He joined her beneath the covers and despite the large area of empty bed, immediately spooned against her back and cocooned her in tranquil warmth. He kissed the edge of her ear. “I’m glad you decided to stay,” he murmured. His deep voice sounded loud because he was so wonderfully close. “I hope you don’t mind if I hold you all night.”
Her heart warmed and felt as if it were enlarging in her chest. “I don’t mind. I like it.”
“If you get hungry, order room service,” he said lethargically. “Just charge it to the room.”
“What if I get horny?” she asked, threading her fingers through his and holding their combined hands against the center of her chest.
“Wake me up.”
Chapter 7
Gabe blinked and lifted his head from the pillow. Something had woken him. His first thought was that Melanie, who was still cuddled against his body, had decided she was horny. Now that he’d caught some sleep, he was pretty damned horny himself.
When he shifted, she started awake.
“What time is it?” she grumbled, stretching her lithe body and rubbing her delicious rump against his interested cock.
There was a knock at the door. “Gabe! You up? We have to be on the road in a couple hours. You want breakfast?”
It was Shade. And no, he didn’t want breakfast. He wanted more of Melanie.
Her belly rumbled, and he covered it with one hand. “Yeah, we’ll meet you in half an hour,” he called to Shade. Melanie wriggled her ass against him and while he might not have been out of bed yet, he was definitely up. “Make that an hour,” he yelled.
“I’m starving,” Melanie complained.
“So am I.” Hungry for her. And he was no longer tired. Not even a little.
He dove under the covers, delighting in the sound of her laugh as he cupped her breasts in both hands and kissed her flat belly. He caught her navel jewelry in his teeth and tugged gently. He wished they could spend all day in bed. Making love. Talking. Getting to know more about each other. Like a real couple. Always on the road, he never had time to get close to a woman. Different night. Different city. Different lover. Even if he found a woman he really liked—a woman like Melanie—he had to say goodbye to her before he could make a lasting connection. It had felt so good just to hold her through the night. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had stayed in his arms for more than a couple hours. Knowing that he’d have to let her go so soon left a raw achy feeling in his chest. Gabe wondered if she had any interest in trying something long distance. Unlike most of his one-night stands, Melanie was relationship material. And she didn’t want him because he was a rock star; she wanted him for that closet geek he worked so hard to conceal. It would be nice to share that part of himself. To be accepted for it. Dare he think cherished for it? Even so, Gabe was afraid to ask her to commit. It wouldn’t be fair of him to keep her hanging on when he knew he wouldn’t be able to see her more than a couple times a month. And that was if they were lucky.
“Is something wrong?” she asked, pushing the covers down to look at him.
He glanced up at her sheepishly. He hadn’t meant to stop pleasuring her. Sometimes he thought too much with his big head, when he’d be better off just going with the instincts of his little head. Maybe she’d be willing to try a relationship. He’d never know until he asked. Or maybe he should start with something a little less confining.
“I was just thinking.”
“Ah,” she said. “You were so turned on by my body that you started thinking.”
Was she teasing? He couldn’t tell. “I was thinking about us, actually.”
“Us?”
“I like you, Mel. I thought maybe we could stay in contact. Keep seeing each other when we can. Maybe try to make a go of it.”
“You mean, like a relationship?”
“If you don’t want—”
She covered his lips with two fingers. “I like you too, Gabe. I just didn’t think anything lasting would come from this. Continuing what we’ve started here is much more than I bargained for.”
“Oh.”
She smiled. “But I’m glad you’re opening up that possibility.”
He couldn’t help but smile in return. “You are?”
“Yeah. Sometimes you just know that you’re compatible with someone.”
“Would you have discovered that if you’d known who I was when you first started talking to me?”
“Probably not,” she admitted. “And I would have missed out on getting to know a fascinating and complex man.”
“Not to mention having two fantastic orgasms.”
She laughed. “Well yeah, that too.”
“Want to go for three this time?”
“I don’t think—”
He moved his hand to cover her lips with two fingers. “I do.”
He eyed his suitcase, wondering if he should treat her to one of the inventions he had stowed inside.
Her stomach rumbled again, and he paused. Maybe there were more important physical needs than sinking into her tight little body. He honestly couldn’t think of any.
“Gabe, can we eat first? Also, I need to go to the bathroom and brush my teeth. I feel gross.”
“There is nothing gross about you.”
“I can’t relax. At least let me pee.”
He sighed. “Okay. I’ll wait. I won’t like it, but I’ll wait. Might as well go get some breakfast. You’re going to need your strength.”
Chapter 8
Melanie wasn’t sure why meeting the band made her body quake with nerves. She’d spent the night with their drummer; she couldn’t imagine the rest of the guys would be much more intimidating than a man with a black and red mohawk and tattoos on his scalp. Sure, Gabe and his comrades looked like a group of thugs, but thanks to Gabe, she’d let her guard down and discovered that he wasn’t so different from the regular Joes she usually dated. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. Gabe was far sexier. Far more interesting. Far more tender. Loving. Wonderful. And the man knew how to rock a mattress.
“We could have breakfast in bed,” Gabe said near her ear. “There’s still time to turn back.”
“I’m cool,” she lied.
As the hostess directed them into a private dining room, Melanie prayed Nikki was already at the table for backup. No such luck.
Three members of the band and two other guys were seated in one of four enormous booths in the room. There were dozens of additional square tables and chairs, each with neat white table cloths, forest green napkins, and silver-trimmed place settings. Even if the entire crew joined them, they wouldn’t need this much space. A dance floor took up the far half of the room. She was pretty sure the place was used for wedding receptions. Melanie wondered if the hotel staff kept the rockers separate from the main dining room so people didn’t trample them as they tried to get autographs or because said rockers were so noisy that they were sure to disturb the other, more conservative, hotel guests. Perhaps a little of both.
“Do you want to sit with them or on our own?” Gabe asked, nodding toward the occupied booth.
“We can sit with them.” She wanted to prove to herself that the rest of his band didn’t make her a nervous wreck.
So far, not so good. Her stomach was working on a new gymnastics routine.
Gabe rested a hand against her lower back as they stopped next to the table. “Did you already order?” he asked the guys.
“Not for you,” one member of Sole Regret said.
He had a shaggy, spiked arrangement of jet black hair that went quite well with his all-black attire. Melanie knew he was the lead guitarist, but could not for the life of her remember his name. His steel-gray eyes swept over Melanie’s rumpled clothes and tangled hair before settling on her face. “Your sexy sweetheart can sit next to me.” He scooted over in the booth and patted the seat beside him. Melanie hesitated before sliding in next to him.