This time when we took the stage, I didn’t have to use my El-dar to know where she was in the stadium. Her and Shay stood front and center, surrounded by security guards in the pit.
My jaw about hit the floor when I saw them bopping around in the pit like rocker princesses. Sometime in the last hour, they’d changed into party dresses that didn’t cover shit. I would’ve gone over the rail and wrapped my leather jacket around her myself if I didn’t have fifty thousand people staring at me, cheering for our music.
What the fuck was she thinking?
I went through the motions of our act. Hell, at this point it was more muscle memory than anything. But I couldn’t take my eyes off of Ella. The way her purple-tipped blonde hair swayed around her shoulders as she danced to my rhythm. The way her eyes sparkled when the lights fanned the crowd. The way her little skirt bounced when she shook her hips.
Christ, it was torture.
“Uh, so usually this is the point in the show where Jesse strips down.” Chase addressed the crowd before turning to me. “But seeing how he’s still wearing his jacket, I’m thinking it’s not happening tonight.”
I fingered my bass. “I mean, the jacket is hot. I can take that off if you want me to.”
The crowd roared.
“Take it off!”
“I wanna see those tats!”
“Magic Mike!”
“Magic Jesse!”
I laughed into my mic. “Sounds like the crowd wants to see more of me.”
“Eh.” Chase shrugged. “I’m kinda over you hogging all the attention. There are four guys in this band after all.”
“Take it off, baby!” Shay shouted above the crowd.
I raised my eyebrows as Noah hit a little bump and grind beat. “I’ve seen it people. I’m not sure you want to.”
“Pshaw.” Chase sneered at me. “Remember you’re talking to People’s Sexiest Man of the Year, here. Show some respect.”
I lifted my hands and bowed exaggeratedly at him. “All hail, the sexiest man alive.”
“You know it.” Chase beamed.
Xander cleared his throat as he leaned into his mic. “Pretty sure that was last year, Chase. Didn’t you get dethroned by that actor from all those rom coms? Roman something?”
“Grier.” Noah helpfully added into his mic as he continued his beat. “Roman Grier.”
We all swung around to look at him.
Noah continued drumming. “What? I watch rom com movies when I get baked.”
The crowd roared.
Chase cracked up, clutching his stomach as he laughed his ass off. I had to laugh too. I guess I’d missed that somehow these last few months. Noah and rom coms. Somehow it made perfect sense.
“So, are you doing this or what?” Noah asked as he continued his beat. “Or can we get back to playing our music?”
You know shit has gone sideways when Noah was the one trying to get us back on track.
Chase shook his head sadly. “I think I lost my mojo.”
“I’m not helping you find it,” Xander snarked.
“Me neither,” I agreed.
“I will!” Shay yelled from the front row.
Chase smiled down at her. “Ah, there it is.”
I never really thought of myself as a romantic, but the man literally glowed from the inside out when he looked at his wife. My heart thumped unevenly as my eyes went back to the crowd where Shay grinned back at him with the same expression. Then my eyes moved to Ella, and this time, it was my breath stuttering in my chest.
Her eyes shone with sadness and maybe longing.
I’d done that. I’d hurt her. I’d made her uncertain about us.
I had to make shit right.
Chase pranced across the stage for his wife—and the crowd—and I played along, but I wasn’t really here.
I was busy trying to plan what I needed to say to Ella later.
After the concert and the encores and all the gladhanding, I still hadn’t figured out what I was going to say. I signed autographs for the crowd hanging out in the parking lot, smiling and going through the motions, but all I could think about was Ella.
How was I going to fix this? It didn’t help that there was no one I could talk to about it. Chase was out for obvious reasons. Xander didn’t know about me and Ella. Noah wasn’t one I’d ever turned to for advice, especially about women. I couldn’t remember ever seeing him with a woman for longer than a week. Harper was already on her way to our next stop, and my relationship with Shay could be described as tenuous at best. Not to mention that her alliance was clearly to Ella. And Chase.
There was no one. I was all on my own.
Historically, I hadn’t done well on my own. Usually, I ended up with my foot in my mouth and a red handprint on my cheek when I was on my own.
But I had to man up and fix this.
Leaving the fans in the parking lot behind, I headed for my bus. Noah and Xander were still posing with fans—groupies really—but I’d done my time, and I was over the groping hands and innuendos.
I needed my girl.
Nodding at Dallas, our driver, I stepped into the back of the bus and was greeted by silence.
“Ella?” I called uncertainly. It would be just my luck that she’d run away and got on Chase’s bus tonight.
After a beat, the curtain to her bunk drew back. “In here.”
Relief had me walking on unsteady legs back to the bunks. “Can I join you?”
She eyed me suspiciously, that pain still gleaming in her eyes before she finally nodded.
I took an unsteady breath, tossed my leather jacket into my bunk, and closed my curtain so the guys would think I was already tucked in for the night. After ducking down, I crawled into Ella’s bunk and closed her curtain behind me.
Our breaths were the only sound in the small coffin like tomb. I hated the bunks. But this one was surprisingly nice. It smelled like Ella—a combination of that thick, rich lotion she always slathered on and some kind of flower. Sweet. Earthy. Perfect.
Fuck. How did I do this? Propped up on my side, I surveyed her body language. She’d changed into her usual sleep shorts and tank set, but she looked far from comfortable. She was all tense and refusing to look at me. That wasn’t ideal. Shit.
“Did you enjoy your night off?” The words fell out of my mouth with zero thought.
She blinked up at me. “Really, Jesse? That’s all you have to say? After everything that happened today? You want to know if I enjoyed the concert?”
“Fuck. I know I screwed up.”
“Right. Glad we can agree on that.” She crossed her arms over her chest, covering up her delicious, pointy nipples. But it was the sheen of tears in her eyes that stopped my heart.
“I’m so fucking sorry, Ella. I’ve been trying to dodge Rowan since you and me have become this.” I gestured between us. “But I have to work with her, she’s in charge of our wardrobe. The last few times I’ve gone in there, she’s been saying shit, touching me. I told her to knock it off, but she hasn’t. I don’t know what to do.”
“You told her to stop?” she whispered.
“Yes. More than once. And I told her I’m not getting back with her. I’m done. But she won’t listen. She keeps pulling shit. Usually when no one’s around to see it.”
Ella nodded tightly, but that sheen in her eyes didn’t go away. After a moment, she whispered, “And what she said about ripping her panties off? Was that true?”
I groaned and shuffled to my side next to her in the tiny space. Scrubbing my hands over my face, I shook my head. “That happened way before you. She’s definitely part of my past. I wasn’t a choirboy before you, and I’m not going to pretend that I was. I’m also not going to apologize for it. This is me. This is who I am. Or was. Whatever. I’m not doing that shit now. I’m with you. Yours are the only panties I wanna rip off, okay?”
“You’re so full of shit. Are you telling me you’d be fine with hearing about all the sex acts I got up to with my exes? You want a blow by blow of what the last guy I hooked up with liked to do to me?”
“Fuck no.”
She turned her head and glared at me. “So don’t ask me to be fine with it either.”
“I won’t. But I’m not gonna apologize for something someone else did. That’s not on me. That’s on her.”
Ella stared mulishly back at me, clearly still pissed.
Pressing my fingers against my eyes, I shook my head, then rolled to my side so I could look at Ella and let her know I was serious. “I don’t know what’s going on in Rowan’s head, but we’re done. She knows that. I’ve told her that. I’ll do whatever I have to to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, okay? I’ll meet with Wes and whoever he wants me to. We’ll figure this out.”
Ella sighed heavily then whispered, “Okay. Thank you.”
“I am sorry,” I whispered back as I cuddled into her side, nuzzling her ear. “How can I make it up to you?”
“Not like that!” she whispered furiously. “Dallas is up front, and who knows when the other guys will show up?”
“I guess you’ll just have to do your best to keep it down then, huh?” I palmed her breast in my hand through her shirt and grinned at the way her nipple pointed even higher.
“Jesse!” she hissed. “Oh. Wow. Mmm.”
I’d bit down on her earlobe and then suckled gently at her flesh. Releasing it, I groaned softly in her ear as her naughty hand pressed over my jean clad dick. “So fucking sexy. Do you know how agonizing it was to watch you in the audience tonight? You looked so goddamn hot in that dress. I don’t even remember most of the concert. All I wanted to do was fuck you on that stage. Claim you in front of everyone and make you mine.”
Ella keened then shoved a hand over her mouth, muffling the gorgeous sound.
“Damn, I really want to hear all those delicious sounds you make. Next break, we’re heading off to some private island, so it’ll just be you and me on a beach with no clothes. I need like a week at least to worship you properly.” I groaned and raked my teeth over her jaw while my fingers plucked at her distended nipple. “I need a week at least for these gorgeous tits. Maybe a month for your greedy little pussy. Do you think that’s enough time? I’d love to have this as my dessert every single night.”
I moved my hand from her pointy nipples, down her torso, to her waistband. Ella wiggled like she wanted to help me take her clothes off, but I had it handled. Maybe I’d help her muffle those little noises she was making instead.
As my hand dipped into her shorts, I covered her mouth with mine in a ravenous, wet kiss. Ella mewled into my mouth when my seeking fingers pressed against her panty covered pussy. She was so fucking wet my fingers easily skimmed over the surface. I dipped beneath her panties and found her silky smooth labia dripping with her cream.
I wanted to get a taste straight from the source, but the fucking bunks were so damned restricting. And I didn’t trust Ella to muffle those sweet little moans. So I kept kissing her as I rubbed my fingers over her wet pussy, teasing her with a deep stroke followed by a little flutter against her clit.
Ella groaned into my mouth.
It was hard to kiss her and smirk at the same time but somehow, I managed.
Upping the ante, I pulled my fingers from her panties and rubbed them over her lips.
Ella jerked her head back and blinked at me.
I smirked. “I just really wanted a taste of your sweet pussy.”
“Then why would you put it—”
“So I could do this.” I cut her off, then licked her sweet cream from her lips.
Ella whispered, “Oh.”
Kissing her harder, I pushed her cotton shorts and panties off her. Ella helped, kicking them to the bottom of the bunk. I ran my fingers over her now bare pussy. Teasing her with a light touch. Skimming my fingers over her but not dipping them into her folds. Ella shimmied against me, then lifted her leg, wrapping it around my hip.
“Mmmm, you feeling impatient, sweet girl?” I asked against her lips.
Ella arched into me as her answer.
“I wish I could fuck you like you deserve. But the guys will be here any minute, and I don’t want to share those delicious sounds you make with them.”
Ella whimpered.
“Or maybe you’d like that?”
Her pussy creamed around my fingers as I thrusted two inside her tight, gripping heat. I ground whatever part of my arm would rub against her clit, letting her hump my arm. Anything to give her that grinding friction she craved.
“You want an audience watching you as I fuck you? Have a crowd watching your body shimmying against mine. Watching that gorgeous, sexy ass of yours bouncing against my dick as I fuck you from behind. I’d have you down on all fours and make you watch the audience’s faces. Watch them watch you. See the desire in their eyes. Hear the delicious little sounds you make. All for me. Only now in front of them. They’re watching you now.”
Ella whimpered as her pussy clamped down on me. Her orgasm shook her body, and I captured her lips with mine to make sure none of those yummy sounds escaped. She rode out her orgasm on my hand, milking it, squeezing my fingers tight, and making me wish it was my dick inside her.
Fuck, that was hot.
And frustrating.
I wanted to be inside her. Feel that tight, hot warmth around my dick. But I could only lay here next to her and watch the show.
After the third aftershock rocked through her body, Ella rolled as far as she could in the small bunk. Meanwhile, I carefully licked every bit of her cream off my fingers. Damn, every part of her was so fucking delicious.
My cock throbbed painfully in my jeans. I wanted to be buried deep inside her heat, feeling the tight grip of her pussy spasming around me.
Or better yet, my face buried in it while her talented little mouth sucked me off.
Fuck this.
I ripped open my jeans and had my dick in my hand when Ella rolled back to me.
“I wanna feel you,” she whispered.
I ran my still wet hand—from her juices and my saliva—over my dick, not pausing for a second. I had to come. Now. “We can’t. We don’t have time. I swear to god, the guys will be here soon. If they’re not already.”
I paused and strained to hear anything from the front of the bus, but it was still silent. No way were the guys back yet. They’d be bringing the party onto the bus like last time.
“They’re not here yet,” Ella whispered. “Please. I just want to touch you. Maybe let you shoot off on my tits?”
“Oh fuck yeah. Take your top off. I wanna see them.”
Ella did a little shimmy, and I dodged her elbows as she pulled her tank top off in the tight quarters. Her gorgeous breasts bounced into view, and I groaned.
“My nipples are still hard and aching. It’s like they’re a barometer for you or something. Every time you’re near, they pull tight and start throbbing. Only you.”
I groaned and my hands moved faster. “Bring them over here. I wanna suck on them. And you. I’m gonna leave hickeys all over your body so everyone knows you’re mine.”
Ella ran her fingers through my hair and pulled my head down until I could flick her little nipple with my tongue. She moaned softly and pulled me tighter. I wanted to tell her to keep it down, not to let anyone know where we were—what we were doing—but I couldn’t. My mouth and hands were too busy.
I squeezed my hand on my dick, trying to mimic what it’d felt like in Ella’s pussy.
Just that thought alone was enough to send me over.
Biting back a groan, I milked my cock and leaned back to spray Ella’s chest with my cum. She flinched, then lifted her hand and rubbed it into her skin. If I could’ve, I would’ve come again. Christ, that was so fucking hot. A little extra cum dribbled out of my dick, and Ella rubbed it into her nipple.
I fell back into the mattress all lethargic and sex drunk.
“Just imagine if we had some time to really do it right.”
I smiled drunkenly at her and pulled her into my arms. She cuddled into my shirt, but it didn’t feel right.
“Wait,” I muttered before awkwardly pulling my shirt off. I held it out to her. “Do you need to clean up?”
She shook her head. So I threw my shirt down toward the bottom of the bunk and pulled her back into my arms. Her head felt right against my chest. Perfect.
Aside from actually having sex, there wasn’t anything I’d change about the moment—actually, maybe a little more shoulder room. These bunks were tight with two people.
Ella cuddled into my side, and I’d thought she’d fallen asleep until she spoke.
“Is that something you’re into? The exhibitionist thing?” she whispered in the quiet of her bunk.
“Eh, who hasn’t thought about it? I mean, I’ve never done it, if that’s what you’re asking. I might’ve hooked up in the same room as a buddy or two back in the day. Hotel rooms and privacy were a scarce commodity before we made it big. But I’ve never watched. And I’ve never had a group or whatever watching me.”
Ella nodded against me.
“You seemed to like it,” I whispered after a few minutes. “Is that something you ever want to try, or is it something better left to fantasy do you think?”
“What? Like have sex in front of people?”
“Well, yeah.”
“No!” she whispered back furiously. “Never.”
“Okay. Just thought I’d ask.”
Silence reigned again until she whispered, “How would you even do that? Without it becoming a huge scandal, I mean?”
I smiled. “There are sex clubs in major cities where you could do something like that. Clubs that don’t allow cameras and are big on privacy.”
“Like swinger clubs?”
“Yeah, I guess. I’ve never been, but I know a few people who are into that.” One person on this bus actually.
“Yeah, no.” Ella’s hair tickled my face as she shook her head. “I don’t think I ever want to get naked in front of an audience. And I don’t really want to see other people naked, live and in person. I think that’s just one of those things that’s better in theory than in reality. At least for me.”
“Good.” I grunted. “I don’t wanna share you.”
“But you would’ve taken me to a club if I wanted? Really?”
“I dunno. Maybe I would’ve tried to talk you out of it. I guess we’ll never know.”
She laughed. “You’re kinda insane, do you know that? In the best possible way.”
I fell asleep in her bunk with the hugest smile on my face.
And it didn’t have a thing to do with the almost sex we’d just had, but it had everything to do with the woman cuddled up next to me.