His arms tightened around me and I felt his lips brush over my ear. “It’s going to be okay, Nat.”
I could only nod, not sure if I believed him or not, but comforted by his words nonetheless.
Devlin
The silky smooth leg over both of mine shifting woke me, but I didn’t open my eyes. Or maybe it was the instant ache in my cock that the shifting leg caused that woke me. Groaning, I moved my head until my lips found the top of Natalie’s head. She sighed my name and cuddled closer, still asleep.
As hard as I was right then, I wanted nothing more than to kiss her awake and sink deep into her pussy. I didn’t, though. Natalie needed as much sleep as she could get these days. She’d been working her ass off even more ever since some idiot had destroyed her brother’s bus three weeks ago.
The media was making a field day out of the stories on the attack, and bringing up shit from Shane’s past that had nothing to do with his relationship with Harper. The paps were trying their hardest to tear those two apart, but if anything it was only making their relationship stronger.
Most everyone who was on our tour had started to relax a little more now that the shock had worn off from the attack. I knew that both Emmie and Natalie were still on edge over the whole thing, though. Natalie was exhausted with all the shit she had to deal with every day on top of all the other things she was responsible for. I wanted to talk to Emmie about it, make her get Natalie some extra help.
Those two could probably conquer the world alone with just their clipboards and cellphones, but they still needed more help. Especially Natalie. The stress of it all was giving her more and more headaches. She was pale and there were dark circles under her beautiful blue-gray eyes. And it wasn’t just because I woke her up throughout the night to sink into that tight pussy of hers.
On the small shelf above the bed, Natalie’s phone vibrated twice and I rushed to grab it before it woke her. Blinking the last of the sleep from my eyes, I saw that it was a text but it didn’t make sense to me at first so I rubbed my eyes with the heel of my hand and looked at it again. There wasn’t a name with the text, just a five digit number.
Reminder: You have an appointment with Dr. Rashid @ 1:45 on July 13th. Reply 1 to confirm or 2 to reschedule.
My entire body turned hot and then cold. Was she sick? Were the almost constant headaches she was having worse than she’d made me think? My stomach began to turn at just the thought that there could be something seriously wrong with Natalie. If she was sick, if it was something that could take her from me, I didn’t know if I would survive that.
Natalie stretched beside me. I looked down at her, memorizing every inch of her elfin face. She smiled softly. “Is Emmie already handing out commands?”
“It’s not from Emmie.” She lifted a brow, silently asking me who it was. “It’s one of those automated reminders for a doctor’s appointment with Dr. Rashid next month. That’s our Phoenix stop, right?”
Her brow lowered and she cuddled closer against me. “Yeah. Hit one for me. It’s for Lana and Dallas.”
My body relaxed. So it was an obstetrician appointment for the two pregnant chicks. I breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t some neurologist or something for Natalie because of her headaches, although it probably wouldn’t hurt to get her to see a doctor about them. I would have to bring it up later, and if she didn’t want to go then I would talk to Emmie about it and make her go.
I typed the reply and hit send before replacing the phone on the shelf above my head and then tucked her head under my chin and closed my eyes. I felt more than heard the sigh that left Natalie’s lips. “I regret getting you that damn Acqua Di Gio now. Why do you wear it to bed?”
I grinned. “Because I know you can’t resist it.” Without even realizing it, my hand started rubbing up and down her back, then settled on her hip and started rubbing little circles. It must have felt good because goose bumps rose on her arms. I was glad she liked it, because it was soothing to me to touch her like that.
If I’d thought I had it bad for this chick before, it was nothing to how bad I had it now. Sure, I’d known that I loved Natalie last spring. Once I’d let myself get involved with her it hadn’t taken long before I was feeling more than just consuming lust for her. Maybe it was because I’d spent so many months wanting her back, or maybe it was because this time I didn’t have that fucking bet hanging over my head, but I had fallen even deeper and harder for her.
There had been days, over the last two weeks, when I thought I was going to go insane with the need to simply see her when she was so busy. It was crazy, especially when I knew that I would get to crawl into bed with her at the end of the day, but that didn’t make it any easier. I felt like a teenager with his first taste of love, and that if I didn’t have her beside me every hour of every day then I was going to slowly implode. And when I was with her, I needed her beside me, needed to be touching her, even if it was just to brush my fingers over the back of her hand.
I was thankful that her brothers were distracted with other things at the moment. Natalie still didn’t want to tell them that we were together, and I understood her reasons. Drake and Shane were just as protective of Natalie and Jenna as they had been and still were over Emmie. My friends might not be my friends for long if they knew that I was making love to their little sister every night. Part of me did want to tell them, though. I didn’t want to hide our relationship like it was something that we should be ashamed of.
For the moment I was going to play it by Natalie’s rules if that would make her less stressed.
I brushed a kiss over the top of her head, and then trailed more kisses down the side of her face before continuing down her neck. Her breath hitched as I paused to lick at the pulse beating erratically at the base of her throat. All thoughts of letting her sleep vanished completely from my head when her soft hands skimmed over my back. Seconds later her nails sliced into my skin, making me groan in pained-filled delight. Fuck, I loved when she did that, and she probably didn’t even realize she was doing it. She was lost in the moment and couldn’t help herself.
“Dev.” She moaned my name, making my cock twitch in excitement.
With my knee, I spread her thighs wide and plunged into her without bothering to tease either of us. There was no need. She was already dripping wet, making my path slick with liquid heat. We both had to stifle our shouts of pleasure from that first thrust.
Natalie’s hands moved from my back to my neck, her fingers tangling in my long hair. A few strands fell forward, tickling across her tits as I pushed into her again. The sight of my dark hair contrasting with her alabaster skin only heightened my pleasure and I bent my head to lick the valley between her tits.
When she started making those damn little mewling sounds, I knew that she was close. Moments later I felt her walls tighten around my cock, trying to force my own release. I gritted my teeth and slowed my pace, not wanting it to be over yet. I rolled onto my back, pulling free of her. She made a protesting sound in the back of her throat until I entered her again from behind.
Her head fell back against my chest, one of her arms reaching behind her until her nails were biting into my ass. “Touch your clit, baby,” I murmured against her ear. “Touch yourself for me.”
I could tell my command turned her on even more. Her pussy contracted around my shaft even before her free hand moved between her legs. I dropped my head and bit into her shoulder as she shifted her hips, taking me deeper. Fuck, she felt so damn good.
“Dev,” she moaned again, her hand moving faster as I felt her tighten around my shaft again.
“Already, baby?” I thrust faster, harder, wanting to go with her this time. “Damn, you feel amazing.”
“Dev!” she cried out, her back arching to the point that I was only half inside her now.
“Nat,” I moaned. My balls tightened, the base of my spine tingling. I knew that I was seconds away from spilling into her. “Fuck.” I closed my eyes and held onto her waist
tighter as I let my orgasm wash through me. I held my breath as the first contraction hit. I swallowed my own cry of sheer pleasure, making my throat ache just as badly as my cock did in that moment to release the scream that was building.
Long minutes later my breathing finally evened out and my heart was slowly calming down. Natalie scooted her ass back against me, drowsily cuddling closer. I pressed my lips against her ear and whispered the words that had been trying to break free during my release.
“I love you, Nat.”
She didn’t respond, which surprised me. I’d figured she would have said something even if it was to call bullshit. Lifting my head, I realized that she had fallen back to sleep again. With a muttered curse I shook my head at my timing.
It figured that the first time I actually got the nerve to confess my true feelings for this chick that she would fall asleep on me before she heard me.
Natalie
The bus was empty today, something I was thankful for as I put together a sandwich in the kitchenette on the OtherWorld bus. I was tired and still had a little headache going despite the Tylenol that I’d taken an hour before. The damn things just wouldn’t go away and I was getting tired of them.
Cutting a tomato, I ate three slices before even putting one on my sandwich. I hadn’t had time for breakfast that morning and I was starving. Once my sandwich was done I grabbed a bag of baked chips and a one of the huge bottles of Voss that the fridge was stocked with before walking into the living room and turning on the flat screen.
I was glad to have a few hours to myself. Most of my bus mates were off exploring the city we were stopped in for the next two days. Harris had asked his dad to go with him and the Thorntons’ sightseeing. It had melted my heart when he’d asked if I would come along too, but my head had been about to split open in pain at the time and I’d had to decline. Both Cutter males had looked disappointed and I’d felt it too, but I hadn’t wanted to ruin the day for them with my misery.
I was just stuffing the last of my sandwich into my mouth when I heard the bus’s door open. Frowning, I turned my head to see Marissa. She gave me a small smile as she dropped down onto the couch beside me. “Feeling better?”
I shrugged. “Better than I was.” I took a long swallow of my water, studying my friend a little closer.
In the last three weeks, ever since the tour had started, Marissa had changed. She still had moments when she looked sad and lost, but those were few and far between. She was spending a lot more time with Wroth, sharing a roost with him. And yeah, giving Devlin and me a run for our money when it came to who could be the loudest during sex. I was glad that Marissa looked happier. That girl should never have to cry again.
“Has anyone else come back?” Marissa asked, taking a chip from my bag when I offered it.
“You’re the first. Did you and Liam have fun?” Liam had asked her to have lunch with him as soon as she had gotten up that morning. I thought it was sweet of him to make time for her during his crazy schedule. That man loved his sister more than anyone else in the world so it didn’t surprise me.
Instead of nibbling on her chip, Marissa bit into her bottom lip. I wanted to yell at her to stop it, just as Liam had taken to doing lately since she was doing it so often, but yelling at Marissa seemed like yelling at a sweet little puppy and I just couldn’t. “What’s wrong, Rissa?” When she bit her lip like that I knew that something was on her mind.
She sighed and turned to face me on the couch. “I wanted to talk to you about the bet we made.”
I blinked. I hadn’t really thought about the bet. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to follow through on it. From the look on Marissa’s face, she didn’t want to do it either. “What about it?”
“I quit,” she said and seemed relieved to have actually spoken the words. Her shoulders sagged a little. “I regret making the bet with you and if you want, I’ll still take over your job while you go on vacation.”
I shrugged, attempting to act like I didn’t care either way. I didn’t want to admit that I was relieved that she was quitting. If she quit then I didn’t have to go through with the bet either. I didn’t want to walk away from Devlin again at the end of the summer. I didn’t want to do a lot of things… “Okay, if that’s what you want to do.”
Marissa smiled. “So, are you still going to proceed with it?”
I shrugged, still trying to play it cool. I didn’t want to admit that I was in deeper than I’d ever been with Devlin before. He was different now and I thought it was because this time around he didn’t have that damn bet holding him back from what he was feeling for me. It was hard to accept when I’d hated him for what he’d done for so long, but I was starting to think that Devlin really had cared for me last spring. “Maybe,” I told her, returning her smile. “I haven’t decided yet.”
For the rest of the afternoon she and I vegged out on the couch watching whatever movie happened to be on the satellite. Thankfully they were rom-coms because I didn’t think my head could have handled noisy action-packed thrillers.
Around dinnertime the bus started filling up again. It was the night that all the girls went to one of the buses and had a girls’ night in while the guys went out to a club or just hung out playing a video game. I wasn’t in the mood to go hang out, but I went and changed out of my sweatshirt and yoga pants into a pair of running shorts and one of Devlin’s T-shirts. It wasn’t much better than what I’d had on before, but it was hot as hell outside and I didn’t want to get heatstroke from my comfy sweatshirt.
When I came back from the bathroom, the living room was full of rockers. Apparently they were staying in tonight as well, so I pulled out my cell and asked them what they wanted on their pizzas. Might as well get them sorted before I took off to Harper’s refurbished bus for the evening to watch who knew what. If she and Lana had her way it was going to be something terrifying and that made me want to leave my own bus even less.
“How many do you want?” I asked the room.
“Better order at least fourteen,” Zander said as he leaned against the counter in the kitchenette beside me. “Some wings, breadsticks, and something sweet for dessert.” He lifted a beer to his lips and took a drink before grinning at me. “That’s just for me. Get those fuckers what they want.”
I lifted my head from my Papa John’s app and grinned back at him. Since his apology I’d softened toward the dipshit. We weren’t as close as we had been before, but it was definitely better than it had been over the last year. “I hope your stomach explodes.”
“Why?” He cocked one brow, smirking down at me. “You’ll probably be the one that has to clean that up.”
I sighed. “Yeah, you’re probably right. Don’t explode, dude.”
“I’ll try my best, babe.” He tipped his bottle of beer back and took a long swallow before tossing the now empty container in the trash. There were only a few beers left in the fridge, but I figured that someone would send a few of the roadies out for more. I dreaded the mess that I was most likely to come back to at the end of the night.
I started ordering the pizzas along with everything else. “If you want something particular on your pizza tell me now. I’m not doing this twice tonight.”
Six different voices started calling out toppings at rapid fire and I squeezed the bridge of my nose twice in pain before I’d even made it to the check-out page on my app. The door to the bus opened and three more rockers stepped into the living room followed by a mini rocker. My gaze skipped over Shane and Jesse, paused for a moment to take in the sight of how delicious Devlin looked in a sweat-stained T-shirt then quickly moved to Harris. “How about a cheese pizza for you and Lucy?”
“Depends. Are you going to make me eat salad again?” I nodded and his face twisted in disgust. “Can’t I just eat a few celery sticks that come with the wings?”
“Celery doesn’t count as a legitimate vegetable when you smother it in buffalo sauce and an entire cup of ranch dressing,” I informed him as I glanced d
own at my phone again. “Do you want the pizza or not?”
“Yeah, sure.” He blew out a long breath, making it seem like I was making him get his teeth filled without getting properly numbed-up first. I didn’t bother to hide my grin as I added the cheese pizza to the monstrous order.
“I want one of those cookie things,” Shane told me as he leaned over my shoulder to snoop at what I was doing. “And extra of those peppers that they always include in the box.”
“Can I have a cookie too?” Harris asked, stepping up beside me so he could look over my other shoulder. “If I have to eat salad I want cookies for dessert.”
I sighed. “I’ll get one for you to share with Lucy.” When the smell of sweat and dirt filled my nose, I pushed Harris away. “Go shower.”
He stuck his tongue out at me. “I came here to shower. Between Jesse, Layla, the twins and Lucy, there wasn’t any hot water left on the bus.”
Jesse took the last two bottles of beer from the fridge and turned to glare at Harris. “Don’t blame me, boy. I was in there maybe two minutes. It’s Lu that runs it all out.”
“Someone call Pock and make him go get more beer,” Devlin grumbled when Jesse handed the second bottle of beer over to Shane. “I’m not putting up with all you fuckers tonight without a little buzz going on.”
Marissa, who’d been taking a shower, came into the living room dressed in a pair of jeans and a tank top on. Someone let out a loud wolf whistle and I turned my head to see who had done it. When I realized it was Rhett, I breathed a little easier, knowing that if it had been anyone else they would have been torn in two. Thankfully Wroth was cool with Rhett now that he knew that the guy was gay.
“I’m ready to go when you are,” Marissa assured me as she moved to the fridge and took out a bottle of water.
“Just let me send this and then call them to assure them it isn’t some prank order.” It happened every time I ordered pizza, not that I could blame them. If I had to make four hundred dollars’ worth of food and it turned out to be some kid pulling a stupid prank, I would be pissed too.