23. Hendrix
Chapter 23
Hendrix
August, Chicago
“ I have a confession.”
Gary rolled his eyes before settling into a glare. “What now? What fuckup do I have to fix?”
I flinched at his words. “There’s nothing to fix this time.”
“Uh-huh. Kid, just tell me. I don’t have all day.”
We had given him until the next day to cool down, getting through the Minneapolis show just fine and moving on to Chicago for the first of three shows spread over four nights. I felt guilty over the black eye he was sporting, but there were only so many ways I could react when someone talked about my mate the way he had, even if he hadn’t known who she was.
“Meadow isn’t our assistant. I mean, we’d like to get her on payroll for that, but that’s not why she’s here.”
“I already know the four of you picked up a little toy. Why are you bringing her up again?”
I bit down on a growl. “She’s not that, either.”
“Well, spit it out.”
“She’s my mate.”
Gary went slack-jawed, staring at me like I had lost my fucking mind. “Your what ?”
“She’s pregnant, too,” I said, going for broke. “And we bonded.”
“You said there was nothing to fix. Hendrix, this is a big fucking problem. Your whole goddamn brand is about being available.”
“Then we change the brand.”
“No one wants a rock star with a baby. Jesus, way to blow up the entire illusion. So, why is she around? Is she threatening to sue you for child support? You know that’s the only reason girls like that fuck rock stars. They want a payday.”
“No! Being apart from her is the reason I felt like shit.”
Gary’s expression shifted, like a lightbulb was turning on in his head. “Okay. This makes way more sense now. We use her until the bond settles down, and then we go back to normal after we pay her off, right?”
I stared at him like I had never seen him before. “No. She stays as long as she wants to.”
Gary sighed. “You really love to make everyone’s lives more difficult, don’t you? It’s bad enough you bonded her, but you want to expose a kid to you too? What did that baby ever do to make you think it deserved a parent that fucks up as much as you?”
His words were like glass shards, cutting to the quick and made all the worse because they were things I had thought about myself already. “I’m not allowed to try?”
“Hendrix, I say this with all the love in the world: you can try all you want, but you’re not going to succeed here. We both know you’re too selfish to give up your life to play house.”
We were both silent and staring at each other, my heart crumbling as I realized the truth of his words. Maybe not the selfish part, but giving up this life meant the guys would suffer, and being in Meadow’s life meant getting to see just how terrible of a parent I’d be.
“But,” Gary eventually said, “if you’re committed to keeping her around, we’ll make it work until she gets tired of all this.”
I didn’t want her to get tired of this, but there was nothing I could do to stop it. “Thanks.”
I left the conversation as quickly as I could, desperate not to start crying as every fucking choice I had ever made crashed me into a brick wall.
I made my way back to the bus, heading straight to the mini fridge and combining a tiny bottle of rum with one of the colas.
“You okay?” Meadow emerged from her nest, peeking around at me. She was dressed in microscopic sleep shorts and a snug tank top that emphasized the delicate curve of her belly.
Desire rocked me down to my toes.
“Yeah, just a rough conversation.” I held up my cup. “Want one?”
Arlo looked up from his spot on the couch, where he was sprawled out, playing a video game. “Dude, she’s pregnant. She can’t drink.”
“Shit, sorry. Force of habit.”
Beckett and Phin popped their heads out of their bunks.
“Speaking of not being able to drink,” said Beckett, “maybe we should all go sober since Meadow can’t take anything.”
“I’m sorry, do you want me to be a giant ball of anxiety?” Phin asked. “Weed is how I relax.”
“I relax with a mouthful of omega pussy,” replied Arlo, a ridiculous grin on his face.
Both Phin and Meadow flushed hot pink, and Phin growled. “Not all of us have that on the menu, asshole.”
“Okay, well, I’ve hit my upper limit of awkward for the day, so I’m gonna go back up to my nest,” Meadow announced. “Hendrix, can you come with me?”
I didn’t question why she wanted me; I just set down my drink and immediately followed.
Once upstairs, she sat down on the edge of her bed and turned to me. “What’s wrong?”
“Noth—”
“Bullshit. I could feel you freaking out through the bond.”
I sighed, running a hand through my hair. “Just a conversation with Gary that put me on edge.”
Meadow frowned. “He doesn’t like me.”
“In his defense, he doesn’t like most people. Can I sit?”
Meadow patted the space next to her.
The moment I was that close to her, with all of her white rose and lilac scent filling the air, not only from her proximity but also from the nest, all of my anxiety began to slide away.
“Your stress is my stress,” Meadow said quietly. “I propose a cuddle, so we don’t stress the baby.”
Fuck yeah. I’d been aching to commit the feel of her to memory since I’d failed so spectacularly the last time I’d been in a bed with her. “Definitely don’t want baby stress.”
Meadow climbed into the nest, and I kicked off my shoes to follow her, stretching out in the mountains of pillows. I couldn’t help but notice pieces of our clothing tucked here and there among the pillows and blankets. She must have raided our bunks. Once she was settled, she opened her arms to me, and I wedged myself against her, face tucked against her throat as she held me close. I was already in heaven, but when her purr started to rumble, I truly ascended.
Everything about her was warm and soft, safe in a way I was pretty sure I had never experienced before.
Meadow held me long after my stress melted away. She made absolutely no move to scoot away, simply continuing to purr while her perfume turned my brain into soup. I kept my hips angled away so she wouldn’t feel that I was rock hard, but then she shifted, looping her leg over my hips, and I froze, heart hammering.
“You’re playing a very dangerous game, omega.”
“Shh. Instincts. I’m needy.”
“I’m going to need some explicit permission if you want me to do something about that.”
Meadow growled. “Shut up and kiss me, Hendrix.”
I didn’t need to be told twice. The taste of her unlocked buried memories, flickers of taking her apart filling my brain, teasing me with whispers of what was to come. Meadow kissed me like she was on a mission, her leg thrown over me, pressing me closer.
I didn’t need that little bottle of rum when I could get drunk on her. Her perfume was so thick in the air, I probably could have tasted it just sticking my tongue out. I’d rather get it from the source. She whined against my lips when I swept my hands down her body to cup her ass and pull her closer.
Meadow nipped my lip and pulled back, breathing heavily. “Have you really not touched anyone since Seattle?”
I shook my head. “I think my libido knew I was bonded, even if my brain didn’t.”
“Good. Now I want you to fuck me, so we can make you some new memories.”
I dove back into the kiss and wrestled away her barely there shorts and panties.
She helpfully lifted her hips and dug her fingers into my butt cheeks.
“You have to let me get undressed.”
“You can’t stop touching me,” she insisted. Her wide green eyes were so plaintive, I couldn’t help but do my best to fulfill her request. With a little creativity, I managed to wriggle out of my clothing. Meanwhile, she was sprawled in the nest in full Winnie the Pooh mode, with her bare pussy calling me and the rest of her firmly ensconced in clothing. I traced every available inch of her skin, learning each dip and curve and how she reacted to those touches. A needy omega wasn’t difficult to please, but I had a reputation to uphold, and I was not going to make her regret inviting me into her bed.
The bite of her nails on my ass when she found the bond mark sent a zing of pleasure up my spine, and I lowered automatically to sweep my tongue over the mark I had left on her throat. It was strange how familiar and yet how new everything was with her. Each of her reactions was like an echo, triggering the recesses of my memories without fully bringing them to the surface.
I sank into everything she offered, drowning in her sweetness, plastering myself against the warmth of her skin. Stripping her down slowly, I sampled the fresh expanse of skin offered up. Every bit of her was a feast. When she arched again, I sucked her nipple between my lips, stroking it with my tongue, digging my fingers into her hips, and grinding against her.
Once she was a mess of slick and bucking impatiently against me, I finally slid into her. The snug heat of her was like coming home, and I devoured every delicious sound that she made as our hips moved together. Her nails dug into my back, tiny streaks of pain dancing over me as my omega pawed at me, demanding more and more. The strangled sound she made with every hard fuck into her was music, a siren call I was helpless to ignore.
“Why do you taste so fucking good?” I moaned. “It’s not fair. You really just expect me to go about my day when I know we could be in here, doing this?”
Meadow responded by hooking her arm around my neck and drawing me in to silence my words with her lips. Her ankles locked behind my back as she shattered, breaking our kiss to pant.
Being in the nest with her was like surround sound, all of those delicious noises bouncing off the walls and ceiling, making it feel like she was everywhere at once.
The squeeze of her pussy almost took me over the edge, but I held still, focusing on my breathing until those ripples calmed. My sweet Meadow was still so keyed up that she started to twitch when I moved again, her breathing already shifting to tell me she was climbing that peak once more.
“Knot?” she asked breathlessly.
“Anything for you, beautiful.”
I lifted away from her just enough to get the angle I wanted, bucking hard while she gave a soft cry at each impact of our hips.
“Hendriiix,” she whined. “Knot!”
More than willing to obey, I fucked her to a quick ending for both of us, my fingers diving between us to stroke her clit until she dragged me over the peak with her, my knot swelling to trap us together and setting her off once more.
Her little nails were as locked into my shoulders as my knot was into her pussy. “Holy fuck.”
I rolled us over, draping her on my chest and looping my arms over her back. It took a while for her breathing to even out, and when it did, she rubbed her cheek along my jaw to scent mark me.
“You’d better remember me this time.”
I laughed softly. “I will, I promise.”
Meadow was a dream, one I fully intended to keep for as long as I could.