Chapter 33 – Riser
Chapter Thirty-Three
Riser
The greenroom smells like a straight-up fuckfest, but it’s the sounds spilling from Lumen’s lips that make my cock harden.
Kincaid hovers over her on the couch, giving me an excellent view of her body from the top down. Her dress is pulled low, exposing her tits, and K has his hand buried in her pussy as he kisses her.
His cock is out, and I grimace like I always do when I spot his piercings. I don’t shy away from pain, but I’ve never woken up and thought, Hey, I know what I’ll do today. I’ll pierce my dick six times. Even thinking about it makes me cringe.
“That’s it,” Kincaid growls. “Be a good girl and come all over my hand.” As he shoves his mouth to hers once more, I feel like a total creep.
Either they fucked or he had an orgasm, based on the smell in the greenroom, and that reminds me.
Malcolm is on the way, and I’m not sure how he’ll react if he walks in to find this.
I’d probably better find some way to distract him.
Kincaid leads Lumen onto the bus. Parish follows them in.
Tennyson and Wren are somewhere behind us, arguing in hushed whispers.
I still haven’t figured out their dynamic.
Half the time, I think they want to kill each other, and then he goes and does something like he did tonight.
Strapping her to his chest during a show doesn’t indicate that he hates her.
I’m starting to think Parish is right, and they’re going to snap and fuck each other’s brains out.
Malcolm grabs my hand, drags me up by the front of the vehicle, and grins. “They were totally fucking when you walked in.” He thumps me on the chest. “Weren’t they?”
“Tennyson and Wren?”
“No, dumbass.” Malcolm snorts. “K and Lumen. They both smell like sex. Not to mention, he glared when I got close to her as we walked out of the club. Then he pulled her to sit next to him in the SUV. They cuddled the entire way back to the bus. Kincaid is not a cuddler.”
“You’re a detective now, are you?” I laugh, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. “You should ask them that. I honestly don’t know. They were fooling around when I walked in, but that’s all I saw.”
“You know what, Ten?” Wren stomps toward the bus. “You can take your self-righteous attitude and shove it directly up your ass. Hey, that stick you keep up there will finally have some company.”
I pull my hand to my mouth to cover my laughter.
“You get him, Wren,” Malcolm calls after her.
“I swear to fuck, one of these days, I’m going to snap and toss her over my knee,” Tennyson says, shaking his head as he crosses the parking lot.
“Try it, asshole,” she says, climbing the stairs. “I have three older brothers, and I’ve put each and every one flat on their ass.”
“That’s because you fight dirty,” he mutters, following her onto the bus.
“Parish is right.” Mal chuckles. “They’re definitely going to fuck before this tour is over.”
“Probably,” I admit. “Or kill each other.”
Kincaid stomps down the stairs with his boots hanging open.
“I thought you’d be sleeping with Lumen tonight,” Malcolm says, chuckling.
“She needed a shower,” K says, shoving his hands into his pockets.
“Yeah, I’ll bet she did after how sticky you left her.” Malcolm smirks, obviously enjoying the glare Kincaid shoots his way.
“Do you know how to be respectful of anyone?” Kincaid mutters. “Listen, I’m just going to say it. I fucked up.” He scuffs his boot against the concrete. “Like really fucked up.”
“You didn’t bite her,” Malcolm says. “Her scent didn’t change. Not that I noticed, but I did smell quite a lot of your cum. As long as you didn’t bite her, anything else is fixable. Premature ejaculation happens to the best of us. Just tell her you were really excited. There’s always next time—”
“What happened?” I ask, ignoring Malcolm’s ramblings.
“Oh, it was pretty fucking bad.” Kincaid pulls his hand up, rubbing his face.
“I shoved my knot inside her. Luckily, I was able to pull it out before it locked in place, but I’ve never messed up that badly before.
It was her scent. She smelled like an omega in heat, and she was hot—like burning up.
Burning my cock. Alphas are supposed to be temperature resistant to avoid being uncomfortable during heats. ”
“Jesus,” Malcolm says, his eyebrows rising. “What does that even mean?”
“Hell if I know,” Kincaid says. “She told me that she’s been knotted before, and she almost seemed more pissed that I pulled out. I don’t know. Maybe that’s wishful thinking, and I’m projecting because I don’t want to believe that I almost hurt—”
“Nah, don’t beat yourself up. She was with an alpha for a year,” Malcolm says calmly. “I’m sure they fooled around and tested the waters. Have I ever told you about my uncle and his wife?”
“Stay on track, for once in your damn life,” Kincaid groans.
My metaphorical hackles rise, and I take a step forward, jabbing a finger at him. “Don’t be an asshole just because you’re stressed.”
“Aww, man. I hate it when Mom and Dad fight over me.” Mal laughs. “But seriously, he’s like pushing fifty. Hasn’t gone feral. Doesn’t even have the occasional symptom. My family talks about it every once in a while.”
“What does this have to do with what we’re talking about right now?” Kincaid asks, sounding like he’s forcing himself to be less of an ass.
“My aunt isn’t an omega, at least not legally.
She smells sweet like one. Can take a knot, based on the chatter I’ve heard, but she never had a heat.
Thus, legally speaking, she never presented, so she’s a beta.
But also, my uncle hasn’t gone feral so…
” He shrugs. “Do with that information what you will. I’ve heard of betas who can bark and purr.
Some of them smell like alphas, but they never popped a knot, so legally, they’re betas. ”
“I read about that somewhere,” I say, cutting in.
“There was a push to redefine designations to be determined by new parameters, rather than the knot or lock and heat cycle requirements they use now. It didn’t fly.
Never even made it to Congress for a vote.
Mostly because big business lobbied against it.
They don’t want to give paid time off to those who wouldn’t be participating in heats. ”
“Look, we all know there are some alphas out there who marry betas and never end up feral,” Mal says.
“I’m just saying, I think we could be onto one of the reasons why.
Those”—he does air quotes—“‘betas’ who smell like an omega, at least to certain alphas. They might not have heats, but their pheromones probably go a long way to keep said alphas from going off the deep end.” He shrugs.
“Honestly, I don’t care. I want Lumen. Whatever designation she is, I plan to put all my effort into making a real relationship succeed. ”
“We can tell how serious you are about her,” I tell him because I think he needs to hear it.
“I am,” he agrees, crossing his arms over his chest. He raises a finger, pointing at Kincaid. “Are you going to apologize for that bullshit you pulled, telling me not to have sex with her until our test results came back?”
“That was a dick move.” Kincaid sighs. “I’m sorry. I was trying to give you what I thought was solid advice…” His head falls back, shaking as he stares at the sky. “Everything got so intense. I got caught up in the moment. I never fuck without condoms, but shit happens.”
I peek over at Malcolm to check if this is going to turn into an old-school fistfight in a parking lot. We haven’t had one of those since Drew left, but they used to be common back in the day when we were getting the hang of being a fully functioning band.
The good thing with the guys is, once whoever is involved fights it out, it’s almost always put to bed with no hard feelings.
Only, Mal doesn’t look pissed. The smile that tips his lips gives the impression that he’s amused.
“Hell is obviously about to freeze over.” Mal chuckles. “I don’t think you’ve apologized to me in the six years that I’ve known you.” He uncrosses his arms and steps over, bear-hugging K. “It’s okay. I forgive you. It’s nice to see that you’re human too. I’ve wondered at times.”
I laugh as Kincaid shoves Mal away, muttering under his breath.
“I still don’t know how I got stuck with you idiots,” he says, meeting my eyes. “By the way, it’s almost your birthday. We gotta make plans.”
Ehh, I’m kinda freaked out about this birthday. The twenty-seven club is notorious for taking out musicians, and I don’t want to risk being part of that statistic.
I’d rather settle in and spoil Lumen.
If we do it right, she might overlook how fucked up we are and actually decide to stay with us long term.
Possibly.
If we get extremely lucky.
The trip to Wilmington, North Carolina takes almost no time. It’s easier for me to sleep when the bus is moving, which leads to me being up way before I’d like to be.
Kincaid slept in the back bedroom with Lumen last night, and I’m surprised to see him up for his pre-show routine. He has this thing about needing to do a bunch of push-ups, jumping jacks, and sit-ups on show days.
Sometimes he saves them to do at the venue right before the show, but with Lumen around, he’s been mostly handling them when he goes to the gym.
He tries to talk me into coming with him, to which I decline. Less than a half hour later, he ends up dragging Mal off the bus with him.
I fuck around on my phone, waiting for anyone else to wake up. I’m not sure we’ve played in Wilmington before. From what I remember, we usually stick to the west side of the state.
I haven’t bothered to check the schedule recently, but just based on memory, I believe we’re headed that way after the two shows here.
The door at the back of the bus opens while I’m examining the pictures from the club show last night. The forums are filled with speculation about who Wren is, but the fans have correctly guessed that Lumen is dating one of us.
Technically, they’re slightly off since she’s dating all three of us.
Does she know that?
Maybe we need to ask?
Shit.
I’m so out of practice when it comes to dating anyone.
Lumen’s hands are full, but it’s the look on her face that pulls me from my seat. I drop my phone on the couch, stand, and cross the room, meeting her at the mouth of the hallway.
“The lawyer just called,” she says, shoving her phone at me. “Can you answer if they try again? I don’t want to miss another call, and I’m having a bathroom emergency.”
“Yeah.” I take her phone, nodding. “I can do that, but you can call them back when it’s convenient.”
“Yeah, I guess,” she admits, frowning. “Sorry. It’s been a rough morning, and my anxiety is through the roof.”
My head tilts, and I bring my free hand to cup her cheek. Although I want to comfort her, I’m also covertly checking her temperature. Hers seems on par with mine.
“Are you okay?”
“I will be.” She smiles tightly. “Is there any way you can help me schedule a trip to the store? It’s an emergency.”
“We can make a list and send the roadies out—”
“No.” Her head shakes. “I need to be the one to go,” she whispers.
“Kincaid’s giant dick fucked me right into starting my period.
I found two tampons at the bottom of my purse, but I also need to find a laundromat.
God, I’m so out of practice. My birth control implant has spoiled me.
I usually only have to deal with this a couple times a year, and they’re always easy.
” She pulls her hand to her abdomen. “This is awful.”
“The roadies also handle washing all our laundry. We leave them bags by the door three or four times a week, and they come back the same day…” I trail off at her expression. “You know what? We have some time before the show. I’m sure we can find a laundromat and a pharmacy with no trouble.”
“Thank you,” she whispers, her eyes falling shut. “Having this conversation with you is embarrassing enough. I’m not forcing random people to wash my bloody clothes and sheets.”
“Hey,” I murmur, brushing her hair back and tucking it behind her ear. “There’s no reason to be embarrassed. It’s part of life. Three little sisters, remember?”
Her lashes flutter open. “Thanks, Ry.”
I nod as she takes off for the bathroom.
I’m in so much fucking trouble.
I love it when she calls me Ry.
It could just be that I was the first person she ran into, but I also love that she was comfortable enough to come to me.
Okay, I need to get myself together. I have to find Benji and get us an escort into town. I should probably also strip the sheets off the bed so she doesn’t have to do it when she’s not feeling great.
I make some calls and handle everything for our trip into town. Only after stripping the sheets from the bed do I realize I might be overstepping. It’s not like I’m going to put them back on the mattress when they’re dirty, so I bundle them up in one of the big laundry bags we use for the roadies.
She’s still not out of the bathroom, but I find a washcloth and hand towel in the drawers we never use in the kitchen and scrub the spots on the bed.
The mattress should be dried by this evening.
I don’t want Lumen to be embarrassed, but I know from experience, the faster the stain is addressed, the more likely it is to come out.
Either way, it’s done.
I’m glad I was the one around to help. It’s not like I’m freaked out by blood, and I want to show her that I can be a good boyfriend.
I toss the washcloth and hand towel into the laundry container and wash my hands in the kitchen sink. Lumen’s phone hasn’t gone off, but I pull it out to check I didn’t miss anything.
She has no missed calls, which I’m sure she’ll be relieved about.
I turn around to check if there’s any other clothes or towels that we can wash while we’re at the laundromat, but Lumen comes down the hallway.
She wraps her arms around my lower back, nuzzling her cheek to my T-shirt. “Thank you.”
I give her a squeeze. “No worries. We can leave as soon as you get changed.”