Adrenalize Read online

  With a small grunt, Blue let me go. But he didn’t let me get very far. From behind me he called, “Why settle for a mediocre guy from back home when you could have me? I’ve got a reputation. The ladies love me. Who wouldn’t love an opportunity to go from small time to big time?”

  Blue wasn’t the first guy with a giant ego that I’d come across in my music career. There was certainly no shortage of them. However, he may have been the most disgusting person I’d had the misfortune to encounter in quite some time. That included the demons I knew.

  I heard his footsteps behind me as I headed for my bus. When I didn’t give him a response, he caught up quickly. Grabbing me by both arms, Blue slammed me against the closest bus. It may have been Storm’s.

  “Why are you such a stuck-up bitch? I’m trying to help you out here.” Blue’s eyes were wild with the effects of the substances running through his veins. Holding my upper arms tight, he squeezed hard enough for fear to truly take hold within me.

  “You need to back the fuck off.” If it was me or him, I’d set his ass on fire. But I really hoped it didn’t come to that. “Get your hands off me if you want to keep them.”

  The sudden weight of his fist took me by surprise. My ears rang, and my heart thudded heavily in my chest.

  The motherfucker just hit me? The metallic taste of blood filled my mouth, and the fire began to burn. I felt it racing through me, from a small spark to a bonfire in seconds.

  Arrow saved me from exposing myself as more than human. He rounded the side of the bus, grabbed Blue, and threw him to the ground. “You heard her. No is fucking no, you sick fuck.” Arrow didn’t give Blue the chance to get up. He booted the loser in the face hard, and a sickening crunch followed.

  My hand flew to my mouth as I watched. In a panicked attempt to flee Arrow’s abuse, Blue rolled away and pushed up onto his feet. But Arrow was already there feeding him more pain.

  My breath seemed to stop. Even though Blue fought back, there was no way he could win this. Arrow ran on adrenaline, cocaine, and darkness. No mere human could stand up against the rage of a nephilim. Certainly not this nephilim.

  As I watched Arrow smash his fists into Blue’s face, the shadows started to manifest. From the darkness surrounding us they crept forward, obeying Arrow’s unspoken command. Dark tendrils flowed around him, spiraling their way around his legs and arms, feeding the strength in each hit.

  Arrow was going to kill Blue.

  That realization spurred me into action. I shouted his name but he didn’t respond. When I grabbed his arm, he shook me off, his focus so ingrained on Blue that he saw nothing else.

  Despite the fact that he was clearly losing this fight, Blue still managed to egg his attacker on. “Say goodbye to your career, asshole. Both of you. You’re done.”

  I don’t think Blue realized how close to death he tread. Arrow had killed before. Under the right circumstances, he would do it again. Blue might have just given him those circumstances. I knew for sure now that, whomever was draining the men on tour, it was not Blue.

  “Fuck my career. You touch my girl, you die.” Too far gone inside the darkness, Arrow no longer cared that it was a human he dealt with. Grabbing Blue by the front of his shirt, Arrow dragged him close and smashed him right in the face with a brutal headbutt.

  A shriek burst from between my fingers. Hand still clapped over my mouth, I momentarily froze. Everything seemed to move in slow motion as Arrow slammed Blue up against the nearest bus, bouncing his head especially hard off the metal. Blue swung wildly, but he was too dazed and intoxicated to connect. His eyes rolled in his head, and I thought for sure he’d been knocked out.

  The sound of the fight started to draw the attention of those in the closest buses first. The level of violence emanating off Arrow was so strong, the first few people on the scene were reluctant to intervene.

  Arrow continued to feed Blue punch after punch until blood dripped from his busted knuckles. I knew that I should do something—make this stop—but I couldn’t.

  Atticus brought the pummeling to an end. Fearless he pulled Arrow off Blue. With inhuman strength, he held Arrow back until he calmed. Blue fell to his knees before toppling over onto the bloodstained pavement. His face was a mess of blood. I couldn’t tell how much was from Arrow’s bleeding hand and how much was from Blue’s busted face.

  It didn’t take long for tour managers to arrive and talk of calling the police ensued. Nobody really wanted the cops called. Especially Blue, who had enough drugs on his bus to supply the rest of the tour. Insisting he was just fine despite the fact he clearly was not, Blue stumbled back to his own bus. Nobody wanted to press charges, so nobody called the police. Blue should most certainly have seen a doctor about his injuries.

  But I didn’t really give a damn in that moment what happened to him.

  When Jordan got Arrow and me alone, he demanded to know exactly what had happened. I recounted the various incidents with Blue and how it had manifested in the conflict tonight. If he wanted to punish us, then so be it. Surprisingly though, he was pretty cool about it.

  “I worked another tour a few years back with a band that opened for Blue. Let’s just say that tour was not without drama and conflict either. I know he’s a troublemaker, but he’s also one of the headliners. I strongly urge you both to avoid further confrontation if you want to finish your run on this tour.” Jordan looked from Arrow to me, sympathy shining in his dark eyes. “If you want to charge him for assault, Spike, I’ll help you make it happen. Just let me know.”

  As much as I appreciated Jordan’s willingness to nail Blue for his shitty behavior, the field day social media would have tomorrow when everyone saw his face would probably be punishment enough. I told him I needed time to think about it. It was late, and I just wanted to get some sleep.

  Arrow and I had just settled into the back lounge when we heard Rowen come in. He’d missed everything. Most of our bus had slept through it, Sam and Jett included. It was a story that could wait until morning light.

  With one tiny overhead lamp lighting up our bed, I sat in the middle of it, dabbing a small cut on Arrow’s forehead with a wet washcloth. “You’re crazy, you know that? I thought you were going to kill him.”

  “That was the plan.” Arrow turned hazel eyes my way, studying my face where a faint bruise had bloomed. His classic devil-may-care grin was absent. Stone cold serious, he added, “An ass kicking isn’t enough. He’s getting off too easy.”

  “Leave it alone, Arrow. Let’s just get through the next two weeks with as little trouble as possible. Let’s not forget there’s a killer on tour with us, and it’s not Blue. Priorities.”

  Arrow caught my wrist, stopping the repetitive dabbing motion. “My priority is you. Everything else comes after that, including my music career.”

  I wanted to crack a joke about him getting hit in the head too hard, but it didn’t feel like the right time. Arrow’s solemn declaration moved the earth beneath my feet, so to speak.

  Tonight, two different people had referred to Arrow as someone I had settled for. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Arrow had come into my life at just the right time. I shouldn’t have given a damn what anyone else thought about our relationship, but I did. The rest of the world didn’t have to see Arrow the way I saw him. But who the hell were they to act like he was beneath me? Especially Rowen.

  “I don’t even know what to say to that,” I admitted, setting the facecloth aside. “You’re one of the best things that’s ever happened to me. I hope you know that.”

  With those words I managed to bring his smile back. We sat facing one another, him cross-legged with me kneeling before him. He pulled me into his lap, and I climbed on top to straddle him.

  “I do now.” Because I sat slightly higher, Arrow tipped his head back to look at me. Hands on my waist, he held me tight against him. “It’s you and me, angel girl. Always.”

  Always. He’d said that to me right after I’d declared my f
eelings for him in a roomful of judgmental angels. I warned him that always could be a dangerous word. Still, he insisted on saying it every chance he got.

  I didn’t tell him not to say it this time. It was exactly what I needed to hear. Capturing his face in my hands, I ran my fingers over his strong jaw before going in for a slow, passionate kiss.

  Any doubt that we were doing the right thing here always disappeared when I was in his arms. Arrow had become a familiar source of comfort. He kept me level-headed and in the moment, rather than living in an anxious and uncertain future. Sometimes it scared me how deeply he’d embedded himself into every part of me. Yet it thrilled me at the same time, and I wouldn’t have changed it for anything.

  He grew hard beneath me. His kiss burned hot as he tipped my chin up so he could shower my neck with little love bites and kisses. The kind that sent a jolt down my spine, making me flinch from the intensity. Loving it, Arrow chuckled against my skin. The sound of that laugh alone could do me in. There was no better place in the world than wherever we could lose ourselves in each other. Other than maybe at home where we didn’t have to be so quiet about it.

  Arrow slid my T-shirt up and over my head. The heat of his mouth on the swell of my breasts made me tense, my back arching provocatively as he held me in his strong arms. My breath came faster as he deftly relieved me of my bra and hungrily sucked my nipple into his mouth, swirling his tongue in slow, sensual motions.

  Although the back lounge television played on low as an attempt to muffle our voices, it wouldn’t do much to cover the sound of two people screwing. I knew because we’d had to listen to Jett and Sam enough times already, not to mention Rowen’s ménage a trois. So I bit my lip and made a conscious effort to be as quiet as possible. Knowing how close Rowen was shouldn’t have been something I thought about right then.

  As if he shared my thought Arrow murmured softly, “I hate how friggin’ quiet we have to be here. I can’t wait to get you home and bring the building down.”

  I laughed quietly, burying my face in his shoulder to smother the sound. I lingered there, pressing my lips to where the black rose tattoo crawled out of his collar to climb up the side of his neck.

  Grabbing the hem of his shirt, I tugged it off to enjoy the skin-on-skin contact I so desperately needed. “Sounds good to me. This whole sharing a bus with ten other people thing got old on day one.”

  Arrow grasped my hips and pulled me harder against the bulge in his pants. “It’s more than that, though, isn’t it? You feel the itch. To get back home where we don’t have to play human twenty-four hours a day.”

  “I do kind of miss being in a place where the demons don’t run from me. Although I’ll probably regret saying that later, I just really need to kick some demon ass. I didn’t think I would miss it so much or that the need would be so strong.”

  Just thinking about the pent-up urge to set something on fire, something demonic and deadly, it fueled the need for release. I moved against Arrow, rubbing against him until he groaned and shook his head.

  “Goddamn, I need to be inside you.” Arrow tipped me over so that I fell back against the bed. With me now flat on my back, he easily removed the shorts and underwear I’d been wearing.

  Anticipation built as I waited for him to disrobe. Sparks flared to life along my fingertips, causing tiny, candle-like flames to dance among them. With a little concentration I quelled the fire. “Yeah, I’d say I really need that too.”

  With a sexy smirk, Arrow slung my legs around his waist. He didn’t tease or hesitate, wanting it as bad as I did. The sensation of him sliding inside me brought forth an uncontrollable moan.

  Arrow clapped a hand teasingly over my mouth. “Now, now, you know the rule about sex on the bus. Gotta screw like your parents are in the next room.”

  My laugh was muffled against his hand before I pushed it away. “I’m not sure that sexy talk is doing it for me. Care to give it another try?”

  He paused and cocked his head to one side, pretending to think about it. “How about it feels so fucking good inside you that I could blow my load any second?”

  “Let’s lose the part involving your choice of the word load,” I said with a grin, raising my hips to encourage him to stop playing and get down to business. “We can keep the rest. Try to last for more than a few seconds though.”

  It was silly and ridiculous. We burst into simultaneous laughter. Arrow was more than just a lover. He’d become a best friend. Though I’d never breathe a word of that to Jett.

  A few more dedicated thrusts and things went from funny to mad passion in seconds. More than once I had to turn my head, clutching a pillow to muffle my moans and soft cries. Arrow buried his face in my neck to do the same.

  I held tight to him, reveling in the way it felt as he moved inside me. For a guy that had a reputation back home for being a womanizer and a bit of a manwhore, Arrow always put my pleasure first. Somehow he found the strength to control himself until I clenched tight around him, muscles spasming with orgasmic waves.

  Arrow fell asleep soon after. With his head against my shoulder and a leg flung over mine, he snored softly while I lay awake as the hour crept closer to dawn. In just two weeks on the road, we’d encountered more craziness than I could have predicted. We still had two weeks to go. I hoped we could make it through without any more trouble, but really, I knew better than that.

  Gently, I picked up Arrow’s injured hand. Bringing it to my lips, I pressed feather-light kisses to his wounded knuckles. There was no distance too great for Arrow. No lengths that he would not go to for me.

  No, I certainly had not settled. My heart had chosen right. And screw anyone who didn’t think so. Rowen included.

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  THE FOLLOWING DAY WAS a travel day. We were all trapped on the bus together in what should have been an isolated metal tube rushing down the highway. Thanks to the not so pleasant side of social media, everything that had gone down with Blue was already in the rock ’n’ roll rumor mill.

  The arrogant asshole had wasted no time posting a photo of his injuries, crediting Arrow for the work done on his face. Of course he didn’t bother to tell anyone what had really occurred or that he very much deserved to have his face rearranged. Seeing as Blue’s fan base stretched farther and wider than Arrow’s, it didn’t take long for chaos to break out in the comment sections of both bands’ social media pages.

  “If that bastard thinks this will be enough to ruin me, he doesn’t know who he’s dealing with,” Arrow muttered at his phone as he scrolled through the madness.

  “Forget him. By letting him dominate so much of your time, you’re giving him exactly what he wants. Don’t even think for a second about commenting back to anybody.” Just to be sure, I reached over and plucked the device from his hands. After giving the screen a cursory glance, in which I saw enough crap to make me wince, I tossed the phone into the nearest bag. It might have been Jett’s makeup bag.

  We’d cleaned up our bed in the back lounge so it was a couch again. Jett and Sam sat with us, having heard all the gory details over morning coffee. Rowen had heard them too, but he had only lingered in the doorway before disappearing back to the front of the bus. Needless to say, the rest of Arrow’s band was on edge, nervous as to how this might affect them all.

  Jett believed it would only do them good. “Are you kidding me? People love shit like this. Fuck Blue Monroe. He deserved it. Maybe it’s time his fan base knew what a piece of shit he is.”

  There was a husky element to her voice that indicated the wolf was strong within her. We were embarking on a moon night, and I wasn’t quite sure what I was more nervous about, the fallout from Arrow’s fight with Blue or how Jett would handle herself once it grew dark again.

  A few online rock magazines and YouTube channels had already reached out to Arrow via social media in an attempt to hear his side of things. Jordan had strongly discouraged him from speaking with any of them. And I agreed with him.

 
“A guy like Blue is going to bring about his own demise.” I nudged Arrow’s leg with mine. “Let it happen. We need to figure out who is killing people. That’s more important. It doesn’t feel human to me. Besides, the best thing for Molly’s Chamber right now is for you to stay out of it and not take Blue’s bait.”

  “Agreed,” Sam chimed in. He rubbed a hand over his stubbled jaw and slid a sidelong glance at Arrow. “Although just for the record, online sales have already started to climb since Blue’s post. He might have done us a favor.”

  Maybe Blue’s attempt to screw Arrow’s career would backfire. I left them to discuss it and slipped between the bunks to the kitchen. It had been a while since I’d eaten. After last night I hadn’t had much of an appetite. The first pangs of hunger had me craving the white chocolate macadamia nut protein bar I had stashed in the cupboard.

  “I guess I was just a better lay than you, seeing as Storm came back to me for seconds and all,” Paul said as I stepped into earshot.

  At first I wasn’t sure to whom he spoke. When Rowen stiffened and turned in his seat at the table to pin Paul with a glare, I suddenly regretted my shitty timing.

  “Paul, dude, you have no idea how many times she came. Like I said before, I’m not the type to brag. You think you know everything going on around here, but you don’t know jack shit.” Rowen’s delivery was smooth and precise. He’d never be threatened by a guy like Paul.

  That didn’t stop Paul from continuing his never-ending pissing contest with the guys.

  Is that what had taken Rowen so long to come in last night? Had he been in Storm’s bus after leaving the bar?

  I didn’t want to know. I wish I’d never had the crap luck to hear this conversation. I dug through the cupboard for my protein bar, shoving other people’s things around. If somebody took the last one, I was going to cut a bitch.

  “I know that I fucked her last night, and it wasn’t the first time.” Paul glanced at his buddies, seeking some kind of bro backup. None of them seemed too keen on jumping in.