The Masters of Falcon's Fantasies [BDSM Menage Fantasies 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Amour) (30 page)

“Yeah. We’ll go into the city on Wednesday to lay down your vocals and then fly to Reno from there on Friday or early Saturday. The guys can take the bus and have everything ready for us. Sound good?”

“Sound good?” Blaze imitated him in a squeaky, mocking tone. “Unless you change your mind yet again and come up with some other stupid project.”

Finn stood up. “Feel free not to show up on Monday. I’ll be sure to have your replacement ready and waiting.”

Blaze’s chair crashed forward
,
and he was suddenly on his feet, leaning into Finn’s face. “Then you’d better have an ambulance ready and waiting to take you away afterward,” he hissed.

Daphne pushed them apart tiredly. “Give it up. You’re both acting like children. Blaze, just take off. You don’t really like it here anyway. We’ll text you with the time and place for Monday.”

“Why don’t you come with me?” Blaze’s voice was suggestive and an arm wrapped around Daphne’s waist, pulling her into him. “We could have some fun now that Daddy’s taken off the leg irons and that tool Decker is out of the way.”

Finn took a step forward, his fists balled up, but Daphne had already pulled out of Blaze’s grasp. She stepped between them, saying over her shoulder, “No, thanks. I think I’ll hang out here this weekend. I believe Finn was about to offer to take me out to dinner and a movie. Weren’t you?”

Blaze let out a snort of laughter and left. Daphne took Finn’s arm and towed him toward the door
,
too. “Now, how about that dinner?”

* * * *

Sure enough, Blaze hadn’t shown up for the taping session. Finn had spent the entire week trying to find a replacement, only to have
Blaze
show up on Thursday, a little unsteady but professing that he was completely ready. He even played his part for Finn to prove it before Finn allowed them to go to the trouble of setting him up to record. Fortunately they could get it laid down while Blaze was actually there and willing, but Finn swore to himself that he would find a way to get rid of the asshole as soon as the concert was done.

“Will you be in Reno on Saturday?” Finn asked as Blaze packed up his guitar to leave.

“Oh, I’ll be there.” Blaze made a sound that might have been a laugh. It made Finn feel uneasy. “But I’m not going on the bus. I’ll get there my own way.”

“I mean it, Blaze,” Finn began, but Blaze flipped him off and strode out of the building.

He took Daphne out to dinner on Friday night. They were scheduled for an early morning flight to Reno, so he didn’t want to take the chance that she’d get the idea to go partying or anything.

“So the record company is willing to hold off on finalizing the CD until they see Falcon’s Fantasy,” he told her over hors d’oeuvres. “I shipped it this afternoon. So we should know what they think by Monday.”

She smiled, a little shyly. “That’s nice. Do you really think it’s good?”

“Good? Honey, this is what we’ve needed. It’s the song that’s going to push you over that last barrier to superstardom.” He took her face in his hands and kissed her. “You’re going to finally get the recognition you deserve as the most talented and beautiful performer in the country. Hell, in the world. You’re going to be an international phenomenon. Look at how the YouTube video did! And it’s still going strong. The official version is going to be ten times better. You’ll see.”

A small sigh escaped her. He put a hand on hers. “What’s the matter, Daph? This is what we’ve worked for. It’s great! Don’t you want to be rich and famous?”

She nodded, but her shoulders went up in a noncommittal shrug at the same time. “Of course. It’s wonderful. You’ve done so much for me, Finn. How can I thank you?”

“You can be successful and happy.” He raised her hand and kissed it. “And later tonight, if you like, we’ll go sit in the hot tub
,
and then I’ll take you back to the room
,
and you can start thanking me properly.”

That drew a small smile from her. “That would be nice.”

“I know we haven’t had much time over the last two weeks to spend together, just us. But I promise that’s going to change. We just need to get through this concert, and then we can go away somewhere to recharge before the tour. Anywhere you want. If you want to go on a cruise and just relax, we can do that. I just want to make you happy.”

“Do you?” She seemed to be talking to her food rather than him, and Finn reached over to tilt her head up.

“What’s the matter, honey?”

She shrugged. “I was just wondering—”

“Wondering what?”

“Nothing important. I’d like to spend tonight together. If you really want to.”

“Of course I want to! I’ve missed having you in my bed.” His voice went down, and he glanced around to make sure he wasn’t going to shock anyone nearby. “Now eat. You’re just tired and nervous about tomorrow. But there’s nothing to worry about. You’re going to be great. Just channel that same energy that you had at the club, and they’ll be talking about this concert for the rest of their lives.”

He watched her throughout the rest of dinner. She was quiet and sad
looking, and even though she smiled at him from time to time, it wasn’t with her normal mischievous cheerfulness. He had tried to tell himself that things would go back to normal, but deep down he knew what the problem was. He also knew how to fix it.

* * * *

Decker saw Finn as soon as he walked into the lobby of the Reno hotel. They shook hands, regarding each other with a slight mutual unease.

“Are you sure you want me here?” Decker asked as Finn led the way to the bar. They ordered beers and sat down side by side.

“Actually I am. I know it took me awhile to get to this point, but I really think we should discuss the possibilities of that polyamory thing. If you’re still interested.”

Decker rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “Where’s Daphne?”

Finn jerked his head toward the elevator. “She said she wanted to explore Reno for a few hours and would catch a cab back to rest before the show. I had some last minute arrangements for tonight’s show. I need to get her up in a few minutes.”

“Are you sure she’s still willing to discuss it?”

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Finn smiled a little apologetically. “The thing is, we just can’t seem to get it together. There’s something missing
,
and I think it’s you. You bring out something in her that I can’t get to. After you left, we tried. We really did. But she’s too much for me by myself. I’ve thought about it a lot
,
and I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way I can keep her and make her happy is by bringing you back.” His face took on a shrewd look. “And I’m going to assume from the fact that you’re here that you’re not averse to the idea.”

Decker accepted his drink from the bartender. “No, I’m not averse. I’ve been doing a lot of thinking as well. Being involved with a rock star was never part of my plan, and it’s kind of hard to imagine what that life would be like. I’ve let my life go over the last year. But I think I’m ready to reenter the world now, and there’s something about her that really appeals to me. I even like you.” He smiled at Finn’s expression, but then his face grew serious again. “I don’t think I could pass up the opportunity, if you’re both still interested.”

Finn was looking at him curiously. “That’s something I wanted to ask you about, if you don’t think I’m being too presumptuous.”

“No,” Decker said. “If we’re going to be in a relationship together, you have a right to ask me about my past.”

“Well, you said you had a job interview, right? What’s that about? Why did you leave your last job?”

Decker hesitated, staring into his drink. “I took some time off after my wife’s accident last year. I really didn’t think I could go back to flying commercially. That’s a lot of responsibility
,
and I—I didn’t trust myself anymore.”

“Why?”

“It was partly because of the accident, and partly because I felt so guilty. I stopped trusting myself.”

“It was a car accident, right?”

“Right. But we’d had a huge fight the night before. I don’t even really remember what it was about now, but I’m sure it was incredibly stupid. We were up all night going at it. I said some really hurtful things, like you do when you’re mad. I should have called in the next morning. It’s not a good idea to fly when you haven’t had any sleep. But I wanted to get out of there and cool off.

“Anyway, like I said, I was really tired
,
and I made a dumb mistake during the flight. My copilot caught it before anything bad happened, but it shook me up. It could have caused a crash. I couldn’t get a flight back to my home airport, so Sharon agreed to drive the couple of hours to pick me up. She hadn’t had much sleep either, and she crashed on the way to get me.”

He stopped, his voice almost breaking on the last sentence. Finn said nothing, waiting while Decker collected himself.

“I couldn’t bring myself to fly again, before the trip to LA,” Decker continued. “I didn’t know if I would ever be able to do it, but when Daphne needed to get to the city for her interview, my mouth offered it before my brain knew what was happening. It wasn’t easy convincing my buddy to let me use his plane, though, I can tell you that.” He chuckled a little, although his face was still set in grim lines. Taking a swig of beer, he put a hand on Finn’s shoulder. “Inspires a lot of confidence, doesn’t it? Should I have told you before I let you and Daphne on the plane?”

“Wow.” Finn gaped at him. “I don’t know—I think it was probably better we didn’t know.”

They drank for a few minutes in silence. Then Finn signaled for two more and turned back to Decker. “I don’t care that you hadn’t flown for a while. Your reasons were completely understandable. I’m grateful that you were able to get past your reservations to help Daphne and me. Besides, we got there and back in one piece. No harm done. So what happened with your interview?”

“I have an offer, but I haven’t given them an answer yet.”

Finn nodded. “Do you think you’re ready to get back into it? You flew here today, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Decker took his second drink. “It was a little easier this time, in every sense. I’m not sure about flying commercially, but it’s definitely time to get back on the horse, so to speak. You guys have done a lot toward bringing me back to life. I’d felt pretty dead for a long time.”

“Are you sure you’re willing to take a chance with us? I’m sure there are lots of other women out there that would be a lot less trouble.”

Decker gave a real smile. It was completely different than his usual self-conscious half
grimace. “I’m sure there are. But when I decide to take on a challenge, I go all the way.”

“I guess you do. Well, I can’t guarantee it’ll be an easy experience or a pleasant one all of the time. But if you’re determined to try, I won’t stand in your way.”

“And I won’t do anything to undermine your relationship with Daphne.”

Finn put down his glass with a decisive thump. “I can’t ask for anything more than that. Okay. Let’s go talk to her.”

Decker followed Finn to their room feeling oddly nervous. He’d walked away from Daphne, after all. She’d probably forgotten all about him by now, despite Finn claiming otherwise. What did he have to offer a woman like Daphne, anyway? He was just a schmuck with a useless pilot’s license and a load of baggage. They didn’t even know for sure that Finn would be able to handle the situation.

Finn put the key card in the door and pushed it open gently, calling, “Daph? Time to wake up, honey.”

They stepped in quietly, expecting to find Daphne on the bed. She wasn’t. She wasn’t anywhere in the room. Finn suddenly strode over to the desk in the corner of the room
,
and Decker followed him. A vase of roses sat on the desk with an open white envelope lying next to it. Finn picked up the envelope
,
and they could both see the word
s
“Daphne, from Bill” written on it, although the envelope was empty. The color drained slowly out of Finn’s face as he looked frantically around for the note that had been inside. Then he pulled out his cell phone and hit a speed dial number, muttering to himself, “McFarland. I can’t believe they did this to me
again!
I’m going to kill that son of a bitch.”

Three hours and ten voicemail messages later, Finn and Decker were standing in front of the organizer’s tent at the Reno Summer of Rock. Kelly Stewart was talking into a radio, informing her staff that a singer had gone missing. Finn felt like someone had cut his stomach out and replaced it with rocks. This concert had been such a good opportunity, and Daphne was going to sabotage herself again. He should have anticipated it. Why had he left her alone?

Kelly turned to the two men. “I’m sorry, but there’s not much we can do if she doesn’t show up. It’s too late to get a replacement band. Everybody’s on the watch for her
,
but I’ll have to announce soon that her set has been cancelled.”

Decker glanced at Finn and then shook Kelly’s hand. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” he said solemnly. “We appreciate your staff helping us look.”