Allison giggled. “Thanks for watching them for me.”
Mia glanced between the two of us and then winked. “No problem.”
Once she was gone, I slid my arm around Allison’s waist, and we stood there together, staring down at the sleeping babies. At Allison’s sigh of contentment, I whispered in her ear, “I’m so glad you don’t have to leave them.”
She bobbed her head in agreement. Then she glanced up at me and smiled. “But I’m also glad I don’t have to leave you,” she replied, which caused my heart to thrum wildly in my chest.
“So am I.”
And we stayed just like that until I heard my name being called in the hallway for rehearsal. Then, and only then, did I tear myself away.
Chapter Seventeen
After Rhys poured out his heart to me and begged for my forgiveness, I wanted nothing more than to hole up somewhere alone with him for weeks and weeks. But nothing in our lives seemed to want to go the way I fantasized. After Eli found us in the dressing room, we didn’t have another moment to ourselves that night. We were constantly with Jake and Abby and the other members of Runaway Train.
When it came time to pull out of Portland for Seattle, I couldn’t hide my surprise when Rhys bypassed the Jacob’s Ladder bus and started for Jake and Abby’s with me. “What are you doing?”
He rolled his eyes playfully. “Staying with you. What does it look like I’m doing?”
As we climbed up the bus stairs, I replied, “While I’m touched by the thought, I would think we wouldn’t want to be doing anything to call attention to ourselves.”
“Yeah, well, I was thinking that although Eli seemed all right with the two of us, it might be a good idea to give him some space tonight.”
“What are you going to tell Jake and Abby?”
Rhys shrugged. “I’ll think of something.”
He didn’t have long to think up a story because Jake and Abby came up the stairs then with the twins in tow. Jake raised his brows at the sight of Rhys. “What’s up, man? You lost?”
With a chuckle, Rhys replied, “No, I just thought I might crash here tonight.” He looked pointedly at Abby. “Your brothers f**king snore like bears.”
Abby giggled. “Yeah, they do. I had to wear Beats headphones when I was on the bus with them just to get a good night’s sleep.
And just like that we were off the hook. I helped Abby give Jax and Jules their bottles and then we put them to bed in their crib. While Jake and Rhys sat in the living room drinking beers and shooting the shit, I slipped into the bathroom and changed into a T-shirt and pajama pants. When I came out, I found Abby had joined the guys and was lounging on Jake’s lap. When she leaned over and whispered something in his ear, his eyes bulged. “Yeah, we should all get to bed. Abby and I are still kinda weak from recovering.”
“Riiiigght. That’s why you’re going to bed now,” Rhys murmured around the mouth of his beer bottle. Abby playfully smacked his leg before she rose off of Jake’s lap.
“Night guys,” I said.
“Night, Allie-Bean,” Jake said, stopping on the way to the bedroom to give me a kiss on the cheek. Abby grinned at me before she disappeared into the bedroom with Jake.
I turned back to look at Rhys. “Guess we better go to bed.” Realizing my mistake, I lowered my voice and quickly added, “I mean, we should go to our different roosts to go to bed.”
Rhys grinned as he remained on the couch, scratching Angel’s ears. “I’m going to stay out here for a while. Unwind a little.”
More than anything in the world, I wanted a good night kiss from him. But even though I was pretty sure that Jake and Abby were busy and not coming out any time soon, I didn’t risk it. “Good night, Rhys,” I said, softly.
“Good night, Allison.”
I then turned and hightailed it down the aisle to my roost. By the time I settled down, I couldn’t go to sleep. Not with the thought that Rhys was so close but so far away. So I grabbed my sketch pad and pencils out of the cubby above the bed and started working on my designs. I don’t know how long I’d been working when I thought I heard movement outside my roost.
When I determined it was footsteps in the aisle, I stilled my pencil on my pad. Suddenly, the curtain to my roost jerked open. Before I had a chance to react, Rhys ducked inside, covering my body with his very na**d one. I widened my eyes in horror. “What are—”
He silenced me by bringing his lips to mine. I immediately moaned. It felt like forever since I had been able to kiss him. Our mouths moved desperately against each other, as if we were trying to feel every single sensation all at once. His tongue lightly swept against my bottom lip, and I thrust my tongue out to meet his. As our tongues began to twirl together, moisture began pooling between my legs. Of course, it didn’t hurt that his h*ps were pumping against mine, a perfect friction that was driving me wild.
When Rhys pulled away from my mouth, I whined in frustration. Ignoring me, he kissed and nibbled a trail across my jawline over to my ear. His sweet, warm breath tickled my earlobe before he began speaking in a soft voice. “Don’t be mad at me for coming to you like this. I know you said you were going to make me work for the make-up sex. But I thought if I lay there one more minute so close to you but so far away I would explode.”
“You really missed me that much?” I whispered.
Rhys nodded his head against my shoulder. I couldn’t help but wonder if he missed me or just desperately needed sex after being celibate for so long. I didn’t have to wonder long. I must’ve tensed because he brought his lips to my ear again. “Whenever I’m not with you, I miss you. I miss your smile, your laugh, the way you nibble on your bottom lip when you’re nervous or thinking really hard. Most of all, it’s the way you see the best in me when I don’t deserve it.” He shifted his h*ps before thrusting them back against me, and I gasped at the feel of his erection rubbing against my core through my pajama pants. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I missed being inside you, too.”
My tongue darted out to lick my bottom lip that was already swollen from his kisses. “But Jake and Abby are just down the hall. We could get caught,” I whispered.
“We won’t. We’ll be quiet,” he replied.
Although I wanted him buried deep inside, my greatest fear was Jake discovering our secret relationship by busting in on us having sex. Rhys cupped my cheek. “Relax, sweetheart.” His hands went to the waistband on my pajama pants. I don’t know how he managed to get them down so fast in the confined space, but the next thing I knew cool air was hitting my thighs. I was just about to protest that once again it wasn’t a good idea for us to be screwing in the roost when Rhys’s deliciously talented mouth was between my legs, licking and sucking my clit.