Talon (Ashes & Embers Book 4) (9 page)

Raising an eyebrow at her, I reach into the bowl and take a handful of popcorn. "I can't wait to get you on top of me, baby. Anytime you're ready, just hop on."

"Everything with you goes back to sex. You're like that Kevin Bacon movie game."

"No idea what that is, babe. I'm just trying to enjoy a movie with a chick properly."

A smile lights up her face. "Am I really your first real movie date?"

"You are. You're my first wife too. I see why you wanted to skip the dating part of a relationship. You're not very good at it from what I can see."

"Look who's talking."

I put the popcorn bowl on the coffee table and stretch my legs out across the couch, pulling her so she's half lying on top of me. She rests her head on my chest and turns so she can still watch the movie, and after a few minutes, her hand slowly creeps from my wrist up to my bicep. "I guess these don't wash off?" she muses, tracing my tattoos.

"Nope."

"They're kinda cool close up. There's so much more detail than I noticed before." Her hand travels farther, pushing the fabric of my T-shirt up so she can inspect my shoulder, and I like how it feels to have her touching me so softly, her fingertips delicately gliding over the designs.

"Thanks. I saw you have that little one on your shoulder. What is that, a comma?"

"It's a semicolon."

"It's cute."

Her hand stops moving. "It's not supposed to be cute."

"Okay…sorry."

Her body tenses up and a sad quietness overcomes her that's thick like fog. Her eyes stay on the TV, but I can tell she's not really watching it and is somewhere else in her mind. I'm assuming it's got something to do with that tiny mark gracing her shoulder. I can fully respect that, though. Lots of ink has a special meaning to people that may also be attached to not-so-good memories, like the one I have on my leg of a tiny teddy bear in memory of my five-year-old niece who passed away. I like knowing it’s there, but I don’t want to tell people what it means to me because it dredges up too many sad memories.

I relax into the couch and wrap my arm around her, slowly rubbing her back as we watch the movie. She snuggles deeper into me, pulling the blanket up over us, while the cat sleeps on the top of the couch above our heads. The feeling of closeness is so foreign to me, having a woman's body entwined with mine, touching but not touching, fully clothed but still so warm and close. It feels nice, to know she’s not waiting for me to start doing a sexual performance on her based on rumors she’s heard about me. I can just relax and touch her however I want, with no expectations. It’s equally as nice that she seems content just lying in my arms and doesn’t feel like she has to prove something to me by gobbling on my dick.

I could possibly like this.

"
H
ey
…" His voice rouses me awake and I blink, hearing the thump, thump of his heart beneath my head resting against his muscular chest. As I sit up, his hand slowly slides down to the small of my back and rests there.

"You kinda did the whole movie thing wrong," he teases. "It helps if your eyes stay open."

Eek. So embarrassing. "I'm so sorry I fell asleep."

"It's okay. I may have dozed off a little too."

"I haven't been sleeping well the past few weeks. Worried and excited about the wedding and all."

He yawns and stretches his arms out. "I guess we should go to bed. I told the Realtor we'd meet her at eight."

"Yikes. I'm not good at mornings."

"Yeah, me neither. We'll get coffee. You drink coffee?"

"Yes. With soy."

"Hmm. I'll let you order your own 'cuz I'm bound to screw that up the first few times."

While he brings the popcorn bowl to the kitchen, I fold up the blanket, apprehension buzzing through me about getting into bed with him. Lying with him on the couch during the movie was really nice, but moving into an actual bed is freaking me out a little.

"You coming?" he asks from the doorway.

I swallow hard. "Yeah, I'll be there in a minute. I just have to brush my teeth."

"All right. If you need anything, just hunt around the bathroom or yell if you can't find it. I won't be much help, but yell anyway."

I nod and flick off the television. "Okay. Thanks."

As I stare at my reflection in the mirror while brushing my teeth, the puppyfuck comment floats through my head.

Un-put-together.

Puppyfuck.

Charity case.

I'll take sticks and stones any day over these words. Words
do
hurt. They echo in your mind, then bounce off your brain before falling down the hole into your heart to slowly leak into your gut, eating at you slowly over time.

Bug-eyes.

Ghettogirl.

Trailer trash.

Those childhood names cut deep, and these new ones aren't much better.

My shiny sparkle
.

I try to focus on Kat's nickname for me, which is the only nice, affectionate nickname I've ever had.

"You okay in there, jelly bean?" His finger taps on the door.

A small smile touches my lips. Well, up until yesterday. Now I have a new nickname, and I kind of like it.

"I'll be right out," I say around my toothpaste-rabid mouth.

I rinse and spit then brush my hair. What am I supposed to wear? What the hell do you wear to bed with your new, stranger husband when you want him to be attracted to you but you don't want to lead him on?

I go out in the hall and tiptoe down to the guest room where my suitcase is.

"Wrong room!" he yells from the master bedroom.

"I'll be right there!" I yell back, giggling.

I dig through my suitcase and pull out a pink tank top and a pair of black boy shorts. These should do. Comfy and cute with a dash of sorta sexy…but not slutty.

I think.

"Christ, it's almost morning. What have you been doing?" He groans when I enter the dark room. There's a nightlight on in the corner, throwing a bluish glow onto the bed, which he's already in, the sheet and comforter pulled up to his waist. All I can see is muscle and ink on his upper torso against the white sheets.

"Asia."

"Hmm?" I chew my lip as I stand next to the bed. Damn Dr. Hollister! This is so freaking awkward.

"Get in here."

"Are you naked?"

"I can be."

"Talon! No."

"I have boxers on. Jesus, what’s wrong with you?"

"This is just uncomfortable."

He sighs. "You gotta get over it. I'm not gonna try to bone ya, okay? I'm too tired. I'm exhausted from my first movie date."

I slowly crawl into the bed next to him and pull the sheet up over my chest. "Wow, when you say it so romantic like that, I can barely wait 'til it happens."

He rolls over onto his side so he's facing me. "I'm gonna rock your world someday soon, baby. Don't worry."

"Like a puppy?"

"You'll never let that go, will you?"

"Probably not."

"I didn't say it to hurt you. It just came out. And I meant it as in, you're really cute."

"That's really not helping me feel better."

Suddenly he bolts up. "Did you feel that?" he whispers loudly.

"What?"

"Something jumped on the bed. Is that fucking cat on my bed?"

I sit up too, and there's Princess Pixie, curled up at the foot of the bed.

"Yes. She sleeps with me every night."

"No way. I hafta draw a line here."

A line? "What line?"

"I can't have a cat in the bed."

"She's not in the bed, she's
on
the bed. She weighs two pounds. How is she bothering you?"

"I don't want her looking at me or jumping on me when we start to get into it."

I stare at him in the dim light. "Get into it? Into what, exactly?"

"You know, when we start to have sex."

I flop back down against my pillow. "The cat stays. She's not going to bother us when we
get into it
. You'll probably scare her away anyway."

He flops back down too. "I didn't sign up for a cat in the bedroom."

"You'll learn to love her. Can we please go to sleep now?"

Again he turns onto his side to face me. "What happened to the last guy?" he blurts out.

"What last guy?"

"The last guy you had sex with. How long were you together?"

I screw my eyes shut, not wanting to think about Danny. "We were together for two years. We broke up because he got a job offer in another state.”

"Was he a nice guy?"

"Yes." Until he left.

"Did you love him?" His voice is softer now, with a hint of curiosity coming through.

"Yes."

"Do you still?"

I turn my head to him. "No. It was a long time ago."

"Why didn't he take you with him?"

Good question. "He thought it was better if we just parted. He wasn't ready to make a commitment like that, I guess."

"That kinda sucks."

"Yeah, it did."

"I'm going to take you everywhere with me."

I laugh and turn toward the wall. "That sounds seriously creepy."

He leans his chin against my shoulder, his hair falling over my arm. "Don't you want to go everywhere with me? When I'm here and not on tour?" he asks, sounding a little bit worried that I might not want to.

"Are you serious or teasing me again?"

His lips press against my shoulder, sending a warm shiver throughout my body. "I'm totally serious. I want what my grandparents had and my parents have. And my brother Storm and Evie. They do everything together."

That's what I've always wanted. Except I only saw that sort of relationship on television shows. Talon's actually grown up with it and experienced it around him. It seems to run in his family. Maybe it's in his blood.

Did we finally find something we both wanted in this?
Togetherness. A life partner.

I turn so I'm lying on my back again, and although I can't see him in the dark, his face is mere inches from mine, his hair now tickling my cheek. I reach up and gently push it behind his ear. A gesture I never thought I'd be doing with a man.

"Do you really mean that?" I ask softly. "That's what you really want?"

"Yeah. It is. No lie."

I want to believe him so badly, and I have no reason not to, other than the fact he's never had a real relationship before. But even a rock star can settle down, right? The team must have interrogated him about this, just like they questioned the heck out of me.

"What are you thinking, Asia? You got quiet."

"I'm thinking I want to kiss you like I own you right now." For once my voice comes out like it belongs to a sensual woman, with no cracking or shakiness or nervous giggling. He quickly sucks in a surprised breath and touches my cheek.

"Well, have at it, baby. I'm all yours," he whispers, his lips lightly brushing against mine. My hand clutches the back of his neck as I hold his mouth to mine. He doesn't move, but he lets me kiss him softly, tasting him. His lips part slightly and his tongue licks my lips, coaxing me to kiss him deeper. My fingers curl into his hair and a small whimper sounds in the back of my throat when our tongues finally touch, our lips mashing together hungrily. I wasn't expecting my heart to pound like this from kissing him, but damn, it's beating double time like a drum, my breath quickening. His hand gently skims over my stomach and grips my hip as he pulls his head back a few inches, his lips leaving mine, his breath coming out ragged. I pull him back down to my waiting mouth, knowing that's what he wants—to feel me wanting him.

"Are you ready for me now?" he whispers between breaths, moving his lips to my cheek.

Yes. No.
"Not yet," I whisper back, turning my head to meet his lips again.

"Damn," he groans, kissing me deeper, his tongue dancing with mine. "You're killin' me."

"I'm sorry."

His mouth pulls away, but his hand squeezes my hip. "It's okay. We'll stop now, before I can't."

"Thank you," I whisper, our lips wandering back to each other’s for a moment. "For being patient with me."

"Thanks for showing me what I can look forward to." He kisses me once more then pulls away and rolls over onto his side of the bed. "Now, go to sleep."

Sleep? How can I possibly sleep now when my heart is racing and my thighs are burning and I have a sudden empty ache deep inside me that he's woken up?

In the darkness, his huge foot rubs up against mine under the covers and then stays there, nestled against mine. It feels nice and oddly affectionate. An unspoken connection.

Rock star husband footsies.

My heart swoons.