by Lane Hart
“Give him some time to cool off, he’ll come around,” Ford tells us.
“Really? I don’t think so,” I reply. “Davis doesn’t share. The three of us barely manage it for now. Adding him too? I’m sorry, but it’ll never work, Tess.”
“Dammit! I was supposed to help bring the band together and make it better, not tear it apart! This is all my fault!” she says, as she covers her face with both hands.
“Hey, it’s not your fault. We’re all responsible,” Ben says, as he goes over and wraps her in a hug. She buries her face in his chest.
Tess’s response is mumbled, but it sounded like, “I should leave.”
“No!” I yell at her. “You’re not leaving.”
“Hell no,” Ford agrees.
“That’s not gonna happen,” Ben tells her as he squeezes her tighter. “You helped me get sober, and we wouldn’t have any new songs if it weren’t for you.”
Lifting her head to look up at us, Tess says, “What good are new songs if you lose your guitarist?”
“I’ll go talk to him,” Ford speaks up.
“You sure about that?” I ask. “There’s a good chance that Davis will rip your balls off if you even try to speak to him.”
“Fine. I’ll give him a few hours to cool down first,” Ford amends.
“Maybe I should be the one to go talk to him,” Tess suggests, but the three of us shut that shit down right away.
“Not gonna happen,” Ben tells her. “If he wants to hit someone, it should be Ford.”
“Hey!” Ford grumbles.
“He wouldn’t hit me,” Tess says. “I know he’s angry, but mostly I think he’s hurt because I didn’t tell him the truth. I should have, even though he never mentioned us being serious or exclusive.”
“I don’t think any of us knew that we wanted those two things until we were with you,” I admit. After our first time together, I told Tess that I couldn’t give her more because I thought I would be too stressed out, worried about the new album. It didn’t take me long to figure out that being with her, just having her nearby, lowers my anxiety and calms me better than any prescription drug in the world.
“Ford,” Tess starts. “When you talk to Davis, tell him he can be with the four of us, or I’ll go back to San Diego, if that’s what he wants. Whatever it takes for him to stay with the band.”
“That’s gonna be a no-brainer,” Ford assures her.
Davis better fucking agree to this arrangement the three of us have with Tess because if he decides to send Tess back to California, I’ll never forgive him. Neither will Ben or Ford. And that would definitely ruin Malus for good.
Chapter 23
Ford
I don’t exactly know why I agreed to be Davis’s punching bag. When I borrow Tess’s rental car to follow her directions to his cabin, I begin to second-guess that decision.
No, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. And I couldn’t risk Ben or Clarke screwing things up with Davis. I definitely wasn’t going to let Tess come and take the brunt of his anger either.
I park the car outside the front of the small cabin and start for the door when I hear him. The grunts and thumps are coming from the back of the house, so my feet stop to listen closer.
The thumps are rhythmic, interspersed with curses and grumbles.
I quietly tiptoe around the side of the house, looking for the giant man, and stay back when I spot him. Wearing just his jeans and boots, no shirt, his thick arms raise an axe over his head and then slice it through the air before landing in the log lying on a stump. The blade splits the hard object as if it were nothing more than butter.
Maybe I should wait to talk to Davis when he’s no longer wielding a dangerous weapon. Just as I turn to go back to the car, my Vans step on a patch of leaves, making them crunch loudly. Loud enough that when I look over my shoulder, Davis’s head has turned toward me.
“What the fuck do you want?” he bellows.
“Just to talk to you, man. Can you put the axe down?” I ask when I turn to face him.
“No,” he grumbles before he gives me his back, picks up another log, and then splices it.
“What’s the wood for?” I ask, since it’s too nice this time of year for a fire.
“I’m imagining each log is one of your heads,” he mutters, before raising the axe and slamming it down again.
Great.
“One of them isn’t Tess’s head, is it?” I ask with concern.
“No,” he grunts, and then glares over his shoulder at me as if he can’t believe I would ask that.
“Good,” I reply. “Tess is blaming herself, even though she shouldn’t. Deep down, you had to have known that someone else would want her if you didn’t.”
“I did want her!” Davis shouts, loud enough to send birds scattering into the forest surrounding the lake.
“Did you tell her that specifically? That you wanted her to be your girlfriend and not see other men?” I ask.
There are several seconds of silence before he grumbles out a “No.”
“Didn’t think so. Regretting that now, aren’t you?”
“She should’ve told me she was fucking everyone else!” he replies.
“And what would you have done if she had told you that?” I ask.
Scoffing, Davis says, “Told her to stay the hell away from me. She’s no different than a groupie.”
“You really think that? You would give her up just that easy?” I say in disbelief. She’s addicting. I thought it was just how I felt about her, but then I realized it was the same for Ben and Clarke. Davis isn’t immune either, apparently.
“Yes,” he murmurs softly, without any conviction.
“Liar!” I yell back at him. “She wanted me to ask you a question,” I say, making the sinewy muscles in his back roll and bunch his tattoos, giving away his interest.
Turning around to face me, his bare chest rising and falling with his quick breaths, he says, “What?”
“Do you want her to leave? To go back home to San Diego?”
Davis’s hazel eyes widen for just a second in surprise before his angry mask drops back into place.
“Tess is going to leave unless you give her a reason to stay,” I tell him. “I bet she’s packing her bags right now. Hell, she may be at the airport before I get back!”
Davis’s entire body jerks, as if he’s trying to fight the urge to literally go running after her.
“We’ll never see her again if she gets on a plane,” I warn him, because while Tess may care about us, she would give us up in a heartbeat to save the band. “Or…” I dangle the word in front of him like a carrot, or in his case, a big, juicy steak. “You could shove down the jealousy and learn to share her.”
“No fucking way!” Davis shouts.
“Then I guess it’ll be the first option for her. It’s a shame too, since I never got to really be with her. Ben and Clarke will be devastated. I’m pretty sure they’re both falling for her hard.”
I turn around and start back toward the car at the front of the house. It takes until I step around the driver’s side for Davis to call out, “Wait!”
He’s standing at the edge of the cabin, still holding the axe in his hand, knuckles so white on the handle he may snap it off.
“What?” I ask, hiding my grin and playing dumb.
“I’ll try,” he grumbles.
“Nope, sorry. That’s not good enough, Davie,” I tell him, then open the car door.
“Fine!” he yells. “But I still want Tess to myself.”
“Don’t we all,” I mutter. “If you tell her that, I’m sure she would be happy to accommodate you. All it takes is a little compromise on your part. And hell, I know it’s not easy or conventional, but she’s worth it, right?”
“Yes,” he answers with a heavy sigh.
“You want a ride back to the house?” I offer.
When he starts toward the passenger door, I say, “Leave the axe here, man.�
�
“Oh, right,” he says, as if he just realized he was still carrying it. Davis tosses the axe over into the grass next to the house and then climbs into the small rental car, taking up more than his half of the front seat.
When I crank the engine, I say, “Do you think you could put in a good word with her for me?”
“Fuck you,” he snaps, but I don’t miss the slight curve to his lips.
Chapter 24
Ben
Holy shit, he did it, I think to myself when I hear a car out front and look through the living room window to find Ford back…with Davis.
“They’re back!” I say to Clarke and Tess, who are huddled together on the sofa, Clarke trying to convince her that she hasn’t split up the band.
Sitting up on the edge of the cushion, Tess asks, “Davis too?”
“Yep.”
“Wow,” Clarke replies in awe. “How did Ford pull that off?”
“No clue, but they’re at the door,” I say before I run over and crash into a chair, like I’ve been watching television and didn’t notice they’ve arrived.
“Who ordered the half-naked lumberjack?” Ford says when he comes in first, followed by a shirtless Davis.
Tess jumps off the sofa and exclaims, “I’m so glad you’re back!”
Ford jokingly holds his arm out for her when she starts toward him, even though he knows she’s headed for Davis. Davis grabs her ass to heft her up his body, her arms going around his neck.
“I don’t want you to leave,” he tells her.
“Then lets all kiss and makeup,” she suggests.
Davis growls before he attacks her mouth, kissing her so fiercely I’m pretty sure my lips feel it across the room. Clarke and Ford are both grinning as they watch. What I wasn’t expecting was for Davis to actually start tearing Tess’s clothes off before he lowered her naked body to the carpeted floor, right there in the middle of the living room floor.
“Please, Davis,” Tess begs as her hands fights with his pants to get them undone and down his hips, freeing his…
“Good God, man,” Ford whispers in awe, since he’s the closest one to the beast of a cock. “There’s no way that’s gonna fit—”
Ford’s sentence cuts off when Tess reaches down, fists Davis’s thick length and then feeds it inside her body.
“Yes!” she cries out before her moans and grunts turn wordless when Davis starts fucking her into the floor fast and furiously.
Davis grabs a handful of Tess’s hair to tilt her head back and reveal her neck so that his mouth can claim it. “Mine,” he growls, as if any of us in the room doubted that.
And yeah, I admit I may be thick, but even I’m a little intimidated by his girth and vigor that Tess apparently loves, since she’s begging for more in between the gibberish Davis is causing her to speak. The whole spectacle is making my dick hard as I sit on the edge of my seat, completely captivated.
Finally, the floor show comes to an end, and I realize when I wipe my hand over my brow that I worked up a sweat, just watching the two of them go at it.
Maybe this sharing thing won’t be so bad after all.
Davis places soft kisses on Tess’s face before he sits back on his knees, removing his cock from her tight confines, and says, “Who wants to lick my cum from her pussy?”
“I will,” Ford offers without hesitation.
“Then get down here,” Davis orders. Ford drops to his knees next to them, and when Davis spreads Tess’s limp legs, Ford leans over, and…
“Oh, my God!” Tess screams while grabbing her tits like she needs something to hold on to. It’s so fucking hot I can’t help but slide my hand into my pants to squeeze my cock.
Either Tess’s orgasm hits fast, or she’s having a seizure because she starts convulsing on the carpet, screaming Ford’s name.
“I need to be inside of you,” Ford says, as he sits up and wipes his mouth with the back of his hand.
“Davis?” Tess says the big man’s name, as if asking his permission.
“Fine, but only if she’s on her stomach so you can’t look at her,” Davis informs Ford, whose shoulders fall in relief. Rather than wait for Ford to reposition her, Davis flips Tess like a pancake so that she’s face down on the floor before he moves out from between her legs, standing up so that Ford can take his place. After Ford unzips his pants, freeing his cock, he lifts Tess’s hips to line himself up.
The expression on his face as he slams home the first time makes my dick cry. It’s relief and joy and pleasure all at the same time. I know the feeling since I’ve been there.
Unable to be an observer anymore, I go over and fall to my knees in front of Tess’s face, praying she’ll take pity on me. When her mouth opens expectantly, I move closer to feed my cock into the heaven that is her mouth. Clarke is down on the floor next to me a second later, wanting the same thing.
“Don’t get greedy,” Davis says from where he towers over Ford. “She’s only got one mouth.”
“But it’s a fucking amazing one, just like the rest of her,” I tell him as my dick gets a tongue bath.
“Damn right,” Clarke agrees. Tess takes him in her left hand and jerks him off while sucking my dick and letting Ford fuck her.
God, this woman is too fucking generous, and none of us deserve for her to lay a finger on us. For whatever reason, she likes pleasuring us all, and for the first time, we’re doing it right in front of Davis.
Glancing up, I see that other than his jaw looking so tight it may break, Davis is otherwise handling the situation without using his fists. If I had to guess by the way his gaze is constantly jumping from one erotic act to another, I think he’s even enjoying himself.
It looks like the band is not only back together but finally playing in harmony once again.
Chapter 25
Tess
I wake up a little sore all over, especially between my legs, but incredibly happy with the sunlight shining softly through the curtains, in an empty bed that looks like a tornado hit it.
Pillows and sheets are strewn about, proof that I didn’t dream last night. I really was with all four amazing members of Malus until I passed out asleep, unable to take another second of the ecstasy they were all so eager to give over and over again, with Davis calling all the shots. No one complained because he seemed to know exactly what we all needed.
In my sleepy haze, I do remember hearing Davis and Clarke declaring that they were moving into the house with me, Ford, and Ben, which makes me ecstatic that they’re all embracing this unique situation between the five of us.
But where the heck is everyone right now? It’s early, the clock says it’s just nine o’clock, and I know from experience that Ben and Ford don’t get up usually before noon.
Worried Ben may have slipped off for a drink, or Ford is sneaking a cigarette, I quickly clean up in the bathroom and put on the first t-shirt on the bedroom floor that I come across to head downstairs. It’s hard to tell whose it is since it smells like all four of the guys’ wonderful scents.
I hear Clarke’s drum beat when my feet hit the living room carpet. The volume increases the closer I get to the kitchen where Ben’s bass can be heard, along with each lick of Davis’s new guitar that shakes me to my soul. Then, finally, when I step into the garage that’s open, letting in the cool morning breeze, I hear Ford’s deep, sexy voice, belting out the lyrics of the song he wrote about me and the way these men all make me blush.
That’s the moment I realize that the band sounds perfect. They may be in a garage but they’re playing like the world is listening, and soon they will be. I’ll call and set up some studio time later today.
For now, though, I take a seat on the cement floor and listen to the four men I’m falling in love with making magic right before my eyes.
Apparently, they have other plans for me when the song ends, and I clap my hands together and cheer. “That was incredible, guys!”
The guys all share a look and a nod, then Davis cr
ooks his giant finger at me with a playful smirk on his face.
“What?” I ask when I get to my feet and go over to him.
“Morning,” he says, planting a quick kiss on my lips.
“Morning,” I reply with a huge grin, because I’m so glad he’s in such a great mood. “How do you like the new guitar?” I nod to the one I found and replaced for him after he trashed his.
“I love it, and I loved sleeping with you, even if Ben’s snoring kept me awake,” Davis grumbles, which makes me laugh.
“We need a bigger bed,” Ford mutters.
“Later,” Davis says. “Right now, we want you to do us a favor.”
“Sure, anything,” I tell him. “I was going to make some calls and book you guys some time in a studio…”
“We want you to quit your job,” Davis informs me, making my jaw drop.
“Huh?” I ask, sounding as confused as I am.
“The four of us talked about it, and we want you to quit your job and come on tour with us,” Davis tells me.
“But…you think there’ll be another tour?” I ask excitedly.
“Fuck yes,” Davis replies. “Ford and Clarke’s songs kick ass.”
“That’s great, guys!” I say.
“So what do you say, Tess?” Ford asks. “Live with us? Stay with us?”
“What if…what if this doesn’t work? It’s all so new.”
“It’ll work,” they all mutter.
“You’ve brought out the best in all of us, and that’s something we can never repay you for,” Ben says. “We can make this work.”
Wow. I can’t imagine giving them up, so of course I’ll stick around for as long as they’ll have me.
“Okay,” I agree.
“Seriously?” the guys ask.
“Yes! Yes, absolutely!” I tell them, ready to explode from the overload of happiness, as the four men come in for a group hug.
“One last thing,” Davis whispers in my ear. “We want you to sing with us.”
