Page 35 of The Sound of Us

“I’ve got you.”

I pressed my cheek against his chest. “Your heart is still beating hard.”

“That’s because I want to kiss you right now,” he said quietly. “In a terms of endearment kind of way.”

A wave of heat crashed over my body, and I pulled back just enough so I could look up and meet his gaze. “What does that mean in the context of all the women who seem to be enamored of you?”

“This is totally different.” He cupped my jaw, rubbing his finger gently over my cheek. “Youare totally different.”

Part of me thought—no, knew—this was a mistake for so many reasons. But I did want to kiss him. Because he was my bad boy musician fantasy come to life. Because I was lost in his eyes, drunk on the temptation of him. Because for the briefest moment, he’d dropped his walls and let me peek inside at a soul as bruised and battered as mine.

“No regrets. No expectations. No promises.” I slid my arms around his neck and ragged breaths drew us together and apart.

I’m not sure who kissed who first. All I know is that his lips were softer than I remembered, velvet, his touch light, but there was a desperation behind his kiss, a need as urgent as my own. His mouth moved to my shoulder, my neck, the curve of my ear, his breath warm against my skin. I threaded my hands through his soft hair, and he found my lips again, taking the kiss deep, his tongue stroking mine, devouring the last of my resistance. A moan escaped my lips and I ran my hands down his back until I reached the edge of his T-shirt. His skin was hot, his muscles firm under my touch. I heard his breath hitch, felt his body stiffen.

“Skye…” My name came out in guttural groan as he wound my hair around his fist and took control, baring my throat to the heated slide of his lips, moving me where he wanted me to go. I fell into it, fell into him, his voice, his hold, triggering a darkness inside me, the same yearning I’d felt in the alley for something I wanted so much it scared me.

My body dissolved into his until we were one person, not two. I had never experienced feelings so intense, a want so fierce it was fire in my bones. Every part of me that had died in that car crash came alive, and my universe became Dante. His heat, his strength, his breath, his hands—holding me, moving me, driving me wild. I pressed my full body against him and felt the hard length of his erection against my hips.

His breath hitched, and he pulled back, his chest heaving in the same fractured rhythm as mine. “We need to stop. I want you, but not like this.”

My body was humming, vibrating with the curious sensation of following my own desires. “Yes, like this,” I whispered, taking a step so I could press my lips to his. “I want you.” I’d never been so forward. I didn’t make first moves. I’d been so focused on being the perfect daughter and making my dad’s dreams come true that I hadn’t had time for anything except basketball, my grades andwriting for the school paper. My relationships had been entirely one-sided—more to assuage my mom’s worry that I was missing out on life experiences than anything else. My desire had been buried under a mountain of guilt. But right then, all I wanted was to be the opposite of that girl. I wanted to be free.

He licked his lips, and his brown eyes met mine, making my stomach tighten. I don’t know if he would have said yes, but before he could speak, I heard footsteps in the hallway.

“Dante?” A woman’s voice called out. “Are you still down here?”

“Fuck.” Dante ripped himself out of my arms and stumbled back, leaving me instantly bereft. “It’s Siobhan. She can’t see us like this.” He grabbed his phone and shone the light around the room until he located a box overflowing with electronics. “Grab the mics and I’ll find the rest of the equipment.”

Still stunned by his suddenly cool demeanor, I took down the box while Dante frantically tossed cords and wires into a plastic container. He had just pulled the container off the shelf when the door banged open. Light sliced through the darkness, stripping away the veil of shadows and laying bare the stark reality of our surroundings. Our intimate enclave was nothing more than a crumbling graveyard for discarded memories and broken dreams.

“Noah wants all the mics,” Siobhan said, walking into the room while Nick propped open the door. “We had to come all the way down here because you didn’t answer our messages.”

“Can’t get a signal down here,” Dante mumbled. “You wasted your time. I knew he’d need all the mics. Skye’s got the box. We need to stop by maintenance on the way back. Fuse blew again.” His cold, clipped tone was a shock after the warmth of our moment in the darkness.

Siobhan looked around the room, her gaze landing on me. “What’s wrong with you?”

My stomach tightened at what she might have seen in my face, and I tried to cover it with humor. “I thought I saw a coffin.”

Her frown gave way to a snort of laughter. “I’m just surprised he didn’t bite you.”

“You and me both.”

Nick took another box from the shelf, and we made our way single file down the hallway with Dante behind me bringing up the rear. Just before we left the basement, he leaned forward to whisper in my ear, “Skye, I’m…”

“Don’t say anything.” I didn’t want to hear that it was a mistake or that he had regrets. I wanted to keep it perfect and beautiful and soul-shattering so I could pull out the memory in the dark times and remember what it felt like to feel wanted.

CHAPTER FIFTEEN“Come with Me Now” by KongosDANTE

When I first told Noah I wanted to become a lawyer, he pulled some strings and convinced one of the intellectual property law professors to take me on as a research assistant, a position usually reserved for law students. I didn’t love the work. Law wasn’t my passion, and it was a struggle to summarize the stacks of cases the professor asked me to read each week. But the money was good, and it gave me a chance to make connections in the law school and boost my resume with legal experience.

Although he wouldn’t admit to it, I had a feeling Noah also had a hand in my admission to Havencrest, too. I’d dropped out of high school after Sasha died and lost myself to drugs and alcohol, spiraling out of control until he’d found me busking me on the street. Not only had he helped me clean up and given me a place to stay in the suite above his garage, he had also helped me get my high school diploma, and he’d encouraged me to apply to college. I think he’d hoped I would go into the music program, and maybe if vengeance hadn’t become the driving force in my life, I would have.

I hated to disappoint Noah. I owed him everything. I had been brutally honest with him about my past and he had never judged me. In all the years I’d known him, I had only ever kept two secrets. The first was the essay writing service I started when I realized I needed an extra source of funding to pay my tuition. Noahalready let me live rent free in exchange for help around his house, and he had been more than generous when he’d helped me get my life on track. I couldn’t ask for more. The second secret I ever kept from him was Skye.

That kiss in the basement was a huge mistake. I had put her at risk. I’d put Noah and the station at risk. Hell, I’d put my whole law career at risk, although to be fair I’d already done that with the essay writing service. But I couldn’t help myself. I’d never met anyone like her. Our chemistry was off the charts. Still, the guilt weighed on me. I hadn’t contacted her since we’d parted ways the previous afternoon. I needed to back off. Keep my distance. Maybe Siobhan or Nick could take over the interns and I could take over the volunteers…

“Hey, bro.” Nick punched me in the arm, pulling me out of thoughts. “Where have you been all class? You were staring into space. Are you on something? You got some for me?”

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