Come Together

Actually, scratch that. With Dani’s hang-ups, having a gay guy on board would be terrible.

‘Do you get hard in front of one another?’ she asked tremulously.

Xane made a tactical decision not to answer. Considering how much time he and the guys spent living in confined spaces together, of course he’d seen them all standing to attention. He’d heard every one of them masturbate too, except Spook. Spook didn’t do that sort of thing. He’d also shared beds with all of them and done a bit more than that with one person, but Dani really didn’t need to know that.

‘Are you going to help me get out of these things?’ he asked instead, lifting one leather-clad leg.

‘Sure.’

She wriggled down to the foot of the bed in order to drag his leathers off him. Xane happily shimmied out of them and left them on the floor for somebody to trip over. ‘And now what?’ He cocked an eyebrow. ‘Now that you have me totally naked in your bed – what are your plans for me, O wicked one? Are you going to bind me to the bedposts, torture me with feathers and ice cubes? Drive me demented with a hundred thousand nips and kisses?’

She pressed a finger to her smile. ‘None of them. I thought I’d do some total hero worshipping and suck you.’

‘Yeah. Want me to wash first?’

‘Uh uh.’

Oh, boy, being dirty was washing off on her. He hoped hanging around the bus with a bunch of bad asses didn’t change her too much – he liked her exactly as she was.

‘Is that wrong?’ she asked.

Xane stroked her hair. ‘Of course not. It’s hot.’ His cock stirred to life at the mere prospect of her mouth coming anywhere near it. It was fully awake again by the time she’d meandered down his body, by way of his nose and his lips, one elbow, a section of ribs and one or two other bits as well. He liked that she took her time and didn’t just dive on him. Most of the women who claimed to want him had done exactly that. They seemed to be labouring under some strange notion that if they dived straight for his genitals, bypassing conversation, imagination and pretty much any other sort of pleasant human interaction, he’d somehow love them best. Not that that had bothered him for much of his adult life. He freely admitted he’d used sex as a coping strategy. If there was shite in his life, then fucking had been the answer.

It wasn’t like that with Dani. They’d inhabited some of the same dark spaces in the world. They spoke the same language, saw things through a similar lens. Sex with her was a celebration, not a means of escape … at least, mostly. Could he help it if he always craved sex most when he was in emotionally bad places?

‘Hey.’ Dani nipped the flesh near his navel, which made his cock jerk. She was poised over him, ready to deliver on her promise. ‘Say please.’

‘Pretty please.’

‘With a cherry on top?’ She flicked a glance up the length of his body. ‘That’s kind of what your cock looks like, when it’s this red and shiny.’ She gently flicked her tongue over the very tip, causing his cock to flex and grow harder.

‘I can taste myself on you.’

Xane’s fingers curled against the sheets until his knuckles were in danger of cracking.

‘So good. Think I need to taste you some more.’ She swirled her tongue around the tip, as though she were licking an ice-cream, then wrapped him in her heat and started making infuriatingly teasing pulls on his cock.

‘Come here, you.’ Xane made a grab for her and managed to upend her and twist her around so that she was straddled over his face with her knees planted beside his ears. Two could play at this game.

He stuck his tongue out and licked along the whole length of her slit, which caused her to buck and damn near hit her head on the bunk above. ‘Xane! You can’t expect me to concentrate if you’re going to do that.’

‘But I like doing that.’ He did it again to prove the point.

‘OK.’

He liked the way it made her shudder too.

Dani peeped along the length of their bodies at him. ‘Is your view as good as the one I’ve got?’

‘Better. I like having your knees as ear-muffs too. Come closer. Sit on me.’ He pulled her down onto his face, which let him push his tongue right into her. Hell, but she tasted good, all musky and sweet, and, to top that, she gently danced her fingertips over his balls. He tensed a little when he realised what she intended to do, but trusted her to be gentle.

Breathe.

She gently drew one of his nuts into her mouth, and then released it. It felt irrationally good, but bordered on too much. ‘Stop,’ he hissed after a minute or two. ‘Just suck me.’

She did, but he could feel the tension building inside her.

‘What’s the matter, Dani?’

‘Do guys give better blowjobs?’

Oh, fuck! Where had that come from? Were thoughts of him and Steve together still playing on her mind? He wished he could come up with a way of convincing her that his desire for her wasn’t some sort of temporary anomaly. He wasn’t suddenly going to come out as being gay.

‘Xane,’ she prompted him, and he realised his silence had given her the wrong impression.

‘It’s not really about gender. It’s about the individual. And you’re perfect in every way. You don’t have to compete with anyone. Not even a memory.’

Besides, Steve had sucked at sucking. But she didn’t need to know that. The best blowjob he’d had had been courtesy of someone else entirely.

Chapter 10

Dani wanted to believe him, but the fact that he had experience with men and was attracted to them niggled away at her and stirred up all the abandonment issues she had been bequeathed by her father. He’d pretended to be straight – until he ran off with their neighbour’s son. It was hard to believe that Xane wouldn’t eventually do the same.

That said, if she didn’t have faith, then they had no chance of surviving.

Dani looked at him spread out before her. He was perfect in every way, with his ink, his washboard abs and the cute V-shaped ridge she didn’t know the name for that led down to his loins. How could she possibly hold on to him? He was a rock star, and she … she was nobody.

‘Are you doubting that we’re made for each other – again? I guess I’ll have to do something about that.’ He pulled her down onto his face again. Dani shivered as he used his tongue against her clit. It was hard not to believe in him when he was prepared to do this, and to keep on doing it until his tongue surely ached.

‘Damn, end of peace,’ Xane muttered, his hearing obviously a zillion times sharper than hers.

A few seconds later she heard them, the voices of his bandmates growing more distinct as they drew closer to the bus. She felt the suspension shift and settle as they boarded.

‘We should stop now,’ she said.

‘Bugger that.’ Xane wrapped his arms tight around her bottom. ‘I’m not letting them spoil this. I don’t care if they stand and watch.’ Unlike her, he lacked any self-consciousness about his body. Xane was happy to pose naked and, she suspected, got a kick out of being caught having sex.

Dani threw a desperate look towards the curtains to make sure they were still shut. Below the bottom edge she glimpsed a pair of feet. They paused in the doorway.

‘Oh, God!’

‘Do you need a minute?’ Spook Mortensen asked.

Dani frantically scrambled out of Xane’s hold, turned herself about and attempted to dive under the covers. The latter proved impossible with Xane’s weight holding the duvet in place.

‘Or five,’ Xane replied.

Spook sniffed. ‘You’re sure I can’t lie down? I’ll close my eyes and stick my fingers in my ears.’

Dani fretfully shook her head.

‘The lady’s a bit shy.’

‘Right.’ Spook retreated a pace, only to jerk forward again immediately, accompanied by another body. ‘Sorry,’ he apologised, as he was coaxed further into the room by the arrival of yet another person.

Dani covered her mouth with the back of her hand, starting to see the funny side.

‘I thought you wanted to sleep,’ Ash muttered. ‘What are you standing in the doorway for?’

‘I thought you and Iain were having a few more beers together,’ Spook replied.

‘We decided to choose beds first. Didn’t want to be left with last dibs. You know how much I loathe being stuck on the bottom.’

‘I’ll take it,’ Spook volunteered. ‘It makes no odds to me. A bunk’s a bunk.’

‘This one.’ Ash slapped his hand against the middle bunk above where Dani and Xane were lying.

‘Like fuck it is,’ Xane barked, rising slightly. ‘That one’s mine. Think again, Ashley.’

‘If that one’s yours, then why are you in the bottom one?’

‘Because I’m fucking my girlfriend, dummy. In her bunk.’

‘You’re doing it awful quietly.’

Xane rolled his eyes. ‘You interrupted.’ He stuck his head out of the curtains to see what was going on and better address them. ‘Apologise.’

‘Sorry, Dani,’ they chorused as one.

‘Do you want some peace?’ Ash asked, having claimed the other middle bunk.

‘That’d be lovely.’

‘Five minutes?’

‘Ten,’ Xane insisted. The moment they’d all vacated the room, he ripped back the curtains and rolled into the aisle. ‘Come here, you.’ He grabbed hold of her legs, tugged her to the edge of the bed and sat her there.

‘Xane,’ Dani protested. They might have all gone, but the door was still ajar and they might come back at any moment, and she was naked.

Xane rose onto his knees between her thighs. ‘Ash will give us exactly ten minutes, not a second more. Don’t think for a minute that he won’t get a kick out of walking in on us. He’ll probably bring popcorn, and Spook will bring his camera.’

Even more reason for them to save this for another time. Except of course that he was hard and hot and she was pretty eager for another round herself, God help her. If they did walk in she’d be absolutely mortified.

‘OK, do it,’ she said, spreading her legs a little wider. ‘Fast and hard.’

He kissed the inside of her wrist. ‘As you command.’

Xane drove into her. It was fast and furious. Her body shook with the exertion. Her muscles protested, but … oh, yeah … it was good.

His thumb found her clit and he held it there, letting the rhythmic movement of their bodies do the work. It felt as if they were shaking the entire bus. She could imagine the rest of the band sitting downstairs looking up at the ceiling, all of them listening, none of them speaking, and maybe with a cushion or two clasped across their laps.

‘Fuck, Dani!’ He was staring at her, mouth open, a sheen of sweat shimmering on his skin.

‘Yeah,’ she agreed.

‘Those bastards are going to have to give us some regular privacy, or else we’re going to be making a lot of pit-stops. I want to do this with you a lot.’

He’d hear no arguments from her on that score. ‘Xane, I’m …’ She was getting close. The combo of his body slamming tight against hers and his expressed need for her had set her alight. Her insides felt electrified. As though she’d been caught outside in a storm and a bolt of lightning was zapping through her.

He wiggled his thumb, bestowing an extra bit of pressure on her clit.

It was enough. She came in long shudders, her body clamping fast to his as he raced to join her.

His cries soon echoed her own. In fact, it was only because he was so voluble about it that she realised how loud her own groans had become. Embarrassed, she shoved her head into the groove between his shoulder and his pecs.

‘I like hearing you yell my name,’ he whispered against her hair. ‘And it’s not like they didn’t know what we were doing.’

She suspected everyone left in the area knew what they’d been doing, and maybe she didn’t mind all that much.

‘Are you all right?’

‘Sure, but can I get covered up before they all come back?’ She didn’t want to face the looks or the barrage of questions that’d result if any of them saw those rows of silvery scars.

He nodded. Fished around for an item of clothing and failed to lay his hands on any. ‘Let’s climb into my bunk.’ He lifted her up there, before climbing in alongside and closing the drapes. ‘I don’t know where your stuff’s been put, but whatever you need I’ll find for you in the morning.’

‘And if I need a wee during the night?’

He leaned over the edge of the bunk to reach into a cupboard at the foot end, and drew out a black man-sized T-shirt and a pair of his figure-hugging Calvin Kleins. He tucked them under the pillows. ‘There, problem sorted. Now come here and hug me.’

They cozied up.

‘I might wear those tomorrow regardless,’ she said, knowing he liked seeing her in his clothes.

‘Consider anything in my cupboard fair game. I like having my things on you.’

‘And in me.’

Xane pressed his head against hers. ‘Definitely that.’

He fell asleep in her arms, apparently temporarily at peace with the world.

Chapter 11

The following morning, Dani woke to find most of the bunks already vacated. Only the top two still had the curtains drawn across. Xane had left her a note pointing her towards some free cupboard space, and, better still, her suitcase had materialised so she had fresh clothes and undies. She skipped putting on Xane’s shorts, but did wear his T-shirt. Even freshly laundered it seemed to retain his scent.

The bus was in motion, making her descent rather dangerous. She clung to the twin handrails and took it a step at a time. Ash was sitting at the table in the kitchen area. ‘Missing your sea legs?’ he asked.

She nodded.

The door through to where the roadies slept and the back bedroom was closed. Uncertain where she’d find Xane, she settled for staggering towards Ash. They hadn’t really spoken very much so far, but even though Xane often complained about Ash’s antics, it was clear they had a lot of affection for one another.

‘You can sit down. I only bite when I’m asked to.’ He tossed her a wicked grin, one Dani could swear he’d stolen from Xane. Ash’s version didn’t ignite the same fever in her as Xane’s, which was guaranteed to get her thinking dirty thoughts. Nevertheless, it did lend her the courage to come closer.

She fell gratefully into the seat opposite him.

Ash Gore wasn’t as immediately visually arresting as Xane, but he did have dark and brooding down to a fine art. Like Xane, his hair was dyed jet black, but Ash’s was cut shorter, with a long floppy fringe that reached almost to his jawline. His eyes were deep blue and full of boyish mischief. She could absolutely see why Ginny was obsessed.

Not sure what to say, Dani glanced across at what he was reading. It appeared to be a women’s gossip magazine.

‘Sleep all right?’ he asked. He closed the magazine and stuffed it behind a cushion under the window.

‘Yes, thanks.’ She had, actually, after the workout Xane had given her. ‘You?’

He stretched, and then clasped his hands behind his head. ‘Not too bad.’

OK, he was kind of hot, not that she was interested, and it was really cool that she was getting to hang out with the whole of Black Halo like this. A sense of sudden gaiety tugged at her lips. ‘Where is everyone?’ she asked. The bus seemed very quiet.

Ash placed his hands on the table and drummed one finger. ‘Elspeth and Paul are in the back. Spook’s up front with Cave Troll. The rest of the crew are split between the van and the motorhome, and Iain’s still asleep.’

He’d failed to mention Xane.

‘Oh, and your lover boy is hogging the bathroom.’

The door between the front and rear sections opened and closed. ‘I was just brushing my teeth, actually.’ Xane dropped his washbag onto the table between her and Ash before motioning for her to shuffle up. He settled on the chair beside her. ‘Morning,’ he said, giving her a minty-fresh kiss.

Ash wrinkled his nose. ‘Please,’ he pleaded. ‘Don’t get all doe-eyed. I’ll puke.’

Xane kicked him beneath the table.

‘Ow!’

‘You found your suitcase?’ Xane asked her.

‘Yes, thank you.’

‘We’ll get your stuff stowed when we stop. It shouldn’t be too much longer.’

Dani peeped outside. They were driving through what appeared to be a residential area. Xane leaned over and rested his chin upon her shoulder. ‘Was Ash behaving?’

Ash snorted and shot her lover an offended look. ‘I hadn’t even tried it on. Did I try anything on?’

‘I only just arrived. He was reading.’

Xane looked around for evidence of a book and failed to spot one. ‘What were you reading? The invisible book?’

‘A magazine,’ Dani said.

‘Cosmo again? Heat?’ Xane shook his head. ‘You could probably write most of their articles. Is it really necessary to sift through it for tips?’

Ash shot him a dark look that seemed to suggest he’d been keeping up to date with how many kids he’d supposedly fathered or something along those lines. Then he forced a smile. ‘Even masters have to keep up-to-date to remain successful.’ He levelled his gaze at Dani. ‘If this guy ever fails to please, you send him to me for tips. That curl thing he does with his tongue. He learned that from me.’

‘That is such bollocks.’

‘You have a tongue stud too?’ she asked.

‘No way.’ He stuck out his tongue. ‘I have skills without the need for adornment. You just ask your friend Ginny, if you don’t believe me.’ He winked at her.

Damn, she’d never had a chance to say goodbye to her. ‘Did she get off safely?’

‘Condoms were used, yes.’

Oh, God. That wasn’t what she’d meant. Her face filled with heat. ‘I didn’t … I meant …’

Xane started to laugh. ‘Let it go, Dani. He can’t help it. He has a filthy mind. Stuff like that always slips out.’

‘Home safe,’ Ash confirmed, holding up his mobile phone to show her evidence of a text from Ginny. ‘She sent a thank-you once she arrived home and climbed into her jammies.’

‘And that’s all the information we need,’ Xane insisted, holding his hand out to cover the screen. His brows suddenly furrowed. ‘Hey, how did you get that? You know you’re not allowed.’

‘What, this?’ Ash stuffed the phone back into his deepest pocket. ‘I don’t have a phone. What are you talking about, Xane? You know I never carry one. Sally would have kittens.’

Xane shook his head, but he was still smiling. ‘Don’t fuck up,’ he warned Ash. ‘I’ll skewer you, never mind Sally. You got us into no end of shit the last time you misplaced one of those damn things. Ash is distinctly absent-minded when it comes to his possessions,’ he explained to Dani.

‘Can I help it if the world is full of thieves?’

The bus pulled to a stop and Spook wandered up from the front. ‘New phone,’ he remarked. ‘You must have had nearly as many as you’ve had women.’

A man the size of a forklift truck, with a buzz cut and a moon-shaped face, followed him. Dani gathered that this must be Cave Troll, their driver. She could see where the name came from. He did bear a certain resemblance to a man-eating giant.

‘Time for some shut-eye,’ he mumbled, pushing his way past Spook, and Ash, who’d stood. He paused only long enough to check her out before wading into the lower bunk room and diving onto the nearest empty berth. ‘Cute chick,’ he called. ‘Didn’t think we allowed birds on board. Did the rules change?’

‘They did not,’ Xane hollered back.

Ash returned to the table. Rather than sit, he leaned over it, propped on his elbows, so that he was only a few inches away from Dani. ‘What do you think? Is it fair that only Xane’s allowed to party on the bus? Shouldn’t we all be allowed our fun?’

‘I … well … it’s not really up to me.’

‘But you’re here. Don’t you think it’s unfair that you guys get to hang out, but the rest of us have to stare dreamily at each other?’

‘Don’t even think about staring dreamily at me,’ Spook muttered.

‘Well, if you were going steady with someone, then I guess it would be fair for them to be here too,’ she replied, seeking Xane’s approval with her eyes.

‘Ash can’t even hold his guitar steady, let alone a relationship,’ Rock Giant remarked, coming through from the bedroom. Now that the bus had stopped, everyone seemed to be congregating. Seeing that there was no space at the table, he hunched down on the floor with his back to one of the kitchen cupboards.

Dani stared at him. Of all the members of the band, Rock Giant was the one she found most intimidating. He scared her even more than Elspeth, who, to her relief, didn’t appear from the bedroom. He looked different this morning, less frightening without his hair styled into spikes, kind of adorable actually with his thick growth of stubble and his loungewear pants.

‘I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed,’ he continued, ‘but he does this funny jiggly thing while he’s playing, like he’s being electrocuted and can neither grip nor let go of his guitar.’ He simulated Ash’s stage pose.

‘What is this? Pick on Ash day? Fuck you.’ Ash waved his raised middle fingers at them all. ‘Can we eat now?’ he asked after a moment. ‘Now we’re here.’

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