“Hey,” I say, watching her lean against the wall. “What’s up?”
The confidence that radiates off of her when she’s all “bodyguard” makes me ache. Her shoulders are somehow cornered on me, back straight, face stern, yet somehow still soft when she looks at me.
“So, I’ll be on Reed tonight, but that doesn’t mean I won’t be watching for anything suspicious for you, too,” she says.
I smile a little. “I don’t think anyone is touching me up on a platform.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean someone won’t try to get to you after the show,” she replies. “Wait for me backstage after. Once you all sign autographs, do not go anywhere without me.”
She looks scared, and if she’s scared…
“I mean it, Bonnie,” she says, her voice softening. “Don’t even go with Kade or Liam. You wait for me.”
A muscle in her jaw feathers, and I tilt my head at the sight of it.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
She rubs her neck as if her muscles are tense. “I just don’t trust anyone except myself to keep you safe,” she admits.
Guilt sits in the pit of my stomach. “If this is about me yelling at you—”
“No,” she says, shaking her head. “No, it isn’t about that. You were right. I should have been there. I won’t make that mistake again.”
I cross my arms over my chest and let my gaze wander a little over her, to the point that Gemma shifts, and I smile a little at the fact that I’m getting to her.
“You’re fucking killing me when you do that,” she says softly.
“Not as much as it’s killing me when you look like this,” I argue. “If this is what our future looks like when we go on tour next year, I’m a goner.”
Gemma smirks and pushes off the wall, her hands in her pockets like she thinks she won’t be able to keep them to herself if she doesn’t. She takes two steps in my direction, shoulder aligning with mine, and pauses at my side.
“You’d be a goner right now if you were ready,” she says, eyes dragging from my eyes to my lips. “I have so many suggestions to add to your show day rituals.”
“Like what?” I ask, chin hitting my shoulder.
She huffs an amused breath, and as she leans closer, my eyes flutter closed. “Like waking you with a steaming morning cup of coffee by your bed, and my tongue between your thighs.”
The rasping way she says it sends goosebumps breaking along my flesh.
“I’d take my time with you in the shower after—washing your hair, massaging your body, taking my careful time to make sure you’re only thinking of the music when you hit that stage. Because everything else… your hunger, your thirst, your satisfaction… All of that would have been taken care of—everything, so you never have to. Because once you’re mine…”
She presses her knuckle to my chin and lifts my face, forcing me to look at her. A soft smirk lifts her lips, a quiet giggle escaping her. I’m on the edge as I wait for her to finish the sentence and tell me what will happen when I give in to this.
However, she slides her hand around my throat, turns my head with her thumb, and presses her open mouth to my jaw. Her teeth drag slightly against my skin as she nips andkisses me. And when she angles my head toward her again, I pathetically lean forward.
Just a taste.
But she dodges my kiss, pats my cheek, and kisses my nose instead.
“Have a good show, Bonnie.”
I’m dead.
I groan when she releases me, back hitting the wall to keep from stumbling. And it’s that wicked smirk that she gives me over her shoulder that nearly puts me in tears.
“Oh, comeon, babygirl—”
“The ball is in your court, Bonnie,” she interjects, still walking away from me. She pivots and grins, hands back in her pockets when she says, “Tell me what you’re going to do about it.”
