Chapter 12
CHAPTER 12
SILVER
I nstead of taking her straight home as she’d expected, he carried her— carried her, something Ace had never even attempted to do because he’d said she was too heavy—down the podium steps to the elevator at the back of the club. They were met upstairs by Ivy, who showed them to a private booth at the far end of the top floor where Ice wrapped her up in a blanket before plopping her on his lap and forcing two bottles of ice-cold water down her throat.
He babied her. There was no other word for it. When Ivy showed up again, this time with a delicious-looking brownie and yet more water, he hand fed her every single bit of said brownie, which was as yummy as it looked. Not once did he push her to talk about what had happened downstairs, other than to ask her how she was feeling over and over again.
When the brownie had been demolished and the third bottle of water finished, he finally let her get dressed. Well, technically he dressed her, helping her step back into the dress and panties another helpful soul had brought up to them before ushering her down to his car, which was waiting for them at the curb when they stepped out into the sultry September air.
At her insistence, they skipped her hotel for the time being. She didn’t want to waste a single second of their time together packing a bag.
Especially when she was hoping they wouldn’t be spending much time wearing any clothes at all over the next few hours.
At his house, he took her out to the back deck and insisted she sit for a little while, looking out over the crashing waves of the Atlantic while she sipped the water he pushed on her again. The rhythm of the ocean soothed her soul, easing some of the ache inside her as they sat in companionable silence.
She could get used to this. As much as she loved touring, loved recording, being on the road so much was starting to take its toll. Whether it was just the fact that they were on the wrong side of thirty, or that they’d been at it for so many years, she wasn’t sure. But the thought of spending most of her nights sitting by the sea, letting the waves lull her to sleep held more appeal than she would have imagined even just a few years ago.
Maybe it was time for a longer break than just this hiatus Ice had taken for himself. Maybe they all needed a break from each other, from the drama and stress of spending all their waking hours together.
Was that the real reason she’d baited Ice tonight by signing up for the auction? Because she wanted the band to split up, at least for a little while?
That thought was more than a little uncomfortable, so she shoved it firmly out of her mind. Weariness settled over her and she raised a hand to stifle a yawn before Ice could see.
Except, Ice saw everything. Especially when it came to her.
“Time for bed.” Pushing up out of one of the twin Adirondack chairs they’d settled themselves into, Ice held out his hand.
As much as she’d been looking forward to spending the rest of the night exploring each other’s bodies, between the pampering at the club and the drive out to his home, her adrenaline rush had long since faded. And still, as tired as she was, being ordered to bed activated her inner brat. “You go on. I’m not tired.”
“You’re exhausted and you’ve had a long day. It’s time for bed.”
Excitement buzzed along her skin. Ice might have his fantasies, but she had her own. And several of those fantasies revolved around being punished by him. She’d gotten a good taste of how strict he could be at Black Light, and again tonight, but it only left her aching for more.
“Amanda.”
Despite said fantasies, the way he said her name in that almost-too-calm tone of voice had her squirming uncomfortably in her chair. And that squirming reminded her that his punishments were nothing to be trifled with as the ache in her ass flared back to life.
Still, she couldn’t resist pushing a little harder. “I’m not tired.”
“That’s too bad.”
Curiosity peaked, and she mentally swore at herself for giving in even as she opened her mouth to ask, “Why?”
Leaning down, Ice braced his hands on either arm of her chair, one side of his mouth lifting in a smirk. “Because good girls who go to bed when Daddy says to get their pussies eaten until they come all over Daddy’s face.”
The need he’d so thoroughly slaked back at the club flared to life once again between her thighs. “Oh.” That actually was a really good reason to do as he said.
“Last chance, baby. Are you going to be a good girl and come to bed?”
It wasn’t even a question. “Yes, Daddy.”
The title had lost most of its awkwardness by then. And the way his eyes lit up with pure pleasure every time she used it made up for any lingering weirdness. “Good girl.”
She let herself be pulled up out of the chair, up into his arms. The smirk stayed on his lips, but his eyes… There was something there, something she couldn’t quite make out in the dark.
“I’m going to kiss you, Amanda Sterling.” The arms around her waist tightened, pulling her close, and her breath caught in her chest. “I’m going to kiss you, because this night is about my fantasies. And I’m not nearly strong enough to resist the woman I love drenched in moonlight on a warm autumn night by the sea.”
The heart he’d once tried to lay claim to trembled as his lips brushed across hers. She sank into the kiss, into him, into the poetry and the romance of it all. Because she wasn’t strong enough either, nowhere near strong enough to resist him and the slow, heady exploration of his mouth against hers.
It wasn’t just a kiss. It was the kiss. The kiss in all those cheesy romantic comedies she secretly loved. The kiss that flipped everything on its head in an instant. The kiss that said, Oh, there you are. I’ve been waiting for you.
He tugged at her dress, gathering the material in his hands as he kissed her brainless, until the cool ocean breeze caressed the welts his flogger had left behind. There was pain when he gripped her ass in those large, calloused hands, but it only served to have her whimpering into the kiss as that pain melded with her pleasure.
Up and up and up the dress went, until he finally had to pull away so he could drag it up over her head. Without taking his eyes off her, he tossed the bundle of fabric toward the open door of the bedroom.
“You glow,” he murmured, lifting his hands to her shoulders, his fingers a whisper of touch over her skin as he ran them down her bare arms. “My goddess of the night. I should have known you’d glow in the moonlight.”
How could a woman resist those words? Even in the early days, Ace had never given her poetry. The songs he’d written about her had been crude metaphors for sex all wrapped up in heavy bass and screaming guitars. Nobody had ever called her a goddess or told her she glowed.
“Take me to bed.” Closing the small distance between them, she looped her arms around his shoulders, tilting her head back to offer her lips up for another of those soul-stealing kisses.
“So demanding.” He chuckled as he bent his head to brush a kiss across her collarbone. “But I’ve changed my mind. I want to see how you glow when you shatter for me.”
And then he was on his knees, and she was up against the elegant French doors that opened the house up to the sea. Her fingers were in his hair, pulling him closer as he dragged in a deep breath through his nose.
“God, Sil. You smell even better than I remember. I’ve dreamed about your scent, your taste. I swear I’ve woken up every morning since Roulette with the taste of you on my tongue.”
“Ice…” She didn’t have the words to give him. Not in that effortless way he had. So she let them die on her tongue, knowing anything she said would pale in comparison to his easy romance.
“You don’t have to say anything, baby. Just let Daddy taste you.”
He slowly peeled her panties down her legs before he nudged her left leg up over his shoulder, steadying her and spreading her open for him all with one movement. And when his tongue slipped inside her, she closed her eyes and clung to him as he swept her away as surely as the pounding ocean beside them.
Pleasure rose and ebbed, controlled by his wicked, clever tongue. There was nothing she could do to control it, so she simply let herself drift on the sea of it.
Where other men might have devoured, Ice savored. Slowly and thoroughly, tasting every single inch of her and then doing it all over again when he was done. Until she was left trembling and sobbing with need.
“Ice, please. I need… I need…”
The rest of her plea was lost on a low moan as his slow exploration turned ravenous. Now, he did devour, driving her higher and higher with single-minded relentlessness until she finally went flying, her screams of release swallowed up by the crashing waves.
“Beautiful.” His soft praise drew her back down to Earth, back to the present as he pressed a kiss to the gentle curve of her stomach. “My gorgeous goddess.”
She felt like one in that moment. A goddess of hedonism and pleasure, with him her devoted supplicant worshiping her the only way he knew how. “That was…” She blew out a shaky breath. “I have no words.”
“Then I did my job.” Still on his knees, he grinned up at her. “Come to bed, and I’ll do it again.”
He did. Over and over until she lost count and her throat turned raw from screaming his name. When she was empty of everything but him, he finally stripped and pulled her close to him, cradling her as sleep dragged her under.
But she still heard him, clear as day when he whispered his heart to her before she slipped into unconsciousness.
“You’ve ruined me, Silver. Ruined me for anyone but you. And I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do about that.”