Bad Reputation

Chapter 1

Even with enhanced speed, it still feels like an eternity until I finally reach the concert hall. The doors opened almost an hour ago, but there is still a line around the building and down the street. As I hide in the shadow of the building across the street, I bite onto my bottom lip as I try to come up with a way to slip inside without being noticed. A heavy sigh escapes my lips as I scan the area for a break.

"Running late again Ella?" I don't even need to turn around to know who it is behind me; I would recognize his voice anywhere. When I turn around, Quin is standing before me in his usual attire, black skinny jeans, a grey shirt with a repeating skull pattern, his old black converses with the white trim, and his shoulder length pink hair is tousled as if he hadn't brushed it when he got out of the shower today (which he probably didn't), and a mischievous smile plastered on his pale face.

I can feel that my face has flushed from his teasing, "I would have been on time, but I got side tracked." Quin raises an inquisitive eyebrow at me waiting for me to continue. "Rogue vampire feeding in public." I clear my throat knowing I am going to get a lecture in a moment. "I was going to send him back to the demon realm to train himself; but the prick decided to spit blood in my face. So, I scratched that plan and eliminated the problem."

To my surprise, instead of a lecture, Quin bursts into laughter. "How is it, that you will kill someone without a second thought, but the minute you have to tell me about it you get so nervous?" He asks me as he continues to chuckle.

"Honestly?" I say innocently. Quin nods his head anticipating my answer. "I really just didn't want to hear a lecture."

To my words, Quin blinks a few times before once again bursting into laughter. "Hey, if it was a rouge, the sentence is usually death anyways, so you just saved mom the trouble of killing him herself."

"Or you since your mom has you doing her dirty work as "training" to take her place on the throne." I insert.

"Good point." Quin chuckles as his eyes shift to the giant line behind me. "Geez, you think you have enough fans?" He asks as he looks back down at me, his ice blue eyes burying themselves into mine.

I scratch the back of my head lightly, "Yeah... before you popped up, I was trying to figure out a way in." As the words left my lips, an idea slipped its way into my head. "Hey Quin, you've been backstage at this hall before, right?"
"Yeah, once before when we came to see your grandfather play. I think we were like, eight at the time?" I watch his eyes raise to the sky as he tries to recollect before he shifts his gaze back to me. "Why?"

"Would you please portal me backstage?" I ask innocently as I bat my long fake eyelashes at him. I watch him cross his arms across his chest before he answers.

"You still haven't been able to make a portal yet?" He asks me in a fatherly tone.

"Come on Quin, I'm really, really late." I beg him, pouting my lip in an attempt to make him break.

"I'll do it, but I want something in return." His voice his husky now as his eyes shift down to my breasts that are protruding from the low cut in my shirt.

"What did you have in mind?" I once again ask in an innocent tone. I know exactly what he wants. Truth be told, I need it as much as he does, but we just don't have the time right now.

Without another word, he pushes me against the brick wall beside us and hungrily places his lips on mine. He uses his tongue to part my lips before intertwining it with my own. Ever since we first starting dating, the passion between us has been a blazing ball of fire that just never goes out. As our kiss continues, Quin runs his strong hands down from my hips to my ass and finally to the undersides of my thighs. My arms drape around his neck as he lifts me up, his lips begin to trail down from mine to my cheek, to my chin before he runs his skillful tongue down my neck.

"Quin..." I whisper as he continues to assault my neck with nips of pleasure. "We don't have time to do this now."

"I know..." He growls in my neck as I feel the sharp point of his fangs against my skin. "But I love seeing you perform when you're all hot and bothered." My entire body is vibrating as I feel his length growing against my middle. When my eyes meet his again, I see the devilish smirk spread across his lips when he notices that my eyes have shifted to their lavender color.

"Ah, ah... you don't have time remember?" He says mockingly before placing me back on my feet. I'm so flustered that I cannot even keep myself upright without leaning against the brick wall behind me. My face is flushed, and my breathing is accelerated from the moment we just shared together.

"You are going to pay for doing that to me later, I hope you realize that." I say to him as I attempt to get myself together.

"Oh, I am looking forward to it." Quin says, still in his sexy, husky tone. "But right now, you only have fifteen minutes until showtime, and I am sure that your bandmates are wondering where their lead singer is."

I bite my bottom lip seductively to his words, but quickly release it when he mentions my bandmates. "I am never going to hear the end of it from them, I know." I sigh heavily before lacing my fingers through his. "Lead the way."

Quin chuckles at my exasperation and tightens his grip on my hand. He checks the area to make sure we are unseen before opening a portal into the band's room backstage.

"Ella Hunter! Where the hell have you been?!" I hear a shrill male voice yell out as soon as Quin and I make our way through the portal.

"Fuck..." I mumble under my breath. When I look up, I notice the wide smile that has stretched across Quin's lips indicating he heard my curse.

"I'm just gonna head down to the bar and get a drink before getting into the pit. See ya babe." Quin says before leaning down to kiss my lips softly. "I love you." He says quietly in my ear.

"I love you too." I grumble as I kiss him back, knowing he is leaving before getting caught in the middle of my lecture. His fingers unlace from mine as he makes his way from our backstage room out into the crowded hall of fans.

With a heavy sigh, I turn around to confront the shrill male voice that assaulted my ears just a moment before. Standing in front of me is my band manager Marty. He's wearing his signature khaki dress pants, black dress shoes, a white dress shirt, and the ugliest sweater vest you've ever seen in your life. If you didn't know any better, you'd think he worked in a library; but nope, here he is the manager of my rock band ladies and gentlemen.

"Just where the hell have you been Ella?" Marty says as he taps his perfectly polished shoe against the tile floor. His dark brunette hair hangs just over his caramel colored eyes.

"I ran into a bit of a distraction." I say with an even tone. No need to disclose any more information than that. Marty knows that I and the rest of my band mates are not human, but he elects not to know any more than that. He doesn't even know specifically what we are, he feels it makes it easier to keep the secret that way.

"We don't have time for you to be shoving your tongue down your boyfriend's throat when we schedule practice before a show, Ella!" His eyes are burning with rage.

"What is the big deal Marty? We never practice right before a show and I got here in time, didn't I?" I cross my arms over my chest in annoyance. "What has got your perfectly white panties in a twist?"

"Ella, the president of Golden Records is out there tonight and depending on how this performance goes, he may be willing to sign the band to a recording contract and three-year, worldwide tour." I feel my jaw drop to the floor at his words. "So please take this a little more seriously!"

"Why didn't you fucking tell me that before now?!" I yell at him in a panic.

"Well, I would have if you had actually shown up for practice like I asked!" He barks back at me. Marty studies my face for a moment before sighing heavily. "The band is ready, just go out there and sing your heart out. Alright kiddo?"

He must be able to tell my anxiety is through the roof considering he is being so nice all of the sudden. I nod to his words nervously before heading towards the door. This could be the biggest break of my, and my bandmates lives. As I walk down the well-lit hallway towards the black backstage curtain, I am shaking in my boots. Literally!