Beats of Life (Perception Book 5) (13 page)

The harshness of a pillow being roughly slapped across my right cheek momentarily breaks my fond memories. When my daze and confused eyes lift, I see the amused face of Melanie.

“Stop fantasying about him,” she requests with her eyebrow cocked. “He is right next door if you want to go and jump his bones,” she continues cockily, moving off my bed and walking back towards the door.

Just as she is about to exit, she turns back to face me. “Do you still love him?” she questions with her eyebrows slightly pulled together and a look on her face I have never seen before.

Small tears spring into my eyes, before I gently nod my head. I have never stopped loving him.

“Then go and get him,” she informs like it is the simplest thing in the world to do.

If only it was that easy.

Slater

“What did you do this time?” Nick questions when he sits in the empty seat next to me in the press conference room.

I smile at him, while shaking my head. I don’t kiss and tell. Well, I don’t anymore. Today, Kylie is back to wearing a light purple cotton dress and her little black cowboy boots. She is still wearing make-up on her face, but it isn’t as heavily coated as it has been the past week. Her hair is pulled up high into a ponytail. She looks full on country and it is the hottest I’ve ever seen her.

Even a freezing cold shower wouldn’t have been able to touch the piercing erection she gave me after our kiss last night. It was warm, sweet and one hundred percent Kylie. Her kisses demand nothing but perfection and that is exactly what you’re given in return. When she pulled back from our embrace, her eyes slowly flicked between mine. They were reflecting back a mixture of confusion, lust and sadness. I hated the fact that our kiss made her feel sad, where I was feeling nothing but euphoria. She then suddenly declared that she forgot to put out the pretzels and quickly jumped back onto her feet and darted into the kitchen. I sat back down on the carpet, dumbfounded at the fact she decided to flee. At least this time it was only to the kitchen. 

Once Melanie successfully gained my attention, she nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen, silently telling me to go after her. I shook my head. Half of the emotions that were running through my head at that point in time scared the living shit out of me. But the other half was even more petrified that the instant I let Kylie back in, she will run again. 

My internal battle continued throughout the night as I watched her from the corner of the room. I knew she could feel my gaze on her as our eyes would constantly meet. When she advised Melanie that she was going to bed, I made my way to my room. I stopped halfway through the entrance and the first pair of eyes I spotted were hers. She had never been shy at making the first move and I stared at her, silently praying that she would walk towards me, to take that first leap, to prove that she was planning on staying around this time. But she didn’t move one step, she just stood still, staring at me. I ended up smirking at her before I went to sleep in an empty bed, where the first time in years I spent the night dreaming about hay filled barns……

The instant my leg hoisted over the large black horse, I felt the most out of place I had ever felt in my entire life, and I have felt out of place on many occasions. It was even more awkward than the meeting with Kylie’s parents a few minutes before. It was only when my gaze lifted from the brown leather straps the guy handed me to look at Kylie did it make it all worthwhile. She had a beautiful smile plastered on her face and her eyes were full to the brim with lust.

She winked before she pulled on the reigns and turned her horse around to exit the barn from the other side. My horse stayed standing firm. “Go,” I requested quietly, feeling like an idiot, since I was talking to a horse. “Move,” I requested more firmly. The guy that assisted me on the horse chuckled loudly behind me, before he slapped the horse on its hind, forcing it to move forward at a pace quicker than I had expected. Kylie had said riding a horse was no different than riding a bike, but she was full of shit. My ass was bouncing all over the place that I was certain I was going to have bruises on my backside the next morning.

“Gently kick him with your boots,” she informed when my horse eventually caught up to hers. I looked at her mortified. I was not kicking a fucking horse. When she noticed my expression, she laughed softly and demonstrated what she meant on her horse. When she gave her horse a little nudge with her boots, she started galloping a little faster. I gave my horse a gentle nudge with my boots, but he didn’t attempt to go any faster than his slow grandma pace. I grimaced before I kicked him a little harder. This time he moved closer to a trot.

“You got it,” she praised with a beautiful smile on her face.

My horse sluggishly followed behind Kylie’s, occasionally stopping to eat some of the greener grass on the way. Kylie said I needed to teach him who was boss, but I was happy for him to eat the occasional blade of grass if it guaranteed me that he wasn’t going to buck me off. By the time we made it to an old wooden barn the sun was already setting. I somehow managed to get myself off the horse without breaking my leg in the process. Kylie moved towards me and grabbed the horses’ reigns and placed them both into a stall inside the barn. The barn was massive in size and the instant I walked inside, I understood why Kylie always smells like hay. The outer walls of the wooden barn were full to the brim with bales of green hay. I stood at the entrance and used my hands to massage my ass since it had gone numb around half an hour ago. Kylie’s soft giggles echoed around the barn when she noticed what I was doing.

“Come on,” she instructed softly, nodding her head to the side of the barn. I followed closely behind her until we reached a wooden ladder that was attached to a side wall.

I needed to adjust the front of my jeans after watching her climb up the ladder. She was wearing a pair of jeans, but her perfect little ass was enough incentive for my dick to react. The room at the top of the ladder reminded me of a kids tree house, except it was around three times larger and had a bedding of hay on the ground instead of carpet. Kylie moved over to a small window and opened it to try and rid the old musty smell that was filtering through the air, before lighting a few small candles around the room. I moved around the room taking in the space, noticing that there were several small pencil drawings of a little girl riding a horse tapped to one of the walls.

“Did you draw these?” I questioned, trying my hardest to hold in my laughter. Kylie didn’t appear to have an artistic bone in her body. I’m not joking when I say her pictures were hideous. She slapped my bicep playfully before pulling me away from her Van Gogh inspired disaster pieces.

She grabbed an old picnic blanket off a hay bale and shook it out until it covered a large section of the hay on the wooden floor. She pulled off her boots and laid on her back on one side of the blanket. My dick instantly re-stiffened when she tapped her hand on the spare side of the blanket, requesting for me to join her. I quickly removed my boots and my shirt, triggering her to giggle softly. I hadn’t had her in a week and I couldn’t wait any longer. I kneeled down next to her and slowly glided my body along the top of hers until our eyes met. Just as I was about to lower my mouth down over hers, she pushed roughly on my shoulders and sent me toppling off her.

“Stars first,” she giggled softly, looking at me. My eyebrows pulled together tightly; her gaze turned to peer up at the ceiling. When I followed her gaze, I saw millions of sparkling stars in the blackened sky. It was one of the most brilliant sky’s I had ever seen. I moved to lay down next to her and clasped her hand within mine. The only audible noise for the next several minutes was the small pants of Kylie as we looked out at the sparkling sky through a large hole in the roof of an old wooden barn. It was the most peaceful I had ever felt in my entire life. I instantly understood why Kylie loved the ranch so much.

I repositioned myself so I was leaning against my hip, my eyes slowly roaming over the beautiful side profile of her face. She smiled before she eventually turned her head to look at me.

“You’re supposed to be looking at the beautiful sky,” she whispered softly.

“I found something more beautiful to look at,” I replied, causing her to smile brightly. She rolled onto her hip and placed her small hand tenderly on my cheek. Her eyes leisurely roamed over my face before she lowered down her pouty lips to give me a soft and gentle peck.

“You were supposed to be a bit of fun, an adventure, I wasn’t supposed to fall in love,” she whispered softly, her confused eyes darting between mine. I couldn’t stop the smile that formed on my face since she just admitted that she loved me. We had only been together for three months, but I felt like we had already created a lifetime of memories. Our next kiss was even more heated than the first and it took all of my strength to pull away from her delicious mouth.

“Hand it over,” I requested, holding my hand out palm side up. She looked at me confused, her eyes darting between mine. “The list,” I continued, forcing her to smile brightly.

“Don’t act like you don’t have it, I know you carry it everywhere,” I informed. She rolled over to lay flat on her back before her hand dug into the small pocket on the front of her jeans. She bites down on her bottom lip, trying to hold in her smile, as she handed me the tattered old piece of yellow lined paper. I sat up on the blanket, Kylie copied my movement.

“Do you have a pen?” I questioned, carefully opening the folded up piece of paper, ensuring that I didn’t rip it. Kylie dove up from the blanket and moved towards her hideous drawings to collect a coloring in pencil.

Once I had the paper carefully open, I leaned it against my jean covered thigh. My eyes darted up to Kylie, who was standing in front of me. “Cross it off,” I instructed. She hesitantly knelt down next to me, chewing on the end of the pencil. Her scared and nervous eyes stared directly into mine before they dropped down to the piece of paper. She placed her hand down on my thigh to hold the paper still as she used a red coloring in pencil to cross out the very first item on her list.

1. Fall in love.
   

Kylie had had that list for years. She wrote it after she watched a movie called ‘The Bucket List’. She explained that she wanted to have a list of things to achieve in her life to ensure that she had a life full of adventure and fun. We had managed to cross a few items off her list already, but scratching that one off was by far the most rewarding one for me. I carefully folded the paper back together and handed it back to her.

“That’s not fair,” she whispered softly, placing the paper back into her jean pocket. When my confused eyes looked up at her, she stated, “You don’t have a list,” causing me to smile largely.

I gently pulled her down onto the blanket and when I glided my body over hers, she didn’t push me off. Her shallow excited breaths fanned my heated cheeks as I stared directly into her pretty hazel eyes.

“I l…l…like you too,” I replied jokingly, causing her to push me harshly off her again for the second time that night.

“Do you still have your list?” I question Kylie when she hands me the paperwork for today’s press conference. She smiles largely before softly tapping on a small pocket that is hidden in the side of her dress.

Now, I’m curious to find out what other things she has managed to cross of her list the past two years.

Kylie

“What are you doing?” I question mortified when I realize Melanie has my bucket list and a black pen. I’ve just gotten out of the shower and am in the process of drying my hair when I spot her sitting at the desk in my room with my list open in front of her.

“It was all so boring,” she emphasizes like she is currently in the process of dying. “I just added a little more sparkle to your list,” she continues, her eyes flicking up from the piece of tattered old paper to look at me.

“I was only fifteen at the time,”

“That’s no excuse,” she interrupts, lifting the well-used paper off the desk. “Number twenty-four, kiss a guy with tongue,” she reads, her face looking mortified that I hadn’t already achieved that by the time I was fifteen.

“Number thirty-three, cut one class at school,” she continues, her over dramatic eye roll and gagging noises forces a small smile on my face. Her tone alters from playful to disgusted as she continues to read items off my list.

When her giggles bellow out of her so loudly that her whole body shakes, I storm over to her and snatch the paper out of her hand. My heart ripped when I heard the sound of paper tearing. My eyes instantly fill with tears and a small sob escapes my mouth when I notice half of the list is in my hand and the other half is in Melanie’s. I have had this list for years and this is its first ever tear. Melanie’s eyes dart between the two pieces of torn paper, before she quickly jumps up from the chair she is sitting in and starts pulling out all of the drawers that are under the black desk. She groans and mumbles something about the hotel being useless for not having any scotch tape in a desk drawer before she goes rushing into her room.

Within a matter of seconds, she returns with a roll of scotch tape in her hand. She carefully removes the paper from my tight grip and places the two torn pieces’ side by side on the black marble desktop. With her nose scrunched up and sweat on her brow, she manages to evenly match up the rips so it nearly looks like one piece of paper again.

“It’s going to get worse if you get it wet.” she informs softly, trying to encourage me to stop crying so my tears won’t drip onto the paper. I use the towel wrapped around my body to wipe away my tears before I carefully hold the two pieces of paper together as requested by Melanie. Once they are methodically joined together, she places a large piece of scotch tape right down the seam of the tear.

“There you go, just like new,” she declares excitedly with a big smile on her face. 

I gently lift the paper to inspect it. Other than the shininess of the scotch tape, it looks like my well-worn and much loved bucket list again. I know it is only a list, but that piece of paper means the world to me. Once my heart rate settles down and my tears dry, I turn the paper around to read the items Melanie has added to my list.

153. Fuck a drummer backstage at a concert.

154. Fuck a drummer in the shower.

155. Fuck a drummer in a stretch limo.

156. Thank your best friend when you cross the above three items off your list!

“You’re welcome,” she says sarcastically when she hears my small giggle erupt from my mouth without warning. “And just for future reference, I said drummer. You can pick any drummer you like,” she adds with a cheeky wink.

Before I had met Slater I had only managed to cross a few minor items off my list. Well, I probably shouldn’t say minor. Losing your virginity isn’t that minor of a task, but it wasn’t that eventful either. But now my list is nearly three quarters done, even the scary items like skydiving and bungee jumping are crossed off. I’ve always wondered what I was going to do with myself once my list was finished, but after quickly running my eyes over the items I have yet to cross off, I realize that there are some things I will never get to achieve in my life.

“Oh and by the way, when did you cross number fifty-three off the list?” Melanie questions, her eyebrows waggling. I turn the page to double check what I had at number fifty-three.

53. Make love under the stars with the guy I love………

I hadn’t meant to tell Slater that I had fallen in love with him. I was just thinking it in my head and it all come flooding out of my mouth without warning. It was only when I saw the smile on his face after I said it was I glad that I had no control over my own mouth. After he told me that he
liked
me too, I roughly pushed him off me for the second time that night. After he finished chuckling, his brown eyes stared deeply into mine before he cheekily declared, “I think there is another item on your list we can cross off,”

When his head turned to look at the star filled night, I knew the exact number he was referring to. Because of Slater’s lack of confidence on Charlie it had taken us double the amount of time to reach the barn than normal. So we had already missed the dinner deadline my dad informed earlier, so what was another hour or two going to hurt? His chuckles died down and his pupils dilated when I straddled myself on his lap and slowly unbuttoned my plaid shirt. He leaned back against the blanket covered hay and placed his hands behind his head, his eyes roaming over my body, his dick stiffening underneath me.

Once I had the final button undone, I slowly opened my shirt to show him the new purple lace bra I had purchased earlier that week. Purple was my new favourite color after Slater brought me a purple helmet the week before for when he takes me on his bike. My bra was nearly the exact same color of my helmet. I teasingly let my shirt slip off one shoulder, exposing a large portion of my beige skin. Slater groaned, before he bucked his hips and flicked his eyes to my other shoulder that was still covered, silently requesting for me to remove my whole shirt. I leisurely licked my lips, before running my hands up my stomach, over my breasts and through my hair, while feeling his dick twitching underneath me.

Then suddenly, without giving him a chance to react, I rolled off him and commenced doing up the buttons of my shirt. Slater was always impatient and he hated being teased. Before I even had the first button done up, the weight of his body was on top of mine, causing a small giggle to erupt from my chest. The roughness of his chin stubble caused a scratching sensation against my neckline. His erection, that was rubbing the seam of my jeans, created a warm pool of desire to form between my legs.

“I know what you’re doing,” he whispered seductively into my ear, before biting down and sucking on my neckline below my left ear, forcing an involuntary moan to escape my lips.

“But your list said ‘make love under the stars with the guy
I
love’ not make love with a guy who loves me,” he continued, causing a small ping of pain to form in the middle of my chest. I was only trying to tease him, but his statement made me want to reconsider crossing that item off my list.

His tongue darted out to lavish the bite mark on my neck and once the sting had eased, he leaned up on his elbows and his eyes leisurely roamed over my face. My rejected eyes peered past him to look at the sparkling night sky. I felt a little immature that I was allowing my lack of confidence to dampen our time together. But Slater was the first guy that I had ever loved and I had always thought when I would declare that, the guy would automatically say it back. When he noticed that I wasn’t looking at him, he rolled his hips, causing my inner vixen to scream in desire and my eyes to dart to his. Once he had my attention and saw the disappointment in my eyes, he breathed harshly out of his nose and knelt between my legs. He leaned back so his bottom rested against his bare feet and even though I felt rejected, my pussy instantly protested from the loss of his contact. He gently grabbed my hand and pulled me up from the blanket until I was kneeling in front of him, mirroring his exact position.

“Feel this,” he requested softly, placing my left hand over his chest. His heart was racing so fast it felt like it is trying to break out of his chest cavity. I could also see his blood pulsing quickly through the veins that were bulging on his neck.

“Now feel this,” he continued with a cheeky smile on his face. He slowly glided my right hand down his rock hard six pack to place it on top of his equally hard cock, causing my pulse to quicken.

“You don’t need to hear the words to know what you do to me Kylie; the proof is right in front of you,” he stated, his brown eyes staring firmly into mine. “You can feel it and you can touch it, you don’t need to hear it,” he added, his voice sounding sincere and rough at the same time.

My eyes flicked between his that were reflecting back torment, love and vulnerability. It was the first time I had ever seen him appear so vulnerable and I hated that I had made him feel that way. So as much as I wanted to hear those three words escape his lips, I understood what he said. His actions had more than proved to me that I had meant something to him, so I decided at that time that it would have to be enough.

I moved my hand from his heart and placed it against his cheek before moving my mouth to brush against his. He smiled against my lips, before leaning his crutch in harder to my hand that was still firmly planted on his erection. He spent the next forty-five minutes showing me exactly how much I meant to him, solely using his body instead of his words.

****

Slater’s heart was racing even more than it was previously, or maybe it was because I had my ear pressed up against his bare chest that made it appear that way. I snuggled in close as his rough hands ran down my hair that was around three years overdue to be cut. His hands stopped their smoothing motion and he stiffened when the sound of a male voice was heard from outside the room.

“She will be here, it’s where she always comes when she is home,” advised a male voice that got louder with each word spoken.

The sound of the ladder creaking echoed in the silence of our panic. Slater and I quickly sprung to our feet and gathered our clothes from around the room. Before I even had all of my clothes gathered, the sound of the door opening caused me to freeze in panic. Slater quickly moved in front of me, sheltering my naked body with his just as the person entered the room without bothering to knock. Slater took a defensive stance and the room fell into complete silence that even a pin dropping would have easily been heard.

“Yeah, she is in here dad, we will be down in a minute,” the angry male voice I instantly recognized bellowed down the ladder.

My cheeks heated and my heart rate rapidly increased as I stood on my tiptoes to peer past Slater’s shoulder to have my suspicions confirmed. There staring back at me were the furious green eyes of Dominic Tucker. The one man that would happily tell me he loved me, even though he knew I would never say it back.

After his eyes burned into mine for several seconds, his gaze roamed over Slater before his face morphed into pure rage. When his eyes darted down, I suddenly realized that Slater had his arms crossed angrily across his chest, not bothering to cover himself from Dominic’s infuriating glare. I quickly lowered down both of my hands to cover Slater’s groin.

“You’re not helping,” said Slater, his voice a cross between cheeky and stern. My eyebrows pulled together tight in confusion, my eyes darting back to look at Dominic. The ticking of his jaw was nearly in sync with the twitching that Slater’s dick was doing from having my hand touching it. I muffled my slight giggle in Slater’s back. The vibrating of his body clearly showed that he was also having trouble holding in his laughter.

“Get dressed, I’ll be in my truck and I’ll drive you home,” Dominic stated angrily, not even slightly amused as he made his way to the door. Just as I was about to protest that I had to take Misty and Charlie back, he continued, “Dad will take care of Misty and Charlie,”

The instant Dominic left, Slater’s loud chuckle echoed around the room. I slapped his bicep playfully before I quickly shimmied into my jeans. My eyes scanned the room, trying to locate my bra Slater had removed earlier.

“Are you looking for this?” he questioned, swinging my bra around his index finger. I moved towards him and attempted to snatch my bra out of his hand, but he was too fast and moved it out of my reach.

“I might need to add this to my collection,” he said cockily, his eyes roaming over my naked torso. I crossed my arms in front of my chest, effectively covering most of my breasts from his perving eyes. He pouted playfully before he handed my bra back to me.

“Maybe next time,” he said cheekily with a wink.

“I thought rock stars collected panties?” I questioned sarcastically, making him laugh even louder than before.