‘No.’ Ash snatched at the nearest piece of black velvet and tore it down. ‘I didn’t do this.’ He didn’t volunteer any information about the culprit but just stripped the area and, when he was done, bundled the material into the bottom of the larder cupboard.
‘Where’s everyone else? You must have eaten quickly.’
‘You fucked the dinner up by leaving,’ Rock Giant informed him. He seemed torn between talking to Ash and pursuing Elspeth into the bedroom. ‘Xane took an extended bathroom trip the moment you left, and Iain used that as a cue to make more dickheadish remarks.’
‘He’s lucky I didn’t smash a plate over his skull,’ Elspeth hollered from the back end of the bus. ‘If he ever dares joke about Steve again in my presence I’ll string him up by his nads.’
Um, OK. It sounded as if things had gone downhill rapidly.
‘Speaking of nads, you might want to attend to your fly, since I’m not interested in seeing what you like poking people with,’ Rock Giant suggested.
‘All in all it was a pretty shitty night,’ Elspeth finished. ‘I’m going to bed, so switch the racket you’re listening to off.’ She slammed the bedroom door.
Rock Giant hit the button on the stereo’s main control panel while Ash was still trying to locate the remote. Once the throbbing bass was cut, he realised how hard his heart was still hammering. No doubt Elspeth would be out and yelling at him to quieten that down too. Hell, was it too late to go after Ginny? He’d rather spend a night with her at a hotel than here listening to his bandmates gripe about the man he’d brought in to save them. They needed a drummer. He’d found them one. What was their fucking problem?
‘I’m gonna crash too,’ the big guy muttered. ‘It’s been a fucking long day what with the gig and all the practice we’re having to put in due to the awful drummer you picked for us.’
‘He’s not awful. He got one solo a little bit wrong. We played a set of near twenty songs. You’re all just looking for reasons to despise him. Why can’t you just give him a chance instead?’
‘I was one of the ones who did vote to give him a chance. He’s just not living up to my expectations.’
‘Yeah, but the problem’s that your expectations are way too high. You’re all expecting him to be perfect overnight.’
Rock Giant dragged a hand through the spikes of his hair. They didn’t budge. ‘No, I just expect him to shut his trap once in a while and listen to criticism without acting like a prima donna. We’re all shit sometimes, Ash. The difference between him and us is that we’re prepared to own it and strive to do better. He just whimpers that it’s not his fault. Also, his image is all wrong for us.’
‘No one can see him sitting behind a drum kit.’
The only response he got to that was a snort. Rock Giant then took the stairs two at a time, leaving him standing in the kitchen, his nerves in shreds and his libido chewing itself.
G
inny pitched into the dark and concealed herself in the shadows between the side of the tour bus and the wall it was parked up against. She waited until the cab the rest of the band had returned in rolled away and she was sure they were all safely on board the bus. She half hoped that Ash would come tumbling down the steps looking to catch up with her, but he didn’t show. Maybe his friends weren’t making it so easy to escape, or her speedy departure had left him a gibbering wreck. He’d been so turned on, he was probably thumping his head against a wall right now trying to relieve the tension. Mind you, she was out here still panting herself and more than a little in need of physical release. This wasn’t the place to let off steam, though.
It became clear after a little while that Ash really wasn’t going to appear. She thought about dialling his number again and getting him to meet her, but maybe calling him away twice in one evening was a bit much. Too bad, she’d have liked them to have spent the night together. They’d not done that since the tour began. It’d all been speedy hook-ups in railway carriages and dirty sex in dirty alleyways. She wanted to be able to lie in his arms for hours, make love as if time didn’t exist rather than as if a bomb were about to explode beneath them, and sleep with her arms around him before enjoying a lavish breakfast. Not that she ever ate that much first thing in the morning, but Ash did, and she liked spending time with him chatting and doing normal things, as well as fucking him blind.
She wondered how far into the tour they’d have to get before Ash relented and admitted their relationship to the rest of the band. Not too long, she prayed. She couldn’t stomach the idea of six months of this. Sneaking around, being at his beck and call, didn’t sit well with her. It’s why she’d rebelled tonight. She’d been the sort of woman who sat around waiting for a man, and when she’d finally found the strength to walk away, she’d promised herself she wasn’t going to waste any more time on guys who expected her to be available when it suited them, but weren’t prepared to be there for her in return. Not that she thought Ash was that sort of guy, but he
was
lying about the reason he wanted to keep things quiet.
Lying to himself as much as to her.
It wasn’t about protecting her from the press. They’d get hold of the story and print their venom sooner or later. That was just how the world worked. She didn’t like it, but she did accept that invasion of their private lives was inevitable while she was dating him.
Ash was really protecting himself in case it all went wrong.
She didn’t blame him for it. She’d had enough relationships to know how bad break-ups could be, and the more crazily these things began, the crazier they ended.
Though, touch wood, it never came to that.
Ash was right for her. She wasn’t exactly sure what it was about him that so convinced her of that, she just knew it, and she’d learned to listen to her guts. If she’d done so earlier in life, then she might have avoided a whole lot of adolescent screw-ups.
OK, she was very obviously spending the night alone.
Ginny skirted the parking lot, staying in the shadows. The way out was via the security gate, and with any luck the same guy who’d been there on the way in would still be working. All she’d had to do to get past him earlier was flash him her ID card from the last gig she’d attended. He hadn’t bothered to check the date on it or anything.
He had to be new. He’d definitely been clueless. It was miraculous really that there weren’t girls clawing at the outside of the bus, but they seemed to be contained outside the wire perimeter fence.
Another car pulled up as she neared the security barrier, and Iain Willows stepped out. Damn, it looked as if the band hadn’t all arrived back together as she’d assumed. She stayed where the gloom was thickest, by the back of the security booth, and waited for him to grow tired of trying to impress groupies and slink off towards the bus. Not that he seemed in any hurry to do so. In fact the barrier lifted for another car, while Iain remained chatting.
She recognised Spook immediately. The long blond hair and his equally long stride were complete giveaways. ‘Evening,’ she said to him, seeing no point in hiding from him. Spook knew about her and Ash anyway. She reckoned there wasn’t a whole lot about Ash that Spook Mortensen didn’t know. That fact only perturbed her because she knew so damned little, not because she thought they had a major bromance going on.
Spook’s face was quietly drawn, his lips pulled into a tersely neutral expression, but he smiled when he recognised her. ‘I might have known you’d be the reason Ash hurried off so early. You totally ruined dinner.’
‘Sorry. Yeah, I guess I might have sent him a provocative note or two.’
He gave her and her outfit a quick once-over. ‘No kidding? How much of a mess have you left him in?’
She gave a dainty shrug, while fighting to keep a smile off her lips. ‘I don’t know. I had to make a quick exit because a car pulled up, and you know how desperately he wants to keep things quiet.’
‘Yeah.’ His bright-blue eyes narrowed thoughtfully. ‘Well, I’m sure he can handle one thwarted orgasm – not.’ Spook bowed his head so that his long blond hair fell forward, and shoved his hands deep into his pockets. It took her a moment to realise he was laughing. ‘OK, well, thanks for the warning. I won’t bother trying to get to sleep just yet.’
Ginny wasn’t sure what he meant by that, unless perhaps he was suggesting Ash might need to let off steam by talking or something before they turned in. Of course, her dirty mind conjured a far lewder image of the pair of them sitting side by side wanking one another. There were no grounds for thinking anything of the kind, but she prided herself on her ability to dream. Spook had seen her in the throes of passion; it seemed only fair that at some point she should see him with his composure ruffled, even if it was only in an idle daydream.
‘Tell him goodnight from me,’ she said.
‘Will do.’
Iain finally crossed the security line and caught up with Spook. ‘What’s doing?’ he asked.
‘Just collecting bedtime messages for Ash,’ Spook replied, giving her the chance to step deeper into the shadows cast by the side of the security booth. The last thing she needed was for Iain to recognise her, but luckily his gaze landed on her upper thighs and not her face.
‘Don’t the rest of us get bedtime missives too?’
‘Didn’t the fanclub outside give you any?’ she asked.
Judging by the way he scowled, the answer was a resounding no.
‘They all want to bang Xane, or seduce this guy,’ he moaned. ‘I’m not sure why celibacy’s so intriguing. It’s not like they’re going to get any.’
Spook shrugged his shoulders, signalling, at least as Ginny interpreted it, that he didn’t care what the general population thought. He was his own person, and if he chose not to engage in hanky-panky, then people were just going to have to accept that.
Too bad for the many, many fans out there who harboured fantasies of being the one he let go with. If she hadn’t already been besotted with Ash, then Spook could well have been her guy.
‘Well, he is cute,’ she said.
Iain’s come-to-me-baby smile transformed into a scowl. He coughed, fishing for a compliment of his own.
‘Your haircut’s nice,’ she responded, floundering for something flattering to say.
‘Thanks,’ he huffed, obviously not impressed with her choice of words, but fluffing the jagged layers of red and black all the same. ‘Do you want to join us for a drink?’
Spook, who was standing where Iain couldn’t see him, made a shark’s-fin shape against his forehead.
Ginny responded with the faintest of nods. Mr Willows wasn’t just on the shark; he was looking to take a bite out of her.
‘Cool.’ Iain, misinterpreting her response to Spook as acceptance, stepped forward and attempted to put his arm around her shoulders.
‘What? I mean, no …’ She slipped away from his octopus hold. There were advantages to being small in the presence of gigantic men. ‘Got to run. Baby to feed.’ The latter part wasn’t true, but it worked a treat every time. Iain’s suddenly dead arm flopped to his side. ‘Some other time,’ she added, giving him her best truly salacious smile.
* * *
By the time Iain and then Spook turned up some twenty minutes later, Ash was deep into a bottle of gin. He’d wanted whisky, but the colour reminded him of Ginny’s eyes.
It was Iain who took the bottle off him, but only so he could pour himself a drink. Spook went straight up to bed, only nodding at Ash’s attempts to apologise for ruining the meal.
‘I don’t think Xane and Dani are coming back tonight,’ Iain said, part-way through his second glass. ‘What do you say we find ourselves some fun? There’s a whole bunch of very pretty ladies hanging by the security point.’
‘Nah, I don’t fancy it,’ Ash mumbled. Yeah, he was still horny, but he wanted Ginny, not anybody else. He wondered if he ought to phone her and get directions to her hotel. Except it was late, and the concierge would probably have to unlock the front doors to let him in, and then there was always the chance he’d be recognised. ‘You go if you like.’
Iain shook his head, making his feathery red-and-black-streaked hair bounce like he was in a shampoo commercial. The guy possessed so much product, he could stock a hair salon. ‘Probably not such a good idea. I dunno that they recognise me yet. I tried saying “Hi” on the way in and didn’t get much of a response. They all want you guys.’
‘Give it time, Iain,’ Ash said in the most conciliatory voice he could muster. ‘The tour’s barely begun, and you’ve not been on a release yet. After the next single, it’ll be all “Whoa, Iain, he’s hot!” and “Can I play with your rhythm stick, Mr Willows?”’ His remarks raised a smile.
‘I’ll look forward to it. Then we can party hard together.’
‘Yeah,’ Ash replied, trying not to let his reluctance bleed into his tone. His days of banging Black Halo fans were over. He’d already disappointed a lot of ladies who’d queued to see him. However, if Iain was happy to spread some love around once the fans accepted him, then that would help him out of a bind. One thing he’d learned was that their female fans weren’t overly picky about which member of the band they got to be with, just as long as someone was prepared to love them a little bit.
He downed the remains of his drink, wiped his mouth and slung the empty bottle into the kitchen wastebin. ‘Let’s go up now. I’m whacked.’
T
he copious amounts of alcohol he’d downed utterly failed to numb his desire for Ginny. Ash lay on his back, staring up at the bottom of the bunk above, trying not to give in to the temptation to wank himself silly. He was still every bit as wired now as when Ginny had been astride his lap riding him to oblivion.
He wasn’t sure why he was so hesitant about relieving himself, except that it had been such a long time since he’d needed to do such a thing. He was used to having women lining up to bring him joy. No, he wasn’t counting all the times he had to finish himself off after less-than-stellar sex, because that was different. It was. Then it was almost an automatic response to being stoked but not aroused enough to come, whereas right now his whole body was begging him. His skin was alive with static charge, and the mere brush of the duvet was almost unbearable. Ginny’s scent still lingered on his skin. His lips tasted of her unique flavour, while her image filled his imagination. She was the sexiest being in creation. No one else came close, not even Mr Sex-on-a-stick Geist. Not that he routinely found guys hot or anything. And those shorts she’d combined with her fishnets,
mmm … mmm … mmm.
They were way too delicious to ever want to take off, so it was fantastic that she’d thought of a way he could fuck her while she was still wearing them. At the same time they were damnable, because they were largely responsible for his current state.