Chapter 15
Chapter Fifteen
Ash settled the bill with the limo driver, continuing his cash-only trend, while Skye completed paperwork for the car rental.
They’d made the decision not to approach the hotel in the limo and had the driver take them to a car rental agency.
Ash had wanted something sporty, but she’d argued that they’d need something capable of handling the harsh conditions of the wintry roads.
When she reached for the keys, Ash snagged them out of her hand.
“Hey, I was going to drive,” she said with a pout.
“Nope, you’ve been drinking. Besides, you’re on a Secret Squirrel mission.”
“Secret Squirrel what?”
“Your mission!” He forced the words out on a harsh exhale, a note of irritation threading through his voice. “Rescuing my baby?”
She stretched on her tiptoes to kiss him. “I’d never forget your guitar.”
Damn, but he looked sexy as fuck, being protective of his treasured guitar. He hadn’t yet shown that degree of possessiveness over her, but she could imagine the fire in his eyes once he finally captured a girl and made her his.
Unashamed to show his building desire, he rocked his hips against her body, pulling her flush against him. “God, you know how to drive a man crazy.”
Ash had kept his word, regarding the no-sex clause.
She’d cracked a barrier between them, blurring the lines when she’d given him that blow job.
Now, every time he looked at her, a rising hunger would simmer in his gaze.
And she loved his passion, raw and primal.
Ash didn’t frighten her like Spencer had.
Ash pulled her thoughts back to him with the firm pressure of his touch.
His long fingers splayed against her back, kneading the muscles.
He pressed against her, deepening their kiss, sweeping his tongue against the seam of her lips until she opened for him.
Then, he delved inside, insistent and demanding but never taking more than she was willing to give.
She drowned in the taste of him. The man pursued his kiss with a vengeance, exploring the recesses of her mouth and claiming another piece of her soul.
A moan escaped him as he ground his hips to show the full potency of his masculinity.
Then, he growled, a sound growing deep within his throat, rumbling between them with determination and deepening desire.
He kissed her and then moved his lips to trace the angle of her jaw until he settled on the hollow of her throat where he bit and sucked her into mindless oblivion.
Kissing and being kissed by Ash was not only sensual and decadent; he also made it fun. Everything he did had a hint of playfulness attached to it, and she reveled in how he lived such an unburdened life.
She felt brave, standing outside the car, and freed the button of his jeans to slip her thumb inside and tease the crown of his cock, flicking and stroking where she knew he was most sensitive. His cock twitched, coming alive under her touch.
“Ah, fuck, babe.”
While he was mindless with his desire, she swiped the keys out of his hand. “My turn to drive.”
His lust-hazed eyes blinked slowly. Before she knew what was happening, he spun her around and swatted her ass. When she yelped, he yanked the keys away and held them up, out of her reach.
“No drinking and driving.” He kissed her and then opened the passenger door. “Climb inside.”
She didn’t have a choice, not with the way he buckled her into the car. With a wink and another stolen kiss, he walked to the driver’s side, whistling the tune to “Insanity.”
With a press of the ignition switch, the SUV roared to life. He eased them out of the parking lot and merged into the bustling afternoon traffic.
Feeling mischievous, she lowered the zipper of his jeans and freed his cock, stroking him from crown to root. “Ready for round two?”
Oral sex didn’t activate her trigger the way regular sex did. Not that she couldn’t handle traditional sex. She’d manage just fine as long as she focused on anything other than the sensations being pulled from her body and avoided the crest of an orgasm.
There was something different in giving pleasure to Ash. A genuine desire to please him wrapped around her heart and spread everywhere at once.
Ash gripped her hand and pulled it away. “I’ll crash!”
“I’m pretty certain, you can handle yourself.”
“We’re making a pit stop.” He shook his finger. “I need to buy condoms, and you need to sit up, face forward, and keep your hands to yourself. I’m not getting in a wreck because your fingers were wrapped around my dick.”
She couldn’t help the laughter spilling from her lips. “You’re not carrying condoms? And, here I thought, men carried a stash at all times.”
“Just the one.” His expression darkened for half a beat before disappearing. “Back in my Jeep, I have a stash, but I left all that behind.” His tone made her wonder if he was referring to something other than the condoms.
She tucked her hands under her legs and stared straight ahead. Ash couldn’t have been clearer. They were going to have sex. Would things be different this time? She didn’t think that was possible, but then again, with Ash…
Ash tapped the GPS to map out their route. “You okay?”
Startled, she glanced at him. “Yeah, why?”
“Got a weird vibe for a second.”
Damn, he was perceptive. It wasn’t fun to discuss her inadequacies. Better to hide them and hope for the best.
Ash pulled into a convenience store. Once inside, he made a beeline for the condoms while she picked out a scarf and a pair of tinted sunglasses. He paid, refusing to abide by her rule of splitting their purchases.
The Secret Squirrel mission consisted of disguising her face by wrapping her newly acquired scarf around her head.
His plan was elegant in its simplicity and lacked any super Secret Squirrel activities.
She was going to walk right up the front stairs of the hotel and out the back, carrying his baby.
How many Angel Fire fans lived in Niagara? Maybe Ash thought a little more of his fame than he should.
Three blocks from the hotel, Ash found a parking spot.
He gave her a kiss before sending her on her mission.
A block from the hotel, the low murmurs of voices filled the air.
She stopped, gawking, at what looked like nearly a hundred eager Angel Fire fans crowded around the entrance.
Several hotel employees lined the lower steps, holding the throng back.
Because of the freezing temperatures, everyone was bundled against the cold. She wasn’t the only one hidden behind a hood, hat, or scarf.
She worked her way to the front of the crowd, dodging elbows and earning herself murderous stares, only to be confronted by the row of security guards.
“Sorry, ma’am.” A large man wearing a hotel uniform held out his hand to stop her approach. “You need to stay behind the line.”
The hotel had placed barricades along the front of the stairs.
At the cordoned off area, Skye blinked—stunned not only by how many fans had gathered, but also at their expressions.
Girls scanned the entrance as well as the road, a look of adoration filling their faces.
Most held cell phones, ready to snap a shot of their favorite rock star.
The boys and men in the crowd shifted with an amped up excitement.
The crowd surged, creating a near frenzy, as people searched for the man they called Blaze.
Whispers of conversation floated to her while she struggled to find her hotel room key.
“Did you know Angel Fire was in Niagara?”
“I thought they were playing in DC?”
“No, just him.” A girl to Skye’s left tugged on her friend’s jacket. “Blaze!”
A voice from behind belted out the latest gossip, “I heard he went to the courthouse.”
“Why would he do that?”
“Did he get arrested again?”
“I hope he’s not drinking.”
“Or back on drugs.”
“But what does that have to do with him being here?”
“Didn’t you hear?”
“No. What?”
The guard stepped in front of Skye, putting up his hands to warn her back into the crowd. “Listen, lady, no card, no entry.”
Now, where was that damn room key? After some digging, she found it hiding at the bottom of her bag. She held it up to the guard barring her path. “See? I’m a guest. I’m trying to get to my room.”
The man blew out his breath. It coalesced in the chill air of the late afternoon, forming a white mist. He examined her key card with a careful eye.
She tried to tune out the crowd and focus on the guard. He was giving her key card more than a casual inspection, and she didn’t know what she’d do if she didn’t get inside.
“I’m telling you, I’m a guest!”
Another snippet of conversation drifted to her ears.
A group of teenage boys stood to her left. One punched his friend in the arm. “Can you believe he eloped?”
Those words had her shifting all her focus from the guard to the cluster of teens.
“Blaze got hitched?”
“That’s what the post said. He married some chick no one’s heard of.”
“No way!”
Her heart skipped a beat. That wasn’t the truth, but it made total sense how the rumor had taken root.
“Don’t know why. Can you imagine what it must be like? To have chicks throw themselves at you?”
His friend grinned. “Yeah, I’d fuck all day long.”
The hotel guard returned her key card. “Looks good.”
He gestured her to the steps, and she stumbled, reeling with what she’d heard.
Her heart thumped all the way up the elevator to the penthouse suite. She texted Ash to tell him she’d made it, and then she packed the few belongings they had into their plastic shopping bags.
With her backpack full and Ash’s guitar case in hand, her Secret Squirrel mission was complete. Now, she would have to make it out of the hotel without someone spotting her carrying a distinctive guitar case.