Nalini Singh - Rock Addiction

Setting her small purse on the counter, Kathleen walked around to the gleaming steel coffeemaker. “Is that a New Zealand accent?”

“Yes.” Molly watched the astonishingly beautiful actress use the coffee machine with the ease of someone who’d done the same thing multiple times. “I’ve only been in L.A. a few days.”

“What are you into?” Expression polite but distant, Kathleen passed across the first cup of coffee, made another. “My side of the business, or music?”

 “Neither,” she said, beginning to believe Kathleen’s standoffishness had nothing to do with seeing Fox in a romantic way. “Come on, I’ll show you what I’m doing at the moment.”

Leading the other woman to the wrought-iron table that sat in a shaded area by the crystalline blue waters of the pool, Molly waited for her to take a seat before angling the laptop so the other woman could see the screen. “Words”—she smiled—“that’s what I’m into.”

Kathleen took a sip of coffee. “What’s your screenplay about?”

Still not fully certain about Kathleen’s place in Fox’s life, Molly thought about how to respond to that cool question, went for honesty. “Are you always this suspicious or only when it comes to people you care about?” When the actress’s expression became even icier, Molly shook her head. “I have no desire to be in any way famous.”

Putting down her coffee, Kathleen took her sunglasses off her head and slid them back over eyes critics were calling “breathtaking in their expressiveness.” “Yet you’re with one of the most famous men in the world.”

“It’s funny how life works out.” That, Molly thought, had to be the understatement of the century.

Kathleen left ten minutes later, and five minutes after that, Fox called. “Whatever you said to Kit,” he drawled, “she’s convinced you have evil intentions toward my millions.”

Her entire body warmed at his tone. “She’s very protective of you.” Molly understood loyalty; it was why she’d online-researched the heck out of T-Rex behind Charlotte’s back weeks ago.

“We’ve been friends a long time,” Fox said. “I’ve invited her back for dinner tonight—you two will be best buds as soon as she realizes you break out in hives at the idea of my millions.”

“Smart aleck.” Any uncertainty about who Kathleen was to Fox erased by his easy words, she luxuriated in the pleasure of talking to her man. “How’s the meeting?”

“No big stress.” The sound of voices in the background. “Gotta go, baby. I’ll see you this afternoon.”

He brought the entire band home with him, the four of them setting up shop in the state-of-the-art and fully soundproofed basement studio. When Molly carried down snacks and cold drinks, she got two offers of marriage and a declaration that she was a goddess.

 “Don’t spoil the bastards.” Fox scowled, grabbing one of the iced bottles of water. “They’ll start following me home every day.”

Hugging Fox from behind where he sat on a chair, guitar on his lap, she looked at David. “I hear you can cook.”

The others hooted as David groaned. “Only for you, Molly.”

Three hours later, the drummer took over the kitchen, with Molly acting as his assistant, while the other three men hung out around the big screen in the living area, talking and watching football. When Kathleen arrived, Fox threw her a beer and Abe asked her about a play in the game.

The actress disagreed vehemently with Abe’s interpretation.

“Kathleen knows football,” Molly said to David, popping some rolls in the oven to warm.

David stirred the pot of stew he had on the stove. “She used to be a cheerleader, but I think she would’ve rather played.”

Hearing Kathleen roar at a touchdown, Molly agreed. “Written any new memos lately?”

A blush colored his cheekbones. “Your sister is determined to drive me insane.”

Biting back her grin at how adorable he looked and sounded, she said, “You know you love it.”

“Clearly, I’m a masochist.” He added some pepper to the stew as Fox wrapped an arm around Kathleen’s neck and dragged her into the kitchen area.

The other woman was dressed in skinny jeans and a plain white T-shirt, her hair scraped back into a ponytail and no makeup on her face, but she was no less stunning than she’d been earlier that day.

“Kit,” Fox said, “you know Molly. Be nice to her. She’s on the fence about dating a musician as it is.”

Molly met the green of Fox’s eyes, and suddenly it didn’t matter that they were surrounded by others. Barely aware of Kathleen leaving his side, she placed her palms on his chest and, rising on tiptoe, kissed him soft and sweet and with all the scary, powerful emotions she felt for him. “I might be on the fence about this life,” she whispered for his ears only, “but I’m not and will never be on the fence about you.” He was it for her. Forever. “I will fight for you.”

Fox’s arms came around her, his head bent over hers. “You sure know how to pick your moments.” One big hand against the side of her face, lips moving over her own as he spoke. “Should I kick everyone out? We’ll keep David’s masterpiece though.”

 “I think you’d have a mutiny on your hands.” Stepping back with a silly, happy smile, she saw the drummer and Kathleen had moved to the other end of the kitchen to give them privacy.

Fox stroked his hand down her back with a deep, playful smile of his own. His dimple tempted her to steal another kiss—but the oven timer went off right then.

Leaning against the fridge, Fox watched her take the rolls out. “I’m starving.” The ink on his arm was delineated exquisitely in the light as he caught the roll she threw him, tore off a piece to eat. “David—you letting your creation age or what?”

“I’m not the one who can’t keep it in the bedroom,” came the whiplash-fast retort. “Grab some bowls and tell the other wolves it’s time to feed.”

“I had fun,” Molly said to Fox several hours later, her sleep T-shirt soft around her thighs as she finished rubbing moisturizer into her face in front of the bathroom mirror and considered whether or not to tackle her hair with a brush. “I think Kathleen is thawing.”

Dressed only in a pair of sweatpants, Fox cupped her breasts from behind, nuzzling a kiss into her neck, his stubbled jaw a delicious abrasion. It made her shiver and lean back into him, her arms raised to wrap around his neck as he petted her, kissing her neck the entire time.

When he stroked his hands down her body to tug up her T-shirt, slide underneath, she sighed in anticipation. The callused heat of his touch on her bare breasts was a raw shock of sensation. Shuddering, she found her eyes drawn to the mirror and to the way Fox’s hands moved under the T-shirt as he fondled her, but mostly, to Fox.

The look of him as he touched her, as he kissed her… it made her feel so beautiful, until she could see what he saw in her. A sensual woman with creamy skin and curves that were as soft as Fox’s body was hard. She didn’t resist when he pulled the T-shirt off over her head and continued to pet her as he’d been doing, his tanned hands cupping her breasts, his fingers tugging on her nipples, the sinew and muscle of him apparent beneath the tats.

“Push down your panties, baby.” Whiskey and sin and pure hard rock.

Shivering, she rolled them down as far as she was able to in this position, the lace tangling low on her thighs. Fox slipped one hand between her legs from the front the next instant. The erotic shock of seeing him do that had her breathless, her hips moving restlessly against him as he caressed her to a deep, pulsing orgasm.

“I love watching you come.” Hand still between her legs, he nuzzled her neck again, waiting until she’d gained control of her boneless body before saying, “Lean forward and brace your hands on the counter.”

Molly had no desire to argue, but instead of the fast penetration she’d expected, he was slow and tender, kissing his way down her spine to nip playfully at her butt.

“Ouch,” she said without heat, his chuckle making her thighs clench.

Tugging her panties fully off, he waited until she’d stepped out of them—keeping himself busy by kissing his way back up her spine—before kicking her feet apart. One hand gripping her hip, he cupped her again from the front, using his middle finger to stroke lightly over her damp flesh.

“Hurry,” Molly said, pleasure, intoxicating and rich, shimmering to new life inside her.

“You want me in?” he asked, the blunt head of his cock pushing into her, slow but relentless.

 “Yes, please.” She loved having him inside her, loved the feeling of possession, of belonging. “Don’t go fast today.”

“Anything you want, polite girl.” His mouth hot and wet on her throat, he rocked into her, the words he spoke in her ear dark, carnal.

When Molly, her inhibitions lowered, murmured certain things back, he rewarded her by tugging on her engorged clit just enough to make her moan but not come. Sensation a sultry wave across her skin, she reached one arm up and back around his neck again, his skin hot against her own. “I adore you, Zachary Fox.” Adore wasn’t the only word she wanted to use, but Fox, she knew, would accept this word as he wouldn’t the other.

Smoky, sexy eyes locked with hers in the mirror, his smile telegraphing an open delight. “I like being adored by you, Molly Webster.”

Smiling, she continued to hold him close as he drove her to another luxuriant orgasm. A kiss to her shoulder before he pulled out—to her moan—and turned her around, hitching her up into a seated position on the black granite of the bathroom counter. It placed her at the perfect height for him to tug her forward and slide into her once again.

His cock rasped against her pleasure-swollen tissues, made her gasp. Leaning forward, she kissed him, playing with the ring in his lip. “This thing is the architect of my doom.”

Cupping her butt, his smile sinful, he pulled her tight against his groin. “Ever think about a ring of your own?”

“Me?” She ran her hands over the lithe muscle of his shoulders, dropping her head to kiss her way across the ink on one side, the hot, masculine taste of him an intoxication. “No way can I pull off a lip ring. It just wouldn’t look the same on me as it does on you.”

Fox thrust a hand into her hair, holding her to him as she sucked on his neck. “I wasn’t thinking about your lip.”

“Hmm?” she murmured, blowing out a breath on the skin she’d wet.

His fingers clenched on her butt, and then he was pulling out of her, shoving up her thighs with a grip under her knees, and slamming back in. Oh God, it felt good. Bracing her hands behind her on the cool stone of the counter, she watched her man find pleasure in her body. His muscles bunching and releasing, his cock sliding in and out of her, slick with their mingled passion, his heavy-lidded gaze locked on the place where they joined.

It was the most incredibly erotic thing she’d ever seen.

It didn’t surprise her in the least when her body wound tighter and tighter, only to come apart on a small scream.

“That’s my Molly.” Dragging her close, Fox took her mouth with his, one big hand on her nape. He always held her close during sex, made her feel unbearably cherished even in the most rawly sexual moment. And he always, always made eye contact.

Heart aching, she locked her arms and legs around him and watched him go over, her lover who was her everything. All her life, she’d fought never to be tied so absolutely to anyone, but she loved Fox until she couldn’t breathe. The irony was that he was a man for whom the words “I love you” meant only abandonment, pain, and loneliness.

A half hour later, her feelings for him a pulse in every cell of her body, Molly sat curled up in Fox’s lap in bed, her T-shirt and panties back on and her lips cool with butterscotch ice cream. “The ring,” she said after he drew the spoon back from between her lips. “Were you serious?”

He ate a bite of the decadent dessert. “I was just thinking”—a wicked smile—“since you have so much fun with mine, I might enjoy playing with one.”

“Where?”

 “Here.” A tap of the back of the spoon against her left nipple.

Molly flushed, the ice cream he’d fed her before speaking that single word sliding down her throat. “Never going to happen.” The idea of a nipple ring was so outside the realm of anything she’d ever considered that she could feel herself turning redder with every second that passed.