Under Her Skin Page 4

  Tobias watched out the window from the appearance party, and suddenly the world was right again. He never thought it would feel so good to have Marlo angry with him. It was worth it to see her laugh again.

  Chapter 6

  Day by day, Marlo started to regain her normal self. Though she was still hurting, she knew that she couldn't let him win. She couldn't let the man who almost stole her innocence steal the rest of her life too. She knew that she would never forget that night, but little by little, she was moving past it.

  No one was as happy at Marlo's return as her brother was. She was the only family that he truly had, and it hurt him to see her hurting so much. Sure, what Tobias had said to Marlo was harsh, but in a way, he saw that it was the only way through the fog that Marlo was living in.

  Pierce was happy too, and was formulating a plan to get Marlo back. He knew that he had royally screwed up, but he was going to prove to Marlo that she could trust him. He just had to get her to go out with him again, and everything else would fall into place.

  "I don't know Pierce. I'm really not ready to date again yet." Marlo told him for the third time. He just wouldn't quit. She knew that he was going to keep at it until she said yes.

  "Please, just give me another chance, that's all I ask. We can go out, catch a movie, share a little popcorn, you know the drill. Completely innocent, and out of harm's way." He pleaded.

  Marlo sat quiet for a minute. His incessant pestering was really getting to her. More to shut him up than anything else, she agreed. "Fine, but we're going to an early show. The next city we stop in, we'll find a movie theater." The look on Pierce's face was priceless. He looked like he was going to jump up and down. "But I get to pick the movie."

  Pierce's face froze for a moment. That could mean chick flick. But hell, it was worth it to be able to spend time with Marlo again. His face resumed the joyous look. "You won't regret this." He grabbed Marlo's shoulders and pulled her close to kiss her cheek. Then he let her go and pushed her back a little, not realizing that he was pushing her, he just wanted to get away from her before she changed her mind.

  Marlo snickered and shook her head as she regained her balance. She watched Pierce disappear through the door, and an extreme calm came over her. She couldn't help but feel a little anxious in Pierce's presence. Before, she thought that feeling was because she liked him, now she wasn't so sure.

  *****

  The next day, the tour bus pulled into the hotel parking lot. As a rare treat, they were able to get hotel rooms, rather than sleeping on the bus. It seemed like they were never in one place long enough to stay in a hotel room, but since they had planned on staying for three nights, so they were able to finally sleep in an actual bed.

  Since Marlo was the only girl, she got her own room, while Dusty and Tobias shared a room on one side of her, and AJ and Sammy shared on the other side of her. She threw her suitcase on the bed and headed straight for the bathroom. To her delight, there was a nice garden tub, with her name written all over it.

  She turned the tap on and poured in one of the hotel's mini bottles of bubble bath. Once she got the right temperature, she went over to the mirror and put her hair up in a twist. She began to undress, patiently waiting for the tub to fill.

  Naked, Marlo stepped into the tub, careful not to slip. Her toes were the first to greet the bubbles, which tickled, then the hot water. She slowly sat down in stages, giving her body time to adjust to the temperature of the water.

  When she was immersed up to her shoulders, she heaved a satisfied sigh and laid her head back. Being on the bus all the time, she never got the luxury of relaxing in a hot tub, so she was going to get her fill of it while she could. Nothing was as relaxing as a soapy soak.

  She decided that their stay at the hotel was going to be spent pampering herself. She was going to check out the hotel's spa the next day for a facial, massage, manicure, and pedicure. Every woman needs to splurge every now and then, especially after all she'd been through.

  Her peace and planning were interrupted by a loud banging on the wall. Without lifting her head or opening her eyes, she pounded back on the wall. They weren't going to get to her this time. She wasn't going to let them ruin her moment of bliss.

  Slowly, she slipped into a deep sleep, only to wake half an hour later. Her fingers were pruned, and the water was cold. As she stood up, she yawned and pulled the plug on the drain. Immediately the water flowed down the drain, exposing more and more of her legs, until her feet were visible. Once it was gone, Marlo turned on the shower and rinsed off.

  When she was washing the shampoo out of her hair, she heard a door slamming shut. Startled, she jumped, jerking her head back causing water to spray all over her face. The shampoo changed directions with the water and ran down in streams into her eyes. She reached for the towel that hung on the bar outside of the shower, and shrieked when her hand touched something warm and rough.

  She yanked the towel out of the hand that held it and wiped her eyes clear. She should have known that Tobias wouldn't leave her alone for long. She stood there for a minute, in shock, before she remembered that she was naked. She shrieked again and covered her body with the towel.

  "What the fuck are you doing in here?" Marlo yelled at him. She got even angrier when she saw the delight in his eyes. "Can't I ever get any privacy?"

  Tobias was stunned. He had heard her shower running through the wall of his hotel room, and knew it was the perfect opportunity to torment Marlo. He never expected to see her completely naked though, and even worse, he never expected to be so turned on by her.

  Marlo wasn't shaped like a twig. She had a little meat on her bones, but not enough to be considered 'fat'. Tobias usually went for the women that were thin as rails, but seeing Marlo like this, he, at that moment, re-evaluated his 'type' of woman. Each one of her curves had an erotic flair, something that the skin and bones women didn't possess. His mind went completely blank, and he couldn't for the life of him remember what he was there to do.

  "Get out!" She shoved him, nearly losing her grip on the towel that she clutched against her body. Her foot slipped on the soapy floor of the tub, and she would have fallen if it hadn't been for the hand that reached out to hold her up.

  Tobias barely felt her hand crash against his shoulder, but when he saw Marlo lose her balance, it snapped him out of his daze. "I just came over to see if you needed some help, and obviously you did. What would you do without me?"

  Marlo growled. She couldn't think of a comeback, as usual. He was so frustrating. "Stop looking at me like that!" She yelled. She felt his eyes boring into her. Her face flushed a bright red color, and though she didn't have any clothes on, she was sweating.

  "All right, I better go before you try to seduce me." Tobias said, backing out of the bathroom. Nice seeing you though…very nice." He winked at her, smirking, then disappeared through the door connecting their rooms.

  As soon as the door closed, she ran over and locked it, then sat on the bed and dropped onto her back. That whole encounter left her feeling shaky, not from fear, but from excitement. She didn't know which would be worse.

  Her eyes scanned the room for the first time. When she first came in, all she saw was the bathroom, so now she was seeing it all for the first time. It was a typical hotel room, but compared to the bus, it was top notch. When she saw the time, she shot up. Pierce was picking her up in fifteen minutes, and she was nowhere near being ready.

  The first thing she did was get dressed. It was bad enough that Tobias saw her naked, there was no way that she wanted Pierce to see her that way. She threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt, just trying to be comfortable. She felt bad that she wasn't dressing up to look nice for Pierce, but she didn't want to encourage him anymore.

  She dried her hair quickly, and put on some eyeliner and mascara. Just as she finished, there was a knock at her door. She took a deep breath and prepared to face the night with Pierce. Opening the door, the date began.

  A bouqu
et of wild flowers were shoved in her face, before she could even say hi. She took the flowers out of Pierce's hand, and pulled them away from her face. "Hi." She said, a little annoyed. He was starting to be over-bearing.

  "Hello beautiful. Ready for our date?" He asked, stepping into her room. "You look…" He took her body in. "…um, nice?" He seemed a little disappointed.

  Marlo looked down at her clothes. "Sorry, I just like to be comfortable when I go to the movies." Why did she feel the need to apologize for her appearance? She saw that he was wearing a pair of khakis and a polo shirt. He wasn't much more dressed up than she was. "Well, let's go or we'll be late for the movie." This wasn't starting out good.

  Pierce felt the tension and hoped that as the night wore on, he would chisel away at it. He didn't want the whole night to be uncomfortable, even though it was starting out that way.

  Outside of the hotel, they hailed a cab and got dropped off at the closest theater. Marlo picked the movie, a super-sappy chick flick, and Pierce paid for the tickets. They sat together and watched the movie, but they couldn't have been further apart.

  They went through the night with very little conversation. It was apparent to both of them that the night was a mistake. At the end of the date, he dropped her off at her door, and when he leaned in to kiss her, she turned away.

  "I told you I wasn't ready for this." Marlo said apologetically. She looked into his eyes before bidding him goodnight and disappearing behind the door to her room. She didn't want to hurt Pierce, but he just wouldn't listen to reason.

  Not wanting to be alone, Marlo knocked on the door that joined her room to Dusty and Tobias'. When no one answered, she knocked again. She knew that they had the night off, but didn't think they would have gone out already.

  A very groggy Tobias answered the door, wearing only a pair of boxers. It was a sight that Marlo was used to now, and didn't even bat an eyelash at it. His normally spiky hair was matted against his head on one side, obviously where it had been resting on his pillow.

  "Sorry, didn't mean to wake you." Marlo said, turning away to leave.

  Tobias caught her wrist. "Wait, what's up?"

  "I just wanted to see what you guys were doing." Her eyes showed her need to not be alone.

  "Dusty isn't here, but you can come in and hang out with me if you want." He offered, pulling her into his room without waiting for an answer. "Wasn't tonight your big date with Pierce?"

  Marlo rolled her eyes. "You know, he was perfectly nice, he even brought me flowers. But the whole night, I was counting the seconds until I could get away from him." She sighed. "I told him that I wasn't ready yet, but he couldn't get it through his thick skull."

  Tobias collapsed onto his bed, pulling Marlo down with him so that they were spooning. His eyes instantly closed, trying to go back to sleep but still listening to what she was saying. "Maybe it's not that you aren't ready, maybe you just don't want to be with him."

  She stiffened for a minute. "When did you get to be so smart?" She asked. "And why are you being so nice to me?" She yawned deeply and felt her whole body relax.

  His hand covered her mouth. "I'm just half asleep and I'm not fully functioning. So quit complaining."

  Marlo did just what she was told, which wasn't hard since she had already fallen asleep in Tobias' arms. He joined her in dream land shortly after that, enjoying the comfort of the bed and of the woman next to him.

  Chapter 7

  Marlo rolled over to face Tobias. She felt his arms tight around her waist. She ran her hands through the back of his hair, and softly brushed her lips against his. As their lips touched, a thousand little shocks ran through her body.

  He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss. Their tongues dueled passionately. Tobias rolled their bodies together so that he was on top of her. His hands were no longer on her cheeks, they were making their way to the bottom of her shirt. His fingers sought out the velvety soft skin on her stomach, causing her breath to catch.

  Marlo's head fell back in pleasure, and Tobias took advantage of the situation by attacking her neck with his lips. He nibbled on the exposed skin, licking and nipping at the sweet skin. This was it, the moment she was going to lose her virginity, and Tobias was making sure that she was ready. She felt an arousal like she had never felt before. Each time his lips connected with her skin, she received multiple jolts of pleasure through her body. An uncontrollable moan escaped from her mouth, overwhelmed by what was happening.

  "Marlo?" He shook her shoulder. "Hey, wake up. Are you okay?" Tobias asked. Her twisting and turning along with her tiny cries had woken him up. He was worried that she was having another nightmare about that man who assaulted her. "Marlo! Wake up!"

  Marlo sat up with a shot. She looked next to her where Tobias watched her with a concerned look on his face. "Oh shit!" She said, covering her face in embarrassment. She'd been dreaming about getting it on with Tobias. Tobias, of all people!

  "Were you having a nightmare?" He asked her, rubbing her back softly.

  Marlo jumped out of bed at the touch of his hand, nearly tripping on the sheets. "No, I'm fine."

  Tobias watched her, noticing the appearance of the blush rising on her face. "What was that all about?" He asked. Marlo twisted nervously under his glare. The realization dawned on him and a smug smirk played over his face. "You were having an erotic dream!" He started laughing. Marlo sat on the edge of the dresser, afraid her legs were going to give out. She buried her head in her hands. "Who was it? Who was the star of your dreams?" He prodded.

  "Shut the fuck up Tobias! I wasn't having an erotic dream." She growled.

  "Me thinks the lady doth protest too much." He laughed even harder. "So, who was it? Sammy? You seem to like the drummers. No, there's no spark there. Pierce? Nah, after tonight, I know it wasn't him." He watched her squirm under his watchful eyes and inquiring mind. "It was me, wasn't it?"

  Marlo's head jerked up. She saw the taunting look he gave her, and she was mortified. "You wish!"

  "So, was it steamy? Did I rock your world?" He crawled to the end of the bed so he was right in front of Marlo. "Want to make your dreams a reality?"

  She felt her heart stop. Did she? Was that what the dream was all about? Did she really want him, or did she just have that dream because Tobias had been there for her so much since the assault and she was just grateful to him? "Get over yourself. You're so delusional." She started to walk away, only to be stopped by his hand around her wrist. She looked into his eyes, feeling the fire within.

  "When you're ready to admit it, come find me." He release the grasp he had on her wrist and watched her walk away.

  Just before she got to the door joining their rooms, Dusty came barging into the room, closing the door quickly. "There you are!" He yelled at her. "I've been looking for you all over. I have a little surprise for you."

  Marlo groaned, she wasn't really in the mood for his games at that point, not after dealing with Tobias and his ego. "What now?"

  "Cheer up buttercup. You'll like this." He promised. He went back to the door and opened it up.

  Marlo saw a vision that was a sight for sore eyes. There stood a petite woman with bright red hair, pale skin with freckles, and crystal-clear green eyes. "Ryver?"

  "Breze!" The little red-head yelled back.

  The two girls ran to each other, laughing , and embraced. "Oh my god! What are you doing here?" Marlo asked.

  "Your brother invited me to stay with you while you're here. He said you're never in one place for long, so this was the perfect opportunity to get together." Ryver, or Rachel, explained.

  Marlo looked at her brother, so much joy in her eyes, and hugged him. "Thank you." She whispered.

  "You’re welcome." He hugged her tighter before releasing his sister.

  "Come over here and sit down so we can catch up." Marlo said, dragging Rachel to Dusty's bed. "How have you been?"

  Rachel's eyes wandered to the nearly naked man that was laying in the next bed, watching th
e two girls curiously. Marlo followed her eyes and groaned again.

  "That's Tobias, Tobias this is my best friend and pledge sister, Rachel." Marlo introduced grudgingly.

  "Nice to meet you." Rachel said with a wink of her eye.

  "And you." He gave his patented smirk. "So, I'd love to hear some stories of the wild college days. How did you two meet?"

  Marlo wasn't speaking up, so Rachel did. "Lola and I met at a sorority rush. We were both looking at all the sororities, and got to know each other going back and forth to all the rush parties. When we were both invited to pledge Zeta, we instantly clicked. We went through a semester of hell together, and even though we had other pledge sisters, we had this bond that no one else could match. We really leaned on each other through the whole thing, and after that, our friendship was cemented."

  "Ah, how nice." Tobias said with fake sentiment. "So, give me the dirt. I want to hear all about the little partier that we all know and love."

  "Well, there was this one time that Lola…" Rachel started but couldn't finish because Marlo had her hand covering her mouth.

  "Come on Rach, let's go to my room. I'm sure the guys want to get ready to go out." Marlo said, dragging her friend to the door.

  "Are we going out too?" Rachel asked.

  Marlo looked to her brother, wanting to go out, but was unsure of her safety. Dusty nodded his reassurance to her, effectively making up Marlo's mind. "Why the hell not. It'll be good to let off some steam." She glared at Tobias.

  In return Tobias waved, his smile growing by the minute. "See you soon, lover."

  Marlo flipped him off and disappeared through the door with Rachel.

  "So, what's with him? He's kind of cute." Rachel asked about Tobias.

  "Ugh, just a thorn in my ass." Marlo rolled her eyes.

  "So, what's the man situation?" Rachel was always looking for a good time.