Sweet Possession

CHAPTER 27

As soon as the hot water hit Lyric, she wilted like a flower in a hundred-degree weather. All the adrenaline left her and she sagged against the wall as water beat down over her. All those sleepless nights were catching up and all she really wanted to do was go to sleep for about a week.

It took considerable effort but she washed her hair and rinsed off and then stepped out to dry. She combed through her hair but left it wet and then pulled on jeans and a T-shirt. It was nice not have to be meeting with regular fans. She could relax, kick back with the girls and not have to worry about a façade.

And Lord, but she was starving.

She trudged back into the dressing room to see Faith, Serena, Julie and Angelina sprawled on the couches while their guys stood to the side talking to Connor.

It was evident Connor had been watching for her, though, and it sent a giddy little thrill coursing through her veins. He looked up, and when he saw her, he broke from the group of men and came directly to her.

“You okay?”

She smiled. “Yeah. It was a good show.”

He leaned in to kiss her, shocking her into silence. Everyone was watching them but he didn’t seem to give a shit.

“You were fantastic. Now come sit down and rest. I’ll get you something to eat.”

A warm buzz, not unlike an alcohol-induced haze settled over her as she went over to the couch. She was smiling. Not just smiling but smiling ridiculously, and it had nothing to do with the show.

“You were awesome, Lyric!” Faith exclaimed when Lyric plopped onto the couch next to her.

“Terrific show,” Serena said in agreement. “You looked kick-ass out there.”

“Thanks, guys. I’m so glad you’re here.”

Angelina shifted position and Micah came to stand behind her. He slid his hand over her shoulder and offered a gentle squeeze. He leaned down and whispered something in her ear, and Angelina smiled and shook her head.

“Very well done, Lyric,” Damon Roche said as the guys gathered around the girls. “I think Serena mentioned that we’d caught one of your shows in Vegas. We enjoyed it and tonight very much.”

“The chute seats were awesome,” Julie said with a grin. “All those cowboys so close I could almost touch them.”

Nathan scowled. “I swear I can’t take you anywhere.”

“Thank you all so much,” Lyric said sincerely. “It was a fun show. I admit I had reservations about bringing my act here. Wasn’t sure it would be appreciated given the venue.”

Gray settled on the other side of Faith and shot Lyric a sly grin. “I think you may have converted Mr. Tight Ass, who only listens to country music.”

Lyric’s eyes widened innocently. “I can’t imagine who you’re talking about.”

Connor snorted as he set a plate of food on the coffee table in front of Lyric. “I admit to a few musical prejudices.” He glanced up at Lyric. “Eat,” he said softly.

She didn’t need any encouragement. She sat forward and began to eat the yummy assortment of sandwiches and finger foods.

“We all need a picture together,” Julie said. “The Smurfettes and all, you know.”

The men groaned.

“At least it’s just the tips,” Damon said with a grin. “They can be trimmed.”

“You’re not touching my hair!” Serena gasped. “I think we look awesome.”

“Well, there’s no denying you ladies look fantastic,” Micah said with an easy smile. “I was worried we’d need some of Lyric’s security detail just to escort you girls back here. There were a lot of good ole boys sizing up our muscle.”

Angelina laughed. “You’re so full of shit, but we love you for it.”

Lyric leaned back with her plate and sighed. A few weeks ago, she would have never guessed that she’d meet such great people or make actual friends. Real friends. People who didn’t want anything from her. Who liked the real Lyric.

Now that her show was over, she had a few days to do nothing and then she’d have to move on. Things to do. Albums to record. More concerts. For the first time she felt regret over her nomadic existence and the fact she didn’t have a home base.

How great it would be to get to come home after days on the road and have friends like this group where she could relax and not worry about what face she was presenting to the world.

The yearning was so keen that it made her chest ache.

“I hate to break this up, but Lyric’s tired and I really need to get her home so she can rest,” Connor said.

She blinked in surprise and realized she’d zoned out on the couch while conversation went on around her.

“I’m okay,” she said. “They don’t have to go.”

“You look exhausted,” he said bluntly.

“Of course you need to go rest,” Serena said as she stood gracefully from the couch. “I can’t imagine how you’re holding your head up after such an energetic show. We’ll see you again before you leave Houston.”

Lyric managed to get up and hug all the girls. “Thank you all so much for coming. It really meant a lot.”

“Thank you for the great seats!” Faith exclaimed. “Even the guys had fun.”

“More like we didn’t trust you out on your own again,” Gray muttered.

The women rolled their eyes.

Angelina smirked. “Think of how boring your lives would be without us.”

“Dear God, did you say a mouthful,” Nathan said. “I can safely say that’s one word that will never apply to our lives ever again.”

Julie wrapped her arms around the big guy and grinned cheekily up at him. “Admit it. You led pitiful existences before we swooped in and saved you.”

He lowered his mouth to kiss her, smiling all the while. “I don’t dispute that either, honey.”

Lyric walked them all to the door as the men herded the women, and then she was left alone with Connor and Kane and her security detail.

She closed the door and turned. “Any word on R.J. and Trent?”

Connor shook his head. “I have a call into the lieutenant handling their questioning. He’s supposed to call me when he knows something.”

She sighed. “Call me naïve but I just can’t imagine them doing this. What could they possibly have to gain? It doesn’t even make sense.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you,” Kane said. “But the evidence does support their involvement. We’ll let the police do their job and see what they come up with.”

“The important part is that you don’t have to worry about them anymore,” Connor said.

She didn’t miss his face darkening at the mention of them. He looked . . . jealous. Her lips twitched but she didn’t smile. Maybe later she’d tell him that she hadn’t slept with either man for the last several shows. For now, she liked the idea that he was possessive of her.

“You ready?” Connor asked. “You really do need to get some rest. You’re going to fall over soon.”

“Yeah, let’s go. I could use a cupcake and maybe a cup of hot chocolate. An evening in front of the fire sounds really nice right now.”

He pulled her into his side and they walked out to the waiting car.

Lyric lay against Connor on the couch, her feet stretched to the end, watching the flickering flames from the hearth while Connor absently ran his fingers through her hair.

An empty cupcake wrapper lay on the coffee table beside the half-finished cup of hot chocolate. She was warm, sated and drifting closer and closer to the veil of sleep.

“This is nice,” she murmured sleepily.

He didn’t answer but pressed a kiss to her hair in response.

“If I fall asleep, will you carry me up to bed again?”

She smiled as she awaited his response.

“You don’t have to be asleep for me to carry you up to bed.”

“Mmm.” She snuggled deeper into his chest and rubbed her cheek against the solid wall of muscle. “I kind of like you carrying me around. Makes me feel small and dainty.”

Connor snorted. “You are small and dainty. You don’t even come to my chin. I could probably stick you in my pocket and carry you around.”

“So what do we do now?”

He tipped her chin up so she looked at him. “What do you mean?”

She shrugged. “I mean now that the show is over. There never was a real threat to me. Whatever reason R.J. and Trent had for leaving those notes, I don’t believe for a minute they were going to hurt me. So that’s resolved.”

“Well, if I remember correctly, the point of this whole venture was for you to do your show, take some down time and lay low. So I guess the answer to your question is, you can do whatever you want.”

“And you?” she asked hesitantly.

He cocked his head. “Lyric, if there’s something you want to say, say it. I’m not a mind reader.”

“I just wondered if you’d want to do stuff with me. I mean just us. Not job related.”

His eyes gleamed in the low light. His thumb ran over her jaw and then to her lips, rubbing softly over her mouth.

“I’d like nothing more than to spend some time with you.”

He followed his hand with his mouth, turning her face up to meet his lips. Warm and melting, his heat invaded her, moving sluggishly through her veins like a narcotic.

He was dangerous to her. He did things to her heart and mind she couldn’t explain. He made her want things she’d always been afraid of. But now she wanted to try. She wanted a normal relationship, but how was such a thing ever possible for her?

“In fact, what I’d really like to do right now is take you upstairs and make love to you and for you to sleep in my arms afterward.”

She swallowed and nodded. She’d try. God, for him she’d try.

He pushed himself from the couch and then reached down to curl her into his arms. He lifted her effortlessly from the couch and carried her up the stairs to her bedroom.

She curled her arms around his neck and tucked her head under his chin. If she could stop time, she’d live in this moment forever. The entire past week had been nothing short of . . . life changing. It sounded corny and melodramatic, but it was absolutely true.

Maybe she’d finally found purpose. Or maybe she was finally growing and stretching beyond the past. She’d simply existed for so long but now she wanted to live. She wanted to grab on and enjoy every moment and take nothing for granted.

He laid her gently on the bed and tonight she didn’t play coy. She wanted him. Wanted him skin to skin, his body on hers. She got up on her knees and circled his neck, pulling him into her kiss.

He tasted like chocolate and he smelled of wood and smoke from the fire. It was a heady, intoxicating blend that she savored.

Her hands drifted over his shoulders and then to his chest, rubbing and caressing his tight body. Lean and hard and so damn delicious.

“Take your shirt off,” she said huskily. “Take it all off. Right there while I’m watching, and then come back to me.”

His gaze never leaving hers, he shucked his shirt and pants, and his underwear quickly followed. She sucked in all her breath as he stood naked, a thing of beauty, all hers to do with what she wanted. Oh damn. It would take a week to do everything she wanted with him.

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that, it’s going to be all over before it begins,” he growled.

“What am I looking at you like?” she asked innocently.

“Like I’m dessert and you’re about to eat me.”

“Mmm, but that’s exactly what I’m going to do,” she purred.

She leaned over and pressed her lips to his shoulder and then bared her teeth and nipped. He flinched and let out a low groan. She let her tongue slide sensuously up to the column of his neck and then she took another nip, right below his ear.

His big body shuddered and his hands curled into tight fists at his side.

She leaned back and placed her palms to his chest and ran her fingers through the light smattering of hair at the hollow, then followed the line down to his belly and lower to the crisp, light brown hairs at his groin.

His cock stiffened and jutted upward, directly into her hands. She wrapped her fingers around his length and traced his erection downward until she cupped his sac in one hand and fondled while she stroked up and down with her other hand.

“May I say you have very impressive equipment, Connor Malone.”

He made a sound of frustration and leaned closer to her.

“More impressive that you know precisely what to do with it.”

“You’re killing me,” he rasped.

She blinked up at him with pretended dismay. “I find I have no idea what to do with such a wealth of manhood. Do you have any suggestions?”

“Get down on your knees and wrap that pretty mouth around it.”

“Mmmm, kneeling has such a submissive overtone, don’t you agree?”

“Honey, there is nothing submissive about you. Hell, I don’t care if you stand on your head. I just want to get inside that sweet, lush mouth and drown.”

She grinned. “Well, since you asked so prettily.”

She quickly undressed and then lay down on the bed, positioning herself so that her head hung over the edge, directly in line with his cock.

She stared up at him and then reached to caress his length. “Fuck me, Connor. Just like that. Fuck me hard.”

His hands trembled on her face. His fingers stroked over her mouth and her cheekbones and then one hand left her to grasp his cock and guide it toward her waiting mouth.

“Open up, baby. Take me. Take all of me.”

She licked her lips and then parted them just as the broad head of his penis bumped against her mouth. Her tongue flicked over the crown and he flinched and then pushed in, sliding over her tongue.

His taste burst through her senses. Musky and exotic. Warm and spicy with a hint of soap. He slid deeper, checking himself at intervals, but when she offered no protest he sank to the back of her throat.

His balls brushed across her nose and then pressed inward as he strained forward. His hands tightened on the sides of her head and then he began thrusting back and forth.

He delved his fingers into her hair, separating and brushing through the strands. His movements were slow and measured. He never overwhelmed her. He seemed to know just how far to push and when to pull back.

She wanted to give him something back. She wanted to give him all the pleasure he’d given to her.

She reached behind and slid her hands over his hips to his taut buttocks. They flexed and rippled with each thrust, hard beneath her touch. She dug her fingers into his flesh and pulled him to her even as she swallowed him deeper.

Connor moved his hands from her face and then leaned over her to kiss her belly. She shivered and danced beneath his mouth and then his hands glided down her hips to part her legs.

He pulled them back until they were double and her pussy was exposed to his touch. His hips continued to pump against her mouth as his fingers dipped between her folds to the damp, sensitive flesh underneath.

She moaned around his cock and twisted restlessly as his fingers slipped inside her, stroking gently as his thumb toyed with her clit.

Then he withdrew and pulled back and knelt behind her. Gently he stroked his hands through her hair and closed his mouth over hers, smooching softly, her mouth, her cheeks, her eyes and then her forehead.

“I want inside you, Lyric,” he whispered. “I love your mouth, but I want you in my arms, your body wrapped around mine while I dive so deep that we lose ourselves in each other.”

Tears pricked her lids and they burned as she blinked to keep the moisture at bay. Didn’t he know she got lost in him every time he touched her?

He kissed her again, so exquisitely loving and gentle that she let out a sigh. He stroked her cheekbones and ran his fingers through her hair, and then he carefully raised her up so she was sitting on the bed.

She turned and got on her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck so she could kiss him. Everything she had, everything she was, she put into her kiss. She let go of all the things she’d been holding back and so dear.

She couldn’t get enough of him. She ran her hands up and down his back, up to his hair and then down again, hugging him to her, pressing her body into his as she devoured his mouth.

He wrapped his arms around her and hauled her up, holding her so tight she could barely breathe. He maneuvered them around and then fell forward onto the bed, his body over hers, her back pressed to the mattress.

“If I live to be a hundred years old, I don’t think I’d ever get enough of you,” he said between kisses. “You’re an addiction I can’t wait to feed. When you aren’t with me, I can’t wait to see you again. When you walk into the room, something inside me lights up. No one makes me feel like you do.”

“Oh, Connor,” she breathed. Whatever else she wanted to say got trapped behind the knot in her throat. Her nose swelled and stung as emotion clouded in and overwhelmed her.

“Make love to me,” she whispered. “Please. I need you.”

He went still above her and stared down as if he couldn’t believe she’d said the words. There was triumph—and relief—blazing in his eyes. He looked gobsmacked. Joy exploded onto his face and the lines around his forehead eased. It was as if she’d handed him the world, but in fact it was he who gave her so much. Every time. Himself.

“I’d give you the world if you asked,” he said as he nudged her thighs apart.

He reached for a condom and rolled it on, his gaze never leaving her.

His cock slid between her legs and he rubbed his length along her folds, teasing her with his rigid heat. She opened for him, wet and wanting.

He paused at her entrance, the head tucked barely inside. He nudged, opening her a little more, and then he stopped.

Again he kissed her, his tongue tangling hotly with hers. Then he propped himself on his forearms and flexed his hips forward, sliding smoothly, rippling through her pussy like a dive through deep water.

He was bowed over her, his much larger body covering hers protectively. But he moved like a dream, with grace that belied his size. There wasn’t a clumsy bone in his body. He made love like some people danced.

He nuzzled her neck and she turned, arching so that he had easier access. He tongued her ear and danced a circle around the shell until a thousand chill bumps skittered across her flesh.

Her heart was beating so hard that she could barely catch her breath. Her pulse raced and her body was alive as though a thousand ants crawled under skin. Every touch of his mouth, every thrust into her body, brought a shattering wave of pleasure so keen that it was nearly painful.

He withdrew until the head of his cock barely rimmed her entrance, and then he shoved back in, rippling through her slick flesh, sending aftershock upon aftershock coursing through her abdomen.

Her nipples tightened and dug into his chest like diamond points. Each movement abraded the ultrasensitive peaks until she was sure she was going to come apart.

“I want you there,” he murmured next to her ear. “You with me, Lyric. I won’t come until you’re there.”

“Oh God,” she panted. “I’m almost there, Connor. I can’t take it anymore. I feel like I’m going to break into a million pieces. Please. Don’t hold back. Harder.”

Her words seemed to unleash the beast he held in tight rein. A sound of near pain, harsh in the silence, ripped from his throat. He gathered her tightly to him, wrapping his arms around her, pulling up as he plunged deep and hard.

His thighs slapped against hers and their bodies made wet sucking sounds as he pounded into her over and over.

The world went blurry around her. She closed her eyes, dizzy as she splintered and seemed to sail in a dozen different directions.

Her body was so tight, painfully so, that she cried out, begging for release.

And then she was catapulted up and over, free-falling at a hundred miles an hour. Her orgasm went on and on, never ending, wave upon wave crashing through her body.

He was coming too, his body commanding hers, owning her, possessing her. His.

She went limp beneath him, no longer able to even keep her legs or arms around him. He was in the last throes of his orgasm as he twitched and continued to thrust, easier and slower now as he slid in and out of her.

“Lyric,” he whispered and gathered her close to him, holding her as he breathed harshly in her ear.

He turned, rolling them to their sides, and pressed her face into his neck as he stroked her hair, her back, over her buttocks and back up again.

“I love you. God, I love you.”

Her heart stuttered, took a painful leap in her chest that stole her breath. She went still as his words drifted over her ears, quiet and sincere.

Her throat tightened, so tight it sent a wave of panic through her body.

Afraid that she’d completely lose her composure, she tried to push away from him and roll from the bed. But he caught her and held her, refusing to let her up.

It set off another wave of panic and she twisted and tried to sit up.

Connor rolled until she was underneath him once more. His body covered hers and he stared down at her with glittering eyes. She expected anger, but what she saw was grim determination.

“Goddamn it, Lyric, I just told you I loved you and you act like you can’t get away fast enough.”

She swallowed and shook her head helplessly as tears filled her eyes.

“I’ve been patient. I’ve let you run. But I’m not letting you run any longer. I want to know what the hell is going on and why you bolt every time we have sex.”