by HJ Welch
Levi sighed and looked at himself in the mirror before heading back into the belly of the hotel. He really wished he hadn’t given his room to Trent now. Otherwise he could have gone back there and hidden. As it was, he was an ex-Marine, so he didn’t hide, ever, and he’d just have to deal with going back to Raiden’s room and facing him.
It was just past oh-eight-hundred when he slid the key card into the door handle and walked back into the suite. He was greeted by several voices all calling out greetings.
“Morning!” Elion said with a wave.
“How’s the head?” Gabe asked with a sympathetic wince.
“Shush,” Joey begged, cradling a mug of coffee like it was his lifeline.
They were all sitting on the sofas around the table which was towering with a dangerous number of plates. Pancakes and fruit platters and croissants and bacon and waffles all competed for space as the men around the table attacked the food with fervor.
Levi’s eyes automatically darted to Raiden’s as he closed the door behind him. He tried not to feel guilty for being gone when Raiden had woken up, but in his defense, he had imagined he would sleep in.
Levi had hardly slept at all on the couch. He was extremely glad he didn’t have to drive anywhere today, but he would need his wits about him for attending the concert tonight. He thought if he hit the gym as soon as it opened he could tire himself out. Then he might be able to grab a nap when he got back. That would have to wait until later now.
Raiden grinned at him as if nothing was wrong. Levi suspected it was a form of challenge. “Muffin?” he asked, offering the basket out and inviting Levi to sit with them. “I ordered the entire breakfast menu, but at this rate, we still might need more.”
“Not a bad idea,” Blake agreed as he delved into what might have been an entire carton of scrambled eggs. Elion rubbed his back.
Levi sat himself carefully by Trent, perching on the sofa arm so he was a little removed from everyone. He needed to maintain his authority now that he’d fucked his client senseless.
“Good night?” he asked Trent as he sipped extremely creamy-looking coffee.
Trent winked at him. “Might want to ask the maid to switch those sheets out before you use the bed,” he said brazenly.
Levi schooled his reactions carefully so he didn’t glance towards Raiden’s bedroom or the equally defiled sheets contained within. But he felt Raiden look pointedly at him, as if hoping for a reaction.
Levi was happy to disappoint.
“How about you?” Trent asked.
Levi looked at Trent and found him smirking. Before his heart could explode out of his chest, he reminded himself that Trent could have no way of knowing what Levi and Raiden had gotten up to. Unless Raiden had told them.
But a quick glance at the other guys indicated nothing out of the ordinary. Trent was either just messing with him or making an educated guess. Either way, Levi wasn’t going to give him anything.
“The couch was fine,” he said, pouring himself black coffee. “But Raiden snores.”
“He does,” Joey cried, slapping Raiden’s knee affectionately. “I don’t miss that from touring,” he added with a laugh.
“Good thing you’ll be back to your own bed tonight, then,” Trent said, eyeing Levi as he slowly took a bite of a banana.
Levi almost corrected him. He obviously meant ‘room,’ not ‘bed.’ But that might sound defensive. So he ignored the comment, instead reaching for an iced Danish. After the workout he’d just put himself through, he could afford some extra calories.
Talk turned to their plans for the day, which mostly involved everyone else traveling back to their respective home states, leaving Raiden and Levi alone. After a while, Levi couldn’t ignore the gaze burning a hole in the side of his head, so he turned and met Raiden’s eye.
Later, Levi tried to silently communicate. They would discuss what happened when Raiden’s friends were gone.
Raiden might not like what Levi had to say. But he would hear it nonetheless.
16
Raiden
If Levi wanted to play games, Raiden could play games too.
He kept the guys there as long as possible, feeding them and reminiscing over old times. When TJ fell asleep on the sofa, even better. All the while, Raiden persisted in catching Levi’s eye, asking him questions, touching him ever so subtly any chance he got.
He was not going to ignore what happened.
In the cold light of day, he understood how it put Levi in a bit of an awkward position. He could see that if Levi’s uncle found out he was messing around with a client, his first client, it might look bad. But Kurt need never find out, and even if he did, Raiden had no problem taking the blame for everything in the slightest.
Not if it meant he got fucked like that again.
He’d been undoubtedly sore this morning. The first thing he’d done before calling the boys over was to have a long, hot shower. His ass had been tender, but Raiden had gently fingered himself regardless, closing his eyes and remembering Levi’s touch. Then he’d jerked off hard and fast, whispering his name.
It was difficult to miss something you didn’t know you were lacking, but now it was as if the door had been opened and Raiden now knew what kind of sex he’d been missing out on. Not that he hadn’t enjoyed most of the encounters he’d had in the past. Several had been downright spectacular.
But he kept coming back to that bliss-like state he’d experienced in surrendering his control as he’d bent to Levi’s will.
He’d never once felt uncomfortable or out of his depth. If he’d asked, he was sure he could have stepped out of it any time he’d liked. What did people normally do? Red, yellow and green traffic lights, he was pretty sure. Next time he’d mention something to that effect before they went at it again.
He had no doubt it would happen again. He could see in Levi’s eyes he was going to fight him on this. But there was only so much you could deny that kind of chemistry. It was like they set each other on fire. It was blinding, fierce, and consumed everything in its path.
He enjoyed the morning trying to make Levi as uncomfortable as possible. Eventually, though, his friends began to head off in their own directions. Elion was driving himself and Blake back to Cincinnati, and Gabe and Joey had a flight to catch back to Connecticut. TJ woke from a forty-five-minute nap as fresh as a daisy, announcing he had people to see, and made his departure.
Raiden took his time over saying goodbye with everyone, giving lots of hugs. Much to his amusement, the guys also turned automatically to Levi for hugs as well, which he dutifully gave. Raiden imagined he wasn’t normally one for cuddling, though, and he smirked at the awkwardness of it all.
Once they were all gone, the suite fell quiet again.
Raiden draped himself over one of the sofas in a provocative manner and gave Levi his best smoldering look. “Alone at last,” he drawled, arching an eyebrow.
Levi raised a finger. “No,” he said dispassionately, then stalked into the bedroom.
“No – no what?” Raiden asked with mirth, not moving from the couch. He’d expected Levi to be nothing less than icy with him and wasn’t even remotely intimidated.
“Last night was a mistake,” Levi’s voice drifted from the bedroom. “There won’t be a repeat.”
Raiden snorted. “That’s what you said in Knoxville,” he said in a singsong voice. He was dressed in a t-shirt and sweatpants, and entertained himself swinging the drawstring from the pants back and forth. Levi was making an unnecessary amount of noise crashing about in the room. His temper only added to Raiden’s enjoyment.
Eventually, Levi re-emerged, scowling. “I don’t care what I said before,” he said, his blue eyes blazing. “I won’t be drinking with you again for the rest of this trip. It was unprofessional, as was my lapse in judgment.”
Raiden rolled his eyes. “As if you were that drunk you didn’t know what you were doing. Come on, man. Why are you making such a big deal of this? We had a
mazing sex. We’re going to be traveling and staying together for the next several days. Who’s it going to hurt if we have a little more fun?”
“Who says I had fun?” Levi asked coldly.
“Me,” said Raiden, not rising to the bait. Levi could try and psych him out of this all he wanted, but Raiden hadn’t been that drunk either. He remembered perfectly well how remarkable it had been, just how much they had both been into it. “And when you get that stick out of your ass and admit that too, you can come back. For now, get out of my fucking room.”
Levi narrowed his eyes at him, his fingers tightening around the handle of his bag, making the knuckles go white. He ground his teeth, then turned on his heel.
“I’ll be next door, once room service has freshened it up. Until then,” he paused at the door and flashed a sneer Raiden’s way, “try not to get yourself shot.”
He slammed the door behind him.
Raiden sighed. He’d have rather they just hopped back to it once more. He doubted his ass could take another pounding so soon, but they could have at least blown one another. It was fun to bicker too, but only for so long. Hopefully, they would get back to fucking again before long.
In the meantime, Raiden ate more bacon and pancakes doused in maple syrup, even though it made him feel slightly queasy. It tasted too good to let it go to waste, and although he’d been sober enough by the time he and Levi had stumbled into bed, he had still drunk a fair bit of alcohol yesterday. Extra carbs would only help get him through the day.
His phone dinged as he downed a tall glass of orange juice. It was Pearl. She and the band were staying at a more reasonably priced hotel across town, and she was wondering if Raiden wanted to meet up and work for a couple of hours.
He sighed with relief. Hell yeah, he texted back immediately. He felt wrong if he went too many days without writing. His fingers itched and he got moody if he wasn’t careful. With a laugh, he realized that was probably one of the reasons why he was being such a shit to Levi. He needed to release his pent-up energy somewhere else.
Raiden tidied up as best he could, left a good tip for the room service team, then put some clothes on better suited to facing the outside world. No doubt Pearl would be her usual polished, glittery self, so he went for a more adventurous mesh vest and buckled some leather cuffs around his wrists. Sometimes it was fun to play up a role, and today, he was certainly feeling like a rock star.
He texted Levi to tell him that he was going to meet Pearl. He didn’t give him the address because as much as he was having fun, he also wanted to ensure Levi understood Raiden was kind of pissed at him. If he really wanted to follow Raiden, he could do some detective work. Until then, Raiden was going to enjoy some time apart.
The front desk got Raiden a cab and he was on his way to the other hotel in no time. Pearl had told him her room number, so he crossed the small lobby and rode the elevator straight to her floor.
“Come in,” her voice floated through the door when he knocked.
It was a small room, basically furnished, but Pearl seemed comfortable enough sitting cross-legged on the bed. She looked up at Raiden as he closed the door and gave him a smile. She had her lilac hair in pigtails with skulls on the bands tying together each end.
“Excellent,” she said, picking up one of the sheets of paper in front of her. “I’m stuck on the chorus of that one we were doing about feeling like a shadow. It’s bothering me it doesn’t have a title.”
“We could do something crazy and just call it Shadow?”
It was typical of Pearl to jump into things without even a hello, Raiden had learned, especially when it came to music. Which was generally all she ever talked about. So he pulled over the chair from the desk to perch beside the bed and look at her notes.
“Hmm. There is something to be said for keeping things simple.” She tapped the chewed pen in her hand on her lip, then wrote something down. “You can sit here, you know.” She pointed to the spot next to her by the second set of pillows. “I know you’re not interested in me in a sexual way. I don’t feel threatened by your presence.”
Raiden chuckled. “True, but sometimes I like to prove I can be a gentleman.” He glanced at the door. “If someone came in, I’d hate for them to get the wrong impression.”
Pearl was a lot younger than him after all, and this industry was full of some real dirtbags. After all the shit he’d gone through with his hacked emails, he didn’t want to give anyone the chance to spin a story about him being in bed with a teenage girl.
She considered his words, then nodded. “Whatever makes you feel most comfortable. As long as you can see the notes okay.”
Raiden assured her he could before picking up one of the other bits of paper. He’d been scribbling ideas down on this one last time. This song was just dangling out of their reach at the moment. They just needed a bit of inspiration to make it really awesome.
“I think we could go really dark and epic with this one,” he said as he read. “Get some strings on it, maybe slow the tempo down and go a bit sinister.”
“Where’s Levi?”
He blinked and looked up at her. “Well,” he said slowly, rubbing his chin. “He was a naughty boy, so I put him in time-out.”
Pearl narrowed her eyes and stared at him for a moment. “But he’s supposed to be protecting you. After the GPS incident, why wouldn’t you want him by your side?”
Raiden focused back on the music. Pearl had a portable keyboard and guitar with her, but he’d need to get back to his studio to produce this the way he wanted.
“Even if you’re annoyed with him,” Pearl continued, “your safety is important.”
“He just needs some time to cool off,” Raiden said. He held up the paper in his hands. “What do you think about an instrumental interlude before a short sung one? I’ve got a couple of ideas. We could work backwards to create the chorus from that.”
“Sure,” she said with a shrug. “We don’t have to talk about Levi if you don’t want to. I’m sorry.”
Raiden frowned at her and tried to temper his irritation. “I just want to move on with the song,” he said.
Pearl chewed on the end of her pen. “Tell me more about the interlude.”
Raiden fetched the keyboard to place on the bed to try and flesh out some of the concepts he had in his head. Unfortunately, they weren’t the only thoughts bouncing around up there.
“He’s just kind of an ass, and we’ve been traveling together for a few days,” he said as he fiddled around with some chords. “I needed a break.”
Pearl smirked at him. “I see.”
“See what?” he asked nervously. What was that smile supposed to mean?
A knock on the door interrupted before Pearl could answer. Raiden threw her a glance, but she was already looking back at the composition notes, uninterested by whoever was at the door. So with a sigh, Raiden went to go answer it.
Of course it was Levi.
“What did we say about ditching me?” Levi growled, his icy blue eyes fixed on Raiden.
“Not to?” he guessed. He couldn’t remember, not with those eyes boring holes through his own pupils. “That was fast work, finding me.”
“It’s almost like I was a trained Marine,” Levi said, pushing his way into the room. “Pearl,” he added, nodding to her.
She looked up, her gaze shifting between him and Raiden as he once again shut the door. “Hello,” she replied. The corner of her mouth curled up. “We were just talking about you.”
“Not really,” said Raiden. He breezed past Levi and took his seat again. “More like a passing mention. Shall we continue with that interlude?” He did not want Levi thinking he’d been gossiping about him to Pearl. That would be mortifying.
“As you wish,” Pearl said. “Let Levi have the chair. You can sit on the bed.” She flashed Levi a grin as he turned away from inspecting the hotel room window. “Don’t worry, he’s not interested in me sexually.”
“Uh, yeah, he can vo
uch for us,” Raiden mumbled.
Because that’s why Levi would be worried. About ensuring it didn’t look like they were up to any funny business.
Not like he cared about who Raiden was attracted to.
Right?
17
Levi
The Rex Theater in Pittsburgh was a small music venue that was currently packed to the rafters. Straining at its six-hundred-person capacity, Glittergasm were in the process of whipping the crowd of kids in their teens and twenties into a sweaty frenzy.
Levi had never been one much for gigs. He had always been the kind of person to take note of emergency exits and the behavior of the people around him with dedication bordering on obsession. After his training with the Marines, an environment like this completely oversaturated his senses.
There were too many possibilities to contend with, especially when it came to protecting a client. He’d liaised with the theater security team who regularly covered events there and knew the venue inside and out. But he was only happy with Raiden immediately by his side at all times as they watched the show from the wings.
Unfortunately, that complicated matters.
The last place he really should have been was in touching distance of Raiden’s body. Levi’s cock was getting far too excited every time their skin brushed or he caught wind of Raiden’s distinct scent. Even amid such an onslaught of smells, Levi was still able to discern Raiden’s unique spicy, musky blend. That was a bad sign.