Talon (Ashes & Embers 4)

"Hell yeah, more clothes. Lots more. Who knew I married a chick who could make me awesome stage clothes? The guys are gonna go crazy." His hand grabs my waist in excitement. "Give us a kiss. I'm totally stoked about this."

The smile on my face is so big that we bang teeth when he kisses me, making him laugh.

"That was the worst kiss ever, babe. But I'll take it."

He releases me suddenly to pull his phone out of his back pocket. "Limo's here. The driver just texted me. You ready?"

I take a deep breath to calm my nerves. "I think so. Do you need to bring your guitar or anything?"

"No, the crew brings that stuff for us."

"Oh." I had no idea there was a "crew."

He holds his hand out to me. "Let's go, beautiful. You're gonna have a blast, trust me."

As we leave the house and walk down our walkway, I see the driver is waiting for us, dressed in a tux, next to the long, black limousine. He's older than I was expecting a driver to be, probably in his sixties. When we approach, he opens the door and greets us formally. "Mr. and Mrs. Valentine…it's a pleasure to drive you this evening."

"Thanks, Max," Talon says, fist-bumping him as we climb into the back of the car.

"Wow," I exclaim in awe when the driver closes the door behind us. "I've never been in a limo." I look around the inside as we sit on the long leather seat that wraps around and faces a bar with blue backlighting.

"I think you're gonna have lots of firsts with me, Aze."

"It looks that way."

As we descend the driveway, he puts his arm around my shoulders. "We could have sex back here."

"Actually, we couldn't because that would require me to agree to that, and I'm not."

Laughing, he pulls me closer and kisses the top of my head. "I had to try, babe… Kinda hard to resist when you look so gorgeous."

"Likewise."

"Did I tell you I love the clothes you made me?"

"Yes, and I love them on you."

"It means a lot that you did that, ya know. Like, actually made me cool clothes. Even if you did do it so I wouldn't be all sexy and shirtless, it's still pretty wild to have someone customize my clothes for me."

"I like to make things. It was fun for me. And I do kinda want your abs to myself. Wife rights, ya know."

Reaching across the interior, he grabs a bottle of water from the bar and twists the top off, offering it to me before taking a sip. I shake my head no and stare out the dark windows. I haven't been to Boston since I was a little girl and my family still resembled a family. At least on the outside. On the inside, the malfunction was already brewing.

When we arrive at the club, I feel like I'm sucked into a whirlwind of excitement and anxiety. The place is packed with people—with several bars, a huge dance floor, and the stage toward the back. There's an upper level that looks like it has another bar and some lounge areas. Music is blasting so loud I can barely hear my own thoughts in my head, which is probably a good thing right now because I feel like running for the door. I am definitely not a club scene type of girl.

I hold on to Talon's hand tightly as we navigate through the crowd, but every few steps someone is stopping him to say hello and chat. These are obviously people he's acquainted with and not fans per se. I'm guessing that because this is the grand opening, everyone here has received an exclusive invite and they aren't crazy fans off the street. I have to say, every inch of my body tingles when he continues to introduce me as his wife, especially when a photographer stops us to take our photo. Talon puts his arm around me and kisses my cheek as the photographer snaps our photos and then asks us a few questions about when we got married, my name, and what I do. I was a little surprised to be asked any questions about myself, but I answered them with a smile and didn't turn into a bumbling, embarrassing mess, thankfully.

Finally, we end up in a room where the rest of the band already is, hanging out and getting ready for the show.

"Dude, where the hell did you get those jeans?" Storm asks him as soon as we walk in. I love how Talon looks so much like his brothers, all of them blessed with beautiful eyes and silky, wavy long hair. Each of them is also covered in tattoos, which oddly enough, I am now finding more and more attractive. Talon stands out a little from them with his dirty-blond hair compared to their dark brown, but you can definitely tell they're all brothers. Then there's his cousin, Vandal, who's just…dark. Dark skin stretched over huge muscles, dark eyes, long, jet-black hair. And quiet. Brooding. He merely nods at us from his seat in the far back of the room.

"Asia made them for me. The shirt and scarf too," Talon continues to rave about the clothes.

All eyes turn to me, and I kind of want to melt into the flooring.

Asher touches Talon's shirt, checking out the embellishments I added. "This is really cool," he says. "Can you make more?"

Talon throws his hands up. "Chill. I don't know if I want you all looking as cool as me."

I laugh and can feel my cheeks getting hot. "I would love to design clothes for any of you."

"Well, I was going to ask her if she could make stage clothes for all of us, but I wanted to check with you guys first."

"Dude, there's no question," Storm says, then turns to me. "We definitely need to talk about this. Custom stage garb is in demand. To have someone right here in our family to make it for us is the balls. Figure out some pricing and let us know what you need."

"Okay…" I say shyly, completely not expecting this sudden attention. Making clothes for a famous rock band? It's unreal. I've made clothes for myself for years and have a few local boutiques carrying some of my items. And of course, Kat buys some clothing and accessories from me, but to have my designs worn by musicians? The mere thought of it is making me giddy.

Talon pulls me in for a kiss and then turns back to his brothers and cousins. "Be jealous, bitches. I got me a good one."

Storm punches him in the arm affectionately. "It's about time. And we all got good ones."

"I don't have a good one, and I don't want one. I'll take bad and dirty any day," Mikah announces from the back of the room, but he winks at me when I look over at him. I think all these guys are great guys inside, even though they are rough around the edges.

My husband gently tugs me into a quiet corner, away from the rest of the band. "You okay, babe? I know you don't like crowds."

I nod, smiling sweetly at him. "Yeah. I'm good."

"You up for maki

ng all of us clothes?"

"Definitely. Do you know how awesome that would be for me? I can't even grasp it."

"Well, grasp it, baby. Looks like you just fell into a permanent career. I hafta go and get set up and all that shit, so hang out with Evie, all right?"

"Okay, I can't wait to see you play."

He plants a quick kiss on my lips. "Hopefully, I won't disappoint."

* * *

Asher saunters to the mic at the center of the stage and gives the crowd a smile that reminds me very much of his little brother’s: a mix of sexy and boyish. It seems like ages ago when this handsome stranger walked me down the aisle when, in fact, it's been just a few weeks.

"First, I want to thank you all for celebrating the opening of this kick-ass club, the Rusty Knife! As some of you know, this is the first venue we ever played, many moons ago, when it was the Mouse Hole." He takes the mic off the stand and starts to walk toward the front of the stage, waiting for the crowd to stop screaming.

"So, before we start, I have a few announcements to share." He points to Storm, who bows playfully. "My brother Storm is engaged and getting married soon to the girl most of us know as Blizzard Chick." The crowd screams some more and Evie, who's sitting next to me, smiles. I really like Evie. She's close to my age and very sweet and friendly. She and Storm make a great couple from what I've seen the few times I've been around them.

Asher approaches Vandal, who doesn't smile. "Vandal is also no longer taking applications!" That gets a little grin out of Vandal as the girls in the crowd boo. "And Vandal's little bro Lukas, also my cousin, who couldn't be here tonight, is also very much taken!" Even more boos erupt from the female portion of the crowd.

Asher crosses the stage and stops next to Talon. He looks him up and down, grinning, before turning back to the crowd with a sly look.

"As you guys can see, my baby brother, who has played with no shirt on since day one of being in the band, is now wearing a kick-ass shirt. And I'm gonna bet it's because he just got married and his abs are officially off the market!"