Dare (The Dare Trilogy)

by Sara Frost

  When Janey emerged from the bathroom, all evidence of the bleary-eyed woman had gone, replaced by a fully made-up amazon dressed in a sheer, almost transparent blouse that showed her plump breasts, hoiked up in a bra, with a tight black skirt, slit to the thigh, her feet clad in patent black leather pumps.

  “You look like you’re on the pull,” Dianne observed.

  “I’d never betray my boys,” Janey remarked with a smile. “I just want to drive men wild. They can all look but they can’t touch.” She frowned at this. “Mind you, you look as though you’re doing a promotion for Oxfam. Is that the best you can do, Dianne?”

  “Oh, piss off,” Dianne replied good naturedly. Yet it suddenly occurred to her that Janey had hit the mark: when they were both back in London, the pair of them had dressed to the nines, wearing outrageous costumes precisely to gain attention from everyone. Yet since she had been on tour Dianne had been dressing much more casually, as though to hide from the eyes of the world. She realised that there was only one person now she wanted to look at her that way.

  As they waited for a cab, Janey lit up a cigarette, her natural ebullience returning as all the exhaustion of the previous night disappeared.

  Although Janey wished to spend most of her time shopping, Jane insisted that they see the Castle which had first presented itself to them when they entered the city, savouring the experience of walking among the homely, antiquated houses of Golden Lane with their tiled roofs and heavily-beamed walls. Inside the castle itself they had a view across the entire city, which seemed to dazzle even Jane with its beauty so that she could not help but share Dianne’s enthusiasm.

  It was late in the afternoon by this point, and both women were hungry. “That’s enough being a tourist,” Janey said. She gave her friend a sly smile: “I haven’t had you to myself since I joined you. I love my boys, but it’s time for us to have a proper girly chat. Come on, let’s get lunch and swap war stories.”

  Shaking her head, Dianne submitted not unwillingly to the suggestion and they found a restaurant that served Italian food, though Janey’s choice of venue seemed to be determined more by the quality of the waiters than what they would eat.

  “Doesn’t he look absolutely dishy,” Janey growled, pulling her sunglasses down her nose and gazing lasciviously at a tall, dark haired man who was taking orders from a nearby table. “I mean, that arse—wouldn’t you love to sink your teeth into it?”

  Dianne laughed and shook her head. “You are impossible!” she said in mock horror.

  Janey shrugged. “Are you telling me you really wouldn’t fancy biting a pair of taut buttocks like that? What’s happened to you, Dianne?”

  With a sigh, Dianne looked across once more at the waiter who was bending slightly as he placed cutlery on the table. He did have a very nice backside, she had to admit, but it wasn’t the backside she wanted. Without warning a vision of Cam, naked and walking to the bathroom, his muscular buttocks clenching and unclenching as he moved each leg, sprang into her mind. She began to ache again.

  “You don’t want him, do you?”

  “What?” Dianne was confused, lifting her head and shaking it free form the fantasy she had begun to indulge.

  “You don’t want that guy over there. You don’t have the slightest interest in him.”

  Dianne looked at the waiter again who was smiling suavely as he talked to a couple of middle-aged women, applying his charm professionally.

  “Well, he’s very nice...” she began to say.

  “But you don’t want him. You haven’t the slightest desire to get fucked by him.”

  “Janey!” Dianne was suddenly exasperated, her face flushed—but she didn’t know why she was blushing.

  “I was watching you.” Janey lit up a cigarette and leaned forward conspiratorially. “You were looking in the direction of that guy, but your eyes weren’t focussed. You were having plenty of filthy fantasies, I guess, but not one of them involved him.”

  Dianne lowered her eyes, uncertain what to say: her cheeks were blushing more furiously now, and at last the pressure broke. She laughed and raised her eyes once more to face Janey. “I guess not,” she said. Janey was smiling.

  “You look great, you know. Sorry for that remark earlier, about you looking like an Oxfam fashion victim. You look really good. Beautiful.”

  “That’s okay.” Dianne shrugged. “Thanks.”

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look like this. You’re glowing.” A strange expression appeared on Janey’s face and for a moment she was silent. Then, as though catching herself, she shook her head and reached out to place a hand on Dianne’s after wafting smoke out of the way. “I’m sorry,” she said.

  “For what?” Dianne was confused.

  “I was... I guess I was a bit jealous for a second there—which is a pretty shitty thing to feel.”

  Dianne was astonished but quickly recovered herself. “You don’t have to be—jealous I mean. You’ve got your boys, after all.”

  Janey sighed at this and turned her eyes away, idly watching the waiter as he moved between tables. “And that, after all, is what they are. Boys. Oh, they’re great!” she quickly added, returning her gaze to Dianne again. “I mean, we’re having a lot of fun. But you know what, part of me would love to go over to that waiter, turn him around, thrown him onto a table and climb aboard for the fucking of his life.” She began to toy with some of the food that had been brought to them. “It’s fun, but part of me is looking for the next hit, the next big game.” She looked up once more at Dianne, staring at her carefully. “It’s not like that with you and Cam, is it. It’s plain to anyone that he’s a man—a real man—and that you’re in love with him.”

  Dianne sat in silence, stunned. It was true of course, it was all true, but there was still part of her mind that was trying to deny this—part of her soul that was afraid she would wake up and find it had all been a dream. Janey’s face was completely serious now.

  “Yeah,” Dianne admitted at last, trying to keep her voice casual. “I suppose I am.”

  Janey’s smile was warm but also triumphant, demonstrating her pleasure that she was still able to read her friend. “Well, you’re a lucky bitch.”

  “Thanks. I think.”

  “So,” now Janey extinguished her cigarette and reached across with both hands. “Tell me all the details—all of them. The gorier the better.”

  “Christ, Janey! What do you think we get up to? I think you’re mistaking my sex life for yours.”

  “Oh, don’t you worry, I’ll happily tell you every last intimate, gynaecological detail, don’t you worry—but if I’m honest, I don’t think you’re as interested in what I get up to as I am in you.” Janey sniggered at this. “The boys are a bit jealous, you know.”

  “Jealous?” Dianne was genuinely horrified for a moment.

  Janey nodded. “Don’t worry. It’s not a bad thing. It’s like the jealousy I feel towards you: I’m really glad that you’ve found something special, and I guess I’d like a piece of it too. The boys are the same.”

  “What, they’re jealous of me?”

  “No! Jesus, Dianne! Sometimes you’re a bit thick, you know. They’re jealous of Cam, but in a good way: they can see he’s got something special and they’d like a bit of it too.”

  “But they’ve got you,” Dianne protested. “I can see that they love you to bits.”

  “They fuck me to bits is what they do. Look, we’re having a lot of fun, but all three of us know that we don’t have anything like what you and Cam have got. There’s a reason why most people end up in couples, you know, and it’s not about sex—though I must be honest a regular ménage a trois is turning out pretty damn hot.” Janey’s eyes glazed over for a second, then they were filled with a wicked glint and her smile turned sly. “We often wonder what it’s like for you, being fucked by a guy hung like a horse.”

  This made Dianne blush and burst out laughing. “Well,” Janey continued. “Go on, what’s it like? Don�
��t be shy with me.”

  For a few moments Dianne couldn’t speak. “It’s bloody fantastic,” she admitted at last. “Like nothing I’ve ever felt before.”

  “And that piercing of his must be pretty spectacular. I wouldn’t mind trying it myself. Don’t look at me like that, Dianne! I’m just being honest. I mean, it doesn’t have to be Cam—though come to think of it, I don’t know too many well-hung studs with a pierced cock. Ow!”

  She had yelped as Dianne hit her arm and the two women burst into laughter, attracting the attention of other diners in the restaurant.

  “So,” Janey continued after a while, lowering her voice and dipping her head closer to Dianne’s, “have you, you know...?”

  “No. What?”

  “Tried any backdoor action with him?”

  The question threw Dianne who spluttered in embarrassment for a few moments, causing Janey to lean back and howl with laughter.

  “Bloody hell, Di! He is a lucky guy! I thought you didn’t like anal.”

  “Janey! Keep your voice down!” Dianne hissed in shock, but unable to completely suppress a laugh at her friend’s infectious pleasure. “I don’t. I mean, I didn’t.”

  Janey could not stop sniggering. “Who’d have thought it? I bet he has no bloody idea of just how special he is. Oh my God, I’d so love to see that.”

  “You’re not the only one,” Dianne said ruefully. Janey frowned.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Oh, it’s nothing, I guess. Bloody Darius. He’s dropped enough hints that he’d like Cam and I to ‘perform’ for him. He’d like to join in, but the more I see of him the more he makes my skin crawl.”

  Janey nodded her head slowly. “Yeah, I know what you mean. That first night, in London... I mean, I’m up for pretty much anything if the mood’s right. Let’s face it, I’m a bit of a slut and...” She shrugged. “Well, I won’t make any apologies for that. But I don’t know. There’s something about Darius Optimus that doesn’t quite feel right.”

  “I just spend most of my time avoiding him now,” Dianne confessed.

  Janey was silent for a moment. “I suppose that’s best,” she said at last. Smiling, she patted Dianne’s hand. “It’s an unconventional romance, I guess. Beautiful woman lets hot, handsome stud fuck her in the ass and falls in love.”

  “Oh, Janey! You make it sound so sleazy!”

  Janey laughed again but her face became more serious. “Sorry about that. I guess I am a little bit jealous.” Her eyes looked a little sad as she spoke, but she squeezed Dianne’s hand with genuine warmth as she forced herself to smile. “But I am happy for you—really I am. I just hope that Cam knows how lucky he is, and what a find he has in you.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  Cam’s brow was glistening with sweat, and Dianne could see that his shirt was almost drenched as he joined her in the crowd. The way that his eyes shone with triumph, however, as well as his huge grin, told her everything she needed to know about how the set had gone for Black Ark that night.

  And the truth was that they had rocked. Berlin had been no isolated incident: Black Ark was, at last, coming into its own. Much more of this and Dianne was pretty sure that the audiences visiting their future venues would be coming along as much to listen to the support act as Optima. Their act in the Prague club, Bohemia, where they were scheduled to play two nights altogether, marked the beginning of something big, she was certain of it.

  “You were brilliant!” she shouted, lifting herself up onto her toes and planting a fat kiss on Cam’s cheek. Laughing, he swept her up into his arms and returned her kiss with added interest.

  “And you look fantastic!” he beamed back at her. And it was true. When she and Janey had returned to their hotel, Dianne had been stung by her friend’s observations regarding her dressing down and so she had made a renewed effort to dress up. Tight black jeans clung to her buttocks and thighs, slung low at the waist so that the tops of her hips and her flat abdomen were visible, her navel a sweet slit of sexiness. She had worn a black blouse, tied up beneath her breasts. These were still sensitive and so she wore no bra, instead unbuttoning the shirt so that enough of her cleavage was exposed to attract plenty of interest from men in the crowd. While she was not as well endowed as Janey, nonetheless Dianne knew that she had more than enough to show off when she chose to.

  A pair of boots reached up to her mid-calves, though even with the three-inch heel she still only just reached Cam’s shoulder. Her hair was glossy and dark, loose over her shoulders, and she had taken extra time over her makeup so that her eyes appeared even larger, her lips bright red. As she craftily squeezed the massive lump in Cam’s trousers, she knew that the extra effort had been worth it.

  “I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel,” Cam growled in her ear.

  “Oh!” Dianne lifted a finger to her lips coquettishly, playing the innocent. “And why is that?”

  “I’m going to...” Words failed Cam and the lump in his trousers shifted slightly.

  “What? Oh... you’re not going to push me down on the floor, are you, and pull down my jeans so that you can fuck me hard on the floor from behind, are you? That would be such a naughty thing to do!”

  The expression on Cam’s face was priceless and Dianne burst out laughing, reaching up again to peck him on the cheek. The presence of Janey had been a boon in lots of ways: any anxieties that Dianne had started to feel on the tour began to melt away, and she was once more engaging in the flirtatious activities that the pair of them had performed so many times before. It was different now, however: this time, she knew exactly what she wanted.

  Looking up at them, she caught Janey’s eye. Her friend was standing next to Tony, who was talking to her in an animated fashion. Janey winked at Dianne and then extricated herself from Tony’s grasp, walking up to Cam.

  “You were very good tonight,” she said, somewhat coolly.

  “High praise indeed,” Cam replied, his tone equally cool. Dianne frowned at this.

  “Di, would you mind keeping Tony company for a mo’? And James too when he turns up?”

  “Uh, sure. Why?”

  “I just fancied seeing if this stud is just a well-hung prick in one department, that’s all.”

  Janey’s words confused Dianne, and she could see they had the same effect on Cam as well. Misinterpreting them as a come-on, she started to protest, but something in Janey’s eyes stopped her. Her friend was regarding Cam with a stern appraisal that was anything but lustful.

  Janey glanced back at her and her expression softened. “Go on, it’s okay. I just want a quiet word with Cam, that’s all.” Turning her attention back to him, Janey grabbed hold of his shirt and began to pull him away towards the bar. For a second Cam resisted, looking back at Dianne. She in turn smiled at him somewhat apologetically and so, not comprehending what was happening, he allowed himself to be led away at last.

  Watching them go, Dianne had a strange feeling in her stomach. What was Janey up to? She couldn’t be sure and, for the first few moments, watched them attentively. They seemed to be talking, and Janey’s expression was deadly serious, while Cam looked confused, then angry, and finally reconciled.

  “She’s a great woman, isn’t she?”

  “What?” Dianne turned to face Tony, who was staring at Cam and Janey with a puppy-dog expression on his face. “Oh, yes.”

  “How long have you known her?”

  “Janey? It feels like forever. That sounds terrible, but we’ve known each other for years.”

  Tony looked slightly mournful and Dianne wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. To break the silence she eventually asked: “Where’s James?”

  “Jimbo? He wasn’t feeling too good. Went back to the hotel.” Tony gave a slightly empty laugh. “I think he was hoping that Janey would go back with him.” He shrugged as he said this.

  “How are... how are things going with the... three of you?” The words came slightly reluctantly from Dianne’s
mouth. She was not entirely sure she wanted to hear any more blow-by-blow accounts of the activities of this threesome, having been filled in more than enough by Janey herself.

  Tony looked at her, and for a second there was a glimmer of pain in his eyes. Then he seemed to understand what he was showing and shook his head with a smile. “Things are good. We’re all adults and we all know what we’re doing.” For a moment, Dianne thought of the cocaine and booze she had seen on the table in the hotel room and she wondered how true this was. Before she could say anything, however, Tony continued: “Anyone else and I’d be jealous.”

  “What?” Dianne was confused by the sudden turn of the conversation.

  Tony nodded his head in the direction of Cam and Janey. “Any other time, I’d have been worried that Cam was going to make a move on a woman so keen to talk to him.”

  She heard the slight bitterness in Tony’s voice, a fact that made her heart go cold. “What’s different?” she asked. Her voice suddenly sounded distant.

  Tony laughed, perhaps recognising how he had sounded and now looked directly at Dianne, the intensity of his gaze making her turn back to him.

  “You,” Tony said. “There’s no way Cam Fraser is going to give you up.” He smiled at this, a look of tenderness that melted Dianne’s heart before it could freeze entirely. Before she could reply, however, he had turned around and walked into the crowd.

  For what felt a very long time, Dianne was on her own in the crowd, staring towards the stage. She didn’t want to look back, to gaze at Cam and Janey. Instead she watched the stage fill up with the members of Optima as the lights dimmed and dry ice began to belch out. The sound was a wall of noise, ominous and menacing, but it no longer had the strong emotional effect on her that it once had. She could still appreciate Optima’s technique and skill, but the more she heard of Darius’s lyrics, Johnny’s guitar expertise, the more it struck her that this was a band of boys playing to teenagers. She wanted something rawer now.