Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
HAZEL
My favorite part of the show is coming up, so I excuse myself from the box to head backstage. Dan falls in step beside me, his size dwarfing me as we walk the concourse.
“How are they liking the show?” he asks.
“It’s not their usual taste in music, but they’re loving watching the guys perform. Grandma especially.”
“I love that.”
Backstage, security steps out of our way as we approach.
Darren has his back to us while he talks on the phone.
The tour manager does a double take when he sees me and then smiles, motioning for me to join him.
I step around Darren, his eyes widen when he sees me, clearly surprised.
Xan notices me first as he’s the closest to this side of the stage.
He gives me a wink and smile before going back to the mic to join Stone for the bridge.
All three of them were born for the stage.
The sharp angles of their perfectly chiseled faces are highlighted by the stage lights.
Both Stone and Xander’s veins throb in their necks and forearms as the intensity of the song increases.
Xander wanders away from his mic stand when his vocals end, and he walks over to Stone, waiting until he has his attention and then motioning in my direction.
Stone’s eyes lock on mine, and a huge smile lifts his lips. As soon as the song ends, he swings his guitar around to his back and crosses the stage. Before I know it his arms are locked around me, and he’s carrying me out onto the stage.
“What are you doing?” I squeal in surprise. The weight of the tens of thousands of people here to watch him falls on me.
He sets me down on my feet beside his mic. “Isn’t she gorgeous?” he asks the crowd.
He laughs as they scream for him, though I do hear some boos. A guy in the front yells that he’d hit it.
“Well, she’s mine, and I don’t fucking share.” He pulls me back against his body. “Not only is she spectacularly beautiful, she’s also talented as fuck. Everyone should be reading her book.”
That comment gets even more boos.
“All the boos tell me is that you're bad in bed, boys. Pick up a book and learn a few tricks. Your partners will thank you.”
My face flames. He notices and chuckles. “I’ll let her go, but first, say hello to her mom and grandma, who came to watch us play.” He points toward the side of the arena where the box is and plucks his in ear monitor out. “On three, two, one.”
Stone, Xander, and Tobias all lead the crowd in saying hello. I turn in his arms, partly amused, partly embarrassed and press a chaste kiss to his lips in front of everyone. “I can’t believe you just did that.”
“I can’t believe you think I’d let you off this stage without a better kiss than that.”
His lips descend on mine, the taste of salt and lingering traces of peppermint from his lip balm floods my senses.
He wraps his arms around my waist and dips me back as his tongue licks into my mouth.
Everyone fades into the background as I’m swept into his light.
My fingers slide into his hair, and I feel his chest vibrate against mine as he moans into the kiss.
“Should we leave you two alone, for a bit?” Xan jokes into his mic.
Stone straightens, smiling against my lips before releasing me. “Would you?” he asks Xan over my shoulder.
The crowd laughs and hoots. Some woman yells ‘me next’ which leads to another round of laughter. I put my hands over my flaming cheeks and walk off stage as Xan and Tobias smile at me.
Darren has a huge grin on his face as I join him off to the side. “That was great. Are you okay?”
“Yeah.” I shake my head. “I can’t believe he did that.”
“I can. He really cares about you. At the beginning of all this, I suggested he date you for good publicity. He vehemently shot me down. Never doubt that his affection is real.”
I watch the acoustic set from the wings as Darren’s words sink in: This is real .
As they transition into another set, I turn to go find Dan and go back to the suite. He gives me a big dopey grin as soon as he sees me. My cheeks burn as I fall in step beside him silently.
“So, when’s the wedding?” he asks with amusement lacing his tone.
“Oh, shut up.” I give him a playful push which only makes him laugh harder.
“I’ve never seen him like this in all the years I’ve been on his security team.
“What was he like before?”
Dan sobers. “Darker. He had a perpetual heaviness that hung from shoulders. Even when he was so drunk and high he couldn’t walk, it never lifted. I don’t ever want to see him fall back into that pattern again.”
“Let’s hope he never goes back to that.”
“You’ve been so good for him.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
“Sometimes I worry that I’m just a distraction for him. Something for him to funnel his attention into instead of his addiction recovery.”
“We were all worried about that at the beginning. But we’ve been on the tour for weeks now. It’s different. He’s different in a way he wasn’t while sober before you. I think you can trust in whatever you two have going on.”
I look over at him. “You should be a therapist or something.”
He laughs, head tipped back. “My degree is actually in psychology. I was only going to do this as a summer job between undergrad and graduate school, but I liked it so much I decided to stay on.”
“So much makes sense now.” We come to the suite, and he opens the door for me. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Grams turns, and I know by the look in her eyes that I’m about to be teased mercilessly for the rest of the night.
“That boy is so smitten.”
“Grams.” I shake my head. “He just needed attention.”
“Oh, you didn’t see how he looked at you. We got a view right on the jumbotron.” She wraps a bony arm around my waist. “He cares about you.”
He does. That much is obvious, surprising me with the bookstore shopping spree and then flying her and my mom out to surprise me. I don’t think I could ever express my gratitude adequately.
But I’d be lying if deep inside I’m not still wondering why. We’re so different. Our lives would never have intersected had I not been asked to come on the morning show for their book club segment.
Greg’s voice rings in my head, telling me that he’s just using me for some sort of publicity. He has a reputation he needs to course correct. What better way to do so than make grand gestures and declarations about the romance author you got stuck traveling with.
No.
I’m not going to listen to him, just like I know not to listen to the voice of my father.
I won't ruin everything. There are plenty of reasons to love me, not that I think that’s what is happening between us.
It’s just attraction intensified by circumstances.
I cling to what Darren and Dan had just shared with me, knowing Tyler’s feelings are real.
Now isn’t the time to dwell on these thoughts, though. I only have a few more hours with my mom and Grams. I don’t want to waste a second stuck in my own thoughts.
I yelp as a hand whips out and wraps around my waist, pulling me into Stone’s dressing room after the concert.
The cedar scent of his body wash surrounds me as he presses me against the wall.
He takes my mouth with his in a long, languid kiss that I feel all the way into my bones.
It’s unhurried and deep, the complete opposite to what he gave me on stage earlier.
“Did you already say goodbye to Barb and Bev?” he asks as he breaks the kiss.
“Yeah.” Sadness washes over me. Two days wasn’t long enough. “They actually had to get back to the hotel before the performance ended, so Grams could take her meds.”
“I’m sorry I missed saying goodbye.”
“Don’t worry about it, you left a lasting impression.”
“A good one, I hope.”
I smile up at him. “Definitely good.” I run my hands down his chest all the way to the waist band of his sweatpants. “In fact, I think I should show you my appreciation.”
“Oh yeah?” A corner of his mouth quirks up. “Here I thought I’d have to apologize for embarrassing you on stage.”
I drop to my knees before him with a smile. “I’ll let it slide this time.”
My fingers hook in his waistband, tugging down until his cock springs free. I wrap my hand around his width and pump a few times. His eyes darken when I flick my tongue over his tip. He threads his fingers through my hair and guides me all the way down his length.
“Play with yourself while I fuck your mouth, dirty girl.” He tugs on my hair just the way I love it. “Get that pussy nice and wet for me.”
Heat floods my center at his words. I look up at him while he thrusts his cock in and out of my mouth and spread my legs open. His gaze follows my hand as I drag my fingertips up my thigh. I slip my fingers under my panties and circle my clit.
He hits the back of my throat and groans. I hollow my cheeks around him as he pulls back.
“Fuck, baby,” he moans as he hits the back of my throat again.
I gag, and it only makes me wetter. What is it about being used by this man that feels so good? I slow my fingers, afraid to come too quick.
His abs ripple as he moves in and out of my mouth. “Are you close?” he asks.
I nod, and he pulls his dick from between my lips.
He pulls me to my feet and spins me against the dressing table.
I bend over, my body assaulted by the cold metal beneath me and the heat from the light bulbs surrounding the mirror in front of me.
There’s a perfect reflection of him behind me as he lifts my skirt, his fingertips dancing over the swell of my ass.
He hooks his fingers in the waistband of my thong and pulls it down to my knees.
I whimper as he presses two fingers inside me and curses.
He pumps them in and out, over and over until the wet sound of my arousal fills the dressing room.
His fingers curl along my walls, finding my g-spot with expert precision.
My orgasm rocks through me with no warning, no steady build, just an explosion of pleasure.
He slowly withdraws his fingers and meets my eyes in the mirror. I watch with parted lips and heaving breaths as he brings them to his mouth and closes his lips around them. He holds my gaze as he sucks them clean.
“Don’t look away from me.” He grips one of my hips and presses inside me.
My eyes drift closed at how good he feels moving inside me. A loud slap echoes through the room as his hand connects with the curve of my ass. The skin burns from where he made contact, but it’s a good pain. One I wouldn’t mind having more of.
“I told you to keep your eyes open.” He slips a hand around the front of me until his fingers graze the throbbing bundle of nerves at my center.
“Only if you fuck me hard and fast.”
The corner of his mouth lifts into a smirk at the challenge. “If you close your eyes or look away from me, I’ll stop. I’ll pull out and paint your ass with my cum while it aches for me all the way to Denver. Understand?”
I nod, and he unleashes. With each powerful thrust my hips bump against the edge of the vanity. He’s so deep from this angle, I can barely catch my breath. I wanted hard and fast, and he delivered.
Just like he asked my eyes never leave his in the mirror. I see so many emotions flit over his face as he fucks me. The sound of skin slapping against skin mixes with my whimpers and his growls. It’s a cacophony of hedonism.
My pussy tightens around him, squeezing and trembling as my release crashes over me.
He thrust one, twice, three times more and then stills deep inside me.
His cock jerks as my walls pulse around him.
I drop my head to the cool metal beneath me as I catch my breath.
His forehead rests between my shoulder blades as his dick slowly begins to soften inside me.
“Hazel, I,” his voice is breathless, and instead of finishing his sentence, he presses a kiss to my spine. I’m so sated from my orgasms, I don’t even push him to finish his sentence. My muscles are so limp I feel like I could melt into a puddle.
“Come on.” He pulls out of me and wraps his arm around my waist. “Let's take a quick shower before we get on the bus.”