We leave the stage with the encore still saved up, and I stroll to where Paige and my brother are standing. I had her backstage this time to watch from the sidelines with him rather than from the mosh pit. Could have done that in Atlanta but I was running then. Tonight I wanted her close.

With bright eyes she says, “That was so great!”

“You think so?”

“Yeah,” she grins.

It occurs to me that she’s relieved Olivia and I don’t have that choreographed number together anymore. I ditched that before Montreal. Probably could have let her know before the show started, but all of this is new to me.

Elijah agrees, “Better than last night, too. Think you might have had an effect on him.”

Paige’s cheeks flush as behind me the crowd is screaming for an encore. My band motions to me and I nod. “I’ll be back.”

We head out and finish the show. Knowing she’s here and watching me is a high. As the final song ends I tear off my shirt, throwing it into the audience as they lose their shit. The band ends with drums banging a sexual beat and then slamming to a close. Feeling better than I ever have I raise my arms and shout to the crowd, spiking the mic and walking offstage.

The curtains roll shut and the dancers bounce toward the three of us, fist bumping me as they go. Olivia glances between Paige and I and offers her a conciliatory smile before vanishing with the others into the main green room where the party happens.

We go to my dressing room. Glancing to Elijah, who knows the story, I give him a look. He catches on and says, “Great show, Gabes. I’ve got a date with a front desk clerk.”

My eyebrows cock in surprise outside my door. “When did that happen?”

“When I checked in.” He starts to head away and decides to confess on a smirk, “Oh, and she stayed in my room last night. I don’t tell you everything.”

“You tell me nothing!” I call after him.

“Almost true,” he chuckles, holding his hand up as a stationary wave. “See you at breakfast before our flights.”

Paige is chewing on her lip again as I rest my hand on the small of her back and guide her inside. She’s in a tighter dress than the one she wore in Atlanta and while she looks hot as hell I know the reason. As soon as I shut the door I pull her to me. “I’m a little sweaty.”

She smiles, “And yet oddly you still smell good to me.”

“Chemistry.”

“Mmm,” she hums, long eyelashes falling to my lips.

“I didn’t have sex with Olivia after the concert.”

Her eyes sprint up. “You didn’t? But I saw you zipping…”

“She’d started to strip and she unzipped me before I had a chance to tell her we weren’t doing that anymore.”

Paige searches me for the truth. “So you used to.”

“We did, yeah. But that stopped when I met you.”

“Why?”

Without hesitating I shrug a shoulder. “Couldn’t get it up for anyone else after that.”

Her beautiful eyes blink in surprise. “Really?”

“Swear to God,” I smirk. “And trust me, no guy likes to admit when his cock goes limp.”

A grin flashes on her as she presses a quick, soft kiss to my lips. “Gabriel, I didn’t touch Ben. Not once. No holding hands even.”

My gut tightens. “No kissing? Nothing?”

She shakes her head, holding my eyes to show she’s telling the truth. “Nothing. I did spend some time with him. I was trying to forget you, because it seemed like you didn’t care about me at all. And…this is hard to say, but he did care. I’ve been going through a lot of stuff that you don’t know about and I was…grasping for some kindness.”

“I’m such a fuckin’ idiot,” I groan, pressing our foreheads together.

Her hands travel up my arms. “I just want to take it slow though, okay?”

“What’s been going on in your life? What did he help you with? I swear I want to kick his ass right now. And he didn’t even touch you.”

She smiles like I’m the strangest creature she’s ever seen, and maybe I am. But men become protective when we find the woman who is meant to be ours. I didn’t know that until it happened to me.

“Can we talk about that later? You just did an amazing thing out there. This is your night and I just want to be here with you.”

She has no idea how much ‘my night’ this really is now that she’s here. I crush her body to mine and kiss her without hesitation. She responds as if she was dying to be closer to me, too, and just like the first kiss outside her apartment, I hear a click inside my soul. I lift her up and her legs hook around me as our jaws unlock, tongues tasting each other like they never thought they would again. Moaning I carry her to a wall and let my hands roam where they want. She’s clutching onto me, her breasts crushed into my naked chest. “This dress is too sexy. I have to get it off you,” I rasp.

She laughs, “Who’s stopping you?”

Grinning I gaze into her eyes as my fingers slip under the tight hem and slide across her G-string. “Damp as fuck. I can’t believe you’re here.” Dipping under the wet fabric I feel her pussy and groan, “Why weren’t you in Canada?”

Her eyes close as she smiles, “Because someone didn’t invite me.”

“Someone should have.” I slam my tongue in her throat at the same time I slip my middle finger in her tight little cunt. “You’re sopping wet, baby.”

“I want you,” she moans. “I can’t believe I’m here with you, Gabriel.”

Our mouths reach for each other as I grind against her thigh and thrust another digit in. The sounds she’s making are driving me crazy.

The door opens and Maggie pokes her head in, sees us, says, “Whoopsie! Oh, Paige, you’re here! Eek. Goodbye!”

Paige’s eyes go wide with embarrassment. I give her a quick kiss, don’t stop finger-fucking her, and say, “We just gave her spank material.”

Paige laughs and then starts moaning as her pussy clamps a couple swift beats around my fingers. “I’m going to cum.”

“Do it!”

“No, I want it to be with you, when you’re inside me.” As I raise my eyebrows she grins and gives me what I want to hear. “You’re going to make me say it, aren’t you?”

“Mmhmm.”

She moans as I tease her pussy, and then murmurs against my panting mouth, “I want your cock, Gabriel. Your gorgeous cock needs to be inside me right now. What the fuck, did I fly all this way for nothing?”

Grinning I hike her whole body higher up against the wall, her legs now on my waist so I can get these leather pants out of the way. It’s impossible to get them all the way off in this position and who the fuck cares. Hotter to have them hanging halfway down because we’re too impatient. Pulling her thong to the side I kiss her as my thick, bulbous tip starts to penetrate her. “God, you’re so tight. So wet.”

Paige cranes her hips to give me better access and the moan that vibrates our joined mouths ricochets. We lock eyes and she looks scared. “I’ve never felt like this, Gabriel. My heart is pounding too hard.”

“Mine too.”

“Please don’t be toying with me.”

Shaking my head I hold still in the deepest point in her. “I’m going to show you I meant everything I said.”

My body takes over and she yields to me. We’re panting and fucking against the wall, breaking free from hungry kisses to watch each other, then crashing our mouths together as the time we spent apart disappears.

As she whimpers in my arms I tell her, “You’re mine and I’m never letting you go.”