Madelynne Ellis - Come Together

‘Just relax, let it happen. There, isn’t it?’ he asked, adjusting the way he had his fingers curled, so that they nudged repeatedly against some incredibly sensitive spot inside her pussy. Immediately, it sent her whole nervous system into raptures. ‘There it is. There.’ She came hard against his beautiful mouth.

‘Oh, God,’ she sighed again, when, not content with one explosion, he pushed her headlong towards another. The second wasn’t any less quiet. Only the door behind her and Xane’s firm grip upon her legs kept her upright. He reached up and offered her his fingers to bite down on. ‘That’s it. Ride it, Dani. I can feel you tugging me deeper. I want to get inside you so badly.’

‘Now, Xane.’ A second person, one with seemingly far less patience, rattled the door handle.

Xane brushed a hand across his fly, squeezed, but there was no time for anything else. Still, he held her until the tremors faded from her limbs. Only when she’d fully regained her composure did he lift her panties back into place and refasten her jeans. He didn’t wipe his fingers or his mouth, just smeared on a demonic pout. ‘Every time I lift the microphone, I’m going to get a hit of you, and I’ll remember you’re waiting for me. That’s going to get me through this.’

For the briefest moment, she saw a flash of the torment waging in his soul. Then he grabbed her hand and opened the door. Rock Giant stood on the opposite side, his knuckles raised ready to hammer on the wood.

‘For fuck’s sake, how many calls do you need?’ He scowled at Dani. Xane squeezed her hand, reminding her that he was there, and she was his. She didn’t need to feel intimidated, even if Black Halo’s bass guitarist did stand well over six feet, and the spikes in his hair probably added another ten inches. ‘Put the girl down. We’re up.’

Xane was definitely up. Dani couldn’t divert her gaze from his loins and the evidence of that fact, all the way from his dressing-room door to the green room. Surely he couldn’t walk on stage like that? He’d get done for obscenity or something.

‘Are you really going to walk out there hard?’ She reached across and gave his cock a little squeeze.

Xane repressed a groan, but a flash of excitement shot from the centres of his eyes. ‘It won’t be the first time.’

‘Someone else got you this excited?’

He fell quiet and got a strange faraway look in his eyes. Damn, she ought to have realised. Only one person made his vision cloud like that. Dani moved her hand and squeezed his fingers instead. She didn’t want him choked up on memories. Nor did she want the reminder of his fluid sexuality. She thought she probably ought to say or do something, but they had reached the backstage area and all of a sudden there were too many people around for them to discuss anything so private.

Her worries about Xane quickly passed as they were thrown in the whirl of activity. Dani realised it was the first time she’d seen the whole band together in one place. Her inner fan-girl took over, so she was sporting a stupid grin she couldn’t dislodge. Spook and Ash were chatting to a couple of the road crew. Elspeth Shriik was sipping water through a straw while glaring with undisguised hatred at Iain Willows, who wasn’t at all what Dani had expected.

In her mind’s eye she’d dressed him in tight black leathers, with one of those strange bolero-type jackets that covered the arms and fastened above the abs but left the whole chest on display. She’d envisaged him being kind of hot, but borderline sleazy too. Only he wasn’t that. He wasn’t really very Black Halo-ish either. He looked more pop than rock with his razor-cut hair and his thick beetling eyebrows, as if he’d come straight from entertaining the tweenage crowd. No wonder Xane had his doubts. Luthor would definitely have been a more obvious fit. She wondered if he’d returned to the sound booth to help Ulf or if he’d actually walked out.

One of the crew fitted Xane with an earpiece, while another supplied him with a banana. ‘Pre-gig ritual,’ he explained, in response to her curious stare. ‘It’s hard work out there. This stops me coming off stage completely bushed.’

‘You’d better eat a few of them, then,’ she advised, snatching a second banana from the same crew member, and peeling it ready for Xane to eat. ‘I’m going to want you wide awake, not sleepy.’

‘I don’t think that’ll be a problem.’ Still, he took her offering, and devoured it in four bites.

‘Don’t any of the others partake?’

‘They’ve quirks of their own.’ He drew her attention to them in turn. ‘Spook mutters some ancient Swedish ode, and he doesn’t need bananas. He practically lives on guarana and goji berries. Elspeth,’ he said without looking at his former lover, ‘spritzes herself with exactly five squirts of Midnight Poison, but not until the very last second. Rock Giant burns a few new holes in the ozone layer making sure those spikes of his stay in place.’

‘And Ash?’

‘He’ll have spent the last hour sucking aniseed balls, so he tastes like he’s been necking Pernod.’

She didn’t enquire how he knew what Ash tasted like, already knowing she wouldn’t like the answer. However, the damage was already done, and her overactive imagination had produced a crystal-clear image of Xane and Ash kissing. It was hard enough dealing with the fact that Xane had been in love with Steve Matlock, let alone speculating on what relationships he’d had and what things he’d done with the rest of the band. It wouldn’t surprise her to learn that he’d slept with every goddamned one of them. She didn’t need confirmation of that fact, though. It might not surprise her, but it did make her hideously queasy.

‘Ash also likes to line up his post-show entertainment.’ He nodded his head towards a huddle of girls waiting in the corner. To Dani’s astonishment, her best friend Ginny was among them.

‘What – how are you here? Why are you here?’

‘Same as you. I’m scoring myself a red-hot rock star.’ She winked at Xane, who turned away. ‘I got myself a legit pass this time.’ It read, ‘Property of Ash Gore’.

‘We’ll speak in a bit,’ Dani said, before scuttling off to catch up with Xane, whose attention had turned to the new guy. She hoped Ginny knew what she was doing, and wasn’t going to get herself hurt. Ash wasn’t like Xane. He didn’t get emotionally invested.

‘I hope you’re not drinking too much of that shit.’

Dani jumped in response to Xane’s growl. It wasn’t directed at her but at Iain Willows, who was busy necking a very large and lethal-looking cocktail.

Showing impressive guts, Iain locked gazes with Xane. ‘Is there a problem with me having a drink?’

‘No. No problem.’ Ash darted between them, his palms raised towards Xane. ‘It’s just one drink, Xane. It’s not a problem.’

‘If he’s playing for us, I want him sober.’

‘He’s not going to get wasted on one drink. It’s not like he’s downed a dozen pints.’

‘It’s OK, Ash.’ Iain pushed Ash to one side so he could address Xane directly. ‘I get this is difficult for you. Steve was a fantastic drummer, I know I’m going to have a hell of a time trying to replace him, but –’

‘You’ll never replace him.’ Xane turned his back and stalked away.

Dani lingered a moment, staggered by Xane’s bluntness.

‘He’s still in shock,’ she muttered by way of an explanation. ‘He doesn’t find it easy to talk about Steve.’

Ash nodded in agreement with her. He clapped Iain on the back. ‘Give him time. It’s only been a few weeks.’

‘Maybe you’re not ready to be on tour.’