Rock Star Read online

  When he came to the reunion, he’d expected Rae to be the same old girl, the woman who always picked logic over love, but she seemed different. His old Rae would have never let him go down on her in the library. His old Rae would have never changed her mind when he pushed her to let him stay. It was a transformation he couldn’t ignore. He needed to explore this new development more to see if maybe the love of his life was ready to forget practicality and choose love instead.

  As he looked into her pretty eyes again, she asked, “Is Jake okay?”

  “Yeah, he’ll be all right.” Travis looked at the door Jake had left through, knowing that whatever was going on with Jake was some pretty heavy shit, but it also wasn’t his business to share. “Come on,” he said, smiling back at Rae. “Let’s grab a booth.”

  She smiled in return and followed him to the far corner away from everyone else, exactly as he intended it.

  In no time, they were seated and had placed their orders for chicken wings and fries, which was a Rebels’ specialty. In traditional style, Betty had their meals set out in front of them before they could even finish their first drink.

  “So, tell me about all the excitement in your life,” Rae said, raising a chicken wing to her mouth. “You must have some pretty crazy stories.”

  Travis picked up a wing, too. “Sure, I have some stories, but they’re not worth retelling.”

  “To me, you mean?”

  He laughed and nodded. “Especially to you.” After he’d taken a bite, he added, “But believe me, Rae, fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.”

  “Why?” she asked before ripping off a piece of the chicken, leaving sauce on the corner of her mouth.

  He grinned. “You eating that is a perfect example. Do you know how long it’s been since a woman has done that in front of me?”

  She devoured the wing and even sucked the sauce off the bones. “I hope you’re not expecting me to be embarrassed about that because it won’t happen. I like food. A lot.”

  He chuckled. “Actually, I like it. I miss it, in fact.”

  She paused, eyebrows shooting up to her hairline. “You miss watching a woman eat a chicken wing?”

  “Yes.”

  She snorted and grabbed another from the pile. “You are so weird. You know that, right?”

  He barked a laugh, watching her practically inhale her meal. “Take that as another example. I can’t even remember the last time someone said something negative to me.”

  She placed her chicken wing down on the plate and frowned at him. “Let me get this straight. I eat like a pig, and I say mean things to you, and you like it?”

  “That’s right. I fucking love it.” He noted the way she watched him then, a little more intensely, obviously thinking thoughts he wished he could hear.

  “Is that what the library was all about? Why you wouldn’t let me touch you?”

  He held her stare. “I wanted to remember what it looked like, what it was like, to pleasure a woman who truly wanted me, not Travis the rock star. If you touched me, I’d have gotten lost in my own pleasure, and I wanted to focus on you alone. I wanted that memory.”

  She quickly looked away, drew in a deep breath, and then hastily switched the subject. “Even if you don’t really like the fame, you still love the music?”

  “I’ll always love the music.” He placed the bones down and sucked the sauce off his thumb. He liked the way her eyes heated, and her lips parted as if she couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. “The crowd, the energy that happens when I’m on stage. The thrill never gets old.”

  She smiled softly. “It’s what you always wanted. Your dream has come true. That’s great, right?”

  “Some of my dreams have been realized.” Emotion slammed into his chest. She simply didn’t know how much he regretted when it came to her. How much he’d fought over the years to somehow find peace in his life. So many times, he wanted to come back for her, but he needed his craft as much as he needed her. Without the music, he was nothing. But slowly, the years without her grew colder and colder. He couldn’t quite remember the happy guy he’d been in high school, but being with her now made him feel like he could find him again.

  “Travis,” she said softly.

  He looked at her then, and whatever she saw on his face made her sit back in her seat as worry filled her expression. He knew why; he’d let his guard down. Walls that he had in place so no one could see the real him, and discover how broken he was. “Fake smiles, Rae,” he told her, “that’s what got me through. Fake laughter during interviews. Even grinning when I knew the paparazzi was around me. It was always a show, and I was always on point…until I got home. Until the quiet. Until all that was left was me and the reminder that the two loves of my life—music and you—fought to win, and you lost.”

  She glanced down at her plate, and he watched her take two deep breaths before she whispered, “I can’t do this, Travis.”

  The noise in the bar all seemed to dull as she became his only focus. “What can’t you do?” he asked.

  “This. Us. Whatever we’re doing here.” She finally looked at him, emotion raging in her eyes. “I’m sorry, but I can’t do this with you. Last night was fine because it was supposed to be a fleeting thing, not emotional, just some sexy fun. Then we’d wake up and return to our normal lives, and it’d all feel like a dream. But what you’re saying now…what you’re suggesting…it crosses a line I can’t cross with you. It took me years to get to a place where I stopped missing you.”

  “I didn’t know that,” he barely managed, never having seen it that way. “I thought my leaving was easy for you.”

  “Easy?” she scoffed. “I was a mess for a really long time, and terribly heartbroken, but I was the strong one, doing the right thing so that you could go after your dreams. I had to be the practical one, so we didn’t end up one of those miserable couples living a life we never wanted because we wanted each other. I did that for us.”

  He cringed, recoiling at how cold her words made him feel, before she added, “I know you don’t want to hear that, but I…I can’t do this with you. Nothing has changed. This can never work between us. In the end, I’m going to be sitting here devastated, watching you walk away from me again.”

  The sudden beep of her phone had her reaching into her purse. When she looked at the screen, she sighed. “I’m sorry, there’s an emergency at work…” She glanced at him, pain in her eyes before she rose. “I have to go.”

  “Just wait,” he called. “Let’s talk.”

  “I can’t,” she said, slowly shaking her head. “I’m sorry.”

  He scrambled to say the right thing…do the right thing…but only managed, “Rae, don’t go.”

  Almost as if she were in slow motion, she moved out of the booth and then came to his side. The soft look she gave him, paired with the sweetness in her voice, broke him as she said, “Last night was amazing.” His eyes shut as she pressed her warm lips against his cheek. “But today is a reality that I just can’t deal with. My heart is on the line here, Travis, and I’m sorry, but I can’t let you hurt me just because you want to dip into the past again and remember the guy you used to be.”

  When he reopened his eyes, she was gone.

  CHAPTER 4

  Three hours later, after a successful surgery where she’d removed a sock from a chocolate Labrador’s stomach, thus saving his life, Rae returned home to Chestnut Village. She’d been home for a little over fifteen minutes, only having the chance to feed her totally spoiled and incredibly fat, ginger-colored tabby, Harry, before a knock sounded. She peeked through the curtain on the thin window next to the front door and found Travis, his head pressed against the slab.

  God, she needed her best friends Kate and Tessa. They’d know what to do and how to handle all this. But only she and Travis were there now. She drew in a long, deep breath as her heart wavered, but her mind held firm. “Travis,” she said loudly, ensuring he heard her through the closed door, which in this old
house was easy since it didn’t have an airtight seal. “You can’t be here.”

  “I don’t want you to let me in,” he said through the door. The heaviness in his voice had her turning around and leaning against the wood for support as he continued. “I understand why you can’t do this. I don’t want to cross any emotional lines that may hurt you. That’s not why I’m here.”

  He paused, and the silence felt like seconds long before he addressed her again. “I’m here because I want you to know that last night, and even today, the few minutes I had with you, have been the best time I’ve had in a while.” His voice blistered. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me, and I want you to know that you deserve the world in any way you’d like it handed to you. That you were, and always will be, the most genuine thing I’ve ever known.” Then she heard silence followed by the creak of the old wooden stairs beneath his feet, telling her he was leaving.

  Again…

  Forever…

  Earlier at Rebels, she’d been able to walk away from him. Even at the reunion, she could leave him. But something about him leaving her changed the game. Her heart pounded, and the panic of him departing sent her into a frenzy. It was the way he needed her, had reached for her. There was just something between them that she couldn’t ignore, no matter what her mind told her to do. In that second where he’d laid bare all his emotions, holding nothing back, she was bared alongside him.

  She didn’t want him to go.

  Logic be damned, she spun around and whisked the door open, not even considering all the reasons she shouldn’t.

  Travis whirled around and stood there, breathless, his chest heaving. She said the only thing she could, and used his line from earlier, turning it back on him, “Don’t go.”

  She couldn’t quite recall what happened next. All she knew was that in the seconds since she’d spoken, she’d ended up in his arms, and they were back inside her house with the door closed.

  In her small foyer, he spun her, pressing her back to his chest as he began kissing her neck, his hands exploring her until he cupped her breasts, squeezing and massaging. She gasped for breath, barely surviving his intensity, and leaned her head back to rest against his chest, her moans echoing his. He caressed her as if his hands were made for her body, and she liked it. No, she needed the ferocity of his touches. She couldn’t let him walk away, despite her head screaming at her that it was the right thing to do.

  His mouth settled by her ear while he massaged her breasts harder and groaned each time. She shivered. His touches unraveled her. It was like he’d been desperate to feel her, starved for the way her body warmed beneath his hands, and now that he had her, he couldn’t stop.

  “Travis,” she whispered, arching into him, eager for more.

  He turned her around to face him, and she caught sight of his face. Eyebrows drawn, mouth parted, eyes smoldering; one look, and he set off a fire inside her that only he could extinguish. He grunted, apparently equally affected by what he found in her expression, and then he kissed her, stealing her breath. She followed along, keeping up with the way his tongue twirled with hers, opening her mouth at just the right times to let him own her. His hands trailed over her face, her arms, her hips, until he squeezed her bottom, grinding her against him. Only when he received her breathy moan did he gather her in his arms and move them the few steps needed to the entryway table.

  There, he rested her bottom against the tabletop and grabbed his shirt, pulling it over his head in that fast way men do. She had one second to look at him. Lean and ripped; his muscles spoke of power and protection, and of man. But before she could look further, his lips were on hers again, his tongue brushing across hers, captivating her once more. She moaned breathlessly, as he inched her shirt up until he had it over her head, leaving her in her white bra.

  “Christ, Rae…” He moaned, kissing between her breasts, on her stomach, paying attention to her body; not leaving any of her untouched. “How you feel…” He dragged his nose across her shoulder. “The way you taste…” He kissed along her collarbone. “You drive me fucking crazy.”

  God, the things he said. This wasn’t the boy she remembered. This was a man, and she wanted him so badly. She threaded her hands into his hair as he kissed her ribs, her belly button. He trailed his tongue up her side, and she giggled from the tickle. When he lifted his head, she spied his grin before he took her mouth again, owning her with his special brand of addictive passion.

  That’s why Travis excelled where other men failed. He took his time. He waited for her body to come alive before he dared to remove her pants. He kissed and hesitated. He urged and guided. And by the time he removed her panties, she was soaking wet and more than ready for him.

  “Goddamn it,” he practically purred, and her eyes rolled back as his fingers slid across her slick heat, slowly dragging her arousal up to her clit, where he played with the little bud. “I like the way you want me, Rae,” he added. “The way you need me.”

  She couldn’t wait. Not any longer. His body was so close to hers, his touch… God, she’d wanted him like this for so long…for so many lonely nights when her heart bled for him. She reached for his belt. “Condom?” she asked.

  With quick hands, he pulled out his wallet, then grabbed a silver packet before he thrust his pants and boxer briefs down and kicked them away. Once he had the condom free from the wrapper, he said, “Kiss me.”

  She did, again and again, as she felt him applying the latex over the hard cock resting on her stomach. He sucked on her lips, her tongue, until suddenly he turned her around.

  Facing the wall now, she stared at herself in the mirror over the table. A foreign look of desire was there in her dilated pupils, in her puffy, red lips, and in her flushed cheeks. Even to her, she looked blatantly desperate, but she didn’t care.

  “Take me,” she begged.

  In the mirror, over her shoulder, Travis’s heated eyes burned into hers. Boldly stating he wasn’t the eighteen-year-old she remembered, he reached for her leg, placing her knee on the table, opening her up for him. He didn’t wait. With his eyes on hers in the mirror, he entered her from behind right to the hilt.

  “Fuck,” he groaned, tossing his head back.

  She lost herself in the pleasure, but she couldn’t stop looking at him. The strength of him, and the way he used his whole body to engulf her in passion consumed her. To have him back inside her was everything and so much more. She’d wished for this moment for years. She’d been tormented by it, imagining him thrusting inside her as he did now. And with each slap of his pelvis against her bottom, she felt the walls she’d erected to protect herself crumble. She craved him. All of him.

  She moaned, vocalizing the maelstrom that he created inside her. And like he heard her need, he wrapped his arm around her and pressed her back against his chest. In the mirror, she stared at her breasts bouncing, and the way he claimed her so perfectly, somehow making her feel beautiful and sexy all at once.

  But then she lost sight of his potent eyes as he dropped his head onto her shoulder in the crook of her neck and murmured, “Give me what I want, baby.”

  Her eyesight blurred, and then her lids eventually shut against the pleasure. Her loud moans echoed with his, as skin slapped against skin, his hard cock driving up inside her. His warm, sweaty body pressed against her, the strength of his arms around her, and the scent of him swirling in the air drove her higher.

  “Oh, yeah, baby,” he grunted. “Just like that, Rae. That’s what I want.”

  Her inner muscles squeezed harder, her arousal soaking him more, as he laced his fingers into the back of her hair, thrusting harder, faster now, not relenting until she gave him exactly what he wanted. And that was her body surrendering to the pleasure he provided.

  With a final thrust forward and a loud scream, she gave him everything, shuddering and breaking apart around him until she stood there bare and vulnerable, a mess of orgasmic bliss.

  His arms held her tightly, and h
is sweet, soft kiss on her shoulder brought her back to the moment, as he lowered her leg to the floor, pulled out, and then turned her to face him. His condom-covered cock pressed against her stomach as he kissed her, properly and perfectly, devouring the remainder of her whimpers until her climax had fully released her.

  Only then did he look at her. She raised her hands to his face, staring at him intently as he lifted her bottom onto the table, hooked one leg under his arm, and entered her in one swift stroke.

  “That one was yours,” he growled against her mouth. “This one is mine.”

  Then, there was no thought, no conversation, only loud, throaty moans filling her foyer. Fiery eyes locked onto her, Travis pumped his hips with rapid speed, his pelvis banging perfectly against her clit every time until he found a rhythm that furrowed his brow and intensified his expression. His mouth parted, then pressed against hers as he took what he wanted. Her. Roughly. Passionately.

  Until she felt the widening of his cock, which either awakened her climax from before or brought on a new one altogether. And as his groans became louder, his thrusts a little more urgent, she dug her nails into his shoulders, riding the intense wave. She watched the way his eyes widened before they pinched shut, as he stiffened and roared, bucking and jerking his climax, and she soared right along with him, crashing into a mindless space.

  Many minutes later, a sudden meow snapped her back into the present, and had Travis glancing down.

  “And who’s the little voyeur?” he asked.

  Rae glanced at her feet and laughed. “That’s Harry.”

  “Well, Harry, let’s get one thing straight,” Travis said firmly, parting from her and wrapping an arm around her waist to help her off the table. He kept that arm firmly in place, and when he looked at her, his eyes became intense, and his voice grew thick. “Rae is all mine tonight, so your demands will have to wait.”