Chapter 32
Rayne
I’m Yours—Isabel LaRosa
“I want you, Rayne! Because I’m in love with you.” His voice is a hoarse whisper that makes my heart beat faster and sends shivers down my back.
My skin is glowing with heat, even though it’s freezing out here. But I hardly feel the cold. All I can feel is him. His hands on my face, his thumb gently stroking my cheek.
“What do you want?” He gazes at me, and his eyes are an infinite blue.
We’re standing at the edge of an abyss, and I can’t run away anymore.
Not now. There’s no point. I could lose Easton at any time, any day, regardless of whether we’re friends or .
. . something more. There are a thousand ways I could lose him.
I can’t run away from the what-ifs. Easton is here, standing in front of me.
He’s the one holding me, gazing at me, making my heart beat out of time.
He’s my best friend. He’s the one who makes me feel safe.
He’s my home. He’s the one I want to see every day and talk to about everything.
All at once, everything is so simple.
So I jump.
“I want you,” I say, and then my lips find his. His lips on my mouth, his hands on my face, his warm skin against mine. Kissing Easton is like breathing. Once I start, I can’t stop.
It’s better than anything in the world. Better than the best song. He is the best song.
His heart beats beneath my hands; I can feel it. My fingers dig a little deeper into the soft material of his hoodie, and the rhythm of my heartbeat matches his.
He tilts my head back, confidently but infinitely gentle. My lips open of their own accord, his tongue touches mine, and I die a little. A part of me dies a painfully beautiful death.
Maybe it’s the last remnant of my fear.
A stifled gasp escapes me as he takes my lower lip gently and firmly between his teeth. I can feel his muscles tense under my hands in reaction to the gasp I made, and I love it. Everything about it.
Kissing him, breathing him in, tasting him.
I’ve never felt this way before. So desired.
So beautiful. I feel it in a strange way that I don’t understand, but I’m not going to question it.
It’s too good for that. Much too good. I stand on tiptoes, wrap my arms around his neck, and bury my fingers in his hair, which is softer than it looks.
I feel dizzy and I can’t breathe, but this time it’s because I’m kissing him.
I never want us to stop, because this is everything and more.
All I can hear are soft gasps and heavy breathing.
It sounds so much like us. I let him go, just for a moment, to slide my hands under his sweater.
I need to feel his skin. It’s warm, and he gasps as I touch him with my cold hands.
But he doesn’t pull away. Instead, he comes even closer, his hands in my hair.
He tilts my head back again with his tongue in my mouth, hot and hungry, and my body throbs with longing.
I don’t think I’ve ever wanted anything as much as this.
More. I need more. None of this is enough.
Then all at once he pulls away from me, and it feels like he’s literally taking my breath away.
The world is spinning, and for a few seconds, everything goes blurry.
I feel light and heavy at the same time.
He seems to feel the same way, because he’s breathing heavily as he leans his forehead against mine.
I blink up at him. His eyes are closed, but he’s smiling.
I smile back without even thinking about it.
“Rayne,” he whispers, his voice resonating with emotion. I hear it. All of it.
“Easton,” I whisper back, praying he understands I heard what he said without words, and that this is me saying it back. His smile widens.
“Did you know that no one but you uses my full name?”
“I like your name.”
His lips brush mine, not a kiss, just a feather-light touch.
It’s a silent promise. Then the touch turns into a kiss again, slower this time, but deeper.
No longer so hungry, but still full of longing.
His hands slide down my back, cup my bottom, and then he lifts me up.
Instinctively, I wrap my legs around his hips.
His jeans are cold, I can feel them through my tights, but I wish the fabric would just disappear, because it’s too much to have between us.
I want to feel him everywhere. His fingers, his tongue, everything.
He takes a few steps until my back touches the brick wall of the studio behind me.
A quiet voice in my head tries to remind me that we shouldn’t be doing this, not here, not like this.
It’s too cold. Someone could catch us at any moment.
But the voice is too quiet and my pulse is too loud, the throbbing in my body too urgent.
I move my hips, not consciously, but it just happens. It feels right. Easton groans, his hips pressing against mine. Heat and throbbing desire. My heart is beating so fast I think it’s going to jump out of my chest.
The sound of someone clearing their throat makes us both freeze.
“I really hate to interrupt, but Phil asked me to let you know that there are surveillance cameras aimed right where you are now, because you’re so close to the back door of the studio.”
At the sound of Beck’s amused voice, Easton groans in frustration and leans his forehead against mine. “Go away,” he says without even turning to look at his best friend, while I’m trying to clear the fog in my head and get my heart to slow down to a normal rate.
“I don’t know if it’s such a good idea to leave you two alone right now. Who knows if you can control yourselves.”
“Get lost, Beck,” Easton grumbles, still not moving or letting go of me.
“Only if you promise to come right back in so we can keep recording.”
“We promise,” I reply.
“Thanks, that’s enough for me.” There’s a hint of amusement in Beck’s voice, even though I can’t see his smile because I haven’t moved any more than Easton has.
My legs are still wrapped around his hips, and his hands are still on my butt.
I hear footsteps and then the sound of a door closing, and Beck is gone.
I look up at Easton. His eyes are half closed, his long lashes making shadows on his cheeks. I have to smile, and I get a warm feeling in my chest. It’s a different kind of warmth than just a moment ago when he was kissing me. This is gentler and happier.
A soft laugh escapes me, a giggling sound I’ve never heard from myself before, and it makes Easton open his eyes.
His gaze meets mine, and when he breaks into a grin, I can’t help but laugh.
His eyes light up and he brushes his nose against mine, a tender touch that makes me feel an ache of longing.
“I don’t want to go in,” I whisper against his lips, even though we have no choice. The songs won’t record themselves. Especially not without a lead singer.
“Me neither.”
“But we should.”
“Yes,” he says with a sigh. “We should.”
I slowly unwind my legs from his hips, and Easton carefully lowers me until my feet touch the ground. He reaches for my hand, and our fingers intertwine. “Ready?” he whispers.
I nod. “Let’s go inside. After all, you still have a song or two to record.”
“I guess I do.” He smiles again, and it’s the most beautiful smile I’ve ever seen.
* * *
It’s late when we finally drive back to the house. Easton doesn’t even ask me if he should bring me back to school or if I want to stay over. He just looks at me and knows the answer.
We spent the whole day in the studio, much longer than planned, but the guys were too good to just stop after the second song. In the end, they recorded four absolutely brilliant songs that I hope will help them reach the stars.
“Do you know when we’ll get the final mixes?” Jax asks, leaning forward between the seats so he’s close to my ear. “I wanted to ask Phil before, but I forgot.”
“Probably in a few days,” I say, not admitting that I promised Phil and Miller I’d give them a little extra for a rush order.
“Does that leave you enough time to create your choreography?” Easton asks, turning the van into the driveway.
My shoulders tense. I haven’t thought once all day about using “Dance with You ’Til Midnight” for contemporary dance class. Today was just about the song, and that was a very good feeling.
“What choreography?” Beck asks.
“It’s nothing,” I say. I try to ignore the uneasy feeling in my stomach because I don’t want to think about it right now.
Not about contemporary dance, and not about ballet.
Not about school or college. That all feels like it’s a lifetime away right now.
It’s been less than a day since I left campus, but something’s been different since we got to the studio.
Not just between Easton and me. I can’t quite figure out what it is.
The engine cuts out with a quiet stutter. I open the door and get out quickly, but Beck isn’t so easily put off.
“It doesn’t sound like nothing.”
“It’s really not important. I just have a course where we have to choose a song to choreograph a dance to, and I wanted to use ‘Dance with You ’Til Midnight.’ That’s all.”
“You want to dance to one of our songs?” Jax catches up with us and looks at me curiously.
“It’s her song too,” Easton reminds his friend. He shoves himself between Jax and me and takes my hand. I have to smile in spite of the feeling in my stomach, because he says it so casually, and he intertwines his fingers with mine as if it were the most normal thing in the world.
“Yeah, I know. But that’s not what this is about.”
“It kind of is,” Easton replies.
Jax groans in annoyance. “No, it’s about the choreography. Do you have any ideas yet?”
“No, not really.” I don’t. I just know that it has to be our song. That’s it. That’s all I’ve got.
“Let’s order something to eat, I’m starving.” Colin is already walking up the steps to the front door.
“Me too.” Jax picks up his pace but turns back to me as he continues walking backward. “You have to tell me your ideas later.”