29. Collins
Chapter 29
Collins
T he rest of the drive was spent in peaceful silence, which was a welcome reprieve from the morning I had while catching up on ten years’ worth of history and overwhelming emotions between me and my big brother. My heart aches with leaving him, but knowing he’s so close, and moving even closer soon is like a salve over the ache.
I’d drifted off after my mind had stopped racing over choosing an aerial routine and the perfect outfit for the encore performance that Creed wants me to be a part of.
My mind was blown.
I’d never been to a concert before, and not only is my first going to be with the man I’ve been crazy about my whole life, the man who I’ve watched practice in his dad’s garage countless times, listened to his voice evolve over the years…but I’m freaking performing for them now? No fucking way. It’s like an exciting yet terrifying dream come true.
Before I’d drifted off in the car, I squirmed in my seat for about thirty minutes, Creed's voice ringing over and over in my head from when he called me baby. It’s not the first time he’s done it since we found each other again, but there was something in the way he said it that wasn’t just a plea or heat of the moment pet name.
The way the word curled around his lips shot straight to my core and sank down between my thighs. It had me imagining what it would sound like for him to call me baby in a more…intimate setting. One where he needs me so badly that he can’t wait, where I’m pressed up against a wall and fucked within an inch of my life, both chasing a high we both crave.
It was torture not being able to reach down and touch myself. The need to come is growing stiflingly unbearable being around these men.
Yes, these men. Plural.
I can admit that both Creed and Riley are hot as fuck, but in such different ways. Creed is tall and muscular, built much thicker than he was when he was eighteen. He’s all dark, and rugged; a no-bullshitter attitude wrapped in beautiful tattoos and panty-dropping smiles.
Riley is just as beautiful as Creed. He’s equally as tall, though not as muscular, but still perfectly toned and has no tattoos or piercings that I know of. He’s sweet and soft, a light in the darkness. He radiates happiness and brings with him a peace I’ve never known in my life.
Creed was always a constant in my life and is quickly slipping back into that role again. Riley took zero time in proving himself to be an amazing friend, giving me a comfort and lightness that I haven’t felt in a very long time.
While I can’t deny that I harbor some staggeringly strong feelings for both Creed and Riley, I know I’ll have to stifle them. Push them down to the point of ignoring them because I don’t want to come between them and the family they’ve created. Creed’s made it clear where he stands while Riley has only shown me the kindness of a friend and nothing more. I just need to relax for a damn minute and be grateful for the new life I find myself living with people who actually intend to take care of me.
My eyelids grow heavy but before I drift off, my phone buzzes in my lap. I glance down and my body breaks out in a cold sweat at the text lighting up my lock screen.
Unknown: You think you can run from me? Running will only result in punishment when I finally catch you, little girl.
Nausea rolls through me and my heart beats with a wild fear.
He knows I’m gone.
Maybe he doesn’t know where I am, though.
I make quick work of deleting the text messages and turn my phone on ‘silent mode’ before Creed notices the panic roiling through my body. I let my head drop back against the headrest and close my eyes, the last thing going through my mind before sleep claims me is the sadistic smile that Guy gave me before I escaped—because that’s what I really did, escape— and the fear I feel for Creed and Riley by allowing them to help me.
I wake to the feeling of a thumb brushing down my cheek and a rush of the warm, early summer air. I crack my eyes open to see Creed smiling at me in the doorway of the SUV. God, he’s so beautiful. I let my eyes rove over him in my sleepy state, thoroughly enjoying taking in each of his tattoos that stretch from the line of his jaw to the tips of his fingers. A knowing smirk graces the natural pout of his lips and I want to lean in and taste them with my own.
“We’re here, Stardust .” He says softly, pulling me from my quiet ogling. I sit up and look around, seeing that we’re in a private, gated lot and parked behind a row of very fancy-looking large black buses. Several people dressed in black Dark Sins shirts are moving around at a hustling pace, loading and arranging various cases of equipment in each of the RV’s. He holds his hand out to me as I unbuckle my seatbelt. “Want to see our bus? ”
“Hell yeah,” I say excitedly. I shift around in my seat to grab my polaroid from my backpack since I take it with me everywhere, and I see that Riley’s no longer in the vehicle next to me. “Where’s Riley?” I ask as I scoot back to where Creed is waiting patiently in the doorway. By the time I get to the edge of the seat, Creed and I are nearly nose to nose. A shiver runs up my spine and I clench my thighs when he leans in and rubs his nose against mine before lifting his face to place a kiss on my forehead. The place where his lips touched me is on fire when he pulls back and continues to look at me like I’m something he wants to devour. With the way he makes me feel all the time, I want him to devour me. Right here, splayed across the back seat.
I’m practically panting and ready to throw myself at him by the time he pulls away with a satisfied grin on his face. I want to slap him and kiss him at the same time.
“He’s loading his stuff onto the bus. Come on, I’ll take you for a little tour.” He says it so casually, like he didn’t just tip my world off its axis, his hand patiently outstretched to me. I take it and he surprises me by lacing our fingers together before pulling me along. I can’t take my eyes off his tattooed hand that’s engulfing mine.
I don’t want to lose this memory in case it’s just a fluke thing, so I lift the polaroid and take a picture. Creed looks back at me and grins as the photo slowly feeds from the bottom. I take it and tuck it into my pocket before he can see what it is. I don’t know why I feel the need to hide it, but I do. It’s just been me and my photos for years and I’m not ready to share it yet.
On the rest of the walk over, my stomach flutters at the thought of sharing a bus with Riley and Creed. I thought it’d be fine, but getting to know them both better for the last few days combined with Creed’s hot and cold behavior toward me? Now I’m not so sure.
Creed tugs me along to the first bus in the lineup and doesn’t let go of my hand as he pulls me inside. These buses are huge from the outside but I’m still shocked at how spacious it is on the inside .
“This is beautiful,” I breathe, turning in a slow circle to take it all in when Creed releases my hand.
I note a lofty bunk at the front of the bus with what looks like Riley’s suitcase already perched on the end of the mattress. The space where I’m standing is right in between a cozy sitting area under the loft with two plush couches on either side and a shockingly large kitchenette and breakfast nook on my other side.
“Follow me,” he crooks his fingers at me—the unintentional sensuality of the beckoning motion going straight between my thighs—and he nods his head toward the back of the bus. Thank God I’m behind him so he can’t see the fucking heat creeping up over my face as I follow him down a short, narrow hallway that has a small bathroom complete with a shower on my right, and two more small bunks on my left with privacy curtains hanging over each. Creed pushes open the door at the very back and it reveals a room that somehow fits the king-sized bed that’s nestled along the back wall. The small windows actually offer a lot of natural light, making the small space look larger. The entire bus is filled with cool tones but it still feels warm and homey.
“You’ll sleep in here,” Creed starts, and my head whips to him.
“What?” I question, my palms suddenly feeling sweaty and I shift on my feet. “Like, with—with you? Like the way we slept at your house?” I feel like an idiot for asking, and the blush on my cheeks amplifies all over again. I’m annoyed at the way my voice fucking squeaks when the question comes out without filter.
I can’t look at his achingly beautiful face, so I glance at the bed, noting there are only two pillows so the possibility of a pillow wall between us is an impossibility.
“No,” he says simply and it takes colossal effort to keep my shoulders from slumping with the disappointment that I feel over the simple one-word answer. No idea what his face looks like because I refuse to look at him still. I’m not sure where the confident girl who took his mouth and ground over his hard cock a few nights ago went, but apparently she’s left the building. Being friend-zoned can do that to you, apparently. “You’ll get sick of sharing a bus with two dudes who will have shit for sleep schedules over the next few months, so trust me when I say you’ll be needing your own space. I’ll take one of the bunks outside.”
“Creed, no.” I argue.
“Collins, yes.” He mocks and I scoff.
“No!” I turn to him and put my hands on my hips. Amusement shines bright in his icy eyes. “I’m not taking your bed!” I exit the room and pull back the curtain of one of the bunks. They’ve got a little over two feet of space overhead which is plenty of space to sleep cozily.
“Why the hell not?” Creed calls after me and gently yanks me back into the room like putting me in here is going to really drive his point home.
“Because of what you just said. Your sleep schedules are about to be fucked. You’re going to be on your feet for hours on end, singing and playing and exhausting yourself for the next three months. You are going to need a comfortable, private space to decompress. And…” I trail off, but Creed crosses his arms and raises his eyebrow at me, waiting for me to continue my embarrassing rant. “You need… you’ll have…” I stop myself because I really don’t want to finish the sentence.
But of course Creed doesn’t let it go.
“I’ll need what , Collins?” Creed’s voice drops to a low rumble that makes me clench my thighs and I shiver at the sound of my name on his lips. He takes a stalking step forward and his ice blue eyes dip down my body and slowly rise again, freezing in place when they reach my chest. I don’t even need to look to know that my lacy bra is doing absolutely nothing to hide my hardened nipples from how fucking turned on I am right now.
We’ve had this exact conversation just days ago, but I can’t let it go. I don’t want to sleep on a bus with him, or Riley for that matter, if they’re going to be seeking pleasure from other people. My heart couldn’t take it. I’m embarrassed at how hard it is to just get the damn words out, but I have to know for sure before I push to sleep elsewhere.
I shake my head. “You’ll have?—”
I start to say, but he takes another step closer, effectively shutting me up at the same time I take a step back. When he speaks again, it’s low and gritty and damn near lethal with what it’s doing to my lady bits. “I’ll have… what?”
He takes a final step forward and because it’s a small room on a tour bus, I stumble and fall back, my ass hitting the foot of the bed on a soft bounce, the new angle forcing me to crane my neck to meet his eyes again.
My breathing picks up because does Creed leave me alone down here on the edge of the bed? Of course not. He leans down, hands bracketing me on either side of my body, and his face is now so dangerously close to mine. His minty breath fans across my face on an exhale. He quirks a single brow at me, waiting for me to finish my sentence from earlier.
Why do I feel like I’m doing a naughty thing by being forced to say the words out loud? We’re both adults and we both curse, surely this shouldn’t be such an issue.
It’s not an issue with saying it. I’m not a prude with my vocabulary, but it’s the implication of him being with other people that aren’t me that I don’t want to voice. He knows it. I can tell by the look on his face. He just wants me to say it. Why, though? He’s the one who reinvented the line we’re not to cross.
But it must be fucking rainy in the place where he drew it because it’s looking awfully fucking blurry right now.
I release a shallow breath, my chest rising and falling quickly at his close proximity. “You’ll have… needs.” I close my eyes tightly, hating the ridiculousness of the sheepish words coming from my mouth. “Surely you’ll want to bring someone back and you can’t?—”
“Can’t what?” He prods, and I can tell he’s leaning even closer when the heat of his body washes over me and the tip of his nose just barely brushes mine again. What the hell is happening ?
I take a deep breath and just blurt out the words, nearly yelling them. “You can’t fuck someone in a tiny bunk, Creed.”
His entire body freezes over mine and when my eyes slowly open, my gaze meeting his, I notice how his expression has hardened at my words. I watch his nostrils flare as he takes a slow breath and pulls back, standing to his full height again. I regret my words that caused this reaction because not only do I miss the presence of his heat and his closeness, I hate that I was the cause of this reaction.
“While fucking in a small space is not an impossibility, do you really think I’d bring someone back to the bus to fuck them?”
“Well, I—you---” I stifle a groan and let my face fall into my hands. “You need?—”
“I’ve already told you that I don’t bring anyone back to the bus. Not for parties, not for interviews, and certainly not for fucking. ” The way he emphasizes that last word causes my body to flush with a need so deep, I’m not confident I’ll be able to stop whatever is crackling between us. I want that fucking line completely wiped out. Gone. “What I need , Stardust,” he says gruffly as he grabs each of my wrists and yanks me up off of the bed, our chests crashing together before I even have the chance to look up. “Is for you to stop fucking thinking.”
Then his lips are on mine.
His strong, calloused hands release my wrists and slip into my hair gripping it tightly. I yelp against his lips when he tugs at the roots, pulling my head back to give him better access. I open for him eagerly when his tongue sweeps across my bottom lip, our tongues meeting in a ravenous, hungry dance. He breaks away long enough to give me a wolfish grin and lifts me up into his arms and I instinctively wrap my legs around his hips. Before he can dive back into the kiss, I take advantage of the new position we’re in and dip my head, running my tongue up the side of his neck, gliding over the beautiful black and white ink that covers his skin. He groans in my ear, the sound rattling through his chest and into mine and it travels down through my throbbing core. A rush of wetness from my arousal is quickly soaking through my panties and I squeeze my legs around him, grinding my jean short-clad pussy against his abdomen. The moan on my lips is swallowed when Creed’s lips claim mine again.
The world spins for a moment before my back hits the bed and the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen—ever secretly loved—is hovering mere inches above me. I don’t have time to take him in the way I want to before he’s kissing my neck, licking and sucking a trail down across my collar bone and lower.
His hands slip from beneath me and slide under my shirt, pushing it up high enough to reveal my black embroidered bra. The lace is more transparent with the exception of a snake pattern that’s winding around and barely covering my already hardened nipples.
“Fucking hell, Stardust .” He murmurs almost reverently before yanking one side down and sucking one of the rosy buds into his mouth. I whimper at the sensation that has my pussy clenching around nothing, my hips undulating beneath Creed, trying desperately to gain any kind of friction while he lavishes my breasts with the most delicious attention.
I nearly weep with joy when one of his hands starts to descend lower, working at the button on my jeans. He yanks the zipper down and I cry out when he reaches inside to cup my pussy. The sensation makes me jolt, some form of awareness trying to break through the luscious haze I’ve fallen so blindly and yet so willingly into.
“Creed—”
“I know, baby.” He rasps against my skin before placing a tender kiss against my sternum.
I tangle my fingers in his hair, softly tugging to get him to look at me. He does, albeit reluctantly, but he doesn’t remove his hand from my shorts. He sweeps one of his fingers through my lips and swirls my arousal around my clit and I gasp at the sensation that shoots through me, my body arching up at his touch.
“B-but you said, oh fuck, you said you didn’t— shit, ” I moan, my rasping voice breaking and my words not making sense when he swirls around my clit again, then dips down into my slit but doesn’t push in. I can’t tell if he’s distracting me on purpose but I’m about to say “fuck it” to logic and reason and just throw caution to the wind.
“Fuck what I said, Stardust . You belong to me.” He whispers against my skin, goosebumps erupting across my chest when his lips brush against the soft flesh of my sternum. He places a tender kiss to my left breast, then my right before he locks eyes with me again, his hand still cupping me as he speaks. “I was a fucking idiot when I pushed you away because I haven’t been able to think about anything but you all goddamned day and night from the moment you climbed into my lap at that club. And if we’re being honest, I’ve been obsessed with owning you and tasting you a lot longer than that, actually.”
I blink in surprise at him, which is a real struggle considering the way he’s tormenting me with such minimal yet intense pleasure that my eyes threaten to roll back in my head. He licks a line up my body, up my neck, and stops just beneath my chin before nipping at my bottom lip. I lift my head to chase his mouth but he lifts just out of reach, his bright eyes intense and smoldering, holding me captive.
“Let me be yours, Collins.” He says with such conviction that it causes my eyes to sting as they fill with tears. “Be mine, baby.” He whispers as he ducks his head, his lips brushing against mine.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a time that I wasn’t yours, Creed.” I whisper back before pulling against his hair, needing his lips on mine again.
His answering growl is accompanied by two fingers pushing inside me, making me cry out against his mouth. The opening allows his tongue to sweep in again, brushing against mine, and claiming every sound that threatens to escape.
“ Oh, God,” I cry out when he curls his fingers, stroking my inner walls in a way that no one has ever done before, and the fire in my core turns molten as my orgasm threatens to reach its crescendo. “Fuck, I—” I gasp, dropping my head back against the mattress. “I’m going to—” I come with a cry when Creed doubles down his efforts, his fingers working in tandem with his thumb that’s rubbing against my clit.
“That’s it, baby, give me that fucking pleasure. All of it.” He rasps, low and deep. His fingers are relentless as they pull my orgasm from my body, the pleasure of his touch shooting wave after wave of ecstasy coursing through my body. “Another. One more, Stardust . Give it to me,” His words are a command my body can’t refuse and a second smaller, yet intense orgasm flows through me, immediately chasing after the first I hadn’t yet had a chance to come down from.
When my body starts to settle and my mind clears from the fog of pleasure, I look back at Creed who’s still looming over me, his eyes shining with reverence but possessive intent.
“Do you really mean it, Creed?” I whisper, scared that if I spoke louder, it would completely break this spell we’re under and he’ll have changed his mind again. I couldn’t take his rejection a second time.
It’s easy to make promises and declarations in the heat of the moment, especially when endorphins are being released in pleasure, but much like our first kiss, the moment can be ended and retracted in the blink of an eye.
I’ve liked Creed my whole life. I feel that I’ve loved him like family for just as long. I’ve been in love with him ever since I’ve learned the difference between loving someone and being in love with them. And I’ve longed to be his from that moment on, as well. This feels like a dream, and butterflies erupt in my stomach when his words play on repeat in my mind.
He wants me.
Creed St. James, my Creed, wants me.
He wants to be mine . Only mine .
I notice that he’s still got one hand cupping my satiated pussy, the pressure on my oversensitive clit feeling most fucking exquisite. His smile makes my breath catch in my lungs because it’s another one of those sweet smiles that he saves for the quiet, private moments in his life .
“Every goddamned word, Stardust .” He says as he begins to slowly stroke me again and I bite back the whimper that wants to leave my lips. He pauses for only a moment and my hips shift slightly at the loss of movement. “I’m sorry I pushed you away. I thought it would be best to keep you at arm’s length as a friend, but I don’t just want your friendship, Collins. I want all of you. I want to be the one you sleep next to at night. The one you laugh with at midnight when neither of us can sleep. I want you by my side on tour whenever you can join me. I want your hugs, your kisses, your fucking pleasure. I. Want. All. Of. You.”
Tears cascade from my eyes, trailing down into my hairline and he bends his head down, licking each one from my skin, causing me to shiver. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. My heart threatens to burst behind my ribs with the amount of joy that’s building within the small organ that beats for him. “I want you, too.” I smile up at him, and another rogue tear falls down but he swipes it with a thumb before readjusting his grip above me again. “Just as I always have.” I confess, and I swear his ice blue eyes shine even brighter at my words.
He leans down and kisses me tenderly, but wastes no time in deepening it, his mouth ravaging mine and pulling me under again. His fingers renew their efforts as they begin to pump in and out of me again and it’s only moments later that I feel another orgasm building. I’m on the brink of tipping over the edge and I moan against Creed’s lips when he strokes that spot inside of me again at the same time his thumb presses against my clit.
I cry out as a third orgasm crashes over me before Creed is sitting up and reaching for his belt buckle with his free hand.
I’ve only had sex once in my life but I’m ready for whatever he intends to do with his cock. Make me suck it? Fuck it? God, I’m game for anything when it comes to Creed.
He bites his lip as he pulls his thick cock from his jeans and gives it a few firm strokes. I barely catch a glimpse of metal at the tip, but I don’ t even get to touch it or even comment on it before so many fucking things happen all at once.
“Bear told me he saw you bringing Collins over to give her a tour of the bus and I figured she could finally open her— oh, shit! Fuck!” Riley bellows, followed by a door slamming and I shriek, equally startled and mortified.
Creed's eyes are wide with shock and for a moment I think he’s going to bolt, but his shoulders start to shake with silent laughter when a soft thump followed by Riley’s muffled voice as he speaks through the now-closed door. “Sorry,”
Fuck, I can’t believe we left that damn door open. Then again, everything happened so fast that it clearly hadn’t crossed either of our minds to shut it. I’m still a bit hazy from the three orgasms that Creed just gave me, but a part of me is fully aware that Riley just saw me and Creed together, and I’m not sure if I like how I feel about it. I don’t want Riley to feel uncomfortable in what will be his home for the next few months. A jealousy that I don’t deserve sparks in my chest at the thought of him leaving the bus for his own pleasures.
I feel sick because I have no right to such a feeling after Creed and I just claimed each other. It’s quiet for a moment after I hear Riley’s retreating footsteps, before Creed finally pulls his hand from my shorts, his fingers glistening with my cum. I thought he’d get up to wash me from his hand, but my eyes nearly bulge in surprise when he pops the digits into his mouth one at a time and sucks them clean. First his ring finger, then his middle finger, and he groans as he releases each one with a pop.
“ Fuuuck,” He groans, the sound raspy and utterly intoxicating. “You taste even better than I’d dreamed, Stardust .”
I stare at him with my jaw on the floor in shock and awe, the weight of everything that just happened between us still sinking in. He chuckles at my state and makes quick work of helping me to button my shorts, and readjusts my bra and tee so I’m fully covered again. He must have put his dick away at some point because his jeans are done up again and there’s zero evidence of a cock piercing staring me in the face.
Only when he sits me up do I seem to find my words. “I, uh, could’ve done that.”
He just smiles before pulling me to sit at the foot of the bed. “I’m not sure if you missed the part where you agreed to be mine, but I will always take care of what’s mine. Especially when she’s drunk on revelations and orgasms.” He winks at me and offers me his hand and we exit the room together.