Crimson and Clover (26 page)

• • •

An hour later, Rick entered with another of the road crew lugging two coolers, and all the hangers-on appeared as if by magic, stampeding to appropriate the beers they’d brought. Katie’s eyes scanned the room and finally located Jay. He held a beer in his hand as he paced back and forth, looking for all the world like a caged beast. Katie shoved her way across the room to him.

It took a minute for him to notice she was there, but when he did he broke off in mid-stride and held out his hand. “Come with me.”

With no hesitation, she took his hand, although she did wonder where he planned to take her; the room was crammed full. There
was
another area, separate but with no door, lined on one side by urinals and toilets and by sinks on the other. Privacy was one thing, but Katie didn’t really dig the thought of spending time in the can. To her relief, they ended up in a corner of the locker room, Katie leaning against the wall and Jay’s back to the crowd, a clear indication they didn’t want to be disturbed.

Silent, they stood together, with Katie giving him all the comfort she could without speaking, and Jay taking it, his taut body relaxing as some of his pent-up tension dissipated. He took an occasional pull from his beer, but for the most part he remained leaning against her, his arm around her waist and his forehead resting on hers.

Her hands skimmed over his back, fingers exploring the indentation of his spine, feeling the warmth of his skin against her palms. One hand left his back and moved to his chest, the feel of his hair soft against the pads of her fingers. Her thumb brushed across his nipple and she was engulfed in a fresh onslaught of beer fumes as Jay sighed.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”

Katie sucked in a breath. “You won’t.”

“I don’t want to,” he repeated. “And I’ll try my damnedest not to, but … ”

“No.” Katie shook her head and gave him a stern gaze. “You won’t, because you don’t have that in you.”

He laughed under his breath. “I told you that you have no idea, and I meant it. In any case, I wouldn’t hurt you the way Adam would.”

Confused, she shook her head. “I’m sorry; what?”

Jay pressed soft kisses to her cheek and let his lips trail over her jaw. “I might get a little rougher with you than you’re used to.” He moved his lips down her neck. “But it wouldn’t hurt. Much.”

“Just how rough are we talking about?” she squeaked.

“Mm, I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.” He pushed her hair back and traced the shape of her ear with the tip of his tongue. “But I don’t use whips like Adam does.”

“Do
what
?”

He regarded her with a slight smile. “You’ve no idea,” he repeated. “Changed your mind?”

Katie waited for her heart to retreat from her throat before speaking. “You know what I don’t like.”

“Yes, I know.” He frowned, and her heart rate increased with trepidation. The sudden grin that brightened his face confused her and it was her turn to frown. “Don’t worry,” he murmured. “I don’t like it, either.”

“Don’t do that to me.” Katie leaned against the wall and shook her head.

“Then you have changed your mind. Oh, well … ” Jay gave her a light kiss and started to step back.

“No, damn it, I haven’t.” She locked her arms around his neck and pulled him against her. “I swear you’re determined to drive me crazy.”

“Not crazy.” He ran a finger over her lips. “But if you want me to, I can certainly drive you to feel things you never thought you’d feel.” His hands descended on her hips and he pulled her forward into a kiss that seared her soul.

Katie arched against him, aware of nothing but the feel of his body against hers and his tongue meeting hers with a hunger that was almost unbearable, until Nicky’s voice intruded and brought her back to earth with a thud.

“I’d tell the two of you to get a room, only we have a show to play.”

Breathing like a marathon runner crossing the finish line, Katie turned to look at Nicky’s sly grin.

“I was getting really turned on watching, but I thought that wasn’t too cool since you’re going to be my baby’s godparents. And it
is
time to go.”

Katie looked over Nicky’s shoulder and caught a few interested stares, but the majority of people were being herded out of the room by Walter. As though he felt her gaze, he turned and looked in their direction. “Coming, Jay?”

Nicky laughed. “Not now, he isn’t.” Blond hair swinging, Nicky ambled toward the door. “He has, however, consented to play guitar for us if we’ll give him a moment to collect himself.”

Still holding Katie crushed against him, Jay gave her an impenetrable look. “Another minute and I’d have had you up against the wall.”

“Another minute and I’d have let you.”

Jay buried his face in her hair and groaned. “In that case, you can let me the minute I’ve finished out there.”

After they’d made their way to the back of the stage, she stood back as Jay took his guitar and slung it over his back as he adjusted his jacket, looking like a disreputable Robin Hood with his quiver and bow at the ready. With a shrug of his shoulder, Jay pulled the guitar around, the instrument resting low on his hip.

“Behold, I have a weapon,”
Katie quoted.
“A better never did itself sustain upon a soldier’s thigh.”

A quick grin transformed his face.
“I have another weapon in this chamber.”
He muffled her giggle with a kiss and walked onto the darkened stage with an insouciance Othello would have envied.

Walter’s voice boomed through the speakers as he introduced the band and Shadowed Knight roared into “Paradox”.

Katie found a seat on top of an amplifier and felt herself melting into a puddle of goo as she watched Jay.

Chest already glistening with sweat under the hot lights, he stomped across the stage, commanding attention and getting it. During his solo, he bent so far backward his hair brushed the stage and the crowd lost its collective mind.

In that instant, Katie understood what flowed from the audience to the band. Even she could feel it and was affected by it. By the time Shadowed Knight thundered into the opening bars of their final number, Katie was feeling as antsy as a drunk with a bad case of the DTs. Like a wild animal, she wanted to grab Jay, rip his clothes off and have him drive her mindless with pleasure, relieving the tension that was almost an ache inside her. She envied the band; they were able to unleash some of that back into the audience who responded with howls of delight. The love poured from the audience, a feeling so intense it was almost tangible. No wonder the band was amped after these shows!

With a start, she realized it was over. Damn it, she’d missed “Imperial Jade”, her favorite song. Adam and Jay had named it after what Jay said was the color of her eyes, and she’d not heard a note. Katie inched toward the edge of the amp, preparing to dismount. Then Jay was there, holding his arms up to her, but when she would have thrown herself at him, he held her back.

“I’m soaking wet,” he warned her.

“Holy water.” She pressed against him and ran her tongue up his neck. “Besides, I’m soaking wet, too.”

“Damn.” Jay clutched her and spoke over her shoulder. “Rick! Bring the six-string acoustic. I’m keeping it with me.”

“Sure, Jay, I’ll have it … .”

“No, I want you to bring it back to the dressing room now. I’m going to need you for a moment.” Jay looked down at Katie, his eyes glinting in the dim light. “And I need you for a moment, too.”

“Only a moment?”

“This time.” The look he gave her made her quiver in anticipation.

Rick approached them, holding the case that contained Jay’s guitar. “What’cha need, Jay?”

“I don’t want it packed with rest of the equipment. Katie and I are staying in Birmingham for a few days and I’ll be keeping it with me. Make sure it gets back to my room.”

“Sure, I’ll just go … ”

“Not yet.” His arm firm around Katie’s shoulders, Jay started toward the dressing room. “Just come with me.” With Rick trailing along, he led them into the locker room, ignoring the greetings and congratulations. He went straight for the loo, and after checking to make sure it was unoccupied, stationed Rick at the door with firm orders that no one was to enter. Rick cocked a brow.

“What if someone needs to … ”

“Not my problem,” Jay said in dismissal. “No one gets in.”

Rick shrugged and turned his back, his wide shoulders almost filling the doorway. Jay turned back to Katie and started toward her with purpose. She thought she had a pretty good idea of the way a mouse felt when spotted by a hawk. Jay was looking at her like she was prey he was stalking.

Her pulse threatened to pound out of her wrists as she watched him stride toward her. He hadn’t been kidding, he
was
soaking wet, his clothes drenched and sweat dripping from his hair. His hazel eyes were fixed on hers, unswerving and burning with desire. Just as she understood that energy that filled him during a performance, she understood its effect on him. He was literally vibrating with it; she’d felt it as they walked backstage and she could almost see the fine tremor that ran through him. Katie gasped at the heat from his hands as they descended on her shoulders. “What … ” she began.

“Hush.” The command was soft, but brooked no argument. He advanced and Katie retreated until she felt the wall against her back. Jay released her shoulders and his hands went to the fly of his jeans. He was smiling at her now, a disconcerting smile that told her in no uncertain terms she was about to be ravished and that he was going to thoroughly enjoy it. He didn’t seemed concerned about how she felt about it, but continued undoing his jeans while holding her pinned to the wall with nothing but his gaze.

Jay’s hands slid under the hem of her dress and encountered her panties. “My, my, Katie,” he whispered. “What is this in my way? If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t want me.” With no further discussion, he lifted her, pushed her hard against the wall, moved her panties to the side and pulled her down on him with a muffled groan.

Katie gasped as he filled her, biting the shoulder of his jacket to stifle her own moans. She could taste the salt of his sweat and smell his hot, musky scent, and thought it was the most sensual thing on earth. His breath panted in her ear and she had a sudden vision of him onstage holding his guitar over his head like a sacrificial offering, his long, lean body striding across the stage, bare skin revealed by his open jacket and his low-slung jeans, his face obscured by his hair; and an earth-shattering orgasm ripped through her. Feeling it, Jay grasped her chin in one hand and pulled her face to his, covering her mouth with his, swallowing her cries. He froze, crushing her against the wall, and it was her turn to muffle his moans.

Katie’s memories of the remainder of the night were fragmented, seen through a haze of a repletion so intense she could almost touch it, and the release of that damned energy which left her feeling like she’d just come down off a methamphetamine high. She remembered the industrial smell of the soap and the rough texture of the paper towels she’d used to clean herself after Jay finally let her go. She remembered leaning against him, limp as a dishrag, as he sat sprawled in a chair while they waited for the crowd to disperse so they could leave unmolested. And she remembered thinking that while some of Jay’s energy had abated it wasn’t gone, just throttled back to a thrum, like the motor of a luxury car at low idle.

First and foremost in her mind, however, was her amazement when she realized Jay’s intent once they got back to the motel. He never stopped at once a night, but he’d already made blistering love to her after the show and she thought he couldn’t possibly be ready for more. But not only was he ready, he was also more than able. Katie remembered being thrown on the bed and having her brains fucked right out. When she thought back over it later, she decided it wasn’t a bad way to go and she couldn’t wait to do it all again.

Sleeping in was not an option, not with the members and road crew of Shadowed Knight banging through the hall as they prepared to leave for the airport. Katie glared at the door as Walter’s bull-moose voice sounded yet again, berating Rick for misplacing a piece of Adam’s luggage. With a sigh, she flopped over on her back and frowned at the ceiling.

“You,” she told Jay, “need a new manager. One with a nice voice and manners.”

The bed jiggled as Jay laughed under his breath. “Baby, those aren’t qualities a good manager has to have. Walter’s good because he is loud, abrasive and ruthless.”

“Oh, I know. He’s just not the most pleasant alarm clock I’ve ever heard.”

Jay nuzzled the side of her neck. “I’ll agree with that. I can think of much more pleasurable ways to wake up.”

Giggling, she captured one of his roaming hands before it slipped below her waist. “Stop that. I have to ask you something.”

Jay’s sigh was good-natured as he propped himself on one elbow to look down at her. “Oh, fine. Go ahead.”

“Well, it’s just that you kind of had me going last night, talking about hairbrushes and things. But then none of that happened.”

“Mm.” Jay ran his free hand through his hair, pulling it away from his face. “Were you disappointed?”

“Yes and no.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind his ear. “I mean, there’s no way you’ll ever disappoint me in that area. Ever.” She wiggled her eyebrows and was rewarded by that slow, beautiful smile of his. “But at the same time I wanted you to … to … ”

“Oh, I thought about it,” he interrupted. “But then I really
thought
about it and I realized I don’t want to do that to you.”

“Oh.” Old insecurities rose up to assault her. “Am I not … I mean, do you think I wouldn’t … ”

Jay stopped her questions with a thorough kiss. “You are and you could, all right? But when I thought about having you tied up and helpless and completely at my mercy, it was more disturbing than titillating. It seemed degrading. Just the thought of using my hairbrush on you was a complete turn-off. I could never do that to you. It would hurt me more than it would you.” He captured her hand and pressed a kiss in her palm. “Of course, there are other things I could do. I could demand that you lie there and remain silent, but then I wouldn’t hear those wonderful little sounds you make when I make love to you. All those little moans and sighs and the way you scream my name. I particularly like that, you know.” He grinned. “Makes me feel rather like Superman.”