Ticket to the Stars, Part Two

Chapter Sixteen – Deacon

What was my brother thinking?

That was the thought that echoed in my head nonstop as the days went by. After learning that he’d been following Angel—which meant he must’ve been waiting for her outside the Redborne somewhere, just waiting for her to show her face outside—the doubts about my brother had only grown.

Our show at Greenbay was coming up. Would Pope try something before then? Or would he do something stupid at the show?

Telling Ramona was an option, but I was afraid of what she’d do. Pope was still my brother. I loved him. He was family. I wanted him to lay low, and then, after time had passed, maybe he could make a comeback.

It was complicated when it came to my brother. He was the reason Black Sacrament existed in the first place. Without him, none of us would be where we were today. We owed our current circumstance to Pope, so it just felt wrong to dismiss him completely.

I didn’t know the story. I wasn’t there when he lost himself and said some things he shouldn’t. He got a little rough. The video evidence was damning enough to make the label force us to out him.

What I’d learned, though, was sometimes you were better off washing your hands of something than trying to fix it.

Sometimes things couldn’t be fixed, and I was starting to wonder if my brother was one of those things. Whether it was a bit of bad luck involving alcohol of some kind and ill-advised choices, or if he knew what he was saying and doing when it was happening; it didn’t matter now. Pope wasn’t in Black Sacrament. Hell, he wasn’t even Pope anymore.

Old habits and all.

Needless to say, this whole thing was stressing me out, and I thought I was doing a decent job of hiding how stressed out I was, but after a few days, Priest came to talk to me. I’d pretty much been hiding away in my room, trying to lose myself to the drums and the beats that came with it—mainly because I didn’t want to explain to the guys why I was so anxious.

I’d mentioned I’d wanted to leave Black Sacrament, that I’d follow Pope wherever he went because he was my brother and I owed him everything, but now… now I wanted to stay. I wanted to stay with Priest and Bishop and Angel.

Angel. God, she didn’t deserve to be thrust into this mess.

Anyway, it was early one afternoon when Priest came into my room and plopped himself on my bed, stretching out before he fluffed up my pillow and leaned back on it, watching me on the drums. He must’ve just gotten back from working out; his yellow hair was damp from a recent shower.

“So, you just going to keep pretending I’m not here?” Priest asked.

My hands tightened around the drumsticks, and I immediately stopped what I was doing. My stare fixated on him. “What do you want?”

“Grumpy, grumpy,” he muttered, though he accompanied that with a smirk, which told me he found my so-called grumpiness amusing. Then again, he found everything amusing. One of the not-so-endearing qualities of my friend. “What’s got you so grumpy lately, Deacon?”

I sighed. “I’m not grumpy.”

“Really? Strange. You could’ve fooled me. I mean, you are aware you’ve been hiding out in your room for, like, four days now. Don’t you remember you have a girlfriend? Or are you bowing out and giving your share of her to me?”

A muscle in my jaw twitched, and my stare hardened into a glare. “I’m not bowing out,” I hissed out. Like hell would I ever give Angel up. She was the only good thing in my life right now, in a way my friends couldn’t be.

I needed her. I loved her. She made the days easier.

“Hmm. I find that interesting, especially because you’ve been giving everyone the cold shoulder lately. But, it is you we’re talking about, so I don’t know why I’m so shocked. You’ve always got a stick up your ass.”

“I do not have a stick up my ass,” I told him. I lifted the drumstick in my right hand. “But I could shove this up your ass so you know how it feels.”

“Trust me, Deacon, nothing that hard and straight will feel good going up your ass,” Priest quipped. “But, I suppose that could be why you’re such a stick in the mud. Seriously. What’s up with you lately? Everything’s good. We’re rolling along. Everything’s coming together—or is that why you’re being like this? Because you want to quit or whatever?”

God, I wished Priest would leave me the fuck alone. “That was—I don’t want to quit now.”

“Ah, because of our dear, sweet Angel?”

“Why are you here again?”

“I’m here, my friend, to see what I can do to get you in better spirits.” He snapped his fingers. “Methinks I have an idea.” He sat up, swung his long legs off my bed, and got to his feet, and then he threw me a smug look. “Don’t move a muscle, buddy. I know just the thing. ”

I watched him saunter out of my room, so confident in whatever he thought would make me feel better. Priest was so annoying sometimes. He didn’t know when to let sleeping dogs lie. I’d known him since we were in kindergarten, so I could honestly say he’d always been a pain in the ass.

I debated on getting up and locking my door—thereby ensuring Priest couldn’t stroll back in once he retrieved whatever he thought would make me feel better—but I didn’t move. I remained on the cushioned seat of my spare drum set and waited.

As I waited, I tried to think of something smart to tell him, something that would get him to turn right around and leave me alone.

I just wasn’t in the mood to deal with anything, not after hearing what Pope had said to Angel a few days ago. And to think he’d told me the same thing, in different words, when we’d met that night at the bar.

Pope wouldn’t try something, would he? Would he, knowing I was with her? At this point, I wasn’t sure anymore. I used to think I knew my brother inside and out, but now that confidence wavered, and I just didn’t know.

Priest returned after a while, and he brought what he thought would make me feel better. When I saw what he brought—or who, rather—my scowl intensified.

He’d brought Angel, led her in here hand in hand, that blasted smirk on his face.

I wasn’t the only confused one, because Angel’s delicate eyebrows had drawn together, and she glanced between Priest and me. “What’s going on? Priest said you were upset—” That part was spoken to me.

Priest let go of her hand, and he wandered over to my door, shutting it… although the only person he really blocked out was Bishop, so I didn’t know why he bothered. “I didn’t say he was upset. I said he was grumpy.”

“Okay,” Angel corrected herself, “grumpy. Why are you so grumpy?” Her big, blue eyes stared at me as she waited for an answer she already knew. I could tell by the way her stare fell to my drum set, how the corners of her mouth twitched.

I hoped she didn’t feel bad about telling me. It was good she’d told me about Pope, really, I just… my brother wasn’t making any of this easy.

“It’s Deacon,” Priest mused, grabbing Angel by the hand once again and pulling her toward my bed. “He’s always grumpy.” He crawled onto my bed and brought Angel with him. Together, they reclined against the headboard, though Angel still appeared confused—not at why I was grumpy, but what she was doing here.

I seconded that. What was Priest thinking?

“Priest,” Angel spoke, “what’s going on? Why’d you bring me in here?”

The smirk Priest gave her was unlike the ones he gave everyone else. Slightly softer, warmer, less of an asshole’s smirk and more of a smirk that read gentle amusement. I’d never seen him look at a girl that way, and it made me realize that he really did love her. He’d said it, but I guess it never really sunk in until right then, until I saw the expression on his face as he studied her.

“I thought seeing you would make Deacon happy,” Priest said, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her against his side. His back was against my pillow leaning on the headboard, and Angel was practically draped on his side. “Does she, buddy? Does seeing her make you happy?”

I’d be lying if I said no, but I didn’t want to give Priest the satisfaction of being right, so I didn’t say anything. The only thing I did was take up a slow rhythm on my drums.

Priest couldn’t get the hint. He cocked his head at me. “Really? You’re just going to pretend we’re not here or something? Okay, fine. Play us a show, then.” With the arm he had wrapped around Angel, he ran his fingers up her arm.

Angel must’ve sensed he was playing a game with her, and with me, for that matter, because she whispered, “Priest…” She tried to get up, but he wouldn’t let her.

“No, no. If Deacon wants to play us a show instead of focusing on himself, let him.” Priest shot her a half smile, and whatever resistance she had in her before that faded, just like that. “Don’t worry, love. Soon enough he’ll wish he abandoned that drum set and came to join us on the bed.”

I frowned, but I kept up the beat. In fact, I sped it up. Priest could really be so annoying sometimes. He was one of my best friends, but fuck, I didn’t know how I’d dealt with him for so long.

Angel must’ve sensed what Priest was trying to do—anyone with eyes and ears would know what that idiot was attempting here—because she whispered, “Is this really a good idea? I don’t think—”

“Exactly,” he told her. “Hush, Angel, and stop thinking. Just let me take the reins right now. Let me drive, and we’ll see about Deacon later.” Talking about me like I wasn’t even here, like they weren’t, you know, in my damn room.

Priest got comfy with her. He shot me a smug, superior look, and then he turned his full attention onto her, murmuring something in her ear and making her blush. I rolled my eyes and turned my head away, mostly so I wouldn’t have to look at them.

Yes, Angel always made me feel better, but I wasn’t in the mood for what Priest was obviously going for. I just… I didn’t know. I needed more time, I—

Okay, what I really needed was for my brother to stop pulling his shit, but he clearly wasn’t going to take the hint and leave us alone, which meant Angel and I would be seeing more of Pope than we wanted.

The worst part was the others had no clue. I didn’t know how to tell them, and as far as I was aware, Angel hadn’t told them, either. Right now, it was our secret.

When I looked back at Priest and Angel, I saw exactly what I knew I’d see: Priest had pulled Angel onto him, so she now laid on top of his body. His hands had woven through her white hair, and based on how quiet they both were, they had to be kissing.

What a joke. Did Priest think he could rile me up and get me to jump into the sack with him and Angel? That that would get my mind off of what was making me so, in his eyes, grumpy?

I mean, maybe it would make me feel better, for a little bit, but it wasn’t a heal-all kind of thing.

Priest tilted her face, and just for the quickest of moments, his gray eyes opened to make sure I was watching. If he could smirk while kissing her, I was fairly certain he was doing it right now. I had to roll my eyes at him. Roll my eyes and scowl.

He wouldn’t win. I wouldn’t let him. The smugness, the superiority, the I-told-you-so and I-knew-it exclamations would never end if I played his game. Whatever I did, I could not stop playing the drums, no matter how enticing Priest made being on that bed with Angel look.

Priest’s eyes snapped shut once he saw I was indeed looking, and his hands left the tangle of her hair, roaming down her back. Those hands only stopped when they reached her round ass, and he cupped it hard, drawing out a moan from her, right into the kiss. He practically massaged her ass right there.

I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t a nice sight. She wore black leggings and, if I had to guess, nothing under them. The fabric clung to every curve of her body in ways nothing else could.

Priest let go of her ass to help her legs rest on either side of him, so that Angel basically straddled him on my bed. Then, as one hand returned to her ass, the other snaked its way beneath her shirt, its destination the hook on her bra.

She must’ve pulled her mouth off his, because I heard him say, “It’s alright, Angel. It’s just you and me. Anyone that’s not on this bed doesn’t exist.” Basically telling her to ignore the fact that they had an audience of one. “And if—” He spoke this part louder, so it must’ve been meant for me. “—say, someone did want to join us, I’d gladly step aside and let him, since he’s so grumpy and all.”

This was his game. He was trying to make me feel better by parading Angel around—and by parading, I meant getting her all worked up in front of me so she’d practically be begging for it.

But this was Priest we were talking about. He might, as he put it, step aside and let me have her, but he wouldn’t leave. No. He’d stay, and things would escalate from there.

Priest was all about the sexual escapades, but I’d never shared a girl before. And that was to say, I’d never had a threesome. I’d never really wanted to. If I was getting intimidate, if I was ready to fuck, then I didn’t want to share that moment with anyone else.

However, things were a little different now. This wasn’t some girl I was seeing off and on, not some random hookup. This was Angel, and we were all hopeless when it came to her. If there was a girl I could literally, physically share, it was the girl I was already sharing with Bishop and Priest.

But no. I wouldn’t let Priest win this round. I’d stay on my damned drums until he got the hint that I wasn’t having it and he took Angel by the hand and led her out. He could take her to his room or something.

Priest unhooked her bra, and then he worked on taking her shirt off. Shirt and bra, I should say, because they both came off in the same movement. He ran his hands up and down Angel’s bare back, and I hated the fact that my gaze traveled along with his hands, taking in the smoothness of her skin.

God, she really was gorgeous. Every single part of her was flawless. I had no idea why, before us, she’d never had a boyfriend, never been kissed… never been fucked. A girl like that should have a line of guys wanting her.

Maybe she’d been oblivious to them, not paying them any attention. She did get flustered awfully easily.

You know what? I wasn’t going to complain about the fact that she’d been an innocent little birdie when she’d come to us. It meant we got her firsts. We got all of her firsts, and there was something to say about knowing everything about Angel was ours in every way.

Now that Angel was shirtless and braless on top of Priest, I couldn’t ignore the slight twinge of desire coursing through my body, the heat surging to my lower half, stirring a part of me I wished wouldn’t react to the scene unfolding.

If I stopped playing and went over to that bed, I’d never hear the end of it. So, I held on. Or held out. It depended on how you looked at things. I kept playing, even when Priest started to tug down Angel’s leggings, exposing her plump, round ass to me.

My cock twitched, but I ignored it. I ignored it, but at the same time, I couldn’t take my eyes off that perfect bottom.

Priest had to roll her over and get her on her back to help her out of her leggings completely, and once he got them free of her, he tossed them off the side of the bed. He stretched, flexed, and cracked his neck, like he was really about to dig into something.

I could hardly see her body around his, but Priest rectified that by picking her up and swinging her around. He sat down, positioning Angel on his lap. He was about to flip her around—to give me a nice view of her naked body—but she whispered something to him; I couldn’t hear it over my percussion.

I heard his response to her, though: “Just close your eyes, love. Pretend I’m the only one in the room. Remember: anyone not on this bed doesn’t exist. It’s just you and me.” Meaning she knew he was going to show her off to me, and he was smoothing things over, because Priest always had his way.

And then he flipped her around on his lap so her back was against his chest. He hooked his ankles between her legs and spread them wide the very same moment one of his hands curled around her neck and forced her to lean the back of her head against him.

Okay, at the sight of Angel exposed on my bed, my rhythm got fucked. How could it not when I was staring at the pink folds of skin at her apex? I’d never seen her like this. It was the first time I was seeing her without any clothes, and, fuck, was she even more gorgeous now without any clothes hiding her beauty.

Fucking sexy was what she was, with those perfect round tits and that twinge of pink on her skin. God, I wished I was on that bed, my face buried between those legs. I didn’t think I’d ever wanted anything more in my entire life than I wanted to crawl onto my bed and make myself at home inside her.

Okay, I’d officially lost the battle when it came to my dick. It was now rock hard in my jeans, uncomfortably bulging against the zipper as it told me to get on that fucking bed right fucking now.

But I didn’t. I remained where I was, watching as the hand Priest had around Angel’s neck fell to her left tit, cupping it and massaging it. His other hand dipped between her legs, his fingers finding her clit and stroking it with an expert touch, instantly drawing out a low, breathy moan from her.

She was literally coming undone in his arms, and I was watching, growing more turned on by the second.

Goddamn it. Fucking Priest. I’d kill him if all the blood in my body hadn’t gone to my dick.

“You’re so beautiful, Angel,” Priest whispered to her as he rubbed her clit and tweaked her nipple. She squirmed on his lap, but he wouldn’t let go. It seemed he knew exactly how to touch her to get her to unravel, to make her lose it, because the way Angel was breathing, it sounded like they’d been going at it for a while now—and I knew that wasn’t the case.

Priest was good at what he did, that much was obvious.

“I could eat you up,” Priest told her in a hushed whisper, and I had to roll my eyes at that. Sugary sweet; it wasn’t my cup of tea. He could wax poetically about her and her body all he wanted; if I was in his place, I’d be putting my mouth to good use.

My hands tightened on the drumsticks as I watched Priest stroke her clit with an increasing urgency. Angel’s eyes were closed, but her mouth was open, and she panted vigorously as Priest stroked her. Her body started to tremble in his grasp.

“That’s right, love,” Priest murmured, “show me how good it feels. Come undone for me.” As he said that, his fingers stopped stroking her clit, dipping lower and entering her pussy. Just two fingers inside her, but they were enough to make her cry out. His fingers plunged in and out of her core as his other hand dropped to her clit to resume the rubbing.

It was like watching her melt into him. Being fucked by his fingers while his other hand assaulted her clit, Angel couldn’t hold it back. Her body spasmed in what I assumed was an orgasm, and the sound that left her was a deliciously breathy, incoherent sigh that immediately imprinted itself in my brain.

Priest didn’t stop after that, he kept going, kept touching her, kept fucking her with those two fingers—though his eyes had flicked to me, a single arched eyebrow sent my way, questioning me why. Or maybe how.

Yes, how the hell I could still be sitting where I was, doing nothing more than watching.

I didn’t know how, either, because a certain part of me was fighting my inner willpower. My cock wanted free, and, fuck, I wanted to bury myself between those legs. I think my grip on the drumsticks was so tight the wood started to crack.

All right, that was an exaggeration, but still. I couldn’t… I just couldn’t continue to sit there and watch.

Goddamn it. Priest won this round.

I let my drumsticks fall from my hands as I got up and stepped around my drum set. That got Priest to say, “Oh? Is the grumpy one going to join us on the bed, or is he just coming closer to get a better view? I don’t mind either way, of course, but it’s nice to know what everyone’s thinking.” He flashed me a pearly white smile.

Keep talking , I thought, after this, I’ll strangle you.

It took me way too long to reach the bed, mostly because I had to limp over, my cock straining against my pants so much. I paid Priest no attention, only his hands between her legs and the way they continued to work her like magic.

“Don’t worry, buddy, she’ll be nice and wet for you,” Priest told me. “She’s just about ready to take that anaconda of yours.” He leaned his head down to her, whispering, “Aren’t you, Angel?”

All she could do was moan, but that was enough of an answer.

I crawled onto the bed with them, muttering a single word, “Move.” With my gaze focused on her apex, Priest didn’t need any additional instructions. He withdrew his fingers from her pussy and pulled his other hand away from her clit, leaving her exposed to me as I situated myself between her open legs.

And Priest’s open legs, since his body was behind hers, but I was zeroed in on that slick pink slit.

It wasn’t easy to lay down with a raging hard dick, but I managed. I lowered myself to that tempting place—a place I’d thought a lot about, but I hadn’t gone for, because the timing just never felt right.

Leave it to Priest to change that.

I brought my face closer to her pussy, and I paused for a moment to breathe in her scent. There was nothing better than the smell of sex and desire. It made the tip of my dick throb. Without waiting a second more, my tongue slipped out from between my lips, and I ran it along her folds, from her clit down to her pussy. I dipped my tongue inside her, tasting her for the first time, and a low growl left my chest.

Fuck. She even tasted good.

I glanced up to find Priest had brought one of his hands to her chest, pawing at her tit, while his other hand curled around her jaw. He stuck two fingers into her mouth and instructed, “Can you taste yourself on me, Angel? Don’t you taste good? I think you do, and based on how greedily Deacon’s going at you, I’d say he thinks you taste delicious, too.”

Goddamn it, even I had to admit that was hot, but I couldn’t pay more attention to Priest or how he was making Angel suck her slick off his fingers, because I needed to return to my duties between her legs. I latched onto her clit and sucked.

I hated to say it, but I’d forgotten why I was moody in the first place. Who knew Priest had the right idea? Maybe I should’ve been drowning my anxieties between Angel’s legs this whole time.

The sounds of her muffled moans filled the air, calling to my hard dick, but I didn’t stop showering her clit with attention. I brought more and more sounds from her, and I heard the pop of Priest’s fingers as he pulled them out of her mouth. That was my sign to keep going, to push harder, to graze my teeth on that sensitive nub of flesh and push her over the edge again.

And God, did she fall over that edge.

Her second orgasm arrived with a fury, her thighs tensing around my head as her body seized up. She cried out the words “Oh, God” the same moment she exhaled an explosive sigh of bliss, and then she melted against Priest’s chest, completely out of breath and lost to the delirium of sensual pleasure.

If she thought that was something, just wait until I was deep inside her, filling her up to the brink.

“Isn’t she spectacular?” Priest mused as I pulled my face away from her. He wore a sloppy grin, pupils dilated, and I matched his grin with one of my own—a rare thing, but necessary in this situation.

Angel was in for a wild ride, because we’d only just begun.