“Where the hell are the rest of your clothes?” He is literally growling the words at me. I mean, I’ve read about how men “growl” out a response, but I’m almost positive he’s about to turn into some kind of man-beast right in front of me.
“This is it – this is my costume.” My eyes are big and innocent, like I have no idea what he’s referring to. His eyes narrow to mere slits in his face, which by the way, has turned into a lovely shade of scarlet red due to the high volume of blood rushing for the top of his head.
“The hell you say! You are not going out there like this!”
“Yes, I am. This fits the scene, Luke.” I stay calm, knowing that yelling right now will only delay us getting the stage even more.
“Whose. Shirt. Is. That?” Each word is pointed, sharp and holds deeper meaning that he will even say out loud.
“Shane’s.” This answer visibly relaxes him for a split second.
“WHY THE HELL IS IT UNBUTTONED?” He’s just now realized this little fact.
“It’s not unbuttoned,” I start but his stance becomes increasingly menacing, “all the way. The last two are buttoned.”
He is about to go nuclear when Mitch saves me as he calls out, “Andi, you need to be onstage now.”
“OK!” I happily rush towards the back entrance to the stage and call over my shoulder, “Luke, put your mask on and get in position.”
Luke has no choice but to follow me now and he knows he has to be quiet because the previous performer isn’t quite finished yet. I take my place at the table with the wine and roses while Luke crouches down to hide behind the bed. When the curtains open and the music for my song starts, I’m transformed into another world and I forget all about Luke being pissed off about my lack of clothing.
The microphone is fit snugly over my ear so I can use both hands freely and move about the stage. I’m singingFamiliar Taste of Poison, by Halestorm, tonight. Love is the familiar poison. The wine is a metaphor for love and her lover urges her to consume all of it, until she becomes consumed by him but apparently he doesn’t need her as much as she needs him.
The music starts off slow and ominous, but seductive and alluring at the same time. My voice is soft as the song starts. After the first couple of lines, I pick up the wine glass and empty wine bottle and move to the front of the stage as Luke stands up behind the bed, wearing all black and holding a long-handled sickle in one hand. I sing the next few lines of the first verse and begin the chorus.
As I sing, I sit on the floor of the stage and lay the empty wine bottle down beside me. I then take a small capsule filled with a white powder, break it open and pour it into the wineglass, as I finish the last line of the chorus. The music continues while I drink the wine with the imaginary poison in it. I put the glass down and stand back up, leaving the empty bottle and glass lying on the stage floor well in front of me and out of the way. Luke, playing the part of death, lays the sickle down, steps out from behind the bed and stealthily moves to the front of the stage, standing just behind me.
I look over my shoulder at Luke as I sing the first line of the next verse.
He’s behind me but my movements mimic his, as if I’m his puppet on his string while he’s seducing me until he completely owns me. He’s so close to me, his front to my back, as death continues to seduce me and I sing the rest of the verse.
My voice becomes a little louder and more forceful as I repeat the chorus. After the first line of the chorus, Luke’s arm snakes around my waist. Because my shirt is unbuttoned, his hand slides inside the shirt and is warm against my skin. He pushes himself closer into me from behind and tightens his grip around my front.
At the end of the chorus, Luke moves around to my side and I turn to fully face him, our profiles to the audience. The crescendo of the music and my voice hit the high point of the song. The pull I feel to him is intense. We didn’t rehearse it this way, but I can’t help but be drawn into him. My arm reaches out to him, encircles his neck and our faces are mere inches apart as I sing the next verse to him, oblivious to the throngs of people watching.
My hands are on his face and our eyes are locked in place, on each other, never wavering. I feel his muscular arms move down my back until they rest just under my ass. Suddenly, he lifts me up and my legs wrap around his waist. I’m still singing to him but we must look like we’re making love on stage. And I don’t even care because I am so lost in this man right now.
As I sing the last repeat of the chorus, he begins walking back to the far side of the bed, so he can lay me down on it but not block the audience’s view of the show as I continue singing to him.
My legs are straight and my arms are folded over my chest, as if I’m now dead, and Luke leans in and deeply kisses me, sliding his tongue in my mouth, gently caressing mine. Just as the music starts to fade away, he stands erect and holds the sickle again, as if death itself is now standing over my lifeless body.
The curtains close and the crowd erupts in thunderous applause. I open my eyes and Luke helps me stand up off the makeshift bed as he takes his mask off. The curtains open again and we take our bow at the front of the stage.
I’m the first one to turn around and head backstage. My feet quickly carry me towards he dressing room. My body is still humming with electricity from Luke’s touch and his kiss. I can’t even think straight but I can feel him behind me, close on my heels. I march into the dressing room but I can’t turn around just yet. I hear him come in behind me and slam the door shut.
Before I can blink, I’m spun around andpushed up against the door. Luke lifts me and my legs instinctively wrap around his waist. He leans in and greedily takes my mouth with his. The kiss is furious and feverish, like neither of us can get enough. His obvious erection is grinding into me and every thrust is excruciatingly delicious through the flimsy silk panties I’m wearing under this shirt. The shirt that is now being pushed off my shoulders as Luke’s mouth moves down my neck and onto my collarbones.
LUKE
If anyone had told me that karaoke could be considered foreplay, I would’ve told them they were full of shit and obviously not doing it right. That is, before tonight, while I was onstage with Andi and had to use every bit of my restraint to not make her totally and completely mine in front of the whole damn club. Especially when she climbed up my body and wrapped her legs around me.
We did not rehearse that at all, but when she moved into me while singing that song, it just felt so natural. Of course, while we rehearsed our parts, she wasn’t actually singing the song. We just played the original song over and over. Butholy hell, Andi singing it while staring into my eyes made me seriously afraid I was going to embarrass myself onstage.
I really didn’t like her wearing just that button down shirt and her sexy bra and panties onstage. But I have to admit, it really did fit the scene she created. And I really appreciated it when my hand slid under the shirt and across her silky smooth skin. Speaking of silky smooth, I about lost my shit when I slid my hands under her ass to lift her up to straddle me. But she’s never wearing anything like that on stage again. EVER.
Now I’m following her to the dressing room and she’s moving through the people milling about back stage like a fucking freight train. I don’t know if she’s trying to get away from me or trying to get alone with me, but I’m not giving her one damn second to push me away. Enough’s enough – we are good together and we’re going to give this attraction a chance.
I close and lock the door behind me and grab her up before she can overthink it. She’s so responsive to me that I’m not sure who initiated the kiss but it’s awesome. I have her pinned against the door and her legs are around my waist again. She feels so damn good, like she’s made for me, and I haven’t even got inside her yet. It’s all I can do to break the kiss and move down her neck to other interesting areas.
