Chapter Twelve

Chapter TwelveAs the green room door closed behind the stylist, I rose from the plush sofa and slowly walked toward Kaiser. “Looking good, Wolfe.”Actually, he looked sexy as hell even as he stuck with his minimal color habit. Black faded, scuffed jeans. Plain white T-shirt. Brown leather cuffs. Navy-blue beaded bracelets. An Ace of Spades Playing Card charm dangling from a thin, stainless steel chain. Completing the look was his signature black leather jacket.Sometimes, I couldn’t quite believe that this man was mine.He fairly hummed with energy and intensity right now, much like he always did before a performance. Seeing him all revved up never failed to make me want to lick him from head to toe. He would be just as sexily revved up afterwards, but I wouldn’t get the chance to do any licking then either. Hyped up on adrenaline, he’d want nothing more than to fuck me like a savage with little foreplay involved. I was always up for that.I let out a little hum. “I’m thinking lots of inappropriate thoughts right now.”His gray eyes gleamed with a smile. “Always objectifying me. As it’s you, I’ll tolerate it.”I snickered. The dude really didn’t like being ogled or flirted with. Which, from what I’d observed, was rare when it came to the rich and famous. Women often tried surrounding him at events but, honestly, he just marched forward like they weren’t even there—forcing them to either move or get mowed down. It made me smile every time.“On another note, are you ready to go kill it out there?” I asked.He lifted his bottle and knocked back some water. “Always am.”“Last night of your tour,” I mused. While the tours he’d went on before we’d gotten together had generally lasted four months, he’d refused to go on the road for longer than two months this time. “You looking forward to getting back home?”He gave a flippant shrug.I snorted. “You might not be missing Redwater, but you’ll be glad to see Judy.” His reason for doing a short tour was that he didn’t want us to leave her alone for too long—he just wouldn’t admit it.He shrugged again. “She’s like you. Grows on people. Like fungus.”“Well that’s lovely.”It was really a good thing that I wasn’t a woman who needed compliments, because I very rarely received any from him. Nor did I hear professions of love, but that didn’t matter. He showed that he cared in other ways. Like having my name tattooed over his heart.I’d gotten a wolf-head tattoo over my own heart in a similar gesture. And it had sparked a sort of game where we’d each alternate in getting a tattoo to honor the other, and he seemed determined to one-up me. It was a kind of ‘I care for you more than you do me’ thing.He’d recently gotten a huge chest tat for me—an image of my exact guitar with a rose at its base and my first name imprinted on the handle. I still hadn’t worked out how I’d yet beat that, but I’d do it for certain.“I had an offer on the house,” he said.I felt my brows shoot up. “That was fast. Are you going to accept it?”“No. They went in too low.”Although he’d only recently put his house up on the market, he hadn’t really lived in it since we’d returned from London seven months ago. Nope, he’d pretty much moved into my home that very night—bringing his clothes, instruments, and other important possessions over little by little as the days went on.He’d meant what he said when he declared that I wouldn’t get a modicum of space from him. But it was all good, because I didn’t mind one bit. Kaiser had a huge presence, but having him close was too comforting for me to feel smothered. Maybe because he was so steady and solid and grounded. Oh, and because I loved the crap out of him—something I hadn’t gotten around to confessing because I was a total chicken.A knock came at the door, and a voice told him he needed to get moving.Kaiser rolled back his shoulders. “Here, put that on.”Looking down at the object he’d pressed into my hand, I felt my world stop. It was so shiny. So exquisite. So utterly perfect. I licked my lips. “Kaiser—”“Got shit to do. Put it on.”I gaped at him. “That’s your idea of a proposal? Put it on?”He fisted my tee and pulled me close. “I love you. Love you in a way that I know I’m never gonna stop. I’ve never been anchored to any one spot. Ever. I don’t have a single connection or attachment to any place in this world. I’ve got one root. You. And it’s the only root I’m ever going to want. So put. It. On.”My insides completely melted. “Okay.” The word came out on a croak.Once he released my tee, I slid on the ring. God, it was beautiful and fit perfectly. The backs of my eyes stinging, I cleared my throat. “In case you hadn’t already guessed, I love you, too.”Satisfaction glimmered in his eyes. “I’d guessed.” He took my mouth in a branding kiss that screamed ownership and then lightly squeezed my hip. “We’ll celebrate later. Let’s move.”Minutes later, a smile of pride curved my mouth as we both stood backstage. The audience was chanting my guy’s name, their combined voices deafening. It was a reception he more than deserved.When his name was announced, he gave me a quick kiss and then strolled onstage. Fog gathered, and spotlights bore down on him. Hanging back out of sight, I watched the crowd go crazy.Most musicians bid their audience hello and all that jazz. Not Kaiser. He cast them a frown and asked, “What the fuck are you all doing here? Don’t you have better shit to do?”That only made the crowd go wilder.A song we’d worked on together began to blast, and off he went. Under the glare of the multicolored spotlights, he launched from one song to another, owning the stage, seducing the audience, creating the most intense atmosphere—everyone there fed on it.They also went freaking gaga when he shrugged off his jacket.The amount of noise in the place was seriously near-deafening. I could feel the vibration of the bass in my chest and through the soles of my feet. Every insanely loud applause rang in my ears.Fans stood shoulder-to-shoulder. They screamed, jumped, sang, surged, bopped their heads, waved lighters, and held up phones to record the concert. Whenever he aimed his mike at them, they practically bellowed out the lyrics. A few women also flashed him their boobs or tried throwing panties onto the stage.At one point, after he took a moment to rest and chug down some water, he turned to the audience and said, “So. Yeah. I don’t write songs for women. Fuck that romantic bullshit.”I rolled my eyes, smiling.“But this song wormed its way into my head and wouldn’t go away. Practically wrote itself. It’s about a certain someone.”Wait, what?“A someone who’s actually backstage right now.”Oh, the cheering went insane.“And who earlier slid my ring on her finger.”I winced as the crowd lost their damn minds. I could just imagine Judy sitting at home, bouncing on her chair like a demented kangaroo.“So I’m gonna play it here and now.”I could only stand there, gaping, as the lyrics poured out of him. He sang of a woman with hair red as the devil and a voice that was pure sin. Sang of a club. A kiss that changed everything. Pre-agreed rules he’d wanted to break. A possessiveness he’d been unable to shake. A decision he’d finally made. A refusal to walk away. And yeah, he’d blamed me for it all throughout the entire song, the shit.I could only shake my head, a smile again curving my mouth.As the instrumental reached its crescendo, he half-turned and caught my eye, a feral light in his own. He freaking smirked.I flipped him the finger.Looking highly pleased with himself for riling me up, he turned back to the crowd.Peering down at the ring I wore, I smiled so wide it actually hurt. Jesus Christ, I was actually gonna marry that guy. For real, I was living every dream I’d ever had and more.And Judy was going to be so damn smug that she was right.