Finding the Rhythm

by Leigh Louden

  From outside the door, I could hear Ethan’s voice. "They're just in the room down here?" he called.

  "Shit!" Ally gasped, jumping from my lap and grabbing the first aid box from behind me just as the door swung open and Ethan bounced in.

  "Jesus, man. Look at your face. Are you okay?" he asked, glancing from me to Allison and back to me again. I glanced at her too; she looked like a kid who had just had her hand caught in the cookie jar. She blushed and moved towards the door.

  "I'll just take their first aid kit back to the front desk," she announced as she moved past Ethan. He put his arm up to stop her.

  "Are you all right, Ally?" he asked.

  She looked up at him and nodded. "I'll be fine. I'm just pissed off with Devon."

  Ethan’s eyes scanned over her as if checking for injuries. Her t-shirt was still hanging low on her shoulder, my mark was visible, and I knew he hadn't missed it.

  "I think Smith is looking for you. He's being all concerned big brother too." He smiled at her, and Ally disappeared out the door and it closed behind her.

  Ethan stared. "Well?"

  "Well what?"

  "She has a fucking hickie. You're wearing skinny jeans, so I can see the massive stiffy you're sporting. Don't give me the 'what' bullshit!" He frowned. "You fucking promised, Vincent! What the hell happened to you keeping your hands to yourself and your cock in your pants?"

  I groaned. I was busted. I had kissed her, and I just couldn't control myself with her. "I'm sorry, mate. We had a pact, and I'm a dickhead because I didn't push her away when she kissed me."

  "She kissed you?" His eyes widened. "Yeah, like you had nothing to do with it!"

  I felt like a prize prick. I'd betrayed the promise I’d made to keep things strictly business between us all. Ethan’s hand slapped on my shoulder. "Vin, no offence, mate, but you're a walking cum machine, and I knew you would eventually cross that line."

  I shook my head. "It wasn’t me. She’s the one that kissed me, twice!" I instantly regretted my comment, knowing I had given myself away. Ethan’s expression darkened.

  "Twice? When the fuck was that?"

  "Remember when the douchebag was in her house and smacked her brother?"

  "Edinburgh? That was three fucking weeks ago, man!"

  I shrugged. "It happened. I felt like a wanker about that, but I don't regret kissing her.”

  "You’re a fucking idiot."

  "That's what I thought you’d say. What's the point in mentioning it knowing you’re going to chew my balls over it? It wasn't a mistake. I wanted to kiss her. Hell, I'd love to do a lot fucking more. But I can't, so I'm not going to, and there wasn't much point in discussing it with anyone, for her sake more than anything."

  Ethan understood. I could see that he did. Had I said anything, there would be an awkwardness around Ally that she just didn't need when things were starting to really settle with her and Dragon Zion. Ethan shrugged. He couldn't fault my logic.

  Ethan squeezed my shoulder. "Promise me it won’t happen again, and I'll say nothing if you don't. But I swear to fuck, if you don’t keep your cock under lock and key, I’m going to fucking chop it off for you," he warned, and I nodded my agreement. We wouldn't speak of it, and we wouldn't let it affect our relationship with Allison.

  Jesus fucking Christ. I had done it again. I kissed my bandmate. I was repeating the same mistake again. I had managed to avoid Smith and head straight to my room. I didn't feel like trying to explain what happened. I knew the guilt was written all over my face.

  I stood in the bathroom and looked at my flushed face staring back at me. "What the ever-loving fuck are you doing?" I asked my reflection. I felt like a hussy. I felt like a brazen whore, and I wasn't sure I liked it.

  I liked Vinny. I had felt something towards him, I had kissed him, and I had wanted to do much more. Now, here we were less than three weeks later, and I had the same thing happen with him again. I wanted him. I wanted his lips on mine. I felt his cock through his jeans long before he had me sitting on his lap. He wanted to protect me, just like he had in Edinburgh, and it made me feel treasured, wanted, and like a precious jewel that he coveted.

  I stripped off my clothes, turned on the shower, and stepped into the hot water. I thought it would heal me a little. I thought it would soothe me and make me feel better. Instead, it just increased the prickling through my skin. Every inch of me was on fire with need. Regardless of what I thought about myself for it, twice now, that incredible man had started something he hadn't finished. I was beyond horny and needed a release that felt like it would never come. I let my hands roam over my body. I caressed and kneaded my flesh before letting my fingers slip between my thighs and attempted to give myself at least some relief.

  When we all piled onto the tour bus to head for Rock City in Nottingham, I made sure to stay near the back, away from everyone else. I needed to hide; I had no idea how to handle the situation.

  Vinny glanced in my direction when he got on, and I pretended to be looking out the window. I didn't know what to say to him. I didn't know what I wanted anymore.

  Smith bounced onto the bus in his usual bright and breezy mood. I looked up at him and he glanced at me and at Vinny and then smirked. Oh, fuck. He knows. I could feel the heat starting to creep over my skin, feeling flushed. He looked at me with a knowing smile and headed directly for me. I guessed the next hour on the bus was going to be fun.

  I tried not to make eye contact with Smith when he sat down in front of me. I felt his eyes on me. He wasn't going to make any of this easy on me, and the longer I left it, the worse it got.

  I managed ten minutes of trying to ignore him before my face felt too much like it was on fire, and I gave in and looked at him.

  "You all right, Ally?" He grinned.

  "I'm... yeah, I'm-I'm good."

  "Vinny’s face looks good today. Anything that makes Vinny Richards look more like a human being is to be applauded. Whatever you did seems to have helped." He smiled again.

  “Cheeky fucker. I’m always gorgeous!” Vinny pouted from his side of the bus. Smith just smirked and glanced between us both. He said nothing more about it for the rest of the trip.

  Rehearsals had gone really well again, and we had all arrived back at the hotel for a bit of R&R before heading back to the venue for the gig. I was just walking down the hallway to my room when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me into the housekeeping closet.

  "Shhhh." The person, I quickly realised, was Vinny, whispering against my ear.

  "Vinny?"

  "Sorry, Allycat. I didn't mean to scare you. I just wanted to apologise for my behaviour yesterday."

  I blinked, taking in what he was saying. Was he apologising for kissing me? Or for sticking up for me? "I'm not sure what you think you need to apologise for," I replied, needing him to clarify.

  "Going all caveman and punching people around you." He scrunched his nose up in a grimace.

  "Oh, that. For a second there I thought you meant kissing me." I laughed without thinking about the words falling out of my mouth.

  Vinny’s hand held mine with a squeeze. "I don't regret that. I overstepped a line I really shouldn't have, but I don't regret it." My eyes focussed on his lips as he said the words. I felt a flush of heat through my pussy as I thought about what it felt like to have them on mine.

  "Stop looking at me like that, Allycat, or we will end up in trouble again."

  A thrill went through me, and I couldn't help but keep my eyes locked on his lips; his full, beautiful, kissable lips.

  "Fuck," he exclaimed, and his mouth captured mine, his hand at my jaw, pressing me back against the wall of the closet, his other hand grabbing me by the hip and pulling my body hard against his.

  Electricity sparked through every nerve in my body at his possession of my mouth. I hungrily returned his kiss, needing more, wanting more, willing him to take it further than I dared.

  I felt him, long and hard, pressed against my stomach, and the o
nly thought that existed in my head in that moment was just how much I wanted to have him inside me. I flexed my hips against him, rubbing against his cock, making sure he had no doubts about what I wanted.

  In that split-second, my mind let go of the reservations that I should have had about being with Vinny again. I moaned against his mouth, even more turned on, thinking of how it would feel to have Vinny naked against me.

  I panicked. I pushed Vinny back from me. "Stop," I begged breathlessly.

  "Shit, Ally. I'm sorry..."

  "Don't dare say sorry!" I replied quickly. "I just need you to stop because, if you don't, I'm going to end up fucking you in a cupboard, and that's not really the kinda girl I want to be."

  Vinny nodded, a slight smirk forming on his face. "You want to fuck me?" he asked boldly.

  My pussy clenched. "Yes." I blushed.

  "I can take that for now." He smiled at me.

  "I'm going to leave now though."

  He nodded. I moved past him, not taking my eyes off his, and headed out through the door of the closet.

  Fuck. I wanted him.

  Dammit, what the hell was wrong with me? I was getting on like a horny teenager, and worse still, I just couldn't seem to help myself around her. I had tried my best to keep my composure around her all day. I had stayed away from her. I had tried to make a little eye contact at least, just to make sure she was okay with me and it didn't seem like I was ignoring her. But she never looked at me once.

  When Smith got on the bus and started to talk to her, I couldn't help but think about him making her laugh, teasing and flirting with her, and it just got me even more worked up. I was jealous and it made me horny.

  By the time we got back to the hotel, I couldn't take it anymore, and I had to get her alone and talk to her. I needed to know that we were still okay. I craved her, and the thought of having ruined any friendship with her or making her uncomfortable was more than I could take.

  I didn't understand what it was about her that I was drawn to. I didn't know what it was about her that made me need to have her in my life. I had never felt like this about anyone before.

  When she looked at my lips in that cupboard, I just had to have her mouth. I needed to taste her lips. I couldn't stop myself.

  As much as I knew I needed to stop when she told me to, I hadn't wanted to. I needed to press against her. I needed to find my hands full of her arse. I needed to get her naked and find myself buried inside her.

  I waited in that cupboard for a few minutes after she left, mostly because my hard cock trapped in my jeans made it particularly difficult to walk in a straight line. When I finally made it out of there, Smith was leaning on the wall right outside.

  "Should I ask?"

  "Uhhhh..." I hesitated, feeling like a kid caught doing what they had been told not to.

  "Let's get a drink, and you can tell me what the fuck is going on with this band."

  I knew he wasn't asking; he was telling me. I tried to figure out what I was going to say on our way to the bar. Do I lie, or do I come clean? Fuck.

  It wasn't like I didn't know exactly what was happening with the band. I had seen it all. I could read the body language of the three people I spent most of my time with very well. I could feel the sexual tension in the air, and I knew something had to be going on.

  Part of me just liked fucking with Vinny a little; part of me really did want to know just how far this had all gone, and what risks it posed for the band and its future.

  Vinny looked uncharacteristically like a man being led to the electric chair. I walked along beside him to the bar in silence. I knew my friend. If I was quiet and let his own mind do all the work for me, he would tell me everything.

  We sat at the bar and I ordered us a Jack Daniels and Coke each, and again, I just waited.

  "So..." Vinny started. I glanced at my friend and raised an eyebrow, waiting for his next comment. "It's not Allison's fault."

  "What isn't?" I asked.

  "It was me."

  "You?" I said, keeping my tone even.

  "I've kissed her, and... I mean, well she's kissed me..." Vinny’s face flushed.

  Damn, bruv. You really like her.

  "Is this going to be some sort of fucking game to you? You know you can’t have her, so that just makes it all the more important to get the girl, and to hell with the band?"

  Vinny knocked back his drink in one. "That's not what this is. I mean, I don't... well, I do, I want her, but not over the future of the band."

  "And if she picks the band?" I asked.

  Vinny grimaced and beckoned to the barman for a refill on his drink.

  "You like her that much, huh?"

  He nodded.

  "From what I've seen, she likes you too."

  He nodded again.

  "You know I'm going to have to talk to her, and if we can't find a solution to this, I'm going to have to talk to Don. I don't want to be looking for another drummer again. Vinny, I can kinda understand. You’re a walking testicle. But isn’t it about time you grew the fuck up and stopped thinking with your cock?"

  He knocked back his fresh drink and stood from his bar stool. "I know. I'm sorry," he said, and walked towards the lift and his room.

  I lifted my phone and called Ethan. "Mate, I'm in the bar. Where the fuck are you?" I asked. Typical Ethan. He apologised and said that he'd be down in a few minutes. I hung up and waited for round two.

  "What the fuck is Vinny playing at with Ally?" I asked him when he sat down on the stool beside me and ordered a scotch.

  "Vinny’s after Ally?"

  Denial, huh? That’s the gameplay we’re going for?

  "You know only too well that Vinny has been attempting to get into her knickers," I stated.

  Ethan played with his glass, carefully considering his reply. "You had Vinny down here first, didn't you?"

  I smirked. No flies on Ethan.

  "So, he probably told you everything, so you have me down here for what reason exactly?"

  "Honestly, mate? I want to know what you think of her. I mean, is she really worth ruining the band over?"

  Ethan didn't hesitate. "Vinny definitely thinks so, and that’s not like him at all." He knocked back his scotch.

  He was right. Doing anything other than just fucking a girl was so far out of character for our friend. We loved him, but the man was a whore, until he met Ally it would seem. If I didn’t know any better, I would have said that our friend was in love with our new drummer.

  I felt nervous the second I got to Vinny’s hotel room door. I paused, and I was about to rethink knocking when the door opened and Vinny stood staring at me.

  "Hi."

  "Uh, hi," I mumbled.

  "Come on in." He stepped aside to welcome me in, and timidly, I entered. I didn't know why I was so worried about being around him. Maybe it was because every time I caught him looking at me, it was starting to feel like I was his prey. The only thing was, I wanted to be his prey. I wanted to be devoured in the way his eyes hinted at.

  "Can I get you anything?” He pointed in the direction of the minibar.

  "No, thanks," I said, reaching for the hem of my t-shirt and playing with it.

  I watched as he pulled a chair out and placed it in front of me before sitting on the edge of the bed in front of me.

  "Do we need to talk?" he asked, and I cleared my throat nervously.

  "Yeah, I think we do," I said glumly, perching myself on the edge of the seat he had set out for me.

  Vinny waited for me to start into whatever it was I was meant to be saying to him. I felt like a goldfish, my mouth opening and closing with the words not quite forming and allowing me to say anything. Vinny ran his fingers through his hair and hissed. "Spit it out then."

  "Sorry." I grimaced. I knew I had to tell him we needed to cool it; I knew I needed to tell him we should stop whatever it was that was developing between us because it was going to end so badly for me and the band if we didn’t. But when I
looked at his face, and the hint of pain on it, like he knew what was coming, I couldn’t get the words out. Vinny glanced over at me with sadness in his eyes, and it cut me, leaving me feeling the sting in my heart. Fuck.

  I tried to zone out and concentrate on the task at hand, but I knew that, no matter what I needed to say, I wouldn’t be able to get those words out. Sure, it was the ‘right’ thing to do, but it wasn’t what I wanted. It wasn’t what he wanted either from the look on his face, and I decided to tell him just that.

  I stood in front of him and took a deep breath. “I came here to talk about what’s been happening between us. I came here to say the things I think need to be said.”

  He looked up at me. “And what is it you think that you need to say, Allycat?”

  I couldn’t get another word out. I was drawn to him. Before I could think about it, I lowered by head and my lips met his. A rush of pure lust washed over me, and I needed to kiss him hard. He needed to understand just how much I wanted him. His tongue danced with mine and his hands slid down by back, holding me, moving me back a touch before he stood and pulled me back hard against him.

  Just like always with Vinny, my body cried out for more. I wanted more, and I was powerless to fight it. My body moulded against his. He grabbed my ass tight and I could feel the effect I was having on him pressed low against my stomach.

  I tangled my hands in his hair, holding him against my mouth, not wanting the moment to stop. Breathlessly, Vinny pried his lips from mine.

  "Damn, Ally," he breathed, his body pulling back from mine. Guilt and embarrassment flooded my senses.

  "Shit, Vinny. I'm sorry..." I started, raising my hands to my face.

  “For what? Coming here to dump me? Coming here to tell me that for the good of the band that we need to part ways? And then kissing me instead?”