Ruby Rooms

"Get those fuckin' glasses up, high up in the air! I wanna see you sluts be as intoxicated as I am! Now one, two three...drink! Drink! Drink!"

Grinning to herself at the back of the room, Adrienne did as she was told. In fact, she had been doing as she was told all night. The tequila had made her cheeks glow and had left her feeling a little fuzzy around the edges. But she was enjoying herself. She turned to Paul to make her satisfaction known.

"Told you they were good," she said to him, matter of factly.

"They certainly are," he replied over the top of his beer bottle. "Have you decided if you're going to talk to him yet?"

"N'aaaw, Paul! Why'd you have to go and kill my buzz?! I wasn't even thinking of going and talking to him!"

"Don't lie to me Adrienne. You haven't taken your eyes off of him all night."

"Well---obviously. He's the front man. I need to watch him."

"You haven't been watching. You've been fawning."

"Fuck you."

"I'll leave that to him."

She scowled at her boss and then turned her attention back to the band. She hated to admit it, but Paul was right. She hadn't taken her eyes off the Reverend all night. She had found herself to be mesmorised by every thrust of his hips, every flick of his hair; every growl and every laugh.

She was just as captivated as the rest of the audience were, every time he told them to take a drink. Or clap. Or sing his lyrics back to him.

And it wasn't just the audience he had in the palm of his hand, the rest of the band were also under his spell. If he signalled them to play faster, they played faster. If he told them to repeat a bar, they repeated the bar until he was ready to carry on with the rest of the song. If he wanted to sing the song again, then the band willingly played the melodies over and over again until he had had his fill.

The Reverend was the leader and everyone else in the room that night was part of his flock.

And Adrienne had never wanted him more.

---

She waited patiently at the back of the club after their set had finished. She silently watched as girl after girl scrambled over each other to drape an arm around his neck and whisper innuendos in his ear.

Each time he said no, her smile grew wider.

She waited until he was alone at the bar to make her move. Standing behind him, she watched as he tore up napkins while he waited for his drinks.

"They say that's a sign of sexual frustration," she leant over his shoulder and placed her lips next to his ear.

She saw his shoulders tense but he made no move to look at her.

"Or is it if you tear off your beer labels?"

She saw his head turn slightly.

"Either way, it seems like you're not getting any."

"What difference is it to you?" His voice was husky from the show.

She moved to stand next him, rested her back against the bar and propped herself up on her elbows. He however, still gazed straight ahead. She found herself entranced by the beads of sweat that dripped from his hair and lazily traced their way down his neck.
"What are you doing here?" His voice interrupted her staring.
"I was hoping for a second baptism. I lost my way a little bit recently, and I was hoping you would reintroduce me to the Church of Lushtology."

Still without looking at her, he pushed a bottle of beer towards her. "Help yourself."

She ignored the beer and instead reached out one hand to rest on his shoulder. "Look at me."
Her voice was barely above a whisper, she would have been surprised if he had heard it at all, over the bustle of the club.
But he did, and ever so slowly turned his head towards her. "Glasses on or off?" he asked dryly.
"I don't know if this attitude is some sort of defence mechanism, or if it's because you really are pissed at me. And if you are, then I don't blame you. I know I hurt you. And I'll never be able to explain just how sorry I am. But---you hurt me too."

She reached out and took the glasses off herself, smiling as she brushed the sweat-dampened hair from out of his eyes.

"You look good," she informed, hand resting on his cheek.

"Well I've got God on my side haven't I?"

She could see the cockiness just itching to break through his hard exterior. She took another step closer to him and ran both her hands over his taut shoulders till they met in the middle of his back.

"Save me Reverend," she whispered again.

Her heart thumped wildly when he too got to his feet and slid his hands underneath her shirt to grasp at her hips.

"Are you sure you're ready to give in to temptation and be delivered to evil? Cause once you've had your second coming, there's no way back?"

"I strayed from the path before but I know for sure that this is what I want now."

She felt his lips graze her earlobe. "I'll be your Saint, I'll be your man---"

He pressed delicate kisses along her cheek until he was face to face with her again.

“And I’ll do most anything, cause I don’t care---” She relished the way the corners of his mouth lifted into a confident smirk as she recited the lyrics back to him.

“Well in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy tequila---I want to welcome you again, into the Church of Lushtology---”

The hungry kiss that he placed on her lips announced that her Confirmation was complete.

---

The Rev pushed harder into Adrienne, moaning in pleasure as she dug her nails into his back and arched her ribs in climax. He buried his head into her neck to stifle his sounds as he came shortly after.

“I’ve missed you so much,” he whispered into her ear as he pushed away her long, dark locks.

“You too,” she whispered back, kissing the side of his neck.

And it was true. Up until that moment, Adrienne had never realised just how much she had missed him. Feeling his chest rise and fall in time with her own breaths; feeling his skin on her skin; Adrienne had never felt more complete.

“Come back to Cali?” He asked, sitting up. “Be with me.”

“Are you sure it’s what you want? You’ve created a whole new life for yourself now. I’d hate to be the one that fucks things up for you.”

“Babydoll---the only way my life could get fucked up is if we don’t be together. The fact that we found each other again after fifteen years proves that this is the right thing to do. I know you think that you don’t have a clue who I am, but sweetheart---you gotta believe that no one knows me better than you do. From the first night I met you at the Ruby Rooms, you so easily brought walls down that I’d spent fifteen years building. I love you today, the exact same way I loved you all those years ago. Inside, I’m still the same. The Reverend is just something I created to numb the pain. But if you come back to Cali with me then I swear I’ll give it all up.”

She smiled coyly as she pressed her naked body up against his and reached over the side of the bed to pick his favoured white frames from off the floor. “Well---you don’t have to give him up completely.” She seductively placed them on his face. “Let’s save him for the bedroom.”

“Ooh baby---aren’t you something?” He flipped her over onto her back and placed soft, sporadic kisses on her neck and chest. “You know---all of this has given me inspiration for a song.” He lowered his kisses down her abdomen.

“Oh yeah---what’s it called?” She struggled to breathe evenly as she felt his velvet tongue glide over entrance.

His voice came out as a growl. “It’s Fuck Time.”