Tempting Ballad

by Katherine McIntyre

  And Leo … well, he’d been an unwelcome revelation from beginning to end. The feelings the man sparked in him, the intensity that flared in their exchanged looks—he could drown in those sorts of emotions and never resurface.

  Renn exited the building and headed to the RV in the parking lot, the chilly winds causing him to zip up his leather jacket. Renn didn’t let people in—he didn’t tell them about his sister, and he didn’t share quiet moments with them. Sure, some nights in bed his skin grew cold and his heart froze, but if he iced over, he couldn’t feel the pain.

  Yet somehow Leo fought his way through all the numbness with a persistence and a steadiness that could only come from him. The yaksha had marked him in a way Renn could never forget.

  That left a lot to mull over, and his head began to hurt. Renn hated contemplating the heavy shit. His hand settled on the door to the RV as he prepared to yank it open. Beneath all of the chaos muddling his head, an undercurrent of anticipation formed—for better or for worse. They were close to finding out what happened to Belle. To finding out if his little sister was alive or not.

  If she’d survived, she wouldn’t be a girl anymore, not with the fifteen years that had passed since they took her. The ‘if’ still hung in his mind, the alternative he steeled himself against.

  Renn stepped inside, the warmth of the RV settling over him fast.

  A cough sounded from farther in, and the stench of cigarettes wafted his way. Renn wrinkled his nose as he caught Jett sliding the window shut and trying to smother his coughs.

  “Seriously, I ditch for a few days and you guys ruin our RV with that nasty stench,” Renn complained, striding to the vinyl booth, worn and weathered from the amount they all crashed out on it.

  Jett shrugged, a subtle smile playing on his lips. “Like you’re oblivious to the fact we always sneak cigs when you’re not watching.”

  Renn rolled his eyes. He knew, but he’d continue giving them shit, because that scent was rank. “Mostly because the lot of you are shifty assholes.”

  Jett raised one careful eyebrow. Even amid the chaos of their RV, Jett always appeared polished, from his dark hair to his neat button-downs—not so different from Leo. “You want to talk shifty assholes? Who’s the one who snuck out on the band to run off with your CEO lover in pursuit of a sister you never mentioned once?”

  “For fuck’s sake.” Renn heaved out a sigh. “I was coming here to escape that feelings shit. You of all people are one to talk about lack of care and shares.” He gave Jett a knowing glance. After all, he’d slept under the man’s bed for years now and heard the murmured words and tossing and turning from the nightmares plaguing the siren.

  Jett reached in their minifridge and grabbed a beer, cracking it open. Renn gestured, and Jett nabbed one for him, passing it over. The cool glass settled in his palm.

  “I’m not having this conversation without alcohol,” Jett muttered, taking a quick swig from the bottle.

  “We could just not have it at all,” Renn suggested, knowing out of anyone, Jett would take him up on the offer. There’d been flickers of interest between him and the siren in the past, and while they’d shared some bed partners, in the end, they were both far too similar to ever crack past the surface. Renn had believed he’d never meet anyone who could bypass the locks to his vaults, until Leo strolled right in and cracked them.

  “Ha, I’m tempted,” Jett murmured, placing the bottle on the counter with a clink. Still, his hand remained around it, the man preparing to lift the beer to his lips at a moment’s notice. Tension buzzed through the air. “Look, I get keeping secrets—you know I do. And I’d rather peel my skin off than hold hands and kumbaya about our shitty pasts. What I don’t get—what I’m trying to wrap my mind around—is you vanishing in the night.”

  Renn pressed his lips together, not sure how to respond. When Jett lifted his gaze, the hurt there struck him square in the chest.

  “I know we’re not blood brothers, and we’re not sentimental like Ky and Trev, but fuck, dude. I thought we were closer. I thought you knew that if you were in trouble, if you needed help in any way, that we would always be there to help you out. That I would.”

  Renn swallowed hard and took a sip of beer to sit with his words for a moment. He’d royally fucked up there, he knew it. The guys had given him shit, especially Ky, but Jett had remained quiet the whole time. He hadn’t realized how much he’d injured the other man.

  “I’m sorry, J,” he said, looking up at last. A knot formed in his throat. “I’d compartmentalized my life before the band for so long that I didn’t know how to make the two connect. And fuck, I’d pretty much lost hope of ever hearing word of Belle, and then Leo shows up with the first lead in so, so long. I jumped.”

  Jett tipped back his bottle of beer to take another swig. As if they could wash away the feelings heavy in the air.

  “I screwed that one up,” he said. “I know now. I’ve been spending so long running from my family I didn’t recognize the one I’d formed here.” His chest twisted tight. Truly, the band had been the family he’d been searching for from the moment his parents stopped looking for Belle. “I won’t make that mistake again.”

  Jett lifted his beer in acknowledgement. “All I needed to hear.” He cast him a direct stare. “I expected you to throw a tantrum through all of that—all the time you’re spending around your boyfriend has been doing wonders for your maturity.”

  Renn flipped him the middle finger. “Not you too, asshole. I thought we were the sole members left on team single.”

  Jett shrugged and glanced to the floor. “If I ever found someone who saw through me the way he seems to see you—well, shit. I don’t think I could walk away.” His grip on the beer bottle tightened. “Though we both know there’s no one on earth who could crack through my carapace.”

  Renn’s throat tightened. He and Jett didn’t do this—they railed on each other, skated on the superficial, and shared laughs. Seeing that dimension of the man exposed was like a steel bat to the forehead. “There’s someone out there for you, man,” Renn said, his voice coming out in a scrape. “If someone can slice and dice through my layers of shit, there’s hope for you.”

  Acknowledging the words out loud felt odd, but while he could deny his feelings all he liked, he could at least admit that.

  “Maybe,” Jett said with a shrug, frosting over again. His gaze grew distant, mired in memories. “They may be out there, but self-sabotage is a bitch.”

  Renn nodded. “Amen to that. Now can we go back to talking shit on each other? I’m about to leap out of my skin here.”

  Jett offered a wry grin. “Please. God, this whole thing was disgusting. Let’s never do that again.”

  “Whatever. If you tell Ky or Trev I said any of that, I’ll rat you out too. You’ll never hear the end of it,” Renn responded, pushing up from the vinyl booth. He closed the distance between them before lifting his beer.

  Jett brought his own bottle in to clink. “It’s a deal,” he responded, a grin on his lips again, even if the distance never left his eyes.

  Renn knew they were similar, but it was like looking into a damn mirror. If he’d been mulling over a cavalcade of emotional turmoil before he’d arrived at the RV, this gave him even more to wrestle with. “Now let’s go grab the rest of the crew before the show tonight,” he said, setting the empty bottle on the counter and striding to the front of the RV.

  Time to burn some energy before the main event—tracking down his sister Belle at long last.

  Chapter Twenty

  Leo could honestly say he never grew tired of watching Discord’s Desire perform. Renn’s enthusiasm was infectious and the band’s energy broadcasted throughout the room, whether they played in a big stadium or this bar open mic Liz had last minute slid them into at Settlers.

  The black chairs and tables reflected off the soft chandeliers, and a gentle red glow illuminated the bar and stools along the right side of the building. He sat back in the roun
dtable they’d acquired to fit their group once the guys finished performing. The last note echoed as Ky finished the song, just as regular bystanders began tugging off clothes and getting cozy with one another.

  “Smoke break?” Claude asked, tilting his head toward the front door.

  Leo pursed his lips and nodded. Yeah, they’d been needing this talk for a while now. He pushed up from his seat and followed the slender man to the front door. The moment he stepped into the brisk Boston air, he tugged at his sportscoat lapels, as if he stood a chance at fielding the cold. The scents of worn stone and decaying leaves traveled his way, reminding him far too much of a cemetery. A shiver ran down his spine.

  Which was very well where they could end up if his plans didn’t pan out.

  Every single member of this crew.

  For a moment, he let the weight crash down on him, suffocating, desperate, and hopeless. The burden was too heavy to shoulder alone. As much as he’d tried for years, deep down he’d known that, and individual by individual, he’d begun to build himself an army.

  Claude leaned against the glass front of the building and tugged out a cigarette, flicking the lighter and taking in the first drag. His gaze lingered on Leo. “Not going to join me?”

  Leo shrugged. “I’m abstaining, but it looked like you needed to talk. Like you’ve needed to talk for a while, and maybe I haven’t been listening. So tell me now, friend. What’s been going on?”

  Claude’s eyes widened for a moment, but he went about the business of taking another deep drag in and letting the smoke filter out slow. “You know I respect you, right?” he started. Leo didn’t stiffen, but he definitely went on the alert. Still, he remained quiet as Claude continued. “I follow you because I believe in what we’re doing—the system’s a relic and all that. But this? Running errands for an Unseelie house in high standing? Playing do-gooders to save missing fae we don’t even know might be a part of this? We’re taking a massive risk here, and I never signed up to become some justice crusader.”

  The comment brought to mind the countless number of times Renn called him Fae Batman. He’d been a ruthless businessman in the past, more than willing to stain his hands in blood if it meant furthering his goal—though never at the expense of anyone weaker or more vulnerable. He had never told the Discord’s Desire crew, but he’d didn’t intend on using the blackmail he kept over them. If they’d been outed, he would’ve stepped in and claimed responsibility.

  However, maybe that’s not how Claude saw him all this time. Leo swallowed hard, a metallic taste in his throat. Perhaps, his closest didn’t know him half as well as he’d believed. Watching how the crew of Discord’s Desire stepped in to back each other made him wish he’d been willing to take time apart from his one-track rebellion. To share more of himself with his nearest and to allow himself to be more than this task he’d taken on.

  Leo looked up at Claude at last, aware of the silence stretching between them. “I’m sorry. I’ve done you a disservice all these years, my friend. I’ve been so focused on the path ahead that I haven’t stopped to share more of myself, or more of my motivations for all of this. I don’t just want to overthrow the system. My plan’s always been to carve out a better future for all of us—fae, hunters, and humans.”

  Claude’s lips thinned, and he let out a heavy sigh. “So I’m starting to see,” he murmured. “I don’t mean to cause problems—I just never planned on being a martyr for the cause. The moment you start doing things for your heart and not your head, that’s when you end up dead.”

  Truth be told, Leo might’ve once spouted something like that, but he couldn’t disagree more. No fires of rebellion would catch if people’s hearts weren’t behind it. If his own wasn’t.

  Leo nodded. “Are you saying you want out of tomorrow?” He’d wanted Claude with him because he trusted the man, but he would never force him to follow.

  Claude shook his head. “No, I’ll be there. But if this turns into some ‘free everyone at the expense of our lives’ nonsense, I’m out.”

  “Hear you loud and clear,” he responded. Leo’s heart hurt more than he thought it would. Somehow, the solid bricks he’d stacked for himself all these years turned out to be hollow. No matter how hard he fought, some part of him would always be the broken kid who lost his parents too early. Part of him would always regret having to close out the world in order to survive.

  Claude snuffed out his cigarette under his heel before looking up at him, slight sadness in his eyes. Leo’s throat tightened. He felt it too—something vital had cracked between them. Somehow, their once entwined paths had diverged.

  “Let’s head back inside,” Leo said, pushing the door open. In the few short minutes they’d been outside, the cold had grown unbearable.

  ****

  Leo slammed Renn’s back against the brick wall, eliciting a wicked grin from the other man. He pressed his lips against his, hard enough to steal his breath away while he continued devouring the satyr. They’d spent plenty of time exploring each other in hotel rooms. As the night wore on, numbness had infiltrated, a smothering, choking desolation. Their task tomorrow was nigh impossible, his mother had been murdered, and one of his longest allies wavered.

  Tonight, Leo needed to feel—anything.

  Lucky for him, Renn was ready and willing.

  Leo drank in the taste of him, all fire hot with whisky. He pressed him against the wall until he could feel Renn’s heavy erection digging into his leg. The desire to drop to his knees and suck rode him fierce, but he needed to chase oblivion tonight. He needed to pretend for one moment that this meant more than sex between them—that he was worth enough for someone to care about him—to choose him. Beyond his plans, his power, and his position in society, he wanted to be seen.

  Apart from the quiet moments he got with Marisa, the first time he’d felt that was the other night with Renn.

  Leo reached down to caress Renn’s length, enjoying the way the man groaned into his mouth. His own cock had grown hard enough to cut glass. He wanted to let go of all of this—the weight, the responsibility, and the constant, constant plans—just for tonight.

  Leo pulled back, and a murmur of protest left Renn’s lips. His fingertips skimmed the waistband of Renn’s jeans, and he undid the top button, bringing the zipper down with a snick. “Face the wall, sweetheart,” Leo murmured as he yanked Renn’s pants down his thighs. Renn’s grin widened, enough that his fangs showed. He drank in the excitement flashing in Renn’s umber eyes.

  “So demanding,” Renn responded, an amused note in his tone. Even still, he followed the order and turned to face the wall, palms on the bricks. The sight of that gorgeous ass had Leo running his hands down the man’s waist, crowding him from behind.

  “You like me this way,” Leo reminded him.

  “You’re unforgettable, stud,” Renn said in a silken purr. While his words dripped sensuality, they struck Leo square in the chest. What he wouldn’t give to keep this man in his life. Leo sucked in a deep breath and centered his focus. Now. Now was what mattered.

  The moonlight cast the back of this near-empty bar in lavender hues. It gave Renn’s skin a purplish tint, his ink stain hair growing even darker. The man wore a threadbare tank top and his ripped jeans with a pair of Docs, all of which highlighted the muscular, slender form Leo had become addicted to. He was so fucking gorgeous. Leo crowded him against the wall, bringing his palms up to cover Renn’s. He settled in behind the man, the bulge in his pants pressing against his ass. Renn shifted his hips, grinding into him.

  Leo swore, hard. He released one of Renn’s palms to snap his pants open. He shoved them down by the waistband, exposing his cock to the brisk air. Not like the cold mattered when he planned on driving inside that hot ass. He nudged his erection against Renn’s ass and reached around to palm the man’s length, giving a couple of lazy strokes. Leo continued to press his lips along the man’s back and the slope of his neck, enjoying how he shivered.

  “Stop teasing,
” Renn said, his voice throaty and a little bit vulnerable. “I need your fucking cock inside me, Leo.” His name on Renn’s lips catapulted his desire into a frenzy. He didn’t know if his desperate heart read into it, but he could feel the current between them, of fear, of regret, of too many true words swallowed back. Instead, they communicated the one way they knew best.

  Leo slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out the travel-size container of lube, gliding some onto his length. He sidled up behind Renn again, his hands slipping along the man’s slender waist. The heat from his velvet skin blazed enough to fight off the surrounding chill.

  “Bend forward, sweetheart,” he murmured in the man’s ear. Renn shivered and complied, palms pressed against the brick wall and his ass thrust out in invitation. Desire thundered through him at the sight.

  Leo brought his palm around to cup his ass before finding the pucker and dragging his thumb over the sensitive skin. Renn moaned, loud enough to draw a crowd. Leo didn’t care. Tonight, he wanted to indulge in this thrill. Slowly, he nudged the head of his cock into Renn’s entrance. He eased in, inch by careful inch, enjoying the tight feel of the other man.

  Renn’s breath quickened, the sound cutting through the hush back here, removed from the honks and whirs of traffic and tires.

  Once he slid in all the way, Leo picked up the pace. He wrapped his palms around Renn’s hips, grounding them as he drove into him with increasing abandon.

  Renn’s moans grew louder, more and more desperate each time he sank deep inside him.

  “You feel so damn good, sweetheart,” Leo murmured.