The Devil's Tattoo: A Rock Star Romance Read online

  “Zoe?” It was hardly audible.

  “Yeah?” I whispered back.

  “If you don’t stop touching me, I won’t be able to stop myself from kissing you.”

  I dragged my nails lightly down the back of his head, through his hair, and down his neck, pulling him toward me. “Then do it,” I murmured against his lips.

  This time, his kiss was slow and deliberate. He teased me with the tip of his tongue, lightly grazing it across my bottom lip before claiming me completely. My entire body came alive at the slightest touch, and it felt just as consuming as before.

  His hand hooked under my knee, tugging me toward him. Following his lead, I straddled his lap, my hair falling around us like a curtain and shutting out the world. Grinding against him, he let out a deep moan, and I could feel how hard he was already. I felt the effect I had on him echoing deep inside me, and it took all of my strength not to guide his hands under my shirt.

  “God,” he said in a deep and rumbly voice against my lips. “What have you done to me?”

  I ran my hand along his jaw, delighting in the rasp from the stubble that always coated it, and I knew I was done. That kiss had just blown whatever strangled excuse I had tried to formulate right out of the water. I couldn’t stay away now. If this ended badly, then it would be a billion times worse than the last time, but I didn’t care. It was too late. Will had wormed his way into my heart, through all the walls I had built around it, and I wanted him to stay there. He had done it without me even knowing.

  “I’m sorry,” he said, breathing heavily. “For trying to make you jealous. I’m such a jerk.”

  “You are.” My lips curved into a small smile, and the ghost of the lopsided grin I’d come to fantasize over tugged at his.

  “I like you, Zoe. So much. I didn’t know how to handle it, and I still don’t.”

  “Neither do I,” I said truthfully. His hands squeezed my hips gently, making me squirm against him.

  “What happened?” he asked again, the concern in his voice tugging at my heart. “Did I do something to hurt you?”

  “No,” I whispered, winding my hands in his hair. “When you called me baby, it brought back something I would rather forget.”

  “What?”

  I hesitated, not wanting to give all the details. I wasn’t sure if I remembered them all, anyway. I dragged my teeth over my bottom lip, my gaze downcast.

  Will brought a thumb up and caressed it across my lips, making me let go.

  “I went through a bad breakup.”

  “Does it have something to do with your scar?”

  I stiffened at his words, and there was no way he could have missed it. “It had a bad effect on me,” I said, blatantly ignoring him. “I lost all my friends and my home. Dee saved me.”

  “Zoe…” I could see the pity in his eyes, and I didn’t like it. I didn’t want it.

  “Don’t.”

  “I would never hurt you,” he said fiercely, his hands leaving my hips and winding through my hair.

  “I know.”

  He pressed his lips against mine again, and after everything we’d just confided in each other, it was the most intense kiss I’d ever had. Will’s entire body shuddered beneath mine, and he only had to shift his pelvis, and I would have come then and there.

  “While we’re on the confession thing,” I said carefully, “I do remember you that night. You know, at that gig.”

  “But you said you didn’t.”

  I shrugged.

  “Zo,” he scolded me with a chuckle.

  “You raised your eyebrows at me,” I said. “Very hot.”

  “You think I’m hot,” he declared, and the intensity of a moment ago shifted into something lighter.

  “Does that work on all the girls?”

  “Eventually.” The smile fell from his face, and he let his gaze rake over my features, to my lips, and back into my eyes. “You’re beautiful, Zoe Granger. You know that?”

  He said it with such determination and raw hunger that I believed him. For a long time, I didn’t think I was remotely pretty or worth knowing, but now? “I’m beginning to believe it when you say it like that.”

  “I’m going to tell you every day.” He captured my mouth again, sucking on my bottom lip, dragging his teeth against the skin. Gasping, I clutched the back of his head and pulled him closer. The feeling of his tongue against mine was consuming as our kiss deepened. My skin began to prickle in excitement as his hands brushed over my back, creeping underneath my shirt, and his fingers hovered just below the waistband of my jeans.

  I had to move then, grinding myself forward over his erection and pushing against my clit. We both let out a tortured moan, breathing hard. It felt so overwhelming, and we were both still fully clothed.

  “Don’t move,” he murmured against my lips.

  I didn’t have to ask why.

  “Not here,” he whispered, kissing the corner of my jaw, right underneath my ear.

  “Later,” I said, and it came out as a gasp as I felt his tongue tease against my neck.

  “We’ll see.”

  I went to move off him, but he grabbed my hips and held me in place.

  “Are you trying to drive me mad?” I asked with a small smile.

  “I don’t want to let you go.” He kissed my forehead. “We’ve got a minute. Give me this minute.”

  We sat together for a moment, and previously, it would have been awkward as hell, but now it was the most natural thing in the world. We fit together. I knew it, and so did he. Why the hell had I been so determined to fight it when it felt like this?

  This was getting dangerously close to something else, and I was suddenly aware of where we were, but I didn’t care one bit. Will’s hands were back in my hair, holding my mouth firmly to his.

  We both jumped as the door banged open, and Dee walked in. When his gaze landed on us and our position, he stifled a surprised laugh.

  “Oh, shit,” he exclaimed. “Didn’t realize.”

  “It’s okay, Dee,” I said, reluctantly getting up. I really needed to cool off.

  “We need to sound check.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there in a sec.”

  He looked at us with a sly smile and closed the door behind him.

  “I get it now,” Will said, pulling my back flush with his chest. “You and Dee.”

  “He means well.”

  “He loves you.” When I tensed, he said, “Not like that. He’s your family. They all are. I mean, I know. I have my own.”

  “What did he say to you?”

  “When?”

  “After…what did he tell you?”

  Will was quiet for a moment, and I wasn’t sure if the churning in my stomach was dread. “Nothing. He told me it wasn’t his place.”

  “And it’s not.” It came out a little harsher than I’d intended.

  “I would do anything for you, Zo.” His hands settled on my hips, and I pressed my backside against his hard-on and couldn’t help but smile when he let out a low moan. “Shit.”

  “You better stay in here a while,” I said, hoping he really meant every word. “You need to calm down.”

  As I walked out of the room, I looked back and gave him a sly smile. The tension that had weighed heavily on my shoulders had all but disappeared. If one kiss from Will could do that, then what else could he do? Just thinking about it made that place between my legs throb.

  “You’re wicked, Zoe Granger.” He grimaced as I closed the door behind me.

  Out on stage, Chris was helping Frank set up the drum kit, and Dee was fiddling with the leads that ran into his effects pedals. When his eye caught mine, I steeled myself for one of his trademark witty comments.

  As I plugged the lead into my guitar, Dee asked, “You guys good?”

  “Yeah,” I replied, thankful he was serious for once.

  “So are you, like, together now?”

  I shrugged.

  “Sure looked like it.”

 
“I guess.”

  He knelt down and began tuning his Gibson, his E string all out of whack. “Did you tell him what you told me?”

  “The short version.”

  He eyed me with suspicion. “How short?”

  “Bare minimum.”

  “Zoe, things like this have a tendency to rear their ugly heads when you least expect it. Keeping secrets isn’t a good thing.”

  I scowled. “That’s all I can manage for now. The rest will come later.”

  His gaze searched mine for a moment, and then he sighed and went back to tuning his E string. “As long as you’re okay.”

  “We’ll see how it goes.”

  Will and I were at the start of a long road. We hardly knew that much about each other outside of music other than we had an attraction that burned with a fire I never thought was possible outside of a romance novel. The fact that he wanted to stick around after the shit I’d pulled warmed my heart and rekindled my hope. The hope that said I could fall in love again.

  “So is he a good kisser?” Dee asked wiggling his eyebrows.

  “Dee!”

  Chapter 14

  When the lights went down and The Devil’s Tattoo went on stage, it was a new Zoe the audience was getting that night, and Zoe Mark 2 was amped up and raw.

  I hadn’t told the whole truth to Will—I was far from ready—but I’d let him in more than anyone. Other than Dee, who’d been my savior all these years, he was the only other person I’d let past most of my walls. He said he wouldn’t hurt me, and that was the one thing I wanted to hold on to. That and his heart.

  Even when it came time for ‘Walls’ and the words that described the painful memory of my past, I didn’t flinch. I could feel Will’s gaze on me the entire time. I didn’t have to look to the side of the stage to know he was there. All of our songs were about love and sex, and I found myself singing them all for him.

  We were in the middle of country Victoria, the crowd was smaller than the capital cities had been, but it was jam-packed and close. A sweaty furnace of people pressed up against the front of the stage, singing along to our songs, taking pictures on their phones, and cheering. The fact that people knew our stuff and loved it was a feeling beyond anything I could have ever hoped for, but having Will there made it euphoric.

  I didn’t want this feeling to end.

  ‘Bombard’ was the song Will had set his video to, and all I could think of was the fact he had been watching me. It sounded creepy, but he’d done it to please me. I didn’t realize at the time, but sitting with him that day had melted something inside me. It was the beginning of the end.

  As I stood on top of the bass drum, the sound of my guitar reverbing off into nothing, our eyes locked. I stared down at him, hair plastered to my sweaty face, and if I hadn’t been standing in such an awkward position, on stage no less, I would have thrown myself at him there and then. When I jumped down, it was a miracle I landed steadily on both feet.

  Dee pulled me to the front of the stage, and people held out their hands, and I shook as many as I could. This was why we’d started the band. Not for the adoration but for the knowledge that the things we wrote spoke to someone.

  When The Stabs went on stage, I stood in the wings as I’d done so many times in the last few weeks, but this time felt like the first. I’d been so determined to fight my attraction to Will that I’d never really paid attention to him. The others, yes, but never to their infuriatingly sexy bass player. I leaned against the wall, and my gaze never left him. I didn’t care one iota what I looked like, anymore. Dee stood with me, but he may as well have been invisible for all the attention I paid him. We were all riding high.

  As each song went by, I took in everything. The way Will’s fingers slid over the strings of his bass, the way he leaned his mouth against the microphone, the way his hair fell into his eyes. Occasionally, he’d look up and see me watching, and a lopsided grin would invade his features. This time, it was unguarded and full of the things he wanted to do to me.

  The stage was like a second home to him, and I understood completely. It was the same for me. He said that the real Zoe was the woman who stood front and center and gave her all to the music. I was more determined than ever to make that a reality off stage, as well.

  It was like someone had flipped a switch inside me, and now that the floodgate was open, there was nothing stopping me from falling head first into the consuming passion I felt for Will Strickland. What made me reel was that he had said he felt it, too. He didn’t need to say anything. It was in everything he did.

  When their set finally finished, he walked straight off the stage and crashed into me, his lips on mine, his tongue teasing. A whimper escaped me, and he pulled away, cupping my face.

  “You drive a man to distraction, Zo,” he said. “Looking at me like that.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “I’ll see you in a minute,” he said, brushing a thumb over my bottom lip, and he disappeared with his bass into the band room.

  “If you’re done sucking face,” Dee declared from beside me, “can we go get a drink or ten?”

  I’d forgotten he was there, and I didn’t think he’d registered with Will, either. With a giddy smile, I threaded my arm through his, and we made our way into the crowd. When we found the others near the bar, Frank, Simone, and Chris welcomed us with knowing smiles.

  “And Zoe Granger’s back in the game with a bang.” Frank chortled, pulling me into a bear hug.

  “She won’t be in it for long if you don’t stop suffocating her,” I cried, my voice muffled against his chest.

  “Seriously, Zo,” he whispered in my ear. “Glad you’re feelin’ better.”

  “I’m sorry, guys,” I said with a grimace. I had to take some blame for what happened. After all, it was my reaction that had snowballed.

  “You’ve nothin’ to be sorry for,” Chris said.

  “Yes, I do. I’m sorry,” I said firmly. “I let it affect the band, and a gig suffered for it. I promise I won’t let it happen again.”

  “You know how annoying it’s been watching you two pine over each other?” Dee said, puckering his lips at me and instantly lightening the mood.

  That earned him a sharp slap on the arm and loud laughter and catcalls from the guys. A grin spread across my face, and the sense of euphoria that had been building inside me all night surfaced. It was such an alien feeling that at first, it felt wrong, but the look Dee gave me when he saw the smile on my face made me realize it couldn’t get any more right than it was at that very moment.

  Arms wrapped around my waist from behind, and I caught sight of a black panther tattoo.

  “Hey,” Will murmured into my ear as warmth spread through my body.

  Looking up at him, I said, “Hey.”

  His lips brushed against my forehead. “This is nice.”

  “What?” I asked, knowing exactly what he was referring to, but I wanted to hear him say it.

  “Touching you.”

  A shiver ran down my spine, and I felt his lips curve into a smile against my skin. “Likewise.”

  “Ahh.” He sighed. “This is bad.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I just want to kiss you and touch you…” I felt his hand between us, moving over my ass before lightly pressing between my legs. “There.”

  “Fuck,” I hissed as I felt myself clench. “I’m thinking that was payback.”

  “See it how you want, Zo.”

  I remembered how he called me Zo that night on the balcony of the pub in the middle of nowhere and how uncomfortable it had made me feel. Now he could call me whatever the hell he wanted as long as he kept doing that.

  “You were… There are no words to describe how you were on stage tonight.”

  I turned around so we were face to face, and I could see into his eyes. “You make me feel alive, Will Strickland.” There was no truer statement I could have made at that moment.

  “If I make you feel alive, the
n you set me on fire.” He pressed his lips against mine, hands firmly on my waist.

  “You know, there are other people around,” Dee said, the amusement plain in his voice. “Stop rubbing it in.”

  I spun around with a laugh and thumped him playfully on the shoulder. Louie and Pete brought over a round of drinks, and we tried to spend the rest of the night socializing, but it was difficult not to disappear back to the hotel. Will threaded his fingers through mine and hardly let go all night.

  I noticed Simone talking and laughing with Chris. He was standing close to her, leaning in every time she said something. I caught his eye, and he smiled slyly at me. I raised my eyebrows in question, and he nodded. Good for them. It looked like everything was beginning to work out.

  It was three a.m. by the time Will and I wandered back to the hotel, his arm around my waist. Everyone else had broken off one by one and bailed until we were the last. We’d resolved to take things slowly despite the deep sexual attraction. Still, we hovered outside of Dee’s and my hotel room, reluctant to part.

  “Tonight has gotta be one of the best nights ever,” he said quietly.

  “It’s definitely top ten,” I joked.

  “Top ten?” He feigned offence. “What else is better?”

  I pretended to think. “Um… Music. Being on stage. Christmas holidays.”

  “Christmas holidays are better than me?”

  “I said top ten. I didn’t specify the order.”

  He planted a kiss on the corner of my mouth, silencing me. “You’re my number one.”

  Unlocking the door, I peered inside, but the room was dark. I could just make out Dee’s sleeping form and the pile of clothes he’d flung all over the floor.

  “Dee’s already asleep,” I whispered.

  “I was hoping we could boot him out,” Will murmured, hooking his fingers through the belt loops on my jeans.

  “We can room tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow.”

  He pressed me against the doorframe and kissed me, slow and deep, making my insides twist with desire. My hands fisted into his shirt as his crept underneath mine.

  The one thing I suddenly hated with a vengeance about being on tour was the lack of privacy.