Home | Stories | Books | News | Links | Fun Stuff | Bio | Reading | Blog

Pure Morning After

*****

© Copyright 2005 Ally Blue

“Oh, wow.” I flopped back onto the grass and grinned at the night sky. “That was amazing.”

Natalie let out a deep sigh. “God, yeah. The best.”

“I don’t know if I just came or got religion.”

“Or both.”

I rolled up on my side and propped up on one elbow to look at her. Her curly red hair clung to her face in sweaty clumps, and her dark eyes shone.

“You look like you just got fucked,” I said.

“I did!”

“Me too!”

We both dissolved into giggles. The first day of the Coachella Music Festival had just ended with a mind-blowing set by Radiohead. Natalie and I were still on a major Radiohead-induced high, acting all girly and giggly like we usually did when we got together for a live show. Natalie always said that when Thom Yorke sang, it felt like he was fucking you with his voice. I agreed with her. Lots of the people streaming past us agreed too, when she announced it rather loudly to whoever happened to be listening.

“Yo, Kittay!”

I sat up and looked toward the voice. “Hey, David.”

He dropped down to the grass beside me and grinned behind the curtain of brown hair that always hung in his face. “Hey, Kitty-Cat. Where were you guys?”

“Right in front.” I held my hand up and Natalie high-fived me.

David rolled his eyes. “Please tell me you didn’t flash them this time.”

“We didn’t do it last time,” Natalie protested. “That was some other girls.”

“Yeah, Nat. Whatever you say.”

“So where’s everyone else?” I asked before Natalie could get all indignant. “Are they already at the van?”

Ten of us had piled into a rented van that morning and made the half-hour drive from our hotel in Palm Springs to the festival grounds. I hadn’t seen most of them since we got there. Natalie and I had staked out our spot right on the main stage barricade first thing. Most everyone else had gone around to the rest of the festival, meaning we were the only ones with a front row view when Radiohead played. Pretty sweet.

“Cherie, Joe, and Michelle were headed that way,” David said. “I didn’t see anyone else yet. You guys coming now?”

“We already did,” Natalie said, perfectly straight-faced. David groaned and shook his head.

I laughed. “Yeah, we’re ready to leave I guess.”

Natalie got to her feet and brushed the bits of grass off her shorts. David and I stood too, and we headed across the huge field toward the exit.

It had been pushing 105 degrees all day, but at eleven-thirty at night, the air had a distinct chill. The desert can get pretty cold at night. I unbraided my hair and let it fall loose against my bare arms and back. At least it kept me a little warmer.

“Hey, Kitty, you okay?” David asked.

“I’m fine, just kind of cold now.”

“Looks like you got a little sunburned.” He touched a finger to my reddened shoulder.

“Yeah. But not bad; I used lots of sunblock.” I reached out to Natalie and patted her backpack. “It was totally worth it too.”

“Lucky. I was way back.”

I grinned at him. “You should’ve stayed with us.”

“Naw, I wanted to go see Beck play. ‘Sides, I’m always afraid you guys are gonna get arrested or something and I’ll get dragged into it.”

“David!” Natalie turned around and glared at him. “We’ve never been... oh wait... um...”

“Yeah, that’s what I’m saying.” David gave her an evil smile and she stuck her tongue out at him. “Hey, you guys coming to see Pure Morning with me tomorrow?” he asked.

I shrugged. “I guess. Never heard of them, are they any good?”

“Hell yeah, they’re fucking amazing!”

“Pure Morning, isn’t that a Placebo song?” Natalie asked.

“Yeah,” David said. “They’re big Placebo fans. So you guys gonna come to the show or what?”

“Okay, sure,” I said.

“Don’t do anything embarrassing though, huh?”

Natalie and I looked at each other, then at David.

“Why would we?” Nat said. “It’s not like they’re Radiohead or anything.”

“Yeah,” David said, “but their singer’s wicked hot.”

“Guy or girl?” I asked. David’s bisexual, so you never know.

“Guy,” he said. “You two are gonna die when you see him, so swear you won’t flash him or throw panties at him or offer to blow him backstage, okay? Please?”

“Okay.” Natalie patted David’s cheek. “We’ll leave that to you.” David blushed like crazy and Natalie laughed.

We were almost at the exit by then. It was packed pretty tight trying to get out into the parking lot. I tried to keep Natalie and David in sight, but the crowd swept us apart. No big deal, I thought, we can meet up outside the gate. But when I got there, they were nowhere to be seen.

I wandered around the parking lot for the next hour or so, trying to find anyone at all from my group. The parking area consisted of several acres of flat fields, so it was like looking for... well, for a plain blue rental van in a huge field packed full of rental vans. I went to where I thought we’d parked. No van, none of my friends around. I started going systematically up and down the rows of cars. Nothing. I walked along the entire line of vehicles crawling toward the parking lot gates with their stereos blasting. I still didn’t see our van.

I headed back to the festival field entrance, thinking maybe Natalie or David might’ve gone up there to look for me. Once again, I didn’t see anyone I knew. Panic fluttered in my belly. I sat down against the fence that encircled the field, right under one of the big lights so I’d be visible if anyone came looking. My legs shook and my back ached from a whole day of standing up.

“Hey.”

I about jumped out of my skin at the sound of a man’s voice right behind me. I scrambled away and stared at the fence. “Who’s there?”

The voice laughed. “Sorry I scared you.” A board in the fence swung up and a figure slipped through the gap.

I stared like an idiot. I couldn’t help it. This guy was absolutely drop dead gorgeous. I’m talking cream-your-panties hottie here. Black hair curled in little wisps around his neck and fine-featured face. His milky skin glowed in the light, his mouth begged to be kissed. Lean muscles showed under his snug T-shirt and molded-on jeans. His eyes, though; that’s what kept me rooted to the spot. Huge, clear, aquamarine eyes tinged with a hint of green and sparkling with life.

“Fuck me hard,” I muttered under my breath.

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“Nothing, sorry.” I stood up and brushed the dirt off my shorts and thighs, then held out a hand to him. “I’m Kitty. Hi.”

He took my hand and we shook. “Caleb. Hi.”

“That’s an unusual name.”

“So’s Kitty.”

“It’s really Katherine. My friends call me Kitty for short.”

He was still holding my hand. He ran his thumb over my knuckles and gave me a purely filthy smile. “Can I be your friend?” His gaze slid down my body. Suddenly I was acutely aware of my red low-rider short-shorts and tiny bikini top.

“Yeah, okay.” I grinned back at him.

He let go of my hand and sat down with his back against the fence. “C’mon, sit down. Talk to me for a while.”

I looked around. No sign of my friends anywhere. I sat next to Caleb with a deep sigh.

“Lose your group?” he asked.

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

“Saw you earlier, walking all over the parking lot. You looked lost.”

“Yeah, I guess I am.” To my horror, tears started to prick my eyelids. I blinked them away, not wanting Caleb to see.

A warm hand on my cheek told me I hadn’t blinked fast enough. Caleb turned my face toward him with gentle but irresistible pressure.

“Hey, it’ll be all right,” he said. “You got a cell phone?”

“It died hours ago. My friend’s got it in her backpack.” Tears trickled down my face. I swiped angrily at them. “God, this is so fucking stupid! How do you lose someone in a parking lot?”

“It’s not a regular parking lot. This thing’s, like, a square mile or something.”

“But they were right there, and then they were gone! I can’t believe I lost them like that.”

Caleb didn’t say anything. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me against him, and that was it. I cried on his shoulder while he stroked my hair and murmured soothingly.

It took me a few minutes to get myself under control. Caleb just sat and held me. After I calmed down, I stayed pressed against him for a minute, enjoying his warmth and the feel of his arm around me.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yeah.” I lifted my head and smiled at him. “Thanks.”

“You want to borrow my cell? I don’t have it on me, but it’s not far. Just back at my tent.”

“You’re camping?”

“Yeah.”

“It looked to me like the campsites were a pretty good walk from here.”

He grinned, and my heart raced. He had a smile that promised sin and decadence, and damn if it didn’t turn me on. “I snagged a premium spot,” he said. “All we have to do is follow the fence, it’s no more than a quarter mile at most.”

I tried to focus, but the way his lips curved made it awfully hard to think. “Yeah, okay. I... I need to call my friend, uh...” Caleb’s wicked grin widened when I blanked out on Natalie’s name. “Um, Natalie. Yeah. I need to call Natalie.”

He rose to his feet and held a hand down to me. I took it. He pulled me up hard enough that I overbalanced and fell right into his arms. The gleam in his eyes made me think maybe he’d done it on purpose. Not that I was complaining. The feel of his body pressed against mine made my Hello Kitty thong all sticky. I slipped an arm around his back and trailed my fingers boldly over the curve of his butt. His eyes hazed over.

He leaned down - not far, since he wasn’t that much taller than me - and brushed his lips against my temple. “Come on,” he said. “Let’s go call your friend.”

He pulled away from me, but kept hold of my hand. I laced my fingers through his.

“So, did you see Radiohead?” I asked, in an attempt to keep myself from throwing him to the ground and having him right there in the parking lot.

“Oh yeah, they’re the main reason we decided to do this. They’re fucking gods to me. Well, to all of us, but mostly me.”

“Who’s ‘us’ exactly? You here with somebody?”

He hesitated just long enough to make me wonder. “Yeah, I flew out here with some friends of mine. They’re staying in a hotel in Palm Springs. Bunch of pussies.”

“Hey, my friends and me are staying in Palm Springs too. You gonna call me a pussy?”

He raised his eyebrows at me, and I actually blushed. I never blush. Never. I’ve stripped in public, I’ve jumped onstage and groped more than one hot-ass guitarist, I’ve said things to people that shocked them right to their toes, and I’ve never batted an eyelash doing any of it. Caleb’s the only person who’s ever made me blush with nothing but a look. What a look it was, though. Like he could see right through my skull and into my most depraved thoughts.

“No,” he said finally. “I’m not.” He regarded me in a slow, peeling-off-the-clothes sort of way, and I almost forgot how to breathe.

“Uh. So.” I swallowed past my dry throat and tried hard to act cooler than I felt. “So where you from?”

The amusement in his eyes said he wasn’t fooled for a second. But he played along like a good boy. I had a feeling he didn’t pretend to be a good boy very often, so I appreciated the effort.

“All over,” he said. “Born in Washington D.C., moved to France when I was ten, to Buenos Aires when I was fourteen, and London after I graduated high school. Lived there for seven years. Now I’m back in the States. Me and my friends live in New York.”

“Damn, that’s a lot of moving. I’ve lived in Georgia my whole life.”

“My dad was with the state department before he retired. He says we’re lucky we didn’t have to move any more than we did.”

“So you’re how old?” I scrunched my eyes shut like I always did when I tried to do math in my head. “Naw, no way. You must’ve graduated early.”

He grinned. “I’m twenty-nine. The big three-oh’s coming up next month.”

I gaped at him. I was only twenty-four, and I would’ve bet a major organ that he was younger than me. He held up a warning finger when I started to say something about it.

“Don’t,” he said. “I know. We went to a club the other night and the guy at the door almost didn’t let me in. Kept saying my I.D. had to be fake.” He rolled his eyes. “Prick.”

I giggled. “So how’d you get in?”

“Oh, there were some people there who...” He stopped suddenly, glanced over at me, and started again. “I mean, my friends were there, they vouched for me. At least they all look more or less their age.”

“You’ll be glad to look disturbingly young when you’re sixty.”

“That’s what my mom says.”

“Uh-oh. Here I was always afraid I’d turn into my mom, now I’m turning into yours instead.”

He gave me that wonderfully evil grin again. “Can I call you Mommy?”

“Ew, no! Perv.”

We both laughed. Our eyes locked and I swear my heart stopped for a second. I’d never known anyone else who radiated pure sex the way Caleb did. I could smell it on him. He didn’t say anything, but I knew he felt how much I wanted him. He squeezed my hand and smiled.

The wooden fence turned a sharp corner just ahead. We followed it for another few yards before the boards gave way to chain link. A clump of scraggly trees huddled against the rusted metal.

“Here we are,” Caleb said. “Tent sweet tent.”

I squinted into the darkness. “I don’t see it.”

“There.” He pointed toward the trees.

“This is not a designated camping spot.”

“I know. That’s why I set up under the trees.”

“Clever.”

“Yeah.”

I followed him under the branches. The leaves rustled like paper in the breeze and broke the dim moonlight into fitful shards. Even though I knew it was there, I could barely make out the small nylon tent. Caleb unzipped the flap, ducked inside, and emerged a few seconds later with a cell phone in his hand. He flipped it open and handed it to me.

“Here. Talk as long as you want, I’ve got unlimited minutes.”

“Okay. Thanks, Caleb.” I smiled at him.

“You’re welcome.” He moved closer, so close I could feel the heat of his skin. “You can stay here with me tonight. If you want.”

I looked up into his eyes. They were shadowed, but I could see well enough to know why he’d asked me to stay. It wasn’t a hard decision to make.

“Yeah, I want,” I said. The lustful grin on his face nearly made me come right then. I turned around to dial the phone, since looking at him made my brain not work right.

Natalie picked up on the first ring. “Hello?”

“Nat? Hey, it’s Kitty.”

“Kitty!” she shrieked. I held the phone away from my ear. “Where the fuck are you?”

“At the campground. Listen...”

“What the hell are you doing there?”

“Borrowing a cell phone. Look, Nat...”

“Well, we’re ready to leave! It’ll probably be dawn before we get back as it is! Have you seen the crowd trying to get out of this place?”

“Yeah, I saw it, Nat, can you just...”

“Get your ass over here then! And I’m glad you called, I was so scared something really bad happened to you!”

“Nat!” I shouted. “Will you listen to me?”

Silence. I could picture her pouting. “What?” she said finally.

I could hear Caleb behind me, trying not to laugh. I waved a hand at him to shut up. He chuckled out loud and came over to stand right behind me. I could feel his heat against my back. Made it damn hard to concentrate on the conversation.

“I’m, uh, I’m staying over here. At the campground. So you guys can go on.”

Caleb snaked both arms around my waist. His hand traced tiny circles on my stomach and my knees turned to jelly.

“Oh,” Natalie said. “Is he hot?”

A hand brushed my hair aside. Warm, soft lips touched my neck. My vision went blurry. “Oh, fuck yeah,” I sighed.

Natalie giggled. “Well, what the hell are you still talking to me for? Hang up and go get him.”

“Uh.” I snapped the phone closed and handed it back to Caleb, who tossed it unceremoniously over his shoulder.

“Kitty,” he whispered against my neck. “I want you.”

“I know.” I felt the strings of my bikini top loosen. It slipped to the ground. “I want you too.” His hands slid up to cup my bare breasts and I let out a little gasp. “Jesus, Caleb.”

I turned in his arms, threaded my fingers through his hair and kissed him hard. He crushed me against him. The feel of his lips against mine, his tongue in my mouth, made me burn all over. He grabbed my ass in both hands and rolled his hips against me, letting me feel his erection.

“God, gimme this, right now!” I reached a hand between his legs and stroked him through his jeans. My mouth watered.

“I want your cock in my mouth,” I whispered. He stared at me, speechless. I grinned at him, dropped to my knees, and yanked his jeans open.

“Fuck, fuck,” he gasped when I shoved the pants down over his hips and wrapped my hand around his thick shaft. “Damn, Kitty.”

I watched his face while I ran my tongue around the head of his cock, licking him like a lollipop. His eyes rolled up and he buried both hands in my hair. “God yeah, suck my cock.”

I opened my mouth and took him in. He tasted so damn good. I love sucking cock, and I’m good at it. I teased him without mercy, bringing him right to the brink and then backing off again before he could come. That always brings out the animal in a man. I like to be fucked hard, and nothing makes a man fuck you harder that frustrating the hell out of him for as long as you can first.

Caleb obviously had some previous experience with this trick, because he lasted longer than any other man I’d ever been with. My jaw ached by the time I felt his readiness. I let him slip out of my mouth and stared up into his eyes.

“Fuck me,” I said.

He didn’t need to be told twice. He yanked me to my feet, shoved my shorts down, and pushed me face first into a tree. I was so wet that my juices were running down the insides of my thighs. His hands spread me open and he entered me hard and fast. I braced myself against the scratchy bark while he slammed into me over and over again. His dick filled me up and pounded me almost to the point of pain. It felt so fucking good, it made me ache all over. I was shaking and whimpering by the time he came, pulling out and shooting his cum all over my back.

I was all set to ask him to pretty please eat my pussy, because I was dying to come. Turned out I didn’t have to ask. He picked me right up off the ground, laid me down on a patch of thin grass, and pulled my shorts off. I opened my legs for him and he dove right in.

I’d been with a lot of men before Caleb. A lot. A few women too. But damned if he wasn’t the best I’d ever had. I don’t know what it was he did to me, but if I could bottle it, I could retire tomorrow. I came in no time flat, arching my back and screaming so loud it’s a wonder I didn’t attract a crowd.

“Shit, Caleb,” I said when I could talk again. “You’ve got the holy tongue, man. God.”

He crawled up over my limp body, leaned down, and kissed me. He tasted like sex. “The holy tongue?”

“Yeah.” I grinned at him and licked his bottom lip. “’Cause it sent me to heaven.”

He laughed. I pulled him to me to kiss him again. His kisses, soft and languid now, made me feel all melty inside.

“Do you know,” he said, “how beautiful you are? Especially right now. I love to look at a woman’s face after she comes.”

“Don’t bother sweet talking me. I’m immune.” My big sappy grin probably contradicted what I said, but I didn’t care.

He smiled. It was a sweet sort of smile this time, one that made me melt inside. “Sure you are. Whatever, doesn’t matter. You’re beautiful, and I want to tell you so.”

I stared up at him. His face was half in shadow, half in moonlight. He was so lovely it hurt. Something stirred inside me, something I’d never really felt before. A connection of a sort, a strange bond with this man who looked like a sculpture come to life and fucked like a goddamn dream. I reached up and laid a hand on his cheek.

“You know, I sleep around a lot,” I said. He raised his eyebrows but didn’t say anything. “I’ve been with a lot of guys, and I never felt all that sentimental stuff with any of them.”

I fell silent. He leaned on one elbow and waited, tracing his free hand up and down my side.

“But I... I think...” I bit my lip. This shouldn’t be so fucking hard to say, I told myself; just do it. “I think I’d like to get to know you better.”

There. It was out. Caleb gazed down at me with a sudden weight in his eyes. “I’d like that too. You don’t know how many times I’ve been with someone and thought it meant something, then to find out they only wanted me because...” He stopped and looked away.

I held his face in my hands and made him look at me again. “Because why?”

He stared solemnly at me for so long I thought he wasn’t going to answer. When he finally did, his voice was so soft I could barely hear it.

“Just because... because of how I look. I want to be more than that.”

“You are more than that, Caleb. And anyone who can’t see that is just fucking nuts. I mean hell, if I can see it, anyone should, right? Slut that I am.”

He laughed. “You don’t give yourself enough credit. There’s nothing wrong with sex for its own sake. God knows I’ve done enough of that myself, and I don’t regret any of it. But I never lied to anyone and told them it was more than it was. Not ever.”

“But someone’s lied to you.”

“Oh, yeah. I’ve lost count of how many times. Some people’ll say anything to get what they want.”

I caressed his cheek. His skin was so soft under my palm, so warm and smooth. I could see how a person might be desperate to get in his pants. What I couldn’t see was how anyone could look into those big, beautiful eyes and do anything to hurt him.

“Well, I meant what I said,” I told him. “I want more than just sex. I want to get to know you. Can I?”

“Yeah. That’d be great. I like you a lot, Kitty.”

“You don’t just like me for my mad cock-sucking skills?”

He pretended to consider. I smacked his arm hard and he laughed. “They’re some majorly impressive skills all right, but I think I like you for more than that.” He slid his hand down between my legs. I bit my lip.

“Caleb?”

“Hm?”

“Take your fucking clothes off.”

This time we took it a lot slower, and I found out he could do tender and gentle every bit as well as hard and rough. By the time we fell asleep in the tent as the sun peeked over the horizon, we’d gotten to know every inch of each other and his arms already felt like home to me.

*****

When I woke up, the sun was straight overhead and I could hear music from the festival field. I jumped up so fast I nearly knocked the tent over. Caleb wasn’t there.

“Caleb?” I peeked my head out the tent flap. No Caleb.

I felt hurt and deflated. I tried to tell myself that I hadn’t expected anything more than the usual one-night-stand. But the fact was, I had. I’d really thought he might be someone I could have an actual relationship with. “Should’ve known better, dumb-ass,” I muttered to myself.

I looked around and saw that my shorts and bikini top lay neatly folded next to the tent flap. At least he’d brought my clothes back inside before he left. I picked up my shorts and a piece of paper fluttered to the ground. I bent to retrieve it.

The note scrawled across the paper in green ink was short and to the point. “Kitty,” it read, “had to go, but didn’t want to wake you. Come to the Pure Morning show at 1, it’s in the Gobi tent. I’ll meet you after. There’s a present in your back pocket. Love, Caleb.”

So he hadn’t fucked and run after all. Relief made me lightheaded and I sat down on the crumpled sleeping bag. I folded the note and set it carefully beside me with the intention of keeping it. Something about the way Caleb’s handwriting looped and wandered made me smile. I was betting he’d been one of those kids who never could stay inside the lines.

I reached into the back pocket of my shorts to see what sort of present he’d left me. What I pulled out was an all-access pass. Backstage, after party, VIP areas, the works. I sat there with my jaw hanging open. I hoped Caleb had another one, because I suddenly didn’t want to go without him.

My watch lay discarded in the corner. I picked it up and groaned when I saw the time. Less than an hour until the Pure Morning set started. Barely time to get through the gate, hopefully find Natalie and David, and snag a spot in the front. Thank God this band wasn’t real big, or I’d be stuck way in the back for sure. I threw my clothes on, used Caleb’s toothbrush and some leftover bottled water to brush my teeth, then ran for the gate.

The day was once again cloudless and hot. Sweat had already glued my shorts to my ass before I’d even gotten through the gate. And if it was hot outside, it was bound to be sweltering inside the tent. I mean yeah, you’re out of the sun, but there’s no air conditioning, no breeze, and you’re crammed skin-to-skin with hundreds of other people. I’d almost rather be out in the sun all day. But damned if I was going to miss this show, if Caleb was going to be there.

The Gobi tent was starting to get crowded when I got there. David stood outside, fidgeting and biting his nails. I waved and ran to join him.

“It’s about time,” he said. “I was about to give up on you. C’mon, Nat’s saving us some space up front.” He grabbed my hand and we hurried inside.

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to be so late, but I didn’t get to sleep until dawn.”

David grinned over his shoulder at me as we squirmed our way through the crowd. “Bet I know what you did all night.”

“Bet you’re right.”

“How was it?”

“Best lay I ever had.”

David opened his mouth to say something else, but we reached the barrier right then and Natalie spotted me. Once Nat gets going, no one else has a chance. David grinned and fell silent.

“Okay, girl,” Natalie said, pulling me up beside her, “spill. Was he good?”

“Unbelievable. Honest to God, he could make a fortune whoring himself to women who need an amazing lay.”

“Wow.”

“Yeah. And look what he gave me!” I motioned Nat and David closer before slipping the pass out of my pocket. David’s eyes widened.

“Fuck, he gave you that? Where the hell did he get it?”

“He didn’t say. He was gone when I woke up, but he left me this pass in my shorts pocket. We’re gonna meet up after the show. Cool, huh?”

They both agreed that it was very cool. “So does this guy have a name?” Natalie asked.

I smiled, and I knew it was one of those goofy, I-just-met-somebody-great smiles that I always snickered at on other people. I couldn’t help it, though; that’s just how he made me feel.

“Caleb,” I said. “I don’t know his last name yet.”

David leaned around Natalie and stared hard at me. “What’s he look like?”

“Why, you want some? Don’t know if he swings that way, but I’ll ask.”

Nat laughed and David frowned. I think he was getting ready to say something, but the sudden roar of the crowd around us silenced him. We all looked up at the stage. A girl with a yellow Event Staff polo shirt and a long blond ponytail stood at the mic, smiling out over the crowd.

“All right!” she yelled, sounding like the cheerleader she’d probably been in high school. “Ladies and gentlemen, the Coachella Music and Arts Festival is very proud to welcome this next band. They’re rising fast, so in a few months when they’re big stars you can say you saw ‘em here! Please welcome, from New York City, Brian Wolde, Jordan Thomas, and Caleb Rourke, Pure Morning! Give it up!”

I stood there stunned while the people around me jumped and screamed. Surely she hadn’t really said what I thought she said. Had she? When the band filed out on stage, though, there was no doubt. It was Caleb, all right. My Caleb, the guy I’d spent several hours having mind-blowing sex with the night before, was a fucking rock star.

In all my years of going to live shows and meeting musicians of varying degrees of fame, I’d never once slept with one. Now I had finally done it, and I hadn’t even realized he was one until just now. I had to laugh; it was just too weird.

I could feel Natalie and David staring at me, but I didn’t care. I couldn’t look away from Caleb. He was beautiful up there on stage, totally in his element. He wore a see-through red shirt and low-slung leather pants that hugged him tight in all the right places. His feet were bare. Black eyeliner made his Caribbean blue eyes breathtaking, and sheer red lip gloss accented his sensual mouth. The pure lust he aroused in the women around me - hell, some of the men too - perfumed the air.

Caleb picked up a battered electric guitar, slung the strap over his shoulder, and walked up to the mic. His eyes swept the crowd. He smiled when he saw me, and my insides turned to mush. I smiled back.

It was an incredible set. The music was fiercely beautiful, wild and spirited, and Caleb’s voice could reduce you to tears with its sheer power. The band was tight and perfect, and I knew the second they started playing that they were going to be huge. The vast majority of the people packed into the tent clearly worshipped them. During some songs, so many people sang along that Caleb just grinned and held the mic out over the crowd, taking a break while the fans screamed out the lyrics. Caleb shed the shirt halfway through the set, resulting in a chorus of feminine screams and several requests for him to lose the pants too. I’m pretty sure one of those came from David.

By the time their allotted hour was up, the band was as drenched as their audience. Caleb’s chest and stomach dripped sweat, and his hair clung to his cheeks in little damp tendrils. He looked positively edible. He caught my eye and I flicked my tongue out at him. He grinned and motioned toward the side of the stage as he and his bandmates filed off.

I started to make my way toward the VIP area Caleb had indicated. Nat grabbed me before I’d gotten far.

“Damn, girl,” she said. “What a fucking piece! How the hell did you snag him? I think every woman here would give a body part to get with him.”

That stopped me. I’d been wondering why Caleb didn’t just tell me he was in a band. But I realized I already knew. He’d said people lied to him, used him, because they wanted sex with him. The reason he’d given me was his admittedly stunning good looks. The real reason, though, must’ve been his rising-star status. He hadn’t told me because he didn’t want just another groupie. He needed someone to want the real Caleb, not just the star.

“Sorry, Nat,” I said. “I gotta go see him. We’ll talk later, okay?”

“But Kitty...”

David wrapped an arm around Natalie’s shoulders and pulled her against him. “C’mon, Nat. Let’s go.”

“But...”

“Shut up. We’ll see her later, right Kitty?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And I bet he’d love to meet you guys. But right now, I really really need to see him.”

“Go on,” David said. I kissed his cheek, then headed over to where Caleb waited.

Caleb was leaning over the barrier, talking to a group of girls. They were flirting so hard it’s a wonder they didn’t sprain something. I ran my fingers through my hair in a vain attempt at getting rid of the tangles, then made my way over to Caleb. I put as much sway in my step as I could, which is saying a lot.

“Caleb!” I called.

He turned toward me and gave me a great big I-know-what-you-look-like-naked grin. “Hey,” he said.

I drew closer. The girls gave me some truly poisonous looks, which I ignored. “You were soooooo damn sexy up there,” I purred, running a fingertip up his arm.

He licked his lips in a deliberately suggestive way. “Thanks. You’re not bad yourself.”

I leaned closer, my lips almost touching his. “Want me to blow you backstage?”

One girl made an outraged sound behind me. Yeah, right, I thought, like you weren’t gonna say the same damn thing.

Caleb reached out, took my face in both hands, and kissed me. “I don’t think security’ll let you in.”

I sucked on his bottom lip. “I have an all-access pass.”

“Oh, yeah?” He kissed me again, running his tongue over my lips. “Well then, I guess you can come on back and blow me.”

“Hey!” a shrill voice behind me said. “Go away, bitch. We were talking to him first.”

I didn’t even turn around; she wasn’t worth looking away from Caleb’s captivating eyes. “Bite me, skank.”

Outraged gasps. I stifled a laugh. I kissed Caleb’s cherry-flavored lips again, then headed over to the security gate. He followed on the other side of the barrier. I showed my pass, and security let me through with only a slight frown. So what if they thought I was no more than a groupie. I didn’t care about that. All I cared about was the gorgeous sweaty man who swept me into his arms and kissed me like nothing else in the world mattered.

“Are you mad?” he said when we finally took a break.

“’Bout what?”

“That I didn’t tell you I was in a band.”

“Naw. I understand why you didn’t.”

“You do?”

“Yep.”

He smiled at me, and it was so sweet I wanted to cry. “You’re amazing, Kitty.”

I pulled out of his arms and clasped his hand in mine. It felt just right. “Let’s go to the hotel, Caleb.”

“Sounds good to me.”

He slung an arm around my shoulders. I slipped my arm around his waist, and we started toward the special parking area reserved for musicians.

“So this is what it feels like,” I mused out loud as we walked.

“What?”

“Being a groupie.”

He laughed. “You’re no groupie. Believe me, I’ve had plenty, and you’re not one.”

“So what am I?”

He stopped walking, wound both arms around my waist, and stared into my eyes. “I don’t know. But I want to find out.”

I figured I could live with that.