by Ema Bancroft
"Experience with what? " Roland asked.
"Dick rings,"Ethan replied.
"Friend! " Raul said, grabbing his garbage. I realized I was doing the same thing.
Here's the thing: If you want to try sex toys, more power for you. God knows, I have my own appreciation for the marvelous thing that's the rubber penis.
But a silicone ring wrapped around my dick? Uh. No, thanks to you. And some of those things looked like torture devices.
I mean, I once saw one that was actually five rings attached with a leather strap... with another ring at the end for - wait for him - holding weights...
Weights! What the fuck is going on?
It was called the Gates of Hell. Now, tell me why I'd want something like that anywhere near my dick.
Not to mention the fact that I googled cock sounds once - just out of curiosity - and found a whole page full of horror stories. Remember when you were a kid and twisted a rubber band around your finger until the tip turned purple? So your mother was screaming for you to take it off before your finger fell off?
Yeah. Exactly.
I had other fingers. There's only one little Enrique.
Evidently, however, Roland had no such concerns.
"I've gone mad,"he said with an indifferent shrugging of the shoulders. "I'm not crazy about that, but Eddie loves his own."
"Ahhhhhhhhhh! " We all screamed, except Daisy and Ethan stopped his ears and shouted,"TMI! TMI! TMI!"
Roland shook his head. "It's not like I'm going to give you details, you idiot. Besides, you asked."
Ethan finally lowered his hands and put his shoulders straight as if leaning on himself. "You're right. So... do you think it could help me control my orgasms?"
Daisy coughed again, but fortunately she had stopped drinking water.
Roland considered it. "I don't know. Makes them more intense - at least Eddie thinks so."
"Intense, huh? " Ethan rubbed his chin, thought deeply. "Intense is good."
"You'll want to use a lot of lubricant... and it's a good idea to be gentle there too."
"Smooth"? Daisy lit up, obviously absorbed in conversation. I was hoping she wouldn't come up with any ideas.
Roland nodded. "You don't want to catch your pubic hair in it."
This time we all took pity on each other, letting out several sounds of imagined pain.
"I'll have to think about this a little more,"Ethan said, as we all took our place for another Geek Lover tour.
Finally, finally, we managed to finish our sound check, and then go through Queen of Hearts for a quick final rehearsal and costume test. I still had to see Daisy in her costumes. For some reason, Moxie had her locked up.
It was a little annoying how those two had done it to her... and I could be jealous if Moxie didn't have tits bigger than Daisy...
I was pretty sure Daisy wasn't a man with tits... or a woman... whatever?
By the time we went out to lunch, it was three o' clock and we were starving. We opted to have a pile of pizzas delivered at the hotel, not wanting to deal with parents or fans as we were exhausted. We had lunch in Roland's room, with Ethan and Terri scattered on the couch, Raul and Mabel sharing a big chair, and Roland, Eddie, Daisy and I sitting at the dining table. From the corner of my eye I could see Ethan kissing Terri while Raul was feeding Mabel with pepperoni bites.
It was nauseating.
And I was so fucking jealous.
Daisy and I were the only ones who couldn't be frank about what was going on between us. Somehow, being around all the happy couples made it even harder to handle. I wanted Daisy to sit on my lap. I wanted to touch her face and kiss her. I wanted to give her her fucking pepperoni.
Okay, maybe not that. Because let's face it. He was in love, but he wasn't a coward.
I saw Raul feed Mabel with another bite and I got up abruptly.
"I'm gonna catch some Zs before the show,"I announced, not looking at Daisy.
Ethan snorted. "I'll alert the media."
"Fuck you,"I muttered, heading for the door. "See you assholes in a couple of hours. " I left Roland's room and entered mine, not stopping until I was in the shower. I washed quickly and dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
And I was wondering how long I'd have to wait to sneak into Daisy's room.
Okay, maybe he was a faggot.
Daisy
The clock struck hard as I counted the time until I could go to my room. Okay, maybe it wasn't that strong, but it looked like it was beating in my head in time with my rapid heartbeats.
God. I had become so dramatic.
However, I couldn't really blame myself. Being the only one who flies alone in a room full of couples made me nervous and anxious...
and horny. I couldn't forget the horny part.
But I knew I couldn't run after Elijah and attack him in the hallway. I was pretty sure that would have ruined the whole "let's keep things secret"plan.
So I waited, chewing absently on a slice of pizza while Ethan groped Terri, Raul talked to Mabel and Roland and Eddie smiled knowingly.
"So, B,"started Roland, exchanging a look with Eddie. "Have you heard Ethan's song?"
I turned to Ethan in shock. "I didn't think you wrote songs."
He snorted. "I wrote one. Cecil put the kibosh on her."
"Why?"
"He said it was too controversial."
I've looked at Ethan carefully. "You? Controversial? What is it about?"
"Love,"he replied, his chin became stubborn.
Raul lifted a finger. "Self-respect, actually."
"You're kidding. " I laughed.
"I don't know what the problem was,"Ethan growled. "It's not like it's never been done before. The landlord had the stroke... Cindy Lauper had the stroke... Prince had Darling Nikki.
"I touch myself... Divinilos,"Eddie offered me.
"Don't forget The Idol - Dancing with myself,"Mabel intervened.
"And the classic My Ding-a-ling,"Roland added, humming a bit.
"What's yours called? " I asked Ethan.
He began to answer, but Roland and Raul went out to sing.
Play with me
Because no one else can please me like you.
Release me
I love the way you do what you do.
I was confused. "I don't understand. Sounds like a love song. What's the problem?"
Roland held up a hand as he laughed. "You haven't heard of the bridge yet."
Ethan frowned as they continued to sing... Raul struck boxing as Roland shouted the lyrics?
I'm taking matters into my own hands.
H and s that give me pleasure, and never give me pain
You know me better than anyone.
Oooohhhhhhhh, you make me master of my own domain
In that, I completely lost him. I laughed, and they all went to the room with me quickly.
Well, everyone but Ethan, of course.
"Play with me"? I gasped, I finally got it. "Master of my own domain?"
"I don't know what's so funny,"he grunted. Terri wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed his cheek.
"All right, baby,"she calmed down. "I think it's a wonderful song. " Ethan pouted, but Terri persisted, crawling kisses on his face. "Come on,"she said, rising and extending one hand. "I'll play with you."
I could see that Ethan was fighting with himself. Part of him wanted to stay angry.
Part of him wanted to have sex.
It didn't take a genius to figure out which side would win.
Raul and Mabel were next door, and I thought it was finally safe to leave. I came to my room and was about to get in the shower when I heard a quiet thumping sound. I hurried to the door and opened it, hoping that Elijah would be on the other side with the impatient look that awaited me from his face.
I was wrong.
"Mabel"? I scanned the hallway quickly and took her to the room. "What are you doing here? Where's Raul?"
She waved a hand in the dismissal. "I t
old him I had to go to the condom store."
"Raul doesn't have condoms?"
"I told him I needed special condoms for her pleasure,"she explained. "He offered to look for them, but I told him I needed a particular brand. Boy is persistent! " She crossed over to the couch and crouched, seemingly carefree.
"Isn't he going to get suspicious when you come back without condoms?"
Mabel went over to the nightstand and took out a packet of aluminum foil. "I won't do it."
"They're not special."
"You don't have to know. " She put the condom in her jeans pocket. "Anyway, I don't have much time, and I needed to talk to you."
"About what? " I pretended to be innocent.
"You know what,"she replied, her eyes narrowed. "About telling Rocket what's going on."
I fell on the bed, my hands covering my face. "You can't do that, Mabel."
She joined me in bed, putting her hands away so she could look me in the eye. I know you're worried about what will happen, but I can't keep this from him forever. I can't lie to you, Daisy. He's…important."
I stared at Mabel for a moment, and it was when she blushed and looked away that I realized.
"You're in love with him,"I muttered.
Mabel didn't even try to deny it. "It happened so fast, but yes,"she said. "I am. I love him. And I can't lie to you, Daisy."
I groaned, I covered my face again. Mabel was silent as I meditated on my options.
"All right,"I said, sitting up all of a sudden. "Do you think he suspects something right now?"
Mabel shook her head. "No,"she replied slowly. "He didn't say anything."
I smiled. "All right, then. You don't have to lie. But don't bring it up. If you think he's starting to get suspicious, we'll take care of it.
Mabel frowned skeptically, but I realized she was falling apart.
"You'll only be here three nights and two days,"I continued. "The nights will be pretty busy. I'm pretty sure Raul will have only one mental lead, and Elijah and I will be the last of it.
"Yes... I suppose..." Did she agree?
"So we'll be very careful not to raise any suspicions for the rest of the time. You won't have to say anything."
"I don't know, Daisy."
I still didn't breathe. "And you can distract him if you think his thoughts are going in the wrong direction."
"How am I supposed to do that?"
I raised one eyebrow suggestively.
"You want me to manipulate him with sex?"
"Think of it more as... encouraging him to concentrate on the task at hand,"I said with a smile. I should be paying attention to you, anyway. You're his girlfriend."
"Am I?"
"Aren't you?"
Mabel bit her lip nervously and said nothing for a moment. "B... you'd tell me if Rocket was dating someone else, right?"
"What? " I gasped. "Is it?"
"Is it?"
"Mabel, you're making me dizzy."
She blushed. "Sorry. It's just... this is Rocket Snyder. I know the girls are throwing themselves at him."
I sighed, wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I know what you mean,"I sympathized. "I feel the same way about Elijah."
"At least you see him every day."
I pressed it lightly. "Well, if it helps, I haven't seen Raul give another girl the time of day."
"Really?"
I nodded my head. "He's totally hung up on you."
She smiled, and both heads slammed open to the door as she heard another knock.
"Shit,"I muttered, shaking her in the bathroom as I ran to look through the peephole. By releasing my breath, I opened the door. "All right,"I said to Mabel. "It's just Elijah."
"Thank you very much,"he muttered, waving his hand around my waist and pulling at me to give me a quick, hard kiss.
"No! " Mabel closed her eyes with her eyes closed. "I can't see anything. I don't know anything! " She slid towards us, feeling the door.
"Remember, distraction is the key. " Mabel waved as she ran down the hall.
Elijah closed the door before he threw me back at him. "What was that all about?"
I sighed. "She's worried about lying to Raul."
"So you told her to distract him? You think that's gonna work?"
I slid my hand slowly into the fly of his jeans, rubbing gently. "Do you really want to talk about Mabel? " I asked in shell.
"Huh? " he snarled. I felt his erection grow at my touch, his head falling backward as he pushed me in my hand. Abruptly, I walked away and approached the bed, falling on it with an evil smile.
"See? " I said. "Distraction."
Elijah blinked in confusion, then his eyes narrowed. He stalked me. "That wasn't very nice,"he snarled, but the corners of his lips moved slightly, and I knew he wasn't really angry.
I followed the game, running to the other side of the bed. "You asked,"I pointed. "I was just proving a point."
He jumped up, grabbed my ankle and pushed me towards him. I screamed before he jumped on me and nailed me to bed.
"You're too distracted,"he muttered, nodding his head down to bite my neck.
"You're getting pretty distracted."
His teeth brushed against my collarbone and I shivered. "What took you so long? " he asked. "I didn't think you'd leave Roland's room."
I laughed at the memory. "I was listening to Ethan's song."
Elijah chuckled. "You mean his masterpiece of masturbation?"
I slipped my hands under his shirt, and Elijah's laughter melted in a whistle as he brushed his nipples. "I thought it was really sweet,"I said.
Elijah helped me put the shirt over his head before I went back to my neck. He licked my ear and I cried a little.
"Sweet"? he muttered.
"Huh?"
Elijah smiled at my skin. "You said the song was sweet."
"Oh, yes," I bowed against him, trying to hold my line of thought as he began a slow grind that made me burn in seconds. "Well... you know... it would be a sweet song, if it wasn't for him loving his hands."?
Elijah snorted. "Or his hands loving him."
I laughed again and Elijah joined me. We ended up rolling in bed, laughing and taking off our clothes until we were naked and panting. We kissed breathlessly... lips... skin... testing and drinking until Elijah wrapped his long fingers around my wrist...
"Daisy? he began, his eyes blinking.
"Yes, Elijah?"
"I need to ask you something. " I was struggling with a smile, trying to look serious, so I did the same.
"What is Elijah? What do you need?"
He lowered his hand between us.
"Play with me."
I took the matter in hand... and let's just say Elijah was very, very distracted.
Chapter 11
Chapter 11 - 5 Love Points
E. C.
And now... the moment you've been waiting for?
I'd heard the introduction dozens of times... fuck, maybe a hundred times, but he still managed to make my stomach turn...
And this time it was even worse.
The crowd began to step on his feet and clap their hands in unison, shouting,"5Point! Five points! Five points!"
"Are you ready for this? " Rocket looked up anxiously at me, and I wondered if she seemed as scared as I felt.
"Yes. I'm fine. " He wasn't that good.
The Staples Center welcomes E. C! Rocket! Whispers! E-Dog! ... And Tim?
The singing grew louder, almost drowning the announcer. I looked at Daisy, her face barely visible in the dark. She looked more scared than I did.
After the opening at Madison Square Garden, Cecil decided that our show needed a little more energy. And he decided that our entrance was the place to do jazz. So instead of climbing up the stage hatches, we were in the back of the stadium, on platforms thousands of feet off the ground.
Well, maybe not thousands, but I'm sure it felt like thousands. And the stage was more like a coffee table on the other side of the Stap
les Center... a coffee table that we would have to hit with precision.
A goddamn zip line. He wanted us to go down a goddamn zip line. What were we, fucking army Rangers?
The only thing between us and certain death was a harness and a small steel wire rope. We had rehearsed the stunt several times, but with the darkness and flashing lights and crowds shouting, the stage seemed much more distant.
And I was supposed to sing after this? Balls in the throat?
"E. C. , it's about time,"Rocket hissed as he took off his harness and prepared to jump. I put on my own buckles with trembling fingers and took a deep breath, trying not to look like a pussy.
I was failing miserably.
"Ready? " he shouted Rocket on the chant. A chorus of yeses repeated - at least from Roland and Ethan - that Daisy and I were a little less enthusiastic.
Put your hands together... for 5Point?
An explosion of fireworks lit the ceiling, and I had a flash of panic, worried that my hair might burn like Michael Jackson in that Pepsi commercial back in the' 80s. Sure, my hair was a fucking mess, but I still wanted to keep it in my head. And I was pretty sure the makeup artist he put on was ninety percent alcohol.
It would look like a Roman candle at Nikes.
"Now! " he screamed rocket, and I took a deep breath, closed my eyes and jumped.
The floor fell beneath me as I descended through the darkness, finally lifting up my nerve to open an eye.
It was impressive. Okay, once you got over the scared shit part, it was fucking amazing!
We flew along the lines with our arms outstretched as the opening beats of 5 Love Points echoed through the stadium. The crowd screamed bloody murder, and I took a second to enjoy the euphoric sensation of flying.
Then I saw how fast the stage was approaching.
Fuck. Me.
It flew toward us, growing from a center table to a full-sized death platform in two-point six seconds. I grabbed my harness and kicked my feet - as if that had delayed me in some way - and I knew I had to look like a crazy maniac, but I didn't feel like I cared.
Fortunately, the explosive music and the fanatics were screaming loud enough to drown me while I was screaming like a fucking child.
No offense to the girls out there, but you scream loud... and loud. Sometimes it's like nails on a blackboard.
And it was nothing compared to what I was putting in there.