One Night with Sole Regret 02 Tempt Me (9 page)

“
Go, Owen,” Hawkeye, their
soundboard operator, said into their feed. “The rest of them will
figure it out.”

Owen entered the stage, playing his
bass solo backed by the hard and heavy beat of Gabe's
drumming.

Adam plucked a guitar pick from the
tape attached to the neck of his guitar. He scratched his nose with
the back of his wrist and was instantly engulfed in Madison's
scent. He inhaled her essence deep into his lungs and fought the
urged to lick his fingers. How was he supposed to concentrate on
the show with the smell of her sweet pussy all over his left
hand?

“
So fucking selfish and
irresponsible,” Shade muttered under his breath.

Adam stiffened and lowered his hand so
he could concentrate on dealing with Shade. “What is your
problem?”

“
You, Adam,” Shade said.
“Let’s review your behavior in the past twenty-four hours alone.
Smoking weed backstage before a concert.” He ticked off Adam’s
crimes on his fingers. “Taking the limo without telling anyone so
the rest of us had to find a cab. Thirty minutes late for sound
check. Almost starting a riot in front of the stadium. Too busy
fucking some slut to show up for the concert on time.”

Adam took a swing at him.
Busting his balls was one thing; calling Madison
some slut
was going way
too far. Unfortunately, Kellen stepped between them before Adam
could connect his fist with Shade’s face.

“
Now is not the time for
this,” Kellen said. “Adam, your cue.”

Fuck the concert. Adam wanted to beat
the shit out of Shade. Just because Adam had wanted to spend time
with Madison at the expense of his other responsibilities did not
make him irresponsible. Did it? And even if it did, why did Shade
think it was any of his business? Adam wasn’t Shade’s
responsibility. Fuck him.

Adam heard the drumbeat
that signaled the start of his guitar intro. His hands found
familiar strings and began to play automatically. He should already
be on stage in the red spotlight over his stomp pad. If Shade would
stop sticking his arrogant nose where it didn’t belong and making
Adam’s blood boil, Adam might be able to concentrate on what he was
doing. He played his way up the stage steps and pretended his
entrance was part of the show. The crowd wouldn’t know any
different. When the spotlight bathed him in an aura of crimson, the
crowd erupted in screams of excitement.
Yeah, just try continuing this band without me,
asshole.

Shade darted across the
stage and stood at its center, belting out a battle cry that would
have made Spartans tremble. The crowd roared even louder.
Son of a bitch.

If Adam didn't love Sole Regret’s
music so much, he'd have left the band—and Shade's bullshit—long
ago.

Fingers flying over the strings near
the body of his guitar as he played one of his most elaborate
solos, Adam caught movement at the corner of the stage. He turned
his head to find Madison watching him with her hands clenched
together over her heart. He should play something just for her. He
wondered if she'd like that. Near the end of his solo he lifted the
neck of his guitar vertically next to his face and caught her scent
on his hand again. He drew a deep breath into his lungs and his
eyes drifted closed. Mercy, she smelled like honeyed
sin.

Reluctant to move his hand, Adam took
his time lowering his guitar to rest in front of his suddenly
attentive cock. Not the best time and place to become aroused, but
he couldn’t help it. Her scent did that to him. Everything about
her did that to him.

The stadium erupted in cheers as he
completed his solo and stepped back from the front edge of the
stage. As loud as the crowd was, the only cheer that made his heart
thud was Madison's fist thrown in the air with excitement. She'd
never cheered like that at one of his shows before. She'd always
hung back away from the action and tried to remain unnoticed. He
wondered about the sudden change in her. He was glad she was having
a good time, but he wasn't sure if he wanted her to change. She was
his anchor as well as the wind in his sails. He needed to know she
was there for him even when he didn’t see her for weeks, sometimes
months, at a time.

The song ended, and Shade stalked the
front of the stage, talking to the crowd as vocalists were prone to
do. “How are we feeling tonight, Dallas-Fort Worth?”

The crowd roared on cue. Adam stole a
glance at Madison. She offered him a timid wave and then smiled and
lowered her gaze. He couldn't see the color of her face from this
distance, but he knew she'd be blushing. He loved it when she
blushed.

Shade was still jabbering
at the crowd. He might as well have been talking like an adult in
a
Peanuts
cartoon
for all that Adam heard. The heavy thud of Gabe's bass drum snapped
Adam to attention when the next song started. He really was out of
it tonight; he needed to step up his game. He did have fans to
entertain. He could concentrate on entertaining Madison in about an
hour.

Adam trotted to the front of the stage
next to Shade the-attention-whore Silverton, and bent forward to
play a hard and heavy riff to a cluster of fans in the
pit.

“
Adam, you're a god!”
someone yelled.

He grinned.
Did you hear that, Shade? They think I'm a
god.

“
I love you, Shade,”
someone else yelled like a banshee with a megaphone.

Son of a bitch.

Adam noted the amused grins
on the faces of several people in the audience and knew Kellen was
mocking him behind his back. He did it every show. The crowd
thought it was hilarious, so Adam let it slide. He knew Kellen
would never do something to intentionally harm a person—well,
except maybe those lovers he tied to his bed. But they begged to
receive his punishment. Adam wondered if Madison would enjoy
something like that. All indications pointed to
hell yeah
.

Shade charged in front of
Adam so he could sing to the fans that Adam was favoring with
personal attention.
Seriously,
dude?
Adam rolled his eyes at Shade and
trotted to the opposite end of the stage, climbing up on a platform
and playing to the audience in the stadium seats. He pointed his
guitar stock at the excited crowd and they yelled in enthusiasm. He
pulled the neck of his guitar back and then thrust it forward
again. Half the stadium roared on cue. He soon had them chanting at
will. And when he bounced up on his toes, they jumped in
unison.

A rush of adrenaline flooded his body,
and he bounced in time with the beat. His audience followed his
cue, jumping up and down with the music. Adam loved interacting
with the crowd. Especially one so eager to follow his lead.
Occasionally they got a dud of an audience, but most of their fans
were crazy fun. The audience on the opposite side of the stadium
began to roar, and Adam glanced over to find Shade standing near
Madison, who was barely hidden in the wings. Shade was thrusting
his fist in the air to get the other half of the audience worked
into a frenzy.

And then the competition began. Who
could get their side of the stadium to scream louder, to jump
higher, to go crazier? Owen and Kellen moved down stage center to
involve the audience members writhing in the pit. The craziest
motherfuckers always rocked general admission. Several mosh pits
formed on the floor, and bodies were soon ricocheting off each
other in utter pandemonium.

By the end of the second song, Adam
was already drenched in sweat. His shirt clung to his back and his
hair to his face. He wiped his palm on his jeans so his fingers
wouldn’t slip on his guitar strings when he played their next song.
He'd like to say his half of the stadium was the most worked up
now, but he had to admit the entire audience was in an
uproar.

Adam moved back to Owen's live
microphone and shouted, “You fuckers know how to rock!”

By the roar the audience produced,
they obviously agreed.

Shade offered him a smile. “What do
you say, Adam? Are you ready to set your fingers on
fire?”

Like steam, the tension between them
evaporated. At that moment, all that mattered was the music they
shared. “Light me,” Adam said.

The crowd roared its approval as Adam
started the intro to “Light Me.” By the time the rest of the band
entered the song and he gave his left hand a half-second of rest,
his fingers did feel like they were on fire. He loved the challenge
of playing that intro live. Only the song’s minute-long solo
offered a greater test of his skills. Adam had been so high when
he’d written “Light Me,” he was surprised he’d been able to find
the strings, much less compose his most inspired piece of music. He
wondered what magic he’d be able to create now that he was sober.
He only had one person to thank for the blessing of his
sobriety.

Adam searched for Madison in the wings
and found her gazing at him in worshipful awe. He’d much rather put
that look on her face in bed, but of the fifteen-thousand people
giving him their undivided attention, it was her opinion that
mattered most.

By the end of Sole Regret’s set, Adam
was overheated and his clothes were soaked through with sweat.
Despite the amount of energy he’d expended, he was too amped to be
tired. He had plenty of energy to spare and when Madison took
several steps onto the stage so she could wrap her arms around him,
he knew exactly what he wanted to do to drain his remaining
strength.

Madison didn't mind the dampness of
Adam's T-shirt as she wrapped him in a tight embrace and buried her
face in his shoulder. She couldn’t stop her tongue from collecting
the salty tang of sweat from his neck. The guitar cutting into her
belly only increased her awareness of him.

Watching Adam perform and
seeing how much his music meant to so many people infused her with
pride. And worry. She couldn’t compete with the crowd or his music.
Maybe she
could
steal him away from the world and keep him all to herself, but
she had no business getting in the way of his music career. No
right to make demands on his time that might interfere with his
continued success. Yet could she give everything to this
relationship and expect so little in return? Would she ever be
happy with him? Would she ever be happy
without
him?

Her arms tightened, drawing him closer
still. She never had these confusing thoughts when they were alone
together, just when she was confronted with his infamy. And fame
was part of who he was. She had to come to grips with that somehow
or this relationship would never work.

“
I need a shower.” He
rubbed his nose against her ear, his labored breathing stirring
stray hairs against her neck. “Care to join me?”

She nodded and held him more
tightly.

“
Let's go to the hotel,” he
whispered into her ear. “I can't wait to be alone with you. I can
smell your pussy all over my left hand. Every time I caught scent
of it, I wanted to say screw the concert and drag you off to a
secluded corner for another vigorous fuck.”

She didn’t know whether to celebrate
him telling her how much he wanted her or if she should feel guilty
for breaking his concentration on stage. He had a lot of people who
depended on him to perform at his best.

“
Sorry,” she said to his
chest.

“
For what?”

“
Making things difficult
for you.”

He pulled away and captured her face
between both hands, tilting her head back so she had no choice but
to look into his eyes. “I'm not sure what you're so worried about,
but stop it. It’s starting to piss me off.” He didn’t sound the
least bit angry. He smiled and kissed the tip of her nose. “I don't
want you to worry about anything for the rest of the night, except
how you want me to make love to you next.”

She forced her concerns to the back of
her mind. She knew when they were alone together all the worries
that weighed her down wouldn't even be considerations. He had a way
of making her forget everything but the moment. Everyone but
him.

“
Maybe the hotel suite has
a bathtub made for two,” she whispered.

“
Baby, as far as we’re
concerned, all bathtubs are made for two.”

He handed his equipment to an anxious
roadie, took Madison’s hand and led her toward the back of the
stadium, where the limo was waiting for the band. Owen and Kellen
were already inside the car.

Owen had discovered Adam’s container
of gingersnaps and was scarfing them down one after another. He
seemed oblivious to the young woman tugging on his belt.

“
I want to see it,” his
companion said. She had his zipper undone and her hand down his fly
before Madison and Adam had even settled in the seat facing them.
Adam cleared his throat to gain Owen’s attention and then nodded in
Madison’s direction with his eyebrows lifted.

Owen caught the lady’s hand and tugged
it out of his pants. “Later,” he said. “We have
company.”

Apparently Kellen didn’t count as
company. Madison realized Owen would be having a lot more fun right
now if she hadn’t shown up.