28. Laney
I look up at Reed’s shout.
He runs across the road toward me, not seeming to care about the vehicles speeding in both directions. My heart is in my mouth, and for a horrifying moment, I think he’s going to go flying over the hood of one. Horns blast their disapproval, but then he makes it and stops in front of me.
He scoops me up in a hug and holds me tight. I bury my nose in his chest. He smells so good. I wrap my arms around him, my fingers gripping the muscles in his back.
“Thank God you’re okay,” he says against the top of my head.
I don’t want to let go of him, but I’m also aware of the people around us. We could be snapped by the paparazzi or just by a member of the public. I don’t want questions to be asked.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I just couldn’t be in there with all those people. I felt like everyone was staring at me. Like they knew who I was, and exactly what I’d been through. It was too much.”
“You’re right, it was too much. We should never have put you in that situation.” Lines appeared between his eyebrows. “Why didn’t you answer your phone?”
“Shit, sorry. I put it on silent because of the show. I didn’t know you were trying to call.” I take my phone out and check it now. It’s showing several missed calls.
“You worried us,” he says.
“How’s Darius? He didn’t play, did he?”
I can tell from all the people leaving the building, the way they’re shaking their heads, and talking from between lips pursed with irritation.
“No, he didn’t. He tried, but I guess it was too much for him, too.”
I dip my chin. “That’s my fault. He would have played if I’d been there.”
“We don’t know that, and it’s not your fault. You’re not responsible for him, Laney.”
My chest is heavy with guilt. “He needed me, and I ran.”
His tone hardens. “Laney, stop it. This is my fault. I should have listened to Cade, but I didn’t. I should never have booked Darius to do the first show, never mind try again tonight.”
A tear slips down my cheek. Why does it feel like all I do is cry lately? He swipes it away with his thumb.
“Don’t cry. We’re all going to be all right.”
I nod. I hope so.
“I should go and see Dax,” I say. “Make sure he’s okay.”
“I’ll come with you.”
I shake my head. “Is it all right if I see him on my own? I think he’ll appreciate it being just the two of us.”
It dawns on me how little time Darius and I have had together recently—especially one on one. I’ve spent time with both Cade and Reed, but Darius hasn’t had the opportunity. It’s not as though we haven’t seen each other, but I’m sure he’ll be missing us .
“I’ll go and find Cade,” Reed says. “Let him know you’re safe.”
We cross the road together—safely this time—and enter the building. Reed gives my hand a quick squeeze, and then we part.
I don’t need to explain to the security detail who I am. They recognize me and allow me to go backstage to where the dressing rooms are located. I find the one with the name Darius Riviera on it.
I knock lightly on the door and then open it a crack.
“Hey,” I say. “Is it all right if I come in?”
He sits up straight. “Laney. Of course it is.”
My stomach churns with nerves at seeing him, and I have to remind myself that this is just Darius.
Our Darius. Sometimes, when I see the number of people who pay to come and see him, and when I see the way he pulls in the photographers and the reporters, it’s hard not to put him on a pedestal.
But he’s a man, just like the others, and though he normally exudes confidence and sex appeal when he’s on stage, he hurts just the same.
I’m worried he’s going to be mad at me for running off. Would he have been able to play if I’d stayed? Does he blame me?
“Everything all right?” I ask.
He twists his lips ruefully. “What do you think?” He covers his face with both hands. “I think my career might be over.”
I pull up a chair opposite him and wrap my fingers around his forearm, pulling one hand down so I can see his face. “No. You don’t believe that.”
“If I puke every time I go on stage, I don’t think people are going to want to pay to see that.”
“It’s still new. You’ve been through a lot.”
“You think anyone else is going to take a gamble on me? What if I wait six months, and someone else books me, and then it happens again?”
“So, start small? People would love you to do some smaller, more intimate gigs. See how you get on with those first before trying to take on a performance of this size.”
He lets out a breath, but his head is still hung, his long, wavy hair falling around his face. “It’s a good suggestion, but what am I supposed to do about Reed and Cade? They’ve built their careers around me. If I’m not playing, they’re not working either.”
“You don’t need to worry about them. They’re both grown men. They can sort out their own careers. Besides, it’s not as though they need the money, do they?”
“Working isn’t only about money,” he says. “It’s about having a sense of purpose, of giving structure to your day. It’s about the people you meet, and the connections that are forged.”
I understand what he means, though for me, working has always been about the paycheck.
“We were okay in the cabin, weren’t we?” I remind him. “I mean…before.”
He nods his understanding so I don’t have to give voice to what ‘before’ means.
I continue, “We didn’t have jobs to go to then, but we were always occupied.”
“We were occupied with trying to survive,” he comments.
I repress a smile. “And with each other, too.”
He must hear the tease in my voice. “Laney…” he warns. “You know it’s been too long.”
“Maybe I can do something that’ll take your mind off the violin?”
I drop to my knees in front of him.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“What do you think?”
I pop the button of his jeans and then the zipper. His cock seems to know exactly what’s coming, ’cause it springs out to meet me. I wrap my fingers around the base and, looking up at him to watch his expression, lick the length of him with one long stroke, and then surround the head with my mouth.
“Ah, fuck,” he gasps.
I want to give him pleasure. I owe that much to him. I tongue his slit, and then sink my mouth down on him, as far as I can go.
“I want to come in your mouth,” he groans, “but don’t swallow. Kiss me after. Share my cum with me.”
Holy shit, that’s hot.
I keep sucking him, and he keeps talking.
“You know I see the world through my other senses. The taste of my cum on your tongue is a fantasy to me.”
I hum around his dick, hoping he understands that the idea is turning me on, too. I squeeze my thighs together, enjoying the thump of pleasure at my core.
The noises he’s making grow guttural, and he thrusts his hips from the chair, fucking my mouth. I sense his urgency and suck him harder, trying to do clever things with my tongue. I’m no expert at this, but the men always seem to enjoy what I’m doing.
A knock suddenly comes at the door, and I freeze, Darius’s cock still in my mouth.
“I’m busy,” he yells.
The knock comes again, followed by a female voice. “Mr. Riviera? I do need to speak to you. It’s urgent.”
He’s right on the brink, I can feel it. I want him to come, so I don’t ease up.
The door cracks open.
Darius quickly pats the surface of the dressing table grabs a towel that he must have known was there, and throws it over his lap and my head.
At almost the same time, he jams his cock right down my throat.
His fingers are knotted in my hair, and he holds me in place so I can’t move.
I can’t breathe, and I’m silently gagging, my throat closing around him.
Above me, he makes a strangled noise, then the female voice comes from the door.
“I’m sorry to disturb you, Mr. Riviera, but the concert director requests a meeting with you. It really is urgent, given the circumstances.”
“Yes, of course.” His voice sounds strange. He’s hanging on to control with the finest of threads. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll be right there.”
The door clicks shut again, and he releases me. I come up for air, literally gasping.
“Holy shit,” I manage. “I thought I was going to die choking on a dick.”
“When you gagged liked that, your throat was so tight, I thought I was going to lose it. Now, we’ve got five minutes. Let’s do that again.”
I lick my lips, and he guides his cock back between them.
He leans back in his chair, his hands still loosely in my hair as I finish him off.
His cum fills my mouth, and I keep it there, the saltiness coating my tongue.
His fingers grip my hair, and he tilts my head back.
He covers my mouth with his, his tongue lapping mine, so he’s tasting his own cum.
The thought alone turns me on so badly, I think I might just come without him even touching my pussy.
“Wait here,” he says. “Let me get rid of this person, and then it’ll be your turn. Touch yourself while I’m gone. I want to taste your pussy on your fingers.”
Darius tucks himself away and leaves the room.
Voices come from the corridor.
God, they were right outside the door while I made him climax.
I’m not as anxious about being caught with either Dax or Cade in the same way I am with Reed. They might be my stepbrothers, but we don’t have the big age difference. Reed is my stepfather, and he knew me as a child, which is why people would warp what we have into something distasteful.
Darius re-enters the room. My blowjob seems to have given him some of his swagger back.
“Now,” he says, dragging his hand through his hair, “where were we?”
He moves in closer, eclipsing me with his body.
I’m wearing a short black dress—one of the only dresses I own. He yanks the hem up around my waist and pushes me into the chair.
“Sit back and spread your legs.”
The heels I’m wearing make my legs look impossibly long, and I wish he could see them. Instead, he runs his hands up the back of my heel and calf, pausing at the dip at the back of my knees, and then grips my thighs.
He tongues my pussy. I imagine transferring his cum from my mouth to his, and then to my cunt. He pushes his tongue inside me and fucks me with it. Then he suckles on my clit, sending sparks through me.
It feels so good, and the thought of someone walking in on us again only makes me hotter.
“Who was here last?” he asks as he slides a finger inside me. “My brother or my father?”
I take a hitching breath. “Your brother.”
“Do you enjoy being shared around us, Laney?”
“Yes,” I gasp.
“Why?”
“Because you’re all so different. It’s like you each fill a different hole in me.” I realize what I’ve said and laugh. “A metaphorical hole.”
He pushes a second finger inside me, stretching my pussy. “I don’t know…I think we fill your actual holes, too, don’t we? Your mouth, your ass, your pussy.” Each time he mentions a particular area of my body, he drags his thumb over it, making me squirm with pleasure.
He lifts me out of the chair, swipes everything off the dressing table, and places me on it. He opens his pants to free himself. He’s ready to go again already.
Darius penetrates me, hard and fast. We cling to each other, his hips slamming between my thighs. There’s no finesse in our fucking. It’s raw and brutal. We kiss, our lips bruising, and he bites my neck.
“Oh, God, I’m coming, I’m coming.” My pussy clamps around his cock, and he lets out a primal growl, and then holds himself deep. I feel him twitching inside me, the flood of heat as he releases himself.
We take a moment to catch our breath, and then make ourselves presentable. Darius has a bathroom attached to the changing room, so I quickly use it to freshen myself up. When I emerge, Cade and Reed are in the room with Dax.
Cade raises his eyebrows at us both. “Feeling better?”
I can’t help grinning. “Much.”