Hard Rock Unrehearsed (19 page)

“Shit baby!  When I got back from my last tour Val took me to his doctor.  He insisted that I be checked over by one of his own doctors after coming back out of that hellhole.  When we got there he, and his doctor, convinced me to give a sperm sample and have a sperm count done.  When my results came back Val was there with me ragging me about having to suit up before I got anywhere near a pussy as my swimmers were so strong.  The doctor suggested I freeze some of my sperm but I refused.  Val laughed and said maybe another day.  Why did he do that?  Why take me to have that done?”

Jade had gone solid as he spoke but before she could give him the answer to his questions he retreated lifted her bodily out of the bed and set her on the floor next to it.

“I’m not fuckin’ talking about this with my come still running down your back and your smell on my hands baby.”  With that he picked her up and walked into the bathroom, setting her on her feet outside the shower, reaching in and turning the water on.  Lifting her again he set her under the warm water and pulling the door closed behind him he settled her front against his front, holding her loosely as the water cascaded over them.  He washed her back gently with his sandalwood scented shower gel, not using her geranium scented one for some reason.

“I’m going to smell like you.”  She muttered against his chest and she looked up as she felt his body shaking with repressed laughter.

“That’s the idea sweet cheeks.”

“Sweet cheeks!  What the hell?”

Slipping his hands down her back Diego clasped both hands over her ass and squeezed.

“Sweetest cheeks I’ve ever seen baby.  Nothing can compare to these.”

Jade laughed and shook her head.  “Stop blowing smoke up my ass Delgado, we both know you have a preference for tits and ass and in both departments I’m way smaller than any of the women you have been with.”

She grinned as he frowned down at her while the water beat warm against her back.  “Shit baby, you need to understand this.  I had them because I couldn’t have you and taking a bad facsimile of you was just not an option.”

Stroking a hand over his chest Jade kissed him next to his nipple and was suddenly moved away from his warm and enticing body.

“Shower baby.  Stop stroking and kissing or I’ll fuck you against the wall and we don’t have time for that right now as we both have places we have to be this morning.”  He growled as he turned her out of the water and started vigorously washing his hair.

It was great being able to touch him and tease him, it was even better when he returned the favour.  She knew he was right.  Today was going to be a full day and she looked forward to it and dreaded it at the same time.  The paps were going to be everywhere.  Suppressing a sigh she finished washing and stepped out of the shower.  Jade was dressed by the time Diego came out of the bathroom, hair brushed back and freshly shaven.  Damn!  The man looked good enough to eat with a spoon.  Ignoring her rampant hormones for half a second she finished getting ready as Diego got dressed in his badass uniform of black jeans, black tee and black motorcycle boots.  Lordy he looked so cool and he was all hers.  It sounded so delicious in her head that she shivered and she knew if she stayed in that room one more second they would end up back in bed.  She had to get out of there.

“I’m going to get us some coffee babe.”  She called out as she hauled her ass out of the room as fast as she could.  She didn’t miss the knowing grin he threw at her as he pulled on his boots.

The man owned her ass!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

From breakfast onward the day flew by, there seemed to be not enough hours in the morning to do everything they had planned the day before.  At twelve noon they were in the helicopter being ferried to the stadium for the sound check and to familiarise themselves with everything on stage and backstage.  They didn’t have a very intricate stage set-up on this tour and the pyrotechnics were only at the start and end of the show so the run through was fairly straightforward.  The sound check went without a hitch and they were done in just over two hours.  By two thirty they were back at the penthouse and they were all grateful that instead of a heavy lunch there were platters of nibbles set up on the long dining room table.

“I understand from Luis that you don’t like eating heavy before a show therefore I arranged for platters so you can just nibble away as you feel like it.”  Astrid clipped in her most professional voice but the smile she threw them negated the coldness of her voice.

Jade was just biting into a delicious samoosa when Mel clipped in on her mile-high heels, the dreaded clipboard in her hand.  Tapping her dark red nail against the clipboard Mel looked at the fancy watch on her wrist and speared Jade with her gaze.

“It is now ten to three, you have until three to eat then I want you in your room where you will have a relaxing massage and Sally will do your nails.  Which I have to say are in a horrendous condition.  At a quarter past four you will have your shower of exactly fifteen minutes.  At half past four Sally will do your hair, you will get dressed and at five exactly you will be in the helicopter leaving for the stadium where Sally and the stylist will get you dressed and made up ready for the meet and greet.”  Mel gave Jade a look that said she had better not question the arrangements.  “Any questions?”

Jade just shook her head and carried on eating hiding her grin as Mel turned her eagle eyes on the guys.

“You have two hours to clean this up.”  As she said ‘this’ she waved a long finger over the guys who looked at her as if she had lost her marbles.  “You will shower, you will groom and lastly you will wear the outfits selected for you that await your arrival at the stadium.  Storm Front is going to be one of the most recognised hard rock bands out there and there is no way I’m going to allow you to look like yesterday’s heroes while Jay-Jay looks like a million bucks.  I have not interfered with your stage personas I’ve just tweaked it a little bit.”

“Yesterday’s heroes?  Really Mel?  A song reference?”  Jade laughed.

Trace snorted out a laugh as he turned to RJ who just shook his head grinning while Giv and Jimmy laughed outright.

Mel gave Trace a hard look when he tried to talk and continued as if they hadn’t interrupted her.  “Your look worked for you when you were up and coming, it was ragged, raunchy and your fans related.  Now you are going to be superstars and you need to set the trend that your fans will follow.  Wearing your own merchandise does not cut it.  As of tonight raggedy is out and distressed sexy is in.  I’ve hired Salman as your personal groomer, he will see to your haircuts and he will shave you.  He is a master with a straight razor and another plus is that he has been cleared by Diego and by Steele as completely trustworthy.  If you like him and his work he will be available to you on the rest of the tour and when you get back home.  Any questions?”

“Who the hell asked you to do all this shit?”  Trace snarled at her with fury in his eyes.

“Luis.”  Was her succinct answer.

“Fuck!”  RJ muttered as he threw a quick look at Jay and then at the rest of the band who stood silent and more than a little pissed off.

Mel paid them no more attention.  “Salman!  You can come out now.”  She called out.  Salman was, as his name indicated, from Indian extraction.  He was of average height, leanly muscled with caramel golden skin and gorgeous almond shaped yellow-green eyes.  High cut cheekbones, a blade of a nose with elegantly flaring nostrils and beautifully shaped lips gave his face an effortless aristocratic look.  His deep black hair was beautifully cut, brushed back from a high forehead and curled against the back of his head and onto his collar.  He was dressed in tailored black pants with a narrow black leather belt and a fitted light grey button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up and the top two buttons of the shirt undone.  His shoes were leather loafers.  He was absolutely and undeniably beautiful.

Stopping next to Mel he stood with his hands clasped behind his back and gave them all a slight bow that moved only his head and shoulders.  He said nothing, just stood there waiting.

“Okay.”  Trace finally growled after standing staring at Salman for what seemed like an age.  “We’ll try it your way and if it works we’ll sign him on.  But darlin’ don’t you ever again make a decision for the band without talking to us.  Luis might be our manager but we have a say in our image, it’s in our contract and he knows it.  That said let’s get this shit started.”

Salman nodded and followed the guys from the dining room without a word.

Jade was nervous, fidgety and slightly uncomfortable in her new stage getup.  Mel had had the usual tank top she wore cut even tighter against the body and cropped right beneath her boobs!  Her shorts were tight and damned low so that between the cropped top and the band of her shorts she showed one hell of a lot of skin.  The legs of the shorts had been shortened as well and now ended high up on her thighs.  It was glaringly obvious that they would creep up uncomfortably while she played.  Who ever had had the bright idea to turn her playing outfit into sex kitten wear had fucked up pretty badly.  Pulling at the pants to pull them up a little higher she just knew that Diego was going to burst a blood vessel when he saw her.  Her tattoo was only just covered and she knew that if she moved, which she’d have to do to walk, not even mentioning playing, parts of it would be revealed.  Lord knows what Mel was thinking!  The pants were definitely too low, uncomfortably low.  She was still pulling and twisting around when Diego pushed the door open walked in and went rock solid in the open door, scowled ferociously, turned and roared.

“MELINDA!  Get your fuckin’ ass in here!”

Holy shit he had used Mel’s full name!  Jade stood like a statue as she listened to the approaching clip-clop of Mel’s heels.  She wasn’t alone, the guys filed in right after her.  They looked great.  They weren’t half naked though.

Mel just raised an eyebrow in question.

“What the fuck were you thinking?  How the fuck is she supposed to play in those?  How the fuck is she supposed to move without parts of her, parts that are for fuckin’ private consumption only, being on show to the whole fuckin’ world?”  Pointing at her lower belly and her guava Diego stormed on.  “That is mine!  That is not to be viewed by horny fuckin’ fan boys and crazed fuckin’ stalkers!”

The f-bombs were flying with scary regularity, indicating how pissed off he was.

Mel waited until he stopped ranting.

“It’s only a suggestion Diego.  If she wants she can wear the pants she wore before but....”

Jade didn’t give her a chance to say another word.  “I’m wearing my other pants.  These aren’t only uncomfortable they are skank pants.  No way am I walking around with my guava trying to make an appearance with every move I make.”  She grinned at the guys.  “Sting song reference.”  As she tried a shimmy of her hips she had to grab the top of her pants with wide eyes as it started to slide down.  “Definitely changing these pants, they are freaking dangerous.”

Holding on to the front of the offending pants she made her way into the bathroom shouting at Mel to bring her some descent shorts.  There was a stunned silence behind and as she felt the breeze over the top of her butt she just knew she had just flashed her ass to a room full of guys.  Grabbing the back of the stupid pants she dragged them up only to have the front take a dive down to guavaland!

Diego’s ominous voice filled the silence.  “She is fuckin’ never wearing that shit.”

“So noted Diego.”  Mel snapped as she brought Jade the shorts she wanted and badass guy meltdown was narrowly avoided.

The meet and greet went off with no problems and they all made their way back to the dressing room cum lounge to wait for the support act to finish.

Their turn came scarily fast and then they were on stage and all of them immersed themselves in the music and the crowd’s enthusiasm and energy.  It rolled over them in waves and they ate it up and gave it back to the fans in spades.  It was a great night.  Trace was in top form and so were the rest of the band.  It felt as if they had hardly begun when they ran off stage after the last song in their encore.  Jade had again thrown her used sticks into the screaming fans pushed up against the barrier.

They were immediately led back to their dressing rooms after spending a few minutes with the few who had backstage passes.  If they had thought security had been tight before they were mistaken.  Steele had the passage leading to the dressing rooms blocked off at both sides and only those with special passes were allowed through.  These passes could only be obtained from Diego and were for those who worked closely with the band, like the stylists, management and of course family.  It made the uncomfortable tickle Jade felt when she was surrounded by people she didn’t know disappear.

The shower was steaming hot and soothed Jade’s muscles but it did nothing for the adrenalin still racing through her.  It felt as if her blood was fizzing through her system and as if she was on some kind of a high.  Well she supposed it was a high, a high brought on by the energy generated by the band and by the fans.

The garment bag Mel had left in her dressing room had a note attached.

Babe I know you usually don’t wear anything revealing but please trust me on this.  You need to have a look, a stage persona and Cat and I think this will suit your style.  Please don’t throw it out without at least giving it a shot.

M

Her heart was pounding as she slowly unzipped the bag and stared at what Mel had done.  The usual Storm Front tank that she wore after a show had been altered.  It was slightly cropped and cut in a low v-neck in front while the back had a cross-over detail that left her back bare.  It was black with Storm Front embroidered in silver thread in different fonts all over the front.  Teamed with the altered tank there was a mini skirt which it seemed had been made out of a discarded pair of what once used to be black low-rise jeans, flirty black see-through fabric and black lace.  Black lace top tights and a pair of black ankle boots with a lot of silver studding, buckles and damn high heels completed the outfit.  At least the heels weren’t as high as the ones Mel and Cat pranced around in!  Her underwear consisted of a black lacy push-up bra and a tiny pair of black boy short panties.

Jade had to admit that she looked smoking hot when she looked at herself in the full length mirror once she was dressed.  She didn’t have a lot of time to admire herself though as Mel and Sally pushed into the dressing room and proceeded to take over.  Her hair was blown dry and her make-up was done and then the two stepped back and looked at her like a proud pair of parents.

“You look so hot I’m jealous.”  Mel smirked as Jade gasped when she looked at herself in the mirror.

Sally had diffused her hair and it curled wildly around her face and down her back.  Her make-up was dark and smoky which made her blue eyes stand out and the red they had painted her lips made her skin appear even paler than usual.

“Crap!”  Jade gasped as she twirled in front of the mirror and watched the flirty bits of fabric swirl around her legs, revealing a lot more than she had thought it would.   She could see her guava covered in the tiny scrap of black that pretended to be panties!  “Diego is going to lose his mind!”

“Babe this is Jade Delgado the artist, not the woman who loves Diego Delgado and who runs around in yoga pants and his t-shirts.  There is a difference between the two and Diego will understand.  He’s been in this business a long time and he knows the necessity of creating a persona you can use when you are out there talking to the fans.  If things go as planned you are going to need that distance when you start going out on your own.”

“Mel.”  Jade whispered.  “I can never do this alone.  I’m not strong enough to carry a show alone and I don’t want to.”

Her best friend shook her head and whispered back.  “We’re not talking about this now babe.  Tomorrow with coffee and creamy confections we’ll sit down and work out a way for you to have it all and be happy.  Okay?”

“Okay.”  Jade whispered back.

“One more thing to finish this look off.”  Sally muttered as she unfolded a black jewellery clutch and revealed a shit load of silver.  Minutes later Jade had an amazing leather and silver choker around her throat and her left wrist was ringed by six silver bangles while the right sported a wide leather cuff that laced closed with long thin leather strips with tiny silver leaves attached to the ends.  One of Jade’s tattoos was picked out in tiny silver studs on the cuff.  It was the flower vine that curved over her lower belly and she knew that Mel had to be the one who had had it made.  Wide silver bands on both middle fingers completed the jewellery make-over.

“Thanks for the cuff Mel.”  Jade smiled.

“Not me babe, you have to thank Diego for that one.”  She grinned at Jade’s stunned expression.