Dare (The Dare Trilogy) (25 page)

“And you look fantastic!” he beamed back at her. And it was true. When she and Janey had returned to their hotel, Dianne had been stung by her friend’s observations regarding her dressing down and so she had made a renewed effort to dress up. Tight black jeans clung to her buttocks and thighs, slung low at the waist so that the tops of her hips and her flat abdomen were visible, her navel a sweet slit of sexiness. She had worn a black blouse, tied up beneath her breasts. These were still sensitive and so she wore no bra, instead unbuttoning the shirt so that enough of her cleavage was exposed to attract plenty of interest from men in the crowd. While she was not as well endowed as Janey, nonetheless Dianne knew that she had more than enough to show off when she chose to.

A pair of boots reached up to her mid-calves, though even with the three-inch heel she still only just reached Cam’s shoulder. Her hair was glossy and dark, loose over her shoulders, and she had taken extra time over her makeup so that her eyes appeared even larger, her lips bright red. As she craftily squeezed the massive lump in Cam’s trousers, she knew that the extra effort had been worth it.

“I can’t wait to get you back to the hotel,” Cam growled in her ear.

“Oh!” Dianne lifted a finger to her lips coquettishly, playing the innocent. “And why is that?”

“I’m going to...” Words failed Cam and the lump in his trousers shifted slightly.

“What? Oh... you’re not going to push me down on the floor, are you, and pull down my jeans so that you can fuck me hard on the floor from behind, are you? That would be such a naughty thing to do!”

The expression on Cam’s face was priceless and Dianne burst out laughing, reaching up again to peck him on the cheek. The presence of Janey had been a boon in lots of ways: any anxieties that Dianne had started to feel on the tour began to melt away, and she was once more engaging in the flirtatious activities that the pair of them had performed so many times before. It was different now, however: this time, she knew exactly what she wanted.

Looking up at them, she caught Janey’s eye. Her friend was standing next to Tony, who was talking to her in an animated fashion. Janey winked at Dianne and then extricated herself from Tony’s grasp, walking up to Cam.

“You were very good tonight,” she said, somewhat coolly.

“High praise indeed,” Cam replied, his tone equally cool. Dianne frowned at this.

“Di, would you mind keeping Tony company for a mo’? And James too when he turns up?”

“Uh, sure. Why?”

“I just fancied seeing if this stud is just a well-hung prick in one department, that’s all.”

Janey’s words confused Dianne, and she could see they had the same effect on Cam as well. Misinterpreting them as a come-on, she started to protest, but something in Janey’s eyes stopped her. Her friend was regarding Cam with a stern appraisal that was anything but lustful.

Janey glanced back at her and her expression softened. “Go on, it’s okay. I just want a quiet word with Cam, that’s all.” Turning her attention back to him, Janey grabbed hold of his shirt and began to pull him away towards the bar. For a second Cam resisted, looking back at Dianne. She in turn smiled at him somewhat apologetically and so, not comprehending what was happening, he allowed himself to be led away at last.

Watching them go, Dianne had a strange feeling in her stomach. What was Janey up to? She couldn’t be sure and, for the first few moments, watched them attentively. They
seemed to be talking, and Janey’s expression was deadly serious, while Cam looked confused, then angry, and finally reconciled.

“She’s a great woman, isn’t she?”

“What?” Dianne turned to face Tony, who was staring at Cam and Janey with a puppy-dog expression on his face. “Oh, yes.”

“How long have you known her?”

“Janey? It feels like forever. That sounds terrible, but we’ve known each other for years.”

Tony looked slightly mournful and Dianne wondered what was going through his mind at that moment. To break the silence she eventually asked: “Where’s James?”

“Jimbo? He wasn’t feeling too good. Went back to the hotel.” Tony gave a slightly empty laugh. “I think he was hoping that Janey would go back with him.” He shrugged as he said this.

“How are... how are things going with the... three of you?” The words came slightly reluctantly from Dianne’s mouth. She was not entirely sure she wanted to hear any more blow-by-blow accounts of the activities of this threesome, having been filled in more than enough by Janey herself.

Tony looked at her, and for a second there was a glimmer of pain in his eyes. Then he seemed to understand what he was showing and shook his head with a smile. “Things are good. We’re all adults and we all know what we’re doing.” For a moment, Dianne thought of the cocaine and booze she had seen on the table in the hotel room and she wondered how true this was. Before she could say anything, however, Tony continued: “Anyone else and I’d be jealous.”

“What?” Dianne was confused by the sudden turn of the conversation.

Tony nodded his head in the direction of Cam and Janey. “Any other time, I’d have been worried that Cam was going to make a move on a woman so keen to talk to him.”

She heard the slight bitterness in Tony’s voice, a fact that made her heart go cold. “What’s different?” she asked. Her voice suddenly sounded distant.

Tony laughed, perhaps recognising how he had sounded and now looked directly at Dianne, the intensity of his gaze making her turn back to him.

“You,” Tony said. “There’s no way Cam Fraser is going to give you up.” He smiled at this, a look of tenderness that melted Dianne’s heart before it could freeze entirely. Before she could reply, however, he had turned around and walked into the crowd.

For what felt a very long time, Dianne was on her own in the crowd, staring towards the stage. She didn’t want to look back, to gaze at Cam and Janey. Instead she watched the stage fill up with the members of Optima as the lights dimmed and dry ice began to belch out. The sound was a wall of noise, ominous and menacing, but it no longer had the strong emotional effect on her that it once had. She could still appreciate Optima’s technique and skill, but the more she heard of Darius’s lyrics, Johnny’s guitar expertise, the more it struck her that this was a band of boys playing to teenagers. She wanted something rawer now.

These thoughts filled her head so completely that she jumped when a hand was placed on her arm. Turning, she blushed to see Cam staring down at her, his eyes warm and tender.

“Want to stay?” he asked, his gesture slightly dismissive as he indicated Optima on the stage.

“I think I’ve heard enough of Optima to last for a lifetime,” she replied. He laughed at this.

As he went to fetch her coat she looked around. When she saw Janey at last, necking Tony in a dark corner of the room, she felt contented that things were back to normal—contented and a little sad for her friend.

“So, what did Janey want to talk to you about?” Dianne asked as they walked back. Cam’s arm was across her shoulders, holding her gently against his chest.

He laughed. “She was giving me a grilling,” he replied.

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.”

Cam looked down at her, his smile beautiful in that moment. “Don’t be. I was annoyed at first—you know, like ‘how dare she talk to me like that’, but then... It was okay.”

“Janey can be like that sometimes. I’m really sorry if she pissed
you off.”

“Don’t be. She didn’t piss me off. Well, okay, she did at first, but then I got what she was talking about. It’s fine, really it is.” Cam was silent for a moment, looking ahead as they walked along the cobbled street, people passing them occasionally on either side of the road. Dianne said nothing, giving him time to speak.

“She’s worried about you. She tells me that she’s never seen you like this before.”

Dianne scowled at this, irritated by her friend’s patronising and high-handed manner. Before she could speak, however, Cam squeezed her shoulder. “It’s fine. Really. She’s never seen you so much in love before, that’s what she told me.”

Looking up at him, Dianne saw that he was still looking ahead, smiling as he replayed the conversation with Janey over again in his mind.

“It’s true,” Dianne said very quietly. Cam turned his face towards hers, his eyes glistening slightly as he smiled at her.

“She wanted to know if I’d ever hurt you. She’d... she’d heard about Elizabeth.” Cam sighed at this. “I can’t ever apologise enough for that but... but nothing would have happened.”

“Are you sure?”

He nodded then paused. “Okay, if you hadn’t been here, on tour, then who knows? Maybe a lot would have happened. But with you – nothing. Nothing at all.”

Dianne’s heart was beating faster inside her chest, as though her ribs would break. “It wasn’t... it wasn’t meant to happen like this, you know. I was just coming along for the ride, you know? Taking you up on your dare.”

Cam nodded. “I know,” he said quietly.

“But... I’m scared, Cam.”

He frowned at this. “Why?”

She felt foolish and turned her eyes away from his. “Janey knows me too well,” she said at last. “I don’t... I don’t want to get hurt.”

“I understand. Me neither.”

This surprised her and she looked up at him. He did not return her gaze for a moment but when he did his eyes were scared, vulnerable. “I guess that’s the problem with falling in love, isn’t it. You expose yourself, allow someone else the possibility to hurt you.”

“Do you love me?”

He paused for a moment, lifting up his face again as though searching the sky. “More than anything,” he said at last. “That wasn’t what I expected. Not at all.”

They continued to walk along the street towards the hotel, neither of them able to speak for a while until, at last, Cam said: “She also gave me a piece of her mind in other ways. She really didn’t hold back.”

Dianne laughed at this. “Janey can be like that.”

“She told me that I better get over being so full of myself, that she’d heard Black Ark enough to know that we’d never be able to match your talent.”

“What!” Dianne was incredulous.

Cam laughed. “I’m just passing on the message, but you know what?”

Dianne was unable to look at him, but her whole body was alert now, as though she were listening not just with her ears but every inch of her flesh.

“She’s right. I’ve heard you play—not enough, and I didn’t appreciate it. I’ve heard you sing as well. You’ve got a good voice. Fuck that—you’ve got a fantastic voice.”

“Thanks,” Dianne mumbled.

“And I’ve been an idiot.”

She frowned and only now looked up at him. His face was sincere, open.

“I want you to join the band.”

The world spun around her for a moment, then her defences kicked in. “Fuck off, Cam. Don’t do that to me.”

“I’m serious. Join us. Sing with us. Sing with me.”

“You need to get your head sorted,” she told him. “Can you imagine Dan agreeing to that even for one moment? There’s no way I can pull a Yoko Ono on you all.”

He laughed again, and his laughter was warm and heartfelt. “Well, we ain’t the Beatles, that’s for sure. Hell, we ain’t even Optima yet. We will be, though. And it’ll happen sooner if you’re up there with us.”

Dianne’s emotions were a jumble when they finally returned to the room. Cam pulled off his shirt, throwing it to the bed so that his broad, well-formed back was a pattern of light and shadow, his tattoos seeming to move with a life of their own across his muscles. All day she had dreamed of him, of what she wanted to do to him, and while he seemed to be giving her space to think for herself, to consider his offer, she instinctively knew that she couldn’t think. She needed to leave her mind, to abandon it for a time. She needed the purity of a hard fuck.

He was surprised when she came behind him, sliding her arms around his waist, feeling his iron-hard abdomen beneath her fingers. She dug her nails into him slightly, and he laughed at this. “You okay?” he asked.

“Mmm,” she purred. She could smell the sweat of his body, still fresh. That musk of his manhood was no longer disguised by soap and civilisation. She felt herself opening up, her sex so hungry for him, so desperate having been denied all day.

As he turned, she lifted her arms around his shoulders, and he in turn half pulled her up, latching his mouth onto hers, both of them eating each other. Words were no longer enough—their hunger was deeper.

She gasped when he let her go, her mouth slick with her saliva. She smelt his hair, the traces of shampoo still in it, a perfumed scent that filled her nostrils. His mouth worked at her neck, following its arch as she pushed her face backwards, her hands gripping him, her back curling as she pushed up on her toes, clinging to him as he held her in his strong arms.

Down her collar bones he moved, kissing the dip at the base of her neck. Then with his mouth he pushed aside her blouse, exposing the curve of one breast, pushing his face into its softness as he hunted for her nipple, sucking on it and making her gasp. Opening his mouth wider, he took as much of her flesh into him as possible, sucking harder now, almost causing her pain as his tongue flicked across the hard stiffness of the nipple.