“Wait, I want to do that,” she exclaimed after I’d zipped up my jeans. She picked up the shirt, smoothing a few wrinkles before sliding it up my arms.
“Why?”
“So I can do this.”
She kissed a trail up my right arm before she covered it with the fabric. Then she did the same with the left one.
“I’ve been dreaming about exploring these arms ever since I watched you play the piano at the party.”
“Just the arms?”
She kissed my chest too, moving from under my neck down in a straight line.
When she was right below my navel, I groaned, already semihard again.
Isabelle looked up, grinning. “Someone’s happy.”
“So fucking happy.”
I lifted her up, kissing her long and deep, pressing her full breasts against my chest. Her nipples turned to pebbles. I couldn’t resist cupping her ass with both hands, pressing her into me. She was mine to touch and explore. Only mine.
She sighed against my mouth, going up to her tiptoes.
I finally tore my lips from hers, staring her straight in the eyes.
“Are you going to put on any clothes?” I asked her.
“No,” she answered innocently. “What are you going to do about it?”
“Wait and see.” I kissed the tip of her nose. It was easy to let my guard down and be myself around Isabelle. Her easy smile and warmth disarmed me in a way I couldn’t understand, but I didn’t want to fight it.
Her hands roamed everywhere as we lay down on the couch.
“You’re tickling me,” I told her between chuckles.
“Oh really? Then I’m going to do it some more.”
I caught her wrists. She pouted. “Hey, I wasn’t done.”
“I know, but you had all the advantage. I didn’t like that. This is more to my liking,” I informed her. I kept her wrists in one hand, skimming the other one to her hips and then to her waist. When my thumb brushed the sides of her breast, Isabelle squirmed, wiggling right over my cock. The shot of pleasure was as unexpected as it was intense. I groaned.
“If you’re going to fondle me, do it properly.”
“I’m not fondling you yet, Isabelle. You’ll know when I do.”
“So what are you doing now?” she challenged. “Just pressing your delicious body against mine with no ulterior motive?” A sly smile spread on her face.
“If I reveal it, it wouldn’t be ulterior, right?”
“Well, I’m not as secretive as you are. I know what I want, and I have no problem owning up to it.” She kept kissing my chest as she spoke. “And I bet I can make you reveal yours in no time.”
“Talking about secrets... how do you want us to tell the band? I can tell them myself, or we can be together.”
Her eyes widened. “Oh... I didn’t think about that.”
“I intend to spend as much time as possible with you until the tour starts, so no hiding. You’re mine. I want them to know that.”
Her lips curled in a wide smile. “Okay. Well, you know the guys best, so it’s your call. But I can’t believe you already want to stake your claim.”
I wanted to do a lot more than that, but I had to start somewhere.
Chapter Ten
Isabelle
The opportunity to tell the band came up a week later when Sasha asked me to stop by the cottage and supervise their live video. She’d handled the one on Saturday and wasn’t pleased with the results.
Brayden and I went there separately so we wouldn’t shock the guys right away, though I suspected Lars was on to us. I arrived later and waited for them in the bar section of the living room. I wasn’t alone for long though. Brayden joined me a few minutes later, all by himself.
We hadn’t exactly planned this step by step, so I figured we’d behave until after we told everyone. I was so wrong. He moved right in front of me, putting both hands on my waist.
“What are you doing?” I whispered.
“Kissing you. I’ve missed this sassy mouth.”
I grinned. He’d shown up at my office every evening with Paul, waiting for me, so I wasn’t sure if he was trying to charm me or he really meant it.
“Oh, okay.”
He pressed his mouth to mine in a slow, deep kiss. Energy shot through me, setting my nerve endings alight. I rose on my tiptoes as a bolt of unexpected pleasure coiled through me.
He groaned against my mouth, deepening the kiss. I stumbled backward, blindly reaching behind me until I felt a wall.
“Mmm... what a kiss,” I murmured against his lips. “Any special reason it was hot enough that I needed a wall to brace myself?”
He grinned against my lips. “For good luck.”
And then he kissed me again, exploring my mouth with his and my body with his hands. Every part of me he touched was on fire.
“And what was that one for?”
“More good luck.”
“How much of that do you need for a live video?” I teased.
“Lots.”
I laughed, squirming against him. He groaned.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, that doesn’t count as bringing you luck?”
“Woman, are you trying to make me go live with a hard-on?”
“No, no. That’s all for me. No one else is allowed to see it. I’m very possessive.”
He pressed a thumb at the corner of my mouth. “Good. So am I, Isabelle. So am I.”
Licking my lips, I glanced at the clock behind him and startled.
“Brayden, you’re supposed to go live in five minutes. Come on, let’s find the guys.”
We ultimately had to drag them from the rehearsal room into the main living room. I sat on the huge couch opposite the dining room where the guys were sitting talking to the camera.
The plan was simple. Each of the guys would talk about what drove them to write music, not only for this album but in general. I was monitoring the comments in real time, making note of what the public was interested in and letting them know by writing keywords on sheets of paper and holding them up for the guys to see. It was the end of July now, and their concerts started in October, so some questions were about the upcoming events.
They were being filmed by a phone they’d set up on a holder on the coffee table in front of their couch. I was following the comment thread from my iPad, which I kept next to me.
The goal was for the video to feel as natural as possible, but the guys hadn’t wanted to risk babbling about things their fans had no interest in.
Lars spoke first, very comfortable with the camera. It all began smoothly enough because not too many fans had joined in yet, so there weren’t too many comments to read through.
Brayden followed Lars and was much more natural, like it was him and me talking. The guys didn’t switch seats, merely adjusted the angle of the phone.
“I’ve always said that music just comes to me, and it’s true. But sometimes we meet new people who inspire us in a way we didn’t think possible. I strongly believe that my music is the product of everything that happens around me. Of everyone I meet.”
My breath caught. I wasn’t sure if he was speaking to the camera or to me now. I lost track of what I was supposed to be doing for a few seconds before focusing on the comment thread again. I threw furtive looks at Brayden over the screen, unable to hide my smile. He was still looking at me, right over the camera.