“Oh, my God, Naz,” Roz gasped. “You’re not even supposed to be in here!”
She felt his chuckled whisper along her skin as his hands curved around her ass to grab tight to her hips. He’d already pushed the chiffon of her skirt high to get better access, and dragged her lace panties down to her fucking knees. Bent over the bed of her hotel room with her legs wide, and this man behind her … it was breaking every single rule today.
No sex. No distractions. Nothing to put her off her game.
And here was fucking Nazio Donati to do exactly that and more. But fuck both of them because she loved him for doing this; sneaking into her hotel room, and teasing her just long enough to get up her skirt when she only had two hours to go before audition time.
“Bet you were fucking going crazy in here,” he murmured against the shell of her ear. His words were punctuated with one hard thrust of his hips that filled her full of his cock, and sent her flying up to her tiptoes at the same time. The sound that fell from her lips was high, and broken. The relief that swam through her bloodstream was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. “Bet you were overthinking, and worrying too goddamn much, weren’t you?”
She was. Way too much.
And now all she could think about was the fact she’d really like him to fuck her harder, and make her forget about everything. Only he could do that for her, but especially like this.
Roz only got the chance to suck in one good breath before Naz took all her air away when he started slamming into her from behind. The hard wood of the sleigh bed bit into her thighs, but all she felt was bliss. His mouth was still on the shell of her ear, whispering and promising and taking away all of that self-doubt that she’d tried to hide for so long.
How could she be unworthy when she was amazing? That’s what he told her.
But as quickly as she heard those words, she was lost in sensation, too. Of him fucking her, and how his fingers felt digging into her hips to yank her harder against him. A raw, fast beat that felt a little too wild but was perfect just the same.
God. She’d needed this. Needed him.
It was only when his teeth found the pulse point at her throat, and nipped that she finally tumbled over that edge. For a moment, it felt like time was suspended. Roz was just hanging on by the very tips of her fingers. Noise, and sound, and life … what was any of that when she felt like this?
“Oh, my God,” she breathed.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” Naz muttered thickly against her throat. One last, hard thrust accompanied his words before she felt him jerk inside her. Emptying into latex, and his hands shaking against her hips. “Yeah, shit, I needed that, too.”
Roz found herself laughing as breathless as it was. “Why?”
“Because I’m fucking nervous, too.”
Was he? Her nerves were just … well, gone. Now.
“But that doesn’t matter,” she heard him whisper along the column of her throat. “You remember that up there, yeah? Just be amazing, Roz, because that’s what you are. I’ll be right there waiting when you’re done.”
That was best part, she knew. It didn’t matter if she blew this audition. It didn’t matter if she fucking nailed it. Because at the end, and tomorrow, or the next day … Naz was still going to be there. Her family would still be there. And there would be more auditions, and other companies.
Roz was just getting started.
“Happy birthday, Roz,” Naz murmured, kissing the shell of her ear.
She smiled. Another rule broken for today.
It was supposed to be just theaudition day, not her birthday. They were supposed to celebrate all that tomorrow. Turning eighteen, and all the rest. Kyle’s demands to keep Roz on point, and in total focus for this audition.
Naz was damned determined to break all of those rules. Roz didn’t even mind.
“You better get the hell out of here before Kyle comes and finds you,” she mumbled against the bed. “He’ll be in a fit, and then I’ll have to listen to him the whole way to the audition.”
Because yep, Naz wasn’t even allowed to drive Roz anywhere. She had to focus on the day, and the audition, and nothing else. Kyle’s demands, despite how loudly and often she had protested about it.
Naz made a noise that sounded a lot like annoyance. “Yeah, I kind of hate that guy.”
Roz laughed. “Me, too.”
But what could she do? Nail the audition, she supposed.
She did exactly that, too.
Nailed the audition.
But even after the last note echoed from the piano, and her fingers lifted from the keys, Roz stared at the instrument in front of her like it was the first time she had ever seen it before in her life. She felt the bright lights above the stage bearing down on her, and the way her dress tightened around her body with every quick breath she took. She heard the sounds of feet shuffling and rushing to stand in the crowd as people stood, and then the noise of their applause when they began clapping.
Yet, all she saw was the shiny top of a Baby Grand and the ivory keys barely kissing her fingertips.
Because she did it.
Her fingers trembled, but she didn’t know why. Her mind shouted for her to stand, and face the crowd as was customary. To bow, and smile gracefully like she had been taught her whole life.
And still, she stared at the piano.
Still, she felt those notes echoing in her mind. A reverberation of the song she had created that slowed from her mind to her fingers and through the piano like an extension of her very person.
Maybe …
Maybe a part of her still thought she wouldn’t be able to do it. That she’d freeze, or miss a key. That she would screw up that last stanza when the notes reached an impossibly high, fast rhythm that she had only been able to complete once before.
With Naz.
Stand, stand, stand, her mind shouted.
Roz did just that, although how gracefully, she wasn’t sure. Sweeping her hand along her skirt to move it off the bench, she did a quick bow. She couldn’t really see the people in the crowd or the ones who were meant to score and judge her performance because of the lights. But she was grateful for that, too.
Somehow, she remembered to smile.
Somehow, she remembered to breathe.
Above her head, Roz saw a red light flick on and off three times. A signal for the performer on stage to move along for the next person. The lights were still too bright. The crowd was still impossibly loud.
She gave a little wave as she headed for the exit on the right side of the stage.
There he was.
Already waiting.
Roz’s steps turned into a run because Naz was really the only person she wanted in that moment. Oh, sure, she wanted her parents. She wanted to hear her mentor tell her what she already knew—this fucking audition was all hers.
But right then, she just wanted him.
Naz caught Roz in his embrace when she launched herself at him. Those strong arms of his wrapped around her like a cage that was never going to let her go. God, she didn’t want him to.
She hadn’t realized it until one of his hands wiped at her cheek, but tears had make tracks down her face. But they were good tears; happy tears.
Roz didn’t know what she expected Naz to say in those seconds. Congratulations, maybe. Or even a confirmation of how amazing he kept telling her she was.
He surprised her.
He was always doing that.
With his lips pressed against hers, he murmured, “I can’t believe you’re mine, Rosalynn Puzza.”