head to toe, settling into my lower belly until I had to scissor my thighs helplessly.
Each time Drezden had gotten close to me, fate had intervened before he could act. The tub, the practice room, outside the car... But this time, he'd gotten a taste in before the elevator could reach our floor and interrupt us.
He kissed me!
I couldn't get that image out of my head. At my feet, my bag and case lay in a heap. I'd dropped them unceremoniously as soon as I'd escaped Drezden's molten stare. The way he'd looked at me when I shoved him off had cut into my soul.
He didn't expect me to stop him. Running my fingers over my eyebrows, I smoothed them repetitively; nervously. Well, too fucking bad! I told him we couldn't, we shouldn't, and he fucking has the balls to try anyway.
I hated that he'd pushed himself onto me.
I loved it, too.
What do I even want anymore? I was supposed to be thinking about how I'd be playing in front of thousands of people tonight. Instead, I was getting swept up in my growing obsession with Drezden Halifax.
Drezden and his velvety mouth.
Drezden and his dexterous fingers and searing heat and fuck could he kiss.
I banged the back of my skull on the door. Out, thoughts! Out! They remained like ticks, burrowed and bloated in my flesh.
I wanted Drezden. Wanted him in a way I'd never known was possible. Being a virgin became increasingly more frightening to me. Was it normal to be so hot, so hungry for someone?
A guy couldn't kiss like that, hold me like that, if he wasn't experienced. The wildfire in his eyes had turned my strength into ash. If the elevator hadn't opened, ruining the spell, I might have let him go all the way.
I didn't need that. What I needed was a shower.
Preferably a cold one.
****
Sweet and blacker than pitch. Whatever I was hearing pulled me from my dream. It was a sound I'd heard before, during a time when I needed to feel like someone understood me. At the tender age of seventeen, it's impossible to feel anyone does.
In my case, with bullies and the tantalizing kiss of a blade, even harder.
Cracking open my eyes showed me a white wall. Right, my hotel room. The shower had stolen all the strength from my muscles. With my thick, wet hair wrapped in a towel, I'd crashed onto my bed and promptly passed out.
The sound came again; words through the walls. I caught snippets and clung to them.
“You fight me,” the familiar voice sang.
Drezden. It was Drezden singing through the plaster.
“Backed into a corner with your hands, and I can't keep my feet beneath me...” He wasn't screaming the lyrics. It was a low rumble, baritone and shaking with constraint.
He's singing to me, was my initial, throat gripping thought. No. Impossible. He's just practicing for tonight. Sitting up, the towel fell from my head. Damp strands tickled my bare shoulders while I ripped my cell phone off the side-table. It was already three in the afternoon.
I slept that long? Shit. Tugging at the snarls in my hair, I tuned into Drezden's soft murmur. Even with a wall between us, his music filled my soul. He was connected to me in a way he could never know.
My arm throbbed sympathetically. I rubbed my tattoo, soothing the phantom wounds.
He sang, “One more night until we fall. Fight me with curled nails and wicked teeth...”
Closing my eyes, I let myself drift under his trance. There was comfort there among the passion, the fear. In my room, I was safe. Drezden couldn't see or hear my reactions.
It was like I was seventeen again, chasing his lyrics down into the soft belly of my mind. Back then, I'd never imagined I'd talk to Drezden Halifax in person.
I'd dreamed about playing on a big stage, but that was pretty optimistic. I knew I was good. Being good wasn't enough for breaking out in this industry. If I'd needed proof of that, I only had to look at my older brother.
Sean had struggled for years to get to where he was, and I knew it still paled next to what he desired. Even so, if I could have gotten into a position as glorious as my brother's, that would have been enough.
And now I'm soaring above him.
Opening my eyes, I stared down at my bare feet. He'll see me tonight. He'll cheer me on, be so proud of me. Remembering standing in the