The feel of his hot release inside of me only intensified my orgasm. I clawed at his back as my climax went on and on, until I thought I was going to pass out from the sheer pleasure of it all…
Drake lay on top of me, sweat coating both of our skins. His face was against my neck, his lips kissing the sensitive spot just under my ear. I was spent and still floating on a euphoria cloud. I didn’t want this moment to ever end. Fuck the world because I wasn’t ready to leave this bed or this man.
There was a slight tab on the closed door. “Lana?”
Drake’s head jerked up. “Go the fuck away, Shane!” he roared.
“Sorry, bro.” Shane called through the door. “I hate bothering you guys, but Lana’s phone keeps ringing. It’s Layla and she keeps calling. It might be important.”
My heart stuttered in my chest. “I’ll be right there!”
Drake’s arms tightened around my for a moment before he muttered a curse and rolled off. “Come back,” he commanded, pulling the covers over his waist as I pulled on the shirt that he had stripped me of without even knowing it. Instead of putting on my wet panties, I grabbed a pair of boxers from his dresser and stepped into them as I headed for the door.
When I opened the bedroom door Shane was standing there, my phone in his hand. “Sorry, sis.” He grimaced.
“It’s okay.” I gave him a small smile as I took the phone from him. A glance at the screen told me that I had five missed calls. Heart pounding, I pulled up my sister’s number and hit connect.
It didn’t even finish ringing once before Layla answered. “Oh, God! Are you okay?” she asked.
Something in my sister’s voice told me that she was upset. “I’m fine. What’s wrong?”
“I didn’t know!” she cried. “I had no idea. If I had, I never would have let Drake accept the job. Please believe that.”
I went still. “Layla…”
“I couldn’t believe it when Jesse told me that he was one of the judges. I’m still in denial!” She went on as if she hadn’t heard me.
I glanced over at the bed and pulled the phone away from my ear. “I…I’m going to take this in the bathroom.” I told him and rushed through the open bathroom door before he could protest. When I was alone, I locked the door and turned on the faucet. “Layla, are you still there?”
“Lana what’s going on?”
“I…I’m at Drake’s,” I whispered. “I don’t want to talk about this right now, Layla.”
There was a long pause on the other end, and I could actually hear the wheels turning in her head. “Did you spend the night?”
“Yes.” I wasn’t going to lie to her about it. “But I’m about to leave. I have to meet Linc…” A glance at the clock on my phone showed me that I had forty minutes to get where I needed to be before he went ape-shit on my ass.
“Cole is the third judge, Lana. Did you know?”
I sighed. “Yeah. I found out yesterday when I stopped by to watch the auditions.” I ran my fingers through my tangled hair, trying to get it to look at least a little less crazy sex-ish. “I saw him.”
“And you’re okay? Are you sure?” Layla sounded concerned now that she wasn’t so frantic.
“I’m fine, Layla. He means nothing to me. Why would I be bothered by seeing him?” Okay, so maybe I had been a little bothered by seeing Cole Steel yesterday. That didn’t mean I needed to burden my sister with that shit.
“Lana…Jesse knows. I had to tell him because I kind of freaked out when he told me last night. He’s upset because I told him everything. He wants to come out there and see you. Maybe even punch Cole in the throat.” I closed my eyes and rested my head against the tiled wall. “I’m sorry, Lana. I couldn’t keep it from him.”
“I understand. He’s your husband, Layla. Of course you had to tell him.” I dropped down on the closed toilet seat, rubbing at my suddenly aching head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea if you guys come out here. Drake doesn’t know and I’m not ready to tell him about Cole. Jesse’s too much of a hot head…”
“I don’t know if I can keep him from going, but I will see what I can do, sweetheart. Maybe stall him until he’s less volatile. He’s seriously upset though, Lana. Jesse loves you.”
Hot tears pricked my eyes, and I closed them to keep them from spilling out. “I love him too… I have to go, Layla.”
“Okay, baby. I’ll call you later… Tell Drake I said hi. I’m not sure if this is what you need right now, but I’m happy for you if this is what you want.”
When I opened the door Drake was still where I had left him. He was frowning at the ceiling. “Layla says hi,” I said with a small smile. I didn’t want the conversation I had just had with my sister to affect the happiness that I had just minutes ago with the sexy man still lying on the bed.
“Is everything okay? Lucy?”
I shook my head. “Lucy is fine.” My baby sister was beyond okay these days. Jesse and Layla had adopted her, making her officially their daughter. Lucy loved Jesse to death and had even started calling him “Dad” recently. I was happy for her. She had the one thing that Layla and I had never had. A father that loved her. “And so are Layla and Jesse.”
Drake raised a brow. “Then why the frantic calls?”
“She was just worried about me.” Not a lie. I crossed back to the bed and dropped down on the edge. “You’re going to be late for work.”
He grunted. “Who cares? Cole’s late every morning. My lateness isn’t going to hurt anything.” He reached for me and pulled me across his chest. “Let’s stay in bed all day and make love until we can’t walk.”
I grinned, loving that idea, but Linc was going to seriously kill me if I didn’t show up. “I would if I didn’t have to meet my friend.” He frowned and I rushed to explain why I had to go. “Linc…” his whole body tensed “...my very gay roommate, is my dance partner in this jazz dance competition that we’re doing in a little over a month. I have to meet him at our gym for practice.”
Drake relaxed. “Okay.” He sighed. “I hate that you’re going to leave me if for only a few hours… Why don’t you come by the studio later and we can have lunch?”
“Will you behave?” I asked, only half teasing. The fight from yesterday still lingered in my mind. That had been scary as hell. I hated Cole, but I didn’t necessarily want him dead!
He crossed his heart. “Promise.”
I dropped a kiss on his lips. “Okay. I’ll come by.” Reluctantly, I stood. There wasn’t time to go home and change. “Can I barrow some sweats?”
“Of course, but they will be too big. Ask Shane if he has anything. I’m sure he has a few things that will fit you.”
I wrinkled my nose as at the idea. No way was I going to wear something that had come off of one of Shane’s one-nighters. “Um, yeah. No thanks.”
I crossed over to the dresser and pulled out a pair of sweats pants. He was right. They would be too big, but I could work with that. Grabbing a clean shirt from the next drawer, I headed for the shower.
Chapter 17
Drake
As the door closed behind Lana and I heard the faucet turn on, I frowned. Obviously, she didn’t want me to know what she was saying to her sister. It didn’t really bother me. I was sure she was just trying to explain why she hadn’t answered her phone the first time Layla had called.
If I were Layla I would be worried too. Especially when she found out that her sister was sleeping with the man who had hurt her so badly back in December. Grimacing, I decided to call Layla and assure her that I only wanted to make Lana happy. This time I wasn’t going to fuck it all up!
With that settled in my mind, I instead turned to other things...like reliving the most incredible experience in my life. Making love to Lana had been epic. Just thinking about how tight she had been, how incredibly hot and sweet she had been as I had thrust into her over and over again, made me hard to the point of pain…
Yet even as I basked in the remembered ecstasy, something kept nagging at me.
Lana had been tight…but not a virgin. It shouldn’t have bothered me. Fuck, she had every right in the world to explore her sexuality. I had given up the right to be her first when I had hurt her in Vegas.
Just because I didn’t have the right to care, didn’t mean that I didn’t!
I had dreamed of being Lana’s first. Of teaching her all about passion and lovemaking. It made my gut ache with some unknown pain knowing that I hadn’t been the one to do any of those things. Muttering a curse, I punched the bed on either side of me and glared up at the ceiling.
This was just one more fuck up that I was responsible for…
When Lana came out of the bathroom, looking flushed and her eyes red as if she had been crying, I pushed all my unreasonable thoughts away. “Layla says hi,” she murmured.
I had been worried that something was wrong with her sisters or my band brother, and I was relieved when she assured me that they were okay. Her need to leave bothered me, but her explanation eased some of my upset. I was happy that she had gotten back into dancing. I knew that it had been a passion of hers as a little girl.
When she grabbed my sweats and headed for the bathroom to shower I didn’t stay in bed long. Whistling to myself, I followed her and stepped into the huge walk-in shower with her. Five shower heads were already beating down on her from all imaginable angles. Her back was turned to me and I wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her against my already throbbing erection.
“We don’t have time for this, babe,” she murmured, but there was an almost purr quality to her voice. She wanted me just as badly as I wanted her despite our earlier session in bed.
I nipped her just under her left ear. “Showering together will save time,” I argued as I pushed her front up against the tiled wall. From behind, I parted her thighs until my dick fit just right. Her opening was drenched with her arousal. Leaning forward, I nuzzled her neck with my nose. “No matter what, we will always have time for this.”
Her arms wrapped around my neck, pulling me closer as she turned her head and met my lips. I kissed her deep, playing with her tongue as I lifted her just enough for the head of my dick to slip into her dark recesses. Her cry was drowned in my mouth as I pushed into her until I was balls deep.
“Slow and easy or hard and fast?” I asked as I felt her muscles start to contract around me. Just one thrust into that tight, sinfully hot pussy and she was ready to come for me.
“Fast,” she panted. “Hard.” She pressed her ass back against me, inviting me to take her any way I wanted. “Please, Drake.”
Her plea was my undoing, and I clamped my hands tightly around her hips to keep her in place as I began to thrust into her with reckless abandon. I pounded into her only a half a dozen times before she was screaming my name. Her muscles convulsed around my dick as I sunk deep into her each time. It felt so good. So fucking good!
“Angel,” I ground out as I lost what little control I had on myself and emptied deep within her…
--
I was forty-seven minutes late.
Cole and Axton were already seated at our table when I walked in. The producer shot me a hard look, but I ignored him. I was too happy, too content with the world at large to care about anything or anyone else. Humming softly to myself, I dropped down beside Axton at the judge’s table.
My friend grinned as I thanked the assistant who sat the mug of coffee down in front of me. “Drake Stevenson smiling, humming happily. Thanking people… Wow! I don’t think I have ever seen any of those things happen in the entire time I have known you. Does the lovely Lana have anything to do with this change in you, old friend?”
“She has everything to do with it.” I couldn’t help the goofy grin that spread across my face as I pulled the ever present itinerary closer.
“Good for you, dude. I’m glad to see you so happy.” He turned to Cole. “I think he’s going to marry that girl.”
“The leggy blonde or the stacked brunette?” Cole asked, sounding both bored and interested at the same time. How the hell was that even possible? Yet he pulled it off.
I refused to let his question put a damper on my good mood. “The brunette,” I told him. “And yeah, I am going to marry her. Not anytime soon, though.” Lana still had college to finish. Marriage was a few years away for us.
Cole nodded as if understanding. “The brunette. She was dynamite. And that mouth! She was keeping up with that brother of yours, man. Good choice.”
“Listen, man...” Axton put his phone down after typing a few words and hitting send “...can you do me a huge favor?”
I raised a brow at him. Axton never asked favors. He didn’t need to. If he wanted or needed something he either took care of it himself or called his assistant to do it for him. Sometimes he even called Emmie if he needed something major done quick. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Lana said something yesterday and I really like the idea. That Dallas chick would be ideal for OtherWorld’s new video. She’s hot, inked, hot, feisty… Did I mention hot?” I rolled my eyes at him. “Can you talk to Lana? Get her to work on her friend and persuade her to do it? I’ll make sure the pay is sweet.”
“I’ll talk to her,” I promised. “But don’t get your hopes up, man. Lana told me a little about her last night and she isn’t exactly Miss Sunshine.”
“Yeah, I figured that out yesterday.” Axton grinned. “Jesus Christ! She’s hot.”
Cole snorted. “Man, we know. Not only do we have eyes, but you’ve told us like a hundred times.”
Before either of us could comment, the producer’s assistant started showing in hopefuls. The next two hours passed in a blur of tone deaf, off key, cry baby boredom. I spent more time checking my watch or phone then paying attention. Really, I sucked at this job, but I didn’t care. It wasn’t like I needed the money or anything. If they fired me—which I knew they wouldn’t because they didn’t want to piss Emmie off—then it wouldn’t bother me in the least.
At one thirty, Lana texted me to let me know she was outside, and I stood up the second the latest hopeful finished his shaky voiced attempt at some original song that he had written himself. “No,” I told him point blank.
“Dray? Where ya going?” Axton called after me.
“Lunch. Lana’s waiting outside for me,” I called over my shoulder.
“Awesome. More Lana.” I heard his chair scrape against the floor as he stood. “No way, dude,” he told the hopeful. “Wait up! I’m hungry too.”
I muttered a curse under my breath. I wanted a quiet hour with Lana. Just her and me, and maybe a little day-old Chinese food after a quickie, but it didn’t look like that was going to happen. Axton caught up with me before I reached the door, and Cole was quick to follow. “Sounds good to me,” the old rocker said as he fell into step with me and Ax. “I always did enjoy some eye candy while I eat.”
As soon as I saw her my heart stuttered in my chest. Would it always skip a beat when I saw that girl? I fucking hoped so! The smile on her beautiful face when she spotted me coming her way was breathtaking, and I pulled her into my arms, kissing her until she moaned.
“You look beautiful,” I said as I glanced down at her simple jeans and tank. The sweats that she had left my place in that morning were not something I wanted my friend to see her in. Especially since they had been hanging off her, even after she had rolled, tucked, and gathered the extra fabric into rubber bands to make them fit better.
“Thanks.” She kissed me again, quick and hard. “I’m starving, babe. Where are we eating.” Her gaze went over my shoulder and I felt her stiffen. “I assume it will be the four of us…”
Axton pushed between us, hugging her. “Yep. I’m not turning down the chance to be with little Lana.”
She wrinkled her nose at him. “Why do I like you again?”
“My charming personality? The sexy rock god persona?” He smacked a kiss against her cheek, and I had to grit my teeth before I said something I would regret.
Lana raised a
dark brow. “Yeah… No, neither of those things.”
Axton pouted. “But…But…You don’t like me?” He grinned. “You know you do, sweetheart. You don’t have a mean bone in that beautiful body.”
“Mean? Maybe not. Bitchy, fuck yeah!” She hugged him before stepping back and putting her hand in mine. “And you, rock legend? Are you going to be joining us too?”
Cole shrugged. “It looks like it, beautiful. Might as well tag along. You wouldn’t deprive an old man of some company for a mere meal, would you, sweetness?”
I felt tension in Lana, but she didn’t look like she was upset. In fact, she was smiling at Cole. “No. I wouldn’t dare do a thing like that.”
Lana
What the fuck had I been thinking?
I should have told Cole, and probably Axton too, that I didn’t want them coming. I had been doing nothing but thinking about Drake all morning, and I had hoped we could have something small at a quiet café or something. Instead, I had had a moment of insanity and a plan had formed.
We all got in the back of Axton’s car, since it was the first one we came to. Axton gave his driver the address for some deli that he said he favored and we were off. I was stuck between Ax and Drake while Cole took up the seat across from us. I didn’t mind that I was squished up against Drake. I would have been pressed there even if Axton wasn’t crowding us.
A silence descended the back of the car and I started to feel tense. Not even Drake’s hand tracing little swirls on my arm could fully distract me. Sighing, I broke the silence. “So, Cole… Are you married?”
Cole snorted. “Tried that once. It didn’t work out too well.”
I knew all about his one marriage. It had ended in a nasty divorce. That had been about twenty years ago, and Cole had had to shell out a big load of cash to keep his secrets a secret.
“How about kids? Got any of those?” I was surprised that my voice was so calm, that I was able to keep my smile in place for so long without my face breaking.
The old rocker shrugged. “One or two. Neither of which want anything to do with me.”