Desire slammed me in a rush of dizziness that I felt from head to toe. I shifted, begging for more. For reprieve. For him to erase our barriers. For him to fill me up and elevate me above it all.
To lift me to the stars.
His hand moved to cup my breast.
Pleasure shimmered and streaked.
He circled his thumb around my nipple.
I whimpered. “Leif. Why does it feel like I have known you my entire life? Like you’re a piece that’s been missing, and now that you’re here, I’m whole?”
It was a stupid, stupid confession. I knew it. But I had never been about playing games.
He groaned. Only this time it was in restraint, his breaths short and rasping as he forced our mouths apart. His harsh pants scraped the vacant space between us, and our foreheads rocked together as we heaved for the nonexistent air.
“Leif.” It was a plea.
He gave a sharp shake of his head as he curled his hands around my shoulders to peel himself off of me. “Fuck.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I need to go.”
“Please . . . don’t leave.”
He didn’t meet my eye when he tore himself the rest of the way free and stumbled two feet back. “God damn it,” he spat toward the floor as he quickly turned to face the opposite direction.
“Leif.” I touched his back.
He jerked, shoving off my hand, and he whirled back around. The disgust that lanced through his expression did little to conceal the greed that blazed in his eyes.
A violent, sparking fire.
“We can’t fucking do this, Mia. This can’t happen.” He jabbed his finger toward the ground.
“Why not?”
He laughed a bitter sound. “I already told you, Mia. Don’t you fucking get it?” he bit out. “I don’t have what you need. I see you. See right through you, and I am not that guy.”
“You don’t have any idea what I need.” My voice quavered. God, I wanted to scream. Punch him. Beg him to stop playing this game.
“No. Maybe I don’t. But one thing I do know? What you don’t need is me.”
Without saying anything else, he turned and stalked across the room and out the door, leaving me standing in the exact spot he had left me before.
My chest palpitated with a frenzy of convoluted emotions that careened through my body.
Need and anger and confusion.
This insane attraction that I was pretty sure was going to ruin me.
I couldn’t be this reckless. Wrapped up in a man who didn’t even want me.
Our intensity fire.
But where there was fire, there was ash.
Dust and debris.
And he was right.
The last thing I could afford was to be consumed.
Thirteen
Leif
“Here, here, assholes. You better be ready to make some magic because this boy can already feel it bleeding from his pores. It’s about to go down.”
Ash Evans grinned all his damned dimples while he plucked at his bass where he sat on a stool in the middle of the recording studio practice room. We were all down in the basement of the mansion Baz had purchased out on Tybee Island, about thirty minutes outside of Savannah.
The house had belonged to their manager before they decided it would be better suited to host the bands that Stone Industries produced.
House boasted an expansive living space—kitchen and great room and offices—plus there were two master suites on the main floor and six on the top. Not to be forgotten was the killer studio on the basement floor.
But what really made the place unforgettable? It was the view of the ocean out back.
I doubted it took a whole ton of convincing to get bands to spend a couple months in this place.
“This coming from the asshole who we were waiting on for the last thirty minutes.” Lyrik tossed Ash a smirk as he hooked his guitar strap over his head and situated it on his shoulder. “Practice started at noon. Sharp.”
“I was busy.” Ash cracked a grin.
“Busy?” Lyrik was nothing but incredulous.
“Uh . . . I think you forget how hot my wife is. And I found myself in need of a little inspiration this morning. Don’t judge me. You’ll thank me later. Almost as profusely as I was thanking Willow. You wanted magic. Here it is.” Ash winked, all kinds of smug.
I had to stop myself from busting out laughing. Was pretty sure it went against protocol to laugh about a man’s girl, especially when I couldn’t exactly consider myself tight with the band.
But still, there was no missing the closeness—the complete easiness—that radiated between them.
Lyrik chuckled a wry sound and scratched his index finger at his temple, flashing the words on his knuckles of that hand that were inked with the word sing. “And you think it’s any easier for me to pry myself away from my wife? Sometimes we just gotta make the sacrifice.”
“All of you are pathetic,” Austin piped in from where he was flipping through a tattered pile of notebooks strewn across a grungy coffee table. “Won’t be more than two or three hours before your girls come over for the barbeque. Think you can handle it.”
Ash tossed a pick at him. Austin deflected it with a swat of his hand. “Dude. Are you for real right now? Your wife is in the room right next door, watching through the window on the couch. Talk about pathetic, man. She’s got you wrapped tight.”
“She’s just making sure I’m on key. Here to offer advice if we need it.” Austin shrugged in innocence.
“Liar!” Ash accused, pointing at him.
Lyrik laughed. “All right. All right. Can we just get this shit over with so we can get on with our day? Don’t think any of us want to be in here any longer than we have to be. Have better things to do.”
He raked his teeth over his bottom lip as he answered a text that was clearly from Tamar.
My eyes darted around to take in the three of them.
Just awesome.
I was surrounded by the love-fucked.
Was pretty sure they were split between the love of their music and the love of their wives. Loyalty pulling them in both directions, and they were balancing on a tightrope.
Understood it on a level that I wished I didn’t.
Loyalty.
Being tugged in opposite directions.
Fighting for both and knowing you were going to fail because you knew full well you were never destined for harmony.
Wanted to refuse the vision that clamored through my mind. Black hair and sable eyes. The taste of the girl lingering on my tongue. My fingers itching to get another feel of Mia West.
My guts were still twisted in knots of lust that I doubted could be undone any time soon.
The door jerked open and Baz strode in. He glanced around.“Everyone good? Need anything?”
Lyrik nodded. “Yup. All’s good. Want to run through a couple songs I’ve been working on getting down. Weave some shit in. Maybe we can test them out on a couple tracks in an hour or so?”
“Sounds good. Going to be upstairs on a call. Just holler when you’re ready for me or if you need anything.”
“We’ve got it,” Austin told him.
“Know you do,” Baz returned with a slight smile over his shoulder as he disappeared back out the door.