In the morning, as she stepped out into the kitchen, Seb was at the coffee machine. “Not you too,”he shook his head in stern disapproval as he pushed a pod into the opening and waited for the machine to work.Owen met her eyes across the kitchen bench and raised his eyebrows. “Seb has a strong opinion about morning exercise,” he explained. He was dressed for a run but had apparently paused to have a flick through the daily newspaper on his way as it was open on the bench in front of him.“I have a strong opinion about all exercise,” Seb corrected, turning and resting his hips against the kitchen bench, cupping his coffee in both hands and blowing on it to cool it. “Other than the horizontal sort.”“If you do it in the morning,” she explained, stooping to adjust a shoe. “It is over and done with for the day.”“It depends entirely on what you mean by ‘it’,” Seb winked lasciviously. “I have no objections to certain physical activities in the morning, afternoon, or evening.”“You weren’t
Emily hesitated and then put her hand in his and let him draw her up the stairs to where the blanket was arranged. He sat, releasing the towel, so it only just covered him. She was going to have to do the same, she realised. Even if she tied the towel sarong like, it would work its way free quickly. They had skinny dipped together, had amazing sex, and now they were going to eat breakfast together in the bare.There was something delightfully naughty about that, she decided despite her misgivings, and she released the towel to fall around her as he opened the picnic basket. He grinned, sliding a look from the corner of his eye knowing that he had won this round, she thought.“An unanticipated advantage of this set up,” he commented cheekily.She was surprised into genuine laughter.He set a bottle of champagne onto the floorboards, and a small bottle of orange juice. “Mimosa?”“Why not?” She agreed. “Weak for me, though, please. Got to watch the calories.”He retrieved two glasses fro
The band was divided between two tour busses, these ones slick and expensive looking inside and out, a sleek, glossy modern black with Two-Way Street emblazoned in yellow script on the outside.The band stopped and gawked as they got out of the taxis.Roadies wearing black t-shirts with Two Way Street in the signature spray-paint looking script on their backs and chests moved busily between the two sleek busses and the less glamourous support vehicles that would accommodate the tour’s support staff and equipment.“Daddy, does this mean we have made it to heaven?” James wondered, saying what they were all feeling. This tour was no expense spared, the contrast to the last stark.“It sure does, Jimmy, it sure does,” Jeremy answered. “Or at least we have attracted the attention of hell. But I, for one, am happy to sign on the dotted line in blood if this is a sign of what is to come.”She was already in hell, Emily thought wryly. The sexual tension between her and Owen was so electric tha
They slept, still tangled, somewhere between dressed and not, in the bottom bunk, until day turned into night, and the bus pulled up at the first destination. The sudden stillness and quiet of the engine being turned off woke her, groggy, and lethargic from the nap.“Show, Em,” Owen encouraged as she found clothing that would see her to the changerooms.“Yes, I know,” she was grumpy in her sleepiness, but managed to get herself dressed and her suit bag and case in hand, trailing him from the bus and avoiding the driver’s eyes, embarrassed that he might have seen more than he should have. There had to be some type of hazard pay, she thought with flustered amusement, for the drivers of bus bands – she was pretty certain that sex in the busses was pretty common with horny fans and band members doing what came naturally to them.The shower woke her, and she grazed on a salad as she let the stylist prepare her for the show, the men’s conversation in the background rising and falling, the c
They played four encores – the two planned, and two additional call backs, before staggering off stage again. Owen caught Emily against him and kissed her, hard, the kiss salted by both of their sweat.“Watch it mate,” James clapped his behind in passing. “You will burst the money makers.” He pouted his lips blowing kisses over his shoulders.Emily threaded her hands through Owen’s sweat-wet hair, and kissed him back hungrily, caught up in the excitement of the performance. He lifted his head, his eyes on hers, the expression in them breath taking in its intensity. “I love you, Em,” he told her.“I love you too, Owen,” she ruffled his hair to lighten the interaction, unwilling to invest her heart into the declaration. “Let’s go have some drinks, and then hit the showers.”It took almost half an hour to make their way to the bus, through the photographers and reporters wanting a moment to discuss their tour and the fans wanting to mingle. Aaron selected a small group of fans and a repo
In the crowd, a familiar voice called her name, and she turned instinctually towards it, smiling. Something soft was thrust into her arms, and she met the man’s dark eyes, the smile falling from her face at his vulpine expression.“Who-?” The crowd jostled against the barrier, and he let it push him back so that she caught a flash of a grin before he disappeared.She looked down at what he had placed in her hands. She already held a bunch of flowers, and some other oddments fans liked to give her. This was a teddy bear, but… The stitching down its stomach had been cut open, and the soft white fluff within and the fur around it was stained a brownish red. There was something brownish red stuffed inside…“I will have that, thank you,” Aaron snatched the teddy out of her hands and dropped it into a plastic bag, which he ziplocked and passed to his PA. He put his hand on her back. “Keep going, Em, smile,” he encouraged. “Smile, Em.”Her expression had caught Owen’s attention, although the
“And just get on with it,” Owen agreed. “How many celebrities do you hear about getting kidnapped or murdered? Except for that, ah, what was her name?”“That was a jewel heist,” Emily remembered. “I don’t have any jewellery worth heisting, so I guess we are good there,” she joked, and then saw the expression on his face. The only piece of jewellery she had owned that worth more than a couple of hundred dollars was the engagement ring. She wondered what he had done with it after she had turned down his off-hand proposal.“Yeah,” he said soberly. “That is true. You should have jewellery though, Emily. We can afford… Anyway,” he realised they were getting into a conversation that the timing and mood just was not right for.“So, we are just too public, Em.” He returned to the stalker, and she thought ruefully that it was preferable to discuss a stalker over the unanswered question of their relationship. “We are untouchable because we make ourselves touchable. There are too many people aro
She next woke when James banged his hands rhythmically along the outside of the bus calling their names. Owen groaned. “F-king drummers,” he complained. “What is the time?”“I don’t know, but I am starving.”The bus engine was silent, and the driver had already departed, so they had arrived a while before, they realised, and slept through it. They used the en suite and dressed, pushing sunglasses onto their faces as they staggered down the steps into the daylight and squinted against the unfamiliar glare of the sun, fuzzy brained and groggy from sleep.“This is different,” Owen commented as they were joined Seb, Jeremy and James on the pavement, the three guys looking brighter and more awake than Emily felt. Seb held a black espresso coffee in his hand which might, she thought, account for their alertness. “Being at the venue bright and early.”“It is midday,” Seb pointed out. “Most people don’t consider that early.”“Early for us,” Owen grinned lopsidedly, his dimple appearing. “I wo
Vixen stacked her boxes against the wall in the new apartment. Office. Apartment. Whatever. She was relatively sure that Thomas did not know about this building, as his sexuality had been Gregory’s closely held secret. She knew that Gregory had made Andrew make the purchase disappear off the books. The accountant had been very helpful from his sandy, sunny, retirement.And that was all that mattered. That she and her boy toys would be safe.“Alright?” Shadow paused by her, carrying a box. He had taken off his shirt, pushing it into his waistband, and his face was sweaty, his arms and chest dirty as the dust from the boxes mixed with his sweat, leaving behind streaks.She smiled at him with false brightness. “Fine.”He was still worried about her.She had made choices that she did not regret, but they had come with a cost, and she had paid it. Broken boy toys, she thought, and a broken Domme. But she was a Fixer, and she would f-king fix herself, along with her boys.She saw the number
Raven opened his laptop on his normal Friday morning table after checking that its surface had been wiped free of spills and crumbs. He was glad of the quiet moment - it had been a chaotic week of packing up Vixen’s apartment. They had hired a moving truck and moved the furniture out themselves, a b-tch of a job, but they had not wanted any trail that someone could follow to the office building, so had decided that it was better not to hire removalists and keep the move off record.They had also hired an architect to begin putting together plans for the band’s apartments in the building, and the smaller ones that they would lease out to others. There were eighteen floors, plus the basement level in which the sex club was located, so the building would eventually be a good income for them, though, from what Gregory had left Vixen, they probably wouldn’t need it.It had been fun and interesting to explore the building and basement with Vixen and Shadow, to spend an evening drinking cham
The approach to Gregory’s house was blocked off, and the news reporters had been pushed back to a point beyond view of the house, where the trees were set back from the road, leaving a gravel edge convenient for parking. Shadow had to park far back from the blockade, behind rows of news vans, support vehicles, a couple of ambulances on standby, and the cars of curious passers-by, and they worked their way through news crews and thrill seekers alike as they made their way to the police-guarded rope.“Anything?” Raven asked Shadow who had his phone to his ear, redialling Vixen’s phone for the one hundredth time since the news story. He rose onto his tip toes, craning his neck, searching through the crowds of police and SWAT officers behind the barricade, looking for Vixen. “What colour was her hair today?”“Rings out,” Shadow shook his head. His face was pale. “I can’t remember man,” he added. “Blonde, I think. Though my mind has totally shut down, and maybe that was yesterday? Blonde,
Vixen touched her brow as she drove between the rows of police cars and black SWAT vehicles to the gates. “No need to stand to attention, fellows,” she murmured under her breath. There was a flurry of activity around her. Speed was of the essence, she knew. There was always the risk that one of Thomas’ associates would drive up the road and spot them. All it would take was one phone call at the wrong time.“All good Tempie?” Claudia said in her ear.“Just admiring the view,” Tempie replied. “Lots of beef on the side of the road today, makes a girl a bit hungry, you know?”Claudia chuckled. “Keep that spirit up, Tempie. Not long now, hey? And then this will be done.”Tempie wound down the window at the gate and pressed the intercom button, smiling for the cameras, as if a man in camouflage was not crawling along the side of her car. The gates opened, and she eased her way forward, hoping that there were no limbs or other body parts in her way and bracing for a bump and a scream.In the
“Look, Tempie,” he gripped her shoulders, pulling her until she had no choice but to look at him, using his strength against her for the first time, but trying to be gentle about it. “I’ve got police contacts, and some big shit is about to go down. I don’t want you there when it happens. I care about you and Shadow. I don’t want to see you both mixed up in this.”“Gregory’s dying,” she replied calmly. “I’m not leaving him to die alone, Raven, with just employees around him.”“Tempie,” he pleaded, lowing his head until his forehead rested against hers. “Listen to me for once. Please. Don’t go.”“Raven, I need to get dressed,” she shrugged his hold off, and her disregard enraged him. He had tried asking nicely, he thought, he would have to insist.“For f-k sakes,” he growled. “I’ll chain you to that f-king bed if I have to Tempie. You are not going.” He caught her back up. “It’s too dangerous. You. Are. Not. Going. That’s it. Final.”“Raven!” She pulled away from him sharply and pulled
Midday Friday, Raven was stalking a surveillance target when his phone rang. He glanced at the display. Vice. “Hey,” he said putting the phone onto speaker so he could take photos if the target came into sight.“Raven, sweet boy.” It was Nicola, Vice’s mum. Raven checked the read out on the phone. Definitely Vice’s number.“Nicola,” he said warmly. “Have you stolen Vice’s phone?”“No, I am looking after it for him,” she replied. “Something has happened Raven. I am guessing that you have not been listening or watching the news.”“No,” Raven felt a cold fist close around his heart. He put the camera down and picked the phone up, taking it off of speaker. “What happened, Nicola? Are Vice and Victor okay?”“They are fine,” she assured him. “But we are at the hospital. Miranda was shot this morning.”“Holy f-k.” Raven was shocked. “Is she okay?”“She lost a lot of blood, but she is a strong girl. It was a shoulder wound. Some man from her recording label who has been causing her grief. He
“Alright,” Vixen told herself as the gates to Gregory’s house opened to admit her. “It is easy.”“We will be here with you,” Detective Callahan said in her ear. Vixen adjusted her hair to cover the earpiece. It was skin coloured and barely noticeable, but if she were caught with it, it would not only give away the entire plan, but also her part in it.“That is nice, but we both know there is nothing you can do if I get busted. Not without giving away twelve months of investigation, right? So, you are not going to come riding to my rescue if I get into trouble.”“Have you changed your mind?” Claudia sounded strained.“No,” Vixen eased the Ferrari into the parking spots. “No. This will make Miranda safe, and you promised to leave Gregory alone, so no, I have to do this.” She drew in a deep breath and fixed her lipstick, before picking up her handbag, and opening the car door.She adjusted the mask on her face, and flicked her hair over her shoulders, before strolling up to the front doo
Kissing Shadow was no different to kissing a woman, at least the mouth part, Raven thought. Sure, there was a slight prickle of stubble where there was not normally, but Shadow’s lips were soft, and his mouth hot, his tongue against Raven’s was no different.But Raven was used to being the taller partner, to leaning over someone, being the one to lean back in order to kiss was new. To grip a man’s hips and tug him closer was new too. To feel Shadow’s hard on against him, different.Shadow could kiss as well as he gave head. His hands cupped Raven’s face, the big palms warm against his skin, and he sucked on Raven’s tongue in a way that made desire curl up from the soles of Raven’s feet into his groin and his heart pound faster against his ribs.It was like being bound to Vixen’s bed, the balance of power had shifted in the experience, and Raven’s responsibility diminished. Shadow might be a sub, but his experience and size made him dominant between them.Shadow eased the kiss, brushin
In the morning, Vixen left the two boys curled up in bed. Raven’s eyes opened briefly as she left the shower, before he closed them again. Shadow wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him closer, and snuggled into Raven’s dark hair.“Aww,” she leaned over to deliver them kisses, breathing in the warm scent of their skin. “Snuggly boys.”“Don’t go,” Raven tried to pull her back into bed, but she laughed and eased away with lingering kisses.“I must, my pet.”Raven heaved a sigh. “It’s not even eight.”“Do you have to work today?” She wondered as she sat on the edge of the bed to lace up her boots.“Should do,” he muttered, lured to the edge of sleep by Shadow’s hot body against his. “Have a surveillance job that gets active around ten.”“Should I set you an alarm?” She offered.He groaned pressing his face into the pillow. She took that as a yes and programmed the smart device on the bedside to wake him at nine thirty.She paused in the doorway in order to look at them with a feelin