165

Richie's shoulders slumped. "What the hell, Mike? Jonny took the limo?"

"Sorry, Rich. He was hot to trot with some redhead. I think she was the doctor chick, but she sure wasn't wearing the clothes I remember Kate wearing last time she was here."

Richie laughed. "I can only imagine." He slung his arm around Elena. "For the most part, my wife doesn't wear this either." He tugged on her braids. "The girls were thinking it was nice to test us." It still irked him. Elena had never had that sneaky gene, but life on the road could make a woman crazy. He'd lost many a girlfriend to an overactive imagination.

While it had been warranted a time or seven, it wasn't now. He couldn't even think about touching another woman when Elena was waiting for him. He wasn't sure another woman could ever compare to her.

She elbowed his side hard, dark eyes flashing. "Was NOT a test husband."

He smashed her into his chest. "So she says," he laughed. "Let me know when the car comes back around. Don't let anyone else have the damn limo."

Mike nodded. "You got it Richie."

Richie turned to Elena. "Well, we've got some time to--Ow!" He rubbed his belly where she pushed away from him. "What?"

She stalked a few steps away and whirled, "I can not believe you! I said I trusted you, I said it was just a surprise; I didn't come to test you, you big lug and you dare to keep thinking it? What? You don’t believe in me? Don’t trust ME or my love? OOOoohhh you make me soooo mad. Hell see if I try to surprise you again if all you gonna do is second guess it."

"Baby--" he winced as she folded her arms. That wasn't good. He stepped forward and she backed up. "C'mon, I was joking."

One brow arched as she stepped backwards again. "It doesn’t come out that mouth if you ain’t a thinking it Pony, so don’t gimme that I was joking line. Just don't! You thought I was testing you. WHY?"

"Lains," he growled. "What's a guy to think when you try to make sure I CAN'T see your face and you curl all around me?" He crossed his arms. "I'm not fuckin' stupid."

She wrapped her arms tighter around herself. "Supposed to be glad to see me, just one of our games, you always like our games. You coulda seen me from stage dancing, you knew it was me!" Her eyes narrowed as her voice went tight, "You felt tested....." Her eyes widened as she took in the stubborn set of his jaw. "YOU FEEL GUILTY!! You pushed me away kept talking bout your wife, but you .. Ohhhhhhh !!" She stammered to a stop as she finally got it, he hadn't recognized her, he'd wanted the purple lady.

"Just stop," Richie dropped his arms and stepped closer. "I'm only a man, Elena. I was going to have you removed if your little alter didn't cut it out. I'm never going to be able to completely avoid contact with fans."

She stepped back again, her eyes dead on his face. "NOT the point Richard. You wanted that red headed lady in purple. Sure you woulda removed her, but you found out it was me, so you felt all tested, even when it was just a surprise. YOU wanted a stranger!"

"Don't turn this all around. You were out in that crowd dancing around in that outfit trying to get my attention the whole damn night." He leaned in, his finger pointing to the leather top. "You made sure you caught my eye as many times as you could."

Her tiny foot stomped down in exasperation. "Of course I did! I drove up all this way to just see you, I got into character and everything cuz I missed you so much and instead of liking it, you went and got all.. Grrrrrr, I'll just go home, I'm sure Kate will fix Jon so the rest of the tour will be easier on you!" She turned around to start off towards the door. "Stubborn silly husbands that see tests where there AIN'T any!"

He sighed. "Elena, dammit. Of course I'm happy to see you. But look at it from my point of view. I'm looking out in that crowd...where I can only see the first row and not that clearly with the lights going everywhere." She turned away from him; he went around her to face her. When she turned again, he stopped her, a hand on each upper arm. "So I keep seeing this woman, with RED hair trying to get my attention. I'm doing my damnedest to ignore her but something about her keeps nagging at me. I've got a hundred girls in that area trying to get my attention and it's her I go back to. What's that say?"

Her gaze flicked upwards a moment before moving away. "Says you liked what you saw and felt like shit for liking it. Wasn't testing ya, just wanted to surprise ya, didn't think about the lights or any of that, just wanted to see you so bad and dammit, you got mad!"

"It's always going to be you, Elena. Even with miles of fake hair and an outfit you'd normally leave to an advanced screening by me...it's always going to be you." He looked at the floor. Was it him just knowing it was her, even with all those different women around? Or did he honestly get turned on by a stranger? It was a moot point. It was Elena. It was always Elena.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I always trusted you, and when I said it wasn't a test you should of trusted me." She turned, her eyes lifting, "I just knew I had to come, knew that if I was feeling so low and tired of being alone that it would be ten times worse for you. Look at you, you’ve lost weight again. You look so tired Pony, I just wanted to make you happy, nothing more or less."

He cupped her face, moving closer. "I did miss you. Hell, I do miss you," he curled his fingers around her waist. "God, Lains I need you so much it scares me."

Her hands dropped to her sides as she leaned forward, her hand moving as her fingers walked up his chest. "I went crazy without you ya know."

"I know," he whispered. "I can almost prove I was worse." He laughed, "Hell, I can. Look at how I'm acting;" he hauled her in closer, "fighting with you when I should be finding six ways to get you out of that leather thing."

She started to laugh as she felt his eyes studying the lock on the bustier. "Well it’s not THAT hard to do."

God she was just an idiot, she hadn't come here to spend her time arguing. She'd come to find her guy, her love, and renew herself. She'd come because she needed, because she had KNOWN deep inside he needed. No silly fight would stop that, not if she could help it.

His fingers slid around the back of the little top. "There's gotta be...ah, there we go." Richie walked her back into the arena. The security detail was already cleared out. The arena was empty. He went towards the back seats under the overhang. "Now, can we do the makeup part of the fighting thing?" he asked dropping a kiss on her shoulder. "I really want a little taste of my wife."

She shivered as his fingers roamed, a gentle gasp escaping her. "I thought you'd never ask."

The acoustics in the arena were set up for maximum volume, so her small voice resonated in the little alcove. "Shh, baby. Unless you want the entire room to know just what I hear when you cum, then you'll need to be quiet."

Her eyes widened comically, "You want me to be quiet?" Her teeth worried her lower lip as she considered the thought. "We might better wait then cuz I don’t know if I can be..."

He looked down at her for a second, his mouth hanging open. At the glint in her eyes, he laughed. "So, you want to wait?" His fingers trailed down her naked back. "Are you sure?"

Chapter 164

Her lips fastened on his, her grin poured into the kiss as she felt his participation value skyrocket. "Well hello there," she hummed into his mouth as she rubbed herself over his denim clad erection. "Can I just tell you?" She said and lost herself in a kiss. Trying again she tried to put her hormones in a box. "It was a panties optional outfit and I opted out."

His grin widened as his fingers flicked at the wide buckle. "I like those options Katy."

She groaned as his fingers undid the only thing keeping him from easy--Good God. She groaned as his fingers slid around the lycra and into her heat. She should probably care about the driver watching in the rear view mirror--which he probably was--but all she cared about was him touching her.

And when he clever fingers found her wet, she felt his groan in her mouth just before it buzzed through her body. "Jonny," she whispered as he slid two fingers inside of her.

He shifted quickly, spreading her legs more, his fingers plunging deeper even as his free hand hit the button for the privacy window. His head dipped down, tongue sliding over her skin as another groan settled in his throat. “God I have missed that."

"And let me tell ya," she groaned, flinging her head back, "I missed being on the receiving end." With the privacy screen she grew bolder. "I think this is going to be an ongoing thing with us," she panted. God, the limo was never going to be the same for her now. It was going to be like a Pavlovian response. She struggled to get her pants past her knees. There was no way she'd make it to the hotel.

She leaned back, fumbling with his buckle. "Help me," she mumbled against his mouth.

His hands slipped in quickly undoing buckle and zipper before bucking upwards. The heat of her silky hands sliding the jeans over his hips, combined with her kisses had him hard, harder than he'd felt in months. Twisting he pushed her onto her back, his hands pulling at her skin tight pants, before settling into the juncture of her thighs. "Oh god yes.."

Kate slowly lowered herself down, her insides tightening at the invasion...the man that she'd missed. The way her body accepted him, stretched for him and then...Her arms slid around his shoulders as she slowly rode him.

In and out, the heat of him burning inside of her. Their lips melded and merged as their bodies did. Connection found in the strangest of spaces. His fingers dug into her back, into her hips as they both kept the pace slow and easy.

The limo fell away, the vinyl fell away, the uncomfortable and precarious position just drifted away until it was only him and her. The tenuous connection reknitting itself here in this moment.

He felt it surge, that uniqueness that was her, that simple joy that made the aches, the pains, the misbehaving throat vanish. Reaching up he pulled her lower, his lips encircling one tight nipple, his tongue flicking across the sensitive tip. Nothing had felt so good, or right as this moment, her hair slipping along his flesh, her breath hot on his skin, her voice murmuring as his hips continued to buck upwards. There was nothing like his Kate, she healed with a touch, soul, mind and body burning and relaxing all in one breath.

She felt the release, tried to fight it back, unwilling to leave the slice of heaven they'd found...in of all places, a limo. But it had been too long and she'd wanted him too much. Her hips shifted until she took him deeper and the friction between them grew to flashpoint. Her head flew back as his lips went to her neck.

God, he always knew just where she needed him. And there, the spot she couldn't resist where she lost it. There was no way to buckle down the scream.

He felt more than heard the scream as she tightened around his cock, his body pushing through to the next plateau as hands tightened around her. He loved her screams, as much as her soft southern voice, but he fuckin' needed her screams.

She collapsed against him, her face buried in his hair and neck. An odd need to curl around him hit her. Instead of ignoring it, she followed her instinct. Maybe he needed the connection just as much as she did.

He twisted until his back was pressed against the seat and pulled her in closer, his lips against her neck as he pulled in breath after breath of her scent. Wrapping his arms around her an unusual husky sigh escaped him. “I knew you could make it better."

She laid her head against his shoulder. She hoped she did, even for a little while. She leaned back to meet his eyes. "Well my brand of medicine does actually come with a semi-solution." At his grin, she nudged him. "Besides that, I have something in my bag I'd like to try on you. I can't guarantee it will work, but I've been doing some research."

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head, unable to hold back the smile. "I knew I could count on ya Kate. But let me sleep off the loving, then love ya again before I try to make sense of the explanation I'll ask for first."

She cupped his cheek, kissing him softly. "Tonight is just us."

Chapter 163

He leaned back against the couch, one brow arching as Richie curled around the purple leather lady. He shook his head at the sight of Richie nearly inhaling the woman. More secrets to carry to the grave. Shit this one might get me killed by Kate no less. Closing his eyes he inhaled deeply and reached for the bottle of Jack he'd requested. Tipping it up, he drank deeply, almost groaning as the fire of the alcohol started numbing him from the inside out.

August wouldn't come fast enough, although at this point he wondered if his throat would hold out. Doc kept adding dates and not listening when he started asking for time. Fuck him and the dollar he wanted to make. Just two fuckin' days. He coulda flown home and saw Kate and maybe relieved the pressure, stress and horniness that seemed to keep him company. Stupid fucking manager.

Kate scanned the room. Dammit, where was he? Was he hiding already? She knew how much he hated the backstage scene these days. He'd told her in the dead of the night when he was feeling low.

Her man...she swallowed. Well, that didn't hurt so bad. It was taking some getting used to without the dry heaves, but he was worth it. Her nerves eased at the thought. Spotting him, she made headed for him.

A few other girls had spotted him as well, but he just waved and signed things. Even to the most thick headed groupie he had a DO NOT DISTURB sign on his too pretty to be real face. Forgetting her outfit she stood in front of him with her hands at her hips. "Just what do you think you're doing out there tearing up those vocal cords?" She sighed at his version of medicine. "That's not going to help you know." She snagged the bottle.

His hand flashed out to grab the bottle, a barely restrained growl leaving him as his eyes opened and was overcome with chest and leopard skin. Fuck, it was the lady from the audience. "It's called singing baby. Now if you got something to sign hold it out." He managed to force a smile as the voice washed over him. Damn near sounded like Kate. But she looked nothing like her though, she wouldn't be caught dead in slut-wear.

Her mouth dropped open until she caught a glimpse of her tricked out leopard breasts. "Hell," Kate growled and tugged the stupid wig off her head. If he didn't look so miserable, she'd have kicked him. "Surprise."

He lifted the bottle and took a long drink, his eyes catching movement as platinum blonde dropped into his lap. What the fuck? He didn't want her, he didn't want what anyone offered.

He winced as she moved in closer, saw her hands go to her hips and heard the deep south in her voice. Jesus Kate, I want you so bad I'm putting your voice and body onto a badly dressed groupie. He muttered as politely as possible, "lose something babe?"

Frustrated her southern accent got thicker as she tugged her hair out of her ponytail. She scrubbed her nails into her scalp pushing her hair into wild curls around her face. "Yeah, my mind, you idiot. Look up. It hasn't been that long since you've seen me."

Damn she was bossy, almost bossy as... His eyes slowly moved up along her body and over her breasts to the very exasperated face of...Kate? "Katy? What the hell?"

"Surprise." She plopped on the seat next to him. "Sugar, what the hell are you doing to yourself?" She pushed his hair back, the coarse curls tangled around her fingers. Her thumb traced over his swollen nodes. "What am I going to do with you?"

He grunted then pulled her into his lap. "Make it better." His nose brushed along her hair and then her throat. Damn she smelled so right. "Just make it better."

Forgetting the ridiculous outfit she was wearing she straddled his lap pressing down and shivering a little as he drove her nuts so easily. Sighing, she smelled whiskey and fresh soap on him. She wound her arms around his neck. She'd do anything to make him better. Not just because of the oath she'd sworn when she'd gotten that pretty MD behind her name, but because her man was hurting. Inside and out. She drew his face to hers, kissing him softly before she pressed her forehead into his. "I can't trust you for even a few months without you undoing all my work, now can I?"

A grin slipped onto his lips as his hands kneaded into her ass. "Ahh you know me, play hard, work harder babe." Just having her on his lap was pushing away the stress. His Kate was here, she'd figure something out.

She leaned back onto his thighs. "So I see." She spread her hands on his chest, her thumb finding the rip in the shirt and exploiting it to find some skin. "You need to rest so I'm here to make sure you get some tonight. Your fans will just have to do without you."

His gaze flicked to Richie then back to Kate as he decided it was a good time to get her the hell out BEFORE she saw her best friend’s husband screwing around. "Sounds like a plan babe. Let's go."

She groaned as she maneuvered off him with the heels on. "I'll kill Elena for picking this outfit, I swear."

His brow arched, "She sent you here in that? What the fuck for?" As she turned to look around his hands wrapped around her waist as he pulled her into a kiss. "Kinda nice but not the Kate I remember."

"Aww c'mon you don't like my groupie slut outfit?" She pressed her leopard skin clad breasts against his chest until the shirt rode a little lower and the high curve of her hiked up breasts were on display. "Wait until you see what's under here to keep these babies so high."

"Never said I didn't like what I saw." His fingers slid up along her waist and over her showing skin. "Can't wait to see what’s underneath it baby."

She turned around, his fingers twined in his as she walked away with an extra twitch in her step. She didn't really have a choice with the extra cha-cha in her walk with the damn five inch stilettos. Her smile widened at the fierce looks that arrowed her way. Jealous little things, these groupies.

Of course no one really knew Jon was dating her. They weren't exactly being secretive, but they sure hadn't had cause to go out in public together. Surprised at the way her thoughts were turning she flicked a glance over her shoulder. "Do I get to rape you backstage or should I wait for the hotel?"

He pulled her along the hall muttering, "as long as its away from jackass...." He straightened and grinned, "can't rape the willing Katy." He pulled her closer, his hand settling on her waist. "We can do backstage babe, but id just as soon find a bed."

Once they got away from the people, she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a hug. Obviously even in her hooker clothes he just wasn't concentrating on the task at hand. The poor guy must be worse off than she thought. "Let's find us one of those car and driver people you seem to have on hand before Elena and Richie steal them under our noses." She brushed her lips against his. "I think I need a little reacquainting is in order."

He stopped dead in his tracks and looked her way. "Please tell me she’s in some wild purple leather thing."

Kate stilled. "She is..." she trailed off. A bad feeling twitched between her shoulder blades. "Tell me you wouldn't just ignore things if Richie was cheating?"

He breathed a sigh of relief and shook his head, "I'd protect him from your scalpel babe, but only so I could beat the shit out of him personal."

She frowned, gnawing on her lower lip as she studied his deep blue eyes. She was beginning to learn their constant changing colors. The deep was tired and rundown, but the directness of his gaze eased the tension in her. "Good answer, Sugar."

He bent slightly and lifted her, shifting her onto his shoulder. "Now you said something bout a car and a bed...."

Kate laughed and slapped his oh so delectable ass. "That's right, you don't need your throat to be naked!"

His head turned as lips and teeth nibbled the flesh on his shoulder. "Naah just lips tongue and teeth baby."

They did indeed find a driver waiting outside. As they piled into the backseat she barely waited for him to give instructions before she was on his lap again. The worry had given way to the hormones. Hell, she'd never been the type of woman that needed sex to survive. She'd gone years without it for God's sake. But now, one taste of this man and she was ready to go again.