Flirting With Chaos (9 page)

I was the beat and he was the rhythm. We swayed together, our bodies colliding into each other in perfect unison. My blood pumped with adrenaline. Sweat coated both my face and his. I didn’t even care as I jumped up, screaming out the lyrics to “After the Storm,” one of Depraved Mind’s top songs and the best one Dad had written.

“
Though the lightning and thunder blazes the skies, I will come to you and devour all your lies!”
Kaden screamed on stage.
“My love, there won’t be any place to run or hide. After the storm, I will come, and you’ll never leave my side.”

Jude lived by one main life motto: when all else fails, jump up and down and scream. So, I did until my feet swelled into numbness, and my voice transformed into a scratchy tone that hurt my throat whenever I talked.

“Twisted love. Dark and twisted like a hurricane. Baby, you keep my emotions twisting and turning in my brain!”

Jude’s attention remained on me as he bopped and swung those delicious hips. Before tonight, I would have just averted my eyes and changed my view, not desiring to ogle my best friend’s hot body. Tonight, all rules of propriety had smashed to the floor in bits and pieces. Hunger roamed in swirls of heat around me, traveling over my hips, brushing across my skin in sweet, feathery strokes and pumping need into the center of my thighs.

Jude tilted my way. “Stop that.”

“What?”

He drew me in to him and moved his body against mine as he whispered in my ear, “You keep looking at me like you’re going to eat me.”

My mouth dropped open.

“I’m serious about making your first night special, but if you keep staring at me like that, I’ll lift you up, tear those jeans apart, and fuck you right here in the middle of this crowd.”

A tingling sensation scattered between my thighs. “So, this is
the
Jude, the guy that all the women swoon over?”

“Yes. This is him. I don’t tend to have control. If you were anybody else looking at me that way, I would already be inside of you.”

He pressed his lips against mine and slipped his tongue into my mouth. Chocolate coated his wet tongue. My legs gave out as he explored my mouth and nibbled my bottom lip. I moaned into him, riding a wave of pure pleasure. If I’d known he kissed like this, I may have stopped being a virgin at fourteen. He withdrew. I charged forward and hauled those lips back to me, relishing their soft texture.

“Damn, Rain.” He picked me up and guided my legs around his waist. “You’re not helping things.”

I rested my arms on his shoulders. This close, his cologne covered me like a blanket—a pine scent mixed with the undertones of wood, something sweet, and other things from the earth. The area between my thighs ached. I tightened my legs around him and pressed my center into his groin, rubbing up and down over the hardness that appeared as soon as we made contact. I felt like I would explode right there.

I bet I could hump him until I come.

Calm down. Get hold of yourself.

“This is going to be so fucking hard.” He squeezed my behind.

“You’re already hard.”

“I’m talking about not fucking you tonight. Stop teasing me.”

“Am I?” I ground into him again.

“Oh, fuck it. Keep doing that.” He groaned and stared down as I rocked my hips into him. “Does it feel good?”

“God, yes.” My clitoris swelled with blood and need.

“Could you come right now?” His voice sounded hoarse.

“Yes.” The pressure on my throbbing bud delivered hot sensations through me.

“I bet you’re soaking wet.” He moved his hands to my hips and guided me hard into him, until all I could feel was his thick dick pushing against my core.

Maybe we should do it tonight.

My stomach didn’t rumble in pain like it had with other guys. All the changes in my body stemmed from the lush pressure he gave to my swollen clitoris. I let my head fall back and cried out in satisfaction.

“Right there, Rainy.”

“After the storm, I’ll consume you until there’s nothing left. I’ll make love to you. I’ll put your body to the test.”

The boom of the beat increased. Everyone jumped and swayed fast, pumping and winding their bodies around the dance floor. Jude and I continued rocking into each other. We were entangled into the moment—the song, the feel of our bodies, the heat radiating between us, our scents mingling together, and the mounting of an orgasm that sparked at my center and rose higher and higher, just yearning to detonate into sensual delight.

“Rainbow! Jude!” Someone tapped our shoulders.

The moment broke away. The intensity of the situation vanished. It was like I’d stepped into a freezing cold shower.

Kaden stood next to us. Sweat dripped down his face. He held his guitar and focused all of his attention to my swinging hips.

“Not now, Dad,” Jude growled. His erection was stiff and unyielding. He didn’t stop pumping it against me, and, as embarrassed with his father being there as I was, I didn’t want Jude to end the rubbing. He could have continued, and I wouldn’t have stopped until I came.

“Come on, Rainbow. Get on stage with me.” Kaden yanked at my shirt, but his gaze targeted Jude. I swore rage lingered between his eyelids, but I wasn’t sure.

“What the fuck!” Jude swung me around and put his back to his dad. Madness blazed in his eyes. He’d told me before that when he was on E, he never became angry; he just chilled. Apparently, this would be a first tonight.

“Don’t make a scene, man!” Kaden stepped around us.

Right before Jude moved us again, I climbed out of his arms and stood back on the floor.

“What are you doing?” Jude wrenched me toward him hard.

I stumbled into his chest and shoved him away. “Stop it.”

“Calm down, Jude! Let her go. You need to cool off.” Kaden knocked Jude’s hands down.

People looked our way. Realization smoothed over their faces as they realized Kaden had jumped off the stage and begun arguing with some guy in a Bart Simpson hat. People pulled out their phones and were recording their arguing. The music drowned out both of their words, but their faces said that nothing sweet passed between them.

This is ridiculous.

I hit Jude on the back. “Come on. We can finish later. Let’s just enjoy the night.”

“I don’t want to fucking finish later,” he countered.

“Oh, stop being a spoiled baby.” I got on the tips of my toes and whispered in his ears, “And if you grab me like that again, I’m going to make your nuts regret it.”

He scowled at Kaden and stepped around him. “Fine. We’ll finish later.”

“Okay. Let’s go. I have a surprise for you, Rainbow.” Kaden clasped his hand on mine, guided me past dancers with gaping mouths and onto the front of the stage. “You thought you were going to escape me tonight?” He signaled for the band to cease with playing “After the Storm” and placed the microphone to his lips. “Hey, everybody. It’s time to sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to Rainbow.”

I cringed at the name. It was one thing to annoy me in the privacy of his home with it, but to constantly yell it out in front of hundreds of strangers was another.

“Everyone join me.” He set the microphone in the stand and strung out a riff on his guitar that vibrated through my whole body.

A silly grin hit my face. No matter how hard I tried to look cool and collected versus goofy, swooning fan, it didn’t work. Kaden’s guitar playing always melted me into a fanatical pile of mush. My whole face turned red. He strummed the chords some more with his attention on me and sang the “Happy Birthday” song. Everyone joined in.

Someone tapped me on my shoulder. A kiss to my cheek came next. I twisted around to see Jude without his furry hat, purple glasses, or even the scowl from earlier. Two of the guys in his entourage pushed over a large cart with a huge cake on the top. The cake rose three feet high and arched over in the shape of a rainbow. Candies of different colors represented each ray on the big rainbow cake. Sparkles burst in glittery flares around it.

“Happy birthday to you, Rainy.” Jude landed a quick peck on my lips.

Kaden returned to the riff and screamed into the microphone. It was his signature move at the end of a concert. When he finished, he handed the guitar to me. “Tear it up, Rainbow. You’re the birthday girl.”

I covered my mouth with my hand. “I’m not ruining a perfectly good guitar.”

“Destroy it!” he yelled into the mic.

“Destroy it! Destroy it!” the audience roared.

I got on the tips of my toes and put my lips next to Kaden’s ear. “Maybe you can sign it and give it to a charity in my name or—”

He shook his head. “Destroy it! Destroy it!”

I rolled my eyes.
So mature.

The guitar weighed heavy in my hands. No wonder he possessed those huge arms. It was a workout to just hold it. My muscles strained as I raised it up above my head. Everyone jumped out of the way.

“Rock and roll, bitches!” I smashed the end of the guitar onto the stage. Pieces of metal flew in the air. Some hit my legs. Laughter soared out of my mouth. I could barely get a grip on myself in the silliness of the moment. I beat the ground with the instrument again, slamming and banging it until it was only a shredded and destroyed image of its earlier self. All that remained was the neck and some dangling strings.

“‘Rock and roll, bitches’?” Jude laughed and embraced me.

“Oh. Should I have said something more poetic before breaking a guitar like an idiot?” I ruffled the side of his hair. “Thanks so much. This is more than I could have asked for.”

“You mean the world to me, girl. I had to do it big for you tonight.” He nodded his head toward the back stage entrance and slipped out a small joint from his jeans’ pocket. “Now, for surprise—what number am I on?”

“I’m not doing it. You know how I feel about mixing drugs.”

“Just trust me. I’ll be with you the whole time. I have several more surprises in store. We’re leaving here and going somewhere sort of private. It’ll mainly be just you and me.”

“Jude, I’ll be in the hospital by the end of the night. I’m not doing E and weed together.”

“You’re being over-dramatic. We’ll drink some more water and head out.”

T-Bone stepped out on stage and gestured for us. I snatched the joint and walked off. “You’re like the bad guy on a ‘don’t do drugs’ commercial.”

“I try.”

Chapter 7

Dildos, Penis Art, and Raping Swans! Oh My!

“T
HAT
W
AS
J
UST
A T
INY
H
IT
, Rain.”

“You’re the one that is always doing this stuff. I can’t hang.” I passed the joint back to Jude as we moseyed through a crowded Ocean Drive. T-Bone ambled behind us with a frown plastered on his face. The only thing he hated more than our drug use was our public drug use.

I’d only had a tiny smoke, nervous that I would pass out if I smoked more. Jude had started drugs at a young age with the help of his dad. Kaden had kept drugs and done them around us all the time and so his actions had made it seem like doing drugs was awesome. Luckily, my dad’s actions had shown me just how badly drugs could destroy a person’s life and the people around them. Usually, I was severely cautious with my drug usage, limiting it to a joint or two a month.

“Maybe you’re right.” Jude coughed after he inhaled. “Most don’t mix this and E. I just came up with the idea one night hanging with these rappers. I’ve never looked back since.”

“Spoken like a true addict.”

A few people whispered as they passed us on the sidewalk. Most paid us no mind. The couple people that did stare at us focused all their attention on Jude’s face, probably trying to figure out why they recognized him. Jude attempted to blow a smoke circle. A messy cloud of smoke fled his lips, and filled the air with that pungent, earthy fragrance of “the most blessed leaf” as my mom used to say.

“Tonight is beautiful.”

“It’s always beautiful here, Rain. You should never leave.”

The moon never glowed as bright as Ocean Drive. The buildings gleamed with life. One building had thousands of lights on its surface that blinked off and on in the form of a woman’s body as she danced back and forth to her own song. Another swirled with fluorescent pink. Others shined in blue. As a child, I had thought bright lights and vivid colors adorned all buildings in the world until I’d traveled with my parents and spotted the dreary bricked structures and dull glass towers littering other cities.

“Miamians would riot and tear the building down if it wasn’t painted in a bright color.” I giggled.

“Ugly buildings are bloody against the law.”

“Bloody against the law,” I mocked Jude. His mom was from England and had been a big porn star in Europe. He’d grown up there until he was six years old. His mom had then moved them to LA, where her adult film career slowly dwindled. She’d stopped raising Jude in his pre-teens, claiming that a growing boy should be with his dad to learn how to be a man. The few times I’d met his mom, her accent had colored every word. Every now and then, Jude slipped into his own Americanized British drawl without even realizing it. He didn’t have an accent like his mom, of course, but he certainly used a few Britishisms at times.