Bring on the Night (Love in Nashville Book 1), page 15
Eventually, he lifted his head and looked down into her eyes. “Want to tell me about it?”
She let out a soft laugh. “I can tell you that it took my breath away, maybe stole my senses. I can tell you that’s it’s addicting and that I want more.”
He laughed. “I meant tell me what’s changed—not tell me about the kiss.”
“I know, but it was so good that I had to tell you about it.”
Wow. It seemed things really had changed. He hadn’t seen her like this before, and he liked the change. “That makes me happy.”
“You make me happy.” She reached over and rested a hand on his thigh. “But I think maybe we should talk while you drive. We’ll make Corbin and a whole stadium full of people very unhappy if we don’t get you back on time.”
He leaned over and stole another taste of her lips before he turned the key in the ignition. “Okay. We’ll get going, but please tell me what changed?”
She smiled. “I told you that Summer called me out for being a coward. Well …” She paused and frowned. “A couple of other people have done the same thing, and it’s finally gotten through. I was trying to keep us a secret because I’ve spent my life being afraid. I didn’t want to expose myself to the world as a weak, emotional female.”
He glanced across at her as he pulled out of the parking lot.
“Now I finally understand that there’s nothing weak about being brave enough to take the risk to fall in love.”
His heart leaped into his mouth and he pulled the car over. He turned off the engine before he looked her in the eye. “Is that what you’re doing?” Even to him, his voice sounded shaky.
She nodded and gave him a small smile. “It is. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that I already have.”
He cupped her face between his hands and landed a kiss on her lips. “Damn, baby girl. I’ve been in love with you for so long. I thought it’d take me years before you might feel the same way.”
She put her hands on his shoulders and her eyes twinkled as she looked at him. “What are you saying, McConnell?”
“I’m saying that I love you, Autumn. I love you with all my heart and soul.”
She pressed her cheek into the palm of his hand. “And I’m saying that I love you, too, Matt.”
His heart battered against his ribcage. He’d daydreamed about hearing her say those words for almost as long as he’d known her. “Tell me again,” he said with a smile.
She laughed. “I love you.”
He shook his head in disbelief. “One more time.”
She cupped his face and looked deep into his eyes. “I love you, Matt. I have to tell you, this is new territory for me, and I might not be very good at it, but I love you, and I want to make this work.”
He closed his arms around her and held her close. “I’m glad it’s new to you, and I have no worries. You’re good at everything you do. If you want us to work, then I know we will.” He reluctantly let go of her. “I still want to hear more about what’s changed, but we need to get going.”
She winked at him. “I know. I’m starting to get twitchy here about not making you late, but there was no way I was going to spoil that moment by telling you to hurry back to work.”
He had to laugh. “That’s good to know. And see, left to my own devices, I won’t let you down.”
“I know.”
Chapter Eighteen
By the time they got back to the stadium they only had an hour before Matt would need to get ready. Autumn felt self-conscious when they got out of the car and he took her by the hand as they walked to his tour bus.
He glanced at her and held her hand tighter as she made to pull away. “Everyone here knows.”
She frowned. “Everyone?”
She had to laugh as he hurriedly let go. “Shit! They don’t, do they? You’ve got my head all turned around. The guys know, Corbin knows. That’s about it.” He held her gaze for a moment. “When can everyone know?”
It was a fair question. She’d told him she was okay with it, so why did they need to keep the secret any longer? “I suppose my only hesitation now is that I think we should tell Clay first, and I think we should tell him ourselves. I felt horrible when I saw him this afternoon and I didn’t tell him.”
Matt frowned.
“What?”
“I dunno. I guess I was getting carried away with the fact that you’re okay with people knowing now, but we’re not there yet, are we? Just a few hours ago you weren’t okay enough with it to tell Clay.”
“I wanted to.” She smiled. “And then I talked to Marianne and she helped me work through it.”
“You didn’t mind telling her, but you wouldn’t tell Clay?”
“She guessed. I wouldn’t have told her.”
“Ah, okay. That makes more sense.” They reached his bus and he opened the door for her to go inside. “What did she say that changed things for you?”
“It wasn’t so much what she said as what she helped me realize.” She shrugged. “Stuff about my parents and how that affected me.”
He came to her and put his arm around her shoulders. His eyes were filled with concern. “What stuff?
“Nothing horrible. You know what they’re like. They’re not interested. I loved them so much. I wanted so badly for them to love us back, and they just didn’t. I guess I’ve built my adult life around avoiding that kind of hurt and rejection.”
“I’ll do my best to never hurt you, and you know I won’t reject you.”
He closed his arms around her waist and drew her to him. Her arms slid up around his neck. “I know. I trust you. Even if we don’t work out—”
He put a finger to her lips. “Don’t talk like that. We’re forever, you and me.”
She had to swallow around the lump in her throat.
“I mean it, baby girl. This is it. You’re my woman, my lady, my baby girl, and my kick-ass bitch. You’re everything to me. If you’ll let me, I want to spend the rest of my life showing you how much I love you.”
She nodded and had to blink away the tears that pricked behind her eyes. He hugged her close to his chest and planted a kiss on the top of her head. “I love you.”
She breathed in the scent of him. “I love you, too, Matt.”
His hands slid down and closed around her ass. “Want me to show you how much?” He started walking her toward the bedroom at the back of the bus.
She raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you have more important things to do right now?”
He dropped his head and nibbled her neck. “What could be more important than this?”
Shivers raced down her spine, and she honestly couldn’t think of anything more important than getting naked with him right now. She took a deep breath. “How about more pressing? You’re playing to a packed venue in just a few—”
His hands tightened around her ass cheeks and he rocked his hips against hers. “I can’t think of anything more pressing than this.” His hard-on pressed into her belly, making her close her eyes against the ache between her legs.
He was right. Getting on stage in time was his responsibility, not hers. She slid her hands under his shirt and ran them over his hard abs and up over his chest. “Neither can I,” she breathed.
He backed her all the way into the bedroom and closed the door behind them with his foot before turning around to make sure it was locked. When he turned back to her, he let his gaze travel over her, heating her skin just as surely as if he’d touched her with his hands.
“I know we should wait,” he breathed. “We don’t have enough time. But I can’t wait.”
She shook her head and pulled his shirt up and over his head. “I don’t want to wait. I want you now, Matt.”
His eyes darkened with lust at her words and he pushed her skirt up around her waist. She thought he was going to push her down on the bed, but he turned her around and sat her on the little dressing table instead. She fumbled to unfasten his jeans as he opened her shirt and smiled when he saw her lacy bra. He unhooked the front fastener and dropped his head to tease her nipples with his tongue when her breasts spilled free.
She pushed down his jeans and shorts and wrapped her legs around his, sitting on the very edge of the dressing table and opening herself wide for him. “We’ll have time for that tonight, Matt,” she breathed and closed her fingers around him, stroking herself with the very tip of him.
He didn’t lift his head, sucking hard on the taut peak of nipple and sending electric currents racing through her.
She let out a low moan. “Fuck me, Matt.”
His head came up at that. “Come again?”
She chuckled. “I’m hoping to. Fuck me.”
He grasped her hips. “Your wish is my command.” He watched her breasts heave as she drew in a deep breath in anticipation. “And I can play with those babies again later?”
She smiled through pursed lips. “You can do whatever you want with them tonight.”
He ran his tongue over his bottom lip before he bit down on it and rocked his hips, pushing at her entrance and making her whole body hum with need to feel him inside her.
“Bring on the night,” he breathed as he thrust hard.
She bit off a scream as his hot, hard shaft filled her. His fingers dug into her ass, spreading her wide to receive him as he rocked his hips and pounded into her over and over, each thrust stretching her as he plunged deeper. She clung to his shoulders and moved with him, their bodies joining together, frantically becoming one as they carried each other away. The pressure started to build low in her belly. She tried to slow down, to take her time, to wait for him, but he relentlessly drove deep inside her, giving her no respite from the pleasure that started to course through her. She gasped and moaned as her muscles spasmed around him and still his hips thrust wildly. “Matt … Matt … Matt!!!” She screamed as her orgasm tore through her, then screamed again as he found his release and crushed her to him as he spilled his desire deep inside her.
When their bodies finally stilled, she rested her head against his shoulder. “Damn, we’re good,” she breathed.
He laughed. “The best, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t practice every day for the rest of our lives.”
She laughed with him. “Every day and every night.”
He cupped her breast and rolled her nipple between his finger and thumb, sending a delicious aftershock racing through her. “Bring on the night,” he said again with a wink.
She couldn’t wait.
~ ~ ~
When Matt walked out on stage a little over an hour later, his knees were weak. He always felt a thrill walking out in front of a packed stadium. He loved it. Tonight, though, the adrenaline coursing through his veins had less to do with the thousands of people screaming at him from beyond the spotlights and more to do with a single woman who stood in the wings smiling at him. He raised his hands at the crowd, and they went wild, but they weren’t the cause of the buzzing in his chest and his head. That buzz was caused by the thought of Autumn—that single woman. And by the fact that he didn’t want to be single anymore. He glanced over at her again, and she blew him a kiss. She felt it, too; he knew she must, or she wouldn’t look the way she did right now. Yeah, of course, she had that freshly-fucked glow about her—and knowing that he was the one who’d given it to her was a high of its own. But the way she looked at him, she was all soft and sweet, and the way she blew him that kiss, not caring who saw. It told him all he needed to know. She was a woman in love—in love with him, and he was going to make her his wife.
He launched into the first song, and Levi leaned in beside him, strumming his guitar and driving the women in the audience wild. Tonight was a good night; maybe the best night of his life so far. He had the woman he loved here with him, his friends and bandmates making great music with him, and a stadium full of adoring fans loving everything they did.
As they launched into the second song, he glanced over at Autumn again. In a moment or two, Elle would come over to share his mic. Every night so far, the crowd had loved that moment—and he’d endured it, knowing what the world was thinking and wishing that he could tell them the truth. That Elle wasn’t the woman he wanted by his side.
He frowned when he couldn’t see Autumn. The place where she’d been standing was empty, but a few feet farther away, Corbin stood looking anxious.
When they finished the fourth song, Matt ran off stage to change his shirt. He looked around wildly for Autumn, but there was no sign of her.
Corbin came and handed him a towel.
“Do you know where she went?”
Corbin shrugged. “She’s around somewhere.”
Matt nodded. He’d been hoping to sneak a kiss, but there was no time. He had to get back out there.
It was going on eleven by the time they finished the closing number. He’d only caught sight of Autumn a couple of times. She’d smiled and waved when he caught her eye, but the magic that had buzzed between them during that first song was gone. He grabbed a bottle of water as he came off stage and looked around for her. She was talking on her cell phone behind one of the monitors. He hurried over to her.
She looked almost guilty when she saw him approach. “I’ll call you in the morning. Hopefully, nothing will come of it … okay … bye.”
She hung up and smiled at him. “Great set. They loved you out there.”
He frowned. She sounded like the old Autumn, congratulating her artist on a good performance while still distracted by other problems.
He slid his arms around her waist. “Thanks, but I’m more concerned about you loving me back here.”
She smiled and rested her head against his chest for a moment before looking up into his eyes. “I do.” She searched his face for a moment. “I always will. But maybe we were getting ahead of ourselves. Maybe we should slow it down and see how realistic we’re being.”
His heart raced. “What do you mean? Why? What changed?”
She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m sorry. Nothing changed. It’s all okay.” She smiled again, but it looked forced. “Do you want to get a drink with everyone?”
“No. I don’t. I can do that every night for the next few months. I want to go back to the bus with you and remind you just how realistic this is.”
She looked as if she was about to argue, but then her expression softened, and she nodded. “Yeah. We should make the most of the time we have.”
He should have been pleased by that, but something about the way she said it worried him.
When they got back to the bus, he closed the door and locked it behind them. “Who were you talking to back there?”
“Just Bianca.”
“What’s the problem?”
She made a face. “Nothing—yet.”
“Want to tell me about it?”
“No. I really don’t.” She came toward him and unbuttoned his shirt before pushing it off his shoulders. “I think we should get you in the shower.”
Part of him wanted to argue, wanted to make her tell him what Bianca had wanted and why she was so different when he came off stage than she’d been when he went on, but that part of him couldn’t make itself heard when she started taking her own shirt off. And when she unfasted her bra and set her breasts free, that part of him couldn’t even remember what it had wanted to say.
When he woke up the next morning, he opened his eyes and smiled when he saw her. She was so damned beautiful. She was in love with him. He was in love with her, and if it were up to him, before long, she’d be his wife. He let his imagination run wild with that one as he lay there somewhere between asleep and awake. Who would he ask to be his best man? He’d like to ask Clay, but he wasn’t sure. Clay had given Summer away at her wedding. He was like a father to the girls, maybe Autumn would want him to give her away, too? He didn’t see how he could ask one of the guys—it wouldn’t go over well with the others. Maybe Corbin? He opened his eyes and watched her sleep beside him. It didn’t really matter who stood beside him at the altar, only that she joined him there and that she said yes to being his wife. He wondered how long he should wait. How soon was too soon? As far as he was concerned, tomorrow would be just fine—hell, today would be better. But she’d need more time. This time yesterday she hadn’t even been ready to admit to Clay that they were seeing each other. Yeah, she’d need more time, and he’d give her as much as she wanted. He rolled onto his side and brushed a strand of hair away from her face. He’d give her all the time in the world. He’d give her all the days of his life if she’d let him. Whether he spent those days married to her or waiting to get married to her didn’t matter so much as long as she’d say yes when he asked.
She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “Good morning.”
“Good morning, beautiful.” He slid his arm around her and drew her close to him, loving the feel of her naked breasts pressed against his chest. “What do you want to do today?”
Her eyes clouded over.
“What? What’s wrong?”
She shook her head sadly. “Remember that call from Bianca last night?”
“Yeah.”
“I should probably go back and deal with it.”
He felt as though she’d punched him in the gut and involuntarily tightened his hold on her. “Don’t go. Surely Bianca can deal with it. I bet she’ll step up to the plate and take care of business if you give her the chance.”
She made a face. “It’s something I need to deal with myself.”
“You think that about everything. Haven’t I proved to you that I’m capable of more than you realize if you just leave me to my own devices?”
He didn’t understand the look on her face. “Did I say something wrong?”
“No.” She shook her head sadly. “You didn’t do anything wrong at all. I just have to figure out how I’m going to deal with this—if I can deal with it.”
“Is there anything I can do to help?” He knew there was no point trying to talk her out of it. She had to do whatever she had to do, just like he had to stay here and go on stage tonight.
