills
. I left th
e
m
downstairs.” Lex
commanded and then
was gone.

Jessie whimpered. It was the most god-awful sensation. A de
ep stab wound was painful. She w
ouldn’t believe those stupid action movies anymore, where the hero kept right on going, fighting the bad guy, even after his fl
esh had been pierced by a dagger or an arrow, even a gunshot
.
It c
ouldn’t be real. No one could
stand to be in this much pain and keep
on
fighting.

The memory
came in a rush of pain. A
flash, like lightning piercing the dark landscape.
She remembered
lying on the cold, ston
e floor, immobilized by excruciating
pain. Jessie gasped. It was hard to breathe.
It hurt to breathe.
She
clutched at her c
hest as the sharp, tearing pain
made her rasp and choke. She lifted
her hands
from the burning ache of her wound
. They were covered in blood, thick, warm, crimson blood.

“Jessie, honey,
you okay?” Lex’s face filled her vision, replacing the ugly horror
of that quick flash. “Jessica,
answer me
!
”

“Yeah . . .
” She sagged forward like a rag doll. Lex eased her
on
to her side so she way lying down. He removed the towel
to examine her arm.

“The bleeding has stopped
. The doctor said that might happen with too much agitation. Sorry. My bad. I thought I was being careful.”

“I was pretty high.” Jessie croaked. “I didn’t feel any pain.”  She turned her head to grin at him
as he sat behind her
. Lex gave her one of those sexy smiles, and her heart did a queer little stomp and kick in response.

He turned about with his back to her. She heard a funny
clicking sound and turned onto her back to see what he was up to. He was opening
the
plastic prescription
bottle of pain pills the hospital sent home with her.
After shaking out a dose into his palm, he twisted the cap and placed the brown bottle on the table.

Jessie rolled onto her back and scooted up on the bed until she was leaning upright against the headboard. She grabbed the sheet with her uninjured hand and pulled it up over her breasts. Lex was butt naked and unconcerned as he sat with his back to her on the edge of the bed. He turned and held out his hand
. Two white, oblong pills were cradled there.

“Two?” She grimaced, giving him a look.

“It says one to two. Judging by your pain, I think two is the right dose. At least you can sleep through the rest of the night.”

She didn’t argue with his logic. God almighty, who would have thought a small stab wound could be so frickin’ painful? The doctor said something about a deep muscle puncture wound. Wow. Darrell was going
to be her bitch for the next decade.

And then it hit her.
Jack.
  Darrell
could have killed Jack if he’d been more precise. She wasn’t sure, as it happened so fast, but wasn’t Jack’s chest just inches from her arm? “Oh, God--Oh
God--I want Jack, Call him. Now.”  She gasped,
panicking at
the thought of her brother being so cl
ose to death in that elevator.

“
Jess,
its
3 a.m
.”

“No, he’s always awake.
Where is my cell? Call him, right now. I want him here.”

Lex stood up and grabbed the pile of pillows on the floor. He placed two on the bed and lifted her arm. “Doc said you need to keep it elevated, especially with the pain. And,” He paused, and sighed dramatically. “You were supposed to keep that sling on. Where is it?” He bent and starting searching through the piles of clothing on the floor. “Ah, here.”

After helping her into one of his shirts, and then a sling, he retrieved a pair of jogging shorts from his clo
set. Her phone was in her jeans
pocket. He turned it on, and pressed the speed dial. Jack picked up right away. Lex walked to the windows and stood in silhouette against the lightning
flickering skies as he spoke to her brother in a low tone. After a couple of moments, he brought the phone to Jessie so she could talk to Jack.

“Hey, Jess.” Jack’s voice held a false note of cheer. “I’m here. What’s up? Lex said you’re in a lot of pain.”

Jessie started crying
into the phone. She
was blubbering like a baby.  S
omehow, Jack caught her gibberish, or sensed wha
t it was she was trying
to say and failing miserably.

“
its
okay, Jess. I’m fine. . . . I’m fine. It was just a a stupid thing . . . shhh . . . come on, don’t cry over me . . . I’m a big boy. Hey, stop it now, you’ll ruin the magic . . . what magic?  . . . why, your hot make up sex with Lex, don’t cry afterward and call your bro!”

“Oh, you Jack-ass!” Jessie huffed, and pressed the end call button. She tossed the phone on the bed with annoyance. Hot make up sex with Lex? How the hell did he know that?

“Everything okay next door?” Lex emerged from the dark bathroom.

“Yes. I just--It just hit me.” She looked up into his concerned features. “Darrell
could have killed Jack today
in the elevator. He could have killed my brother.”

“He could have killed you.” Lex s
at down on the bed, facing her. He cupped her cheek in his palm. “I don’t know if I should thank him or kill him. I have this overwhelming urge to go over ther
e and beat the
crap out of him.”

When Jessie awoke next, it was to a soft tongue licking her neck. She started, expecting Lex to be there beside her and was charmed and disappointed at the same time.

Duncan, her faithful little Sc
ottie, was on the bed
and he was licking her awake. She
smiled at the little black face
and stroked his head just behind his ears. Soft brown eyes gazed up at her adoringly.

She scooted up in the bed
and patted her lap. Duncan climbed aboard and allowed her to hug him with one arm. Her other arm was tied up in that sling Lex had forced back on her after she woke up in such dire pain. The arm ached, but it wasn’t that awful burning sensation she experienced last night when the morphine petered out.

After a few moments, she heard footsteps in the hall. Jack peeked his head into the spacious bedroom. His hair was loose and wild. He looked like hell with dark circles beneath his eyes, and yet, he was cheerful, the perpetual clown to her philosopher.

“Nice digs.” He gazed about the room with appreciation. “This room’s as big as half of our upstairs.” 

“What are you doing here so early?”

“Early, hey lazy chick, it’s past noon.”

“Is it?” Jessie looked about for the alarm clock. Sure enough, the red lights said 12:45.  “Oh, crap. Don’t we have to be somewhere today?”

“No. You’r
e staying
right there. Steve called Max. We set the schedule back two
week
s so you can recoup
. Don’t worry. We got it cov
ered. M
aybe Kyra will be back for the MTV shoot
by then
.”  Jack walked over to window and gazed out with his back to her. “You know, I think your man has a good head on his shoulders.”

“My man?” Jessie perked up at that pronouncement. “Lex isn’t mine. We just had a thing last night, that’s all.”

Jack turned about with a sly grin. “Yeah, nice how that worked out, isn’t it. Darrell’s fuck up might have set us back a little with the MTV special, but it also scared some sense into the dude downstairs. He’s freakin’ worried about you, now Jess. H
e wants you to move in with him.
I agree. I think it’s for the best. Hell, Duncan loves it here.”

“Oh, so you decided for me, while I was asleep.”

Jack shrugged. “Hell, yeah. That’s what big brothers do. Lex pointed out that with things so unstable between the band members,
its
best if we don’
t
live under the same roof
for a while
. I agree. Steve called Darrell and told him he can’t live with us any
more, to come and get his stuff. Darrell didn’t come home last night. Probably didn’t have the guts after what he did.
He makes enough money to afford his own place.
Steve and I will bunk together next door
and you’ll be here. Kyra might be on to something, Jess. We’re not in high school anymore. And the frat house gig is getting old. Hell, we’
re getting old
.”

“Naw, you’re still under thirty, that’
s golden
. Believe me.” Lex steppe
d into the room with Dr. Roberts
following. “Good Morning, my sweet.
Inez will be up in a moment with breakfa
st. In the mean time, Doc Roberts
has made a house call.”

The doctor examined Jessie’s wound and applied a new wrapping. He advised her to keep it elevated today with ice, and to keep it in the sling. Lex and Jack watched the proceedings with an amiable camaraderie. 

Jessie liked it. The two men
she loved the most working together as
friends.

After the doctor left, Jack lingered while she ate her breakfast. Eventually, he made his excuses and headed for the door as well. That left Jessie alone with Lex. Alone, and not drugged up on morphine or other pain meds. She took one pill this time, so her head would remain below the clouds.

“Why did you tell Jack I would live here, with you?”

“I didn’t. He
’s the one who
suggested it, I merely agreed.” Lex stood at the foot of the bed.

“Last night, we had sex. End of story.” Jessie reminded him. “Great sex.”

“No, it’s a beginning.” Lex paced about with his hands crossed across his chest. “
A good one.
I pushed you
too fast
, Jessie.
I’m sorry.
It’s just . . . after waiting for
so long for
the one you’
ve yearned for--I just wanted us to be reunited. I pushed you, and you were scared and so you pushed me away. I should have understood your feelings a little better. It doesn’t have to be over. We can still be a couple.”

Jessie released a heavy breath. She didn’t expect this. Lex walked out on her. He left her a month ago, just dropped her lik
e a bad habit. It burned. She felt as if someone walked up and ripped out her heart. S
he survived
it
. She threw herself into the band, getting ready for the next album release. She grew accustomed to the e
mptiness
.