Page 35 of The Masks We Wear (Satan’s Angels #1)

He shakes his head, “Don’t worry about any of that. These people are all here because they love the music you make and they love the sound of your voice. They love you, Brody. Don’t let him take this from you.”

He’s right and I know it. I nod and take one final breath. As I exhale, I force my anxiety to leave with it. This may feel like the hardest show I’ve ever had to put on but Harvey somehow just made it feel easier. “Thank you.”

He releases me and takes a step back, gesturing towards the door with his chin. “Come on, I’ll walk you.”

I follow behind him as we walk down the long hallway to the stage. The entire time we walk, I stick close to his back not wanting to be far from him. He just has this way of breathing air into my lungs when it feels like I’m suffocating.

We make it to the stage and I walk up the stairs with my friends to perform, leaving Harvey behind. I feel his eyes on my back as I disappear and the lights cut out.

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THE SHOW WASN’T AS bad as I thought it would be. I focused on my friends and the music, ignoring the eyes on me that were searching for cracks in my mask. Harvey was right about showing them who I really am and tonight I showed all of them that I’m stronger than they ever thought possible.

Ivory and Aria disappeared after the show, most likely finding their way back to their dressing rooms. I did the same, finding my way back to my own and when I entered, I found Harvey’s eyes immediately.

I close the door behind myself and give him a weak smile, “Unless you want to see me naked again, I suggest you get out so I can change,” I tease him.

His nostrils flare as wickedness coasts across his face. He licks his lips but inevitably looks down as if scolding himself for wanting me. “You did great tonight. Are you feeling okay?” he changes the subject.

The wavering emotions that his question brings me is enough to wipe the smile off my face. I fold my arms over my chest in a weak attempt to ground myself and shrug, “I guess.”

He cocks his head, “Brody,” he prods, knowing me well enough to know there’s more to say.

I exhale, “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t still shaken up from last night. I’d also be lying if I said I wasn’t afraid.”

“Afraid of what?” he asks in a low voice as he takes a few steps closer to me.

I meet his dark gaze, “Afraid that if I turn around he’ll be there to finish what he started and kill me for getting him caught.”

Harvey’s brows pull together and a look of malice contorts his perfect features. “He’s going to jail, Brody. You have nothing to be afraid of. You are safe and even if you weren’t, I would never let anything happen to you, not even a scratch.”

I nod, swallowing. “I know.”

He frowns, “I’m worried that you’re pretending to be okay and you’re pretending to be put together when you really aren’t.

You can always come to me to talk about anything.

I know I’m not the most in touch with my emotions or the emotions of others, but I can try at the very least to help you,” his voice comes out low and soothing, comforting in a way.

I squeeze my eyes shut and mutter before I can bite my tongue, “Only when it isn’t about you.”

“What?” he asks, his tone laced with confusion.

My eyes reluctantly open and I wince when I realize what I just said. Motherfucker, why can you never keep your mouth shut? I ask myself. I shake my head, “Nothing.”

I try to walk past him but he grabs my arm, stopping me. I hesitate to meet his gaze over my shoulder. “No, that wasn’t nothing. Is there something you want to talk to me about, about me ?”

I pull out of his grip and give him a dry look. “Harvey, did you forget that you were hellbent on ignoring me for days and my near death was the only thing that made you soften up? You treated me like I didn’t exist and then all of a sudden you care because I would’ve died on your job.”

The rage that crosses his features has me taking a step back.

His nostrils flare and his eyes darken, his lips pull into a frown.

“I ignored you to put space between us, not to treat you like shit,” he corrects.

“And you getting attacked is partially the reason that I’ve been softer with you, so you have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about. ”

“What’s the whole reason then?” I push him, raising a brow.

He opens his mouth to answer my question but stops himself, closing his mouth a second later.

He then gives me a dark glare full of anger, irritation, and what looks like lust and just when I think he’s frozen, unable to move, he reaches behind himself and locks the door to the dressing room.

I swallow and feel butterflies swarm my stomach when the lock clicks, locking us in here together, alone with our issues.

He charges towards me a second later and I’m not sure what he’s going to do until he grabs a fistful of my hair and tugs my head back, crashing his lips down on mine.

He kisses me hungrily, passionately, and I kiss him back equally.

This kiss feels different than our previous kisses.

Where they were desperate and depraved, this one feels like coming home after being on the road for months.

Harvey pulls back and we both catch our breath.

I expect him to tear away from me with a look of regret as if touching me burned third degree burns into his skin and to ignore me for a week but he surprises me and catches me completely off guard by growling, “The whole reason, Little Rockstar, is that I find it impossible to stay away from you. Ignoring you is like tearing my bleeding heart out of my chest and trying to survive without it.”

I suck in a small, surprised breath and just stare at him wide eyed at his words. “So then why?” I ask so faintly it almost comes out as a breathy whisper.

His mouth hovers over mine. “Because I love my job and I want to keep it and I can’t keep you and the job.”

“So, you choose the job?”

He breathes into my mouth, “No. I want both.”

My brows furrow, “And when your contract is up?”

“We go our separate ways. I go back to Nevada and you go back to living your rockstar life in LA,” he says with conviction.

I feel a sharp twinge of sadness in my gut at his suggestion.

I know Harvey and I come from two completely different worlds and I know we don’t belong together because we would never work.

We’re far too different, but that doesn’t stop sadness and disappointment from washing over me. I nod, “And until then?”

He smirks in answer as he closes the gap between our lips and kisses me with the same passion as before. I wrap my arms around his neck and he lifts me off the ground and grabs the backs of my thighs, wrapping my legs around his waist, pressing his already hard length against my dampening center.

Harvey walks us over to the leather couch and places me on my back as he settles between my legs and trails kisses down my neck as his hands begin to wander.

I may not like the idea of his proposition, of us walking away from each other in just another month and a half, but I don’t like the idea of not kissing him, of not touching him, even more.

I would rather have him now than not have him at all and I want all of him now.

I start to unbutton his white dress shirt but inevitably get so impatient, I tear it open, buttons flying all over the room.

He growls in anticipation as he starts to unlace the black leather of my top and when he finally removes the small scrap of fabric from my body, his mouth lowers to my breasts, sucking my nipples into his mouth and teasing the sensitive peaks with his hands.

I throw my head back on a moan, the warmth of his tongue on my skin throwing me into pure ecstasy.

His hands travel down to my leather pants, making quick work of unlacing the strings and pulling them down my thighs leaving me in just my panties.

Every time we’ve been together it’s always been me completely naked beneath him while he remains clothed.

This time will be different I decide as I begin fumbling for the buckle of his belt with anticipatory fingers.

I’m so desperate to see all of him, to touch all of him, and to feel all of him inside me that I fuck up while I’m unbuckling his pants.

He smirks playfully as a small laugh escapes his lips at my desperation.

I open my mouth to make a witty comment in my defense but I lose all train of thought when he removes his belt and unzips his pants, pushing the fabric down his large thighs.

We’re both left in our underwear and the thought drives me wild.

His fingers start to rub me through my panties and I arch my back, needing more of him.

I have a fire inside of me that won’t be extinguished until I feel his skin on mine, touching me in all the most carnal places in all the most wicked of ways.

He groans, “You’re fucking soaked.” He rubs the damp spot on my panties and I roll my hips onto his fingers in encouragement.

Picking up on my need, he pushes my panties to the side and slides his fingers through my bare folds, exposed to him.

He licks his lips when his eyes land on my sex and his fingers move in a steady rhythm, rubbing my clit and spreading the juices from my entrance all over my folds, slickening them with my arousal.

I’m so desperate for more, I’m growing impatient.

“Please, Harvey,” I beg, rolling my hips as he continues to stroke my clit.

His voice darkens, “Please what?”

“Fuck me. Please fuck me,” I plead with him, my eyes squeezing shut.