“Holy crap, you guys, this means we’ve made it. Really made it. I guess we’ve broken into the top tier.”
“Kiddo, we are the top tier,” said Steve. “At least we will be after this Berlin appearance.”
“And it’s not an accident,” said Jonathan, cutting in. “We’ve worked for this. This is what comes of all these rehearsals and discussions—”
“And arguments,” Steve added. “And practicing and collaborating together—”
“And respecting each other,” said Ethan, his blue eyes thoughtful. “We couldn’t have done any of this individually. This is all…” He stopped and made an inclusive motion to all of them. “This is us working as a team.”
What a huge moment. An exciting moment, and Ruby didn’t intend for her mind to turn to the idea of sex, but when he said “working as a team,” it went there right away. She’d developed sexual relationships with all the guys in the quartet over the past few months, and that was a kind of teamwork. Naughty, filthy, wonderful teamwork.
Focus, Rube, this isn’t the time.
“Holy shit,” said Steve. “The whole Schoenberg Concerto for String Quartet, played with the Berlin Philharmonic. We accomplished this in six years.”
“When’s the concert?” asked Ethan.
“Yeah, and are we going to plan a big trip around it?” Ruby clasped her hands under her chin. “Maybe we could make some other appearances. Italy or France…”
“We just found out about this, guys,” said Jonathan. “I’m open to a discussion, but do we want to focus on the one appearance, or muddy up our schedule with other stuff?”
“I guess we know your opinion,” said Steve.
“I agree with Jonathan.” Ethan shrugged and pushed back his unruly hair. “Let’s not overextend ourselves.”
Something was pinging at Ruby’s brain, demanding her attention. She finally remembered—her Las Vegas trip, also scheduled for spring. Three of her closest friends were taking her there for her birthday in April, to gamble, drink, and ogle strippers. They’d been planning it since they’d met up the previous summer.
“It’s not the weekend of my birthday, is it?” she asked. “The weekend I’m going to Vegas?”
The other three guys went still. “What are the dates again?” Jonathan asked Steve.
Steve checked his notes. “April 9th through the 16th, including travel time, two rehearsals, and three performances.” He looked back up at Ruby. “Damn. Your birthday’s the 10th, yeah?”
“The 11th,” said Ethan, as Ruby processed the disappointment. Her Vegas trip was right in the middle of the Berlin dates.
“Could you reschedule your trip, Rube?” Jonathan asked. “Did you buy refundable tickets?”
“No, but that doesn’t matter. The tickets were cheap. The problem is finding another time when everyone can meet up and come. Joanie and Sasha are working in New York now, and Celia’s pregnant… We started planning this ages ago.” She swallowed hard and forced a smile. “But it doesn’t matter. We can’t pass this up, can we?”
They didn’t say anything. She’d been so excited when she booked the trip with her friends, she’d blabbed through an entire rehearsal about it. They must know how much it meant to her.
“Maybe we could get a sub,” said Ethan, without much enthusiasm.
“What, we’re going to go play in Berlin with a sub? Think the Philharmonic would like that?” Jonathan snapped.
Ruby’s eyes were welling, which was stupid, because she really wanted to go on the trip to Berlin and get the top-tier celebrity treatment. But she also dreaded telling her friends their Vegas trip was off. Well, her friends could still go, but she wouldn’t be there.
“We’ll just start planning again for some time in the future,” she said, putting on a brave face. “We’ll find some other time. Vegas is always going to be there, right? It’s not going away.”
“You sure this is okay?” asked Steve. “We might be able to…”
His voice trailed off. Ask the Philharmonic to reschedule their spring festival on their account? So their second violinist could meet some friends in Vegas, and drink and gamble? And perv over strippers?
Vegas strippers were probably cheesy anyway. Her quartet lovers were gorgeous, and she could perv over them whenever she wanted.
“I’m sure we should go to Berlin,” she said, and she meant it this time. “This is a huge opportunity for us. And it’s going to be fun, right? First class flight, sexy hotel—”
Jesus, she’d meant to say swanky hotel, not sexy hotel. The guys all gave her that look—the sexy look. They could bang in Berlin. She could sleep over with Ethan if she felt like artful rope and soulful fucking, or Jonathan if she wanted bondage and strict orders. She could bed down with Steve if she wanted fun, nasty, athletic, rough sex. Maybe she could sleep with a different guy every night while they were there.
Or…
Or what, Ruby? All of them together, at the same time, ganging up on you the way they do during rehearsal arguments sometimes?
Ruby had never said the word “ménage” out loud. Never asked for it, never hinted at it. What did you even call a ménage with more than three people? A gang bang? That wasn’t what she wanted. A ménage à quatre, because there would be four?
A ménage à quartet?
“We should go,” she said, glad the guys couldn’t hear the kinds of thoughts running through her head. “Don’t even think about my birthday getting cancelled or anything. Don’t even mention it again.”
“We can celebrate your birthday over there,” said Ethan. “We’ll be in Europe, in Berlin. There’s tons to do there.”
“Yeah, for sure,” said Steve. “We’ll plan something fun.”
Ménage à quartet, her unruly mind whispered.
“We can talk about this later,” said Jonathan, going into boss mode. “Ruby, thanks for your flexibility. If we’re in agreement that we’re headed to Berlin, then we need to dive into this concerto and start practicing the hell out of it. Let’s run through and see what we remember.”
Ruby lifted her violin and placed it beneath her chin, watching for Jonathan’s down bow. Thank God he was forcing her to focus on the music rather than the raunchy—and unrealistic—fantasies tumbling through her brain.
Like they’d even be able to share her. They were way too different for that.
“Earth to Ruby,” Jonathan said, lifting his bow after she made her second error in as many measures. “Should we start again?”
She nodded, squelching the urge to say “Yes, Sir” in front of the others. She bit her lip, steeled herself, and gave the Schoenberg piece on her music stand the attention it deserved.
2.
They only had a few weeks to get ready for the Berlin appearance, so they spent every day rehearsing. They perfected the third movement first, since the Allegretto grazioso was the hardest, then the fourth movement, since it was the most fun to play. After that, they worked on the two opening sections carefully and deliberately, with Jonathan monitoring every note.
By the time April rolled around, they were exhausted from all the preparations, but also eager to perform. Sometimes Ruby remembered her canceled Vegas trip and felt a fleeting pang of regret, but she didn’t say anything about it. The guys had promised her a special dinner the night of her birthday, since they had an early rehearsal, and since she was giving up so much.
She started packing early for Berlin to be sure she wouldn’t forget anything, and the night before their flight, she set three alarms because the car was coming at 4:40am. When Jonathan called up, she shouldered her violin backpack, grabbed her other bags, and headed for the stairs. He met her halfway up to help with her luggage. Before she could even greet him, he tilted her head back for a kiss. His lips caressed hers as he squeezed her in a quick, hard embrace.
“Berlin, baby,” he said when they parted. “Sure you have everything?”
How the hell was she supposed to remember that now? “I think so. I�
��ve been packing since last Monday.”
“Come on. The other guys are in the car.”
“The car” was a black Navigator limousine, large enough to hold the four of them and their instruments. She sat between Steve and Ethan and tried not to drowse, but the streets were empty and the ride was smooth and quiet. Soon she was resting her head against Steve’s shoulder, strains of the Schoenberg Concerto playing beneath the hum of the limo’s engine.
When they arrived at the airport, the bright lights pierced even the limo’s tinted windows. The four of them went into a familiar routine, wheeling their luggage and hard-sided instrument cases through the terminal to the service desk. Their bags were checked, but the instruments always flew in the cabin, so they had to go through security along with their Vatelots and Bergonzis, and Jonathan’s Rinaldi violin that he wouldn’t let anyone else touch.
Once on the plane, they sat together in the center of first class, with Steve’s cello taking up its own very expensive seat on the aisle. As people moved around them, scoping out her handsome quartet members, Ruby felt proud and happy to be flying to Berlin with them. She’d never been much into guys growing up, because she’d been so busy learning music and perfecting her technique, but if she’d known then the embarrassment of riches that awaited her, she wouldn’t have gotten so upset on those lonely nights.
Every one of the guys related to her differently—and pleasured her differently. All three of them had enriched her sexuality in so many ways. Right now, she could reach out to hold any of their hands, and she’d receive a welcoming reaction. She could kiss any of them, run her hand up their thigh…
Well, she probably shouldn’t do that here, in public. She’d make the flight attendants jealous. Quite a few of them, both male and female, had already given her friends appreciative looks as they walked by.
And they were her lovers. She was so lucky. There was no jealousy, no competition or one-up-manship between them, like in rehearsals.
Again, her mind flitted to the edges of that greedy, selfish fantasy, of having all of them love her at once, all of them touch her, caress her, give stern orders or whisper in her ear. She could never ask them about trying a ménage, never even hint at wanting it. It would be too embarrassing to admit she fantasized about something so perverse and excessive. Three magnificent cocks at once? Three sets of broad shoulders and hard abs, and powerful bodies, and possessive hands guiding her this way and that? Heavenly, but not likely in real life.
She was grateful when the flight attendant interrupted her daydreams to ask if she wanted any drinks or snacks. All of them asked for coffee. They’d timed the flight so they’d arrive in Berlin at night, at bedtime, and they needed to be tired enough to go to sleep then, so no in-flight naps were allowed. They had to adjust quickly to the six-hour time difference, so they ate, drank, talked, and watched movies to get them through a mid-afternoon energy drop. If only their first-class seats were a little more private, they could have done other things to pass the time…
Ruby, you perv.
It was the excitement of the trip that had her so wound up, as well as the energy that flowed between them when they were together. They couldn’t get down and dirty in first class, but a transatlantic flight still allowed for bonding, flirting, and a stolen kiss now and again.
By the time they got to the hotel, they were more awake than they wanted to be, buoyed by the breathtaking views of the city at night. Their hotel was a marble showplace, highbrow and modern, located right near the Berliner Philharmonie, the elegant music hall where their host orchestra rehearsed and played.
Instead of booking them into separate rooms, the travel agent had reserved the penthouse suite, a 3,000 square foot wonderland with a glass-walled living room perfect for rehearsing, a dining room, a terrace, and four bedrooms with personal bathroom suites. Ruby thought her head would explode as they walked from room to room flicking on the lights, their mouths open in amazement.
“I can’t believe this,” said Ethan. “What the fuck? How much is this costing them?”
“Do you know how much the Philharmonic takes in over the course of a season?” Steve laughed. “Aside from ticket sales, they’ve got hundreds of patrons. Enjoy it. This is the celebrity life.”
“I call the black room,” said Jonathan, carrying his bags to the first bedroom, all done up in chrome and tile.
“I’ll take any room,” said Ruby, still awestruck. “Any of these fucking rooms will be fine.”
“You pick next,” Steve told her. “Then Ethan. I don’t care where I sleep. These rooms are all one hundred percent nicer than my room back home.”
Ruby ended up in the red-themed room, because she was named for a red gem, and the gown she’d brought for their concerts was deep crimson red. Blood red, Ethan had called it, nodding in approval. He took the blue room, and Steve took the neutral-colored room with shades of ecru, ivory, and bone.
Beautiful. So beautiful, all of it. The living room was done in warm taupes, and featured a massive stone fireplace, as well as a sculptural chandelier.
“I’ll never be able to sleep now,” Ruby complained, sprawling on the large sectional that outlined the common area. “This is too crazy. It’s too nice.”
“We deserve it,” said Ethan, sitting beside her. “Just keep telling yourself that.”
Steve and Jonathan joined them too, and a silence fell between them. Ethan had turned on the fireplace with the flick of a switch. It was a gas fire with ceramic logs, not the real thing, but it brought a sense of comfort and ease as they gazed out at the city lights through the floor-to-ceiling windows. By now, Ruby’s head was pillowed in Ethan’s lap. He stroked her hair as Steve and Jonathan stretched out their legs and sighed.
“To think, you could have been in Vegas,” said Jonathan.
They all laughed, because this was so much better than Vegas. This was once-in-a-lifetime stuff, really special shit.
“Honestly, right now, there’s nowhere else I’d rather be,” she said. “And nothing else I’d rather do than play the Schoenberg in Berlin with my three best friends.”
“Hear, hear,” said Steve. “I’d drink to that if this wasn’t a working vacation.”
“Not all work,” she reminded them. “You’re taking me out for dinner on my birthday.”
“Yeah, we are.” Jonathan paused. “And we had another idea, if you’re into it. The three of us discussed it, but it’s entirely up to you.”
She sat up at the uncertain tone in his voice. “What kind of idea?”
“Well…” Jonathan looked at the others before he continued. “You know how Berlin is famous for its night life? For its huge, crazy nightclubs? It’s, uh, famous for its sex clubs, too. We did some research and it turns out there’s a place not far from this hotel that, uh, sounds like a lot of fun.”
Ruby had never heard Jonathan “uh” like this. But, God, she believed he was talking about taking her to a sex club in Berlin.
“It’s called Revolver,” said Ethan. “It’s got all these rooms and tunnels and levels, and techno music, and kinks for anyone and everyone. Rope, bondage, private rooms, sex furniture.”
“Sort of like Jon’s apartment,” Steve quipped.
Jonathan leaned to shove him and ended up squishing Ruby between him and Ethan. After a short tussle, Ethan shoved Jonathan back and addressed Ruby again.
“We didn’t think you’d probably been to a place like that before, especially here, in the worldwide capital of decadence.”
“Hell, I’ve never been to a Berlin kink club either,” Steve said.
“We thought it would be a fun birthday present since you’re missing out on Vegas. What do you think, Rube? Are you interested in going and, you know, hanging out with the three of us?”
“No pressure,” added Jonathan. “It’s up to you.”
Ruby had no idea what to say. This was so unexpected. She wanted to check out this Revolver place, of course, but she wasn’t sure what they were sugge
sting. To swing by the club after dinner and hang out as tourists, voyeurs?
Or to join in the fun?
“I want to go,” she said. “Yes, I want to. I mean, all of us would go? Together?”
“Yeah.” Ethan took her hand and squeezed it. “And we could do as much or as little as you wanted.” He paused and looked at the other guys. “One thing we’ve talked about over these past few months is what a pleasure it is to…to be with you in our…our various ways. You’re so adventurous, so up for anything. Seems a shame to go to Berlin and not set you loose in one of its kinky sex clubs.”
“I wouldn’t want to be loose,” she said. “You guys would stay with me, right? You’d be with me the whole time?”
“Of course we would,” said Steve. “And we’d leave together whenever you were ready to go.”
She looked between the three of them. “Who came up with this idea? I mean, I love it, but who thought of this?”
“We’ve all been thinking of it,” said Jonathan. “Playing with you together. You’re so much fucking fun.”
“Not that you have to play with all of us together.” Steve arched a brow. “Although I’d love to see you out of your element for once. And Jonathan would love to see you cry.”
“That’s true, but I can do that on my own,” said Jonathan.
“Yes,” she said, speaking over their exchange. “Yes, I want to go to a sex club with all of you, and get kinky and do what the wild Berliners do. This is going to be so much freaking fun. But won’t we be tired the next day at the final rehearsal?”
“Well, we’re here,” said Ethan. “We have to take advantage, even if we have to drink extra coffee the next morning.”
Holy shit, after all her fantasizing, and trying to hide her slutty desire for a foursome, they were offering it to her as a birthday present. It was a thousand times better than Vegas would have been.
“That’s settled then,” said Jonathan. “For now, though, we need to sleep so we can keep ourselves on Berlin time.”
In other words, no hookups tonight, even though Ruby was wound up with excitement for her birthday adventure. How would they make it through tomorrow, knowing this was coming? How would they make it through dinner that night?
A Quartet of Pleasures Page 13
