by KT Strange
“I’m sure the guys would be happy to sign whatever you want, for the station, giveaways, whatever. And something for you too, yeah? I’ve got some extra CDs and some special merch we just were sent. New t-shirts. Did you want me to come with me down to the tour van and we’ll find one that fits?” An out. I had to grab it. Susan’s eyes lit up at my words and she nodded.
“That sounds great.”
“Uh-“ Jake interjected. Susan’s cheeks went pink and she spun on her heel.
“We’ll just be a second, Jake,” I said before he could make Susan feel bad for wanting a free t-shirt. “Susan can get you those CDs to sign after. Right?” I glared at him hard. He managed a weak smile.
“Sure, that works,” he said.
It better. I tapped Susan on the arm.
“C’mon,” I said, “let’s go grab you a shirt.” We walked to the second elevator, the one that I hadn’t fried, Jake’s eyes burning two holes in my back the whole way. There were only a few more weeks on tour. I could deal with him for a few weeks. I had to.
Twenty-Nine
Darcy
My show down with Jake didn’t make the nightly recap with Willa which was a blessing, a call that she had started to insist upon since I’d come back to the band. Maybe she was trying to make sure I hadn’t run off or something. We went out to our next show, the guys getting two encores from the audience and running over Jake’s set time which pissed him off but since Chelsea was hanging around backstage, he didn’t say anything.
I slept that night, safe and sound curled up into Ace, Finn’s body pressed along my back. We hadn’t talked about the elevator incident, which I was grateful for, because I didn’t know how to explain it to the guys in a way that they would understand.
Hell, I didn’t understand what was happening with me. My body, my powers, were out of control, sometimes when I was panicked and sometimes when everything was fine. With the guys around me, the muted scents of their presence grounded me enough that I could sleep well and not have nightmares.
The next morning dawned, and we headed off to our next tour stop, a smaller, more intimate venue. Jake wasn’t on the bill for that night because he had to cut a demo, so it would be only Glory Rev and us.
“Fuck I love the sun,” Charlie said as we sat out on the roof of the venue. It had a cool, roof-top patio only accessible from the green room space, and I was taking full advantage of being able to relax in the warmth. Charlie tilted his head up to the sky with a deep groan.
I laughed at the sound.
“That was nearly pornographic,” I commented. Charlie waggled his eyebrows at me, his hand landing on the warm wood decking. He leaned in close- we’d spread out some of our van blankets to lay on.
“You would know. You make some of the most damn pornographic noises I’ve ever heard.” His eyes were hot on me, and I swallowed for a moment.
A squirt of liquid arced through the air and hit Charlie right in the face. He sputtered and Cash laughed, holding up a squeeze bottle of water.
“Don’t be an asshole,” Cash said as Charlie wiped his face off.
“Who’s the asshole?” Eli walked out of the door that led downstairs to the green room. Finn was right behind him.
“This dick decided to soak me,” Charlie said, grabbing Cash’s shirt from beside him. Cash had tugged it off earlier, giving me an eyeful and a reason to look at him out of the corner of my vision. The guy had muscles for days, toned and smooth.
“Only cause you were mocking Darcy for her sex-noises,” Cash shot back, before giving me smile and a wink. Charlie yelped when Finn swatted him on the back of the head. “We don’t ever pay attention to your sex noises,” Cash lied, ever the gentlemen. Despite his polite untruth, my cheeks were burning with embarrassment. Maybe it was normal for wolves to be so open with each other with sex and pack dynamics, and the fact that me and Finn, and now Ace, were all getting hot and heavy with each other, sometimes within hearing distance of the rest of the band… and sometimes right in front of them. For me, it was hard to shake my puritanical upbringing when directly confronted with it like this.
If I was in bed, Finn’s fingers slipping along my skin, or Ace mouthing down the side of my neck, well, it was easier to feel open and free in the dark of the night.
“I listen,” Eli said nonchalantly as he sat down on the blanket with a sigh.
“Seriously, bro,” Finn growled, sitting down on the other side of me. I shifted, snuggling up into his side. Eli shrugged one shoulder and gazed at me, attraction transforming his face from grumpy to most-definitely-handsome.
“You sound beautiful when Finn’s making you feel good.” Eli reached over, brushing his fingers down along the length of my arm. My face was on fire, and I shivered at the touch.
“We don’t know about Ace cause we haven’t been around for that circus-fuck!” Charlie sputtered when Cash squirted him again.
“Speaking of Ace-“ Cash looked around as Charlie growled at him.
“Re-stringing his bass in the van,” Eli said with a roll of his eyes. “He snapped a G-string. Don’t laugh. I did and he nearly punched me.”
“He’s getting touchy in his old age. Must be that weird second puberty grumpy thing that Charlie went through.” Finn nuzzled the side of my head and I sighed, letting him.
“Second puberty?” I asked.
“I did fucking not,” Charlie argued, looking offended. Now my curiosity was piqued.
“What’s that?” I looked at Finn, then Cash. “Did you guys go through it?”
Eli shrugged.
“Dunno, we were in France, fighting Nazis.” He reached for a water bottle and took a long swig. Charlie rolled his eyes.
“The WW2 defense. How’s a guy supposed to compete with three wolves who traipsed their way through Europe, wracking up the biggest fascist kill count the Allies had ever seen?” Charlie snarked. Finn kissed my temple and sighed, his breath ruffling my curls.
“Not like anybody knew about it. We kept things hush,” Finn said, his voice a low, soft rumble. I leaned against his chest, soaking up his warm heat. The sun was glinting off the slight scruff on his cheek where he’d forgotten to shave.
“Messy, you need a razor,” I murmured, brushing my fingers over the roughness of his stubble. He chased my fingers and gave them a kiss before turning his mouth on mine, swallowing up any noise of protest I could make.
I always thought that kisses would lose their excitement, that you couldn’t possibly enjoy kissing the same person again and again. Finn had proven me so very wrong. His arms slid around me, pulling me in. His tongue licked in between my lips until I wanted to squirm my thighs together.
A sigh escaped my lips when he kissed the corner of my mouth. Warmth blossomed in my chest-
Cold exploded all around me and I cried out as water soaked me from top to bottom.
“Cash!” Finn roared, pushing me behind him.
“Shit, shit sorry!”
I rubbed water out of my eyes, squinting through droplets. My shirt was soaked. So were my shorts.
“Darcy, I am so sorry, I was aiming for Charlie!” Cash looked mortified and kept glancing at Finn like he was worried that Finn was about to deck him.
“It’s fine, it’s fine, seriously,” I said, shaking the droplets out of my curls. “Ugh, I need to go change.”
“You idiot,” Finn half-breathed, half-growled at Cash.
“Leave him alone. It’s Charlie’s fault,” I said as I got to my feet.
“Hey!” Charlie looked offended. I laughed and headed to the door to go downstairs, leaving a trail of wet toe-prints behind me.
The door to the van was unlocked, curtains drawn, when I got there, and I slid it open, stopping short at the youngest member of the pack where he stood inside of it.
"Uh, Ace?" I stared at him. My purple bra was around his stomach, and his eyes were wide.
"It's not what it looks like!!!!" He struggled, twisting at the waist to try to get to the clasp of
my bra that was probably sitting to one side of his spine. The cups of my bra were sadly deflated against his abs. I bit my lip.
"It kinda looks like you're wearing my bra."
Ace made a wheezing noise and shut his eyes tight.
"You can't tell the guys. Please. They're never gonna... I was just... I was so bad with you and I thought if I practiced," he trailed off. I muffled a snort behind my hand and one of his eyes popped open only to narrow at me. "It's not funny."
"Actually I think it's pretty fucking funny," I replied, trying desperately not to laugh at him. His shoulders sagged.
"I can't get it off. Can you help?" He gave me the most pitiful look.
"Help you get off?" I teased, tilting my head to the side. His jaw tensed for a moment and he took a step toward me, shoulders squaring. It should have been intimidating, but he had a bra wrapped around his waist, and his jeans were pushed down to his ankles. I giggled and went to him, unhooking the bra. He made a relieved noise in the back of his throat.
He caught my hands in his.
“Thanks,” he said.
“You don’t need to practice, Ace, I like you just the way you are.” My eyes swept over the expanse of his bare chest, and I shook off his grip so I could run my fingertips from the waistband of his boxers up to his shoulders. He shivered under my touch.
“Y’sure about that?” he asked, his eyes closing as my hands cupped the sides of his neck, my thumbs tracing the line of his jaw. “What happened to you? You’re all wet.”
“Mmhmm, never mind,” I said. I leaned up and kissed him, slowly, sweetly. I loved him. It wasn’t like I was anything other than a barely-despoiled virgin too. “You’re perfect.”
A shudder ran through Ace’s muscles and his hand pressed into the small of my back. We stood there for slow minutes, kissing. Finn had gotten me warmed up on the roof-top, and now, here with Ace, I wanted a quiet few minutes to really know him. Biblically. Carnally. I wanted him, fumbling hands and inability to deal with bra closures included.
“Let’s-“
“You wanna-“
We both spoke at the same time and he hung his head for a moment before brushing the hair away from my cheek.
“You’re so beautiful, and I keep thinking that you’re gonna turn around and tell me I’m not good enough,” he confessed, his feelings laid bare. I rolled my eyes.
“Now that’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever said. And I mean that nicely. How could anyone think you weren’t good enough?” I asked. I was pressing on his chest, pushing him back, walking him toward our bed where it was folded down and waiting. The sun snuck through the cracks around the drawn curtains. This moment was for us. I was going to expose every insecurity of his to the light of day and show him how they weren’t true. “You’re smart,” I said, kissing his nose. “You’re sexy.”
He blushed at that and shrugged.
“You’re sexy,” I assured him. “Have you seen how many likes your Insta gets? Those girls are nuts for you.”
“The only girl I really care about is right here,” his voice was low, shy. My heart warmed as the backs of his knees hit the edge of the bed.
“Good thing this girl thinks only the best of you then,” I said, shifting to kneel on the bed, my legs straddling his thighs.
He took a deep, shaking breath and nodded, pulling me down to him. I went, his mouth stealing a kiss from me before marking a line of heated love-bites down my neck. I moaned, and dug my fingers into his shoulders when he reached the sensitive bite mark on the side of my neck. It was fading fast, but still, the nerves tingled.
“Hated making you bleed, hated thinking I might’ve scarred you,” he mumbled, licking at my skin. “But also… wanted everyone to know that you belonged to me. That I was one of the men you loved back enough to wear my scent, that piece of me.” I shivered over him.
“Not mad at you, you don’t have to apologize, really, Ace!”
He flipped me underneath, his eyes intense.
“Maybe you’re not mad, but I still want to make it up to you.” His eyes searched my face. I nodded. He smiled and helped me out of my damp shirt. I unsnapped the clasp of my bra for him so he didn’t have to ask, and he drew it off my arms. I lay back, watching his face as he took me in.
“Yeah this is why we fight, we tour, for this moment, right here.” He cupped my breasts with gentle fingers. I inhaled, my breasts surging into his hands. He bent down and kissed me again, sliding until he was laying on top of me. His weight settled over my hips, pinning me down. His fingers swept over my nipples, teasing them slowly into they tightened. Heat sparkled down my belly to between my thighs.
Catching my breath was hard, as the heat of his mouth descended to envelop one budding nipple. His teeth scraped over my skin and I shifted restlessly under him. My fingers carded through his hair, encouraging him, wanting more of that heat that made everything feel good.
“Please,” I let the word whine out from between my lips after he teased me for long minutes. “Please, I-“
“Anything. I’m gonna give you everything.” His fingers were sure, his mouth not hesitating this time. He kissed the curve of my belly, his tongue flicking over the edge of my belly-button. He nuzzled the dip by my hips, and I lifted up off the bed so he could work my shorts down over my legs. I kicked them off, bunching them down at the bottom of the bed.
Those moments were going to be marked in my memories forever. The heated scent of the air in the van. The way the sun slipped in, finding us no matter how hard we tried to hide. His wet kisses over my thighs.
“Sorry,” he said, fingers tucking into my panties.
“Huh?” Words weren’t coming easily to me, as worked up as I was. Ace smirked up at me and twisted his hands. The fabric shredded along the seams, and he tossed my ruined panties over his shoulder.
“Again?!” I gaped at him and moaned when he pressed a gentle, light kiss over the top of my slit. “You, Ace, shit, you can’t make… a habit… I’ve only got so many panties…”
“Maybe you just shouldn’t wear any then,” his voice was filled with mischief, the puffs of air from his words making me squirm.
I didn’t answer him. I couldn’t answer him. His tongue licked in between my folds and I let the sensation pull me over. He moaned my name; I gripped the blankets. His mouth kissed over my sensitive skin, teasing me apart, teasing me until my knees bent and my toes dug into the mattress.
My voice broke, begging him,
“Please, Ace, I need- please.”
“Mhmmm.” He planted a wet kiss on the inside of one of my thighs and tucked two fingers against my entrance. I held my breath and groaned when he slid them inside me, a slow, unyielding press that had me squirming. Yesssss, my body rose up to meet him, needing the pressure, reveling in how good it felt to be filled by him, any part of him.
I grumbled when he pulled his mouth away after giving me a few more, long licks.
“Patience,” he said, laughter tucked away in his voice. I wiggled my hips and his eyes darkened. I blew out a raspberry of air and he grinned before squirming down between my thighs. Biting my lip, I closed my eyes tight as his fingers slipped and slid inside me, stoking the burning sensation that was building into what I hope would be a damn good, toe-curling orgasm.
His tongue sought out my clit and I shuddered, feeling around for his shoulder to grab onto. My nails bit into his skin and I moaned, arching up into his mouth again and again as his fingers worked in a slow-fast-slow thrust movement that had my voice breaking as the pleasure inside me finally broke.
My thighs shook, clamping down on his shoulders, and I scratched him, my other hand fisting in the sheets and messing them up as the slow, pulsing release of my orgasm settled into a dull throb of pleasure that had me gasping even still.
Ace laid his head on my thigh and closed his eyes. I let my trembling fingers run over his soft hair, threading them through the strands. Every muscle in my body was buzzing, humming softly.
&nb
sp; He dragged his fingers out of me and I whimpered as pleasure, over-sensitive and too sharp, ran through my nerves.
We were quiet for a long moment, and he shifted, moving up to fold me in his arms, his chin nestled on the top of my head. I breathed out, inhaling his scent, tracing small patterns on his bicep with my fingernail.
“I love you,” he said, chasing a low thrill up from my belly right to my heart. I closed my eyes and hid my face in his chest with a sigh.
“Love you back,” I whispered. “Even if you don’t get how to undo a bra, you sure know how to make me feel good.” His shoulder shook under my hand and he snorted.
“Well, I guess that’s all that matters then.”
“Mmmhmm.”
Thirty
Darcy
My body was buzzing. Max had texted me while I was sleeping, saying she’d boarded her plane and was on her way. It had been way too long since I’d seen her, and I needed some serious bonding time with my best friend. She’d stuck with me even after I’d been a complete idiot, I rolled out of bed, squishing Finn without any guilt at all, even when he growled at me.
“Fuckin’ what the fuck,” he snarled, reaching for me. “You come back here and kiss it better.”
“You’re not werewolves,” I found myself saying, “you’re swear-wolves.”
“Damn fucking straight, sweetness,” Cash said with a wicked grin, flopping over the edge of his bunk up above. He reached down to trail his fingers along the top of my head and I swatted at him. “You got a problem with that?”
“I don’t, but every time we step near any PR event, I start to sweat.”
“Well golly gosh, Darcy, maybe we better watch our language,” Ace said as he sat up behind Finn, echoing Cash’s grin with his own shit-eating expression. I groaned and resisted the urge to face-palm.
“You guys are going to be the death of me.”
“Nah.” Charlie crawled out of his bunk and stretched. He swept up beside me, his arm snaking around my waist to plant a kiss on the top of my head. “You swear as much as we do, you just hide it better behind your perfume and your makeup and those little shorts you wear that drive Eli absolutely-“