four | ~ Teak ~
four
~ Teak ~
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T he moment Serenity froze at the top of her steps, my eyes locked on the sickening photo someone had speared into her porch floor. “What the fuck? We need to . . . You need to . . . ” No, I needed to knock it off. Wrapping my arms around her waist, I curled her into my chest and hugged her tightly. “I got you. It’s okay.” Then I kissed the top of her head. It was my job to provide the comfort and strength while she took some time to pull herself together. But shit, enough was enough. Although at least it looked like blood from a package of hamburger meat, not human; the sick fuck.
Her entire body shook in my arms as she wound hers around my back and burrowed in close. “I guess she could have figured out where I lived. I mean with the internet anything is possible, right?” She murmured into my shirt.
Holding her snugly to me with one arm, I used my other to pull out my phone and call the police. I explained the situation and gave them the address before slipping my phone back into my pocket. “Do you have another door we can use to get into your house?”
“I have a key to the back door too.”
“Come on. I want you to pack up enough stuff to last for a while, not just tonight, because you’re staying with me for now. We’ll get that done while we wait for the police to arrive. Then I’ll text Ascher and tell him to keep Ivy with him. I don’t think that will be a hardship for him either.” With her tucked to my side, I ushered her around back.
Slipping from my embrace, she took in a steadying breath and then unlocked her door before the two of us stepped into her hallway. Then she led me down to her bedroom.
I stood in the doorway while she crossed the room to grab a duffel from under her bed and dropped it onto the mattress. After unzipping it, she rushed over to her dresser and began rummaging through her drawers and then her closet, stuffing items inside.
Even though this was not the appropriate time, I couldn’t help my dick’s reaction to her cramming her sexy bras and panties into the duffel. Once she packed some casual clothes, she dug through her closet and pulled out a couple pairs of dress pants and blouses and a few sundresses to add to the bag.
While she packed, my mind spun with her earlier words about finding her place. Naomi didn’t know her name. It wasn’t like I had made introductions last night.
Serenity stepped into her bathroom and a few minutes later returned with a small bag in her hand. As if reading my mind, she casually tossed out. “That Naomi doesn’t know my name. I mean I don’t know how she could have figured it out. Although I guess she could have just followed us home last night.” A tremor shook her body with her reasoning. Then she dropped the little bag inside the bigger one and zipped it up. “I just need to add a few pairs of shoes.” She lifted her gaze to me and tears shone in her beautiful eyes.
I couldn’t pack for her or take away the shit that she had been smacked with over the last twenty four hours, but I could provide her with security and solace. Walking over to her bed, I pulled her into my arms and held her close. Then I rained kisses along her temples and cheeks. “It will be okay. We’ll get this sorted out. And until then, you stay with me.” And even afterward, but now was not the time for that discussion. I would not push that on her while she was vulnerable. But from the moment I met her backstage after my concert, I was determined to make her mine. And I planned on keeping her. But right now, her safety was my priority. When things returned to normal, I’d share my plans for our future. “Pack some personal things to help you feel more at home at my place and anything you need for work too. Where do you want to wait for the police?” I didn’t think she’d want to sit outside. She didn’t need the visual as a grim reminder.
“We can wait outside for them. That’s where they need to check anyway. It’s not like the person broke in.” She shook her head. “Being a little rattled last night, I would have thought Ivy or I would have noticed if someone had been following us.”
Not that I didn’t believe Naomi was psycho enough to be behind this shit, but . . . “Mick knows where you live, right?”
She leaned back and stared up at me, her forehead creasing in confusion. “Yes. But he broke up with me. I didn’t dump him and make him mad. He’s the one who tossed me aside.” Hurt mixed in with the puzzlement, marring her beautiful features.
I hated that the prick had treated her like that and still had the ability to make her feel bad about herself. “He might have realized he was an idiot to let you go. And now the fucktard is jealous. If he’s still in town here. I don’t know. I’m just hoping we cover any possible angle. I want to make sure we give the police every piece of information we can think of for them to look into this.” I cupped her cheeks in my hands before pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. “And you do know he was an imbecile? There isn’t anything wrong with you and his loss is my gain.”
She gave me a small smile. “And my best friend being an uncontrollable lunatic with next to no boundaries ended up leading to mine.”
Her words warmed my chest. How could anyone not recognize the treasure she was? While I wasn’t a genius, I also wasn’t stupid enough to let her slip through my fingers. Other parts heated as well, but I needed to employ patience. I planned to have a lifetime with her. But I hoped I didn’t have to wait too long to have her truly in my bed. “She did make it marginally easier, but I wasn’t planning on giving up. I would’ve just had to go with Plan B.”
“Which was?” She grinned at me.
I was glad I could distract her a little bit. All too soon, we’d be hashing things out with the police and everything would come rushing back over her. “I didn’t have one at that point. So thankfully, I hadn’t needed to garner one. But I would have figured out something, eventually.” I snapped my fingers. “I could’ve written a song about finding you and you disappearing and had them play it on all of the radio stations offering a prize, until some listener realized who I was looking for and helped me track you down.”
“Wow. That’s a lot of trouble to find a mystery girl.”
“Ah, but she is so worth it.”
Her grin brightened. “My computer and chargers along with some books are in my living room. Then that should be it.”
We strolled out to the front of her house. A small but bright kitchen sat on the left, white appliances and island top and dark wooden cabinets made up the homey space. We veered to the right and into her living room; where she snatched her laptop up off of the coffee table. A few books were strewn across the cushions of the tan leather couch and two charges sat upon an end table. After tossing the books into her duffel, she packed the other items into her computer bag. A matching love seat and recliner along with a fifty-five inch flat screen completed the area. “You and Ivy have a cute little place.”
“It’s really small, but it works for us right now.” She paused for a moment and her lips pulled down into a frown. “Did you text Ascher yet?”
“No. I wanted to get you taken care of first. I plan to do that while we wait for the police.”
“Can you ask him to let Ivy know I’m fine and to please not blow up my phone with texts and calls. I’ll talk to her later. But I know I won’t feel like rehashing this again right away after talking with the police.”
“I can let him know that. You’re ready then?”
At her nod, I slung her duffel and computer bag over my shoulder and we headed to her back door. After she locked up, we circled around to the front again. While we waited for the police, I stashed her bags in the backseat of my car and sent Ascher a few texts.
A police officer showed up about fifteen minutes later and scoped out her house, bagged up the photo and blade for evidence – reassuring us it was indeed animal blood – before inundating her with about a hundred questions. Even though it annoyed me because I could tell she was mentally drained, I was glad he was thorough. I had interjected about the two other incidents and our thoughts about the crazy fan and her ex. He had jotted down their names, but informed us it was all circumstantial. I had to agree, but it put my mind at ease to at least have their names on record. When he was finished, he handed her his card and informed us they would investigate, but there wasn’t a lot to go on.
After he slipped into his cruiser, I hugged Serenity. “You can chill out on my couch while I make us some dinner.”
“You don’t by any chance have a huge soaker tub I can immerse myself in?” She sighed.
Naked images of her reclining in the tub I didn’t have flooded my brain. I hoped my excited cock didn’t scare her off. She had to have felt him pushing at the zipper of my shorts and into her stomach. “No, but my shower has a nice pulsating head that will feel wonderful on your muscles.” My hands itched to caress every inch of her skin and so did my mouth. I shook away those naughty thoughts. I needed to get my dick under control, not have it punch through my clothing. “We can also walk along the beach tonight if you feel up to it. The waves crashing along the sand is always soothing. Although you can hear them from my deck in the evenings too. You decide if you want to walk the beach or listen from my deck. It can be your choice. Give me your phone so I can type in my address. Then we can head out.”
Once I had her tucked into her car, we pulled out onto the road and she followed me to my house. About twenty-five minutes later, after the two of us pulled through my gate, I ushered her inside and had her drop her computer bag on my coffee table and then walked her back to my room where she dumped her duffel onto the end of my bed.
“Hmm, this is supposed to be the magnificent wonder of the house. The finest of all the rooms.” Her eyes scanned the area, your typical king-sized bed, dresser, nightstand, and closet and she grinned.
“Ah, but your curiosity got you here and that’s most of the battle. I don’t need an extravagant bedroom; I just need you in it.”
I didn’t miss her slight intake of breath or the hint of pink coloring her cheeks.
Smirking, I tugged her into my arms and kissed the crown of her head. If I did anything else at the moment, I would be more than tempted to tumble the both of us onto my bed and do a hell of a lot more with my mouth. “If you don’t find it awkward or uncomfortable, I can clear a drawer out for you and some space in my closet so you don’t have to live out of your bag.”
“I like that idea. I can pretend I’m on vacation with you.”
I’d rather she acted like she was moving in with me, but I’d take the small win. She was staying with me. Besides, right now it was more a forced arrangement. When this situation was resolved, I needed her to want to stay with me. Stepping over to my dresser, I pulled all of the t-shirts and jeans out of one of the drawers before heading over to my closet to hang up the items. “That drawer is all yours now. I’ll make some room in here as well for what doesn’t fit.”
While I busied myself with my clothes, she sorted and folded hers to place in the drawer. After she had crammed as much as she could into it, she joined me at the closet. I handed her some hangers and she added her dress pants and sundresses beside my wardrobe. I couldn’t deny the fact I loved how her clothes looked hanging next to mine. When she had finished, she placed a pair of sneakers, a pair of flats, and a pair of high heeled sandals onto the floor of my closet. Then she stuffed her bag into the side corner.
As I walked toward my door, I gestured to my connecting bathroom. “You can grab a shower while I make dinner if you’d like. And feel free to store your stuff in there as well, on the counter or in drawers; I don’t mind.”
Tilting her head, a strange expression crossed her features. “It wouldn’t bother you at all having my makeup and other girly things cluttering your sink area?”
“No. I’d like seeing your stuff in there; reminding me you’re here with me. Now if you leave the toilet seat up when you’re done, we might have to have some words.” I shot her a teasing smile.
She giggled. “I think we’re safe there. I’ll help you make dinner, unless you like have to be in control in the kitchen. And I’ll wait and shower tonight after we walk the beach.”
“I’ll gladly share the responsibilities of cooking.” I was hoping she’d shower while I prepared dinner so I could maybe use that to distract myself from picturing her naked body in my shower with cascades of water rushing over her skin. But I also liked the idea of doing something as mundane as cooking with her. While I marinated the steaks to get them ready for my indoor grill, she washed and wrapped the potatoes. Working side by side, we quickly adopted a natural routine. Then while dinner heated, we curled up on the couch to watch some television. By the time we ate and cleaned up, the sun had disappeared and the inky sky had stars dotting its canvas and the moon reaching for its perch.
“You still want to head down to the beach?”
“I do. I don’t make it there nearly as much as I would like.” She beamed up at me, but there was hesitation in her eyes. I didn’t know if it was leftover fears from all that had happened recently or something else or maybe a combination of the two.
“Well, we can make it a point to walk it every evening, even if it’s just a short outing.”
At the door, I slipped on my water shoes while Serenity slid back into her flip flops. Then her hand in mine, our fingers entwined, I led her around to my backyard, through a smaller gate, and down a narrow path that led to the shore.
About ten minutes later, we removed our shoes, and dug our toes into the wet sand at the water’s edge. There were a few other beach goers, but they were off in the distance.
Dropping my hand, Serenity stepped farther into the water and the small waves lapped at her shins. Lifting her face to the night sky and with the moon reflecting along the ocean in the background, she was breathtaking. Staring at her immeasurable beauty, with her long blonde waves flowing down her back, a rush of soul touching lyrics flashed through my mind. Snatching my phone from my pocket, I jotted down some notes, but knew in my heart I wouldn’t forget the emotions and feelings invoked from watching her bask in the peace brought by the ocean at night.
“What are you doing?”
Jerking my attention away from my phone, I gave her a satisfied smile. “Typing in some ideas for lyrics.” I tucked my phone away.
“Does that happen often? You come to the beach at night for an idea?”
“Not really. I usually come down here to clear my head so that the lyrics can flow. This is the first time something, or someone, at the beach summoned those feelings that will be perfect to transform into words for a song.” If I wasn’t careful, my entire album would be about her. Not that that would be a completely bad thing because the songs would be exceptional and resonate with the listener as the words mingled with their soul. But while the fans adored love songs, they demanded a balance with tracks that heavily emphasized a strong beat they could rock out to as well. And surprisingly, they expected at least one track to rip their heart out. I paid close attention to what my fans longed to experience with each new album.
“I may not be using them to create a chart topping hit, but I’m definitely feeling some pretty amazing things right now too, being here with you.”
I didn’t like the circumstances that compelled her to stay with me, but I also couldn’t forget that she had accepted my invitation to stay the night before discovering the photo at her home. Which told me there was a good possibility she would have been willing to stay at my place – and not just for one night – even if the situation didn’t demand it.
“Come here.” I opened my arms to her. But instead of curling her to my side to continue strolling along the beach, I cupped her face in my hands and brought her lips to mine. Gliding my tongue along her seam, she opened without hesitation. Craving her taste, and a hell of a lot more, I dove in. My tongue tangled with hers, wrapping around it, and dueling as I claimed her mouth. Her whimpers and breathy sighs had my dick hardening again. At this rate, I was going to have to jack off in the shower before bed. Hopefully, I could do it quietly and discreetly. She melted into my kiss, her hands winding into my hair and pulling at the strands at my nape.
When I pulled away a few moments later, I touched my forehead to hers. “Let’s continue our walk before my actions startle the sea critters.”
Even in the darkness, because we were standing so close, I was rewarded with a great view of the blush crawling up her cheeks. After giving her a quick kiss on her warm skin, I grabbed her hand and we strolled along the beach, our strides splashing water up onto our shins.
It was after eleven when we pushed through my front door after rinsing off our feet in the outdoor shower at the side of my house. Grabbing the towel that hung in my entry way, I had Serenity dry off her feet before I did the same.
“You can grab a shower first because I know you’re exhausted. Then you can chill out on the couch or in my bed while I get done. Feel free to take as long as you want. I’m in no hurry. I might even see if some of these lyrics will flow into one of the songs I’ve already started or use them to start another one. So don’t feel rushed.”
“Thank you.” She rose up on her toes and kissed my cheek. The act, although completely innocent, sent pulses of electricity straight to my groin. Yup, I was going to need to take care of him before I crawled into bed beside her.
She padded down the hall to my room and I headed to my office. Imagining myself back on the beach, staring at Serenity, more emotions filled my chest. Adding them to what I had in the notes on my phone, I then incorporated them into one of the tunes I had been crafting this afternoon. With the additional lyrics, the melody flowed almost flawlessly, but I continued to tweak the song. I loved how the pieces were blending. When I was finally finished, a huge grin split my face. I was positive I had achieved perfection and couldn’t wait to strum it out on my guitar tomorrow. Glancing at my phone to see the time, I was stunned to discover over an hour had passed. Shit.
Rushing out to the hallway and down to the living room, I spied Serenity drowsing on the couch, a sitcom playing on the television. Her hair was still damp and hung in disarrayed long curls all around her shoulders and she had on a pink tank top and matching boy shorts. Crossing the room to her, I switched off the show and then lifted her into my arms and cradled her to my chest before strolling back to my bedroom.
She lazily wound her arms around my neck, her nipples poking at the material of her tank, making my mouth water to taste them. “If you weren’t finished, I was okay out there. I just didn’t have the energy to move back to your room.”
“You’d get a crick in your neck and I don’t want that. Besides, I think we both need to get some rest.” Shouldering open my door, I walked over to my bed and set her down. “You get comfortable while I grab a shower. I shouldn’t be long.” Only as long as it took to rub one out and then get washed up. Giving me a tired smile, she snuggled under the covers. On my way to the bathroom, I paused at my dresser to grab a pair of boxers and running shorts.
Once inside, I closed the door but didn’t lock it. I didn’t care if she walked in, but I wasn’t going to broadcast what I was going to do. I didn’t want to intentionally make her uncomfortable. Although there was a good chance, she had passed out right after burrowing under my covers.
After I tossed my clothes into the hamper, I stepped into the shower. First order of business, I needed to take care of my hard-on. I switched on the water and lathered up one of my hands with soap before bracing my other on the wall. Then I wrapped my hand around my shaft and rubbed up and down, the head already engorged. When I pictured Serenity’s hands on me, my dick swelled. Fuck, I couldn’t wait until she was ready for that. But she was in my bed right now, so it was all good. That thought combined with new ones of her mouth enveloping me had tingles racing down my spine and arrowing toward my groin. I sped up my motions and squeezed my cock harder, my balls throbbing and tightening. The day I got to sink into her pussy was going to blow my mind. Three more jerks and the surges of electricity raced over me and shot straight to my cock causing my orgasm to barrel over me and I shot cum all over the shower wall. Depleted, I bent my head and rested it on my forearm as I caught my breath. Now I wouldn’t have to worry about an erection keeping me up or disturbing her. I chuckled to myself.
Once my breathing returned to normal, I washed and rinsed my body and then did the same with my hair. After turning off the water, I grabbed a towel and quickly dried off. Then I tugged on my clothes before brushing my teeth and taking care of business. Finished, I strolled out to my bedroom. The lamp on the nightstand was still on, so I paused to switch it off before climbing into bed but noticed Serenity was still awake.
I slid under the covers. “I didn’t expect you to still be up.”
She shimmied over toward me and snuggled against my chest.
On instinct, I wrapped my arms around her and held her close.
“I was a little worried that I would feel weird lying in your bed. Not bad weird, just weird weird.” Tilting her head back, she gave me a goofy grin.
I shot her an amused smirk.
“I know, it sounds funny.” She rolled her eyes.
“No. Well, maybe a little. But I think it’s adorable. And I love it. You’re comfortable with me. I know you didn’t expect to be, but you know you are safe with me.”
“And this feels natural, like I’m not trying to force myself to be okay with it to make things easier. I was falling asleep out on your couch, but I got a second wind, like a little thrill, when I came in here and realized this isn’t bothering me.”
Her words made it hard to keep my dick under control. He was eager to pop up and show her exactly how much of a thrill she could expect. And to make matters more difficult, while we were talking, our legs ended up tangled together. So that she couldn’t feel my dick twitching in my shorts, I angled my hips back. I didn’t think I was completely hiding it, but I didn’t need to make it obvious and have it poking her stomach.
“Don’t get me wrong; I am happy that being in here isn’t making me anxious, but the fact that I’m not, triggers a bit of panic for me. Does that make sense?” She shook her head, her eyes troubled. “And I like that I can talk to you about those types of things without the fear of you getting upset.”
I cupped her cheek and ran my thumb along her smooth skin. I loved touching her. “First, you never have to be afraid to tell me anything. Even if I don’t like something; I will never lash out at you in anger. Also, I know you’ve been hurt before and you are trying to work through it. I hope you can trust that your heart is safe with me too. I know those may sound like empty words to you right now, but I’m going to keep working to prove it to you.”
“Deep down, I know it’s safe with you. It’s just going to take some time for me to put that horrible experience completely behind me.” She reached up and ran her fingers along my scruff. I loved that it was as if she couldn’t help touching me as well. “Let’s talk about something more fun. How did you get into music? I’ve been listening to you for the last five years and I don’t remember seeing anything before that. But I could’ve missed it. I mean you can’t be more than a few years younger than me considering Ascher went to school with us.”
“I’m the same age as Ascher. Don’t worry; you’re not robbing the cradle.”
“I knew you were at least legal.” Rolling her eyes, she punched me in the shoulder. “Were you doing smaller performances or anything when you were younger?”
“No. My mom loved to sing. She would always sing to me or I’d sing with her. But she wanted me to at least finish high school, so I didn’t really start pursuing anything until I graduated. When I turned eighteen, I started signing up for any open mic night I could find. My parents always came to listen to me. They were very supportive. I performed at those for about six months.” I paused for a moment and hugged her tightly to me, running a hand through her hair.
Serenity’s breath caught, like she sensed something horrible was coming. I loved that she was so in tune with me.
“My mom was killed in an accident when someone who was higher than a kite slammed into her car. I stopped singing in public. I continued to write and sing at home, but I couldn’t do it outside of the house.”
She leaned back and grabbed my face in her hands. “Oh my God. I’m so sorry for your loss. I couldn’t even imagine.” Her eyes shone with tears a moment before they spilled down her cheeks. Then they grew to the size of saucers. “Your first album, Riding Out the Storm ; the first three hits; “Moonlight”, “Chasing Rainbows”, and “Driving Away the Anger”; they were about your mom.” Her mouth gaped open.
Without being fully aware of my knee jerk reaction, I had leaned in and pressed my mouth to hers in a hungry kiss. Fuck, this girl got me like no one else. However, before I unintentionally pushed this further than she was ready to go, I ended the kiss. Then I locked my gaze on hers. “How did you know that?”
“I felt something between and outside of the actual lyrics every time I heard it. I was convinced you had lost someone incredibly close to you, but I never read anything about it.”
“We kept it out of the news and off of as much media as we could. We didn’t want the publicity. She wouldn’t have liked it.” Cradling her face in my palms, I smoothed my thumbs along her cheeks and swiped away the wetness there. “People thought the lyrics were just high charged words set to an angry passionate beat meant to draw in a huge fan base. Even my producer thought the same thing and was excited I’d have something so fiery to launch a newcomer into the music business. He didn’t realize those words grew out of intense grief.” I shook my head. “But you figured that out even before meeting me.”
“What made you decide to sign with him?”
“My mom would have been disappointed if I would have allowed my talent to go to waste. I spent a lot of hours with my dad talking about it. And we both decided I should go for it.”
“If you hadn’t been out in public performing, how did you get hooked up with a producer?” She brushed some of my hair off of my forehead. Her touch made is so much easier to share the story that had torn my life apart.
“He saw me perform at the last open mic I had attended. It took him several months to track me down and after talking and listening to me sing a few of the songs I had written since then, he signed me on with him.” I ran my fingers up and down her arm, relishing the feel of her silky skin. I could get lost in the feel of her. “More and more I just know you are perfect for me. I know you had said you are comfortable with me, but I feel complete when I’m with you. On stage performing was the only thing that really made me feel alive since I lost my mom. But being with you makes me whole, like I’m myself again. And I don’t need a crowd screaming my name or to be belting out songs that came from deep in my soul. Like something as simple as lying in bed, holding you, and talking, you’re right; it’s natural.”
“Maybe we are perfect for each other.” A strange expression flitted across her face, but it was gone too quickly for me to decipher it. Well, whatever it was, I was going to do everything in my power to convince her to be mine. She would eventually not even remember that douchebag’s name.
“How about something fun to talk about until we’re ready to go to sleep? What is your favorite song by me?” I shot her a mischievous grin.
“Ugh. That’s as bad as asking me what my favorite book is. It’s an impossible question to answer. And I can tell by the look on your face that you know that.”
I pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Just select two; a ballad and a rock one. And I won’t hold it against you. I’m curious what you’ll pick.”
She released a sigh while she pondered my question. “Okay. From your third album, Tempest , I’d have to choose “Seizing the Stars” because I love that you talk about going for what you want no matter the obstacles or how out of reach you believe it is and “Needing a Sunrise” because you were singing about dreaming about waking up one day and finding the perfect girl.”
“I’m pretty damn sure I was singing about you. Even though I hadn’t met you yet. You were the girl I was picturing in that song.” Now that I had her, I couldn’t believe how fucking lucky I was to have run into her like I had. The stars must have been aligned last night.
I had been so caught up in intense emotions between talking about losing my mom and being hit with the fact that my heart knew without a doubt that she was mine, before I could stop myself, I blurted, “I’m falling in love with you, Serenity.”
Her eyes went wide again and I silently berated myself.
She was going to sprint from my bed.
Were my Chuck Taylors nearby?