Adrenalize

by Trina M. Lee

  Storm’s brows rose and she nodded in understanding. “Ahh, I see. That’s even worse. This life isn’t for everyone. The first tour will show you what you’re really made of. It’s a whirlwind when you see everything you’ve worked for come to fruition. But it comes with a whole lot of other shit as well.” She swept out a hand, glittering with rings on every finger, to indicate the party surrounding us. Most especially the groupies doing everything in their power to get the attention of any one of the musicians available.

  Brow furrowed Jett shook her head, a stubborn glint in her eyes. “Well, we certainly appreciate the warning, don’t we, girls? However, I think we’ve faced a lot worse together than groupies and after show parties.”

  A tiny smile curved Storm’s lips, tight and severe. She thought she did us a favor by telling us what we already knew. But Jett was right. Storm didn’t know us, and she didn’t know what we’d faced as a group together with Arrow and Sam at our sides. Letting her fearmonger us was not an option.

  “I totally get it. Some people adapt to this life. Others never do. I made my mistakes and learned to stay the hell away from guys on the road. One and done. Although if the sex doesn’t get to you around here, the drugs certainly will.”

  Her warning dug into me like the sharp talons of my own personal fears. Although Arrow’s drug usage had decreased significantly since his last overdose, I did harbor my own private worries that would change. If anything could cause a backslide for him, it would be this tour.

  I couldn’t help but glance around for my paramour. I hadn’t seen him in hours now. He had to be around here somewhere. Panic crawled up inside my chest, causing my throat to constrict. I swallowed hard. Beside me Jett lightly bumped my hip with hers. She didn’t seem concerned even though Sam was also absent. But Sam didn’t have a serious coke addiction.

  Looking bored, Storm glanced around at the party. She seemed to be keeping her eye out for someone in particular. “The worst of that shit is going on in the buses, most likely Blue’s bus. Stay away from him, girls, if you know what’s best for you. Any stories you hear about him are most likely true.”

  Rowen sauntered up with a swagger that immediately set me on edge. He must’ve ditched the groupie somewhere, or she’d latched onto somebody more famous. I was betting on the latter. He nudged his way in between Jett and me, but his gaze was on Storm. Without so much as a glance at me, Rowen plucked the drink from my hand and finished the rest of it.

  “I caught part of your set tonight,” he said to Storm who looked him over like he was dessert. “Your voice is fucking amazing. It’s almost hypnotic. I can’t wait to see you guys play again.”

  Storm broke into a genuine smile and fell over herself thanking him. She stepped forward to offer him her hand, leaning in to give him a fantastic view of her breasts as well, which he made sure to ogle.

  “That’s so nice of you to say.” With a hair toss and a dainty handshake, Storm had Rowen completely under her spell. “I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing you yet, but I’ll make sure to change that the first chance I get.”

  I stood there dumbfounded, feeling somewhat like an idiot for being jealous of their flirtation but mostly feeling gross shock and awe at Rowen’s behavior. Especially when he had the nerve to press the empty cup back into my hand. Somehow I swallowed the ball of rage burning within me. My fingertips warmed. Afraid that I would start to melt the plastic in my hand, I turned to go, muttering something about using the restroom.

  Rowen hadn’t been okay with Arrow and me despite his continued insistence that it was no problem. He’d been the one to force us to choose, to declare to the world if we were together or not. In fact, so many people had been interested in that information that Arrow and I barely had any time to enjoy what we’d found before everyone else wanted to take it away from us. Rowen included.

  In his own way he wanted to punish me for choosing Arrow. And I suspected he also wanted to punish himself for driving me right into his brother’s arms. But no matter what, we were a team. Allies. I’d hoped somehow we would one day again be friends. For the first time in months, I really doubted that would ever happen.

  Quickly I strode past the buses, trying to figure out which was ours in the dark when they all looked the same. As I passed one bus, Arrow stepped out in front of me. With a drink in one hand and a joint in the other, he was clearly riding the cocaine dragon.

  That hadn’t taken long. Not that I’d thought it would.

  Arrow’s devilish gaze set upon me, and he flashed me a sexy smile that nailed me right between the legs. “Angel girl, where have you been? I’ve been dying to get my hands on you.”

  “Watching your brother make an ass of himself while you get high on whose tour bus?” I teased but searched him for any sign that he’d gone too far.

  Arrow passed me the joint so that he had an arm free to wrap around my waist and drag me against him. “I’m all good, more drunk than anything else. Don’t worry about me. I knew you would.”

  The kiss he pressed to my lips tasted of whiskey and marijuana. The heady scent of musky citrus with a hint of cinnamon drifted from him to tantalize my senses. I just wanted to eat him up.

  Knowing we were in view of where Rowen stood with the ladies, I kissed Arrow without holding back. But it wasn’t Rowen I found watching us when we broke apart. It was Blue. He stood outside the tour bus Arrow had just exited, smoking a cigarette. When our eyes met he lifted one brow in mild surprise, as if to say he found my choice of partner questionable. Then with a sly grin more to himself than to me, he slipped away to join his bandmates where they stood chatting with Atticus.

  I wanted to get my opportunity to meet the vampire as well. I was curious how he managed to keep up this charade for so long. But when Arrow tugged me back toward our bus, I wasn’t about to resist. There was no telling how many opportunities we would get to be alone during the next four weeks, and I planned to seize hold of every one.

  Instead of leading me inside the bus, Arrow led me between ours and the neighboring bus. It was dark. The meager light from the parking lot streetlamps didn’t reach back here. I puffed on the joint before passing it back to him. Holding the sweet smoke in my lungs, I exhaled slowly, staring up into the night sky.

  “You are the best thing that I have laid eyes on all day. But I need more than that.” Abandoning his drink on the ground, Arrow tossed the remainder of the joint down beside it. Capturing my face in his hands, he kissed me, deep and demanding. A demand I always wanted to obey.

  He backed me up against the side of our bus. His mouth was on mine, then my jaw and neck. The warm night air was humid but neither too hot nor too cold. Nice night for the start of summer. It was beginning to get a whole lot hotter. Arrow had a way of doing that to me. Just one look. A touch had me downright melting.

  Somewhere inside me the person I’d been back when we first met raged at me for having the audacity, not to mention the stupidity, to let Arrow in. Only a fool would let an enemy get so close.

  But I couldn’t get enough of him.

  My hands tangled in his sexy mess of black hair. He didn’t waste any time. Hands on my hips, his fingers clawed at my thigh as he tugged my skirt up.

  “Good clothing choice. I see you came prepared.” A sexy chuckle next to my ear sent a tickle down my spine. Taking a condom from his back pocket, Arrow grinned. “So did I.”

  “Seriously?” My surprised laugh was loud, and Arrow clapped a hand over my mouth. Against his palm I mumbled, “My, my, Mr. Lynch, you are quite the devil.”

  Lips pursed, his brow furrowed, and he shook his head as if I were so full of crap. “You’re not fooling anyone with the good girl act. We both know your dark streak runs far and wide. That’s why we work. Besides, you are far more daring than I am at this game, and you know it.”

  A guilty expression stole over my face. I felt it take form and lost the struggle to suppress it. Since Arrow and I started sleeping together we’d gotten a little carrie
d away with trying to outdo ourselves. Stealing private moments for a hot quickie at a time or in a location that was anything but private had quickly become a favorite activity.

  The mere thought of the places we’d done it brought a blush to my face. Nobody had ever made me feel so alive and free, with either them or myself. Arrow brought something wild to life within me every time we were together. Although I most certainly enjoyed and looked forward to our private and lengthy sessions, the rush of what we were doing made me crazy with a need only Arrow could satisfy. My inner bad girl came alive in his arms.

  “No need to go making crazy claims. Just hurry up and do me before somebody comes.” With a playful wink, I pulled him in for another kiss, giggling against his lips as he fumbled with the condom.

  We’d gotten so good at this that it took mere seconds for him to be ready and lift me so I could wrap my legs around his waist. Arrow simply tugged my panties aside and nudged his way inside me. Bracing me against the side of the bus, Arrow held me with both hands under my ass. Pressing his mouth to my shoulder, he bit gently.

  With my arms around his neck, I held tight as he thrust quickly, giving me little time to warm up. Not that I needed it. The sound of voices and laughter from a short distance away gave me that edge of fear that also turned me on. I hadn’t realized how intoxicating adrenaline could be until we did it in the corner booth of a crowded bar in an attempt to outdo Sam and Jett who’d made a ridiculous attempt to play our game of challenge. They’d done it in the men’s restroom.

  But never had I experienced a rush of adrenaline like the one that punched me in the throat when Rowen walked past the front of the bus. We were near the back of the bus, hidden in the shadows, but if anyone looked directly toward us, they would certainly see our silhouette moving in an obvious manner.

  I sucked in a breath and held it. The way I suddenly gripped Arrow with fingers tensed in warning caused him to follow my gaze. Rowen and Storm stood near the front of the bus talking. They hadn’t seen us yet.

  Because Arrow really was the badass between the two of us, he didn’t even consider stopping. It only encouraged him. But I didn’t want to stop either. I bit down on my bottom lip to stifle a small moan. Storm’s back was turned which put Rowen almost directly facing us.

  “I’m not stopping until you come.” So softly spoken were Arrow’s words next to my ear. A breathy whisper at best. That alone was almost enough to make me climax then and there.

  Then it happened. Rowen caught sight of movement in the shadows. His amber gaze narrowed in on us. I wasn’t sure if he knew who it was he looked at. But with my ex lover’s eyes upon us, I gave Arrow what he wanted. I couldn’t have denied the pleasure if I’d tried. A small whimper of a moan broke from me, and Arrow muffled it with a kiss. It was too late. If Rowen hadn’t known who it was before, he did now.

  He turned quickly, jerking his thumb in the opposite direction. I heard him mutter something to Storm about going for a little walk to take a break from the party. I waited for them to be out of earshot and then groaned. “That was not supposed to happen.”

  “First time we get caught. Go figure. It would have to be him. That’s part of the danger, Spike. That’s why we do this.” Arrow tied off the condom and tossed it under the bus. “But I’m not sorry. I can’t be.” His arms wrapped around me.

  Enjoying the warmth, I sank into his embrace. I wanted to climb into bed and wrap him around me like a blanket. “I know.”

  Rowen and Arrow had their issues. Most of them had nothing to do with me, thankfully. But I feared that I would always be a wedge between them despite their claims that I wasn’t. In their own way neither of them wanted to lose me. So they were willing to live with the discomfort of knowing that they were both in love with the same woman and that I loved them both too, albeit in very different ways.

  I couldn’t help but feel like one of us should go after him, but I knew that wasn’t the appropriate response. That was my guilt talking. A guilt I shouldn’t have. So we retreated to the bus where we grabbed the blankets from our bunks and took over the back lounge for the rest of the night.

  Only when I finally heard Rowen’s voice on the bus well after two in the morning did I release some of the tension I’d been holding. Where had he gone for so long?

  As I lay curled up in Arrow’s arms, listening to the sounds of the near dead party beyond the window, I found myself longing for some of the comforts of home. My own bed. The smell of fresh bread and baked goods from the oven. Hell, I even kind of missed Koda already.

  Aside from Cinder the most important people were here with me. Snuggling in tighter against Arrow, I ran a restless foot up and down his bare leg. He responded by kissing my shoulder and softly stroking my hair, knowing it always lulled me to sleep.

  Suffice it to say, the morning came way too early when the stillness was shattered by the alarming sound of a woman’s screams.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  BY THE TIME WE ALL managed to struggle out of the bus to see what was going on, a small crowd had gathered. Sirens could be heard in the distance. As we drew closer it became clear that everyone was gathered around a body on the ground.

  Between the last two buses in line, a man lay sprawled. One of those buses belonged to the vampire. Would he really be so obvious?

  Arrow and I broke through the small crowd with Jett right behind us. The man’s head was turned at a strange angle, his face down but slightly to the side. I didn’t recognize him from last night, but there had been a lot of people present. His skin pulled tight across his bones. It was extremely gray with a slight blue tinge. His hair was a gray as drab as his face. Despite the lack of physical marks that I could see, he appeared to have been drained dry. Signs were pointing at Atticus, but I didn’t expect anyone here to have a clue.

  It wasn’t the body that drew me to a sudden stop but the sight of Rowen comforting Storm who looked absolutely stricken. A hand fluttered over her mouth, and she clutched her silky black robe as if it might fall off at any moment. I guess we knew who’d screamed bloody murder at the crack of dawn. What was she doing up so early anyway?

  Jordan broke through the pack of road crew and musicians, barking at everyone to stand back and let the authorities through. In no time an ambulance and a police cruiser had arrived. There was a lot of muttering about drug overdoses and people who can’t handle their partying. Nobody seemed to know the victim, indicating he was one of many festivalgoers who’d found his way here last night.

  I exchanged a look with Jett, raising a brow in silent wonder. That wolf nose could pick up a lot. She shrugged and shook her head of tousled purple hair.

  The police made everybody return to their buses. We would all be questioned in turn. All we could do was wait. By the time they made it to our bus, the twelve of us were a grumpy bunch bickering over coffee and the bathroom. After we all gave the same statement that we’d been asleep and had awoken to Storm’s screams, the police left, and our bus was free to leave the city.

  Every bus rolled out quickly after that. Jordan told us that they suspected an overdose, but of course only a coroner’s report would confirm or deny that. I still had my suspicions about the vampire. I planned to make sure we met face to face tonight after the show.

  The three-hour bus ride was tense. Rowen did everything he could to avoid any direct interaction with me. His exchanges with Arrow were brief and clipped. During yet another videogame session, Paul and the guys in his band started ripping on Rowen about Storm, asking him how she was in bed, assuming they’d hooked up. Rowen never had been one to brag or over share. He’d been a gentleman.

  Still it burned my ears to hear him say, “I never tell. Unlike the rest of you jokers who see women as a conquest to be waved about when you score a victory.”

  Paul burst into uproarious laughter. “You’ve gotta be kidding me, dude. Is this good guy act for real, Spike? It seems like a great way to get a lot of tail if you ask me.”

  I scowled at the
sandwich I’d put together on the tiny kitchen counter. “Seriously, Paul? Don’t talk to me if you’re going to be a dirtbag. This tour will go a lot smoother for both of us.”

  “Damn, you’re pretty touchy for a chick who’s making her way through the band. Don’t be so quick to judge me.” With a snicker Paul pulled a pill bottle from the pocket of his hoodie. He popped the top off and tossed a small white pill into his mouth before offering the bottle to those of us gathered in the front lounge. “Just a little something to make the ride more enjoyable. Anyone?”

  When nobody accepted, he put the pill bottle back in his pocket. I glanced at Arrow who sat stiffly at the table across from Jett. My paramour’s intense hazel gaze fixed on the loudmouth jerk, both hands squeezed into tight fists.

  “One more remark about Spike’s personal life, and no amount of drugs will make the rest of this tour smooth for you. In fact, I promise it will be incredibly painful from here on out.” Arrow’s threat was spoken with utter calm.

  He waited for Paul to decide if he felt like getting his face punched in this morning. Jett rolled her eyes and muttered something beneath her breath about laying the smackdown on both of them. Paul opted to mind his own business for the rest of the ride rather than ruin his impending high.

  By the time we reached the venue, we were all ready to get off the bus and away from each other. This was only day two.

  Like the previous day, we were immediately busy the moment we stepped off the bus. News traveled fast in the Internet Age. Several interviewers asked us about the afterparty overdose, but we pushed the topic back to the show and our current album release.

  After we played to a crowd even bigger and more enthusiastic than the last city, we exited the stage pumped on adrenaline. The number of people lined up to meet us afterward had grown as well. The four of us girls exchanged excited squeals, plunged back into the temporary bliss of feeling like a rock star.