RJ pulled back, gazing up at me with heavy-lidded eyes, that look of his all lust. Gripping the back of my neck, he drew me in until our lips were crushed into each other’s. There was nothing gentle this time around. Digging my fingers into his hair, I helped myself, clinging to the promise of a life spent exactly like this.
And when we finally broke apart, I forced myself to breathe as I traced his saliva along my swollen lips with a finger. RJ pulled his shirt up and over his head, giving me my first glimpse of his deeply bruised stomach and torso. It had only been three weeks since the earthquake, and he was still healing. Could he handle the jostling?
RJ saw me staring. “Are we back to this again? Trust me, it’ll hurt me more if you stop.”
I nodded, lowering my lips to his warm skin, and tenderly kissed each and every bruise. “But just to be sure… I need to check your reflexes.”
“My reflexes?”
“Uh-huh. Your medical clearance. Remember?”
Still straddling RJ, I glided my slippery center down past his waist, coming to rest on his jutting erection still frustratingly sheathed. I rubbed my slickness over him. Once, twice… oh my god, yes.
“Reflexes,” I grunted. “Working fine.”
He thickened between my quivering legs, the expression on his face straight-up lust. I continued to move over him in a slow circular motion. His thumb moved down to my nub, kneading the pulsing spot between my legs and sending a jolt through me. Seeing my electrified reaction, RJ doubled down, his fingers working expertly between my thighs. I writhed against him, my heart racing and my head spinning. Nothing had ever felt quite like this. Under RJ’s expert touch, I was leaking like a malfunctioning faucet.
“Do you want more?” he whispered in my ear.
God, yes. More. More. But I couldn’t speak. Could barely breathe. My body rumbling with desire. So close. And then nothing. RJ stopped, his fingers abandoning me in my time of need and leaving me throbbing at my core. I think I might have whimpered in response, pressing my thighs together to try and ward off the inevitable. But it was a swift transition. RJ lifted me off him and set me on my back before rising to his knees. He gazed down at me with lascivious eyes, while prying my legs back open.
“I’m not done with you yet,” he teased, flashing me a wicked, life-altering grin.
I was supercharged; one touch might shock me dead. My stomach rose and fell with the anticipation of what he was promising me. And when he dipped his head between my legs, touching his tongue to my sex, it forced a squeal from my depths. I closed my thighs around his head and grabbed for whatever might dampen the relentless pressure growing inside. With a wad of sheets in my hands, I dipped my head back waiting, wanting. With his tongue applying the final touches, RJ slid his hand the length of my rigid, arched body, triggering the explosion. For one intense moment I felt weightless, suspended between here and there before crashing back onto the bed in a quivering state of shock.
I watched helplessly as RJ removed his pants, his dick springing from its restraints. He was naked in all his glory, and I’d never seen anything quite like him. Holy shit, he was hung. And that rack of abs. I was not worthy. While RJ sheathed the monster, I curiously traced my fingers along those horizontal muscles in his stomach, reveling in their hard lines. Jeremys did not have these.
RJ returned to his rightful spot between my legs, rigid and ready. I reached for him, wanting to own every bit of him. He pushed in, the wetness easing him through. He filled me up, returning my body to high alert as he slowly eased me into this whole new world of desire until I was once again on the edge of sanity, begging him for more.
His fingers returned to my sex, startling me in the very best away. Currents of pleasure ricocheted through me as I dug my nails into his back. It was wild. Thrilling. I wasn’t going to last. He slid through me, the length of him, in and out, sending my mind to places it had never been. And those punishing fingers just seared through me. It was ecstasy and agony all wrapped into one. I couldn’t hold on. I couldn’t let go. My body shook like the temblor that had started the story of us. He ground into me, bottoming out, and the groan escaping his mouth sounded like a wounded animal.
“RJ, I can’t. It’s too much. Feels too...”
He thrust harder, and I just held on for dear life until a rolling earthquake of unimaginable magnitude ripped through me. I screamed, not caring who could hear my cries. And when the rumbling finally subsided, I wrapped my arms around my superstar lover, panting and calling out his name.
He stroked my hair. Kissed my neck. My face. My eyelids. And in that moment, I knew my declaration of love in the parking garage had not come from a place of fear or sadness. It had come, very much, from the heart.
29
RJ: For a Good Cause
I sat on a stool in the middle of the stage, just me and my guitar. Stripped of all conceit, I simply played, lost in that place in my mind where I went when the music was flowing through me like gold. I’d existed here a lot lately, enough that Dani needed to remind me to eat and to sleep and to make her scream.
But the late nights in the studio had paid off with nine solid tracks for my second solo album, each one more deeply felt than the next. I’d been proud of my work before, but never like this. In a few weeks’ time, the album would drop, and the world would judge its worth. There was always that chance it would flop, but this time I wouldn’t hide because I no longer measured myself by the opinions of others.
I launched into my final number, Dani’s favorite and one that never failed to bring tears to her eyes. This was the song inspired by that day on the chair in her childhood room. That was the day we’d decided to turn our survivor’s guilt into action. And why we were all here tonight—Dani, me, and a few of my famous friends—raising money for earthquake victims throughout the city. The proceeds wouldn’t bring back loved ones or replace heirlooms lost, but it would help with funeral costs, put roofs back over people’s heads, and provide a future for Sarina, the little girl who’d lost it all.
Steeped in emotion, I sang the last wrenching notes of the song, ending with a crackling of my voice. There was a brief moment of silence as the audience acknowledged my sorrow. Then came the cheers. I stood and waited. Normally I’d take my final bow and exit the stage, but there was nothing normal about this show, nor was this the last song I would sing tonight.
The crowd buzzed with excitement, knowing what was to come. Despite all the notable names on tonight’s roster, AnyDayNow’s one-night-only reunion had earned top billing and driven the ticket prices through the roof. The audience erupted when the guys joined me at center stage. Although each had been out earlier in the evening to perform solo, this was the first time any of us had been on the stage together since our much-publicized breakup nearly two years ago. There had been renewed interest in us after the quake, our natural disaster dramas drawing the interest of millions and bringing our older music back onto the airwaves. Say what you will about our cheeseball pop songs, but they were generation-defining and as popular today as they’d been at the height of our fame. We’d made our mark on history. AnyDayNow was here to stay.
Taking our positions on the stage, I was overly aware that this was the first time I’d be moving around the stage on my prosthetic leg. It was daunting, but I felt confident that my balance was solid enough that I’d be okay. With the extensive physical therapy I’d done, my new energy-storing foot and ankle had become an extension of me, providing a comfortable stride and allowing me to step up on this stage tonight and sing.