Chapter 42

Elena's brow rose fractionally, "You never can tell Richie. They all have banisters." A sparkle was in her eyes as she spoke, "or chandeliers."

Stuffing down the need to reach over the table and haul her across it, he let his dimple flash. "Sweetheart, the only banister you need to worry about is mine."

Kate nearly bobbled the plate before she dumped the silverware in the sink. She so didn't need that image in her head right now. The teasing familiarity was there already. She hated him for hooking her in so fast.

"That banister is outta service for now Richie." Elena laughed softly.

Kate hunched her shoulders at the flirty voice. Elena was so blinded by the charm, she couldn’t see the pain coming up. That man was going to leave again. She jumped as a wall of warmth hovered behind her. She didn’t even have to look…her stupid, traitorous nipples knew.

Jon leaned in close his lips close to her ear. "Holding things back gives you ulcers Katy."

His voice was whisper soft but intense. Her body—stupid freakin’ body that it was—instantly wanted to lean back on him, to see if the warmth would follow. God, she was just like Elena. This man, this rockstar for the love of sweet Mary made her want for the first time in more years than she could count. She couldn’t think around him. What would it feel like to let him in?

"If you want to blast him do it. Ask what you need to ask. Don’t hold it in."

She turned her head and felt his lips brush her cheek before he leaned back enough that it was only his breath touching her. Her gaze drifted down to the bottom lip she remembered in bits and flashes. Was it really as silky soft as she remembered? Or was that just part of the fantasy she’d built? "If I blast him,” she swallowed and made herself meet his eyes, “Elena will stop smiling and she hasn't done that in two weeks," she whispered.

He brushed a curl away from her face. His body screamed to move in, to feel that skin again, but instinct kept him where he was. "Elena's a big girl Katy. Besides, there was that whole saving lives thing with the oath right?" He flicked the little caduceus at her neck with the tip of his finger, letting his touch linger for just a second longer than he should have.

"I could remove his balls with little more than a twinge of regret,” she said softly and laughed when Jon's hand covered the fly of his jeans automatically.

"That’s just cold, man." Jon grinned. The phantom pain that every man felt at the mention of harm to the jewels gave him a moment’s pause, as he shot a glance over his shoulder to Richie. He was never quite sure if she was kidding or not when she said shit like that.

She followed Jon’s eyes. Their heads were together, whispering softly as the teasing filtered over to the sink. She let her shoulder lean into Jon's chest. "Hard to stay mad at him, huh?"

"Something like that,” he smirked with a huff of a laugh. “Special talent of his, I think."


~


Elena stood and took her cup of coffee with her to the couch. Sitting down Indian style she watched Richie without saying a word. She knew Kate was unsure of the situation. She couldn’t help the worrying, it was who she was. She treated her more like a little sister sometimes. In her gruff manner, she was really the caretaker type.

Richie dropped onto the floor in front of her. It took a minute to fold his much longer, less limber legs into the folded position. "We have a few weeks of a break when I get back, then off to Holland for another one-off gig."

"One off?" Not quite able to stop herself, she played with the long ends of his hair.

"When we're drawing to the end of a leg of a tour, every once in awhile, we do a few special shows." He caught her fingers, burying them between his hands. He really couldn't take the teasing right now. "It’s a cool way to include countries or areas that don't always get a show.” He opened his hands, finding her smaller hand there. He brushed his knuckle over her soft skin, linking his fingers with hers slowly. “They tend to be weird dates because of all the red tape and hoops Jonny and Doc have to jump through."

"Those would be a bit harder to deal with I suppose." She glanced down at their palms, so different in size. And the way he was so very gentle with her. She had to remind herself—one more time—that she had to control herself. He just wasn't gonna get lucky again that easily no matter how badly she wanted him.

"Sometimes," he agreed. "But then again, a lot of the time those are the really memorable gigs because we can shake up the set list and pull out a few surprises. Our catalogue is still pretty small but we make up for it with some cover stuff that keeps people rockin'."

"Sounds like fun, but I bet it’s hard work too." She uncurled her legs and placed one on either side of him. "It’s hard to travel a lot though I bet…even if you do get to see a lot of neat places." She could feel his breath on her thighs.

"I wish we got to see the places. I know what every airport in every country looks like, but when we got to Paris last year I didn't even get to see the Eiffel Tower. Well…unless through the window of our bus, counts." The lure of her skin was too much to resist. He pressed a palm to each thigh, stroking her slowly. "We're still proving ourselves, you know?" It was hard to explain to people how much work it was. It sounded like a lot of play, but between traveling and sound check there was a lot of hurry up and wait shit that really got to a person after awhile.

She shivered at his simple touch as goose-pimples raced along the path his palm took. Swallowing hard, she willed herself to keep a normal tone of voice. "It’s probably harder work than most people realize. The one time I saw you both, it looked so effortless, but I know a lot practice went into that."

"Not so much practice for that kind of thing. We don't even realize what's going on outside our own little bubbles sometimes.”

His smile was infectious, making Elena’s heart tumble madly. The way his hands would talk with him in that Richie way. And every time he stopped, they would rest on her thighs making it harder for her to concentrate on the words. Focusing instead on the way his dark eyes sparkled when he got excited and the tug of those full lips when he laughed.

“But then suddenly we're playing Bad Name or Prayer and we feed off the frenzy of the crowd. That's what makes it worth it. That's what makes the travel and the interviews and the asinine bus rides worth it." He laced his fingers through hers and tried to ignore the soft skin of her calves resting on his jeans. One brush of his fingertips and he'd have her pinned to the couch in less than a heartbeat.

A soft groan escaped when his warm fingers wrapped around her thighs again. "I can't pretend to understand how it feels, unless it’s equal to getting a damn good grade on a paper you worked hard on. But somehow I don’t think even that equates to the look I saw on your face when you played that night." Wanting to feel more than his hand, was an inescapable fact, but she'd set the ground rules. She'd have to stick too them no matter how hard it was.


~


Kate watched from across the room as they talked quietly. The innocent touches and the way their eyes locked, never wavering, left an immediate and rather heavy sense of intimacy in the air. Their connection was palpable in a way that had her stomping down the green monster and tripping over a bone deep fear at the same time. The life Richie and Jon had chosen was not for the soft and the sweet like Elena could be. She had a steel spine under all her mush when it was warranted, but watching her dissolve after only a night with Richie left her nervy.

She could feel Jon staring at her, reading too much with his far too clever eyes. "Stop it," she ordered quietly.

Jon's brow arched, then followed hers to the duo on the couch. The emotions on her face were hard to read, but there was a bit of that longing in her eyes that he was always looking for. The human aspect of her that urged him to keep on plugging. "Gets to you doesn't it?"

She nibbled on her lower lip. "I don't want her hurt."

His moved into her under the guise of keeping their conversation quiet, happy to draw in that zesty cinnamon of her skin. "Then tell him that. He’s a big pussy cat for all his size."

Tamping down a shiver she shifted away from him until his fingers circled her forearm. She glanced away from his crystal bright eyes to the diamond JB on his ring finger. "Quit pushing, Jon." She hadn't meant to say that, but his touch distracted and flustered her. "I'll talk to Elena when you guys leave."

He slid his hand down and grasped her fingers in his and pulled her toward the living room. "It’s not Elena you need to talk to Katy."

"Would you rather taste the wrath of my scalpel, Sugar?" she asked heavy on the cream.

She liked to use threats when she was feeling cornered. It had taken him a few tries, but he was learning. Such a prickly little thing on the outside. "I never took you as the type to be afraid to face anything Katy. Besides, your scalpel doesn't scare me. I’m a pretty good runner."

"Good thing those chicken legs are good for something," she said and headed for the couch. "Break it up you two, there are sprinklers above you that don't need a test run."

Elena tilted her head up. "We were just talking, Katydid."

"Uh huh, and I'm a Boston Philharmonic maestro." She flopped next to Elena. Leaning her head on Elena’s shoulder she sighed out. "I'm going to have to hit my cave soon."

Elena's brow arched. She didn’t exactly need her friend to kick out her man…she’d just found him again. But after a look at Kate’s hollow eyes and the dark circles. "Rough night at the ER?"

"Rough shift to say the least, but I do have to do it all over again about," she glanced at the slim silver watch she always wore. "In about twenty hours,” she propped her elbow on Elena’s shoulder. “Some of that has to be sleep."

Elena nodded, "I'll…well, we'll be quiet.” She looked down at Richie, then up to Jon. “Won't we boys?"

"I wish we could stay longer, but we've got to head out. It's a long flight even with the private jet we've got access to." Richie said and let himself slide his hand over her ankle slipping up to cup her calf.

A shiver again raced through her making her body betray her yet again. Glancing at Jon a moment she wondered how she'd be able to reach him while he was gone. "That time already?" She smiled reassuringly, or what she hoped looked reassuring.

Jon glanced over at Kate, "Um, Katy can I speak to you for a minute? Like over here or something?"

Richie saw a slice of the sadness creep back into her eyes. "Well if someone would give me an actual phone number I could call them," He said, giving Jon a grateful smile.

Kate didn't bother to hide her sigh of disgust. "All right, all right, I don't need to be smacked over the head with the obvious stick, people." She held out her hand to Jon. "Help me up, Sugar."