The Final Note (DJ Series Book 1)

by Helen J. Barnes

  “You think she’ll win him from me?”

  “No, but I don’t think Dayton will be able to stay with you and carry on working at Lexis.”

  The thought sickens me. I’ve already stated I don’t want to push him to pick a side between me and Regina. There’s a sickening part inside of me that knows if I pushed him to choose between me and music I would lose. Corrine makes a very valid point, so what if I expose Regina for being the twisted bitch she is, what is that going to do for me? Dayton will still have to work beside her. I hate that Corrine is right. Maybe there is no happy ending to this whirlwind romance? Maybe I need to just jump on, hold tight and enjoy the ride because it will invariably end. Tears prick the backs of my eyes just at the thought because I know already that I’ve fallen for Dayton, fast and very fucking hard.

  Thursday can’t come quick enough and as soon as Dayton gets in from work he calls me. I drive over and as soon as he opens the front door I step into his outstretched arms. He envelopes me in a tight hug, kissing my head as I press my face to his bare chest. His skin is warm, the now familiar scent bringing me comfort. “God, I missed you,” I mumble and I hear a chuckle through his chest.

  “Me too, sugar. Will you stay the night?” He inhales the scent of my hair and I smile.

  “I was hoping you would ask me that.”

  Without a word he pulls me inside and pushes the door shut behind me, guiding me by the hand towards his bedroom. I smile, willingly following him. I’m surprised when he turns right into the bathroom instead of left to his bed. “I want to shower with you.” His voice is little more than a hoarse whisper and I nod a silent agreement.

  He pulls me to him, his hand sliding up the side of my face and into my hair. His eyes seek mine out and I tip my chin up, needing to feel his lips against mine. “You have no idea how desperate I have been to hold you, to kiss you. This week has been agony, I couldn’t get you off my mind.” His eyes plead his honesty, the ice blue flashing at me and my heart constricts in my chest.

  “I know exactly how your week was, Dayton. I’ve felt the same. I hate not being able to see you, touch you. I need you.” I cover his hand with my own.

  “I never want to leave you again. I know it sounds ridiculous, it was only a few days but I felt like a part of me was missing. When did you become that part?” He seems genuinely bewildered.

  “About the same time you became a part of me. It’s scary, isn’t it?” I know he’s acknowledged just how deep our feelings run for each other and he is feeling as vulnerable as I am.

  “I’ve never felt this way before. It’s like I’m not just me anymore, I’m part of us. I love it. It also scares me that if I lose you I don’t think I would ever feel whole again.”

  I put my hand around the back of his head and pull his mouth to mine, not being able to wait a moment longer to kiss him.

  The kiss is deep, emotion-filled and full of desperation. Both of us need to satisfy the yearning need to be as close as possible, in every sense of the word. I break off the kiss momentarily. “You’ll never lose me, wherever you are, wherever you need me, I will always be there.”

  “I need you now,” he whispers, his eyes hooded and he strips me off clothing between heat-filled kisses. I quickly get his jeans off of him and turn on the shower. He pulls me under the heated jets and hands me the bottle of soap. I lather him quickly and thoroughly as he nuzzles in my neck, working my sensitive breasts in his palms. My libido explodes into a ferocious, all consuming blaze and I press myself to him, needing skin to skin contact.

  He has barely finished rinsing before he moves me against the glass of the shower door, his mouth exploring mine, tongues dancing, breath mingling and we smother one another’s moans. He lifts my leg, wrapping it around his hip and with one swift move he enters me. My head rolls to my shoulder as I let out a satisfied groan of unashamed pleasure.

  “Oh, my god, that feels so good.”

  “I’m not wearing anything. You feel so warm, soft. You’re just damn perfect.”

  “Not as perfect as you,” I whisper before quietening him with a kiss. He slowly starts to thrust into me, gently but making sure with every stroke I take him to the hilt. I wrap my arms around his neck, needing to feel him close, my breasts press to his chest as he deeply pumps into me, pressing me to the glass.

  My nails drag across his shoulders and I suck and nip his neck as the pleasure mounts with every thrust. The ripples of my climax build and build, reaching an orchestral high and I teeter on the edge of the huge void that is my orgasm. “Dayton, please, don’t stop,” I pant out, my sex clenches around him in a death grip, squeezing him tight inside me.

  Without a word he lifts me, wrapping my legs around him and crushing me against the wall where he buries himself so deeply inside me I cry out his name, my orgasm swallowing me whole. With each explosive roll of ecstasy he thrums into me, hard, deep and satisfying. My nails bite into the solidity of his muscles, the climax and aftershocks totally consuming me. He pounds on relentlessly, forcing himself as deep as he can physically get before he bulks and empties inside of me. I grip the back of his hair and force him to look at me. “I love you, Dayton.”

  He is panting and swallows audibly, his eyes penetrating deep into mine. A small smile plays at the corners of his mouth. “I love you so much more, Alannah.”

  My lips curl into a goofy smile and I pull his mouth to mine, trying to prove to him in this kiss that there is no way on God’s fine earth anyone could love anyone more than I love him.

  The next morning Dayton’s uncle gives the whole team the day off work and I’m pea green with envy when I leave him in bed to go into work at Hallam Sports. He is sure to send me off to work with a satisfied smile and it’s nothing to do with the breakfast that has me grinning like a maniac when I get to work, bright and early. It’s also nothing to do with the new iPod he bought me for running so that phone calls can’t interrupt my music streaming. The cold calls continue and I’m almost dead certain Regina is behind them.

  I’m willing the day away so I can get home to him as soon as physically possible. I’m like an addict, now I’ve had a taste of the drug I craved so desperately while he was away, I cannot get enough. Gemma comes into the staff room for lunch as I sit texting him.

  “Oh, that is undoubtedly the smile of a woman who has been up all night with a hot guy, intent on making you come like a train until you can barely walk the next morning,” Gemma teases and I burst into a fit of giggles.

  “I won’t even deny that accusation. I will hasten to add though, there is more waiting for me when I get home.” I smirk, flashing her a quick look at the picture on my phone that I took of Dayton this morning. He is laid out on the bed, naked with just the corner of the bedding covering his body parts that are for my dirty pleasure only. Gemma’s eyes widen and she bites her lip.

  “Did I tell you lately that I hate you, Alannah Matthews?”

  I laugh loudly. “No, you know damn well you love me, Gem. You should come out with us, see if any of the Lexis regulars catch your eye.” I wink.

  “I’d love to, I haven’t been clubbing in ages. Are you going out tomorrow?”

  “I’m out almost every weekend now. I love to see Dayton at work. I’ll text you and let you know where we’re all meeting up tomorrow. It’s normally Zetters Bar around 8 o’clock.”

  “Excellent. You never know, I may find my prince.”

  That night Dayton takes me back to La Bella Luna. I’m made to feel cherished the whole night. He repeatedly tells me how beautiful I am, how perfect, how much he loves me. When we get home we kiss the night away in a blur of love making and honest, complementary pillow talk. I lay naked on my tummy as he traces love hearts on my sensitive back while we talk of the future we want together. He talks of wanting to make it big in the music industry, taking me with him to massive events, a jet set lifestyle of playing abroad and lazy weeks of summers spent in the sun in between him doing stints in the recording studios. It all s
ounds too good to be true.

  There is this nagging part in the back of my mind that sneers at me. Nothing is ever that perfect, nobody gets that kind of fairy tale ending. Not people like me anyway. I can picture Dayton living this life, he was born to live it. Something just tells me the contented bubble of perfection I seem to have stepped into with him will burst. I hate the foreboding feeling and behind my smile I hide the sickening feeling that Regina holds a huge pin with my name on it.

  Saturday we spend the day in the park, we do a couple of laps before slowing to a walk, not really feeling like exercising and preferring just to hold hands and talk. He is just telling me how Ross has decided it’s time for him to take the plunge and ask Macy to move in with him.

  “She doesn’t know yet, keep it to yourself.” Dayton grins and I agree.

  “I think she is going to jump at the chance. She is always complaining about the size of her flat.”

  “It must be even more cramped whilst her brother, Greg, is staying over then.”

  “Ah, yeah, Greg. Corrine already texted and said they’ve been casually flirting. I expect he will be joining us at Lexis tonight then?” Dayton shrugs. “Gemma is looking forward to meeting you. She calls you Mr-Service-With-A-Smile.”

  “I’ve been called worse.” I nudge him with my shoulder and he pulls me to his chest.

  “You do know that I don’t care about who is there, as long as you are, don’t you?” He smiles and I take his face into my hands and lay a kiss on his beautiful mouth.

  “I’ll always be there.”

  Chapter 11

  That night Gemma meets us in the bar and instantly hits it off with Corrine, they’re so alike in personality I should have foreseen there being a connection. I get to meet the infamous Greg who Corrine assured me was lovely. She wasn’t lying. Greg is a male version of Macy, with red hair, pale skin and big green eyes. He is very attentive to Corrine who is lapping up the attention. I see their traded glances, secret smiles and little touches at every available opportunity. It’s adorable. I learn Greg is a manager in a printing business in Birmingham and is over for a week with his family.

  Gemma corners me in the ladies’ and seems a touch drunk already. “You could have put a good word in for me with Luke. He is so cute. Is he single?”

  “Luke? Erm, yeah, as far as I know he is unattached. Seriously? Luke?” I would never have pinned him as Gemma’s kind of guy.

  “Oh, yeah. Don’t you think he’s hot?” she practically gushes and I shrug. I’ve never really looked at Luke that way. Okay, so he’s not totally unfortunate looking but he’s such a... geezer. I can’t imagine him being the kind of guy who would be sure to put you in a taxi home at the end of the night or offer you his jacket in the rain.

  “Luke is... alright. He’s just Luke to me, Gem. If you like him, then go for it. I’ll ask Dayton to put a word in for you, they’re pretty tight.”

  “Thanks, babe. Are we leaving for Lexis yet?”

  I check my watch and see it’s after 11 o’clock. “Yeah, let’s go round up the others.”

  Shortly before midnight we are greeted with a familiar silent nod from Steve on the door before heading straight upstairs to catch the last of Dayton’s set. I stand at the bar and take in the scene before me. There is the regular sea of clubbers on the dance floor, dancing to the trance tunes, hands in the air and heads back. They’re totally swept up in the music and the uplifting atmosphere of the club.

  High above them in the DJ box Dayton looks down to them, like a god on high, observing the activity of his people below. His headphones are hooked around the back of his neck and he holds one earpiece to his ear with his shoulder. The stern look of concentration is evident in the narrowing of his glacier blue eyes. His head nods slightly in time to the bass line of the track he is bringing in, blending it in perfect time with the tune he is dropping out. His mix is faultless and the clubbers whoop and whistle in appreciation and excitement. The track he is bringing in is obviously a favourite. My days, he looks so damn fine up there, music runs in his blood and there is no other job more suited to him. Up there is where he belongs. I get a huge rush of pride, never has there been a DJ as perfect and gorgeous as Dayton, and he is all fucking mine! How the hell did I get this lucky?

  As if to remind me he doesn’t come without his price tag I am knocked almost clean on my ass and only a bar stool saves me from ending up flat on my face, arse over tit, on the floor. Gemma grabs the top of my arm and I thank her.

  “Are you okay? You should watch where you’re walking.” Gemma aims the last part at someone behind me and I turn to come face to face with Miss Perfection. I should have known.

  “You should stick to bottled water if you can’t stay on your feet.”

  This is aimed at me rather than Gemma and I roll my eyes. Okay, so this is the first time she has ever got physical but it was a cheap shot.

  “Maybe you should go poison the air behind the bar, where you belong!” I sneer before nodding to Gemma for the VIP lounge.

  “Oh, my god, who is that bitch?” Gemma seethes as we walk away.

  “The bar manager and the club owner’s daughter, no less. She is desperate to get under Dayton. I can’t stand the sight of the cow. You know, I’m sure it was her who slashed my tyre and complained about me at work.”

  “Really? I’d have put her fronts down her throat if it was me. What a tramp.”

  “I take it we are talking about Regina then?” Corrine chimes in as we take a seat in the booth.

  “She just knocked Alannah flying over by the bar. Silly cow. Honestly, Alannah, I don’t know how you didn’t slap her right then and there.”

  “Because she loves coming to see Dayton at work, obviously. Regina is on a power trip and retaliation in here isn’t a great idea. She’ll have you banned and blacklisted from entering if you tick her off,” Macy tells Gemma who looks about as frustrated as I feel.

  I go to order a drink from the bar, Corrine in tow. The bar is exceptionally busy tonight and when Regina comes to us she gives me an incredibly bored look. “What?”

  “A VK Blue and a vodka and coke for Corrine,” I reply, sounding equally as fed up as her.

  “We are all out of VK Blue.”

  I can clearly see the bottles in the counter fridge behind her. I know pointing that out will only give the satisfaction of refusing to serve it to me. She would love the opportunity just to remind me that she has the upper hand in this club. I simply flick a ten pound note towards Cor.

  “Any vodka alcopop you have in stock then?” I sneer at Regina. “Nipping to the ladies’,” I tell Corrine before walking off, needing the quiet and cool of the restroom for a minute to myself. After a couple of minutes and a quick freshen up in the ladies’ I go back to the others.

  I’m greeted by an adorable smile from Dayton who has finished his set and stands to greet me. “Hey, sugar. You look stunning, but then you always do.”

  I step into his outstretched arms and accept his kiss. “You looked amazing out there tonight.”

  “Thank you. I’d love you to come up there and experience the rush, it’s an amazing experience.”

  I shake my head. “I’ll leave it to the professionals, thanks for the offer though.” I laugh before sliding into my seat and he slides in next to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I feel Regina approach before I see her, the bitch vibes are really blazing tonight but she greets Dayton with a megawatt smile, as always.

  “Hey, babe. Great set. My dad just called down, he wants a word in his office.”

  I instantly get a sinking feeling as I sip from the rancid bottle of strawberry flavour drink Regina served up. What does the boss want? I hope Dayton isn’t in any trouble.

  “Okay, thanks. I’ll go up in a minute. Any idea what he wants me for?” Dayton doesn’t seem at all concerned as he takes a swig from his bottle of Budweiser.

  “I’m not telling, just go see him.” Regina winks and Dayton grins. My lip curls involuntari
ly and I trade an unimpressed glance with Corrine. She leans in and whispers to me.

  “I’d love to scratch those pretty blue eyes out of her skull.” I make an agreeable sound before Dayton grabs my attention with a warm palm on my bare thigh.

  “I won’t be long, baby.”

  He chastely kisses me on the forehead before leaving the lounge and almost instantly getting mobbed by a group of young girls who have no doubt been hanging around the VIP entrance, waiting for him to exit. I look away, not in the mood for his cling-on ladies tonight.

  I force the rancid drink down my throat, not willing to give Regina the satisfaction of collecting a full drink I paid for but couldn’t finish. Gemma nudges me with her elbow, probably picking up on my mood. “Let’s go dance, babe. You look bored rigid.”

  I let her guide me to the dance floor, the laser lights and the smoke making my eyes go funny. Disorientated I turn, looking for Dina and spot Brent, he zooms past so quickly and my eyes widen as I wobble on my heels. What the hell? “Lana, we’re here.” Macy grabs my arm and pulls me to the group, all of them have hit the dance floor and suddenly the bass is so loud I can hear nothing except the bass line in my ears. The rhythm of it gets under my skin and I let it sweep me up. Every worry and tension I had is suddenly lifted and I close my eyes, moving in time to the music. I can literally feel it, it’s in my chest, in my head and the vocals of an angelic voice start to boom out over the big rig. It’s like she is singing to me.

  I love it, I feel amazing. The beautiful singing filters off as a drum roll starts to build to peak and I feel it lifting me. When the bass comes back in it explodes and I feel my whole body tingle, like I’m full of static electricity. It’s amazing! When I open my eyes again I feel like everything has been put on fast forward, bodies are all around me, bouncing and getting the same rush. I throw my arms skywards. “Yeah!”

  I burst into a fit of giggles, finally feeling like I ‘get it’. This is the rush they experience, this is why they dance until they sweat and love Dayton so much, for bringing them this huge high. It almost takes my breath away.