It’s what he’d started calling her because it’s what she was. She seemed to smile against his erection and then hurried things along—holding on with one hand and tucking her fingers under his balls into the spot that always made him come.
Didn’t fail this time either, and she latched onto him as he finished, taking it all and swallowing it down.
I love this woman.
Now that thought made him still. He may have just fallen from oblivion, but thinking like that scared the shit out of him.
She pressed a kiss to the tip of his dick and slid up to kiss the edge of his jaw, then his cheek, and then his mouth.
"Gorgeous," he said, holding her gaze with his. "You’re amazing."
She smiled, and teased, "The things I can do with my tongue, right?"
But he pulled her to his chest and held on because it was so much more than that and he couldn’t put into words because he didn’t know any that would do her justice.
So he held her and hoped that was enough. How had she become his everything in such a short period of time? And what was he supposed to do about it?
Since he didn’t know how to put it into words, he went down on her until she came twice. And by that point they were both late, but neither of them cared.
He did show up to the recording session with a six-pack of ginger ale in hand to make up for being late.
Mach passed through the room with a huge console filled with countless knobs and buttons that lit up in an array of colors. The tall, white-washed walls of the studio itself were lined with instruments—acoustic and electric guitars, a keyboard, and an enormous grand piano—all waiting to be put to use. The hardwood floors were polished to a shine and the couches were comfortable enough for everyone to take a break when they needed one.
Mach always paused at that moment because he couldn’t reconcile the life he knew with this one. That he actually got to live a life where he played in spaces like this was wild.
He had shown up right after Knox. Tanner was already there, setting up shop behind a drum kit, as Linx plugged in his guitar. Bax stared at some sheet music, mouthing the words as he followed the lines, and then singing a few bars in a low tone.
"We havin’ a party?" Mach asked, pulling the top off a bottle and taking a slug. "Or are we making some music?"
"Making music," Bax said, glancing up from the music. "After we dissect your current romantic entanglement."
Mach leveled a stare at Bax. "Seriously?"
Linx scratched at his ear and then read from his smartwatch. "We get that this is all new for you, so we are here to support you and help with ideas since we have all been through this part."
"Unnecessary," Mach heard himself say. He would not grin at that or think it was nice that they wanted to help him out. Because he was already in too deep, and he didn’t know how to extract himself from Darla at this point if he needed to.
Nobody said anything, but Tanner hit a beat on the drums for one of the new songs they’d planned for the next album. Thank hell for Tanner, who understood Mach did not want to talk this out.
Mach took Tanner’s nudge and grabbed his guitar. The other guys fell into line and the music flowed. Bax had written this song about his kid. Another song about how fucking happy he was all the fucking time because he had the motherfucking fairy tale.
The words stuck in Mach’s throat, and he couldn’t do it, couldn’t keep going. Not with Darla all up in his head and the feel of her lips still there on his dick. He swallowed, and he set the guitar on the stand. The guys watched him while they kept playing, but he was out.
He sat on one of the stools off to the side and shook his head.
The music died, and he didn’t look up as there was shuffling and the standard sounds of instruments being unplugged and set aside.
"We get it, man." Bax put a hand on Mach’s shoulder and said, "We’ve all been right here."
"I’m being stupid," Mach said, his shoulders tight again. He ran his fingers through his hair, frustration mounting as he tried to make sense of what his life was versus what he figured he deserved.
He blinked heavy as nobody said a word. It started to feel like hours had passed because nobody breathed a syllable.
"No one has anything to say?" he asked, since he figured that’s what they’d be doing. Talking shit out like they always did.
"I can’t exactly argue with what you said," Linx said, cautiously, almost hesitant. "You are probably bein’ stupid."
"You just called me stupid?" Mach asked, because that was not a Linx thing to do.
