I’ll try to be who you need,

what you need,

I fail again

tear me, cut me, make me bleed

if it opens your heart to me.

Just don’t leave me with nothing.

Less than nothing.

Like the last time.

Use me.

It’s better than existing without you.

He closed the notebook and shoved it back under the seat.

“Are you writing lyrics?” In his enthusiasm, Jace looked younger than his twenty-four years. Brown eyes wide with eagerness, his typical cool veneer slipped aside for at least three seconds.

“Just a few lines as inspiration strikes.” Sed slid out of the bench. “Are you ready to go?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. So do we have enough for an entire new song yet?”

“Several, actually. I’ve got most of the lyrics down, but I’ll need Eric to get the arrangements worked out.”

“Eric?”

“Fucking gifted with arrangements. He’s got a golden ear. He can take a bunch of disjointed riffs, solos and lyrics, and like magic churn out a song, complete with one of his amazing drum tracks. Have you ever seen him compose?”

Wide-eyed, Jace shook his head and followed Sed off the bus.

“He and Jon Mallory used to work well together. They’d disappear for a weekend with a stack of music—Brian’s guitar work, my lyrics—and return with fifteen or twenty new songs, ready for the recording studio. They wrote the entire last album that way. Not sure how he’ll do now that Jon is gone.” Sed scowled. That might turn out to be a problem, actually. It hadn’t occurred to him until that moment. “Eric will just have to compose with me this time. And you.”

“Me?” Jace sputtered. “I don’t know a thing about writing music.”

Sed laughed. “Me neither, but that won’t stop me.”

Jace grinned. “I’ll try to stay out of Eric’s way, but I would like to see him work.”

Sed had never recognized it before, but Jace admired Eric. Even though Eric treated him like a kid and continually picked on him about his size. Weird.

Without warning, a blinding light hit Sed in the face and a microphone appeared under his chin. “Sed Lionheart, every music fan out there wants to know, is this the end of Sinners?” Bright flashbulbs went off all around him. Damned paparazzi. How did they know he was here?

Sed lifted a hand to block the glare from his eyes. “What?”

“With Trey Mills out of commission, will the band break up?” the reporter shouted.

“What? No. Trey will be fine. Jesus, give him a few days to recover before you start talking about the band breaking up.”

“I see. And do you often engage in public sex with prostitutes and then post the videos online?”

“Prostitutes?” Sed was too stunned to do anything at first. His next instinct was to kick some ass. “Jessica isn’t a prostitute, you asshole. She’s… she’s…” What was she to him exactly? He wasn’t sure, but he did know what he wanted her to be. “She’s my fiancée!” Sed tried to take a swing at the prick, but Jace grabbed him from behind and pinned his arms to his sides.

“Don’t make this worse, Sed,” Jace said. “Let’s get out of here.”

“If you write anything bad about her, I’ll fucking kill you, do you hear me?” Sed yelled at the journalist as Jace forced him to move in the general direction of his motorcycle. Several roadies and the head of Sinners’ security came out of the pigsty bus. They quickly diverted the journalist and gang of photographers so he and Jace could make their escape.

Jace climbed onto the Harley and started the ignition. It roared to life between his thighs. “Let’s go.”

Sed preferred to go kick that reporter’s ass for referring to Jessica as a prostitute, but somehow he pulled it together enough to climb on the motorcycle behind Jace and not fall off as they sped away.

As the surge of testosterone and adrenaline in his blood stream began to wane, he realized he’d told the reporter that Jessica was his fiancée. That would fix a few things, wouldn’t it? God, he hoped so.

“You okay back there?” Jace asked.

“Yeah. Just get me to the Bellagio.”

They took some less-traveled road that ran parallel to the Vegas strip and Sed found himself standing behind the hotel within minutes. “Thanks for the ride. Are you going to go see Aggie again?”

“Maybe.” Jace shrugged. He drove off before Sed could blink.

Sed had planned to ask Jace if he wanted to have a drink with him while he avoided returning to the hotel room. He wondered how pissed Jessica would be because he’d left without saying a word. If he had to guess, he’d go with excessively pissed. He stopped at a blackjack table on his way through the casino. Played a few hands. Drank one watered down Jack and Coke after another. He still wasn’t ready to return to the room. He wasn’t in the mood to get yelled at, and he wasn’t nearly drunk enough to stop caring. By the time he was drunk enough, it was close to two a.m. He cashed in his chips, surprised to find he was a couple grand ahead, and took the elevator back to their floor.

He hesitated at the door. She’d probably left immediately after he had. The room would be empty. Lonely. He’d probably never see her again.

No sense in wasting a comfortable bed though. He didn’t want to go back to the bus and sit there by himself. Or potentially get harassed by some stupid journalist again. He could go play a few more hands of cards. The dealers would keep him company.

Coward, a little voice inside his head accused. Yeah. So?

He took a deep breath, slid the keycard into the lock, and pushed the door open. The bathroom light and the lamp near the bed were still on. Together they gave off just enough light to reveal Jessica sleeping in the chair wearing nothing but a towel and a slack expression. Had she fallen asleep while waiting for him?

He put out the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign, closed the door, engaged the dead bolt, and crossed the room to stand beside the chair. He watched her sleep for several moments. Her face was squashed against the chair arm and drool trickled from the corner of her mouth. Attractive? No, not really. Endearing? Completely.

He leaned forward and touched her bare shoulder. Her skin was cold as ice. How long had she been passed out in the chair?

“Jess, let me put you to bed.”

She opened her eyes and grinned sleepily when she recognized him. “Sed,” she murmured. “I was looking for you.” Her words were slurred as she spoke.

He grinned. “In the chair?”

“I hurt my toe. Sorry.” As if that explained anything.

“Why are you sorry?” he asked, scooping her into his arms and carrying her toward the bed.

“For calling you an amusing toy.”

He grinned down at her as he carried her. An apology? Good enough for him. “I’m not amusing?”

“No.” She shook her head and then giggled. “I mean, yes, you are amusing. You’re not…” She sighed, her expression vacant. Her arms wrapped around his neck and she snuggled against him. “You know what I mean. I like you.” She kissed his collarbone through his T-shirt. “I like you. You.”

Well, it was a start. A far cry better than hate. “You, Ms. Chase, are very drunk.”

“Yes I am,” she agreed loudly and burst into delighted peals of laughter.

He grinned and laid her down across the bed. He tugged her towel loose and opened it, leaving her naked to his eager gaze.

“Whatchoo lookin’ at, Sedric?” she said. Giggled. Snorted. Covered her mouth with her hand and laughed again.

“The most beautiful woman in existence.”

He crawled up onto the bed and stretched out on his side beside her. He bent his elbow and rested his head on his hand, trailing the fingertips of his free hand over her belly. She shivered.

“Are you going to ravish me now, Mr. Lionheart?” she asked, her voice husky.

“Every inch of you,” he murmured and kissed her shoulder tenderly.

“It’s about time!”

She giggled again, but her smile faded as his fingertips moved along the side of her belly to the protrusion of her hipbone. He stroked the ridge there—back and forth, back and forth, watching gooseflesh rise over her skin and her nipples harden with need. He leaned forward and kissed her waiting lips. She tasted of champagne and strawberries.

He enjoyed exploring every inch of her. He used his lips, his hands, fingernails, the smooth inner surface of his forearm, his teeth, his tongue, all the various textures of his body to stimulate her skin. He began with her forehead and worked his way down to the tips of her toes. She made no protest when he turned her onto her stomach and started the process again, moving up her body from the soles of her feet to the tender spot on the back of her neck.

He paused, noticing she’d stopped moving and sighing with pleasure. He brushed her hair back from her face and found her eyes were closed.

“Jess?” He shook her shoulder and she started, snorting as she regained consciousness. “You aren’t into this, are you?”

“Feels so good I fell asleep,” she murmured. “Tired.”

“You never could hold your liquor.”

He pulled back the covers and shifted her body over to the sheet. He covered her and tucked the blanket under her chin. She snuggled into the covers and immediately went slack. The least she could have done was use him for her amusement before she passed out in a drunken stupor. Well, there was only one thing to do when faced with this level of sexual frustration.

Sed stood, stripped off his T-shirt, and dropped to the floor.

Push-ups.

Chapter 21