Rebuilding Forever (7 page)

"Because, feisty Cassie, she is paying for her own room, and my daughter will be staying with me."

"Oh." She bit her lip, her brows dipping lower, before her face cleared. "Oh! Right! Amie. My flower girl." She giggled, and Seth had had enough.

"Get out of here, mate. I'll see you for the rehearsal later. And you." He hefted Cassie into his arms and stalked to the bedroom. "You're going to sleep it off." The front door closed, the whine of the automatic latch loud in the tiled foyer. Cassie sighed and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Whatever you say, Seth."

He hoped she slept it off fast.

Cassie didn't sleep it off.

It would have been nice to fall into slumber, wake up, and remember nothing. She'd have even taken the inevitable hangover in exchange. But she'd only had one drink, her empty stomach and lack of tolerance after so many years without alcohol her downfall. She laid on the bed, spread-eagled, listening to Seth unpacking and then showering--singing in the shower with the incredible voice that had first caused her to fall in love with him all those years ago, via Top Forty radio and Friday Night Videos.

Slowly the buzzing in her head faded, taking with it the silliness and determination, the surface emotions that had propelled her into the villa making such outrageous suggestions. She wasn't sure she'd have been able to go through with it, if such a thing had actually been a possibility. Watching Seth being pleased by someone else...an image flashed through her head, Julian at Seth's feet, his mouth on him, and a surge of desire went through her.

Georgie was right. It would be hot.

But it wasn't going to happen. As her head cleared, she comprehended the vibe that had been between the friends. It wasn't weird or sexual or tense. It was relieved and comfortable again. She envied men that ability, to settle things so completely and all at once.

By the time Seth joined her on the bed, lying down gingerly and with a minimum of movement so he didn't disturb her, she'd returned to baseline. Maybe slightly better. There was a lot to hash out, but she thought they could get through it. In time for the wedding, even.

With a groan, she hauled herself off the bed.

"I thought you were sleeping," Seth said.

Cassie didn't look at him. "No. I need a shower. I'll be out soon." She went into the luxurious bathroom and stripped off her dress, stepping straight into the wide, multi-spray shower enclosure. One twist of the handle sent five streams of icy water over her body. She yelped, but it cleared her head completely and rid her body of its lassitude. The water turned warm in seconds, and she relaxed into the spray.

She wasn't sure how much time had gone by when the door opened. She'd been lost in non-thought, letting the water rinse away her shampoo and body wash, reveling in how soft and smooth the water felt, so different from back home.

Seth didn't intrude. He opened the door gently, stepped in, and closed it without a click. His body eased up behind hers, and his hands flattened on her abdomen. They swayed a little, left, right, a natural rhythm that reminded her of one of Blue Silver's songs. She let her head fall back until it rested on his shoulder. His cheek touched hers, and she realized he was humming. The tune was unfamiliar. She thought he'd played her everything on the new album.

She opened her mouth, but that was when his hands went into motion. They glided up and down her body and distracted her sufficiently to forget what she was going to ask.

Still humming, Seth nuzzled her neck, nibbled her earlobe. His hands cupped her breasts but only caressed, never squeezed or pinched. The ache between her legs grew gradually until she moaned with need. Seth didn't touch her there until she caught his hand and pressed it against her. His fingertips dipped easily between her lips, through the slickness, and two fingers drove gently into her while his thumb pressed her clit. He glided those fingers in and out, in and out, in time to the music she could now hear clearly in her head, and circled his thumb, pressing harder and harder until she went up and over in a long, sweet roll.

When she was done he wrapped his arms around her and held her, his chin on her shoulder, until she twisted off the water.

A few minutes later, dried off and back in bed, Cassie cuddled against his chest and wished things could always be this easy.

That wasn't like her. Nothing in her life had ever really been easy, and she knew better than to expect it. Even when she got what she wanted, it usually made things harder.

But then, she had never been this happy, either.

She sighed and watched her fingers drifting in a pattern around Seth's belly button. Below that his penis started to lengthen, but she wanted to hash this out before they made love.

"They weren't dreams," Seth said, apparently thinking along the same lines. His hand covered hers, holding it still.

"What do you mean?"

"Memories."

She jerked back to look at him. "
Wha-at?
"

He nodded but looked amazingly sanguine about it. "That night I was dreaming about--the night you left me. I got pretty messed up."

"You were pretty messed up before I told you I was leaving." It had been part of the reason she'd done it. Her need to escape had been building for a long time, with the band falling apart and hostility from everyone being aimed in her direction, and Seth's focus being entirely on saving Blue Silver or hiding from his fear that he couldn't. He'd been so high that night while he was performing, she couldn't believe he hadn't collapsed on stage.

"It got worse. Julian was there, and I was...just desperate, I guess, for something to get rid of the pain."

"So he gave you a blow job?"

He grimaced and nodded.

"Did it help?"

"Dunno. I didn't remember it afterward, so I suppose you could say it did."

Cassie noticed his erection had reversed itself. He'd been waking up after these memory-dreams ragingly horny, so she assumed his current state meant he was dealing with whatever had caused them to emerge in the first place. But what did "dealing with" entail? Was he...did he want Julian?

"Where's your head?" she asked quietly.

"No fucking idea," he responded with cheer.

She sat up. "What happened today?"

"I freaked out, Julian did what Julian always does and made everything right, and you came home drunk and ready to boff my best mate if it would make me happy."

"God, that sounds like a Telemundo soap opera." She pulled her legs under her and leaned her head on her hands, her elbows on her knees. "I thought we were all straightened out. Two months ago, everything was flying along like--"

"Like an acid trip."

She glowered at him. "Don't make a joke out of this." He looked more relaxed than she'd seen him in a while, maybe since she agreed to marry him. Nothing made sense. She dropped her hands. "Last time I saw you, you commented that I'd changed."

"You have." He shifted so he could reach her hair and started fiddling with it.

"And when you came in today and saw me, you looked terrified."

He shrugged. "You were wearing a dress. With flowers. And you cut your hair."

"And that scared you?" She felt a flutter in her chest and wondered if she was about to have an anxiety attack.
This is bullshit.
She drew in a very slow, very deep breath, then let it out just as slowly. "Are you having second thoughts about marrying me? Like maybe I'm not who you thought I was?"

"Fuck, no!"

But he said it too quickly for her taste.

"Cass, come on." He propped himself up on one elbow. "Yes, you're different. But you were different last year than you were fifteen years ago. I have loved every...single"--he punctuated each word with a kiss on her shoulder--"incarnation...of Cassie Bryant." His arm snaked around her back, and he pulled her down on top of him.

Half an hour later, Cassie wasn't worried any more.

Cassie rolled onto her side to capture the warm breeze coming through the open sliding doors. The moon reflected off the water and made everything glow silver. Her blinks became slower and slower, her mind drifting, until a dark figure appeared in the doorway.

"Jules?" She squinted but couldn't see him any better.

"Shh." He came into the room, his feet bare and silent on the tile floor. The breeze fluttered his open shirt. He'd changed clothes into something more befitting the islands, she thought, and twisted to watch him go around the bottom of the bed.

"Where's Georgie?" she murmured. Her brain didn't seem to want to engage, or her body to move from the soft mattress.

"She's sleeping. She'll be here." He knelt on Seth's side of the bed.

Something wasn't right about that, but Cassie stopped trying to figure it out when Julian reached out and touched Seth's shoulder.

"What are you doing?" She started to sit up.

"Shhh, Cassie, everything's okay. This is what will make him happy."

The spark of anxiety blinked out. She wanted Seth to be happy. She put her hand on his other shoulder.

"Seth, mate." Julian didn't shake his friend, but caressed his bare skin. "I'm here."

"Jules." Seth's voice was something Cassie had never heard before. It was sleepy and satisfied, but had an underlying growl of need. "You came."

"Not yet, mate, but I will. We all will." He tilted his head up and his eyes glinted at Cassie. She caught her breath and nodded. Her hand roamed over Seth's chest and down his abdomen until the head of his cock nudged her. But Julian's hand beat her there. He circled it, and his hand was massive, covering more than she ever could. She settled for wrapping her thumb and forefinger around the base and cupping the rest of her hand around his balls.

Seth gave a strangled moan and lifted his hips off the bed. Blood pumped through Cassie, pooling between her legs and making her ache. Above her hand Julian stroked quick and hard, all his attention on Seth's face.

This was annoyingly unfair. Cassie shifted her body around until she was lying with her torso across Seth's knees and her legs across the bed. Seth immediately reached to touch her, his fingers dipping into her slickness before stroking lightly. That was more like it.

But now Julian wasn't getting anything. Cassie switched hands on Seth's cock and reached her right hand down to undo Julian's shorts.

"That's it, love," he breathed. His eyes closed when her hand wrapped around him. It was the strangest sexual experience she'd ever had. Seth's cock in one hand, the shape and texture of him as familiar as her own body. Julian's in the other, different, yet exactly the same in all the important properties.

Pants and moans filled the room now. Seth slid a finger inside her, then another, and pressed his knuckle to her clit. While Cassie stroked the lower part of Seth's cock, Julian bent and put his mouth over the top, his lips hot and wet whenever they met her hand.

God, that was a turn-on. Cassie didn't know why, didn't want to analyze it, just wanted to enjoy it. She ground against Seth's hand and quickened her strokes on Julian, who wrapped his fingers around hers and helped her pump himself harder. Seth bowed and tensed, and a moment later shouted as he came. Julian grunted and stroked faster, rising up as Seth finished and dropping his head back.

Cassie was close, so close, but couldn't quite get there. She pulled her hand out from under Julian's as he moaned his own orgasm and rolled onto her back. Before she could touch herself, Seth lifted up and put his mouth on her.

And she flew. Raced up to the peak under his tongue, his fingers still moving hard inside her. As she burst apart, Julian's mouth came down on hers, his tongue parting her lips.

It was the best orgasm she'd ever had.

It was still beating through her in slow throbs when she woke up.

"What's the matter?"

Cassie blinked at Seth, who loomed over her in the darkness. "What?"

"You cried out. You okay?"

Holy fuck. It had been a dream. An insane, erotic, amazing, horrifying dream. She inhaled deeply, smelling the water outside and hearing the reassuring
suss
of tiny waves on the sand.

Now she had some idea of the shock Seth had felt when this first happened to him.

"Cass?" He laid his hand on her abdomen. "What's wrong, babe?"

"Nothing," she said automatically, then wondered why. He'd told her about his dreams. It wasn't like she really wanted Julian to come into their bed.

A gust of wind blew the curtains into her peripheral vision and she started, thinking Jules was standing there. He wasn't, of course, but as soon as she turned away from "his" side of the bed she could hear him, making noises in his throat.

It was her imagination, she knew it, but that knowledge didn't banish the specter. There was only one way she could think of to eliminate him from her head, if not from Seth's.

Seth cradled her jaw in his hand now, propped so he could see her face. She slid her arms around his back and tugged until he lowered himself to her. His kiss was soothing, as if he thought she needed gentleness, but gentleness wouldn't cut it. Despite the strength of her orgasm, need began to claw in her. She grabbed Seth's hair in both hands and pulled, kissing him harder, rising up under him in an undulating rhythm, but after a few minutes he was still stuck on tenderness.

Frustrated, Cassie reached down and stroked his semi-hard dick. Seth chuckled and caught her hand.

"Don't be greedy, love, we've already done it twice today. I'm getting old, you know."

"Doesn't matter." She wriggled down the bed and took him into her mouth, using her teeth and tongue and hands and desperate, desperate desire. Seth's arms shook.

"Jesus, Cass, where did--fuck." He slowly hardened under her hands. "Your mouth can raise the dead."

"Damned right it can." She pushed until he flipped onto his back, then climbed up his body and impaled herself on his cock.

Cassie started rocking. Seth caressed her body, his hands making their way up to her chest, where he cupped her gently.

"Goddamnit, Seth, can't you tell I want it harder than that?" She put her hands over his and squeezed.