Superstar (14 page)

She moved restlessly until her body was
pressed against his, desperate for his touch but not wanting to
spoil the moment. Finally, unable to resist the urge any longer,
she raised a hand to stroke it over the firm muscle revealed by the
sleeve of his t-shirt. As though a spell had been broken he
followed her lead shoving up the bottom of her loose fitting blouse
to spread one large palm over the lines of her back. Again and
again they explored the hills and planes of one another’s bodies
with their hands and with their lips as well as though the brief
separation had removed the memories.

Sioux gasped again when he pushed her shirt
up to reveal her bare breasts. At this point she had rolled over
until she was on her back and she arched her back reveling in his
heated gaze. With a harsh groan he leaned down to take one of her
nipples into his mouth. The soft wetness of his mouth and the
strong suction as he nuzzled there was almost more than she could
stand. She pressed her thighs together and then his hand was
between her legs caressing the source of the spiraling heat. She
parted her legs to give him greater access then sighed in delight
when he slipped his hand under the waistband of her pants and into
her low-slung panties.

He stroked her clit again and again gently
but with increasing firmness. The motions of his fingers were timed
with the suction on her breast pushing her closer and closer to
ecstasy. Then, damn him, he stopped.

“I want to make love with you. Do you want
to make love with me?” he asked, his words whispered across her
heated flesh.

Sioux stared at him in disbelief. Did he
really have to ask? She nodded, too caught up to make words at the
moment.

“I need the words, Sioux.”

“Yes, Thad, I want to make love with you,”
she managed to get out.

He rose from the couch and with no hesitancy
at all lifted her from the sofa and into his arms. She waved him
toward the bedroom and he carried her as though she weighed
nothing. He placed her on the oversized bed.

“Where the hell did you get this thing?” he
asked studying its immense size.

“You have to remember that until recently I
always slept with at least two other people.”

He groaned out loud. “Don’t remind me.” He
followed her down on the bed and almost immediately began kissing
the side of her neck. Sioux thought she would die from the way his
mouth all but sizzled on her skin. She turned her face into his
neck to return the favor when he stopped again.

“Are you up to this? I mean physically?”

“I swear to God Thad if you don’t make love
to me now I will fucking shank you.”

He laughed. “I take that is a yes. Please
tell me you have condoms,” he said as he quickly removed his
clothes. Sioux followed suit.

She gestured toward the bedside table then
watched, amazed at his ability to maneuver the condom onto his cock
even though his hands shook with excitement. The he was there and
he surprised her again. Instead of sliding inside her as she’d
anticipated, he paused, his body hovering over hers as he rested on
his elbows. He placed a soft kiss on her forehead and another on
her lips. “I’m going to take my time. I hope you don’t have a
problem with that,” he said before slowly joining their bodies
together. He rocked above her, his hips placed in such a way that
his pubic bone was pressing directly on her clit. The motion wasn’t
forceful as she expected. Just a slow steady grind. Just enough to
drive her out of her mind and make her cry out as another and then
another orgasm wracked through her body.

He paused, his face pressed into the curve
of her neck before he began moving again. Sioux knew if she had
another orgasm she would absolutely die. The man’s stamina was
unbelievable.

“Oh no, you’re not doing that to me again,”
she said. She flexed her hips again and again, before reaching
between his legs to stroke his sensitive taint area. He tried to
pull away, but she was relentless and before long he cried out his
own completion.

He collapsed beside her on the bed, their
breaths the only sound in the room.

“What on earth were you trying to do? Kill
me?” she asked.

“No. No, it just felt so good, and each time
you came I just wanted to do it again. Your face was…amazing. Like
an angel.”

“An angel?” she had to laugh at that.
“Considering our recent activity isn’t that a bit blasphemous?”

“Yeah probably, but it is what it is,” he
said as he rose from the bed. He walked over to the adjoining
bathroom. He came back with a wet washcloth. Sioux parted her legs
and he wiped off the evidence of their lovemaking. Then he climbed
back into the bed with her.

“What are you doing tomorrow?” he asked as
she snuggled against his side in the bed.

“I’ve got no plans. What did you have in
mind?”

“How about coming to meet my mother?” he
asked casually. Too casually.

Her deep breath set off a sudden spate of
coughing. Fortunately her chest didn’t hurt so badly anymore, but
it was still somewhat painful. “What? Why on earth would I want to
do that?”

“That’s an interesting reaction. Just
thought you might enjoy meeting her. I want to hang out with you,
but I promised to visit her before the band heads down to
Australia. She lives in Santa Barbara. It’ll be a beautiful
drive.”

Sioux forced herself to relax. He wanted to
hang out with her, meeting his mother wasn’t really a big deal.
“Sure Thad that sounds really cool.”

Sioux was surprised that Thad’s mother was
even smaller than she was. She wore her snow-white hair in a short
bob that was very flattering to her patrician features. The
resemblance to her son was striking.

“Good evening Mrs. Hollister. Pleased to
meet you,” Sioux said as the other woman led them into her
home.

“Oh please call me Laurie. Everyone does.
Well everyone except my father. He insisted on calling me Laurence.
Always wanted a boy you know. I was the youngest of six girls and
my mother had already said no more.”

Sioux didn’t know what to make of that, but
didn’t comment. After all she was hardly in a position to throw
shade at anyone’s name. Laurie Hollister’s voice still maintained
an upper Midwest accent almost totally unchanged after more than
twenty years in California.

“Sioux why don’t you come join me in a cup
of tea. Thad told me you’ve been sick. I’ve got just the tea to
help you feel better and boost your immune system. Thad you know my
air conditioner is still making that funny sound.”

“What did the repairman I sent say?” Thad
asked, following them into the kitchen.

“Who knows? I told you he’s an idiot.”

“If this is a ploy to get Sioux alone…”

“Of course it is. But the thing
is
making a funny noise. You fixed it last time. I promise I won’t eat
her.”

“Or run her off.”

“Or run her off,” Mrs. Hollister repeated
obediently.

Sioux gave Thad a bemused look as he removed
a bottle of water from the refrigerator, then shrugged. How much
harm could the woman do?

“So Thad tells me you’re off the tour now?”
Mrs. Hollister said as she set the kettle on to boil. The kitchen
in the small bungalow was bright white and colorful. The counter
was covered in yellow tiles trimmed with green ones, and Sioux
couldn’t help but smile at the cheerful combination.

Sioux took a seat in one of the chairs at
the vintage kitchen table. “Yes, I got sick with pneumonia.”

“That’s too bad. Everyone said you all were
doing quite well. Thad was very excited to work with you.”

“Really?” That was news to Sioux, but she
just made a noncommittal sound.

Mrs. Hollister took mugs down from one of
the cabinets and poured hot water in both before adding tea bags.
“Have you and Thad been seeing each other long?”

Sioux caught herself before she could
explain that she and Thad weren’t dating. Presumably he wouldn’t
want his mother to know he was introducing her to a girl he was
just sleeping with. “Not very long now,” Sioux said accepting the
mug of tea.

Laurie joined her at the table. “I’ve been
worried about Thad. I’m so glad he found someone like you.”

Sioux almost choked on her first sip of the
delicious tea. The hell? “Uh, Mrs. Hollister, I’m not sure what
you’ve heard about me…”

“I’m pretty sure I’ve heard it all darling.
I don’t spend all my time in Sunday school.”

“Then you know I’m hardly the type you bring
home to mother.”

“You are if he has good sense. And I see now
he does. I was afraid that after the mess with Gwen he’d end up
with some stick in the mud type and be bored out of his mind.”

Who the hell was Gwen?

Laurie continued as Sioux didn’t respond.
“She really put my boy through the wringer, but he needs a lively
girl like you, otherwise he’ll never come out of his shell. You
know what I mean?”

Sioux nodded, but couldn’t think of anything
to say as her mind raced through a mental catalog of various
celebrities.
Who the hell was Gwen?
Why hadn’t she heard
about this relationship? Kwai had a lot of explaining to do. It was
her job to keep Sioux abreast of all the gossip.
The only Gwen
she could think of…

“Not Gwen Riley?” she blurted out before she
could stop herself. The actress had to be a decade older and was
notoriously “difficult.”

Laurie stared at her. “You didn’t know
anything about this, did you?” She shook her head in dismay. “It
never occurred to me that Thad hadn’t told you. No, this was a girl
from our church.” She must have read the surprise on Sioux’s face
because she snorted a laugh. “Yeah, ironic, isn’t it?”

Sioux’s mind raced with the implications of
the fact that Thad hadn’t told her about the relationship,
especially when he’d grilled her on her relationship with Trig. Was
he still hung up on this girl? A church girl seemed more his type
for sure.

“How long did they date?” Sioux asked.

“A couple of years. I was beginning to
wonder if he’d ever get over her. I’m so glad he’s seeing someone
else.”

More than anything Sioux wanted to ask what
happened to the relationship, but at this point she doubted his
mother would say anything more. At that moment Thad came up from
the basement.

“Ma, you’re not discussing my business are
you?”

“Of course I am, darling. I was telling
Sioux about Gwen.”

“Oh for God’s sake,” he said, putting his
flashlight down on the counter.

“Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain. Don’t
worry. I didn’t tell her all that much.”

Thad raised a brow at Sioux in inquiry,
Sioux returned the gesture, with interest. Might as well let him
know he was in for it once they got back to the car. From his
resigned expression, she knew he got her message loud and
clear.

“So why didn’t you tell me about Gwen?”

With that question Sioux let him know the
drive back from Santa Barbara was going to be everything he’d
expected. He’d wanted his mother to meet Sioux, but he’d forgot
that discretion was not one of his mother’s strong suits.

As his little roadster ate up the miles, he
took a moment to think about why he hadn’t mentioned the other
woman.

“You still got a thing for her? Is that
why?” she asked.

“Of course not. Why would you think
that?”

“Your mother thinks so, besides the way you
didn’t mention it, even when I told you all about me and Trig makes
me wonder.”

“Yeah, but you never told me the deal with
you and Topher.”

Sioux rolled her eyes. The man was
relentless. “That’s because there is no deal with me and
Topher.”

“Yeah right. He said he was a Honeychile
groupie. Where did you guys go that night?”

“Topher would’ve said anything to get your
goat.” She sighed at the stubborn set to his chin. He wouldn’t tell
her anything until she told him about Topher. “Fine. There is
nothing between me and Topher. We went back to his place.”

“I thought you went to a club.”

“You know I’m not in that scene anymore.
Topher’s doing a lot of AR work these days. Freelance scouting for
a couple record companies. He played some local bands and we
talked. Mainly about Kwai.”

“Kwai?”

“Yeah. They had a thing a while back, but he
messed it up. Basically he was trying to get information from me
about her. So, why didn’t you tell me about Gwen?”

“Could it be that it’s simply not
significant?”

“Could be, but with you, I doubt it.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“You feel things deep. I don’t think you
could be in a relationship with someone that long and not have any
feelings after it was over.”

With the 101 laid out before them the scenic
beauty of the coast he loved failed to clear his mind as he
struggled through the enormity of sharing this story with her.

“I met Gwen about four years ago at church.
She was actually in my mom’s Sunday school class.”

Sioux nodded.

“She was really sweet and nice. I was just
coming out of a relationship with Solange Hall…”

Sioux nodded again. She had heard about his
liaison with the superstar R&B singer.

“You know how crazy that was. Cameras
everywhere, it got old really quickly.”

“Yeah, but you’ve been in a band for a long
time. Surely you’re used to it.”

“I’ve been in Storm Crow, but other than
guitar magazines and stuff like that, nobody ever wants to talk to
me. They usually don’t give a damn who I sleep with. Bryan’s the
star of this band and I am oh so cool with that.”

“Okay, I get that,” she said with a nod.

“Yeah, so Solange was an absolute
sweetheart, but I just couldn’t take it anymore.”

“And you think being with me will be less
crazy?” she asked with a snort of laughter.