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Good. It’d be parked next to the bus.
‘Xane.’ He hadn’t reached the bathroom before Dani found him. ‘You were awesome!’ She smacked a kiss against his lips. ‘You made me sob when you sang “Torn Into”.’ She fluttered her hand, tearing up again at the memory. There were still mascara smudges on her cheeks as proof.
Xane reached out to rub at them, only for a brilliant smile to burst from her.
‘And “The Garden of Lost Time” and “Hellhole” – God, you got me so horny, and then when Ash and Spook were duelling. I never knew they did that. I mean there’s a bit of it on the albums, but it doesn’t have the same oomph as when you’re seeing and hearing it live. It was so good. What? Why are you grinning at me like that?’
‘Because you’re awesome,’ he said, lifting her into his arms. She hugged him back, not seeming to mind that he was hot and sweaty and covered in stage paint and fake blood splatter.
‘I’m not awesome,’ she protested, wriggling in his arms. ‘You’re the one who’s amazing. I can’t believe I never came to see you live before. I mean, I did that last time you were supposed to play, but I should have done it before then. I’ve been missing out on so damn much.’ She smacked another scorching hot kiss against his lips. ‘You completely rocked my socks off.’
‘What do you say we sneak away and I rock your panties off?’
‘I say,’ she said, tucking his hair behind his ear so that she could whisper into it, ‘that you’re on.’
Chapter 8 (#ulink_f7b9176d-771c-5569-98c8-e04809b63a89)
Dani clung tightly to Xane’s hand as they sneaked out back to find Sally. She’d never been on a tour bus before, and was itching to see it almost as much as she was itching to push Xane up against a wall and run her hands all over his body.
It was dark in the lot out back, with only one or two dim lights rather than the floodlighting she’d expected. Sally insisted on unlocking for them, rather than simply handing over the keys. ‘It’s a new bus,’ she explained, which caused Xane to stop in his tracks.
‘Since when?’
‘You’re gonna love it, Xane. It makes the last one look like the rust-bucket.’
From what Xane had described, the last bus had been fairly comfortable, whereas the rust-bucket was the heap of shit that the crew used, normally accompanied by Ash and a collection of stray women.
‘Custom paint job.’ She held her hands out to present them the vehicle. It was huge, two storeys like a red London bus, but silver and black and with tinted windows. Black Halo’s distinctive logo graced the backend.
‘Oh, no,’ Xane said, evidently realising at the same time Dani did that there was only one bus parked up, not the two there ought to have been. ‘Where’s the rust-bucket?’
‘Scrapyard,’ Sally remarked blithely. ‘We didn’t need it any more. Wait until you see inside this beast. It has everything, air-con, state-of-the-art kitchen, on-board recording studio.’ She unlocked the door and ushered them up the steps. ‘This baby’s better kitted out than my house.’
‘It looks amazing,’ Dani agreed. The steps led up past the driver’s seat into a smart kitchen-dining area, finished in black and brushed steel to match the band’s image.
‘There’s a small sitting area beyond and two berths down here, with a loo, shower and double bedroom at the back. Then upstairs you have the studio, six bunks and another sitting area that converts into a spare double.’
‘Are there that many people you need beds for?’ Dani asked. She guessed that maybe there were if the crew and band were sharing lodgings. It looked pretty spacious at the moment, but once there were a few decent-sized blokes on board, the space was going to shrink fast.
‘This isn’t going to work, Sally. We have two buses for a reason,’ Xane said.
‘Which is?’
‘Ash.’
‘Mm hm … yeah. The thing is, there are a lot of dates on this tour, and there’s a lot of travelling involved. It makes no sense to be constantly waiting around for a bus that breaks down. Also, this way, you’re all in the same place. There’s no risk of losing anyone. If you need time out from each other, then you can ride with me and Graham in the motorhome or in the new equipment truck with Ulf.’
‘You replaced that too?’
‘Yeah, there was a fuck-off big scrape down the side of it. It looked as if it’d been side-swiped by Godzilla.’
‘Where’s Ash gonna …’
Sally patted him on the back. ‘I’m sure you’ll sort it out. You know, in the early days you always holed up on one bus, and there were never any issues.’
‘In those days Ash didn’t travel with an entourage.’
‘No,’ she said. ‘You did. Get used to it, Xane. This is how it is. I’m sure you can come to an agreement with Ash, you’re both adults. Talk to one another and settle it. Now, I’ll leave you and Dani to get comfortable.’ She waved them a cheery farewell.
‘Shit!’ Xane bellowed the moment Sally closed the outer door. He punched one of the cupboard doors, introducing a small dent.
‘How bad can it be?’ Dani rubbed his arm soothingly. ‘It’ll be a bit cramped when everyone’s together, but we’ll cope. I bet there’s not many times when everyone is in the same place.’
‘It’s not the number of people that’s the issue. I don’t want to listen to Ash fucking groupies every night. You’ve no idea what it’s like. It’s so-o not pretty when he turfs them out afterwards.’ He gave her a hard and very serious look. ‘I trust your friend Ginny realises there’s nothing more than a good time on offer.’
‘She does.’
‘Good. I wish the rest of his hook-ups were that bright. Most of them are convinced they’re the one, and he’s going to magically settle down and have babies.’
‘I can’t see Ash with a baby.’ She squinted, trying to picture him bare-chested with a newborn tucked against his body instead of his guitar. It didn’t work. ‘Maybe he can be persuaded to party elsewhere.’
‘What – like throw him a mattress in the back of the equipment van and let him hang out there?’
‘Harsh.’
‘Yeah, but if they see where he’s planning on banging them maybe they won’t get so fanciful in their ideas.’
‘Can I get fanciful?’ she asked, sliding her arms around his waist. The bonus of him thinking about Ash was that he wasn’t thinking about Steve, which in turn ought to make it easier for her to get him to focus on her.
‘You don’t need to get fanciful, I’m yours already.’
She’d never get tired of hearing him say it, even if it wasn’t entirely true. ‘Can we explore?’ She’d never got to do any normal childhood things like staying in a holiday home. ‘I want to choose a bed.’
Xane gave her a gentle push towards the stairs. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Can’t we nab the double?’
He shook his head. ‘The double’s normally assigned on a rota, but I suspect Elspeth’s going to lay claim to it, and frankly I don’t feel like arguing. If she’s got a room to hide in that I don’t have to go near, then all the better.’
To be fair, Dani couldn’t argue with that logic either. She didn’t particularly relish the thought of spending six months cooped up with his ex-girlfriend any more than he did. ‘OK, so if Elspeth has the bedroom, won’t that make it difficult for Ash to entertain anyway? I mean, he can hardly have an orgy in a bunk bed.’
‘Knowing Ash he’d use someone else’s bed.’
She frowned and wondered again if Ginny really did know what she was getting herself into. Xane made him sound like a diabolical slut. She prayed, for Ginny’s sake, he was exaggerating.
The sleeping quarters occupied the middle section of the upper floor. ‘Top or bottom?’ Dani asked. There were three bunks on each side.
Xane immediately vaulted up onto the middle bunk on the righthand side. ‘Neither.’ He turned onto his back and wriggled a little to test out the mattress. ‘Not bad. Not bad at all. Come on up.’
She ought to have known he’d opt for the middle. After all, he’d spent numerous nights in the centre of a three-way. She shoved the thought of him sandwiched between Elspeth and Steve to the back of her head. It was only her guess that they’d engaged in that sort of sex anyway. Xane had never explicitly said that the three of them had shared a bed at the same time.
Xane rolled onto his side to look at her. ‘Which one do you want?’
All the bunks were identically made up with the same smart black and white coverings, so the only actual difference was the positioning. ‘This one.’ She opted for the bunk directly below Xane’s. Kneeling to crawl into bed seemed less hassle than having to scurry up and down a ladder. She didn’t possess Xane’s height or agility to be able to easily hop up into even the middle bunk.
Dani crawled into her new home and stretched out, getting herself acquainted with the space. A shelf ran along the entire length of the back wall. She also had her own TV/DVD combo set into the wall at her feet, and there seemed to be a multitude of odd little cubbyholes too.
A line of switches sat directly above her head. Dani tested one at random and the lights dimmed. The second closed the curtains, concealing her from the rest of the room.
Xane stuck his head under the curtains. ‘I hope you’re not intentionally shutting me out.’ He crawled in beside her and stretched out on his side.
‘Just testing things out.’ She flicked a few more switches on and off.
‘There wasn’t any of this stuff on the old bus. I guess it’s a welcome improvement, even if we do have to share with Ash. These bunks are easily a foot and a half wider than the old ones. Want to know how I can tell?’ He kissed his index finger and pressed it to the tip of her nose. ‘Because we’re not squashed together like sardines. In the past, we’d have had to be like this if we’d wanted to lie down together.’ He rolled on top of her, with his knees tucked tight against her sides and his body hunched low as though there were no headspace at all above him.
‘Cosy,’ she said, putting her arms around him too. ‘I might be mistaken, but I seem to recall you saying something about my knickers coming off.’
Xane lifted himself on his elbows a little so that they weren’t pressed quite so tightly together. ‘I did, didn’t I.’
‘You did.’
‘Did I cite a reason?’ he teased.
As if he didn’t know. ‘I think you were planning a bit of a workout.’
‘I think I’d need gym clothes for that, wouldn’t I? Not your panties.’
Dani slapped him on the shoulder. ‘Stop it.’
‘Don’t you like my teasing?’ He arched his body at that exact moment so that the swell of his erection pressed tight against the apex of her thighs.
‘Mm,’ she groaned.
‘Is this the “mmm” bit?’ He rolled his hips again, thus teasing her in exactly the right spot. ‘I’ve really fucking missed you, have I mentioned that yet? I wanted your arms around me so much.’ He explored the side of her jaw, nipped her earlobe, then trailed kisses down to the pulse point in her throat.
‘I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.’ She sought a route inside his shirt, clawed at the skin of his back until he growled and pulled away.
Xane breathed out jerkily. His hot hands slid down to her waist, and a second later he had her jeans around her knees. ‘I do like these knickers,’ he said, twanging the side elastic of her bit of Black Halo merchandise. ‘Although I like them down here best, where they can be all pretty but not get in the way.’ They followed her jeans down to her knees.
It wasn’t so long ago Dani had balked at the mere thought of being this exposed, but when Xane crouched over her, looking at her, she knew he wasn’t seeing her hundreds of scars, only the prize awaiting him between her thighs.
‘You smell so sweet.’ He stuck out his tongue, and her body wept in anticipation. He didn’t make her wait too long. His tongue tickled her navel first, before delving lower. He licked along the split of her lips, teasing, tantalising her with the promise of more, so that she arched off the bed towards him, offering herself up.
When his tongue finally touched her clit, the jolt zapped through her like ten thousand volts. She clawed the bedclothes.
‘This bit?’ he enquired. ‘This spot here? Buck for me some more.’
She did, her muscles jumping without conscious input on her part. Wild fire raged inside her whenever he touched her with his mouth.
‘What exactly is it that gets you so twitchy?’
‘Do that again?’
He licked her clit again, using his tongue stud against the underside.
Hell, yeah! That turned her to mush every time. It damn near short-circuited her brain. If tongue studs became standard and more guys were prepared to do this, the world would become a happier place overnight.
‘What about if I tickle this bit too?’ he said, briefly touching her rear entrance.
Oh, God, no. She couldn’t take it. It was too sensitive and too naughty. But then Xane did love being rude. He liked pushing boundaries, doing things in places he shouldn’t. He’d proved several times over how much fun doing those things could be too.
The thought of him sliding into her rear, pounding her hard that way, made her gasp. If the rest of the band turned up while he was doing that, it’d be totally embarrassing. Not that she wouldn’t die anyway if they arrived now, while she had her panties round her knees.
‘Like that thought, don’t you?’ Xane’s breath whispered against her skin. ‘I know you do. You like to pretend you’re all prim, but I know the real you. I know you like it when I put my dirty fingers in dirty places.’
‘Yes,’ she breathlessly agreed. There didn’t seem to be any sense in denying it. Not when she was already reacting to him stroking her there. He tantalised her with the press of one fingertip, pushing it in enough to light up her nerve-endings and make her feel ridiculously naughty. She knew he liked sex that way. She guessed that’s how he’d done things when he was with Steve.
Fuck! She had Steve Matlock in her head again. She wasn’t going there. She wasn’t. Not when Xane was coaxing this much pleasure from her body. It didn’t matter what he’d done in the past, or who he’d loved. He was with her now.
‘I’m thinking I’m going to need to get inside you real soon.’
He rose over her, and began a seductive climb up her torso, marking his ascent with kisses. When he reached the hem of her top, he shoved it up over her breasts, exposing her from her bra to her knees. ‘You are so fucking sexy,’ he growled, his voice a low hum in his throat. ‘Matching bra too,’ he observed before he unclasped it and sent it flying over his shoulder, before latching onto one of her puckered nipples.
Dani reached for him too. She managed to wrestle his shirt from him before he grabbed hold of her wrists and pinned them above her head.
‘Sorry, I can’t have you touching me.’ He rolled his hips as he spoke, driving his leather-clad loins against her pussy. ‘I want to enjoy this. Make it last. But you have me so stoked already with all those little crooning noises you’re making that I’m not sure I’ll last longer than a nanosecond with your hands on me.’
‘But I want to touch you.’ She liked running her hands across his body, every bit of it, though there were a few special places she was particularly excited by, like the indents that ran down from his hips to form a V shape, and the prize that led to. She liked the flat of his stomach too, and his collarbone, and tiny perky nipples. Normally, they were adorned by silver ring piercings, but tonight the left one was missing. A new band of ink decorated a spot over his heart. Closer observation revealed it to be their names entwined within the body of a serpent biting its own tail.
He’d permanently inked her name on himself. There were no tattoos on him that read ‘Elspeth’ or ‘Steve’. Maybe he genuinely was as serious about her as she was about him.
He cried out as she sucked one of his nipples into her mouth. ‘Off. I’m serious, Dani. Don’t. I will boil over.’
‘I can’t believe my body makes you that hot.’
‘All of you makes me hot. Now, back off and stop fighting me. Let me control this.’
‘Am I fighting?’ She tested his hold upon her wrists again. She liked it when he held her down, but she liked being free to touch him and rake her nails across his back too.
‘Seriously, woman. You can have your turn soon, but you need to keep your hands off me, or else me and my hard-on are going to have to take a little trip to the bathroom.’
‘How’s that going to help?’ She pictured him standing under the bright fluorescent light, his erection hugging tight against his body.
‘You’d be amazed what a bit of icy water can do.’
She didn’t want him to cool off. ‘Wouldn’t you rather slip it someplace warm?’ She lifted her hips to collide with his. He hadn’t forbidden her that, or her giving him kisses.
He made a shocked sound, and his eyelids closed.
