"My tough, beautiful Molly." His body shuddered again, his eyes dark. "I'm so fucking glad you're mine."
Molly held Fox's words bang against her heart, her fingers locked bloodlessly tight with his as they stood ready to walk out the hotel's main door midmorning. She'd been running on anger and adrenaline since four a.m., had, until a few minutes ago, believed she had the tools to deal with the media mauling about to happen. Now, with the horde only meters away, she wasn't so sure. Her stomach churned, her chest painful beneath the peach top that she loved, the one with the softly tied bow at the throat.
"You sure we have to do this?" she asked Fox.
A squeeze of her hand. "We take the offensive," he said, his confidence and determination a powerful force. "We control the situation, and we damn well stand proud."
It was the same thing Charlotte had said when Molly called her best friend.
"Don't you dare let them shame you." Charlie's voice had been fierce. "Go out there and show the world that Molly Webster is a force to be reckoned with. Also, try not to smack anyone--you sound like you'd really like to."
Molly realized the anger was still there, embers burning beneath the nerves. "Charlie told me not to smack anyone," she said to Fox, "but I'm not sure I'll be able to stop myself if a reporter gets out of line with you." Fox had focused only on her pain, shrugging off the exposure of his own body, but Molly was fuming over the way this incident had torn open his scars. "Don't let me do anything dumb."
His dimple appeared, her Fox back with a vengeance. "Follow my lead," he said, and hauled her in for a deep kiss, his free hand covering the side of her face in the hold that always made her feel cherished. "Ready?"
Chapter 37
"Yes." There was nothing she wouldn't do for him.
Looking over his shoulder, Fox nodded at Noah, David, and Abe, who were set to follow.
She'd thought the distance to the hotel entrance would seem endless, but the five of them were walking through the automatic glass doors what felt like a second later. David flanked Fox, while Noah and Abe stood next to her, a solid wall of friendship and loyalty. Charlie might not have been physically present, but Molly could hear her best friend's voice in her mind, telling her not to smack anyone. It almost made her smile.
The mass of reporters, photographers, and cameramen--corralled off the hotel steps by a wall of black-suited security--began to scream questions the instant they spotted Fox.
"Spin is everything," Thea had said to Molly and Fox in a call a quarter of an hour ago. "Make the world see you as an ordinary couple trying to have a relationship under the spotlight--and point out that this could happen to anyone."
Her sister had barely taken a breath before continuing. "Allow them to glimpse your anger but don't look hounded. The scent of blood only makes predators hungrier--shrug and say you'll deal, but that the ones behind this will pay. No one messes with you and gets away with it."
Now, looking at Fox as he stood in front of the cameras, ignoring the screaming until the media people began to nudge one another to shut up, Molly thought Thea had been wasting her breath. He'd do exactly what he'd do.
"Fox! Fox!" One reporter's voice rose above the other fading ones. "Do you have a statement about the recent intimate photos of you and your"--the slightest pause--"lover?"
"Yeah, I have a statement," Fox said, his tone a growl.
The entire rabble went quiet.
"Being caught with a gorgeous, sexy woman having one hell of a good time isn't exactly something I'm going to apologize for." He paused as the reporters laughed, the tension dropping in a steep dive. "Especially when that woman is Molly."
Heads swung toward her, questions congesting the air.
"Are you going to introduce us?" another reporter managed to shout above the wall of noise.
"World, meet Molly." Gripping her jaw, Fox kissed her full on the mouth, complete with tongue. "Molly, world."
Blushing, she found herself half-laughing as she faced the cameras. "I'm going to kill you," she muttered under her breath when his hand landed on her butt.
His smile turned wicked.
"Molly! Molly! Are you as unworried about this as Fox?"
"Well, I did get caught in bed with a rock god. I'm real sorry." She didn't know where the words came from, but they were the right ones from the way the reporters began to hoot and clap.
Fox held up a hand when they would've shouted more questions, his other one hooked into the back pocket of her jeans. "One thing I want to say--Molly and I, we're never going to be sorry about what we do between the sheets."
Another wave of laughter and conspiratorial grins.
"But," Fox continued, "I'm the possessive type. I share my music, my voice, and I don't think anyone will argue when I say I've been more than open when it comes to interviews"--a round of nods--"but the one thing I will not share is Molly."
He waited to let that sink in before continuing, the ruthless edge back in his voice. "No matter how long it takes, I will crush both the voyeur who decided to get his pathetic rocks off by violating our bedroom, and the scum-sucking site that put the footage up."
He held up his hand again when the media would've asked more questions. "I have a request of Schoolboy Choir fans--we've always been accessible to you guys in every way we could be. Now I'm asking you to honor the years we've been on this rock-and-roll ride together by not sharing or reposting this content. This isn't about the music, it's about hurting my girl, and that is not fucking okay."
Molly wanted so badly to kiss him at that instant that she almost didn't hear the question that floated into the air as they turned to leave.
"Molly! Is that a Kiwi accent?"
She knew there was no point in prevaricating; her whole life would soon be an open book to the media, the past she'd tried so hard to outrun thrown in her face. "Yes," she said, her fingers locked once more with Fox's.
"I told you you'd handle it." Fox closed his arms around her the instant they were alone inside their brand-new luxury coach.
As of now, Schoolboy Choir would no longer be staying in hotels during the tour. Aside from the driving section up front, which was sectioned off by a soundproofed wall, each coach had a furnished living area and bedroom, as well as a section for the facilities. It reminded Molly of the small apartment she'd rented right out of university, neat and functional, though without much extra space.
It would require some logistics to get the coaches to concert locations on time, with the band often having to fly ahead, but that was a minor issue compared to the guaranteed privacy. Each coach could only be accessed by a thumbprint scan.
"I thought you were incredible." Nuzzling her nose against his, she smiled. "You know how to play the media like you do an audience."
"I just laid it out like it is, no bullshit." Tender hands tucking her hair back behind her ears. "I would've come after you, you know. If you'd run. I wouldn't have been a good guy, wouldn't have let you live your life away from me. I'll always come after you."
"Hey." Rising on tiptoe at the words that sounded as if they were ripped from his soul, she kissed him, her hands cradling his face. "I told you, I'm in this for the long haul." Molly would repeat that promise until he believed her, until he stopped expecting her to give up on him. "You and me, we're a unit. They're going to start calling us Folly any day now."
"Smart-ass." A playful slap on her butt, the strain fading from his expression.
Stealing another kiss, she said, "Let's go into the bedroom and christen this hotel on wheels." Fox was a physical man and Molly was more than willing to use their intimate connection to show him how much he meant to her.
"No need to rush into the bedroom for that." He backed her against the wall, each word accompanied by a kiss. "We have to do a thorough job." His hands sliding up under her top to cover her breasts. "It's a very big coach."
"I guess"--Molly gasped as he fondled the lace-cupped curves with blunt masculine approval--"we'll have to take
it one bite at a time."
"Perfect idea." Strong white teeth gripping the skin just above the pulse in her neck before he shifted his attention to divesting her of her top. Unraveling the pretty bow with a tug, he made quick work of the buttons, and the top was soon on the carpet.
Two more seconds and her bra of blush-colored lace met the same fate.
"You're far too good at that."
Dimple showing, he dropped a kiss on one pebbled nipple. "I practiced to get good just for you."
"Smooth, Zachary Fox, real smooth." Stroking her hands through the cool silk of his hair, she sucked in a breath as he took a leisurely bite of her right breast. "Do that again."
Fox's mouth curved against her skin before he did as ordered, licking his tongue over her flesh. "Want to play a little?" he asked when he raised his head.
Molly bit her lower lip, sudden bubbles of agitation in her blood. "This coach is secure?"
Steel glinted in Fox's eyes, his hand heavy and comforting on her lower back. "It came directly from the dealer and I watched the head of the security firm personally go over it with a fine-tooth comb. You're safe."
Her heart ached. Always, Fox thought of her, though the man who'd invaded their privacy in such a gutless way had harmed him just as much. "Yes," she whispered, wondering how she'd gotten this lucky. "I'd like to play."
Bracing his forearms on the wall on either side of her head, Fox pressed his mouth to her own, his body heat making her want to rub up against him like a cat. The kiss was wet, tangled, their tongues licking against each other until her breath was lost, her heartbeat a rapid stutter in her chest.
Fox wasn't in much better condition, his erection pushing into her abdomen and his breath harsh in her ear as he said, "Trust me, baby."
Bending at her nod, he picked up her blouse, but when he would've twisted it as if to make a tie, she gripped his wrist. "Don't you dare. I love that top." It was gasped out.
"God, you're strict." One big hand on her breast, he leaned in to kiss her again. "That turns me on." Nipping at her lower lip, he dropped her top back to the carpet and moved his hands to his belt buckle.
The funny, fluttery feeling in her stomach, ignited by watching him undo the buckle and pull the belt through the loops, only grew when he said, "Turn around, Molly."
That tone. Molly couldn't do anything but obey, the finely textured carpet that covered the walls of the coach deliciously abrasive against her aroused nipples.
"Hands behind your back."
She obeyed again, even knowing it would leave her at his mercy. Somewhere along the way, trusting Fox had become a bone-deep impulse. The leather was warm, strong against her skin. Again and again she felt the sensation of movement--he'd wrapped the belt around her overlapping wrists multiple times. A brush of metal, the buckle clinking softly for a second before he pulled the belt tight, rendering her arms helpless.
"Too tight?" His jaw grazed the skin of her shoulder. "Studs not pushing too deep where your wrists press against your back?"
Molly shook her head as he caressed her lower curves, her throat dry.
"That's good. Anytime you want out, just say so." Chest pressed to her back, he said, "You got it?"
"Yes." Molly curled her fingers against his zipper, his own hand slipping around to cup her breast before he ran it down her stomach to the waistband of her skirt, following it in a teasing line to the back.
Slipping the small black button there out of its hole, he brushed his thumb over the skin below. "You're so soft, Molly." The zipper being tugged down with those husky words. Shaped to her body, the skirt didn't sag but had to be pulled down--which Fox did slowly, so slowly, his kisses getting lower down her spine.
She shivered.
"Cold?" A breath of hot air against her skin as the skirt fell to her ankles, followed by a tender kiss to the delicate crease of skin where her buttock met her thigh. "Better?"
"More," she said, shameless.
But being shameless with Fox had its rewards. She got a second kiss, long caressing strokes of those rough-skinned hands over her thighs. "Lift your leg." Another kiss after she obeyed. "Now this one."
An instant later, the skirt was gone from around her ankles, leaving her clad in nothing but black heels and panties of blush-colored lace that matched the bra already on the floor. Fox had given her the decadent lingerie as a gift, as he gave her so many things. She truly was spoiled. Most of all because he was hers.
"Did I ever tell you I love taking you while you're wearing heels?" Kisses up her spine as he rose to his feet behind her.
Sucking in a shallow breath, she said, "You might have mentioned it once or twice."
His laughter low, masculine, intimate, Fox drew her hair over one shoulder and, sliding his hands between the wall and her skin, palmed her breasts. Her sensitive flesh was crushed against his hold by the heavy press of his body, but it wasn't painful--no, it felt wonderful. Especially when he drew one hand back to undo the button on his jeans, lowered the zipper what sounded like halfway and, taking her bound hands, tucked them inside.
Molly moaned. "You went commando before a press conference?" Hot and thick and erect, he felt too big to fit inside her, but he did. He always did, and the fit was perfect.
"Why the hell not?" Running the fingers of one hand lightly over her neck and shoulder, he rolled and tugged at her nipples with his other. "How would you like me, Molly? Like this." He ground himself against her lace-covered behind, her hands trapped in between. "Or should I throw you on your back, spread your thighs wide and pound into you while you lie helpless?"
Molly squeezed her fingers on the part of him she held, to his groan. "Whatever you want," she whispered.
"Oh, I like the things you say." A firm tug on her nipples before he caressed one hand down her body and into her panties from the front.
It was a bold, self-assured hold, that of a man who knew the woman he touched belonged to him. She could feel herself growing wetter against his palm with every second that passed, his mouth busy on her throat and shoulder, his free hand continuing to roll and tug at her nipples, shooting darts of sensation directly to her clit--which she tried to rub against his hand, but her position wasn't quite right, and she could only manage the most frustrating of brushes.
"Fox."
"You said I could do what I liked." It was a gravelly purr. "And I want to tease you."
Molly whimpered, tried to clench her fingers on him, but he'd already stepped back, her hands sliding away from all that rigid male heat. "You want me, baby?"
"Yes." Her fingers curled into her palms.
Sounds behind her--the light thud of shoes being kicked off, fabric rustling, a zipper moving the final few inches. "I'm naked," he told her a minute later. "I've got my hands on what you want. I'm stroking it hard and fast, rougher than you ever do." A quick kiss to her nape before he stepped out of reach once more. "That's not a complaint--I love your hands on me. Shit, I jerk off to the thought of you jerking me off."
A palm pressing between her shoulder blades when she would've turned. "Nu-huh. Don't make me tie your ankles too... or maybe I should."
"I'll fall."
He spanked her on one of her bottom cheeks, the ripple of sensation arcing through her flesh. "As if I'd let that happen." Hooking his fingers in the sides of her panties, he tugged them down and off.
She felt fabric around her ankles the next instant. "It's my T-shirt, not your top"--Fox's voice, low and with that gritty undertone that made him so powerful as lead singer--"so don't get mad."
Hobbled by the tie and in a slightly unbalanced position against the wall, she had to stay where she was or risk taking them both down, because Fox was right--he'd never let her fall.
"You have no idea how hot you look." A kiss to her nape. "My strong, smart, fucking perfect Molly."
Heart aching at the stark emotional power of his words, she drank in the sight of him when he stepped back and scooped her up in his arms. The words she wanted
to say flirted on the tip of her tongue, words that meant everything to her, but that Fox could well reject.
Chapter 38
Carrying her to the bedroom with effortless ease before she could give in to temptation, Fox said, "I wouldn't want you to abrade your skin," and placed her carefully on her front, making sure her face was turned to the side and her hair out of the way. "Okay?"
His tenderness undid her. "Yes," she whispered, feeling something break inside her--old pain, old fear, the last hidden fragments crumbled into dust at the brush of his callused fingertip across her cheek. "Fox."
"I have you, baby." Maneuvering her lower body until she was on her knees, her butt in the air and her face against the sheets, he ran his hands down her curves with unhidden pleasure. "Now this would make a pretty picture." His words turned the ugliness of what had happened into something beautiful, claimed it for their own.
An open-mouthed kiss on her lower back, his hand pushing between her thighs again, his fingers sinfully busy. Brought to the edge of what felt like a shattering orgasm, she screamed when he stopped... only to start again a minute later, after he'd eased her down from the high... then he repeated the cycle.
Until she was an incoherent pile of trembling woman, every one of her senses primed. That was when he drove into her. The fact her thighs were pressed together by the tie around her ankles made the thick heat of him feel like an invasion, hot and welcome. She was branded, she was owned, she was taken.
Molly came, sobbing her pleasure. And kept coming as he pounded into her again and again, his fingers digging into her hips and buttocks. When he gripped her hair in his hand near the end and tugged up her head, the pulling sensation on her scalp sent her over the edge.
She came so hard she passed out... but not before she heard Fox groan her name as he slammed deep into her one last time.
Molly rose to consciousness cradled in Fox's lap, her rock star sitting on the bed with his back against the headboard. Her bindings were gone, his heartbeat a hammer under her ear as he ran one hand along the curve of her spine, the other down her arm. Her own heartbeat not exactly steady and her skin sheened with perspiration, she snuggled closer.