mere prospect of her mouth coming anywhere near it. It was fully awake again by the time she’d meandered down his body, by way of his nose and his lips, one elbow, a section of ribs and one or two other bits as well. He liked that she took her time and didn’t just dive on him. Most of the women who claimed to want him had done exactly that. They seemed to be labouring under some strange notion that if they dived straight for his genitals, bypassing conversation, imagination and pretty much any other sort of pleasant human interaction, he’d somehow love them best. Not that that had bothered him for much of his adult life. He freely admitted he’d used sex as a coping strategy. If there was shite in his life, then fucking had been the answer.
It wasn’t like that with Dani. They’d inhabited some of the same dark spaces in the world. They spoke the same language, saw things through a similar lens. Sex with her was a celebration, not a means of escape … at least, mostly. Could he help it if he always craved sex most when he was in emotionally bad places?
‘Hey.’ Dani nipped the flesh near his navel, which made his cock jerk. She was poised over him, ready to deliver on her promise. ‘Say please.’
‘Pretty please.’
‘With a cherry on top?’ She flicked a glance up the length of his body. ‘That’s kind of what your cock looks like, when it’s this red and shiny.’ She gently flicked her tongue over the very tip, causing his cock to flex and grow harder.
‘I can taste myself on you.’
Xane’s fingers curled against the sheets until his knuckles were in danger of cracking.
‘So good. Think I need to taste you some more.’ She swirled her tongue around the tip, as though she were licking an ice-cream, then wrapped him in her heat and started making infuriatingly teasing pulls on his cock.
‘Come here, you.’ Xane made a grab for her and managed to upend her and twist her around so that she was straddled over his face with her knees planted beside his ears. Two could play at this game.
He stuck his tongue out and licked along the whole length of her slit, which caused her to buck and damn near hit her head on the bunk above. ‘Xane! You can’t expect me to concentrate if you’re going to do that.’
‘But I like doing that.’ He did it again to prove the point.
‘OK.’
He liked the way it made her shudder too.
Dani peeped along the length of their bodies at him. ‘Is your view as good as the one I’ve got?’
‘Better. I like having your knees as ear-muffs too. Come closer. Sit on me.’ He pulled her down onto his face, which let him push his tongue right into her. Hell, but she tasted good, all musky and sweet, and, to top that, she gently danced her fingertips over his balls. He tensed a little when he realised what she intended to do, but trusted her to be gentle.
Breathe.
She gently drew one of his nuts into her mouth, and then released it. It felt irrationally good, but bordered on too much. ‘Stop,’ he hissed after a minute or two. ‘Just suck me.’
She did, but he could feel the tension building inside her.
‘What’s the matter, Dani?’
‘Do guys give better blowjobs?’
Oh, fuck! Where had that come from? Were thoughts of him and Steve together still playing on her mind? He wished he could come up with a way of convincing her that his desire for her wasn’t some sort of temporary anomaly. He wasn’t suddenly going to come out as being gay.
‘Xane,’ she prompted him, and he realised his silence had given her the wrong impression.
‘It’s not really about gender. It’s about the individual. And you’re perfect in every way. You don’t have to compete with anyone. Not even a memory.’
Besides, Steve had sucked at sucking. But she didn’t need to know that. The best blowjob he’d had had been courtesy of someone else entirely.
Dani wanted to believe him, but the fact that he had experience with men and was attracted to them niggled away at her and stirred up all the abandonment issues she had been bequeathed by her father. He’d pretended to be straight – until he ran off with their neighbour’s son. It was hard to believe that Xane wouldn’t eventually do the same.
That said, if she didn’t have faith, then they had no chance of surviving.
Dani looked at him spread out before her. He was perfect in every way, with his ink, his washboard abs and the cute V-shaped ridge she didn’t know the name for that led down to his loins. How could she possibly hold on to him? He was a rock star, and she … she was nobody.
‘Are you doubting that we’re made for each other – again? I guess I’ll have to do something about that.’ He pulled her down onto his face again. Dani shivered as he used his tongue against her clit. It was hard not to believe in him when he was prepared to do this, and to keep on doing it until his tongue surely ached.
‘Damn, end of peace,’ Xane muttered, his hearing obviously a zillion times sharper than hers.
A few seconds later she heard them, the voices of his bandmates growing more distinct as they drew closer to the bus. She felt the suspension shift and settle as they boarded.
‘We should stop now,’ she said.
‘Bugger that.’ Xane wrapped his arms tight around her bottom. ‘I’m not letting them spoil this. I don’t care if they stand and watch.’ Unlike her, he lacked any self-consciousness about his body. Xane was happy to pose naked and, she suspected, got a kick out of being caught having sex.
Dani threw a desperate look towards the curtains to make sure they were still shut. Below the bottom edge she glimpsed a pair of feet. They paused in the doorway.
‘Oh, God!’
‘Do you need a minute?’ Spook Mortensen asked.
Dani frantically scrambled out of Xane’s hold, turned herself about and attempted to dive under the covers. The latter proved impossible with Xane’s weight holding the duvet in place.
‘Or five,’ Xane replied.
Spook sniffed. ‘You’re sure I can’t lie down? I’ll close my eyes and stick my fingers in my ears.’
Dani fretfully shook her head.
‘The lady’s a bit shy.’
‘Right.’ Spook retreated a pace, only to jerk forward again immediately, accompanied by another body. ‘Sorry,’ he apologised, as he was coaxed further into the room by the arrival of yet another person.
Dani covered her mouth with the back of her hand, starting to see the funny side.
‘I thought you wanted to sleep,’ Ash muttered. ‘What are you standing in
