by Nora Flite
Inside, the beast retreated. Crouched there, hovering over Sean with my own heart throbbing in my ears, I felt the eyes on me. Everyone was watching, waiting for what I would do while being too wary to step in.
In my skull, Sean's shout bounced around and never ended. That's right. He's right. He's just trying to find Lola.
Just like I am.
There was an ache in my hand when I released his hair. The muscles felt too tight, like they weren't meant to be opened. We stood up simultaneously, the pressure around us fading. Colt and Shark stood with Porter and the skinny-singer, the four of them huddling less like enemies, more like guards waiting to be told what to do.
Inhaling till I felt on the edge of popping, I breathed out through my nose. That seemed to calm them all. Naturally, they dispersed until my band mates were beside me, and all of Barbed Fire stood before us.
Touching a palm to his skull, Sean glared indignantly. There it was; the look he'd given me way back during his audition. I hadn't deserved it then, I felt. But now, maybe I do. “That got out of hand,” I said flatly.
“You think?” Eyeing his hand, as if he expected to—and was surprised not to—see blood, Sean snorted. “Your temper is off the wall.”
“You were the one who started it by messing with me,” Porter said, shoulders crawling upwards. “Drez was just reacting.”
“Dude's just looking for Lola,” Shark replied. He began to say more, but Sean silenced him with a wave of his fingers.
The silver liquid of battle-lust drained from me bit by bit. “I said it already, I'm fucking worried about her, Sean. Instead of getting touchy with any of us, next time just come out and ask like a normal person.”
“Normal?” Sean lifted his eyebrows, not elaborating. “Here's the situation. My sister is missing, and she's your guitarist. Sound check is in thirty minutes. If she doesn't show soon, what happens? Even if she's fine, you guys can't play without her.”
A cold spike trickled down my back. “That's our concern, not yours.” Isn't it? Peeking at Colt and Porter, I wondered if they had the same suspicion I did. Why would Sean give a shit about if we were playing or not?
I battled the urge to probe further. The issue was moot, luckily, when a familiar car roared into the parking lot. As one, we all twisted to follow the vehicle until it halted a few feet away. Before anyone climbed from the car, I was moving.
Lola managed to crack the door, starting to unbuckle. “Drez—” Pushing her in the seat, I ended my name on her tongue just as it had begun. Under my touch, she twitched and melted with rising excitement. I could sense her tensing, feel her muscles giving way. It was good that she was sitting.
“That's a nice way to say hello,” Brenda said. I didn't bother looking at my manager. I was too eager to fill my vision with that beautiful fucking girl. The burger I'd eaten had done nothing for me. She was the real cause of my famine, and now I had her to gorge myself on. “Why don't I get greetings like that?” Brenda laughed, shutting the door loudly.
Breaking the kiss, I thrilled at the desperate, sharp inhale Lola made. Leaning back enough to gaze on her blushing cheeks, I also unfortunately saw her sparkling eyes.
Eyes like her brother's.
That did it, reminded me of what had been consuming my worries minutes ago. “Where the hell were you?” I asked, crushing the edges of the car seat.
Those delicious lips fell. “Oh. It's kind of a long story. Mostly, we had a flat tire.”
“'Mostly?'”
Rubbing her tattoo, Lola glanced to the side. “Let me tell you about it later. Brenda said as we were pulling in that we need to hurry for sound check.”
I flushed with a million things; frustration, bitterness, and the all too powerful desire to just keep Lola right there and taste her again. Sound check. Not backing out of the open car door, I felt Sean scowling at me. “Fine. Later. But I want to know everything.”
Stiffening, Lola squeezed her arm again. “I—sure. Everything.”
Whatever she was worrying about, I wanted to erase it. Thumbing her lower lip, forcing her still, I buried my mouth on her once more. Our tongues glided together, her moan for my ears only. I felt it more than I heard it. With as much control as I could muster, I released her and backed away.
Sliding free, Lola smoothed her hair. The glow on her skin was from me, and I reveled in it. The young woman froze, spotting her brother where he hovered nearby. “Sean?” she asked, taking a single step. “What's going on, why are you hanging out here?”
I knew what 'here' meant; why was he hanging out with me?
“You wouldn't answer your phone,” Sean said, palming his neck. “I got worried, thought you were avoiding me.”
Brenda cleared her throat. “Blame me. I didn't want us worrying anyone, or for people to try and come help us despite us not needing it.” Her eyes shot to me pointedly. “We got a busted tire, took a bit for someone to come out and fix it, that's all.”
“You couldn't have just texted me to say that's what was up?” Sean asked, wearing his hurt on his sleeve.
“Not just that.” Shaking her head violently, Lola lifted her phone and opened it. The black screen gazed back at us. “It died early on, I forgot to charge it last night. I couldn't have said anything if I had wanted to.”
Her phone died? The knowledge left me nervous. What if it had been an actual emergency? The siblings were shuffling, saying nothing. That was just fine with me. Reaching out, I took Lola by the wrist. “Come on, let's go.”
“Slow down,” Sean said through gritted teeth. “I need to talk to her first!”
“I thought you just wanted to make sure she was okay?” Keeping my hold on Lola, I peered at Sean over my shoulder. I didn't see Lola's irritation until she pulled free from me, coaxing me to turn back to her with a blink.
Rubbing her wrist gingerly, she frowned upwards. “Let me talk to him, we can walk over to sound check together. It won't mess up the schedule.”
It'll take away some of the time I want with just you, I thought bitterly. I was being greedy, but I chose not to voice it. I'll have her to myself soon. “Fine.” Ruffling my hair, I glanced sideways at Sean. “Let's walk and talk, then.”
My manager, phone to her ear, waved someone down. “In the trunk,” she said to the young man, “there's a bunch of food. Hopefully nothing went bad, it's been a bit since the store. Load it onto the bus—and you.” Those chocolate eyes froze on me. “We need to hurry, so less 'walk' and more 'jog' to the building.”
Taking my eyes off of Lola and her brother, the two of them strolling with their heads together in front of me, I wrinkled my nose. “Easy. It's not my fault you're here so late. Speaking of which, what the hell was that excuse about the phones?”
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Speaking softly, Brenda leaned up towards me as we walked. “Some shit went down earlier. Lola and I ended up having a long talk. Be angry at me if you want, but I think it really helped her to get it off her chest.”
Now, my mind was floored. Watching the siblings, I saw how hunched Sean's shoulders were. The guy looked pissed. “She said she'd tell me about that.” Is she telling her brother right now?
Abruptly, Sean broke away. The guitarist stomped off to the side, no longer heading towards the back door of Belly Up. If Lola had told him what had gone down, she'd managed to do it in record time. And it made Sean mad as shit.
“Uh oh,” Brenda mumbled next to me.
We came to a halt beside the girl, her sapphire eyes fixed on the fleeing back of her brother. The hurt in her face was palatable. “What happened, why'd he leave like that?” I asked, curling one limb around her waist in an attempt to comfort—or claim—her.
“It's stupid,” she said quickly, features smoothing to hide any emotion. “He's just being a jerk. He wanted to know what went down, and I said I'd talk to him about stuff another time.”
So she didn't tell him what happened. My heart fluttered at knowing I'd learn before Se
an.
Colt, who had followed us as we moved, bent down to grab Lola's shoulder gently. “Don't let it get to you. Siblings can be real assholes to each other, take it from me.” The wink he offered softened the teasing.
Lifting her head, Lola broke into a weak smile. “You said before that you had a brother. I remember that now. Does he get like this sometimes?”
The lanky guy waved a hand, displaying three fingers. “I have three brothers, and two sisters.” He chuckled at Lola's amazed gawking. “And do they get like what, immature stuck up babies? Yeah, every single one of them has at some point. It's normal.”
Normal, I thought sarcastically, pretty sure Sean didn't like that word earlier. “Hey,” I said, breaking into the topic. “Let's just get set for the show tonight, we can worry about family dynamics when things aren't so tight on schedule.”
Covering her mouth, Brenda gasped dramatically. “Holy shit, is that Drezden Halifax? I thought you'd been replaced by a selfish prick who didn't care about schedules anymore!”
My eyes became slits. “I always cared.”
Lifting her hands, she spun on a heel and opened the back door. “I could have sworn that the man I had to drag out of the hotel didn't care about leaving on time. That's all I'm saying.”
Lola and I shared a look. Her face was pink, a rose in bloom; I was sure she was thinking about this morning. Any anger at Brenda for busting my balls dissipated at the tiny, private smile the girl sent me. She's thinking about us fondly, not with embarrassment, isn't she?
There were many thoughts roaming my skull. Most of them suspicious, dark things that traveled from the root of my past to the dawn of the problems cropping up on the tour.
Gripping Lola's hip, guiding her into Belly Up, I made a choice.
I decided she was my main thought.
For that evening...
And for as long as I could keep her beside me.
Chapter Five.
Lola
Sean wouldn't look at me during sound check.
Every lick of music I made was haphazard, my eyes trying to force my brother's attention on me via burning into the back of his skull. By the time the set was done, all I had to show was a massive migraine.
I should have just told him. The guitar felt heavier than usual; a reminder that it, like my first, had been a gift from Sean. Should have just taken five minutes to tell him I'd gotten stalked at the mall, had a tire sabotaged, and then spilled my guts to Brenda.
Hanging my head, I snapped my case closed. I barely got off the stage before Drezden moved beside me. His words, his heat, clung to me. “Everything alright? You seem distracted.”
Tossing a quick look at Sean across the room, I noticed Drez following my eyes. “Guess I'm stressing over him ignoring me.”
“Well, I could drag him over here for you,” the singer said casually. Twisting my head up so fast it hurt, I saw his sharp smirk. “Or you could give him some time.”
A tiny smile broke through my mood. “Does that mean your offer of grabbing him for me by force isn't really on the table?”
Bending low, Drezden coiled his fingers along the hair on my nape. It was a handle, trapping me there while he buried his nose, his lips, on my sensitive skin. Knowing everyone could see, that Drezden didn't give a shit, set my senses on hyper-aware. “I'll do anything you ask me to, Lola. Just say the words.”
The tremble shook me to my knees. Words, how do I speak again? The singer was talented at stealing my control. “No,” I said, raspy. “Uh, I'll—time is fine.”
He kissed me once, teasing with his teeth. Then, straightening, his hands let me go... but his stare kept me ensnared. “You know,” he whispered, dragging a thumb-pad over my jugular, “they might want to put makeup on your neck tonight. You're covered in marks from me.”
I clasped a palm over my throat. “Oh god, that's right.” I forgot about the bruises!
Tucking his fingers into his pockets, Drezden didn't hide the smoldering hunger in his angular face. “If they try, don't let them.”
“I—what?”
“Don't let them hide the marks.” Wild fire flickered in his green centers. “I want the world to see what I did to you.”
One beat, four beats, a million beats; my heart couldn't take it. In our time apart, my body had come close to forgetting just how much Drezden had me tangled up. Unable to articulate my thoughts, I gave him a tiny nod. His instant, sly grin set my lower belly into swirls again.
The heat reflected back from him. “Fuck,” he growled, “I just want to take you aside.”
“No. No no no.” Brenda strolled forward, a clipboard in her hand. She wielded it like it was a sword, ready to cut Drezden—or me—down. “No one runs off. This place is going to get packed in less than an hour. I need you all to stick around, even if your set is last.”
Grabbing my wrist, the singer pulled me towards the rear exit of the bar.
“Hey!” Our manager waved her arms, shouting at us, drawing every eye in the room. “What did I just say?”
“Smoke break,” Drez called, not wasting time to look back at the red-head. He spared only a second to glance down at me, mystery leaking from his muted smile. “I always smoke before a show.”
I let him lead me, sluggish in my soft question. “Are you really going out to smoke?” The cold air of the hour hit me in the cheeks, Drez tugging me into the rear parking lot.
Peering around, taking in the fading light above, he answered me with that voice crafted from honey. “No. Of course not.” In the growing shadows, Drez's face was a puzzle. “I need my new addiction.”
****
My question about where we would go was cleared up before I voiced it.
The inside of the trailer was empty. I figured it must have been for some of the crew, all of which were now inside Belly Up. There was little to see but some fold-up chairs, a small card table, and left-over coffee and snacks on a counter.
The sharp 'click' behind me was a warning. Twisting, I saw Drezden's fingers leave the locking bolt. No one could get inside anymore.
I was trapped with Drezden Halifax.
He's going to leave me a wreck before we play! The realization was chilling. There's no way I can play after he's through with me, he'll rip me to shreds, I'll forget the songs!
The word 'wait' was on my tongue.
The answer of 'no' poured from his eyes.
Shoved against the trailer wall, the building vibrated from impact; I vibrated. The marrow of my bones shook with my fear, with desperation. Even if I knew it was a bad idea to do this, my body still wanted Drezden Halifax.
Where the kiss started, I couldn't say. The ending was what mattered; it was what allowed me to finally breathe. “Drez,” I said feebly, searching his face for clarity. “Wait, hold on, we can't—the show will start soon!”
“They don't need us for that.”
“I want to see my brother play!”
“And I,” the singer murmured, “want you.” Gripping my middle, he slid his palms down till they met the top of my jeans.
I understood what was happening. It hit me hard, left me shaking under Drezden's expert fingers. He's making me choose between him... and Sean. Ever since the day my brother had played his first show at school, I'd watched every single one of his performances.
But it was when he created Barbed Fire that I really invested myself.
After I'd had my guitar destroyed, attacked that girl, things had changed. Sean hadn't been there to prevent it, but he'd been there to buy me a new instrument. I'd never known where he'd gotten the money, just that he'd given me the greatest gift a second time.
When he started bringing me to help at shows, I'd jumped in whole-hog. That was how I'd gotten my first taste of Four and a Half Headstones. Their first CD, the music that turned my life around.
The words of Drezden Halifax.
And now, the man who crafted the music that spoke to me, guided me to become strong, to embrace my scars and move f
orward... Lifting my chin, I stared into acid-green eyes. Now that man is here, testing me, making me decide.
My lips spread, preparing to say something—anything—that would get him to free me from his spell. Drezden's fingers closed on my bottom lip, peeled it down, exposed the sensitive insides. His agile tongue slid back and forth, tasting the soft flesh until I forgot what I was even doing.
He has me, I thought in the distant ocean of my mind. He has me, and he knows it. There was a hint of something wicked and cruel in how Drezden was kissing me. If it was possible to taste triumph, his was the flavor of perverse gluttony.
“Take off your bra,” he said against my temple. Reaching behind, I fumbled until I'd done so. He didn't ask me to remove my shirt, but I reached down to do it anyway. “No, don't.” One firm palm on my elbow halted me. “Leave it on, just slide your bra out.”
Baffled by his insistence, I tugged the straps down my arms, the piece of lingerie tumbling like a leaf to the floor. The singer coiled his grip in my thin shirt, forcing it until it strained over my breasts. Such tight material, my already aching nipples were outlined like perfect, tiny pieces of candy. Drez's hungry mouth descended, rubbing over the cloth, sending convulsions straight down to my calves.
It should have been impossible; he'd managed to make my skin more sensitive. Closing my eyes tight, my head tilted back against the wall. Open mouthed, panting, my tongue went as dry as my inner thighs were wet.
Abruptly, he stepped away from me. It took me some time before I could collect myself enough to look at him, painfully aware of my rock-hard nipples, how flushed my face must be. Drez wore a solid smirk, fingers offering something small and square to me.
A condom, I realized. Taking it, my eyes fixed on how casually he unzipped the front of his jeans. The material strained to contain his rapidly hardening cock.
“Come here.” Motioning me forward, Drez reached for my wrist. I let him guide me, heart thumping with my uncertainty. “No mistakes this time. I want you to put it on me.”
Every hair of mine prickled. Oh, fuck. I'd never even opened a condom wrapper before. At Drez's light prompting, his hands on my shoulders, I dropped to my knees in front of him. Eye level with his hard-on, I licked my lips once; twice. I'm going to mess this up. He's going to realize I don't know what I'm doing.
