“See you in a couple of days,” Sonja said.

The last of the earth swallowed me.

***

I heard the scream before I realized it was coming from my mouth. Sage was at my side, shaking me lightly with one hand, gently touching my face with the other.

“Hey, it’s okay,” he said. His voice was soothing but his clear eyes were scared.

I sat up but he caught me halfway and pushed me back down. He looked above my head. I was lying on the lower bunk and had been close to bashing my head into the bottom of the top bunk.

My mouth was dry. I couldn’t stop shaking.

“What happened?” I said in a panic.

“You’re all right. You ate your breakfast then you fell asleep. You looked exhausted.”

I nodded meekly, feeling waves of terror wash through my veins.

He leaned in closer and smoothed my hair behind my ears. “I’m here. You’re going to be okay.”

I almost burst into tears. “How can you say that? We’re not going to be okay.”

“We’re not going to let anything happen to you, Dawn,” he said with quiet determination. His jaw pulsed angrily. “We’ll do whatever we can.”

“We?”

“I talked to Jacob. He told me what he told you. I’m a bit of an ass for not picking up on it…but what was I supposed to think? My manger is a supernatural scorekeeper?”

I couldn’t even find that funny.

“I don’t want to die,” I whispered. I didn’t want to sink into the earth, into the mouths of demons. But I knew, I knew that’s what was going to happen. And it was going to be worse than just dying. I’d go to Hell.

He put his face right up to mine, his eyes were blazing. “I am not going to let you die. You hear me? I won’t let that happen. No matter what.”

Tears pricked at my eyes. He ran his finger under them. “No matter what,” he repeated.

I wanted more than anything to believe him. He was watching me, looking at me with such passion and intensity. I knew he was going to fight for me. I wanted to give him a reason.

I put my hand behind his head, my fingers soaking in the soft curls, and brought his lips to mine. His were hesitant, but just for an instant. Something in him let go. I could feel it in his lips, the way they parted, trying to take all of me in. I could feel it in the hard frenzy of his tongue as it fucked the inside of my mouth one instant then teased the delicate rim of inner lips in another. I could feel it in his hands as they grazed the tips of my breasts through my thin tank top, my nipples aching to play.

Then whatever let go in him, let go in me. I grabbed him hard around his face and together we whimpered, our mouths hot and wet, not moving fast enough, like we were running out of kisses or air or time. There was so much urgency in our needs as he ripped the shirt right over my head and my small breasts bounced for him. He was on them without hesitation, licking them with his hot, wide tongue like he was forming whipped peaks. I moaned, not caring anymore and threw my head back, enjoying the feeling of his rough fingers as they pinched at my nipples, trailed down my neck, and squeezed hard around my waist.

His mouth still flicking my breasts until they hurt from pleasure, he let his hands wander south, taking in the feel of my skin like he was never going to feel another woman again. He unzipped my shorts and pulled them off, flinging them somewhere else in the empty bus. My underwear was plain pink and I expected that to disappear too but he kept them on and breathed hotly on them, his lips pressed firmly around my rapidly swelling ones. The teasing was making me delirious and I writhed on the bunk, unable to take it.

He finally pulled the underwear off, tossed it aside, then took a firm hold of my hips with his strong hands and pulled me out toward him at an angle so my legs were open and I was bare for him, hanging off the edge of the bunk.

“God, you’re beautiful, Dawn,” he murmured.

I raised my head to see if he was talking to me or my crotch. But though his face was slowly sinking south, tongue teasing the edge of his mouth, letting me know what was in store, his eyes were focused on mine. A green and gorgeous intensity that seemed to see right through me, into places I never knew were inside.

I propped myself up on my elbows, letting my head hang back, my long hair pooling on the bed. Sage started by running his tongue down each hip, over my sensitive pelvic bone, then down into the folds of skin which were already wet and throbbing for him.

He went at me, over and over again, the same steady licks, building up in layers of tension. My legs shook with impatience and I bit my lip to keep from crying out. The slow, almost complex way he teased me was torturous. I wanted nothing more than to come.

I could tell he did too. But he wasn’t new to this game. Most rocks stars weren’t. Just as I was at the breaking point he stopped. I raised my head, breathless and fuzzy-headed. He was standing in front of me, his shirt having just come off. My eyes focused on his bronze body, the sculpted muscles that defined every ab and every hard curve of his chest. His tattoos went all the way up his arms and disappeared over his swimmer’s shoulders. I briefly wondered if the body of a god was one of the things he had bargained for as well, then I decided he was just damn lucky with genetics. It was some other kind of deal when you had a face like his, a body of an Olympic swimmer and…

I watched eagerly as he undid his silver-plated belt and let his pants drop to the floor. …A cock that looked beautiful. Dangerously beautiful. Its immensity wasn’t surprising given his size, but it still scared me momentarily. I had only slept with Ryan. I wasn’t a small girl by any means but I was pretty sure that if Sage rammed that hard, throbbing dick inside of me that I would break in two. That death still seemed preferable to whatever the demons had in store for me.

I bit my lip in trepidation and he returned the motion with a sly smirk.

“Are you ready for me?” he whispered.

What was I supposed to say to that? I’ve always been ready? I’ll never be ready for that thing?

I swallowed hard and kept my mouth shut as he slithered back over and dropped to his knees right in front of me. He took his rigid cock in his hands, stroking it lightly for a second, before he dipped the head into my mounting wetness and began to rub it against my clit in long smooth strokes, all the while never breaking eye contact with me.

I was growing frustrated. I wanted nothing more than for him to at least try and break me in two. That was all I had wanted, subconsciously or not, for the last couple of weeks and he was finally here, naked perfection, and being an actual cock tease.

“Please,” I moaned without thinking.

He grinned. “That’s all I needed.”

In a flash he reached over and grabbed me hard around the waist and pulled me onto the floor of the bus. The he flipped me over so I was resting on my forearms and yanked my ass up into the air. I didn’t mind. After years of horseback riding, I was proud of that tight ass.

Evidently so was he. He gasped with pleasure as he ran his hands along, even teasing a finger between my cheeks until it found the sweet spot again. With one hand firmly around the small of my waist, he guided himself into me. It was slow at first and I gritted my teeth together at the pain. He continued to tease my clit with his slick fingers though and soon I was begging him to come at me harder.

He did. He plowed into me, spreading me wider until I thought I might split. Then he came at me faster and faster, harder and harder, all to the same rhythm. It was that damn internal metronome again, the man had a perfect sense of timing and wasn’t missing a single beat. His fingers were busy too and I relished the full feeling I had from my blood pooling in one place. His light cropping of chest hair tickled at my back, reminding me of the very large rock god who was on top of me.

He rode me this way until he couldn’t hold on any longer. His fingers expertly rubbed me until I started to shake into a frenzy of hot fireworks. I started moaning, calling out his name, not caring who heard. I came violently. He did the same, his balls hitting hard against my ass, his grip on my waist turning into a stranglehold. He cried out, moans of passion shaking us and making our eyes roll back into our heads.

I collapsed on the floor, feeling like an old woman and a new woman at the same time. He joined me, dazed and breathing heavily. He wrapped his arm around me and pulled me closer to him. We were spooning on the dirty floor of the tour bus. It was damn near poetic.

When I caught my breath I turned over and looked at him. He looked at peace—it was the first time I had ever seen him look that way.

“I had no idea you thought about me like that,” I whispered sincerely.

He cracked a smile. “I know you didn’t. It made it that much more fun.”

His smile slowly left him, the curves of his expressive mouth turning down. “Dawn,” he began. “I’m sorry if this didn’t happen sooner. I wish that we had more time. I wished it didn’t have to be this way, to have these reasons, how I kept you at bay, but I still must protect you and—”

Before he could continue, the door to the bus shuddered open and Chip stepped onto the bus.

“Hey, Rusty,” he called out, coming up the steps. His mouth dropped when he saw us. “Jesus, whoa, holy moly. Wow, sorry I…”

We were too stunned to cover up.

“Have you heard of knocking, Chip?” Sage asked testily.

Chip continued to stand there. “Well yeah, but normally I’m like invited to join in and stuff.”

He gave me an expectant look. I rolled my eyes.

“Only in your dreams, buddy,” Sage snarled. “Now get out.”

Chip covered his eyes with one hand. “Okay, I’m just here to tell you that there’s some crazy black chick looking for Dawn. She’s hot but she’s kind of terrifying. She already grabbed my junk.”

“That’s Mel!” I exclaimed. “Tell her I’ll be right there. But don’t tell her how you found me.”

“I won’t,” Chip replied, but he was smiling and peeking at me through his fingers.

Sage pointed at the door. “Get out or I’ll throw you out. With my dick.”

“Sheesh, okay, I’m going, I’m going,” Chip stumbled blindly down the stairs and out the door.

I rolled on my back and looked up at Sage.

“Always something,” I remarked.

He smiled and got up. Still naked. Still beautiful.

He grabbed me by my arms and hauled me to my feet. I was a bit unsteady and my legs were trembling. It was going to take me quite a while to get over this ride. It was as rough and passionate as I had imagined.

We both slipped our clothes back on, me feeling more shy than he was. I grabbed my bag off the top bunk which had an extra pass for Mel inside.

“Come here,” Sage murmured. He came up to me and pushed the hair off my face and ran his thumb over my lower lip. He gave me a quick and sweet kiss.

“Thank you for that,” he whispered. I didn’t have to be a genius to pick up on what he was really saying. That could have been the last time—for both of us.

I smiled sadly then wrapped my arms around him. He returned the embrace, squeezing me hard. He kissed the top of my head.