by Erin Osborne
I watch as he pulls his phone from his pocket, shuts the door behind us, and makes a call. I’m not sure who he’s calling until I hear him talking about getting Isabella off the tour and wanting a new manager. He’s on the phone with the record label and trying to get rid of Isabella.
“Fuck!” he shouts when he hangs up.
“What’s wrong?” I ask him, putting my things back in my suitcase and setting the broken shoes off to the side.
“They won’t take her off the tour until she does something more than what she’s already been doing. They’re not happy with her by any means, but she needs to do more to violate her contract before they’ll remove her and give us a new manager,” he tells me, pulling me down on the bed with him.
I lay in Knight’s arms and softly sing the duet we just recorded. He starts to sing with me and I can hear guitars coming from the other part of the bus. They must be able to hear us singing. Yeah, no fucking around on the bus if they can hear us with how quiet we’re being right now, I think to myself.
It’s not long before the rolling of the bus and the roaring engine lull me back to sleep. I vaguely feel Knight kiss the top of my head and pull me into his arms after he strips down to his boxers.
Chapter Eighteen
Knight
WE PULLED INTO our first stop in the middle of the night. The driver parked the bus in the back parking lot of the venue we’re playing and security took turns making sure no one got close to the bus. I woke up in the middle of the night and went out to talk to Diesel since he was the only one awake.
“What happened when you got back there? Heard you on the phone, but couldn’t make out what you were saying,” he asks once we step off the bus and take a few steps away.
“Onyx’s shit was thrown all over the room and a few pairs of her shoes are busted up. She can’t salvage them,” I answer. “The label won’t replace that bitch just yet. She needs to do something that will break her contract.”
“Fuck,” he mutters.
“Yeah. I don’t want Onyx left alone. Period,” I tell my best friend.
“She won’t be. And we’re gonna have to watch her when we go out,” he says.
I think about what happened to Onyx in the burger joint and my rage skyrockets. How dare some bitch put her hands on my woman. No matter what, Onyx is mine. I’m not going to rush her into sex, but we’ll be talking once she wakes up. I refuse to wait for her to be mine any longer. Not when Isabella and fans are going to keep coming at her.
If I weren’t a selfish fuck, I’d leave her alone so the women would too, but I know I’m never going to find another woman like her and I want her all to myself. Fuck what anyone else thinks, she was made for me and I’m not letting her slip through my hands.
“What are you doing when she wakes up?” Diesel asks me.
“Taking her shopping. I want to replace those shoes and things for her,” I tell him, turning and heading back toward the bus.
“I’ll go with you but stay in the background. Make sure you take extra security so no one else gets a chance to put their hands on her,” Diesel tells me as we walk back up the steps to the bus.
I nod and head for the room I’m sharing with Onyx. Walking inside, I gently close the door behind me and make sure it’s locked. With the small amount of moonlight coming in the window, I see her curled up on her side with one hand reached out on my pillow. Her other hand is tossed over her head and there’s a frown on her face even in sleep. That’s not something I ever want to see again. I want her dreams to be happy and serene.
Climbing back in bed, I pull the blankets up over us and let sleep claim me once Onyx is safely in my arms with her head resting on my chest.
Waking up, I see Onyx searching her suitcases for something to wear. There’s a pair of jeans that look as if they’ll hug her ass with one of our band shirts hanging up. Guess that’s what she’s wearing tonight for the show. The shirt has strategically places rips in it and the collar has been cut so it will hang off one of her shoulders. I can’t wait to see her in it. Especially with my face plastered across her magnificent tits.
I grab her around her waist and haul her back in bed with me. She laughs and the sound fills the small room and wraps around me. It’s the best sound in my world. Onyx’s laugh is soft and light, it’s full of life and I don’t think she’s gotten to laugh very much in her short lifetime. That’s something I plan to remedy.
“What are you doing, baby?” I ask her, my voice low and husky still filled with sleep.
“I’m trying to get ready for the day. I want to shower and be ready before we all have to change for tonight,” she answers.
“Well, then, let’s shower,” I say, shocking her.
“Um, what?” she asks.
“I’m gonna shower with you. We’ve seen one another naked, so I think I can shower with you. Plus, think of it as saving water for the rest of the guys,” I tell her.
She laughs once again at me trying to tempt her into taking a shower with me.
“Fine, you win,” she relents as I knew she would. “First, I’ll go get us some coffee.”
She leaves our room and I can hear her greeting the other guys as there’s shuffling. Before long, Isabella is walking in the room. Thankfully I have clothes on.
“What the fuck?” I ask her. “You don’t just fucking walk in here like you own the place.”
“I want to go over today’s schedule with you. There’s an interview I’m setting up and then sound check. After sound check is a photo shoot and then the show,” she tells me.
“You can forget about the interview. I’m going to spend the day with Onyx. You know since someone went through her things and trashed more than one pair of her shoes,” I answer, venom filling my voice as I grab my clothes.
“You can’t put an interview off, Knight,” she says, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout.
“Isabella, you haven’t even gotten details or anything for it. So, my plans are already set and I’m not fucking changing them. Now, I suggest if you want to set anything up for this tour, you talk to all of us about it and then we’ll go from there. Now, get the fuck out,” I sneer at her.
Isabella walks out of the room. She’s fuming and I am too. My good mood doesn’t return until Onyx walks back through the door and hands me a cup of coffee. I take a sip and let it burn its way down to my stomach. Onyx sips hers and sets it down to grab her clothes and other shower necessities. I grab my bag with shower gel and other shit in it before we head in the bathroom.
I look toward the front of the bus and see Isabella staring holes in Onyx’s back. So, I stare her down until she turns her attention to her phone. Stupid bitch is about to run out of luck and realize I’m not playing fucking games with her. I look to Diesel and he gives me a small nod no one else will notice as I walk in the bathroom and shut the door firmly behind us.
Onyx is already undressed and turning the knobs on the shower to get the temperature right before stepping under the spray. I rush to undress and climb in behind her. This shower is barely big enough for us and I know it’s going to be a tight fucking fit, but we make it work as she get soaked and moves so I can step in front of her. Once the shampoo is in her hair, I move and let her get rinsed so I can get back under the water.
I don’t leave the shower until the conditioner and body wash is rinsed from my woman’s body. After grabbing her towel and handing it to her, I grab mine and dry myself off. We dress in silence and I watch as she does her make-up and puts something in her hair. After throwing it up in a messy bun, she turns to look at me.
Today she’s wearing another pair of cutoffs with a tight tank top. Her feet are bare and I see her nails are painted a dark red color. Onyx’s fingernails have no paint on them and I wonder at the reason, but don’t want to ask her. She looks fucking amazing and I want to spend the day in bed with her, but that will have to wait.
“Are you ready to go?” I ask her.
“Yeah. Where are we going
?” she asks, grabbing her things to take back in our room.
“We’re going to shop,” I answer evasively.
Her body has a slight tremor to it as she grabs a pair of flip flops and shoves her feet into them. As soon as she’s standing up, I grab her hand and lead her from the bus. Isabella is glaring daggers at us and I want to wipe the look right off her face, but I don’t hit women so I leave her alone.
Diesel follows us off the bus and we make our way to the waiting car. I called in for a rental car last night and they dropped it off. Martin, the head of security, hands me the keys and follows us in the other SUV they have. We have a team of ten going with us because after the restaurant incident Martin called more men in. He’s not taking any chances and doesn’t give a shit what Isabella thinks about it. Martin is the man in charge of our safety and he takes is seriously.
The three of us don’t talk as I pull out of the parking lot and head toward the downtown area where streets are lined with shops and we’ll be able to explore a little bit. It doesn’t take long for Onyx to kick off her flip flops, slide her sunglasses down from the top of her head, and place her feet up on the dash of the rental.
I turn on the radio and her toes tap along to the song on the radio. Looking over at her, she’s mouthing the words as So Far Away by Staind plays through the speakers. Diesel has a smile on his face as he watches her. There’s a smile on my face too as she ignores us and watches the town come into view in front of us. Onyx is lost in her own little world and I can’t imagine what she’s thinking about right now.
The guys and I all talked and we’re not making a big deal of the shows or her being on stage with us. We all know she’s nervous as hell and we don’t want to add anything to it. So, we’re ignoring the situation and trying to keep her out of her head at the same time. I know if she goes in her head, she’ll overthink being on stage.
We’ve been shopping without incident and I took Onyx to a small pub for lunch. The band doesn’t get to come to this town a lot, but when we do this pub is my favorite place. They don’t treat us like we’re different or celebrities, other than offering us a booth in the back where the dividers are in place and no one can see us sitting there.
In the first store, a few fans rushed us, but Martin and his crew kept them back. So, we could buy what we wanted and didn’t have to worry about them fucking with us too much. Diesel and I signed some autographs on the way out with the encouragement of Onyx. She knows what our fans want and made sure we spent some time with them. After that the day was all about her until sound check.
Someday Never Comes was already on stage when we walked in the small venue. They were playing one of their songs and going through sound check as we stood on the sidelines and watched them. There’s a good energy from them and I know it’s only a matter of time before they explode into stardom. I can’t wait for the day it happens and I hope it does on this tour.
As they finish the song and exit the stage, Jonathon, the lead singer, stops and talks to us for a second while the roadies change things up to get ready for us. Right now they’re just adding our stuff to the stage so we can get through sound check.
“You ready for tonight?” I ask him.
“Yeah. We’re pumped,” Jonathon answers. “Thank you for this opportunity.”
“Anytime,” Diesel chimes in.
“Who’s the new member?” he asks, eyeing Onyx.
I wrap my arm around her waist before turning my attention back toward the singer in front of us. “This is Onyx. She’s the new singer for us.”
Jonathon nods at me in understanding and shakes her outstretched hand.
“You’re up,” Martin announces, trying to get us up on stage.
We walk on stage and I place the extra microphone in front of Onyx. We’re going to sing Lonely, the duet for sound check. As everyone takes their spots on stage, I stand right next to Onyx and pull her attention toward me. Isabella is in front of the stage and glaring once again at us. Fuck her!
“You ready to do this?” I ask Onyx.
“I guess,” she answers on a tremble.
“You’re gonna fucking rock, baby,” I tell her.
She shrugs her shoulders in an answer of not being sure. Damon starts beating on the drums for the opening to Lonely. Diesel soon enters into the song on his cue and then the rest of the guys. Onyx never once removes her attention from me and as she sings the opening line of the song.
“All alone in a world full of people, I’ve never been lonelier than I am right now. No one sees me, I’m like a ghost everyone ignores,” Onyx sings, her voice loud and strong with the smokey quality I love.
I come in and blend my voice with hers. The spotlights hit us to make sure they’re on point for the show and I watch as Onyx blinks in the brightness of the lights hitting her in the face. We sing the song and I’m pumped with how the show is gonna go tonight. After leaving the stage, we make our way to our bus. It’s almost time to start taking showers and getting ready for the show.
“Alright, let’s go over the set list,” Isabella says once we’re all on the bus.
“We already worked out the set list. Don’t need your input,” I ground out.
“I have final say,” she tries to tell me.
“No, you don’t. Back off Isabella,” Memphis says. “You’re acting like this is your band and you’re only our manager.”
Isabella huffs toward the bathroom and slams the door behind her. I walk Onyx to the room we’re sharing and we look around to make sure nothing of hers is disturbed again.
“We got a little time. Do you want to get dinner?” I ask her.
“No. I don’t think I could eat right now,” she answers.
“You have to have something. Even if it’s just something light,” I tell her.
I call and order two salads. It’s light and won’t sit heavy on our stomachs. There will be plenty of time after the show to find something to eat that will fill us up.
For the next few hours, we lay in bed and listen to the sounds of the roadies working to get everything perfect for us and Someday Never Comes. Including the people selling our merchandise and all that shit.
“Some of the shows there’s not going to be downtime. We’ll go out and meet some of the fans in line or have them come backstage before the show. They’ll get a few minutes with us, pictures, and things like that,” I tell Onyx.
“Okay. Are you sure you want me to sing tonight?” she asks, that nervous tremor back in her voice.
“Abso-fucking-lutely,” I tell her, silencing anymore talk with a kiss.
I slide my tongue across her full bottom lip and she opens her mouth for me. sliding my tongue inside, I explore her as her flavor explodes on my tongue and makes me become even more addicted to her. There’s no way I’m going to take this any further than kissing, no matter how hard my cock is and how bad I want to be buried balls deep in Onyx. Tomorrow is a different story though. We’ll be staying in a damn hotel room.
Once are salads are here, we eat with the guys and then begin to get ready for the show. Onyx is quieter than ever and I know she’s filled to the brim with nerves about being on stage for the first time. As soon as it’s her turn for the shower, I walk in with her and this time we wash one another’s bodies before getting out and drying off.
Onyx dresses in the skintight jeans and ripped Wicked Angels shirt. She leaves her hair down and curls it so it’s got loose curls cascading down her back. Her make-up is darker than earlier and she looks so fuckable I want to blow off the show for the first time in my career.
Now, it’s showtime. We head back in the venue and set our things in the room they have set aside for us. Someday Never Comes is already on stage and they have two more songs before it’s our turn. So, the guys grab their instruments and sticks before we all walk to the stage. This is what we do and our job starts in a matter of minutes.
Chapter Nineteen
Onyx
THE SHOW LAST night was amazing. As soo
n as we walked on stage, you could feel the energy from the crowd. They were loud and it overpowered the nerves I felt. It also helped that I couldn’t actually see how many fans filled the room because of the spotlights.
Knight took the stage and introduced me to everyone. Everything died down a little as they realized there was a female in the band now, but that all changed once I added my voice for the first song of the night. Then they were all back to cheering, and loud as hell.
When I wasn’t singing, I was on the sidelines waiting to go back on stage. Listening and seeing the guys in action live is something amazing to see. I’ve never witnessed such pure energy and raw sex appeal as seeing the guys strut their stuff on stage and play to the crowd members in the front rows.
At the end of the show, we sang Lonely and the crowd went nuts for it. As soon as the set was done, we leave the stage and make our way back to the room. I’m ready to hit the bus and go to sleep. I’ve never been as exhausted as I am after the first show and we have six months of this with maybe one day off a week. If we’re that lucky with all the interviews, photo shoots, and everything else we have scheduled when we’re not performing.
Today, we’re all sitting around the bus enjoying our breakfast that Diesel cooked when Isabella shows back up. She has a box full of stuff and I wonder what’s going on. So, I sit back next to Knight and watch to find out. I’m sure I’ll be left out as usual. Isabella either ignores me or tries to make sure the guys are busy and I’m alone. Not that Knight lets it slide— he never does.
“Mail call,” she calls out in a chipper voice.
Isabella hands out the mail while the guys begin to tear into it. Knight’s looks to be mainly fan mail and he doesn’t hide it from me. Including one envelope he opens and a pair of panties fall out. That’s gross!