Jimmy was the last one to arrive, but he got right behind the drums and played a few new beats. When Angel called him last night, Jimmy wouldn’t hang up until he heard the song. Jessi held the phone while Tommy played the guitar and Angel sang.
“I’m on it,” was the only thing Jimmy said, and Angel knew that he didn’t go back to sleep. He knew that Jimmy started banging on the drums at 4:00 a.m. to get a jumpstart on the song and conserve studio time. That’s what Angel loved about Jimmy. He was serious about music. When they weren’t playing, he was tossing back a bottle of Jack Daniels with a girl on his knee, but studio time was for practice and the stage was where he made music. All fun and games came afterwards.
Damien was more of a good-natured goof off, but he always brought his A-game and he bled punk rock.
Six hours later, Without You was their new track. Tommy was exhausted, but he was running on an adrenaline high. Everyone believed the song would be an instant hit, and they credited him with its future success.
Angel popped a bottle of champagne and overfilled four glasses. They toasted the future success of the song and thanked Tommy for writing it.
Tommy drank his champagne and thought about the emotional tidal wave that inspired the song. “I couldn’t have done it without Angel.” He put down his glass, cupped Angel’s face in his hands and gave him a long, passionate, open-mouthed kiss. He felt the smile on Angel’s lips, happy that their love no longer needed to be obscured. For a second Damien and Jimmy’s eyes glared into Tommy from behind. He imagined their shocked faces and he stiffened. But Angel’s warm lips, accompanied by the flick of his fiery tongue, made Tommy’s hormones soar and he forgot anyone else was in the room. He held Angel in his arms and squeezed his body close, offering a series of long, lush kisses, until Damien’s gruff voice uttered a teasing, “Get a fuckin’ room, already.”
Angel laughed softly against his lips. “That was a nice surprise.”
“I got one more surprise for you, but you have to wait until we get home.”
Tommy put a small velvet box on the dining room table and pushed it toward Angel.
Angel tentatively picked it up, slowly opened the box and stared at its contents. His mouth twitched and his eyes glistened. “Mi amor, I don’t know what to say.”
Tommy took the plain silver band from the box and put it on Angel’s shaking left hand. Since the three of them couldn’t be legally married, this would have to do. “It’s my commitment to you. I want people to know where you stand, in my heart and in my life.”
“In our life,” Jessi held up her left hand. So did Tommy.
“Now we all have the same wedding band.”
Jessi placed the palm of her hand down in the center of the table first. Tommy put his hand on top of hers, so their rings touched. Tommy looked to Angel, but his eyes were barely visible behind the pool of water that hung on his lower lids. His hand trembled as he slowly added it to the pile, so their rings were in perfect alignment forming a trinity of pure love.
Later that night, as they lay down in bed, they recreated their pyramid of wedded hands. This time it was on Tommy’s chest. The silver of their rings clinked together like exquisite crystal, and Tommy drifted off to sleep with the hands of the two people he loved most in the world, pressed firmly against his beating heart.
Chapter Thirty
Jessi had a design for custom made guitar straps in her head for a long time. She gathered her tools on her work table and used a rotary cutter to follow the pattern she made. The supple leather cut easily under the wheel of the knife. Her stud setting machine was an expensive purchase, but she needed it, pressing studs by hand was too labor intensive. The hardest part was stenciling and spacing the lettering before setting the studs. Once that was done, the studs were easily applied with the machine.
She held the strap up and admired it. Immortal Angel was written on the back of the black leather guitar strap in a double row of bright chrome pyramid studs. She turned it over to check to make sure all the studs were secure, but one little pointed prong wasn’t flat and threatened to fall off. She tried pressing it closed but couldn’t find the proper tool. She tried hammering it, but the force of the mallet made everything on her work table bounce so she moved to the floor. That one little prong was defiant against the blow of the mallet, but she was determined to secure it. She drew her hand back to strike it again, but Tommy pulled the mallet out of her hand.
“What the hell are you doing? The walls are shaking downstairs.”
He was fresh out of the shower. His hair was still damp and a few droplets of water fell onto his shoulder. His jeans were unbuttoned and hanging off his hips and his shirtless muscular chest was beaming down at her. It was a sight that took her breath away.
He was focused on the guitar strap that was splayed on the floor in front of her. “Did you make that for me?”
“Yeah.” She turned it over so he could see the name of the band in studs. “Do you like it? I’m going to make one for Damien too.”
He took it out of her hand and scrutinized the lettering. “This is gorgeous, hon. Every letter is perfectly aligned. The studs are brilliant. They look like rhinestones. Thank you.”
She never thought of setting rhinestones. Too bad Angel didn’t play guitar. He would have loved a rhinestone embellished guitar strap.
“Angel!” Tommy called toward the open doorway. “Come up here! Look what Jessi made!” Tommy turned the strap over in his hand several times. “How long did it take you to make this?”
“Not that long. I want to hand tool a pair of angel wings around the band’s name, but that’s going to take a while.” She draped it over his shoulder and chest. “Feel how soft the leather is against your bare skin.”
Tommy rubbed the strap between his fingers. “This is high quality.”
“It was hard finding the right grade of leather. If it was too soft, the leather would pucker or wrinkle when the machine pressed the stud into it. I think this one worked best. It’s more supple and won’t dig into your shoulder by the end of the night, but still rigid enough to handle the metal and support the weight of a guitar.”
There was something on Tommy’s chest, concealed under his hair. He kept pulling his hair forward to hide it. It looked like a bruise. She moved the strands of his hair out of the way and studied the purple mark. She squinted and looked closer at it. “Is that a bite mark?”
Angel strolled into the room before Tommy had a chance to answer.
“What did you make, sweetheart?”
“Did you do this? Did you make this mark on Tommy’s chest? Did you bite him?” The skin wasn’t broken and it was relatively small, but it was a nasty bruise and she was angered by it.
Angel and Tommy exchanged a nervous glance, before Angel shrugged with an innocent smile. “I guess I got a little carried away.”
“It’s not funny, Angel. That looks painful. Why did you do that?”
Angel scooped her into his arms and sunk his teeth into her neck. Her legs turned to jelly and she let out a long sigh as he shook her flesh between his teeth.
“Do you like that, sweetheart? Doesn’t that feel good?” He gave her another harsh nip.
She was so overwhelmed that she couldn’t speak. His demonstration left her breathless. First Tommy showing up half naked, then Angel aggressively nibbling her neck – she was a lucky girl. It was a wonder she was able to get any work done around those two.
“Now, can I see what you made, sweetheart?”
It took her a second to remember about the guitar strap. Tommy handed it to Angel, and another unspoken exchange passed between them.
Angel inspected it carefully. He turned it over several times in his hand and put it to his chest. A proud smile adorned his face as he stared at the name of the band brandished across the back of the strap. “Jessi, you’re a genius. This is perfect. And it’s so soft. This could be very lucrative. I bet both me and Tommy know a lot of guitar players who would buy these and wa
nt them personalized.”
“I thought about that. I’m going to display a few at the merch table at our next show. A lot of your fans are also musicians.”
“There’s only one thing you need to do.” Angel turned the strap over in his hand and tapped it with his finger. “You need to emboss your name into the leather on the back.”
“My name? Why my name?”
“It’s your brand, Jessi. You’re a designer. Your name needs to be on it. Nothing fancy or cutesy, just Jessi Blade. Your name is your brand.”
He was adamant about name recognition and she wondered why he never chose his own name for the name of the band. “So why didn’t you name the band The Angel Garcia Band instead of Immortal Angel?”
“My dad wanted something like that, but it’s boring and I wanted Damien’s name represented, too. Even though I had the idea for a punk rock band in my head for years, it didn't start to come together until I met him. For a long time it was only me and Damien and I wanted the name of the band to reflect the both of us.”
Jessi let out a small chuckle. “So, Damien's immortal?”
“Sometimes I think he is. I swear the man has nine lives. Immortal was the exact opposite of everything he suggested. Everything he wanted to use referred to death. He had a very morbid and dark perception of himself back then. I suggested something that meant life. Immortal. We toyed with the idea of Angels & Demons for a while, but I knew it would eventually be reduced to an acronym. A&D. I didn’t want my band to be synonymous with an antibiotic ointment, so we settled on Immortal Angel.”
Laughter rolled out of her mouth and she held her belly. He was completely serious and had no idea how comical he was at times. It was very endearing.
He handed her back the guitar strap. “Get back to work and stop teasing me, you scamp.”
He turned to leave but she caught his arm. “Where do you think you’re going? Don’t think you’re gonna come into my work room, entice me with your love bites and then just leave.” She pulled Tommy close to her by the top of his open jeans. She ran her hand up his chest and over the curve of his shoulder. “Same goes for you, coming in here looking like an Abercrombie & Fitch model.” She lowered her lids halfway and gave them each a vexing smile. “A girl can only take so much.”
Angel watched Tommy kiss Jessi and run his hand over her naked breast. He was never interested in heterosexual behavior, but there was something about watching Tommy and Jessi together that turned him on. Maybe it was the way Tommy made her shiver and moan. He brought her intense pleasure, and she never showed restraint in letting everyone know, including the neighbors who undoubtedly got more than an earful.
Before Angel met Jessi, he had never seen a naked woman up close, without the filter of a television or movie screen. He was equally disturbed and curious at the same time. Jessi was shaved clean – waxed, more likely. She was as smooth as a hardwood floor. There was no camouflaging her girly parts. It was confusing. The soft pink rosebud at the top was interesting, but the ugly sagging skin underneath it was ghastly, and it reminding him of the nape of an old woman’s neck. He tried not to look, but sometimes curiosity won over. He’ll never forget the first time he saw her vagina. She was on her knees with her butt in the air and Tommy was going in for a rim job, or eat her from behind – he really had no idea what Tommy did down there. As soon as Jessi got to her knees, folds of wrinkled skin opened and revealed a bright pink orifice. It was glistening and dripping with wetness. It was narrow and looked a bit intriguing, but the rest of it was frightening and he quickly looked away. Eventually he got used to it. In fact, he could look straight at it now without grimacing.
Jessi was a beautiful woman with an attractive body and he stared at her shape with curiosity. He reached out and touched her waist, then slid his hand over the curve of her hip and let it travel over her abdomen. She was slim, and her stomach was flat and tight. She stopped kissing Tommy and looked down at Angel’s hand on her belly.
He quickly retracted his hand. “I’m sorry. I just wondered what your body felt like.” Her nipples stared at him like two small torpedoes. He scratched the back of his head and bit his lower lip. “Is it OK if I touch them?”
“My boobs?”
“I never touched a woman’s breasts before.”
She sat up on the bed in a lotus position and gestured to her open crotch. “Is there anything else you want to touch?”
“No, thank you.” She was a minx. He shielded his eyes with his hand and looked away. He hated that her thing always stared him in the face, but he really didn’t have much choice. Her bare cooch let her shit hang out for the whole world to see, even when her legs were closed. Originally, he expected to see light brown hair down there, which would have contrasted sharply with the deep pink hair that dusted her shoulders, so shaved clean was probably best. No fashion faux pas for Jessi.
She put her shoulders back and put her breasts proudly on display. “Go ahead. They’re all yours.”
“Ah, excuse me.” Tommy strummed his fingers on his bicep. “Doesn’t anyone want to know how I feel about it?”
Angel held his breath. He should have asked Tommy first. After all, she was his wife, but everything was still new to him and he wasn’t really clear on all the rules. “I . . . I’m sorry. Is it OK?”
Tommy’s brooding stare and hands tucked firmly under his arms, displayed agitation. Angel was about to apologize again, but Tommy nodded. “Alright. Go ahead. Touch them. I won’t get mad.”
Angel was a little uncomfortable and nervous. He didn’t know how to touch them, and ended up poking one of Jessi’s breasts with his index finger.
“They don’t bite, A. If you want to touch them, touch them.” Tommy took Angel’s hand and cupped it under Jessi breast. He squeezed it a little. It was soft and spongy. He always wondered why straight men obsessed over breasts. They were nice, but they weren’t a big deal.
As Angel stared at Jessi’s naked body, he began to wonder about heterosexual sex. It was a curiosity that intrigued him. He imagined trying it out with Jessi, and he lowered his head and laughed quietly.
“What’s so funny?” Jessi asked.
“Nothing.” He waved his hand. “It’s . . . I just . . . nothing. Forget it.”
“If you have a question, you can ask me, Angel. There’s no reason for you to be shy. Look at us – we’re in bed, together, naked.”
“Well . . . I was just wondering what it was like to sleep with a woman.”
Tommy burst out laughing. “Are you asking me if you could fuck my wife?”
“No! I’m just curious, that’s all. I always wondered how much different it was from butt fucking. I don’t really want to try it.”
Jessi snuggled up against him and kissed his neck. “I would be honored to be your first.”
He shrank back. “Stop it. I didn’t . . . I wasn’t . . . ”
Tommy put his hand between Jessi’s legs. “She’s already soaked. And it’s warm.” He put his mouth to her pussy, only for a few seconds, but it caused Jessi to fall back on her elbows and moan.
Tommy pulled Angel in for a kiss, but as soon as Jessi’s scent on Tommy’s breath hit him, he turned his face away.
Tommy laughed. “Really, A?”
“Yes. Really.”
“I think you should do it,” Tommy said after a long pause.
“Do what?”
“I want you to fuck Jessi.”
Angel didn’t laugh or recoil this time. Maybe it was the authority in Tommy’s voice that awoke his curiosity, or his willingness to obey. “Are you sure? I don’t want you to be mad afterwards.”
“Didn’t I just tell you to fuck my wife? Why aren’t you doing it?” He smiled sadistically. “Do I need to punish you?”
“Oh, yes. Please do.”
Tommy pulled Angel onto his side and smacked him on the butt with his bare hand. It was a sharp sting that sent his erection sky high. “Maybe you should give me one more to make sure I learned my lesson?
”
Another stinging slap made the blood rush to Angel’s head. “I love it when you manhandle me and tell me what to do.”
“Then get to it.”
Jessi didn’t have time to think or react. She wanted to be with Angel before he changed his mind. She was dripping wet, just thinking about it. She turned Angel’s face toward her, and gave him a long, seductive kiss. She pulled him on top of her. He was hard, and she could feel him pressed against her leg. She wanted foreplay, but he was already trying to enter her. She reached down and grabbed his cock in the palm of her hand and stroked it, but he wasn’t interested. He took her hand away, pushed her down on the bed and entered her. She was open and receptive, but her body still strained to accommodate him.
She was afraid he would be rough, like he was with Tommy, but he was gentle. She knew he was worried that he was hurting her. Maybe because of the way she was grunting and moaning, but she was already on the verge of coming. She wrapped her legs around his back and hung onto his neck. “Harder,” she cried out. “Fuck me harder.”
He thrust himself into her with such force, that it made them both bounce off the bed. She came almost immediately, but he continued. She began to cry out with a mixture of pleasure and pain. Her insides shuddered and spasmed, but they also burned from friction. Just when she thought she couldn’t take it anymore, he collapsed on top of her with a loud grunt.
She rolled her head to the side and looked at Tommy. He had his wet dick in his hand. “I’d never thought I’d get off watching someone fuck you, but that was fuckin’ hot.”
Jessi still couldn’t move. Her inside was pulsating and raw. She was covered in sweat and struggled to catch her breath.
Tommy climbed on top of her and kissed her neck. “Now it’s my turn.”
“Already? Don’t you need to wait a few minutes?”
He shook his head and rotated his pelvis into her. She felt his erection, hard and sharp against her body. Most men wouldn’t be able to handle the strain of having two sexual partners on a regular basis, but not Tommy. The man never had an off switch.
The Prince of Punk Rock Page 17