Chapter 1

Most of my Gabby’s stories are romantic. This is one of the exceptions.

Rachel has appeared as a minor supporting character before now, and Michelle and Rose have been in too many stories to list here, but familiarity isn’t essential. I think. If you like the story but want to learn more about the women, see the reading order for my Gabby’s stories at my author page.

Rachel was enjoying her wine. It made a pleasant change. She usually avoided alcohol, preferring the small golden pill that she had in her back pocket, sealed in a tiny paper envelope. It was a bad idea to mix the pill and booze, so she usually stayed with soft drinks and water.

Tonight she was adapting. The pill had remained in her pocket. The primary reason was most likely pointless, but a secondary one was that she did want to appreciate the band. Her colleague Lauren had given her a ticket to the party. She’d been invited – well, her girlfriend had. Mika wasn’t a fan, even though she’d taken a locally acclaimed photo of the guitarist, mid-flight. She’d probably have attended out of politeness, but neither woman was in the country over the weekend. They were in Tokyo, where, according to news that broke in the office less than a week ago, the two had become fiancées.

Rachel was hoping that Lauren had given her other ticket to her friend Mandy. She was looking around for her.

The night Rachel had spent with Mandy had been magic. Almost literally so. She’d never felt a resonance with a one-night partner before. Certainly nothing like that. She needed to know whether the connection was just a side-effect of the E, and an otherwise good night, or if there had been something more. But Mandy had been actively avoiding her since that night. She wanted to change that, and she wanted to be in full control of her faculties.

Hence the envelope staying in her pocket. Hence being free to have a glass of wine or two. Hence the deep blue satin strapless dress, and the side-swept style, hair cascading down over her left shoulder, held in place with a mixed metal butterfly pin.

If Mandy was here, she’d find her and work her charms on her. She didn’t need E for that. Charming people was in her job description. She was executive assistant to a Senior Vice President at the bank, and spent much of the day calming either Ms. Mitchell or her clients. She was sure she could calm Mandy for long enough to discover why she was so opposed to another one night stand that she was sneaking out of rooms when she caught sight of her.

She would have sworn Mandy had been more than satisfied with their night together. Had she offended her by leaving after they’d worn each other out? That was normal for a hookup, and it was definitely a hookup that Mandy had signalled. They hadn’t even exchanged a word between beginning to dance and making out.

Unfortunately, as the evening wore on, she saw no sign of Mandy. This hotel’s ballroom was bigger and more crowded than the one where she’d spent last New Year’s Eve with the same band, but she thought she’d have found her by now. Maybe Lauren had given the ticket to someone else. Maybe Mandy didn’t like the band. Maybe she’d known that Rachel had Lauren’s ticket, and was avoiding her. She sighed and picked up another glass of wine.

She searched the faces through the band’s first set, and through the set break. The ballroom was becoming ever more crowded. The last New Year’s Eve show happened soon after “Of Darkness” had become local media celebrities, after being second-billed in the city rock festival. Since then their popularity had been growing. Deservedly so, in Rachel’s opinion, but seeing them was hardly an intimate experience anymore.

When the second set began, Rachel had just started her third glass of wine. It had been over a long enough period that she was only slightly buzzed, but it felt like the ideal state for rock. She pushed into the crowd, giving herself over to the music, her eyes on the flamboyant short guitarist, Sydney, and the tall blonde vocalist, Michelle.

There was a golden-haired woman leaning against the right wall who seemed to find the audience more interesting than the band. Her eyes caught Rachel’s a few times, seeming to narrow in interest. In a tied denim top and tight denim cutoffs, and with Mandy’s absence, the woman could be an interesting distraction. Rachel made her way in her direction, then when she caught her eye again, she pushed through the crowd to stand beside her.

The woman was of a height with Rachel, and maybe a couple of years older than her. She raised her eyebrows, holding her gaze.

Rachel leaned close enough to be heard over the music without shouting. At this distance from the stage, that had to be pretty close. The woman didn’t seem to object.

“You have to be the only one in here who isn’t watching the band,” she said.

“Seen ’em before,” the woman replied. “They’re good, but I thought I’d look for someone to hang out with while I enjoy the music.”

“You found someone, if you want,” Rachel said. “I’m Rachel.”

“Sure,” the woman said. “I’m Rose.”

They rocked out together, side by side. The audience was in constant motion, and Rachel was knocked into her new friend several times. Rose didn’t seem to mind. When Rachel stumbled one time, Rose caught her by the butt, helping her to avoid losing her footing, but not moving her hand away when Rachel was stably upright. Rachel felt a jolt of arousal at the proof that the woman’s interest extended beyond music appreciation. Rose shifted to stand behind her, her hand moved to Rachel’s hip. Rachel reached behind to move her hands to Rose’s bare waist, urging the other woman to grind against her ass.

After a few minutes, Rose spun Rachel around, stepped in front of her, then deftly turned them both to face the stage, inverting their position. Now Rachel was pressed to her butt, taking her waist in both hands again. Rose leaned back, then turned her face to Rachel. It took a moment to realize that she was trying to shout into her ear again, so she turned her head, allowing her to do that.

“Hey! Wanna come backstage afterward?” Rose called out. “I know the singer.”

Rachel wasn’t sure she believed that. Though if she was a regular at their gigs, it could be true. But whatever the woman was planning, she was in. Still, she wasn’t above a little name-dropping of her own. “Sure! She’s a friend of a friend of mine,” she said, turning her head back. “The photographer who took the shot you see everywhere. Fujita?” It wasn’t strictly true. She’d met Mika, but it was her partner who was Rachel’s friend. “She’s overseas getting engaged. I have her ticket.”

“Engaged? To the redhead, I hope?

Hmm. Maybe Rose really did know the band.

“Yeah, I work with Lauren. We got the news a few days ago.”

“Oh, yeah? That’s great,” said Rose. “Yeah, I’m sure Michelle will find time for you.”

Rachel didn’t quite know what to make of the woman’s grin.

Midnight approached. The spotlights dimmed, and a number appeared in a projection on the back wall. 60. The band kept their eyes on the number counting down, stopping their song early but cleanly just before the count descended to thirty. At ten, Michelle led the countdown, yelling “Happy New Year” on the zero, then blowing kisses to the audience, who took note, kissing their partners or random people.

Rose spun around, grabbed Rachel’s face, and made it clear she wasn’t going to give Rachel the opportunity for random kissing as she devoured her tongue. God. Rachel had hoped for a midnight kiss from the woman, but she hadn’t expected quite the intensity, as she kissed her soundly, her breasts pressed to Rachel’s. When she could finally come up for air, Rachel’s heart was racing and her clit was tingling.

The band had begun a fairly straight rendition of Auld Lang Syne, though Sydney held on to the last chord, then turned to face her amp, letting the trailing sound build into a howl of feedback, out of which she twisted an ascending scream. Turning back to face the audience, the guitarist tore back down from the scream into a rhythm, which continued for a few seconds before the whole band leaped in, Sydney turning the rhythm into the riff beginning one of their newer songs.

The audience reacted with screams and cheers before Michelle yelled above the sound of the instruments.

At some point, without Rachel even noticing, Rose had moved Rachel’s hands back to her waist, and was gripping them, clamping the younger woman against her back. Not that Rachel would have moved away even if she hadn’t been captured.

Rose used her grip to grind against the woman behind her for two encores, which still didn’t satisfy the audience, even though it was now well after midnight. After loud demand, Michelle returned, followed by the rest of the band. It looked like she’d poured water over her head, since she was still toweling off at the mike stand. Sydney tossed her a short sleeve shirt as she began to speak.

“I love you all, guys, but this has to be the last,” she said, slipping her arms into the shirt. “The hotel’s been great, but we’re pushing our luck if we ever want to play here again. So we’re gonna go out quietly with a song of Jon’s that we’ve never performed before. Look out for it on the new album. Seriously, guys, you’ve eaten our whole setlist. “

She left the shirt hanging open as she picked up her bass, quickly checking its tuning as Sydney did the same with her guitar. She’d brought this one out with her. The V-shaped guitar that Rachel had always seen before was still on its stand, replaced with the bigger, rounded instrument with sound holes beside the strings.

Jon began the new song on keyboard, with Bianca following with subdued drums and then Sydney, with strings muted by her hand. It didn’t sound like an “Of Darkness” song at all, until Michelle began to sing, in a voice that rasped with emotion. Rachel hadn’t heard the band play like this before, but somehow with the voice the group gelled into the same sound, but in a different mode, lyrics biting and dark, with Michelle’s voice echoing that harshness, denying the lyricism of the underlying melody on keyboard.

Michelle didn’t touch her bass until the vocals ended, when Sydney’s guitar began to soar, in a slow solo that carried the same dark edge as Michelle’s vocals, melodic but bleak. Bass and keyboards grew beneath the solo, then Michelle’s voice rose, still rough, but louder and higher, the whole band creating a densely layered sound, until the music stopped, leaving her voice alone. It descended into the dark, emotional tone of the early part, joined by the other three musicians in a crescendo, until they blasted out the final chords while Michelle stood with her head bowed, picking out bass notes undramatically while the others threw themselves into the closing.

There was a stunned silence before applause started, growing into cheers. Although a solid core of fans tried to yell for another encore, they stood alone as most started to leave. Finally even the diehard fans gave up their demands and followed the others.

Rachel leaned against Rose, speaking into her ear at a normal volume. “Jesus,” she said. “I mean, that was awesome, but it was a hell of a start to the New Year. Are they trying to drive us away?”

“I think you’ll find the audience loved it,” Rose said. “Check Insta tomorrow.”

“Well, okay,” said Rachel. “So are you going to introduce me to your friend, or are you just going to try to carry me home?”

“I think that might be harder than it looks,” the woman said. “You look like you could blow away in the breeze, but it feels like you have muscles hiding somewhere. Let’s go find her.”

Rachel had become less skeptical. Rose was acting very confident for someone who didn’t really know the local legendary artists. She felt Rose tuck her hand into her arm and lead her toward the door by the stage.

There were a couple of men packing carrying crates who eyed them skeptically. At least, they eyed Rachel skeptically, but then they saw Rose, gave her a nod, then turned back to their work. One seemed to have a smirk on his face. Apparently Rose was known here.