Текст книги "Jet"

Автор книги: Jay Crownover

Соавторы: Jay Crownover
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Chapter 18

Jet

I was going to marry Ayden. However, first I was going to try to not lose control while she systematically stripped me of my T-shirt and pants. Granted, we both probably had a lot of pent-up sexual frustration to work out, but I think there was something about putting that ring on her finger that made her slightly more zealous in her pursuit of getting me all kinds of naked and under her.

Not that I was complaining. I couldn’t have asked for a better outcome to my journey back to her. All I wanted was for her to know she wasn’t alone, that I cared about her, and wanted to work on us being together. Now I had her forever and there was no more doubt, no more nagging fear that she was going to run from me the first chance she got. We were just two people who were meant to be together and that was all there was to it.

I wanted to spend the night with her in a fancy place, show her that even though it was rushed and we were probably too new and too young to really talk about forever, that I meant it, that this was serious and meant everything to me. I also wanted her to have something nice to hold on to if things with her brother nosedived. Only she had turned the tables on me, like she was fond of doing, and now I was on the floor with her on top of me. It was a pretty great place to be, but it defeated the purpose of what I was trying to do for her. I was getting ready to tell her that, to roll her over and pick her up and carry her to that massive king-sized bed that took up the majority of the room, but before I could form a coherent thought, she did what I had been dying for her to do all along, put that sassy mouth around my dick, piercing and all. I guess she wasn’t scared or hesitant about it anymore.

I let out a string of swear words that were totally out of place in an establishment this old and regal, but that somehow made what she was doing with her lips and her tongue that much better. I don’t think I had ever been this hard, this in tune with what was happening to my body, and I wanted to alternately high five whoever had taught her how to give head and murder them in cold blood. My girl clearly knew what she was doing, and if I didn’t put some brakes on the situation soon, our night together, which was supposed to be memorable and romantic, was going to be over before it even started. I had every intention of telling her that, only her clever little tongue did something with the hoop at the head of my cock at the same time her fingers found their way to the ones in my nipples, and my poor brain short-circuited and all I could do was lie there and let her have her way with me.

I mumbled her name and I was pretty sure I told her I loved her and that I would do whatever she wanted me to do for the rest of my life, and that made her laugh. With her mouth where it was, that just made the situation harder to handle, so I gave up trying. I threaded my fingers through her soft hair and just let her do her thing. Every time she ran the tip of her tongue around the ball on the ring of my piercing I thought the top of my head was going to come off, both of them. Her hands traced over the angel of death on my chest and wound around the unfinished piece on my back, all the while working me over and taking me to a place I had never been before. I was about to explode, so I used my hold on her head to pull her off me with a slick pop. Those eyes of hers turned me inside out, and I swore that I could get drunk just looking into them when she was looking back at me the way she was now.

She licked her bottom lip, which was puffy now, and I wanted to bite it. She lifted a dark eyebrow and crawled over me so that she was sitting on my stomach all damp heat and ready to go.

“You did tell me to enjoy it.”

I could tell she was pleased with herself by the saucy gleam in her golden eyes and the smirk on her face. Not to be outdone, I slid my hands up under the edge of her tank top and along her ribs. Her eyes got wide and she offered little resistance when I pulled the fabric over the top of her head and tossed it to the side. Her bra was pretty and lacy, but it was in my way, so it joined the steadily growing pile of clothes on the floor next to us. Having the opportunity to get this woman naked anytime I wanted was most definitely on the top of the list of perks of being with her for the rest of eternity. Miles of tanned legs, sweetly curved waist, high, round breasts topped with pretty pink nipples, luminous eyes and silky black hair, all of it was mine, and she was my dream come true.

“My turn.” I got to my feet and took her with me. It was a little tricky getting those shorts off over her cowboy boots. She gave me a look when I tossed her on the center of the massive bed and moved to climb over her. I bent down to kiss the point of each of her prominent hip bones and shivered when she ran her hand through my hair.

“I still have my boots on.”

“Yep.” I loved those black cowboy boots. Loved them on her. Loved that they kept her tied to her roots and still fit the new Ayden that she was when we were together. I was totally taking the image of her wearing nothing but those boots with me back on the road. That alone would be enough to tide me over until I got back to her.

I kissed her on her belly, and dipped my tongue in the sexy little indent of her belly button, which made her shiver against me. The heels of her boots dug into my ass and it made me smile before I bent down and kissed her even lower. She gasped my name in a way I hoped I could make her do when we were old and her hands got tighter and more insistent in my hair. I ran my tongue all along her damp cleft and flicked her hidden little clit with the tip of my tongue. She arched up hard and squeezed me with her legs. Now it was my turn to chuckle against the most sensitive part of her. I loved the things we did to each other. She was just right for me and I wanted to make sure she knew it.

I licked and kissed and got her all worked up, so that when I finally moved my tongue in and out of her like I was planning on doing over and over again with my very eager dick in a few seconds, she didn’t have too far to go and broke apart under me, saying my name and writhing against me in all the best ways. I pulled back and kissed one of the creamy thighs that had gone limp next to my head, and worked my way back up her prone body. She put her hands around my neck and grinned up at me with sated and glowing eyes.

“Yee-haw . . .” It was barely a breath of sound.

That made me laugh. I brushed a thumb over the arch of her dark eyebrow and kissed each corner of her mouth.

“You’re the best, too. You know that, right?”

She wiggled a little, so that all the necessary parts were better aligned, and every time the leather of her boots moved against me, I swore it made my dick twitch in anticipation.

“I think we’re both actually pretty screwed up, but together we just work and we make each other better.”

She hooked one of her arms around my side and across my back, and dug the edge of her heels in my ass to get me to move. I was going to tell her to let me get a condom, but this time I was the one that was impatient and not willing to slow down. I slid all the way in, hard, hot, and bare and we both groaned aloud at the searing contact. I swore and her eyes fluttered closed as I began to move. I bent down to kiss her and it was a kiss that sealed our fate together. There would never be anyone else for me, and I knew the same held true for her. We were just two sides of the same coin, and when she nipped at the ball in the center of my tongue, all semblance of romance and building a moment were gone. I just wanted to get in her as far and as deep as I could.

I pulled her hips up hard enough that she was probably going to have the imprint of my fingers in her skin in the morning. I pounded into her until we were both out of control and I felt her start to spasm around me. I felt the prick of her nails in my shoulders and greedy grasp of her body on mine, and it took me over the edge as well. I sank my teeth into the tendon of her neck when she threw her head to the side, and then softened the bite with a little kiss. I collapsed on top of her, careful to keep as much of my weight off her as I could. When the rings in my nipples brushed against her still puckered ones, it made both of us inhale a little.

“Ayd, you’re going to kill me, and as much as I like all this skin-on-skin contact, if we aren’t careful we’re going to end up dealing with something neither one of us is really ready for.”

The idea of putting a kid in her didn’t terrify me nearly as badly as I thought it would have, considering my own less-than-stellar example of fatherhood, but the timing wasn’t right. I was honest enough to admit that. I’d just gotten her, so I wasn’t ready to share her yet.

She danced her fingers down my spine and turned her head so that we were looking at each other. Those eyes of hers were liquid and smooth and clearer than I had ever seen them.

“I went on the pill after the hit-and-miss in the car.”

I felt an eyebrow shoot up. “You dumped me the next day.” If she had planned on going back to Adam after that, there was a good chance my head was going to implode.

Her fingers went back up the other way.

“I didn’t dump you. I was just confused and I think I knew deep down it was always going to be you. You make me burn, Jet. You always have. Better safe than sorry.”

I wrapped her in my arms and rolled us over so that she was sprawled on top of me.

“You know, that’s what I always felt like. Like I was on fire on the inside, I was so angry with my dad, so frustrated with my mom and just kind of burning through life doing whatever, whoever I wanted, and I think I was probably eventually just going to burn out. When I met you, it tempered it a little bit. I didn’t need the stage to get it all out. You would just look at me, or say something in that Southern drawl, and I felt like I could keep a lid on it. If we burn together, and have a fire that’s all our own, I guess that isn’t a bad thing.”

She was using the pad of her finger to trace the face of the angel that sat over my heart.

“You need it. The fire is your passion, it’s your creative drive. You feel strongly about things, and care deeply about the people you love. I can handle the fire in you, Jet. It’s just part of you.”

That’s why I loved her. It was just like Rule had said, I would move mountains for her, just so that in the end, it was only me and her.

“As much as I would love to keep you in this bed all day, I’m sure you want to check in on Asa.”

She nodded under my chin and wiggled off me. She pulled on my T-shirt and scrambled around to find her phone. I pulled my jeans back on and scrounged up the menu for room service. I figured the least I could do after going at her so hard for the last hour, was feed her. I ordered a bunch of stuff that probably was going to cost as much as my plane ticket back overseas, and hung up when she scooted up behind me and wrapped her arms around my shoulders.

“He’s in and out. They aren’t going to pull the ventilator yet because he’s so unstable and they can’t really tell how he was affected by the brain trauma yet. They said he’s responsive, which is a good sign, so I’ll take it.”

“I ordered some food. We can chow and head over there if you want.”

Her hair was silky against my cheek as she shook her head in the negative.

“No. You have to leave in the morning and this is important, too.”

“I’ll be back in no time. I don’t want you to worry about him.”

“I’m still working on forgiving him for being an awful person most of the time. I hope this is some kind of divine intervention, but there’s a good chance Asa will still be Asa. When you leave, you’re taking my heart with you, Jet, and that is never going to change.”

I leaned farther back so I could kiss her, and it was just getting good, when there was a knock on the door. I ordered her to get those legs covered up and went to let the guy in with the food. I gave him a pretty hefty tip because he didn’t even so much as flutter an eyelash in her direction, but when I mentioned it to her she laughed so hard that tears actually leaked out of the corners of her eyes. She told me that the dude’s eyes had been glued to me since I hadn’t bothered to fasten my jeans.

I just rolled my eyes and we set up on the bed to feast. She told me a little bit more about growing up in the trailer, about how small towns worked, and, oddly, it reminded me of how my mom ended up under the thumb of my old man. It made me even more proud, more impressed by her that she had fought back, and found her way out to a place of awesomeness. She was just damn impressive all the way around.

We spent the rest of the day in bed, and by the time the sun went done, we were both exhausted and raw in the best way possible. I fell asleep with her curled into my side, and the thought that she was going to be there from here on out put something in me at ease that had never been still and quiet before.

The next morning I woke up with her hands and mouth doing things to me that were designed to make leaving her here damn near impossible. When she was done, I was convinced I had done my best to ruin her for anyone else who might try to press up on her while I was away. We were both breathless and running late when we climbed into the rental car to go to the airport. I had to fly to New York and sit around for two hours before flying to Amsterdam, and the idea of being away from her for two months flat-out pissed me off. I was still worried about her brother, but I had obligations I needed to fulfill and this was just going to be part of our relationship.

The ride in the car was quiet so I found myself humming “Whiskey River” by Willie Nelson. She cast a sideways look at me and tapped her fingers on the steering wheel.

“How do you know every old country song on the planet, but can’t sing me Tim McGraw to save your life?”

I rolled my eyes a little and settled back in the passenger seat.

“My mom. She loved country. She used to sing it to me when I was little. She actually has a pretty good voice.”

“And your dad was a rocker?”

The irony was suddenly right in my face. “Yeah, but he was also a sadistic bastard, so history will not be repeating itself with you and me.”

She reached out and put her hand on my knee. “I know that. Plus, I hate to admit it, but the house was almost too quiet without all of that racket you call music blaring from your room.”

That made me snicker and before I knew it, we were pulling into the passenger drop-off area and we had to say good-bye. She came around to my side of the car and leaned against the door. I put my hands in the back pockets of her shorts and pulled her so we were flush. She put her hands around my neck and I kissed the tip of her nose.

“I’ll be thinking about you all the time.”

“Don’t. Just go have fun and be a rock star. You being here was everything I needed.”

“Call me if you need me.”

“I’ll always need you. I’ll just call you because.”

“Fair enough.” I pressed my mouth to hers with enough intensity to let her know she would be missed. When I pulled back there was moisture in her eyes and I was ready to rip up my plane ticket on the spot until she gave me a half smile.

“I really do love you.”

“Good thing I’m going to marry you, then.” I winked at her as she smacked me on the arm.

We said another good-bye and this time she kissed me. Saying good-bye sucked, but it was bearable because unlike the last time I had left her behind, this time I knew she would be there when I got back. She had on my ring, and she gave me her heart and her trust. I was her future and she was my entirety. Damn, I might be in the first metal band that sang love songs after all.

Epilogue

Jet, A Few Months Later, The Fourth of July

I can’t believe you have a yard with grass, sprinklers, and a barbeque. That is some serious adultlike shit.” I handed Rule a cold beer good-naturedly even though he glared at me.

“I’m not the one rocking a wedding ring.”

I absently looked down at the wide titanium ring on my left hand. The same topaz that sat on Ayden’s finger rested on mine. I had told her we could wait until she was done with school, that I could wait until I had the new business up and running, to actually get hitched, but after being gone and apart for two months that wasn’t something either of us wanted or had the patience to wait for. As soon as I got back to the States, I packed her up and hauled her to Vegas for a long weekend. It had turned from a simple ceremony between the two of us into an epic party weekend, when all of our friends had decided to crash the event. I knew she wanted something more formal, more traditional, but every time I brought up doing a reception or some kind of ceremony here for everyone, she would roll her eyes at me and tell me that she had to pay Shaw back and that Asa’s hospital bills weren’t going anywhere. I was going to let her get away with that excuse for a little while, and then I was just going to plan one for her anyway.

“I didn’t say it was a bad thing. The house is awesome and this yard is badass. I just never pictured you manning a grill and being all domesticated.”

Those pale eyes of his were still as sharp as ice shards and he still mixed it up with his hair; today it was his natural dark brown and a startling lime green that was spiked up in a hundred directions. Now, though, there was just something inherently more settled about him. I wondered if Ayden did that for me, wondered if it was so obvious to other people that with her, I had found my place and had been able to put out most of the bonfire that used to burn me alive.

He tilted his head to where the girls were sitting on the deck that jutted out from the back of the house. Shaw was cracking up at some story Ayden’s brother was telling and Ayden was leaning back watching me talk to Rule. I lifted an eyebrow at her and she just shrugged. Asa could charm the pants off a nun, but ever since he had gotten mobile again he had been on his best behavior. His recovery had been long and tenuous. He had had not one but two major setbacks, and Ayden had just decided to repeat the semester at DU until he was out of the hospital because she had missed so much school taking care of him and being in Kentucky. As soon as she was able, she had packed him up and brought him to Denver with her, so not only did I have Cora’s big mouth to contend with, but also Asa’s slicker-than-slick charm.

Asa and I weren’t exactly friends. I didn’t trust him as far as I could throw him, but he seemed to be operating on the up and up. I think he had a healthy fear of what I would do to him if he messed with Ayden in the slightest, and his brush with death had seemed to give him some brief bit of clarity. As much as it bugged me because I now knew exactly how complicated their dynamic was, I could see he really did love her. I know Ayden was hoping for a total transformation, but the guy was just too smooth, too good at reading people and playing games, for me to believe that was going to be the case. I really felt like he wanted to go straight for his sister, so for that alone I was willing to give him a chance. Since I was on the road at least once or twice a week with the new label, I liked having him at the house with the girls, even if he still had a cast on one arm and a walking boot on his foot.

“He’s almost as pretty as she is, isn’t he?”

Rule’s question snapped me out of my reverie and I gave Ayden a wink before turning back to him.

“He’s a pain in the ass.”

Rule snorted and turned over the burgers he was watching.

“Shaw likes him, which surprises me after everything he put Ayden through, and Cora thinks he’s a riot.’

“That’s because they’re chicks and that dude has more game in his pinkie finger than we have combined. It’s unreal.”

Rule squinted his eyes a little, in the direction where the rest of the group was sitting in a circle lounging on lawn chairs on the grassy lawn. Rowdy and Nash were messing around with a whole pile of fireworks that looked illegal as hell. I assumed they probably came from across the state border in Wyoming. Cora was sitting next to Rule’s older brother Rome and neither one of them looked too happy with the situation or the company.

“I know all about siblings being a pain in the ass.”

I had only seen Rome a few times since he had gotten back from Afghanistan. I knew through the grapevine—the grapevine being Rowdy—that he and Rule weren’t exactly feeling the brotherly love. I guess Rome was still pissed at his folks about something to do with their other brother and it was pretty obvious whatever had happened involved Shaw, because the older Archer brother was barely civil to her and this was her house. I knew Rome and Rule were tight, so whatever was going on was going to have to be addressed, but I guess Rome was wound pretty tight and had been pretty unpredictable since his return. Nash had mentioned a couple times, since they were roommates now that he had never seen the big guy drink the way he did now. I knew the guys were worried about him, but Rome was the oldest and by default the leader, so I think they were having a hard time addressing any of it with him.

Rule’s pale eyes flicked back to me. “How are things with the rest of the family?”

I shrugged and watched as Ayden got up and started down the steps of the deck. I wondered if my heart was always going to turn over when it realized she was coming to me, always to me. I could watch her move all day on those killer legs and I elbowed Rule in the ribs when I caught him checking them out as well. He just lifted an eyebrow like it was an involuntary response.

“The same I guess. Mom hasn’t forgiven me for not inviting them to the wedding in Vegas, even though I told her she could come as long as she left that bastard at home. She just doesn’t get it. Ayd’s even tried to talk to her, tried to explain that as long as she stays with him that she won’t be part of our family. God forbid we have kids, because the old man is coming nowhere near them. Sometimes, it looks like the sun is shining through the clouds, only for it to disappear again. I have more important things to worry about and focus on, so that’s what I do.”

When Ayden reached my side, I hauled her in close with an arm around her neck and planted a kiss on her temple. Her arm went around my waist and she leaned against me lightly. Rowdy was almost done with the piece that took up my entire ribs on the backside and she was used to having to be gentle with the tender skin and new ink.

“What are you two over here gossiping about like a bunch of girls?”

Rule narrowed his eyes at her and I chuckled. “Family drama.”

She made a face and snagged the beer I was holding out of my hand.

“Yuck. Hey, are you going to be in town all week? I was thinking about taking a summer interim class to catch up on some of the stuff I had to miss last semester, but if you’re going to be around, I don’t want to do it.”

It was a tough balancing act with both our schedules. I was gone more than I had thought I would be, because starting the label meant finding bands, and finding bands meant I had to go places where bands played. With her being in school, that meant she couldn’t come with me. Which sucked for both of us, but we were learning to adjust.

The first band I actually signed and agreed to work with was the new band Jorge had formed after finally getting tired of Ryan’s crap with Black Market Alphas. The band was amazing, even better than Enmity was, in my opinion, and I really thought I could make Jorge into the star I always thought he was. I loved it and had clearly found my calling, even though I still played with the guys in town and wrote songs when I found the time. My favorite time to sing was when I sang Ayden to sleep at night. I still refused to learn any of that new country junk she liked, but luckily the old stuff still rattled around in my brain and she never complained about it.

I was going to tell her to take the class regardless, because it was important to her and we had the rest of forever to spend time together, but I never got the chance. Across the yard, Cora screeched, and the next thing we knew Rome was soaking wet as she dumped her beer over his dark head, a feat that would have been impossible if the guy had been standing, because she was itty bitty and Rome was a giant. Nash scooped her up before she could lunge at the glaring soldier and Rowdy stepped between all of them. Shaw bolted to her feet and came running down from the deck as Rule stomped off in the direction of the fray. Asa could only watch from the deck since his gimpy limbs kept him pretty immobile, and Ayden and I just watched the entire thing in silence.

“You’re an asshole!” Cora’s voice was sharp and loud as Nash hauled her over in our direction. She was pointing a finger at Rome and her heated anger was almost alive in its intensity. Nash kept right on walking past us and I heard Rule holler at his brother.

“What in the hell was that all about?”

Shaw looked anxious at Rule’s side when Rome climbed to his feet. The guy easily topped six and a half feet and looked like he could bench press a semi-truck without breaking a sweat. He also looked good and pissed off on top of being soggy and irritated that his brother was getting in his face. I glanced down at my wife (hell, yeah, I called her that any chance I got) and gave her a questioning look.

“What do you make of that?”

She lifted a shoulder and rested her hand on my stomach under the edge of my shirt. Her pinkie finger snuck below the waistband and it made me suck in a breath. She still went to my head faster than a shot of Jameson and nothing would ever be better than that as far as I was concerned.

“Who knows? Cora has a big mouth and isn’t afraid to give anyone her opinion, even if they don’t want it, and Rome doesn’t strike me as the kind of guy to just sit back and let her steamroll him. He’s kind of intense.”

She moved her finger a little lower and I narrowed my eyes at her. She just gave me an impish grin and batted those bright eyes at me.

Things in the yard escalated when Rule reached out and shoved his brother in his massive chest. Shaw screamed something I didn’t hear, and Rowdy yanked her out of the way as the older Archer brother returned the favor by putting Rule on his ass. Some really angry and heated words were exchanged and the next thing we knew, Rome was storming past us and slamming the back gate to the fence on his way out. The roar of the Harley he had arrived on rattled the tension in the air and everyone just kind of looked at one another in silence. I sighed and reached out to put my hands in Ayden’s back pockets.

“It’s never boring with this crew, is it?”

She stood on the toes of her boots—these were red and my new favorites—and kissed me on the underside of my jaw.

“We’re a family, and when you’re a family, there’s going to be issues. They’ll get it figured out. Shaw will make them. Let’s go watch the fireworks.”

“It isn’t even dark out yet.”

She wiggled around until she was plastered to my front and wrapped her arms around my neck. This girl was just the best part of my day, every day, and I would never take that for granted.

“Those aren’t the fireworks I was talking about.”

She made me laugh. She made me happy. She was my family and my future, and while it might have taken both of us letting go of what we thought we wanted and needed to be happy in order to see that all we needed was each other, it was so clear to both of us now.

“You already lit the fuse, Ayd. You better be ready to deal with the boom that follows.”

She licked her bottom lip and gave me the look that told me she would never be afraid of the fire and the heat I threw her way. She just stood in the center of it and let the embers fall all around her. Every time she walked away unscathed, and I had a little less of it inside me burning things up. We were going to leave without even saying good-bye to anyone, when Cora’s head popped over the edge of the deck. She still looked mad but there was something else moving around in her two-toned gaze.

“See . . . like I always said, you two are just perfect. That’s what I want.” She sounded so sad and wistful that it concerned me.

“I keep telling you that your expectations are too high.”

Ayden nodded.

“Love isn’t perfect. It’s hard work and sometimes it’s more effort to be in love than it is to just run away. If you keep looking for perfect, the real thing is going to pass right by you.”

She waved a hand and walked over to sit down next to Asa, who was watching the entire show in silence. I could swear I could see wheels turning in his head.

“I’ll know it when I see it.”

I didn’t have a response to that because even though Cora was a good judge of character, when it came to her personal life, she was kind of like a lion tamer, always fending everyone off with a whip and a chair no matter how fierce or tame the predator was.

I looked down at Ayden and I could tell she was more than likely thinking the same thing.

“You ready to go?”

“Yep.”

And that’s how it was. We walked the same way, no more running, no more fear, no more secrets. Just me and her, in sync and together, even though we came from two separate sides of the spectrum. I was her perfect future and she my perfect love and that was how every good love song should end.

So it ends . . . at least for now