The heat and scent of her desire nearly crippled me with need. Touching her smooth, soft thighs, I had to bite back a groan when I felt her need damp on the inside of her slender legs. Lowering my head, I kissed each thigh and realized for the first time why it was so easy for Liam to get so addicted to the drugs he poisoned himself with every day. If they tasted this good, if they made him feel this alive and hard, then no wonder he couldn’t stop. No wonder he wanted more and more and more.

My dick flexed against the mattress and I drowned my groan by burying my face between Annabelle’s sweet-smelling legs. I wasn’t the kind of guy who enjoyed eating pussy often. I’d only done it a handful of times and had hated every second of it. Yet from the second I tasted Annabelle, I realized maybe it wasn’t that I didn’t like eating pussy, just that I didn’t like tasting anyone but the girl now withering under my tongue.

I couldn’t get enough of her taste, the feel of her tiny clit under my tongue and the heat scalding me from her opening. Unable to resist, I teased my middle finger around her opening and pushed in ever so slightly. “Z, oh, God.” Her walls clenched around my fingertip, trying to suck me deeper. My dick thickened even more, my balls tightening. Holy shit, I was going to get off just from licking her pussy.

Annabelle was getting close. I could feel it in the way her body was tensing, the way her walls kept contracting harder around my finger, and especially in the way her sweet cream flowed faster and faster. I lapped up every drop, desperate for more. Her little gasps and pants were driving me crazy and my balls were so tight I knew it was going to be over in less than a few seconds.

I moved quickly, knowing I was going to hell anyway so what was once more crime against me? I pulled my throbbing cock out of my boxers and rubbed the pre-cum-covered head over her drenched pussy lips, teasing it over her clit. Once. Twice. The third time I thrust my middle finger into her a little farther, not quite deep enough to touch her virginity, and she came apart for me.

Fuck, I wished the lights were on so I could see her as she soared with her orgasm. I wanted to know what her face looked like when she fell over the edge of release, wanted to see how her body glowed with the pleasure.

Biting back a curse, I gave one last stroke over her wetness before I had to cover the head of my dick as I came harder than I had ever come before. My back arched so hard it was a wonder I didn’t break my spine. Gritting my teeth, I held back the yell of release that was shredding my throat for freedom.

When I could breathe again I climbed out of bed and went into the bathroom to clean myself up. Returning to the bed, I used a warm, damp cloth to wipe away the rest of her sweet-smelling cream. She was lying there, her breathing finally evened out, and from the glow of the bathroom light I could see her sleepy expression. Pink filled her cheeks as I cleaned her up and then brushed a kiss over her lips.

I took the washcloth and towel back into the bathroom and returned to her. Pillowing her head on my chest, she snuggled as close as she could get and let out a long breath that sounded almost sad. I wanted to ask why she was sad but couldn’t find the words—and honestly, I was scared shitless of what her reason really was. Neither of us spoke as we drifted off to sleep in each other’s arms, holding on as if we would never let go.

I spent every night that week at Noah’s apartment. Sometimes Annabelle and I slept on the couch, but more often than not we took the bed and she begged me to touch her. I barely had any self-control, and each night I came closer and closer to taking something I knew I didn’t deserve.

On Friday I left work early to pick her up from school. I took her home with me because Gram had been asking me to bring her back. My two favorite girls in the world spent the afternoon talking away and making dinner for Gramps and me. Annabelle didn’t know much about cooking, but Gram took her time with her, showing her how to do everything.

Sitting down to dinner that night, I savored every bite on my plate because I knew the girl I loved had helped make it. She blushed every time I would make an approving groan and Gram would giggle to herself while Gramps ate his own dinner with a half grin on his normally taciturn face. The gruff old man had a soft spot for Annabelle but, then again, who wouldn’t? She was special.

Noah was closing up the garage early that night so Annabelle didn’t have to go into work. I was taking her with me to Floyd’s Bar for our gig, but I didn’t understand why Noah wanted to torment himself by going too. I hated to admit it, but Axton Cage sounded so much better with us than Noah did. It wasn’t that Noah didn’t have the voice to make it in the business, but after jamming with Axton, I had realized—hell, we’d all realized—that Noah wasn’t the right voice for OtherWorld.

I’d felt guilty for feeling that way all week. It felt like I was being disloyal to Noah, but I couldn’t feel guilty for being glad that we’d found Axton. Noah would do better doing country music; his voice just suited that style better. Didn’t mean I wasn’t torn up at having to say goodbye to a band member who I thought of as a brother. I knew that with Noah officially out of OtherWorld, I was one step closer to losing him…and Annabelle.

Refusing to think about that—because my fucked-up mind would probably shatter if I did—I left Annabelle with Chelsea in the back room at Floyd’s Bar while I helped the guys set up for that night’s gig. We were all somber as we set up our gear, all of us hurting a little because it was going to be the first time we played a show without Noah. Even Axton was quiet, as if he knew how hard this was going to be for us, and felt our pain just as deeply.

Once everything was set up we joined the girls in the back room and had our usual beers. I sat beside Devlin on the old loveseat, Annabelle on my lap. She kept shooting her brother questioning looks and after a few minutes Noah nodded his head. I felt her tense for a second or two and then she was turning her head and smiling brightly down at me. She stroked her thumb over my bottom lip and I pressed a kiss to her soft skin.

“You boys ready?” Floyd’s gruff voice, nearly as scary as Wroth’s, asked as he stuck his head into the room. “The place is packed as usual. Even got a few new faces out there.”

“Give us five,” Devlin told the old man, and with a nod Floyd left us alone again.

Wroth and Liam stood along with Devlin. I sat Annabelle on the loveseat before joining them, hating having to leave her. Noah seemed hesitant as he stood with us. Axton remained on the chair, watching us, letting us have this goodbye with our friend. I watched as Noah swallowed hard before giving Wroth a one-armed hug. Out of everything else that was going on right then, watching that big man swallow with difficulty while he hugged Noah nearly ripped my heart out of my chest.

Clenching my jaw, I took my turn hugging my friend, my brother. Turning away, I grabbed another beer and swallowed the entire thing in two gulps. Annabelle caught my hand as I headed for the door, following my band-brothers. Her touch and the reassuring squeeze she gave me had the power to ease some of the tightness in my chest. Bending, I brushed a quick kiss over her slightly parted lips.

I waited on stage for Devlin to get us started and found Annabelle in the crowd. She was standing between Noah and Chelsea. There was a bright smile on her lips, but even from where I was standing with the lights shining down on me, I could see the tears in her beautiful blue eyes.

Putting it down to her being emotional for her brother, I winked at her, hoping to make her laugh. Her lips opened in a small laugh, but I couldn’t hear it over the noise of the crowd. I wanted to tell her right then and there that I loved her —that no matter what happened in the future, I would always love her.