by Frank, Ella
“Look all you want, Angel,” Viper said. With his face turned toward me and lit from behind, he was a dark shadow, but I caught the flash of white teeth when he grinned. “You can touch, too.”
Tempting. He was so very, very tempting, and it wouldn’t be difficult at all to close the inches between us and explore the parts of his body that I’d denied myself earlier. But if I did that, we’d never make it to the show, and if we didn’t make it to the show—
A familiar piano riff broke into my thoughts, and as I realized where it was coming from, I jerked up in my seat.
“Shit,” I said, fumbling with the buttons beside me, trying to find the one I wanted.
“I got it.” As Viper pressed the right button, the song grew louder, filling the interior of the car, and I stared at him.
“That’s us,” I said, breaking into a huge grin. “That’s me. On the radio. We’re on the fucking radio!”
Viper chuckled, but the music was so loud I couldn’t hear him. He seemed to like watching me, though, as I drank in the fact that “Invitation” wasn’t just a song in my head anymore, wasn’t just a song we played in the studio without anyone else around. It was out in the world now, playing on radio stations, and holy shit, I couldn’t get over the fact that we were sitting there listening to the final version we’d recorded and that others were listening to it too, right now, at the same time.
As the song ended and the next one began, Viper turned the music back down.
“Pretty fuckin’ cool, huh?” he said.
“Are you kidding? That was… It was… Shit, I can’t even talk.”
“Take it all in. You only get to hear your first time once.”
“Isn’t it always like that? Like, every time the new stuff comes out. Doesn’t it blow your mind you’re on the radio?”
“It used to.” Viper cracked his window open before grabbing the cigarette over his ear and the lighter from his pocket. He lit up, sucked in a long inhale, and then blew the smoke out the window. “Guess you get used to it.”
“No way. I could never get used to that.”
Viper’s lips curled as he brought the cigarette to his lips again. “That’s ’cause you’re a romantic.”
“A romantic? Me?”
“Yeah, you know, walkin’ around wearing rose-colored glasses. It’s all new to you. Exciting.” Viper blew another stream of smoke into the night air.
“That’s not a bad thing,” I said, feeling a little defensive. “It’s a huge freakin’ accomplishment to be on the radio or to get to play on a stage where people actually show up to listen to you. That doesn’t happen for most musicians, and it sure as hell never happened to me before. I’m allowed to be excited. Sorry, Mr. Cynical.”
“Don’t be sorry. I like that about you.”
“You do?”
“Yeah. You remind me of how it should feel.” He cracked a smile. “I’m a jaded asshole, what can I say?”
“Jaded, yes. An asshole…eh. That wouldn’t be the word I’d choose.”
“No?” Viper’s eyes glittered in the dark. “What would you choose?”
There I’d gone, opening my mouth and backing myself into a corner without thinking it through. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“Ah. Need any help?” Viper’s hand moved to my thigh and began a slow slide up, and when his fingers grazed over my dick, I sucked in a breath.
The intercom flipped on, the driver announcing our arrival at the arena, and Viper gave me a slight squeeze before pulling his hand away. He popped open the door before the driver could, and as he got out, I took the moment to adjust myself. Couldn’t go meeting the guys of The Nothing with a raging hard-on.
The driver had pulled around to the back of the venue beside a couple of tour buses, and when we got out of the car, a guy who introduced himself as the tour manager gave us a couple of backstage passes and led us inside, where the halls were filled with frenzied staff hurrying in all directions. More than a few did a double take when they saw Viper, but it must’ve been an unspoken rule that no one was to stop us, because we were led straight back to The Nothing’s dressing room. It’d been set up according to their rider, which Viper had told me used to include “normal shit like bottles of booze and fast food,” but, along with their growing success, had morphed into a full bar of high-end liquor, black curtains that covered every wall, red light bulbs replacing the white, and, in the center of the room, a huge, solid glass tank that encased a fifteen-foot boa constrictor.
“Oh shit,” I said, taking a step back from the tank.
“Scared of snakes?” Viper smirked. “Don’t worry, the only snake that’s gonna bite you tonight is standing right next to you.”
I pulled my gaze away from where the boa constrictor was stretching itself out along the side of the tank to see Viper’s devilish grin.
“Come on,” he said, his hand brushing against mine before he led us past the tank to where the members of The Nothing were being interviewed by a reporter I recognized from Entertainment Daily. When they saw Viper, the reporter was promptly ignored, the band getting up to greet him with slaps on the back, fist bumps, and curses. I stayed back a little, trying not to be starstruck, but hell, I’d been listening to these guys for over a decade. And they just so happened to be friends with Viper. Would this ever be anything but surreal?
“Guys,” Viper said, moving to the side and gesturing my way. “This is Halo, our new frontman.”
“No fuckin’ way,” Dex, the lead singer, said, shaking my hand, and then he stepped back to give me a once-over. “Jesus, you couldn’t get someone who wouldn’t make me look like an aged pig beside him, could you?”
Viper laughed. “Fuck no.”
“I saw you on Late Night,” Chris, the drummer and songwriter of the group, said, coming over to greet me with a handshake as well. “Epic song, man.”
I blinked at him, a thank you on my lips, but unable to come out, because fuckin’ Chris from The Nothing just said my song was good, and I could die now.
“I saw it, too. Several times,” the bassist, Jonny, said, his eyes dropping down my body, checking me out with no subtlety whatsoever. He took in a drag of his joint, holding it in for a moment, and then blew the smoke out. “That pretty mouth of yours really knows how to sing.”
“Uh, thanks,” I said, thrown a little off guard by his blatant perusal. Unlike the reaction I had when Viper ran his eyes over me, I found myself uneasy under this guy’s gaze.
“If you want to stick around after the show, my cock would love to see just how talented it is.”
Beside me, Viper tensed and went to take a step toward Jonny, but I put a hand on Viper’s arm, halting him from coming to my defense.
“Jonny, isn’t it?” I said. “I was a big fan of yours…in middle school.”
“Oh shit,” Chris said, snorting out a laugh and slapping Jonny on the back as laughter broke out around us.
“It’s like that, huh?” Jonny said, his eyes narrowed on me so hard they were practically slits. “Good luck filling Trent’s shoes, kid.” He put the joint back between his lips and walked out, leaving an awkward silence in his wake—especially when we realized the reporter had caught every bit of that exchange.
“Sorry about that,” Dex said, rolling his eyes. “He’s been such a cheerful bastard since he’s been out of rehab, what can I say?” To the reporter, he said, “Don’t write that down.”
The reporter looked up as if caught, and then scratched out the last few lines on the page.
“He’s always been a fuckin’ dick,” Viper said, and Dex shrugged.
“We’ve fired him more times than I can count, but he always worms his way back in.” Dex leaned around me to say to the reporter, “Don’t include that shit either.”
We grabbed drinks and hung out with the remaining members, bar Jonny, until they had to head onstage. Again, the word “surreal” popped into my head, because even as normal as they were, cutting up and recalling inside joke
s with Viper, they were still the larger-than-life guys I’d grown up listening to, and no matter how many times I pinched myself, it still wasn’t sinking in that I was a part of it all.
Before we headed out to watch the show from the wings—a first for me—Chris said, “You guys free after the show? The hotel’s shutting down the top floor for us. Free booze, lots of willing bodies—and don’t worry, Jonny’ll have other distractions.”
“Um…” I glanced at Viper, who shook his head.
“We’ve got other plans,” he said, and when Viper’s eyes met mine and I saw the primal look in them, suddenly, the last thing I wanted to do was stick around after the show. That look was full-on sex, and had both my cock and pulse throbbing. Because whatever Viper had in mind, it was clear he wanted to do it without others around…and fuck, I wanted that too.
“If you change your mind, just give them the password ‘boa’ at the door. Good to meet you, Halo, and good luck.” Dex and Chris both said their goodbyes, and as we followed them out to the wings, Viper’s fingers slid beneath the loop of my jeans, pulling me back into him.
“I told you, Angel,” he said in a low whisper. “Tonight, you’re all mine.”
Forty-Four
Viper
THE HEAVY BEAT blasting from the megawatt speakers of The Nothing’s impressive stage was making the floor in the wings vibrate as they belted out one hit song after another, causing their fans to lose their fucking minds.
They’d been at it now for nearly an hour and a half, and I wasn’t sure what was louder, Chris pounding on the drums or the screams from the fans below as they chanted out every single lyric at an ear-piercing level.
One thing I was sure of was the total rush I got from watching a kickass band tear up a stage with music that made your entire body hum and your mind think of one thing only—sex.
Hot, raw, break-the-headboard sex. Add in Halo, who was standing in front of me, his ass brushing up against my dick as he shouted the lyrics to songs that had no doubt accompanied couples to beds, to the backs of cars, hell, to restrooms at clubs when things got out of hand, and my entire focus had shifted from the guys on the stage to the guy standing in front of me.
Halo was looking totally fuckable in his jeans and white linen shirt that had been playing a game of look-but-can’t-touch with me all night. With its three-quarter sleeves and open V-neck, the shirt should’ve been a deterrent, considering all that it covered. But when the light hit him just the right way, every delicious inch of him from the waist up was displayed, and I wanted my hands and mouth back on him as soon as fucking possible.
Glancing over my shoulder, I took in the dark corridor to the left of the stage area that led to a set of stairs behind an exit door. I’d found them by accident during a performance TBD had done here, when I’d been wanting to go outside for a smoke before we hit the stage. Instead, I’d ended up in a maze of tunnels beneath the arena that were like a rabbit warren. The perfect place to go so no one could find you.
As the song drew to an end, I turned back in time to see Chris and Jonny tossing back shots and Dex switching out his guitars, and I knew they had to be coming to the end of their gig.
Halo looked over his shoulder at me, his face flushed from singing and jumping up and down like the rest of the fans. The thrill of the night was evident in his eyes as a bead of sweat trailed down his temple.
“This has been fucking awesome,” he said, his exuberance contagious as he ran a hand through his hair, and when the leather straps on his wrist came into view, my eyes fastened on them, and I had a sudden urge to see him sprawled out naked on my bed with his hands tied—bound to me.
This young, fresh-faced angel had me more turned on than I could ever remember being, and all because he’d smiled at me—but what a smile it was. It was obvious that tonight had done the trick. All the anxiety from earlier was gone, and as I took a step closer to him, I said, “Heard enough?”
Whatever Halo saw in my expression had him slicking his tongue over those perfect lips as he nodded, and without another thought, I grabbed his wrist and led him down the dark corridor.
As I made a left, marching toward the exit door, I towed him along behind me. He didn’t put up a fight, not even a token one, as I shoved through the door and led him down the cement stairwell inside.
The sound of stomping feet could be heard from the arena floor above, and when we reached the bottom of the stairs where the rabbit warren began, I tightened my grip on his wrist and made a sharp right, pulling him out of the dimly lit walkway and into a shadow-filled alcove, where I backed him up against the wall and placed my hands on either side of him.
“What is this place?” Halo’s breathing was more rapid, his eyes a little wild, then he rocked his hips into mine.
“Somewhere private,” I said, just as The Nothing let loose on their latest single. It blasted through the arena like a cannonball, and Halo grabbed at my hips.
“Somewhere I could…use you, maybe?”
“Is that what you want?” I said, wanting to make sure I was reading him right, because I was about two seconds away from devouring him.
Halo leaned forward and nipped at my lower lip. “Mhmm. Are you ready to sacrifice yourself?”
I chuckled against the angel’s taunting mouth. “Well, as long as it’s for the good of man and all.”
“It’ll be good for one man, that’s for sure.” Halo’s fingers tightened on my ass. “So what’ll it be? Your hand, your mouth, or…?”
“Careful, Angel. Your deviant side is showing.”
“Yeah? Well, maybe I’m sick of being good. Maybe I want to be…bad tonight.”
Hell if I didn’t want that too, but… “You don’t know the first thing about being bad.”
“Well, if anyone could teach me, it would be you. Right, Mr. Cynical?”
I removed my hands from the wall and reached for the ones he had on my ass, then I licked the sweat from his temple and said by his ear, “I thought you’d never ask.”
Taking a step back, I pulled Halo away from the wall and spun him around so I could muscle him forward, until his front was flush with the concrete.
As I ground my stiff cock up against the crack of his ass, I took Halo’s hands and planted them above his head. “Keep ’em there. I wanna look at you.”
Halo made a sound like a purr, as I smoothed my hands down the length of his arms and burrowed my nose in the back of his hair. He smelled amazing, like shampoo, soap, and sweat, and when my hands skimmed over his ribs to his hips, Halo bucked back into me.
I slid a hand around to cup the erection threatening the zipper there, then I jammed my hips forward, shoving into him the way I wanted to when we finally got rid of this denim. “You like that you can make me hard. Don’t you, Angel?”
“Yes,” Halo said. “I really fucking do.”
“Hmm.” My fingers curled around him and squeezed. “Good. ’Cause I gotta say, it drives me crazy the way your body responds to me. It doesn’t even know what it wants yet, but it’s beggin’ for it.”
Halo pressed his forehead to the cool concrete and groaned, as I drew my fingers up his zipper to the button of his jeans and flicked it open.
“Jesus.” He turned his head as I got the zipper down, and when I pushed my hand inside to find his dick, my name left his lips.
“Remind me,” I said against the thin material of his shirt. “That dream you had on the plane, where I took you into the restroom and fucked you—”
“Oh God.” Halo slammed his eyes shut, his erection jerking in my hand.
“You said I bit you.” When Halo didn’t respond but his jaw bunched, I growled. “Angel?”
“Yes. I—” Halo’s words cut off on a sharp inhale, as I ran my thumb over the plump, wet head of his cock. “Fucking hell, Viper.”
I chuckled, but the sound was strained even to my own ears. I was wound up tight, ready to finally get inside the angel if he’d let me, and since he was about two tugs away fr
om coming all over my hand, I thought I just might have a shot.
“You said I bit you,” I repeated, and this time Halo nodded as though he’d lost the ability to speak. But when his eyes found mine, I noted how dark they were, how needy. Halo was as on edge as I was—exactly where I wanted him.
“On your shoulder, right?” My eyes dropped to the spot in question. “My cock in your ass and my teeth in your shoulder. That’s hot as fuck. Look at you, dreamin’ about things you know nothing about. You still want that?”
Halo’s entire body shuddered in response as he nodded. “Yes.”
I slowly stroked my hand down to the root of his shaft, and when I got there, I tightened my grip.
“Good,” I said, and let him go. “Then let’s get the hell out of here. Because if you’re gonna use me, then you’re gonna do it naked in my bed, where I can finally come all over you when you’re done.”
Forty-Five
Viper
“WANNA CHANGE YOUR mind?” With my key in the lock of the guesthouse, I glanced over my shoulder to where Halo stood with his hands jammed in his pockets.
The lights around the pool shimmered across the water and lit his hair up like a halo, and when he shook his head and said, “No,” I wondered if that was him talking or the two shots he’d tossed back in the SUV on the way home.
We hadn’t said much since we’d left the tunnels back at the arena, but the entire drive home, I’d been achingly aware of Halo’s eyes roaming all over me. My face, my chest, my hard-as-hell cock, which I had no hope of hiding, and when he’d reached for the whiskey and thrown back a shot of the liquor, I could only begin to imagine what was going on inside that head of his.
When I didn’t immediately unlock the door, Halo cocked his head and said, “Do you want to change yours?”
A smirk tugged at the corner of my lips as I looked down to my erection. “What do you think?”
Halo walked forward until he was so close that the night breeze was having a difficult time getting between us. “I think you should open the door before one of the guys comes out here and you’re left to write yet another sonnet to your…frustrations.”