The Hunter(6)

I rolled my eyes. Typical Travis. “Knock it off, Trav,” I said, smiling.



“Besides, Issy is on a self imposed sex ban,” said Chad, delighting in the look of genuine confusion mixed with horror on Travis’ face as he processed this piece of information. “Let’s get the drinks in. Give me a hand, Angel?”



“Yeah, sure” she said and they set off to the bar.



Immediately, Travis moved to sit in the chair next to me that Angel vacated. “God woman, every time I see you, you look hotter than ever. Tell me it isn’t true - tell me you aren‘t really on a sex ban. They are bad for your health, you know - just think of all that sexual frustration building up inside you. Let me give you a good seeing to before you spontaneously combust from lack of sex.”



“Whoa,” said Ethan. “Big words! Have you been studying, Travis?”



“Nah, it happened in this weirdo porno that I was watching a while back, this guy was just about to slam it into this virgin and she went up in flames,” he grinned. “Is it me or is it getting warm in here? Shall I take your jacket, Issy?”



“Oh Trav, you are the perfect gentleman,” I purred as I stood, making as if to take off my jacket but cuffing him around his head instead. “Nice try but I know you only want to stare at my tits, you pervert!”



As we all laughed, I felt myself relaxing further and all thoughts of an early night went out of my head when Angel returned and passed me a beer.



The boys were up first and they were amazing. So much better than the last time I had seen them perform. Their newer songs were fantastic and their confidence had grown. I realized that it was probably thanks, in part, to the ever increasing crowd of fans that came to the bar to see them.



I sat back watching Ethan as his sexy voice and bad boy looks, all leather and tattoos, made the girls swoon. I wondered which one of them would be accompanying him back to his flat later. I knew at least one of them would be. Then my gaze alighted on Travis making rude gestures with his tongue to a group of girls as he played. I glanced at Angel as she watched Chad playing his guitar skillfully and seemingly effortlessly. It always made me smile, the way she swooned when he performed, yet he did nothing to attract attention when he was on stage. He was there for the music, not the women. In fact, he and drummer Scott wrote most of the band’s material. They even shared an apartment now so they could write together whenever inspiration struck. I glanced over to Scott and something caught in my throat as I watched him close his eyes and surrender to the beat that was being crafted by the two sticks of wood in his hands.



I felt Angel grab my hand and give it a squeeze and I knew that she had followed my gaze. “Come on, take off your jacket,” she said. “Let’s dance.”



Frustratingly, guys seemed to think that if you were dancing, you were inviting their attention. Several attempted to dance with me but I knocked them back, one by one. None of them even tempted me to come close to breaking my ban. My mind wandered back to my run in with the gorgeous stranger. Now, if he were here, that would be a temptation that I doubted I could resist. As I danced, I could almost feel his hands on my body and I could definitely imagine that voice telling me what he wanted to do to me. And with a start, I realized that it was the type of voice that demanded obedience. Would I would be willing to obey his commands? Where the hell did that thought come from?



We danced for the rest of the band’s set and collapsed back in our seats. The small crowd went wild as they left the stage and the girls surged forward to try to attract Ethan’s attention as he attempted to make his way back to our table. The guys reached our table with huge smiles on their faces. Well, except Travis who was shoving his tongue down the throat of a blonde who must have been twice his age. Typical Travis. Within minutes, Ethan was surrounded by a crowd of women, all desperate to get his attention.



The other two bands were nowhere near as good and, remembering my early night plans, I decided to leave halfway through the last band‘s set.



“I’ll come with you, Issy,” said Angel, pointedly ignoring Chad’s pout.



“You don’t have to,” I replied. “No need for you to cut your evening short on my account.”



“I promised that I would, so I will,” she countered. “I’m coming with you in the morning, to man the office while you have your big meeting, remember?”



“Oh, don’t remind me,” I groaned. “I was just beginning to forget.”



Angel and Chad engaged in a lingering goodbye kiss and I stood and grabbed my jacket of the back of my chair.