Free BornontheBayou by Lynne Connolly Page B

to one side of her, he laughed breathlessly. “Shit,
that was intense. Cool fuck, hmm?”

Chapter Five
     
    Beverley went cold at the last words. That had meant so much
more to her than a romp in the hay and until a few seconds ago, she’d thought
it meant more to him. She was so fucking naïve. So if that was how he wanted to
treat it, she’d have to learn to do it too, or look like a complete fucking
idiot. Withdraw, pretend this was just another encounter, that they were having
fun. Like he’d done before many times. Coward.
    Her lack of personal experience in these situations had made
her think he meant this to be special, but those words, “Cool fuck, hmm?” as if
they’d engaged in nothing more intimate than a game of cards had brought her
down to earth with a bump so hard it had taken her breath away.
    She should know better. She knew how rock stars lived, had
seen it in the hotels her father had worked in. A different woman every night,
sometimes two or three. Jace probably thought of sex as an amusing pastime,
something to share with someone pleasant, a passing pleasure.
    Her lip curled. She turned the sneer into a smile as she
rolled on to her side, but she didn’t snuggle closer. “It was, wasn’t it? I’ve
never felt it quite that intense before. Have you?” She repeated his word back
to him, making him think about it.
    Thus forcing him to lie or to admit it to her. Or the truth
might be that this happened to him every time. She had only her instinct to
guide her, and everything told her that he’d felt the closeness every bit as
much as she had.
    He sighed. “No. I don’t think so.”
    Back to honesty, then. “Thank you. I thought you were going
to say that you did it twice a week and thanks for the ride.”
    He stared at her in silence for a few seconds. Seconds that
stretched time. “I was. But I need not to spoil what we just did. Maybe the
stars were in alignment, or the bed is a great one or something. Or maybe it’s
us.” He paused again. “Amazing. Truly amazing. I never felt that with a woman
the first time before.”
    “What?”
    “That closeness. Pretty cool, huh?” The conscious repetition
of the word softened the impact and she cursed her own insecurity. Whatever
this was, that had been one amazing fuck.
    Now she laughed too. “Yeah. Pretty cool.” Her deliberately
appalling American accent made him glance at her, sharing the joke. He leaned
over and kissed her. “Thanks. Guess I’m not used to this. Thanks for
understanding.” He leaned back and the tension eased between them. Honesty did
that.
    He laughed, this time genuine amusement it seemed. He shared
his thought with her. “You know I’ll probably write about this, don’t you?”
    She propped herself up on one elbow. “You write the songs?”
    “I come up with the odd lyric.”
    When she wanted to protest, he laid a finger across her lips
and she kissed it, then tried to nibble but he drew it back, smiling. “It’s
good to put thoughts into music sometimes. The other members of the band,
especially Zazz and Riku come up with shit all the time, always scribbling or
noodling on the piano, but I get one idea every few months. Except when they
give me a lyric or a simple melody, I know how to make it better. That’s what I
do best. I’m making an exception with you.”
    She bent and kissed him. He snaked a hand around the back of
her neck and they lost themselves in each other for a time. She felt as though
she was at the beginning of a new journey and, after all, a night could be a
long time. A night’s journey.
    He sat up, taking her with him, and swung her body over him
so she was lying in his lap lengthwise. Finishing the kiss, he gazed down at
her, finding a strand of hair to wrap around his finger. He let it go, the curl
he’d made springing back, watching it with a fascination that made her wonder
if that was the part of her he wanted to write about.
    “I suggest a shower and some food. Then we can go