Dare (The Dare Trilogy) (3 page)

...an attendant who stared at her with a smirk as she left the cubicle to wash her hands. Dianne gave her the cold shoulder then went out of the toilets into the nightclub.

“I thought something happened to you,” Janey shouted above the blaring music of Optima, grabbing hold of her shoulder and pulling her close. Dianne offered some meaningless excuse but as Janey couldn’t hear it anyway both of them turned their attention back to the stage.

“Come into the garden, all you little children,” Gary Johnson, aka Darius Optimus, was singing in his trademark baritone sneer. There was so much that was more than a little preposterous about Optima in so many ways
—almost a throwback to prog-rock pomposity via a little Marilyn Manson and Rob Zombie—but she was willing to forgive him anything for that voice and his musical talents. The man was pretty much a qualified genius and if his show sometimes went a little OTT, then so much the better.

There were hundreds of stories about Optima, and Darius in particular, that he conducted black masses and brought cats and puppies onto stage to sacrifice as part of his act. It was all the same tabloid-hyped nonsense and Dianne had little time for it
—not least of which because she’d like to see any artist getting such an act past the RSPCA these days. The club—driven on by half the right-on audience at least—would have closed down that performance before it had chance to get started.

In any case, all Dianne cared about was the music, listening in a kind of ecstasy as Darius leaned against his lead guitarist, Johnny Korpus, his pale face, slender figure and long, jet black hair contrasting with Johnny’s beefier, more
powerful physique. Behind them were arranged bass, keyboard and drums—so close to the setup of Black Ark but a world away in terms of their sound and quality. Darius had been classically trained and his range of styles and abilities was much wider than the general public were led to believe.

Dianne’s little excursion to the ladies room had calmed her down, and now the music drove out any recollection of blue eyes and his garage band for a while. Yeah, he may have touched her for a moment, but it was now with Optima on stage that she experienced another kind of ecstasy that trumped all others.

“They’re good, aren’t they?” She simply nodded at first to the sound of the voice behind her, but then that Scottish lilt—louder now because he was shouting—filtered through her consciousness. In front of them Optima was performing one of its classics, Reaver, and she turned to glance backwards only for a second at blue eyes. She had been watching the stage, but she gathered he had been watching her. A thrill ran up her spine when she saw again just how tall he was, towering over her, but she wanted to play it cool, turning her attention back to the band after giving him a nod.

“And when I call they’ll all come running!” Darius’s voice was a deep growl above the drums and Johnny’s guitar. “Why try to escape your certain future!”

Watching Optima as they built up to the climax of the song, she folded her arms across her chest in a pose of assured self-control. She wondered if blue eyes was close enough to her to realise that she was trembling, and she hoped that if he was he considered it her excited reaction to the music.

Darius was half mounted now by Johnny, a faux homoerotic pose as the guitarist thrashed his axe in a frenzy
—and indeed Dianne was trembling to the music now, leaping up and down like so many in the crowd next to her as she yelled her appreciation.

The climax of Reaver was somewhat overblown, as Optima’s music always was, but she threw herself into the spirit of the moment with gusto. When she turned to face blue eyes, who was staring at her with a half smile on his face, she could feel her cheeks hot and flushed. Heaven alone knew what the next few moments would bring, and she also felt herself past caring: her heart was racing, and blood was pumping through her veins as the main set cleared the stage.

“If you’d have told me you were supporting Optima, we’d have got on better much more quickly.”

Blue eyes raised one eyebrow at this. “Well, I recognised you as a person who liked to be judged on your own terms. Maybe I’m the same. I prefer to be taken on my own merits, rather than riding someone else’s coat tails.”

“Even if those tails belong to Darius Optimus.”

“Even him.” Blue eyes looked past her now towards the stage and Dianne caught something strange reflected in his expression.

“Oh, but come on,” she said. “It must be exciting to be supporting Optima!”

“Sure it is.” He shrugged. “Want to come back stage? There’s usually... a party afterwards.”

“Oh my God!” Dianne’s jaw dropped and, instinctively, she grabbed hold of her as yet nameless companion’s arms. “Are you serious?”

“No, I’ve changed my mind. Of course I’m serious! If you still want to be associated with me, that is. You seemed pretty cool towards me earlier when we were talking.”

Suddenly Dianne remembered the kinds of things this handsome stranger had been saying to her before, as well as her reaction when Black Ark had played her first song. Despite all her attempts to retain that cool demeanour, she now blushed and dipped her eyes away from his.

“Sure,” she replied, trying to present herself as more self-controlled than she really felt. “I didn’t know you, that’s all.” She frowned. “I still don’t know your name, as it happens.”

“Just as I don’t know yours.” Blue eyes smiled at this. “Why don’t we try and keep the mystery going just a little bit longer, eh?”

She pulled in her chin at this, staring up at him quizzically. “A little bit longer? Do you really think I’m that easy?” She snorted in disgust at this.

Blue eyes shrugged. “Well, I guess I better be on my way.” A tic in his cheek, however, indicated that he was playing things as cool as she was. She placed a hand on his arm, and felt a thrill down below as her fingers touched his muscular flesh.

“That’s... that’s not what I meant. I better find my friend and tell her where I’m going.”

His smile was warmer this time and, leaving her hand on his arm he used the other to point further away in the crowd. “I think she’s already got herself an invite.”

Looking up, Dianne saw Janey sandwiched between the keyboard player and drummer of Black Ark, letting her body shimmy up and down as they pressed into her, the synth player kissing her blonde hair while the drummer ground his hips against hers.

“Oh, God,” Dianne groaned. “She’s never been one to be backward in coming forward.” She lifted a hand across her face in embarrassment.

“I gathered as much when we first met,” blue eyes replied with a smirk. “I realised that I’d better invite you to the back stage party or you’d be getting a taxi ride home on your own.”

Dianne was slightly annoyed at the stranger’s somewhat smug assessment of Janey, for all that it was true, but she allowed herself to be led by the hand as the tall man took her through the crowd, pushing a way through the morass of people. If anyone had recognised him as the singer and lead guitarist of Black Ark, such recognition had been seared away by Optima’s performance. Realising this, Dianne suddenly felt her heart go out to blue eyes as he led her towards security.

“It’s okay, she’s with me,” he told the beefy guards who, barely giving him a glance, allowed him to push through to the darkened corridor beyond.

“So, how long have you been supporting Optima?” she asked, her hand firmly in his as he turned left and right through a narrow corridor.

“Just the past couple of weeks. This is the UK leg of a European tour. We’re off to Paris the day after tomorrow.”

“Not a bad gig. How’d you get it?”

Blue eyes flashed her a smile. “I’m friends with the guitarist.”

“What, you and Johnny Korpus know each other?”

“We went to school together, though he was John McIntyre in those days. Small world isn’t it, to be so close now to the best living guitarist in the world. Johnny’s not bad, either.”

She snorted at this, a mixture of scorn and genuine humour, but blue eyes affected not to notice. “Ah,” he said instead as they came to a door. “Here we are. I hope you’re ready.”

“More than you can possibly imagine,” she answered eagerly. His own expression was a strange one, impossible to read as he opened the door and gestured for her to go through.

Moving from the darkness into the brightly lit dressing room, Dianne was blinded for a few seconds. As such, she did not immediately comprehend that the shape in front of her was a woman on her knees, her black-haired head bobbing up and down in front of Darius’s crotch. The singer had one hand on the woman’s locks, gripping her firmly so that she wouldn’t have been able to move had she desired to.

Despite this demand on his attention, Darius still managed to stare directly at Dianne as she half stumbled into the room.

“Nice fucking rack,” he said. “Fucking great ass as well.” Suddenly deciding that he’d had enough of the girl who was kneeling in front of him, he shoved her head aside brusquely. As Dianne’s eyes came into focus, she had the embarrassment to be staring at the erection of the Optima singer swaying from one side to another as he walked across towards her.

Just before he reached her, however, he must have realised who was behind her and his swaggering confidence faltered slightly as his eyes rose up a notch (matched, Dianne noted, by a faltering of his cock down below).

“Oh, Cam,” he said. “It’s you.” Suddenly his hand dropped to his crotch and he popped his wilting penis back into his trousers. His face, covered in white makeup, looked as deflated as his cock but he forced a smile, addressing blue eyes behind her rather than Dianne. “So, is this pretty little thing your present for me?”

“I don’t know,” Dianne heard the soft Scottish voice behind her. “You’d have to ask her about that.”

Dianne, despite all her intentions to the contrary, found herself unable to speak like some dumb school girl, a mixture of being star struck and also slightly confounded by the compromising position in which she had encountered the lead singer. She also had a suspicion that had it not been for the presence of her companion (now suddenly not so nameless), Darius wouldn’t have cared in the slightest as to how she had seen him.

“So, are you my latest present?”

Something about the tone of his voice irritated Dianne. She could see the other members of Optima at the far end of the room, a couple of girls among them and at least one of them bending over a table in what she guessed was a posture to snort cocaine or something else up his nostrils. “I’m a big fan of Optima,” she replied somewhat testily.

Darius frowned at this, his eyes confused at her response. “Well, fans like to show their appreciation in all sorts of ways...” he began to say.

“I somehow don’t think so with this one,” Cam muttered, pushing gently past Dianne. “Hi, Johnny,” he shouted to the other end of the room. “Fucking awesome as ever.”

The lead guitarist of Optima lifted his head from the table and shook it, his eyes wild as he tried to focus. “Ah, ya fuckin’ cunt,” he grinned. “Like I need you to tell me how good I am!” He parted his arms in a wide gesture, coming forward to throw them around Cam and hug him close to his chest.

The black-haired woman, whose features were beautiful but sharp, glowered at Dianne as she stood to her feet, using the finger and thumb of one hand to wipe away a smear of lipstick. “So, have you known him long?” Dianne was distracted, not recognising for a moment where the voice came from. Turning, she looked almost directly into Darius’s grey eyes.

“Who?” she asked, innocently.

“I’ll take that as a no.” Darius’s smiled at her, slipping one hand through the crook of her arm. “I’m sorry we got off on slightly the wrong footing.” He scowled at the woman who had been giving him a blow job and, with one last glare towards Dianne, she stalked away to the cocaine and other band members at the far end of the room. “But I meant what I said. You are one
fine
looking woman, and we should really get to know each other better.” He glanced towards Cam who was laughing and joking with Johnny. “Why go for silver when you have a chance for gold?”

Before Dianne could reply, she was knocked from behind as the other members of Black Ark came into the dressing room, bringing with them Janey and another girl that Dianne
didn’t recognise. The hooping and hollering that both women were making, particularly Janey, filled the room and Darius scowled as he was pushed backwards.

“Oh, sorry mate!” the Black Ark drummer shouted.

“You will be,” Darius muttered, but before he could find Dianne again the other woman who had entered with Janey had draped her arms around his neck. Although he was clearly tetchy at the interruption, nonetheless he was more than willing to give this new stranger a deep kiss as she rubbed her body against his.

“So, you want to hang around here?” Dianne lifted her head and looked straight up into Cam’s blue eyes, slightly serious now.

“Despite my lack of experience at how bands like Optima conduct themselves,” she replied, “I have some idea of how this night is going to end up.”

“We could get some coke, if you want.”

Dianne glanced towards the table where a couple of members of Optima were smooching with one girl as another bent over, snorting from the table. She was tempted for a moment—after all, it was something else she hadn’t experienced, but Cam picked up on her hesitation.