“Do you even recall the name of the last woman you kissed?” she demanded. “Before me? Or is it all a blur?” She was lashing out, flailing in an attempt to regain control. Under different circumstances, she would have been mortified.
He lifted his head, locking gazes with her. There was something in his eyes that chilled her. It was hard and wounded.
“Yes.” His tone was clipped and subarctic. “It’s been two years since I kissed another woman. Her name was Jen.”
“Yeah, right,” Kate scoffed, but she wanted to believe him. She had no business being possessive. No reason to notice the sincerity in his eyes.
He released her, backing away, and it felt like he was emotionally pulling away from her too. Almost as if he was wounded by her disbelief.
“Come on. Your buddy is all ready to jump into a ménage with us twenty minutes after I show up, but you expect me to believe you haven’t had sex in two years?” she asked.
“I didn’t say I haven’t had sex. I said I haven’t kissed a woman in two years,” he said. “I can’t risk getting cold sores or some other shit in my throat. I don’t put my vocal cords in jeopardy. Especially when I’m on a tour that I’ve put up half the money for.”
“Oh.” She felt a ridiculous little zip of excitement go through her. “I guess that holds water.”
A whole lot of it. It gave him layers. Made him less two-dimensional.
His attention lowered to her lips. “You’re trouble.”
“You kicked in my door, dude.” The excitement died. Why in the hell did it hurt to hear him rejecting her? She wanted to reject him, so what did it matter?
His expression changed, became more distant, more professional. All business again.
“We need a leather specialist. When it comes to the show, there is nothing I won’t go after if it is the best. I checked around; there’s a reason you don’t have an assistant. You can’t find one with your talent.” His gaze settled on her mouth again. “So I want you.”
She ended up nodding and conceding the point. There was a standing opening at the shop, and a whole lot of people had tried to fill it. None of them had the touch.
“Ramsey is just about the only human being on this planet who understands me. We’ve bled together. So telling him he’s lower than a drug addict is pretty harsh. Keep that sort of shit to yourself.”
“Rule number three is ‘no drugs,’ not ‘no drug addicts,’” she said. “There’s a big difference there. I’m not willing to compromise on something that has such a potential to blossom into addiction. I don’t work as hard as I do to end up in a relationship where I could lose everything, or end up having my car seized by the state because I made a bad choice on my date night.”
He weighed her answer for a long moment. “Fair enough. As you put it, that holds water. As for Ramsey walking in on us, we live on top of one another when we’re on tour. Privacy can become a casualty from time to time.”
“That was more than a walk-in oops,” she snapped. “He sat right down and asked to join.”
And she really wished her knees didn’t go weak over that idea. But they turned to jelly when Syon’s lips thinned and his eyes flickered with something very wicked. He closed in on her again, hooking her around the waist and turning her around, away from the stairs. He cupped her nape and buried his head in her hair.
“Sex is better when it’s more than fucking,” he rasped next to her ear.
She stiffened, but he held her still, his warm breath brushing her ear.
“There are a thousand different ways to experience pleasure.” He teased the shell of her ear with the tip of his tongue. “If you’re honest, you’ll admit he turned you on.”
“Oh…damn.” She wiggled as he traced the entire outside of her ear until he closed his lips around the lobe.
She ended up gripping his shirt.
“I want to know what you like, everything you crave.” He trailed kisses down her neck before lifting his head and making eye contact with her. “I want to know that I satisfy every fantasy you have, so you don’t go looking for it without me.”
“That’s nuts…” she whispered.
“So is the pull between us,” he said.
“Does that line really work?”
His face tightened, irritation flickering in his eyes.
“Who’s Todd?” Syon demanded.
Her wits were dulled by the idea that she’d insulted his cheesy line. “What?”
“Todd.” Syon massaged her neck. “Percy said Todd called looking for you.”
She pushed against his chest, but he didn’t budge. “Are you actually jealous of an ex-boyfriend?”
“Not if he’s an ex.”
He leaned over and teased her neck with a flick of his tongue. She stretched away from him.
“But it’s just fine if your buddy Ramsey is sitting next to us while we make out or more?” Kate asked.
“Mmmmm…I like the idea of more.”
He was going for her neck again, and she was sure she was going to combust if he succeeded. So she flattened her hand over his mouth, but it backfired. He captured her wrist and turned it up so he could tease the sensitive skin on the underside with a kiss. She shuddered, the sensation rocking her to her core. She was fixated on his mouth against her skin. He rolled back his lips and bit her gently.
She felt like she was flying apart.
“I can’t do this…”
He locked gazes with her but maintained his grip on her wrist, and his thumb stroked the wet spot he’d left.
“He’s an ex, so no complication,” Syon insisted. “I want to explore why I kissed you. Kisses are intimate for me.”
“I guess they would be,” she said, recalling his protection plan for his throat.
His tone had deepened. “I don’t indulge very often. I’ve been thinking about the way you taste all night. Should have been focused on the risk I left myself open to.”
Two years. It seemed impossible, but there was a little bubble of joy growing inside her as she contemplated having something no one else had from him. “That’s hard to believe, Syon.”
He stepped up, moving too close again for rational thought. She pressed a hand against his chest, and the connection shocked her with a jolt of lust.
“Believe it and google it, you won’t find a single picture of me in a lip-lock with a chick.”
He pressed a kiss against her mouth, sucking and teasing her lips with expert motions. He was constantly undermining her ability to form cohesive thoughts. He ripped the very foundation of her world away and left her floundering in a flood of need. She moaned softly and gripped his shirt.
Someone pounded on the door of the RV. “We’ve got to roll, Syon!” Ramsey hollered from outside. “Playtime is over.”
Syon gave her one last, hard kiss before releasing her. “On my way,” he growled. “’Cause I’m sure not coming.”
Her jaw dropped, and he chuckled at the look on her face.
“I think I like scandalizing you, Kate.”
She snapped her mouth shut and tried not to think about how much she wanted to come too. “I’ve noticed.”
He pointed to the driver’s cockpit. “Kenny is driving. He’ll switch out in four hours. This coach is the office. A couple of bunks are in the back. Normally Kenny’s relief driver beds down there, but he switched over to one of the other RVs so this can be female only. Make yourself at home. There’s TV, Internet, shower works while we’re moving, pretty much everything. For the price, it better be outfitted right. I’ll be in the music coach if you need me. We’ve got a show in Oakland in two days. It takes a day to build the stage and set up. The crew will have your shop set up by tomorrow morning so you can work while we’re rehearsing.”
“What’s a music coach?” she asked.
“A traveling music room. Costs a bloody fortune, but it’s worth it. Gives us the chance to work on new songs while we’re moving or parked in back of a convention center.”
Ramsey banged his fist on the door again. Syon flashed her a grin before disappearing. The door closed, and she heard the engine start.