Chapter 14 Jealous God 4
Elodie
I had been to concerts before, even rock concerts thanks to my dad and my brothers, but nothing prepared me for the nerve tingling energy that surrounded me as I stepped into the dressing room behind Erik. The air was thick with it. That and the pungent smell of weed.
The band, all of them, were talking animatedly, the joint being passed between them.
“Hey.” Tate thrust his arm out, offering it to me, but I shook my head mutely.
“Pass it here. We all know she isn’t going to.”
I shot a look at Jax. I didn’t know what had crawled up his ass and died, but it was clear that something was bothering him, and I had a sneaky suspicion that something was me. He’d been acting like a bear with a sore head since the moment Dion had told him he wasn’t swapping buses and I had to ride with them. There had been some heated words that I had tried not to listen to. Something about it looked suspicious if a certain woman saw. I had made a mental note to ask who the woman was, but any thoughts of doing so were soon squashed when the band were ushered out for rehearsals, and I was left alone.
On a bus that I would be sharing with two rockstars. If I had been any other woman on the planet, that might have held some very interesting possibilities. But I had been around smoking hot men my entire life. Hell, I had witnessed more than my fair share of orgies and three ways. None of that interested me. Not even if I was going to be the cheese in a delicious Dionysus Rising sandwich.
Plus, I was there to do a job and not party, although I was sure there would be quite a few of those in the coming weeks as well.
Jax continued to stare at me as he took a long drag. The burning orange end illuminated his face. “You gonna have a problem if I offer this to Dion?”
For a second, I stared at him. Yeah, it was clear he had a problem with me. I wasn’t even sure when it had started, but his whole attitude towards me was getting more and more combative as the hours drew on. If it carried on, it might even start being a problem.
I risked a glance at the hulking shadow of one of the security guys who stood by the far wall. His arms crossed over his chest, pulling the Black Dionysus Rising hoodie tight across his muscles. I knew what was under that hoodie; I knew what was under all of their hoodies.
I flicked my eyes back towards Jax, who seemed to be waiting for me to answer. “I’m not his mother.”
God, I hoped Jax wasn’t going to be a problem.
Jax said something under his breath that I didn’t catch. But I did see Dion snap his head around, though. Something passed between them, silently. Jax ignored it totally. “So, if you aren’t here to mother him, then why the fuck are you here?”
“Man…” Louis shook his head, but his eyes were firmly on me, clearly interested in what I was going to say back to that. I knew they were all interested in why I was there. Why Erik had dragged me across the world to tour with them. None of them knew me. Not even Erik really. Although we’d had several video calls before I had arrived.
“Leave her alone,” Dion muttered.
“It's ok, they have a right to ask.” I smiled sweetly at them all. “They have a right to know.” I levelled my eyes on Jax because it was clear that he was the one I needed to convince. If convince was even the right word.
Someone hammered on the closed door. Three loud raps and everyone started moving at once. Taking my arm, Erik moved me out of the way slightly.
“What?” Confused, I raised an eyebrow at him. What the hell was going on now?
“They are being called to the stage.” He grinned down at me. “You ready to watch the biggest rock band in the world live, love?” The excitement in his eyes made them shine. Gone was the polished, highly sophisticated businessman, in his place was a man excited for what was about to happen.
“Ok.” I muttered as a shot glass was thrust into my hands. Not that I got a chance to tell them that I didn’t drink. Erik plucked it from my hands with a small wink. I nodded my thanks. I wasn’t ready to explain to them all, but especially Jax, why I didn’t drink anymore. I had nothing against those that did, but personally, it was a hard pass for me.
“Watch…” Erik’s voice was cut off as Tate gripped him by both shoulders and planted a kiss straight on his mouth. My eyebrows rose into my hair in shock, but I didn’t get a chance to ask anything.
Louis pressed his lips to mine in a quick kiss.
Jax’s kiss was different. The moment his lips brushed against mine, heat rushed up my neck, across my face. It felt like I had been electrocuted. The feeling was so strong that I had to stop myself from touching my hair to make sure it wasn’t standing on end.
And then his lips were gone, and he was doing the same to Erik.
They kissed each other like they had done it a million times before.
“It’s just what they always do before a show.” Erik rumbled out a laugh. “You’ll get used to it.”
Used to it? I doubted that. Especially when I was pretty sure I had felt the tip of Jax’s tongue against my bottom lip.
If I had thought that the energy before the concert was skin tingling, nothing compared to the high-octane energy that assaulted every one of my senses when the band began to play. I had watched them on TV, of course. Who hadn’t? But nothing could prepare me for how it felt to be right there, watching from the wings, the heavy bass thrumming through with me. I vibrated with it, and before I knew what was happening, I was bouncing on my toes, half dancing in time with their combined energy and half because I just couldn’t help it. It was addictive.
Addictive and mind blowing.
Nothing could have prepared me for it. And Dion’s voice was even more panty wetting live than it was on their records if that was even possible.
It was over too soon. Much, much too soon.
And the silence afterwards seemed deafening, even when thousands of people were still screaming their name.
“You enjoyed that, huh?” Erik’s arm was heavy over my shoulders, and I jumped with a squeak before I could help myself. His laughter filled my ears. “It’s ok, Eli, everyone gets like that the first few times they see them perform. They’re good, aren’t they?”
Good? I watched as the band bounced off the stage. Louis brought up the rear, twirling his drumsticks as he came. I watched them fly through the air, mesmerised. And then my eyes locked with Jax’s. There was sweat on his tanned face, and the bandana around his head was wet as well. His vest clung to him.
Usually, sweaty guys just weren’t my thing. I liked my men clean shaven and professional. Men who looked like Erik. But at that moment, I felt my heart speed up just a little too fast. Yeah, they were good. Really, really good.
“Yeah,” I managed to mumble as they swarmed around us. “Yeah, they are really good.”
“Don’t look so shell-shocked, love.” Louis' arm went around from me from the other side, squashing me between him and Erik. “It's normal to cream your panties the first few times.”
My mouth opened, but no words came out. Cream my panties? I wanted to tell him that I wasn’t doing any such thing, but words failed me. I wasn’t creaming anything over Dionysus Rising. Not at all. It was one member in particular that was giving me trouble.
But I wasn’t creaming over him.
No, not at all.
I was just a little damp, that was all.