Page 39 of Fractured Frets

...

Okay. I’ll be there in 1hr.

***

Lying in bed, I stared up at the exposed beams on my ceiling. Maddy lay naked beside me, asleep. Our legs and arms were entwined beneath the crisp white sheet. She’d certainly helped relieve some stress...but not all of it. Far from it.

My house, after months of disarray, and me living from room to room during the renovation, was a week or two off completion. My master bedroom, with dark wooden floors, a massive walk-in closet, and a huge en suite that overlooked the private tropical garden and pool, was finally finished. The view through the large full-length windows out onto the hillside, with no neighbors looking over the fence line, no cityscape or sea of sprawling lights, was perfect. I love being tucked away from the chaos of LA that lay only a few miles away—and the smell of fresh paint mixed with the divine scent of Maddy and sex.

This, lying here with her, was heaven. Just what I needed.

So much had happened during the past few months, I’d struggled to keep up.

No . . . I wasn’t keeping up.

Since my band’s new single had dropped three months ago, followed by our album being released a few weeks later and our tour announcement, we’d traveled across the country on promotional duties. We’d been on TV shows and radio stations. We’d performed, partied, and played at every opportunity for publicity. The best thing was we’d topped the charts, and tickets for our shows across the globe had nearly sold out. Our faces covered magazines, billboards, and buses. Our music was constantly on the radio and topping streaming services.

We were on a fucking high.

We’d exceeded everyone’s expectations. Especially Ashlem’s, our marketing company and tour promoter.

That rocket we’d gotten on had taken off. Big time.

But fuck...my hip ached. My mind raced. Life was getting faster and faster. I didn’t know how to maintain this pace. Rehearsals and the tour hadn’t even started.

But then Maddy wriggled against me. I kissed the top of her head, savored the feel of her in my arms, and breathed her in. Yeah...there was my calm.

She lifted her chin, smiled a sleepy smile and blinked her gorgeous brown eyes open.

“Morning,” she whispered.

“Morning.” I kissed the tip of her nose, then her lips. “I like waking up next to you. It’s become a regular thing when you’re in town.”

“Yeah. Last night was fun.”

“We should do this more often.”

Trouble dug fine grooves into her brow. She pulled her gaze from mine and played with the hairs on my chest. “We can’t... I’m only in LA once every two weeks, or randomly here and there. You’re going on tour in a few months. You’ll have an endless supply of women to keep you...entertained.”

“I don’t want anyone else. I like this. Just being with you.” So much for not wanting a relationship. We were in one. A strange, complicated, hassle-free one. But we couldn’t stay like this forever. I wanted to tell the world we were together but also protect what we had. Time with Maddy was rare. But those stolen moments were the only element in my life I had some form of control over. They were just about us. Problem was, I wanted to spend more and more time with her.

She slid her hand down my stomach and teased her fingernails through my happy trail. “You say that now until some girl sneaks backstage and wants to blow you.”

I caught her hand, rolled toward her, and gave her a mischievous look. “There’s only one girl’s mouth I want around my dick, and that’s yours.”

Her eyes glinted as she blushed. “I don’t believe you.”

“It’s the truth.” I didn’t regret my past. I’d had fun. But sometimes I wished people saw beyond my reputation. Maddy still had her reservations about me. I wanted to erase every one of them.

I linked our fingers and kissed her fingertips. “But this has evolved into more than just hooking up. You can’t deny that.” Half-hovering above her, I teased my lips against hers. “Tell me this isn’t something.”

Burying my hands into her hair, I deepened our kiss. Her sweet taste and touch tampered with my heart. Every time I was with her, I never wanted to leave. My dick sprung to life, agreeing. I clutched her ass and drove my hard-on against her belly, just to let her know what she did to me.

She smiled against my mouth. “You’re insatiable.”

“Only around you.” Grinning, I flopped onto my back, drawing her with me into my arms.

“That is a problem.” With a twinkle in her eyes, she nestled against my chest, her head on my shoulder. “Slip, there’s always been something between us. But this is all we can be.”

---