A Beautiful Melody

by Lilliana Anderson

  “You’re not going to take off on me this time are you?” I whisper, running my fingers over the side of his face, enjoying the feeling of the course stubble beneath my fingertips.

  “No. Not this time,” he replies, bringing his mouth to mine and kissing me tenderly. “You know I’m in love with you, right?” he whispers, kissing me again.

  My heart swells in my chest, close to bursting as I wrap my arms tighter around him. “Say it properly,” I whisper, between kissing him.

  He moves so he’s on top of me, looking down into my eyes, the intensity of his gaze, enough to start my insides clenching all over again.

  “I’m in love with you Naomi,” he murmurs. “I’ve been in love with you for a very long time.” His voice like a soft caress, washing away all the shit and all the hurt that’s gone on between us.

  “I’m in love with you too.” I whisper in return. He dips his head and kisses me gently, and I can feel the love pouring out of his beautiful soul and into me. “What do we tell everyone?” I ask, when we’ve come up for air, suddenly realising that we can’t keep this a secret.

  “Nothing right now. We only have four shows to go. We’ll talk to them when we’re back home. Together,” he whispers, kissing me again.

  As much as I’d prefer to just be honest, it makes sense to wait. We’ll be home soon. We can wait until then.

  Marcus

  I think my heart just stopped beating. That or I’m about to explode. My skin feels like it’s on fire and I can hear my blood rushing through my ears as a pain is forming in my chest.

  Standing in the hallway of the hotel, I try to breath. I try to calm down. But I’m really struggling here. I just came back up to find out what happened to Theo. We were all going out to grab something to eat before we had to go to the Arena to set up for tonight. He said he had to run back and grab his wallet.

  We waited for a good fifteen minutes, and when he didn’t return, I told Jack and Lachlan to go without me. When I got back up here, I found our room empty and thought maybe I missed him. Maybe he was going down in the lift as I came up. I started to leave, but as I shut the door, I heard something coming from Naomi’s room. It was… god, I can’t even bring myself to say it…

  Moaning. I heard moaning. Some sort of masochistic need propelled me toward her door, and I pressed my ear against it, listening to the unmistakable sound of fucking. I thought maybe that guy Dan Stolle was in there with her. They seem to be pretty cosy these days.

  But then, she yelled his name.

  Theo.

  Chapter 31

  Naomi

  “Ah crap,” Theo groans as his phone starts to ring from within his jeans where they’re still lying on the floor. “That’ll be the guys.”

  He climbs off me and the bed, planting a kiss on my forehead as he does. I lean up on my elbow to watch him walk naked and lean down to retrieve his phone.

  “Enjoying yourself?” he asks as he looks at the screen.

  “Very much,” I smile, dragging my eyes unabashedly over his body, my eyes lingering on the tattoo on his ribs of what looks like lines of music bursting into flames, but I haven’t studied it properly yet.

  He holds his finger to his lips, signalling for me be quiet as he swipes at the screen to answer. “Marcus,” he says in greeting. I figure it’s his way of letting me know who was on the other end. He listens for a moment, reaching up and rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m sorry mate. I got caught up… yeah… ok, well I’ll meet you there then.”

  He disconnects the phone then drops it on the bedside table as he comes to sit next to me.

  “I was supposed to be getting something to eat with them,” he explains. “But they’ve gone ahead without me.” I nod my understanding, although I can’t help but feel bad about back flipping. “One week ok? Then we tell him.”

  “Ok,” I sigh, not feeling good about hiding this, but not wanting to upset Marcus before the tour is over. “How long until we have to meet them?”

  “About forty-five minutes,” he states, taking my hand in his and tracing his fingers over my palm.

  He leans down and kisses me, softly at first, then slowly he becomes more insistent, more passionate as his tongue demands entry and slides inside my mouth, dancing with mine.

  His arms slip beneath me and he stands, lifting me easily as he continues to kiss me.

  “Where are we going?” I ask.

  “Shower.”

  He carries me to the bathroom, laughing as I shriek when he threatens to put me under while it’s still cold.

  “You wouldn’t really do that to me would you?” I ask, my voice low and soft as I kiss him lightly on his jawline.

  “No, but I’ll threaten to forever if it gets you to wrap your body around me like that,” he grins, taking my mouth in his and he steps us into the shower cubicle. Slowly, he lowers me down so I’m standing, then grabs my shower soap and starts to work up a lather. “Hmmm, so this is why you always smell so good,” he murmurs, sliding the thick lather over my body with this hands. Starting at my shoulders, and working his way down my back, kissing my mouth, my jawline and, my neck, as he makes his way around my body so he’s standing behind me.

  Kissing me behind my ear, he slides his arms around my stomach, gliding his hands through the suds. His fingers brush, just under my breasts, sending chills of delight through me. Moaning, I drop my head back against his chest, and take hold of his hands, moving them up my body so he’s grasping my breasts. I can hear his breathing deepen and feel his erection pressing into me as his fingers knead my flesh and pinch lightly on my nipple.

  Reaching back, I slide my hands behind his neck, moaning and whimpering as he glides one hand down toward my mound.

  I writhe against him, covering him in suds as I slide one hand down toward his long hard shaft, stroking it as it stands to attention, telling me just how much I turn him on.

  Running my soapy hand over his cock, I delight as he tilts his head toward mine and moans.

  “Kiss me while I touch you,” I whisper, pulling his mouth toward mine, while I continue to work my hand over his shaft.

  He moans into my mouth, his hand sliding further down, over my mound until he reaches my folds.

  The instant he touches me, my nerve endings are on high alert, never quite recovering from their last orgasm only moments ago.

  “Oh!” I cry out, working him with my hand as his fingers slip inside of me. They push in and slide out, back over my clit, mixing my juices with the lather before he pushes his fingers inside me once more. We rock, and we moan, touching and kissing, our hands working faster as our calls echo off the small tiled space. All the while, the water splashes down over us, encasing us in our own private cocoon, a place where the rest of the world doesn’t matter to us.

  “Oh god, you’re amazing,” he moans, spurting his hot juices out as he erupts into the torrent of water raining down on us. The moment I see him burst, my orgasm rips through my body, weakening my knees, causing me to press myself against him as his hand presses on my throbbing nub, keeping my orgasm steady.

  We spend a little more time in our glorious little paradise before leaving it to return to reality and get ready for the show. To pretend we aren’t in love.

  This week is going to be hard.

  ***

  Theo

  I love music. It’s why I’m so involved in every aspect of the band. I want nothing more than for this band to be successful enough that music can always be a huge part of my life.

  Every time we’re up on stage and the songs I write get played, I’m on a high. I love the way the audience cheers and screams at the end of a song, but as soon as Marcus addresses them, a hush falls over them. They listen to each song with quiet reverence – it’s beautiful.

  Although, nothing is as beautiful to me as the moment that Naomi steps up to the microphone and starts to sing the first part of It’s a Crime. She stands with her violin held at her side, ready to use it later in the song, and
as always, she closes her eyes. I can tell that she really feels the song, understands the lyrics and puts all of her emotion behind her words.

  Please get out of the way

  This is not what it looks like

  I’m in the wrong place

  I wasn’t looking for you

  Hitting my foot on the pedal to create the echoing boom that sounds a bit like heartbeat, I keep my eyes on her, knowing she’s about to play.

  She’s amazing. Each time she holds herself, bow poised, head tilted, I get shivers. Her whole body moves and it’s as if she is the music. Every night I’ve watched, a deep ache inside of me as I’ve longed to be with her – to tell her how I feel. Tonight, I know she’s mine, and when the song finishes and the crowd screams, I’m the one she’s looking at. I’m the one she’s smiling at.

  I’m so in love with her. So much, that I actually feel like being the one who is singing with her. Something I have never wanted to do in front of an audience before. But with her, I think I’m capable of anything.

  Marcus

  I feel sick. Each time they look at each other, it’s like I’m being stabbed. They do it briefly, at the end of each song, so if I didn’t know what I do, then I probably wouldn’t even notice it. But I do. I see it clearly.

  I can’t stand to see this. I need a drink. I need air.

  The screaming of the audience is so fucking loud and my head is throbbing. I want to go, I want to walk off the stage. But I stay. I get through it. I plaster a fake smile of my face and I go through the motions. We’ve done this show so many times now that I can do it on autopilot. If only I could stop looking at them. If only I could stop looking at her. She looks at me with a smile too, but it’s not the same one she gives Theo. Fuck. Kill me now. At least then this wouldn’t be so hard.

  The moment the show is done and we walk off the stage, I hand over my guitar and head straight for the dressing room and grab a beer. And when I finish that, I grab another. When that isn’t enough, I head into the other room and grab a bottle of Bundaberg rum. Tossing it back and drinking in thirsty gulps. My dry spell is over. I’m done being the good guy. I didn’t get the girl. I played by the fucking rules and I lost. What’s the bloody point?

  Chapter 32

  Naomi

  “What are you doing” I ask, watching Theo as he starts to pull his jeans on. I’m still laying naked on the bed after a marathon love making session. We basically took off as soon as the show was over, knowing that we wouldn’t be missed.

  The gods were on our side tonight as Marcus seemed to be unable to ignore the allure of Melbourne’s night life and started drinking the moment we got off the stage. So it was easy for us to slip out. Everyone was used to me leaving with Dan, and they were used to Theo leaving early as well.

  After that, well… you know what we did. And we did it over and over again. Until Theo decided to get dressed of course.

  “I’m getting my guitar. I’ll be right back.”

  I pull a sheet over my body, just in case there’s anyone in the hall as he opens the door and races back to his room. There isn’t – it’s still far too early for the party goers to come back yet.

  He grins as he shuts my door, the guitar in his hand as he returns to me.

  “What are you going to do – serenade me? You don’t need to. You already have me. I love you dammit,” I grin, watching him as he sits down on the bed and readies the guitar.

  “No, I want to show you the song. With your lyrics, it’s finished. You wanna play it with me?” he grins, his eyes twinkling as his eyes skim down the length of my body.

  “Don’t mind if I do,” I say, standing up to fetch my violin. Returning to sit opposite him, poised and ready to play, boldly naked as I watch him and wait.

  “I don’t know if I can play with you looking like that,” he says, his eyes glued to my chest.

  “Just try,” I say softly, playing the first few notes of the song.

  He’s quick to join in, and I can’t help but smile and watch his beautiful face as he sings.

  Woke up this morning and I realised you were gone.

  This house feels so empty, I never thought our time was done.

  I know you asked me to write you a special song

  You were my muse, writing without you seems wrong

  The window’s open, and the wind is getting in

  Without you with me, I just take it on the chin,

  I loved your fire, and I loved every sin

  I love everything you bring to our love affair

  Knowing the chorus, I join in and sing with him. I only sing softly, it’s not the easiest thing to do while you have a violin under your chin, but it’s possible, especially when I’m just singing the melody.

  Oh, please know I loved you,

  Even though I was unfair

  Please know I still want you

  I’ll show you that I care.

  Each night I sleep without you,

  I dream about your touch,

  When I wake up I’m without you

  And missing you so much.

  He repeats the first verse and we sing the chorus through one more time, before ending on a hum.

  “That sounds so beautiful.”

  “It should. It’s about us,” he says, placing his guitar on the floor, next to the bed, and moving toward me.

  “I know. I helped you write it. Just like I helped write that,” I say, indicating the tattoo covering his ribs.

  “You recognise that huh?” he asks, pausing his advance and sitting in front of me.

  “Yeah. I do. It’s the music we were writing together in high school. The song we never finished. Is that why it ends in flames?” I ask, as he lifts his arm to give me a full view of it. His ribs are like the sheet for the music, the staffs holding the notes running over them in their horizontal lines, each note in its place until the very last line, when the staff breaks up and burst into flames, obscuring the final notes.

  “I think you can guess why it ends in flames,” he murmurs, lowering his arm again, obscuring it slightly from my view.

  “Were you that angry with me? That you branded your body with our unfinished song?” I ask, my voice a little quiet. Over the years, I have played this song. I’ve played it past the point he has it at on his tattoo, and every time I’ve played it, I’ve wished for our friendship back. I wanted to show him what I came up with. It’s always meant a lot to me, so I guess it’s a little upsetting that he sees it as a bad thing.

  “Yeah. I was. But that doesn’t matter now. We know none of it was true,” he reminds me, reaching out to take my hand. He lifts it and presses his lips to my knuckles, tugging me gently toward him. “We can finish it if you like. I can change the tattoo.”

  “You’d do that?”

  “Yeah, I would.”

  “Can I play it?” I ask, pulling back from him slightly and reaching for my violin again.

  “I’d like that,” he whispers, settling back against the headboard to watch me as I hold my violin and bow ready. “Do you need the sheet music?” he smiles, lifting his arm over his head to display the full tattoo.

  “Why not,” I smile, knowing the song by heart, but liking him in that pose.

  I take a deep breath, and start, sliding my bow back and forth over the strings as the solemn tune to the music fills every corner of the room, and every corner of my heart. It’s always been a way that I felt connected to him, it’s always reminded me of how much I missed him. Now, I play it, and I rejoice in the fact that he managed to come back into my life.

  The music mirrors that fact, starting off calm, before becoming sorrowful and then light again – happy. There’s a beauty to it, an emotion that speaks to me, and holds me in its arms. It’s all me and all him, and as I play the last note, I’m smiling.

  When I open my eyes, he’s smiling too, a look of pure love fixed upon his features. “You finished it,” he breathes. “It was perfect.”

  “We make a good team,” I
whisper, putting my violin and bow on the bed beside me.

  “I know what else we’re good at,” he returns, cupping my face in his hands, sucking gently on my lips as he lowers one hand to cup my breast, kneading my tender flesh, as he trails kisses down my neck.

  “Oh yeah?” I gasp. “Can you remind me of that?” I ask as I lay down, his body covering mine.

  “This,” he says. Pushing himself inside me. I gasp out as he fills me, my body still ready and yearning for him despite climaxing repeatedly tonight.

  “Well yes,” I moan. “We are good at that.”

  He rocks his hips back and forth, pushing himself inside me, deeper and deeper, over and over again.

  I moan loudly, I can’t help it.

  As we roll over, so I’m on top, my violin slides off the bed, landing with my bow on the soft carpet. I give it a cursory glance to make sure it’s ok, before rocking over my man, gripping at him internally as I whimper slightly. The angle of his cock inside me pressing exactly where I need it to.

  “Oh,” he groans. “We’re good at it this way too.”

  “Oh god Theo, I’m going to come,” I gasp, as my insides squeeze tight, gripping firmly around his cock as my orgasm builds to its peak.

  His hands grip my hips as his breathing quickens. “Let it go baby,” he murmurs. “I’m right there with you.”

  Suddenly, my body goes rigid as he thrusts himself inside me, groaning as he spills his juices into my depths. As my body starts to relax, I lay myself on top of his chest, leaving us joined together as I pulse my muscles around him.

  “Hmmm, that’s feels nice,” he whispers, running his fingertips up and down my back. I glance over at the windows, and notice that the sun is coming up.

  Suddenly, my eyes start to droop as the steady beating of Theo’s heart starts to lull me off to sleep. We spend the next few hours like that, in a blissful slumber, wrapped in each other’s bodies and arms.