by Thia Finn
He nibbled at the bottom lip lightly sucking it into his mouth. His tongue slid down the inside of her bottom lip and slide across the soft skin just inside before making his way to tangle with her tongue. He deepened the kiss pulling her into him until her breasts were pressed hard against his chest and her soft stomach meshed against his solid abs. He could feel her nipples pebble, it somehow felt different, the sensation new to him. Something he knew he wanted to explore.
When he finally broke their connection, he rested his forehead against hers, both trying to calm their labored breathing for several minutes. Before the rush they were both feeling could subside, he turned them around the corner away from the doorway where they were still standing. He didn’t want to share these first, private moments with anyone else.
The kiss was more than the one he gave her before the show. This kiss was the beginning of something new. Something he wanted to take his time with, get lost in. Their attraction to each other was obvious to him now. He didn’t know how he knew it, but he did. He could feel it and prayed she did, too.
Pushing her up against the wall in the darkened nook, he latched onto her hips pulling her forward, knowing she was going to feel how hard he was but he didn’t care. He wanted her to know what she did to him. He slid his large hands over her perfect ass and grabbed the backside of her thighs. He easily picked her up and wrapped her legs around his waist so he could get closer to where he wanted to be. It all happened so fast. She didn’t have time to protest before he took her mouth in another kiss that scorched her lips and sent flames down through her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on for her life.
Pulling back, he looked at her glazed-over eyes. “God, Peri, you have to know I want to continue this but not here. As much as I want to, I would never treat you that way in public. I know the last thing you want is for the paparazzi to get a shot of anyone in the band like this. I bet the headlines are already running through that always thinking ahead brain of yours. I would never want to cause you to be displayed in an embarrassing situation, and I am not into sharing my private life.” He felt like she understood as she nodded her head.
He slowly let her slide down his body before he took her hand. Ryan snuck a glance to see what was taking place at the door to the meet-and-greet room and finding it still closed, he quickly pulled her down the hallway to the dressing rooms praying they were not all occupied. When he threw the door open to AD’s, he was not in luck. He found a naked Carter sandwiched between two mostly naked women in the bright room. “Fuck, Carter! Lock the damn door!” Ryan yelled at him as he slammed it closed.
In the next room where Chandler dressed, he peaked inside not wanting to witness more of the same as the last one. The lights were off, and it was apparently unoccupied since no sounds came out of the dark. “Thank fuck!” Pulling Peri in, he shut and locked the door behind them. “We don’t want anyone pulling that shit on us.”
With her back to the door, he picked her up again so they could resume where they left off in the hallway. His kiss pushed her head up against the door while he plundered her mouth. When she sucked his warm tongue in and slid hers along the underside, it was like a dueling war of lust was battled. Before he could do anymore, she was pulling at the back of his t-shirt trying to get it over his head, and finally broke the kiss long enough to help her.
Peri allowed herself a brief moment to consider what was happening between the two. She hadn’t been with a man for months now, and she craved his touch to her skin. An overwhelming desire of need raced through her with each caress, each kiss he lavished on her. The few touches they had shared before played through her mind. The hand holding, the stolen kisses, even the accidental night of waking to find him caressing her breast with a warm hand crossed her mind. She was ready for this and wanted him now with more passion than she had wanted anyone in what seemed like forever.
She drew her fingertips down his pecs, which were every bit as smooth and firm as she imagined his taut muscles to be every time she viewed him shirtless on stage. Now was her first opportunity to experience it for herself, and his warm skin did not disappoint as she gripped his flesh with greedy fingertips.
Ryan couldn’t stand keeping his hands off her any longer and remedied it by pulling open the buttons on her tight red sweater. The illumination from the private bathroom on the other side of the dressing room provided enough light to see lingerie that could only be meant to drive a man wild. The lacy, red demi bra was something to behold with her ivory skin spilling out of the top. He breast tops were fair, and he knew they had never seen the light of day. What caught his attention was the tattooed vine of beautiful pink flowers draped across the area; they only enhanced what was already a thing of beauty. He was in heaven.
Her lover kissed across the top of each one; his tongue dipped down inside the lace, where a nipple, just barely covered by red material, was waiting to pop free to his eager mouth. When his tongue hit something metal, he couldn’t get his hands around her quickly enough to pop the hooks holding the silky, soft flesh back from him. The bra slid down and immediately he was mesmerized by what he saw: pink nipples, almost the same dusty pink color as her flowers on the vines, pebbled and stood at attention for him, with a tiny silver loop dangling from each.
“Son-of-a-bitch. That is so fucking hot, Peri. I never dreamed you would look so amazing. And believe me, I have dreamed about you over that last few days.” He took the first nipple in his mouth, flicking the ring with his tongue, setting off a moan from her, long and low from deep in her throat. Realizing how he was affecting her, he moved to her other breast and took the pert nub in his warm mouth, his tongue like a magnet, drawn to the metal in her skin.
Bang, Bang, Bang.
“What the hell?” Ryan barely registered the loud noise coming from the other side of the door.
“Who’s in my dressing room? I need in there now, please.” Chandler yelled through the locked door.
“Holy fuck. Why now?” Ryan grumbled. “Be quiet; maybe she’ll go away.”
“If you don’t open this door, I will kick in the fucker,” added KeeMac.
“Damn it all to hell. I guess I better answer them.” He lowered Peri to her feet so she could immediately start straightening her clothes.
“Hold on a minute,” Ryan yelled back while putting on his shirt, but he couldn’t tuck it in if he planned to keep his strained erection, now digging into his zipper, hidden from the two outside.
Ryan pulled the door open with a little more force than necessary to find KeeMac leaned against the frame with a smirk on his lips. “So Ryan, whatcha’ doin’ in there all alone? Couldn’t round-up any qualified groupie pussy to help you out? You know, if you wanted to do a little cross-dressing in Chandler’s things, all you had to do is ask, right? She’s very sweet about sharing, and hey, whatever floats your boat, man, but please tell me you are not sporting her pink thong under those jeans?”
“Fuck off, KeeMac. What do you want?” He looked back to see Peri still hidden behind the half-opened door listening to the two and trying to correctly button her sweater.
“Well, this is Chandler’s dressing room, we’re ready to go to the fucking party so we need to grab our stuff left in here.” He tried pushing on the door, but Ryan held it firmly, to make sure Peri completed dressing before finally letting it open.
Peri standing behind the door didn’t seem to surprise either unwanted guest. Chandler was the first to break the silence that hung in the air. “Oh, hey, Peri. Thought you might be here when we saw it was Ryan. Please, don’t be embarrassed or anything. It’s just us. It’s all good.”
Ryan watched the rosy color spreading across Peri’s cheekbones. Chandler stepped through the door and hugged Peri, wanting to do anything to lessen the embarrassment for her friend.
Chandler continued, “This is better anyway. No one will even know the two of you were here alone when we all leave here together. Some of the press were asking for pictures of all of us
but couldn’t find you two.”
“Yeah, the buzzards are out there right now just waiting to catch anything that might be newsworthy,” KeeMac added with a grin on his face as he looked over the two almost-lovers.
Catching the panic in Peri’s eyes, Ryan said, “then it’s a damn good thing y’all decided to come in here, I guess. I suppose we need to leave with them. Peri. You ready to head to the party?”
“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” Peri looked at Chandler and mouthed a thank you as they stepped through the door and into the snaps and flashes of intrusive cameras and flurry of questions that were a persistent presence now. AD had experienced some levels of unwanted press attention before but nothing like now that they were with Steel.
Not wanting to draw any attention to themselves while in public, Ryan and Peri sat with the rest of the band at the after-party. The press could sniff indiscretions in a room like sharks could find blood in an ocean, so they took turns dancing with other people in their crowd. Ryan even danced with a few fans to hopefully divert any spotlight away from them, but each time her eyes found him in the crowd Peri felt his smoldering gaze from across the room.
Ryan leaned his back against the bar after his last dance, when KeeMac crowded in next to him. “So, Ryan, want to talk about what’s going on in that department?” He nodded back to where Peri and Chandler were now sitting at the round booth.
“Not really.” Ryan never wanted to take his eyes off of her in a place like this.
“Dude, she a beauty. I can totally see you with her.” Leaning in he ordered shots for them.
“Hey, thanks for that. I damn sure want her, and she seems like she’s into me but with all this Krissy shit, I can see where Peri might want to back the fuck off until we see what the hell’s going on back home.”
“Have you heard any more from Hayden?”
“No, I figure if something’s up he’ll give me a call again.”
“Shit man, you need to stay on top of that situation with Krissy. She can run fucking circles around the kid, and he wouldn’t know what hit him.”
The two clicked the shots together and tipped them back before Ryan turned and ordered two more. “I know, but honestly, I don’t want to deal with her bullshit any more than I have to.”
“I can see that, but you damn sure better stay in contact with him. Never know what that crazy ex is likely to do next.” KeeMac picked up his second shot as Ryan did and clinked glasses in a toast. “To the women who love us and the men who want to be us.” They both laughed and tossed back their shot. It was a toast they had been saying for several years.
Sometimes, it applied better than others.
“Awww, fuck. Back on this damn bus, here we go again.” Ryan grumbled to the group behind him as he climbed the steps.
Walking to the bus and bursting out in song in his slightly off-key way, Carter did his best Whitesnake imitation:
“Here I go again on my own; I’ve been down on the road I’ve ever known…”
“Dude, it is way too early for your off-key singing. Shut the fuck up, please!” KeeMac took a huge gulp of coffee from the hotel to-go cup. “It’s too damn early to be awake, period.”
“Especially when we’ve yet to go to sleep.” Carter turned and smirked at Gunner. The two had returned to the hotel just in time to catch the bus.
“Speak for yourself, asshat. I can sleep and fuck at the same time.” Gunner turned to fist bump Carter. When the Carter/Gunner entourage had stepped out of the cab at the doors of the bus, the lucky women stepped out, too. Long legs and an abundance of tanned skin was apparently the flavor-of-the-day. Carter turned back and gave the brunette French beauty one last hard kiss and headed for the bus leaving her at the car door.
“appelez-moi la prochaine fois que vous etes a Paris.”
“Sure babe, whatever you said,” he mumbled to himself.
Chandler chimed in. “She said to call her whenever you’re back in Paris.” Turning to KeeMac, “And they wonder why the French don’t like us.”
The girl holding Gunner’s hand as he pulled her toward the bus door was a beautiful petite twenty-something. The two stood next to the door with everyone waiting and watching, so he turned and pulled her down the side of the bus for some privacy.
“You know, I probably won’t be back this direction for a long time, right?” He pulled her between his legs getting her closer as he leaned back on the bus.
“Oui. I know.” Her French accent was thick, but she spoke English he could understand.
“It was a great night, ma chêrie. I wish we had a little more time together.” He pulled her forward, so her head rested on his chest with his chin on her head.
“Me, as well.” She looked up at him and sighed but gave him a smile that nearly broke his heart, a feeling he wasn’t used to when leaving women behind. “You have my cell number here. Call me when you have time to talk, please?”
He knew he had to let her go, but everything in him ached at the thought. “I promise, I will make time to speak to you.” He kissed her cute nose, and then on both cheeks and finally, on her pouty, kissable lips. She responded with a quiet moan into his mouth.
She walked back to the cab when he let her go and waved good-bye as Gunner stood watching her until the cab pulled away. Once she was gone, he moved to climb on the bus. He was last to board, and the rest of AD stared at him as he silently made his way back to his top bunk, climbed in, dropped his Chucks to the floor and slid the curtain closed. The rest of the group was still staring in his direction.
They each looked at one another and then broke into laughter. “What the fuck, dude? Don’t we get the usual play-by-play of the night?” shouted Carter after his partner-in-crime, a smirk on his face.
The group received the universal one-finger salute from under the bottom edge of the curtain, causing the group to laugh even harder.
The late night was still calling the tired musicians, so most of them slept the long six hours on the bus to Amsterdam. Peri stayed busy on her computer and phone, advancing the calls to confirm details for their arrival at the next two stops. As keyed up as she was, sleep was not an option. She knew everyone wanted to spend some time experiencing each stop, but they only had one night in Amsterdam and then on to Frankfurt for a show there the next night. This stretch of the tour there would be a show every night for the next seven nights, and it would be the longest run they would have. Then they would return to the U.S. She would be ready for some down time back in Texas. Even though the bad had this schedule, she doubted any of them had paid that much attention to the schedule, except maybe Chandler.
Finally, she closed her laptop and let her burning eyes follow suit, only to spend the next few hours tossing and turning. Once they entered the party, she and Ryan never had to chance to pick up where they left off in the dressing room. Again, he left her disappointed that nothing came of their alone time. This pattern of starting something, being interrupted and left hanging was torture, but she couldn’t decide if he was doing it on purpose to toy with her and feed his ego, or if it was just dumb luck. But when she thought about it, the club wasn’t exactly filled with secluded corners that would have afforded them any privacy to continue their interlude. On the bus with an entire band of curious onlookers constantly within earshot wasn’t the place for them to get any closer either.
She’d always been a planner and usually made mental lists that kept her sane, so she considered making a pros and cons list about getting closer to Ryan. She seemed to be having trouble thinking clearly about him. She did know there were sizzling sparks between them that she wanted - no needed - to pursue. He professed to want her, too. She felt the instantaneous desire when he wrapped her legs around him and pressed her against the wall, but once again, he didn’t follow through. Why hadn’t he made a move? Was he a tease? Why was he holding back? If this kind of thing keeps up, I’ll be forced to take matters into my own hands and buy a foreign BOB to make it through the trip. After tossing
and turning in frustration, sleep finally came, though it proved to be fitful.
At the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam, AD left the bus thrilled to be there. The schedule called for sound check at one and the performance at nine, which meant they had time to look around and have dinner. The huge dome looked like all of the other venues’ parking lots, so the group wasn’t impressed with their current view of the city.
“Don’t judge the city by the parking lot guys. The beautiful city of Amsterdam is all around us. Take cabs to any points of interest you want to visit,” Peri informed them.
“Does that include the red light district?” Carter asked. He looked at Gunner and tipped his head. “I hear it’s the best in the world to tour.”
“I’m sure you and Gunner can verify that shit for the rest of us,” KeeMac added, watching Gunner when the drummer didn’t immediately jump on the subject. Gunner never mentioned the scene they had all witnessed outside the bus in Paris that morning. He kept mostly to himself through the day’s journey, so no one knew what happened between him and the French doll who came back with him.
“Uh, sure, Carter. Let’s catch a cab as soon when sound check is over in the stadium so we’ll be back in time for the fucking show.” Gunner’s response seemed off to anyone that knew him and was paying attention to the conversation. His agreement with the plan was a little hesitant, or somehow lacking the normal energy and enthusiasm he usually had for such excursions.
“Hell, yeah.” Carter fist bumped Gunner as they all walked through the back doors into the huge stadium. They acclimated quickly to playing in large venues with the bigger crowds.
As the Assured Distraction crew and bandmates made their way into the arena to look it over, they could hear Steel just wrapping up their rehearsal and sound check. The rock veterans had the luxury of flying in their label’s private jet to nearly every tour stop, so they had more leisure time between shows and stayed in luxury accommodations in some of the most beautiful and historic cities in all of Europe. It made the younger musicians green with envy to have that kind of time to see the sights, but knew they would get to experience that sort of lifestyle in the years to come.