“Yes. You push one of your representatives into her arms, let her slake the fire of transition on him, not one of us. You leave my brother hovering around the door, like some kind of pariah. She’s chosen Hartley, will choose Hartley as far as I am concerned. You’re not getting her on a technicality, Rutherglen. She wants to foreswear her house? Break her bond with Johnno? That’s a whole other deal, but until that happens, she’s with us.”
Jen was going to argue further, I could see it, but I got to my feet. I squeezed her hand, felt the faint tremble of anger there but nodded, recognising that she’s tried.
“Fine,” I said. “Not sure what you think seeing your skanky dick getting slobbered over by groupies is going to do for whatever cause you’re fighting for, but you want me with Johnno? I’m there.” A devilish light flared in each of the band members’ eyes, all except Lucas and Johnno. My preceptor shook his head, reached for me, but I shook him off. I needed to do this. “But with him only. You don’t touch me or come near me unless I permit it.”
Jake scowled, ready to argue, but Liam held out a hand.
“Fair enough. Anything else.”
“Once we’ve…” I felt the phantom of those hands behind the towel move over my skin for a moment. “Once things have taken their course, I’m off the short leash. I’m free to go where any other member of Hartley would go.”
Billy muttered something to Liam in a terse tone, Jake adding his own bit, but Liam waved them off. Lucas shoved his chair back from the table, moving to get up, but his leader just stared him down.
Johnno shook his head. “Kira, this is not smart. Let’s talk.”
“Talk, brother?” Liam said with a cock of his head. “We do it openly, around the table, eschewing the shitty backroom deals of other courts. What have you to say?”
“It doesn’t have to go this way. I could visit her in the Rutherglen bus.”
“I say otherwise.”
“I know what you want, but this isn’t the right way to go about it. You’re making the same mistakes again. You’re just going to—”
“I find none of this convincing.” Liam leant back against his chair, a strange glow rippling across his body, something that had the surrounding members of Hartley shifting restively. “Cede the point or step up, brother.”
“What’s going on?” I said.
“Not a member of Hartley yet, so you don’t get to speak except under my sufferance, and I reckon you’ve had your say,” Liam snapped at me. “Align to my court, bed my brother, and then you may have the floor. Now, before you get your knickers in a twist, I agree to your little deal. Sleep with Johnno, formalise the preceptor bond, and then you’ll have your freedom. Agreed?”
I looked down at Johnno, who was just shaking his head slowly, gazing at where he held my hand.
“Agreed.”
“One last point.” Aen stood beside me, his tall frame a comforting barrier between me and the rest of the court’s hungry eyes. “I’ve tolerated all of this thus far as I’ve been fascinated to see what sprang up in the absence of actual courts. I saw my fellows become gods, demons, and everything in between. I watched our people grow weaker and weaker, but this? Little fiefdoms carved out of nothing?” I thought I could see the axe about to fall, but I was wrong. “I’m yet to decide how I feel about them, but know this. I’m stronger than all of you, and I’ll burn all you have built down to the ground for her if she asks it of me. So proceed with your petty negotiations with that in mind.”
I wanted to savour the complete and utter way Liam Hartley’s face fell, but it was the way everyone else’s looked that scared me. They were all petrified by the man, in ways I couldn’t yet understand, but when I turned around, Jen looked exactly the same.
“Noted, milord,” Liam said, the honorific only partly sardonic. “Everyone needs to report to their team leaders now for further orders and transport assignations. Aster, I want the Lady Kira’s belongings installed in the bus within fifteen minutes or you’ll answer to me.” I felt a rising tension in my body as he strode down the room, approaching me at a steady clip, stopping only when he reached me. He held out a hand and said, “If you’d like to accompany me?” Aen nodded approvingly and Johnno didn’t say anything, so I did something I dreamed of and dreaded. I touched Liam Hartley. Part of me was kind of let down that the big calloused hand was just warm and dry like any other man’s, but the majority barely registered his touch as a wash of anxiety and excitement so high pitched it shut out everything else consumed me. I felt the slight tug as he drew me closer, and then out we went.
“Our humble castle,” he said as he opened the tour bus doors, gesturing for me to precede him.
3
I’m not sure what I expected. Smelly clothes, used condoms, and beer bottles everywhere probably, but that wasn’t what I saw. A guy with a head of long straggly hair and a goofy grin waved to me from the driver’s seat as I climbed on.
“That’s Animal. He looks after us while on tour, swapping out with Griff. Animal, this is the Lady Kira.”
“Nice to meetcha, milady.”
“Um, hi.”
“We have our living area here,” Liam said, gesturing to the booths and tables set on either side of the bus. “The kitchen is kept well stocked, and if there’s anything specific you’d like, I’ll have the caterers get it. Most of us grab something from a drive-thru or from the catering tents after a gig.” I just nodded. He led me further into the bus. “Bunks are here and here.” He pulled back the curtains to reveal sleeping alcoves, but rather than be free and ready to sleep on, both the top and bottom ones had been used to store belongings in. He then opened several doors. “Separate bathroom and toilet.”
“Mm…”
I turned at the faint sound to see the rest of the band had clustered around us. Each one of them, even Lucas, watched me take the bus in. The attention was kind of weird. I was relieved that there was at least a shower on board, as I’d been worried about dealing with hygiene on the road.
“And lastly, sleeping quarters.”
There was some of that old challenging look on his face as he opened the door, something that was completely ruined by the sight of Aen sprawled across the surface of a truly massive bed. This wasn’t king or queen sized. I could now see why the rest of the bus was somewhat basic by comparison, because everything had been put into this. A bed where the whole band could sleep and more besides. I looked at the huge platform, complete with neatly tucked in sheets and a line of pillows, but that’s not what I saw.
For a moment, the smooth surface and Aen was overlaid with a complex tangle of naked bodies. My internal eye saw darker skin against paler, limbs shifting, in sleep or in ecstasy, twisting and turning, thrusting up against—
“I can’t sleep here.”
Liam took a deep breath, my scent obviously pleasing him.
“Well, that’s a lie.” His grin grew wider. “Scared of what you might see and feel?”
“Dude, I’ve seen enough orgy scenes in porn to not be frightened of seeing your dick in multiple holes,” I snapped. “I just don’t really want to be within splashing range.”