“My mom doesn’t need me right now, and I’d feel better just getting back to work. I need to keep myself busy.”
PJ nodded, and they waited quietly for the rest of the team to assemble. It wasn’t the right time to tell Lydia that this would be her last tour. She would hold off on that and let Lydia bury herself in work if that’s what she needed.
PJ had a lot of contacts in the industry, and Lydia was well known and respected for her ability to handle anything and everything that was thrown at her on a tour. With PJ’s help, she’d have a number of jobs to choose from when the tour ended.
Gabe’s arm came around PJ, and she smiled up at him as they slipped into the SUV they’d be taking to the airport. There would be sound checks and makeup and hair prep to sit through. After over a week of just throwing on moisturizer and lip gloss and mascara, PJ knew sitting through the hours of makeup and hair wouldn’t be easy.
Gabe wrapped his arms around her, and she snuggled into him for the drive to the airport. They’d fly to Denver and go straight to the venue for the show before even checking into the hotel.
PJ sighed.
Yup.
She was finished with this life. It was time to say good-bye.
Chapter 21
Gabe barely kept his hands to himself as they made their way to the hotel after the show. He loved the version of Pru he’d been with the past week—with her laid-back style and the light makeup she’d worn each day.
But, he had to say, there was also something compelling about the vixen she became when she performed on stage. Her eyes were done in smoky tones making her that much more bewitching to him. She wore red heels with deep-blue, sequined jeans and a red top that flowed around her curves and hid silken, milky skin that he knew would taste sweet when he finally got his mouth on her.
Her jeans showed him things about her body his hands wanted to learn as well, and he had no desire to wait a minute longer than he had to.
It was agonizing to watch her perform under the lights tonight, because he wanted to haul her off the stage and press her up against the wall on more than one occasion. And she knew it, too. Through the night, she’d looked over and given him a cheeky wink, or an extra flick of her hips when the choreography of her show brought her to his side of the stage.
As they entered their hotel suite, he pressed her up against the wall, pinning her between himself and the door. He’d asked Zach’s guys to stay in a separate room until they needed them later, knowing he’d want privacy for a good long while.
PJ laughed a husky, dangerous laugh as he lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist and pressing her into the wall, pulling at her shirt. He had a driving need somehow to bind her to him. To mark her and make her his.
He didn’t care when he heard the fabric of her shirt tear under his hands, and she didn’t seem to either. She’d told him once that after a show, she was cranked up and pumped full of adrenaline for hours, and he could feel that now as she kissed him back, her fingers grasping his hair and tugging as she tried to pull him even closer.
Gabe walked to the couch with Pru still clinging to him, not willing to break the connection in any way. She slid down his body. As her feet came to rest on the floor, he turned her away from him and quickly removed the rest of her shirt.
If you asked Gabe if he could ever be utterly enthralled by a woman’s back before, he would have said no. Sure, looking at a woman’s curvy figure from the back held some appeal, but he’d never imagined it could be like this.
She was a goddess before him, quivering at his touch, as he worshiped her shoulders, the curve on the side of her neck, the slope of her breasts that peeked out along the sides of her body.
When he undid her jeans and slid his hand down her stomach to her center, the place he needed to lose himself in, she was wet and swollen and pressed herself into his hand, grinding against him—her own need as great as his. Gabe moaned and tore the jeans down her hips, taking her lace panties with them.
Their lovemaking wasn’t slow and easy and tender. It was hard and fast and raw. Gabe’s arousal was heightened by the sight of Pru bent over the couch as he entered her from behind, his hand tangled in her hair, pulling to give her that tiny bite of pain that drove her wild beneath him.
God, the vision of her was intoxicating as he spilled into her, plunging again and again while her orgasm ripped through her beautiful body.
Chapter 22
Gabe lifted PJ and carried her to the bedroom where they lay, a tangle of arms and legs, breathing heavily, both trying to recover. PJ ran her hands over Gabe’s back, loving the feel of his muscles beneath her hands.
He was nothing short of absolute perfection, and a small part of her still couldn’t believe this was real. That he was here, with her. That hewantedto be here with her.
Another part of her couldn’t believe how incredible sex was with him, and she had to bite her lip at the thought to hold back a laugh. Being with Jimmy and Kurt hadn’t come close to what it was like with Gabe.
It was as though every cell in her body was tuned to his body, every inch of her made for him and him for her. The thrill of it – of his touch, his taste, of the orgasms he sent screaming through her body – was addictive, and she knew she’d give anything to hold onto him forever.
“Tell me more about your family,” she said, running her hands in light lines up his back, then down again.
Gabe kissed her slowly before drawing back and turning to look up at the ceiling.
“What do you want to know?” he asked. It was his turn to run his fingers over her now, his hand brushing the skin on her arm as she snuggled into his side.