The Dark Angels: With Wings (3 page)

Darius ignored the questions his mind kept asking about what happened before the show. That was just...a fluke! He got out of his head and settled back into one of the best shows The Dark Angels had ever given.

After the halfway point, Angel slowed it down for the band so everyone could catch their breath. The audience loved watching Angel strut around the stage introducing each member of the Dark Angels while flirting and teasing.

Angel leaned over brown haired bass player's shoulder, as the guy went off on a mad musical riff. When he was done, Angel said, "This is Josh. He's our bass player. But the boy can play any instrument he touches."

Angel laughed and batted his eyes at the audience. His voice dropped down to sexy as he said, "I've got an instrument he could play." Angel leaned onto Josh's back and arched like a cat in heat. Josh playfully shrugged as Angel pushed off from him. The audience was loud with approving laughter.

Angel sauntered over to Robin, behind the keyboards. Robin's appearance seemed to contradict his quiet sweet personality. His wild blue and green shimmering peacock colored hair fanned his face like a lion's mane and his use of makeup gave him something to hide behind. One would think someone who looked the way Robin did would have attitude, but the poor kid looked like he wanted to hide as Angel reached him. He looked much younger than his twenty-two years. It was amazing he could perform at all because he was so unbearably shy.

Clearing his throat, Angel got everyone's attention. "This lovely creature is Robin. Josh's brother." Angel looked him up and down as if he was appraising all of Robin's assets. Angel looked out to the audience with his sexy smile, "Okay, not his brother by blood." He made the words sound utterly filthy. "But same birth date just a year apart and I know some of you naughty tartlets like to refer to them as 'twins'." Shaking his head in mock disapproval. He pointed out several graphic banners for the "twins" to get together in the biblical sense. Grinning at the audience, Angel's voice dropped to just plain dirty. "That's just wicked of you my sweet ones!

Wicked!"

The fans loved the history between Robin and Josh. Josh's abusive father was also Robin's stepfather. They may not have been blood but were tied together tight. They grew up in the same crazy household without even mothers to protect them. They clung to each other and still did. The fans just ate it up.

The crowd went crazy so he waited for the audience to settle back down. "Robin works our keyboards and is a very talented song writer. He wrote many of the lyrics on the album." Robin played a little but didn't really like showing off his musical ability like the rest of the band so Angel didn't push him. Angel grinned and then said, "Looks and writing ability." Angel sighed dramatically. His head fell as he hammed it up. "I so need to get laid," Angel whined as he shook his head. The audience went crazy, most of them raising their hands to volunteer.

Angel tossed the long section of black hair that fell into his face back into place as he strutted across the stage. He pointed with his microphone at The Dark Angel's drummer. Bringing the mic back to his face, Angel told the audience, "That is my oldest friend, Dusty. Dustin Davis." Dusty took the moment, while the audience was shouting for him, to do a rocking drum solo.

"Very nice Dusty. He's a bit of a...
show off
." Dustin's chest gleamed with sweat and shined from the oil that had been applied before the performance. "But hey, I can't say anything, that boy knows way too much about me." Angel blew a kiss in Dusty's direction, which Dusty caught in the air and placed it on his cheek. Dusty, in turn kissed one of his drumsticks and threw the air kiss to Angel. The audience went off again screaming and yelling their heads off.

Angel paused as he looked over at Darius, looked at the audience then back over at Dare. Angel slowly walked across the stage to him and his guitar. Angel threw an arm around him and said, "This here is Darius Stone.

Everyone calls him Dare." Angel released his hold on him so Darius could give a little careless riff on the instrument. Angel circled around him and licked his lips as if he were looking at a tasty treat. "I call him hot as hell!"

He smiled at the audience and arched his eyebrow. The audience, as expected, screamed and shouted in agreement.

Darius knew what was coming but they had only talked it through in practice. Tonight would be the very first time they did the song this way.

Angel convinced him that they would be giving the audience something special if the first time was in front of them. Granted all he needed to do was stand there but thinking about what Angel was going to do made his gut twist up tight. His dick went hard again.

Angel circled him again rubbing up against him. He nodded to Dusty and got the beat to start the next song. This song was just released as a single and rocketed to number one on the Billboard charts, so they had wanted add a little something to the performing of it. Their manager suggested they 'tart it' up a bit. It was that recommendation that had increased the physical flirting. So far the fans were loving it.

Angel sang in his clear gorgeous voice. "I want to love you! I want to fuck you!" Angel got behind him and thrust his clothed body into his as the music took off. Circling to the front of Darius who was clutching his guitar, Angel dropped down onto his knees in front of him. Angel grinned wickedly as he looked up and sang, "I want to suck you!" Angel moved in a way that looked like he was giving the guitar player head. He slowly rose up to his feet, turned and pulled him to the side so the audience could see both of them in profile.

His voice dropped to sing almost softly, "I want to kiss you..." The music soared and so did his heart as Angel's mouth captured his in a hot wet French kiss. It was decided to extend the music here because they knew the fans would go ape shit over the kiss. Darius tried so hard to play the right chords, but the tongue in his mouth erased all the notes, so he failed.

When Angel pulled away licking his lips, he smirked because he caught the errors in the music. Angel looked out at the fans who were practically losing their minds, before turning to face him. "I want to lick you." Angel ran his hand through Dare's blond mop of hair before latching on to it to pull it tightly to the side exposing his neck. Angel's tongue licked a long wet line from the base of his throat to his chin.

Darius tried to stifle the moan but couldn't. Nor could he hide the shiver that raced over his body. Angel gave him a tiny smile then a quick kiss on the mouth before continuing the song. "But he doesn't want me."

Angel pulled away from him as if it were physically painfully to lose contact. Angel moved to sing his despair to the audience. "No. He doesn't need me... That's the pain of my love..."

Darius looked back at their drummer, on the drummer's 'throne' as Dusty dubbed it. Dusty smirked down at him while providing the rapid backbeat of the song. Dusty didn't do anything, but his smile told him he knew Darius's
secret
.

There was no secret!
Although for months, the media had been trying to turn his friendship with Angel into a more than a platonic bromance so they could suggest a hot passionate gay love affair within the band.
Why I
have to continually remind people I'm straight, I haven't a clue. Do I act
gay? Okay, I guess I could see how my enthusiastic flirting back at Angel
onstage could be misinterpreted. Whatever! It is just for the show. This
is
Rock and Roll!

Angel was reportedly bisexual. Though sometimes, he wondered if Angel took a girl to bed on occasion only because he hated disappointing anyone. Once he walked in on Angel fucking some guy while the guy was inside the girl. It was quite a scene but clearly Angel's attention remained on the male not the female. But he was sticking to the bisexual excuse because it was still easier to accept open sexuality in the music business than being straight up gay, at least in the United States.

Darius kept saying he was a hundred percent straight, but no one seemed to be believing it. Of course, it made Darius even more paranoid about his inappropriate thoughts and actions. It was like he needed to keep finding evidence to prove to those around him that he was straight. He continually rationalized to everyone including himself. He had decided it didn't count as being gay to have sexual thoughts about someone of the same sex. He faulted Angel and his way of just oozing sex. Angel could give the Pope carnal thoughts!

Certainly if thoughts didn't count, dreams didn't count either. After all, you aren't in control of them. And so what, if sometimes his mind would drift to a guy while he was having sex with a woman or finding a little solo stress relief? Okay, not just a random guy but to Angel. His thoughts always went to Angel.

He had always decided none of that meant he was gay. It didn't. It couldn't. For all of his twenty-eight years Darius liked girls. Hell, he loved girls.

This time the rationalization faltered because of what happened before the show. Darius did his best.
Whatever happened prior to the show was just
whatever. It was nothing. It was a sexual situation. Anyone would have been
turned on and so what, I got a hand job. Big deal! I wasn't going to think
about how for the last six months I wondered what it felt like to be topped by
Angel. I wasn't going to think about that kiss. Nope, I wasn't thinking. I was
playing music in front of thousands of fans.

The show was drawing to a close. The stage went dark and the audience went silent. Impressive, considering there were thousands of fans out there and just a moment ago their screams neared deafening levels. But they knew how Angel Luv closed The Dark Angels' shows. They waited patiently for Angel to change.

A single spot light slowly brightened over Angel's blue and green peacock colored wings, his oiled upper body and his black leather pants.

Head lowered, his body spoke the language of pure despair. The audience gasped as he finally raised his head. They could see his face now.

He looked utterly lost. The lead singer became a dark angel cast from Heaven for his unforgivable sins. In this moment, Angel was the embodiment of pure undiluted loss. Darius quietly gave him the cords he needed to give them their Anthem of Heartbreak.

As he watched from stage right playing his guitar, it always felt like Angel opened his vein pouring out all of his pain, loneliness, and despair.

His fans watched breathlessly as Angel's sweet voice sang out their anguish.

The devastation they had experienced echoed in the words he sang to them.

Real tears rolled down Angel's face as he sang the words that most tried to hide from the rest of the world. He fearlessly showed himself and the damage that everyone has buried deep within their souls. It hurt every time he watched Angel do it. Robin would never talk about why the song was written, but it was clearly based on experience of a love lost and never to be recaptured.

Darius's eyes went over to the 'twins.' Robin had tears tracing down his sweet face as he focused all of his attention on his keyboard. Josh just looked like his heart was being ripped out as he stared at Robin and played the deep sad melody. Didn't matter how many times they did this song, everyone was always deeply affected by it. Hell, even Dusty got choked up.

As he played the music that was seared into his soul, it was hard to believe a little over a year ago, he was playing in a New York City dive bar.

He remembered it like it was yesterday. It was a Friday night and the crowd he was playing for was pretty wild. Half way through the set, some mad man jumped on the stage and told the audience they should enjoy Darius while they could, because soon he would coming with him to make rock history.

Rock history
, he actually used that term. He had no idea who Angel was at the time. No one did. Not yet.

During the break, Darius was compelled to walk over to where Angel was leaning against the wall just watching his approach. The conversation that would dramatically change his life was ridiculously short.

Angel grinned at him and introduced himself. "I'm Angel Luv." Angel caught his questioning smile at the unique name and shrugged. "Hippie parents." He got right back to business. "You are exactly what I need. What The Dark Angels need." Angel continued with complete and total seriousness. "We are going to crash through the barriers of music and change things up. If you want to help us shatter things be at this address tomorrow at eleven." Angel pushed a piece of paper with an address in upstate New York into Darius' front pocket. Angel reached out to his face and gently pushed a chunk of hair that had fallen over his eye behind his ear.

Angel grinned. "You are even prettier up close." Before he could say anything, Angel turned on his boot heel and left.

The next day Darius jumped a bus and went. He heard The Dark Angels play and that was it. There was no choice. He knew The Dark Angels was where he belonged. It felt like he had finally found a musical home. The sound was everything that was missing from music today. Apparently, the rebel of the rock revolution had found him.

Darius was brought back to the present, as that rebel sang the final words to the song. Angel crumbled down onto the floor. His wings spread out behind him. It was as if he had given them all he had to offer and could no longer even stand up.

Usually they would do a pure musical encore without Angel to give him a chance to put himself back together again. By the second stage call Angel usually joined the band and they gave the audience a happier song to end the show.

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