Soon, the guys who’d been playing ping pong came over to see what the fuss was about, and joined in as well. The fog was spilling over the edges of the pool, nearly reaching the chair on which I was sitting. Someone had procured a beach ball, and a game of blind water tag started almost immediately. Once, the ball was shot too far and ended up rolling towards the corner of the room. I went and picked it up, shooting it back into the pool. Being up anyway, I used the restroom.
When I got back, I noticed a shirt draped across the back of the chair I’d been sitting on that hadn’t been there before. It was old, faded and definitely one of Rhys’.
Just a second after that realization hit me, he was sitting at the edge of the pool, shirtless, his jeans dripping wet. He looked like a fucking wet dream.
“Aren’t you gonna get in?” he wanted to know, and with him asking, I couldn’t really refuse outright. Instead, I made a face at him.
“My piercings,” I said, sounding completely lame to my own ears.
He grinned widely. “Alright, I’ll put it this way.” He frowned for a second before continuing. “I give you… say fifteen seconds to get your clothes off, after that, you’re going in the pool.”
I heard supportive claps from within the fog, and couldn’t help but laugh.
“Fine,” I relented, sitting down to take my shoes off and wiggling out of my pants. I took off my shirt too, but kept on the white undershirt that I had been wearing underneath. At least I felt slightly more comfortable that way.
“There you go!” Angus cheered as I approached the edge.
“Fuck, that’s cold!” I complained, but dutifully jumped into the water.
I might as well not have been wearing my undershirt. It went see-through in moments, but not until I looked down did I realize that combined with the piercings and my hard nipples and the delicate chain, it all made for a really hot effect. At least I thought so, and Rhys seemed to think so too. I wasn’t certain for a moment who it was assaulting me from behind as I made my way through the fog, but looking down, I recognized the tattoos on the arm around me. He felt nice, body so close to me, skin all slick and warm.
He was flirting again. I’d never figure this out, I thought. This time though, I was a little more prepared, and after splashing a little water at him and sticking my tongue out, I swam away again, not really wanting to, but willing to play that game of hot and cold if he did it, too.
The party went on for some time. Big D walked into the pool area halfway through, froze, facepalmed comically, and walked back out. There were alcoholic beverages being consumed, water wrestling matches being held, and along with it all, the dry ice continued to bubble for much longer than I had thought it would. Lightning streaked outside, and I felt as though I were sitting in a witches’ cauldron.
After a while of floating through the small crowd independently, I sought out Rhys again. He was involved in an odd sort of near-blind volleyball game, but turned away when he spotted me and swam towards me.
“Hello again,” I said, propping my elbow onto the pool’s edge.
“Hey,” he said, and did the same. For a long moment we just floated and surveyed the surreal scene.
“This is one of the rare moments when I really wish I could drink,” he admitted, leaning over and speaking close to my ear. The shouts from the roadies were loud, but I could have understood him without. Once again, flirting.
“Just imagine you’re drunk and act like it,” I suggested, grinning, and spontaneously pushed myself off the edge and put my hands loosely on his shoulders. “I won’t tell.”
He smiled at me, wrapping his arms around me, and damn, it felt good to be touched by him. His thumbs stroked across my skin, pushing up my undershirt in the process, and I swam closer and put my arms properly around his neck.
Then he pulled me even closer and kissed me.
I honestly hadn’t expected that, after him never even having made an attempt before, and my insides promptly turned to gelatine. We started off slow, lips barely touching, drifting closer, and before I knew it his tongue was in my mouth and I was pressed against him about as closely as was humanly possible. I moaned into his mouth. His arms were wrapped around me tightly as I clung to his shoulders, and oh god, it felt good, it felt so fucking good, and I stopped thinking completely and just kissed him like it was the only thing that mattered.
Then I caught a beach ball to the head, and, drawing back, managed to react in time to flip off Angus, who had apparently thrown it. Rhys followed suit. The lead guitarist was laughing like a maniac.
Rhys didn’t let go of me though, instead continuing to tug on my undershirt. I gave up, lifted my arms, and let him take the soaked thing off me. He tossed it beyond the edge of the pool.
“Much better,” he said, and pulled me close by my chain. I hissed with painful pleasure, writhing, barely suppressing another moan. He had figured out just how hard to pull to drive me wild. I loved being pressed against him so closely and feeling him moving against me. I already knew I liked the fact that he was tall and solidly built, even though it made me feel even smaller than I usually did.
And at this point, a large and still growing part of me wanted to jump his bones right there in the pool. It had been two damn days of sleeping next to him. I needed to be fucked badly.
He seemed content to remain in the pool though, until Big D appeared once more in the door.
“Alright guys,” he shouted, his voice making us freeze and turn. “I hate to break this up, but we’re about to get into big trouble with the hotel, so I’m gonna send you all to your rooms right now like you’re four. Off you go, come on.”
The dry ice fog had been dying down anyway. When I lifted myself to sit on the edge, Big D met my eyes before he glanced lower and raised an eyebrow.
Great. Now he thought I was an even kinkier shameless slut than he had probably already assumed. In his defense, he was right, but that didn't mean I wanted it advertised.
“Come on,” Rhys said, collecting his possessions while I threw on a towel. He didn’t even bother, dripping all over the place instead. I snapped up all my clothes, and together we ventured out into the hallway, still dripping, laughing as we made our way back to our room along with everyone else.
I hoped the sexual energy wouldn’t fizz out again before he’d fucked me properly. If I was reading this right, I wasn’t the only one really wanting to get laid tonight.
I needn’t have worried though. The door had barely fallen shut behind us when he had his arms around me again, pushing me up against the closest wall and kissing me deeply. I returned the kiss, hearing myself moan. His thigh came to press against me, and I let my knees fall apart just enough to allow him to slide between them and press his hard bulge against mine.
We were still laughing as we separated in order to draw breath. His hands were all over me, smoothing along my heated skin, tangling in my wet hair. Suddenly, Rhys seemed to have remembered how fun it could all be. He was touching me completely of his own volition, needing no coaxing, no encouragement. I fumbled with his pants, which was tricky, because they were soaking wet.
“Hold on,” he laughed when he noticed, and stepped back in order to fix the situation himself. He made a sound of triumph when the button came undone and he’d managed to slide the zipper down most of the way. I helped him pull, freeing him of his last piece of clothing, and in a move that I knew damn well he’d like, I was on my knees and smoothly took him into my mouth. I pushed him back at the same time, so that he came to lean against the opposite wall of the entryway. His groan was all I needed to hear. He tasted of chlorine, but honestly, I’d had far worse.
“Good?” I asked when I pulled back to draw breath, and glimpsed the smile on his face.
“Oh yeah,” he said, eyes closed. I took that for the encouragement it was and continued, sucking him hard and fast and taking him as deeply as I could. I was careful not to keep going for too long though, as I had no intentions of finishing him this way
tonight. Instead, while he was still making little sounds of pleasure, I stood again and tried to push him away from the wall.
“Bed,” I directed, and, still looking dazed, he moved towards it.
He pulled me with him when he fell onto it, laughing again. I straddled him, once more feeling his hands on me, like he couldn't resist.
I leaned forward, bringing my upper body towards his face and mostly intending just to tease with the dangling chain he seemed so obsessed with, but he craned his neck, and when I felt his tongue on my nipple I couldn’t help but gasp.
He kept me down and against him with one hand, propping himself up with the other. I put my hand on the back of his head and helped hold him up, closing my eyes and enjoying the sensations of his mouth. His cock was pressed against my thigh, hard and hot, as though trying to remind me of its presence. I didn’t have a hand free to put on my throbbing dick, so I rolled my hips a little while Rhys forced small moans from my throat. Goddamn, it felt so good.
Eventually, his lips and teeth let go of the nipple he’d been caressing.
“Fuck yeah,” I said as I straightened up. He didn’t appear to want me to do that though, and as he kept me from moving away, I fell to the side instead. He used the momentum to roll fully on top of me. Our eyes locked.
“Hi,” I said.
He grinned down at me. His thigh was in between mine again, and I squirmed against it in encouragement. It was nice to see him getting excited, his face a little flushed, his eyes bright. A pleasant, warm tingling feeling went through me and complimented the searing heat of my arousal quite nicely.
He dipped his head again then once more licked along the chain on my chest, kissed lower, and hooked his fingers into the fabric of the last piece of clothing I was wearing. This time, I raised my hips without delay as he pulled off my still dripping wet briefs. His hands were on my clammy skin again in a moment, but then, as he nudged my thighs further apart, I felt him get technical again. I didn’t want this to degenerate, like it had the very first time, with him just riding around on top of me like I was a chick or something.
So I did the only thing I could think of doing, and pushed him forcefully to the side, rolling with him until we had switched back to me being on top.
“Whoa,” he said, laughing, and watched as I situated myself directly above him, hips thrusting, teasing him while I fished for a condom from the nightstand, fumbling it. I was so hard by this time I could have drilled a hole through the mattress. When he moved against me as well, the head of his cock slipped against mine, causing us both to gasp, and his hands shot out to grip my hips. As he steadied me, his cock found my eager hole.
“Oh my god,” I heard him mutter, and then I had sunk down on top of him and we both lost it right there. “You... fuck, how do you do that? Always just letting me slide right into that hot ass, so goddamn tight and perfect, so ready to be fucked. How?”
“Practice,” I half-evaded, because I sure as hell wasn't gonna get into my habit of prepping myself for him right now. Instead I rose up and let his shaft slip nearly all the way out of me. Our simultaneous moans rang in my ear as I moved on top of him, soon picking up the pace and riding him fast and hard, balancing with my hands on his chest. The stretch and friction stung, as usual, but that made it all feel even more fan-fucking-tastic this time. His skin was still damp, as was mine, which meant things were a little sticky, but he helped me along with his hands still firmly grasping my hips, bruising me. I didn’t mind, in fact, I kind of liked the idea of him marking me that way. I’d learned by now that he didn’t usually take a terribly long time to come, so it wasn’t a surprise when I finally felt him tense up. His thigh muscles clenched, and he raised his hips in a movement I’m pretty sure was involuntary as he threw back his head, groaning, gasping for breath. It was beautiful. He came inside me as the thunder rolled and lightning flashed outside the window, and the sensation threw me right over the edge as well.
I felt good, so good, and beyond exhaustion. My head was spinning.
I managed to climb off him and sank down next to him, both of us lying sideways across the bed. Then I closed my eyes and basked in the afterglow.
This was what I had been hoping for. This had been sex I didn’t feel awkward about in the slightest, leaving us both satisfied and happy.
“Oh my god,” I heard him muttering once more under his breath. I turned my head and watched as he wiped his forehead with the back of his hand, then looked at me and smiled. It was the most exhausted, though happy smile I’d ever seen.
“How are you doing?” I wanted to know, not content to enjoy the silence.
He laughed. “Do you have to ask?”
I propped my head onto my arms, shrugging it off, liking what I was hearing. Then, I yawned.
“I’m tired too,” he told me weakly, and rubbed his eyes. “I just wanna go to sleep right here. Watch, we’ll wake up tomorrow still totally facing the wrong way and all.”
I was alright with that. We kept looking at each other, unmoving, still glowing, and I found myself wondering just exactly what would become of this.
“I never knew your eyes were so blue,” he said then.
I blinked, not having expected that.
“Hm?” I asked.
“Your eyes are blue. Light blue. I thought they were, like, grey or something.”
“They’re blue,” I confirmed, and waited for the inevitable pun on my name.
“They’re stunning.”
The words hung in the air, such a strangely innocent statement following an act so utterly carnal.
“Thank you,” I finally murmured, and closed my eyes.
I felt his hand on my shoulder a moment later.
“Come on. Let’s get turned around,” he tried to motivate me to move again. I did, sluggishly so, and barely managed to make it beneath the blankets.
That night was the first one since I’d met Rhys that saw me sleeping deeply and calmly.
+++
I don’t think I shared more than three words with Rhys during the next day. He had a concert to get ready for, and once again, the pattern I’d begun to notice emerged, with him being distant just after I thought the ice between us was finally broken.
I tried hard not to let it bother me, but it was maddening. I told myself that I had no right to be upset, that it had been pretty clear from the start why I was here. I couldn’t expect Rhys to want to socialize with me all the time.
Soon though, it became clear that I couldn’t help but let it bother me, and my strategy changed to avoiding Rhys entirely. If he wanted to talk to me, he’d have to make an effort, and if he didn’t, well, his loss. I wouldn’t sit there like a puppy expecting table scraps waiting for him to acknowledge me. I did have a little bit of pride left. Instead, I asked the roadies whether there was anything I could help with, and after giving me a few funny looks, they assigned me menial tasks such as untangling cables, fetching things from across the room and flipping switches on command.
I watched the concert once more from backstage, enjoying myself and actually forgetting about Rhys' behavior for a while, but when he blew right past me afterwards, the bitterness that I was trying to hold in check returned with a vengeance. Stubbornly, I went out with the roadies, not much caring about what time it was or what manner of alcoholic drinks people pressed into my hands. When I made it back to the hotel room, at some point in the morning, Rhys was long asleep.
I did come around to thoroughly regretting my behavior the next day. For one, I was hungover, which was even more unpleasant traveling on the bus than it would have been ordinarily, with all the movement going on. Also, I remembered a bit late that the original idea had been to get Rhys to keep me around for a while. I certainly wasn’t going to accomplish that by pouting.
I laid in the bunk for most of the day, trying to will my headache away and wondering why my emotions were so all over the place. I was usually fairly level-headed.
As evening rolled around, my th
oughts didn’t improve. I had a hard time redirecting my mind to something positive, feeling alone, confused, a little lost in this place that was still so unfamiliar to me, with so many people I barely knew. Finally, when my breathing just kept accelerating and the pain in my chest worsened, I knew I couldn’t just keep laying there. I crawled out of bed and walked down the hallway to the upstairs lounge.
As always, Rhys was inside. I knocked softly before opening the door, and he glanced at me before focusing on finishing whatever he was writing. His guitar had been placed on the seat next to him.
“Hey,” he said, his tone neutral. “What’s up?”
“Do you mind if I sit with you for a bit?” My voice came out thin and sort of pathetic. My pulse was still racing, my lungs struggling against the weight on my chest.
“Sure,” he said in reply and moved his guitar. I sat down thankfully.
“I didn’t mean to disturb you,” I explained. “I just…” I wasn’t certain whether he’d even want to know this, but I didn’t want to go around acting weird and not explaining why the hell I was doing it. “I had a panic attack.”
“Oh,” he said, and after a moment’s silence, turning towards me, he added. “Yeah, I’ve been there. You okay?”
I nodded, glad that he was being kind, that he appeared to know what I was going through. “Just trying to distract myself. If you don’t mind, I’ll listen to you play for a bit.”
He didn’t reply to that, but he didn’t look put-off either, so I figured he was probably alright with it. When he pushed the notebook my way, I kept sneaking glances at it, and eventually he asked me to write down a few chords for him. Because I didn't have a hell of a lot of music knowledge, I was pretty sure I didn't do it very well. But Rhys, quite adorably, kept insisting I was being very helpful.
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better, aren’t you?” I asked him finally. He grinned his mischievous schoolboy grin.
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