All Night Long. Madelynne Ellis

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      ‘Um.’

      Ash didn’t make a remark, which suggested he knew they were recording their antics and didn’t disapprove. When she turned in order to refasten her bra, she found him in the process of disposing of the condom in the waste bin in the corner.

      ‘OK?’ He zipped up, but not before she’d seen enough to confirm an already nagging suspicion.

      ‘You didn’t come,’ she whispered, not wanting the other guys to hear.

      Ash shrugged, as if that were no big deal. Well, it was to her. She’d never been with a guy who packed up and moved on before he was done, regardless of whether she was satisfied. In other circumstances she’d have offered to go down on him, but he raised his hand towards Spook in a beckoning motion. ‘Show.’

      Spook bounded across the room and thrust the camera between them.

      ‘Not bad,’ Ash commented. ‘Better than the last few.’

      Ginny turned away from the crude, if fetching, image of herself and covered her burning cheeks with her hands, not so much out of shame or ordinary embarrassment as at the way she’d been labelled as part of a collection. A collection Ash clearly didn’t hold in any great regard. Not that she’d been under any illusions about what he was like before she’d got into this. The members of Black Halo all had reputations, and even among them Ash was notorious. The guy might as well have had ‘player’ stamped across his forehead in indelible ink. The thing was, that slow-as-molasses dirty smile of his screamed, ‘I know what you want and I know how to give it.’ And she was a sucker for guys like that.

      Actually, to hell with it, it wasn’t the slutty label that was bugging her. It was the fact she’d failed him. She hadn’t done enough and he hadn’t got off. She, who prided herself on always giving her partner a good time, even if they were crap in bed – and he wasn’t – had left her rock-star fantasy unsatisfied. She watched him tuck his still raging hard-on back inside his tight pants. What’s more, unless she wanted to make another spectacle of herself, of both of them, there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. Not a single damn thing.

      ‘I think we should at least attempt to get to the hotel,’ Ash remarked. ‘I sure as hell don’t want to spend the night in here.’ He crossed the room and snatched the lilies from the vase strategically positioned on Rock Giant’s lap and shoved them into the waste bin. ‘These things stink.’

      ‘Reckon?’ Rock Giant asked, still clinging to the vase. ‘I mean about leaving. Aren’t we better off holding tight until the crowd thins?’

      ‘If the crowd thins,’ Spook muttered. He turned off his camera and put it away in its leather case. ‘It’s not like this is a regular gig we’re escaping from. Those beasts are going to camp out there for as long as they think we’re still in the building. In fact, the longer we sit here the bigger the crowd is likely to get.’

      Rock Giant looked slightly dubious, but as there were no external windows in the room there was no way of telling what the situation was currently like outside.

      ‘So we need an escape plan. Anyone have any suggestions?’ Ash collected his jacket off a chair back and shrugged it on.

      ‘Phone for booze and pizza,’ Rock Giant suggested.

      ‘Camp out in here and wait for the police to intervene,’ Spook said.

      Ash dismissed both ideas with a slash of his head. ‘Stuff that. I’m not sitting around. With a bit of luck Elspeth and Steve have taken the first limo out by now.’

      Both Spook and Rock Giant exchanged nonplussed glances, clearly not following Ash’s chain of logic.

      Ginny didn’t follow either, but she took the moment of confusion to straighten herself out.

      ‘This means they’re probably stuck, and the attention of the crowd is on the front of the building.’

      ‘Yeah? And?’

      ‘And –’ Ash slapped his forehead. ‘We use the distraction to escape. If we send Ulf and the crew in the second limo, then we can slip away in the roadies’ van.’

      ‘Brilliant!’ Rock Giant shot upright. A manic grin stretched across his rock-hewn features. ‘Bagsy I’m driving.’

      ‘If you must.’

      ‘Yes!’ Rock Giant punched the air. ‘I get to drive the va-an … I get to drive the va-an.’ He clasped an invisible steering wheel and proceeded to zoom around the room. ‘OK, everyone, get your shit together. We’re doing this. Fall in. Fall in.’

      Not quite sure if she was included in this escape plan, Ginny watched the guys collect assorted jackets and trinkets from around the room.

      ‘If we end up in A and E I’m holding you personally responsible,’ Spook muttered to Ash, as he fell into line behind Rock Giant. ‘Last time he drove the bus, we ended up doing a three-sixty-degree roll down an embankment, and I swore I was never getting into another moving vehicle if he was controlling it.’

      ‘Well, if you’d prefer to drive?’

      Abject horror filled Spook’s handsome face. He shook his head. ‘No way. You lot drive on the wrong side of the road.’

      ‘The left is the right side of the road,’ Rock Giant griped.

      ‘Yeah, how’d you figure that out? It doesn’t even make sense.’

      Rock Giant proceeded to careen around the furniture, over-egging his performance with brake-screeching sound effects. ‘I’ll go get the van keys off Ulf.’

      ‘Dear God,’ Spook sighed with his head down.

      ‘It’s OK, baby, I’ll protect you.’ Ash draped an arm around his shoulder and squeezed.

      Spook shook him off. ‘Lay off the soppy stuff. I’m not here to provide you with post-coital cuddles. You’re supposed to do that with the girl.’ He headed towards the exit with his long white-blond hair falling around his shoulders and his purple guitar slung across his back. ‘I am so glad I insured my fingers. At least I can live off the proceeds after he mangles us.’

      ‘Is Rock Giant’s driving really that bad?’ Ginny asked, forcing Ash to remember her presence.

      ‘It’s atrocious. Let’s pray there aren’t any corners between here and the hotel.’ He extended his hand towards her. ‘Are you prepared to chance it?’

      Ginny stared at his hand a moment, not sure how to respond. He was fun, but he’d definitely been odd with her the last few minutes. Then again, maybe he was irked over the fact he hadn’t come. ‘If you still want me?’

      ‘Why wouldn’t I?’ His brow creased into a frown, which also turned the edges of his mouth down. He clasped her hand and pulled her into his embrace. ‘You promised me a whole night of fun, lady. The night’s barely begun.’

      ‘Yeah.’ She traced her palms across the surface of his washboard abs. ‘But I wouldn’t want to take up your time if I’m not pleasing you.’ She looked up into his blue-grey eyes fearing СКАЧАТЬ