ElodieI hated singing. Not because I couldn’t, because I had been told I was pretty good. It was the pressure of performing I disliked. So, when Tate had pushed me to sing the only song I knew all the words to, I had been reluctant to do it. It started off a little croaky, which wasn’t surprising, seeing as I hadn’t done more than sing in the shower for years, but I soon got into it. Even if I hated it, it was easy to lose myself in the music. Especially when Tate started playing alongside me. That made me more at ease. Having such a talented musician strum the guitar on his lap whilst I closed my eyes and tried not to butcher the song was nothing like being dragged out in front of the club by my father to sing for his drunk cronies.It was nerve-wracking, sure, but I didn’t feel judged. Which was strange considering who I was singing to. Closing my eyes, I let the music take over me. A new guitar joined Tate’s, the playing less choppy. This was smooth, effortless, and totally beaut
JaxI watched her go, but it wasn’t until her t-shirt came sailing over her shoulder in my direction that I realised what she had in mind. “Wh—oh fuck.” I bounded to my feet, but I wasn’t the only one to do so. I wasn’t even the first. “Fuck yeah... skinny dipping time.” Louis streaked past me, kicking off his shorts as he went, and I had the privilege of seeing our drummer's white ass as he streamed past me. Something I hoped never to see. I could have lived happily without that particular visual again. “Go on, Eli!” Dion whooped from behind me, and my eyes found her again. Somehow when I had been getting as eyeful of Louis too white ass, she had dropped her shorts. She stood there silhouetted by the moonlight, the water lapping at her ankles. In nothing but her bra and panties. And she looked amazing. Like some kind of sea goddess mirage. She seemed to be waiting for something or maybe having second thoughts. I couldn’t be sure. But even as I watched, she hooked her finger into he
ElodieMiami was beautiful. Beautiful beaches, beautiful architecture, even more beautiful women. And they were everywhere, drawing the eyes of every man in our group. Next to them I felt fat and frumpy, when in reality I wasn’t any of those things. It was just me feeling a little insecure. And that had nothing to do with the multitude of bikini wearing curvaceous beauties and everything to do with Miami itself. Miami was the final stop of the tour before we headed home. A few more days at most. And then all of this would be over. My time with Jax would be over. It had gone by so quickly, in the blink of an eye. When we got back to UK soil, we would go our separate ways, and I would probably never see him again. The others: Dion, Tate and Louis, had said we would all hang out. In fact, they had made it clear that I was one of them now, and that meant I couldn’t ghost them. Dion was especially eager to keep in touch. But that was because we had become friends. He had told me things th
Jax“Eli said she would meet us there and...”Ignoring Tate’s insistence, I stepped out of the elevator onto our floor. I didn’t much care what Elodie had said. I needed to see her. And it had nothing to do with the distant way she had been returning my kisses all day. No, not at all. Well, maybe if I was honest with myself, it had a big part. Something had distracted Elodie all day, ever since she had greeted the bikers like old friends. And that Legacy? He had greeted her right back. And it wasn’t friendship that had made him hug her a little too long. I knew men like him because I was a man like him. A womanising jerk. His familiarity with her made me uncomfortable. And the fact she was distant and distracted just cemented in my mind that something had happened between them in the past. The real question was, was it still happening?I froze. My eyes glued to the two figures at the end of the hallway. Each door was closed apart from hers. Elodie’s door was half open, and she was em
ElodieThey lost my luggage. After an almost nine hour flight sitting next to my moody ass brother whilst I tried to hide the fact that I was still crying over some lousy rockstar who I had no business crying over, they had lost my bags.And it was raining.The raining part wasn’t that surprising. And it seemed very, very apt. At least with the rain pouring down, my tears would be hidden. And I wouldn’t have to put up with Legacy huffing and giving me side eyes like I was some stupid schoolgirl.“Well, what the hell am I meant to do now?” I groaned. But I wanted to scream, to throw a full-on tantrum in the middle of the terminal. Instead, I hugged myself and shivered. It was cold after the heat of Miami. And I was exhausted, which just made it worse. I felt like I could and probably should sleep for a week. Throwing his own backpack on the floor, Legacy started rummaging through it, and it didn’t take a genius to know what he was looking for. It had been surprising that he had gone f
JaxSix days after I had caught Elodie with another man, we were on a plane back home and, honestly, it couldn’t have come any quicker. I needed my own space to process everything that had happened. I needed time away from the sympathetic eyes and endless questions from the band about what had gone on. Dion was especially pissed at me. More so than the others, and I understood that. He and Elodie had grown close over the last few weeks. He needed her.I needed her as well. In a totally different way. Her leaving, her choosing Legacy over me crippled me in a way that I never wanted to feel again. All the songs said that love hurt. It didn’t hurt. That didn’t quite cover it. Love had plunged a knife into my abdomen and gutted me.Of course, the rest of them were angry with me too. Not that any of them said anything, but it was there in their eyes. They presumed I had been the one to fuck things up.“Ok, enough.” Dion’s fingers tore the headphones from my head, dropping them onto my lap.
ElodieLiving back at the Savage Sons’ clubhouse, even temporarily, came with its own round of headaches. Namely, the fact that I was no longer a gangly, flat chested teen. And every biker, even the ones who were old enough to be my father and should’ve known better, seemed to want to give it a go. They were all shot down. Most only tried it on once, but those who were persistent had my brother in their ear. Legacy might just be a prospect, but our family had been in the club one way or another since the beginning. I had learnt my lesson. No more going for the bad boy. Rockstar or biker, it didn’t really matter. They were all the same. All after one thing. All assholes.Well, maybe not every man who rode with the Sons was an asshole, but Jax most definitely put me off rockstars for life. Looking back, I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been. Falling into his bed, imagining actual affection in his eyes. Chance had been right. I did fall too easily. And it had made me dumb. It made m
Elodie“Eli.” Erik enveloped me in a bear hug the moment I stepped onto the floor of his office. It was almost like he had been waiting for me. Hell, he probably had based on how hard he’d been trying to get hold of me. “We missed you.” He held me out at arm’s length. “You need to learn to answer your phone, woman. Everyone has been so worried about you.”My heart slammed into my chest at his words. Everyone? Without meaning to, I looked around, half expecting the band to fall out of a closed door. Or, heaven forbid, for Jax himself to appear. None of that happened, of course, but it still felt like it could. “I’m fine.” Untangling myself from his arms, I wrapped my arms around my middle. I was cold, and it had nothing to do with the air con that was blasting throughout the office. “You didn’t have to worry.”“Of course we did. After what happened…” Erik gave a rueful shrug, his wide shoulders under the white shirt moving in slow motion. “What happened between you and Jax—”I didn’t
ElodieJax Turner, lead guitarist of Dionysus Rising: the biggest rock band in the world, loved me. I had heard the words, seen his lips form them, but it still didn’t quite compute in my head. Not even the ring he slipped into my palm seemed real. Even when I could see it nestling there — a thick, hammered band of silver. I couldn’t help myself, I kept staring down at it. If I’d had a hand free, I would have pinched myself.Jax fidgeted, moving from foot to foot awkwardly. “I know it's not…” Wildly, he looked over my shoulder to Dion, who still for some reason had his arms wrapped around my waist. “It's not much, and not you. I can get you something else.” He lunged forward, his hands reaching out to pluck the jewellery out of my hand. Closing my hand around it, I growled out a warning to him. “No.”Behind me, Dion laughed, his chest vibrating against my back.Jax arched one eyebrow. “No?” I could see the confusion on his face. He didn’t need to ask the question I could see formin
Elodie“Of course, Louis.” Leaning against the rough brick wall, I crossed my arms around myself. Outside was quieter, which was one of the reasons we had gone out there to talk. That and the fact that Louis didn’t want the band to know what we were talking about. Or, more specifically, he didn’t want Dion to know. I could understand that. After what had happened with Dion and his sister, I could understand that totally. I might not have had it as bad as she had, but I’d still been burned by a member of Dionysus Rising.Maybe that’s what happened when you walked too closely to gods. Even if they were gods of the rock variety.“Thank you, Eli. I owe you.”I patted his shoulder, not really looking at him. “Believe me, it's me who should be thanking you. You’ve literally saved me weeks of—”“Am I interrupting something?”Blinking into the darkness, I felt my spine stiffen. I knew that voice even when I couldn’t see his face clearly, just a shadowy outline.“No, brother.” Louis moved away
JaxI’d been to my fair share of parties over the years, probably more than my fair share, but I’d never been nervous going into one. Not even when the band was just starting to be known, and we had to show our faces alongside actual rockstars. I had always felt like I belonged rubbing shoulders with the stars because, well, hello, I was born to be one. But this party… I didn’t belong there. In Elodie’s little ground floor apartment which seemed to be nothing more than wall to wall Savage Sons, I felt completely out of place. It wasn’t even that I was nervous around them, although I should have been after how I had acted with one of their own. I didn’t even care that it was a sausage fest of epic proportions and that almost every woman I saw was hanging off the arm of a biker. No, I was nervous because this was Elodie’s place. Which meant she was somewhere in the crowd, no doubt looking beautiful and put together. That’s how Erik had described her when I had asked how she was at the
Elodie“Eli.” Erik enveloped me in a bear hug the moment I stepped onto the floor of his office. It was almost like he had been waiting for me. Hell, he probably had based on how hard he’d been trying to get hold of me. “We missed you.” He held me out at arm’s length. “You need to learn to answer your phone, woman. Everyone has been so worried about you.”My heart slammed into my chest at his words. Everyone? Without meaning to, I looked around, half expecting the band to fall out of a closed door. Or, heaven forbid, for Jax himself to appear. None of that happened, of course, but it still felt like it could. “I’m fine.” Untangling myself from his arms, I wrapped my arms around my middle. I was cold, and it had nothing to do with the air con that was blasting throughout the office. “You didn’t have to worry.”“Of course we did. After what happened…” Erik gave a rueful shrug, his wide shoulders under the white shirt moving in slow motion. “What happened between you and Jax—”I didn’t
ElodieLiving back at the Savage Sons’ clubhouse, even temporarily, came with its own round of headaches. Namely, the fact that I was no longer a gangly, flat chested teen. And every biker, even the ones who were old enough to be my father and should’ve known better, seemed to want to give it a go. They were all shot down. Most only tried it on once, but those who were persistent had my brother in their ear. Legacy might just be a prospect, but our family had been in the club one way or another since the beginning. I had learnt my lesson. No more going for the bad boy. Rockstar or biker, it didn’t really matter. They were all the same. All after one thing. All assholes.Well, maybe not every man who rode with the Sons was an asshole, but Jax most definitely put me off rockstars for life. Looking back, I couldn’t believe how stupid I had been. Falling into his bed, imagining actual affection in his eyes. Chance had been right. I did fall too easily. And it had made me dumb. It made m
JaxSix days after I had caught Elodie with another man, we were on a plane back home and, honestly, it couldn’t have come any quicker. I needed my own space to process everything that had happened. I needed time away from the sympathetic eyes and endless questions from the band about what had gone on. Dion was especially pissed at me. More so than the others, and I understood that. He and Elodie had grown close over the last few weeks. He needed her.I needed her as well. In a totally different way. Her leaving, her choosing Legacy over me crippled me in a way that I never wanted to feel again. All the songs said that love hurt. It didn’t hurt. That didn’t quite cover it. Love had plunged a knife into my abdomen and gutted me.Of course, the rest of them were angry with me too. Not that any of them said anything, but it was there in their eyes. They presumed I had been the one to fuck things up.“Ok, enough.” Dion’s fingers tore the headphones from my head, dropping them onto my lap.
ElodieThey lost my luggage. After an almost nine hour flight sitting next to my moody ass brother whilst I tried to hide the fact that I was still crying over some lousy rockstar who I had no business crying over, they had lost my bags.And it was raining.The raining part wasn’t that surprising. And it seemed very, very apt. At least with the rain pouring down, my tears would be hidden. And I wouldn’t have to put up with Legacy huffing and giving me side eyes like I was some stupid schoolgirl.“Well, what the hell am I meant to do now?” I groaned. But I wanted to scream, to throw a full-on tantrum in the middle of the terminal. Instead, I hugged myself and shivered. It was cold after the heat of Miami. And I was exhausted, which just made it worse. I felt like I could and probably should sleep for a week. Throwing his own backpack on the floor, Legacy started rummaging through it, and it didn’t take a genius to know what he was looking for. It had been surprising that he had gone f
Jax“Eli said she would meet us there and...”Ignoring Tate’s insistence, I stepped out of the elevator onto our floor. I didn’t much care what Elodie had said. I needed to see her. And it had nothing to do with the distant way she had been returning my kisses all day. No, not at all. Well, maybe if I was honest with myself, it had a big part. Something had distracted Elodie all day, ever since she had greeted the bikers like old friends. And that Legacy? He had greeted her right back. And it wasn’t friendship that had made him hug her a little too long. I knew men like him because I was a man like him. A womanising jerk. His familiarity with her made me uncomfortable. And the fact she was distant and distracted just cemented in my mind that something had happened between them in the past. The real question was, was it still happening?I froze. My eyes glued to the two figures at the end of the hallway. Each door was closed apart from hers. Elodie’s door was half open, and she was em
ElodieMiami was beautiful. Beautiful beaches, beautiful architecture, even more beautiful women. And they were everywhere, drawing the eyes of every man in our group. Next to them I felt fat and frumpy, when in reality I wasn’t any of those things. It was just me feeling a little insecure. And that had nothing to do with the multitude of bikini wearing curvaceous beauties and everything to do with Miami itself. Miami was the final stop of the tour before we headed home. A few more days at most. And then all of this would be over. My time with Jax would be over. It had gone by so quickly, in the blink of an eye. When we got back to UK soil, we would go our separate ways, and I would probably never see him again. The others: Dion, Tate and Louis, had said we would all hang out. In fact, they had made it clear that I was one of them now, and that meant I couldn’t ghost them. Dion was especially eager to keep in touch. But that was because we had become friends. He had told me things th