Rock Reclaimed (Rock Revenge Trilogy 2)

Ian shifted on the couch behind us. I twisted around to see if he was finally waking up, but he only rolled to his side and flung out his hand. Those long, effortlessly elegant fingers that made me a little crazy.

I fiddled with the bottle of polish. “Am I dry?”

Lark tapped my nail with one of hers. “Yeah, you’re good.”

“Okay if I borrow this?”

“Gonna do your toes?”

“Nope.” I stood up. “Think my rocker boy needs a little glamming too.”

Perry giggled. “This I gotta see.”

I dropped down cross-legged in front of him on the floor. I was used to painting in cramped spots. I went for the one tucked close to his chest first, since it was most difficult. The brush was different than I was used to, but it held the polish surprisingly well. He shifted a little as I moved on to the other hand. I knew from getting my own done that the polish felt a little cool on the nail bed.

I was concentrating on his nails so hard that when I got a good look at the hatch-mark scars on his wrist and the circular scar on his arm, I lost my breath. This sweet little prank didn’t mean much when all that pain snuck into me.

I laced my fingers with his and his eyes slowly opened.

The soft smile on his face slowly faded. He reached out to touch my face. I didn’t realize a tear had escaped. I didn’t want him to know where my thoughts had gone. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“You’re not the tearing-up sort.”

I shrugged. “Just thinking.”

His gaze drifted to our linked fingers. He cleared his throat and tried to pull away. He was usually wearing bracelets and charms to cover the marks, but his arms were bare because of the fitting that day.

I gripped him tighter to keep us linked.

He sighed then cupped my cheek, stroking the line of color Lark had used to enhance my cheekbones. “Been busy, Magic.”

“Well, someone was sleeping. The girls were entertaining me.”

“You’re beautiful. You don’t need all the paint.”

“Don’t like it?”

“Didn’t say that. Just that you don’t need it. Now I’m going to have to fight off even more men.”

“Charmer.” I brushed a kiss along his wrist. And because it felt too big and overwhelming to imagine all that pain living inside him, enough that he’d look for that kind of a way out, I made myself add a little to the comfort. I nipped at his skin lightly before moving to his mouth.

Kissing him was always an experience. Sometimes it was just a precursor to getting naked, sometimes it was because I was too annoyed at him to speak. Now it was just giving him solace. And maybe taking a little for myself.

He sat up, cupping my face as the kiss went from a sweet brush of mouths to the edges of a wildfire.

The sound of a throat being cleared behind us reminded me we were on a damn bus. I pulled away. He pressed his forehead to mine before tugging me onto the couch beside him. He glanced down at our linked fingers. “So, we match then?”

I laughed. “I couldn’t help it.”

He twisted our hands to get a better look at his short nails, now in a sparkly blue. “I like it.”

“Yeah?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Why not? Gives people something to talk about, yeah?”

“I think you just have to breathe and they talk about it.”