Across the Music (Across the Ocean Book 2) (4 page)

Her hands are wringing each other in front of her with her unease, a brown paper bag of food gripped tight between them. After a pause, I realize that I’m just staring at her without saying anything or even inviting her inside. I’m such an idiot.

Clearing my throat, I let a smile overtake my mouth when our eyes meet again. A faint blush creeps over her chest and cheeks, and I wonder if she turns pink when she’s being fucked.
Keep it together Gunnar!

“Hi Sophie. What a wonderful surprise. I didn’t realize you were coming – Not that it's a problem at all that you're here.” I move to the side to allow her to enter the flat.

“Hello there, Gunnar.” Her raspy yet sweet voice floats over me like warm honey. Her New Zealand accent is the cherry on top of its delicious decadence. I can't wait to hear her speak to me more.

I can tell she’s is uncomfortable though, if the small frown on her brow, or her arms wrapped tightly around each other is any indication. My initial instinct is to smooth the worried lines away with my thumb, but that’s not really an option right now. I hardly know her. What a strange response to have towards a person I hardly know.

She takes a few tentative steps into my hallway, and I close the door behind her. She looks around and notices that nobody else has arrived yet, and I'm guessing that she didn't mean to show up early, although I simply cannot believe my good luck. My brain is scrambling to figure out how she got to be here in the first place, but I just have no idea.

The same tingles of familiarity flow through me when I look at her, just like in the restaurant. I just wish I knew why or where I know her from. It’s driving me a little crazy. The scent of her washes over me as she walks by me into the flat, reminding me of a pecan pie that Brooke made recently. Warm and delicious. I remember Katla used to wear perfumes that were cloyingly sweet, and would irritate my nose, and usually give me headaches. I just want to lick Sophie and see if she tastes as good as she smells.

Sophie looks around the hallway curiously, while she slides her boots off and sets them next to the shoe rack. She's still wearing the same outfit I saw her in at dinner, which is no surprise since she must have come from there. Coming up behind her, I place my hand on her lower back to guide her into the other room. She feels so damn good against my palm and fingertips, it’s making me want to slide my hand just a little lower to cup the perfect ass below.

I can hear a soft little whimper in response from Sophie as she follows my guidance into the living room ahead of me. My mouth instantly goes dry, and my cock twitches and takes notice. I'm hoping that she's affected by me just as much as I am by her.

“Have a seat, please make yourself comfortable,” my right arm stretches out towards my sectional sofa, and she obediently sits down on the nearest section to our right. There's music playing from the sound system, but our house isn't completely ready for the party yet.

“Thanks mate. Do you mind if I eat my burger in here?” She lifts her bag and an eyebrow in question, looking hopeful. That accent is just as charming as I'd hoped. My cock appreciates it too.

“
Já
, of course. We eat in here all of the time. I’ll introduce you to everyone as they show up. Would you like a beer, or a glass of wine?” Her face lights up and she nods.

“A beer would be great,” she opens her bag, pulling out a wrapped burger, a bag of fries, and a little container of béarnaise sauce. It smells delicious. I turn on my heel and head back into the hallway.

One thing I love about this flat is that it has a really handy feature. Whoever owned it previously turned the coat closet next to the front door into a huge walk in cooler and refrigerator. We have a regular fridge in the kitchen, more for holding immediate food items while here is where we keep our stash of booze and miscellaneous items.

I live with a close friend who is in a band with me. He has only recently moved in, but he’s fitting in just fine. My flat has 4 bedrooms, and while I of course occupy one, I have an older brother who uses another whenever he is in town, my friend and band mate just moved into another, and the last is usually kept for whoever is in need of a bed at any given point in time. It’s currently not being used.

Many of my friends have made use of this extra bedroom, and it has been helpful to some of them who were having rough nights after drinking, problems with girlfriends (or boyfriends) and people who were in between places and needed a temporary room until they moved into their new place.

Grabbing two beers, I head into the kitchen to grab a glass just in case Sophie wants one. I want her to see that I know how to be a gentleman. As I’m grabbing the glasses from the cabinet, I hear a sexy moan coming from the living room. The acoustics in the flat helps the sounds travel and echo all around like a surround sound porno.

My cock twitches. That’s the sound of a satisfied woman.
Sophie.
My imagination immediately goes crazy, seeing her touching herself on my couch in my mind’s eye. All the blood rushes straight to my cock, causing it to press firmly against my jeans. I’m tripping over myself in order to get to the living room fast enough to see what’s going on.

Coming to a wobbly stop at the entryway of the living room with two beers and a glass in my hand, I’m sure my expression is nothing short of comical. I hear another satisfied whimper, and my eyes fly over to the right where Sophie is sitting.

Much to my surprise, and perhaps a bit of sadness, she’s just sitting there eating her burger. Nothing more. Her eyes are closed as she chews on a bite. The look of pure bliss on her face tells me the rest.

I’ve heard of the term ‘food porn’, but this isn’t something I’ve experienced or seen before. I’m completely fascinated, even though my cock is quite a bit disappointed.

I have a huge sectional couch that is perfect for all the company I have coming over frequently. I walk into the room and sit on the tongue piece of the couch near the opposite wall. Sophie smiles sweetly at me while she finishes chewing her bite.

“I’m sorry, but I’m a bit of an obnoxious eater. I probably should have warned you ahead of time,” she shrugs apologetically, giving me a lopsided smile after she swallows her mouthful.

I clear my throat and chuckle a little, leaning forward to hand over the beer and glass I grabbed for her. Her fingertips graze mine was she takes them from me, and darts of heat head straight to my cock.

“Am I the only one here? I feel kind of silly showing up at your house to a party you didn’t invite me to. Especially if I’m the first to arrive. I hope you know that Brooke asked for me to come. I’m not a creeper, I swear,” Sophie pops the top of her can, the carbonation causing bubbles to flow from the top, but she pours it expertly into her tilted glass before taking a long swig. After several seconds tick by, she lowers the glass and can, locking her eyes on mine, serious suddenly.

“Do you even remember who I am?” She blurts out.

I blink.
Do I?
I do have the feeling of recognition, but no memory of where from. Shaking my head, I smile ruefully.

“If I’m honest, no. I feel like I remember you, or should remember you. You are very familiar to me, but I can't remember why. Does it make up for it if I say that I wish I did remember you? Will you take pity on me and tell me how we know each other?” I clasp my hands together and shake them slightly as if pleading. She rewards me with a beautiful smile.

“We met a few weeks ago in Tálknafjörður. You don’t remember anything?” For some reason she seems happy, if not relieved by this revelation.

“I drank entirely too much then, and I don’t remember most of what happened after we played our gig,” her whole body suddenly relaxes against the couch. With her drink in one hand, and her burger in the other, she doesn't seem to be an overly girly woman like Katla. She's not dressed up, and she's comfortable with her beer and burger in an unladylike way. I like that a lot. I'm definitely interested in learning what I could have possibly forgotten about her.

“Right. Well…” She begins, but is interrupted by my phone making noises from the direction of the kitchen. The light bulb goes off in my head, reminding me that the party is going to start in about twenty minutes, and I still need to change and finish preparing the flat for guests.

"Ah, I am so sorry to do this, but I wasn't expecting anyone for a little longer. I have a few things to finish prepping; do you think you'd be alright here for a bit without me?" She nods without hesitation. "My roommate is here too, but don't be uneasy around him, he's a great guy. His name is Loki. I'll be back shortly." I stand up, sad to leave her alone even if it is just for a short time. That's pathetic. I won't be sad, just normal. Like any normal person is.

"Don't worry about me; I've got this burger to eat. Take care of what you need to, and again I'm sorry for showing up so early," she picks up her burger, waving it apologetically at me before taking a large bite as though to demonstrate just how fine she will be while I'm gone.

"Don't be sorry, I'm glad you're here," I say with a smile as I stand up and head into the kitchen to grab my phone. There's an SMS from Brooke announcing that they will be here soon, so I walk down the back hallway towards my room to finish getting ready for guests. I can hear the shower running, and know that Loki is in there. I'm not going to bother him to let him know Sophie is here, he'll figure it out soon enough.

After a few more bites of my burger, I decide it's too cold to keep eating, which is a bummer because it was so tasty. I stand up and head into the kitchen to throw away the remains of my meal. I hear the reverberating sound as a door opens and closes down the hallway, and feet walking towards the front of the apartment where I am. I assume that it's Gunnar still getting ready, or maybe he's done already. The door to the closet by the front door also opens and closes while I'm still searching for where the trash can is.

Finally finding the trash under the sink, I stuff everything in there and quickly leave the kitchen and into the main entrance hallway. A delicate string of guitar notes reaches my ears, and I can see there is someone in the small room to my left, which is also connected to the left side of the living room. Stepping closer even though I feel like a creeper doing it, I take a peek into the dimly lit and smoky room.

This room is about half the size of the living room, and there are sliding doors that connect both rooms that I didn't notice before, though they are currently closed. There is a door that leads out to a small concrete balcony, and there is a large table against the left wall in the room with several types of refreshments for the party. If I'm completely honest, I'm not sure how I can even tell you what the room looks like since I'm hardly noticing anything but the person sitting on a flimsy fold-up chair next to the open door to the balcony.

Lounging in nothing but a small white terrycloth towel around his waist, an attractive bloke (Loki, I presume) is sitting with one ankle resting on the knee of his other bare leg while strumming on a beautiful acoustic guitar. A hand-rolled ciggy is perched precariously between his full lips while he closes his eyes and delivers another round of beautiful chords and notes. A freshly opened beer can rests on the table next to him to his right.

I assume that he hasn't noticed me yet, since he doesn't look up at me or stop playing, and I was fairly quiet coming into the open door way. This gives me the chance to get a full look at the visual gift that the world seems to have presented me.

I think I’ve possibly died and gone to heaven, when all is said and done. Am I even alive anymore? I’m in a room with one of the best-looking men I’ve ever seen in my life, and I was just having a conversation with another eye-gasm of a man that I perhaps didn't
totally
screw up with after all. I’m shocked stupid while my brain tries to process what my eyes are seeing. My pulse starts to hammer wildly within me. I have to take a deep breath to calm myself as my blood begins to pump through my veins with an extra kick of fire.

The perfect amount of golden scruff covers his cheeks and there is a deep dimple in his chin that I can't stop looking at. I just want to lick it. His skin is an almost matching golden tan, contrasting nicely with the white of his meager towel around his hips. His blonde hair is almost as light as mine yet cut short and with a touch more yellow, with the front left a little longer than the back. There is a thin trail that teases me down his abs only to sneak under his towel, and it's just cruel and unusual punishment that I can't let my teeth pull that towel away and take a ride on the sexy train. Choo choo!

I can see tattoos everywhere, wrapping all around his neck, shoulders, arms, chest, and down in intricate detail to cover his hands and fingers. Glancing down, I can see he even has tattoos on his legs. Oh, his bare legs and feet. I tend to like a tasty man-ankle and I will say that his are grade A. He's got three piercings in his right eyebrow, along with gauged ears to complete this sexy bad boy picture. I wonder if he's got a tongue ring, I hear those things can do great things to lady parts.

An enticing cologne is floating throughout the room, along with the scent of a freshly showered man. I breathe in deeply to allow his citrusy scent to seep into me.
Oh dear god, I hope it sticks to me and I smell like it for the next few hours.
My knees feel a little weak, so I lean against the doorframe for support.