A Beautiful Rock (17 page)

When I finally wake, it’s almost 10am. I haven’t slept this long for years. Poor Perry must be dying to be let out. I sit up abruptly, dreading that there’s a horrible mess in the living areas for me to clean up.

“I already took him out,” Marcus mumbles from beside me,
his arm reaches out and wraps around me, pulling me back on the bed so I’m nestled against him.

“You did? When?”

“At about six, he was scratching at the door. You were fast asleep so I took him outside, let him do his business and gave him some water and some leftovers from the fridge.”

I smile and let out a contented sigh. “You are a pretty special guy Dude,” I joke, smiling against his mouth as I press my lips to his.

“That’s what my mum always told me,” he replies, taking a deep breath before letting his eyes fall closed again. Within seconds, his breathing evens out and I can’t help but smile to myself as I snuggle against him.

When I drove here yesterday, I was absolutely furious. I felt as though he had betrayed me
when all I’d tried to do was the right thing for both of us. I’ll admit now that my choice was probably the wrong one. I think I managed to make us both even more miserable than we ever would have been with the press invading our lives – at least then we would have had each other.

Instead, we had three months of heartache
. Marcus practically ruined his career anyway, and I… well, I didn’t fair much better either.

My only problem now is -
where do we go from here? We know that we both want to be together, but how? Am I to go on tour with him and endure the bullshit that comes with that or will I have to stay home and trust that he’ll stay true to me?

And what of the press? Eventually, I’ll be old news. But we’ll still have to get through whatever ridicule they dish out… It’s all so hard at the moment. I just wish we could run away together
. We could go and live in some little beach town. Marcus could go back to being Independent…

“What did you just say?” he asks suddenly.

I roll over to face him. “I didn’t say anything. I was just thinking to myself,” I reply, touching my fingertips to the growing stubble along his jawline and tracing his face.

His blue eyes open to meet mine
. “Then I must have heard your thoughts. What were you thinking?”

“It’s silly,” I tell him. “
I was just thinking about a simpler life.”

He smiles. “I’d love a simple life. We could find a house on the beach
. Perry would love it there. It would be quiet. I could even leave my label,” he muses, causing my mouth to drop open. “What?” he chuckles.

“That’s exactly what I was thinking,” I tell him.

“Then that’s exactly what we’ll do.”

“What about your contract?” I ask.

“Fuck them. I’d rather be poor and with you than rich and at the mercy of pond scum.”

“That is the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard,” I cry, pressing my lips against his and hugging him. “Although, Marcus?”

“Yeah?”

“We could never be poor
.”

“Babe, we will be if I break this contract.”

“You’re forgetting who my father is. I have my trust fund. It’s more than enough to last the both of us for a very long time.”

“So you and I are forever then?”

“Yes Marcus. You and I are forever,” I tell him, kissing him again.

“How do you feel about being spontaneous?” he murmurs against my mouth.

I pull my head back and give him a single raised brow expression. “Seriously? You know who I am right?”

Chuckling, he grabs my face and kisses me with a flourish. “Then we’re going to Hawaii.”

“Hawaii? Why?”

“We’re eloping,” he informs me,
his face dead serious as he jumps up from the bed and pulls on a pair of boxer shorts. I reach out and tap him on the arse.

“Marcus Bailey! Is that a question or a command?”

He switches on his phone and grins at me. “Right now, it’s a command, but when it’s time to say I do – it will be a question.” He lifts his phone to his ear. “Hello, I’m just after details of your next available flight to Hawaii…How many?” he asks the person on the other end of the line. “One moment.” He looks at me as he places his hand over the receiver. “Are you coming with me?”

I get out of the bed, wearing nothing but my own skin and walk over to where he’s standing in
his boxers, holding the phone and looking at me expectantly.

Watching as his eyes travel over my body, I pull at my lip with my teeth then press myself up against him, sliding my hand down over his
chest and underneath the elastic of his boxers, taking hold of his now firm cock in my hand. “Of course I’ll come,” I whisper in his ear. “I’ll come with you anywhere you want.”

He
swallows hard, and tries to keep his focus as he continues to book our flights and accommodation. I drop to my knees in front of him and slide his boxers down his legs. Looking up at him with a grin just before I take his cock in my mouth.

“My credit card?” he asks, his voice
wavering slightly as he speaks. “Sure, I’ll just… It’s… oh crap. I’ll have to call you back,” he says, disconnecting the call suddenly and throwing the phone on the bed before threading his fingers into my hair, as my head bobs back and forth as I suck and swirl my tongue over his long hard rod.

He let
s out a deep groan and I can taste the saltiness of his arousal. He reaches down, gripping my shoulders and pulling me up so I’m standing. His hand goes to the back of my head and his mouth is on mine, his tongue hungry in my mouth as his hand slides between my legs.

“
Jesus, you’re fucking amazing,” he whispers as he slips his fingers inside me, gliding his fingers in and out, and making sure to pay careful attention to my clit.

I gasp into his mouth, my legs turning to jelly under his touch
as my orgasm builds. As it bursts out of me, I grip his shoulders, crying out as my body shudders erotically against him.

Taking my weight, he walks us to the bed
and pushes me down in front of him. Remaining standing, he grabs my thighs and pulls me up against him, sliding right inside and hitting that delicious sweet spot perfectly.

Bracing myself on the bed,
I arch my back up as he holds most of my weight through my hips and pumps himself inside me. The build up of pressure inside me is so severe that I feel as though this time I might really explode.

“Holy shit!” I cry out as my hips buck wildly against him.

He slams himself inside me one last time and groans. “Holy shit is right,” he pants, out of breath and smiling, as we both come down from our high.

Sliding me back on the bed, he stays inside me as he lays over me and catches his breath.
I run my fingers up his back and into his thick hair, massaging his scalp as he hums his pleasure.

“Book the honeymoon suite,” I tell him.

Instantly, his head pops up and he’s looking at me with this huge grin on his face. “Seriously?”

“Absolutely
. Let’s elope.”

***

“Are you sure Theo and Naomi are ok looking after Perry for a whole week? Don’t they have work commitments?” I ask, after we’re already on the plane going to Hawaii. It’s a pointless question really as it’s not like we can turn around and go back. I just need to feel sure – after all, Perry is my baby.

“Babe, I’m positive.
They have a big back yard and they are both more than happy to have a dog to walk around for a while.”

“And they have no idea why we’re going away?”

“No, they think we’re just taking a break together.”

“
Ok. Do you think they’ll hate us for doing this?”

“It isn’t anyone’s business but ours. We can do it all again for show so all of them can see, but the first time – the real time
– I want it to be you, me and the celebrant – that’s it.”

“Can I offer you something to drink Mr Bailey?” the flight attendant
interrupts, in this ridiculously throaty voice as she leans over, way further than is absolutely necessary. I swear, every time she comes near us she’s undone another button of her blouse.

“I can see your bra,” I tell her as sweetly as I can. “Perhaps one of your buttons has popped. It’s nice though,” I smile sweetly,
keeping my eyes on her until she fixes her buttons and excuses herself.

Marcus grins and shak
es his head. “And you worry about me. I didn’t even notice that.”

“I’m surprised. She was practically offering you a motorboat.”

Leaning his head against the seat, he chuckles as he looks over at me, takes my hand and kisses it. “I only have eyes for you,” he promises.

Sighing, I lean ba
ck with him. “I know,” I say quietly. “It wasn’t about you.”

“Not having second thoughts are you?” he asks, and I can see a tiny bit of worry in his eyes.

“No. I just wish we could catch a plane with fake names. A bit hard to deny who you are when your name’s on the flight list.”

“Well, we have ten hours on this flight. How about
we try and get some sleep so we have plenty of energy for the hotel room?” he suggests with a half grin.

“You think of everything,” I tease
, pressing my lips against his before laying my head on his shoulder. After barely sleeping of late, I drift off much faster than I anticipated.

***

“Lisa,” Marcus’s soft voice calls to me, coaxing me from my sleep. “We’re landing soon.”

I sit up and roll my shoulders, working out the kinks in my neck. “I slept the whole time?”

“Yeah, you were beat.”

“Did you sleep much?” I ask, noticing his
iPhone in his hand and figuring he’s been occupying himself on that while I’ve been sleeping.

“A bit
. I was listening to music mostly.”

“Oh yeah? What kind of music does the great Marcus Bailey like to listen to?” I ask with a smile as I reach over and take his phone, holding it in front of
me as I scroll through his playlist. “Ah, I see you’ve been listening to a lot of the greats,” I note with smile as I scroll pasts names like Janis Joplin, Cat Stevens and Bob Marley. There’s a decent mix of modern and classic rock on here. “Did I tell you that I bought your first album?” I ask as I continue scrolling through his list.

“Wow, and?”

I grin at him. “And, I could handle it if you were singing in the shower or something. I won’t throw a shoe at you and tell you to shut up.”

“That’s good to hear. At least I know I might have a bit of potential
,” he jokes.

Suddenly, I stop scrolling and just stare at the screen
disbelieving what my own eyes are showing me. “You heard it,” I whisper.

“Heard what?”

I swallow the lump in my throat and show him the screen. “’Together we are one’”

“Yeah,
you’ve heard this one too? It’s the first song of some indie who no one’s heard of. But she’s great. It’s a lot slower than my usual stuff, but… I don’t know, the lyrics sort of reminded me of us…” he explains, looking at me intently.

Pressing my hand to my chest, I
close my eyes and nod my head. I know that the song has been successful, but just knowing that it reached him means the world to me. It’s like the universe proving to me that we’re connected.

“You felt the same when you heard it?”

“I felt the same because I wrote it. That’s my song.”

I’ve never experienced
whiplash before, but I think I just about gave it to myself after the surprise that Lisa just dropped in my lap. “What?
You
are ‘Ana Gordon’? You wrote and sung ‘Together we are one’ and it’s about us?”

She bites her lip and
nods her head. “Yes. I couldn’t stop thinking about you and I wrote down all my feelings. Before I knew it, they had become a song and well… I released it. I guess I thought that if you found it, it would connect us even when we weren’t together.”

“Oh baby,” I breathe, reaching out and placing my hands on either side of her face before kissing her
. This woman just gets more and more amazing with every moment I spend with her. “That is the most amazing thing anyone has ever done for me.”

I am just floored right now. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that was her.
She has a gorgeous singing voice, and her lyrics… well, they were perfect – they spoke to me, just like they were supposed to.

The captain’s voice comes over the PA system and announces that
it’s time for us to put our seatbelts on as we prepare for out decent.

I’ve had everything set up so that when we arrive at the hotel, Lisa and I can get ready and be taken straight to a private little alcove where we’ll be married.
I know it seems like we’re rushing into things, but when you find your soul mate – you know it’s right. And if there was ever a doubt in my mind, after discovering that Lisa is the artist behind the song I had on repeat that resonated so deeply within me – it helped me through some of my darkest times – well, there’s no question at all now.

This woman is undoubtedly my soul mate.