He threw his head back and laughed, interrupting her. “Let me guess. It’s complicated?” His signature smile made a triumphant return.
She put a hand on his arm to reassure him. “You’re getting to know me too well.”
He rolled out of bed. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to work this melody out. When I get a song in my head, I can get crazy if I don’t write it down. Will it bother you? I’ll be quiet.”
“I’d love to hear you play.” She’d never known a composer before. It’d be cool to listen to a song come to life.
“This isn’t so much…playing. It’s more messing around with what’s trying to get out of my head.”
Her belly churned with excitement. She pulled out her cell phone. “I’ll read. You won’t even know I’m here.” She made a shooing motion. “Go. Create. Make music.”
Ash bit at his lower lip, looking a bit uneasy, almost shy about it.
Maybe he wasn’t that good, and having her watch made him self-conscious. The problem with a one-room cabin in the woods was the definite lack of privacy. Nothing she could do about that. If Ash had issues with others listening to his music, he needed to get a new career.
She turned her cell phone on and thumbed to the beginning of a new book. Out of the corner of her eye, she peeked at him pulling his guitar out of the case.
He gave a wink. “She’s not as scary as she looks.”
“She?”
“My baby.”
“I thought your Jeep was your baby.”
He held up the guitar. “This is my baby. I’ve had her since I was fourteen.”
His fingers pressed down on the neck, and his thumb strummed out a tune. The cabin filled with a glorious full-bodied sound. His eyes closed as he picked out a series of notes.
Her jaw dropped. Ash was better than good. Damn amazing was more like it.
She forgot all about her book as he warmed up. He picked out notes and melodies and fingered chords from famous metal bands, but never played an entire song.
He merged with the guitar, the two of them becoming one unified being.
Watching him play transported her to a different world. She had never heard anything so majestic.
Ash was sex and power, all wrapped up in one glorious package, but with that guitar wrapped in his hands, he became a force of beauty. He made her head spin and other parts of her throb.
At some point, the warm-up stopped. Familiar notes and melodies of rock bands ended as new sounds emerged. A gasp escaped her lips. This was all him, and it was brilliant.
His creation developed in stages as he shaped the notes into being, each iteration morphing them into something wonderful. Notes coalesced into melodies as she listened. Chords bridged complexities, becoming a landscape of power, drawing images from her mind.
Wasn’t this what he’d described during their drive?
She closed her eyes, allowing the sound to wash over her, delving into the crevices of her mind, carrying her to an alternate plane. Dancing in a different world, where anything was possible, she existed in a reality where love took root in her heart, blossomed, and transformed her into something stronger, prouder, indestructible.
It was insane.
It was creative brilliance.
He made her feel like she had the ability to take on the world, and she soared in the grip of a love so intense that nothing could touchher. Nothing could hurt her. She was safe and cherished in the arms of her chosen love.
Forever safe.
His music carried her into a dreamscape of hope and empowerment where Ash’s voice lifted in song.
Chapter Ten
