Billionaire Beast

I walked all around the backstage area, searching everywhere, but couldn’t find her anywhere. Finally, feeling both disappointed and a little worried, I headed back to the bus. When I got on, Talon was lounging up front swigging on a beer.

“Have you seen Nalia?” I asked him, thoroughly concerned. He stared at me for a moment, and there was a look on his face I wasn’t sure how to read.

“She went back to the hotel. Wasn’t feeling well,” he said flatly. I looked at him, now more than a little confused. If I hadn't known any better, I’d say he was mad at me, but what the hell for, I didn’t have a clue. I hadn't said anything even remotely out of the way to him for days now.

Whatever it was, though, I wasn’t going to let it get me down. I was in a good mood and still feeling pumped. I went to the kitchenette on the bus and grabbed a beer, then went to the back to hang out with the other guys while the bus driver drove us back to the hotel.

When the bus stopped, I followed the others off and headed into the hotel lobby. Talon stopped abruptly in front of me, making me almost run into him. I started to say something about him being a dumb shithead, but stopped when I saw, and heard, what had made the others stop in their tracks.

Nalia was sitting at the piano in the lobby, playing one of the most beautiful renditions of “Unchained Melody” I’ve heard. Other people had stopped to listen, even some of the hotel staff had stopped doing their jobs and were simply standing there, utterly mesmerized. In fact, the whole lobby was silent except for her playing.

I walked closer until I was right behind her, my heart feeling as if it were going to burst as I watched her. She was incredibly talented. I could listen to her play for hours.

I closed my eyes, getting lost in the beauty of the music as the notes flowed around me. Not only around me, but through me, stirring my heart and soul. I hadn’t realized I had started singing until the music suddenly stopped, and she was saying something. I opened my eyes and found her facing me, a slight frown on her lips and a sad look in her eyes.

“Nalia, what’s wrong?” I asked.

“Nothing. I’m just tired,” she sighed and turned away from me. I followed after her as she got up from the piano and headed for the elevators.

“Wait, where are you going?”

She spun back around as she reached the elevator doors, something else now clearly present in her eyes. Was it anger?

“I’m just going to go to bed, all right? It's been a long day, and there's still plenty more for me to do tomorrow. So, I need a good, quiet rest. Goodnight, Owen.”

I grabbed her arm before she could turn away from me again and pulled her back against me. My heart pounded heavily in my chest, and my mouth went dry. I wasn't sure what exact feelings were ripping through me, but there was definitely a tidal wave of them. “You promised me, Nalia, remember? Tonight?” I said, kissing the side of her neck. She pulled away a little and gave me an icy glare.

“You sure you don’t want someone else?”

I felt a little wounded at her words but pulled her back to me once more. “Hell no. Why would I possibly want anyone but you? Not a chance. Never,” I whispered in her ear.

Chapter Thirty

Nalia

The elevator dinged, and Owen pulled me inside with him.

“Come here, beautiful,” he muttered in a gruff, sexy voice, drawing me against him.

I still felt a little upset and more than a little jealous about the incident with the groupies earlier, but also suspected I was being ridiculous. We had agreed not to get too attached, and we were just having fun. Why was I worrying and not just living a little? I was young. I was supposed to be living it up, not taking things so seriously. I relaxed against him, and Owen groaned in my ear, pushing his hips against me, letting me feel that he was already a little hard. I turned my face to him, and he kissed me deeply, making me moan into his mouth.

“Mmm, God, you’re so sexy. All I’ve wanted was alone time with you for days,” he whispered, running his hands over my hips. “I've waited so long for this, too long. It's been driving me out of my mind.”

I didn’t say anything back, but I leaned back against him, pressing my ass against the growing bulge in his jeans. He pressed gentle kisses to my neck and slipped one hand over my ass, letting his fingers slip between my thighs.

“I want to lay you down on the bed, kiss every inch of your body,” he moaned, his fingers starting to rub over my panties. I couldn’t stop a moan escaping from my lips.

The elevator dinged again, and this time it opened on our floor. He led me out, forcing me against the wall and surprising me with a deep, passionate kiss. I put my arms around him, and he lifted me up, wrapping my legs around his waist.

Maybe I had been all wrong about what happened earlier. Maybe all it had been was a stupid pose for some bimbos’ Instagram accounts. It had bothered me, but maybe that was just a part of the rock star life that I wasn’t used to, and it really had meant nothing to Owen at all. The way he was acting now, it seemed like those girls were the furthest thing from his mind.

After a moment, he lowered me back to the floor and fumbled with his card key for a few seconds before finally getting the door to the penthouse open. He led me to his room, stopping every now and then to kiss me as we went. Once we were in his room, he backed me up to the bed and laid me down, kissing me again, his tongue flicking against mine.

“Nalia, I want you. Only you,” he said to me in the gruff, low voice that made heat pool low in my belly. I pulled him harder into a kiss, massaging my tongue against his as I rolled over so that I was lying on him.

His hands cupped my face tenderly, sweetly, threatening to make me melt in ways I wasn’t emotionally ready for, so I took one of his hands off my face and slid it down to my breast. He groaned into my mouth, dropping his free hand down to my other breast, massaging them both. His touch felt like drops of pure fire on my body. It soon made me want him even more. When his hand slipped down on my stomach and started to head even further south, I grabbed it, giving him a smile.

“No.”