by Nicola Haken
“Jake,” I whispered into my shoulder, before gently biting the firm muscle to mask my moans. The feel of his name on my lips, the sound of it in my ears… it undid me completely and I came hard, a powerful jet of warmth shooting across my stomach.
I lay there for a moment, building up the energy I needed to clean myself up, and then it hit me. That was supposed to fix things. So why was I now imagining what Jake would look like if he released himself all over my stomach?
Shit.
Chapter Four
Straightening my tie, I sat back in my chair and addressed the rest of the team sitting around the solid walnut conference table.
“Have there been any more threats since we last spoke about them?” I was told about the death threats after I’d accepted my position and signed the various paperwork and non-disclosure agreements. Since then, I was left to tie up my loose ends in Sydney and we hadn’t had much contact again until my arrival yesterday.
“Just one. Hand delivered to the hotel the guys were staying at in New York.”
“I need to see that.”
“Of course,” Claire agreed. “We’ll meet back here after the shoot this afternoon and I’ll give it to you. Seems amateur to me – letters cut out of newspaper clippings. The only thing that’s concerning us is the fact they seem to have knowledge of our itinerary.”
“I’m not sure I feel comfortable lying to Sawyer about this,” a woman, sitting opposite me with her arms folded across chest said. She was younger than me, mid-twenties at the oldest. She wore her thick black hair loose down her back and she scowled at me when I questioned her response with a raise of my eyebrow.
“And you are?” I asked curtly. Out of everyone in the room, hers was the only unfamiliar face.
“Laurelin Beckett. Sawyer’s PA.”
PA – a fancy word for dogsbody.
“Well, Laurelin, you’re not lying to him. You are simply not alerting him to the problem. There’s no need to panic any of the guys until we know if this is a serious threat.” She shrugged at me and averted her gaze. That one move told me everything I needed to know about her. Immature. Naïve. Incapable and untrustworthy.
“Okay, I want to be first point of call if we receive any more. I also want the original copies of those previously sent, and a full list of anyone who has official knowledge of the band’s schedule.”
“”Don’t you think we’ve already looked into that?” Laurelin piped up. This chick was going to be a pain in my arse.
“But it hasn’t got us anywhere, has it?” Claire interrupted. “Jake is head of security now. He calls the shots regarding the boys’ safety.”
“Thank you, Claire. I’d briefly like to announce the changes I’m implementing now, and then we’ll go over them thoroughly when the guys arrive.” After removing the printouts from my briefcase, I passed them around the table. “These are just for reference. Claire is having new contracts drawn up as we speak,” I told my team while they looked down at the paper in their hands.
“I think it’s best to assign a guard to each member of the band, rather than whoever’s available. To be honest, considering Souls of the Knight are one of the biggest bands of this decade, I can’t actually believe this shit hasn’t been taken care of before. A good security team needs structure, consistency. There can’t ever be a moment where one of us doesn’t know what he’s supposed to be doing. This team has been running like a fucking playground and it ends, now.”
“Totally with you, boss,” Jim interjected. The other guys nodded their heads. “I lost count of the amount of times I said this shit to Billy. If it weren’t for the guys themselves, I would’ve jacked in this shit a long time ago.”
“Jim, I want you with Darren. Pete, you’re with Matt.”
“Lucky me,” Pete muttered under his breath. Part of me was looking forward to getting to know Matt for myself. He definitely had the worst reputation of all the guys. They can’t call him Matt the Twat for nothing.
“Dave, I’ve paired you with Isaac, and Sayid you’re with Gavin. Sawyer seems to be the target of these threats so for now, Neil, you shadow him along with me until I find a replacement for myself. I’d like two guys on him permanently and obviously one of those can’t be me. I’ll have other stuff to tend to as well. So I’d also like to arrange interviews for another seven men. It literally baffles me how a band of this stature hasn’t got enough men to offer complete twenty-four hour watch.”
“Someone is with them all the time,” Claire said, shrinking back in her chair a little. I scanned the rest of the eyes at the table and every set had grown slightly wider, like I’d offended them.
“But someone is not awake with them all the time. Sleeping on the same floor, on the same bus, on the same street, just isn’t good enough. Someone needs to be alert at all times, and not just because of these threats, because in all honesty they’re probably meaningless pieces of paper from a fan with an overactive imagination. I have never seen such a shoddily put together team. I’m not questioning your abilities here, I know you guys are good at your job otherwise you wouldn’t still be here. You’ve been poorly managed, so poorly in fact that if the press got wind of this, they would be all over it like flies on shit. I’ve been brought in here, no expense spared, to protect this band, so I hope you’ll all join me in this and respect that I know what I’m doing.”
“I’m in,” Jim was first to say. Sayid followed, then Dave, Neil and then Pete. Claire nodded encouragingly and unsurprisingly Laurelin remained silent with a juvenile look of annoyance on her face.
“Great. Time to get the guys down here and go through it with them. Sayid, Pete, go and fetch them.”
“I’m guessing we’ll need reinforcement, especially with Matt and Kip. It’s a four man job getting either one of those assholes out of bed before noon.”
“Fine. I’ll come too,” I said, rolling my eyes. If you want something doing right, do it your goddamn self. “Oh, Claire?” I called back, holding the conference room door open with one hand. “Can you call the arena and let them know we’ll be an hour early for rehearsals?”
“They won’t like that,” she replied.
“I don’t give a fuck whether they like it. That is what’s happening. Until we know for sure if an outsider has access to the schedule, we need to keep things fresh. Add some spontaneity.”
“Things don’t work like that…” she tried to argue.
“Things work however we say they work. Call them.”
“Okay,” she said, raising her palms in the air.
Now, time to go and drag the guys’ arses out of bed.
As expected, staff at the O2 Arena weren’t happy with the change in schedule, but also as expected, they couldn’t afford to fuck with a band who were bringing them so much damn money, so of course, they backed down. I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off Sawyer since the second I met him in his suite this morning. Not just because I had to keep him in my line of vision to protect his safety, but because his jeans hugged his arse so tightly every time his back was towards me my dick twitched in my pants, because the white t-shirt he was wearing had deliberate rips slashed across the front, exposing the beautiful firm lines of his chest, because his dark fringe kept falling down across his forehead, revealing his soft caramel eyes every time he swept it back in place with his fingers…
I hadn’t been able to take my eyes off him… because he mesmerized me.
Staff and technicians scurried around the stage, the tension dripping from their skin in the form of sweat, as they hurried to get everything ready for the live rehearsal. While the final sound check was being carried out I issued my team with positions, making sure each side of the stage was manned and then sending Pete and Dave to guard their dressing rooms. I situated myself on the arena floor, keeping centre to the stage with my body straight and alert and my arms folded firmly across my chest.
“Hey, boss,” Sayid said, leaving his position to quickly run over to me.
�
��What is it, Sayid? You’re supposed to be by the stage.”
“Laurelin told me Sawyer is planning a night out with Elle. He always runs that kind of stuff past us, but not this time. Just thought you should know.”
“Thank you, Sayid,” I replied curtly, nodding once. “We’ll discuss who’ll escort him after the photo-shoot this afternoon.”
“Sure,” was all he said before hurrying back over to his position. What was he thinking? Sawyer knows he can’t go out as and when he pleases without adequate protection. And don’t even get me started on the fact Laurelin went to Sayid and not me. I’m in charge here and I made that perfectly clear at the conference table this morning.
I rolled my shoulders, trying to dispel some of the tension that had suddenly crept up on me. When I saw Claire give me the signal from where she was standing by the emergency exit, I scanned the area one last time and asked the guys to do the same over my radio. When the all-clear was announced by all, the band slowly filtered onto the stage, and when Sawyer hopped onto his waiting stool in front of me, hitching one leg up onto the bar as he slid the strap of his guitar around his strong neck, my breath faltered.
I wonder if he knows how beautiful he is with all those lights shining on him? He will later, I decided… because I was going to tell him.
After a silent cue from one of the sound guys, Bez I think he’s called, the intro started playing, bellowing through the speakers. They were starting with their biggest hit of 2013 - Twisted. Each band member joined in at their designated spot in the song, playing their instruments and humming. Then Sawyer rested his strategically positioned fingers against the strings of his guitar, and the song really began.
Sawyer’s voice came first. The lyrics dripped from his lips in the deliciously deep, gravelly voice that could only belong to Sawyer Knight. His eyes were closed, enabling me to ogle him. Not once did I take my eyes off his face. I stared at the soft lines framing his eyes when he squeezed them closed a little tighter, at the two day old stubble coating his strong jaw, at the way his plump lips curled around every word he sang.
So beautiful…
I didn’t realise how firmly I was biting my lip as I watched him until his eyes opened, immediately locking onto me. His gaze made my jaw drop slightly, hopefully so slight it was unnoticeable, and it felt like my dick was trying to lurch towards him. A sharp intake of breath resounded through the speakers, and although it occurred at a pause in the song where he needed to draw air for the next line, I knew it was more than that. I knew it was me.
“Jake?” Claire’s voice snapped me back into the arena and my head jerked around to face her. “Everything okay?” she asked quizzically, wrinkling her eyebrows. Shit. Had my gawping that fucking obvious?
“Sure,” I answered confidently. “I was just deciding how to deal with the crowd I saw gathering outside earlier.”
“We’d usually ask the guys. Most of the time they’re willing to stop for a few photos and autographs, although Sawyer’s been in a stinking mood since yesterday so I don’t know if he’ll be up for it.”
“Leave Sawyer to me.” Claire looked at me curiously, obviously wondering how in hell I thought I had a chance getting through to him when he was famous for not listening to anyone except Elle. “We go back a long way, remember? I know how to break the stubborn shit down into a human being capable of reason and rational thought.” At least, I hoped I did.
“Good luck with that,” she teased, clearly believing I was taking on the impossible. Good job I like a challenge… otherwise I wouldn’t even be here right now. “Anyway, I’ve just been talking to the studio and they can’t accommodate us any earlier for the shoot.”
“No problem. It will give the guys time to hang out with the fans outside before we go.”
Appeased, Claire sauntered off to wherever she came from, giving my eyes permission to hone in on the man I have adored since I was fifteen years old. When Sawyer caught my gaze again I expected him to look away, or maybe close his eyes like he did when he began his first song. But instead, his eyes bored into mine and he stared straight back. He watched me so intently, so penetratingly, that it felt like we were completely alone in this gigantic building… like he was singing just for me, singing to me.
I needed to get out of here. For the first time in my life I had been rendered incapable of doing my job effectively and I needed out so I could think of a way to make damn sure it doesn’t happen again. Anyone could have walked right past me in that moment and beelined straight for the guys and I wouldn’t have noticed a thing because I couldn’t look anywhere else but at Sawyer.
“Pete, I need you to switch positions with me,” I spoke firmly into my radio as I gave the order.
“Ten-four, boss. On my way.”
I forced my gaze away from the stage while I waited for Pete, all the while silently begging my dick to calm the hell down. This man, Sawyer Antony Knight, has the power to either complete me, or destroy me.
“I need to talk to you,” was how I greeted Sawyer when he opened the door to his dressing room. We had an hour to wait before the stylists and makeup artists were available to prepare the guys for the shoot, so they were all chilling back in their respective dressing suites.
“Um,’kay,” he said nervously, backing into the room. I followed him inside and then turned back to the door, locking it behind me. That move caused his Adam’s apple to bulge as he swallowed nervously. “W-what’s up?”
“You looked beautiful on that stage,” I said, advancing towards him. Instinctively he backed away, but I kept moving forward until he was pressed against the wall. “My dick was so hard for you, Sawyer. It’s been hard for you since I got here.”
I flattened my palm against his heaving chest and his own hand quickly reached up to move it away, but instead it lingered, his fingers curling around my own.
“Please, Jake. You’re messing with my head. I can’t take it much longer. You were my best friend and I’ve missed that. Please don’t fuck that up.”
“But I don’t want to be your friend, Sawyer. I want to be your everything.”
“You can’t be serious. You don’t even know me anymore.” His voice was faltering. I was winning.
“I do know you. I know you better than anyone. I know you better than you know yourself. If I didn’t, how would I know that you want me to do this?” I breathed, sliding my hand down his chest until it reached the waistband of his jeans. He swallowed forcefully and then opened his mouth, to protest I assumed, but when my hand dipped inside and took hold of his cock, all that came out was a moan.
The risk I was taking was either going to be a monumental breakthrough, or the biggest mistake of my life.
“Jake… please… I don’t…”
“Shh, babe,” I whispered into his ear as I fumbled with the button on his jeans, allowing his stunning fucking erection to spring free. I almost came in my pants just from the feel of him against my fingers. “Don’t overthink this. Close your eyes if it helps.”
“Jake…” Ignoring him and his weak attempt at protesting, I dropped down to my knees. My mouth watered at the sight of his rock hard cock and when a single bead of pre-cum oozed from the tip, begging me to lick it off, I ran my tongue across my lips. “What are you doing?”
“I’m taking what I want,” I answered, never looking up at him in case eye-contact frightened him away.
“Someone might come in.”
“I locked the door.”
“They might hear.”
“You’d better be quiet then.”
I paused for just a second while I waited for his next concern. When it didn’t come, I wasted no time in tasting him. After licking that glistening drop of pre-cum from the end of his beautiful cock, I swirled my tongue around the head until he started nudging at my mouth, desperate for me to take him deeper.
“Easy, boy,” I groaned against the hard flesh. Then I tormented him further by running my tongue slowly upwards from base to tip while cupping his
sac with my hand. His hips squirmed impatiently and although I wanted to drag this out, savour him, show him how good it could be… I was too desperate. I’d been imagining the feel of this man in my mouth, and other places, for so many years, and my own dick was on the verge of coming from the mere thought of tasting him as he exploded down my throat.
Unable to wait any longer I wrapped my wet lips around his thick length and took him all the way to the back of my throat. He gasped in what seemed like a mixture of surprise and pleasure, and then I heard a gentle thud as he threw his head back against the wall. One of my hands rolled his already tightening balls between my fingers, while I gripped the base of his cock with my other, sliding it up and down in my mouth’s trail.
God he felt so good – even better than I’d imagined. I’d dreamt of this moment so many times, too many to count, and when I felt him push deeper into my mouth, my knees almost gave way.
“Fuck…Jake…” If I didn’t have my lips curled so tightly against his rigid dick I would’ve smiled knowing I was pleasing him so much. Taking it a step further, I removed my hand from his balls and slid one of my fingers inside my mouth along with his throbbing erection.
After gathering some moisture I trailed my finger lower, below his balls, and massaged my way across the smooth and sensitive flesh of his perineum. When my finger stopped against his rim, Sawyer tensed, his back stiffening.
“Jake, I-I…” Ignoring his doubts once again, I slowly pushed my finger inside his puckered hole, causing his cock to start pulsating against the back of my throat. “Ah, fuck,” he groaned. He was close, and it made me feel like a fucking king. After letting his arse adjust to the intrusion, I slowly worked my finger in and out while continuing to suck him harder and faster. When I entered a second finger, he started falling apart. “Jake stop. Stop, I’m gonna, I’m gonna come…”