Come Together

Where in the hell was Dani? He needed her here.

‘This is for the best, Xane.’ Ash spoke slowly, with as much calm as he could muster. Mediation wasn’t his usual role. Normally it was Spook trying to smooth things out.

‘Who is he?’ Xane asked distrustfully, suspicious of where Ash had magicked someone from, given that decent rock drummers were few and far between. The last thing they needed was a feud developing because they’d poached some other group’s drum fiend. They had enough axes hanging over them as it was.

‘It’s Iain,’ Ash replied, as if that were supposed to mean something.

‘Who?’ He’d met numerous Iains, but none who was particularly known for playing drums.

‘Iain Willows.’

It took a moment for the name to click. ‘Ash, you have to be effing kidding me. Is this a joke?’ It had to be. ‘The guy hates my guts. He’s done nothing but badmouth me for years.’

‘Bit of friendly rivalry, that’s all,’ Ash reassured him. He flicked his swathe of black hair from his eyes. ‘You know how it is. The punters love a good feud. Come on, Xane. We’ve all thrown a few crass remarks about at some point. Besides, he’s a decent drummer, he’s knows our stuff and he’s available for the whole tour. We’re not going to find anyone else of similar calibre that just happens to have a six-month opening on their calendar, starting today.’

Yeah, so how come Mr Willows did?

Xane shook his head. ‘You should have discussed this. Springing him on us like this is wrong.’

‘It’s only what you’re planning to do with Dani. Besides, if I’d brought it up sooner, you’d simply have vetoed the idea, and then where would we be?’

‘What do you mean, this is what I’m doing with Dani? She’s not joining the band.’

‘She’s as good as. However, in the interests of democracy, why don’t we vote on it? Iain, I mean. Not Dani. I’m happy for her to be around if it keeps you sweet. Guys! Over here a minute.’

The rest of the band slowly sloped over, Elspeth and Rock Giant first, then Spook, with his purple Washburn guitar suspended from its strap and his fingers still dancing over the strings in a repetitive cycle.

‘What’s the verdict, then?’ Rock Giant asked. Rather than flick his gaze over to their prospective drummer, he looked up towards the sound booth in the rafters. ‘Are we set for this soundcheck or what? If we don’t get our butts in gear soon, Ulf’s going to go all Captain Caveman on us.’

‘We’re having a vote,’ Ash explained.

Xane rubbed his brow in despair. ‘Ash wants us to take on a new drummer.’

‘Figured. Didn’t think he was sitting there just for show. Does he come with an explanation?’

‘The backing track sucks,’ Ash responded. ‘And even if it didn’t, personally, I don’t want to play exactly the same set every gig for thirty-odd stops. We’ve always swapped things about, it helps keep it fresh.’

‘What’s your opinion, Spook?’ Xane crossed his fingers that Mr Mortensen had more sense than to blindly agree to this.

Spook stopped playing to take a look at the guy behind the drums. ‘I say give him a trial. See how he handles those sticks. If he works out, then sure, fine. If we need somebody, we need somebody.’

‘Elspeth?’ As if he needed to ask to know her opinion. She looked right through him, focusing instead on something in the middle distance, making him wonder how many times she’d wished he’d been the one whose nose had been broken instead of Steve. Still, he’d take that over the withering glare she cast their wannabe drummer.

‘Why are you even asking me? Of course I don’t want him here. We’re doing this tour for Steve. What does it say about his memory if we’ve already replaced him?’

‘That’s not what we’re doing.’ Ash reached out to her, but she backed away like a startled cat. ‘Elspeth, please. I know this is hard. Steve meant a lot to all of us, but we need a new drummer now. We don’t have the luxury to wait. The tour kicks off tonight.’

‘Well, I don’t see what was wrong with what we had planned.’

Ash shoved his hands into his hair despairingly. ‘Open your ears and listen, woman.’

‘Hey, go easy on her,’ Rock Giant warned.

Ash sighed. ‘Elspeth, we’re not replacing Steve. This isn’t about taking on a new permanent member. It’s about getting through the tour.’

‘For God’s sake, just have your vote, Ash,’ Xane said. The sooner this was over with the better.

‘Ayes?’

Ash raised his hand, so too did Rock Giant. Elspeth shook her head violently even before Ash asked for the nays. Making it two for and two against with Xane’s vote. He wasn’t taking on anyone without hearing them play first. That left Spook with the decider.

Spook stood quietly for a moment, with his fingers flat against the strings of his guitar. ‘I don’t want to replace Steve, but there’s no denying that we need a drummer. The mix isn’t right at the moment, which you’re going to realise the minute you start singing,’ he said looking at Xane. ‘Sorry but –’ he hunched his shoulders apologetically ‘– I guess that makes me a yes. Let’s see what he can do, eh?’

‘Two to three carries it,’ Ash called the vote. ‘He’s in for tonight at least. OK, people, let’s get on with this soundcheck.’

‘“Ripped”,’ Xane announced, making an impromptu change to the set. He needed the release he got from belting out the chorus of this song. ‘He’d better be good,’ he mouthed to Ash, who started strumming the intro. ‘And you better not have stolen him from anybody.’

‘Actually, you stole me off him.’

Xane rolled his eyes. He didn’t know what the hell that meant, and wasn’t sure he wanted to.

Chapter 4

No way! He couldn’t fucking well believe it. Luthor kicked the roll of tape he’d been using and sent it slamming into a nearby wall. This could not be happening. He thought the day sucked enough when he’d been sent to collect Xane’s girlfriend and he’d discovered that not only was she hot and cute, she was nice too, which put a massive damper on his plans to seduce the guy again. And now his sticks weren’t going to see any action.

‘Easy, lad,’ Ulf muttered, but that was because he was looking out for his equipment. He didn’t give a fig about Luthor’s dreams being crushed.

‘Just wait, you said,’ Luthor hissed in accusation. ‘They’ll be begging for a drummer. Well, that was shit advice.’ Sitting on their arses meant Black Halo had found someone else.

‘Shouldn’t you tell them that you have an alternative drummer available?’ Dani asked, proving yet again that she was a goddamned saint. ‘It seems only fair. I mean, if there are two contenders, they ought to both be given a chance to try out.’ He wanted to hug her for the suggestion and at the same time curse her for being his rival, though she didn’t realise it.

His uncle scratched his woolly beard. ‘There isn’t time to have two of them battling it out.’

Dani looked as crushed as Luthor did. ‘That’s not fair,’ she blurted.

‘Nothing about this industry is fair.’ Ulf answered her, but he was looking at Luthor. ‘If you think talent is what gets you places, you’re wrong. It’s all about being in the right place and knowing the right people.’

‘I thought I had that bit covered.’ He’d been dreaming of seeing Xane again since the first time they met, but it’d never happened. Then Ulf had suddenly appeared at one of the shitty dives where he and the guys were playing, and proposed something he couldn’t possibly refuse. ‘Come and play for Black Halo.’ That was three weeks ago. He’d spent the whole time practising, learning every song, making his timing perfect, but there’d been no contact with the actual band. Now there wouldn’t be. He’d given up everything for nothing.

‘Knowing Ash trumps knowing me. It’s harsh, but that’s the way it goes.’

Dream over – dismissed with a shrug from Ulf.

He ought to have realised that both drumming for Black Halo and hooking up with Xane again were wild fantasies. If he’d been thinking with his head instead of his dick, maybe he would have, but he’d never been able to forget that night he’d spent with Xane three years back at the Sölvesborg Rock Festival. He’d agreed to Ulf’s proposal as much for the chance of Xane remembering him and wanting a repeat as for a shot at the top. Of course, he’d also imagined Xane still reeling at the loss of his best friend, and him being able to jump in and offer comfort. Nope, that role had already been filled too, and by a real sweetheart. He tried not to wince when she gave him a consoling pat on the shoulder.

‘I’m sorry it didn’t work out, Luthor.’

Yeah, him too.

‘What will you do now?’

‘Get on with the job he has,’ Ulf replied.

Luthor made for the door instead.

‘Don’t you dare walk out!’

He went as far as the stairs, where he stopped in a corner and banged his head against the wall a few times. ‘Damn … fucking … awful … luck.’ The action didn’t improve his mood; it only gave him a bigger sore head. Ulf was right, though: he’d be a fool to walk away now. Being Ulf’s paid understudy was a position many people would kill for. The guy was a technical genius. And who knew what would happen on the road? Six months was a heck of a long time, especially in the lifespan of a top band. Iain Willows might turn out to be a complete dud. Xane might decide Dani was too sweet, or that he needed a boyfriend too. Luthor could live with sharing. He’d been on tour with his band for most of the last three years. He knew all about fluid relationships. Also, he’d lay money on Dani being an inferno between the sheets. She had to be, or how was she holding Xane’s attention? The whole rock circuit knew how much he loved to fuck and how often. No way were they keeping it plain old vanilla. Well, he was more than happy to step in and help spice things up.

Really, almost anything …

This dream couldn’t be over yet.

Chapter 5

Ulf ordered Dani back into her seat when she attempted to run after Luthor. She hated seeing anybody hurt, and wanted to comfort him, but Ulf’s bark was pretty darned bad, and she didn’t want to find out what his bite entailed. On the plus side, he let her listen to the rehearsal. Xane sounded bloody amazing and, she had to admit, she was intrigued by their new drummer and how he might influence the band’s sound.

Surfing the internet on her phone confirmed that he had an impressive rock pedigree. He’d drummed for three big-name bands and had credits on a host of tracks performed with other acts. Luthor’s Denna Rädsla project, on the other hand, only brought up a couple of links, one of them to a scathing review.

‘He’s missing Steve Matlock’s flourishes, but he’s otherwise not bad,’ Ulf confirmed when he was content that everything sounded as it should. ‘You can get out of here now. Leave your case. I’ll see it gets put on the bus. You don’t want to be dragging that around.’

Dani didn’t give him the chance to change his mind: she was out the door and down the stairs, flying towards the dressing rooms. She saw no sign of Luthor. Hopefully, he’d just taken himself off somewhere quiet to calm down and hadn’t genuinely walked out. Though she wouldn’t blame him if he had. If she’d been passed over for a chance of drumming for Black Halo, she’d have been gutted too. Not that she possessed any musical talent.

She found Xane’s dressing room easily enough, knocked and let herself in. Whoa! She crashed headlong into Ash Gore, which startled her into a shriek. He brushed her off, stalked past her and disappeared into another room three doors down.

‘Are you OK?’

She turned her head to find Jan ‘Spook’ Mortensen addressing her.

‘Dani?’ he enquired, hitching a brow. She nodded in confirmation and he stuck out his hand for her to shake. His white-blond hair swept forward over his shoulders and tickled the skin of her arms as he lifted her hand to kiss her knuckles. ‘Nice to meet you again. We seemed to skip introductions last time.’

‘Yeah.’ Her ability to form words dried up. She stared at him as if she had concussion or something.

‘Who are you talking to, Spook? I thought I told you to get out.’

Dani’s grin stretched even wider at the sound of Xane’s voice.

‘I’m just saying hello to your lovely lady.’ Spook leaned forward again and gave her another kiss, this one on the cheek. ‘He’s grouchy and irritable, see if you can cheer him up.’

‘Over what?’

‘Life.’

‘Life?’ she queried, but Spook was already gone.

‘Dani?’ Xane was right there in front of her, wrapping his arms around her, bowing his head and drinking her down like a man desperate for water. ‘It feels like eternity since I last set eyes on you.’ He didn’t seem irritable, only desperately pleased to see her. More pleased than she’d ever imagined he would be. ‘I thought you’d be here before the soundcheck.’

‘I was, but Ulf made me wait with him. He didn’t want me distracting you.’

‘Bastard,’ Xane hissed. ‘I needed distracting.’ His lips found hers again and he drew her tight against his body. He’d already dressed in his stage outfit, so that his dark, ragged shirt was open to the waist, and easy for her to slip her hands inside. All that was missing to transform him into the demon he was on stage was his yellow cat’s-eye contact lenses. Dani was glad they were missing. Without them she could see right into his soul. There was a great gaping hole there caused by Steve Matlock’s death, and he was desperately trying to fill it by clinging to her.

‘So, you have a new drummer,’ she said, hoping it would prompt him to talk. He’d experienced a massive loss. He needed to talk, but every time she tried to prompt him to open up, he sidestepped the subject. The only way he seemed to express his grief was through his lyrics.

A shadow passed across the surface of Xane’s eyes. ‘Apparently.’

‘That must have been a hard decision to make. I know you loved Steve, and –’

He cut her off by covering her mouth with his fingertips. ‘Don’t. I have to go out there and sing. I can’t do that if you make me think about stuff. Yes, we have a new drummer. He’ll do. He’s not my choice.’

Given the mournful look in his eyes, she doubted he’d have chosen anyone.

‘OK,’ she agreed, though it was hard not to try and dig deeper and attempt to console him, when the sadness rolled off him in such tangible waves. ‘Did the others choose him?’

‘Tell me how you are. I’ve been worried sick about you facing those bitches alone. I wish you’d let me come with you.’

If she’d done that, things would very quickly have got out of hand. ‘One of those bitches is my mum. And I needed to do it alone.’ Despite dreaming for years that he’d ride up and rescue her from captivity, she’d realised that the only way to truly be free of her past was to sever the links for herself. The final showdown between her and her mum hadn’t been pretty. And, Lord help her, there’d be no going back. ‘Besides, you had plenty stuff of your own to sort out.’ Such as tour preparations and grieving, and finding a way forward for the band. All those things were more important than having him hold her hand while she dealt with her screwy family.

‘Will they leave you alone?’

She nodded. Rather more permanently alone than she’d really wanted, but her mum wasn’t prepared to see reason. She wasn’t interested in Dani finding happiness, only in keeping her on a very short leash. Dani wasn’t about to discuss it with Xane, but she had about sixty quid in total to her name now. The Sisterhood had reclaimed everything that was officially theirs, which pretty much accounted for everything she owned that wasn’t jammed into the suitcase she’d left with Ulf. ‘Let’s discuss it later, eh? How long until the show starts?’

‘Not long.’

‘Long enough for me to wish you good luck?’ They both needed to push past events aside and to start living in the present again.

Xane eyed her thoughtfully, while he rotated the ring piercing at the centre of his lower lip. ‘What did you have in mind?’ The way his eyes suddenly glittered told her exactly what he was envisaging. In some ways he had the ultimate one-track mind. Her problem was that she couldn’t resist reacting to him. She could never get enough of his hands on her skin, or the feel of his warm body pressed tight to hers, coupled with that was the fact that he was the most beautiful man she’d ever met – all long inky hair, hard body and wicked-as-sin smile. If she stared at him too long, she sometimes forgot to breathe.

She rubbed a hand across the band of scars that girdled her hips, determined to ground herself a little. ‘Good luck.’ She lifted both her brows and shoulders.

‘That’s it?’ Xane quirked one eyebrow. ‘You come dashing into my dressing room right before I go on stage and all I get is two words?’

‘Would you rather I made it three?’

‘Depends on the words.’ He fixed on his prince-of-darkness mask. The one the fans went wild for, the one that made the girlies’ panties wet. It made her pretty giddy too, but then everything about him called to her. She moved closer to him, drawn as though he were magnetically charged, tilted her head up towards him.

‘Is there time?’

‘Always, for this.’ His tongue met hers and slipped teasingly between her lips. It was barely any step at all between that and being so slippery with need that she was grinding her hips against his body in a hungry imitation of coitus. Xane had always been able to unmake her with his kiss. The man had a tongue so wicked he could probably overcome the Queen of Darkness with it … oh, hang on, he had. Elspeth was his ex.

Xane slid one hand down her back and rested it at the base of her spine. Then both his palms skimmed over her bottom. He pulled her closer. ‘When you were late, I started thinking maybe you weren’t coming back. That those dreadful women had got to you and poisoned you against me.’

It still amazed her that he feared she’d leave him. She’d follow him to the ends of the earth and beyond. Dani pushed her hands inside his shirt again, traced the contours of his steely abs, while with her lips she sought his nipples. They were both pierced, though he appeared to have removed one ring.

‘Xane, they couldn’t stop me loving you even before we met, they’ve no chance now.’ Their arguments were stupid and their logic flawed. Besides, even if it all ended tomorrow, it’d still have been worth it for the time they had spent together.

‘We’ve about ten minutes before they’re going to want me backstage.’

‘Yeah?’ Dani teased one of his nipple rings, sucking it into her mouth, so that she left a darker patch on the midnight-blue fabric of his shirt. Xane hissed and arched against her, so that she could feel the growing swell of his erection pressed tight to her pussy. For all the horrors in his life, his ability to get turned on never seemed to diminish.

‘I just want you to know that’s not nearly enough time to do all the things I need to do to you.’ He cupped the side of her breast, rubbed her already tight nipples with the heel of his hand. ‘You’re so mine when this show is over.’

‘I’m already yours.’

Xane kissed the top of each breast then kept on dipping his head lower. His hands led the way, releasing her fly and tugging down her jeans so that they hung around her thighs. ‘It’s been agony without you.’

Oh, hell! He was going to raise her temperature to fever point and she’d end up burning, while he rocked the roof off the goddamned stadium. Still, she didn’t want him to stop. No way.

‘That’s a very pretty pair of panties you have on.’ He curled one finger into them. They were black, with the Black Halo band logo embroidered on the front. Her best friend Ginny had purchased them online and insisted that she wear them, claiming Xane would love them. She didn’t know about love, but he certainly seemed bemused by them. ‘I didn’t think they were on sale yet.’

‘Internet,’ she squeaked, as his kisses edged closer to her pussy. He tickled the curve of her belly, then her inner thigh.

‘I hope these are official and not bootleg.’

‘Do I have to forfeit them if they’re illegal merchandise?’ She tensed, waiting for the first touch of his tongue against her clit, while also wondering if he’d edge down her knickers, or suckle her through the cotton. Knowing Xane, he might simply rip them right off.

‘They’re coming off anyway.’ He lowered them just far enough to expose her already pink and begging clit.

Xane’s tongue made contact, sending a supercharge of energy hurtling along her synapses. Her legs almost buckled beneath her. Dani clasped hold of his head and clung on for dear life, her fingers woven into the black strands of his hair.

Every one of Xane’s kisses melted her, no matter which part of her body he touched, but when he kissed her here, in this most private place, she struggled to maintain her calm. He made it virtually impossible not to thrash and scream from the pure, raw pleasure he fed her.

‘Need you to come for me, Dani. I want to go out there with your taste still on my tongue. I want to howl at that crowd, welcome them to the show with your scent on my skin.’

Just the thought of that … oh, boy, it undid her. ‘Fingers – I need your fingers,’ she insisted.

‘Like this?’ He slid two inside her, used them to fuck her, while he rolled the soft pad of his thumb against the base of her clit. Perfect. Absolutely perfect.

Someone hammered on the outside of the door that she hadn’t realised he’d pinned her against. ‘Xane, two minutes.’

Dani shook as the pressure built inside her. Bright pinpricks of light flashed across the insides of her eyelids as she squeezed her eyes closed. ‘Oh, God! I don’t think I can …’ Not while she knew there were people outside waiting for them.

‘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.’

Chapter 6

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.’