Ceaseless (25 page)

CHAPTER 25 

Pagan

              
The 
security guard
 at tonight’s club led me back to the room 
where 
Dank was waiting 
for 
me.  The whole 
just-
appearing
-in-
places thing was a lesson that Dank had yet to 
teach me
. I always panicked at the last minute and ended up random places like 
service station
 restrooms 
or 
the milk aisle 
of 
grocery store
s
.  I was providing Dank with endless entertainment with all my trial
s
 and errors.

              
The guard stopped in front of a door marked private and knocked once
,
 then opened 
the door and stepped aside to 
let me 
enter
. 
The room
 was similar to most of the rooms provided for him
 by the venues where Cold Soul played
. 
There was a 
bar with drinks and bottles of water
, and 
large sofas and chairs for 
seating
. Th
e
walls of this one was
 lined with mirrors.

              
Dank 
was reclining on the couch, but 
stood
 
and walked over to me as the 
man 
closed the door behind me. “What took you so long?” he asked with a grin on his perfect face.

              
“Miranda and Nathan had a make-up session in our room and I wasn’t going anywhere near it until the noise stopped. “

              
“Ah, can’t say I blame you. We really need to teach you how to change clothes at will. The only time I take off my clothes is with you. The rest of the time I just decide what I want to wear and my appearance changes.”

              
I thought about that and decided I’d leave that lesson 
for later
. My 
skills 
weren’t great and the 
thought 
that I 
could 
end up naked in public because I’d done something wrong terrified me. “Let’s not teach me that just yet.”

              
Dank chuckled as if he had read my mind and knew exactly what my fear was. “You just let me know when you’re ready. We’ll work on it.”

              
I nodded and he reached for my hand and pulled me over to the sofa. “I wrote a new song.  After we, uh,” he looked over at me and a shy smile played on his lips.

              
“After we had sex?” I asked.

              
Dank shook his head, “No, Pagan, that was making love. Don’t confuse the two.”

              
Pleasure from his words coursed through me. I liked that this new body still felt sensations.

              
“I wrote it the morning after we made love. I haven’t shared it with the 
band
 yet
,
 because it’s personal.”

              
I sat down 
and 
he reached over and picked up the guitar lying on the chair beside me.  He rested his foot on the edge of the sofa and slipped the guitar strap around his neck.  Just when 
i
 
thought Dank Walker couldn’t get any sexier he prove
d
 
me 
wrong.

              
“What are you grinning about?” he asked looking down at me.

              
“Oh, I’m just thinking that I have the sexiest boyfriend on 
the planet
. The only thing that could make this better is if you were shirtless.”

              
Dank smirked and pulled the guitar strap back over his head then reached for the hem of his shirt and pulled it off tossing it in my lap. “This better?” he asked as he put the strap back around his neck. 

“Oh my, yes.”

Dank shook his head and laughed, “You make it hard on a guy, Pagan Moore. I was 
getting ready
 to be romantic and now my mind is all about the naughty.”

I leaned back and crossed my legs 
and 
held his discarded shirt up to my nose to smell it. 
I may not give it back.

“Damn,” Dank whispered as he watched me. “I don’t think I remember the words to the song now.”

I stuck out my bottom lip in a pout, “But I want to hear it.”

Dank closed his eyes and adjusted his guitar on his bent knee. “Your wish is my command,” he replied with a grin 
with
 his eyes closed. 
His tongue darted out and licked his lips
. S
uddenly
,
 hearing the song wasn’t th
at
 important. I wanted to lick his lips too. Then 
he
 began to play. I lifted my eyes from his lips as he opened his
 mouth
. Our eyes met and he held me completely as 
his 
words joined 
the music
.

“
Daylight fades away as I watch you from a distance.

Darkness claims the sky and I wish you could only know
.

We’re supposed to be miles away but something draws me closer
.

We’re supposed to be far away but gravity 
brings
 us closer
.

Closer than your skin, rebellion deep within, you’ve taken over me and I can’t seem to swim to the top of myself
.
 I’m under your control.

Wondering how we got here, wondering how we got here to the place we should go
.

Oh- oh- oh- oh
,
 yeah

The place we should go
.

Oh-oh-oh-oh

Oh-oh-oh-oh
, 
yeah

Souls aren’t meant for things like this.

Our worlds were never meant to collide.

You’re better off leaving while you have something to leave behind.

We’re supposed to be miles away but something draws me closer.

We’re supposed to be far away but gravity brings us closer.

Closer than y
our skin, rebellion deep within
.

You’ve taken over me and I can’t seem to swim.

To the top of myself I’m under your control.

Wondering how we got here.

Wondering how we got here to the place we should go. We’re supposed to be far away but something draws me closer
.
”

              
The moment his hands stopped
 moving,
 I 
was
 up and reaching for his guitar. I needed to hold him.
 Now.
 Dank understood my intentions and he slipped the guitar off and laid it down without taking his eyes off me. I hurled myself into his arms and grabbed his face and 
took a small lick
 
against
 his lips before slipping my tongue into his 
mouth
.

              
Dank’s
 hand cupped my butt and he picked me up and I wrapped my legs around his waist.  I loved him. He was mine.

              
“They’re at it again. Damn, Dank gets more action than I do these days.” Looses’ s voice interrupted us
.  Stupid drummer.

              
“Go away,” Dank replied without looking back at our intruder.

              
“Can’t
,
 man. We go on in five,” Les replied. Great
,
 we had the entire band as an audience. I glared at them over 
Dank’s
 
shoulder, 
which only caused them all to laugh.

              
“Sorry we’re breaking up your happy time, 
S
weetheart
,
 but we need our singer,” Loose winked. He would have never winked 
if 
Dank’s
 back 
had 
not been t
urned
.

              
Rubber slapped him on the back of the head and murmured, “Dickhead.”

              
Dank let me slide down his body
,
 but kept his hands firmly on my backside. “I think I’m going to give this hobby up. You’re the only audience I want. And these idiots keep messing with my free time.”

              
I looked back at the three guys that made up most of the band. They had a keyboard player, Jet
,
 
who barely 
managed to show up right before the
 band went onto the
 stage. He was incredibly high all 
the 
time.

              
“They need you and I will always be waiting on the side of the stage when you
’
r
e
 finished. Don’t give this up for me.”

              
Dank tucked some hair behind my ear, “As long as you’re waiting 
for 
me
,
 I guess I can keep this up a
 
while longer.”

              
“Three minutes,” Loose announced
,
 reminding us they were still there.

              
I pressed my lips to 
Dank’s
, and gave him one
 fast kiss 
and then 
pushed him toward the door. “Let’s go do this thing.”

Dank

              
“When are you going to start letting Pagan come with?” Gee asked as we stepped into the hospital. 

              
“I’m not. She may be immortal but asking her to deal with this isn’t something I will ever do.” Death wasn’t easy. It was a tragic thing to humans. Unlike me
,
Pagan had been human. She understood those emotions
; s
he still 
experienced 
them. The
se emotions
 were a part of he
r
. As much as I hated being away from her
,
 I didn’t want to 
bring
 her into this world. 

              
“She is tough, 
Dankmar
. The girl was able to force her memories to return through her heart. Her 
memories 
had been wiped clean
, yet
 she

brought
 them back and lived through it. Give her some credit.”

              
I knew Pagan was tough. She loved me. Loving Death wasn’t something that just anyone could do. I wasn’t the bearer of good news.

“Leave this alone, please. I want to collect 
these 
souls and get back before Pagan and Miranda are done with their girl’s night out.”