Phoenix Rising I (33 page)

“Sure thing, boss,” Tod laughed as Grey ducked into the office.

Chapter Two

The last place Anna wanted to be tonight was at a
Morpheus
concert. Her magazine,
Metal Alloy
, had put her in charge of snagging the first pre-CD release interview with Grey, the lead singer and songwriter. Against her better judgment and every protest she’d already made, she came here, knowing seeing him in person would change everything for her.

She had successfully avoided Grey during her stint at the magazine. Part of that had been because the band hadn’t released a CD in that time. The other had been because she knew somewhere deep down inside that if she ever met him, her life would never be the same.

It was one thing to worship him from afar. To know deep within her soul that she heard his music before it was ever written. To feel that she had known him somewhere else and had shared something with him she had never since felt.

She tightened her grip on the laminate she had been given earlier. It was her ticket backstage, her one way transport into a place she’d never be able to come back from.

Even as she had locked eyes with him from across the room, she wished she were somewhere else. Now, she was ducking behind the speakers, being led to a back office.

“He wants to see you first,” Tod explained.

Figures. Get the business out of the way. Her only response to Tod was to give him a nod. She had hoped he’d see her first. Waiting for him to finish up with the line of groupies was more than her stomach could manage.

“Have fun,” Tod winked as he opened the door and let her step into the room.

The office was tiny. There was an old wooden desk of unknown origin sitting near the back wall. A battered leather chair took its place tucked neatly beneath the top. To the right was a stack of boxes, all labeled with various types of alcohol. To the left was an old leather sofa, and perched on the arm was the man who filled up almost her entire line of vision.

His hair was still drenched from the sweat of the stage. He had toweled it off, but it still hung in dripping curls all the way down his back. He had shed his stage shirt and replaced it with a white t-shirt bearing the club’s logo on it. He had also replaced his leather pants with a pair of black sweats that clung to his massive thighs as he stood.

He didn’t speak. He just crooked a finger in her direction. She swallowed hard and forced her hand away from the doorknob. She was here now. May as well get down to business.

“Great show,” she managed, hating the fact that she was chewing on her bottom lip. She was a professional, and here she was drooling like some schoolgirl. She’d never be able to conduct the interview now. Remember your questions, she reminded herself as he started walking toward her.

“Thanks.” The sound of his voice reverberated in the tiny space. The room seemed even smaller now as he made his way to stand in front of her. “You want to do this here or....”

“Here will be fine,” she pushed her wayward hair out of her eyes. Thanks to the humidity of the small club, her curls were wild tonight. She licked her lips. A more beautiful man had never walked the earth.

Grey was well over six feet tall. His massive size was only intensified by the deep, sexy tone of his voice. When he groaned as part of a song tonight, she had felt it all the way down to her thighs. She could still feel his bass licks practically quivering there. She let her eyes run down his body before making their way back to his cat-like green eyes.

“How would you like to begin?” he asked.

With you licking chocolate from my body, she thought. “I thought we could,” she licked her lips again. We could, what? She forgot what she was doing here.

“Tonight, I am your servant,” he declared, giving a small bow.

“My servant?” she smiled nervously. Did he always conduct interviews like this? He was unnerving her, and she had barely set foot in the room.

“Your wish is my command.”

“I thought we would....”

“But first,” he interrupted, “I need something from you.”

Had she been a swooning woman, she would have fallen on the floor in a heap. Instead, she collapsed against him when he moved to kiss her. No protest here. His arms tightly encircled her waist, pulling her up against him, showing her the proof of his arousal as his cock pressed against her stomach.

His mouth was commanding. It demanded that she open for him, let him inside for a taste. And she did, without so much as a whimper in protest. She opened for him, letting his tongue explore, his teeth nip.

She was wet. Looking at him on stage had been enough to begin the arousal. She had planned to go home tonight and have a nice, private fantasy with her favorite toy. She never imagined she would be standing here, being devoured by the object of those fantasies as his hand slid up her thigh.

She quivered in his arms as he pulled her with him to the leather sofa. He slid her leather skirt up to reveal the lace of her thong. Without breaking the kiss, he gently guided her onto his lap. The heat from his dick was searing into her. She ground her pussy into him, delighting in the moan she was rewarded with.

This made no sense. She shouldn’t be doing this with him. Anyone but him. She would never be able to get him out of her head. There was no way to deny the desire she felt for him, but her head was in one place and her lust in another. For so long she had wanted him, had dreamed of coming face to face with him, both because of their almost encounter years before and the way she had always felt that she knew him from a past life. For a second, she considered pushing him away and leaving, the interview be damned. Then she looked into his eyes and saw a softness there that she recalled from long ago.

His calloused fingers traced their way down her cheek and then up to her thigh. “I want you to open for me,” he crooned, turning her so that she was now on her back against the sofa.

She obeyed, spreading her legs as far as she could. Her eyes were cloudy now. She couldn’t think anymore. She could barely see. All she could do was feel the ache that pooled around her opening and the spasms that rocked her body at the sound of his voice.

“Are you coming for me so soon, little one?”

“Grey, I....”

“Shh,” he pressed a finger to her lips. “Let me see.”

He dipped his head down between her thighs and took the lace thong between his teeth. “I can feel how wet you are.” He nipped at her lips and let the lace snap back into place.

She shivered again, wondering if she should mention the interview or just let the sensations wash over her and go with the flow.

“I want to taste you. Undress for me.”

He sat up and watched her. It took a second for her hands to start working. She forgot that she was supposed to be interviewing him. The only thing she could focus on was ridding herself of her skirt and tank top.

She heard his sharp intake of breath when she finally sat before him naked. This was all the encouragement she needed. She took his face between her hands and forced him to look her in the eyes. “Now what do you want?”

“I want you to hold yourself open while I eat you.”

Anna let her fingers slide down to her upper thighs. She closed her eyes and then slid them lower. She had obviously touched herself before. But there was something newly liberating about doing it in front of Grey. She reached down and pulled her lips open, feeling herself spasm at the slightest touch.

She was so incredibly wet, her fingers slipped a little. She braced herself for his touch. She would die, explode into ten thousand pieces as soon as he touched her. The cool leather against her back was a contrast to the heat coming from her body.

He bent over her. “You smell incredible.”

The words were breathed against her skin. His hot breath only caused her to arch into him, willing his face down between her thighs.

When he took her into his mouth, she let out a moan. He didn’t play around the edges or tease her with a hint of foreplay. Instead, he took her entire mound into his mouth, pushing her fingers out of the way with the motion. She writhed against him and arched up to meet him.

He grazed his teeth against her clit, sending another wave of ecstasy through her. His tongue probed, explored, licking and then delving in. The pain from his teeth was intense. She clung to the sofa, digging her nails into the battered upholstery.

“How bad do you want me?” his words were a gentle caress against her skin.

“Grey, I....”

“How bad?”

“So bad I can’t breathe.”

“What do you want from me?”

What kind of question was that? It should be obvious what she wanted, now that she had come this far. Confused, she looked into his green eyes which were coated with insecurity. All the pain stemming from his lyrics had gathered there and was waiting for her answer. She bit her lip and took his face between her hands. “I want you to feel.”

The words had barely made their way past her lips before his cock entered her, sealing the deal, making her wish she had never come here tonight. When her body joined with Grey’s, she knew she would never be the same. She could pretend all she wanted, but Grey was part of her now. Sure, he had shared his body with women before her, and there would be many after her, but for now, she was the one opening her soul for him, and he was so deep inside her she couldn’t think straight.

“You feel so good.”

He was gentle as his cock moved inside her. She had expected raw lust, uninhibited, untamed. Instead, he brushed his lips against her ear and nuzzled her neck as he moved in time to a silent rhythm. Wrapping her arms around him, she tried to fight the tears welling up in her eyes. She shouldn’t be here. She was never meant to be here, never meant to know him, to fall in love with him.

If the Matrix were real, it had broken down. The rules of reincarnation, if they existed, should state that two people who know each other from a past life should not interact in the next one. The consequences would be so dangerous to the heart. Yet here she was, her body opening for the man she knew deep inside had loved her before. The pain in her chest could not be ignored. When he slid himself from her body tonight, she would leave and never look back. She hoped.

“What is your name?” he asked, rising off her, looking deep into her eyes. God, if he didn’t stop being so nice to her, she was not going to make it out the door.

“Anna,” she managed.

“Anna. Love me, Anna.”

The words spilled out as his seed shot into her system. Her inner walls pulsed, welcoming the invasion, dying a little at the sensation. Then her stomach dropped, and she realized what she had done. While she still had the strength, she pushed him off of her and reached for her clothes.

“Is everything okay?” he called behind her.

“No. I didn’t come here for this.”

She refused to let the tears spill out while she was still in the room with him. Forcing herself to dress, she kept her back turned, unwilling to look at him.

“I am sorry,” he said from behind her, but it didn’t matter. Her heart was already broken from the sensation of being so close with someone she knew she couldn’t have. Rock stars did not hook up with writers for anything more than a one night stand, and she knew she couldn’t possibly be more to Grey than that, even if she felt drawn to him because of a past she couldn’t explain.

The club buzzed as Anna stepped back into the darkness. Grey was calling her name behind her, but she didn’t turn around.

“How was the interview?” she heard someone ask.

“What interview?” Grey’s voice would echo in her head all night. He thought she had been one of the groupies.

* * * *

The ringing phone was the last thing Anna wanted to interrupt her dream from last night. It had been incredible. She and Grey, the man she’d literally been dreaming about for years, finally met. Finally made love. She smiled and stretched. Then she realized the phone was ringing. And she was in her hotel room.

“Shit,” she mumbled, looking at the clock, which proudly announced seven a.m.

“Hello?”

“Anna, this is Heather.”

She sat up. Shit. Her boss. Her much too-serious-sounding boss. “Hey, Heather. What do you need so early in the morning?”

“I got a call last night from Grey’s manager. He said to remind you about the rescheduled interview. Grey is staying behind another day so you two can finish up. He said doing it over the phone didn’t have the same appeal. Anyway, noon today at the Bentley.”

The finality of her boss’s voice was unmistakable. Get the interview. No one had interviewed Grey in the three years since the last
Morpheus
CD had hit stores. To say that he was a recluse was an understatement. The world was not allowed to look inside his life. Only people who couldn’t sleep and happened to be in creepy hotels were lucky enough to see the inner workings of his mind. When he did give interviews, the interviewer was usually more intimidated by his presence than by his fame.

Anna could honestly say that he was an intimidating presence. Even if she hadn’t had a lapse of judgment last night, she would still say he was intimidating. Everything about him oozed maleness and an unspoken knowledge that mere mortals were not meant to discover. Being in his presence last night didn’t bring her closer to God, but it did bring her the long sought Big O.

She had been an idiot, though, falling right into his lap, quite literally. Not today. Today she would put on her “just business” suit and get down to work. There would be no mention of last night, no fluttery eyelashes, and no repeat performances. No matter how much her heart raced at the thought of touching him again.

Chapter Three

The Bentley was just as she had expected it to be. It reminded her of the hotel in Memphis. The floors all overlooked the lobby, and a lone piano sat there mocking her as if it knew her past with Grey.
We have no past
, she chided. Only last night. Not anything to write home about.

Still, a tiny chill crept up her back when she remembered watching his hands fall across the piano keys years earlier.