Epilogue
EPILOGUE
Callie. TWO YEARS LATER.
“Give me twenty minutes.”
Torren stops me before my feet land on the pavement, then walks me back into my bus and locks the door behind him. As soon as we’re alone, his mouth and hands and body are on me, and mine are on him.
“Mmm.” I hum, my voice breathy as he pulls my shirt over my head, followed by my bra. “Isn’t that a little risky?”
Their set starts in thirty, and he’s supposed to be there at least fifteen minutes early. Twenty minutes will mean he’s showing up minutes before he’s supposed to take the stage. I open my mouth to remind him of this, but he slips his hand into the front of my underwear and my argument transforms into a gasp.
“Already so hot and wet for me,” he murmurs against my lips as he rubs at my throbbing clit. “Twenty minutes, Firebird.” He circles the tip of his finger over my entrance before easing it in. “Let me make you feel good.”
I reach for his cock and squeeze him once before he picks me up and carries me to my bedroom at the back of the bus. He lays me on the bed, then quickly pulls off his shirt and kicks out of his pants. I prop myself onto my elbows and watch with a grin.
“Gonna make me do all the work?” He smirks. “We only have twenty minutes. ”
I shrug and lift my hips as he tugs my shorts and panties down my legs and tosses them to the side. “Seventeen minutes no—oh, fuck.”
Torren sucks hard on my clit and shoves two fingers into my pussy. He hooks his fingers inside me and strokes as his mouth works me over.
“Jesus,” I breathe out. “Fuck, Torren.”
My back arches as he throws my legs over his shoulders and reaches up my body to palm both of my breasts. The sight is obscenely sexy. His mouth covers my pussy, and he hums as he fucks me with his tongue. His dark curls stand out starkly between my pale, freckled thighs, and his glittering green irises peer up at me through the valley between my breasts. He squeezes, pinching my nipples, and shoves his tongue inside me before moving back to my clit.
I gasp and jerk my hips, grinding myself on his mouth, and he growls. The vibrations skitter over my swollen, wet pussy, and I move faster. I sink my hands into his hair and pull hard at the root in that way I know he loves, and then I fuck his face as he attacks my clit with his lips, tongue, and teeth.
Within seconds, my body is bowing with the force of my orgasm. Torren kisses and nips his way up my body, painting me with his tongue and my arousal on his lips, until his hard cock is resting on my pelvis. He rocks back and forth, rubbing himself against me slowly while I work to catch my breath.
“Let’s fuck in the studio.”
I pant out a laugh in response, and he nips at my jaw.
“I’m serious. I want to record the sound you make when you come. Then, next time we’re on different tours, I can listen to it while I beat off.”
I roll my eyes and snake my hand between us, wrapping my fingers around his erection. “That’s a ridiculous idea.”
He props up on his knees, giving me the leverage I need to position the head of his cock at my entrance. He groans. “Why ridiculous?”
Slowly, I raise my hips, sliding him inside me, humming my pleasure as I stare into his eyes. “Because Sav’s got the next two years planned already, and she’s made it so we almost never have conflicting schedules.”
I thrust my hips, fucking his cock, and his mouth falls open on another groan when I clench around him. “Fuck, you’re evil. ”
I laugh. “We have fourteen minutes.”
“Fuck.” He drops his face to my neck and starts pumping his hips, taking control. “I love how wet you get.”
He kisses me deeply, swallowing my whimpers as he fucks me harder. Deeper. So deep, hitting that spot, my muscles start to spasm.
“Fuck yes. Come for me again, Firebird.”
I choke on a moan, tightening my thighs around his hips, digging my nails into his biceps. Then he cocks his hips to the side, and I come with a scream that I bury in his chest. He speeds up, fucking me faster, chasing his own orgasm. When I can tell he’s close, I clench, and he spills himself inside me. He fucks me until he’s spent, and then he collapses beside me.
“How’d we do,” he mumbles into the pillow, and I cast my eyes to the clock on the wall.
“One minute.”
He groans, then kisses me, tongue gliding over mine in a way that could make him late. I push on his chest with a laugh. “Go. I’m right behind you.”
Reluctantly he pulls out of me and stands, and just before he leaves to throw his clothes back on, I let my legs drop open. His eyes fall on my exposed pussy, still swollen and dripping with his release.
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
He starts to stalk back toward the bed, but I slap my legs closed with a laugh and point at the clock. “Get out!”
He narrows his eyes and smirks. “Your panties better be soaked with my cum when we get back here. I want it leaking from you all night. I want you to smell like me. I want it dripping down your fucking thighs.”
I arch a brow. “In front of one hundred and twenty-five thousand people.”
“More than that, Firebird.” The smile that takes over his face is nothing short of indecent. “This show is being live-streamed.”
He winks once, then turns and walks out.
I give myself ten minutes to breathe, then I get up, get dressed, and head out behind him. When I get to the main stage, Sav is just stepping up to her mic, and the crowd is already going nuts for her. This show is going to be epic .
“Good evening, Arizona! How you all doing tonight?” Sav’s voice booms through the crowd, the echoes being swallowed up by the cheers of Heartless fans. “We are honored to be back here in the desert to celebrate ten amazing fucking years of ArtFusion with all of you. It’s going to be a great show, and we have a few surprises planned for you.”
She grins as the crowd noise rises once more, and she throws a look over her shoulder at Mabel, Torren, and Rocky.
“I think y’all know my band, right? Torren King over here on bass, Mabel Rossi on drums, and Caveat Lover’s own Rocky Hallstrom on lead guitar.”
She pauses for a moment, excitement mounting, and even I can’t stop smiling.
“Let’s all give Rocky another round of applause for filling in for us these past few months. Hasn’t he been fucking great?”
Rock plays a guitar riff as the crowd cheers for him, grinning ear to ear, and then Sav starts again.
“Unfortunately, we’ve got some bad news, though. Rock’s not going to be able to play with us any longer.”
Sav tries to look sad as Rocky slips his guitar strap over his head, but she fails miserably, and he can’t contain his grin either. Then Jonah steps on stage, guitar in hand, and walks up to Rocky, and everyone loses their fucking minds.
“I think they’re happy to see you, Jo. What do you have to say about that?”
Jonah smirks, then plays the same guitar riff Rocky played, but he adds his own flare at the end. Show-off. Rocky pretends to bow to Jo, then waves to the crowd before leaving the stage.
“She’s such a showman,” Rock says with a grin when he reaches me. “She just eats it up.”
I laugh and watch Sav work the crowd. “She definitely does what she’s good at.” I turn my attention to Rocky and take in his wide smile. “How do you feel?”
“Great. It was awesome touring with them. Fucking crazy being part of the headliner in those stadiums, you know? But I’m glad he’s back.”
I smile. “Me too.”
“Plus, I’m exhausted from pulling double duty, and we’ve got a record to finish. ”
“That we do.”
And it’s an important one, too, even though we don’t want to admit it. Our first album took off, so this next one is going to have a lot more eyes on it. We’re ready, though.
Rocky and I watch the show together backstage. Ezra and Becket show about halfway through, but our last bandmate isn’t with them.
“No Crue?”
I’m met with shrugs. It concerns me momentarily, but Torren’s voice grabs my attention before I get a chance to dwell on it.
“Did you guys get the chance to see Caveat Lover on the main stage last night?”
The crowd cheers, and it makes me smile wider. When I look at the guys, they are wearing matching expressions.
“Well, we’ve got another surprise for you.” I watch as a roadie brings two stools out and sets them together center stage, and the crowd grows impossibly louder. “Did you all know we played here a while back? About seven years ago. Well, I met a woman, and she made such an impression on me that I wrote a song for her.”
“That’s my cue.”
Ezra pats me on the shoulder. “Knock ‘em dead, tiger.”
I step out onto the stage and make my way to Torren amid more shouts and cheers.
“You all know my fiancée, Callie James, right?” I wave, and Torren looks my way with a smile. “Hi, baby. You want to sing your song with me?”
I try to wait until the crowd noise lessens before I answer, but when it doesn’t, I just lean into the mic.
“I would love to.”
I take a seat on the stool beside Torren’s, then adjust my mic. The version of this song that we recorded has piano accompaniment, but for tonight, we decided to play an acoustic version with just the guitar.
Torren strums out the opening chords, and I take a deep breath and close my eyes. Then, trading out verses and harmonizing throughout, we begin to sing.
A little magic can go a long wa y
Whether night comes or bleeds into day
When the morning sun rises, your breath tantalizes my brain
This pain won’t go away easy, I’m still here to please you, oh baby
You’re the fire-colored flower at the end of the yard
If you’re trying to grow you won’t get very far
We don’t need much, just keep all the touching in vain
Firebird, make it all new
We’re just ashes in the end
I don’t need you my friend
But I want you
It’s light out, you don’t have to stay
You made it all better now you can just go on your merry way
When the morning sun rises, your breath tantalizes my brain
This pain won’t go away easy, I’m still here to please you, Oh baby
Baby
You’re the fire-colored flower at the end of the yard
if you’re trying to grow you won’t get very far
The pickins here are poor, I promise life has more to give you
Firebird, make it all new
We’re just ashes in the end
I don’t need you my friend
But I want you
Phones are lit and held in the air, waving back and forth with the melody, and the crowd sings along so beautifully that it gives me chills. But when we come to the last chorus, Torren switches up the lyrics, singing the revised version that he gave to me the night he proposed.
Firebird, you made it all new
We’re just ashes in the end
But I need you my friend
Oh, I need yo u
He calls it our love song born of heartbreak and harmony, and even now, months later, it brings tears of happiness to my eyes.
The End