Annabella's Oblivion (Hard World Tour #1) (18 page)

I also understood how we made it through.

I came closer to them and extended my hand.

“
Annabella.”

“
Samantha.”

“
Jane.”

“
Ariel.”

We didn’t know it yet, but someday those names would mean a lot in the music industry, and people would know the story of he came together to form the famous band under the name of Hard World.

It was also the beginning of an unbreakable friendship.

Or at least I thought it was.

Present

“
You became friends after that?” Drake’s soft voice snapped me out of my memories.

“
Not really. At first, each one of us got into the department and we were happy on our own. Then they asked us to play together occasionally, and we created some good music, so we decided to stick to that. Friendship came later on, like after a year or so.”

“
Do you miss it?” I looked at Drake, confused.

“
High school? Not really, it was an awful time in my life.” It was the truth. Having friends made it more bearable, yes, but it still sucked.

“
No, performing on stage. The feeling of being out there and creating magic together in front of people.”

“
I do.” I could admit it to him. Just his description made me yearn for more, but I tried to hide it or run from it, because I wasn’t sure I would ever get the chance to do it again, and I didn’t know how to live without music, either.

“
Good. I think we made good progress today, Bella. We’ll see each other next week.” Time certainly flew by when we were having those sessions.

“
Thank you,” I said, and looked straight into his deep blue, stormy eyes.

“
For what?”

“
For that memory.” He nodded and I left his office, for some reason feeling lighter.

Maybe there was hope; nothing that started that big ended just like that, right?

Right?

Then it dawned on me that we had barely spoken about Nick at all.

Ryan

It had been two days.

Two fucking days since I’d last seen her, and I was going crazy, out of my mind. I had needed to settle some company business while I was away, but I had never expected to miss her so much.

What the fuck would I do when she left me?

And she would.

Once she got better, she would fly off and go back to her old life. I couldn’t keep her.

I’d already lost her twice before.

Nothing was different; time didn’t change shit.

However, all the agony would be worth it, because she would be okay.

And that was enough for me.

It was always enough.

It was past midnight. I quietly entered the hall and closed the door behind me. I was exhausted and just wanted to take a shower and lie down. I moved toward the stairs and stopped dead.

Bella was coming down. She was wearing a tank top and pajama shorts that left little to the imagination. Her hair was down and she was biting her lip. I knew she had to have heard me was coming and was waiting. For a second, we did nothing but stand there watching each other, drinking each other in. Finally, I tossed my briefcase aside and moved to her. She ran as fast as she could with all her might into my arms. I caught her in the middle, and she wrapped her legs around my waist, her hands circling my neck. Grabbing her head, I smashed my mouth on hers. We both moaned as I backed her up against the nearest wall.

She pushed her hands into my hair, tugging on it slightly. I groaned as I leaned down to take what she was offering. Opening her full, pink lips, she kissed me hot, deep, and with passion. She moaned and adjusted her hold slightly while I played with her mouth and took it in a bruising kiss.

Everything else flew from my mind until only she and I were left. She whimpered and I pushed a little harder into her. My hardening erection came in direct contact with her sex and she cried out. I let go of her mouth to give her a chance to breathe, and she did, heavily, as I placed open-mouthed kisses on her throat and licked her collarbone. My head moved lower when she pushed her head back and moaned loudly and fuck, if that didn’t make me harder. My hands lifted her shirt up, revealing a small, lacy bra that hugged her small but firm breasts. I tugged on the bra and it finally opened, revealing the view I was dying to see. My tongue licked around her small, pink nipples and sucked them hard one at a time, which earned me another sexy noise, while I moved in small, circling motions with my hips against her warm sex. She kept whimpering and whispering, “Please,” the entire fucking time.

God that was what I needed. Her skin was hot, leaving me feverish.

It was always like this with her, only with her.

I wanted to take her to bed, strip her naked, and fuck her hard in every position I knew. I wanted to hear those whimpers around my hard cock while she took me deep down her throat. I wanted to hear her scream while I was eating her out.

But I fucking couldn’t.

All at once, I felt like cold water was splashed over my head and I pushed back. She looked at me, dazed, leaning against the wall with her lips swollen and red from our kisses. Her breathing was hard and her chest, with its hard wet nipples, was rising up and down. She looked sexually frustrated and slightly pissed that I didn’t give her what she wanted.

What we both wanted—but it just wasn’t right. I was an asshole, but even I had my limits.

“
We can’t.” Finally, she blinked and her face became red with humiliation as she quickly adjust her bra and shirt.

“
Right, we can’t. Sorry, need to go.”

What the fuck did she think she was doing?

Before she made a move to run again—and I knew she was preparing to—I grabbed her hand and pulled her to me while she made a surprising squeal.

“
Let go of me.”

“
What was that about?” She looked at me with annoyance, but also hurt. I wanted to know what I did to put those emotions there.

“
Nothing. As you said, we can’t, right? I know it’s because I’m a stupid drug addict and God forbid you touch me, right?” She jerked back, but I held her tight.

What the fuck?

“
Listen to me carefully, Annabella.” She flinched, but decided to stay still. Good girl. “The reason I stopped was because, yes, you are a patient here.” Again the fucking move to get away from me, but I’d have none of that. I shook her hard and that made her raise her beautiful, now furious, eyes on me.
Good.
“Let me fucking finish! Because you are here, you are healing, and I have no business having sex in the hallway with you, no matter how hot it is, or how much I want it. Do you understand? I stopped for you.” Finally, she grew still and then looked at me with the same heat that was present before.

“
I want you.” Her voice was slightly husky, and I wondered how it would change once I was deep inside her. “I know we can’t now because I need to heal, but I want to badly.” She looked down at my shirt, tugging on it a bit, and then raised to her toes and kissed me on the mouth, licking my lips. When I opened them, she tentatively stroked my tongue and then let go, moving back. It all happened in the blink of an eye and I wanted more. “Wait for me?” Was she asking me to wait until she got better for us to have sex?

If she only knew I would wait for her forever.

I’d waited all this time, after all.

I wanted her so bad.

So fucking badly.

“
Yes.”

She smiled and blew me one last kiss with her hand and took off running, leaving me standing there with my steel-hard erection and the most sexual frustration I had ever felt in my life.

Oddly enough, that made me fucking happy.

But there was also the dark part. I knew once she completely healed, she would remember, or rather I would have to tell her, the truth.

And then I would lose her all over again.

Annabella

“
Put that down” Marie said.

“
Come on! Let me live a little!” seriously, woman was like security guard of coffee.

“
No. Put that down and take another cup.”

“
I don’t want to drink that crap anymore.” I crossed my arms and tried to give Marie a hard look, but failed miserably because the minute I looked into her eyes, I wanted to look down and do as she said.

Go figure.

“
Bella, you won’t get coffee in this house until I say so. Is that clear?” Damn it, she had to go and use that voice of hers.

“
Fine.” I took the cup of heaven’s drink, as I called it, and poured it in the sink. My heart was breaking as I watched, seriously. I grabbed the one she had originally given me and didn’t even pretend to take a sip. I hadn’t eaten yet, and that shit made me nauseous on an empty stomach.

I sat down and took a bite out of my toast. Marie poured herself some coffee and sat down with it, inhaling the smell.

“
Seriously, Marie. You could be a little more discreet, you know.” She raised an eyebrow.

“
I was about to treat you with half a cup, but you went and tried to cheat.” She wagged her index finger. “No such things in my kitchen.”

Well, shit. To think I could have had coffee today. With a sigh, I drank the tea and tried not to gag on it.

I couldn’t believe what I had done last night with Nate.

I had begged him to have sex with me. I never pleaded.

It was like something came over me and there was only him and me in the entire universe. I was worried sick when he wasn’t on time, and Dean informed me his flight was delayed. I felt restless without him at home; I had no idea why, either. I was so used to him being there, but I didn’t want to rely on him. So the minute I saw him, I wanted nothing but to run into his arms, and I did just that.

I didn’t understand. Was I developing some kind of Stockholm syndrome?

He didn’t kidnap me, but still. I was kind of his prisoner in here.

Yeah, Bella. Drive yourself nuts with those ridiculous thoughts
.

I didn’t know how to face him today or what to tell him. I had asked him to wait for me, and that was still what I wanted. It wasn’t like I was instantly in love with him or anything, but I really wanted to be with him on a physical level.

“
Really cruel move, Marie. Not cool.” She just smirked and rolled her eyes, but still kept on enjoying her coffee in front of me. She was looking at something on her iPad, but since I wasn’t allowed any connection with the outside world, I couldn’t even ask what was so interesting there.

Suddenly, I felt a tingling sensation on my neck and knew who was behind me.

“
Marie, can I have some of that coffee you seem to enjoy so much?” His voice was deep and slightly husky, a sign that he was either aroused or had just woken up.