by Riley Knight
He really should have known that wasn’t going to happen, though. Not when it came to Mark’s job, which he obviously took very seriously.
“I’ll take the couch,” Mark said, and with that, Christian had to be satisfied.
* * *
Nothing happened that night.
When it came to the stalker guy, Allen, Christian wasn’t actually that surprised. The guy’s picture had been passed out to the whole security team, and they were patrolling around on the floor where the band was staying. The chances of him getting in were, well, pretty much nonexistent.
But somehow, Christian expected to wake up when Mark’s weight settled on the bed. He expected to feel those strong, smooth hands on his skin once more. And because he was expecting that, he found that he didn’t really sleep that much.
He wanted to be ready in case Mark made a move.
But Mark just settled down on the couch, and apparently immediately went off into a light, easy sleep. It was impressive, actually, how quickly he could doze off. But Christian had no doubt that, if anything were to happen, Mark would be up in seconds to protect him.
If only Mark would protect him from a hard cock, which was mostly what was plaguing him at the moment. His own hard cock. Which he knew very well that Mark could help him with like no one else.
As they traveled, that ended up being the pattern. Christian performed, there was a party, and then Mark slept on the couch to protect Christian through the night.
Not once did Mark show even the slightest sign that he would ever touch Christian again.
* * *
“So what’s the deal with you and Mark, anyway?”
Briana’s voice was light and airy, but Christian still saw the curiosity behind her eyes. The question might seem like nothing more than her being idly nosy, but Christian knew better. He’d known her for long enough to know she wouldn’t ask for no reason.
“He’s my bodyguard,” Christian said, refusing to blush, and doing his best to look at her like it was an idiotic question. Or at least a weird thing to ask.
Somehow, maybe from the look she shot him right back, he had the idea that she wasn’t fooled.
“Oh, really? So what if someone tried to get him into bed?” she asked, smirking a little bit at him. “Like, say, me? You wouldn’t mind at all?”
Christian snorted softly.
“You go right ahead and try that. But I’m not sure Nick would be so happy about that,” he advised her. The thought of Mark and a girl didn’t make him jealous anymore, because he knew very well that Mark wasn’t interested in girls.
Besides, Briana and Nick had been pretty much attached at the lips ever since hooking up at that party.
Well, that made her back off, at least for a few seconds. It worried him that she’d picked up on enough to make her question him, though.
“Okay, so not me. What about … what about Justin? Or another hot guy?” Damn, she was perceptive, this one. It was one of the things that he usually loved about her, but not so much at the moment.
For just a moment, a few seconds, Christian had to fight with himself before he managed a nonchalant shrug.
“His deal, Bri, not mine,” he said, going for a casual tone. Or trying to. He wasn’t entirely sure he pulled it off.
“You have a thing for him,” she accused him.
He didn’t comment, he just looked at her with one eyebrow raised. Somehow, he managed to avoid looking over at Mark, who was, of course, there. They were on their way to Seattle, their last show before they got two glorious days off.
Christian was tired. They all were. The difference between him and the rest of his band, though, was that he was willing to bet they were all getting plenty of sex, whereas Christian was going through the longest dry spell of his life.
He could always go pick someone random up. It would be easy. There were plenty of people who would be more than willing. But when he thought about it, he felt a little sick to his stomach.
There was one person he wanted. The one person that he couldn’t have, of course.
“Oh my God, you do! You have to be careful,” Briana said. Thankfully, she pitched her voice low so that no one would be able to hear over the hum of the engine. “If you tried anything it could mess everything up.”
She didn’t know.
She understood that he had a crush, yes. He would have to work on hiding that more. But she didn’t really get how bad it was, that they’d already slept together, and that Christian was starting to think that he wasn’t going to be able to hold everything together if he didn’t have him again.
“I’ll be careful,” he promised, and he would. He had already been trying, but maybe not all that successfully, since clearly, Briana had figured at least part of it out.
Somehow, he was going to have to snap himself out of this.
* * *
Maybe he’d had just one beer too many. He hadn’t been drunk out of his mind when he fell asleep, but maybe it had been just enough. Or maybe it was the stress of being on the road that did it.
He didn’t even realized it was a dream, at first. He was just going about his day to day business, only there were these eyes everywhere. Strange, light green eyes. Everywhere he looked, and they were all watching him.
As he looked back, as he acknowledged their presence, they started to approach him …
Then there was someone shaking his shoulder. Someone warm and safe and familiar. Someone he knew he could trust. With relief, he opened his eyes, panting and sweaty and terrified, only to meet Mark’s dark brown eyes.
“Hey, wake up,” Mark said. He was perched on the side of the bed, leaning over to shake Christian’s shoulder. He was wearing only a pair of those sweats that clung to him in sinful ways.
Mark had been very careful not to be around Christian while either of them were changing. This was the first time he’d seen him in any state of undress in far, far too long.
Even so, though it must look that way, it wasn’t actually lust that made Christian suddenly lunge at Mark and cling to him. It was fear. For the first time, Christian was afraid, and all because of those strange green eyes.
If he went back and looked at the mugshot of that man, Allen whatever his name was,would he find that he had those same green eyes? Somehow, he thought he would.
“Someone’s following me,” Christian said, his words muffled by how he had his head buried in Mark’s strong shoulder. “The man with green eyes.”
Christian didn’t know too many people who wouldn’t mock him for a comment like that, but Mark, it seemed, was one of them.
“I’ll watch out for him,” Mark said, and from anyone else, Christian might have suspected mockery. Not from Mark, though. Never from Mark. “He won’t get you.”
“Just don’t leave me,” Christian said. He hated himself for sounding so pathetic, but he was genuinely scared. He hadn’t been this scared after the break in, but it was like it had taken awhile to get to him.
Now that he thought about it, hadn’t there been a bellboy with those same light green eyes?
Christian shook his head. He was imagining things. Lots of people had green eyes.
“Sorry. It’s just the stress of being on the road, I guess,” Christian said, making a serious effort to pull himself together when Mark didn’t respond right away. He had to seem so pathetic.
There was a long silence, and then Mark nodded.
“I’ll stay,” he decided, and then he was miraculously slipping into bed with Christian, his strong arms wrapping around him. The change was sudden and complete. Christian felt warm and safe, like nothing could hurt him.
“All night?” Christian asked, wondering if he was pushing for too much. He was pretty sure this was already going past what the normal relationship was for bodyguards and their clients.
No, his guess was, this was just Mark having compassion. Having some pity for him. Christian had always slept better with someone else in the bed, and that was a comfort th
at he hadn’t had since the first and last time that he and Mark had been together.
“As long as you want me,” Mark said, and Christian felt immediately comforted. Mark didn’t make idle promises. He knew that. If Mark said he’d be around, he would be around.
As far as it being for as long as Christian wanted, he had the feeling that Mark would regret that, because Christian was going to want him around for a long time. But if Mark wanted out, Christian wouldn’t hold him to that.
It was all too much to think about, especially because, for the first time in ages, Christian actually felt like he was going to be able to sleep. So he did, wrapped in Mark’s arms.
There would be enough time to figure everything else out later.
Chapter Nine
Mark
Green eyes.
It was just a dream, of course. Christian had been under a lot of stress. Still, Mark couldn’t get those two words out of his mind.
The most likely thing was that it meant nothing, and he knew it. Because of that dream, though, Mark took a long time to get back to sleep.
By the time he woke up, though, he wasn’t really thinking about it anymore. Maybe that was because there was a warm, and somehow familiar, weight in the bed with him. Or because the eyes looking at him were mischievous and more gray than green.
Or because Christian was completely naked, and outright flaunting that.
Mark had tried not to notice how completely gorgeous Christian was. He’d tried to move on with his life, as he’d assumed that Christian had done, and think about nothing but his work. After all, that was what he usually did, and he’d gotten through life okay to this point …
But no matter how much he tried to push it away, it was all brought back to him. Christian’s long, leanly muscled body was spread out over the bed, the younger man lying on his side, his cock already more than half hard as he looked challengingly at Mark.
“Oh God,” Mark whispered, and he stared. He knew he was playing right into the man’s hands. It just didn’t matter that much. Yes, it was stupid, but he wanted Christian like he’d never wanted anyone else.
“Did you miss me, baby?” Christian murmured, his voice seductive and slightly rough and charming as hell, not to mention sexy. “Because I missed you.”
Baby. Christian was probably just being playful, but it was far too good to hear him call him that. Almost like Mark meant something to him more than just protection and sex, though of course, that wasn’t likely to be the case.
Christian was just the sort of affectionate guy who would probably call anyone he was sleeping with by names like that. But it still felt nice. A little bit too nice, considering that they weren’t even supposed to be doing the sex thing, much less anything more.
“Yeah,” Mark admitted, because it was nothing but the truth. He had missed Christian. A hell of a lot. It was pretty terrible to be around him all the time and not to be able to touch him, though he’d done his best not to think about it.
“I’m here now,” Christian said, and he reached out and trailed his fingers over Mark’s bare chest, his gaze challenging Mark to do something about it. The very tips of his fingers teased over his nipples, sending a shiver of pure sensation through him.
Mark forced himself to take a deep breath, to let it out slowly. To remind himself of all of the many, many reasons why this was a terrible idea. All the reasons that they’d talked about, that had made them both decide that it needed to only happen once.
The best course of action would have been for Mark to calmly explain that to Christian. To get the hell out of bed, away from the incredibly tempting naked young man. To act like he didn’t want this just as badly as it was clear that Christian did.
For once, Mark didn’t go for the best course of action. Something about this young man could break through all the careful layers that Mark had built up, and he wasn’t sure that he knew how to stop it. Or even that he wanted to.
“You’re really making me want to forget that we’re not supposed to be doing this,” Mark growled, and he knew that his interest was far too clear. Even through the sweatpants that he still wore from the previous night, it was far too obvious that he was starting to harden.
“Good,” Christian said, and then he lightly ran his finger around Mark’s left nipple, teasing it into a hard little nub which he then pinched, just hard enough to be intriguing.
“I mean it,” Mark warned. If Christian was teasing, he should really stop. It turned out that Mark, when motivated properly, was a powerfully sexual man. Christian definitely brought that out in him.
This time, Christian didn’t react with words, though. This time, he reached out and his fingers curled around the back of Mark’s neck as he brought their lips together. When Christian kissed Mark, he knew that this was no game.
And that’s when Mark said ‘to hell with it’ to himself.
He kissed Christian back, with every ounce of pent up desire he had in his body, and that was saying something. When it wasn’t enough, he grabbed Christian and pulled him close to him, thrusting his tongue into his mouth, rubbing his clothed erection against Christian’s bare one.
Mark lost it a little bit when Christian moaned for him. He shifted them so that Christian was lying under him, naked and so beautiful and hard for him, and he straddled his hips so that he could grind against him.
Christian fought back, though. He tugged Mark’s sweats down, just enough so that his erection popped free. Then it was bare skin against heated, slick bare skin, and the sensation was so good that Mark thought he might forget how to breathe, just for a second or two.
And then the knock came at the door.
Whoever it was, Mark could have strangled them cheerfully. He looked down at Christian and saw the desperation in his eyes, and then he shook his head. No. He wasn’t giving this up.
So he started to grind against him more determinedly, even as the knock came at the door again. Whoever it was didn’t seem to want to give up. Well, that was fine, because Mark wasn’t going to, either.
Christian gasped softly.
“Mark!” he said, sort of protesting, but at the same time, his hips were rising up to meet Mark’s movements and his cock was throbbing against Mark’s.
“Tell them to go away,” Mark said, whispering very quietly in Christian’s ear. “We’re not done here.”
The door was locked very firmly. Mark had checked and double checked that himself. No one could see in through the windows, which had the curtains fully drawn over them. They were safe, completely safe, and he wanted Christian. Christian wanted him, too, he was positive about that.
“Mark,” Christian moaned, but then he took a deep, steadying breath, and even as their hips rocked together, even as their cocks slid over each other, he called out in a much louder, though very unhurried, voice.
“What the hell do you want? I’m trying to sleep.”
Justin’s voice came through the door clearly enough, even if it was somewhat muffled. That meant he and Christian were going to have to be much quieter than they had been that time at home. Good to know.
“We’re going for breakfast, man,” Justin said, and there was no suspicion in his voice. “You should come with us.”
Christian looked up at Mark, who shook his head. No, that wasn’t what he wanted at all. If Christian wanted to go, then, well, Mark would have no choice in the matter, but …
“We’d have to stop doing this,” Mark pointed out, still grinding against Christian demandingly. This was the first chance they’d had to do this since that one night they’d had together. “I want to do this all day. Don’t you?”
Christian was flushed and panting, and he reached down to wrap his hand around both of them at the same time, obviously getting pretty close to his orgasm.
“Nah, I’m really tired, man,” Christian said, in that loud voice that Mark was sure would go right through the door. “It’s been a long tour. Just go without me.”
Mark gave
a soft growl of approval, and he very much hoped that’s where Justin would just go away. Mark would give Justin, would give the rest of Eternity, hell, would give the world, Christian back. Tomorrow. Until then, the young man was his.
“You sure?” Justin didn’t go away. He kept talking. Mark growled again, his dick pumping into Christian’s hand, gazing down at him. He loved how he was obviously bringing the boy to the edge, just with the smooth glide of their bodies together.
“Yeah, I’m sure. I’ll see you later,” Christian said, and then Mark leaned down and kissed him hard. No more talking. Let Justin think that Christian had gone back to sleep.
“Okay. See you later, then,” Justin said. His voice still didn’t sound at all suspicious. Why would it be? Christian had had a long, stressful tour so far, and he was going to take today to rest from it.
He just wasn’t going to be sleeping. There were other ways to recharge. Ways that were much more fun.
Then, thankfully, Justin was gone. They were alone. And at pretty much the exact same time, Christian’s beautiful body convulsed and Mark felt his hot fluids as they bathed his cock.
“Oh my God, Mark, you bastard,” Christian panted, when he could finally speak again. “That was … I don’t even …”
Mark chuckled, trailing a finger over Christian’s cheek, then leaning down to kiss him before whispering, “You’re cute when you’re all flustered.”
Christian glared spiritedly at him.
“I hope you don’t think we’re done,” he told Mark, and Mark shook his head.
“Not even close, baby,” he assured the younger man.
* * *
The day passed in a slow, perfect, delicious way. The sort of day that Mark got once in a blue moon, at most. Though if he thought about it, had he ever had a day like this before? A day where he got to focus exclusively on a gorgeous young man, when he got to worry about their mutual pleasure and nothing else?
