Night Moves (The Night Songs Collection) (11 page)

“Shit.”

“Exactly. So I’m just a worker bee. My job is to pretend I love my job. And shut up, when I can.”

“But they took your life!”

“I’ve been in bands since I was fourteen years old. I’ve been in this band for fourteen years. This is my life. I was legally bound to the band forever as it was, so it’s kind of appropriate that I am actually bound to the band forever.”

“They took advantage of you.”

“Maybe. I was a big, dumb kid. That wasn’t their fault. But I’m taken care of forever. I don’t want for any material things.”

“But your kids.”

“I know.” His voice broke, and I hated myself for bringing it up. “That’s the only thing I regret.”

I wanted nothing more than to figure out a way for Ryder to see his girls again. I must be able to figure out something. Maybe I could get in touch with his ex-wife. Ha, I’m sure she’d love to hear from me. But if she had any idea how badly he was hurting not seeing them, she couldn’t possibly keep them away from him, could she? At one point, she loved him enough to marry him. Or did she marry him because he was Ryder Maddox in Soul Divider?

Either way, it made my blood boil. I didn’t want to say anything else at that moment, because it would probably be something I’d regret.

“I think I’m going to take a walk.” I kissed Ryder tenderly, holding his face in my hands. “I love you.”

My pulse stopped, I didn’t expect those words to come out of my mouth. But I didn’t regret them.

I felt his chin drop in my hands, his eyes looked at me in wonder. Had anyone ever said that to him before and meant it? “I love you too, Melanie.”

“L
et’s skip the show tonight.” Erin found me in the lobby at the coffee machine. I was just glad she made it to the hotel unscathed. “I’m wiped out from my shoot, and Drake has a hot tub in his room! It’s right next to the bed.”

Of course he would have a suite when everyone else was double bunked. I rolled my eyes, not caring if Erin saw me do it or not. She giggled, either at me or the mention of the hot tub.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Catelyn from the last show in a dark corner of the lobby, flanked by her friends. They watched my every move. I looked away quickly. I didn’t want them to get too familiar with me like they were with Erin.

Regardless, the hot tub sounded wonderful. “Let me just check with Ryder.”

“Oh, we’re at the checking in stage, are we?”

I shot her a look. “It’s just common courtesy. And yeah, I guess we are.”

Ryder. Ryder who loved me. I felt like I was walking on clouds. I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. I almost told Erin, but stopped. How would she react? How did Drake feel about her?

Ryder envied me for being able to miss the show, and had the same indignant reaction I did to the hot tub.

All clear for a girls’ night in.

“How was your shoot?” Neither of us had bathing suits with us, so we just filled the tub up with suds and sunk in au natural. I felt a little funny about it, but Erin had no problem prancing around naked. A job perk, I guess.

“It was fun. I had to pretend I was stuck in glue, but it was really marshmallow fluff.” She popped the cork on a champagne bottle. “Bubbly?”

“Yeah.” She couldn’t be serious. “Why in God’s name would you pretend to be stuck in glue?”

“It’s a Stuck fetish video.”

“People get off on that? You get paid for that?” Creepy, but intriguing.

“You have no idea! The craziest shit gets people’s rocks off. Do you want me to put this down here for you?” Erin glided down into the tub gracefully, the bubbles accentuating her breasts, and placed our glasses down between us. “Like sneezing. Not sexy, right? Well, there is a sneezing fetish. I take my shirt off, stick a toothpick up my nose, and achoo!”

“Bless you,
Trixie
.” I had to be careful not to get bubbles in my glass. I’d sunk into the tub so only my neck and head weren’t submerged. “Why do you have to take your shirt off to sneeze?”

“They like to see the rise and fall of my chest when I do it. It’s not about boobs at all.”

“Right.” I couldn’t wrap my head around any of what she was saying. I polished off my champagne faster than I intended.

“Look it up on the internet. And you’ll probably see me.” She tipped her head in almost a curtsey. “Seriously Mel, it’s the easiest money I’ve ever made, it’s fun, and it lets me do what I want. Maybe I could bring you to a shoot sometime.”

I opened my mouth to protest, but then realized I shouldn’t close off any options right now. If the police didn’t catch up with me, I couldn’t expect to live off of Ryder’s good graces forever. And between murder and job abandonment, I wasn’t a very good candidate for hire anywhere.

The next time Erin refilled our glasses, she brought the bottle over to the hot tub. Conversation turned to more normal, tame subjects, like people from high school and what had been happening at home. We spent just as much time laughing as we did talking. It was the best night I’d had in a long, long time.

I totally lost track of time. Besides, what did it really matter? All I knew was my skin was totally pruny from the water.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Drake shattered our easy going, booze-soaked evening by scolding us. I didn’t hear him walk in. He was even like this with Erin? What a ray of sunshine.

“We’re taking a tubby. You should join us.” Erin disregarded his tone, and splashed some water in his direction.

Drake’s eyes seared through me, like I was less than human. Like he was one to talk. “Why is she here? I didn’t say you could have a party while I was gone.”

Erin rolled her eyes. “We’re just having girls’ night.”

“I’ll go.” I started to get up, but then realized my clothes were out of reach, near the bed. I froze in a crouch, still covered by bubbles. The last thing I wanted to do was walk around naked in front of Drake. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of me, so asking him to move or even hand me a towel seemed totally out of the question.

“No. You came for the party, you’ll stay for the party, Melanie.” He used my name like an insult.

Drake was out of his natural damn mind if he thought I was going to join them in a threesome. Not because I was a prude, but because I hated every fiber of his being. He’d be lucky if I didn’t snap his thing off.

Finally, he looked back at Erin, who was pouting slightly. He didn’t look much happier with her. He didn’t say another word, he simply crooked his finger and recrossed his arms.

“Yes, sir,” she said quietly, and rose out of the tub. My chin fell into the suds. I couldn’t believe this. She walked over and stood before him, with her head bowed and her fingers knotted together behind her back.

Drake tipped her chin up. “Did I say you could have a guest?”

“No, sir.”

“Take my belt off.”

Silently, she undid his belt, slid it out from the loops, and held it up to him like it was on a silver platter.

“You can’t be serious!” I had to say something. This was unreal.

“Shut up! Unless you want your friend to be punished more.”

What the hell was I going to do? My heart was pounding in my chest. He was going to whip her with his belt, and she was going to let him. She’d already turned around, bent over, reaching for her toes. Suds slid down her wet skin. My eyes darted back and forth between the two of them. When Erin caught my eye, she smiled brightly at me.

She was enjoying this.

I leaned my head back against the edge of the tub and closed my eyes. I counted ten slaps of the leather against her skin. Erin didn’t make a sound.

When the thrashing of the leather stopped, the gentle gurgle of the hot tub sounded obscene. I wasn’t ready to open my eyes yet. I’d rather just not know what was going on.

“Tell your friend to open her eyes,” Drake instructed Erin quietly. I squeezed them together tighter, as if somehow that would erase his words.

“Yes, sir,” she said just as quietly. “Melanie, watch me, please.”

Reluctantly I picked my head up and opened my eyes. I felt dizzy from the steam and the champagne. And I felt humiliated for Erin, even if she didn’t for herself.

She was down on her knees in front of him, her ass red, but skin unbroken from her lashing, with her head tilted up to look at him. He looked down at her and nodded. She fished his cock out of his pants and began to give him head.

“I am not watching this.” I didn’t care about that I was naked anymore. Drake’s eyes were closed, head tipped back, enjoying Erin’s services. I rose up out of the bubbles, snatched my clothes off of the floor, and marched into the bathroom to get dressed.

I slammed the door behind me for good measure. God, I hope she bit it off. I sat down on the toilet seat, dripping wet and totally flabbergasted. I burst into tears.

What was Erin thinking? This just wasn’t right. I wouldn’t care about the whole dominant/submissive thing if Drake ever treated her with a modicum of respect. Then I would know it was just a game. But instead he thought she was something to be used and thrown away. Trash.

Finally, I found the energy to towel myself dry and pull my clothes back on. I threw the used towels on the floor, the only rebellion I could think of. I took a deep breath before I opened the bathroom door.

Drake’s back was to me, his pants down to his knees. All I could see of Erin’s body was her feet in the air, held in place above Drake’s shoulders. He slammed against her repeatedly. Erin moaned softly in rhythm.

If he still cared about having me in the audience, he was even crazier than I thought. I tiptoed to the door, making my escape.

Once I reached the hallway, I ran all the way back to Ryder and Josiah’s room. They were both lying in their beds, watching a movie. A comedy, judging from their laughter.

I threw myself into Ryder’s lap and dissolved into tears all over again.

“S
he’s addicted to the blood, babe.” Ryder stroked my hair, trying to calm me down. “That’s all she cares about. She’ll do whatever he wants so he’ll let her have it.”

“Have you told her about the blood yet?” Josiah asked.

“Not completely,” Ryder answered.

I lifted my head up. “Erin told me.” I sounded so tired. I rolled back up on my heels so I knelt on the bed. I wiped my cheeks and raked my fingers through the damp ends of my hair. I must’ve looked like a nightmare. I hadn’t even bothered to look at myself in Drake’s bathroom. “That it’s pretty much otherworldly to drink a vampire’s blood as a human.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. I just know how it is for me, now. I never did it as a human, and Shannon didn’t want anything to do with it.” Ryder seemed a little embarrassed. “I’ve seen what’s happened with the other girls, especially with Erin, and I didn’t want to try it with anyone I didn’t want to stick around.”

“Erin’s nuts, dude.” Josiah piped in. I glared at him. “Sorry, but she is, to put up with Drake’s shit. But the blood is pretty spiritual. I’d think it feels the same for the chicks as it does for us.”

“How did you guys become vampires? I mean, I know it’s some deal with the devil between Drake and Talis, but like technically, how did it happen?” Nothing else could shock me tonight, so I might as well ask all the big money questions.

Ryder looked away from me again, his face dark. The look of shame on his face broke my heart. My brows furrowed, I looked over to Josiah for answers.

He took the bait. “It wasn’t romantic at all. We played a show in Vegas, at the Double Down or some horrible little dive, and the Mistress met up with us backstage. Said she was throwing a big party in our honor at the Alta Vista Hotel. The tour had been going badly, playing to empty clubs, shitty reviews on the new songs, so anyone wanting to shower attention on us was music to our ears. We were all over that party. Of course, we didn’t know Drake had set us up.”

“We got locked in a room, they drugged the booze we think, and when we woke up days later, welcome to the afterlife.” Ryder finished the story, his words clipped. “We have no idea what happened.”

“No explanation, no nothing?” I couldn’t hide my disbelief.

“Not even a thank you,” Ryder answered.

“In fact, Drake expected us to thank him,” Josiah added, “for giving us the gift of eternal fame and him the gift of eternal fortune.”