Beyond The Music (The Rock Gods Book 7) (16 page)

Leg cramps plagued Lincoln again that night and Aaron ended up sleeping in the recliner chair in his room for a second night. By the time morning came, they were both exhausted and didn’t get downstairs for breakfast until almost noon. That only gave Lincoln an hour to get himself dressed and over to the small dance club they occasionally rented in order to practice on a stage.

Lincoln had Aaron do the driving to the club. The less stress he put on himself before meeting up with the guys the better. Aaron pulled into the almost empty parking lot for the club and parked beside the building. Lincoln scanned the parking area and saw Dagger’s large SUV parked next to Ashton’s flaming red Ferrari and Dante’s black Porsche. Everyone was here and that tightened the knot in Lincoln’s stomach a few more degrees.

“Fuck,” Lincoln mumbled.

“What’s wrong?” Aaron asked.

“They’re all here,” Lincoln answered.

Aaron glanced at the building. “Are you late or are they early?”

Lincoln checked his cell phone for the time. “We’re on time.”

“Okay, then let’s get you in there,” Aaron said and reached for his door to step outside. Lincoln did the same and paused to feel the sunshine on his face. It was one thing to be with Aaron inside the privacy of his home, but out here with the scrutinizing eyes of his band members staring at him was a different story. If they noticed how off his balance was, or how Aaron was always close to his side, Lincoln knew there’d be questions. Was he ready for that? Did he want to share Aaron with them at all, or have to explain Aaron’s presence?

Lincoln followed one of their road crew into the club through the side door. The sudden shift in light from the bright sunlight to the dim club setting had Lincoln stumbling over a pile of equipment sitting by the stage entrance. Aaron quickly scooped him up in his arms and righted him right before Dagger shouted out his name.

“Well, if it isn’t the hermit of the band,” Dagger commented, then pulled Lincoln in for a hug. “Jesus, we haven’t seen you since Cooper’s wedding in Vegas.”

“Oh, come on. We’ve seen each other since then,” Lincoln said and stepped out of the embrace.

Dagger shook his head. “Nope, I don’t think so,” he replied then his eyes bounced to Aaron.

Shit. Here goes nothing.

“Who’s this?” Dagger asked Lincoln.

“Aaron,” Lincoln revealed. He saw the question in Dagger’s eyes and figured he better answer the question before Dagger had a chance to ask. It would probably be easier that way. “Aaron is a friend of mine.”

Dagger’s dark eyes flicked back to Lincoln. “A friend, you say?”

“Yeah.” Lincoln nodded. His tongue suddenly felt thick in his mouth.

“Since when do you bring
friends
to practice?” Dagger asked bluntly.

“Aaron wanted to see us in action,” Lincoln offered with a shrug.

Aaron extended his hand to Dagger to shake. “Nice to meet you,” Aaron stated lightly.

“You, too,” Dagger replied then he looked back at Lincoln.

Lincoln could see the wheels turning inside Dagger’s head. None of them brought “guests” to practices, especially Lincoln. In fact, Lincoln hadn’t ever introduced a friend, partner, or even a fucking relative to the band before now, so this probably felt off to Dagger from the start. Aaron’s presence likely launched a hundred red flags, too, but Lincoln didn’t want to think about that right now.

“Where’s everyone else?” Lincoln asked, hoping to pull the attention off Aaron standing beside him and onto something—or someone else.

“I just got here and Ashton and Dante are in the bathroom, no doubt trashing up another one,” Dagger commented. “The stage crew is almost done with their end of things and then we can get down to business.”

“Jesus, Dante and Ashton are still going at it?” Lincoln chuckled.

“Well, at least they’re no longer beating on each other,” Dagger said.

They started walking deeper into the backstage area with Dagger leading the way and Aaron doing his best to hide the fact he was helping Lincoln navigate his way through the miles of electrical cords snaking across the floor. They turned down the hallway that ran behind the stage to the dressing rooms. Dagger stopped outside one of the small practice rooms and faced Lincoln and Aaron.

“Why don’t you grab your bass and warm-up,” Dagger suggested and pointed to the practice space on the left side of the hall. “I’ll go see if I can get Ashton and Dante out of the fucking bathroom.”

Lincoln nodded nervously and stepped into the room. There wasn’t much in the brightly lit room, just half a dozen folding metal chairs leaning up against the wall, a faded couch, an empty clothing rack, and a small collection of their instruments. Lincoln saw several guitars arranged in stands resting beside the couch. One of the instruments was his bass guitar. Lincoln lifted the familiar piece and draped the strap behind his neck. His body relaxed as soon as the instrument settled into place against him. He ran through a few quick chords to loosen up his fingers. He wasn’t plugged into anything yet to amplify the sound, because this was more of an exercise than anything.

“Wow,” Aaron sighed.

Lincoln lifted his head and met Aaron’s warm gaze. “What?”

“You look so different holding that guitar right now,” Aaron said.

The comment was odd to Lincoln, but more than that, it was the flushed expression on Aaron’s face that caught Lincoln off guard. “You’ve seen me play my guitars at home, so what’s the surprise?”

“I guess what’s different is seeing you play with such focus,” Aaron stated. “You look really . . . intense.”

Lincoln wasn’t sure what Aaron meant with that comment and the sudden cramp in his left foot prevented him from probing further. His attention was yanked away from Aaron and slammed back to his own ugly reality. The pain went from zero to one hundred in a flash and Lincoln nearly fell to his knees.

“Oh, fuckkkkkk,” Lincoln ground out. He managed to lift the bass guitar from around his neck and sat down in the chair Aaron had quickly placed behind him. He gulped in several breaths trying to get his focus off the pain, but it wasn’t helping. Every muscle in Lincoln’s body was wound up tight as his fingers clung to the edge of the chair seat. “Fuck, fuck, fuck! This can’t happen now!”

Aaron dropped to his knees in front of Lincoln. He had Lincoln’s boot removed from his foot and was massaging Lincoln’s instep through his sock before Lincoln had a chance to catch his breath. “Lincoln,” Aaron called out. “Concentrate on the breathing like I showed you at the house. Do it with me.”

Lincoln’s eyes held Aaron’s as he breathed with him. Slow intakes of breath while Aaron’s fingers manipulated the knots in his foot and up the back of his leg onto his calf muscle. As usual, a minute of firm ministrations from Aaron’s fingers were doing the trick and the pain was beginning to recede. Lincoln’s breathing was almost back to normal when he saw Aaron’s gaze dart to the open door behind him. Aaron set Lincoln’s foot down on the floor. then his hands gripped Lincoln’s knees. He shifted between Lincoln’s slightly parted legs and ran his hands up the length of Lincoln’s muscled thighs. Aaron’s touch was intimate this time and Lincoln noticed the change immediately.

“What are you doing?” Lincoln asked in a hushed tone. The closer proximity of Aaron’s body to his was unnerving.

“Are you still insisting your . . . situation remain a secret?” Aaron asked in a hushed tone.

“Absolutely,” he answered. Lincoln watched Aaron’s hands rubbing his thighs, inching higher toward his groin, and then Aaron leaned in closer bringing his lips so close to Lincoln’s mouth he could feel the moist heat of each of Aaron’s breaths wash over his face.

“Aaron . . .” The soft stroke of Aaron’s tongue sliding across Lincoln’s bottom lip was a shock to his system. Part of him wanted to pull away. The agony of want swirled with the bliss of Aaron’s body heat and seared the skin beneath Lincoln’s clothes and Lincoln felt drunk with it. Aaron’s cheek pressed to Lincoln’s. The scrape of their jawlines together raised the fine hairs all over Lincoln’s body and a shiver raced through him that he didn’t bother to try and harness.

“Kiss me,” Aaron whispered beside Lincoln’s ear.

“Why?” Lincoln knew it was a stupid question, but he wasn’t taking any chances he was misreading the situation. Up until this very moment Aaron had shown absolutely no indication he wanted something physical with Lincoln, so why now?

“Dagger is watching us from the doorway.” Aaron’s voice was breathy and rough.

Lincoln nodded and Aaron’s lips inched closer and brushed against his. Lincoln’s heart felt like it would burst from his chest. Aaron dragged his tongue along the seam of Lincoln’s lips and Lincoln opened for him. Aaron’s tongue tentatively slid inside and Lincoln’s eyes rolled back in his head. This couldn’t possibly be real, but the grip Aaron had on his shoulders was and the soft press of his body to Lincoln’s was definitely real.

“Fuckkk,” Lincoln signed against Aaron’s open mouth. He wrapped an arm around Aaron’s back and pulled him tighter to his chest, almost lifting him into place against his groin. His tongue pushed inside Aaron’s mouth and stroked against his. Lincoln used the tip to explore and taste every last inch of Aaron’s wet mouth. The heat and suction Aaron offered stole Lincoln’s breath. Christ, he’d been wanting to do this for days, and it wrecked him to think Aaron was only doing it to trick Dagger into thinking they were a couple.

Lincoln opened wider and was surprised when Aaron did the same. This time it was Lincoln tugging Aaron’s tongue into his mouth, biting first before sucking on Aaron’s strong tongue. Lincoln nearly crumbled when Aaron moaned into his mouth. He didn’t want this to end and slanted his mouth to take more of Aaron’s tongue. A pulse of heat zinged inside his balls and Lincoln felt the first stirrings of arousal thicken his cock.

“Jesus, this feels so good,” Lincoln exhaled against Aaron’s lips and then Aaron suddenly pulled away.

Aaron’s eyes flicked back to the doorway then to Lincoln. “He’s gone,” Aaron mumbled, then his gaze dropped to Lincoln’s thighs. A beat later he leaned back on his heels and seemed to be struggling to regain his senses, then he pushed himself to his feet to stand. “I, ah . . . I should probably go check the, you know . . .” he said, using his thumb to indicate he was moving in the direction of the hallway.

Lincoln watched in stunned silence as Aaron turned and walked away from him toward the open doorway. “Aaron. Wait.”

Aaron paused briefly, but didn’t make eye contact. “I’ll be right back,” he reassured Lincoln. “I want to check the stage for tripping hazards,” he explained and then he was gone.

Lincoln closed his eyes and touched his kiss swollen lips.
What the hell just happened? Was that a one-time thing, or the beginning of something incredible?
The fuck if he knew, and that was part of the problem.

Chapter Thirteen

Dante and Ashton walked into the dressing room while Aaron was looking at the stage set-up for Lincoln. Their tussled hair, flushed cheeks, and swollen lips told part of the story and the love bites visible on Ashton’s throat filled in the empty blanks for Lincoln. It certainly wouldn’t take a forensic team to figure out what they’d just finished doing, which was each other.

Lincoln envied the casual displays of affection between the men around him. Even if he managed to find someone to share the same kind of openly raw emotion, he wouldn’t be able to satisfy them the way normal lovers would. He hated the fact his disease owned him as it did. He’d give just about anything to have his old life back before the MS took over. How different would it be if he’d met Aaron before he got sick? Would they have a chance at something more? Or maybe Aaron wouldn’t be with him at all unless he was sick. It hurt to think about, that was for sure.

Dante walked over to where Lincoln sat in the chair with his guitar draped across his lap. Dante was smiling from ear to ear as he ruffled Lincoln’s long hair. “Hey, Linc!” Dante greeted. “Where’s this dude Dagger said you were sucking face with in here?”

Lincoln’s eyes flew open at Dante’s remark. Had Dagger already told everyone about Aaron? “I haven’t seen you guys in a few weeks and you start by pissing me off?” Lincoln complained.