“I made something for Taz,” she informed him.
“The Loki suit?”
She nodded. “Cid got in my face about it. Accused me of not being focused and understanding the terms of my contract, and helping Taz ignore his responsibilities.”
Syon nodded. “And you did…what?”
She sent him a satisfied grin. “I quoted my contract and sent him a time sheet. I made the Loki suit on my own time. I like Taz.”
“But you didn’t tell me that Cid got in your face.”
“That would have been unprofessional,” she answered.
His lips rose into a menacing smile. “Because I’m your boyfriend.”
She drew in a stiff breath, but a second later he had her crowded against the wall. He wasn’t actually touching her but had his forearms braced on either side of her shoulders.
She shuddered anyway.
The scent of him filled her senses. He still smelled sexy. It was more potent than anything she’d ever experienced. The last month of excess should have worn the edge down, but the need swirling in her belly was still razor sharp.
He tilted his head, and his breath hit her ear. He captured her wrists and pulled her arms above her head, holding them there as he licked her earlobe.
“Boyfriend…”
His voice was raspy but full of demand. She shivered, excitement pulsing through her just about as fast as her uncertainty was growing. She was folding, losing all sense of boundaries, just letting him wipe them away.
“I’m not sure I can…”
He pulled his head back, locking stares with her. “Does it look like this is any easier for me?”
She searched his eyes, feeling exposed but needing to know if he felt the same.
“You scare me. The way you just sweep aside everything else.” She wasn’t sure why the words slipped out.
“I know the feeling.”
He bit out the words and pressed his mouth down on top of hers to take shelter in passion. She kissed him back, relieved to have something familiar to focus on.
But it was hollow.
The kiss died. Syon pulled away and pressed his forehead to hers. That hollowness wouldn’t dissipate. It felt like it was sitting inside her chest, carving out a hole—settling in for the long haul.
“Boyfriend,” she said.
He stiffened, the grip on her wrist tightening. She leaned forward and kissed his jaw. “Boyfriend,” she repeated softly. “My boyfriend.”
“Why was that hard?” he asked.
He suddenly turned his back on her, leaving her leaning against the wall.
“Because everyone wants you.” She felt like every fear she’d had about getting kicked to the curb was about to hit her. “How could I hold your attention for long?”
Her self-confidence was nothing but a puddle on the floor. It stung, and she stayed against the wall because she honestly wasn’t sure if her knees would hold.
He turned around, letting her see the torment in his eyes. It knocked the breath out of her.
“They want the Marquis,” he bit out. “That thing Cid gives them. It isn’t me.”
“Part of it is.”
He shook his head, but she pushed away from the wall, suddenly feeling her confidence swell.
“Yes, it is. You have an allure that you aren’t afraid to let people see. Cid is riding on your coattails because it’s so powerful. I felt it the second I saw you. It was like a punch to the gut.” She suddenly stopped, face-to-face with her own insecurities. “I’m not that brave. I can’t let people see that part of me. You do. That’s why they scream. You make it okay. It’s that permission that they crave.”
“It’s a hunger,” he said.
He took a step toward her, making her mouth go dry. “Yeah, it is,” she said.
“A selfish one,” he continued. “I need to be on that stage. The animal inside me needs to be out, to be seen.”
She nodded. He reached for her, pulling her against him.
“And I need you to be here.”
He pushed his hand through her hair, gripping it and holding her head still as he hovered over her lips. “Tell me you’ll be here, for me.”
She pushed her hand beneath his shirt, their skin connecting with that powerful jolt that thrilled her.
“I will.”
His lips twitched just a tiny amount before they thinned with hunger. Sensation went speeding through her, shaking her down to her core. He caught the fabric of her dress and pulled it up and over her head. She made a soft sound of encouragement, her skin heating up.
She reached out, finding the buttons on his fly and forcing her fingers to work them loose. His cock sprang through, hard and ready the moment she finished. She stroked it, purring at the satin-smooth skin.
“I can’t wait,” Syon confessed.
He reached down and caught the backs of her thighs, picking her up and spreading her legs as he moved her back to the wall. He pushed her against it, his cock tunneling into her flesh, slipping deep because she was so wet.
“Mine,” he grunted, pulling back and straining back toward her. “Mine… Mine… Mine!”
He punctuated every word with a hard thrust. Driving deep, touching that spot inside her that sent a current of pure rapture through her. It forced the breath from her, leaving her moaning.
“Yeah, baby… Let me hear you…”
There wasn’t any real choice. But she didn’t really want one. All she craved was the next connection between their flesh. She was suspended between time, falling through a crack in reality. There was only the two of them and the way they were satisfied only by each other. She was his; he was her addiction.
She craved him.
Would have done anything to keep him feeding her needs.
She dug her fingernails into his shoulders, trying to lift her hips toward him. He flattened her back against the wall, growling at her while he pumped against her, forcing her to let him set the pace.
“Mine.”
It was more than a word.
It was an entire idea.
Her entire reality at that moment.
It shattered in a mind-numbing jolt of light, searing as it burned through her. She was caught in its grip, wrung by the power of it until she ended up as nothing but a pulsing lump clinging to Syon as he ground himself into her and let his passion explode. She purred as he emptied himself into her, the hot spurt of his seed intensifying the intimacy of the moment—binding them together with trust.
Everything was base, primal, and savage.
And the animal inside her wanted that last confirmation that she’d satisfied him.
Someone laid their fist on the suite door.
“We need to roll!”
Syon lifted his head and let her legs slide down. He cupped her chin and kissed her, a soft compression of his lips against hers that made her tremble with how tender it was.
* * *
“You don’t need to turn in a time sheet again.”
Kate looked up, catching a look from Syon as he took a final glance in the mirror. Everyone was amped up again, the arena full as Toxsin prepared to take the stage.
“You didn’t need to get involved.”
Syon turned away from the mirror, looking every inch the rock god he was: his makeup perfect, his skin hot and smelling like leather and man animal. The heavy eyeliner accentuated the slant of his eyes, making him once again into the Goblin King.
“You didn’t ask me to get involved. But I needed to make sure things were clear. You’re an artist.”
He’d stopped in front of her. It might look like he was talking to her, but she knew him better than that. He was making a point of bringing up the subject during an official moment. The makeup girls were listening, along with at least eight of Cid’s crew. Two private security men were there, pigtailed ear devices on as they watched everything from behind dark glasses. A sound guy was trolling around, checking the small personal sound systems attached to each of the band members. Two of Cid’s girls were there as well, but the road manager was outside the performers’ room, chatting up some VIPs.