Xane moved them all over to the bed. He sat on the edge and encouraged her to climb up behind him. She knelt, her hands around his torso, her head resting against the side of his, while Luthor stood before them. Xane released Luthor’s fly and gave his low-slung trousers one hard tug. It was enough to drop them completely, and they hit the floor with a thud. Beneath, Luthor wore a pair of tiny shorts that were thoroughly failing to hold him.
He pulled his shirt over his head, which made his arousal even more apparent.
Dani blushed. She’d seen Luthor undressed, that time when he’d walked out of the shower, but this was totally different. She had permission to look, and she was embarrassed by how much she wanted to drink her fill of him. He was lean, incredibly lean and long. Everything about him was long, his legs, his arms, his cock, which was poking up, level with Xane’s mouth.
Did Xane enjoy sucking cock? She’d never thought to ask.
‘Are you going to suck him?’
‘If you like.’
‘Do you like?’
A tell-tale smile tweaked the edges of his lips. ‘I do when I’m being offered a cock as nice as this one.’
She watched him frame his hands around Luthor’s cock, so his thumbs brushed against his balls. Dainty as a maid he parted his lips. His tongue swept the surface of his lips. She heard Luthor swallow in anticipation. Then Xane claimed him. He sucked him deep, deeper than she knew how to do.
Watching him pleasure another man didn’t make her want to cry, it made her horny.
She wriggled, not sure what to do about that, until Xane sought her hand and encouraged her to curl her fingers around his cock and rub. That was fine for a while, but in truth not enough. Dani went one better. She apparently liked to watch, but she liked the taste and feel of Xane better. Crouching low on the bed, she pushed her head into Xane’s lap so that she could take him in her mouth.
‘Oh, baby,’ he crooned. His fingers tangled in her hair. He looked down at her, his expression full of tenderness. ‘Not too much. It’s kind of exciting in here.’
‘I won’t mind if you come.’
‘Luthor might.’
‘Nope – no objections from me. I’m kind of hoping you will. Though maybe not right now. I like to get a little more hands-on.’
‘How hands-on?’ The two men exchanged a look that Dani couldn’t fathom. Then Xane drew her away from his cock. He kissed the corner of her mouth. ‘I think it’s time I did something for you, my lovely. Take your knickers off.’
‘Xane.’
‘Don’t worry. He’s not going to see anything.’
Xane lay back upon the bed. ‘Come up here,’ he encouraged, patting the mattress next to his head. ‘Come and sit on my face.’
God, he was so rude. Rude and lovely and perfect. As surreptitiously as she was able, Dani shimmied out of her panties, and then crawled over to him.
‘Straddle me.’
‘I’ll smother you if I sit there.’
‘No, you won’t.’ He encouraged her down, over his mouth. His tongue flicked along the split of her sex and she groaned. Yeah, she needed this. He used his tongue on her clit and inside her. It felt so good. It made her feel giddy and tingly all over. She clenched her thighs, riding him as he worked the tension out of her.
Luthor stood watching them a moment. His eyes were shiny and bright and full of admiration. He’d kiss her if she asked him, but then he’d touch her too and she wasn’t ready for that, so it was better that he just touched Xane. They could share Xane, as long as everything that occurred between Xane and Luthor occurred in her presence; then maybe it wouldn’t be so difficult to sacrifice a little of Xane’s love.
Luthor got down on his knees, but he didn’t suck Xane’s cock as she’d anticipated. He didn’t even touch Xane’s cock, which was still glazed with her saliva and was weeping precome against his stomach. Instead, Luthor seemed to be searching for something on the floor.
Dani understood when he sighed in relief and she heard the rip of a packet. Oh, my God! Was that what they’d agreed between them when they’d exchanged that look? She thought – she imagined it would be the other way around. Though Lord knows why – she knew Xane liked having his ass played with.
He lifted his knees, opening himself up for Luthor to use.
‘No lube, are you sure about this?’
‘You’ll hurt him,’ she protested.
Xane tapped her thigh, signalling she should lift and let him breathe. ‘No, he won’t. I have the magic ingredient right here.’ His face was shiny with her juices, but she still didn’t understand him until he coated his fingers in her moisture and then used it to lubricate his hole and Luthor’s cock. That was ridiculously, crazily hot. ‘Mind if we do this the other way up?’ Xane rolled over on all fours and pulled her beneath him. ‘Hold me,’ he mouthed, while Luthor moved into position between his legs.
She watched Xane’s face as Luthor entered him, saw his initial frown ease away and his eyes fill with bliss.
‘Oh, God!’
‘You all right?’ Luthor asked.
‘Better than all right. Far, far better.’
The jealousy she thought she’d feel, seeing him do this and hearing those words come out of his mouth, wasn’t there. She didn’t even mind that it was Luthor who was responsible for the intense pleasure shaking Xane’s body. He was sweating and groaning almost deliriously, while Luthor fucked him with short brisk strokes. He had one hand clenched fiercely around Xane’s shoulder and another splayed possessively over his lower back. She was pretty sure he was going to come hard, and soon.
She guessed she’d made them both wait too long for this. Neither of them had the patience for anything drawn out.
Xane’s cock beat an urgent tattoo against her tummy. She thought … yes, she could imagine the three of them doing this together. Xane inside her, and Luthor fucking Xane, all at the same time.
‘Want you,’ she murmured, pressing urgent kisses to his cheeks and his stubble-lined jaw. ‘Need you inside me.’
‘Shimmy up a bit.’ He encouraged her to move up towards the pillow. The angles were wrong for him to fill her up with his cock, but he was more than willing to drive her wild with his mouth.
Xane sucked her clit, and used his tongue stud to send her hurtling into space in a matter of seconds. Dani was shocked to find herself coming before either of the men. Her climax bit her hard and ripped her to pieces, only to reassemble her and leave her feeling incredibly relaxed.
She opened her eyes in time to see Xane shudder and collapse, his limbs apparently jelly, incapable of supporting him. Luthor pulled off the condom and finished over his bottom.
They snuggled on the bed afterwards. Dani lay fully dressed, with their naked bodies pressed against either side of her. She knew that if she said the word, they’d make love to her together, make real the fantasy she’d imagined a few minutes ago, but she wasn’t ready for that yet. In fact, maybe she never would be, but at least she now knew she could face the future without losing her mind.
It wasn’t hard watching them make love to one another. They were beautiful together. All she had to ensure was that they stuck to the current arrangement, and only made out while she was present. That way she’d know everything, and wouldn’t need to be jealous or fearful.
‘Only do this while I’m present,’ she whispered.
Xane cuddled her close. ‘If that’s what makes it acceptable for you, no problem. You don’t have an issue with that, do you, Luthor?’
‘I can’t believe that I’m even here.’ He leaned in closer, tilting his head. ‘Can I kiss you, Dani?’
She turned towards him, allowing him to brush his lips affectionately against her cheek. She knew it wasn’t what he wanted, but it was all she was ready for. ‘I need to take this one step at a time. I’ll tell you when and if I’m ready to let you touch me.’
He nodded. ‘You can touch me any time. I’m particularly partial to having the side of my neck stroked.’
/>
The fact that he was so laidback and compliant made things much easier.
‘How long can we stay here?’ she asked some time later, after they’d cuddled so long she’d become in danger of dropping off to sleep.
Luthor rolled onto his back. ‘We should have left ages ago. It’s a four-and-a-half-hour drive.’
She sat up. ‘But we still have time to get there, don’t we?’
‘Course we do,’ Xane insisted, pulling her back down again. ‘We’re probably not on stage until ten o’clock.’
‘Ulf wanted you there for five,’ Luthor said.
‘Yeah, but he doesn’t actually need me there for that time. I’m not essential for the soundcheck, and I’d rather spend a bit longer here than hours twiddling my thumbs there. There’s not a lot of space on one of those bunks for three.’
‘You do realise he likes sex all the time?’ she said to Luthor. ‘And I do mean all the time. He’s insatiable.’
‘Hey, I’m right here, you know.’
‘Are you denying you’re insatiable?’
Xane shook his head. ‘I reckon the two of you might keep me almost sated, though.’
Chapter 44
The four-and-a-half-hour drive to Karlstad actually took seven hours, allowing for roadworks, pit stops and a dearth of map-reading skills, and it was almost ten by the time they arrived. Xane was greeted with a punch in the guts. Unprepared for the attack, he crumpled. ‘What the fuck was that for?’ he wheezed, bent double as the ache spread through him.
‘You’re five hours late, that’s what. Five fucking hours. We’ve been standing here wondering if you were going to show at all.’
‘We got lost,’ Dani explained, coming around him to get into Rock Giant’s face. She jabbed him in the abs with a finger. ‘Then we hit a ton of roadworks. You didn’t have to hit him. His ribs have only recently healed. You better hope you haven’t cracked them again or there won’t be a show tonight.’
God, he loved her when she turned into a mama bear for him. There were so few people willing to do that. ‘I’m all right, Dani,’ he soothed her, though he still felt weakened by the punch. ‘I don’t think he’s broken anything, and if he has, you can break his nose later.’ To Rock Giant he added, ‘I’m here now, so you can stop shitting your knickers. Sorry we’re late, events conspired, and I had personal shit to sort out.’
‘You mean you were screwing.’
Xane ignored the jibe. ‘How long do we have? About twenty minutes?’
‘More like ten.’ Tony handed him a shirt, which he put on, and Liam a set of yellow contact lenses.
Dani continued to bristle and give Rock Giant the evil eye.
‘I’m glad you’ve sorted out your … whatever it was,’ Xane overheard Rock Giant mumble to her, while he was making a blind attempt to insert his contact lenses. ‘But I’m still pissed with him for running off without letting us know where he’d gone or whether he was coming back. I like you, Dani, but he’s got to start putting the band first, not his libido.’
‘At least he came for me after last night’s gig.’
Rock Giant shook his head, causing a couple of the gravity-defying spikes in his hair to move a micron or two. He quickly fixed them with a blast of hairspray. ‘He was ready to hitchhike back to Denmark, the moment he realised you weren’t with us. The only reason he didn’t is because Graham had six security guards sitting on him.’
‘Did you consider helping him?’
Rock Giant scowled. ‘We had several thousand fans waiting to hear us. It wouldn’t have been fair to let them down. Besides, know what happened the last time we didn’t perform as expected? There was a goddamned riot, that’s what.’
It sounded to Xane as if Paul was feeling guilty for not helping him out, and was compensating by blaming him. Nothing new there. At least Dani was standing up to him. He was glad that she was no longer scared of his bandmates. She had no reason to be. They might be scary-looking, but at heart they were a bunch of lame dimwits.
Elspeth wafted towards them, holding a block of foundation and a stick of kohl. ‘Bend down and I’ll do the honours.’
‘I can do it myself.’ He still wasn’t comfortable having her anywhere near him.
‘But it’ll be quicker if I do it.’ Brushing aside his protests, she went at him with a triangular make-up sponge. ‘Keep still, and stop fidgeting. I don’t want anything from you, Xane. I’m glad you convinced her to come back.’ She shot a look at Dani. ‘One of us may as well be happy.’
Yeah, well, they were still working on the happy part. They were talking and they were together, and they had a tentative thing going with Luthor, but there were plenty of details to iron out still.
‘Where are your claw rings?’
Xane looked around for them but failed to spot them. And, never mind them – ‘Where are the bananas?’ he asked the room at large. They ought to have been here. They were a contractual obligation specified on the band’s rider. If he was being petty he could refuse to perform because of that oversight.
‘I’ll find some,’ one of the venue staff insisted.
‘Maybe you could find the rest of the band too.’ OK, he was late, but by his reckoning they were still three men down. He at least had a good reason for his tardiness. Them, not so much. They’d been here five hours. ‘Where are they?’
Rock Giant’s face crumpled. Elspeth frowned too. ‘They went to find Iain.’
‘What, did he get lost on the way to the bathroom or something?’
‘Actually, Ash and Iain had a bit of a barney earlier that ended in fisticuffs. Iain’s nursing a shiner.’
‘About?’
The big guy raised his shoulders. ‘A girl, I think. It’s always about a girl.’
The woman from the hospitality crew reappeared. ‘I found some,’ she said, offering him a banana. ‘I do apologise for not having laid them out as you’d asked. I’m sorry I can’t help with regards to the rest of your band.’
‘Here.’ Ash and Spook walked in behind her. ‘No bloody sign of Iain, though.’
‘I hope he’s six feet under,’ muttered Ash. ‘I see you finally decided to show.’
Xane flipped him off, prompting Ash to give him a two-fingered salute. His knuckles were mottled with bruising.
Xane grabbed his hand. ‘Are you OK to play?’
‘Fine. Not that I’ll need to unless Iain turns up.’
‘Four minutes, folks,’ Liam counted, holding up that many fingers. The warm-up act were already coming off.
‘Where’ve you looked?’ Xane turned his head to peer into the darkened corners, half expecting to find Iain Willows lurking there looking grouchy. Too bad he wasn’t there.
‘Everywhere,’ the two guitarists sighed in unison.
‘We’ve been through every blinking cubbyhole on the bus, twice, and searched the other vehicles. He’s not wandering the parking lot or screwing in any of the loos, and he’s not propping up the bar.’ Spook blew out a long breath at the end of his long recital. ‘He’s definitely around somewhere, though, because I checked with security and he hasn’t left.’
‘Shit!’ Rock Giant banged his head against a nearby wall, volubly and physically expressing what the rest of them were feeling. Without a drummer, they were stuck. They couldn’t perform, but if they failed to perform they’d have a PR and contractual nightmare on their hands. ‘This band isn’t big enough to house another diva.’
Elspeth patted him on the back, which seemed to soothe him a little. He turned around.
‘Liam – you could play drums.’ Rock Giant wrapped an arm around the shoulders of their chief roadie and gave him a big help-a-buddy-out grin.
‘Only if you want it to sound like a kid beating saucepans with a spoon. Keyboards I could probably handle in dire circumstances, but drums, not a chance.’
‘He’s got no rhythm,’ Tony, one of the other roadies, joked, but his humour fell flat. Right now, things were too desperate.
‘Littl
e twerp’s doing this on purpose, I’ll bet,’ Ash muttered as he paced back and forth. He exercised his fingers as he walked – they were clearly stiff despite the reassurance he’d given Xane. ‘He’s probably getting a kick out of making us look shitty. I’m sorry, guys. I should never have brought that bastard on board for the tour.’
‘Hark, you’ve changed your tune,’ Xane remarked. Now didn’t seem the moment to delve into what had caused it. That would have to wait until later. Right now they needed to work out how they were going to perform.
‘What do we do?’ Elspeth asked him. The rest of the band were looking to him too, as if he had all the answers. In fact he didn’t, not a clue … unless … Xane straightened, his lips pursed. He didn’t know if he wanted to do this. It would only add another layer of complication to a situation that was volatile enough already. On the other hand, what real choice was there? They might get away with a couple of numbers without drums, but those weren’t great show-openers, and after they were done, if Willows still hadn’t appeared, they’d look fucking stupid. He met Dani’s eyes, silently asking for her approval. ‘What do you think?’ he mouthed.
‘What are you asking her for?’ Ash stared at him, blue eyes blazing. ‘For fuck’s sake, don’t tell me she plays drums. What is it about you and drummers?’
Dani lowered her eyelids, as a smirk turned up the corners of her mouth.
‘Sixty seconds,’ Liam warned them.
‘Give me an earpiece.’ Xane put it in. He could hear Ulf counting down Spook’s cue into his ear. ‘Everyone take your positions, and Luthor –’ he snatched a set of drumsticks off a nearby crew member and pushed them into Luthor’s hands as he came into the room, fresh from parking the hired car ‘– you’re up.’
‘W-what!’
There wasn’t time to explain. He’d already missed his cue. Rock Giant, Ash and Spook were on stage, blending the thunder of their guitars. The sounds of Elspeth’s keyboard joined them. ‘Go, now.’ He pushed Luthor towards the stage.
‘But what about Iain?’
‘Fuck Iain. Just play.’
Xane prowled onto the stage behind Luthor, his heart in his mouth. He hoped to God that Luthor really did know their set and could play as well as he maintained, otherwise they were going to get stoned.
Come Together Page 32