Under Her Skin Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  UNDER HER SKIN

  Alexis Lauren

  All Rights Reserved © Alexis Lauren

  Other Books by Alexis Lauren

  Big Tex

  Table for Two

  Mending the Soul

  ____________________________________________

  Chapter 1

  Look at him standing over there surrounded by all the women…acting all smug and showing off his chiseled body. He thinks he's mister perfect, and those women don't help, they do nothing but feed his over-inflated ego….like it's not big enough already.

  Even the guys worship him. Why? What is so great about Tobias Flynn? Sure he sings pretty well, but does that make him worth his weight in gold? There are plenty of good singers out there. Me? I'd take a drummer over a singer any day.

  "Watching me again Lola?" Tobias smirked as he brushed past Marlo, bumping his shoulder into hers.

  "Ow, you ass! That hurt!" Marlo yelled, rubbing her now bruised shoulder. If she had been paying attention, she never would have let him get that close to her. Tobias always managed to inflict some sort of bodily harm when he got within two feet of her. "And stop calling me Lola. Only my friends can call me that."

  "You know for a 24 year old, you sure act like a little baby." He threw back as he walked away.

  Marlo clenched her fists and growled. That boy was so infuriating! Of all the guys that her brother could have picked to be the singer in his band Pleasure Pointe, why did he have to choose Tobias? He just loved to pick on Marlo, any time he could. It was like a sport to him, to see how far he could push her.

  And no matter how strong Marlo was, he always got to her. Any time someone else gave her shit, she could give it back to them two-fold. But when it came to Tobias, he seemed to get the best of her every time. Sure, she was able to come up with a few witty comebacks, but more often than not, she was at a loss for words.

  Marlo LaPointe, better known to her friends as Lola, was quite a girl. She was always laid back and easy going, usually getting along with everyone. Well, except when Tobias was around. She had friends far and wide, priding herself on her loyalty and openness. Wherever she went, she made friends, even if they were only in town for the day when the band was touring.

  She went everywhere with the band. Her brother Dustin had started it about four years ago, and over the past year, their popularity had grown immensely. Everywhere they went, they were recognized, either from the magazines and TV shows that had done features on them, or just from their music itself. Not only did they perform in the cities on the tour, but they also did a lot of publicity at each stop. Marlo helped her brother by being his Personal Assistant, since the band was always so busy. Honestly, Dusty didn't exactly need a full time PA, but he and his sister were so close that he used it almost as an excuse to keep her around. Neither one of them had been very close to their parents, and had learned to rely on each other at an early age.

  Dusty never felt that having his little sister around all the time was cramping his style with the ladies. Marlo was a lot of fun, and never looked down on him for the choices he made when it came to female companionship. He however, was a little more protective when it came to guys wanting to be with his little sister.

  "Breathe Lola." Dusty laughed as he walked up to his sister and put his hands on her shoulders. He thought that the bickering between his sister and Tobias was funny, for the most part. But sometimes they got carried away, and that annoyed the hell out of Dusty.

  Marlo shook her head, her long, curly brown hair swaying from side to side. "Why are you friends with such an ass?" She asked, as she had so many times before.

  "Come on, the bus is leaving soon." He said, ignoring her question. He steered her to the tour bus, rubbing her shoulders the whole way.

  Soon after, the whole band was on the bus. They left the thruway rest stop and set back out on the road. Tobias and AJ, the bass player, were in the back of the bus playing Xbox, while Marlo, Dusty, and Sammy, the drummer, sat up front playing cards.

  The card players were having a great time, laughing and hollering as each hand came to an end. They were betting with pretzel sticks, and at the end of the night, Marlo was the one with all the pretzel sticks. She could bluff better than either of the guys, and in the end, that's what won her all the loot.

  "Well guys, it's been fun taking all your pretzels, but it's time for me to hit the sheets." Marlo got up from the table and kissed the cheeks of both her brother and Sammy. "See you guys in the morning." She said, walking towards the bunks. She grabbed her pajamas off the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. She reappeared a few short minutes later, then hopped up into her top bunk and closed the privacy panel.

  Tobias was getting bored playing video games, so he went up front to see what the others were doing. "Hey guys. Game over so soon?" He asked.

  "Yeah, we lost it all man, we're broke." Sammy told him sadly.

  "Must have been a big loss, huh? Those pretzel sticks, what're you going to do without them?" He asked dramatically and laughed. "So where's the princess?" He wondered, looking around.

  "She went to bed for the night. We have a long day ahead of us tomorrow with all the interviews and the concert." Dusty said.

  Tobias nodded his head and went towards the back of the bus. A sudden excitement rose in his body as he got an idea. He slowly and quietly slid open the partition of Marlo's bunk. He saw her sleeping so peacefully, causing Tobias to smile. He lowered his head so that his mouth was right near her face, and took a deep breath. "Whatcha doing Lola?" He yelled as loud as he could.

  Marlo shot up out of a deep sleep when she heard the screaming in her ear. Unfortunately the bunks were really small, and she hit her head on the top of it when she flew up. Moaning, she put her head back on the pillow and rubbed the spot that she hit. "You dumb ass, get the hell away from me!" Her voice dripped with venom.

  Tobias laughed as he walked away, feeling completely re-energized. He lived to torment Marlo.

  The next morning, they had arrived in the city and had three different appearances that they had to be at before they performed later that night. At the first publicity event, a morning radio show, the guys all looked surprisingly refreshed. The two women deejays were really looking forward to getting Pleasure Pointe into the studio to grill them.

  "Good morning guys, it's great to finally meet all of you in person. I'm a big fan of all your work, and I can't wait to hear you guys live tonight." The tall blonde woman gushed.

  "Excuse her, she turns into a total groupie with the younger groups." Her red-headed counter-part quipped.

  The guys all laughed, and Tobias wagged his eyebrows at the blonde.

  "So, Pleasure Pointe is really coming into its own. You've had some songs top the charts, and you've done a couple of videos. How's it feel?" The blonde asked.

  "It's great. It's so much better than we ever expected, or imagined. We have really cool fans that we want to thank for supporting us from the beginning. We couldn't do it without any of them."
Dusty said.

  "And with all the success, you've been getting a lot more press lately. I've heard some stories about Mr. Flynn. Is it true that you're a wild man and you can't keep your hands off the ladies?" The redhead asked.

  "Well, I don't like to brag, but…" Tobias started and winked at the DJ's.

  "We're trying to get him trained, but the zookeeper has his hands full." Sammy joked.

  The interview went on to talk about the band's music, while Tobias and the blonde made eyes at each other. When the chat session ended, the band hugged the DJ's before leaving. Tobias left with more than a hug though, he got the blonde's number and a groped member. Just a little preview of what was to come later in the night.

  Chapter 2

  "Dude! That was so fucking awesome!" Sammy yelled, running back into the dressing room. He felt like he was on a high as the blood raged through his body.

  "Another sold out crowd boys! Great job tonight. You were all dead on tonight and it seriously rocked." Marlo congratulated them. She gave each one a hug and kiss, stopping when she got to Tobias, and opted to give him a friendly punch on the arm instead of the affection she had showered on everyone else.

  Tobias rolled his eyes and yelled to the bodyguard at the door. "Let the ho's in man!"

  Marlo shook her head. No matter how many times she had seen him act like this, she never thought she'd be completely comfortable with it. He was such a man-whore.

  In a flash, hordes of people flooded the dressing room. Most of the people were women, but there were a few men too. Some had won backstage passes from the radio station contests, while others had been handpicked from the crowd by the band members.

  Marlo hung back from the crowd for a little while, giving the fans time to meet the band members. After it seemed like everything had settled down a little, she came out from her spot in the corner and started to mingle. As usual, most of the girls were hoochies, just looking for a quick fuck from a member of the band. There were a few who seemed pretty down to earth, and some who could even form coherent sentences. Marlo gravitated towards those women.

  She was getting along great with a couple of the girls, talking about where the local hotspots were in town and where the cutest guys hung out. They were laughing and joking, drawing the attention of a couple of the men who had gotten back stage.

  One in particular seemed to take a strong interest in Marlo. He listened to her talk for a few minutes before he stepped up and introduced himself. "Excuse me, I'm sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to introduce myself. My name's Pierce." He said holding out his hand.

  Marlo smiled. Hmm…Good looks and charm. It seems like there's a hint of intelligence too. Nice! "Marlo. But my friends call me Lola." She shook his hand softly, gazing into his crystal-clear green eyes.

  "So I should call you…?" He questioned, waiting for her to finish for him.

  "Lola. Definitely Lola." She told him, still holding onto his hand, a seductive look in her eyes.

  Pierce didn't miss the suggestion in her eyes. He felt a slight stirring below the belt, and it seemed as though the temperature in the room shot up about 20 degrees hotter than it already was. "Um, can I get you something to drink?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly.

  Lola nodded. "Sure, go tell my brother to mix me up a 'Lola Special'." She said and pointed to Dusty.

  Pierce looked over to where she was pointing. There were five or six women surrounding only one man, one of the guys from the band. He didn't see any other guys in that general area. "Which one are you pointing at?"

  "Dusty." She answered as if it was no big deal.

  Pierce nodded, suddenly even more nervous. He weaved through the clusters of people until he finally reached his destination. "Excuse me." He interjected into the conversation, or lack-there-of. Dusty looked up at him from the bar stool he was sitting on. "Uh, Marlo asked if you could make her a 'Lola Special'."

  Dusty looked the man over. Definitely his sister's type. He got up from the stool and grabbed a few liquor bottles. "So, you're trying to get with my sister?"

  Pierce didn't know what to say. "Nah man." He said nervously. Dusty gave him a look that said not to bull shit a bull shitter. "Seriously though. Your sister's a knockout, and she looked like she was having a lot of fun. I wouldn't mind getting to know her, and it'd be cool to hang out with her."

  "That's cool." Dusty said, mixing the drink. "Hurt her and die." He said, ever so friendly. He handed over the drink, and went back to the groupies that had been drooling all over him.

  Pierce scratched his head at the slightly weird exchanged and headed back to Lola. She gratefully accepted the drink from him and moved over on the couch so that he could sit next to her. They talked quietly amongst themselves, getting to know one another. When Marlo's glass was empty, she pulled him off the couch and led him back to her brother.

  "What is that stuff, by the way?" Pierce asked.

  "Technically, it's a Sex on the Beach, but my brother hates it when I call it that." She laughed. She looked at her brother and held up her empty glass and shook it at him.

  Dusty laughed and got up to make her another drink. As he mixed it, he made conversation with his sister and Pierce. He found out that Pierce was a new writer from The Hits magazine, and that he was doing a piece about bands on the rise. It was his first big article with the magazine, and they were giving him free reign on the topic as a trial of sorts.

  "So you chose us to focus on for the article?" Dusty asked.

  "Well, there are two other bands that I am including, but the main focus of the content is on you. I can't believe your publicist didn't tell you about it." Pierce said. "So, I guess you don't know that I'll be traveling with you for a few cities then either?" He asked sheepishly.

  "Nope, hadn't heard that one." Dusty told him. He looked questioningly at Marlo. She shook her head to let him know that she hadn't heard anything either.

  "Don't worry; I'm riding on the other bus most of the time. I believe my bunk is between the manager and the publicist, if you ever need to find me." He joked as he started to feel more comfortable with them. "I'll only be on your bus for a short time each day to get some material to write about."

  Dusty shrugged, not really caring. Pierce seemed like a pretty cool guy. Marlo on the other hand was all smiles.

  "Maybe I should take you out to the bus now and show you around before the guys get back there. They can be a little overzealous when they get on the bus after a show." Marlo suggested, enjoying the excuse to get Pierce alone. She led Pierce out of the dressing room and headed towards the bus, not realizing that she had a spectator watching her every move. The person watching rolled his eyes and went to talk to Marlo's brother.

  "Dude, who was that douche bag your sister just left with?" Tobias growled at Dusty.

  "Oh, that's Pierce, he's a pretty cool guy." Dusty told him, then explained what Pierce was there to do. The scowl never left Tobias' face. "You know man, if someone didn't know how much you and Lola hated each other, they'd think you were a little jealous that she just left with another guy."

  "What? You're crazy. What would I have to be jealous about?" He asked. "Why would I want your virgin sister when I just screwed this city's hottest DJ in the bathroom half an hour ago, and got the best blow job from some redhead in the closet right after that."

  "I'm just saying…" Dusty started, but was interrupted.

  "You know what? Never mind! I'm going back to the bus. It's time to blow this place anyways." Tobias stormed out of the dressing room, leaving Dusty behind, shaking his head and laughing.

  Tobias ran onto the bus, hoping to break up whatever moment was being shared between Marlo and Pierce, but was surprised to find Marlo alone. She was sitting in her robe, on the couch, flipping through a magazine.

  "Hey." He said, getting her attention.

  "Hey. Great show tonight." Marlo said nervously. She didn't know how to talk to him civilly. Most of the time they were around each other they were fighting.
If they weren't fighting, then they just weren't speaking. She didn't know how to just have a normal conversation with him.

  "Thanks. It was a blast out there tonight. It's always better when the crowd is totally into it." He sighed, sitting down next to her. Just as his mouth opened to say something else to her, the bathroom door opened.

  Tobias jumped up when he saw a guy walk out in nothing but his boxers. "What the fuck is going on here?" His angry eyes turned from the man, Pierce, to Marlo. "You met this guy tonight and gave him your virginity already? What the fuck are you thinking?" He yelled. As soon as he saw Marlo's face, a chorus of 'OH SHIT!'s ran through his head.

  "First of all fuck-nut, it is absolutely none of your business what I do with my life. Second, we didn't do anything. I spilled my drink all over us, and I'm washing our clothes." She was livid. "And thanks for airing all my business to some guy I just met." She said, her voice cold and dead. She walked to the back of the bus and rummaged through some drawers. She handed some clothes to Pierce. "Here, they're my brothers. I'll get your clothes back to you tomorrow."

  Pierce squirmed into the sweatshirt, then slid the wind pants on over his boxers. He looked at Marlo apologetically, only to be met with her mortified eyes. He kissed her cheek softly and brushed his thumb softly over the spot he kissed. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  Marlo walked him to the door and shut it behind him. She turned to Tobias. He sat there with a blank look on his face. He didn't know what to say or do. He felt bad about the situation, and was confused as to why he exploded the way he did.

  "Stay out of my life." Marlo said, sternly and evenly, then disappeared into her bunk.

  Chapter 3

  "I want nothing to do with you anyways!" Tobias had yelled at Marlo as she fled to her bunk. His guilt had now turned into anger, and that mixed with some alcohol made for a pretty messy cocktail. "Screw this!" He said and stormed out of the bus.

  Tobias made his way back to the dressing room where there were still crowds of people. There was only one thing on his mind at this point, and he was determined that nothing would stop him. He wanted sex…loud, nasty, dirty sex.