“You’re playing tonight?” Tia’s dark eyes widened in shock. “When did this happen?”
“After I left,” he explained. “Evidently, my co-optation into the band is official. Forest moved all my stuff into their quarters. It’s why he was looking for me earlier.”
“And how I caught him coming out of here. It wasn’t too hard to put two and two together,” Forest said. “Had a nice, long talk with lover boy, something he has clearly decided to dismiss.”
“You’re putting your nose where it doesn’t belong,” Ryker asserted. “Tia and I—”
“Are fucking each other’s brains out,” Forest said. He lifted a hand, palm out, when Ryker took a step forward. “Stop the posturing, lover boy. I don’t have time for it. Two weeks. You have two weeks to keep it in your pants. Do you think you can keep your hands off her for two fucking weeks?”
Forest might as well have told him not to breathe. Now that he’d had a taste of Tia, he couldn’t imagine a day without at least a touch. He’d rather starve.
“Forest,” Tia soothed, “we’re being careful.”
Shouldering past Ryker with more force than necessary, Forest gripped Tia’s hands in his massive paws. “Look, I’ve been watching. I suspected before the bus accident. He protects you, and you look at him more than you should. He was the first person you went to after the bomb.”
“He was injured,” she asserted. “Of course, I went to him.”
“True, but you stepped over Bent to get to Ryker. Don’t you see what that says? Fortunately, I don’t think anyone else noticed in the chaos, but I did.”
Ryker grabbed the fabric of Forest’s shirt and pushed him back, inserting himself in the space between Tia and Forest.
“We’ll be careful,” he said.
“No,” Forest countered, “you’re going to be a fucking priest. And she’s going to be a nun.” He shook his head. “You don’t really get it, do you?”
Ryker shrugged.What was he missing?
“You’re taking center stage with Angel Fire. Vane has this bug up his butt about Tia and this exclusive interview on women in the military. Don’t you get it? All eyes are going to be on both of you. You can’t afford a fuckup.” Forest turned to Tia. “You get my drift?”
She straightened her spine, and Ryker saw the first flash of her defiance. Tia hated anything to do with people telling her what she could and couldn’t do.
He headed off her outburst and cupped her chin in his hand. Lowering his voice to a deeper register, he used the same tone he had when they were alone. “Stop.”
Her eyes widened, recognizing the command threaded in that one word. A day or two ago, she would’ve defied him, but their roles had shifted somewhat in the past twenty-four hours.
Dark and devastating, her beauty slammed into his gut, but it was the trust she handed over that had his heart speeding up. Whatever was happening between them had achieved a momentum neither of them were prepared to control. That should terrify him, but he was a man who met threats head-on and handled the shit life had thrown at him. He would handle this as well.
When she remained silent, he leaned in close, pressing his forehead to hers. She tracked his movement, her gaze tied to his by an electrifying power thrumming in the space between them.
Silence descended in the too-small room while he did nothing other than simply breathe her in. The light fragrance of lilacs, the crisp freshness of the soap she’d used in the shower, the overwhelming femininity floating up from her entire being—all of it intoxicated him. He wanted to suspend this moment and linger here forever. With a sigh, he released her and turned to Forest.
“We’ll be discreet as shit,” he said, “but there’s no way we’re staying apart.”
A tear pooled in the corner of her eye, and he wiped it away with the pad of his thumb.
“You’re fucking idiots,” Forest murmured, “but I’ll do what I can to lock this down.”
“Who knows other than you and Ash?” he asked.
“That’s it as far as I know.” Forest wiped his palms on his jeans and turned for the door. “Both of you need to come with me. I told the guys I’d grab you. They want to go over the set list with you and make sure you’re ready to step up.”
He was more than ready to step up. This was a dream he’d ached for since high school. Granted, it wasn’t playing to a crowd of thousands, but he’d take what he could get. Two weeks beside his rock idols would give him more than enough memories to last a lifetime. He released Tia and joined Forest by the door.
“You coming?” he asked.
“It’s better than sitting here.” She stretched her lithe body, perhaps working out some of the restless energy or defusing the sexual heat that had flared between them in that too short of a moment.
“Good.” Reaching out, he offered his hand, but at Forest’s grunt, he pulled back.Right, no hand-holding. Shit, how was he going to make it through the night? Hell, what was he going to do for the rest of this deployment?In all honesty, it would be better and safer if Vane released Tia from the interview. Maybe he could talk to Forest about putting a bug in Vane’s ear to cut Tia loose after a day.How long did it take to ask a few questions anyhow?
