All Night Long

by Madelynne Ellis

  ‘Nice dream, Spooky man,’ Rock Giant said.

  ‘Maybe he’s right.’ Ash faced them. ‘We know he burns hot and cold, and he has to realise this is great publicity. We’d never get this much media coverage normally.’

  ‘Are you suggesting he did it for the publicity?

  Spook shook his head at the line the two of them were exploring. ‘I don’t believe that. You’re not being fair to him. He was really bloody upset. Does anyone know what this is actually about? Ash, you seem to think it’s Elspeth’s fault.’

  Ash lifted his shoulders, but even to Ginny it was obvious he knew more than he was letting on.

  ‘He’s having a tantrum,’ Rock Giant insisted. ‘He probably just needs to get himself laid a few dozen times. Addicts,’ he tutted. ‘They’re all the same. Vile if they can’t get a fix.’

  ‘Xane’s an addict.’ Boy, the things she was learning. Dani would be pissed over that. She practically worshipped the guy.

  ‘He doesn’t shoot up, if that’s what you’re thinking,’ Spook said.

  ‘Oh, I dunno. I’ve seen him shoot straight up,’ mused Ash, failing to suppress an extremely lewd grin.

  ‘He doesn’t do drugs,’ Spook elaborated. ‘He prefers to fuck himself into oblivion, but he’s not been doing that of late. Not for the last eighteen months or so, in fact, since he did rehab.’

  ‘They have rehab for that?’ Who’d have thought it, and how did you tell you were having too much sex? How much was more than the average rock star? Was it even about quantity?

  Rock Giant stood. ‘Look, joyful as I find it to pick fault with Xane’s life, I’m taking that shower.’ He peeled off his T-shirt, stupefying Ginny and blowing all thoughts of Xane from her head.

  Oh, man! She refrained from fanning herself, but only by sitting on her hands. The guy absolutely lived up to his name. His torso was formed of slabs of muscle, each a little piece of artwork on its own, but then he was decorated with an ink dragon entwined around a sword covered with roses.

  Her mouth dropped open, prompting Ash to jab her with his elbow. ‘Didn’t your mother tell you it’s wrong to stare?’

  ‘I’m not staring.’

  ‘Is there another explanation for why your jaw’s on the floor and your tongue’s lolling out?’

  Ginny shut her mouth.

  Rock Giant seemed oblivious to the effect he’d had. ‘No one needs to relieve themselves, do they? Good.’ He swaggered towards the bathroom, his T-shirt dangling from his hand.

  ‘I thought he was joking about needing a shower,’ Ginny remarked.

  ‘Paul doesn’t know how to joke.’ With a sigh, Ash slumped beside her on the bed, causing the mattress to dip and tip her towards him. Ginny put out her hand, but Ash knocked it away, causing her to crumple against his chest. ‘That’s better.’ His arms encircled her and squashed her against his chest. ‘A guy could get jealous, you know.’

  ‘I was only looking. And only because he showed it off.’

  Ash didn’t seem to care about her defence. His lips explored hers, delivering one mouth-watering kiss after another.

  Ginny wormed a hand between them and pushed against his chest. ‘Slow down, hot stuff. We do have an audience, remember.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘Spook.’

  ‘He doesn’t count.’

  Maybe not to Ash, but he did to her.

  ‘You already said you were fine with him watching.’

  ‘Hang on.’ She’d agreed to his presence in the dressing room, not granted him a licence to spy on them whenever he felt like it.

  ‘Fine,’ Ash pushed her away. ‘Pass me another beer, Spook. I’ll chill.’

  They sat in silence a few minutes, each of them drowning their thoughts. In the end Ginny caved. Fact was, she didn’t really object to Spook’s presence, just found it a bit odd, since from what Ash had said he was unlikely to join in. However, it wasn’t off-putting enough to risk jeopardising her night of hot sex with Ash. If she let him chill too much, his performance might suffer, which would be a damned shame, since she knew he could have her revved up and ready for action inside thirty seconds.

  ‘Maybe you could sing,’ she suggested.

  ‘What?’

  ‘On stage, if Xane’s not up to it any more.’

  ‘Yeah, right.’ He cackled, obviously amused. ‘I have a couple of talents, but singing ain’t one of them. In case you hadn’t noticed, they don’t even let me do backing vocals.’

  ‘Oh, well. It was just a suggestion.’ She put her beer aside. ‘Fancy demonstrating one of your other talents?’

  ‘I don’t know if I’m chilled enough yet,’ he protested.

  Ginny couldn’t help it – she laughed. God, she liked him when he pouted. It made him smoulder and her insides grow moist. ‘Maybe I could massage you. That might help.’

  ‘Doubt it,’ he said, but the dirty look in his eyes told he was definitely interested.

  Ginny planted one hand on his thigh, but then slipped off the bed and made a grab for his foot. She tugged off his boot and the black pirate sock beneath. ‘Reckon I’ll start here.’

  ‘Don’t,’ he squealed, already trying to squirm out of her grip. ‘Not unless you want me to piss myself with laughter.’

  She contemplated his big toe, going so far as to open her mouth as though she intended to suck it.

  ‘Come here instead.’ Ash pulled her up onto the bed, so that she was crouched over his prone form. Their mouths were a hair’s breadth apart when a bellow from the bathroom wrecked the moment.

  ‘What sort of lousy-arsed place doesn’t provide free shower gel?’

  Ash banged his head against the pillow.

  ‘I’ve got some,’ said Ginny. ‘Should I go help him out?’

  ‘I thought you were helping me out.’

  ‘We could both go.’

  Ash rolled his eyes. ‘I’ve no desire to soap up Paul’s giant dick. Go on, be quick and stop him cursing.’ He extracted his hands from her clothing and gave her a playful shove in the direction of the bathroom.

  ‘Is it giant?’

  Spook made a choking sound and spluttered beer down his front. ‘You don’t think he’s called Rock Giant because he plays rock music, do you?’

  She shook her head. ‘That is such bollocks.’ She refused to believe the insinuation that his nickname had been acquired for some other reason. ‘I’m sure he’s normally proportioned.’

  ‘Nothing about him is normal.’

  ‘Go check him out if you don’t believe us.’

  ‘I will. I am.’ She skipped backwards toward the bathroom door. She knocked and waited for a response.

  ‘Just go in,’ Spook and Ash chorused.

  ‘Yeah, he doesn’t bite.’

  ‘Nah, you need Xane for that.’

  ‘Or me.’ Ash gnashed his teeth. ‘If only I’d put my fangs in tonight.’

  ‘Vampire wannabe,’ Spook remarked, cracking open another of the dwindling beers.

  ‘Look who’s talking, White Walker.’

  Ginny left them to their banter and opened the bathroom door. It immediately snagged against a pool of black cotton and leather, turning her entrance into a fight. Rock Giant already stood inside the tub. He stuck his head around the edge of the shower curtain. His hair was smoothed back away from his face, and seemed entirely black. He’d taken out the contact lenses too, so that he peeped at her with two beautiful hazel eyes. His skin and eyelashes were frosted with water droplets. ‘Just kick ’em out of the way,’ he said in regard to his clothing.

  ‘I think I’ve some shower gel in my washbag.’ Ginny rifled through the contents, eventually coming up with a miniature bottle acquired from another hotel chain. ‘Apple scent, I’m afraid.’

  ‘Thanks. Apple I can live with. At least it’s not lavender or strawberry, or –’ he thought for a moment ‘– patchouli. I hate patchouli. It reminds me of mud and tepees, and all the hippies of my parent’s generation that used to crash out at
their place. He grasped the offered bottle. ‘Mind you, it was an improvement on how most of them smelled without it. The only bathing any of them did was in the odd water trough.’ He ducked behind the curtain and started soaping up. ‘I don’t suppose you’ve any shampoo?’

  ‘Here.’ She stuck her hand behind the curtain, having anticipated the request. ‘Need me to help you work up a lather too?’

  He gave a surprisingly shy cough. ‘Did Ash send you in here? I’m not going to fall for that.’

  ‘Fall for what?’

  ‘His dirty tricks. I’m not desperate for nuddy shots of me appearing on the Internet, so I’ll pass on the offer if it’s all the same.’

  ‘Sorry,’ she said, not following his logic. ‘How? What?’

  ‘Give it a minute and I guarantee he’ll be in here with Spook and his camera two paces behind.’

  ‘Oh,’ she remarked, making the connection. An uneasy feeling clenched her innards. Spook had already captured her image. ‘Is that what he does with them? Ash only said he put them into scrapbooks.’

  Rock Giant reached out around the curtain and gave her a pat on the head that left her wet. ‘Don’t worry, you’re all right. Ladies do indeed go in Spook’s albums, and nobody outside of the band ever sees those, but the net is where he’d post any shots he got of my arse.’

  ‘Well, that’s a shame. I mean about it being the reason why you don’t want me soaping you up. You’re absolutely sure?’

  He peeked around the curtain again and gave her a friendly grin. ‘Yeah. Really lovely of you to offer, but I think I’m good.’

  ‘Good at what?’ Ash asked, arriving just as Rock Giant had predicted with Spook on his tail. ‘What’s he good at? I don’t know anything he’s good at, except maybe downing beers, and for such a big guy you make a pretty poor show of holding them.’

  ‘Why are you in here?’ Ginny asked.

  ‘To use the facilities.’

  ‘What, has Spook come to hold it?’ Mortensen had also shuffled his way into the room, making it rather crowded.

  Spook sheepishly retreated to just outside the bathroom door. ‘Seemed like a party. I didn’t want to miss out.’

  ‘Don’t lie. The pair of you were trying to set me up,’ Rock Giant insisted. Ginny was inclined to agree with him.

  ‘I should punish you for that,’ she said to Ash.

  ‘Oh, yeah?’ he retaliated. Ash flicked his black hair away from his face and gave her a penetrating look, his hands resting on his hips. ‘And how do you propose to do that? Are you going to line us up like naughty schoolboys and make us drop our pants, then give us ten whacks each and make us promise not to be bad?’

  ‘Certainly not,’ Ginny replied, though the notion of three members of Black Halo lined up in such a fashion was certainly an entertaining one. Not that she any reason to include Rock Giant in the punishment, unless she took him to task over his driving. ‘I expect you’d enjoy that too much. Besides, there simply isn’t enough space in here to get a decent swing, and Rock Giant is trying to shower.’

  She’d probably have let things go at that, if it weren’t for the hint of challenge in Ash’s expression.

  ‘How about I spend the night getting your friends off and leaving you hanging?’ she remarked, knowing that would strike home.

  His bolshie expression crumbled. ‘They’d never agree to it.’ Fatigue and resentment swallowed him up. He refused to meet her gaze, turning to the sink instead. Too bad the mirror there reflected back his hurt.

  ‘That’s not punishment, it’s the normal state of play,’ Rock Giant remarked. Having finished showering, he turned off the spray and reached for a towel.

  ‘Shut up,’ Ash muttered through gritted teeth.

  ‘It beats me what you get out of it, besides tongue ache and friction burns.’

  ‘I said, shut up.’ He made a swipe in Rock Giant’s direction, but fell short of making contact, only ruffling the shower curtain instead.

  ‘Well, name one girl in the last month who actually satisfied you.’

  ‘He couldn’t name any of them,’ Spook chimed in.

  ‘How many of them even got you off?’

  ‘It’s none of your goddamned business.’ Ash spun on his heels and stormed out of the bathroom. He wrenched open the door to the suite only to be brought to a halt by the waiter delivering Spook’s extensive room-service order on a wheeled trolley.

  ‘Where shall I put it?’ the waiter asked.

  Ash backed up slowly. ‘On the table, I guess.’ He about-turned and led the way into the bedroom proper.

  Spook followed him out of the bathroom, drawn, Ginny suspected, by the whiff of food. Rock Giant, meanwhile, stumbled out of the bathtub with a towel pulled tight around his waist. He commandeered the hand towel too, to scrub dry his hair. ‘Aren’t you going to eat?’ he asked Ginny.

  She nodded, and turned towards the bathroom door, but instead of leaving she quietly pushed it to. ‘You shouldn’t have said that. It upset him. It was too personal.’

  Rock Giant regarded her reflection in the mirror as he continued to scrub dry his thick hair. After a moment of consideration, he dropped the hand towel on the counter top and turned to face her. ‘I get that he likes women. I don’t even have a problem with him screwing around. If he wants a different woman every night then that’s his business, but too many of those women use him and give nothing back. I’m not meaning to be cruel. I’m just telling it as it is, and wishing he’d do something about it. Like start respecting himself.’

  He picked up her roommate’s hairbrush that was lying on the countertop and combed the wet strands away from his face.

  ‘Does he even give them the chance to please him?’ She remembered all too keenly how quick he’d been to push her away and pretend there wasn’t an issue. It was only her stubborn persistence that had ensured his relief. That and her personal pride wouldn’t let her walk out on a partner – one who’d given her such a good time – without returning the favour. That’s what equality meant, after all.

  ‘Perhaps they don’t realise …’

  ‘Really?’ He gave a doubtful snort. ‘Ash likes to kid himself that’s the case, but women aren’t stupid. OK, some of them are – some of them even believe his theatrical performance of coming is for real – but you’re not. I know that because we’re having this conversation. By all means enjoy yourself with him, just spare him a few thoughts while you’re doing so.’

  ‘I fully intend to spare more than a few.’ If she was with someone, then they were the centre of her world. She hadn’t let him leave the washroom unfulfilled, and she’d no intention of allowing him to leave the hotel without having blown his mind a few more times.

  ‘Shall we eat?’ Rock Giant asked. He ploughed over his already crumpled pile of clothes to guide her out of the door.

  Chapter Six

  Ginny let Rock Giant usher her into the bedroom, where Spook had spread the trolley-load of food over every available surface. He appeared to have ordered them at least two dishes each. Ash was already tucking into an enormous plateful of fish and chips with mushy peas and a slice of lemon. She expected his expression to be bitter, but when he looked up at her from behind the curtain of hair shrouding his face his mood seemed reasonably jovial. There was no sign of the irritation he’d shown only minutes before, leading her to conclude that either he was a remarkable actor and putting a brave face on it or he hadn’t been quite so cross as she’d first supposed.

  He patted the bed, indicating that she ought to sit down next to him. Spook occupied the room’s lone chair, while Rock Giant, having selected a range of foods from different plates, reclined pasha-style on Dani’s bed to enjoy his meal.

  Ginny helped herself to the seafood linguine and sat next to Ash to enjoy it.

  ‘Try this.’ He offered her some fish from his plate.

  ‘Nice.’ She returned the favour, only to spill pasta down her front.

  ‘It’s fine. I’ll get it,’ he insisted
, lowering his head and leaning into her so he could retrieve the pasta shape with his teeth. He didn’t sit back once he’d caught it either, but continued to eye her breasts lustfully.

  Ginny pushed him away. ‘Civilised conversation over dinner. You can get silly once we reach dessert.’

  ‘I didn’t order desserts.’ Spook offered them an apologetic shrug. ‘There wasn’t anything appealing included. It was all chocolate this and cheesecake that. No fruit and only ice-cream instead of sorbet.’

  From the other bed Rock Giant gave an enormous groan. ‘You and your damned health-food kick. That sounds amazing.’

  ‘It’s OK, guys. I’ve dessert covered.’ Ash produced the tin of golden syrup they’d picked up at the supermarket and showed it off.

  ‘What are we supposed to do with that, just lick it off a spoon?’ Spook enquired. ‘Not that I want any.’

  ‘More for me,’ Ash crowed delightedly. He rubbed his stomach.

  ‘I think there are only two spoons.’ Ginny retrieved them from by the kettle, although, considering the cheeky grin Ash was giving her, she didn’t think that was going to cause a problem.

  ‘Give one to Paul. We can share one.’

  Ginny threw the teaspoon across to the other bed. It landed in the middle of Rock Giant’s Thai noodles. Rather than protesting, he simply scooped it out and wiped it clean on the corner of the towel he was wearing.

  Ash pried the lid off the syrup tin, revealing the liquid gold contents. ‘It almost seems a shame to dip into it.’ He stuck the spoon in regardless and twirled a great strand of treacly goo around it. The whole lot went straight in his mouth with a smack. ‘Heaven,’ he mumbled, before collecting a second spoonful for Ginny to try. Sadly, it didn’t quite reach her mouth before a thick splodge fell off and hit her front. ‘Sorry.’ He didn’t sound terribly apologetic. Nor did he try very hard to get the spoon between her lips. A second blob smeared her chin. ‘Oops.’ He sucked it off, his eyes alight with mischief. ‘Let’s try that again. Mmm, maybe if you lean back a bit?’