Free One Night with Sole Regret 02 Tempt Me by Olivia Cunning

Shade’s face.
    “ Now is not the time for
this,” Kellen said. “Adam, your cue.”
    Fuck the concert. Adam wanted to beat
the shit out of Shade. Just because Adam had wanted to spend time
with Madison at the expense of his other responsibilities did not
make him irresponsible. Did it? And even if it did, why did Shade
think it was any of his business? Adam wasn’t Shade’s
responsibility. Fuck him.
    Adam heard the drumbeat
that signaled the start of his guitar intro. His hands found
familiar strings and began to play automatically. He should already
be on stage in the red spotlight over his stomp pad. If Shade would
stop sticking his arrogant nose where it didn’t belong and making
Adam’s blood boil, Adam might be able to concentrate on what he was
doing. He played his way up the stage steps and pretended his
entrance was part of the show. The crowd wouldn’t know any
different. When the spotlight bathed him in an aura of crimson, the
crowd erupted in screams of excitement. Yeah, just try continuing this band without me,
asshole.
    Shade darted across the
stage and stood at its center, belting out a battle cry that would
have made Spartans tremble. The crowd roared even louder. Son of a bitch.
    If Adam didn't love Sole Regret’s
music so much, he'd have left the band—and Shade's bullshit—long
ago.
    Fingers flying over the strings near
the body of his guitar as he played one of his most elaborate
solos, Adam caught movement at the corner of the stage. He turned
his head to find Madison watching him with her hands clenched
together over her heart. He should play something just for her. He
wondered if she'd like that. Near the end of his solo he lifted the
neck of his guitar vertically next to his face and caught her scent
on his hand again. He drew a deep breath into his lungs and his
eyes drifted closed. Mercy, she smelled like honeyed
sin.
    Reluctant to move his hand, Adam took
his time lowering his guitar to rest in front of his suddenly
attentive cock. Not the best time and place to become aroused, but
he couldn’t help it. Her scent did that to him. Everything about
her did that to him.
    The stadium erupted in cheers as he
completed his solo and stepped back from the front edge of the
stage. As loud as the crowd was, the only cheer that made his heart
thud was Madison's fist thrown in the air with excitement. She'd
never cheered like that at one of his shows before. She'd always
hung back away from the action and tried to remain unnoticed. He
wondered about the sudden change in her. He was glad she was having
a good time, but he wasn't sure if he wanted her to change. She was
his anchor as well as the wind in his sails. He needed to know she
was there for him even when he didn’t see her for weeks, sometimes
months, at a time.
    The song ended, and Shade stalked the
front of the stage, talking to the crowd as vocalists were prone to
do. “How are we feeling tonight, Dallas-Fort Worth?”
    The crowd roared on cue. Adam stole a
glance at Madison. She offered him a timid wave and then smiled and
lowered her gaze. He couldn't see the color of her face from this
distance, but he knew she'd be blushing. He loved it when she
blushed.
    Shade was still jabbering
at the crowd. He might as well have been talking like an adult in
a Peanuts cartoon
for all that Adam heard. The heavy thud of Gabe's bass drum snapped
Adam to attention when the next song started. He really was out of
it tonight; he needed to step up his game. He did have fans to
entertain. He could concentrate on entertaining Madison in about an
hour.
    Adam trotted to the front of the stage
next to Shade the-attention-whore Silverton, and bent forward to
play a hard and heavy riff to a cluster of fans in the
pit.
    “ Adam, you're a god!”
someone yelled.
    He grinned. Did you hear that, Shade? They think I'm a
god.
    “ I love you, Shade,”
someone else yelled like a banshee with a megaphone.
    Son of a bitch.
    Adam noted the amused grins
on the faces of