Phoenixcry: A Reverse Harem Romance (The Rogue Witch Book 1)

by KT Strange

  Charlie came up beside me and bumped me with his hip playfully, before passing me a soda. I frowned at the closed shop.

  “Vending machine around the corner,” he answered my question before I could ask where he’d gotten the drink. “We’re gonna drive another few minutes to the venue, then camp out in the lot. It’s just over the next rise. You hungry?”

  “Not really.”

  He nodded.

  “Abject terror does that to some people. Great diet trick.”

  I eyed him as I cracked the top of my soda and took a long sip.

  “Doesn’t anything scare you?”

  “Being scared,” he answered. He pulled me in for a hard hug, his head bowed against my shoulder. “Just glad you’re safe,” he whispered into my ear. Before I could blink he was gone again, going over to Cash to talk to him in a low voice. The two looked at me for a moment and Cash nodded. I was too tired to call them out on talking about me so blatantly, and besides, Finn came up to me and smiled as he saw me flagging.

  “Get inside, Llewellyn,” he teased, “you’re gonna fall asleep right here otherwise.” I grumbled at him, and he helped me into the van, grabbing the soda from my fingers before I could drop it. He stole a swig, gulping down half of it. I didn’t protest, and belted myself in. His hoodie was all around me, and it lulled me back to sleep. In the haze of my descent into dream-land, I felt my seat-belt go tight around me and click into place, and the hum of the engine start up.

  I drifted in and out, the light from outside threatening to wake me up completely. The van jerked to a stop and I sat up with a sharp gulp of breath. Finn was already standing, stretching. Charlie and Ace pulled down the beds that pressed into the ceiling and came down at night, getting ready to climb into them and pass out for a few hours before the show. I blinked at Finn as he smiled at me. The van rocked slightly as Cash moved around, pulling the black-out curtains closed on all the windows, and Eli got into the bed that hung over the cab. Shoes hit the aisle, and a pair of jeans next as he undressed up there.

  “C’mon sweetheart, get up so I can make the bed.” Finn shifted me off the bench seat and I stood there, swaying with exhaustion. Normally I slept in one of the bunks, with two of the guys taking the back bench beds, and two guys slept up in the roof-top bed. But as the other guys got settled, leaving only the bench bed for me and Finn, the usual sleeping order was clearly being shaken up. I didn’t think about it too hard, leaning against the side of the small kitchenette and trying not to fall asleep upright.

  Out came two sleeping bags, which Finn zipped together, and he beckoned to me. I stepped up to him, trying not to yawn in his face. He eased me out of his hoodie. His hands fell to my hips, hesitating for a moment, before he pushed down my skirt. I squirmed, almost wanting my underwear to go with them. I felt sticky, and when I made a soft noise, his eyebrow slid up his brow. His fingers hooked into my underwear and he pushed them down my thighs.

  I sighed in relief, and kicked myself out of my shoes, letting my panties and skirt puddle on the floor. If the other guys were watching, I couldn’t tell, because they were just making getting-ready-for-sleep sounds and didn’t seem to be paying us any attention. I reached behind my back and unsnapped my bra, tugging it out from the arms of my shirt. The bra followed the rest of my clothes, and I slid into the sleeping bag with a sigh. Finn’s breath faltered as I moved, and I curled up tight. He tugged his shirt off, flicking his belt open. His jeans hit the floor, as did the rest of his things, until he slipped into the bed next to me in just a pair of boxer-briefs. The heat he was throwing off was delicious, and I inched closer, my skin aching to be near him. He zipped up the sleeping bag and sighed, before rolling over onto his side. I curled into him in the darkness of the tour van, light leaking in around the curtains but not enough to bother me.

  I nuzzled my nose into his bare chest and he grunted, staying still. When I did it again, the soft purr in his chest started up, making me smile.

  “Hey there, kitty,” I teased. He growled, a counterpoint to his soft purring.

  “Gonna swat your ass if you keep that up,” he threatened. I wiggled against him, my skin perfectly sensitive against the softness of the sleeping bad. Sleeping bare was a treat, and I squirmed again, reveling in it.

  “Sounds awesome,” I answered back, the exhaustion and panic hormones finally having run their course, leaving me feeling buzzy and electrified. I closed my eyes and nosed at his chest, rubbing my cheek against it. The sprinkling of coarse hairs there felt good on my face, and I stuck my tongue out, flicking it over one of his flat nipples.

  He hissed out a breath, and pulled away.

  “Darcy,” he said, sounding scandalized. “Go to sleep.”

  “Nah,” I stole his own lazy drawling word, “can’t. Don’t want to.” His eyes narrowed at me.

  “Oh, is that right?”

  I smirked up at him.

  “Mmhm,” I said. “You want me to sleep, you’re gonna have to make me.”

  “Really?”

  “Just fuck her already,” Charlie snapped from his bunk. “The two of you, just fuck and shut up. Some of us, very obviously not fucking, are trying to sleep.”

  We fell quiet for a moment and I noticed Finn’s shoulders were shaking. I muffled my giggle into his chest, not able to contain it. His mouth fell to my ear, and the low buzz of his voice set my body alight,

  “Guess we should listen to him,” he whispered. He shifted, and I felt him shoving his boxer-briefs down his legs. I helped, or tried to, my arms not working too well. He batted me away, and when he rolled on top of me. His weight pressed me down, grounding me. My eyes closed, my thighs parting for him. I was already wet, somehow, just being around him was doing that to me. His fingers traced over my hips, up my stomach, pushing my shirt out of the way until my breasts were exposed to him. One of his large, warm hands cupped one, his mouth teasing the other with nips and licks. I tried to keep quiet, I really did.

  I bit my lip; covered my mouth; breathed as softly as I could. My eyes closed tighter when his tongue circled my nipple again and again until my hips pushed up into his belly, insistent and demanding. His hands moved down, pinning me down, and I felt the hard, hot press of his cock against me.

  For a moment, a flutter of panic overtook me and then, Daria’s voice in my head interrupted my focus;

  “They shoot blanks unless they’re near one at least semi-regularly.”

  I relaxed, offering up a silent prayer to shitty situations that led to magically-induced male birth-control. The next slide of Finn’s cock, splitting my inner walls apart, had every thought but how good he felt in me, disappearing. My hand fell away from my mouth, and I grabbed for the edge of the bed, anything. Finn found me, his fingers lacing through mine. He pinned the back of my hand to the sleeping bag, and watched me through half-open eyes.

  It was so intimate, making love in the silence of the tour van, the presence of the pack so close that I could feel them pressing down on us. I should have been ashamed, but it felt right. Them being close, and Finn inside me, the short, slow pumps of his hips testing my limits; all of it was perfect.

  Finn’s mouth found my ear, and at first I thought he was only going to kiss me. Then he started talking.

  “Love you, Darcy,” he said. I shivered, and lifted my hips to meet his on a deep thrust. “Gonna keep you, forever. All mine, forever.” His words devolved into dirtier talk, and I shuddered, and cried out. “That’s it, baby girl, let me make you feel so good.” He licked my earlobe, the purring in his chest getting louder as his hips rolled. I felt so close to him, his cock filling me with each thrust, chasing the breath out of my lungs.

  “Finn, please, I need,” I struggled to come up with the words. In an instant, he hitched his hips, shifting his cock in me. I moaned and arched up, needing more from him. His hand snaked between us and pressed firmly over my clit. “Right there,” I groaned, “please, right there.”

  He buried his face in my neck. I could fee
l the hot flood of his breath on my neck as his fingers teased over my clit, again and again, the short, sharp strokes making my hips hitch each time. My orgasm was just out of reach, just slightly, and then—

  He growled and I felt his teeth close on my neck, the move more possessive than erotic, and I cried out so loudly that I saw Ace shifting to look over the edge of his bunk. My eyes caught his and we stared at each other as Finn thrust into me, holding me down. Another flush of pleasure ran up my spine and I whimpered, closing my eyes tight as I shook through the end of my orgasm. Finn bit down harder, hips jerking into me hard as he came. I swore I could feel the wet pulse of him inside me, but maybe it was just my imagination.

  He stayed over me, head against the skin of my neck, teeth holding me still. I lifted my free hand, and stroked it down the back of his head. He let go of me, raising his head to look at me. His eyes were glassy, and he glanced down at my neck, wincing.

  “Shit,” he said, swallowing hard. He ran a thumb and I winced at the sore skin. “It’s gonna leave a mark.”

  My heart squeezed with pride.

  “So what,” I said, full of bravado. Maybe I wanted everyone to know I belonged to him. His eyes narrowed and he rumbled.

  “Mine,” he whispered, and buried his nose in my neck again, sighing. He deflated over me, like a warm, burly, man-blanket. It was so comforting.

  I was feeling a little weird down there though, and I squirmed.

  He huffed out a grumpy noise and pulled out of me gently, reaching over my head to grab a box of the baby wipes that were stashed all over the tour van. Could never have enough baby wipes on a tour, I quickly discovered.

  Especially if you were fucking one of the band-members in the back of the tour van. My cheeks pinked up at that thought. He passed me a wipe and I looked away as I cleaned up, feeling shy about it. He nuzzled my cheek, following me despite my desire to curl up. The more I pulled away, the more intent he seemed on snuggling me, until I finally had to sit up to get some space. He leaned up on elbow, looking forlorn.

  “Just give me a minute,” I hissed. He had the grace to blush and he looked away. I got myself clean and wipes stashed away in a plastic bag, before I settled down again. “I’m good.”

  Immediately he was on top of me, half spooning me, half smothering me. It felt good, and we fell asleep, his arm around me, and our fingers entwined.

  Thirty

  Lunch was a hot cooked meal for once, in an vintage-style diner around the corner from the venue. There was a security guard on the lot so we felt okay about leaving the van in the middle of a strange city once we were awake. We piled out into the fresh air, blinking into the sun like a group of disheveled mole-people. Finn popped his hoodie on me again, the oversized garment coming down to my mid-thighs and up to my nose almost.

  “Hmmm,” Ace said as he leaned over me while we walked to the diner. I glanced up at him. He grinned and winked. “Nice mark you got there.” My eyes went wide and I felt my neck. The soft indents of teeth were still in my skin, just above where the hoodie folded along my neck. I reached into my bag and pulled out a compact, checking it out. What I saw made my cheeks redden, and a curl of heat bloom just below my belly. Finn’s bite hadn’t broken the skin, but it’d bruised me, lightly, a reddened line that made me felt claimed.

  Ace studied me for a long moment. “You okay with it?”

  “Weirdly, yeah,” I said, running my thumb over the mark with a sigh before tucking away my compact. He bumped me gently with his shoulder, and snuggled me into his side with his arm, inhaling my scent with his nose in my hair.

  “We don’t deserve you,” he said softly. I frowned at him and gave him a playful shove.

  “Stop talking like that,” I ordered. He grinned.

  “Yes ma’am.”

  It was a treat to order lunch in a real restaurant, surrounded by the guys. After the close call we'd had last night, Eli decided to break into the merch money, and ordered an entire lemon meringue pie with the egg whites whipped so high, they wobbled on my plate. Finn stayed glued to my side for the rest the day, and it wasn't unusual for me to catch him taking selfies with me in the background.

  "You know Chrissy isn't going to let you put up any of those photos," I said, shaking my head as he pulled another face for the camera. He just shrugged.

  “Worth it," he replied. I rolled my eyes; we had time during the day to actually sightsee for once and, even though I was tired, it was nice to walk around the downtown area to people watch. There was a pulse to the city that you only felt when you were walking around. It wasn't the same to drive through. The afternoon passed quickly, too quickly for me, because I spent most of it with my fingers in Finn’s hand.

  This venue was a weird set up when we arrived at it. The merch tables were in a different room from the main performance, so me, Shara and Ginny were all by ourselves for the longest time. Eventually Shara and Ginny got tired of waiting for fans to show up, and decided to go check out the bar in the main venue room. It’s not like I could drink anyway.

  I sat at my booth playing on my phone. Max had finally emerged from her self-imposed isolation. She was finally sending me back text messages regularly, and I wasn’t as worried as I had been. She was even starting to sound like her old self. It made me homesick, which was funny to think that the dorm room with Max was more like ‘home’ to me than life with my family in a massive mansion had ever been.

  Footsteps made me look up. Jake Tupper stood in the doorway to the merch room, his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze burned over me, sending all my instincts screaming. For a moment his face flickered and, when he smirked, it was Creston smirking out at me. I blinked and the memory was gone.

  “Hey there, merch girl,” he drawled as he walked over. He knew better. He knew that I was a manager in my own right, even if I was just an intern. And frankly, I’d been doing a damn good job of it. It wasn’t easy to wrangle a band that had no-one to advocate for them in the form of a booking agent. Getting their sound checks, making sure the venues all had handbills, flyers, and posters for each show in advance and then actually used them?

  Half my time on the road was spent with my laptop open, my cellphone in one hand and the band burner phone in the other, calling street team leaders to make sure the local hangouts were all flyered so that when Phoenixcry rolled into town they actually made a splash and didn’t disappear under the weight of Glory Rev or Jake.

  The best part? It was working. The guys were being flooded after every set with kids throwing twenties at them, lining up for selfies, and wanting to talk forever about the songs, the lyrics, the show. I got the kids to come at doors, when they’d usually come an hour later, and once inside the venue? The boys sold it, hard. Their social media was going crazy and I was getting a steady stream of thumbs-up emails from Chrissy and Willa.

  “What do you need, Jake?” The words were wrong as soon as they were out of my mouth, and I knew it, like watching an accident right before it happens. Jake’s smirk twisted into a dirty smile.

  “Well now that’s just what I wanted to talk about,” he said, putting his hand on my merch booth, pushing away my carefully folded t-shirts and displayed merch stacks.

  The hair on my arm stood up and I glanced down in time to see a thin line of white-blue lighting zip along my wrist. I shoved my arm behind my back, feeling faint. Not now, I begged whatever higher entity was in charge of making my unpredictable powers flare up.

  Jake’s eyes dragged up my body slowly, devouring me with his eyes, and it was all I could do not to slap him or curl my arms in front of me to hide from his gaze. He remained silent and I made an annoyed noise. I was so over this asshole.

  “Want me to tell Shara you were looking for her?” I asked. He chuckled.

  “Don’t pretend you don’t feel it,” he said, dropping his voice down low, tilting his head as he looked at me. He was flirting, ugh, and I’m sure it worked on some girls, who had no taste and thought that Axe made for an elegant co
logne.

  “The only thing I’m feeling right now is nauseous,” I replied, my voice flat. He frowned.

  “What?”

  I took a breath and a huge risk, but to hell with it. The guy was a menace. If he was willing to risk harassing me, I probably wasn’t his first. If I could help it, I’d be his last.

  “I know all about your freaky little Twitter account.” I watched as his face went white for a moment. “Yeah. Real cute. Think taking pictures of me sleeping is romantic? It’s not. It’s fucked.” I heard a soft crack, and felt electricity run up my spine from where my hand was pressed against it behind me.

  Shit. What was making my powers go haywire? I needed to get Jake out of there.

  His face had taken on some pretty striking similarities to a thundercloud. The small, sarcastic part of my brain wondered if he was a weather witch too. I knew he wasn’t. Jake was pure human. Pure garbage-person human.

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said, and gave me one of his little smirky grins. “So you liked it, huh?”

  “Are you kidding me?!” I stepped back from the merch table. “Are you even hearing me?

  “Oh, I’m hearing you, babe. Loud and clear.” He reached for me, lightning-fast, and grabbed my wrist.

  It was just like Creston. The breath stilled in my lungs. My body went stiff, by bit, even as I screamed inside my head to move, goddammit, move! But I couldn’t.

  “That’s right, sweetheart,” he whispered, looming into my personal space. The nickname, so beautiful on Finn’s tongue, was like nails raking down my skin coming from Jake’s mouth. It woke me up and, with a cry, I jerked back out of his grip. I stumbled into the folding chair I’d been sitting on minutes before, and caught myself before turning. Jake stared at me like I’d grown two heads, his pupils blown wide.

  “The fuck?” he whispered. Light flashed in my peripheral vision and I looked down. The lightning was back crawling all over my arms, lacing and searing hot lights of light across my eyes. I blinked and jerked my head up. He took a step back, and power swelled inside me.