Page 74 of Heart Break Her

“No thanks to you and your band.” I hitch an eyebrow.

“It was your idea.” His eyes drop down to my paint-splattered white tank, and then to his own chest. “This is all you.”

I look down and realize he’s covered in bright, neon colors. Teal, purple, pink, green—coating his chest. Splatters of red and blue on his flexed abs. And I can’t help myself. I lift a hand and start at his sternum, trailing my palm down over his hard muscles, watching the colors bleed together as I use my fingers like paintbrushes against him, my own personal canvas. He holds his breath as my fingers move over him.

“You’re covered,” I say, as if he doesn’t already know. My insides are swirling from the feel of wet paint sliding across his skin.

He looks down at the circles I’m making with the paint and smiles. “Good thing the venue has showers then.”

“Showers,” I repeat, flattening my hand and running it back up his chest. Realizing I’m crossing all the lines we’ve drawn. No longer caring, as paint pools between my fingers. After all, he’s the one standing this close, taking up my space, fogging my head, touching me every chance he gets.

I take a step in, and it puts us almost chest to chest. Sebastian’s eyes darken, and his chin dips to hover over me.

“Show me.” It leaves my lips like a dare.

A challenge to see if what I felt in the green room before the show was my imagination playing games. All this time, I’ve convinced myself I was a mistake to him, but in the span of those five minutes, I saw it—the truth. Desire. And I want him to show me I’m not imagining it.

My heart is racing as Sebastian’s jaw tightens. And while there’s a risk he’ll say we can’t, his stilted breaths put me at ease. I’m not the only one losing this battle tonight.

Sebastian pulls my hand off his chest, lacing his fingers through mine and tugging me along behind him, like he’s made some kind of unspoken decision.

A few people try to get his attention. A roadie, a few groupies. Some guys from another band nod as he passes. But he doesn’t stop for any of them.

It isn’t until we turn another corner that I realize he’s taking me back to the band’s dressing rooms. The ones reserved for the top slot bands. And since the evening is over and most of the other bands have already left for the after parties, it’s fairly quiet as we slip into a room at the far end of the hall.

The door closes, and when I hear Sebastian turn the lock, something unlatches within me.

A need, an urge, a craving.

One look in his darkening eyes, and I know whatever he decided is exactly what I want from him.

21

Cassie

Sebastianplantshishandson the closed door behind me, dipping his chin and bringing us almost mouth to mouth. His dark blond hair is streaked in neon paint and falls over his forehead. His hand drags lower on the door until it’s right beside my head, and I imagine the streak it leaves in its path.

Every touch, on every surface, making a mess of colors, and I can’t help but feel the irony in it. How every moment with him makes me feel like I’m cut open and spilling out all over the place. This trail of colors an expression of that feeling as his body presses against me.

“I know you said—”

He cuts off my words with a hard kiss. His lips stamp over my mouth and he quiets my misgivings with them.

We shouldn’t be doing this. At the same time, he feels like exactly where I’m supposed to be. Grounded in a universe where I’m constantly floating. A girl, broken and grieving, craving every touch he’ll offer. If only to fill in another piece of the void. No matter who I am or where I’m from or what he’s done, we collide like we’re meant to, and I’m helpless to stop it.

Sebastian backs me up against the door with such force, it pulls an exhale from my lungs. He’s the air and I’m breathless, reaching into him in search of life. His hands move down my body, trailing until they find where my shorts meet my thighs, and he grips hard to lift me as I wrap my legs around him.

Tonight, he isn’t being gentle or nice like he was the first night when we took it slow. Something else surges through him. And when he breaks the kiss to look into my eyes, they darken three shades as he presses his hips against me so I can feel his thickening erection.

“Tell me to stop,” Sebastian says, his eyes lit with a fire I’ve never seen before. I’m not sure if he’s begging me to actually say it or praying I don’t, but his words come out desperate. His mouth hovers over mine with only a fraction of space between us, and he’s breathing almost as hard as I am.

Noses brushing, his face looks almost pained, and I catch a glimpse of vulnerability in his eyes. To millions of women, he’s a god. But in my arms, all I see is a man, broken so deep inside that, if I reach too far, I might get cut.

I get lost in you.

I’m drifting closer to a black hole. Dipping my toe over the edge. Playing with the allure of darkness and knowing if I take one step farther, I might never come out again.

“I don’t want you to stop,” I whisper.

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