by HJ Welch
Levi didn’t reply right away. “That’s a novel way of looking at it,” he said finally.
Raiden hoped he hadn’t freaked him out with his honest opinion. But he wasn’t getting a bad vibe off of Levi. In fact, he seemed to give serious consideration to what Raiden said.
They listened to the radio for a while in comfortable silence, then chatted a little about favorite sodas, of all things, after Raiden pulled out some snacks for them. The afternoon was stretching out before them, but Raiden figured they had plenty of time to make it to Cincinnati in time for the show.
After a couple of hours cooped up in the car, he found his eyelids drooping. It wasn’t like Levi was relying on him to keep him awake, so he decided it would be okay to take a quick nap. The rocking of the vehicle helped him doze off. He always did like sleeping while traveling. It certainly made time pass quicker.
Unfortunately, that wasn’t a good thing in this instance.
An hour or so later, he woke to Levi tapping his knee. “Hey, kid,” he said gently. “We’re coming up on Knoxville.”
Raiden blinked as consciousness came slowly back to him. Hang on, what?
“Knoxville?” he repeated, suddenly very awake. “Levi, what the hell do you mean, Knoxville?”
Levi frowned at him. “We’re getting near the hotel,” he said, pointing at the display on the dash.
“I highly doubt that,” said Raiden, looking wildly around for any road signs to help him out. “Because the hotel is in Ohio, and we appear to be in Tennessee!”
“I put the address you gave me into the GPS,” Levi snapped, scowling. “If we’re in the wrong state, this is your fault.”
“I told you we were going to Cincinnati first!” Raiden shot back. He was absolutely furious. “Why the hell didn’t you notice we were going in completely the opposite direction!”
“We’re going to several different states,” Levi argued back. But there was something defensive in his words too. “It’s not my job to double-check every step of the way. You gave me bad intel.”
“Fuck,” Raiden cried. He pulled up their location on Google Maps on his phone. Sure enough, they had been traveling down the wrong way along the I75, and they would never make it to Cincinnati in time.
Raiden berated himself for not noticing before. But that wasn’t his job. Levi was the goddamned reconnaissance Marine. How the hell did he not check they were going the right way?
Well. This tour had got off to a great start.
9
Levi
Levi couldn’t decide what was worse. How infuriated he was that Raiden had given him the wrong address, or the fact Levi had failed to remember they were supposed to be heading north instead of south.
He didn’t have any defense. This was what happened when he blindly followed instructions like a good little soldier boy. This was also precisely the fucking reason he got out of the Marines.
“Well,” said Raiden through a clenched jaw. “There’s no point trying to make it back up to Ohio now. We might as well stop the night around here and then head to Pittsburgh in the morning.”
It might have been manageable if Raiden was just pissed, but he was obviously upset as well.
“Look,” said Levi. “You’re right. I should have remembered the city you told me we were headed to first. But you gave me that address. This is both our fault.”
Raiden angrily dug his phone out of his pocket again. Levi could only glance at him as he was still driving. There wasn’t much point continuing to the destination if it was the wrong one, but for now, he didn’t have much else to do.
“There.” Raiden held up his phone where he’d zoomed in on the Cincinnati hotel address. Then he pointed to the one on the GPS where they were currently heading towards.
They were totally different.
Levi didn’t know what to say. How could he have got it so wrong?
“I get this is all a big joke to you,” Raiden bit out, locking his screen and putting the phone away again. “But this is my job, so I’d appreciate if you took this tour a little more seriously from now on.”
Being scolded by his client pissed Levi off no end. To have Raiden reprimand him, though, just when they were starting to get along, was utterly humiliating.
Levi didn’t trust himself to respond, so he addressed a different issue instead. “We should get a motel for the night,” he said. “Unless you want to push and drive onto Pennsylvania?”
Raiden scoffed and shook his head. “If you can manage to navigate us to a nearby hotel, I think that would be for the best. Don’t you?”
Levi thought keeping silent this time would be better for both of them. He jabbed at the GPS until it listed all the nearby hotels, then quickly picked the most suitable looking one. Price wasn’t an issue when it came to Raiden, so he went for one with a good rating so as not to irritate him any further.
Fuck him. Why should Levi care that Raiden was furious with him? Levi was sure he’d typed in the address he had shown him back at the ranch, so Raiden just must have pulled up the wrong hotel or something. But while Raiden was convinced it was all Levi’s fault, he was probably going to stay fuming.
Levi shouldn’t have been as bothered by that as he was. Raiden was privileged and wouldn’t last a day out in the desert. However, that didn’t seem to stop Levi from feeling bad, which was annoying.
They didn’t exchange another word as they pulled up to the front of the Hampton Inn. It wasn’t the most glamorous of places to stay, but it wasn’t a Motel 6 either. Four stories of mostly cream brickwork in the middle of a parking lot and lawns on all four sides. Basic, but pleasant enough. The American flag fluttered on a pole by the front entrance as Levi swung into one of the many vacant parking slots.
Raiden stormed out of the Jeep and headed inside presumably to book them a couple of rooms. Levi resigned himself to getting the luggage. Luckily, he had noted which of Raiden’s half-dozen bags was his overnight one, so he grabbed that as well as his own backpack.
It was fine. Once they both cooled off, they could have a calm conversation about this. Until then, time apart in separate rooms would do them some good. It was already evening, so they could each order room service for dinner and not have to speak again the rest of the night.
Security wise, it wasn’t ideal to remain out of contact for that long, but this was a totally spur of the moment detour. They should be safe enough. However, there was going to be one stipulation he insisted on.
He smiled at the clerk as he approached the front desk inside. Raiden was obviously almost done making the booking. “Sorry, miss,” he said politely. “Did my friend mention we need rooms side by side?”
The woman smiled up at him. “No, he did not, but that’s no trouble at all to fix.” While she clicked away with her mouse, Levi ignored the glare Raiden was giving him. “Okay, there we go. You’re on the third floor. If you need anything at all, dial zero to speak to the front desk.”
Levi and Raiden both thanked her, then took their respective keys from the counter and bags from the floor where Levi had left them. They walked to the elevator in silence and Levi reached out to call the car down.
“Look,” Raiden said. “I get why we have to be next to each other, but I’d appreciate a little alone time tonight.”
“Fine by me,” Levi replied.
This was ridiculous. He shouldn’t be letting Raiden’s anger affect him this much. Levi told himself on the ride up to the third floor and the walk to their rooms it was because he wasn’t looking forward to admitting this fuckup to his uncle. If he couldn’t even chauffeur a client to the correct state, what good was he?
But he knew he was pissed off that Raiden thought less of him. Levi should be able to impress a civilian like that well enough, but he’d gone and shown himself to be an incompetent lemming, blithely doing as he was told. He should have checked the damn directions.
He slammed the door to his room a little too hard, he knew. But he was pissing himself o
ff now. Why should he need to impress Raiden at all? He was perfectly capable of looking at almost every guy without his cock coming to life. That deal with Collins had just been to benefit them both out in the desert.
Same with Musgrove on the tour before last. And Jimmy Burke the last year of summer camp.
Fuck Raiden for putting these ideas in his head. He wasn’t bi. He just liked getting his cock sucked. Maybe other guys were bi or gay, that was fine. It just wasn’t him. He was straight. He liked pussy.
He threw his bag on the floor then dropped onto the bed, bouncing slightly against the mattress. He balled his hands into fists and pressed them against his closed eyes. One long, slow breath in and out, and he felt marginally better. He was cranky from the fuckup as well as driving half the day, not to mention hungry.
Room service, that was what he needed. Thankfully, the menu had the burger and fries he was craving, as well as a side of slaw and beans. He asked for a couple of beers for good measure. He just needed to take the edge off this foul temper he was in.
He was better than this. Levi was trained to keep a lid on his emotions, keep cool under pressure. He did his best to switch his brain off when his food arrived, focus on nothing but delicious carbs, cold beer and dumb reality TV But the vision of Raiden clenching his jaw and blinking back tears was tormenting him.
After his second beer, he made a really bad decision.
“Raiden,” he called after knocking on his door on and off for a good minute, maybe more. He didn’t want to be an asshole to any guests that might be in the rooms around them. But at the same time, now he was up and had made a dick of himself, he wasn’t going to back down. “Come on. I know you’re in there.”
He better be in there. If he had left without telling Levi, Levi was going to tan his hide, argument or no argument.
He raised his fist to pound the wood again, when the click of a lock stopped him. He stepped back.
“What?” Raiden demanded as he yanked the door inwards.
Levi cleared his throat, determined to remain calm. “May I come in?”
Raiden rolled his eyes, turning and walking back into the room. Levi took the fact he left the door open as an invitation to follow.
“I’m sorry,” he said, shutting the door behind him. He had no idea why he said that. He’d had no intention of apologizing when he’d come over here. “I do take your career and this tour seriously. I honestly have no idea what happened with the GPS.”
“Okay, whatever,” said Raiden, rubbing his eyes.
“No,” said Levi, his irritation rising despite his best efforts. “Not whatever. I didn’t do this to you on purpose. And, quite frankly, it’s not like you’re part of the band. They were still able to go on stage without you.”
Raiden let out a hollow laugh. “I don’t know why I expect you to get it. It’s not about being on stage, man. It’s about the community, the unit. I wanted to be there because I feel responsible for these guys now. Like…like they’re my little protégées or something. I was proud, all right? And yeah, it looks like they smashed it just fine without me. But for a second there, I mattered again. I was doing something with meaning.”
Levi ground his teeth. “It’s just music. I don’t appreciate you dragging me over the coals like something serious actually happened.”
“Oh, fuck you,” Raiden snapped. “I don’t have to explain this to you. Get the fuck out of my room.”
“Christ, you’re such a brat,” Levi snarled stepping closer. “You need to calm down and get some perspective.”
“My whole life got turned upside down and inside out by some fucking sicko,” Raid spat. He picked up a beer bottle from the nightstand. It appeared Levi hadn’t been the only one to order from the hotel bar. “I was going to see my friends in Cincinnati as well. People I trust to look out for me. Guys I really wanted to see and just shoot some shit with. Instead, here I am, with you, in fucking Knoxville.”
“You know what,” said Levi, throwing up his hands. “Sorry I bothered. I’ll just leave you to your pity party and try again in the morning.”
Raiden scoffed. “Yeah, tell you what, let me get the door.” He pushed past Levi, bashing their shoulders together.
“Watch it,” Levi growled, grabbing his arm and spinning him around.
Raiden slammed the bottle back down. “Or what?” He pushed Levi’s chest. Levi gritted his teeth and stepped back, absorbing the blow. “What you gonna do, tough guy?”
“Stop that,” said Levi.
But Raiden pushed him again. “I never wanted you around. This whole bodyguard thing is just for show. So go on, leave, get out.”
“I’m trying,” Levi said, exasperated as Raiden shoved him, again. “You’re in my way.”
“So?” said Raiden. “Do something about it. You’re a man of action, aren’t you?”
He grinned and licked his lips, damp from the beer. Without thinking it through at all, Levi pushed him aside. Not enough to hurt him by any measure, but seriously over the line for what he should do with a client.
Raiden responded on what felt like instinct, grabbing Levi’s arm and tugging him back.
Levi spun, seizing Raiden’s wrists, and pinning them to the wall above Raiden’s head.
They were both breathing heavily. In a flash, the adrenaline pumping through Levi’s system changed in nature. The fight in him morphed into lust.
He needed to back the fuck off, right now. The last thing Raiden needed was to feel Levi’s cock getting hard in his pants. Raiden was trying to antagonize Levi. That was all he’d been trying to do since he’d started this ridiculous assignment.
Except their chests were rising and falling together, touching with each breath. Raiden’s gaze raked down Levi’s body, and he figured he might be too late to conceal that erection.
“I’m sorry,” he said, dropping Raiden’s hands and stepping away.
Raiden grabbed his face and kissed him.
Levi was so shocked he couldn’t move for a moment. But Raiden gripped his jaw with both his hands as his lips molded Levi’s, his tongue slipping out to probe against Levi’s mouth.
There was only so much restraint one man could exercise. Levi clutched Raiden’s narrow waist and crowded him back against the wall, kissing him back with fervor. Raiden made a needy sound at the back of his throat and had Levi quivering.
Their cocks rubbed against each other through their jeans. For all his bulk, Levi was only a little taller than Raiden, so their bodies matched up neatly as they rutted against the wall. Nothing about this felt neat, though.
Raiden attacked Levi’s mouth with his lips, tongue and teeth, his fingers digging into Levi’s back as they frotted. Levi didn’t have time to consider what the hell he was doing, his climax building hard and fast.
As much as he didn’t want to come in his pants like a damn teenager, it seemed he was going to get little choice in the matter. Raiden’s hands dropped and slapped against Levi’s ass, digging into the cheeks through the denim. He used the extra purchase to thrust faster, chasing his own release and rubbing against Levi’s cock to create the perfect friction.
Levi gnashed his teeth and groaned, plundering Raiden’s mouth again between gasps. He screwed his eyes shut as his orgasm peaked.
His grip was so tight he worried he was going to bruise Raiden’s arms as he came. But Raiden was crying out too, arching his back and banging his head against the wall they’d been shamelessly making out against.
Reality came crashing down pretty fast.
“What the fuck?” Levi whispered as he tried to catch his breath. He let go of Raiden and staggered backwards, wiping his mouth.
He wasn’t going to blame Raiden for initiating that madness. They had both taken part with equal enthusiasm. But a nasty part of him wanted to lash out and accuse him, if only to take the heat off himself.
Raiden was still panting, looking up at him with those big, dark eyes.
“I should go,” Levi managed to utter,
taking another step back. “I – I’m sorry.”
Raiden didn’t say anything. He just watched Levi make his escape for the door.
Once back in his own room, Levi barely had the door locked before he was stripping naked, fumbling to the bathroom and twisting the shower faucet on. Hot water slammed against his skin as he stepped under the stream.
He had just fucked up big time, and he knew it.
10
Raiden
Raiden was less shocked by the revelation that he was, in fact, not a hundred percent straight, and more disturbed that he had practically forced himself on Levi.
With his size, he had no doubt that Levi could have stopped him at any second, so he must have been into it on some level. But the look of horror as he’d left Raiden’s room made it pretty clear that he wasn’t thrilled with what they’d done.
Raiden slept poorly that night, tossing and turning. No matter what he told himself, he really hadn’t been that drunk. Just enough to be reckless. But he’d been completely in control of his actions.
It scared him that he would be attracted to someone who clearly didn’t like him, and was apparently straight. He’d met so many nice guys over the years, gorgeous men with fun personalities, interested in the creative arts, like him. So why did Levi drive him so crazy?
That was probably it. Raiden liked a challenge, and he and Levi did nothing but aggravate each other. Hopefully, now he’d scratched this itch, he could forget about it. They’d made each other come in an embarrassingly short amount of time. He now knew what Levi’s mouth tasted like, so that was it.
Just because he hadn’t gotten to see his cock didn’t matter. He and Levi weren’t going to date. This was a one-time mistake and it was going to be awkward enough for the rest of the tour without dwelling on it any further.