Steady Beat (7 page)

“Ten would be fine,” she said. Her tongue felt numb. He still wanted to hear her sing? Oh God, he still wanted to hear her sing.

“Excellent,” he continued, that friendly chuckle still in his voice. “Reckon you can be here at my hotel room in half an hour?”

Pepper’s belly knotted. Her sex constricted. Instantly, her lips tingled with the memory of Noah’s kiss. Her body joined in, reminding her how wonderful his hands had felt on her hips, her thighs.

“Y’know,” Noah said before she could stammer a response she knew she’d regret later, “I’ve never…what I mean is…that kiss? Fuck, it shook me to the core. I really would like to do it again.”

The knot in Pepper’s stomach coiled tighter. “I would too,” she said into the phone, her voice husky. “But not…”

“Not until you sing for us?” he finished for her.

She sighed, the wry sound barely an exhalation of breath. “I was going to say not tonight.”

“Fair enough. See you tomorrow then? At the Loft?”

Pepper smiled. “It’s a date.”

Noah laughed. “Bloody oath it is.”

He disconnected, leaving Pepper holding a silent phone, her heart wild. “A date?” she muttered, turning her stare to Frank. “Did I really say that?”

Her roommate grinned. “You did, you little vixen you.” He leapt from the bed and pulled open her closet doors. “Now, what are we going to do about your atrocious wardrobe? You can’t go in jeans and a Yoda T-shirt.”

Noah tossed his mobile phone onto the table beside him, a warm tingle of happiness tickling through his soul. The smile on his face stretched wider. Damn, he enjoyed talking with Pepper. She didn’t fawn all over his fame, which he really liked, nor did she carry on as if she was the only woman in the world worth his attention. It was a refreshing change. One he wasn’t in any hurry to be without.

Shifting on the chair, he swung his attention to the four women asleep on his hotel room bed. All were buck naked, draped over each other, limbs entwined, hair tousled, makeup smeared.

He drew a slow breath, the erotic sight the stuff of most hot-blooded males’ fantasies and the norm for most world-famous rock stars. The
norm
also included fucking, but despite the fact he’d brought the women back to his hotel room, he hadn’t screwed any of them. Hadn’t even
touched
any of them in fact. He’d unlocked the door, invited them in and then…nothing.

They’d tried to get him into the mood. Had stripped each other naked, kissing the exposed flesh as they went, moaning in the appropriate places. They’d screwed each other silly, their moans growing to porn-film levels of rapture, constantly inviting him to join in.

He hadn’t. In fact, halfway through all the grinding and moaning, he found himself wondering what the score was in the Australia versus Pakistan cricket match taking place in Sydney. Then he’d caught himself tapping out an unfamiliar rhythm on his thigh with his fingers, his foot jiggling on the floor.
Then
he thought about the Chris Huntley film and how cool a fight sequence shot in slow-mo would look played out to nothing but some fierce double-kick drum rhythms.

Not once did he feel like getting out of his chair to indulge in the willingly offered female orgy taking place on his bed.

He frowned, puzzled. Why hadn’t he? Hell, he’d brought them here for that very thing. To screw. Eight years of sleeping only with Heather followed by twelve weeks of no sex at all thanks to her abrupt departure meant he was overdue a good bonk.

In his wild days, sex with four women at once would have been just what the doctor ordered when he was feeling…on edge. The trouble was, the
edge
thrumming through his body had nothing to do with twelve weeks of no fucking and everything to do with Pepper Kerrigan.

In the days since Heather had left him, he hadn’t once thought,
Gee, I could really do with a good fuck right now
. It wasn’t until Pepper approached him in the bar, with her shy smile, outrageous proposition and incredible music-trivia knowledge that his body told him he’d been without. And it wasn’t until he’d entered his hotel room with the four women that his mind had told him he didn’t want to sleep with anyone
except
Pepper. How had the woman done that to him? More to the point, why wasn’t he angry about it?

Still studying the sleeping women, he retrieved his phone from the table and called Samuel’s mobile.

The lead guitarist answered on the sixth ring. “What the fuck, Holden? I’m kinda busy here.”

Noah pictured the lush blonde Samuel and Jax had left the bar with, waiting to see if his body reacted.

Nope. Nada.

“I’ve got someone auditioning for lead singer tomorrow,” he said, not remotely disgruntled his cock wasn’t stirring. “Ten a.m. at the Loft on Wooster in SoHo.”

“Are you kidding?” The anger evaporated from Samuel’s voice, replaced with disbelief. “Already? Who?”

Noah chuckled. Samuel was all about the ladies…unless the topic of music was on the table. Then sex didn’t stand a chance. Samuel wouldn’t want anyone to know that though. It’d ruin his hard-earned reputation.

Turning away from the sleeping women, Noah picked up the hotel-supplied pen. “Is Jax there?”

“Of course he is. He’s balls deep in pussy right now, giving me weird looks.”

“What’s the drummer boy want?” Noah heard Jax call.

“He tells me he’s got someone auditioning tomorrow,” Samuel replied.

Noah grinned, drawing a little stick figure Darth Vader pointing a blaster at Han Solo on the hotel note pad. “It’s a waitress from the bar,” he said into the phone. “She challenged me to a music-trivia contest, and I lost so I promised her—”

“Whoa,” Samuel cut him off. “Back up a sec. You lost? How the fuck did you lose? I know you’ve got the attention span of a gnat when you’re not at the kit, but you’re a freak when it comes to music trivia. How could she beat you? Were you letting your dick do the thinking?”

Noah laughed. “No. Well, not until she kissed me and—”

“Jesus, Holden.” Exasperation laced Samuel’s expletive. “We’re listening to a woman sing because she made you
horny
?”

“We’re what?” Jax’s faint question came through the connection.

“Listening to a woman sing tomorrow,” Samuel answered. “Now shut the fuck up, Jax, and let me talk to Noah. Jesus Christ, Holden,” he said, consternation in his voice. “It’s been a long time since you let a groupie manipulate you like that. Didn’t you learn anything after what Heather did to—”

“She’s not singing because I want to fuck her, Strings,” Noah interrupted him. “She’s singing because I agreed she could. Simple. Now stop being a fucking tosser. You’ve done your fair share of stupid shit thanks to your dick. Besides, she intrigues me. And…” He paused, wondering if he should tell his friend what he was feeling.

“And?” Samuel prompted.

“I felt…focused when I was with her.”

Silence followed. Noah flicked the pen between his fingers, waiting. Samuel knew him better than anyone else. The significance of Noah’s proclamation would not be lost on him.

Finally, a rough sigh sounded through the phone connection. “Okay, Noah, she can sing, but the rest of us are allowed to laugh at you when she’s done. Deal?”

Noah grinned, and drew a flower sticking out from the end of Vader’s blaster. “Deal. See you tomorrow.”

Killing the call, he shoved his phone into his hip pocket, pushed himself from the chair and walked to the end of the bed.

He stood motionless, studying the four women splayed out in all their naked glory for him to see. Waiting for him.

Clearing his throat with a loud cough, he clapped his hands twice. “Wake up, ladies,” he said, his voice booming around the room. “It’s time for you to go home.”

Chapter Four

Pepper paid the surly driver who had delivered her to SoHo, climbed out of the cab and took a deep breath.

Her stomach was a mad mess of hyperactive butterflies. Her mouth was dry. She’d sipped lukewarm water constantly on the way over, petrified her voice would sound like a rusty saw scraping against steel when she sang and, as a consequence, she now needed to pee.

All in all, she wanted nothing more than to climb back into the cab and tell the driver to hightail it out of there.

She would. If it wasn’t for one thing.

She wanted to see Noah again.

She’d spent the night tossing and turning, staring at her ceiling, pacing her bedroom floor and doing everything she could to not think of the sexy Australian drummer. Nothing had worked, and somewhere around four a.m. she’d surrendered to what her body wanted and brought herself to a bone-shaking climax with her own hand, Noah Holden firmly in her head.

She suspected she was going to fail at singing for the band today—it
was
her M.O. after all—but she could at least see Noah one more time before reality yanked her back down.

Slamming the cab door shut, she turned and looked at her destination.

And froze.

Noah stood at the open door, smiling at her.

The butterflies in Pepper’s stomach flew into frenzied flight. Her heart thumped fast in her throat. Her nipples pinched tight, becoming hard points of flesh aching to be touched.

Licked.

Sucked.

Oh boy.

Pulling a deep breath, she adjusted the hem of her shirt—a snug black long-sleeve T-shirt with a plunging neckline Frank had found in the back of her closet—and began walking toward the musician.

Was she really doing this? Was she really going to—

Noah met her a few feet from the entry. “You came.”

The hot memory of her earlier climax lashed at Pepper’s sanity. She nodded, struggling to keep her voice steady. “I did.”

His smile grew wider. “I’ve only just got here as well. The other guys are inside, ready for you.” He cocked his head on the side, his ice-blue eyes twinkling with relaxed mirth. “Y’know, I have no idea what your last name is.”

“Kerrigan,” she offered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She wished she’d worn in it a ponytail. She’d be playing with it like a nervous schoolgirl the whole audition at this rate.

Noah cocked an eyebrow. “You’re not related to Darryl are you?”

Pepper frowned. “Who?”

He laughed. “Sorry. Obscure Australian movie reference. Darryl Kerrigan is the hero in the film
The Castle
. Bloody brilliant movie. I’ll show it to you one day. Bloody hell, you’re gorgeous. Hey, do you mind if I—all I’ve wanted to do since I saw you climb out of the cab is—ah, fuck it. I can’t hold off any longer.” He leant forward and, before Pepper knew what he was doing, captured her lips with his.

He didn’t hold back. He delved his tongue into her mouth with dominating commitment, swiping over her teeth to seek hers out. He raked his hands up her back, knotting in the hair at her nape. She whimpered, raw pleasure rushing through her at the greedy ferocity of his kiss. She gave him her tongue, feasting on his desire, pressing her hips forward until the rigid length of his arousal nudged her belly.

Oh God, if he asked her to skip the audition and go back to his hotel room this very second she’d say yes. Without hesitation.

Smoothing her hands up his chest, she flattened her palm to his heart, reveling in the way it thumped hard and fast—a perfect echo of hers. He wanted her as much as she wanted him. She didn’t know if it was a scary concept or an incredible one. She didn’t much care, not if it meant he continued to kiss her like he was now.

Not if it meant losing herself to the pleasure he awoke in her.

“Wow,” she murmured, the second his lips left hers a lifetime—or maybe five minutes—later.

He gazed down at her, his chest heaving. “Fucken’ oath, wow.”

A hot blush painted her cheeks.

Dismay etched Noah’s face. “I’m sorry. I won’t swear any—”

Pepper shook her head. “No, it’s not that. I’m just not used to being…” The heat in her cheeks spread across her face.

“Kissed by a sexy, famous drummer?”

She laughed, loving the way his eyes danced with confident mirth. “Kissed. Period.”

Noah’s eyebrows shot up. “Bullshit. You’re gorgeous and smart and you have a Star Wars phone cover. How could you
not
be kissed often?”

She ducked her head, her belly fluttering at his words. He thought she was gorgeous? Oh boy. “I keep trying to tell you,” she murmured, feeling both stupid and overjoyed. “I’m really quite—”

“Oi!” a shout burst through the open door, cutting Pepper’s confession short. “Holden? Is she here yet?”

Pepper jerked her stare up to Noah’s face. He rolled his eyes, his lips twitching. “C’mon, I better take you inside to meet the guys before I drag you off somewhere private and kiss you again.”

A hot lump filled Pepper’s throat. At the thought of going inside and meeting the band or being kissed once more by Noah, she wasn’t sure. When Noah reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers, she had to bite her lip to stop herself from whimpering.

God, what was she doing?

Noah looked down at her, his expression relaxed. “Don’t worry. They’re not going to eat you.” He drew his head closer to hers. “I might. Later. But these guys…” Straightening with a chuckle, he tugged her through the open door into the cool darkness of the interior.