Passion's Hope (The Doms of Passion Lake Book 3)

by Julie Shelton

  At seven o’clock, all ten men walked through the crowd and stepped up onto the stage, taking up their positions at the various microphones, where their instruments had already been set up for them. Jake Weston seated himself at his drums, Ethan Bailey went to his keyboard, Garrett Sloan to his Dobro, lying on a chair. Caleb carried his violin, tucked under his arm. The others picked up a variety of guitars and lifted the straps over their heads.

  Mitch Thompkins stepped up to the microphone. The thunderous applause that greeted him nearly drowned out his voice. “Thank you. Thank you.” He held out his hands. ”Please, please. You’re very kind.” He stood and waited for the noise to die down a little before continuing. “We’re supremely grateful so many of you are here tonight. I take it you saw the flyers?”

  Everyone laughed

  “Thought so.” Mitch smirked. “So before we start, let’s give a round of applause to Riley Cooper and the Marshall County High School marching band for their hard work in helping to spread the word. Stand up, guys and gals, and take a bow.”

  The sixty-seven band members stood en masse, including the cheerleaders, who jumped up and down, waving their pompoms at the enthusiastic applause.

  As the applause began to wane, someone yelled, “Go Cougars!” eliciting more laughter and more frenzied pompom waving. Finally the band sat back down and the noise died down.

  “As you all probably know,” Mitch went on, “the Midnight Riders have discovered a brand new singing sensation and she is making her debut with us here tonight. So I would like you to give a warm Passion Lake welcome to Miss Charlotte ‘Charlie’ Fielding!” He spread his hands toward her, then started clapping, along with the rest of the band members as the audience rose to its feet, stamping and cheering. Nik and Jay handed her up from her chair. She made her way around the table and through the seated throng to climb up onto the stage. She shook Mitch’s hand before turning and waving to the boisterous crowd. As soon as the ruckus died down, she leaned toward the microphone. “Thank you so much for such a warm welcome,” she smiled. “But maybe you oughtta hear me sing before you commit yourselves.”

  More laughter. Charlie went to pick up her guitar, which was on a stand close by the microphone. She slung the strap over her head and looked at Mitch and they launched into the opening bars of Lady Antebellum’s Bartender, which brought on a fresh spate of applause. Charlie started singing and the crowd went wild, going even wilder when Ethan and Mitch joined her on the harmonies. By the time they reached the first chorus, everyone was clapping along with the beat. When the song ended, the entire audience rose from their chairs, whooping, whistling, hollering, clapping, and carrying on. The cheerleaders went berserk.

  Charlie’s face was flushed with such joy, Nik and Jay felt their hearts melting with love for her. Christ, she was so fucking glorious! They simply had to find a way to keep her in their lives, because the alternative was unthinkable.

  “Thank you very much,” Charlie said, waving her hand to indicate the band behind her. “The Midnight Riders, ladies and gentlemen. Aren’t they great?” Another round of cheers, whistles, and applause rang out.

  She and Mitch stepped back from the microphone and waited, heads down, for the crowd to settle down before Charlie stepped back up and played the opening bar of Break Down Here, accompanied by Jake Weston on drums. As she began to sing, her voice was a perfect match for the poignant words about love, loss, and heartbreak. A hush fell over the crowd as the other instruments and Ethan’s back-up vocals amplified the melancholy feel of the song and sent the melody soaring. The song ended to total silence from the audience. A silence that erupted into the thunderous sound of chairs being scraped back as once again, the entire restaurant full of people jumped to their feet to show her their appreciation.

  Charlie was so moved, she couldn’t stop the tears from welling in her eyes and rolling down her cheeks. She kept sayin “Thank you,” and blowing kisses until the applause finally died down and people resumed their seats.

  “You okay?” Mitch asked, taking in her tears, her flushed skin, her rapid breathing, and her obviously heightened level of excitement from the adrenalin flooding her system.

  “Sure.” She gave him a goofy grin. “This is fun! What an audience! Better than five falling-down drunks and a dead person any day.”

  He laughed.

  She lifted off her guitar and handed it to Ash Rafferty, who put it on its stand. As she stepped back up to the microphone without it, she felt open and exposed. She had always used her guitar as a sort of buffer between her and any audience she’d ever performed for. Without it she felt more vulnerable and her nerves ratcheted up.

  But not for long. As the band started in on the intro to the Trisha Yearwood hit, How Do I Live without You. Charlie closed her eyes and began to sing, she suddenly realized that the words were a direct reflection of how she felt about Nik and Jay. That if they were ever to leave her, they would take away everything that mattered to her. And it would destroy her. Because she loved them from the bottom of her soul.

  Oh, my God! I love these two men! Her eyes darkened with emotion as she finally admitted the truth to herself. The truth that had been in front of her the entire time. The truth she’d been too insecure to acknowledge, much less reach out and grab onto. Her gaze sought first Nik’s, then Jay’s as she found herself singing the song directly to them. For her, everyone else in the room ceased to exist. She was so lost in the powerful emotion gripping her that, as she approached the final chorus, she removed the microphone from its stand and stepped down the stairs from the stage onto the main floor, winding her way slowly through the throng of people toward her two men. As the last notes of the song died away, she was startled to realize that she was standing directly in front of Nik and Jay. They gave her looks of such smoldering intensity her breath caught and her heart began to hammer in her breast. For a split second she feared they would leap over the table and ravish her right there on the dance floor. Okay, it wasn’t fear so much as it was wishful thinking. Surprised by the sudden, erotic turn her thoughts had taken, she let out a ragged sigh as the last note faded. That sound, amplified by the microphone she was still holding in front of her mouth, became part of the song.

  Pandemonium ensued as the audience went wild, forcing Mitch Thompkins to shout into the mic, “Miss Charlotte Fielding, ladies and gentlemen.” As the applause finally began to die down, he said, “Come up, Charlie and take another bow.”

  Blushing furiously, she bit her lip and ran back up onto the stage. “Thank you. Thank you. Give yourselves a hand. You are the Best. Audience. Ever!” Which got them another raucous standing ovation. After several bows, she handed the microphone to Mitch, who placed it back in the stand, adjusting the angle. “Don’t worry, folks, Charlie’ll be back later on. In the meantime, enjoy the music! One. Two. One, two, three four.”

  As Charlie walked back down the steps to join Nik and Jay, the band launched into a rousing rendition of the Brooks & Dunn hit Boot Scootin’ Boogie, with Ethan singing lead vocals and various others providing backup. Charlie had to dodge the two-stepping couples who were already beginning to shuffle around the dance floor.

  Nik and Jay came out from behind the table, to greet her with proud hugs, and long, sweet kisses that had the people around them groaning and hollering for them to “get a room.” As they led her back to her seat, she was bombarded with congratulations, out-thrust hands to shake, and numerous pats on the arm or back. As soon as she was seated, people lined up to give her hugs. She even got a few kisses on the cheek, which at first had Nik glowering, until Charlie told him playfully to “suck it up, Papa Bear. That’s what you get for making me a star.”

  He just grinned. “I didn’t make you a star, little one. You did that all on your own.”

  At the end of the first set, the musicians joined Nik’s group at the long table, while the waitresses rushed to serve them ice cold bottles of beer. Since the bar was closed due to the enormous number of people, the
only drinks being served tonight were bottled beer or canned sodas. Pre-recorded music played through the speakers, encouraging couples to continue dancing.

  As Chelsea Greer approached Mitch with a bottle of Coors Light, he said, “Hey, Chelsea, girl. Ain’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He gave her the full benefit of his dimpled, eye-crinkling smile. He was in full flirt mode and it was potent.

  Chelsea preened. “Hey, yourself, cowboy. You’re not so bad, either, you know. In fact, if I had to look at you all day, I probably wouldn’t poke myself in the eyes with a sharp, pointy stick.”

  Mitch laughed. “High praise indeed. Why don’t you pull up a lap and have a seat?” He patted his thigh. “Take a load off.”

  “Sorry.” She shook her head. “But Section III, Paragraph five, Sub-paragraph d of the Icebox Bar and Grill’s Official Employee Handbook says, and I quote, “Employees are only permitted to sit in ugly customers’ laps. Not good-looking customers’ laps.”

  “I thought that was Sub-paragraph k.”

  “D’oh!” Chelsea whacked the heel of her hand against her forehead. “You’re right. Sub-paragraph d is, ‘Naked dancing is only permitted on the bar or tabletops. Not the floor.’ I keep getting those two mixed up.” She gave a philosophical shrug. “Oh, well. Guess I know what I’ll be doing tonight. Boning up on my Employee Handbook.” She jerked her thumb at Nik. “The boss here is a real hard-ass when it comes to the rules. Fortunately, it’s fascinating reading.”

  They laughed and she flounced off to serve another customer.

  Jay led Charlie out to the floor to teach her the steps and she danced with him, Nik, all the band members, Clay “Raven” Nighthorse, and the Rafferty triplets until she was flushed and sweaty, and loving the plug in her ass. Every movement she made kept her arousal at peak levels. Her orgasms, when she was finally allowed to have them, were going to be epic. The very thought made her so happy she was giddy.

  Dancing continued through the band’s second set until Mitch stepped up to the microphone and raised his hands. “Ladies and gentlemen, once again, Miss Charlie Fielding.”

  Charlie ran up on the stage and they launched into Need You Now, with Charlie and Ethan alternating the lead and Mitch providing a third voice to the harmonies. While Mitch waited at the mic for the cheers to die down, Julian Decker placed his guitar on a stand and went to the back of the stage to retrieve his cello. Garrett Sloan traded his Dobro for an amplified bass guitar, freeing his chair for Julian to sit in. Nik and Jay brought up three additional chairs and set music stands in front of all of them. Gabe and Ash traded out their acoustic guitars for electric ones.

  When the room had quieted enough for Mitch to speak, he said, “If you’ll just bear with us here, folks, we’ve got somethin’ really special for you. It’ll be worth the wait, I promise you.”

  Finally, they were set. Julian Decker, Sam Walker, Aaron Sawyer, and Caleb Rafferty sat in the chairs. Julian fitted his cello between his knees, the three violins went through a brief tune-up. The band members took their places behind them.

  A hush fell over the room. No one dared talk or leave. Even the kitchen and wait staff had left their posts to stand at the back of the room and listen. Ethan began the melancholy piano intro of the Evanescence song, Lost in Paradise, and Charlie began singing, her voice breathy and cool and smooth as velvet. For a few bars it was just her and the piano before they were joined by Julian Decker’s cello, then the three violins. As they sent the melody soaring, Ethan added his perfect harmony to the vocals. They built to a crescendo, retreated, and built to another one. Paused. Then Jake Weston’s drums brought in all the rest of the instruments in a pounding backbeat as the song exploded out into the room, filling the space with a rich throbbing sound that soared to a final pinnacle before diminishing and ending with, once again, just the piano and Charlie’s clear, haunting voice.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  For a moment there was absolutely no sound in the enormous room. The thunderous applause that followed seemed to go on forever. All the band members went up to Charlie and, one by one, they hugged her. Julian Decker, still seated, just pulled his lower lip behind his upper teeth and shook his head in awe, curving his lips upward in a smile as he lifted his arm to give her a high five. “Way to go, girl,” he said. “That was fuckin’ awesome!”

  And Mitch’s earlier prediction turned out to be right. They did have to do the entire song, not once but twice more before the crowd was finally ready to let them go.

  By this time on a normal Saturday night, people would have already been leaving, but not tonight. Tonight, everyone stayed until the last note, many coming up afterward to speak to Charlie and the rest of the band members and tell them how much they had enjoyed the music and were looking forward to hearing her again next week. It was well after the official closing time of midnight before the Icebox was finally empty, except for the band members, Sarah, Jesse, Adam, Simon and Kylie Rafferty, Clay and Leah Nighthorse, Nik, Jay, and Charlie. The guys had carried all their instruments out to their cars and trucks and were now sitting around the long table, talking, laughing, and drinking ice cold beers.

  Steve Moran, the manager emerged from Nik’s office, waving a huge wad of cash. “Guys, you’re not gonna believe this. You filled two tip jars tonight. Over three thousand dollars!”

  “Woohoo!” they chorused, raising their beer bottles in salute. “We rock!”

  Mo sat down at the table, facing Jay, taking a swig out of Jay’s barely-touched beer. “Usual split?” he asked.

  “I think it should all go to Charlie,” Caleb Rafferty said. “She’s the reason there’s so much, and she earned every penny.”

  “Hear, hear,” Mitch said. “I second the motion.”

  “Absolutely not!” Charlie cried. “You all worked a whole lot harder than I did. Just do what you usually do.”

  “Not on your life,” Ash said. “We don’t do this for the money. We just do it for fun. You, on the other hand, came here with nothing, looking to pick up the pieces of your life and put yourself back together. And, yes, we all know your story. Nothin’ is secret in this town, especially where our women are concerned. So, please, take this money as a thank you from us and put it in the bank. Put it in a sock under the mattress. Put it in the cookie jar. Do whatever you want with it. It’s yours with our compliments.”

  She bit her lip, still uncertain.

  “Go ahead, myshka,” Nik said softly. “Take the money. We’ll put it in the bank first thing Monday morning. It’s an excellent start to your ‘escape fund.’”

  She looked up at him, eyes flickering with something that made his heart suddenly start beating just a little faster. His eyes darkened. He sucked in his breath and held it, not certain what was coming next.

  She hesitated, biting her lip, a full panoply of emotions flitting across her face. “But that’s just it,” she finally said in a low voice that was nevertheless heard by every person in the room. “I’m not sure I want to escape anymore.”

  The room held its breath. Nik blinked, afraid his ears were playing tricks on him. Did she just say what he thought she said? The breath hissed slowly from his lungs like air leaking from a tire. For a moment he became so light-headed, he feared he would pass out.

  Jay, too was having a hard time. His entire nervous system was going haywire. His eyes closed and a tiny sound escaped his throat as the full impact of her words slowly began to soak into him,

  “Well,” Jesse Colter said, eyes twinkling with mirth. He stood up and everyone followed suit. “I think that’s our cue to leave. Looks like Charlie has some ’splainin’ to do.” He put his fingers beneath her chin and bent his head to press a kiss to her forehead. “Welcome to the family, sugar.”

  Everyone hugged good-bye, then they all exited through the main entrance, leaving Nik, Jay, and Charlie alone in the dimly-lit lobby.

  “Myshka!” Nik placed his hands on her shoulders and slid them down her arms. He took her hands in his, lifting them
one at a time to his mouth to place gentle kisses against each knuckle.

  Charlie’s heart was beating so hard, it made her body sway. Finally she slid her gaze away from his, to keep from sinking into those fathomless black depths.

  “Did you mean what you said?” Nik asked. “That you don’t want to leave?”

  She nodded, a jerky movement of her head.

  “Are you sayin’ you want to stay here? With us?” Jay asked, needing to hear her say the words.

  “Yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying. For as long as you’re willing to put up with me.”

  “Nik…” Terry Parker, the night manager, came out of his office behind the check-in counter. “Could I see you for a minute?”

  “Sure.” Nik released Charlie. “Go on downstairs, you two. I’ll be along in a minute.”

  Hand in hand, Jay and Charlie ran across the darkened restaurant floor, into the hallway, and down the stairs to their own private sanctuary. Jay pulled her into his arms and claimed her mouth with his. One hand slid down her back, pulling her hips into his pelvis. His cock was a steel girder against her belly. Everything inside her softened, then melted away like hot wax.

  When he finally released her, her lips were swollen with passion, her eyes were dark and turbulent, and the breath was sawing in and out of her lungs.

  “Oh, Babygirl.” Jay grinned down at her. “You are gonna go off like a firecracker tonight. Like a whole string of firecrackers.” He sobered. “Unless you’re too exhausted. You’ve had quite a night. Daddy and I will certainly understand if you are.”

  She shook her head. “No, no, not tired. I’m…buzzed. Like I’ve been plugged into a socket. I don’t need firecrackers. I am one. And I can’t wait to play with you and Daddy. You know, take charge. And I want to”—she hesitated, uncertain how to continue.