Blue’s guitar wailed through the room, and a loud roar rose up as the riff introducing Paramore’s “All I Wanted” glided from the speakers.
My belly filled with euphoria from the warm tone of the instrument, and I closed my eyes again, allowing the music to wrap around me.
I couldn’t help smiling at the way the audience responded to the change in tempo. The song was a favorite of mine, and sexy, low-key energy crackled as the entire room fell silent to listen. My heartbeat regulated in time to the thud of Styx’s drums, and I began to get carried away by the words and haunting melody.
It wasn’t an easy song to sing, but I loved it so much that I’d perfected it over time. As the music built to a crescendo, my voice rose alongside it, feeling the longing and desire for a lost love threading through the words as they fell from my lips.
Again, my eyes slid to Jacob.
He stood, mesmerized, his body taut, his face stunned. A glimmer of emotion shone in his eyes, and I could tell he was as moved by the beauty of the lyrics as I was.
I sang with everything I had, pouring my conflicting feelings into each verse, hoping that somehow, he’d read between the lines and hear everything I was trying to tell him.
All too soon, the song ended, and I squeezed my eyes shut as the last wail of Blue’s guitar faded away.
The crowd’s reaction was electric. The deafening cheers, foot-stamping, and clapping sent goosebumps down my arms, or was it the intensity I felt from Jacob’s gaze that affected me in such a profound way?
I stole one last look at the wings, and my heart fluttered when I saw what was so plainly written across Jacob’s face.
Pure, unadulterated need.
My breath caught in my throat, and my body pulsed with the raw sexuality emanating from him in waves. His usual cold blue eyes weren’t icy anymore. Instead, they were pools of molten steel staring at me as if he was about to gobble me all up.
I tore my gaze away, heart pounding in my chest. The room seemed topsy-turvy, or maybe that was just my emotion-filled brain reacting to Jacob’s raw need. On autopilot, I smiled and murmured my thanks to the band while also acknowledging the crowd, except I couldn’t take any of it in.
All I could feel was Jacob.
My feet moved, carrying me toward the wings and towardhim.
I needed air, space to breathe, and to get my head straight. If Jacob so much as touched me, I suspected I’d go up in flames. My skin was flushed, and my temperature was set to boiling, like I was on fire from the inside out.
My gaze was pulled to his by an invisible force, and my pussy clenched at the wolfishness of his expression. Over the last couple of days, I’d seen it fleetingly but didn’t recognize what it meant until now.
As I approached him, my pulse pounded through my body. Jacob never took his eyes off me: a bomb could have gone off and blown the place to smithereens, and I doubted either one of us would have noticed; we were both so entranced under each other’s spell.
He reached a hand out toward me, his nostrils flaring as I placed my fingers in his, and the tiny hairs on my arms stood on end at the contact.
“You were incredible,” he rasped, pulling me into his hard body.
“You inspire me,” I whispered, my lips parting as I gazed up at him.
“Do you know Hunter’s number?” he asked.
My eyebrows pulled together. “No, but it’s in my phone.”
His gaze stayed glued to mine as he pulled a cell phone from his inside pocket, and his eyes fell to the screen. Holding it to his ear, he waited briefly and muttered, “Colt? I need you to ping me Hunter Page’s number.”
Whoever Colt was must have agreed because Jacob replied, “Thanks, brother,” before cutting the call. Within seconds, his phone pinged, and he clicked again and held it out to me. “It’s ringing.”
“What’s ringing?” I asked confusedly.
“Hisphone.” Jacob’s jaw ticked angrily. “End it.”
“End what—” My eyes widened as the meaning behind his words hit me, and I spluttered, “Jacob?—”
“End it, Saint,” he repeated, his tone like ice. “Or I will, and believe me, baby, you won’t like the way I do it.”
Right then, the call clicked in, and Hunter’s voice said, “Hello?”
