Talon

"Talon…you don't have to do that. I try not to think about the past anymore, and believe me, that's really hard. I'm good now. I mean, being married to you is amazing, as is living in this house, having nice things. But even living in my little apartment before this, I was okay. I just wanted a relationship and, eventually, my own family." People who won't leave.

His fingers comb through my hair, pushing it away from my face. "I'm going to give you that. I want that, too." He presses his warm lips to my forehead. "Fuck, I wish I didn't have to leave today. Are you going to be all right?"

I crane my neck to look up at him. "Yes. Kat is going to stay over tomorrow night, and I have so many orders to fill. I'll be crazy busy. Plus, I have a plan of plastering your picture on the ceiling so I can stare at you all night."

Pixie wanders onto the balcony and rubs our ankles, meowing up at us with her little squeaky mews. Talon picks her up and holds her against his chest, kissing her ears. "I'm gonna miss you too, little rug rat."

"We're both going to miss you," I tell him. "But don't worry about us. No more depressing talk, okay? Just focus on the band and keep your shirt on."

He grins at me. "Right. No baring my amazing abs on stage."

Oh, what abs they are. I tear my eyes off his midsection to listen to what he's saying.

"Two of our concerts are going to be streamed live online. One this week and then one on Halloween night. All the shows except the first one are gonna be epic 'cuz the stage is gonna be like a graveyard with fog and headstones and a makeup artist is coming to make us look scary as shit. We decided to make this mini-tour Halloween-themed to make it kinda fun for October." He gently puts Pixie back on the floor. "I'll send the links to you and the log-in info so you can watch from here. Would you like that?"

I nod excitedly. "I would love to. That Halloween setup sounds awesome."

"It's my favorite holiday. I'm psyched about it."

"I didn't know that." I also just realized I don't even know when his birthday is, so I ask him.

"It's January twenty-fourth. I can't believe we never talked about this. When's yours? I'm gonna feel like shit if I missed it."

"Nope…it's May thirtieth."

"Whew. I have time to buy you a gift, then."

February will mark our six-month anniversary, and that is when we have our final meeting with Dr. Hollister to give her our individual decisions on whether we want to stay married or get divorced. I wonder how the other couples in the project are doing, and I think it would have been nice if we were all able to talk to each other and support each other throughout this crazy process. Only someone else in this scenario would really be able to understand how it feels. I wonder if the other girls worry they may want to stay married, but their spouse may want a divorce. Or vice versa.

Talon waves his hand in front of my face as I space out. "Aze…stop. I know May is after February. And yes, I will be here. You better be too."

"Yes," I say confidently. "All three of us will be here."

* * *

After he makes us a breakfast that could feed five people, I help him pack for his tour. I laugh at how he rolls up his clothes and shoves them in his suitcase haphazardly, but I'm able to convince him to let me fold his new stage clothes neatly for him so they don't get all mangled up. I'm sure they will meet a different fate once he leaves the house, but at least I know they left in good shape.

"You better text me pictures of you in your new clothes. I want to see."

He zips up his suitcase and puts it outside the bedroom door. "I will. I'll send you pictures of the guys wearing their stuff too."

I squeal and jump up and down with excitement. "I can't believe you guys are wearing clothes we designed!" I want to pinch myself so I know this is really happening. Famous rock stars are actually wearing my designs! Things I sewed right here with my own hands. It's an incredible feeling.

He quirks his eyebrows up at me suggestively. "Keep jumping and bouncing like that, and we're gonna end up back in bed."

Smiling, I jump up and down a few more times before he grabs me around the waist and pulls me against his solid chest. "You can't get enough of me, can you?" he asks, squeezing my ass. "Either I'm really good and you want more, or I suck and you keep wanting do-overs."

"It's definitely that I want more, but I don't think I can take any more after last night, hon. I'm pretty sore." My insides feel raw from the all-night sexathon we had last night, so I think I need to give the vag a rest.

"I hurt you?" The smile fades from his face and is replaced by a frown.

"No, honey, it's fine. It was just a lot of…ramming. I loved every minute of it."

"Baby, you know when I pound you it's because I'm crazy for you, right? I'm not trying to hurt you or disrespect you."

"Pound me?" I repeat, crinkling my nose. I know what he's trying to say, though, and I think it's sweet. I feel the same way when we have sex; I want to be devoured by him. Even though it hurts when he pounds me, I love the way it turns me on and quakes through my entire body.

"I legit cannot think of a better word. I'm not a thesaurus, Aze. I write rock songs. And you said ramming, which is almost worse than pounding."

I run my hands up his chest and lean up on my toes to reach his lips. "I love when you do both."

"Come downstairs, I have something for you." He grabs my hand and leads me downstairs to the living room, where he takes a folder out of the drawer in the coffee table.

"I made this reminder sheet for you." He hands me a piece of laminated paper, and I look at him quizzically, not quite sure what it is.

He points to it. "It has the alarm code, and cell and house numbers for Lukas, Evie, my mom, Gram, Rayne, Storm, Asher, and our manager. So, if you need to get ahold of me and, for some reason, I don't pick up my cell, you can call one of the guys or my manager. Or if you need something here, you can call Lukas or anyone else in my family. Lukas is the closest, though. And I put Toren's number on here, so if you can't get in touch with anyone and you need some help with something, you can call him. He's like family. I also put the number and address of the emergency vet in case, God forbid, anything ever happened to Pixie. And I got you a small thing of Mace for your keychain."

I take the small can of Mace he's holding out to me as he continues, "I also made sure both cars have a full tank of gas, and I left you five thousand dollars in cash in your nightstand. Oh—and I kinda took your phone and programmed all these numbers into it."

I blink at him and the paper I'm holding and the small canister of Mace. "You did all this?" I ask, surprised. I never would have pegged him for the emergency planning type. "And five thousand dollars? What would I do with that?"

He shrugs. "I dunno, just in case you need it. I want you to feel safe while I'm gone. You can spend the money, go to the spa, buy some clothes, get some cat toys, take Kat out, whatever you want. I just want you to feel safe and happy."

"Tal, you don't have to give me money."

"Stop it. I want you to promise me that you'll lock the doors all the time, don't wander around by the woods looking for dandelions, and you have to set the alarm every night."

"I promise."

Grabbing my keys from the table in the foyer, he hooks the tiny canister of Mace to it. I feel strange having a tiny weapon attached to my keys, but in all actuality, I should have had one when I lived in the ghetto.

"Talon?"

"Yes, baby?"

"Will you promise not to get drunk or high?" I ask cautiously. "I know it's what you're used to doing, but I'm just kinda a little bit sorta nervous about you doing that and then all the hot horny girls trying to see your abs and—"

"Asia," he interrupts. "Stay there and stop talking for a sec. I'll be right back."

He runs upstairs and comes back a few minutes later carrying his two suitcases, which he puts by the front door. I try not to look at them because they mean Max will be here any minute to get him. "You want me to get your name tattooed on my abs? Cuz I'll do that if it will make you feel better."

"No…I don't think the girls who paw at you will care that you're married or taken."

He cocks his head and nods. "That's true. They'd probably want you to join in."

Sitting on the arm of the couch, I cross my arms and pout. "That's not making me feel better in any way."

He stalks from across the room and swoops in on me, pushing me backward onto the couch and falling on top of me, his lips devouring mine, his long hair tickling my cheek and neck. My arms instantly go around him, squeezing his wide shoulders through the gray thermal shirt that accentuates every hard muscle of his upper body.

Pulling back a little, he stares down into my face, his eyes dancing. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"I still only want you. And I may have one or two beers after the show, but that's it. I'm not gonna get wasted or get high. I promise. Storm also said to tell you he will kick my ass if I even attempt to."

His phone vibrates and beeps in his pocket, and he reaches back to pull it out, groaning when he glances at the screen.

"Max is here."

He slowly stands and holds his hand out to me, pulling me up to my feet. Damn, I don't want him to leave. My heart feels heavy in my chest as we walk to the front door together. How did we get like this? A few weeks ago, I wasn't even sure if we liked each other that much and now… I'm not even sure what this is now.

An awkward silence settles over us at the door as he hesitates to leave and I restrain myself from flinging myself around his legs like a child throwing a tantrum. I don't want to drag him into a dramatic good-bye with me crying like an idiot, so I force a smile. "Well, have fun," I say stupidly.