Текст книги "The Rocker Who Betrays Me"
Автор книги: Terri Browning
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Текущая страница: 7 (всего у книги 20 страниц)
I was lost in the moment. Her taste was making my brain fog over, her fingers tangled in my hair as if she were scared to release me in case I stopped kissing her. I wanted more, yet I didn’t ever want to stop what we were doing to explore what exactly ‘more’ would feel like. Nothing could ever feel better—feel this right—like when I was kissing the girl who owned my motherfucking soul.
Sharp teeth nipped at my bottom lip, surprising me enough to lift my head so that I could see her face. Annabelle was straining against me, trying to get as close to me as humanly possible. The need that was shining back at me from those sky-blue eyes matched my own. “Please,” she moaned. “Z, please.”
I lifted a hand that noticeably trembled with my own need to rub across her kiss-swollen bottom lip. “Please what, baby? What do you want?”
“You,” she whimpered. “I want you. I want…” She trailed off and grasped my hand, bringing it down to her left breast. “Touch me here.”
I cupped her through her shirt and realized she wasn’t wearing a bra. How the hell had I missed that? I’d been avoiding looking at her chest all night, but I should have at least noticed that little detail. She fit perfectly in my hand, driving home the fact that this girl was made just for me.
Rubbing my thumb over the hardened nipple, I watched as her eyes half closed and she arched her back, moaning my name. My dick nearly ripped through the zipper and I had to release her long enough to unsnap and unzip my jeans before I hurt myself. I was back to holding her amazing breast in my hand within a second, but her gaze had followed my hand as I’d rearranged myself. The need that had been shining in her eyes just moments ago became an inferno as she gazed down at my throbbing dick tenting out of my jeans through my boxers.
Under her watchful gaze, my dick flexed, enjoying her attention and wanting more. Curious, she lifted her eyes back to mine and I saw the silent plea in those blue depths. “Can I?” she asked almost shyly.
Ah, fuck. There was no way I could turn this girl down, but I knew as soon as she touched me that I’d lose what was left of my restraint and take things further than I was sure she was ready for.
As if she knew my inner battle, she smiled that smile I loved so fucking much and stroked her fingers over my stubble-roughened jaw. That smile said so many things. That she got me. That she understood. That she was mine. “It’s okay,” she murmured and brushed her lips over my chin. “You can just kiss me again if you don’t want me to touch you.”
I caught her hand in mine and brought it to my lips, kissing each knuckle as I begged God for willpower. “I want you to touch me, Anna. So fucking bad it’s making me shake. But once you do I’m not going to be able to hold back, and you deserve better than me turning into a damn caveman and taking you on a fucking couch where you brother can come in at any second and catch us.”
“We could take this into the bedroom,” she offered, the shyness returning.
I cupped her chin in my hand and kissed her lips tenderly before pulling back. Now that I was able to control myself somewhat, I wasn’t about to get in over my head again. “I’m not going to fuck you, Anna.”
The shyness and need faded from her eyes so fast it was like I’d dropped a bucket of ice water over her. She tried to pull away, but I wouldn’t let her go. I wrapped my arms around her and pulled her roughly against my chest. “You’re not the kind of girl a guy fucks, Anna. You’re the type of girl a guy should take his time with. Cherish and love her like she deserves. That’s what I want, baby. That’s how it will be if I’m ever lucky enough to get that chance.”
She melted against me, no longer trying to push away. Her arms wrapped around my neck and she lifted her head, showing me the tears that were already spilling over. “Z—”
“You’re so beautiful, Annabelle. So fucking beautiful.” I lowered my head and kissed away the tears that streaked down her face. “How’d I get so lucky? Huh? How did a sweet girl like you fall for a fuckup like me?”
“Don’t say that,” she whispered. “You aren’t a fuckup. You’re a good man, Z. That’s why I love you.”
My heart stopped at those last three words. I closed my eyes, trying to savor everything about them. The way her lips had formed each word, the sound of her sweet voice, how her eyes had shone with love despite the continued tears. “I don’t deserve you, Anna.”
She blew out a huff and snuggled against my chest. “You deserve everything you want, Z. Maybe one day you’ll understand that.”
Yeah. I doubted it, but…
Maybe.
C HAPTER T EN
Annabelle
School on Monday was a hell of a lot better than it had been the week before. I was able to focus more on what the teachers were saying instead of staring off into space… Okay, mostly I didn’t stare off into space. I got the majority of what the teachers were trying to make me learn. The rest of the time I would daydream about Zander.
He’d surprised me when he’d spent Sunday night with me. With Noah home and Zander having to work the next morning, I was sure he’d go home and sleep in his own bed. Which had kept me depressed most of Sunday afternoon while he was at home with his grandmother. He’d shown up at eight with a large Tupperware container full of Gram’s spaghetti and an entire loaf of fresh baked French bread smothered in garlic butter.
I’d eaten with him and Noah in the living room while they watched a football game on television. I’d gotten bored less than halfway through the game and pulled out my history book to study for the test that we were supposed to have on Friday. The guys had kept quiet for me and I was able to sit beside Zander instead of having to go into the bedroom.
I don’t remember when I fell asleep, but around eleven I’d felt Zander lift me and carry me to bed. As he’d laid me down in the middle of the queen-sized mattress, I’d pulled him down with me. “Don’t go,” I murmured. “Stay with me.”
In my half-asleep state I wasn’t sure if I was asking for him not to go that night…or ever. When he’d chuckled deeply and started taking off his boots, I was thankful he’d assumed it was for the night. Smiling through the pain, I’d scooted across the bed and waited for him to take his jeans off before crawling into bed with me and pulling me close.
The lights were off, something I was glad for because I hadn’t wanted him to see my tears. I needed to savor every second I could get with him, I reminded myself, and buried my face in his chest to soak up the scent of his body wash and aftershave. I needed to memorize everything about him, including his scent.
I was starting to relax again when the door cracked open and I heard Noah’s voice. “Gram knows you’re not coming home?”
“Yeah, man.” Zander’s voice had caused his chest to vibrate and I’d been unable to contain my shiver of desire. He’d felt it, his arms tightening around me as he tucked me closer.
The feel of his hardness was unmistakable, but he didn’t try to kiss me or even touch me beyond just holding me close. If he was aching just a fraction as much as I was, then I knew he had to be in pain, but neither of us dared to start anything. I didn’t want the first time Z made love to me to be when my brother was in the next room and could hear us. Gross.
“Night, then. Night, Annabelle.” Before I could respond, the door had closed behind my brother.
Zander was gone when I got up for school that morning. Vaguely I remembered him kissing me goodbye before he’d left. He had to go home and get ready for work so I knew he wouldn’t be there when I got up. Didn’t mean I wasn’t disappointed to wake up without him beside me, his lips brushing softly over my ear or cheek. Still, I was ten times happier this Monday than I’d been the Monday before, so I was able to get through the day with little difficulty.
With the last bell still echoing in my ears, I walked out to my bus and was about to get on when I saw a familiar truck across the parking lot. Frowning, I stepped back and waved at the man sitting in the driver’s seat and the little girl who was practically bouncing with excitement on the passenger side.
Wroth Niall said something to his favorite person in the world and I watched as Marissa giggled and he got out of his older-model truck. As his scary big body got out of the truck, he waved me over and I didn’t hesitate to go. Scary, Wroth might be, but I trusted him just as much as I did Noah and Zander.
“Hey,” I greeted when he stepped back from the driver’s side door, holding the door open for me. “What’s up?”
“Zander called me this morning and asked if I’d pick you up since I was going to be in town anyway.” He helped me into his truck. “We’re doing auditions this evening.”
My heart clenched and my gut rolled, but I tried to make my smile not look forced as I greeted Marissa. The girl threw her arms around me and started talking a mile a minute about her day at school. I was thankful for the distraction so I didn’t torture myself with the realization that this audition was one step closer for OtherWorld getting their big break and taking Z away from me.
As soon as Wroth pulled up in front of the garage I hurried up to the apartment with Marissa to change and drop my backpack on the bed. When I returned to the living room, Wroth was stretched out on the couch with the remote in his hand, completely comfortable enough in my brother’s apartment to make himself at home.
Marissa had unpacked her backpack and had her homework spread across the coffee table. I went into the kitchen to grab all three of us a snack. Placing the milk and cookies down beside Marissa, I sat down on the floor with her and helped her with her math homework.
Even at nine years old, Marissa was the prettiest girl I’d ever seen in my life. I could picture her older, those amazing blue eyes and that long dark hair making the boys beg for her attention. I pitied them all, because I knew that, with Wroth and Liam around, those guys would never get beyond a friendly hello before they were knocked on their asses. Marissa would have to learn to put her foot down with those two overprotective beasts if she ever wanted a boyfriend.
It was six before I heard the rest of OtherWorld’s members arrive. I heard the engine of a powerful old car and looked out the window to see Liam getting out of the driver’s seat of his girlfriend’s old Corvette. When the passenger door opened and Tawny stepped out dressed like the streetwalker I knew she was, I had to bite back the curses that would have had Wroth tearing into me for cussing in front of Marissa.
Liam and Tawny headed for the apartment steps just as Zander’s truck pulled up. Devlin’s truck was right behind him and I couldn’t stop the stupid grin that lifted my lips. Did that mean he was going to spend the night with me again? My heart leaped at the possibility and I no longer cared that my brother’s apartment was about to be infested with Tawny’s skank ass.
Liam didn’t bother to knock when he got up to the apartment. Letting himself in, he instantly released Tawny’s hand the second his eyes fell on his sister. “Hey, Anna Banana.” Ugh, I hated it when he called me that. He seemed to have a thing about giving everyone a nickname and that was what I’d been stuck with from the first day we’d met.
“Rissa,” he greeted with a laugh and bent to lift the little girl into his arms. He dropped down on the couch beside his cousin and started asking questions about Marissa’s day.
Ignoring her brother’s girlfriend who parked herself on the edge of the couch beside of Liam, Marissa gave him a minute-by-minute account of her day. I had to admit that Liam had once been one of my favorite people in the world until he met Tawny. He’d been a great guy up until he’d gotten involved with Satan’s sister and fallen into the depths of hell with the first taste of drugs she’d offered him. But even now, when he wasn’t on my list of favorite people, I couldn’t help but miss my friend as he gave Marissa his full attention. Tawny or no Tawny, Marissa was and always would be Liam’s main priority.
And the bitch knew that and tried to keep him away from her as much as possible.
Rolling my eyes at the jealousy I saw shining in the devil’s sister’s eyes, I turned my full attention on the two men now walking through the apartment door. Devlin entered first with a bag of groceries under each arm. I took one from him and glanced inside, seeing the fixings for some killer sandwiches. Sighing, I gave him a mock glare.
“I guess I’ll be crafting these beasts, huh?”
Devlin’s eyes were full of amusement, but he pouted those lips of his at me. “Pwease, Annabelle. Pwetty pwease?”
“Funny.” I started to turn for the kitchen when Zander walked in holding two more bags. “Really? What else is in there?”
“Stuff for those barbeque sausage things you make in the crockpot. Some chips and dip, a few frozen pizzas.” Devlin shrugged. “We want to make a good impression on the dude that takes over for Noah.”
Another pain clenched at my heart and I stumbled a moment before putting a smile on my face and dropping my grocery bag on the kitchen counter. Devlin disposed of his own and Zander placed his beside mine before wrapping his arms around my waist and brushing a kiss over my cheek from behind. “I’ll help,” he murmured against my ear.
I shook my head. “No. You’ve worked all day. Sit down and relax.” I turned in his arms and stood on tiptoe to brush a quick kiss over his lips. I heard several shocked grumbles coming from the living room but ignored them. Their opinion on what was going on between Z and me wasn’t important.
Zander’s hold on my waist tightened, pulling me closer for a deeper kiss that left me breathless before stepping back with a sexy smirk and going into the living room to sit beside Devlin. I just stood there, trying to recover from his amazing kiss. A silly grin spread across my face and I finally started on all the food that Devlin wanted to use to impress Noah’s replacement.
By eight thirty, Noah had come up from the garage and was showered. Chelsea had arrived and was helping me finish up the last of the sandwiches and the rest of the food Devlin had requested I fix—even though I kept having to fix extras when he and the other beastly men in the apartment kept stealing the food as I made it.
The guys wanted the atmosphere to be casual for these rehearsals. Except for Wroth, who had his acoustic guitar, and Zander, who had his bass, no one else was going to be playing. They wanted the guy who took over for Noah to be able to work with minimal music, needing to know the full range of his voice before they offered anyone the position.
Three guys showed up at just after eight thirty and the guys made small talk with each of them, offering them a seat on the couch and to make themselves at home with all the food I’d made. While they snacked on the sandwiches and barbeque sausages, I took my time inspecting each of them.
They were all young and seemed cocky enough to think they would be good for the open vocal position. Two of the three even seemed decent enough and might have even made the band a good fit just on their attitude alone. One definitely fit the part of rocker material, with his long dark hair and tattoos that seemed to take up the majority of the space on what skin I could see.
He wasn’t bad to look at, but something about him made me a little uneasy. Maybe it was the way his eyes kept going to Marissa who was sitting on the floor by Wroth coloring her little heart out. Every few minutes I would shoot a glance at the big beast and realized I wasn’t the only one who was aware of the attention the little girl kept getting. Even Liam was sober enough to realize the tension vibrating off his cousin and wasn’t blind to the reason.
After a few more minutes of Wroth sitting there with murder in his eyes, I took Marissa into the bedroom and turned on the smaller TV set and let her get comfortable with a G-rated movie before returning to the others. As I entered the room, I realized a fourth guy had arrived to audition and I stopped dead in my tracks when I spotted him.
His hair was just slightly on the long side and looked recently dyed, but the jet-black color suited him. I also noticed fresh ink on his arm, still glossy from the ointment that needed to be constantly applied to a new tattoo. Even with the new hairstyle and fresh ink, I recognized the guy. It would have taken a blind person not to realize that this guy was Anthony Huntington. He lived on the uppity side of West Bridge with his snotty-as-hell mother.
He hadn’t gone to school with us because his mother had sent him to some big-bucks, high-class private academy well over an hour away. Still, the few times I’d seen him in town, I hadn’t gotten the ‘I’m better than you’ vibe from him. Unlike his mother who looked down her nose at everyone she saw.
This new version of Anthony shocked me speechless, however. He’d been a very handsome boy with his slightly shaggy, sandy-blond hair and hazel eyes. Now, with that jet-black hair and that badass ink on his arm, I had to admit that the guy was seriously sexy.
I greeted him with a shy wave as I took the spot on the floor between Zander’s feet and everyone else in the room got comfortable. Noah was going over the requirements of the audition. Telling them to relax and sing whatever cover song they were most comfortable with, but one that would show off their vocal ranges best.
They went in order of who had arrived first and I leaned my head against Zander’s knee as I watched intently as they each took their turns. The first two didn’t have the voice that OtherWorld was looking for, and some of the tension in my stomach actually started to ease. Of course my instant guilt over being glad that those two guys had basically bombed filled me with self-hate.
The third guy, the one who had set most of us on edge because of his bizarre attention to Marissa, actually had a decent voice. I might have hid an evil smile, because I knew that there was no way in hell Wroth would let that prick become a part of OtherWorld. No one said anything, though, just letting him sing the cover of a Skynyrd song.
By the end of the song Noah was nodding his head, but when his eyes landed on me, asking my opinion, I shook my head. He stood and offered his hand to the three other men. “Thanks, guys. I appreciate you all coming by tonight. Give us a couple of days and we’ll let you know. We’re going to let this guy get something to eat before we let him sing for us.”
They all shook Noah’s hand and filed out of the apartment. While they did that, I offered to make Anthony a plate. The new version of the guy I’d always known to be so preppy smiled up at me. “You don’t have to do that, Annabelle. And the name isn’t Anthony any longer. I changed it two days ago. I’m Axton Cage now.”
My eyes widened. “Really?”
“Call it a late rebellion against the dictator that is my bitch of a mother.” He winked up at me and for some reason I couldn’t help but grin at him. “I would take a glass of tea, if you have it, though.”
“Sure. I’ll get it for you now.”
It took less than a minute to get his drink and when I retook my place at Zander’s feet, he stroked his fingers through my long hair and dropped a kiss on top of my head. I leaned into him, loving the feel of his lips on me even if it was just on my head.
Everyone else around us seemed to settle down to get comfortable once more. Wroth even went into the bedroom to ask Marissa to join us again, but she had crashed while watching the movie I’d put in for her. As he took his place on the now empty couch, he nodded for Axton to sit down beside him and asked him what song he wanted to do.
Axton scratched his chin, thinking about his selection, and then shrugged his lean shoulders. “Let’s mix it up, man. If you want to hear my full range I’d need to do several songs for you guys. Let’s start with Aerosmith, then go into some Skynyrd, and end it with some Metallica. That okay with you?”
Wroth shrugged. “Which songs?”
Axton grinned. “Surprise me.”
I nearly snorted at the arrogance of the guy, but held it back as Wroth’s talented fingers started the first few chords of Aerosmith’s “Angel.” All urges to snort or laugh at the new guy evaporated as soon as he opened his mouth and everyone in the room became entranced with the man we knew was going to take over for Noah.
As I listened, I couldn’t fight back the tears that suddenly threatened to choke me. From the first note that left Axton Cage’s mouth, I knew that there was no way OtherWorld wouldn’t go far with this guy front and center for them. He wasn’t just good; the man had a fucking gift. And it broke my heart into a million pieces. One look at OtherWorld performing with Axton singing their songs and any manager with a working brain would sign them on the spot.
Swallowing hard, I glanced at Noah. The look on his face was a mixture of amazement and gut-wrenching pain. He knew as well as I did—as well as everyone in the room—that not only was Axton going to fit with the band, but that this guy was better than even he had ever hoped to be. The pain in my heart at the knowledge that I was even closer to losing Zander than I had been just thirty minutes ago, doubled at the pain my beloved brother was going through right then.
The Aerosmith song faded easily into the Skynyrd song, “Free Bird,” and even though Axton’s vocal range changed, it only showed just how talented he really was. I lowered my gaze to the floor, hiding the tears that were so close to spilling over. I wanted so hard to hate Axton, wanted it with every fiber of my being, but I couldn’t. None of the pain I was feeling was his fault. He’d just shown up to a freaking audition, unknowingly ripping my heart from my chest with that amazing voice of his, and shattered it into a million little pieces.
I couldn’t hate him. Not when he was going to help the man I loved succeed in his goals.
Skynyrd drifted seamlessly into Metallica’s “Nothing Else Matters” with Wroth’s talented fingers. Glancing at Zander, watching him keep beat with the bass, seeing how much he loved being a part of this music world, I lost the battle. One tear escaped from my eyes and was quickly followed by a hundred more. I stood, keeping my face averted from everyone as I went into the bedroom and shut the door quietly behind me.
I quickly tore off my clothes as I entered the bathroom. Turning on the shower, I climbed in before the water even had time to warm. My knees gave out and I slid down in the corner of the tub, letting the cold water beat down on me as the first sob tore my heart loose from my chest. Pulling my knees up to my chest, I hid my face in my raised thighs and cried for the loss of the man who wasn’t even gone yet.
