The picture moved as Zagan pulled the camera his way. His pierced smirk filled the screen. Part of his black hair had been combed back, and he wore his signature black button up with the first few undone to show his chest tattoos. “He’s not lying. He hasn’t shut up about it since he started reading it on the plane ride here.”
My cheeks warmed. “Thanks. I think it’s pretty good, too.”
Complimenting my work had been a struggle of mine before. I was afraid to say that I liked my books, because I wasn’t sure if they were good. Every time a reader told me what they didn’t like about my writing, I took up those opinions as my own until I no longer believed in my own story.
That was something Dante noticed and was trying to get me to change. When we talked about my books, he had a rule that I had to say at least one good thing about them. He wanted me to acknowledge their greatness. It had been a hard habit to get into, but the more I practiced showing love to my creations, the easier it got. I was also starting to believe it, which was crazy. I never thought I’d believe in myself the way I did now.
Xander appeared between Zagan and Dante in equally dark yet revealing stage clothes. His black eyes crinkled at the sides as he smirked. “I read some over Dante’s shoulder. You’ve got a dirty little mind, Serenity. My boy was fighting hard to keep his boner hidden.”
Dante glared up at his bandmate and shoved him gently. Zagan and Perseus laughed at Dante’s grumbling while I practically burrowed into the hood of my bat onesie.
Dante pulled the screen back to show just himself and pursed his lips. “They’re not wrong, though. That first sex scene was hot.”
I swore my face was the color of a bright tomato. “I’m going to die of embarrassment.”
“No need to be embarrassed,” Perseus said from somewhere in the background. “As Incubi, we encourage healthy sexual expressions.”
“I for one,” Zagan added off screen, “can’t wait for Iyla to read this one. It’ll make for some fucking great prep.”
“You guys really know how to hype a girl up,” I laughed nervously, fanning my face to cool my embarrassed flush.
Dante glanced around him at the other members in the room. “That’s enough. She’s mine. Get your own human.”
The guys immediately started poking at Dante and making jokes about him being smitten. I bit my lip to fight my grin, but there was no fighting the warmth flooding my chest. Not that I wanted to.
A door off camera opened, and Leo’s voice filled the speakers. “Okay. They’re ready for you guys.”
Dante looked at me, and I didn’t miss the slight disappointment that framed his mouth. “I gotta run, Star.”
“No worries. Have fun doing the show!”
I hung up and looked at Penelope and Franklin, who stared back at me. “Let’s send lots of good energy to your dad.”
Franklin chortled, and Penelope tipped her snoot into the air. I grinned and imagined happy, energized sparkles traveling from the three of us to Dante. I missed him. It was the first time we’d been apart since his band was finally making appearancesand working again. Tonight would also be the first time I had to sleep in his bed alone.
I sighed and pat Penelope and Franklin’s heads. “At least we have each other.”
The three of us ate dinner, and they returned outside to swim in their pool while I showered in Dante’s bathroom. I had no idea when Dante would be able to talk since they were going to be busy this weekend filming music videos, doing interviews, and prepping for their band’s comeback. Not that I was complaining. I was more than ready for my favorite band to return to the stage.
I pulled on one of Dante’s t-shirts and a pair of panties before heading downstairs to check on Penelope and Franklin. The two spotted me from where they’d been lying in some straw. They got to their feet and padded over to follow me upstairs to bed. I grabbed my laptop and listened to a Sinners Do It Better playlist while typing up more of my book.
I was to another spicy scene, and as the moment between the couple spilled from my head and onto the pages, I had to shift and wiggle to keep the fire from fully engulfing my veins. Getting wound up when I was alone wouldn’t be nearly as fun as when Dante was here. Only when my eyes grew heavy did I set it aside and finally snuggle down into the sheets with Penelope and Franklin right beside me.
I didn’t know how long I’d been asleep before a presence at my back startled me awake. My eyes snapped open as a large hand covered my mouth, and a firm body pressed into me. Just as panic started to rise in my chest, Dante’s scent wrapped around me, followed by his soft whisper.
“Shh,” he cooed right in my ear.
A shiver traveled along my spine, and pulsing heat engulfed my center. His hard body against my back was enough to haveme squirming, and that neediness certainly didn’t simmer when his rockhard dick poked at my back end.
Dante’s hand remained wrapped around my head and mouth while the other dragged idly up my bare hip, over the side of my panties, and underneath my oversized shirt. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you all evening. I couldn’t get you and your naked body out of my head.”
I gasped lightly behind his palm. His other hand brushed slowly down my stomach toward the apex of my thighs. A fire unlike any other ignited inside of me as he dipped beneath my panties but toyed only with the outside of my pussy.
“I can fucking smell how horny you are,” Dante growled against my ear. “It’s lingering in the room like the sweetest perfume. How long have you been aroused, Star? What were you doing that got you so fucking hot between these pretty thighs?”
“Writing,” I tried to say, though the sound came out muffled and incomprehensible from behind his hand.
I moaned softly. My chin tipped up as I arched into him and his touch. With the silence in the room, it was impossible not to hear how wet I was as his finger flicked up, down, and around that tingling bud.
