Rock Hard

Chapter 2

She ran her hands up his back and he shuddered, gasping softly. She’d discovered his most sensitive erogenous zone, but either she didn’t notice his reaction or didn’t care. She clung to his shoulders, vocalizing her pleasure in the back of her throat.

After a few minutes, he said, “I think it’s time for you to suck me. I’ve got to leave soon.”

She sighed. “All right. Can you take off the condom though?”

“No.” He pulled out and rolled next to her.

“I’m afraid I’ll suck it down my throat.”

He chuckled. “I don’t think that will be a problem.” He sighed when she sucked him deep. She wasn’t too bad at this. A bit timid. “Suck it hard,” he said. “Harder. Yeah, that’s it.”

He usually fought orgasm for as long as he could, but in this case, he concentrated on coming as quickly as possible. When he let go, it was far from satisfying, but at least it was over.

She grinned up at him. “How was that?”

“Tolerable.” He climbed from the bed and removed the condom, tying a knot in the open end and tossing it in the wastebasket.

“You’re an asshole.”

He found his pants and put them on. “Yeah. So. Is that a problem?”

She laughed. “Not for me. Can I have my tickets?”

“I’ll see if Jake has one.” Jake, one of their long-time roadies, usually distributed tickets and backstage passes to women he thought might interest the band. He had an eye for good p***y.

“One?” she said, pouting annoyingly.

“Yeah, one.”

“What about my boyfriend?”

Sed lifted an eyebrow at her. “Do you really think he’s gonna want to come to my show if he knows how you got his ticket?”

“Of course. He’s a huge fan of yours. He’ll be excited to put his junk where yours has been.” She scrunched her hair with both hands, eyeing herself in the mirror over the dresser. “Two?”

Sed tugged a black T-shirt over his head and rubbed a hand over the soft stubble of his short hair. “Uhhhhh… No. You’re lucky to get one.”

When he left the room, she was getting dressed and scowling.

Eric accosted Sed in the corridor. “Everyone is waiting for you.”

“Just let me shave. And tell Jake to give that girl a ticket for tomorrow night’s show so she’ll get lost.”

“I don’t think he has any left. We’re opening for Exodus End. Not the headliner.”

“Then ask Dare for one. He’ll share.” Dare was Exodus End’s lead guitarist. He was also the older brother of Sed’s rhythm guitarist, Trey. Sed and Dare went way back. Sorta. “Come on, man. I’d do it myself, but I need to shave. You’re ready.”

Eric sighed loudly and turned to exit the tour bus, muttering something under his breath about a f*****g errand boy.

Sed hurried through his shave. He’d nearly finished when Myrna, soon-to-be Mrs. Brian Sinclair, came to stand in the doorway. She leaned against the doorframe and watched him carefully draw the razor up under his chin. She wore a trim tweed skirt, purple camisole, and two-inch heels. Strands of auburn hair had come loose from the knot at the base of her neck to curl against her lovely heart-shaped face. Now here was a classy and beautiful woman. Someone Sed could respect. He totally understood why Brian had to tumble her into bed every couple of hours. She had an untouchable quality that heightened a man’s sense of challenge. Too bad she only had eyes for his lead guitarist. Sed’s every attempt to seduce her had met with failure.

“Promise me you’ll bring him home safe, Sed,” Myrna said.

He grinned at her. “I promise. He might be too drunk to walk, but he’ll be safe.”

Brian appeared in the doorway next to Myrna. He wrapped an arm around her waist and nuzzled her neck. “I think I’d rather skip the bachelor party,” he murmured. “Celebrate the end of bachelorhood in the bedroom with you.”

Sed rolled his eyes. “You can’t have a bachelor party with your fiancée, you dumbass.”

The couple in the doorway stared into each other’s eyes as if they were the only two people on Earth. Sed didn’t know whether to be jealous or repulsed.

“I love you,” Brian murmured.

Myrna touched Brian’s jaw. “I love you.”

“You sure?”

“One hundred percent.”

Brian smiled like a lunatic and kissed her. “I love you.”

“I love you,” she whispered, her fingers stealing into his shoulder-length black hair. Only inches separated their mouths as they continued to lose themselves to their closeness, completely in tune with one another.

“Knock it off, you two,” Sed demanded. “You’re giving me diabetes.”

“Tomorrow I get to call you Mrs. Sinclair,” Brian said to Myrna, ignoring Sed.

“What do I get to call you?”

“My Personal s*x God.”

She chuckled. “That’s a given.”

Trey, Brian’s best friend and the band’s rhythm guitarist, wriggled between the couple’s bodies. “Isn’t there some sort of rule against the bride and groom seeing each other before the wedding?” He covered Myrna’s eyes with one hand and Brian’s with the other. “No peeking.”

Brian punched him in the ribs.

Trey clutched his midsection with both arms. “Did you see that, Myrna?”

Myrna brushed Trey’s hair from his face and kissed him on the forehead. “Poor baby.”

Trey hugged Myrna’s waist and rested his head on her shoulder. “Hold me.” He gazed up at her with one emerald, green eye. His over-long black bangs concealed the other. Everyone knew his innocent looks were entirely fabricated, but Myrna didn’t seem to care. She wrapped an arm around him and rubbed his back.

“Get off her,” Brian insisted, shoving Trey into the corridor.

“We going?” Jace, a bassist and token platinum blond of the group asked. He maintained the growth of dark beard stubble to toughen up his look, but it was his cold, chocolate-brown eyes that prevented most people from fixating on how f*****g adorable he was.

“Just waiting on Sed,” Trey said. “Where’d Eric go?”

“He’s hunting Jake,” Sed told him.

Brian had Myrna pinned to his body now, kissing her like he was trying to permanently meld his mouth to hers. Slowly inching her conservative skirt up to her thighs, he rubbed her ass and ground his pelvis against hers. They were already enjoying themselves more than Sed had not ten minutes ago. Didn’t seem fair.

“Trey, do something about your friend,” Sed insisted.

Trey grabbed Brian by the top of the ear and pulled him viciously from Myrna’s embrace. “Save it for the honeymoon, stud.”

Brian leaned over to ease the pull on his ear. “Ow, ow, ow, ow. Okay!”

Fake-n-bake wandered out of the bedroom, fully dressed now. “Are you guys going out? Can I come with you?”

“No,” the four bandmates said in unison.

Eric stomped up the front bus stairs. “Here,” he said, thrusting a ticket at the blonde girl. “Enjoy.” He squeezed his lithe form between his bandmates to stare at Sed, who was wiping the last traces of shaving cream onto a towel. “Don’t ask me to be your errand boy again, Lionheart.”

Sed chuckled. “You know you’ll do what I ask, Eric. No one else indulges your bizarre fetishes.”

Eric glanced behind him at the other guys. “Yeah, well, maybe I’m tired of watching you get laid.”

Trey and Brian burst out laughing. “Yeah right, Eric,” Trey said. “You ready, Sed?”

“Let’s go.”

Brian kissed Myrna goodbye. “You can come with us.”

“To a strip club?” Her eyebrows shot up in question. “No, thanks. I can get some work done on my band groupie project while you’re gone. You have a good time with the guys.”

He backed up a step. “I love you.”

“I love you too. Now go!”

He turned reluctantly and shuffled after the other guys.

“Don’t worry, Myrna. I’ll keep an eye on him,” Sed assured her.

“Thanks. And could you do me another favor?”

“Anything.”

Myrna tilted her head pointedly at Fake-n-bake, who was watching this all transpire as if it were on Pay-Per-View.

Sed took the blonde by one elbow and directed her toward the front of the bus. “Come on, time for you to leave.”

There was a loud thunk on the side of the bus. “I love you, Myrna!” Brian called from outside.

Sed shook his head. “God, I can’t believe he acts like that when he’s sober.”

Myrna chuckled. “Stay safe. Which club are you going to? In case I need to find you.”

He released the blonde’s elbow and stepped close to Myrna, using his height and breadth to its greatest advantage. “Are you being a nag or a drag, Professor s*x?”

She stood her ground, lifting an eyebrow of annoyance at him. “Which club, Sed?”

He chuckled. He loved a chick he couldn’t intimidate. “Paradise Found.”

Sed held open the chrome-plated swinging door for Brian and slapped him on the back as he passed. Brian winced, though Sed couldn’t tell if it was from being knocked around or because he’d caught his first glimpse of topless women. Even the cocktail waitresses treated them to full-frontal nudity. Very nice.

“Sed, honestly. This bachelor party is unnecessary.” Brian paused on the threshold and raked a hand through his black hair. Tonight, he wore it as he did onstage—lightly gelled and sticking out at odd angles. Thank God he’d gone without his guyliner. “I’d rather just go back to the tour bus and spend the evening with Myrna.”

Sed rolled his eyes and shook his head. “Dude, after tomorrow, you’re going to be saddled with her for life. For life. She a great chick and all, but that’s a very long time. Enjoy your last night as a bachelor. Trey, do something about this guy.” Sed looked behind Brian. Trey had been there a moment ago.

No Trey now, just their bassist, Jace.

“Where’d Trey go? What’s a bachelor party without the best man?”

Jace jerked his bleached-blond head toward the bar three doors down.

Sed glanced at the sign over the door and rubbed a hand over his face. “A gay bar? When is he gonna decide if he likes d**k or p***y?”

“I think the problem is he likes both,” Eric said.

“A lot,” Brian added.

“Equally,” Jace said.

“Don’t worry,” Eric said. “It shouldn’t take him long to pick up some tail.”

Sed sighed. He worried about the members of his band. Brian was the most normal of the batch and he was acting like a total wuss now that he was getting married. “Well, Brian, it’s your call.”

“Fine, we’ll stay. If you promise not to buy me a lap dance.”

“Dude, Myrna won’t find out. Who’s gonna tell her?”

“I’m sure Myrna would be cool with it. I’m just not interested.”

Eric grabbed Brian by the arm and urged him further into the club. “You need to loosen up, Mr Stuffy von Stick-in-the-mud.”

Sed followed them to the bar. He ordered a whiskey on the rocks and scanned the various stages, looking for the stripper he found most attractive. Two blondes on the center stage worked the pole together, caressing and kissing each other whenever their dancing brought their bodies together. “That is hot,” Sed said. They’d make a nice Sed sandwich. He wondered if he could convince them to work his pole together. He downed his whiskey and thumped his glass of ice on the bar for a refill.

“That is hotter.” Jace nodded at the leather-clad, black-haired woman brandishing a whip on the left-hand stage. His entire body jerked with excitement every time her whip cracked.

Brian took his beer and headed for the stage on the far-right side of the room. The most sedate of the three stages featured a strawberry blonde in white silk, lace, and feathers. A wide, silk scarf concealed her eyes and accentuated her femininity. Though she couldn’t possibly see where she was going, she had her moves down perfectly and had no problem maintaining her mesmerizing, sensual dance without falling off the stage. Ah, well, it figured Brian would go for the sweetmeat. Not that Sed minded, he had a soft spot for strawberry blondes. Jessica’s hair had been strawb… Christ, why couldn’t he stop thinking about her? The b***h had left him two frickin’ years ago.

All the tables near the stage were full. Brian scanned the room for an empty seat, but Eric took his arm and directed him to a table in front of the stage. Six college-aged men looked well settled there, but Sed knew Eric wouldn’t take no for an answer one way or another. Sipping his whiskey, Sed followed his friends.

“Hey, dudes, my buddy is getting married tomorrow,” Eric said to the young guys. “How about you all get lost so we can sit here?”

One of the clean-cut guys said, “I feel for your friend, really, but we were here first.”

Sed had to give the kid credit. Sed and his bandmates didn’t look like guys you should f**k with. Tattoos. Piercings. Chains. Jet black hair, except Jace and his bleached spikes. Denim and leather. They’d probably fit in better at a biker bar.

Tall and muscular, Sed was the largest and most intimidating of the group. He moved to stand beside Eric as a backup. He’d rather have these guys frightened into giving Eric his way. Sed didn’t want to fight them, but he knew it wouldn’t take much to move Eric to blows.

“I think you should reconsider.” Sed glared down at the guys around the table.

Eric flexed his long fingers and cracked his knuckles.

“Christ, Eric, don’t get us all arrested again.” Brian massaged his forehead as if in great distress. “I mean you can only have so many deadly assault charges on your record before they keep you in the slammer for good. You know?”

Wide-eyed, the college-aged guys grabbed their drinks and moved to a table near the back of the room.

Sed smiled at Brian. “Smooth, Master Sinclair.”

Brian shrugged and sat at the table. He took a sip of his beer. Sed sat to Brian’s right. Eric to his left. Jace had vanished somewhere. Probably blowing a couple of thousand bucks on the dominatrix on the other side of the room. Sed tossed his whiskey down his throat and signaled a cocktail waitress for another refill. Brian sipped his beer and glanced up at the dancer crawling across the stage toward them. He choked.

“f**k me,” Eric said, his eyes on the stripper as well. “Isn’t that…”

Sed glanced at the beautiful woman, now lying at the front of the stage with her hair dangling over the edge, her backed arched and her perfect, naked breasts jutting into the air.

“Jessica.”

Sed jumped to his feet. He shrugged off his leather jacket and tossed it over her body. Her naked body. Jessica. His Jessica was naked. Naked. In front of all these men.

When he pulled her off the stage, she gasped in surprise. He cocooned her against his chest, protecting her from lustful gazes.

A wall of bouncers surrounded them immediately. “No touching the dancers,” one of the mountains of flesh said.

Jessica struggled in Sed’s arms, but he wasn’t about to let her go. Wasn’t about to let these men gawk at her body.

“Sed.” Brian grabbed his upper arm. “Let her go.”

Jessica gasped. “Sed?” She rubbed her face against his shoulder to push the silk scarf from her eyes. It fell around her nose and mouth. Her eyes widened. Those jade-green eyes. The ones that haunted him day and night. How was it possible that she’d become even more beautiful since he’d last seen her?

He lowered his head to kiss her, his heart swelling so full he thought it might suffocate him. It didn’t matter that the scarf separated their mouths. He remembered the taste of her lips all too well.

A thick forearm wrapped around Sed’s throat from behind, jerking his head back. He planted his boots firmly on the floor to prevent himself from tipping backwards.

With her shoulder, Jessica nudged the scarf down to her neck. God, her lips. So full and inviting. He needed to kiss her again. Never stop kissing her.

“Put me down, Sed.”

Her soft voice—just as he remembered it. The way she said his name squeezed his insides. So long since he’d heard it. Too long. He bit his lip. He didn’t know if the bouncer’s grip or his heart trying to force its way out of his mouth caused the greater ache in his throat.

“Let go of his throat, you f*****g cretin,” Eric bellowed. “He’s a professional singer.”

“I don’t give a s**t who—”

Eric punched the bouncer holding Sed and his grip loosened. It tightened further a moment later. Sed winced. Several bouncers grabbed Eric and forcefully escorted him away from the front of the stage.

“Get your f*****g hands off me,” Eric protested.

“Go quietly or we’ll call the cops.” Even with the throbbing music playing through the club, Sed heard several fists connect with flesh.

“Motherfuckers!” Was that Jace? More fists connected with flesh. The door slammed shut.

Jessica squirmed in Sed’s arms. He had no doubt that if her hands were free, she’d be slapping the s**t out of him.

Brian sighed loudly beside him. “Well, I guess I’ve got to kick some ass now. Can’t let my boys down.” He moved out of Sed’s peripheral vision toward the exit.

The door opened again. “What the f**k is going on?” Trey yelled into the club.

“Bellaway,” Jessica shouted to the guy behind Sed. “I know this guy. I’m fine. Seriously, don’t injure his throat.” She looked into Sed’s eyes. “Put me down, Sed. Now.”

Sed tried to shake his head but couldn’t move his neck.

After a long moment, the arm around Sed’s throat loosened.

The bouncer stepped away.

Sed swallowed. His throat burned, but he refused to release Jessica. Refused.

“What are you doing here?” he asked her angrily, except his usual baritone growl came out raspy.

“Put me down, Sed.” Her nostrils flared in that way that always turned him on. There was nothing on Earth sexier than this woman when she was pissed off. Lucky for him, she had one hell of a temper.

“Answer my question and I’ll put you down.”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Her eyebrows arched as she gazed up at him. “I’m dancing.”

“I thought you were going to law school. Wasn’t that your excuse for walking out on me?”

“That isn’t why I left, and you know it. Besides, law school isn’t free. I’ve got to make money somehow. Now put me down. I answered your question.”

“If you needed money, you should have asked.” He set her on her feet and reached for his wallet. He pulled out a wad of cash and held it out to her. “Here. There’s a couple thousand bucks here. I can get you more. Whatever you need.”

“I don’t want your money, Sed.”

“Why, because I’m just giving it to you? Fine. What do you charge for an hour of your time? A couple hundred? I’ll buy you for the night. Or the week.”

Smack! She slapped him so hard he tasted blood. He winced, tonguing the cut on the inside of his cheek.

“I f*****g hate you,” she spat, her eyes narrowed dangerously. She stalked off, dropping his coat on the floor. Her perfect bare ass was the last thing he saw as she stormed out of his life. Again.

Jessica burst into the dressing room backstage, startling several of the girls who worked the next set. She plopped down on the stool in front of her mirror, pulled the silk scarf from her neck and lowered her face into her hands.

Of all the strip clubs in the world, Sed had to show up in hers.

Don’t let him get to you. You’re over him. Remember?

Someone dropped a robe around her shoulders. She glanced up at Beth’s cousin, Agatha, the black-haired dominatrix who worked the south stage.

“You okay, kitten?”

Jessica nodded and wiped at a stray tear with the back of her hand. “Yeah, I just didn’t expect to see a man from my past. That’s all.”

“That guy who pulled you offstage?”

“Yeah. I was engaged to him once.”

“He told me to give you this.” Aggie dropped a fat stack of cash onto Jessica’s dressing table.

“Oh my God, that ass! Do you see why I couldn’t marry him?” She looked up at Aggie, beseeching her for understanding.

“Uh no, actually, I don’t. The guy is hotter than Phoenix in July. Absolutely gorgeous. That big, hard body. And that sweet, handsome face that completely contrasts with his ‘who gives a s**t what you think’ aura. Growl.” She bared her teeth, ruby red lips curling.

Aggie’s ever-expressive face made Jessica smile. Just a little.

“You got all that from talking to him for twenty seconds?”

“Hey, you work in this business for very long and you get to know men. If he’s carrying around that kind of cash, I’m guessing your eye candy is rich, too. Booyah!” Aggie thrust a fist in the air.

“No. No, booyah. He’s not only rich, but he’s also famous, which means his ego is larger than Alaska.”

Aggie’s brows drew together. “Famous?”

“Lead singer of Sinners. The band.”

“I think I’ve heard of them. Rock music?”

“Hard rock. And you missed his most notorious ‘quality.’” She finger quoted. “He has an insatiable appetite for s*x. You can’t get him out of bed long enough to have a decent conversation with him.”

Aggie laughed, blue eyes twinkling. “I’m liking him more and more, doll.”

“You’re welcome to him.”

Aggie’s eyes wandered toward the ceiling as her expression turned thoughtful. “I don’t think he’d be fun to dominate. I would probably just tick him off.”

“I’m sure.”

Jessica’s gaze moved to the dressing table and the thousands of dollars sitting on its surface, mocking her. It would take her weeks to earn that kind of money, and Sed just tossed it around like it was a pittance. To him, it was. The bastard. Flaunting his wealth. Thinking it made him superior.

Jessica shook her head in annoyance, jumped to her feet, and scooped the money off the dressing table. Sliding her arms into the robe sleeves, she rushed out of the dressing room. She ran through the club with her robe flapping behind her and burst through the front doors, looking for signs of Sedric Lionheart. Apparently, he was long gone.

“Damn that man,” she muttered under her breath.

She’d just have to hunt him down and shove his unwanted money in his face. He always did this. Treated her like she couldn’t take care of herself. Like she needed Mr Ego Trip to look after her. He’d never learn. Stupid asshole.

Someone needed to teach the guy a lesson.

Sed entered the tour bus first, his bruised and bloodied bandmates behind him. Myrna sat at the small square dining table working at her laptop computer. She glanced up and her pretty hazel eyes widened in surprise.

Sed massaged his scalp. f**k, what a night. Topped off with telling Myrna he’d broken his promise and failed to keep Brian safe.

“What are you guys doing back so early?” Myrna asked. “I thought you’d be out until dawn.”

Sed blew out his cheeks as he tried to think of the right words. “I have to apologize to you, Myrna.”

Her brow furrowed and she glanced behind Sed to Eric. Her eyes widened. “Oh my God, Eric. What happened?”

She jumped from the bench seat and pushed Sed aside. Easing Eric onto the cream-colored leather couch, she inspected the bleeding gash over his left eye. She turned, hurriedly wet a dish towel in the small stainless steel sink and moved to dab at the blood running down the side of Eric’s strong jaw. Eric winced but smiled with pleasure as she fussed over him.

“Were you in an accident? Wait…” She looked at Sed. “Why are you apologizing to me, Sed? You didn’t wreck my car, did you?”

He opened his mouth to explain, but she lifted a hand to stop him.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter. It’s just a car. At least you’re all right. Where’s Brian?” She glanced at Trey, who was searching the freezer for ice. And then Jace, who was trying to realign his jaw by shifting it back and forth with his horribly swollen and bloodied hand. “Where’s Brian?” she repeated a panicked edge to her voice.

“Brian’s safe. We weren’t in an accident, Myrna.” Sed cleared his throat. It hurt to talk. How in the hell was he going to sing tomorrow?

“Then what happened?” She headed for the bus exit, anxiety marring her lovely face. “Brian?”

Brian stepped around the corner wearing Sed’s mirrored sunglasses. “Hey, sweetheart. How was your evening? Did you get a lot of work done?”

Sed chuckled and shook his head. He’d wondered why Brian had wanted to borrow his shades. Like Myrna wouldn’t notice his two black eyes at the altar tomorrow.

Myrna flew into Brian’s arms. He winced in pain, but she had her face pressed against his neck, so didn’t see his expression. “You scared me,” she said. “I thought you were hurt.”

Brian wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’m okay.”

Sed glanced at Trey, who was now holding a towel full of ice to the back of his head. “You need to call your brother.” They were opening for his brother’s band the next evening. Or they were supposed to.