Chapter 23 Sloane
Sloane
The day of the rescheduled concert began with more excitement than I’d expected.
I just wanted to stay in bed, curled up in Kolton’s strong arms, but Monica called me bright and early, shaking us both out of sleep.
We rushed around the suite, cleaning up anything that might hint at the budding relationship between me and my bodyguard, moving his belongings from our bedroom into the one we hadn’t used all week.
By the time Monica knocked on the door to the suite, I felt sweaty and grimy and in need of a long, hot bath.
And apparently, Monica thought the same.
“You’re not performing in that, are you?” she asked, her eyebrows raised before her mouth pinched in something like disgust.
“Good morning, Sloane. Good morning, Kolton. How are you today?” I raised my brows right back at her and felt vindicated when her face slackened, and she turned to the man who’d opened the door.
“Good morning, Kolton. Did you have a good week?”
I loved the flush of color that darkened his cheeks as he glanced at me. “Good morning, Monica. Yes, the week was very relaxing, thank you.”
She smiled and squeezed his arm. “I’m glad she didn’t give you too much trouble.” With that, she turned back to me, giving me a sugary sweet smile. “How are you this morning, Sloane?”
“I’d be better if I had a little more warning before you showed up.” I indicated my rumpled T-shirt, which I’d grabbed from the pile of clothes Kolton and I had left in the middle of the floor last night. “I thought the concert wasn’t until this evening.”
“It’s not, but there’s been some developments, and I thought it prudent that we talk before things get too out of hand.”
“What’s going on?” It was amazing to me to see Kolton transform from the kind, gentle soul I knew him to be, into the strong, sharpened protector who would do anything to keep me safe.
To be honest, it did things to me I couldn’t begin to explain.
I hadn’t wanted that kind of man in my life, following me around and making me feel like I couldn’t take care of myself.
But seeing that side of Kolton made me want him even more.
Made an ache stir between my legs at the reminder of what we’d done last night and how I’d fully intended to start where we’d left off once we woke up this morning.
Yet here was Monica, ruining it all.
“Why don’t we have a seat.” She took me by the arm and gently directed me toward the couch—yes, the one Kolton and I had spent hours making love on just the other night.
I hadn’t been able to look at it without remembering our quiet confessions, but as she sat me down and took a seat beside me, and Kolton paced in front of us like he had that same night, our I-love-yous were the furthest thing from my mind.
“I spoke with the hotel manager last night—”
“What did he want?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest. Kolton paused in his pacing and turned his focus on my manager.
“Ever since your little impromptu show at the department store a couple days ago, there have been an increase in the number of loiterers in and around the property here. The police have been called multiple times to remove people from the premises.”
“And you’re telling us this because…?”
“Because they’re your fans,” Kolton answered for her, pushing his hands through his hair. “How bad is it?”
“Bad enough that the hotel has called in additional security, and I’m pretty sure the manager is kicking himself for begging you to stay this week.
We’re working with the venue to ensure you and the children are safe, but I need you two there early so Kolton can go over security measures with the team we hired to help with the concert. ”
“How soon do you need us?” Kolton asked as he ran a hand through his hair again. Strands stuck up in a couple places, and I wanted to go to him and smooth them down, soothe some of that wild energy that seemed to be pulsing off him.
Monica glanced at me, her gaze dripping down my body like a sticky sap. “The earlier the better. Sloane, how fast can you get ready?”
Looks like there would be no hot bath in my future.
“I need to shower. I can bring my outfit with me and change later.”
“Good. Why don’t you two go get cleaned up. I’ll call down for breakfast sandwiches and coffees while I wait.”
Monica wasn’t kidding about the number of people loitering about.
Hotel security led us through the staff entrance to get us to our hired car, and as we drove by on a side street, the number of people surrounding the hotel was downright scary.
I had flashbacks of being mauled by the fans back in Chicago before I met Kolton, and with our hasty exits to avoid more fans a couple days ago, I was grateful for his solid presence now more than ever.
Once inside the venue, I was practically locked in my dressing room as Monica and Kolton met with the security and staff that were helping out with the charity concert.
There was someone from the company Monica had hired outside my door at all times, and I hated every minute I was left alone.
I spent my downtime warming up on the upright piano they’d arranged for me to use and talking with my mother and sister on the phone.
I didn’t dare watch TV or doom scroll on my phone, because the last thing I needed was to hear another story about what Beckett and Brooklyn were up to today.
Finally, an hour before I was supposed to go on, a knock came at my door. I rushed over and glanced through the peephole before wrenching the door open.
“Kolton!” The door was barely shut behind him before I was in his arms, my legs wrapped around his waist as his hands smoothed over the frilly white dress I was wearing.
“Geez, Sloane, are you okay?” he asked, turning around and pressing me against the wall beside the door.
“Just missed you.” My hands roamed across his shoulders and chest as I kissed him with all that I had. One of his hands left my body, and I heard a snick at the door before he was touching me again.
“Missed you too, Diva. It’s fucking crazy out there.”
With those words, I pulled back enough to look at him. His brow was furrowed, and I reached to smooth it with my fingers. “Is everything okay?”
Nodding, he gripped me tight and carried me over to the oversized couch, sitting down before adjusting me in his lap.
“There’s just a lot of people. Mostly that aren’t supposed to be here.
Only the kids and their helpers were supposed to be here today—that’s all that showed up last week before the power went out.
They weren’t expecting so much pandemonium today. ”
“Are the kids going to be able to get in okay?”
“Yeah, most of them are being bussed in. They’ll be dropped off and guided inside by security.
We’ve even prepared the staff to be on the lookout for anyone who shouldn’t be coming in with them.
Everything’s ready to go, we’re just waiting on them.
” He looked me over, his gaze lingering on the deep V of my neckline. “And you, of course.”
Before I could respond, his finger followed the path of his gaze, then his mouth followed that. “Kolton—” I gasped as he pulled down the strap of my dress and sucked my nipple between his lips.
“Missed this, Diva,” he whispered as his free hand smoothed up my thigh. “I had plans for you this morning, and we got interrupted.”
I whimpered as he suckled my breast, again as his hand swept up under my skirt, pressing against my ass and lifting me up.
“Tell me this is okay.” His fingers danced at the edge of my panties, and my knees began to shake.
“Please,” was all I managed before he slid one long finger into my core. I gasped at the feel of him, then squirmed as he added another, this one straddling the crotch of my panties. And I moaned at the way the silky material rubbed at my piercing and my clit.
He fucked me with his fingers, my panties adding friction as he squeezed my ass and spread hot, wet kisses along my breasts and neck.
I was shaking in no time, detonating before I had a chance to process how intense it felt to have him like this.
I wanted more, wanted this to go on longer.
I wanted to make Kolton feel as good as I felt.
But he pulled my limp body against his chest, holding me like he’d never let me go.
“Don’t even think about it,” he whispered as I grew restless, my fingers aching to reach for him. “There’s not enough time, and I’m not taking a chance of hurting your voice tonight. I want to hear you sing more than anyone else out there.”
“You always get to hear me sing.”
He pressed a kiss to my temple. “I always want to hear you sing, Diva. Nothing gives me more pleasure. Well,” he adjusted me in his lap, and I could feel the hard length of him nestled beneath me, “almost nothing.”
Edging back, I pressed a kiss to his lips.
“I love you.” I thought it might feel weird, saying those words outside the privacy of our hotel room.
Like, maybe, it was the kind of thing my mom used to warn me about when I first started hanging out with Beckett—that I needed space from him to know if what we had was real.
Space I never had.
But then Kolton beamed so brightly that his smile was blinding, and I knew what we had was real. “Love you too, Diva.” He kissed me, then pressed his forehead to mine. “Let’s get you decent before Monica gets here.”
He gave a quiet chuckle when I groaned, but he took my hand and helped me off his lap. Then he was fixing my dress for me, not as if I was a child in need of help, but like he wanted to help me look my best.
“Beautiful,” he whispered as he wrapped me in his arms and pressed a kiss to my temple. “As always.”
“You’re too sweet.”
“Or just sweet enough.”
He let go of me slowly, held my hand as he walked backward toward the door, not letting go until he had to. Monica strode in shortly after, quickly going over some last-minute preparations before it was time to go on.
Performing for this children’s charity had been one of the things on my wish list for years—something I never dreamed would become a reality before I met Monica.
Raising money for the charity was one thing, and something I was passionate about.
But these kids deserved more than money to pay their medical bills and buy them food and clothes.
They deserved to have something special to remember.
Music had always soothed my soul, and I wanted to give them that too.
The moment I walked out on stage, I could feel something like magic in the air.
Singing in front of a crowd had always brought me a special kind of energy.
But here, standing in front of these children, with the music I wrote playing behind me, it felt like my blood was singing.
I looked down at Kolton, where he stood in front of the stage, and couldn’t help the wide smile that crossed my lips when I saw him watching me with that same sense of awe I found in the faces of the children.
This day was magical.
It was a day I’d never forget.
I spent time between songs talking to the crowd.
I told them how “I’m a Believer” was inspired by my father, and “Stand Tall, Stand Strong” was inspired by my grandmother, despite the fact that she was shorter than me.
I was halfway through “Brave,” one of my favorite songs to sing, when I glanced down at Kolton and the world around me seemed to shake.
He wasn’t smiling like he always was when I sang. There was no awestruck look on his face like when he became an internet meme. Instead, his brow was furrowed, his hand raised to his ear, and my entire body tensed as he swung his head to the side of the stage.
Seconds later, something hit me in the side.
My microphone went sailing out of my hand and into the crowd while my body tilted before tumbling to the ground.
There were arms and legs surrounding me.
Something hit me in the face while a sharp pain ricocheted through the side of my head.
Between the ringing in my ears and the screaming of the crowd, I could just make out muffled, jumbled words as a weight was lifted off my chest.
“Oh my god! Sloane! I love you Sloane! You’re amazing! I’m your biggest fan!”
Before I knew what was happening, Kolton was beside me, large hands wrapping around me as he looked me over with fear in his eyes.
“Sloane! Are you okay?”
I nodded but then shook my head. Tears sprung from my eyes as I started shaking, my body wracked with sobs. I hurt, everywhere. My head, my side, my legs and my hands. My arm burned and when I looked down at it, I had a long scratch that was oozing blood.
Kolton swept me against his chest, then pulled me into his arms. Even though his presence always made me feel safe, I didn’t feel safe at all.
I’d just wanted to perform for the children, to give them something they could always remember.
There was no way anyone would forget this.