Rockin' the Heart (Hot Wired) (19 page)

G
oddamn it all to hell, he wanted to follow her and bury himself so deep inside her, they’d be united for life. The soft sound of her voice floated from her room and did nothing to lessen his desires.

Next to getting the record deal for Hot Wired, watching Sam
climax had been a highlight of his life. She’d gotten to the edge faster than any lover he’d ever been with. And she’d seemed surprised when it snuck up on her. But when she came… fuck him, it’d been amazing.

The pleasure absorbed her, owned her, and she looked fantastic wearing it. The visual of her coming would haunt him for a long
, fucking time. Features a blend of bliss and concentration, she’d captured the last of his heart, the pieces he’d attempted to hold apart to protect himself from heartbreak if things went sideways.

Heath pushed out of his chair and strolled to her room. The double doors were open
, and he found her facedown on the bed. Left leg was bent at the knee, her foot facing the ceiling and making circular motions. Propped up on her elbows, with her cell palmed against her ear she conversed with his best friend.

“Don’t worry
, Big Al will be fine until we get there… Yes, we’ll be there on time.” A hint of frustration tweaked her voice. “If you only called to school me about the clock—” A short pause and her shoulders tensed. “You need to trust me.”

He could imagine how that went. With the antics she’d pulled, trust was a difficult commodity. Jase’s annoyance with her had hit an all time high with the bar brawl she’d instigated a month ago. Grand theft auto added insult to injury. But she was with him, so that should’ve alleviated Jase’s worry a little.

Her foot stilled and she slammed her leg down. “Good. Bye. Jase.”

In a split second, Heath decided he didn’t want to know what Jase
had said to her. As she jabbed at the cell, he said, “You know with all you’ve done lately, he’s got cause to worry about you.”

She flipped onto her back and sat up in a rush, pushing her hair out of her face. A tiny shrug and she looked everywhere but directly at him. “I’m with you. That should give him some peace of mind.”

“So now
I’m
the responsible one?” All the stuff he’d done and she labeled him responsible. Amused by the tag, he leaned against the doorjamb.

“Aren’t you?” She slid off the bed and dug out a set of clothes from her overnight bag.
He ignored the hot pink panties and bra she set on her jeans and T-shirt. “You keep the guys focused on the band, dedicated to doing the right thing when they’d rather be off fucking around.”

Heath snorted.
Sometimes he preferred goofing off with them than being accountable. A lot more fun than being dependable, and unless they were producing an album, no one really expected him to be mature. It was a casualty of being a rock star. Music
was
rebellion. “Derr is better at micromanaging the kids than I am. But I didn’t come in here to talk about any of that.”

Those fucking boy short pajamas she wore
drove him crazy with lust. After the way she came she had to be wet beneath them. He shook his head and offered her the energy drink.

Hesitation from her, again refusing to look at him, but she finally accepted the drink. She popped the lid and sipped. “I need to get dressed if we’re going to make the plane on time.”

“In just a moment. About what happened out there….” Where’d he begin?

“It’s okay. There’s no need to say anything. I understand.” She scooped up her clothes and headed for the bathroom.

Heath caught her by her arm and crowded her against the lavatory door. She used her attire as a shield and kept her arms crossed over her chest, with her focus glued to his chin. “I don’t believe you do understand, brat, but I want to hear what you
think
you’ve figured out.”

She spoke in a rush. “What happened out there meant nothing, just another notch on your belt and you didn’t even get anything out of it. I mean, I get it, you’ve been with a lot of women, too many to count, I knew that going in, when I agreed to…
you know.” That was a hell of a run on sentence; spoken so fast she dragged in a gulp now before she kept talking. “I gotta figure out how—I just need to—”

“You need to look me in the eyes.” She had it all wrong. He waited until
her wary gaze collided with his. “Yeah, I’ve been with a lot of women. Call it the curse of being a celebrity. I can’t change that, and there’d be no point in apologizing. Cheap sex, sometimes dirty and raunchy sex, but all parties got something out of it.”

She swallowed hard. “Okay.”

Heath ran the back of his knuckles along her cheek. “I never cared if they got off. Wasn’t my goal. Their pleasure didn’t matter, mine did because even if the sex sucked for them they still got the bragging rights.” Until now he’d never thought about how arrogant that sounded. “Making you orgasm
is
a big deal for me, not something I do for kicks but because you’re special to me. Sam, being responsible for your pleasure and watching you melt in my arms… that moment overshadows every Hot Wired accomplishment.” Her eyes widened a fraction.
Next time I want to be inside you when you combust like that.
He kept that declaration to himself. “So don’t minimize what we just shared. Intimacy means being exposed in a way nakedness doesn’t, but Sam, I’ll give you all of my vulnerability because I want more than quick gratification with you.”

I want everything with you
. Too soon to say those words? Yeah, he thought that was a little too much at this stage.

Sam
waited until they attained lift off and had been in the air twenty minutes before she sat down beside Heath. Big Al was draped across his legs like a blanket, purring so loud he competed with the noise the plane made. The feline mewled at her and pawed her with a clawless hello. He’d been traveling since Heath brought him home as a kitten, which made him a seasoned traveller like the rest of them.

Since exiting the hotel, s
he’d been thinking about what Heath said. Contemplated the lackluster one-nighter’s he participated in. She realized she didn’t know him as well as she thought. “Willing to answer a few personal questions?”

H
e leaned into his seat and stroked his pet. “Ask away.”

“
What’s the kinkiest thing you’ve ever done with a woman?” After a pause, not wanting to discriminate or judge, she added, “Or a guy.”

His petting
came to an abrupt halt and fine lines fanned outward from the corners of his eyes. “Pardon?”

“Look, this is hard for me.” She could barely meet his gaze. “I don’t talk about
personal stuff with people, but I need to know this kind of stuff. Have this mature talk if we’re going to give this a serious try. I want to know what you’re interested in.”

“
Sam, don’t you think it’d be better to know what I’m interested in doing with you rather than what I’ve done with others?”

“I don’t know.” She frowned and peeled at her chipped nail polish.
It was time for a color change. “I just assumed they were the same thing.”

“I’d never invite another man to join us in bed, so what I’ve done and what I want aren’t the same.”
As if realizing the delicacy of their conversation, he leaned forward and swiped his fingers through his messy hair. “Look, brat, my expectations aren’t that high. I just want a shot at changing my FaceMe relationship status and seeing where it goes from there. If we eventually make it to the bedroom, I admit I have some wicked things I want to do to you and have no idea how you’d react to any of it.”

Intrigued, she whispered back, “Like what?”

“Like I’m not telling you.”

“That’s cruel, Heath. You got me curious
, and then you’re gonna leave me hanging? I’ll just invent something in my head that’ll probably be worse if you don’t tell me.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your curiosity has a way of getting you in trouble. Don’t drag me into it, brat.”

“What are we chattering about?” Jase slid into the plush seat opposite them. Damn. He wasn’t the person she felt like dealing with at the moment. When he discovered this had turned into ‘for realz’ she anticipated things would get crazy.

Sam sat up straight in her seat as Heath eyed her brother sideways.
Big Al growled at her sibling, warning him to stay away from his human.

“
We should tell him, Heath.” He shrugged, and she faced her brother. “We’re dating.”

Her
sibling blinked his confusion. “Yeah, I know that already.”

“
For real.” Sam couldn’t see Heath’s face when he said that, but whatever expression he wore must’ve been what Jase needed to see to understand what they were saying. “I realize you have issues with that but—”

“
Fuck yeah I have issues with it.” He scrubbed his hand across his face. “What happened to its not a good idea to pursue her, Fang?”

They
’d discussed her without her knowledge. “Private conversations about me. Not cool guys, not cool.”

Jase turned on her.
“Has he detailed his perverted kinks, sis?”

“What’s that got to do with Sam?” Heath demanded, his tone calm, but something about the way he held his frame suggested he might explode
any second if Jase failed to tread carefully.

“A leopard doesn’t change its spots, Fang. You’ll want that shit from my sister
, and I don’t want that for her.”

“Wait. Wait.
Wait
!” She kicked Jase on his ankle with the toe of her boot.

“Ow!” Her brother
shot her an offended glare as he rubbed his injury.

Heath reclined in his seat, his glower on Jase
, allowing her to manage the moment. She’d always liked that about him.

“Let me see if I understand you, Jase. You enjoy participating in these perverted kinks with Heath, like the threesomes and only God knows what. But you don’t want me participating in them with him?”

Jase winced as he rubbed his anklebone. “You’re better than that perversion.”

“News flash, brother, you don’t get to decide that for me.”

“Remember what I said when he’s but—”

Sam squealed as
Heath came out of his chair like a Tasmanian devil. Big Al launched across the room with a howl as Heath snatched Jase out of his chair by his shirt. “Don’t you fucking talk to her like that.”

Despite
Heath’s hostility, her sibling didn’t back down. “She’s my goddamn sister! Should be like
your
goddamn sister, Heath.”

Sam couldn’t remember the last time Jase had called him anything other than Fang. If he was busting out his given name,
this was serious.

“Apologize to her,” Heath said between clenched teeth.

Twice he’d defended her. She wouldn’t pretend it didn’t excite her. She rose to her feet and tried to push them apart. Neither male backed down or budged.

“No.” The jut of her brother’s chin detailed he’d hit stubborn mode as he ignored her and glared at his best friend. “There’s something fucked up about a man that can kiss her scraped knees and then a few years later kiss her like a man does a woman he desires.”

A hushed silence followed. Only the vibration of the engines broke up the uneasy stillness.

“You’re a bastard.”
Heath released Jase with a small shove and strode down the aisle. Keys and Derringer allowed him to pass without a word.

“What is wrong with you?” she demanded of
Jase the moment Heath disappeared into the lavatory.

“Is this another one of your antics? Are you trying to come between me and my best friend?”

“This may shock you, Jase, but you’re not the center of the universe. Everything does
not
revolve around
you
.” She jabbed him in the chest with a fingertip. “I’m not sixteen any more. You can’t control my life and badger me into doing what you want.”

“Baby sister, I control the finances. You’ll do and say what I want.”

She almost smacked him. He held total jurisdiction over her and had for a long time. Jase hadn’t been holding her back, but fear of living without a crutch—Jase’s money—had been. “Or what, Jase, you’ll cut me off? Feel free to do so because I refuse to be your puppet.”

“I don’t like that look on your face, Boo,” Keys said as he took the seat next to her at the back of the plane.

Heath had exited the lavatory a few minutes ago, wearing his anger like he would a shirt. She’d waived him off, telling him she needed to be alone. He’d looked as if he’d wanted to argue, but had ambled toward the middle of the plane. At least one person respected her privacy.

“I’m not in the mood for a pep talk, Keys.”

He pointed at himself. “Do I look like the designated pep talker?”

She turned to peer at him. He gave her his boyishly charming grin. She gripped his hand. “Please, Keys. Not right now.”

He squeezed her fingers between his. “What are you going to do?”

“I have options.” Not really, but she wouldn’t be treated like a thirteen year old either. Had she thought it wise to get out from her brother’s thumb six months ago? It was the only alternative she had now.
But at the same time her brain kept screaming
what of Heath
? She’d never wanted to see if a relationship would work out as much as she did this one, but with Jase causing problems… weren’t they doomed to fail? He’d make their life a living hell.

“I know you do.” Even though he agreed, his expression said he recognized the lie.
“You planning a hasty exodus when we land?”

Unable to face his genuine concern, she stared out the window. “Haven’t decided.”

He grunted.

She gave him her focus again. “What
does that mean?”

Keys pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. It was connected to
a chain clipped to his belt hoops. He flipped open the well-worn leather and slid out a gold AmEx card. Wedged between his knuckles, he held it toward her. “Whatever you decide, I want to know you’re taken care of.”

“That’s sweet, but I’m good.” His care choked her up.

“Don’t be prideful.”

Unable to withstand the affection in his gaze further, she turned away from him. “I have a trust fund.”
Which I won’t touch.

“We both know you won’t
contemplate using those resources.”

“You’re making a big assumption Jase won’t freeze the account.”

“He won’t.”

Wouldn’t matter. First at the top of her list was transferring that blood money back to her brother. He’d made it obvious those zeros were his way of
controlling her.

“Boo, a part of me understands Jase’s worry. You
’re the baby sister I never had. I love you in ways I can’t love my brothers. I want what’s best for you. And Fang… well, Fang won’t hurt you on purpose, and he damn sure doesn’t look at you like a brother. I don’t know why he doesn’t because Jase is right, he should.” She grasped a swath of hair and studied potential frayed ends as Keys kept talking. “We all took responsibility for you when your parents died. Yeah, we suck as role models, but I like to think we did a decent job. You at least felt loved, and you didn’t get to be this fucking awesome without us.”

She shot him a saucy grin. “You alone are to blame for my awesomeness.”

“I know, but it didn’t feel right not giving the others a portion of the accolades.” He wagged the credit card at her. “Take it. I cannot tolerate the thought of you being alone without means to support yourself.”

She pushed his hand holding the plastic back into his lap.
“I’ve not decided what I’m doing.”

“Fang holding you up?” Keys nodded in Heath’s direction. “He can’t take his eyes off you. I bet if I don’t move soon, he’ll find a way to kick me out of my seat.”

She glanced at Heath. Sure enough he stalked them with his gaze. “I like him, Keys. I want to give him a shot. What’s so wrong with that?”

“Are you sure you’re not mixing up brotherly fondness for something that’s not there?”

“I’m sure.” She’d have thought the same if not for the way she felt when he kissed her. In those moments the world rotated around him. “I like the way I feel when he kisses me.”

“My offer to kiss you still stands.”

She could tell he was only half serious. Thank God. “That proposal makes me want to gag. I’ve never felt that way with Heath.”

After a long moment, he said, “You know a
normal man would take offense to that, but I’m delighted you aren’t interested.” They sat in pleasant silence for a while before Keys dropped the card in her lap. “Listen, Fang isn’t going to last much longer. He knows you’re upset, and if there’s one thing he hates it’s when his girl is upset.”