And she would never forgive herself if she didn’t appreciate every single second of bliss.
Her mouth curved up at the exact moment that she shifted her hips and took him into her body in one glorious plunge. His eyes first widened, then closed as he moved his hands to her hips and dragged her even closer. Her head fell back against the door, and he pressed his lips to the open arch of her neck to run nipping kisses across her skin as they thrust into each other.
She could feel the beginnings of a climax so good, and so strong, that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to keep holding on without his help. “Please,” she begged as she rocked and rubbed against him, “I need—”
But it turned out he already knew. Because before she could even get the rest of her sentence out, he drove into her at just the perfect angle to send her rocketing into an explosive orgasm. He was barely a heartbeat behind her, holding her hips so tightly that there was no way she could possibly fall and groaning her name against her neck as he buried his face there and sucked on her sensitive skin, making her release feel as if it were going on forever.
She didn’t know how long they held on to each other, both of them breathing hard. All she knew was that she never wanted to let go. Never wanted to come back to reality.
And definitely didn’t want to hear the knock on the door that came just then. The knock that meant her way-too-brief idyll with Drew was over because he had a job to do. A job that meant everything to him. A job that made such a huge difference to all of his fans’ lives.
“They must be waiting for you in the meet-and-greet rooms.”
He didn’t move for a few moments, just kept holding her. Finally, he pulled back and said, “You’ll come with me?”
She nodded, but waited until they’d both put their clothes to rights and he was just about to open the door before saying, “I know we talked about keeping things private yesterday. We’re still on the same page with that, right?”
God, she hated needing to confirm this right after they’d been so intimate—but the only time she could think straight was when he wasn’t touching her, wasn’t kissing her. She’d just been so caught up in him that she’d almost made love without protection. Just as she should have been more careful with her body, now she needed to make sure she was being vigilant with her heart.
He didn’t answer right away, simply looked at her with an expression she couldn’t quite read. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. She knew he wasn’t happy that she wanted to keep their relationship a secret from everyone. Yesterday he’d told her he’d do it if that’s what she wanted. Had he changed his mind?
“I don’t like it,” he said with a frown, “but I’m trying to respect your wishes, Ash. Although, when my family comes out to meet me in New Orleans tomorrow for my birthday—”
“We can’t tell them.” The words flew from her mouth before she could pull them back.
His frown deepened. “Because it will get back to your father?”
“Partly. But also because they love you and they’ll think I’m just some scheming groupie who planned this whole research project to get into your pants.”
His frown fell away as he laughed. “There’s no way they would think that.”
“Even if they wouldn’t...”
She suddenly felt like she couldn’t breathe right. When she was in the moment with Drew, when she was in his arms, when she was listening to him play his music, everything was so exciting, so exhilarating. But then, whenever she tried to come back down to earth, she couldn’t stop the spinning, and it felt like everything was spiraling out of control.
Not just because her physical need for him was so overpowering, but because her emotional need for him was becoming just as strong, if not stronger. Even after he’d just made love to her, she wanted to be with him just to see him smile, just to hear him laugh, just to see him look at her again as though she was the most important person in the world to him.
“Ash.” She felt his hands on her cheeks as he cupped her jaw, and she focused her panicked gaze on him. “I didn’t mean to push you too fast. It’s just that I already know what I want—you—and I’m not used to waiting. But I’ll wait. As long as it takes, okay?”
Even though his words were meant to soothe, she could still hear the impatience behind them. Impatience for her to own up to being with him, not only in dark rooms in a concert hall or a tour bus, but with their families...and millions of strangers. All of whom would surely wonder the same things: Why her? And how long can it possibly last?