He eased out of her body, removed the condom, and then slowly slipped inside again. He sucked a stuttering breath through his teeth. Her slick, tight heat was his own piece of heaven on earth.
He claimed her with slow, deep thrusts, delighting in each stroke. The skin along his spine began to tingle. The soles of his feet dampened. Every muscle in his body tightened. He never wanted it to end, this time with her. He never wanted it to fucking end.
There was a loud knock on the door.
“Force,” Adam yelled from the hallway. “The bus is about to leave. Get your sorry ass downstairs!”
“Shit,” Gabe muttered under his breath.
He lifted his head to look down at Melanie, stunned to see her lips trembling and her eyes watery. A lone tear slipped from the corner of her eye and glided down one smooth cheek. She hugged him and buried her face against his neck.
“Finish,” she whispered.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head. “I’m not ready to let you go. I’m sorry. I knew this was coming; I just didn’t expect it to hurt.”
He eased away so he could kiss her tears, kiss her lips, kiss her lovely face while he slowly thrust into her welcoming warmth. He wasn’t fucking her anymore, he realized, he was making love to her. He not only felt the pleasure her body provided, but the comfort her soul offered his.
“We’ll see each other again,” he promised.
She clung to his shoulders and nodded. “I want that. You. I want you. Gabe.”
A hard spasm gripped the base of his cock, and his mouth dropped open in wonder as he claimed his release inside her. She stroked the skin of his back as he shuddered. Her touch was so tender. So loving. Exactly what he needed. Even if the sweetness of it did rip his heart in two.
His body went limp, and she wrapped both arms around him. He turned his face into her throat and inhaled deeply.
They lay like that for several moments, entwined in the aftermath of togetherness.
“Gabe?” she whispered.
“Hmm?”
“I think I want to get a tattoo. Will you go with me to get one?”
He lifted his head and looked down at her, framing her lovely face with hands tangled in her thick curls. “I thought you didn’t like tattoos.”
She swallowed and avoided his gaze. “Actually, I was sort of afraid of them. I . . . when I was thirteen, these four bikers cornered me and said all sorts of suggestive things. I used to have nightmares about their tattooed bodies and gruff voices surrounding me. Trapping me against the wall. I couldn’t get away.”
He kissed her cheek. “You should have told me sooner. I would have kept my shirt on.”
Her eyes flashed. “Like hell you would. I love your body.” She bent her head to kiss his collar bone. “Including your tattoos.” Her small hands glided over his back and the tattoo of the phoenix which decorated the skin there. “Why are they all animals?”
He frowned, not sure how to answer. “I don’t know. No one’s ever asked me that before.”
“Are you a nature geek too?” she asked with a grin.
He laughed. “Maybe. You’d better keep that just between you and me.”
She smiled. “I like learning all your secrets. Tell me more.”
He kissed her. “Next time,” he promised. “I want to keep you coming back to me.”
Her arms tightened around him. “As long as you’re sure there will be a next time.”
“I guarantee it.”
Chapter 11
Gabe climbed the tour bus steps, walked down the aisle, and tossed his overnight bag into his bunk. Owen and Kelly were already sprawled on the semicircular caramel-colored sectional in the seating area near the front of the bus, but there was no sign of Shade or Adam. Gabe pulled his cellphone out of his pocket and checked his messages. He had a few texts from friends in Austin and a voicemail from his mother asking him when he’d be in town. She said she had a nice girl she wanted to introduce him to. Gabe was pretty sure his mom thought it was her duty to find him a woman or she would never be a grandmother. He wondered what she would think of Melanie. Would Melanie count as a nice girl even though she had a deliciously naughty side?
“Don’t you dare call her yet, dude,” Shade said as he dropped his bag on the floor next to his bunk. “She’ll know your balls belong to her.”
“I wasn’t going to call her,” Gabe insisted. At least not for thirty minutes or so. He’d secretly been hoping she’d called him by now. He missed her voice already. Shit, Shade was right. He hated when Shade was right.
Despite all of his talk about relationships, he hadn’t really been sure if he’d ever call her. Hadn’t been sure if the complications would be worth it for either of them, but especially for her. When he’d seen the tears in her eyes, he’d known he couldn’t stay away. Until that moment, he hadn’t been positive that she’d really want him to keep in touch. Now he was sure; she wanted him as much as he wanted her. He hoped she was strong enough to have him in her life. Few women had what it took to love a man married to the road and a music career.
“I don’t believe you,” Shade said as he snatched the phone out of Gabe’s hand.
Gabe shrugged and sat next to Owen on the sofa. He knew how Shade ticked—you didn’t spend ten years of your life living in close quarters with someone and not know how his mind worked. Well, Gabe understood Shade, but Adam was clueless and let Shade push all his buttons. Gabe knew Shade pretended to be cool so no one figured out how insecure he was about certain things. Not about women. Not about his singing. Shade had absolute confidence in those arenas. Shade had become a master of hiding secrets about himself that he was not open to sharing, but Gabe saw through his façade of cool. And he knew the best way to deal with Shade was to never rise to his bait.
“Are you going to call that little hottie you hooked up with, Shade?” Owen asked. “What was her name? Nikki?”
“Darling Nikki,” Kelly said. He reached into the mini-fridge near his end of the sofa and hauled out two bottles of water. He handed one to Owen and kept one for himself.
“Maybe we should do a remake of that song,” Owen said. “It could be metal.”
“Been done,” Shade said.
“You’re not going to call her, are you?” Gabe asked. He didn’t want his newfound relationship with Melanie sabotaged by Shade fucking things up with her best friend.
Shade shook his head. “She didn’t want me to.” He shrugged. “You know how it is.”
Gabe took a deep breath and nodded. Owen and Kelly exchanged knowing glances.
“Whatever,” Shade said. “She did say next time we come to Wichita she’d love to hook up again. Maybe she’ll get her stick-in-the-mud friend to open herself up to a little fun next time.”
“She’s not a stick in the mud,” Gabe said, a bit more perturbed by Shade’s taunt than he should be. He didn’t usually let Shade’s bullshit bother him.
Shade chuckled. “As if you would know the difference. You’re a dud in the bedroom yourself. Probably think doggie style is adventurous.”
Gabe forced a puzzled look on his face. “What’s doggie style?”
Owen laughed. Kelly just rolled his eyes. Adam came out of the bedroom at the back of the bus. “Are we going to hang around here all day? I need to get to Dallas. Like yesterday.”
“Just waiting for the driver,” Owen said.
Adam sat in one of the captain’s chairs across from the curved sofa.
“Can I have my phone back now?” Gabe asked.
“Are you going to call your mommy?” Shade asked. He tossed Gabe’s phone in the air and Gabe caught it in one hand.
“Later,” Gabe said. “I need to call Melanie first.”