Текст книги "Insider"
Автор книги: Olivia Cunning
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 34 страниц)
Eight
In the radio station’s sound booth, Logan tried to pay attention to the interview, but his gaze kept falling on Toni, who was concentrating on recording the interview for her book and jotting notes. She obviously wasn’t nearly as distracted by him as he was by her. Didn’t seem fair.
An elbow to his ribs turned his attention to the host, who was gazing at him expectantly, waiting for an answer. “I’m sorry, what was the question?” Logan asked.
“Are you still participating in freestyle motocross?”
“When I have time,” he said. He almost left it at that, but saw that Toni now had her undivided attention on him and looked interested in what he had to say. “I’ve been jumping and racing bikes since my teen years,” he said. “I still love that adrenaline rush. If the music career hadn’t worked out, I’d probably have had the opportunity to go pro.”
“Much as I’d like to see you do tricks on a dirt bike, I’m not the only one glad the music career did work out,” the host said.
Logan chuckled. “Oh, I’m glad too, but a guy needs something to fall back on.”
“He’s always been the daredevil of the group,” Dare said. “Last time he won a bet, he made us all go skydiving. Not my idea of a good time.”
“You had fun,” Logan said. “Don’t lie.”
“You had fun,” Dare insisted. “I dry humped the ground when the horror ended.”
“I thought skydiving was great,” Steve said.
“You don’t have a lick of sense either,” Dare said. “Logan jumps out of planes, Steve scales mountains.”
“What do you do with your free time?” the host asked.
“Relax.”
“Dare likes the water,” Max said. “If he’s not on the beach, he’s in a pool or a hot tub.”
Logan watched Toni scribbling notes like a woman struck by sudden inspiration. She had a huge smile on her face. Logan wondered what was going on in that head of hers.
“Reagan, what do you do in your free time?”
Up until this point, no questions had been directed toward her. She hesitated, probably under the assumption that she wasn’t going to have to participate in the interview. “Uh. My boyfriend?” she blurted.
The guys laughed and she grinned.
“There’s a rumor going around that you’re dating one of the guitarists of Sinners, Trey Mills.”
Reagan chuckled warily. “Ha, yeah, rumors,” she said noncommittally.
When it was obvious that he wasn’t going to get a more concrete answer from Reagan, the host asked, “And what does Max like to do?”
Steve pounded Max on the back. “You’d have to censor his reply.” All the members of the band shared a knowing chuckle, except Max, who glowered at Steve.
Toni stopped writing to stare at Max with her head tilted to one side. Logan waved at her to get her attention back on himself. She wasn’t quite ready for the kinky stuff Max enjoyed. Maybe in a few weeks they’d move on to more adventurous acts, but she was still fairly innocent. He wouldn’t want to push her too fast. Toni lifted a hand of recognition in Logan’s direction, blushing furiously under his obvious interest. She ducked her head, licked her upper lip, and tucked her long hair behind her ears.
Damn, she pushed every one of his lust buttons. And she wasn’t even trying to. Twenty minutes ago, that demure sweetheart had fucked him in the back of a limo on a busy street. He needed to get his act together and treat her better, or she was going to find someone else to teach her things. The very idea of another man touching her had him clinging to his thighs to keep his hands from balling into fists.
Another elbow in his ribs, allowed Logan to catch the tail end of the radio host’s question.
“. . . concert tonight?”
“Oh, yeah. Can’t wait. The fuckers in this town know how to party.” He made a set of devil horns and his rock-on face.
Everyone in the room stared at him as if he’d sprouted purple fur on his eyeballs and then burst out laughing.
“What?” he asked. “What did I say?” He probably shouldn’t have said fuckers on public radio, but he was sure some intern with fast reflexes had bleeped it out.
“He asked if you’d heard that a church group was protesting the concert tonight,” Dare said.
Smooth, Logan. “Don’t you think our fans should party with those effing protesters? Bring them over to the dark side?” Were they buying his attempt to cover up his slip?
His bandmates rolled their eyes at him, but the radio host took a liking to his idea. “KY101 will be there to get in on the action.”
“Free backstage passes to any fan who can get a protester to agree to come backstage with them,” Logan said, knowing he was taking this too far, but hell, he’d already fucked up, might as well make it an epic fail.
Max covered his microphone with one hand. “You’re gonna get someone killed,” he whispered angrily at Logan.
Shit, Logan thought. There he went acting and not thinking again. “Not by force or gunpoint,” he said into the microphone in front of him, knowing how dedicated some of their fans were and the lengths some of them would go for a backstage pass. “The protester has to legitimately want to come backstage because you convinced them that we’re awesome. And not Satanists.”
“Logan, I’m going to kick you in the teeth if you don’t shut up,” Max whispered harshly.
Logan produced his toothiest grin, knowing Max was all talk.
“You heard it, folks. If you can get a protester to agree to go backstage after the show . . .”
Logan glanced at Butch, who was standing in the corner scowling at the schedule he had clipped to a clipboard. “Before the show,” Logan said. They didn’t need any protestors at their after-party.
“Before the show,” the host echoed.
“At the meet and greet,” Dare said, as if struck by sudden inspiration.
Max nodded slightly, no longer looking like he wanted blood on his hands. Logan’s blood. Logan should have been paying attention to the interview instead of the sexy woman in nerds’ clothing who was grinning again as she wrote notes on a legal pad. If she was amused by him acting impulsively stupid, she’d have no problem being continually entertained. He could only concentrate on one thing at a time, and the woman had his full and undivided attention.
“Thanks for having us,” he heard one of his bandmates say.
Was it over then? That hadn’t taken very long. He would have been better off staying in the limo with Toni for the duration. For more than one reason. After the customary words of appreciation and handshakes with their hosts, Logan scrambled to open the door for Toni and stayed by her side as they were escorted to the elevator. Butch joined the band and Toni in the elevator car. Reagan was holding her security guard’s hand—Logan thought the dude’s name was Ethan, but he wasn’t good with names.
“I’ll catch the next one,” Reagan said. So sweet that she wanted a moment alone with her second boyfriend. Logan wasn’t sure how the woman could date two guys and keep them from killing each other in a jealous rage, but the three of them seemed to have it all worked out. No way Logan would ever let another man touch the woman he loved. Or even lusted. As soon as the elevator doors slid shut, Logan was bombarded with accusations.
“This is why we are agreed not to let women on the bus. Exactly this,” Max said. “None of the rest of us have this problem. It’s you. You have the attention span of a goldfish in heat.”
“What in the fuck were you thinking, dude?” Steve asked.
“He wasn’t thinking,” Dare said. “At least not with his brain.”
Logan didn’t mind be called out by his bandmates. He’d fucked up, he owned that. He did mind them busting his balls in front of Toni. Not cool.
“You don’t think it’s a brilliant promotional scheme?” he asked, still trying to play it off as if he wasn’t flying by the seat of his pants.
“Do you?” Butch asked. “The fans are going to be pissed off at those protesters anyway, so you draw further attention to them by having them seek them out and convince them to come backstage?”
“The media will be all over it.”
“He’s right,” Toni said. “Something like that might make national news.”
He could have kissed her. Knowing that would lead to a tight fly, however, he settled for placing a hand on her lower back.
“You expect us to believe that you didn’t come up with that idea just to cover your ass?” Max stared at the ceiling of the elevator car and shook his head. “I can’t wait to hear what Sam has to say about this.”
“We don’t have to tell Sam,” Logan said. He’d faced their manager’s wrath plenty of times in the past. Pissed-off-Sam was not one of his favorite people.
“Logan’s right,” Toni said. “I’m sure this will turn out in your favor and Sam will end up thinking Logan’s idea was brilliant.”
Logan rubbed Toni’s lower back. He definitely wanted to kiss her—and more—now. He wasn’t sure how she expected this fiasco to turn in their favor, but he hoped she was right.
The elevator door opened and several flashes went off in their faces. Logan blinked his blinded eyes and instinctively wrapped a protective arm around Toni.
Butch cursed under his breath as he plowed through the pack of photographers and led the band to the limo parked outside. “I said no fucking paparazzi today. Get those fucking cameras out of his face.” Butch growled as he shoved a camera out of Max’s face and pushed the singer into the car.
Once they were all inside, the limo couldn’t leave no matter how much Butch roared in fury. They still had to wait for Reagan, who’d taken a different elevator to the lobby.
Toni cringed as the car rocked back and forth. Hands slapped the sides of the limo. Faces pressed against the glass. Steve flipped them off. Average day on the road. Logan sank back against the seat and rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands. His lack of sleep was definitely catching up with him.
The noise outside suddenly intensified when the door opened and Reagan dove into the car with her bodyguard in tow.
“I had to bring him with,” Reagan explained. “There was no way he could get me in the limo and then force his way to the other car.”
“It’s fine,” Butch said. “I could probably use some backup.” He lifted the phone receiver and spoke to the driver. “Take us to the venue.”
“I thought we would go back to the bus,” Toni said. “I’d like to rest for a few minutes before the meet and greet. Take a shower. Change clothes. Breathe!”
“The bus will meet us there,” Logan said. “Are you tired?”
“I’ve never been more exhausted.”
“The fun’s just getting started,” Max said. “I can’t even imagine what this meet and greet is going to be like.” He glared at Logan, who was silently praying for a lack of bloodshed between their fans and the protesters.
“Do you think anyone will notice if I skip it?” Dare asked, crossing his arms over his chest and giving off that “go away” vibe he’d perfected years ago.
Hoping to ignore the animosity in the car, Logan wrapped an arm around Toni’s shoulders and tugged her closer. “Why don’t you close your eyes for a moment? I’ve got you.”
“I’m not used to this much excitement,” she said, relaxing against his side, her head against his shoulder. “I’m a reclusive book geek, you know.”
“I read a book once,” Logan said.
“It was called Fast Sluts, Slow Rides,” Steve said.
Toni chuckled. “I think I’ve read that one.”
“Did it have a happy ending?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, the kind you pay extra for at a massage parlor,” Toni said.
All the limo occupants laughed. The tension between the bandmates eased. Logan knew they would forgive him sooner or later. It wasn’t as if he fucked up everyone’s life on purpose. He didn’t mean to cause trouble. Things just sort of happened that way for him.
His guilt diminished, Logan relaxed against Toni and closed his eyes. Something about her excited him and soothed him at the same time. He wondered if she’d stay on tour longer if he refused to be cooperative during his part of the interview. Because one thing was clear. He wanted her to stick around.
Nine
Inside the arena, Toni exited the bathroom of the women’s dressing room with a towel around her head. The entire room was filled with flowers and chocolates, stuffed animals and leather apparel. With the exception of the leather, it looked like Valentine’s Day had thrown up in the place. Apparently Reagan had a lot of admirers. She was sitting in her bra and panties on the arm of a sofa with her bare feet on the sofa cushion, tinkering with an electric guitar. She’d strum a few notes, pause, try a few other notes, nod, jot something down on her knee with a pen and go back to strumming.
Toni was just happy to have one of the members of the band to herself. Perhaps she could stage an informal interview. Logan didn’t count. When she was alone with him, the last thing on her mind was asking questions of a nonsexual sort. Technically, Reagan was only a temporary part of the band, but that didn’t mean she didn’t deserve a chapter in the book.
Toni plucked a card from a bouquet of two dozen long-stemmed black roses. Toni had never seen black roses before. They were a bit macabre for her tastes. The card read, You’re a goddess. I love your guitar work. I hope I get to see you in person tonight. Your devoted fan and fed-up vocalist looking for a new guitarist for his band (hint, hint), Shade.
“Who’s Shade?” Toni asked.
Reagan looked up from the scribbles on her knee. “Huh?”
“These roses.” Toni pointed at them with the card and then realized she probably shouldn’t have read it without permission. “They’re from some vocalist named Shade.” Toni hurriedly stuck the bit of card stock back on the plastic card pick. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
Reagan shrugged. “I have no idea who Shade is, so you aren’t prying.”
“Do you always have this many flowers in your dressing room?”
The guitarist glanced around as if noticing the flowers for the first time. “It gets more excessive with each tour date. I donate them to the local nursing homes and they distribute them. I think Claire catalogs the cards and sends thank-you notes where appropriate.”
“Claire?”
“One of Sam’s personal assistants. I’m pretty sure he has one for each band he manages.” She laughed. “I don’t know, I just play guitar. All that logistical bullshit is beyond my perception.”
Toni moved to sit on the opposite sofa arm and added her bare feet to the cushions. “Are you writing music there?”
Reagan glanced down at the ink spots on her knee. “Uh, yeah. Trey and Dare have been encouraging me to find my own sound. I haven’t found it yet, but I’m trying.”
“Are you dating Trey?”
Reagan’s head snapped up, and she stared at Toni suspiciously from beneath her long dirty-blond bangs.
“It’s none of my business,” Toni said. “Just so you know, I won’t include stuff like that in the book. I’m not paparazzi, so you can trust me. I’m not out to ruin lives. I was just curious.”
“I’ll tell you about Trey if you tell me what’s up between you and Logan,” she said.
Toni’s faced warmed. She wished she didn’t blush so easily. “Uh . . .”
“Did something happen last night that you want to share? The guys are all acting weird today. Logan, yeah, that’s to be expected, but even Dare is acting out of sorts. He has this overprotective thing he does, and I notice he’s been extending that in your direction.” Reagan pinned Toni with a pair of inquisitive blue-gray eyes. “Do you know Dare from before?”
Toni shook her head. “No. I think he knows about my, uh, my newfound maturity.”
“Huh?”
“Logan and I, well, we . . .”
“Fucked?” Reagan lifted her brows and nodded as if to say, obviously.
Toni’s face flamed ten degrees hotter. “Uh, yeah. We did. And I happened to be a, a virgin.” The last word was scarcely a whisper. How mortifying to tell someone like Reagan Elliot that she’d held on to her V-chip until she was twenty-five.
“That son of a bitch!” Reagan set her guitar down and stood on the sofa. “I’m going to kick him in the nuts.”
“No. I wanted to do it. He didn’t coerce me or anything.”
“You aren’t one of those crazy bitches who pokes holes in condoms to trap a rich man by getting pregnant, are you?” Reagan asked.
“What?” Toni felt like her eyes were popping out of her head. “Who would do something like that?”
And even if she wanted to—and she didn’t—she couldn’t get pregnant for months anyway. She’d just gotten her regular birth control shot a couple of weeks ago.
“You’d be surprised.” Reagan sat on the sofa arm again, looking slightly less irrational.
“I wanted to have sex with him because he wanted to have sex with me. And, well, he’s incredibly attractive. If I hadn’t been a virgin, no one would have thought twice about it.”
Reagan snorted. “Including him. You do know he’s a total player, right?”
Toni didn’t know. She didn’t know much about him that couldn’t be read on Wikipedia. “I guess.”
“He’s been acting odd too, though. I thought maybe he was still trying to get into your panties and that was why he was so attentive and distracted, but if he’s already been in them, maybe he likes you.”
Toni’s heart thudded in her chest. “Do you think so?”
Reagan’s eyebrows lifted. “I don’t want to get your hopes up too high, honey. I remember the guy who took my virginity. When he dumped me, I thought I’d die. Broke my heart into a million little pieces.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
“That was years ago.” Reagan shrugged. “I got over him soon enough.”
Toni didn’t want to think about getting over Logan. She prayed it never came to that.
“So is he good in bed?” Reagan asked.
Toni paused. Should she tell Reagan the details? Did it go against some code of bedroom ethics she was unaware of?
“I think so,” Toni said hesitantly. “I don’t really have anything to compare to.”
“Does he make sure you come first?”
Toni’s face flamed and she nodded. “He did both times.”
“Then he’s ahead of most of the pack. Don’t let him get away with mediocrity just because he’s your first and he knows you’ve never had better. If you’re not sure about the girl side of things, you can ask me. I have plenty of experience.” Reagan laughed. “I probably shouldn’t be telling a journalist that.”
Toni bit her lip. She didn’t want Reagan to feel that she had to watch what she said around her. She’d really like a female friend to talk to about such things. The only person her own age that she hung around with was Julian, and he was a guy. A gay guy, true, but still a guy.
“Things like that won’t be in the book,” Toni promised. “It will mostly be about the music and hobbies and stuff like that.”
Reagan chuckled. “But sex is my hobby now that the guitar-playing hobby is my actual job.”
“So is Trey good in bed?” Toni did want to know the answer to the question, but she was mortified that she’d actually asked.
“The best,” Reagan said with a breathy sigh. “He’s a pleasure seeker who gives back more than he takes. What could possibly be better?”
“I’m not sure. I do like it when Logan gets so worked up by me that he can’t keep his hands to himself.”
“You definitely have the guy out of his head.”
“So is that why you think he might like me?”
Reagan stared at her for a long moment. Toni guessed she didn’t want to hurt her feelings by telling her the truth. There was no way in hell that Toni would ever mean more to Logan than a temporary plaything. She might as well face facts.
“He definitely lusts you,” Reagan finally said, and then she shook her head. “I’ve only known him for a short time, so I can’t be sure, but usually when he gets what he wants—”
“Sex?”
“Yeah. As soon as he gets laid, he’s no longer interested. But he seems to still be interested in you.” Reagan reached over and patted her knee.
“And how do I keep him interested?” She’d never had a man interested in her before, so had no idea how to proceed.
Reagan laughed. “Whatever you’re currently doing seems to be working.”
“I asked him to teach me how to do sexual things. He seemed interested in that.” But she wasn’t sure that was all she wanted him to be interested in.
“Of course he’s interested in that.” Reagan set her guitar aside, laced her fingers together, and set her elbows on her knees, looking like she planned on sitting there talking to Toni for hours. “I miss talking to my girlfriends back home,” Reagan said. “I love the guys in the band, but they don’t talk about this kind of stuff with me.”
“It would probably give them perpetual boners.”
“Or embarrass them. Or gross them out. They think of me as their kid sister.”
Toni highly doubted that any man could think of Reagan as a kid sister. She had a natural sexiness that even a straight girl could appreciate.
“So how long have you been touring with Exodus End now?” Toni asked, ready to turn the subject to something she could actually write about in the band’s biography.
“Three-ish weeks.”
“How are you holding up? I never knew how exhausting this lifestyle could be. I haven’t even been following the band for twenty-four hours and I’m ready to keel over.”
“I’m having a great time,” Reagan said. “I love every minute of it. And we do these things in spurts. Usually two days of insanity, a day of travel, and a day to recuperate. Rinse and repeat. Sometimes we do two shows in the same stadium, two nights in a row. Sometimes we do two shows in adjacent cities, but we almost always do shows two nights in a row. Trey claims that we’re slackers—taking two days off for every two days on. His band usually tours constantly. If they’re not playing, they’re traveling. They don’t have as many public appearances as Exodus End does, though, so we have to make time for that stuff too.”
“The band seems to have accepted you as one of them quickly.”
Reagan nodded, her smile stretching from ear to ear. “I pinch myself every day. They’ve been amazing.”
A knock sounded on the door, the doorknob turned, and the door opened a crack. “Are you naked?” a deep voice called into the room. “Please say you’re naked.”
Reagan grinned. “Not yet, but I have company.”
Toni hopped off the sofa. “I’ll go.”
“Is it my favorite company?” Trey Mills said as he let himself into the room. He was already dressed to go onstage, and Toni couldn’t stop her heart from skipping a beat. “Oh,” he said. “Company I don’t recognize.”
“This is Toni. Remember I told you someone was writing a book about Exodus End?”
“And you’re chatting with her in your underwear?” Trey asked.
“If I was going to seduce her,” Reagan said, “she’d already be naked with her legs wrapped around my neck.”
Toni’s couldn’t bring herself to meet their eyes. Reagan had been joking about that, right? Toni had never considered doing anything sexual with another woman, but now she wondered how a woman’s touch differed from that of a man.
“I need to get to the meet and greet,” Toni said, rushing into the bathroom to collect her socks and boots. She sat on the toilet lid to put them on.
She could hear Trey’s deep voice and Reagan’s answering laugh. Were they laughing at her? Probably. She’d made a fool out of herself. Toni secured her hair back with a blue scrunchy that matched her blue blouse which matched one of her socks. Her other sock was gray and matched her long skirt. She looked like she should be shelving library books, not going to a metal band’s meet and greet. Perhaps she should’ve splurged on new clothes for this assignment. She might not stick out like a poodle in a pack of Rottweiler’s if she tried to fit in a little better. She glanced in the mirror and pushed her glasses up her nose. She hated wearing contact lenses, but maybe . . . She turned her head this way and that, making kissy faces at herself in the mirror. Maybe she wasn’t as plain as she thought. Maybe she was actually pretty. Maybe if she put on some makeup and sexier clothes, Logan would start thinking of her as more than a friend. More than a temporary sex partner.
And maybe she should worry about her job instead of what she looked like. She’d never really cared about such things before. And Logan seemed to be attracted to her regardless.
He’d been the one to show her to the women’s dressing room so she could take a shower. He’d even stolen a kiss before claiming he needed to catch a nap on the bus or he’d be worthless that night during the concert. She wondered if he was still sleeping. And how much he’d mind if she woke him.
A naughty idea forming in her head, she hurried out of the bathroom and found Trey kneeling on the floor between Reagan’s legs with a sucker stick protruding from between his lips. He had both hands wrapped around Reagan’s upper thigh and was asking her about the notes she had drawn on her leg.
“I’m going back to the bus,” Toni said when neither of them noticed that she’d entered the room.
“Okay,” Reagan said. “We can talk more later.”
“Thanks,” Toni said, feeling intrusive.
She slung the strap of her messenger bag over her shoulder and left the room. The tour’s regular security guards now recognized her and let her pass without accosting her, but the stadium’s security stopped her several times as she made her way outside to the area where the buses were parked.
By the time Toni entered the bus, she’d almost convinced herself that she shouldn’t bother Logan. That he did need to sleep and he’d probably be mad at her for waking him. She was thinking that until she found that he was alone on the bus, unconscious in his bunk, wearing nothing but a tangled sheet. She took a moment—a long moment—to admire the smooth skin of his naked back, the tattoo inked on his shoulder, the bit of naked buttocks exposed above the edge of the sheet, the bend of one bare leg, the muscular arm half obscured by his pillow, and all that golden hair surrounding his peacefully sleeping face. He had a half smile on his strong lips. She wondered if he was dreaming about something nice. She could only hope that it was her.
She continued to admire him until nothing could have stopped her from climbing into that bunk next to him and molding her body to his hard-muscled form. He started awake with an inrush of breath through his nose and lifted his head to see who had climbed into bed with him. Toni doubted she was the first to force her attention on the man, and would probably not be the last, but the smile he gifted her pushed those thoughts aside.
“Is it time to get up?” he asked, rubbing one eye with a knuckle and yawning.
She shook her head.
“Good,” he murmured before tugging her against the wall of his chest. His hands slid down her back and grabbed her ass to pull her more securely against him.
She lifted a trembling hand to caress the warm skin along his side. She’d never really touched a man before. She wanted to experience all the differences between his body and hers with her hands and when she got up the nerve, with her lips.
“Can I touch you?” she asked.
“Isn’t that what you’re doing?” he said in a drowsy voice.
“Everywhere?” she clarified.
“Mmm,” he murmured. “I think I’m going to like this.”
“Will you tell me what feels good for you?”
“If you pay attention, it should be obvious.”
She smiled. Finally, something she excelled at. “I’m good at paying attention.”
He scowled. “I’m not. The only thing I’m good at is being a fuck-up.”
She rubbed his worried brow with her fingertips until his flesh relaxed beneath her touch. “You’re not a fuck-up, Logan. You’re . . .” Wonderful. She sighed internally, not wanting him to know how infatuated she was with him already. Or maybe her jumping into his bunk with him was a dead giveaway.
“Prove it. Name one thing I’ve done in the past twenty-four hours that wasn’t impulsively stupid.”
“Impulsive, yes, stupid, no. You’re a creature of instinct.”
“So now I’m a creature?”
“A man,” she corrected. “A sexy one who I can’t stop thinking about, even though I know I should be paying attention to my work.”
“I have the same annoying problem when it comes to you.”
“You don’t have to say things like that to get into my panties,” she said with a grin.
“But I do to make you smile.” He kissed her, and she melted against him. His lips moved to her jaw. “Besides,” he whispered, “it’s true. Why do you think I shoved both feet in my mouth at that radio interview?”
“Because you were looking for new adventures with religious zealots?” she teased.
“Because I wasn’t listening. I was too busy watching you.” He lifted his head and looked down at her. He grinned crookedly. “See, when I tell you things like that, it makes you smile.”
“It also makes my heart pound,” she admitted.
He shifted down her body to rest his head against her chest. She wondered if her heart was pounding hard enough to damage his hearing. She lifted a trembling hand and placed it on his head, allowing her fingers to toy with the silky strands of his hair. They lay like that for a long while. She breathed in his scent, which clung to the pillow beneath her head and the entire space of his bunk. She relished the weight of his head on her chest and the feel of his fingertips pressing into either side of her ribcage. Toni’s eyes drifted closed as her thoughts found rare tranquility.
“Didn’t you come into my bed with plans to seduce me?” he asked.
She laughed. “I’m not very good at it, if you can’t tell.”
“No, I can’t tell, and I have the hard-on to prove it.”
Her heart leaped against her ribcage. She didn’t know if she’d ever become accustomed to such shocking statements.
“Will you let me suck it?” she asked.
He laughed and lifted his head. She forced herself to look down and meet his gaze. He had every reason to laugh at her; her attempts to be sexy were ludicrous.
“Will I let you suck it?”
“If you’re afraid that I’ll hurt you . . .” She broke eye contact by tipping her chin up. “You’d probably prefer someone who knows what she’s doing. I understand.” She attempted to squirm out of the bunk, but he moved to cover her body and pinned her to the thin mattress beneath him. He grabbed her wrists and held them down on either side of her head. A thrill of unexpected excitement coursed through her body and settled as a throb between her thighs. She’d thought that being held down would be terrifying, but it was actually thrilling. Maybe someday she’d get up the courage to ask him to tie her to the bed.
“And I thought I was the stupid one.” He shook his head at her. “I never have a problem brushing off a woman I’m not interested in. I know how to say no. If I wanted someone else, I’d say so. The only woman I want is you.”
