Hearts Aflame Collection IV: 4-Book Bundle Read online

  Hearts Aflame Collection IV: 4-Book Bundle

  Copyright © 2014 by Melissa F. Hart. All rights reserved worldwide.

  No part of this book may be replicated, redistributed, or given away in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, without the prior written consent of the author/publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental

  http://www.melissafhart.com/

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  Table of Contents

  Sinful Temptation

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The Book of Unbound Chains

  New Beginning

  Cry Wolf

  Sinful Temptation

  Synopsis

  Sin knows music. She lives it, eats it, breathes it. And now she’s going to report it. All she needs is to land the interview of a lifetime with rock’s sex god, Tate McQueen.

  Tate has other plans for Sin. He wants her in his room and naked.

  And Sin knows it.

  What she doesn’t know is that Tate is willing to offer her something far better than a byline in Rolling Stone.

  CHAPTER ONE

  Thrumming bass reverberated up through the alcohol-stained concrete beneath Sin’s feet. It would take a lot more than a little slosh and sticky to ruin tonight for her. She gyrated and pumped her hips to the beat, swaying with the crowd, alone in a sea of bodies while she waited for Genna to come back with more beer. Sin had counted every day of the two long months for tonight’s concert, and she was already panting with the aching need to see rocker bad boy Tate McQueen take the stage. Oh, he did things that made her achy and throbbing.

  “I saw him!” Genna squealed in Sin’s ear and sloshed beer over the rims of their plastic cups. Sin took a deep drink, hoping to quench the thirst building low in her belly, but she knew no one but Tate would be able to slake it. She fingered the edge of her backstage pass. They’d agreed to stay out front until after the first couple songs, then they’d head back to beat the rush of groupies. All Sin wanted was an up-close brush with that hard lean body of his.

  The cover band finished their song and the lead singer bent the microphone close to his lips. “Are you ready for the one, the only, Tate McQueen?”

  The already frenzied crowd swelled and surged, pressing Sin into Genna. They giggled and screamed with the other groupies, pumping their fists into the air. Tonight was going to be the best night ever. Tomorrow morning might be a different story when her alarm went off, but that was a long six hours away. Sin drained her cup and crumpled it beneath her spiked heel. She ran her fingers up the sides of her tight leggings and over her plump thighs. Genna glanced over and bumped her hip against Sin’s. She answered back and sent Genna a few feet sideways with a flick of her wide curves. Sometimes being a big girl had its advantages. A wide grin made the apples of her cheeks burn.

  All the times had their advantages.

  These hips had earned them their backstage passes, and she wasn’t about to stop using them now.

  Genna lifted her arms and twirled in the tight space, pumping against a drunk girl to her left and a stoned guy to her right. Sin laughed and danced with the crowd, moving as one big body of motion.

  The main lights dimmed and stage lights came up, sending the decibel level of the arena to an ear-splitting degree. Sin didn’t hear any of it over her own voice. It was almost time. Her nipples throbbed and puckered beneath the thin black tank and the lace edge of her bra was like a hacksaw slicing against her overripe aching skin. Tonight would be a dream come true if she could get within ten feet of him.

  She searched the darkness and moaned inwardly, Oh, to see those blue eyes up close . . .

  His drummer ran on stage and settled onto his stool, drumsticks ticking a sensual rhythm that matched the pounding of Sin’s heart. Both the bass player and lead guitarist rose from the smoke swirling in the lights behind the amps. Sin’s chest tightened as her eyes flicked back and forth rapidly in search of him.

  Genna gripped her upper arm. “Do you see him? Do you?”

  Sin rose up on her toes and strained forward, supported by the thousands of bodies surrounding her. Even ten feet away from the stage, she felt like the Grand Canyon separated her from Tate’s space.

  Then a spotlight illuminated the darkness on stage left, and her breath gushed out of her. He was more beautiful than she remembered. His chiseled jaw, dusted with a short beard tensed, and his square lips pressed against the microphone as the crowd drowned out his first lyrics. Tousled dark hair concealed his piercing blue eyes, and he brushed it off his forehead and looked straight at her.

  Straight. At. Her.

  She swooned. Literally swooned and the entire arena spun as if she stood on the axis of the world’s largest top. He sang the song while he stared at her, his smoldering gaze stripping every secret away. For the first time since hearing his music, she was immobilized and couldn’t move a muscle to the music. One cheek lifted in an all-knowing smile. He got this in every town, every night. Sin was just one more pretty face in a sea of pretty faces.

  And she didn’t care one bit.

  Tomorrow night he’d be singing this song to some other groupie a thousand miles away. But right now, tonight, he was hers.

  And she wasn’t going to miss a minute of it.

  Her voice finally unfroze, and she screamed his name at the top of her lungs, then sang the rest of the song with him, returning his stare with every raw bit of lust she felt for him.

  He finished the song and gave a short nod to her. Not the girl beside her, or the one behind her. Sin refused to think that he’d been looking anywhere but straight into her soul.

  “Well, hello, Cleveland.”

  The crowd screamed and Sin went deaf in her left ear. Tate paced back and forth within an inch of the stage lip. Hands grabbed at his pants and shoes. Sin’s fingers twitched, but she and Genna had made a conscious decision to stay toward the back of the standing room only so they could slip out early and go backstage. There would be plenty of time for touching.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Once again, Sin’s size proved to be her best asset as she pulled Genna along through the twiggy groupies lined up along the hallway. A few had passes like hers, but most of them were just hoping to get a glance of Tate, clogging the line. Sin wasn’t about to wait in a stupid line and chance missing out. “Excuse us. Emergency. Coming through.”

  Genna gripped her arm like a tiny tugboat pulled along behind a yacht. Over the perfumed, mini-skirt clad bodies she spotted her friend who’d given them the passes. Sin waved and caught his attention, and a surge of power ripped through her guts as his stern face softened, traveled down her body, then back up. Sin put a little extra swing in her stride as they approached, knocking another Twiggy aside.

  He extended his hand and she settled hers against his palm and smiled up at him.

  “You made it.”

  Sin lifted her badge. “Thanks to you.”

  He stepped aside and signaled for them to enter the massive glass doors behind him. The line stood at attention and pushed forward, but he quickly shut the door behind them and resumed his stone-faced guard.

  Inside, Sin and Genna gasped with surprise. Tables and tables of food and drink filled half the small space and cozy loveseats filled the other half.

/>   Genna pressed against Sin’s side. “Oh my.”

  Sin grinned and stepped to a table of éclairs and pastries. “Indeed.” Every possible delicacy sat piled on one of the tables. Desserts on one, seafood, sushi, silver platters of who-knows-what filled others. She inhaled the delectable scents and popped an éclair. Cream burst on her tongue, and the light crust melted against her teeth. She savored the flavors and swallowed, then licked the crumbs from her fingers.

  Soft music piped through the speakers overhead, and Genna stepped timidly away toward the bar. “They have everything.”

  “Can I pour you ladies a drink?”

  Sin spun around as a man pushed through swinging doors in the far corner of the room. Perfectly sculpted from his round shoulders that flowed in harsh lines into his biceps, straining against his white tuxedo shirt, to his lean hips that barely held up his black, creased pants. A crisp black tie settled against the tanned skin of his neck, and Sin had a quick image of him wearing only that while he pumped and ground those hips on a stage to blaring music. He carried a tray of martini glasses and changed course to walk right between the girls. His gaze raked Sin’s body and did the same to Genna, smiling invitingly at both of them. Sin winked and followed him to the bar, enjoying the view of his tight, round ass.

  Genna ordered apple martinis for both of them and flirted up the waiter while Sin surveyed the room’s seating. With the collections of seats placed like they were, she wondered how many people were going to be allowed in. Too many, and the couches would become obsolete—unless you wanted to stare at pantiless crotches all night, and she really didn’t. She’d come for one reason tonight, and she meant to get what she wanted.

  Aside from the main door where they’d entered, and the service door where the bartender—and probably most of the food—had come through, there was still one more door on the far side of the couches, at the furthest point from both the main doors and the bar. Once the room packed with people, it would go highly unnoticed, but Sin had a tingle about it. And she never ignored that tingle. No matter what happened tonight, she was not leaving a three-foot radius of this door. She hitched her purse higher on her arm and settled on the arm of the couch. Genna brought her drink over and they clinked glasses.

  “To tonight,” Genna said with a smile.

  “To girl power.” Sin winked and took a sip, then lifted her glass to the bartender. By her calculations, they only had a few more songs before the band made their way backstage, which meant the line should be filtering in right about—

  The glass doors swept open and a perfectly matched set of triplets strode into the room. Sin kept her face passive, smiling slightly in greeting. Their red minis matched their glossed lips and six-inch heels, and the dripping dark fabric over their perky breasts hinted at more barely concealed perfection.

  The bartender’s shoulders straightened, and he leaned forward, ready. The girls ordered wine, and he chatted them up.

  Genna leaned close. “What’s the plan?”

  “Same as always. I guarantee I’ll stay the biggest one in the room, and this seat is in the direct line of the doors when he comes in. No way he can miss me.”

  Genna grinned and bounced up and down on the edge of the couch. “What a great night!”

  More girls filtered in, and it was instantly obvious who’d never been backstage before, and who the expert groupies were. Those girls moved with a confidence and a certainty that they’d end up with one of the band members tonight. A few even thought they’d bag the ultimate prize of Tate.

  Sin chuckled to herself and licked the sugar off her martini glass. Not a chance, girls. Not a chance.

  A flurry of activity erupted at the door. Sin and Genna exchanged glances and Genna took Sin’s glass. They’d been burned on holding drinks before, and Sin wasn’t about to leave this party because of an errantly placed elbow to her martini. She resituated herself on the arm of the couch, hips balanced, back arched, shoulders tall. Then she tipped her head down and studied her pinkie finger, keeping an eye on the feet moving through the doorway.

  The moment Tate’s shoes passed over the threshold, Sin slowly lifted her gaze, drawing it up his entire body. He paused and met her stare, eyes widening and nostrils flaring.

  Gotcha.

  Sin smiled and turned to Genna, starting a silent countdown in her head and outwardly picking up their conversation where she left off, purposefully ignoring Tate’s entire existence. She clamped her fingers tightly together to keep them from trembling, even though her insides were complete Jell-O. Sin ducked her head closer to Genna, giving Tate a great cleavage shot. “Laugh like I said something hysterical.” Sin straightened and Genna laughed loudly, tossing her head back.

  And three.

  Strong fingers encircled her upper arm, brushing lightly against the inside of her breast. Sin counted a full ‘one-one-thousand’ before swiveling her gaze to Tate’s.

  Full lips pulled into a smile, and Sin inhaled his scent, salty from the exertion of playing and full-bodied male on the hunt. His eyes searched hers, and Sin fought the urge to let him mesmerize her with his sea-blue eyes—blue like the froth on a stormy sea. His lashes, damp with sweat, spiked out in random directions, making him look all the more sex-rumpled.

  He swished his thumb across the back of her arm, sending a wave of warmth spreading across her body and tightening her nipples. “What are you drinking tonight?”

  Sin’s gaze trailed down his face, over his chest, and lingered below his belt, then drifted back up. “Surprise me.”

  Even to her own ears, her voice sounded husky and full of promises of sex. He inhaled sharply, and his grin widened. Apparently, it sounded that way to him too. “Be right back.” He released her arm and settled his fingers at the top of Genna’s spine. “And for you?”

  Genna lifted the two martini glasses, draining one. “Another martini?”

  He chuckled and shifted toward the bar, his gaze sliding slowly across Sin’s lap and up her body as he turned. She ignored the attention again and invented a new conversation with Genna.

  Like fish in a barrel.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Sin wiped her damp palms on the hem of her short skirt. She had to keep it together. Anyone could play the simpering groupie. Tonight she needed to work it and work it well. Genna drained her second martini glass, and Sin flicked her ear. “Cool it. I need a wingman, not a drunk.”

  Genna grinned over her shoulder. “Please. I could drink ten more of these silly fru-frus.”

  Tate reappeared and settled a new glass between her fingers. “Good. Here’s another.”

  Genna smiled and lifted her glass in salute, then faded into the growing mob of groupies. Sin watched the clinging curve of Genna’s retreating skirt before meeting Tate’s openly-appreciative gaze.

  He handed her a tumbler of amber liquid over ice. “Come here often?”

  Sin chuckled softly as her fingers curled beneath his and she lifted the glass to her nose and inhaled the bouquet, then lowered it without taking a drink. Interesting that he hadn’t brought her a fru-fru.

  “Oh, I get around. How about you?”

  “First time.”

  All around them, nervous and excited chatter was rife with girls daring friends to interrupt and ask him for autographs. A few even went so far as to—loudly—make snide comments about Sin’s shape and size and cautionary woes for the poor arm of the couch.

  They rolled off her like marbles on a polished statue, and she let her gaze linger on Tate’s lips as he took a pull off his beer. She wet her lips, but still didn’t take a drink.

  “You want to get out of here?”

  Sin’s gaze flew to clash with his. Genna hadn’t even made a single revolution of the room yet. He’d struck far earlier than they’d planned. Good thing Genna was a big girl and could fend for herself alone in this immature crowd. Once she got back here and found Sin’s chair vacated, she’d figure it out.

  With a deliberate slowness, Sin finally
lifted the glass, licked the rim, and took a sip. Her eyebrows rose in appreciation as the expensive whiskey purled over her tongue. “Have any place in mind?”

  His fingers dipped beneath her elbow, and he swept her off the couch and against his side. Sin’s belly clenched, and her nipples puckered. Rarely did men ever manhandle her with such conviction. Most of them were wimps and contentedly allowed her to lead. If she wasn’t careful, Tate was going to unravel her before they got upstairs. Aloof, Sin. Stay cool.

  Warm breath caressed the curve of her ear. “I’d like to take you upstairs to my suite.”

  He didn’t wait for an answer, but moved them through the door she’d purposefully placed herself next to. Even though this had been the plan all along, Sin had a split-second of hesitation, then relaxed into his warm strength.

  Sin forced her knees not to wobble and when his hand slid to settle in the small of her back, she nearly moaned with the sensations pulsing through her body. Being so near him was taking everything she had not to lick every inch of him. God, he was devastating.

  The door opened into a tight foyer and elevator. Tate took Sin’s glass and set both on a small table, then pushed the button. “What’s your name, babe?”

  This was her favorite part. Sin turned into him, arched her back, and purred, “Sin.”

  His eyebrows shot up. “Sin?” In a heartbeat, his gaze roamed her face, her lips, dipped into her cleavage and his irises dilated. “God, you are, baby. You are.” His mouth claimed hers, and Sin’s fingers slipped up his chest as his tongue slid between her lips. He plundered her mouth like he’d already turned over his soul. Sin moaned and his kiss deepened with a tenderness she’d never experienced. Sin melted into him, and his thigh nudged between hers. His fingers swept into her hair, and he stole her breath.