Rock Steady (28 page)

His lips curved up. “Telling me to make up with my family, because there is no way I’m going in alone. You’re my wingman. So gird your loins, I’m taking you to meet my parents. And just so you know, the last time I saw my mom, she was shaking a Bible at me.”

Jewel felt her belly do a little flop, but she forced her lips into a bright smile. “No guts, no glory.”

* * *

Ramsey was tense, his body tight as he rode the Harley through a residential neighborhood and around a corner to a house several decades old. He pulled up in front of it but didn’t kill the motor immediately. The house was coated in fading paint. But the lawn was nearly flawless, hinting at attention. There were seasonal plants in the flower beds, and even a bird feeder hanging from one corner of the porch. A pair of finches flew into a large tree as they realized she and Ramsey were staying. The birds voiced their displeasure at having their dinner interrupted.

“My mom feeds those. They peck on the kitchen window when the feeder is empty,” he said.

“Sort of impressive, considering their brains must be the size of a gumdrop.”

He grunted and killed the motor. Jewel climbed off the bike and waited for Ramsey. His expression was tight, his jaw set against the rejection he clearly expected. She decided he needed to be put out of his misery.

“Come on. Right is right, and wrong is wrong, and you are not the only person who struggles with impressing his parents. At least you aren’t wearing a suit, like Yoon.”

Ramsey snorted at her. “My mom would love it.”

“But it would be a lie, and you’re better than that.”

He shook his head and grasped her hand before turning and walking up the path that led to the front door. He pressed the button for the doorbell, and they heard it chiming inside the house. Seconds crawled by like hours as they waited, Ramsey’s grip tightening on her hand. There was a scuff and then a muffled word on the other side of the door before they heard the dead bolt turning.

“This is a surprise.” Ramsey might have thought he didn’t have anything in common with his parents, but he was definitely a chip off the old block. The man standing in the doorway was the image of his son, with thirty years of age on him.

“Hi, Dad,” Ramsey said. “Is it a problem that I didn’t call first?”

His dad grunted. “You know it isn’t. I might disapprove of your life choices, but I never disowned you. Was hoping you’d come to your senses.”

“My dad, Calvin Brimer,” Ramsey introduced them. “Joan Ryan.”

“Who is it, Cal?” a woman called from the kitchen.

“Matthew.”

There was a clatter from the kitchen and a hurried step on the tile floor before a woman appeared. She was wearing an apron and looked over the rim of her glasses at them. Her lips pressed into a hard line, but there was a glitter of happiness in her eyes. “Well, don’t just stand there in the door. About time my son came by to see his mother, instead of leaving me standing in a hotel lobby.”

“We were going to fight that night, so I walked away before it happened.”

His mother’s face darkened, but she bit her lip and nodded a single time. “I was being a bit judgmental that night.”

It seemed like some sort of peace offering, because the tension between them eased.

Calvin backed out of the way, pulling the door open wide. Ramsey hesitated, but crossed the threshold with a death grip on their joined hands.

“I was just getting to making supper,” his mother said. “Nothing fancy, but there’s room at the table.”

Ramsey suddenly drew in a deep breath. “Are you making scalloped potatoes?”

His mother cracked a smile, one full of motherly pride.

“She is,” his father said as he closed the door. “And she still hasn’t adjusted the recipe to serve only two. Looks like I won’t have any leftovers.”

“I’ll make another batch tomorrow. It’s not like I have any grandchildren to take up my time, despite all my prayers.” His mother swept Jewel from head to toe. “And there is no ring on her finger.”

The barbed comments started flying. Jewel accepted a glass of iced tea and tried to lend a hand. Mrs. Brimer deflected her attempts with impressive skill. Her husband had popped open a couple of beers as he stood just outside the open kitchen door, where a huge barbecue was sitting. Mrs. Brimer was quickly marinating a couple more steaks to add to the ones waiting to go on the grill.

“Those warehouse stores do have good deals on meat,” she said. “Calvin loves steak, even though I tell him we don’t need so much, now that both our children have abandoned us. It’s not like Matthew even has a home, but that doesn’t keep him from avoiding ours.”

Ramsey spoke slowly over the top of his beer. “Jewel…
Joan
made sure I knew today was a good day to start on new habits.”

His mother turned to consider Jewel. “Jewel, is it? You don’t respect the name your mother gave you either?”

“Actually, my grandmother started calling me her precious jewel when I was about three. My mom said I decided it was her special name for me. She died a little while after that, and I wanted to keep the name to remember her by.”

Ramsey’s mom smiled. It was only a half smile, but her lips were curved nonetheless. It transformed her face. “Well, I suppose that’s a fine reason. And your mother agreed.” She nodded, like she was trying to convince herself it was acceptable to bend on the issue. “Yes, that’s fine, I suppose.”

There was a sizzle as Ramsey’s dad laid the steaks on the grill. Ramsey had taken to leaning against a support beam to the shade canopy that covered part of the patio. There was an ominous crack before he straightened up. He reached out and pushed on it experimentally. “I’ll get someone out here to replace this.” He was taking charge, as he so often did, but his father’s eyes narrowed with injured pride.

“So now our house isn’t good enough for you?” Calvin Brimer growled.

“Can’t I step up and lend a hand when I see a need for it?” Ramsey countered. “Be a good son?”

“What you can do—”

“Hey, would you two fight over something important already?” Jewel interrupted. Calvin looked like she’d pulled up her top and flashed him, while Ramsey cocked his head to the side and tried to decide what she was up to.

“And what might that be?” Calvin Brimer demanded as he brandished a long, stainless steel spatula at her.

“How long to grill the steaks,” Jewel answered without skipping a beat. “Isn’t that the age-old battle of men who are in front of the grill?”

Ramsey hid his grin behind his beer bottle, but Jewel was pretty sure his father saw it when he turned to glare at him. There was a long moment as Calvin contemplated his son and the meat sizzled. Jewel held her breath, and she realized Mrs. Brimer had gone still in the kitchen. Calvin suddenly sniffed and pointed at the grill with the spatula. “Not going to be any debate. I’ve grilled about ten thousand more steaks in my time than either of you two youngbloods. Daddy’s doing the turning tonight.”

* * *

Ramsey stripped the second they made it back to the suite. He left a trail of clothing on the way to the mini fridge, but all he did was stand with the door open as he contemplated the contents.

“You don’t want that,” Jewel said softly.

The suite was dark, just a little light coming through the sliding glass door. The city lights cast his features in silver and shadow when he turned to look at her.

“You’re sick of covering up your feelings,” she continued as she pulled her tunic dress up and over her head. The door of the mini fridge closed with a soft sound as he turned completely toward her. She gained a full glimpse of his nude body, the perfection of his form and his erection.

Hard.

Basic.

He needed to be free, and that meant fulfilling his appetites. All of them, without excuses or explanations.

She pushed her leggings down and stepped out of them. Reached up to tug off the two ties she had holding her hair. The ends were just long enough to brush her bare shoulders.

“You want—”

“You,” he rasped out, cutting her off with a kiss that was just as hard as his cock. Jewel kissed him back, taking as much as she received before she pulled her head back and locked gazes in the dark.

“You want me…to invite you to be yourself…with me.”

“Yes.” He sucked in his breath and buried his face in her hair, inhaling the scent of her skin as his cock twitched between them. “Yessss…” He grunted as he pressed a kiss against the sensitive skin of her neck and then another one and another.

Jewel threaded her hands through his hair and raked her fingernails across his scalp. He reared back, the muscles along his jaw tight and corded.

“Claw me,” he demanded.

She pulled her talons down his back, and he let out a low sound of primal enjoyment. She felt him shudder, her body melting in response. Skin to skin, she couldn’t stay still, had to rub against him as the need to be closer nearly drove her insane.

“Fuck me.” She punctuated her demand with a thrust of her hips against him. “Right now…right here.”

He flashed his teeth at her, the grin primitive, savage, and so damned exciting, she was sure she was going to climax on the first thrust. Ramsey followed her to the floor, spreading her thighs with his body.

“Hard,” she instructed in a breathless whisper that came from some place deep inside her where her cravings lived. “Do it…
hard
!”

She was fixated on him, time moving slower than normal as he came closer, closer, until she felt the warmth of his body on her skin. His cock touched her, sending a jolt of excitement through her. It tore away everything except the need to be joined with him. She curled up, intent on taking hold of him.

“Mine…” he growled as he captured her wrists and pinned her to the floor with her hands stretched out over her head. “Tonight…you’re mine…all…mine.”

She strained toward him, desperate. He didn’t deny her. There was an arching of his body over hers, and then the hard thrust of his hips as he impaled her.

“Oh…
yes
…” she cried out. There was no controlling the level of her voice as he stayed embedded in her and slowly bit her neck.

It was a soft bite, merely hinting at discomfort. But it was the last component needed to send her spiraling into climax. He held her down through it as she strained to get closer to him. The pleasure burned through her, dropping her abruptly when it was finished with her. She was breathless, her chest heaving as she tried to pull in enough oxygen to keep up with her racing heart.

“And now…for round two,” he whispered against her ear. She shivered, feeling too overloaded to engage in another climb up the ladder of arousal.

“I don’t think…I can…”

“Then let me lead the way, baby.” He leaned back, taking his weight off her clit, and settled on his haunches. He grasped her hips and pulled her toward him as he thrust into her spread body. His cock tunneled into her, teasing her G-spot with just enough pressure to rekindle her need.

He took her up slowly, pinning her beneath him only when she was once again mindless with the need for release. It was more than sex; it was intimacy on a level that scared her as much as fulfilled her. It showed her in blunt clarity how alone she’d always been in life. There, in the dark, after they’d both spent, Ramsey pulled her close, close enough she was sure he was touching her soul.

Chapter 7

Someone banged on the door of the suite just after noon. Jewel managed to open her eyes as the bed moved and Ramsey lifted his head.

“Chow!” Syon called from the other side of the door.

Ramsey had a hand on one of her breasts as she lay on her back in the middle of the bed. His cock was hard against her thigh, but she groaned as she realized how sore she was; one little attempt to move sent an ache through her. She lay still as she tried to decide how to gather up enough resolve to leave the bed.

Ramsey’s lips curled back into a smug grin.

“Ha-ha,” she groused as she sat up and rolled over the side of the bed. “Bet you won’t be so satisfied with yourself when you realize you aren’t getting any for a bit.”

He smacked his lips and flipped over so he was lying on his back, braced on his elbows and giving her a million-dollar view of his buff body. His cock was standing rigid, but it was the look of victory in his eyes that made her reverse course.

“Two can play that game,” she warned a second before she dove back onto the bed and grasped his length to lick it from base to tip.

“I love letting you kick my ass in this game.”

* * *

They had to order a second round of breakfast by the time they made it over to Syon and Kate’s suite. Drake and Taz were hanging out as well, the scent of pancakes and hash browns filling the air. Ramsey dropped a packet of painkillers in front of her, making her cheeks heat. Taz reached over and whacked his ear.

Ramsey jumped and turned on his bandmate. Taz greeted him with a raised eyebrow. “Don’t mess up.”

“He’s not,” Jewel assured Taz. “Even went to see his parents last night.”

There was shock all around the suite. Ramsey shrugged and dove into a mountain of scrambled eggs he’d dumped Tabasco sauce over.

Taz suddenly smiled. “See? I’m right to tell you not to mess it up. Jewel is a keeper.”

“Which means everyone can turn their attention on you,” Ramsey retaliated with a smack of his lips.

Taz’s expression became guarded as the other members of Toxsin took the opportunity to laugh at his expense. He shook his head. “I’m not the one with the commitment issues. Joi is.”

Jewel was itching to ask who Joi was, but a warning look from Ramsey made her reach for a piece of toast instead. There was a knock on the door before Brenton appeared.

“How are we feeling today?” he asked brightly. “Ready to rock? We’ve got a packed stadium to play.”

The buzz in the room started to build. Jewel enjoyed being part of it. The members of Toxsin began to put on their game faces as they scattered to their suites to shower and begin the trip to the stadium. Ramsey kissed her good-bye before running down the hall to dive into an elevator with Taz. The hotel lost its homey feeling with their departure, becoming more of a lonely building. A necessity of success.