Chapter 17
Chapter
Seventeen
Thank fuck!
We set off for our first festival on the Isle of Wight via helicopter and pick up cars at the heliport just outside Cowes. The buses will be at the festival ground for us to use as a base. Xan, Evie, and I will then travel back to Southampton by helicopter to make our way north to the Highlands while the others go by bus to Glastonbury.
I’m thankful we have no entourage with Gabe, and that Becky on the face of it will have to play nice with Evie. I get the distinct feeling however that Becky will not be afforded any quarter. Evie is well beyond playing nice, and I dread to think if Becky starts what the fireworks will look like if Evie gets going.
We’re playing tonight, so as soon as we arrive we’re off, checking out the staging areas and working with the venue staff. Tim is staying stateside for now, but is coming to Glastonbury next week, so we have a temporary tour manager working with us. He’s currently focused on dragging us off in different directions for press meetings. I’m focused on whatever the hell Evie is planning.
“I’m going to go with Tommy and look around the festival,” she tells me. “I’ll be back in plenty of time to see you before you go on. Is that ok?”
We’re standing slightly away from the others. She looks around the area, and we both spot Becky on her own. She lowers her voice and I think she’s going to tell me she’s slipping away by herself. But she totally surprises me and asks, “Do you think I should ask Becky to come? I know we don’t seem to be best buds lately, well certainly not since Vegas, but I’m prepared to try to get to know her better.”
She doesn’t even wait for my answer, and calls across, “Becky, I’m going for a look around.” She’s gesticulating beyond the backstage area. “Do you want to join?”
Xan looks amazed, as does Becky herself.
I pull her in for a kiss. “I fucking love you, thank you.” She closes her eyes. I’m not sure if it’s a good idea or not, but at least she offered. The woman amazes me with her capacity to include people. Even I’m aware that Becky and Gabe’s entourage have not played nice since Vegas. Evie has had a lot to put up with. And it’s not even as if I’ve encouraged these women. I haven’t. I’ve largely ignored them. I smile at my wife, my admiration glowing from my eyes.
The glow dims slightly when I hear Becky’s response.
“No thanks.” Becky smiles, but even I can see it’s totally fake. “I’ve just seen some people I know from Marcus’s birthday party. I’ll join them at the bar, but come over when you’re done.”
Moving off, we follow her path, and it’s straight to the two British models who were in our single shoot last year and were with Xan in France. Fuck, one of them kissed me when Evie was there. Evie looks at them, but I can’t tell from her face if she recognises them. They definitely recognise her and drag Becky in for the low down.
“See you later,” Evie calls as she circles her finger in a see ya’ wave and moves off with Tommy.
Xander walks over muttering, “That’s fucking trouble. I bet you a ￡100 they’re on that bus tonight with Gabe.”
“Good thing we’re leaving then.” The girls are trying to get my attention and waving me over. I ignore them and walk away with my band into the next press interview.
My marriage is the hot topic, and of course that means I’m getting asked the most questions. I can see Levi and Gabe are getting pissed off. I try to move it onto the music and new album due to come out, but no, they want all the information about my wife.
“Is she here?”
“Can we meet her?”
“Is it true she owns docklands?” Think they’ve got that bit mixed up, but I say yes.
They ask about James, too.
“Is she his mother?”
“How does she feel about all the other women?”
Fuck that.
I’m leaving the interviews more and more annoyed.
“It’ll die down once they get used to it,” says Xan, patting me on the back. “Well done for not snapping.”
“Sorry, lads,” I say to them all. “Please feel free to jump in with any answer you feel like, even if it’s not relevant, try to throw them off.”
“I suppose it’s to be expected. You are the most unlikely man to ever have got married,” puts in Levi.
“Why? I’ve been married before. I would’ve thought I was the most likely,” I defend myself.
“You’re also divorced, so no not really,” says Gabe.
“What can I say, hopeless romantic.” I’m laughing at them all now.
“Fuck off,” Levi scoffs. “You had more women while you were married than us that weren’t. You’ve made it very well known your one and done rule was well in force, so, no, not likely at all.”
“Soul mates?” I say, continuing to laugh.
“You’re so full of shit, Marcus,” says Levi, “but if it gets us more publicity, then fine.”
“Talking of soul mates, how come Becky’s still here?” Xander asks. “I thought you wanted rid of her.”
“CBA to find someone else at the minute. And she wants to fuck girls, and for me to watch as well as join in, so I’m happy to go with that.” He pats Gabe on the back. “I’m not sure Gabe is up to it, after your dining room sessions, but he’ll give it a go, won’t you.”
“A really big one,” Gabe agrees, looking round. “Is that the two women who were with us at your birthday, Marcus?” He points to the bar.
“Yep, be my guest, I’m not interested,” I tell him. “We’ll be gone tonight.”
We walk towards the bar, following Gabe and Levi. Might as well since we get drinks all free here. The girls are making the most of it, and I see evidence of them doing blow.
I look around to see if Evie’s back. She isn’t, and my shoulders drop as I relax a bit. I was worried what I might walk back into. My head is still on a swivel however, as I constantly watch out for her.
“She’ll stay away until the last minute,” Xan says to me, reading my mind as usual. “She knew who they were,” he indicates with his head towards the two women.
“Are you sure?”
He nods, “Totally.” I saw her face when she turned to Tommy. She knew.”
“Fuck, this gets worse and worse. I regret that fucking tent so much.” I scrub my hand down my face.
He shrugs. “Don’t fuck it up again then.”
He pats me on the back just as John Clayton comes over to catch up with us. He’s all the rage, a DJ but also a big collaborator in the music world. We get talking shop and find out he’s going to be in South America at the same time as us. We talk about doing something together over the summer to take on tour there. I get excited about the music and recording, Xan joins the conversation, and by the time we have a few whiskeys, we’re well on the way to working something out together.
The girls clearly don’t enjoy being ignored and are constantly trying to get our attention, John being no slouch with the ladies either.
“We’re being flagged,” he tells us.
“Ignore them” I say, as we try to carry on our discussion.
“Didn’t think that was your style. Is your marriage true then?” he quizzes.
“Yep, she’s here somewhere, oh there she is.” I point to Evie coming across the grass with Tommy.
“Wow, I can see why you’re not interested in them. I also spoke to Becker,” he suddenly puts in, “and he said she’s amazing.” He stands as Evie comes over.
What the fuck? Becker again, the prick.
“Hi, I’m John,” he says, grabbing Evie’s hand, “heard all about you.” She looks at me. “Not from him,” he thumbs at me, “from Kasey Becker. Said your place was amazing and he wants you to go to LA to sort his house out.”
“Over my dead body,” I put in.
John smirks at me, then turns his full charms on her, “Could you come look at my place in London? I could do with a makeover, and Kasey says you’re the best.”
“She can’t,” puts in Xan, “she’s busy.”
Evie looks at us both in amazement. “Hey John, nice to meet you,” she emphasises every word. “Yes of course I can come look, but I’m not in London for a bit. I’m travelling around with my husband for the summer. But I can let you know some dates in between and come look even if you’re not there.”
She has taken his hand and is shaking it, but he pulls her in for a hug, grinning at Xan and I. He knows we’re pissed, and she doesn’t get it. These are not nice guys, they’re not friends.
I throw my hands up. “Whatever. John, we’ll see when we can fit you in.”
The girls pick this moment to elbow their way forward and push in between Evie and John, turning their backs to Evie.
“John Clayton, we love your music, I’m Clara, and this is Trace, you probably know Becky.”
“Errr, no, sorry,” John stammers, stepping back as one of the models is so far in his face he can’t see her properly.
“She’s with Levi,” the other one clarifies.
“Oh okay, well, hi ladies. Can I buy you a drink?”
“It’s a free bar,” says model two.
He grins and chuckles. “No shit.” Turning his back on them completely, he focuses his attention on Evie and turns on the charm. “Evie, let me get you a drink, and we can talk dates, darlin’.”
I’m about to grind my molars into dust. The fucker. He knows exactly what he’s doing. He pulls Evie to him and chivvies her to the bar. I see the girls look at each other, envy and pure hostility are written across their faces.
What the hell is wrong with these women? She hasn’t even spoken to them yet, and they dislike her already. Oh, boy.
Gabe and Levi shrug when I turn my frustration on them. I can’t wait to fucking leave. And John Clayton can go fuck himself.
“If he thinks he’s coming to fucking Devon to record and stay at Cornhill, he’s fucking crazy,” I tell Xan an hour later.
“Calm down, Marcus. She never invited him, he invited himself. Becker told him about the place there, be pissed at him.”
Clayton sticks to Evie like the leech he is, grinning at me as he says, “I’ll look after her when you’re on stage, Marcus. Don’t you worry about a thing.”
I look at Tommy and hiss, “Stay so close to her you can see the whites of her eyes. He’s a twat.”
Gabe is grinning at me. “Don’t think you’re gonna survive this brother,” he says. “Funny to watch you get uptight over a woman.”
I turn on him and practically shout, “She isn’t a woman, she’s my fucking wife, dickhead.”
The trio of women all stare at me with hunger in their eyes. Obviously marriage does not put them off, it’s practically an incentive.
“Marcus,” one of them coos, “come have a drink while you wait to go on. Then we’ll wait for you to come off stage. We want to see if the rumours are true and you get so horny you fuck whoever’s nearest the stage.” Her voice escalates on every word until she’s practically shouting the last few.
I see Evie look over and I scowl back at the loudmouth cow. Bitches. They need to butt the fuck out.
“That’ll not be an issue then,” I hear Evie chime in as she leaves John mid-sentence to come over and kiss me, grabbing hold of my hair and giving it a pull.
“Do I need my crop, Marcus?”
I growl at her. “You better bring it for that, ten for you, Kitten.”
She laughs into my mouth. “I can’t wait to see you live. John’s just winding you up. Don’t worry, I won’t leave Tommy.”
I hold her face and kiss her, and am still kissing her when they call me to get ready. Thirty minutes to go.
I’m full of nervous energy tonight, and so pumped up that she’s here. Xan is bouncing around as usual. Gabe gets things started with a customary, “Let’s kick it’s arse.” Shots of whiskey are poured for the team. Putting one of our hands in while holding the shot with the other, we all shout, turn away, and down the shot.
That out of the way, the room clears and it’s just the four of us. We put our arms around each other in a huddle. “Let’s do this, my brothers,” I say. We all smile at each other, pull each other in tight, and then release each other, slapping backs.
As we head to the stage, the atmosphere ramps up to fever pitch. I’m running on full adrenaline. Levi steps up first on the drums, Gabe goes next and picks up his bass, and Xan runs on after him, waving and shouting out to the crowd. I wait an extra moment, seeking out Evie until I find her standing with Tommy, and fucking John, next to the stage. She blows me a kiss and I grin like a fool at her. I walk out cocky as fuck, feeling ten feet tall, and we kill it.
We start high energy, take the crowd down into mellow, and Xan and I get set up to do the cover of the “Kiss Me” song. The crowd starts to go mental, they’re all waiting for it. I shout out about my marriage and can feel the love and energy coming back to me.
When we start the intro, I look over to see Evie stood stock still watching us both. She’s holding Tommy’s hand, her other hand on her throat as if she can’t breathe. The crowd is singing the lyrics back to us, back to her. Xan grins like a madman as we finish and looks at Evie. She blows each of us a kiss and wipes her tears away.
Fuck I want her. I’m so hard, it’ll be obvious to the front row at this point. In fact, row five might be able to tell, I’m bulging that much.
We move off stage to get a drink as Levi starts back up with a drum solo.
Dragging her off Tommy, I pull her into me. “Breathe, baby.” I kiss her and go to walk back on stage, seeing Xan do the same to her behind me. She hugs him and waves him back off.
We start to crank up the pace until, by the end of the set, we’re full-pelt and everyone in the festival is jumping along to our songs. I haven’t felt so alive about our music in a long time, and it’s all about her.
When I leave the stage to towel off and get ready for the encore, she’s gone. “What the fuck? Where is she?” I shout at Tommy.
“Gone down to the VIP area out front with John and Jase.”
“She better be alright. John’s a dick,” I tell him.
“She’s fine. Coming back up here as soon as you come off.”
“Make sure she does.”
We walk out for a couple of encore songs, and when I look down and see her standing with Jase and John, I blow her a kiss. People in the area turn to look at her, pulling out cameras and phones, talking and pointing, and she moves closer to Jase. Good, stay away from that fucker John Clayton. They all want what’s mine, him and that wanker Becker.
We finish with our biggest hit “Up in Smoke” and go off to the loudest cheers of the night, only to be pulled in for post gig interviews and have a meet and greet.
I grab Evie, who has come back up stageside from the VIP area. “Excuse me,” I say to the interviewer, “I just need to kiss my wife.” I kiss her long and deep, whispering, “Wait for me, I’ll be thirty minutes.”
“I’ll be here, Kellen. I’m going nowhere.” She looks me in the eye, grey, clear and damned beautiful.
I kiss her again, and the interviewer is laughing now. “Marcus, can you prise yourself away?”
“No chance,” I answer and the gang all turn up high on adrenaline to help answer questions, moving me along for the meet and greet.
Thirty minutes later, I’m dying. My hands are itching to touch her skin. “I need to go,” I tell Xan.
He looks at me, an impish knowing look on his face. “Careful, you’ve got that look in your eye,” he laughs.
“I need to go,” I repeat and he nods. I move towards the doors, Mick following me, and I lean back toward him, still moving. “I need Evie. Where is she?”
“She was outside last I saw her,” he answers.
I pull open the door to see the worst sight I could have imagined. The three witches surround Evie, talking to her, smiling, but the smiles are totally fake and not touching their eyes. I can see every word is poison.
“Kitten,” I shout over, “let’s go.” I hold out my hand and she smiles at me, but I see the storm clouds in her eyes. Fuck.
She walks over, and, in a total ‘fuck you’ move, kisses me and rubs her body against me.
I hold her tight to me. “I fucking love you. Let’s go, I need you,” I say loudly, more for them than her this time. To say they look sour is the understatement of the century.
“All alright?” I ask quietly. That’s all for her.
“Never better.” She smirks and puts her hands under my T-shirt, running them all over my abs, licking my jaw as she does.
I pick her up and put her over my shoulder, her silver hair hanging down, and she yelps and laughs when I smack her arse.
“I’m gonna bite that arse,” I growl, walking past the coven and towards the buses.
I open the door, moving her down to get her inside, and push her up the steps and into the bus, kissing her and guiding her backwards towards the bedroom.
Locking the door behind me, I demand, “Get them fucking jeans off. I need to be inside you.” I can hardly get my words out as I rip off my T-shirt and undo my zipper, pushing my jeans and boxers down. I kick off my boots and am naked in five seconds flat.
“You’ve too many clothes on for my tastes,” I sputter out as I literally rip off her clothes. She’s laughing at me, so I turn her over and smack her arse.
She groans and pushes her arse more towards me. “Again Kell,” she moans at me.
I lean down and pull my belt from my jeans. “No crop, but you can have five of these.” I swipe at her arse with my belt and she yelps as the leather cracks onto her skin.
I step forward and pull her up, pushing my fingers into her. “Yess, so ready,” I breathe out. Pushing her head down and swinging gently, hitting her again, and again, I massage her arse, grabbing the pink cheeks. I gentle the caress and when she moans at me, I stand back and swing again. “Fuck I’m gonna come before I get in you.”
One last swing and I drop to my knees behind her and rim her asshole before pushing my tongue into her pussy, licking around and around her clit.
She has tears in her eyes, and I stand and push into her pussy. I’m so fucking hard, and big, and I try to be gentle. Sort of. I thrust in, shouting out in ecstasy. I pump in again, and again, holding her hips as we fuck so hard, she’s moaning my name.
“Don’t shout out. Be quiet or I’ll fuck your arse,” I rasp out at her. I know there’s no way she’ll be able to manage that, but I pull her hair in warning. I can’t wait, I”m too turned on. “I’m going to come,” I tell her.
“Yes” she rasps, She has no idea why she’s saying it.
I pull out and come all over her arse cheeks, rubbing it into her arsehole and into her pussy with my fingers.
I taste my fingers and put them to her mouth. “Lick them clean, baby. Taste how good we are.”
Watching her with hooded eyes, I ask, “Do you want to come?”
She nods at me, looking at me from under her lashes. “Make me come, Kell. I want your fingers.”
She spins around and lays on the bed, opening herself up to me, and it’s the most magical sight. I open her lips and lick along her folds, then move up her body to bite her tits as my fingers get busy fucking her to orgasm.
We stay in the bedroom for another hour, only venturing out when I hear Xan shout it’s time to get going. My phone has been lighting up the entire time we’ve been in the bedroom. I assumed it was Xan, but when I look, it’s my mother. I frown at the phone.
“What’s wrong?” she asks, seeing my expression fall.
“Rowena’s rang twenty times. I’ll ring her and see what’s up. She doesn’t call usually, and not this late. There may be something wrong.”
“Yes, of course, call back to make sure.” She moves out of the way, and goes into the bathroom as I sit on the bed and call my mother back.
“Mother what’s up? I’ve?—”
“Oh, Marcus,” she interrupts me, “you need to come to Yorkshire. They are saying your marriage is not legal. It was in America and it doesn’t count. You must come and speak to our lawyers. They’re coming to Yorkshire tomorrow to tell us they have a legitimate challenge on the estate and they want the title as well. Please come and sort this out. I don’t think I can take much more.”
“You are fucking kidding me. They’re delusional. I’ll come, Mother, but I literally have one day and then I need to leave. I’ll sort it.” She jabbers on some more but I’ve stopped listening. “I’m on my way now, don’t panic, I’m on my way.”
Putting the phone down, I start to laugh. “What a set of wankers. They think the marriage was in Vegas and they’re challenging it. Well, we’ll see who wants it now. They’ll have to come out of hiding to claim it all.”
Evie comes out of the bathroom and sits next to me. “Are you okay to go to Scotland with Xan? I’ll come up as soon as I’ve sorted them. I’ll be there for his birthday, is that okay?”
She looks into my face and says, “Yes, it’s fine, but if you need me, I can come to Yorkshire.”
I hold her close. “No, it’s fine, stay with Xander.” I love that she’s offered to come support me. And as much as I’d like her with me, I know the level of disaster that is my family. I also know how much she dislikes my mother in general. I want to protect her from them as much as possible.
I open the door to find Xan sitting in the lounge area. I fill him in about Yorkshire and say, “Evie will go with you, is that alright? I’ll be there, Xan, you know I won’t be late.”
He shakes his head at me, grinning from ear to ear. “I’ll come with you. I won”t miss this for the world. I’ll ring dad and tell him just Evie’s coming and we’ll follow.” He switches to serious. “It’s my birthday, Marcus.”
I nod in understanding. “Okay, we’ll both go and sort out the rebellion.”
Smiling in anticipation, he grins at Evie as she comes towards us.
“All set?” she asks.
“Change of plan. Xan is coming to help me sort out the period drama, you go with Tommy up to Barclay House and we’ll follow asap. Xan wants to be home for his birthday, so it should only be a day, two max.”
She looks at us both and nods. “Don’t be long then,” she says and starts to move off. Turning back, I can see the vulnerability in her eyes, but she’s trying to put a brave face on it. “See you day after, yeah?”
I nod at her. “We’ll be right behind you.”