Rock Hard

Chapter 13

Harder. Harder. Oh God, he was going to come.

“Say it, Jessica. Say it.”

Her word came out in a rush of air. “Y-yours.”

“Yes. Mine. Don’t you fuckin’ ever forget it.”

He rubbed his face against her throat as he let go, his entire body shuddering with release.

He backed out slightly and thrust forward again, still coming. Spurting his seed into her body. Flooding her insides with his fluids. Claiming her as his. His. “Ah God,” he gasped. “Mine.”

One more stroke was all he could take as he buried himself deep and collapsed against her, still shaking from the aftermath.

He released her wrists and she moved her hands to stroke his back. Her gentle touch kept him shuddering and twitching for several minutes.

He drew back to look at her. Maybe she’d said it because she was delirious with pleasure, but she’d said it. That she was his. He kissed her feverishly. Her lips, her face, her jaw, her neck and chest. He pressed his lips to every inch of her he could reach. She giggled at his enthusiasm.

“God, I’ve missed you.” He touched her cheek tenderly, wanting to tell her he loved her, had never stopped, but he didn’t think she was ready to hear that just yet.

She stared up at him, face flushed, eyes glassy. “You missed me… or my body?”

Before he could answer her, the bedroom door opened at the back of the bus.

“Is it safe to come out now?” Jace called from the end of the hall.

Sed kept Jessica tucked securely against his side as they forced their way through the crowd surrounding the hospital. About halfway through, Jace hollered in protest, trapped in the mob. Sed backtracked and managed to keep Jessica at his hip while he untangled Jace from the arms of two overexcited fangirls. Apparently, Jace was so f*****g cute, they couldn’t control themselves. The first girl lodged his face between her huge breasts, squealing with excitement as he struggled for freedom. Sed rescued him before she could suffocate him. Jace wasn’t accustomed to battling his way through a horde. Sed was a pro, but as much as he hated to admitted it, they needed to bring security with them.

“Any news on Trey?” someone yelled.

“Did Trey wake up yet?” asked another.

“I heard they amputated his arm. Please, tell me it’s a lie.”

Sinners also needed to have a press conference to stop ridiculous rumors from taking hold.

“Trey is awake and recovering just fine!” Sed shouted. “Can you give us some space here, please?”

The crowd backed up marginally.

“Are you dating Jessica exclusively now?” someone near his left arm asked.

“Of course, they’re back together. You saw their video, didn’t you?”

“I saw it,” someone else said. “That was so f*****g hot, dude.”

Jessica’s fingers dug into Sed’s forearm. “What are they talking about?”

Sed shrugged. “Hell if I know.”

They had to present ID and prove they were on Trey’s guest list before they were allowed to go up to his room. The folks at the front desk looked harried and exhausted. Hospital security looked ready to break out the tear gas. While Sed, Jessica, and Jace stood waiting for the elevator, a pair of security guards escorted some fan from an open elevator car and shoved him back outside. “Sinners forever!” he screamed as he was jostled to the back of the mob.

“This is insane,” Jace muttered, rubbing the silver hoop in his earlobe.

Sed chuckled. “I bet the hospital will be glad when Trey checks out.”

“What video?” Jessica said, still mulling over what that fan had said outside.

“I hope Trey’s in a better mood,” Sed said.

Jace stared at the floor. “I haven’t seen him since he woke up.”

“What video ?” Jessica grabbed Sed’s arm and gave him a shake.

“I’m sure it’s nothing. Calm down.” Sed placed a hand on the small of her back to help her into the elevator car.

“I’m not going to calm down. That guy said, ‘it was so f*****g hot, dude.’ What did he mean by that?”

“Maybe he was talking about the music video we released last week,” Jace said. “Those scenes with Sed and that chick were pretty hot.”

Jessica’s nostrils flared. “What chick?”

“Yeah, someone probably thought the actress in the video was you. That’s all.”

Jace’s brow twisted with confusion. “That woman didn’t look anything like Jessica. Wasn’t she Japanese?”

Work with me, Jace. “Yeah, so some of our fans are stupid and blind. Whatever.”

“A music video?” Jessica wrung her hands together and took a deep, steadying breath. “I hope you’re right.”

Well, what else could it be?

When they entered Trey’s flower-and-balloon–infested room, Trey, Eric, and Dave were squashed together in Trey’s hospital bed watching the computer screen with their mouths hanging open. Some woman was vocalizing her s****l excitement on whatever porn video currently held their attention.

“What are you guys watching?” Sed asked.

Trey glanced up from the screen. His eyes moved to Jessica and widened. He slammed the laptop closed on Eric’s hand.

“Ow. f**k!” Eric jerked his hand back and then moved it to his mouth to suck on his fingertips. He reached over to slap Trey alongside the head, hesitated when confronted with a row of staples, and dropped his hand on the computer on his lap instead.

“N-nothing,” Trey said.

“Well, it must’ve been something good. All three of you have drool on your chins.” Sed was ribbing them, but the three on the bed wiped their chins on their shoulders in unison.

Dave struggled to stand. Eric gave him a push and he found his feet. “I’ve gotta go.” And Dave darted out of the room as if Trey’d been eating too many bean burritos while they were trapped on the tour bus again.

Eric cradled the laptop against his belly and climbed from the bed as well. “Yeah, I’d say it’s time to go.”

“Yep,” Trey said, struggling to rise from his bed. He grabbed his IV pole for leverage.

Jace grabbed his arm. “Don’t hurt yourself. Get back in bed.”

“All right,” Sed bellowed. He glanced from Trey to Eric. “What the f**k is going on here? It’s not like Jessica doesn’t know you guys watch porn videos. She doesn’t care and you know it. Explain.”

Eric and Trey both looked at Jessica. Eric shifted the laptop down to cover the bulge in his pants.

“She’ll care about this video,” Trey said.

“Video?” Jessica strode over to Eric and tried to wrestle the laptop out of his hands. “Show me.”

Eric shook his head vigorously. “You don’t want to see it.”

“Show me, Eric. Now!”

“He doesn’t have to show you,” Trey said, allowing Jace to stuff him back in bed. “You were there.”

“Oh God, don’t tell me…”

“Okay, we won’t,” Eric said.

Jessica yanked the laptop away from Eric and popped it open. Sed moved to look over her shoulder. He had no idea what had her so upset.

“What’s the password?” she demanded.

“Uh, the password is password. Duh,” Trey said.

“Jessica, don’t do this to yourself.” Eric squeezed her shoulder, his expression empathetic.

Jessica got the video going and the chick on screen started vocalizing again. Wait a minute. That wasn’t a chick. That was Jessica. A bubble of intense rage erupted from Sed’s insides. Not only was she a stripper, now she was a fuckin’ porn star, too. What else was she hiding from him? And he didn’t care if it was work. He’d kill the jackass she was f*****g so well while clinging to some chain-link fence over the Las Vegas strip. That prick who was drilling her… Wait. Why did that jerk look so much like him?

Ohhhhh.

Sed bit his lip. That was him. And her. Going all out at the top of the Eiffel tower. Oh s**t. She’d never forgive him for this. Not in a million years.

“Five hundred and twelve thousand views!” she bellowed. “This happened last night. How in the—I can’t believe—Who posted this? And how did they get it?”

“There’s some girl at the beginning of the video…” Eric attempted to take the laptop from her. “You shouldn’t watch this, honey.”

She slugged him in the gut. “Why not? You were.”

“Yeah, but—”

“And more than five hundred thousand other people have.”

“I think some of those are repeat viewers,” Trey said. “I mean we watched it, what, five times?”

“Six, I think.”

Typically, Sed found Jessica irresistibly sexy when she was pissed, but this pissed-off-Jessica wasn’t sexy. This pissed-off-Jessica was terrifying. He took a step back and let Eric take the brunt of her fury.

“You watched it six times?” she screamed. “ Six times?”

“I’m sure it was only five and a half,” Trey said. “You confiscated the computer before we finished watching it that last time.”

“Oh jeez, Trey, that makes me feel a lot better. Thanks.” She slammed the computer on the mattress at his feet and moved the slider to the beginning of the video. “I have a pretty good idea of who filmed this and posted it online.” She turned her head and pinned Sed to the floor with a glare. “One of your stupid fangirls, no doubt. The one who gave us privacy in exchange for your shirt. What do you bet?”

He lowered his gaze. “Probably.” He wanted to comfort her. Knew that her anger was a front for deeper feelings, but he didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t take this back. Couldn’t hide it. Couldn’t make it go away. How could they deal with something like this?

Jessica started the video from the beginning. The attendant from the Eiffel Tower came on screen. She wore the white T-shirt Sed had given her, his signature evident across her left breast.

“I knew it,” Jessica muttered.

The girl on-screen started talking to the camera. “I know there are a lot of Sedric Lionheart fans out there who hate this b***h as much as I do, so please, copy this video and distribute it as much as possible. Sed, if you see this, you are an absolute god and you can do so much better than Jessica Chase. She’s such a skank.” She extended her pinkie and thumb and held it to her face. “Call me, big guy. I’ll treat you right. Enjoy the show, fans!”

“Skank?” Jessica sputtered. “Where does that little b***h get off calling me a skank?”

The video recording started. Grainy, but not terrible quality. The sounds. Oh dear God, the sounds. Sed couldn’t help but get excited watching Jessica with her top down and her skirt up while he plunged into her eager body. And you could definitely tell it was Jessica. Their undetected audience kept zooming in on Jessica’s face. And as if the title, Sedric Lionheart Screws a Harlot Over the Vegas Strip , wasn’t bad enough, the caption at the bottom read, Jessica Chase Orgasm Count , and there was a rolling ticker beside it, currently at 2. When Jessica cried out and shuddered with release, the number flipped to 3. Three? He was sure that had been her fourth. But that was beside the point.

“God, Jess, this is bad,” Sed whispered. He reached over her shoulder to pause the video. Her beautiful face stayed frozen on screen as she continued to cry out in ecstasy.

Jessica released a wounded groan though she probably couldn’t even see the video through the tears in her eyes. As scary as her rage had been, the mortified look on her face was far worse. She tilted her head back to prevent her tears from falling.

“Bad? You don’t say,” she said, her voice surprisingly steady. Jessica crossed her arms over her chest, her jaw flexing as she worked at letting go of the anguish and recovering her anger. “f**k it,” she said. “Who cares anyway? It isn’t as if I had dreams or anything. I don’t need a future. Or a life.”

Sed zeroed in on a link to mark the video as inappropriate. He clicked it. “There. They’ll take it down,” he said. “It will be okay.”

“What do you mean it will be okay?” she bellowed. He winced. “Over half a million views in less than a day and that little b***h told people to copy it and distribute it. There’s no telling how many copies are circulating right now.”

“It’s not the end of the world, Jessica. So you had s*x. Big deal. Everybody does it.” He grinned. “Maybe not hanging upside down over the Vegas strip with a rock star…”

Her jaw set in a hard line, she focused on the floor. “You are not making me feel better.”

“It was worth a try.”

He touched her chin to encourage her to look at him. She jerked her head to the side.

“We could retaliate by posting a new s*x video online every day for the rest of our lives,” he suggested, hoping that making light of the subject would help her cope better. Right now, she wasn’t coping at all.

She scowled. Punched him in the ribs with a tiny fist. “How is that supposed to help?”

He chuckled. “It will guarantee I get well-laid on a very regular basis.”

“Oh yeah, I like that plan,” Trey said. “Do you take requests?”

Sed waited for her smartassed retort, but it never came. Instead, she covered her face with both hands, turned on her heel, and fled the room. Sed’s eyes widened. Distraught? Jessica didn’t do distraught. That’s one of the reasons he loved her so much. He never had to deal with a hysterical female. Pissed? Yeah. Opinionated and vocal about it? Hell yeah. But not totally flipped out. Jessica usually took everything in stride. Laughed it off. For some reason, this situation was different. He honestly didn’t get why it was such a big deal. She looked amazing on the video and he was doing his part properly. She should be proud.

Eric shoved Sed to gain his attention. “What are you waiting for? Go after her, you idiot.”

Go after her. Right…

Jessica tapped the down elevator button like a jackhammer demolishing pavement. She needed a moment to collect herself. A ladies room, or… She turned and glanced around, looking for directional signs, but the elevator dinged behind her, and Sed (the callous jackass) was headed in her direction. She stepped onto the elevator and held the button to close the doors.

“Jessica!” Sed called, his trot increasing to a full out run. “Wait. We need to talk.” The doors closed before Sed could reach them. She heard his hands slap against the outside just before the car started its descent.

Talk? She had no intention of talking to Sed. Ever again. She should have known better than to get mixed up with him in the first place.

Jessica leaned against the interior wall of the car and took several deep breaths as the elevator continued down to the lobby. A presence lurked behind her, so she couldn’t allow herself to cry. Not in public. Why couldn’t the rest of the world just disappear and leave her the f**k alone?

“Jessica Chase?”

Her heart thudded. She didn’t know enough people in Vegas to be recognized by her real name. She turned and there stood some average-in-every-way guy she’d never seen before.

“How do you know my name?” She was almost afraid to ask.

The man hesitated and then leaned closer, his breath hot in her ear. “I saw your video today, sexy. Would you consider accompanying me to the real Eiffel Tower for a repeat performance? I’ll pay your way to France. Buy you nice things. Give you cash. Whatever you want.” His gray eyes took in every inch of her figure. “I just want to f**k that tight little body of yours.”

She was too stunned to respond. Too nauseous to scream. Too humiliated to move.

“What do you say?” He grabbed her by both arms, his tongue laving her ear.

She jerked away and found herself trapped in a corner.

Instinct? She didn’t know. Her knee came up and he went down.

“No,” she shouted down at him. “That’s what I say, you f*****g jerk!”

The elevator door opened and she rushed into the lobby, leaving the jackass on the elevator floor cradling his crushed nuts and moaning in agony. She hadn’t taken two steps before another man grabbed her by both shoulders and crushed her against his hard chest. She fought him, ready to deliver another groin-directed knee until she recognized her captor. Sed? How had he beaten the elevator fifteen floors to the lobby?

“Come on, sweetheart. I’ll take you back to the hotel,” he said breathlessly.

“I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“I know you’re upset. You probably want to hide for a while and cry. Let’s get you out of here, okay?”

She gulped air. She did want to hide and cry, but not for a while. Forever.

“I’ll take you to the hotel and I’ll leave you alone. Or you can let me hold you. Whatever you want.”

The problem was she didn’t know what she wanted—being alone sounded good yet terrible, being held in Sed’s strong arms sounded better yet worse—but she nodded and let him lead her to a waiting cab. She stared unseeingly out the window on the way through the city. What was she going to do? There was no way she could hide this video from her peers, her professors, her family, her friends, jerks in elevators. This kind of thing would destroy her credibility. Would it mean the end of her career? Was it over before it started? Her dreams destroyed for a few moments of bliss? It all seemed incredibly unfair.

Something hot streaked down her cheek. She dashed the tear away with the back of her hand and glanced at Sed to see if he’d noticed. When their eyes met, he smiled sadly, and then stared down at his hands, which were folded in his lap.

Another tear fell. Another. She wiped her face on the hem of her T-shirt. Damn it. This wasn’t worth her tears. She was strong. She could get through this. She could always become a hermit and make pinecone wreaths in the sequoia forests. The trees wouldn’t know she was a… she was a… a skaaaank .

Jessica took a deep breath that turned into an anguished sob. Sed touched her shoulder. That small connection was like a switch that opened the flood gates. She caught his startled expression just before she flung herself across the backseat and into his arms. He held her as if her tears would wash her away and he had no intention of allowing the raging waters to pull her from his grasp. Feeling safe, she let the humiliation wash over her. Oh God, people would see her, see her like that , and… and… they would think she was a slut. A w***e. A tramp. A…

“It’s okay, baby,” Sed murmured, squeezing her tighter. “I’ll fix it. I promise.”

She struggled out of his embrace and glared up at him. “You can’t fix this, Sed. You can’t. This is an unfixable situation.”

He cupped her face in both hands and kissed the tears from her cheeks. “I said I’ll fix it and I will. Don’t cry.”

The cab pulled to a stop outside the Bellagio hotel and Jessica scrambled out of the car. People waiting in line for the next available taxi gawked at her as she hurried into the hotel. They’d probably seen her video. Or maybe they found the tears dripping from her jaw and her runny nose interesting. Whatever it was, she wished she had a bag to put over her head.

When they reached the room, Sed directed her to the bathroom. He turned on the taps to fill the large garden tub.

“What are you doing?”

“Pampering you. Get in the tub. I’ll call room service.”

“I don’t want to be pampered.”

“Too bad. I’m pampering.”

That big tub did look inviting. And there was a complimentary bottle of bubble bath on the edge of the tub. “Okay.”

Sed let out a relieved sigh. He probably thought this fixed things. Well, it didn’t. Nothing would fix this.

“I’ll be right back.” And when he kissed her—for a fleeting moment—she started to believe that things really were going to be okay.

Less than twenty minutes later, she was already feeling more like herself. Fragrant bubbles tickling the bare skin of her shoulders, Jessica leaned forward in the tub and opened her mouth to accept the spoonful of chocolate mousse Sed offered. Her eyes rolled up in her head as she licked every decadent trace of dessert from the spoon. Smooth, sweet, and rich. She rubbed the mousse between the roof of her mouth and tongue, reluctant to swallow. Chocolate made everything better. Even her f****d up life.

Jessica groaned. “It’s so good.”

“It can’t be half as good as watching you eat it.” He grinned at her and scooped another spoonful from the tall parfait glass.

“Aren’t you going to have any?” she asked, eagerly accepting another bite of his treat.

His grin widened and one of his adorable dimples made an appearance. “I’m saving my appetite for dessert.”

“You can climb in here with me, you know.” s*x with Sed was even better at taking her mind off things than chocolate. And more than anything, she longed for blank thoughts.

Sitting next to the tub, still fully clothed, Sed shook his head. “We both know where that will lead. You’ve had a hard day, sweetheart. I want you to relax.”

She’d forgotten how sweet he could be at times. “It’s hard to relax when I keep thinking about that stupid vid—”

He silenced her by stuffing a large strawberry in her mouth. She chewed, the sour tang of the fruit contrasting with the sweet chocolate still stimulating her taste buds.

“Then stop thinking about it.” He reached across the expanse of lily-scented bubbles and stroked a strand of hair from her cheek.

“You are taking my mind off things.”

Both dimples made an appearance this time. Her heart skipped a beat. Why couldn’t he be like this all the time?

“I am?”

“Well, you and the chocolate.” She opened her mouth, ready for her next bite.

He laughed. “Honest to a fault. Are you sure you want to be a lawyer?”

Her heart went from recovery to the pit of despair in one beat. “I’m not sure it’s even possible now. My reputation is ruined.”

“In a couple of weeks, it will be old news. No one will remember it.”

“I will.”

He gave her a pitying look and reached for the bottle of champagne chilling in a silver bucket near his hip. He sloshed some pale amber liquid into a flute and held it out to her. “More champagne?”

She nodded and reached for the glass.

Sed took a long swig out of the bottle. She watched his throat work as he swallowed and squeezed her thighs together to alleviate the building throb between them. She probably shouldn’t want him after the day she’d had, but she did. What was it about this man that made her so stupid? And slutty? God, the whole world knew how much she liked to f**k him now—how she’d go to any lengths to please him sexually—and did that stop her from wanting him? No. Sed lowered the bottle and stuffed it back into the ice bucket, accompanied by the rattle of melting ice.

He covered his mouth with the back of his hand and chuckled. “That s**t goes straight to your head.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to chug half the bottle.” Though three glasses deep, she was working on it. She rested her wrist on the edge of the tub, her half-full flute tilted precariously. “Since you refuse to f**k me, can I have some more chocolate, please?”

“I’m not refusing. I just don’t think that’s what you really want right now.”

“You don’t know a goddamned thing about what I want.” Her eyes filled with unexpected tears. “Why won’t you ever listen to me?” If s*x had been his idea, she’d already be on her back with him thrusting into her slutty, needy body.

He brushed a tear away with his thumb. “Shh, sweetheart, I’m not going to take advantage of you when you’re this upset.” He extended a spoonful of mousse toward her.

Oh yeah? Well, if he wasn’t going to do as she asked, she’d just have to seduce him then. She waited until the spoon touched her bottom lip then slowly drew her tongue over it. She repeated the motion again and again, knowing what kind of thoughts she encouraged. Sed watched her lick his offering one thin layer at a time. He couldn’t take his eyes off her mouth or the carefully timed strokes of her tongue. She sucked the remaining mousse from the spoon. “Mmmmm.”

Sed answered her murmur of pleasure with a soft curse.

Her eyes drifted down his body, wishing he’d get naked already. The chocolate and champagne weren’t doing it for her. She could still think. Her eyes settled on the crotch of his jeans. Anything ready to tango in his pants? Getting there, but only half-mast. She could do better.

“What are you looking at?” he asked.

Her gaze lifted to his. He had one eyebrow raised at her.

“I want more.”

“More what?”

“You know what I want, Sed. Give it to me.” She opened her mouth for another bite.

He scooped another spoonful of mousse. “If you don’t stop that, I’m going to give it to you real good here in a minute. And then you’re going to get pissed at me for taking advantage of you.”

“Why would I get pissed if you give me what I need?”

“Jess, you’re not thinking clearly. The last thing you need right now is sex.”

She completely disagreed with him. No surprise there. Jessica rubbed her mouth over the soft dessert, licking the chocolate from her coated lips in bliss. She kept her eyes closed, but she assumed he watched with undivided attention. Her tongue stroked the underside of the spoon repetitively and then dipped into the depression on top.

“I wish I was a spoon,” he murmured.

After she licked all traces of dessert from the spoon, she moaned, “More, Sed. I need more.”

He fed her another spoonful of mousse, and another.

“Yes, Sed. Give it to me. More.”

He scraped the spoon against the sides of the glass and gave his final offering. She finished the last bite and opened her eyes.

He rattled the spoon in the glass. “It’s all gone.”

She glanced at the glass, noting the film of mousse on its inner surface. “There’s a little left. Don’t waste it.”

He rubbed his index finger along the inner surface of the glass and offered it to her, his breath catching. She licked his finger from base to tip and then sucked it into her mouth. The salt of his skin mingled with the sweet, rich taste of chocolate.

“Jess,” he gasped.

She sucked his finger gently, drawing her mouth back to the tip, and working her tongue along its underside, before she sucked it deep again. She released his finger and took a sip of her champagne. “Are you sure there isn’t any more?” Her eyes drifted down to his lap again. His c**k strained against his pants as a thick, rigid pole along the inside of his left thigh.

How was he not in the tub already?