Author: Trinity Lee
Date: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: C429; Extratorrents; Kat; Romance; erotic romance; sex; rock star; gay; mm; manlove; anal; oral
Description: Young guitarist Phoenix Murphy has just walked out on Mudride after the break-up of his abusive relationship with the band's lead singer, Taylor. When he meets Mudride's former guitarist Caedem, he knows his heart is lost - but before they can be together, Caedem has to exorcise the demons of his own relationship with Taylor. Advisory: Short novella with graphic sexual content

The Jagged Heart

(Book 1 of the Phoenix Murphy Story)

by Trinity Lee

SMASHWORDS EDITION

Copyright © by Trinity Lee 2012

Smashwords License Statement

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, actual events or locales is purely coincidental. Contains graphic sexual content. Not recommended for those under 18.

All characters depicted are over 18 years of age. This is a work of sexual fantasy and does not recommend or endorse unsafe sex.

*****

He paced and up and down relentlessly. He was miserable, he was alone, but more than anything, he was hungry. He opened the fridge door again, as though food might have miraculously appeared while he wasn't looking. Nothing. A can of soda and a small block of cheese growing blue mold.

He glanced out of the window. They were all down there still: photographers with long-range lenses and reporters with laptops and some with old-fashioned pen-and-paper notebooks. There was no way he could risk a walk to the shops with the press pack there, and he'd burned so many bridges in his home town that there was no one he could call and ask to go to the shops for him.

He couldn't believe how quickly he'd become institutionalized, used to having someone do everything for him. Leaving a band as big as Mudride was like being discharged from prison, or from a psychiatric ward, he reflected. For two years, he hadn't had to book a plane ticket, a hotel room, buy groceries or pay a bill. Fay was always there to handle stuff like that for him, and if Fay wasn't around, someone from the record company would do it.

Phoenix distractedly ran a hand through his mop of brown hair, narrowed the dark eyes that had broken thousands of fans' hearts and sat down on the bed with his guitar, soundlessly strumming. No point in plugging it in. The walls were paper-thin, and the neighbors here hadn't been impressed with him even when he was the guitarist in one of the world's biggest touring bands, let alone now he was a washed-up twenty-one-year-old with scandal trailing in his wake.

He had enough money in the bank to last a few months, and the rent was paid up for six, but his problems went deeper than just cash. He'd left a trail of destruction behind him. After all, he wasn't the only one who was sitting in a room kicking his heels and wondering what to do next. When he'd walked out, finally did it after months of threats, the band were mid-tour and halfway through promoting their new album, and now they'd had to cancel tour dates all over the world, leaving fans furious and promoters demanding their money back.

He knew that they wouldn't be able to recruit a new guitarist in time to carry on the tour, and he'd chosen the time of his departure to cause as much chaos as he could. He felt sorry for Dylan and Zed - they were his friends and none of this was their fault - but more than anything, he wanted to destroy Taylor, Mudride's too-hot-to-handle lead singer. All Taylor cared about was Mudride, and Phoenix knew that wrecking the band was the best way to get at him.

He sighed. He couldn't remember when getting revenge had become such a big part of his life. Was it only two years since he'd sat in the same studio apartment, breathless with the excitement of being asked to audition to join his favorite band? He'd been so innocent then, little more than a nineteen-year-old fan handed a winning ticket in the lottery of life, his hours of obsessive practice in his small-town bedroom turning into a reward he could not have dreamt of.

And now he couldn't even go home to his mom and step-dad. The gossip mags had filled pages every week with every little detail of his on-off-on-again-off-again relationship with Taylor, and he burned with shame at the memory of how he'd let his mom discover the truth from a sleazy gossip column, instead of calling her and warning her. The fact that she'd been totally cool about it just made him feel even worse, and it hadn't sat right with him ever since.

Damn Taylor. Even hundreds of miles away in LA, Taylor haunted him, invading his thoughts at every turn. Those ice-cold pale blue eyes, the taut, whip-thin body, the hands and lips that could melt him inside and make him feel like no one had ever made him feel, before and since: Phoenix was obsessed, and the only way he knew to get Taylor out of his system for once and all was to keep a safe physical distance between them.

The doorbell rang again, more insistently this time. He groaned. It would only be a matter of time before the neighbors complained about the scrum outside and he had to move out. He'd thought the madness wouldn't last more than three or four days at most, but it had been more than a week, and they showed no sign of leaving.

He walked over to the door and pressed the intercom without waiting to hear what the sleazeball had to say, whoever it was.

He knew there were good journos, of course, like Ethan, who had promised to be so much more than just a friend until Phoenix had hurt him, too, but they were few and far between.

"Why don't you fuck off and leave me alone?" he snarled into the box. "Go and find yourselves someone else to stalk."

"Phoenix, stop being an asshole and let me in."

He stepped back in shock. It wasn't the last voice he expected to hear - that would have been Taylor's - but it was close.

The last time he'd seen Mudride's bass player, it was the look of disappointment in Dylan's eyes that had hurt him the most. Dylan had been the rock that he turned to every time things got bad with Taylor, and he had even fallen asleep in Dylan's arms one night after writing himself off with a bottle of Jack and sobbing himself into a stupor.

He'd wondered briefly how his life would have turned out if he'd fallen for Dylan instead of Taylor... not that he'd planned to lose his heart to a guy in the first place. But nothing had ever happened between Phoenix and the handsome blond bass player - and nothing ever would, now that Dylan was head-over-heels crazy in love with his tattooist boyfriend, Sam. No, he and Dylan were like brothers, or they had been until Phoenix ruined it all.

"OK, but make sure you don't let in any of the scum that are down there," he said, buzzing Dylan in and leaving the door open.

Thirty seconds later, Dylan was in through the door, hands up in surrender.

"It's OK, I haven't come to give you a hard time," he said, his blue eyes showing nothing but compassion for the sorry figure slumped on the narrow bed.

He loped over to Phoenix and put his arm around him.

Phoenix leaned against him, grateful for the first physical contact he'd had with anyone in five days.

Dylan put his hands on Phoenix's shoulders and looked him in the eye.

"Don't worry, Murphy, I'm not here to talk you out of it. We tried that and I know your mind's made up. I hope you don't hate me for what I'm going to ask you."

"Ask away. My life really can't get a lot worse." Phoenix's voice was dull.

"I've got a hired bike outside. If we can lose the paps, there's someone I need to take you to meet."

Phoenix recoiled in shock.

"If it's Taylor..."

"It's not Taylor," reassured Dylan. "There's no way I'd do that to you. I'm sorry I can't tell you any more, but if I let you know it's something you can do for the band, to stop the whole thing going down the toilet, is that enough? I know you'd like that to happen to Taylor, but think about it: do you really want to hurt me and Zed, too?"

Phoenix stared at Dylan, trying to second-guess him. If it wasn't Taylor, who in hell was it? And what could it possibly have to do with him?

"OK," he said reluctantly. "I've been climbing the walls in here. And you're right: I owe you and Zed. But if you're taking me to see Taylor, then I'll never speak to you again."

Dylan put his arms around Phoenix, and Phoenix relaxed against his chest, briefly tempted to kiss Dylan on the lips and see what happened, then remembering about Sam. Moving in on Dylan like that would be a manipulative move worthy of Taylor, and Phoenix didn't want to be anything like Taylor any more.

"I wouldn't do that to you, Murphy," said Dylan, ruffling Phoenix's hair. "Taylor's my buddy, asshole that he is, but he doesn't know that I'm here. You gotta believe me."

Phoenix was already up off the bed, eager to leave his prison.

"We gotta get past this lot first. How fast did you say your bike was?"

The hired Harley proved itself more than capable of outrunning the pack, and Phoenix was almost sorry when the ride ended outside an anonymous motel just outside the city limits. It was good to have the wind in his hair again, leaning into Dylan's leather-jacketed back and forgetting his troubles.

His curiosity was piqued now. Who the hell stayed in a place like this? And what was Dylan up to that was unsanctioned by Taylor? If it was to do with the band, then going behind Taylor's back like this was seriously risky.

As they walked up the single flight of rickety stairs, Dylan had a spring in his step, Phoenix noted, like he was excited about something.

He tapped hard on a door, and a guy, wearing only a faded pair of jeans, opened it and pulled Dylan into a tight hug, smiling over Dylan's shoulder at Phoenix.

Phoenix recognized him instantly, and a shock wave ran through him.

Caedem Hardy. More than two years since Phoenix had last seen him in the flesh, even if that had been at a distance of fifty feet, Caedem on stage with Mudride, and Phoenix in the audience, a nineteen-year-old fan.

He'd have known Caedem anywhere, even without the curly dark hair that was now transformed into a severe buzz-cut. When Phoenix had replaced Caedem as Mudride's guitarist, everyone had commented on the similarity, but Phoenix had never seen it himself. Until now.

Caedem released Dylan and stretched his hand out to Phoenix, who looked at Dylan, bewildered.

"What's going on?"

Dylan smiled enigmatically.

"I'll leave you guys to it. Best if I don't interfere. Murphy, call me if you need a ride back. I'm in town for the next twenty-four hours, and I'm booked into a room on the top floor here - 304."

And before Phoenix, open-mouthed, could protest, Dylan was slipping down the stairs, revving up the Harley, and then the engine faded into the distance, and he was standing in the entrance of a cheap motel room, faced with a guy he never thought he'd meet.

"I shouldn't be here," muttered Phoenix. "It's too weird, and I'm not in a good place right now."

But Caedem reached out his hand and put it on his arm, and suddenly the force between them became something unbreakable, and a shiver went through Phoenix's whole body as he saw into his future.

"Please. Just let me explain."

And so Phoenix followed him into the room, heart in his mouth, feeling that his life was going to be turned upside down all over again, and hating Dylan for doing this to him.

The room was empty and as bare as a monk's cell, except for the four beautiful guitars lined up against the wall. Phoenix never let anyone else touch his own guitars, but he couldn't resist, heading for the vintage Strat and picking it up, strumming the first chords of the first Mudride song he had ever learned, the irony totally lost on him.

Caedem threw back his head and laughed in disbelief.

"You play that better than I ever did and I wrote the fucking thing," he said wryly. "Talk about the apprentice outclassing the master."

Phoenix was suddenly shy as Caedem sat down on the bed beside him.

Caedem was only seven years older than him, but the guy was a legend. It was his technique that Phoenix had copied, his picture that had adorned Phoenix's teenage bedroom wall, his chords that he had learned by heart - and his place that Phoenix had taken in Mudride.

When he'd joined the band, it was as if Caedem had ceased to exist. Such was Taylor's fury at his betrayal that Zed and Dylan were forbidden even to mention his name, and on the few occasions Phoenix had asked questions about him, Taylor's anger had burned so white-hot that he hadn't done it again.

Phoenix glanced sideways at him. He was even more beautiful close up than he'd looked on stage or in photographs, his fine features and full lips accentuated by the severity of his haircut. And as he looked deep into Caedem's eyes, Phoenix saw himself, not only in the similarity of their coloring, but also in the pain hidden inside them.

Phoenix had so many questions but, as he gently leaned the guitar back against the wall, he knew they could wait.

There was something about Caedem's presence that filled the room and made Phoenix gravitate towards him like a moth to a flame. He reached out his hand and touched Caedem's arm, and there it was again: that electricity.

Caedem covered Phoenix's hand with his own, and for a moment, Phoenix thought he was going to pull him towards him, but instead he removed Phoenix's hand from his arm.

"I didn't ask Dylan to bring you here for this," he said.

"For what?" breathed Phoenix, moving closer, so he could see the fine lines around Caedem's eyes and inhale the warmth of his skin.

"He's taught you well," said Caedem bitterly, and both of them knew he meant Taylor.

"Then why am I here?" Phoenix pouted.

"I've got a business proposal," said Caedem. "Or rather, Dylan has. You've just done to Taylor exactly what I did more than two years ago - and look where it got me. I got a one-way ticket to rehab. Taylor got you, and made a million. If you think you can screw him over by leaving the band mid-tour, think again. He'll regroup and replace you, just like he did me.

"The only people you're hurting are Zed and Dylan. And yourself. Dylan called me up to see if I'd rejoin the band for the rest of the tour, so they can fulfill their touring commitments and make sure the album doesn't bomb. I can learn the chords from the songs you wrote for the last two albums by listening to them a few times, but it'd be quicker and more authentic if you taught me."

Phoenix laughed incredulously.

"Why would I do that?" he spat. "Dylan's crazy if he thinks I'd help Taylor get the band back together."

Caedem turned to him, and suddenly he looked older than his twenty-eight years, misery in the almond-shaped, so-brown-they-were-almost-black eyes that were the only ones Phoenix had ever seen that were exactly the same color as his own.

"It's not about Taylor," he said. "Forget Taylor. Think about Dylan and Zed and the number of times they've been there for you."

"What's Dylan told you?" hissed Phoenix, his face close to Caedem's.

Caedem shrugged, and Phoenix could see the honesty there, and the pain.

"Nothing. But I was you, remember. You took the place I'd had for seven years and the dynamics of the band stayed the same. I know Dylan was there for you because he was there for me, picking up the pieces every time Taylor..."

"So it's true about you and Taylor," challenged Phoenix. "Taylor never talked about it, and Dylan and Zed always changed the subject when I talked about you."

"Yes, it's true," sighed Caedem. "In the end, the only way I could get away from him was by doing what you did - walking away. Just don't make the same mistake I made and think you can hurt Taylor. The guy's not human. He doesn't have feelings like you or me."

"How do you know so much about me?"

Caedem's gaze held his, and suddenly Phoenix felt as though he was in the presence of someone who knew him more intimately than he knew himself.

"I've been so lonely," he said, almost to himself. "Not just the last couple of weeks, but on tour, even when I was lying there with Taylor."

"I know," said Caedem, and Phoenix felt his hand close over his own.

"I know," continued Caedem, "Because how do you think it felt for me, lying in a clinic, sweating, desperate for the next fix, seeing you on TV with Taylor, playing my songs, knowing that you were fucking him?"

Phoenix felt sick. In all the time he'd been on tour with Mudride, he hadn't spared a thought for Caedem, and now he realized he needed to make things right so that he could move on.

Caedem continued, his hand still covering Phoenix's: "I know you think you've got cash now, that something else will come along and you don't have to worry about money. But take it from me, you'll burn through it, and when the press lose interest, the calls from agents and other bands will dry up.

"The only phone calls there'll be will be from journalists waiting to sell you drugs, waiting for you to self-destruct or to lash out at them because it would make a great story. On the other hand, If I finish this tour for you, with your help, the album you co-wrote will go stratospheric, like it deserves to, and you'll earn enough royalties from it to be able to do stuff you've always wanted to do."

Phoenix felt empty inside.

"I don't know what that is any more," he said flatly. "Way I feel now, I can't even imagine going on stage again. I thought about getting my old band back together, but the guys don't even play music any more. They're too busy with their regular jobs.

"I've had calls from producers and managers, and they say, come to New York or come to LA, but I can't face finding myself an apartment and meeting a whole load of new people."

"You poor baby," said Caedem, and there was such compassion in his voice that Phoenix felt something melt inside him.

Caedem raised a hand to his cheek and stroked it, rubbing the stubble where Phoenix hadn't bothered to shave for a few days.

Phoenix leaned across to kiss him, but Caedem put a hand on his chest to stop him.

"That's the last thing you need right now," he said gently. "I'm not Taylor. You're vulnerable and I can't take advantage of you."

Phoenix registered the hunger in Caedem's eyes and the growing bulge in the front of his jeans and thought about trying again. He was not used to being rejected, and he suddenly wanted Caedem more than he had ever wanted anyone before in his life.

But then Caedem pulled him close and lay back on the bed, Phoenix's head on his chest, and the floodgates opened, and Phoenix was crying all the tears that he had kept pent up for the last two years.

He lost track of how long he lay like that, Caedem's strong arms around him, one hand stroking his hair.

And then, finally, when he was all cried out, Caedem pulled him upright into a sitting position.

"Help me do this, Phoenix, for both of us, and for Dylan and Zed."

"I don't know what to do any more," said Phoenix in bewilderment. "I don't even know where to go. I don't want to go back to my apartment with the photographers all there."

"Shhh. Don't worry." He felt Caedem's lips against the top of his head, his warm breath ruffling his hair, and a deep calm descended over him.

"I hadn't planned this," said Caedem, "But I think the best thing would be for you to come home with me. I'll take good care of you."

"I'd like that." Phoenix smiled up at him. And then he felt a blanket being pulled up over him as he fell into a deep sleep for the first time in a week.

He woke to hear voices. It sounded like they were arguing, and then he tuned in and realized they were arguing about him.

Dylan's voice.

"I'm not sure it's such a good idea, dude. Poor kid just needs to put everything behind him, not to start digging up the past again."

"Dylan, he needs someone to take care of him. He's fragile. I'm the only one who understands what he's going through."

"You can't offer him impartial help. You're already falling for him. Don't deny it. I can see it in your eyes when you look at him."

"Yeah, he's hot. But I've already managed to keep my hands off him when he threw himself at me. I know he's vulnerable and I'm not going to take advantage. You've just gotta trust me."

"Hey, I'm awake, you know," mumbled Phoenix sleepily, rubbing his eyes. "I can hear you talking about me."

He smiled at Caedem.

"You're still here. I thought you were a beautiful dream."

Caedem's dark eyes met his, and there it was again, that jolt to his heart that told him he was about to fall head-over-heels in love, no matter what Dylan thought about it.

Dylan looked from one of them to the other and sighed.

"Jeez, I thought bringing him here could be a mistake on so many levels," he sighed. "But this is one curve ball I didn't see coming."

Then he looked more closely at them, incredulous.

"You know, when Murphy auditioned for us, I remember thinking to myself that he was the spitting image of you, Cae, but seeing you in the same room is spooky.

"Murphy, now you're back in the land of the sentient, what do you really think? I thought you'd be pissed that we asked you to share your musical magic, but I wasn't expecting this."

Phoenix smiled his most angelic smile at Dylan.

"Caedem's offered to look after me for a while. It was a mistake coming back to this shitty town. I'm trapped in my apartment and I've got nowhere else to go. If he does this in return for me running through my songs with him, I don't see the problem. You guys get what you want, and I've got somewhere to stay while I get back on my feet."

Dylan sighed.

"Why do I get the feeling I'm getting in deeper and deeper? And I've just realized something else that's a total pain in the ass. Neither of you dudes can drive, right? Caedem, you never learned, unbelievable as it sounds, and Murphy lost his license after being stupid enough rack up a DUI charge."

Caedem and Phoenix looked at each other helplessly.

"OK, I'll do it. It's gonna be a long road trip back to California, and fuck knows how I'm going to explain to Taylor where I am if he's trying to arrange auditions, but I think I can organize it. I'll go back to the hire company, swap the Harley for a wagon and we'll get the hell out of here.

"Murphy, you want anything from your apartment other than your guitars? Chuck me over the keys and I'll swing by there on my way back. If nothing else, it'll give the vultures something to fill their rags with this week."

Phoenix felt a twinge of love in his heart at Dylan's sheer dependability, and a rush of gratitude that he was so ready to forgive him for wrecking his career and breaking up the band he loved.

"No, I don't need anything except for my guitars," he whispered. "Thanks for bringing me here, Dylan. I didn't know it at the time, but it was just what I needed."

"Don't make me regret it," growled Dylan, and Phoenix wasn't sure whether he was addressing him or Caedem.

They heard the roar of the Harley downstairs as Dylan took off and Caedem smiled at Phoenix again with those mesmerizing eyes.

"Shower time," he said. "And before you even think about it, I mean shower time on your own. I'm not going to join you, tempting as the thought might be."

*****

"I don't know why we didn't fly," complained Phoenix, stretching his legs out as he got out of the hired vehicle, eighteen hours into the trip from hell.

Then he felt instantly guilty, noticing Dylan's eyes, red from lack of sleep and concentrating on the road.

"We didn't fly," said Dylan, his voice deadly, "Because you and Caedem wouldn't in a million years have checked your precious guitars into the hold, and because until Mudride hit the road again, you might have forgotten that none of us have got cash flying into our checking accounts, and once the record company have taken back what the album cost, there might not be any more."

"Sorry." Phoenix bit his lower lip. "I know I shouldn't be such a spoiled brat when all you and Caedem are doing is helping me.

Dylan, ever good-humored, just laughed.

"C'mere, buddy." And he ruffled Phoenix's hair and pulled him into a big bear hug that made Phoenix forget all his aches and pains and misery.

Even dog-tired after almost a whole day of driving with no sleep, Dylan was gorgeous, with his shock of blond hair, and wide blue eyes. Sam Hyde, the celebrity tattooist with whom Sam shared his bed and his life was one lucky dude, Phoenix concluded.

They checked into the motel.

"One room," said Dylan firmly. "Saves money and means I can keep an eye on both of you, make sure you keep your hands off each other."

Phoenix shot a guilty glance at Caedem. How could Dylan read his mind like that?

Throwing himself down on the bed next to Dylan felt so much like old times, bringing the bad memories flooding back along with the good ones, that Phoenix questioned his impulsive decision. But Caedem just smiled his sad smile at him, and Phoenix knew he could see the same thoughts crossing his mind, and it made him feel better, like he'd done the right thing.

Dylan was asleep instantly his head hit the pillow. Phoenix had always envied him his ability to shut out whatever was happening in the world outside and find oblivion whenever he wanted. It had been a standing Mudride joke that Dylan had even once fallen asleep during the support band, with his head a few feet from one of the monitors, slumped in a chair at the side of the stage.

"Some things never change," sighed Caedem, and Phoenix knew he was thinking exactly the same thing.

The bleak motel room held a double bed, with Dylan spreadeagled in the middle of it, and a single, where Caedem had dumped his bag.

"We're both used to Dylan's snoring," he said. "Do you want to share with him or have the single? We'd better get our heads down soon. If I know Dylan, he'll be awake by seven, keen to hit the road again."

"You can have the single," said Phoenix, watching Caedem strip off his T-shirt and throw it down on the floor as a makeshift yoga mat.

He couldn't take his eyes off Caedem's toned upper body, with his snake tattoo trailing over his shoulder, emphasizing the hard lines of his muscles.

As Caedem exhaled and arched his butt upward into Downward Facing Dog position, Phoenix sighed and frowned.

"I wish you'd stop with the yoga," he muttered. "It makes me think about Taylor, and I don't want to do that."

Caedem glanced up at him, irritated.

"You're gonna have to get used to it," he mouthed, trying not to wake Dylan.

"Taylor doesn't have a monopoly on yoga, you know. Besides, it was me who got him into it - and it's been one of the things that's saved me. You should give it a try some time."

Phoenix grinned to himself. It was the first time he'd managed to get under Caedem's skin and provoke a reaction from him.

He moved across to the single bed so that his fidgeting didn't disturb Dylan and pretended to watch the TV, which was running silently in the corner. But out of the corner of his eye, he watched Caedem run through his moves, stretching and exhaling as he held each pose.

Even though he'd compared Caedem to Taylor, the way they went about their yoga routines was completely different. Taylor had been so competitive, so hyped, that even something as relaxing as yoga turned into a struggle, even when the only opponent was himself. In contrast, Caedem seemed deeply at peace with himself as he breathed and stretched. After ten minutes, Phoenix caught himself staring at him, fascinated by his concentration and inner strength - and the beauty of his strong, supple body.

Caedem caught his gaze as he finished up, and blushed, a flush spreading down over the skin of his chest.

"Not used to someone watching me," he smiled. "Been on my own for so long."

"Couldn't help it," said Phoenix. "Your fault for being so damn hot."

Caedem groaned.

"I thought we were through with all of that," he whispered, with a gesture towards Dylan sleeping, meaning, "Don't wake him up."

"Sorry," said Phoenix. "Just thinking aloud."

He moved up on the single bed to make space for Caedem, who flopped down next to him, and suddenly the heat rising off Caedem's body just inches away from him was too much, and Phoenix reached out his hands and stroked Caedem's face, running his hands over the short stubble of his skull, and he couldn't resist any longer, bringing his mouth down on Caedem's.

Caedem tried to push him away, but Phoenix could feel his willpower crumbling with every moment that passed, and he felt him sigh under him and his lips parted to let in Phoenix's tongue. In the fleeting seconds, a lifetime's desire passed between them, and by the time Caedem finally managed to pull away from Phoenix, turning his head away and clamping his mouth shut, Phoenix knew his heart was lost.

"I want you so much," whispered Phoenix fiercely, pressing his body the length of Caedem's.

And then Caedem was on top of him, his sweat-slick muscles hard against Phoenix's chest, sucking at his tongue and biting his lips, grinding his hips against him before they pulled away from each other in shock at the intensity of their feelings for each other.

Phoenix pointed silently across the room to Dylan, questioning Caedem with his eyes. But Caedem shook his head and Phoenix rolled away, feeling like his balls were about to explode. He groaned involuntarily, pointing to the hardness that was packing out the front of his jeans.

"Fuck, Caedem, what are you doing to me, man? I've never wanted anyone this bad before, not even Taylor."

He knew mentioning Taylor's name was a mistake, but it wasn't until he saw the look of sheer misery cross Caedem's face, that he realized exactly why.

"You still love him," said Phoenix in disbelief, pulling away from him.

Caedem shook his head.

"No, man, you got that wrong. I don't feel anything for him any more. There's no way I'd be putting myself back in that situation if I wasn't over him. It's more than two years ago. Things have changed."

And then the smile was back in his gentle brown eyes as he pulled Phoenix close to him.

"Let's go to sleep, eh? Long drive again tomorrow."

The relaxation of his yoga session had obviously done its work: it was no more than five minutes before Phoenix felt Caedem's breathing become slow and regular, and he lay there feeling Caedem's chest rise and fall while Dylan snored, oblivious, in the other bed. Sleep took a long time coming, despite his bone-tiredness, as his mind raced with all the conflicting thoughts rushing through it.

The next thing he remembered was Dylan's voice, laughing in disbelief as he awoke in the middle of the spacious double bed to see Caedem and Phoenix curled in each other's arms, crammed into the single.

"Hey, a guy could get a complex about no one wanting to share."

Caedem stirred sleepily.

"Oh, man."

He felt Phoenix's curly hair against his cheek and felt instantly guilty, then remembered there was nothing - much - to feel guilty about.

"Nothing happened," he insisted, as Phoenix opened his eyes and smiled up at Dylan.

"I know," said Dylan. "And I'm not going to be around if and when it does, but for chrissake just be careful with each other. Gonna hit the shower. We're leaving in twenty minutes."

Caedem turned to Phoenix, a wicked look in his eyes.

"What did I tell you about Dylan and his early starts?"

Phoenix groaned and rolled over, willing the daylight to go away.

But when Dylan emerged from the shower, a towel wrapped decorously around his hips which made both Caedem and Phoenix snort with laughter as they had both seen him buck-naked so many times, Phoenix was not only out of bed and ready to go, but sitting on the side of the double bed, picking out the opening notes of one of the songs from the new album that he'd co-written with Taylor, Caedem leaning forward attentively, stopping him every so often to ask questions.

Dylan smiled at their dark heads, one curly, one shaven, bent in concentration next to each other, and sighed. He had a feeling he had just opened Pandora's Box.

"Gotta hit the road, guys. Shower if you want, but be quick."

The hire car ate up the miles, and by the afternoon Dylan was turning up a dirt track, towards the dark blue of the ocean.

Phoenix realized that he didn't even know where they were going, other than that it was in California somewhere, and he was struck by the way Dylan seemed to know the way intimately.

"You been here before?" he asked, and Dylan nodded.

"I couldn't talk about it in case you told Taylor, but there was no way I'd turn my back on Cae. I came up here whenever I could, and then when I met Sam, I realized his beach house was just up the road, so we've been hanging out a bit now and again."

Phoenix could smell the ocean now, the tang of the salt in the air.

"Didn't realize we were going to the beach," he said.

Caedem smiled.

"It's a tiny place, more of a shack than anything, but my folks got me to buy it when I got my big pay-off from Mudride, and then they put it in trust for me, so I couldn't inject it or stick it up my nose or anything else. I've sure tried their patience over the years, but I'm grateful they did this for me."

And then they pulled up outside the little beach house that was to be Phoenix's home for the next however long, and the sheer beauty of it took his breath away.

The little wooden house nestled behind a sand dune. It was painted pale blue and its little garden had prayer flags and driftwood sculptures in amongst the wild plants. The ocean crashed in the distance, and seabirds wheeled overhead.

Tears pricked the back of his eyes.

"I've never seen anything as beautiful," he said, and the contrast between it and his rented studio apartment in the grimy Idaho town made him want to cry.

"It's a very healing place," murmured Caedem, who was sprawled in the back of the wagon with the guitars. "You've come home now."

Inside was more or less one large room, with polished wood floors and a big bed that doubled up as a sofa, with colorful patchwork quilts and wall hangings.

Dylan flung himself down on a cushion on the floor, while Caedem ground coffee and Phoenix brought in all the guitars, his and Caedem's. He arranged them against the wall, and Caedem smiled to see that he didn't separate them into two separate groups, yours and mine, but left them intermingled with each other.

Dylan drank his coffee appreciatively and stood up to leave.

"Think you'll be ready in a couple of days?" he asked Caedem. "Then we can ambush Taylor, see if we can get this thing to work out."

His eyes said sorry to Phoenix for mentioning Taylor's name and breaking the spell, but Phoenix's shrug told him he was OK with it.

Caedem nodded.

"With wonderboy here to teach me, I'll be ready sooner than that."

His hand rested on Phoenix's shoulder, and as Phoenix reached up from the bed to interlace his fingers with Caedem's and leaned into him, Dylan realized that whatever events he had started, he no longer had the power to stop.

"OK, I'll call you. Gotta get back to Sam before he kicks my ass. That's been about the only good thing about you walking out, Murphy," he teased. "More time to spend with my guy."

Then he was gone, and as the hire car's engine faded into the distance, Phoenix and Caedem turned to each other.

"You're not what I expected," breathed Caedem, his palm on Phoenix's cheek, his face so close that Phoenix felt himself melt inside those dark-lashed eyes.

"And you're everything I expected," murmured Phoenix, feeling the stubble of Caedem's hair against his fingers.

Their lips met briefly, and Phoenix felt he had waited a lifetime for that half-second of perfection. And then Caedem was holding Phoenix's face in his hands, and kissing him so hungrily that Phoenix thought for a moment that he was going to come just from the kiss, as Caedem's tongue invaded his mouth and his sharp white teeth bit down on his lower lip so hard he thought he could taste blood.

Phoenix gasped for air.

"Fuck, Caedem, what's happening to me? It's like you put a spell on me."

"You're so beautiful, man," said Caedem, and Phoenix could see his eyes fill with tears. "You're so innocent or something..."

"You wouldn't say that if you knew what I was thinking," grinned Phoenix, pulling Caedem's T-shirt over his head and moving in for a long, slow kiss that was the sweetest he had ever tasted.

Caedem whimpered as Phoenix's hot breath and then his tongue invaded his ear, whispering everything he wanted to do to him. Phoenix wanted to taste every square inch of Caedem's body, and he started with his neck, licking the soft, short hair at the base of Caedem's skull, and trailing his tongue down the side of his neck, where the bluish vein throbbed.

He kissed his closed eyelids and rolled on top of him, pulling off his own T=shirt so the warm skin of their chests made contact, and he felt Caedem groan as he ground his hips into him, feeling the hardness of his huge cock rubbing against his stomach.

He yearned to reach for Caedem's throbbing shaft straightaway, but he wanted to make this last, make it something they would both remember.

He worked down Caedem's chest, lingering at his nipples, which he sucked until they became hard, and stroked the sensitive skin on the inside of his forearms, running his fingertips over the scar tissue that marred Caedem's perfection, evidence of the damage done by the needle and then the razor blade. A fierce protectiveness overcame him and he wanted to wrap the older guy in his arms for ever, stop anything else bad happening to him.

"You're mine now, baby," he whispered, raising his face from Caedem's hard abs, and the smile that greeted him in Caedem's eyes was enough to break his heart.

His own groin on fire, he slowly unbuttoned Caedem's jeans and slid them down over his hips. It was the first uncut cock he had seen up close, and its newness excited him. It throbbed as he gently closed his palm around it, and he felt a shudder of desire run through Caedem as he drew back his foreskin and rubbed around the tip with his thumb.

He lowered his face to his crotch and sucked greedily, rubbing and spreading Caedem's hard thighs. His dick felt like it was going to burst right through his jeans. He wanted to feel him spasm underneath him, see his face as he came, hear him cry out his name.

At first, he resisted when Caedem turned around underneath him, reaching for him to sixty-nine him. But Caedem was so insistent, his eyes so full of hunger, that Phoenix succumbed and he turned on his side, allowing Caedem to unzip him, and then closing his eyes and counting slowly to ten as he felt his warm hand close over his dick, aware that he was in danger of coming the minute Caedem touched him.

He felt smooth hands stroking his hips and the first touch of Caedem's tongue on him, making him melt inside.

And then Caedem sprang away from him with a wounded yelp, leaving Phoenix reaching for him in confusion.

"What is it, Cae? What'd I do?"

But Caedem was sitting there crying, his shoulders shaking, as he lightly touched his fingers to the tattoo on Phoenix's hip that Phoenix could only see if he strained right around to look, and which he had near as damnit forgotten about.

And then Caedem guided Phoenix's hand to the same place on his own hip, and when Phoenix saw what was there, he felt a lump in the back of his throat, and all he could do was hold Caedem until his sobs subsided.

"Fuck Taylor," he growled. "It's like he's determined to keep us apart."

Now Caedem had drawn his attention to it, the outline of a jagged heart inked onto his hipbone lurked there like some kind of a malign warning. Taylor had branded them both with half of a heart - the left half. And both Caedem and Phoenix knew that the matching part of the heart - the right half, whose jagged edge fit perfectly with the left - was somewhere else, indelibly marked on Taylor, a reminder that their hearts belonged to him, whether they liked it or not.

"I'm so sorry," whispered Caedem. "It's you I want. Not him. It was just a shock, that's all."

Phoenix sighed and pulled him close. But Caedem broke his hold and refused to meet his eye.

"I'm sorry. I need to think. I'll be back later."

And then the door was open and he was gone, leaving Phoenix alone in the beautiful house, lonelier than he had ever been in his life.

Phoenix picked up Caedem's acoustic guitar and began to pick out the opening chords to one of the first Mudride songs he'd learned, its melancholy notes suddenly taking on new significance now he knew so much more about the guy who'd written them.

He laid his forehead on the smooth wood of the guitar and sighed. He'd thought he'd been in love with Taylor, but it was nothing compared with the intensity of his feelings for this guy whom he'd only just met. And there was nothing he could do to help him unless he could rid them both of the ghost of Taylor.

He didn't know where Caedem had gone, but when he left the house, he could see that one of the surfboards had disappeared from the lean-to, so he walked in the direction of the crashing waves, and eventually he came to the longest, wildest beach he had ever seen, and in the distance he could see a black figure riding the waves.

He sat there, the only person on the beach, watching Caedem find some kind of peace out there until he dragged his exhausted body from the waves and threw himself down beside Phoenix.

"Sorry, man. He just never loses the ability to... you know."

Phoenix took Caedem's hand in his.

"I know. But I also know that I want to give this a chance. Not just the thing with the band. That's up to you. But this - us."

"It's what I want, too. Sorry I'm such a wreck. Dylan asked me to look after you, and it's kinda been the other way round so far."

Phoenix traced the tracks on Caedem's arms.

"I hate him for doing this to you, but we should thank him for bringing us together, I guess."

And Caedem's kiss was so sweet and so full of promise that Phoenix told himself that he could wait, he didn't care how long, for everything to be right.

He sat with his head on Caedem's shoulder.

"You know, I never saw the ocean for the first time until I was twenty?"

Caedem laughed incredulously.

"Unbelievable, man. I'll teach you to surf. Once this tour's over, we got all the time in the world."

And Phoenix's heart leapt at the thought that Caedem saw him here in three or four months' time, saw them making some kind of future together.

"The tour's going to be over before it's started unless we get going with what I'm supposed to be here for," sighed Phoenix. "I'll try and keep my hands off you for a while, though it's gonna be difficult, sleeping in the same bed and all."

And Caedem smiled his sad smile and held their hands up together.

"Look, if that's not a sign that we're made for each other, I don't know what is."

Phoenix looked at their hands, spread against each other, held up to the setting sun. They were identical, each finger and thumb exactly the same length, their hands spanning exactly the same width.

"No wonder I play your songs so well," he said, marveling. "And we'd better get back to the house so you can start learning mine."

*****

When Phoenix woke the next morning, curled up in Caedem's arms, with the roar of the ocean in his ears, he smiled to himself and lay perfectly still, not wanting to break the perfection of the moment.

Sex could wait - if it had to. It was killing him, being so close to Caedem and not being able to do anything about it, but he knew there was too much at stake.

He was slowly getting used to Caedem's strict lifestyle of yoga, vegan food and surfing and, much as he secretly craved a burger or a steak, he was starting to see the point of it.

As Caedem stirred, he kissed his eyelids and then slid slowly out of his arms to make the coffee, and smiled as Caedem reached for his guitar more or less as soon as he woke, the same as Phoenix always did.

It took only a day before Caedem was playing his songs exactly the way Phoenix had written them and - he had to admit - almost better than he played them himself.

"How're you going to explain to Taylor that you can play them?" he worried. "He can't know about us. Not yet. Not until the tour's over and you've walked away from him for the last time."

But Caedem just put his lips to his forehead and held him.

"Taylor doesn't know anything about playing guitar," he murmured. "Did he question it when you turned up for audition and played my stuff?"

Phoenix thought about it.

"No," he said finally. And then, anxiously, "When do you think Dylan will call?"

As if he'd willed it to happen, Caedem's cellphone rang on the table.

Phoenix listened as Caedem went "uh" and "yes" and "OK" and then replaced the phone.

"This afternoon, at Sam's," he said thoughtfully. "He says Taylor doesn't know. He's organized the meeting on neutral territory, with Fay there as well, in case one of us freaks out."

Phoenix was glad Fay was going to be there. They'd had their differences, and he knew he was a manager's worst nightmare, walking out mid-tour the way he had done, but she was one of the only people who could handle Taylor when he was in a fury.

"You nervous, baby?" he asked Caedem.

"Yeah, course I am. This morning I woke up and I felt like using again. If you hadn't been there, I could be in the city right now, slumped in a bathroom stall somewhere with a needle in my arm."

Caedem's honesty shocked him, and more than anything, he knew he wanted to be around for ever, to protect him and stop bad stuff happening to him.

"Then don't do it," he urged. "Don't go this afternoon. I understand what you said about the money and all, but we don't need money. Dylan and Zed will be OK. Let them look after themselves."

But Caedem sat there thinking until he finally turned to Phoenix, passion burning in his eyes.

"No, it's something I've got to do for me. Even if Taylor tells me to get the hell out and he doesn't need me in the band, at least I've faced him. Until then, I can't get him out of my system, and there'll always be something keeping you and me apart.

"We've got to move forward with our lives. Phoenix, I want to be with you, and before I can do that, I need to be in the same space as Taylor and know that it's properly over between us, that he doesn't matter to me any more."

Every fiber of Phoenix's being wanted to scream out: "And what if it's not over? What if he snaps his fingers and you come running?"

But he remained silent, his arms wrapped around Caedem's shoulders, so strong but suddenly so fragile.

Dylan and Fay would be there, he reasoned, and they wouldn't let anything bad happen.

****

The hours passed more slowly than Phoenix could have thought possible.

Dylan had seen the worry on his face when he swung by to pick Caedem up.

"Don't worry. No one's going to mention you, and at the first sign of Taylor pulling one of his moves, I'll get him out of there."

And Phoenix wanted to say that he was freaked out about everything: not just Caedem, but the band being together, playing his songs without him being there, and what the hell was he going to do with the rest of his life, but instead, he smiled and returned Dylan's hug before pulling Caedem to him with a long, slow kiss that hinted at what he had every intention of doing to him later.

The afternoon was the longest of his life. He thought about walking to the beach and sitting there for a while, watching the waves break, but he wanted to be there when Caedem got back. As the hours passed, he bit his nails to the quick, imagining Taylor pulling every trick in the book to put Caedem under his spell again. He felt sick at the thought of them together, and every minute felt like an hour.

To distract himself, he sat down with Caedem's acoustic guitar, which was rapidly becoming his instrument of choice, and - to his amazement - the music began flowing out of him and he realized, in wonder, that maybe he did have a future in music after all, just not in Mudride. He gradually became engrossed to the point that he didn't hear the bike outside.

And then Caedem was in through the door, eyes shining, pulling him to his feet and winding his arms around him and saying, "I'm home, baby. Sorry it took so long."

Phoenix looked into the depths of his eyes for an honest answer about why he was so late, and what had taken him so long, and saw the shadows had disappeared, and all that was there in Caedem's eyes was love and desire.

"What happened back there?" he asked huskily, almost afraid to hear the truth.

Caedem laughed incredulously.

"Everything Dylan said would happen. Taylor was so gutted about the band break-up that he was grateful - no, pathetically grateful - that a solution was being handed to him so neatly on a plate. He was businesslike, that's all. I don't know what I was so worried about. Fay's going to sort out all the paperwork. We're going to do press and rehearsals next week, and then they're going to reschedule the tour dates for a fortnight starting from now."

"And what did you feel when you saw Taylor?"

Caedem shrugged.

"Nothing, just pity. He certainly wasn't the mesmerizing presence I'd built him up to be. I looked at him and I didn't feel anything. It's like a shadow's been lifted."

He hugged Phoenix.

"You sure you're OK about this? I know it's going to be so weird for you. If you don't want me to do it, I won't. It's a three-month deal only, just to honor existing commitments. Then they can break the band up if they want or recruit someone else. Not our problem any more."

There was part of Phoenix that wanted to scream that he wasn't OK about it, that this would give him the connection to Taylor that he'd tried so hard to get away from, but he knew it was the price of loving beautiful, complicated Caedem, so he smiled and nodded and said he was fine.

And then Caedem turned to him with love burning in his eyes.

"I want you, baby," he whispered, and Phoenix was lost.

They fell backwards on to the bed, their taut bodies writhing against each other, Caedem pulling Phoenix's face close in the hottest, open-mouthed kiss he could ever imagine. And then Caedem was undressing him with strong, tender hands, and it was such a turnaround to have Caedem making the moves on him rather than the other way around, that the realization brought tears to his eyes.

"I want to make this special, make it really mean something," said Caedem fiercely, and his words jolted Phoenix's heart as he realized that soon Caedem would be on tour again, and he'd be on his own again.

Caedem brought Phoenix's palm to his mouth and kissed it, and then sucked his fingers, holding his gaze, until Phoenix felt himself melt inside and all his reservations slip away.

"I feel alive again," he whispered. "And it's all because of you. I'm in love with you, Phoenix."

Phoenix felt him lick down the outside of his throat, sharp teeth graze his collarbone, as Caedem pinned his arms above his head, teasing around his nipples with his tongue and then tracing down with his tongue to the little trail of hair that led down from Phoenix's belly button.

Then he shucked off his own clothes and rolled on top of him, gasping as his hard cock rubbed against Phoenix's belly, making both of them shiver with anticipation.

He spat in his hand and grasped both of their shafts together, running his hand up and down as though he was playing some kind of heavenly guitar solo, until Phoenix had to beg him: "Go easy or I'm gonna shoot my load right now. I been so hot for you for so long."

There was a wicked amusement in Caedem's eyes that he had never seen before, and he suddenly had a hint of what Caedem must have been like in the days before Taylor and the drugs. Phoenix knew that his life would never be the same now, that he was properly, crazily, head-over-heels in love, and that he had given his heart to this beautiful, fragile stranger to do whatever he wanted with it.

And Caedem laughed, and whispered against his mouth, "You been hot for me? Nothing compared with how hot I've been for you."

They lay still for a minute, Phoenix willing himself back from the brink. If the mere touch of Caedem's skin against his could do this, he wondered how long he could possibly last if...

He groaned.

"Good thing we got all night," he said, nipping at Caedem's lips and running his hands over the beautiful hard curves of his back and butt, until his fingers found something unfamiliar, something alien on the surface of Caedem's smooth skin.

"What is it?" he asked in panic, his first thought as his fingers found the surgical dressing on Caedem's hip that maybe he had lied to him, and that his newfound lightness of being was drug-related.

But Caedem raised Phoenix's hand to his mouth and kissed it and said, "Have a look - I was going to show you. I asked Dylan to get Sam to do me a favor."

"You were out getting a tattoo all the time I was going out of my mind with worry this afternoon?" huffed Phoenix.

"Shh. Have a look and you'll understand."

And when Phoenix peeled back the dressing, he saw the jagged heart was jagged no more: it had been turned into a whole heart, and in the middle were Caedem's initials entwined with his.

"You crazy bastard," he said, half-crying. "We've known each other less than a week and you've got my name on your hip."

"It's on my heart, not my hip," said Caedem, cupping his face and giving him another of those endless, sweet kisses. "And it's to show you that part of my heart doesn't belong to Taylor any more. It's yours."

Phoenix smiled to think that mentioning Taylor didn't cause a problem between them any more, that his name was just another word that was in both their pasts.

"I want you to fuck me," he whispered. "Really hard, like you mean it, even if it hurts like hell."

There was a moment's doubt in Caedem's eyes, and then they darkened with desire as he slid down Phoenix's belly and swiped at his dick with his tongue, making Phoenix moan with anticipation as he licked around the damp curls of his public hair and his ballsack before returning to the tip of his cock, sucking it so delicately and then so hard that Phoenix had to use all his willpower not to tip right over the edge.

He sighed as he felt Caedem's tongue probing his ass, and then a moment's discomfort as he sank in one finger, then two. And then he heard the crackle of the condom wrapper and the sensation of the cold lube on his ass made him writhe and giggle for a moment.

Caedem pushed his knees up and he could feel something hard butting against his ass, but he breathed out and relaxed the way Taylor had taught him to do - damn Taylor, why was he even thinking about him? - and the pain washed over him as Caedem started to edge in, then stayed still, allowing his muscles to relax around his huge hardness.

He could see in Caedem's eyes, darkened and misted with lust, and hear in the rough gasping of his breath, that it would not take much to send him right over the brink. Phoenix laid his palm against his beautiful face, Caedem nipping at his fingers as he pushed further and further inside, making Phoenix moan with pleasure-mingled pain.

They held each other's gaze as Caedem started moving inside him, Phoenix thrusting forward into Caedem's hands as the hard tip of Caedem's cock awakened the sweet spot inside him, crashing against his prostate with every thrust and making him moan.

And then he was exploding in the sweetest, best climax of his life, spurting over his belly and Caedem's and watching Caedem's face as he closed his eyes and jerked forward, spasming inside him.

"Phoenix, baby, ahhhh!"

There had been a tiny part of Phoenix that had been freaked out that Caedem would cry out Taylor's name when he came, and as they lay together, spent, that fear dissipated, and Phoenix finally relaxed in the knowledge that Caedem was all his.

Caedem searched his eyes, kissing him sweetly on the lips.

"I'm sorry that was so quick," he said. "I haven't been with anyone for more than two years and I guess it shows."

"I was going to say the same," said Phoenix weakly. "Only I don't even have that excuse. Like I said back at the hotel, all your fault for being so damn hot."

"Just as well we've got all night, then," said Caedem, his eyes darkened with promise. "And all the next day, and the day after that."

The unspoken fear of what lay afterwards, of his long absence, hung in the air between them until he added: "I can't imagine not being with you now. How the hell are we going to be apart from each other?

"Come on tour if you think you can stand being around Taylor, but if not, I'd like you to stay here at the house, so I've got someone to come home to."

Phoenix smiled up at him and kissed him, pulling him close.

"I've got nowhere else to be," he said. "And I sure as hell hope you don't change your mind, because I'm going to be home waiting for you, not just at the end of this tour, but for the rest of your life."

THE END

Also by Trinity Lee:

The Pierced Heart (Book 2 of the Phoenix Murphy Story)

The Mirrored Heart (Book 3 of the Phoenix Murphy Story)

One Hot Kiss (Shay and Johnny, Book 1)

One Hot Night (Shay and Johnny, Book 2)

One Night in Phoenix (Mudride, Book 1)

Another Night in Phoenix (Mudride, Book 2)

Phoenix Feels the Heat (Mudride, Book 3)

Inked and Hard (Sam and Dylan, Book 1)

Inked and Harder (Sam and Dylan, Book 2)

One Hot Tattoo (Ricky and Cory, Book 1)

The Hottest Tattoo (Ricky and Cory, Book 2)

One Hot Biker

Elliott's New Neighbor

Extract from One Hot Kiss

He stood there, waiting for Shay, scuffing at the chalk with his beat-up biker boots. As Shay walked over, Johnny detected something in his demeanor, something that suggested he wasn't comfortable with this either. Hell, the guy looked nervous, his usual swagger replaced with something more tentative.

He shrugged as he saw Johnny appraise him, mistaking Johnny's fear for hostility.

"Hey, I'm sorry, man," said Shay. "I didn't mean this to be tougher than it already is... it's been a long day. Go easy on me, I've never made out with a guy before."

"You're saying it like I have," flared Johnny.

Shay put up his hands in a gesture of appeasement.

"No, I'm just saying it's gonna be weird for both of us, so we should just get it over with before dickhead over there" - he jerked his chin towards Dan - "decides he wants something even worse."

"Yeah," Johnny shrugged.

"Anyway," joked Shay, some of his swagger coming back, "It could be worse. At least you're hot."

Johnny was about to fire something in retaliation, tell Shay to back off, but something made him realize the other guy was offering him an olive branch.

"Cheers," he said with a wry grin. "No point in putting it off."

"Hey, let's get this thing done," shouted Shay to Dan, and the cameras started rolling.

The music thundered out through the speaker next to them and dry ice started swirling around them. Johnny took a deep breath and took a step towards Shay, but he didn't have a chance to make the next move.

Before he knew what was going on, Shay was pinning him up against the wall, taking his face tenderly in his hands, his warm breath against his ear.

"Relax, man," whispered Shay, before touching his lips to Johnny's and closing his eyes.

Shay's hot mouth on his own sent an electric jolt through his body. The bassist's hands in his hair and his hard-muscled body pressing against his own were making him as horny as hell, and for a moment, it was as if they were on their own in the warehouse.

Without fully realizing what he was doing, he parted his lips slightly and Shay's tongue was in his mouth, running lightly over his teeth, writhing with his own. It was the hottest, sweetest kiss anyone had ever given him. He didn't want it to end. He could feel Shay's hard-on pressing against his thigh as it dawned on him that Shay wanted him every bit as much as he wanted Shay.

"And cut!"

Dan's voice brought him back to reality with a jolt, and he sprang back from Shay, confusion in his eyes. Shay's dark-blue eyes widened.

"I'm sorry, man, got a bit carried away."

Johnny glared at him, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand and shoved past Dan to where Annie was waiting for him.

Table of Contents

The Jagged Heart

Midpoint