I start singing “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri. The crowd goes wild, all of them more than familiar with the song, but I only have my eyes on him. Standing in the crowd. Staring at me. Face blank, but those eyes, oh, those eyes, they’re locked on mine and I can read every thought just with one, single look. I sing, not once looking away from him, my voice trailing out over the crowd, who are all singing along with me.
It’s the most intense moment of my life.
It’s the only way I can tell him just how much he’s come to mean to me.
One day, I’ll finish my song, and I’ll dedicate it to him. But for now, this one says everything I can’t. I belt out the words, both hands clutching the microphone. When he’s standing in the crowd, everyone else is drowned out, and it’s as though we’re in the room together, completely alone. Being the strong, masculine man he is, he doesn’t make any movement, but I can see it in his face.
What it’s doing to him.
The tightness of his jaw, the softness in his eyes, the way his body is almost leaning toward me, as if he wants to shove through the crowd and haul me off the stage. When the song is finished, the crowd goes completely crazy. Screaming and cheering. It’s the most incredible sound. As was hearing them sing along with me. That sound never gets old, it’ll always make my skin prickle. There is something about hearing people’s voices blend together when they sing along, that gets me every time.
Every single time.
My eyes finally leave his, and scan over the crowd. And that’s when I see one of them. Treyton’s men. I would recognize him anywhere, he was around more than once when I was with Treyton. His eyes lock on mine, and I freeze. Thankfully, not mid-way through a song. He jerks a little, and then as quickly as I saw him, he disappears into the crowd. How long have they been at my shows, watching me? I take a deep breath, not wanting to cause any more problems for Susan, and face the crowd again.
Both Mal and Maverick are watching, trying to see what I saw. Their heads turn back to me, and I give a little nod. Both of them start moving toward the direction the man was standing. Daniel, his name is. I wonder how many other of Treyton’s men are here, right now? The ones I don’t recognize? Is he here? God.
I close the show, using my happiest voice, using my best performance, and then I disappear off the stage and out back. Susan is waiting, a massive smile on her face. “That was an incredible show, it’ll help with all the negative media attention surrounding you right now. Well done, Scarlett.”
“Susan, I saw one of Treyton’s men in the crowd. Maverick is looking into it, but it was definitely one of them. If Maverick and Mal come back, can you please let them through?”
Her eyes widen. “Of course. I thought we’d been filtering who was coming in and out? We haven’t seen Treyton.”
“He’s using other people, you wouldn’t recognize any of his men. He could send anyone in, and obviously that’s what he’s doing.”
She nods, pulling out her phone. “I’ll double security, maybe start running checks on everyone coming in. We’ll figure something out, don’t panic.”
I nod, but I don’t feel all that well suddenly. Amalie comes over, putting her hand on my shoulder. She’s sweating from the show, it was hot in there. Her eyes are wide and concerned. “Are you okay?”
I nod. “Yeah, I’m just not feeling that great. Stress, maybe?”
“From all the media attention?” she asks.
“Probably,” I force a smile. “I’m sure it’ll blow over.”
She reaches over, pulling me in for a hug. I let her, hanging on for a few minutes. She pulls back and smiles at me. “Susan is letting Maverick in now. He’ll make sure nothing happens to you.”
I smile, more genuine this time. “Yeah, I know that.”
“And I’m here,” she says. “If you need anything.”
Thank God for people like her, because God knows I’d crumble if she didn’t have my back. I beam at her. “Thanks, Amalie, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
“You had a great show tonight, well done.”
“You did amazing, too.” I smile at her. “I better go and get changed, I’m all sweaty.”
She laughs. “Me too. I’ll talk to you soon.”
I wave her off and walk down to my dressing room. By the time I get there, security has let Maverick and Mal in, and they’re waiting outside the door. As soon as they see me, Maverick strides over. “Couldn’t see nothin’ out there. What did you see?”
“We’ll talk in here,” I say, pointing to the dressing room.
He nods and we walk inside, closing the door behind us. I turn to them both. “It was one of Treyton’s men. I recognized him. His name is Daniel, I don’t know his last name. I don’t know how many other men he might have watching, that was the only one I ever really met.”
“Did he do anythin’?” Maverick asks. “Did he see you?”
I nod. “He looked right at me, and flinched, like he wasn’t supposed to be seen. Then he disappeared.”
“Idiot must have forgotten that he introduced him to you,” Mal mutters to himself.
“Must have,” Maverick agrees. “But our suspicions are correct, they’re keepin’ a close eye on her. Fuck.”
“I don’t understand why,” I tell them, rubbing my stomach. I’m nervous. I don’t like the idea that I’m being watched. Not at all.
What does Treyton want with me? Is it just because he knows I’m talking to bikers and is worried I’ll give information? Or is it more?
“Haven’t figured that out yet, darlin’,” Mal mutters. “But we will. Until then, if you see, hear, or even feel off about anythin’, you need to let us know. They’re closin’ in, don’t think you’re entirely safe right now.”
I flinch and look to Maverick. He walks over, putting his hands on my shoulders. “Got your back, baby. Trust that, yeah? We’ll find this little fucker, and we’ll put whatever it is he’s plannin’ to a stop. You just stay near security, try not to leave your hotel, try not to be alone. Just for now. It’s for the best.”
“You’re scaring me,” I whisper.
He reaches up, stroking my cheek with his thumb. “Not tryin’ to scare you, but you gotta understand that we need to know you’re safe and the only way we can do that is for you to just follow orders and stay on the low down, you hear me?”
I nod.
“Good girl. We’ll get you home, and then we’ll go and see what we can find out about what went down tonight. Don’t leave your hotel, you understand me?”
His voice is firm, but damn if it isn’t sexy. Him telling me what to do, him worrying about me, it makes my heart skip a beat and my core heat. If Mal wasn’t in this room, I’d probably jump Maverick, and I wouldn’t be sorry for it.
“Mal,” Maverick growls. “Go out front, be out in a minute.”
Mal chuckles. “Stay safe, darlin’.”
Then he’s gone.
I guess Maverick was thinking the exact same thing I was because he turns, walking over to the door and locking it, and then he starts prowling toward me like a dangerous damned lion. The look on his face is hungry, and God, I feel instant heat between my legs as he backs me toward the little bench in front of the mirror. He doesn’t waste any time. He doesn’t mess around with foreplay. He just lifts my ass up, putting it down on the bench, and then he glides my dress up my thighs, jerks my panties aside with one hand while he pulls his jeans down with the other.
When his cock is free, he steps forward and brings my bottom right to the edge of the bench and then drives it home, no warning, no build up, just deep and hard. I gasp, clutching his arms, and my head tips back so his mouth can capture my throat and suck it. “You looked so fuckin’ hot out there tonight,” he growls into my flesh while thrusting his hips in and out of me.
“Oh, God,” I whimper, so wet around him, so ready.
“Your fuckin’ sweet voice went right to my dick. All I could think about was comin’ in here and fuckin’
you until you screamed my name.”
Thrust.
“You’re fuckin’ mine, Scarlett. That voice. That body. That heart. Mine. All fuckin’ mine.”
Thrust.
Deep moan.
“Maverick,” I breathe. “Oh, God.”
“Scarlett?”
Someone bangs on the door, and it takes me a second to comprehend what’s happening. “Scarlett, are you in there? Why is the door locked?”
Susan.
Maverick keeps thrusting, slower now, painfully slow, sliding his cock in and out, making pleasure explode through my body so intensely I don’t know if I’ll be able to speak when I try to. “Ah,” I croak out, then take a deep breath just as Maverick’s cock glides inside me once more. “I’m just getting changed. I’ll be a second.”
“Oh, okay. Well, we’re going soon. So hurry up, okay?”
“Okay,” I say, and even I can hear the breathy sound that laces my voice.
“Oh, and we couldn’t find anyone in the crowd. Whoever was out there must have disappeared.”
God, why won’t she go away.
God, why won’t Maverick stop fucking me?
I look at him desperately and he gives me a truly feral grin as he tilts my hips and drives his cock deeper. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He knows exactly how good it feels. He’s the damned devil in disguise. The jerk. I open my mouth and try to stop the moan, but oh, God, it feels incredible. So fucking good. “Okay,” I cry out. “I’ll be out soon.”
“Are you ok? You sound ill?”
My God. Why won’t she leave?
Fuck.
I’m going to come.
So damned hard.
I drop my head into Maverick’s shoulder and bite down as hard as I can as my orgasm rips through me. He hisses in pain at the force of my bite and squeezes my ass so hard I clamp down harder. I feel his cock tighten inside me, hear his breaths coming short and shallow in my ear, and then feel as he releases, spurt after hot spurt inside me.
“I’m okay,” I finally manage to call out to Susan. “Be out in one moment.”
“Okay.”
Finally, she disappears, just as Maverick’s thrusting slows and he drags his cock in and out slowly, milking every last drop from its length. Then he pulls out of me, jerking his jeans up and pulling my panties back over. “Now you can walk around with my cum dripping out of you. That’s what happens when you bite me.”
I bat my eyelashes at him. “I had to smother the noise somehow. That’s what you get for being a jerk and fucking me while someone is trying to talk.”
He flashes me a feral grin, and I lean forward, nipping his bottom lip. “I have to go, honey.”
He growls and kisses me, deep and hard. “Can’t fuckin’ get enough of you. Can’t wait to be at home where I can come and fuck you every single damned day.”
I flush and smile. “Sounds perfect to me.”
He runs a finger over my bottom lip and then turns, striding out of the room. I slide off the bench, straighten my panties, pull on a big coat, and then grab my purse and leave.
That was the best night of my life.
And the best fuck of my life.
This man just keeps getting better.
~*~*~*~
SCARLETT
We ended up deciding to skip the hotel and stay on the bus tonight, because we’re leaving probably before the sun rises in the morning. It’s easier if everyone is on the bus before it goes, rather than trying to rally everyone together in time. We’ve all been sitting outside of it, on a few stray chairs, enjoying a couple of drinks and chatting about how successful the tour has been, aside from a few mishaps on my behalf.
When everyone heads off to bed, I sit outside alone, legs tucked up beneath me, texting Maverick. I miss him already, a deep ache that runs into my chest and makes me wish he was sitting right next to me. Missing someone can suck, so hard. Especially when you know how incredible it feels to have them right beside you, you know how amazing it is, you know how much it makes everything feel better.
S – I miss you, big guy.
I send the text and smile stupidly at my phone as I watch the three little dots appear at the bottom of the screen. A message comes through a moment later.
M – Miss you too, babe.
My smile turns into a stupid grin. I love this feeling. The one when you’re first falling in love, and everything makes you smile. They could do absolutely anything, and it would bring happiness. It’s almost as if they could never do any wrong, because you’d never be able to look at them in a negative light, even if they did. Nothing about them annoys you. Nothing about them makes you want to strangle them. You accept everything. Because everything makes you feel good. Even the fights are good, because you know how incredible and affectionate they’ll be after them.
“Hello, Scar.”
I flinch at the sound of a voice I haven’t heard for such a long time. God. That voice. It brings chills to my spine, it travels right up the middle and lodges deep into the parts of me I keep hidden. It’s a voice that could bring me to my knees without even trying. My head whips up and I see Treyton striding toward me, gun in his hand. “Don’t move. Don’t scream. Or I’ll blow your head off.”
I freeze, my phone slipping from my fingers.
“W-w-w-w-what ...”
I don’t get to say anything else, because he hauls me out of the chair and shoves me around to the back of the bus where nobody can see us, slamming me against it, holding a big hand over my mouth. I try to squirm, but he brings the gun up, pressing it to my head. “Ah ah ah, you don’t want me to damage this pretty head now, do you, sweetheart?”
I cringe.
“You’re going to listen. I don’t have long. Security have just taken five because they think you’re safe here, in a crowd, with all your tour members on the bus. How fucking incredibly stupid. They should know you’re never safe. I know the ins and outs of this industry, I followed you around long enough to know how it works. Silly silly, Susan, I see she still doesn’t know how to do her job.”
I try to speak, but his hand is clasped firmly over my mouth.
“You’re going to help me. Now, I know you’re associated with the Iron Fury MC. Because of them, we’re unable to move drugs into Denver, just like we need. They have an eye on every entrance. They have sources everywhere. We have a big shipment, need to get it over state lines and back home. You’re the perfect opportunity for us to do that.”
I don’t understand.
Fear clutches my spine as I stare into the evil blue eyes of a man I once loved. To look at him, Treyton would take your very breath away. He’s also absolutely deadly.
“Now,” he says, smiling as he starts stroking the gun up and down my cheek. “Here’s how this is going to go. I’m going to load your bus up with drugs when you stop next, and you’re going to make sure it remains unlocked so I can do that. Outside of Susan, you’re the only one with access to it. All those storage compartments below it, I will have them filled. I know nobody uses that area much, so we can get away with it for a few days, you lose the key, you do whatever you have to to keep people out of there.”
What?
He’s got to be kidding me, right?
No.
No way I’ll do that. No way in hell. If we get searched, I’ll go to prison for the rest of my life. No.
I shake my head and he laughs. “I thought you’d say that. So, as always, I thought ahead. Are you missing anybody tonight?”
What is he talking about?
“A certain deaf, pretty, young girl?”
No.
Amalie.
I start squirming and trying to fight him off, but his fingers tighten around my mouth in warning, a warning I know he’ll follow through on. “Do not fight me. She’s here, waiting for you. But what you see ... that’s just a taste of what I’ll do to her if you do not obey me. Don’t cross me, Scarlett. I will gut her slowly and send you her insides. Do you understand me?”
I nod, tears streaming down my face.
Where is Amalie?
What has he done to her? Oh, God. I didn’t notice she wasn’t here. She likes to go off on her own, she’s fiercely independent and doesn’t like to let her hearing affect her life. She often goes and visits the libraries and cafes when we stop, loving the quiet she finds there. Why didn’t I insist on going with her?
God.
“Don’t think about warning those bikers, either. Amalie has family, and so do you, I will find and kill whoever I have to, to make a point, if you try and get their help in this matter. All you have to do is make sure that bus is unlocked tomorrow night when you stop for your show. Keep everyone out of the storage compartment. It’s simple. Then I won’t bother you again.”
I don’t believe him.
But I also know I have no choice.
Trey is vile, and brutal, and he will do exactly what he’s threatening. He will kill anyone he can get his hands on to make a point. I know he will.
I nod.
Bile burns in my stomach, but I have no other choice.
“Good girl. I’ll be in touch. Say nothing. Oh, and Scarlett? Your friend is going to need medical treatment.”
With that, he lets me go and disappears into the darkness.
My knees tremble and I move quickly, quicker than I’ve ever moved in my life. I start running towards the direction he came in. “Amalie?” I call.
She can’t hear me.
Oh, God. She probably doesn’t know I’m looking for her.
“Amalie?” I cry again, running around.
It’s dark where we’re parked, so I can’t see much. I hear a faint moan and spin around, charging in the direction of the sound. Amalie is lying under a street light just outside of the park we’re staying at with our bus. I drop to my knees, tearing all the skin off, and start crying the moment I see her. She’s bloodied, bashed, her hair full of blood. Oh, God. No. What have they done to her?
“Amalie?” I cry. “I’m so sorry. Oh, God. I’m so sorry. I’m going to get help.”