The Prince of Punk Rock (9 page)

Female voices squealed their
approval.

“Do you want to hear what he can do
on the guitar?”
 
Angel held his hand to
his ear.
 
“What?
 
I can’t hear you!
 
I said, do you want to hear what Tommy can do
on the guitar?”

Angel knew how to rile up the
audience, and their cheers were deafening.

“That’s more like it!
 
Now, put your hands together, and give a
kick-ass welcome to the Prince of Punk Rock, Mr. Tommy Blade!”

Tommy was ready.
 
It was his time to shine.
 
His fingers moved like lightening as he
played the arrangement the fans knew and loved, but he put his signature on it.
 
He added attention-grabbing guitar chops that
took the fans by surprise.
 
He had no
intention of becoming a carbon copy of the old guitar player.
 
He was carving out his place as the new lead
guitarist of Immortal Angel.
 
This guitar
solo was his elaboration. It was complex and sophisticated.
 
It was a risky move.
 
The crowd could have turned against him, not
appreciating a new-comer changing one of Immortal Angel’s most popular songs,
but they went wild.
 
Their applause
brought him to his knees at the end of the stage.
 
Hands reached up and grabbed at his
legs.
 
Angel bowed to him like a god,
then leaned over and ran his tongue down the neck of the guitar.

The crowd went berserk.

The band played punk rock, fast and
loud with a contagious beat, but in the middle of their set, they played a
slower song.
 
It definitely wasn’t a
ballad, but it was softer and you could see the emotion in Angel’s face and
hear it in his voice.
 
Tommy didn’t
expect the rowdy crowd to appreciate the tenderness of the song, but everyone
quieted down when the song began, so they could listen to the familiar lyrics.
 
It was obviously a fan favorite.

Tommy found Jessi in the
crowd.
 
She was in her rightful place at
the front of the stage, cheering louder than anyone around her.
 
He knelt down in front of her and played the
next guitar solo just for her.
 
He
maintained steady eye contact with her while she gazed back at him.
 
Their connection was strong and it blocked
out everyone else in the room.
 
It was
just the two of them.

Her fingertips covered her mouth,
staving off an emotional bout of pride.
 
When the solo ended, he leaned over and gave her a quick kiss on the
lips.
 
The rumbling applause he received
almost blew the roof off.

By the time the last song rolled
around, Tommy was drunk with euphoria.
 
Tonight’s show was far better than he expected.
  
He was worried that fans wouldn’t accept him
right away, but they embraced him as part of Immortal Angel from the first
song.
 
Before he left the stage, they
gave him an enormous round of applause accompanied by shouts of praise.
 
His debut as the new lead guitarist in Immortal
Angel was victorious.

He ran off stage and threw his arm
around Angel’s shoulder.
 
“That was
fuckin’ awesome!
 
It was the best show I
ever played.”

“You, my prince, are going to make
us all superstars.
 
You’re going to bring
us the fame and the recognition that we’ve worked so hard for.”

Angel’s hands slid around Tommy’s
neck.
 
They were hot, and a little bit
sweaty.
 
Celebratory excitement
disappeared and was replaced by intense physical attraction and desire.
 
Smiles faded and were replaced by pouty,
slightly parted lips.
 
Angel took a step
closer, and the faint musky scent exuding from his pores filled Tommy’s
nostrils.
 
He took a deep breath and
Angel’s scent made his hormones spiral out of control.

Angel leaned closer.
 
“You’re the one I’ve been waiting for.
 
It was kismet that brought us together, my
sweet prince.”

Tommy knew Angel’s words had a
double meaning, and every time Angel said “my prince”, it made his heart beat a
little bit faster.
 
It was a pet name,
reserved just for him.

They were standing close enough so
Angel’s warm breath landed on Tommy’s cheek.
 
Suddenly self conscious, he wondered if anyone was watching them.
 
He shifted his weight on his feet and dropped
his hand from Angel’s waist, but Angel didn’t react.
 
Angel kept his hands around Tommy’s neck and
didn’t break their penetrating gaze.
 
It
captivated Tommy and he no longer cared if anyone was watching.

He imagined Angel’s lips getting
closer and Angel’s hand moving lower.
 
He
imagined putting his hand inside Angel’s open shirt and touching his beautiful
flesh.
 
He would lick Angel’s neck and
glide his tongue straight down the center of his magnificent chest.
 
He could taste the salty flavor of Angel’s
sweat covered body on his tongue, and he licked his lips imagining its
taste.
 
A warm gust of air on his face
interrupted the sweet vision in his head.

It was Angel, letting out a deep
breath.
 
He patted Tommy on the chest and
let his hand rest there.
 
“Me has robado
el corazón.
 
Deseo besarte.”

Tommy didn’t speak Spanish.
 
He had no idea what Angel said, but the words
were romantic and beautiful.
 
“What does
that mean?”

Angel shook his head slightly.
 
Whatever it meant, he obviously didn’t want
to say it in English.
 
“Oh, Tommy Blade,
you make it very,
very
hard for me to exercise any kind of self
control.”

After the show, Jessi ran backstage
and hugged Tommy.
 
“They loved you,
baby.
 
I’m so proud of you.
 
I almost lost it out there when you played
that guitar solo for me.”

“I kept my eyes centered on you,
hon.
 
Seeing you rock out at the front of
the stage always pushes me to play harder.
 
What was it like, being in the middle of that crowd?”

Laughter floated up from her throat
as she relived the excitement that still ran through her body from the
show.
 
“Oh my God! I thought thrash rock
fans were wild.
 
Punk rock fans are a
total different kind o’ crazy.
 
I
met so many fans tonight and they’re all so nice.”

Angel joined them, wiped his brow
with a towel and slung his arm around Tommy.
 
“Our boy slayed everyone tonight.
 
I know how good
he
was.
 
How’d the rest of us sound?”

The
our boy
caught Jessi a
little off guard, but she glossed over it and gave Angel a big hug.
 
“Immortal Angel is better than half the shit
you hear on the radio.
 
I’m serious.
 
You need to get a demo in front of some
record labels.
 
Oh, and where’s your
merch table?
 
I wanted to tell people to
make sure they picked up a CD and a T-shirt, but I couldn’t find it.”

Tommy affectionately slid his hand across
the small of her back.
 
“That’s my wife,
always trying to promote the band.”

“So what about that merch table?”
Jessi asked again.

“I can’t seem to hold onto anyone
steady to man a merch booth.
 
I usually
just go out after the show and sell shirts and CDs myself.”
 
Angel scratched the back of his head and wrinkled
his nose. “Do you want to help me?
 
It
sounds like you were working the crowd tonight.
 
I could use a little help with advertising and
promoting the band too.  My public relations skills aren’t the best. I’m
not as much of a people-person as you are.  I think you’d be really good
at it.”

“I would
love to.  I used to do that for Tommy’s old band.  I did the entire
street teaming, by myself most of the time.
 
I handed out flyers at concerts, and I would give out stickers to lure
people to the merch table at the shows.”  She was rambling, but she
couldn’t stop.  She was too excited.  It wasn’t just the shots of
tequila fueling her enthusiasm.
 
With
Angel managing the band, Tommy really did need her and she felt a little
sidelined.  But, now that she was going to be in charge of the merchandising
and she would be helping promote the band, she would be directly involved in
the band again.
 
She was back!

Chapter Ten

Jessi set up the merch table at the next show and people gathered
around her right away.
 
A girl flipped
through some shirts, checked their sizes and held one up.
 
It was oversized for her small frame, but she
bought it anyway.
 
It gave Jessi an idea
for sexy, fitted tank tops and baby doll tees. She was already sketching
designs in her head.

She glanced around the room and spotted a few people she remembered
from the last gig.
 
Kira and Audra were
in front of the stage, probably securing their spot so they had the best
possible view of Angel.
 
They were young,
pretty girls and they were always together.
 
They were loyal fans, and both had a crush on Angel.