He tightened his grip on her hands and, without warning, thrust hard. Deep. Her eyes went wide, and her breath came out in a whoosh. But he didn't give her time to recover before he did it again. Even harder this time. As deep as he could go. Her legs had been around his waist, but now she planted them on either side of his knees to give herself traction. Traction to take even more of him.
He wanted to memorize every incredible moment where she was giving herself to him. The way her eyes fluttered closed on a gasp of pleasure, then opened again as if she was determined to take in his pleasure, too. The way her skin shone with sweat. How the tips of her full breasts were tight with arousal that he needed to take against his tongue until her sex was clenching tight around him again with every pull of his lips. How she grew even hotter, even wetter, as he moved to lave her other breast with the same wild passion.
"Drew."
For his entire life, he'd been putting emotions into words and music. But in this moment--one that felt like the most important of his life--there was only his mouth against hers so that he could drink in her sighs, her gasps, her moans while they made love.
And in that instant of beauty and wonder, Drew could suddenly see that for his whole life, he'd been holding back. Holding back a part of himself, even in his music.
But with Ash, he didn't want to hold back anymore. Couldn't hold back when she touched every last part of him, inside and out.
He whispered her name over and over against her lips as more heat, and more mind-blowing pleasure than he'd ever known was possible, built up between them. And then he heard a low cry vibrating from her throat, felt the tight, rhythmic pull of her body against him, and he fell with her. Way out over the edge. Way past control. Way past sanity.
Way past the man he'd been before she'd come into his life.
Straight toward something that felt exactly like love.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ashley dreamed she was listening to the most beautiful song in the world. One that stirred her heart, moved her soul, and made her want to sing along.
As she slowly came awake to the now familiar feel of the bus's tires moving along the freeway, she realized she hadn't been listening to the song in her dreams. The music was coming from just beyond the bedroom door.
It didn't occur to her to put on clothes or to wrap a sheet around herself as she got out of bed, not when she didn't want to wait another second to see Drew again. She'd never heard him play this melody before.
Could it possibly be a new song?
As quietly as possible so that she wouldn't disturb his concentration, she opened the door and poked her head through. But of course Drew noticed her immediately. He stopped playing, put the guitar down at his side, then smiled and held out a hand for her.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."
She was surprised that she didn't feel shy at all about her nakedness as she moved toward him and took his hand. Then again, there wasn't really any room for shy when he was looking at her like this--with so much heat and desire that her hormones revved from zero to a thousand in the time it took him to pull her onto his lap.
"Don't apologize. I wish you had woken me earlier," she told him as she straddled his lap and lowered her mouth to his for a kiss.
He had put on a pair of jeans, but she could feel his erection pushing the zipper into the bare flesh between her thighs. It would be so easy to get lost in his kiss--and the way his big hands were moving down her back and then over her hips to cup her bare bottom and pull her closer--but she needed to know about his song first.
"The song you were playing...it's incredible."
"It's pretty rough still, but it's coming along."
He reached up to brush his thumb over her lower lip, a mesmerizing pattern that made it hard to think straight. However, the fact that he was writing again was such a big deal that even her newfound sensuality had to take a backseat to it.
"It didn't sound rough, Drew. I thought I was dreaming at first, dreaming of the most beautiful song I'd ever heard." She could see how pleased he was by her reaction to the song. "When did you write it?"
"Just now."
"Now?"
"You fell asleep in my arms, and I didn't want to get up out of bed. Didn't want to let go of you. Not ever, if I didn't have to. But then the music started playing in my head. In my hands, too. Like it was going to burst out of my bones and skin if I didn't grab my guitar that second." He looked amazed by it even as he spoke. "That's never happened to me before. I mean, I've been inspired, but not like this."
Ashley moved even closer and hugged him tightly with her entire body. "I'm so happy for you. So happy that your muse is back."
"It's you, Ash." He shifted them on the chair so that he could look into her eyes. "You're the reason it's back."
"Me?" Of all the things he could have said, nothing would have surprised her more. "How could I have anything to do with your song?"
"Because when we made love, the walls that had been building up, the blocks that had been settling into place..." He rubbed his cheek against hers, and it felt so lovely that she sighed at the sweet, simple pleasure of it. "All the pleasure, all the joy, all the mind-blowing bliss of being with you pushed the bad things out of the way."
Everything he was saying was so sweet, and incredibly flattering, too. But it was a lot for her to take in. Too much, honestly.
She'd never planned to be anyone's muse. And could barely believe that someone as normal as she could inspire great art.
But instead of fighting to unravel her strange feelings about it, she focused on Drew and his music. "Now that the inspiration is flowing again, you should keep writing. I can go back into the bedr--"
"Stay." He cradled her hips in his hands and scooted her even closer. "I want you again. I need you again."
Oh God, she needed him just as badly. But she'd never forgive herself if she got between him and his music, so she made herself say, "Promise me you won't forget the song you were writing."
"I promise I won't, but you've got to promise me something, too."
"What?"
"That you won't try to get up off my lap until I've made you come again."
Just like that, with nothing but his wonderfully dirty words, he took her right to the edge of release. "I promise."
He crushed her mouth beneath his as soon as the promise left her lips. And though the faint light creeping in through the blinds told her it had only been a handful of hours since they'd made love, she needed him again with the same desperate anticipation she'd felt right before he'd made her his for the very first time.
He swept her hair back from her shoulders with one hand, then gently tugged the strands so that her head tilted back, leaving her neck open for his lips and tongue and teeth. She didn't even realize she was rocking her pelvis into his until he used his other hand against her bottom to increase the pressure and the friction of the denim against her.
She'd told him last night that she was good at being the good girl, but she didn't feel like that good girl anymore. At least not when she was naked and straddling Drew in the middle of his tour bus, on the verge of coming apart on his lap while he urged her to do just that.
"Come for me, Ash. Just like this." He murmured the heated words against the upper swell of her breasts. "I love watching you come." He licked the tip of one breast, and she felt every muscle in her body clench. "I love feeling you come." He turned his focus to her other breast, drawing slow, wet circles around her nipple with his tongue. "I love hearing you come."
Barely a beat later, when he rocked her into his denim-covered erection at the exact moment that his teeth scraped over her incredibly aroused skin, she came for him, just the way he wanted her to. She rolled her hips into him, riding the wave of pleasure as long as she possibly could while it went on and on and on.
Just when she thought she'd never survive it, her system finally began to calm. But clearly Drew had other plans for her as he slid his fingers thr
ough the slick wetness between her legs.
"You're so hot right here, Ash." He lifted his fingers to his mouth and licked them, as if she were the most decadent, delicious treat ever made. "And you taste so damned good."
She didn't think, didn't second-guess, just followed her instincts and leaned forward to lick his fingers, too. She'd barely slid her tongue over the pad of his middle finger when his mouth stole in and captured hers.
He kissed her as though he'd never, ever get enough. And she couldn't stop herself from kissing him back the exact same way.
No matter what happened after this tour, she'd always have the sweet memories of feeling like the center of his world. She'd remember--and be grateful for--these stolen moments with Drew every day for the rest of her life.
But a split second later, when he slid his hand back down between her legs and thrust his fingers inside of her, she wasn't thinking about making memories anymore. She honestly couldn't think at all. Could only focus on how good everything felt as Drew whispered such incredibly sweet words against her sweat-dampened skin.
"Again, Ash. Let yourself go and I'll be here for you. Always."
No one had ever promised to always be there for her. Not her friends at school. And certainly not any of the guys she'd gone on dates with. Not even her parents, who had spent so much of their time at odds with each other.
Only Drew.
She looked into his eyes, wanting to ask how he could make her such a big promise. But when she saw the same vow in his gaze--and she felt it in his touch, as if heightening her pleasure would only serve to heighten his, too--any questions she might have asked were lost in the wonder of being with such an amazing man.
One who never just took what he wanted, but who gave. And gave. And gave.
Between one heartbeat and the next, another climax crashed over her, so strong that if Drew hadn't been holding her so tightly, she might have slid right off his lap onto the floor.
And then he was lifting her into his arms and carrying her into his bedroom. He sat with his back against the headboard and then brought her over him so that her legs were straddling his hips. Perhaps she should have been sated by now, but she was absolutely desperate to take him inside her body. Not just his fingers this time, not just his tongue. Every beautifully hard inch of him.
With shaky fingers, she reached down to undo the button and zipper on his jeans, but thankfully he was already working himself out of them and reaching for one of the condoms from the side table. He slid the protection into place, and then his hands were on her hips again, and he was lifting her up over him.
"I know we should be taking it slow, Ash. Last night was your first time, and I know you're not used to--"
She cut off the rest of his words by sinking down fast and hard onto him, taking all of him in one long, hot, perfect slide. Her breath whooshed from her lungs as he filled every last part of her, but she didn't wait to get it back before wrapping her arms around him and holding on tight as she rode him like the bad girl she'd never been until today.
"Can you hear it, Ash?" His words felt hot and damp against her earlobe as he groaned at the pleasure she was giving him. Giving them both. He bit down on the sensitive flesh, and she shuddered against him. "Can you hear the music playing?"
"Yes." Every moment she was with him was a symphony of pleasure. An opera of emotion. The perfect pop song that cut right to the heart of everything she was feeling. "Always."
The word always had barely fallen from her lips when Drew spun them around so that she was lying beneath him on the bed and his deliciously heavy weight was pressing her down into the mattress.
"Now, Ash." He gritted out the words as sweat dripped down from his chest to hers. "I need you to come again for me now. I can't hold back much longer."
"I don't want you to hold back, Drew. I'm desperate to feel you come inside of me."
His eyes dilated nearly to black right before he threw back his head and thrust into her so hard that she could barely hang on. He felt impossibly big inside of her as he took her again and again and again, and she loved every single second of it. Especially when every thrust brought her closer, took her higher, until the perfect moment when he gripped her hips and erased any distance that had remained between them, his climax setting off hers in a sequence of fireworks inside her body. The brightest, most brilliant and beautiful fireworks she'd ever experienced.
All because of Drew.
Chapter Twenty-Three
"Sooooo...." The disk jockey drew out the word, then paused for dramatic effect, clearly hoping to keep listeners in suspense over what she was going to ask Drew next.
But he knew exactly what was coming. The same question he'd been asked a million times during the past few years.
"Are you seeing anyone? Are millions of hearts around the world going to break if you tell us you've finally found that one special girl?"
The previous night, Drew had told Ashley that he wanted the whole world to know she was his. And this morning, after making love with her again and wishing he could just keep holding her instead of getting ready to do this interview, he wanted that more than ever. But she'd asked him to keep their new relationship private, at least for a little while, and he needed to respect that.
Still, he hated lying. Hated it even more when Ashley was watching and listening to the interview only a glass wall away. He caught her eye through the glass and hoped she could read his private message: You're mine, Ash. I'm yours. And the second you give me the thumbs-up, I'm going to let the whole world know.
Finally, he told the DJ, "This tour has been crazy busy. There's no way I could go on a date with anyone right now."
That, at least, was true. This tour was the most jam-packed he'd ever done--and he and Ash weren't actually dating. One day really soon, however, he wanted to be able to take her out to dinner or a movie like a normal couple.
But he was trying to see things from her point of view. She likely wasn't only worried about what her father would think, but also about the inevitable complications that came with dating a guy like him. Like the fact that her picture would be everywhere and people would want to know more about her...and then whatever they could find out would likely end up on the Internet, too.
The thing was, he'd met enough people like Smith Sullivan and his fiancee, Valentina Landon, and like Nicola Sullivan and her husband, Marcus, to see that relationships in the spotlight of fame weren't impossible as long as your partner was strong.
Drew had seen Ashley's strength from that very first night they'd met. She clearly hadn't felt like she fit in, but she hadn't let that stop her. Being scared was perfectly normal. But transcending those fears was extraordinary.
Just as extraordinary as the way she made him feel.
Because after all these months of wondering just what the hell he was doing, Ashley had helped him understand again why he wrote and played music. In the wake of his mother's death, he'd been making the mistake of using his music to shove his feelings, his emotions, down. Only, instead of working, it had made him feel more blocked by the day.
Finally, he understood that when he faced the pain and the fear--and when he allowed the joy to flow back in every second he was with Ashley--that was when the music started playing in his head. Playing so fast and clear that even now he was trying to memorize the melodies and lyrics rushing through him.
"In that case, Drew," the DJ said, "tell us what kind of girl you're looking for. What qualities will the perfect girl need to steal your heart?"
Again, Drew couldn't stop his gaze from moving to where Ashley was sitting behind the glass wall. He was pretty sure she was blushing, even though she'd lowered her head to look at the tablet on her lap. James was sitting next to her grinning like a fool. He and Drew hadn't talked about Ashley--even if his bodyguard had asked, he'd never kiss and tell--but his friend had clearly figured out that everything had worked out all right last night after Drew had left the party to look for her.
&
nbsp; "My perfect woman is smart. Fun. Caring. Insightful. And so beautiful that every time I look at her I'm stunned by her all over again."
"Wow." The DJ fanned herself. "Do you think you'll ever be able to find a woman like that?"
He grinned and finally told the truth to the whole damned world the way he'd wanted to all along. "Yes. The answer is definitely yes."
*
At nine that evening, Ashley's phone buzzed. Just seeing Drew's name on her screen was enough to make her heart race, even before she read the message.
Can you come by my dressing room before the show starts?
James was standing beside her in the wings backstage. The opener had come off ten minutes ago, and the crowd was getting antsy waiting for Drew to appear. She was antsy, too, mostly because she hadn't seen him since earlier that day when he'd been doing the radio interviews downtown. He'd been deep in writing and recording mode the rest of the day, and she'd been just as busy working on her own brainstorming about the indie label. That is, when she wasn't daydreaming and getting all hot and bothered about the incredible things they had done together in, and out, of his bed.
She hadn't thought of herself as a creative person before, but ever since they'd made love, the world looked entirely different. Brighter. Exploding with color--and endless possibility.
Before joining Drew's tour, she'd been desperately worried about what would happen if she applied to Stanford Business School again and didn't get in. But now?
She smiled, thinking about all she'd accomplished today. Not just putting together a business plan for starting a record label. But a record label that was artist owned and operated. One that changed all the rules the music business had ever played by. Ashley couldn't wait to show her fleshed-out plans to Drew. She already knew his feedback would be hugely helpful and important in working out the kinks.
But as she went to say a quick hello to Drew in his dressing room before he went on stage, the way her body was heating up more and more with every step had nothing whatsoever to do with the business plans on her computer.