Theirs To Desire

ELEVEN | EMBER

Let me be here two more minutes and I'll hurl like no tomorrow!

As much as I tried to be in my bad b***h stance, my insides were twisted with jitters and nerves. I had been pacing in front of Joseph's office for an hour this morning since he had said we would make an entrance together, but at the last moment he simply bailed out. His reason?

"My stomach feels weird, I am not in the mood of leaving my toilet seat."

I might have scrunched my nose in disgust and give him an earful about flashing the news of his lack of shitting ability but the knowledge that I would have to meet the band alone, made me faint two times and I only gave him a small okay before hopping into my black Aventador to snap out of my panicked daze once I was in front of the tour bus with screaming fans all around.

I had to chug down one bottle of water and half of strong wine to soothe my nerves before I finally found the courage to step outside the car and walk into the bus, somehow proudly keeping my bad b***h vibe intact. Almost instantly the screaming crowd died down as if someone threw the tanker of icy cold water on them. I even heard some dirty comments and angry noises when I walked inside the bus.

The irony was definitely not lost on me!

If getting past the screaming crowd and stepping onto the band bus was hard then imagine being surrounded by four hulks of men once you step inside. Let me tell you, it was an exotic disaster.

I could even feel the buzzing arousal all around me. The wide-eyed drooling men, gawking at me as if I was some piece of art, drawn out straight from an exhibition. Oh heck, maybe I was! I was not narcissistic, but I was never the one to be insecure about my body. I was bloody hot and I owned my hotness like a b***h.

All the jitters scurried away as I caught the feral emotions in the four pairs of eyes. That was what I always rooted for; dominance and control over other's emotions.

Unluckily, the moment of showcasing my vibes came to a halt as Wyatt's eyes flashed in realization and within a second he was dragging me inside the farthest bunk, before pulling the thick curtains shut and obscuring the view from outside. I couldn't hear the voices of other three men but there were faint grumbles. I knew how the whole scene looked like from their eyes; me being dragged by lead guitarist from between a sexually charged environment. Definitely not a decent scenario.

"What the f**k do you think you're doing here?" Wyatt didn't even bother checking if we were being heard or watched through the windows, he pushed me against the bunk's wall, caging my face from either side. Hadn't the situation been different, I might have found his stance pretty intoxicating.

"What do you think I'm doing here, Mr Guitarist?" I replied to him in a calm mocking voice while twirling a lock of my red-dyed hair. I needed to dye again, very soon.

"Don't answer my question with a question. What game are you playing? You practically deceived me that night in the-–"

I pressed my finger against his lips to stop his baseless words. "Before you put your petty accuses on me, you might want to consider the fact that you allowed a deceiving stranger ravage your mouth as if there was no tomorrow. Do you really think you are in the position to question me?"

Hadn't the situation there been tainted by his cockiness and rudeness, I would have whistled over his flexing muscles and admired his sharp jawline, a ruffled mess of deep brown hair and those glinting pair of onyx of his eyes, but at that moment he was simply being an asshole.

"Leave me." I approached the calm way but the fucker didn't budge in slight.

He only gave me a cocky lop-sided smirk.

Having enough of his cockiness, I shot him my own cruel smirk before kneeing Wyatt Junior with full force, instantly making him hunch over and let out a loud screech. "GET THIS WOMAN OFF ME. SHE f*****g BROKE MY d**k!"

My smirk contorted into a full-blown grin as I pushed him back and blew over my nails lazily. I could hear the hurried steps towards me. Exactly ten seconds later, three men filtered through the curtain and looked around with wide curious eyes.

I expected them to side with their bandmate and point their fingers at me but after seeing the almost red face of Jules for holding his laughter, continuously snorting Dexter and the amused face of Devyn, I couldn't help but shot those three a snarky wink.

Devyn shook his head and turned to Wyatt with raised brows. "If you got this love kick in your d**k for dragging a newbie across the bus and forcing yourself on her, then I am proud of this newbie here." He said tilting his head in my direction.

From my peripheral, I saw Jules slipping back towards the front part of the bus, from where I could hear Lucas' melodious voice. Dexter's curious gaze bored into my head while Devyn had his eyes on Wyatt, probably waiting for him to catch his breath and defend himself.

"I...didn't... I... ugh!" I couldn't help but laugh lightly upon seeing his struggle while in contrast, Dex cracked up loudly seeing Wyatt's pained face. I almost felt bad for him. Almost.

"Don't worry, it was just a misunderstanding. All good now." I didn't know why I defended Wyatt and I didn't bother paying any thought to it.

"Anyway," I glanced in Dex's direction as he spoke after sobering up a bit. "So I assume you're our new team member." Although it was a statement, still I gave him a small nod, to which he stuck out his hand in front of me. "As I am a decent human being––"

Someone's scoff cut through his words along with the lines of, decent my ass, which we both humbly ignored.

"––so a decent introduction is a must. Dexter Ronan here. It's a pleasure to meet ya." He finished in a slight accent while giving me a friendly wink.

I shook his hand, ignoring the way his hands curled around me and his thumb moved seductively. "Ember Rose, and it's nice to meet you too Mr Drummer." I too gave him a wink, but mine was far away from friendly. It would count more like a flirty wink.

Dex let out a small chuckle while Devyn intervened in our introduction, an amused expression still sporting his face. "So, Ember, I suppose you already know us all –– seeing that our band is not that hidden. Still, let me introduce you to my teammates." He gave me an elegant bow of his head in acknowledgement before continuing, "I'm Devyn Maddox, the lead pianist. Dexter, the drummer, you've already met him. Then there is this dummy," He stuck his thumb towards Wyatt's direction who gave him a deadly glare, "Wyatt Knight, the lead guitarist. Two of our members are on another side of the bus, Jules Chenot, the bassist and Lucas Davis, our frontman & lead singer. And lastly," This time his mouth curved into a genuine smile, making two dimples pop into his cheek, accompanying one in his chin. "Our new member, Ember Rose, our show opener and ballerina. Welcome to Scarred-Knights, red, hope we get along fine."

Something about the way he said the last part, I got an impression that instead of pointing at the team context, there was a different meaning to his words. I could've pried further about his playful expressions if a deep voice hadn't called our names from the front.

"Guys, old man is on call and he wants your ugly faces on the screen. Now move your asses and park them in here."

I followed the scowling and grumbling bodies of Dexter and Devyn with Wyatt trailing behind me and reached the front cabin of the bus where Joseph's face welcomed me on the quadratic screen tucked in a box-like structure on the wall of the bunk. His eyes instantly landed on me and a s**t-eating grin bloomed across his face. Before he started speaking, Lucas, who I hadn't encountered earlier met my eyes and passed me a gentle smile with a small nod in greeting. I mirrored his action and turned back to Joseph.

"Ah, Ember! I take it you've met the boys already," he waited for me to confirm his statement and if possible, his grin grew wider. I was sure no one would dare to tell him he looked like a cheap-dollar clown. "I just called to wish ya fellas the best wishes for this tour. Go rock 'em, my beautiful people!" His face reflected that much joy, it made me afraid his face might split into two. Jules was the only one to voice our silent thoughts.

"Woah Woah, easy there old man! As much as I admire you and s**t but stop f*****g smiling, you're looking like a clown and it's scary as f**k, man."

Neither I had expected Joseph to scold him, nor he proved me wrong when all he gave Jules in answer was a playful roll of eyes and a shake of the head. "Now your journey is to start in exactly two minutes. Y'all better get comfy and try not to kill each other. Especially you, Dexter and Jules. And," this time he turned to me and his gaze softened a bit, "take care of my girl here. If I ever hear the slightest that one of you bothered her, I'll have each one of you bend over my knees. Better keep this in mind."

"Damn you old man, you––" Dex opened his mouth to bite back a snarky reply but Joseph had already cut the connection, making Dex spit a string of curses over the black screen.

Exactly as Joseph had mentioned, two minutes later the screams of fans from outside rose to a deafening octave as the bus jerked into motion and gracefully departed from between the crowd.

The excitement and a goofy grin on those five boys' faces were infectious as I found me matching their vibes. All of a sudden, Jules shot his hand in front, with his palm facing the ceiling and yelled over the loud noises, "cheers for a new start, BABIES!"

One by one, all the boys placed their hands above his as a strong team and turned their faces towards me. They didn't have to voice their thoughts, I stepped forward and placed my hand on top of theirs, the stupid grin never faltering from my face. "LET'S ROCK THE s**t OUTTA THIS TOUR!"

Our carefree laughter boomed across the bus as it passed the crowd and surged forward, leaving a sour loss behind.

Maybe this journey won't be too bad!