Black Falcon: Complete Series Collection (25 page)

Rock the Band

by
Michelle A. Valentine

L
ight flickered across the room as the bus rolled down the highway. The constant rumble of the wheels below us comforted me as I held the woman I loved in my arms. Being with her was home. Everything I needed was on this bus. Lane had finally chosen to give herself over to me and be completely mine.

I traced my fingertips over the soft skin on her bare shoulder as she rested her head against my chest. I’d admit I was shocked to see her in the bar earlier tonight at the end of my gig. That Riff could be a sneaky bastard—always able to pull fast ones if the situation called for it.

I hadn’t expected to see Lane so soon, but he knew how much I’d been suffering and took it upon himself to arrange for us to talk things out. Over the few days we were apart, after Sophie and Mike revealed how they’d completely fucked up my life, I’d gone over everything I wanted to say to her at least a million times. How sorry I was. How it was wrong for me not to try harder to make things work between us. The fact that I should’ve stood up to Sophie after she tried trapping me in a relationship I didn’t want for the sake of a child—a child that turned out to not even be mine.

I closed my eyes and tried not to think about that or how stupid my thought processes had been. The idea of being the best father I possibly could had clouded every judgment I’d made in all the other aspects of my life, including the way I’d tried to keep my relationship with Lane a secret until I figured the Sophie thing out. It was wrong of me to ask that of her, and the realization hit me hard when I thought she’d left me for good.

The bus slowed down. Our driver, Jimmy, probably needed to hit the head.

Lane stirred in my arms. “Are we nearly there?”

I smiled and ran my fingers through her brown hair. “Not yet. We still have an hour or so.”

I couldn’t wait to get her back to my place in Kentucky, knowing that after she saw it she’d finally agree to move in with me. It was the perfect spot for us. When I bought it, I was looking for someplace like my parents house on Cedar Creek Lake, back in Texas. As much as I hated to admit it, I missed that place like crazy. One of the best weekends I’d had in a long time was when Lane took me home with her to our old neighborhood. Hopefully, my place would remind her of being home and safe.

She lifted her head and placed her chin on my chest. I took a lock of her brown hair and twirled it around my finger. There was an odd comfort in doing that. At times, I wished it were physically possible to wrap her entire body around me, like I did with her hair on my finger. It was crazy to love someone so much, I knew that, but I couldn’t help it. Being around her made me want to be a better man.

Big Bertha jerked to a stop and Lane pushed herself up on the bed. She raised her arms over her head in a delicious stretch and I tucked an arm behind my head, taking in the sight of her bare chest in the moonlight. I bit my lower lip as I trailed my eyes over every inch of her body. It was amazing how fucking sexy she was.

She dropped her arms into her lap and whipped her head in my direction. Her lips pulled in to a heart-stopping smile. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

I furrowed my brow but couldn’t fight back my grin. “How am I looking at you?”

Lane shrugged. “I don’t know, like you’re studying me.”

A chuckle escaped from me as I sat up with lightning speed and pulled her back down into bed with me, brushing a few stray hairs free from her face before tracing her delicate jaw line. She really was absolute perfection.

“Maybe I
am
studying you.”

She readjusted her head on the pillow. “Why?”

“Just wondering why you came back to me tonight? I mean, I was fully prepared to grovel to win you back, but I was just giving you space.”

She sighed and brought her hand to cup my face. “I left to give you time to figure things out. You just had your entire world rocked. I didn’t want to add any more drama.”

This was one of the reasons I loved this woman. She actually cared about my feelings. No one had ever done that before. She was the only person who had ever put me first in their life. Not even my parents did that. The only time she’d ever considered herself was when she left me on the dock, but she was right to do that. Back then I never put her first, and I see now how shitty that made me. Her leaving pushed me to succeed. It drove me and, in a way, I owe her for that.

I leaned my head down and placed my lips on hers. “You are my world, and you’re welcome to dramatize it all you want.”

Her mouth turned up into a smile. “I think it’s time we live drama free for a while, don’t you?”

I nodded and stroked her face.

Drama free? Was there really such a thing? Life for me had always been filled with it. The only time I’d ever experienced true peace was on stage. The surge of the crowd and the heavy thump of the drums pulled me into what felt like another dimension, making me forget all the bad shit in my life. It was true to say I felt nearly the same way in moments like this one with Lane, but deep down I always had to fight back the fear that someday I’d fuck things up and she would decide to run from me again.

Then it hit me. I needed to make this thing between us permanent. I had to show her I meant what I’d said earlier at the show. That I was hers—forever.

I stared into her green eyes and made a silent promise to myself that somehow, someway, I would make this girl my wife. The mere thought of us being apart again caused an ache I didn’t think I could bear. Yes, giving her my last name would alleviate that fear.

Lane reached up and tapped my temple. “I know that look. What’s going on in that brain of yours?”

Damn. She caught me. But I wasn’t prepared to tell her what I’d been thinking about. She would probably give me the speech about taking things one day at a time, and I fucking hated that speech. I was ready to live in the moment—the here and now—with her. If she could only see herself through my eyes for a second, she would know how I felt and wouldn’t need to question my motives because she would know I loved her to the depths of her soul. She would see how completely she rocked me, in every way possible.

“You’re still doing it.”

I bit my lip. She wouldn’t leave me alone until I gave her an answer. I knew how relentless she could be. I shrugged and replied as coolly as I could, “Just thinking about surprising you with something.”

She raised a perfectly manicured eyebrow. “What kind of surprise?”

“Now, why would I ruin it by telling you?” I teased.

Lane’s lips pulled into a smile. “Guess I’ll have to withhold sex until you tell me.”

I grabbed her around the waist and rolled her over on her back. Every inch of my body covered her naked flesh and my cock twitched at the nearness of her moist heat. I ran my right hand up her side, knowing full well the effect of me being so forward had on her. I pinned her gaze with my eyes.

She squirmed beneath me. “You’re cheating!”

I licked her bottom lip. “How is this cheating?”

Her legs moved further apart and I slid my hips between them, my throbbing dick pushing against her folds. I ran my nose along her jaw and inhaled the intense scent of her hot skin. Fragrances of sweet shampoo and a mouth-watering perfume filled my nose. Every sense in my body went into complete overdrive by her nearness. I dragged my lips across the flesh of her neck and when she tipped her head back, letting a moan escape from her parted, pink lips, I knew she wanted what I was about to give her.

My hand slid down her belly until it found the point where our bodies were about to connect. Only one finger glided into her, and she bucked her hips against my hand. I ground the palm of my hand against her clit, giving it the friction she craved. She gasped and closed her eyes. The urge to taste her raged inside me, so I snaked my tongue out and licked from the base of her throat to her chin. Lane opened her eyes, grabbed both sides of my face in her hands and crushed her lips against mine. A primal need to take her, to feel her, pushed through me, and a growl rumbled in my chest.

I loved it when she was forceful with me. It turned me on instantly when I could see the need to be pleased in her green eyes. She was practically begging me to fuck her senseless.

“Noel.”

She said my name with a mixture of pain and desire. My breath came out in ragged spurts, and I nipped her earlobe between my teeth. The way I felt about her was crazy. It was primal and raw. I needed to connect with her in every possible way.

I circled her clit with the tip of my finger in a forceful rhythm. Her eyes rolled back and her entire body shook as she came hard against my hand. While she was still in the moment, I grabbed the base of my shaft and guided it into her, not allowing her time to come down from her orgasm.

“Oh. God. Yes!” she cried as I plunged into her over and over again.

Knowing it was me making her scream like that was nearly enough to drive me over the edge right then and there, but I held back and tried to pretend the feel of me sliding in and out of her wasn’t the best fucking feeling in the world.

Her nails raked along my back all the way down to my ass, where she grabbed it with both hands as I worked in and out of her. Lane held my gaze and chewed on her bottom lip. I couldn’t resist. I bent down and kissed her, grazing my teeth along that lip.

“I love you,” she whispered against my mouth. “Forever.”

I closed my eyes. It was the word I’d told her earlier, that I was hers forever. To hear her confirm the same feeling, it nearly caused me to choke up.

Lane must’ve sensed the emotion welling up inside me, because she pushed against my shoulder, forcing me onto my back.

I gripped her hips in both hands as she positioned herself over the head of my cock before impaling herself on it, gasping as she took in my length to the base. Mesmerized by the sight of her, I couldn’t peel my eyes away as she rocked her hips in a steady rhythm. Long strands of her brown hair cascaded down her back. She reminded me of an angel, her body needing to be worshipped.

I sat up and wrapped my arms around her and she arched against my hands. Her muscles around my cock clenched, making it nearly impossible to hold back.

“Fuck, Lane.”

Both of her hands found my chest as she braced herself and picked up speed. She enjoyed getting me off.

I cupped her right breast as I sucked her pink nipple into my mouth, my eager tongue flicking across it as she slammed down hard on me. The warmth of our connection flowed through me as I inhaled the scent of her desire. I leaned back, enjoying the ride she was taking me on. She was getting close again. I could tell. She always grabbed her own tits when she was nearly ready to come. I watched as she plucked her left nipple between her fingers before rolling it and moaning.

“You are so fucking sexy,” I told her as I watched her knead her own breast.

She grinned and leaned in to kiss my lips. I splayed my fingers across her ass and encouraged her to ride me faster. With each buck of her hips Lane whimpered, as she ground her clit against me. I loved that I could make her come while I was deep inside her. With other girls, I’d never cared about making the sex last long. I was only looking to get off. There was never a connection with any of them. But with Lane it was different. Making sure she was satisfied pleased me
nearly
as much as letting go inside her. There was nothing better than that.

“Come with me,” I whispered roughly in her ear.

Mutual gratification between us simultaneously was exactly what I craved, and Lane’s moaning grew louder as she rode me with determination. She was grinding her clit against my pelvis, working hard to comply with my request. I watched from under hooded eyelids as she tipped her head back, screaming out my name as she came for the second time.

“Fuck.”

The sight of her letting go caused a shudder to rip through my entire body as my cock erupted, and I filled her full.

She collapsed against me and I kissed her cheek over and over, still craving more of her. “I love you so much.”

Never in my life had I loved another person as much as Lanie Vance—I knew that now more than ever. I had to figure out a way to make her mine forever.

T
he crazy awkward silence Riff and I had struggled with for the past few months had gone, thankfully. It was nuts how the lies of one stupid chick had nearly resulted in the demise of the one thing we had built together—this band. Black Falcon meant everything to Riff. I knew that and so did Sophie, which is probably why she concocted the plan to blame me for getting her pregnant. She knew once it got out that Mike had knocked her up, brother or not, he would’ve been canned. We couldn’t allow shit like that to fuck up our world. The band was our top priority. Unfortunately, Sophie was smart enough to realize that and pinned the baby on me so Mike could keep his fucking paycheck, while I took the rap. The bitch was probably hoping to milk me out of some money along the way too. I couldn’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for her game.

“What’s the score?” Riff asked as he plopped down beside me on the loveseat to watch Trip and Tyke go at it on the Xbox.

He handed me a beer and I twisted the cap off. “Trip is whooping his ass, as usual.”

“I heard that, fucker,” Tyke snapped but never took his eyes off the screen on the wall in front of him. “I’m about to murder this chump.”

Tyke’s blonde hair hung loose around his head, while his twin brother, Trip, kept most of his black hair concealed under a black bandanna. Thank God those two tried hard to create separate identities because, based on looks alone, I would never have been able to tell them apart, and they hated when people confused them more than anything in the world.

Trip laughed at his brother’s last remark. “You couldn’t whip yourself out of a wet paper bag, let alone murder me.”

I took a swig of my beer while those two pounded at the buttons on their controllers.