Elodie
I had been to concerts before, even rock concerts thanks to my dad and my brothers, but nothing prepared me for the nerve tingling energy that surrounded me as I stepped into the dressing room behind Erik. The air was thick with it. That and the pungent smell of weed.
The band, all of them, were talking animatedly, the joint being passed between them.
“Hey.” Tate thrust his arm out, offering it to me, but I shook my head mutely.
“Pass it here. We all know she isn’t going to.”
I shot a look at Jax. I didn’t know what had crawled up his ass and died, but it was clear that something was bothering him, and I had a sneaky suspicion that something was me. He’d been acting like a bear with a sore head since the moment Dion had told him he wasn’t swapping buses and I had to ride with them. There had been some heated words that I had tried not to listen to. Something about it looked suspicious if a certain woman saw. I had made a mental note to ask who the woman was, but any thoughts of doing so were soon squashed when the band were ushered out for rehearsals, and I was left alone.
On a bus that I would be sharing with two rockstars. If I had been any other woman on the planet, that might have held some very interesting possibilities. But I had been around smoking hot men my entire life. Hell, I had witnessed more than my fair share of orgies and three ways. None of that interested me. Not even if I was going to be the cheese in a delicious Dionysus Rising sandwich.
Plus, I was there to do a job and not party, although I was sure there would be quite a few of those in the coming weeks as well.
Jax continued to stare at me as he took a long drag. The burning orange end illuminated his face. “You gonna have a problem if I offer this to Dion?”
For a second, I stared at him. Yeah, it was clear he had a problem with me. I wasn’t even sure when it had started, but his whole attitude towards me was getting more and more combative as the hours drew on. If it carried on, it might even start being a problem.
I risked a glance at the hulking shadow of one of the security guys who stood by the far wall. His arms crossed over his chest, pulling the Black Dionysus Rising hoodie tight across his muscles. I knew what was under that hoodie; I knew what was under all of their hoodies.
I flicked my eyes back towards Jax, who seemed to be waiting for me to answer. “I’m not his mother.”
God, I hoped Jax wasn’t going to be a problem.
Jax said something under his breath that I didn’t catch. But I did see Dion snap his head around, though. Something passed between them, silently. Jax ignored it totally. “So, if you aren’t here to mother him, then why the fuck are you here?”
“Man…” Louis shook his head, but his eyes were firmly on me, clearly interested in what I was going to say back to that. I knew they were all interested in why I was there. Why Erik had dragged me across the world to tour with them. None of them knew me. Not even Erik really. Although we’d had several video calls before I had arrived.
“Leave her alone,” Dion muttered.
“It's ok, they have a right to ask.” I smiled sweetly at them all. “They have a right to know.” I levelled my eyes on Jax because it was clear that he was the one I needed to convince. If convince was even the right word.
Someone hammered on the closed door. Three loud raps and everyone started moving at once. Taking my arm, Erik moved me out of the way slightly.
“What?” Confused, I raised an eyebrow at him. What the hell was going on now?
“They are being called to the stage.” He grinned down at me. “You ready to watch the biggest rock band in the world live, love?” The excitement in his eyes made them shine. Gone was the polished, highly sophisticated businessman, in his place was a man excited for what was about to happen.
“Ok.” I muttered as a shot glass was thrust into my hands. Not that I got a chance to tell them that I didn’t drink. Erik plucked it from my hands with a small wink. I nodded my thanks. I wasn’t ready to explain to them all, but especially Jax, why I didn’t drink anymore. I had nothing against those that did, but personally, it was a hard pass for me.
“Watch…” Erik’s voice was cut off as Tate gripped him by both shoulders and planted a kiss straight on his mouth. My eyebrows rose into my hair in shock, but I didn’t get a chance to ask anything.
Louis pressed his lips to mine in a quick kiss.
Jax’s kiss was different. The moment his lips brushed against mine, heat rushed up my neck, across my face. It felt like I had been electrocuted. The feeling was so strong that I had to stop myself from touching my hair to make sure it wasn’t standing on end.
And then his lips were gone, and he was doing the same to Erik.
They kissed each other like they had done it a million times before.
“It’s just what they always do before a show.” Erik rumbled out a laugh. “You’ll get used to it.”
Used to it? I doubted that. Especially when I was pretty sure I had felt the tip of Jax’s tongue against my bottom lip.
***
If I had thought that the energy before the concert was skin tingling, nothing compared to the high-octane energy that assaulted every one of my senses when the band began to play. I had watched them on TV, of course. Who hadn’t? But nothing could prepare me for how it felt to be right there, watching from the wings, the heavy bass thrumming through with me. I vibrated with it, and before I knew what was happening, I was bouncing on my toes, half dancing in time with their combined energy and half because I just couldn’t help it. It was addictive.
Addictive and mind blowing.
Nothing could have prepared me for it. And Dion’s voice was even more panty wetting live than it was on their records if that was even possible.
It was over too soon. Much, much too soon.
And the silence afterwards seemed deafening, even when thousands of people were still screaming their name.
“You enjoyed that, huh?” Erik’s arm was heavy over my shoulders, and I jumped with a squeak before I could help myself. His laughter filled my ears. “It’s ok, Eli, everyone gets like that the first few times they see them perform. They’re good, aren’t they?”
Good? I watched as the band bounced off the stage. Louis brought up the rear, twirling his drumsticks as he came. I watched them fly through the air, mesmerised. And then my eyes locked with Jax’s. There was sweat on his tanned face, and the bandana around his head was wet as well. His vest clung to him.
Usually, sweaty guys just weren’t my thing. I liked my men clean shaven and professional. Men who looked like Erik. But at that moment, I felt my heart speed up just a little too fast. Yeah, they were good. Really, really good.
“Yeah,” I managed to mumble as they swarmed around us. “Yeah, they are really good.”
“Don’t look so shell-shocked, love.” Louis' arm went around from me from the other side, squashing me between him and Erik. “It's normal to cream your panties the first few times.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. Cream my panties? I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t doing any such thing, but words failed me. I wasn’t creaming anything over Dionysus Rising. Not at all. It was one member in particular that was giving me trouble.
But I wasn’t creaming over him.
No, not at all.
I was just a little damp, that was all.
Jax“Why don’t you like her?”Dion’s words took me by surprise, and I almost dropped the cards in my hand. Playing poker was one of the ways we always unwound after a gig if there were no parties for us to attend, and especially if we had to get straight on the road. It was a small way to blow off the adrenaline generated by playing live in front of thousands. Fucking and partying were better, but none of us would get any of that tonight since we were already on the road. By the time the sun came up we would be well on the way to our next gig. It was always this way on tour. A mad rush. I had travelled the word several times over, and yet I couldn’t remember the last time I had actually explored a city. There was never any time to do that. The schedule was always brutal, and it was always the same.“Who are you talking about?” Even as I said the words, my eyes travelled to the back of the bus. To the one bedroom that Dion had given up for Elodie so she could have some semblance of pr
JaxI had no idea whether Elodie got back in time to watch us play. I didn’t see her before or after the gig. In fact, I didn’t see her at all until we had reached the after party. As always, the club was heaving, and it took several attempts before the crowd parted enough for our security guys to lead us through and up to the VIP section. That’s when I saw her. Not that I recognised her at first.All I saw was Erik talking to a curvy brunette in a black dress. “Who is that with Erik?” I asked no one in particular, because even from the back the woman he was talking to was interesting. Even as I watched, Erik’s hand came down to rest on the small of her back, leading her further into the darkened room. Heads turned as they passed. All of them male. And all of them were interested in whoever it was that Erik was leading back towards the bar.Next to me, Louis shot me a look that told me he thought I was the dumbest piece of shit on the planet, but he didn’t say anything as we followe
ElodieJax at least had the good graces to look afraid as I stomped towards him in my heels. And heels or not, I could certainly stomp. The small crowd in the VIP section parted before me almost like they could feel my growing anger.Jax watched me march towards him, most of his demeanour that of cock-sure, unaffected rockstar, but his eyes gave him away. There was definite trepidation in them. There should have been abject terror, because when I was done with him, he would never interfere in my personal life again. Or any other woman’s, for that matter.Twenty-four hours into starting this job, and I was done with him. I was done with his sarcastic comments and dirty looks. Hell, I was done with Jax full stop. This latest dick move was the last straw. What right did he have to get one of the Sons to drag me away from someone just because I was dancing with them? Neither Jax nor The Savage Sons had any hold over me. They never had and they never would.“Hey, Goldilocks.” Jax’s drawl
JaxChicago went by without a hitch, and so did the next three stops on the American leg of our world tour. To anyone who looked at us, we were the old Dionysus Rising. Even Dion himself seemed to be back to normal. It was only behind the scenes that the cracks were noticeable. And they were mostly cracks I had put in us. My band mates were unquestionably loyal to me, and they always would be, but that didn’t mean that they wouldn’t chew me out if they thought I was in the wrong.And they thought I was in the wrong with how I treated Elodie. It wasn’t even that I was openly hostile most of the time, although spending what seemed like every waking moment with her, I had snapped more than was normal for me. But there was a coldness between us. Although coldness might be putting it lightly. More like a nuclear winter. Elodie couldn’t even be in the same room as me without her lips thinning and curling, and personally I wanted to rip my own ears off every time she opened her prim and pro
ElodieI had never been to New York, and it must have shown because the band’s laughter filled my ears as I stood on the pavement (or was it sidewalk?) and stared upward with my mouth open. I had to crane my neck and peer around against the glare of the sunlight filtering down between the skyscrapers, but I still couldn’t see all of it. And I wanted to see all of it.“El?”Shaking away the daydream, I turned my attention to the man at my side and smiled, letting my hand drop to his arm for a second. He smiled back, a dimple in his cheek popping. It made him look more approachable to others, but I already knew that the rough exterior and foul mouth hid a true sweetheart. People might cross the street to avoid Chance, which was one of the reasons he was employed to take care of Dionysus Rising, but I knew him. I had known him my entire life. Hell, I think at one point or another I’d even had some girly teenage crush on the older man, back before he had left the London chapter and gone N
JaxAs much as I loved a rare day off when we were on tour, I knew there was always a catch. And it was no different now. Erik wanted us to be seen. Those were his words.Seen.Like we were new to all of this. Like we wouldn’t be recognised. But of course, that’s exactly what Erik wanted. He wanted the internet to blow up with pictures of us doing mundane everyday things. Like sight seeing and eating out in public. It wasn’t even the first time we had done it. And every time we did, we saw a huge rise in sales, and our already full concerts would have queues around the corner. “Why the face like a slapped ass… again?” Louis asked, his eyes darting every which way. It was like he was taking it all in, all at once. He looked like he wasn’t paying attention, but I knew that was a lie. In the years I had known him, and the months he had been playing with us, I had come to realise that Louis might look like a dumb air head but was far from it. He was stupidly intelligent. He was also a cl
JaxI dropped her hand a second before we stepped from the street and back into the air-conditioned coolness of the hotel lobby five hours later. It was the first time in the five hours since we had escaped security that I hadn’t been touching her, and my hand felt empty without hers in it. Half of me expected her to kick up a fuss at me dropping her like that, but when I glanced at her, there was no judgement on her face. Her smile was small, sure, but she didn’t look angry.She looked like she understood.Which all by itself was a marvel, because I sure as hell didn’t. I didn’t understand any of the feelings that were racing through my body. She made my heart speed up and my cock ache, and I hadn’t even kissed her yet. All we had done all day was hold hands, that was it. Which shouldn’t have been enough to make me pant after her like a horny dog. But I was. I wanted her with a need that shocked me. “Where the fuck have you been?”I stepped away from her guiltily as Tate swept towa
JaxWhat was the old saying?The show must go on.In our case, or more specifically for Dion, that was doubly true. We had a show, and we couldn’t do it without him. No matter how much he might wish it was different, how much he might prefer that he could sit and drown his troubles in the bottom of a vodka bottle.In reality, it was a wonder he had been sober enough to perform at all, but somehow Elodie had managed it. I didn’t know what she had said to him when she had asked for us all to leave them together. None of us knew what they spoke about, but I was thankful for whatever it was. Because when Dion opened his mouth and started singing, it was almost like old times. To the thousands crowded below us, he seemed normal. It was only to us, to those few who knew what a hard time he was having, that he all was not as it seemed. We noticed the microscopic differences.Still, it went better than I thought it would, considering. In fact, if anything, the crowd was even more wild than us
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