by Thia Finn
“Blah, blah, blah, Peri. We hear the same thing each time. When do we get to be bad?” Carter laughed at his own question.
Gunner chimed in, “The things we do can’t compare to some of the stuff that’s already been online about Steel is a short list.”
“While that’s true, most of that is completely made-up, taken out of context, or happened two decades ago. You all know those guys and how they conduct themselves after a show.” Steel had been playing shows for so long and knew the exact types of pictures that would get them publicity and played perfectly to the paparazzi simply for the exposure.
“Let your performance speak for you, and not your dumbass shenanigans on the street, please.” Peri ended the meeting.
They all moved out to the wings ready to take the stage. Chandler and KeeMac could cause a scene all by themselves with their hot, mind-bending kisses they stole away from the group to enjoy in out of the way spots. They usually managed to keep it simple before the shows, like a good luck kiss to get them started. When they came off stage with such an adrenaline rush that only sex would quell, it was a different story. The others liked to give them hell over it, too.
Walking up behind Peri, Ryan put his hand on her shoulder and turned her toward him. He slid his hand behind her neck, under her hair then pulled her in and kissed her thoroughly. The rest of the group witnessed the spontaneous affection between their manager and lead guitarist as his tongue slide over her luscious red lips until she opened and invited him in. She tasted like spearmint, and he loved the strong flavor on her tongue. Peri finally relented to his hungry mouth and leaned into his hard chest, wrapping her arms around his waist. When he finally broke the kiss, she was breathless. Ryan pulled her head into him resting his chin on the top of her head while they both tried to catch their breath and come down from the rush he caused in them both.
The rest of the group stood staring at the pair. “What the holy fuck, Ryan?” Carter finally managed to stammer out as the others still openly, and silently, gawked at them.
Looking perfectly innocent in it all, Ryan turned back toward the stage. “Let’s go boys. I believe it’s time to make our magic.” He left an inflamed Peri and the rest of the band standing there trying to make sense of what just occurred until they eventually snapped out of their shock and made their entrance on stage, as well.
Peri was in shock by his brash maneuver. “What was that all about?” She couldn’t make up her mind if he was just trying to get a rise out of the rest of the band or out of her. Rise or not, all she could think about was how hot it was to have him hold her so close in such a demanding way, his hand on her neck so she couldn’t escape. With him boldly taking control that way and touching every sensitive and sensual point in her mouth, she was still trying to come to her senses when Steel’s manager, Ace, stepped up beside her.
“Peri? Peri?” When he didn’t get an answer from her, he stepped around her, blocking her view of the band. “What’s going on Peri? Are you alright? Did something happen?” Ace was looking her in the eyes.
“Uh, no. No. It’s all okay. I was… thinking.” The red started creeping up her neck and worked its way over her face. She was thinking about how the kiss scorched her lips and the sense of loss when it ended, but it wasn’t something she was about to discuss with him.
“Yeah, well, you’re usually so busy while they are performing that you rarely stick around to watch them.” She was glad Ace didn’t know what had happened but the way he was looking at her, she knew he could tell something had certainly left her flustered.
“Oh, right. I need to go. I have a million things to do right now and no time to waste enjoying their set.” She whirled around and down the stairs out of sight, leaving Ace to shake his head in her wake.
“Never know what’s rattling around in that brain of hers,” he told one of the techs. He chuckled to himself and walked off.
AD played a great set, rousing the crowd to a level of excitement that made Steel take notice. It was Ryan’s best show so far. The riffs he led with at the opening of the songs he started were spot on and drove the crowd mad. In the middle of the set, Ryan and KeeMac standing face-to-face and let their guitars speak and answer each other, like dueling guitarists, the notes flying from their fingers with accelerating pace. It quickly became obvious to the rest of the band that the two were in a conjoined headspace. The bass, keyboard, and drums dropped back only to fill in as the spectacular duet unfolded, unrehearsed, in the presence of thousands of fans that could not turn away as their playing reached a fevered-pitch driving the crowd insane. These were the times everyone knew they would be the next band to make it to the top.
At the end of their set, they bolted offstage, their feet barely touching the ground. Ace stayed and watched their show, always impressed by AD’s well-polished performance. Ryder joined him mid-set to watch Chandler and was in awe. He had seen them play before, but tonight the music was at an entirely new level. The energy from the crowd was growing with every song. Ryder and Ace didn’t speak but the looks they exchanged spoke volumes about what they thought of AD’s skill.
Ryder couldn’t be prouder as he caught Chandler coming off stage. He swung her around praising them, and she was thrilled that he was there to witness it. Her relationship with her once-long-lost-birthfather was growing closer with each day they spent together on tour, as they spent time talking, traveling, and sometimes sightseeing together. He understood her innate drive to perform live music. The overwhelming need to play for the crowds was in her blood, something her adoptive parents could not have fully appreciated, but, at least, they recognized her passion, and supported her and steered her toward her talents.
Shaking KeeMac’s hand, he said, “I’m not sure Steel is going to want to follow that performance tonight. That was the fucking best AD has put out there. Keep that bad-ass shit up and AD will be headlining a tour for sure.”
“Thanks, Ryder. You don’t know how much that means to me coming from you.” Chandler still couldn’t bring herself to call him Dad, but Ryder didn’t care. He was simply happy to be spending time with her and getting to be part of her life now.
Ryan stopped Ace on his way offstage. “Where did Peri go? I thought she was standing here with you earlier.”
“Yeah, she said she had a million things to do before y’all left, but she seemed distracted. She was a little off, for Peri. Don’t know if anything happened before I got here though and she didn’t say.”
Ryan gave Ace a smirk and took off in search of her. He was far from finished with her. All he could think about were those beautiful lips, and that spearmint flavor the entire time he was playing. She stuck in his mind. He needed another taste if she was willing to pick-up where he’d left off.
He opened the door to their dressing room, finding Carter and Gunner talking to the groupies, like always. It never failed to surprise Ryan how they found so many beautiful women while on stage. He was always concentrating on the music, even when some pretty lingerie landed at his feet. He rarely noticed where it came from, but apparently those two were able to match the panties to their owners and lure the women backstage, too.
“Guys, have y’all seen Peri?” They both shook their heads.
Walking over to him with a beer in one hand and a blonde in the other, Carter asked him, “Yeah, dude, what was up with that hot as hell kiss you laid on her before we went on? Gunner and me thought she was off-limits or something since she’s management now?” Ryan could tell Carter was having a hard time getting the words out since the blonde was running her tongue up the side of his neck.
“Yeah, Ryan, what the fuck, man? Peri is one smoking hot piece I’d love to tap, but always thought she’s hung up on that prick boyfriend, and untouchable while on tour.” Gunner questioned him.
“She and the dickwad parted company when he decided to move back to LA a while before the tour. She wanted to stay in Austin and he didn’t. They split up. End of story.” Ryan didn’t want to get into
Peri’s private life with them but he also didn’t want them to think Peri would cheat on her former boyfriend.
“How come we didn’t know this info? I’d have been sliding into home by now if I’d known that.” Carter made a move with his hands like he was at home plate playing baseball.
“Have you actually taken the time to speak to her since we left?” When neither of them spoke up, he added, “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Y’all have been too busy chasing the next piece of ass to think about anything other than your own dicks.” He laughed at his good-natured chiding.
“Hell yeah, that!” Gunner high-fived Carter. “That’s how we roll.”
Scanning the room that was filling with people, it was obvious Peri wasn’t there. He opened up a bottle of water and downed it, feeling dehydrated from the lights and excitement on stage. Before he could finish another, Chandler, KeeMac, and Peri walked through the door laughing with another man he didn’t recognize. His thoughts were all over the place, wondering if she had picked up some toy of her own for the night. He prayed that wasn’t the case.
Ryan bumped fists a few fans as they filed through the door on his way over to the people he wanted to talk to. When the boy toy turned to Ryan, he saw it was one of the tech guys coming to join the party. His relief was obvious when his eyes rested on Peri’s as the man walked away.
“Peri, where you been? I was hoping you were going to stay to watch the show.”
“I saw the first part,” she replied, meeting his eyes with a surprised expression he didn’t understand.
Peri thought to herself, “If he only knew his hot kiss left her lips stinging and her stunned, rooted to the spot, unable to make her legs work to walk away from the beginning of the show.”
“O-kay...” He didn’t take his eyes off of her wondering what was going on behind the expression she wore.
Chandler grabbed KeeMac’s arm and started tugging him away subtly, giving them some privacy, when she realized there was more going on between them than they seemed ready to share.
“What the fuck, Chan? That shit was just starting to get good.” KeeMac was still looking over his shoulder.
“If they wanted to share that conversation with us, one of them would have acknowledged that we were standing there. And since it was clear to me that they had no intentions of doing that, I thought we should leave them alone to talk.”
“Yeah, but damn, that was a seriously hot kiss he laid on her. What the hell was that all about?”
“Leave it alone, Keeton. It’s none of our business.” Chandler continued to pull him away.
He pulled Chandler back into him and wrapped his arms around her from behind. “I know something we can make our business that doesn’t need sharing unless you want to try it with an audience?”
“That would be a big NO, Keeton. Now stop, we are in a room full of fans. Go spread some of that personality around.”
“That’s what you want me to do, Chan? Spread it around? I know something that would be a lot more fun to spread...” He waggled his eyebrows at her making her laugh out loud.
“Stop perving and mingle with the fans.”
He gave her a pouty face and grabbed a bottle of whiskey from the bar. “If you insist, I’ll hang out with my friend Jameson and introduce him to my adoring fans.”
Loudly, he added, “Anyone want to get to know my friend, Jameson, with me?” Chandler shook her head knowing it was going to be a long night and followed in behind him. Maybe she could keep some of the groupies away. She tried not to be the jealous girlfriend when it came to the fangirls but some of them would try anything anywhere, and this was the perfect location for them to get out of line. After witnessing all of the indecent behavior on their first tour, she felt like she needed to bleach her eyes following the after parties. After living on the bus with them, she felt like she had seen it all. These women seemed to have very few morals, or maybe it was a lack of self-respect, but then they complained about the men being womanizers every time they were not the ones chosen by the guys.
“I was hoping you would stay for the show, Peri,” Ryan repeated, his tone a little lower, the meaning behind his statement carrying something more charged. “I like knowing you’re there watching while we’re on stage.”
Peri was standing directly in front of him in the loud, crowded room. “I had a few advancing date things I needed to take care of, but I caught the first five songs. You guys sounded great.” She was looking directly into the sapphire eyes, struggling not to get swallowed up in their depths at the moment.
Putting his hand on her arm as if he was afraid she would run, he said, “You know, Peri, there are all sorts of strangers running around backstage and some of them might not even work with us. Never know who is going to slip past security. It’s not all that safe for you to be running around here alone.” The grip on her arm grew tighter as he spoke. Was his concern protective, or did he sound possessive? She couldn’t quite read his intensity.
“What? I’ve been doing this all along, Ryan.” She wasn’t sure how to feel about all the sudden direct attention from him, so used to being left to do what needed doing. All his abrupt wanting to take control tonight seemed like it was protective Ryan. “I’m a big girl, Ryan. I can take care of myself.”
“Yeah, I know that Peri, but damn it. We’re in a foreign country surrounded by people we don’t know, and you need to be careful running around while we are all on stage with no one keeping an eye out for you.” He wanted to add that she looked so beautiful and was bound to draw attention to herself, and he didn’t like it, but he thought better of it.
“Uh… Okay, Ryan. I’ll keep that in mind.” Her tone was part-placating, part-disbelief at his sudden surge of alpha-maleness. She didn’t understand where this conversation was coming from, but what she did want to know was what brought on that abrupt kiss before the show?
“So, did you make plans for the rest of the evening?”
Now he’s asking me out for the evening? What is up with him today? “Yes, we all have plans tonight, Ryan, remember? We are going to the club for the after-party since we are hitting the road again in the morning.”
“Oh yeah, that’s right. I completely forgot about that damn party. I was hoping the two of us could spend some quiet time together without all of the noise and people.”
“Is that right? Well, it will be quieter in the VIP part of the club. We can talk about anything you want to then.” She crossed her arms across her midsection.
“Hell, Peri, I am not doing a good job of saying what I mean to say.” He looked around the room watching the groupies and other people talking, drinking, and, in Gunner and Carter’s case, what amounted to foreplay. Grabbing her hand, he pulled her out the door to the hallway.
“Ryan, what the hell are you doing?” She was surprised, but went along as he continued pulling her, stumbling as she teetered her in high-heeled peep toes to keep up with his long strides.
He stopped and wrapped his arms around her middle pulling her up against him. “I want to talk to you, and I can’t concentrate with all of those people around. You look beautiful standing there, and it’s making my brain fuzzy.”
“Again, Ryan, what the hell are you doing? Are we going to have a replay of before the show when you set me on fire and left me stranded after that insane kiss? Some warning next time would be helpful so I can be prepared or so I can make sure someone’s there to help me out, by the way.”
“Help you out?” he asked a lot louder than he intended.
“Yes, damn it! You go all caveman on me out of nowhere with a kiss that leaves me weak-kneed and hot, and then just walk out on stage like it happens all the time. I didn’t know what to think or do. I needed someone to pick me up after I melted. You can’t just pull that shit and leave me standing there.”
He didn’t know what to say to her. He didn’t know where it all came from either. All he knew was that he felt like he had been drowning for months and finally found the surfa
ce of the water. The last few days with Peri felt like a sweet breath, bursts of fresh air to once-dying lungs. And he did need control. It was a side of himself that he had to subdue with Krissy, her personality so capricious that any time his dominance rose to the surface, she was quick to stamp it back down. But Peri was a different kind of woman, and he could no longer stifle the drive to lead and protect a woman. His desire for her was different than he’d ever felt with any other woman he’d knew. His need was more than desire; he needed to know she was safe and cared for. He realized that he wanted to be needed, too.
“First off, let me say this. You won’t need anyone else to ‘help you out’ of anything because when we start something, I will be the one taking care of your needs, baby. And second, after tasting those beautiful lips of yours tonight, I know where I would like to see this go. I just need to know we are on the same page.”
“I don’t know what to think about anything, Ryan.”
“Then don’t think, Peri. Just let this happen,” he whispered, slowly pulling her into him. He sprinkled warm kisses her below her ear, then trailed kisses down to her collar bone before making his way back up with his tongue and teeth. His destination was her earlobe, sucking it briefly into his mouth before licking and nipping at the outer shell until he reached the top, then over to her temple. He lightly skimmed his lips over her cheek, down to her jaw line licking softly, nipping a line to her heart-shaped lips. He tugged at the corners of both sides of that beautiful red before landing perfectly in the center of them.